Chapter Three #2
Vin kissed him before climbing off the bed.
Aries stretched his arms over his head while arching his back. His worn-out body was sated and heavy.
He tried to stay awake while Vin was in the bathroom. His eyes just wouldn’t stay open. He’d just close them for a few minutes. Yeah, just a minute to rest his eyes.
* * * * *
Evan
Holding Nix close to his chest, Evan couldn’t force himself to sleep quite yet.
After such an intense experience, he was still reeling.
Inside, his dragon was pushing to the surface.
Not to take over. Eirwen just wanted to be connected to Nix as well.
This boy… Sometimes it still shocked Evan that Nix was his, was absolutely everything to him.
He’d been nervous about introducing Nix to his dragon.
Even though Nix was excited that he was a dragon and hadn’t been discreet in asking questions, Evan had still had concerns.
Making the introduction to his other side could have gone wrong.
Evan wasn’t a shifter. He wasn’t born with the ability to shift like Nix and his brothers.
Evan’s dragon’s spirit had chosen him. Which meant he and Eirwen were two spirits in one body.
Much different than a shifter, who had the ability to change forms at will.
Eirwen had his own thoughts, feelings, and wishes.
Being a dragon meant that Evan had given up his humanity for the gift of carrying a second soul.
After centuries of being hunted down for their abilities, the dragons of old had retreated into magic.
The dragons remained hidden until decades had passed, and their existence had become that of a myth.
By the time the dragons had decided to rejoin the world, the magic had changed, and they were stuck.
It had taken several covens working together for years to come up with a solution.
The witches and warlocks could open themselves to share their souls and bodies.
By the time Evan was born, his entire coven was fully invested in returning the dragons.
Evan didn’t remember anything about accepting his dragon. He’d been a mere four weeks old when it had happened. The decision hadn’t been his own. It was expected of his coven members.
Eirwen’s spirit rubbed over his heart.
He soothed the creature internally. Evan had never known anything but sharing himself with his dragon and didn’t think he would have made the decision otherwise. It was just who he was.
Evan and Eirwen couldn’t speak using words. Evan’s thoughts weren’t his own. Eirwen knew every thought that Evan had. Eirwen could push his desires through sharing his feelings with Evan although it wasn’t a perfect solution. They got by.
And now there was something huge that they had in common. Nix.
Nix had exceeded Evan’s expectations by embracing Eirwen with his whole heart.
Eirwen had shared his concern that Nix wouldn’t accept him, which led to the surprise that Eirwen had insisted on. The small ice rink in the backyard was perfect for a family hockey game. The one thing that everyone who would be at the cabin shared was hockey.
Nix mumbled in his sleep before dragging his cheek over Evan’s chest.
“Shh,” Evan whispered as he tightened his fingers in Nix’s hair, forcing his head still.
The boy let out a soft sigh.
Nix really did love being held down, tied, belonging to him.
Eirwen pushed forward again.
Belonging to them, Evan amended. Nix had even allowed Evan to tie his hands while being confronted by his dragon. Did the boy even realize how much trust he’d shown to Evan and his dragon?
Evan was amazed by Nix. He also couldn’t believe that no one had snatched Nix’s attention for their own. He considered himself extremely lucky that Nix had been single when they met. That it had been him that had drawn Nix’s eye.
It had only been a couple of months since Nix had come into his life, changing his entire life. Nix was such a breath of fresh air. Evan was in love with the boy. Totally, and utterly, adored Nix.
He started to scratch at Nix’s scalp since Nix always loved that.
Eirwen gave a deep rumble as he settled inside Evan.
Finally, Evan closed his eyes to give himself over to sleep.
It would be a big day when he woke and needed to deal with Nix’s family.
Maybe deal wasn’t the right word. Nix’s family loved the boy.
They were all polite and kind to Evan when Nix spoke to them on the phone.
Evan just hadn’t admitted how nervous he was being surrounded by Nix’s loved ones.
At least he had Vin there to take some of the pressure off.
There was no way that Aries would be able to keep his little side hidden from everyone. The little one’s regression was too natural. Aries was born to be a little. Just like Nix was born to wear Evan’s ropes. Evan was curious about Gem though.
The triplets were the talk of the league before they had even arrived. Most current hockey players had paid attention to the fruit bat shifters that were certain to be headed for their league.
The draft had been interesting, not knowing which teams would end up with one of the upcoming sensations.
Aries was the center that many teams had tried to claim.
Nix was the most known of the triplets for his antics off the ice.
Gem was the goalie of the future. Evan had ended up with Nix, like fate had been involved.
Vin was the perfect protector for little Aries as the boy took their hockey games to the next level.
Gem was the first rookie goalie in their league to claim the top spot in their first year.
Evan had heard Gem complaining about his season to Nix.
Evan didn’t understand. With the Boston Beans in a rebuild year, Gem was the reason that they were so high in the standings.
They needed some real defensemen but until that happened, Gem was carrying a lot of his shoulders.
As a fellow goalie, Evan could admire everything that Gem was doing. That was one of the reasons that Evan was nervous to spend some real time around Gem. Well that, and as the oldest triplet, Gem was protective over his brothers.
Nix had assured him that Gem would understand their unique dynamic and wouldn’t judge them.
He refused to give Evan much detail on why Gem would be okay with it other than to say that Gem wasn’t a stranger to the club scene.
Evan didn’t doubt his boy’s trust in his brother.
But being a club kid was different than what they engaged in.
Plus, it was simply weird to know that Nix had no intention of hiding his desire to be tied up from anyone.
Nothing that Evan could do about it now.
Nix’s family would be there in the morning.
Evan needed to get some sleep so he would be able to keep up with the triplets. From the stories of the triplets that had made the rounds, when the three of them were together, trouble usually followed.
Hopefully with Vin’s help, Evan could keep the chaos down to a minimum. Not that Evan really cared one way or another. For the past decade, Evan would come to this very cabin for the holidays and wouldn’t talk to another soul.
He’d even cut off communication with Lithis, the cousin that he’d always been closest to.
There were so few dragons alive. The coven was nonexistent. Even with the magic they had possessed they had been no match for human hunters and other paranormal.
Evan had guarded his secret more than anything else.
He had trusted very few and even those he’d held at arm’s length. When his name and species had been revealed against his will, Evan had retreated to this cabin. His sanctuary. The one place that he felt safe.
Eirwen had loved spending weeks up in the mountains even as Evan had been mourning the loss of his professional career and what friends he had made.
If his friends hadn’t dragged Evan back into the world and as part of the PAHL, he would never have met Nix.
The young man that had changed so much in such a brief time.
Evan no longer wanted to hide away.
Having Nix’s family there for Christmas meant more to Evan than he could ever say.
Maybe next year Lithis will be able to make it as well. Evan would love to combine Nix’s family with his own. Lithis had been invited but he’d already made plans to travel overseas for the holiday to spend the holiday with an old friend.
Lithis, who had no problem with invading Evan’s space and sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, had been very secretive with the details of his trip.
If Evan had more time, he would have pushed his cousin. Truthfully, Nix had kept Evan distracted with the long list of everything that had needed to be sent ahead of time.
For the short Christmas break, Evan was used to just taking a carry-on home to spend the holidays. That was not possible with his boy. Nix had started to send boxes right after Thanksgiving when, over a video call, his family had agreed to join them at the cabin that year.
Evan really should have put his foot down.
They didn’t need a tree in every single room in the house.
It was hard to tell Nix no when it was something that Nix was fixated on. Especially when Nix was determined to make the holiday special for him. After learning that Evan usually spent Christmas alone, Nix had sworn that this would be the best Christmas ever. His boy’s words.
And it had already been something that Evan would never forget.
From taking Nix up the mountain to see Eirwen to spending time with Aries and Vin, Evan was part of a family again. Once Gem and Nix’s parents arrived, it would be more like the old days. Back when his coven had thrived.
Evan wasn’t going to live in the past any longer. Nix was his future. The boy was too lively to be held back. It was time for Evan to live again.