CHAPTER FOUR - KIT

KIT WAS tired and pissed, which was never a good combination. The caffeine was helping with the first one, but not so much the second. Hudson and Connie followed him back to Hudson's rooms.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Kit swung around to face them. He might as well get straight into it. "Why didn't one of you tell me I was your mate? Am I a mate to one of you, or both of you?"

"Shit," Connie gasped. "How did you—"

Kit watched as surprise and horror flashed across Connie's face. Surprise he got. But horror? Should he be offended?

"What?" Hudson snarled. "Who the hell told you? I will be having a word with them."

Well, that answered that. Kinda. "Ha, good luck with that."

Hudson scowled. "What?"

"We'll get to that in a minute." Actually, Kit would pay good money to see Hudson attempt to berate his deity. Could be fun. "First, answer my damn question."

"This was not the way we wanted you to find out," Hudson said quietly, shoulders slumping. "We fully intended to tell you when the time was right."

Kit snorted. When the time was right? Right for whom? Yeah, he'd heard that one before.

"But I'm the one who is responsible for this, not Connie. It was my decision not to tell you yet," Hudson said, taking a step toward Kit, holding his hand out.

Kit pointed his finger at Hudson. "No. We're not getting all touchy-feely until I get some answers." Every time they touched him, he lost his mind. "Start talking."

"Why don't we sit down? In fact, I think I need caffeine for this conversation. Kit? Please?" Connie asked. "Obviously, you're upset—"

"Pissed is the term you're looking for," Kit snapped.

What was worse than pissed? Because he was there. Oh boy, was he there. How dare they hide this? How fucking dare they? Didn't they think this was something he needed to know? It only affected his damn life, after all. Kit was a human. They were dragons. They weren't even the same species!

Reading about fated mates in paranormal romances was one thing. Nothing was hotter than a snarly bad boy who was all protective and shit. Getting slapped in the face with it was something else entirely. And he had two of them—mates, that was.

Did they think his little human brain couldn't handle it? Were they trying to—and hear him out here—protect him? Clue him in gently so he wouldn't worry his pretty little head?

Oh, hell no. He was not some damsel in distress. This was one time he wished he was a paranormal, so he could flash some fang and do a snarly growl at them.

Instead, all he could do was grit his very human teeth and not shake those dragons silly. Not to mention, getting his ass yanked into some weird vision thingy by a deity was not helping his mood, either.

"Pissed, then, and that's very understandable."

Great. Now Connie was speaking to Kit like he was some sort of wild animal—all soft voiced and wary like they might frighten him into running. Hudson might be a king, but Kit could queen out with the best of them, and he was about ready to get his bitch on.

"But give us a chance to explain," Connie finished. "And coffee. We're going to need coffee. Lots of coffee."

"Fine." Kit stomped into the living area and sat down while Hudson and Connie made themselves something to drink.

"Would you like me to freshen yours?" Hudson asked, approaching Kit cautiously.

"I'm good, but thanks," Kit answered, glaring.

A few minutes later, both of them sat on the couch across from Kit. If he wasn't so mad at everyone in general, he'd feel bad. Hudson looked worried, and Connie was flat-out green.

"I'll start," Hudson said. "Do you remember when you saw me partially transformed in your bookshop? That was the first time I'd actually met you in person."

"Yes, I remember." How could he not? That wasn't something he'd ever forget. It ranked right up there with seeing Kage step out of the shadows.

"I'm a thousand years old, Kit. I rarely lose control of myself like that," Hudson said, running a hand through his hair. "But seeing you? I lost control. Your scent hit me like a nuclear bomb, and my dragon reacted. I got myself under control pretty quick, but it was a near thing."

"So, you got a whiff of me and knew I was your mate?" Was that a line? It seemed like a pickup line.

But they didn't need to pick him up. He was a sure thing and had told them so. So, what was the point of lying about what he was to them? There wasn't one.

Lord, there wasn't one. But Hudson saying Kit's scent threw him into a partial transformation seemed to be a bit much, but what did he know?

"Simplistically speaking? Yes," Hudson answered.

"What? Oh, sorry. I just…" Kit shrugged. He needed to get out of his own head and pay attention to the conversation. So, Hudson was saying Kit's scent was indeed enough to trigger his partial transformation. That was wild.

"Is everything okay?" Hudson asked.

"Yes." Kit waved his hand. "Keep going, please."

Hudson studied Kit for a moment before finally nodding. "Most paranormals with a good sense of smell have a large percentage of their brains devoted to olfactory processing. Scent is everything to us."

Kit bit his lip. He really needed to remember he wasn't dealing with humans. It made sense when he remembered Hudson and Connie were dragons, which were animals. They might be magical animals, but they were indeed animals.

"And a mate's scent is unlike anything we have ever smelled before. It really is that overwhelming," Hudson said.

"So much so that I picked up your scent on Hudson when he returned home," Connie added. "But unlike Hudson, I had trouble regaining control of myself. I almost shifted here in the house."

"Damn." Kit could only guess at the panic that must've caused. Not to mention the damage. So maybe catching a whiff of him really had been that big of a deal.

"I ended up tossing his ass in the pool out back." Hudson shrugged.

Kit spluttered. "What? Seriously?"

"Yeah. The cool water literally snapped me out of it." Connie cleared his throat. "I've, ah, made several trips to the pool here lately."

"Oh dear." Kit put his mug on the table next to him. The sheepish look on Connie's face was just too cute. "Because of me?"

Connie blushed. "Yes."

Even though Kit was extremely annoyed with both Hudson and Connie, he still wanted to just squish Connie's cheeks. Never mind that this was a badass dragon, that blush—a curse most redheads suffered from—was simply adorable.

Kit's anger dissipated. If Connie had that much trouble, he could kinda see why they were hesitant to tell him who they were to him.

If Connie had lost control around him and suddenly transformed, that would've scared the crap out of Kit. Seeing a dragon in a movie was one thing. Live and in person was another.

So maybe not telling him they were his mates immediately was done to protect him and not because they thought he couldn't handle it.

Well shit. Had he jumped the gun?

"I have more problems controlling myself since I'm younger than Hudson. But I'm better!" Connie promised. "Spending time around you helped me get used to your scent, along with letting you see my dragon."

"So, what you're telling me is I'm your mate?" Kit asked. "And I'm also Hudson's mate? Is that right?"

"Yes." Hudson blew out a breath. "It's not unusual for dragons to be a throuple. It's also not unusual for same-sex parings. It is a bit more unusual for one mate to be a human."

"You're talking like this is a done deal. Do I not get a say?" Kit asked, because consent was a big thing to him.

Connie barely suppressed a whine.

He heard the sound and felt awful, but this was serious stuff they were talking about. Actually, he didn't really know how serious this was, but he had certainly read enough paranormal romances to understand what a mate was. Of course, that was fiction.

This was real life—his life.

Kit rubbed his forehead. "I'm not trying to hurt you, either of you. And I'm not saying I'm not interested in doing this. But the fact is, I don't know what this is. You've got to remember I'm human. I haven't lived my entire life with the knowledge of what a mate is and all that jazz. I only know what romance books say."

"Surprisingly, romance authors get a lot of it right," Hudson said. "So, a mate. Dragons believe that we have a special person or persons with whom we are immensely compatible in all aspects of life."

"It's an intense connection between souls too," Connie continued. "We call it a soul bond. When a dragon finds their perfect one or ones, they mate and are soul bound. You asked if it's a done deal. The answer is yes and no."

"Yes, you could walk away," Hudson said. "A bond is not yet established between the three of us, although it has begun."

Wait? What? Kit blinked at Hudson.

"So yes, you could walk away. But there's a very good chance you'd never be happy, truly happy, in any other relationship you had. You could walk away, but that doesn't mean there won't be repercussions from your choice."

Holy shit. "But I couldwalk away. I do have that choice, right?" Kit asked. That did not, of course, mean he wanted to. He just needed to know if he could.

"Yes," Connie answered.

"You have that choice," Hudson replied.

"And you'd let me?"

"Fuck." Connie jumped up and walked out of the room, low growls following in his wake.

Kit bit his lip. He was hurting Connie with these questions, and he hated it. Restlessly, he rubbed his chest. His heart hurt. Was he getting a case of indigestion or…?

"A tentative bond has formed between the three of us, as I said earlier," Hudson said, watching Kit rub his chest. "Connie is struggling with his response to your questions. You're picking that up."

"Shit. That's why my chest hurts? I can feel his feelings, and I am reacting to them?"

"To some degree, yes. The bond is new and not fully formed, but Connie is having an extreme reaction."

If he felt that now, what would he feel when they were fully bonded? "That's scary. And kind of intrusive, don't you think?" Frankly, that could turn into a nightmare, and he wasn't sure he wanted such an ability.

"The bond means you would have a general idea of our feelings. That does not mean you can read our minds or us yours."

"Telepathy. You're talking about fucking telepathy."

"Right, and that is not what this is. Look, I picked up through the bond there was something wrong as soon as I saw you earlier, but I didn't know what."

"That… that could be helpful in some cases and really invasive in others." Kit aggressively rubbed his temple. A headache was brewing. "It's not my intent to hurt him. Or you. And why am I not feeling anything from you?"

"Because I'm not upset with your questions. I understand why you need to ask. And I trust Gaura. You're our mate, and I don't think you'd walk away from us."

Some instinct—or maybe that was the bond?—told him Hudson meant that. He really didn't think Kit would walk away from them. He was worried earlier, but not so much now. "What about the both of you? What are the repercussions for you guys?"

"We'd always feel like we were missing a part of ourselves because we would be," Hudson said. "But we would carry on. While we're on the subject, you should also know Connie and I do not have a soul bond between the two of us."

"What?" Kit reared back. "What the hell does that mean? Are you saying the both of you have a bond with me but not with each other?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Hudson said, grimacing. "We don't know why, and frankly, it makes no sense."

"Are you sure?"

"I am, yes. That's not something I would miss."

Kit was tempted to face-palm himself. Of course Hudson wouldn't miss something like that. "Sorry. That was a stupid question."

"No, it wasn't. You don't know enough about mates and bonding, so there are no stupid questions. I'm serious, Kit. Ask whatever you need instead of guessing. There are three of us in this relationship, and there needs to be open communications in order to make this work."

"You're right. I just feel stupid sometimes."

"Because you don't know the answer? But you didn't grow up knowing all this. So how are you going to know if you don't ask?"

Kit's lips twitched. That was a mouthful, but Hudson was right. "Ask all the questions. Gotcha."

"Good. Now, back to what I was saying. There should be a bond between Connie and me. I'm going to be brutally honest with you. I've had numerous relationships in my long life, but none of those lovers affected me like Connie does."

Kit swallowed. He believed Hudson. There was no missing the depth of feeling in Hudson's words.

"Until you. You have taken over my heart as well. I will never be complete without both of you in my life. Same goes for Connie. But we would continue to live our lives if you rejected us, as you would. It would just be less full of a life."

Connie slinked back into the room and quietly sat down. "Same here. Sorry I walked out. I needed a second."

Yup. It was official. Kit felt like an ass. "I wasn't trying to hurt you. I mean that."

"I know. And of course you have questions, as you should. I'd be worried if you didn't. Like I said, I just needed a second. Gaura knows the idea of you possibly walking out of my life is agonizing."

Kit flinched.

"Okay, what? What was that?" Hudson asked. "Why do you flinch when our dragon god is mentioned?"

Oh boy. This was going to be interesting. "About that."

"What?" Hudson asked.

"Here's the thing. I'm not sure ‘god' is the right term for your dragon deity because god means male, right? And Gaura isn't male. Or female. Gaura is a them."

AN HOUR—and a million questions—later, Kit was looking at two dragons who'd had the very basis of their beliefs shaken to the core.

Gobsmacked. What a wonderful word. This was the first time he could truly say he'd seen somebody gobsmacked, and they definitely were. Their mouths had hung open, and their eyes had bugged out. The look of shock had been priceless.

Kit recounted the dream—vision?—that he'd had. He'd described Gaura several times over to both Hudson and Connie, and the stunned looks still hadn't faded.

"You met Gaura?" Hudson asked for the fifth time.

"Yes." Kit could see that Hudson was still struggling with that.

"Do you understand I would give up my entire hoard for such a privilege?" Hudson whispered.

"So would I," Connie chimed in.

Kit didn't have the heart to tell them it was his most fervent wish never to relive that experience. Ever. He was also surprised neither of them was questioning why their dragon deity had revealed themselves to Kit, a human.

If he was a dragon, he'd be wondering that. Well, he was a dragon's mate. Did that count? Oh my damn, he had two mates, who were dragons. He must have been a damn saint in another life.

Hudson shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kit. We keep getting sidetracked by the fact you met Gaura when we should be comforting you. I do agree that that was a rather abrupt—"

"Try fucking harsh," Kit muttered.

"—way to find out who and what your father is. But at least we know why Lennox is targeting you," Hudson finished.

"Not to mention Gaura threw us under the bus about Kit being our mate," Connie mumbled.

Kit agreed. "That was something I should've been told by you guys."

"Not arguing that," Hudson said. "You're right. But I honestly didn't want to overwhelm you. You've gone through so much recently, your life has changed so much, and here we were about to throw another monkey wrench into your life."

For the first time since he woke up, a smile threatened to break across Kit's face. "You know, it's funny that you use that word—wrench. Because there was definitely a wrench in my dream. Now, was it a monkey wrench? I have no idea, because I don't know what a monkey wrench is."

Kit was sitting between Connie and Hudson on the couch. He hadn't been able to help himself. Between the guilty look on Hudson's face and Connie's distress, the need to make it all better had finally gotten the better of him.

There was a need inside him to comfort them, plus he didn't like to see either of them upset. Was that the bond that was forming between them, making him feel that way? Or did he care that much already? Did it even matter?

Kit got them into a three-way hug, and a sense of rightness stole over him. He decided he didn't care what made him feel this way—this was where he needed to be, and that was all that mattered.

This felt right in the way very few things had in Kit's life.

After some heavy-duty cuddling, they all felt better. Was Kit still tired? Of course he was. He'd slept like shit. But he wasn't pissed any longer.

He could even admit he felt a little overwhelmed, the very thing Hudson had been worried about. Because Hudson was right. It had been one thing after another in Kit's life.

And now he found out he was the mate to two dragons, two dragons who did not have a soul bond between them. That was messed up, and if he ever had the misfortune to meet Gaura again, he'd be telling them that.

Maybe.

Probably.

"Unfortunately, I didn't know delaying in telling you was dangerous. I'm guessing that's why Gaura took things into their hands. So, what is it you want to do?" Hudson finally asked.

"About my papa? Or our situation?"

"Yes," Connie said, tensing next to Kit.

Kit, of course, felt the sudden tension from Connie and Hudson. It was like a slight itch he couldn't reach—annoying, but manageable. For the moment.

Later, when he was alone, he'd deal with that.

But for now, Kit needed to focus on the fact he could pick up feelings from his mates. Mates. That was still a kick in the head. He had not one, but two men. That was as exciting as it was terrifying.

Later. He'd deal with that later too.

He was going to be damn busy later.

Kit dragged his errant thoughts back to what he'd been thinking about—the feelings he was picking up from Connie and Hudson. While they had talked about what a bond was and that one was forming between them, Kit hadn't actually come out and said he was willing to be their mate. He needed to reassure them.

"Look, I admit I'm insanely attracted to the both of you. I feel safe with you—and when I say ‘you' I'm talking about the both of you—and there is obviously trust on my part, otherwise I'd have never let Hudson drag me out here to the middle of nowhere."

"I'm glad to know that," Hudson said, resting his hand on Kit's knee.

"Yeah, well, I still questioned my sanity. And while I may be spontaneous, this bonding thing sounds like a lifelong deal."

"It very much is. Unlike a human marriage, there is no divorce," Hudson said. "Once you bond with us, it's a lifelong commitment that cannot be undone because our souls are tied together."

That was simply terrifying. It wasn't like he spent a huge portion of his life thinking about his soul—hardly at all, if he was honest. It was a concept he was aware of, sure. That didn't mean he spent a lot of time thinking about it. He definitely was now.

"When Hudson says lifelong, he means exactly that," Connie added. "There is a way to extend your life once you bond with us—and by extend, I mean just that. You'll quit aging."

"Holy shit. Really?"

"Yes, but we can get into that later. Unfortunately, it will involve blood."

"Blood." Kit shivered. "Of course it does."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. We know you have a problem with it because of the attack," Connie said.

"Yeah, that's a worry for later." There was that word again. "I do want to be a mate to both of you—"

"Oh, thank the Flames," Connie whispered.

Hudson sagged against the couch.

Kit couldn't resist the urge, so he kissed them both quickly. Yup, he felt like an utter ass and was about to add to that feeling with what he was going to say.

"But I also don't want to rush into this. I mean, this is huge, right? And permanent. Maybe dragons jump right in, but I'm not a dragon. I need to get to know both of you. I need a little time. Can you give me that?"

Funny how running never crossed his mind.

"Of course we can," Hudson said.

Connie nodded enthusiastically.

"We'd already decided there would be a relationship between the three of us, right?" Hudson asked. "The only thing that's changed is the fact that now you know you're our mate and not someone we wanted to play with."

"I mean, we still want to play with you." Connie grinned at Kit. "A lot. But I think I can speak for Hudson, too, when I say we understand your need to not jump right into this."

"He does," Hudson said.

"Good. Thank you." It was time to find out just what it meant being their mate because Kit was about to ask for the biggest favor ever. "So, about my papa. I want answers, and I won't get them until I talk to my parents. I need to go home."