“No.” Matthieu smiled at them. “All because ofus.”
The form in his hand, to anyone else, wouldn’t have looked like much. It was filled with stuffy and unnecessary legal jargon, bloating two otherwise simple concepts. But to Matthieu, who understood how council proceedings worked, and who was ensnared in the complexities of a newly emerging subset of laws, the form was even more beautiful than the diamond pendant Ashley had so kindly laid on his eggs.
Henceforth, Matthieu Boudreaux, the omega bestowed upon Ian Brand by decree of the Pedigree, will be legally recognized as both a Topaz and an Amethyst clan member, in accordance with his demonstrable bond to both Ian Brand and Geoffrey Drake.
In addition, in accordance with their demonstrable bonds to Geoffrey Drake, and supplemented by written and verbal request, the dragon heretofore known as Ian Brand and his omega, Matthieu Boudreaux, are to be recognized in the eyes of the law under the aliases of Ian Drake and Matthieu Drake.
Before the council, Matthieu had fought to keep them together, but now, Geoffrey and Ian had fought to make them a family.
Tears clustered in Matthieu’s eyes, and no matter how he blinked, he couldn’t chase them away. Their children, no matter the color of their scales, would share the same name. The decree wouldn’t keep them safe from the harmful words of those who were too ignorant to acknowledge a polybond as valid, but the gesture wasn’t meaningless. In times of doubt, it would unify them.
We are Drakes. We are family.
You are loved.
“Ian and I picked out the necklace for you,” Geoffrey revealed. He smiled at Matthieu, and Matthieu let out a laugh that almost became a sob. Ian lifted the pendant from where Matthieu had placed it and undid its clasp, then secured it around Matthieu’s neck. “We’d talked about buying you a tie clip instead, so you could wear it after the semester begins, but we decided that we’d rather give you something you can enjoy in bed, with us, for now.”
“We’ll get you the tie clip later,” Ian promised. “We’ll all pick it out together.”
“Semester?” Matthieu inquired, brushing the tears from his cheeks.
“Yes. The fall semester, more precisely,” Geoffrey shared unhelpfully.
Ian, who likely sensed Matthieu’s irritation, added, “Of university, kitten. AUCL. I know it’s no Sorbonne, but—”
Matthieu interrupted Ian with a warbling cry and locked his arms around Ian’s neck, dragging Geoffrey to them a moment later. A few of the eggs rolled from where they’d been placed to fill the space on the mattress Matthieu had left behind. They complained about it in the best way an egg could.
“I can go to school.” Matthieu peppered Ian’s face with kisses, then showered Geoffrey with his love, stealing a sweet kiss from his lips. “Do not tell me this is a dream,mes dragons,or the next time I fall asleep, I won’t entertain any of the naughty things you want to do to me.”
“This is real,mon trésor,” Geoffrey promised. Ian laughed and sat on the bed, pulling Matthieu onto his lap. Matthieu twined his fingers through Ian’s hair and kissed him hard while sliding a hand onto Geoffrey’s thigh and stroking it. When the kiss broke, Ian added, “Of course, Geoffrey and I will help you continue your education until then. We’ll also help you with your application and essay. We’ve thoroughly researched all the submission deadlines and have obtained several examples that have been deemed exemplary by the program.”
“By then, the eggs will have hatched,” Geoffrey said. “While the children will be young, I’ll be there to look after them while you are away on campus or locked in your study, preparing for your exams. I cannot imagine how proud they will be of you.”
Heat flooded Matthieu’s face and tumbled down his neck. If Geoffrey and Ian did one more kind thing for him, he was sure he’d start to cry in earnest. Not all that long ago, he’d assumed his dream of freedom had been stolen from him by animbécilewho believed Disgraces should be shackled to dragons… animbécilehe was now proud to call family, and whose quest for knowledge had given Matthieu more freedom than he would have found on his own.
There was good in the world, his jaded heart had learned. Not every dragon was backwards. And now, as new research emerged, Matthieu had a feeling that even those who clung to tradition wouldn’t be able to justify their practices for much longer. He had been born in time to see the world start to tilt on its axis, and now, mated to his two dragons, he would live to see the new landscape that change would inevitably create.
“Geoffrey?” Matthieu asked, barely finding his voice through his tears. “Ian? Are you occupied this afternoon?”
“No, kitten,” Ian replied. “Why?”
“The eggs are sleeping—” the eggs werenotsleeping, and they protested the fib, “—so I was wondering if you might help me put them to bed. In the other room. Perhaps behind a closed door. Certainly out of sight of our bed. And while we’re at it, perhaps we can chase away the peacocks, too, and close the curtains. You know, just for a little while.”
Ian grinned. His hand snaked around to grab Matthieu’s ass from one side while Geoffrey kissed Matthieu’s shoulder and took it onto himself to squeeze Matthieu’s other cheek.
“Funny,” Ian said. “I’ve got this feeling that Geoffrey and I were just thinking the same thing.”
41
Geoffrey
Sex with Ian had been good right from the very beginning. Ian touched Geoffrey in a way no other lover had, balancing Geoffrey’s need to be taken, and taken hard, with his desire for simple, sweet acceptance. It had taken very little time at all for Geoffrey to fall headfirst and irrevocably in love with Ian Brand.
With Matthieu, their dynamic changed, but not in a way that Geoffrey regretted. He found that he didn’t mind when Ian’s focus strayed to Matthieu. Watching one man he loved pleasure the other man he loved fulfilled a part of himself that he hadn’t known was lacking. He thought, sometimes, he could watch them forever and find joy in it, but neither would allow that.
Ian still called Geoffrey his filthy old man, but he seemed to adore festooning Geoffrey’s gangling frame with pearl-studded silk, diamond-encrusted platinum body chains, and heavy golden diadems while adorning their “kitten” with every ruby either one of them possessed.
Matthieu often defied Ian. He seemed, indeed, delighted to rake the dragon with his claws, both real and figurative. But with Geoffrey, Matthieu was sweet and yielding and giving, even with his omega cock buried in Geoffrey’s alpha ass.
