Page 8 of The Platinum Dragon's Courageous Mate

Lachlan nodded. “It wasn’t me. I was here, taking care of you. It was him. He was pregnant with Kaden.”

“Oh, goddess.” He was going to pass out.

“You are safe here with us. You are safe here.”

“I—I want to be.” Was that a stupid thing to say? It was what came out, and he meant it. He could believe in Lachlan. If he said the bastard that had tried to kill them was gone, then he was gone.

So he moved with more enthusiasm.

Everyone was in a little family room, the furniture simple and solid, comfortable and cushy. It made him smile because Bryant looked like Lachlan. Not exactly, but enough —it was obvious they were brothers, big strong alphas.

Lars, on the other hand, was beautiful — this quicksilver, lean man with a mane of hair and a bright laugh. It was impossible to believe that he could have possibly hurt anyone ever.

Lachlan smiled and drew him in. “Guys, this is my friend Kieran, and this is little Micah.”

Kaden blinked up and waved, little fingers opening and closing hysterically. It was so cute.

“Would you like to go see Kaden?”

Micah looked to Kieran as if asking if it was all right, if he should be frightened, and so he made himself put on a brave face.

“He’s your friend, remember? And these are his dads.” He tried to release all the tension in his body.

Micah cooed, reaching toward Kaden. Yep. That was good. So he went to take Micah to the blanket where Kaden was playing.

The two boys made noises and reached for each other, and he smiled down at them, so proud of his baby boy. Then he wiped his hands on his pants and turned to face the adults.

“Hello. I’m Kieran. I’m sorry if we’ve met before and I don’t remember.”

Bryant rose, coming to kiss his cheeks, one after the other. “Pleased to meet you, Kieran.”

“I am too. So tickled.” Lars smiled at him, and the look was absolutely open and warm, relaxing him.

Kieran nodded and smiled on autopilot. He hoped it met his eyes, because he was scared but willing to be friends. In fact, Lars had this energy that made him want to hold out his arms and get a hug.

“Come on, have a sit. I think they’re going to be fast friends.” Lars motioned to the babies, who were well — it looked like they were playing. They were passing toys back and forth andbabbling. It was actually very comforting to hear Micah use his voice.

It had felt as if that was never going to happen.

He sat there because he didn’t really know what else to do.

Once upon a time, he’d been social; he’d made small talk. He’d known just what to say when there wasn’t anything to say.

It seemed to be okay with Lars though. He just kept talking about nothing really, but it wasn’t irritating. It was kind of pleasant to not have to come up with anything.

In fact he could just let things flow, and Lachlan was laughing and smiling with his brother and with Lars, and Kieran got to see him sort of in his natural milieu.

He loved it. He loved the look on Lachlan’s face when Bryant teased him. He adored the laughter when Lars accused Lachlan of hoarding all the pastries. It was loud and genuine and just joyful. Kieran could remember joyful. It had just been a very long time since he actually felt that way.

But he could see that being the case here if he let it. He just needed to soak it in and breathe with it for a little while and listen to Micah squeal when Kaden handed him a stuffed rabbit.

At one point Lachlan came to sit next to him. His presence was huge and warm and comforting. “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay. I’m trying to be anyway. This is nice. You were right about Lars.” He glanced at Lars, who was talking animatedly to Bryant, his hands waving in the air.

“And Micah looks happy,” Lachlan pointed out. “They seem to be having a really good time.”

Kieran nodded. The babies were lying on their sides, face to face, looking for all the world like they were talking to one another. He assumed that there was nappage very, very close in their timeline, but he didn’t know.