Sawyer had been sad earlier. Draco hadn’t really processed it until that moment as Andvari ran his soap covered hands over Draco’s chest. He caressed each inch of him, not in a sexual way, but with love and care. Draco’s eyes flared, fire burning bright in them as he gently touched Andvari’s head and squeezed his neck gently. It was enough.
Andvari looked up at him with a soft smile as he knelt at Draco’s feet, running soapy hands down his legs then encouraging Draco to lift each foot. He worked his way back up, caressing Draco’s cock and balls then moving up his abs to his chest again.
“I’m an idiot,” Draco said softly. He closed his eyes and lowered his forehead to Andvari’s.
“How so?”
“Because in my head, you’re all my mates. I know that. I know it to my core. And I never said anything, explained anything. I never, I don’t know, made it official.”
“It’s okay. We all felt it.” Then Andvari’s eyes widened a bit as he realized exactly what Draco had realized only moments before.
“But Sawyer doesn’t know what it means, and I don’t think Henry does either.”
“We’re idiots,” Andvari said.
“We are. Do you think… is it possible for us to feel what Sawyer is feeling?”
Andvari took a moment to think, something Draco loved about the vampire. “I don’t know.”
“I want you to think about it. Pay attention with me. We’re going to tell our humans tonight, make sure they understand their value and their place to us. And then, once we’ve made sure they forgive us and are happy again, I want to know if some of this fear I’m feeling is from them or if this is all my dragon instincts finally waking up.”
Andvari nodded. “Not sure we’ll know without a doubt. Not sure we can, but it’s something we should consider.”
Draco turned around at Andvari’s urging and let his back be cleansed in the same manner as his front. The attention helped settle his dragon a little and reinforced his belief that his instincts were telling him his mates were unsettled. He’d seen one of his dads act this way on occasion and the extra care and attention suddenly made sense. He’d always pondered the fussiness, how suddenly his parents would be snuggled up together, touching more often, and how he’d often be sent to a relative’s house for a few days. They were reinforcing their mating bond, showing their love, affection, and devotion to each other. Draco had taken that knowledge for granted over the past few weeks. He’d cared for his mates, let his dragon act as his nature demanded, and had been rewarded with four of the most powerful and beautiful mates a dragon could wish for. But he’d not considered that two of his mates hadn’t grown up in their culture and didn’t have the instincts he, Andvari, and Eduard had grown up with. And he hadn’t said the words. They needed words as well as actions.
“Stop beating yourself up,” Andvari demanded. He stood again, completing the bathing ritual and turned Draco to face him once more. “If this doubt is coming from our mates, we will make it better. We can bear some of their burdens for them, fight by their side when they need us— ”
“And we can make sure they know they are loved,” Draco added.
Andvari nodded, dragon and vampire once more in sync. Their other selves needed to agree as much as their human sides did. Another thing Draco had forgotten in the moment. He did as Andvari ordered, though, and stopped his thoughts. He could, and would, make this right by showing his mates how important they were to him.
When Andvari turned the water off, Draco grabbed a towel and slowly rubbed Andvari’s skin dry. He handed him the scented oil he preferred before repeating the actions on himself. Once they were dry and had found their way to the closet for clothes, Andvari and Draco went into Eduard’s sitting room to track down two of their mates.
Sawyer and Henry were exactly where Cecil said they’d be. They both looked a little shell-shocked, tender with each other, though, like a barrier had been broken down. Draco and Andvari knelt in front of them, Draco by Sawyer and Andvari by Henry. They each pulled their partner close, each rumbled their approval when their affections were openly and eagerly returned. Draco pulled away after a moment, not wanting to get carried away. Kissing Sawyer tended to do that to him. “Picnic on the beach?”
Sawyer smiled. “That sounds good.”
“Just us,” Draco promised. “We need to all spend some time together.”
“That soundsreallygood.” Sawyer wrapped his arms around Draco’s neck and held on. His mate was struggling, more than he realized. He should have known when Sawyer went quiet on him.
“Ouch!” Draco glared over at Andvari, who’d pinched the hell out of his side. He received the message though, loud and clear.
“What happened?” Henry asked.
“Andvari was reminding me not to ravish the two of you until after our picnic.”
Andvari snorted when Henry rolled his eyes. “Let’s go get Eduard. Did someone give him advance notice? If he didn’t have warning, we’ll never get him out of the office. He’ll have one more thing to finish for another hour.”
“He’s been warned and he had Cecil come interrupt. In fact, I think—”
“I’m here,” Eduard said from the door. He grinned at them before loosening his tie and escaping into the bedroom. “Give me a few minutes.”
A moment later, the shower started again and Draco grinned at Sawyer. “Well, since we have a minute, where were we?”
Sawyer grinned and leaned in again. They kissed until Eduard cleared his throat from the doorway. Sawyer had ended up in his lap and they were well on their way to removing clothes. “I was only in there for a few minutes.”
Draco guided Sawyer back to the couch before climbing to his feet. He held out his hand and Eduard came toward him with a smile. He looked more relaxed than he had earlier, another indication to Draco that they all needed the night to reconnect. Sawyer stood and pushed up under his arm while Eduard hugged him from the other side. Andvari guided Henry to their circle as well and they all leaned together for a long moment. “Let’s head to the beach,” Draco said.
