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“Confused.” It was a good start. “He…that was…I did not know that was possible.”

Had Raxius?

Looking at my confusing mate took more energy than I possessed at the moment, but leaning into his touch was a reasonable compromise. It seemed to have the benefit of pleasing him as well and his fingers pressed against my head as he rubbed me. “Our people lost their ability to explore pleasure along with many other things.”

Was that the problem?

My brain wanted to take the problem and work through it, but it was as tired as the rest of me. “Shiloh is going to teach us to explore many things.”

Raxius laughed out loud that time. It was quiet but had Shiloh shifting on our laps. That was enough to make my eyes open without thinking about it, but he was still napping and barely radiating contentment through the bond.

Dropping his voice lower, Raxius moved his hand away and I found myself whining before I realized what I’d done. It made Raxius laugh quietly again as he scooped up our exhausted mate and deposited him on the other side of the bed.

I did not like that plan but Raxius was not taking my human expressions seriously. He actually smiled as he lay back on the bed. “Come here, brat.”

Me?

I was not a brat.

Oh.

As he opened his arms, I curled into him and found my head resting in the curve of his shoulder and torso. “I am not a brat.”

His laughter would get annoying at some point.

“You are the definition of a brat but it seems like the fates thought I needed that in my life.” Raxius sounded surprisingly pleased by that admission as he wrapped his arms around me. “How are you feeling? I know you didn’t expect to get his pleasure like that.”

No, I had not.

We would come back to that brat topic later, though.

“He shared the feeling of being spanked too.” It seemed important to make sure Raxius knew that. “He enjoyed it.”

Yes. That was also important knowledge to pass on.

Raxius made a pleased humming sound and went back to rubbing my head with one hand. “I’m glad he did. But I’m thinking about you right now because you are also my mate and equally important.”

Well, technically.

“But Shiloh—” A stern spank-like feeling came through the bond, stopping me mid-thought.

He was definitely the brat.

“You are my mate.” His firm tone had me deciding to stay quiet and not qualify his words. “You are important to me and you just had a very new experience. That means I am allowed to provide you with additional caretaking.”

How could he be correct and frustrating at the same time?

“You are my mate and had a new experience as well. I should be taking care of you.” But how? “You spanked Shiloh for the first time. That is very new for you.”

I could not do that to either of them, but we were all unique so that was understandable.

“So I need to ask how you are feeling.” That was very important because Dominants had strong emotions as well. “You may not have remembered you could safeword too.”

Just because I remembered didn’t mean he had.

Raxius felt the need to sigh and show drama but he knew I was right and that came through the bond as well. “I was worried at first but seeing how you both reacted to the spanking made me very happy.”

What version of happy was he using?