Chapter Eighteen

Iris

I’d never been treated like a queen until I met Nix and Keir.

And tonight, they’d made me feel like the only woman in the world. They paid attention when I talked. My order at the restaurant wasn’t edited for the simple reason of them having control over me.

They simply let me be me.

“I’m not ready to go to sleep,” I said, looking up at the stairs. They would come and sleep with me, surrounding me with their heat, but I truly wasn’t tired. And there was a small part of me that thought if I went to sleep, this entire fantasy might end like waking up from a dream.

Nix melted me with a smile. “How about a movie? I have snacks and a popcorn machine.”

I gasped. “Where?”

“You didn’t see? The other night when you came with me to change?”

My entire body flushed, as I remembered that night. “I had my mind on other things.”

“Is that right?” Keir answered. “You missed his home theater? The one he raised hell about to the contractors for a month so that it was perfect? You simply walked on by?” He cracked up.

“I didn’t raise hell,” Nix seethed. “I pestered. Now I have to show it to you.”

Nix took me by the hand and led me through the living room and into his side of the house. I found it odd that they each had wings and there was a mating suite up top but also found it refreshing that each of us could spend time to ourselves and it would be respected.

He brought me to the space and waved his arm. It wasn’t gigantic, but, again, my old apartment would fit in the area just fine. Reclining leather chairs were lined in rows, enough seats for twelve people. In the front, a large, comfy couch spanned nearly the width of the room. A comfier option, and I wanted nothing more than to sprawl out with my dragons and cuddle.

“Hungry for popcorn?” Keir asked.

“Is anyone ever hungry for popcorn, or do you just eat it because movies and it’s salty and buttery?” I asked. “That was a yes, in case you were wondering.” I’d been stuffed to the gills less than an hour before, but suddenly I found room.

They both chuckled. Nix showed me how to make the popcorn. He had the machine in a red-and-white striped cart just like a drive-in. “There’s every chocolate and candy in the world stocked here.” Nix opened a huge cabinet neatly organized with everything from lollipops to chocolate bars. “Except chocolate-covered raisins. We don’t allow that blasphemy here.” And he said Keir was the organized one.

“Oh…” I slumped my shoulders and pouted my bottom lip. “They are the one thing I get at the theater.”

“Keir, pick a movie. I’m going to the store,” Nix responded, moving so fast I almost didn’t catch him.

“Nix!” I called out, making him turn. “I was just kidding. I hate raisins in any form. Even covered in chocolate.”

Both of their mouths hung open. Keir shook his head. “She got you, Nix. We’re getting to learn all kinds of things tonight.”

Nix marched over and wrapped his arms around my middle. “I would’ve gone to every store in the town and city in search of those damned things.” He leaned forward and nuzzled my neck. “Teasing me now, are you, mate?”

My skin sizzled with heat. My neck was a tender spot, even though Killian hadn’t paid it one bit of attention.

Wait a damned minute.

He called me mate.

“What did you call me?” My blood ran cold. The last person that called me that had taken the word to mean ownership and control. In my heart, I knew Nix and Keir were nothing like him, but my body hadn’t gotten the message yet.

“Come sit with us, Iris.” Keir took my other hand and led me to the couch. Nix sat on the other side of me. Their touch made all the adverse reactions seep away. “If we haven’t made it clear before, we believe you to be our mate. Our fated mate.”

The world stood still. The only reason I stayed planted in reality was the sound of the popping kernels and the savory scent the popcorn gave off.

“Your profile said you already had a mate,” I protested. “Shifters can’t have two fated mates, right?”

Nix cocked his head to the side. “Iris, we can’t explain our other mate or whether she was really a fated. It happened when we were young, and she rejected us.”

“Rejected you? Was she blind?” I asked, genuinely perplexed.

Keir patted my hand. “No. She wanted someone else and something else out of life. We learned to forgive her but we thought we would never have another mate. Until you.”

Nix chimed in, putting his hand on my thigh. “We talked to you over dinner about sharing and how this relationship would work, Iris. Did you think we were using you for a fling? That this was temporary?” They had mentioned the word forever, but I was having a hard time believing it.

I looked at Keir, hoping those eyes of his would ground me. “I honestly didn’t know. The word mate isn’t a happy one for me.”

They both shook their heads, and Keir grumbled the word bastard under his breath. “Let us tell you what the word means to us, Iris. It means you are our priority. We are committed to you. We love you already. I know that’s quick for a human, but no less true for us. Your safety and happiness and care are our prime concern. We want you with us, happy and thriving, you and your baby, for the rest of our lives.”

Nix jostled my thigh. “And as a dragon mate, once we mark you, you will be blessed with a longer-than-human life. It’s a perk.”

As though being mated to them wasn’t the biggest damned perk in history.

“Do we need a ceremony?” I asked.

Keir shook his head. “No need. Unless you desire one, mate.” The word on his lips, aimed at me, sent zips of lust throughout my body.

“I don’t care as long as I have you two,” I answered honestly. “Is it too early for this human to confess her love for you as well?”

“Not at all,” Keir answered. “Say it as often as you like. It’s music to our ears.”

We kissed and hugged some, reveling in the aftermath of our promises, spoken and unspoken.

“Time for popcorn and movies!” Nix got up, but I stopped him.

“Wait,” I said. “I want you to know that no matter what happens, I’m here. I’ll never reject you. Never.”

Keir smiled, wide, and it reached his eyes, making them glimmer a bit. He hooked his finger under my chin and lifted it a bit. He leaned toward me and kissed me long and deep, until I could barely breathe. “We know, sweet mate. We know.”