Page 20 of The Dragon, the Bear, and Their Sugar Glider Omega

“I can’t talk about money so soon,” I burst out.

Heat washed over my face. It was awful to think that I couldn’t be everything to my fated mates. Dragons were taught to be providers and protectors. This was the crossroads of a lifetime. Clay was right. We’d work it out. I needed to relax.

Clay stroked down my chest. “Okay. Later for all of that, my big dragon alpha.”

I caught his hand and kissed his fingers. “Thank you.”

Excessive pride was a dragon trait. My parents instilled it in me and made me feel shame when I didn’t exceed expectations. It was another reason I’d left my flight. Shame. Pride. All those things had made me so tense. The vibe in the flight was toxic to me.

I wanted to feel again what I’d felt last night when Clay and Armel had claimed me and accepted for me for who I was inside and not what I did or owned. They had loved me so hard. I wanted more of that. Now.

“Make love to me,” I whispered to them both.

“Rome, yes. Yes.” Clay crawled over me and kissed me.

Armel rolled over Clay.

I was now beneath a pile of my mates. Finally, I could relax and enjoy—hopefully for the rest of my life.

Chapter Fourteen

Clayborne

We’d been mated for a few days now, and already the scheduling was getting frustrating. The biggest obstacle in the way was how stubborn Rome was. He worked far more than any person ever should and, while we hadn’t had a full sit-down discussion on it yet, I got the feeling that he wasn’t willing to give one of them up.

He hated it.

I hated it.

Armel hated it.

I just didn’t know what, if anything, I could do about it.

I was selfish. I wanted to be able to spend more time with Rome…with both my mates. And we did have time together, but usually when we were sleeping because that was the only time he had off. My sexy dragon was wearing himself out. The kind of hours he was working just weren’t sustainable.

Armel came over after he got out of work, and we sat in my apartment trying to figure out what to do for the night. We both didn’t have to work, but Rome did. I loved spending time with my bear, but I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing, that something being Rome.

“Do you think we should go to the bar?” I asked.

Rome worked at a human bar, which I didn’t have any problem with. Work was work. But, unlike if he worked at Animals, I wasn’t sure if it was okay for us to hang out there. Here, there was an understanding that mates liked to be near each other and often would hang out and grab a beer while their partner worked.

That wasn’t the same in human spaces. They didn’t want you to bring your outside life to work. They considered it a distraction, not grasping that being away from your mate was a significantly bigger one.

I sat down with my head on Armel’s lap, and he ran his fingers through my hair.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to get him in trouble.”

“The thing is, he doesn’t have to work.” None of us had to. I had enough money that none of us had to work again. And while I’d discussed my wealth with them, I wasn’t sure if they understood just how vast it was. There were days when I didn’t think I did, either.

“Yeah, but that’s a pride thing with him. Dragons are weird about money.” Armel ran his thumb along my cheekbone.

I had to take my mate’s word for it because I didn’t know much about dragons at all. But I guess it made sense if they were hoarding creatures. In Rome’s case, instead of collecting all the money, he collected pens, although “collect” was probably not the word to use with a hoard. I needed to ask him about that.

I appreciated his hoard. It was special to him, and I didn’t like the fact that he was embarrassed by it, thought it somehow made him less of an alpha. He was wrong. Being unique was a gift.

“I want to tell him to quit his job there.” There. I said it. It felt good to get it out instead of keeping it bottled up inside.

“He’s got a roommate,” Armel reminded me.

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