“I’m ashamed of all of us,” Emery said despondently. He looked around at everyone, especially Blaze, who had gone a little too far with the old jokes. “Now, I know that you guys don’t mean those jokes to be about Nate’s family—they’re all nice people—but does Nate know that? I wouldn’t like it if I heard jokes at the dinner table about my family, and neither would any of you.”

I worked my jaw, cursing myself for not having stood up for my in-laws before Nathan had fled. “Listen, we had fun joking about the unicorns we knew back in the day, but these people took my boy in when he had nothing and nobody. They loved him and made him one of their own. Despite their unicorn blood, they’re his family. I have nothing but respect for them. I know you didn’t mean anything personally by it, but I need to agree with Emery—the unicorn jokes have to stop. We are a prouder, kinder people than that, and it seems as though we’ve lost our way.”

“Forgive us, old friend,” Cory said, his eyes downcast and his voice burdened with regret. “You and my heartsong are correct. It’s past time that we lay our old grievances and prejudices aside. For far too long we’ve denigrated a diverse, talented people who deserve our respect. No matter your opinion on the matter, we must change our ways. I’ve been lax about this for too long… and guilty of causing offense myself. The way forward is through love and acceptance. We must all work on changing our hearts so we can change our world.”

Sana nodded. His face was drawn, and I could tell by the rigidness in his posture that he was ashamed. None of us had thought our jokes wrong because we’d all been so immersed in a homogenized, draconian culture that we hadn’t realized the offense our words could cause. That wasn’t the case anymore, but the realization had come too late.

“Shall I go apologize? I’d hate for him to feel like we mean ill to him or his family.”

I shook my head. “I’ll tell him. Don’t worry about it, Sana. I think it’s best if I go up alone to soothe him. He’s worried about his brother infiltrating the Paragons, he’s stressed about this wedding his mama is planning, and to top it all off, he’s pregnant. I think I’m the only one at this point who can get across how sorry we are for our thoughtlessness.”

“No shit, Sherlock. You need to drag your sorry ass out of here and go kiss that boy’s feet,” Nana advised. “And let him know that he won’t hear another joke like that around here, or I’ll sick Mama Vee on the guilty party. That woman is a force all on her own.”

“No kidding.” Blaze grinned. “I think even I’m afraid of her.”

“Than maybe remember that the next time you’re tempted to make a problematic joke.” I smirked as I stood and moved to gather Nathan’s and my plates to carry into the kitchen.

Vivian waved me off. “Go see to Nate, honey. We’ll take care of that for you. I think that sweet boy needs you more right now than those few little dishes do.”

“Hey, Brick? Tell your boy I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to be an asshole,” Blaze called out after me as I turned to go. I nodded and waved a hand as I left the room.

I heard everyone talking among themselves while I made my way upstairs to our room. I slipped inside and locked the door, my heart breaking at the sight of my angel boy crying softly as he lay curled up in a ball on the bed.

The lights were off, but with the curtains open, the moonlight lit the room enough so I could see him clearly. His blond curls reflected the light, and the pale white color of his skin looked creamy in the dreary shadows. I lay down beside him and pulled him into my arms.

“I’m sorry, angel boy. I should’ve stood up for your family—for our family. I didn’t, and that is shameful to me. We all had a serious discussion about why those jokes aren’t okay, and you have our word that they will end. The others send their apologies as well. We’ve realized how wrong we were to say things like that.”

“My family doesn’t stink. They bathe, you know.” Nathan sniffled, his voice thick with emotion. “I mean, they do have a certain scent to them, I suppose, but dragons do, too. When I first woke up here, I smelled all of you everywhere. It’s not… it’s not a unicorn problem. It’s not something that we should be made fun of for.”

“Oh, baby. I’m sorry. You’re being heard. I know that it may not be enough, but you have our word that it won’t happen again. We understand where you’re coming from, and we’re working on changing our preconceptions.”

“Why is it such a big thing for all of you, anyway? Were unicorns back then so awful back in your day? As an entire race?” His voice wasn’t as shaky now—he sounded curious rather than hurt.

“There was this band of unicorns that lived just outside of Novis. They were a bunch of loud, rowdy bastards who didn’t ever take no for an answer, especially from people they were hitting on. They were known to be nothing more than thieving liars who smelled bad. Not to mention, they were crude, and they made the people in their town miserable.”

“And were these the only unicorns you knew?”

Fuck. He had a point. “Yes. We didn’t bother talking to other unicorns in the outlying regions. They had the same funky smell and loud braying laughs, so it stood to reason that the rest were the same, too.”

“So what you’re saying is that you guys have spent a lifetime hating an entire race based on one gang of buffoons? Talk about negative stereotyping… wait.” Nathan turned to face me, his hand coming up to cradle my face.

“You mean to say that you felt this way about unicorns since you met me, yet you accepted my family at face value for my sake? That’s… kind of amazing, actually. You all squashed your prejudices for me, just because I’m your mate? That makes me happy.” Nathan’s sweet smile made me feel even worse.

“I’m glad that we gave your family a chance, angel boy. They are truly remarkable people, and we’ve learned more than we ever would have through ignorance by getting to know them better.” I ran a hand down his back while I spoke, hoping to calm him.

Nathan winked and flashed me a sassy grin. “Naw. I don’t buy it. You’re just scared of Mama. She’s pretty terrifying, I’ll give you that. But… thank you for seeing that what you thought you knew was wrong. It takes a lot to get to that point, and… and I’m really grateful that you’d reflect so deeply just for me.”

We talked for a few more minutes, then I remembered his uneaten food. “Are you still hungry, angel boy? You didn’t finish your dinner.”

A look of frustration passed over his face, but he shook his head. “I’m full, but I’m off count now. I had seven bites still on my plate when I left.”

I cupped the back of his head and pulled him to me for a kiss. “Let Daddy see if he can’t help you forget about those missing bites, baby.”

My fingers threaded through his silky curls, and his body went limp from pleasure as we kissed. Slowly, I broke our kiss and began to pull his clothing off while I kissed each new section of skin that I unveiled.

I pulled away just long enough to help him get his shirt off, then flung it off to the side. His smooth chest beckoned me. Pushing him onto his back, I kissed and licked my way down his torso while my hands quickly divested him of his pants.

He lifted his hips to help me remove them, then did away with them completely with a flutter of kicks. I stopped to lick a ring around his navel before following the light path of hair that led straight to his dick.

Nathan was already painfully hard, the scent of his slick perfuming the air. Scooting down to kneel between his open legs, I lowered my mouth over his length, taking him all the way into my mouth while I probed his leaking pucker with two fingers.

I teased him a bit by swirling my tongue around the head of his dick while my fingers mirrored the motion around his rim, then plunged them inside his body while I took him down all the way to the root with my mouth at the same time.

I kept that rhythm up for several long minutes, teasing him as his moans peaked into a crescendo. Right when I felt him begin to tense, I sucked in my cheeks and swallowed over his cockhead while my fingers stroked his prostate.

“D-daddy! Yes!” He nearly sobbed as he came into my throat, jerking against me while I swallowed every drop. Once he’d finished, I pulled off and licked him clean, bringing my fingers to my lips and licking his slick from them while he watched with interest.

“Do you need me to take care of you now, Daddy?” He asked this sweetly, gazing up at me from under his lashes.

Oh, my darling boy. I smiled gently and shook my head as I stood to strip off my clothes. I held my cum-covered underwear up to him with a rueful smile.

“Sorry, baby. Daddy made a mess in his shorts when you came. You don’t know how good hearing you happy makes me feel. There’s nothing left for you to take care of now.”

Nathan smiled. I’d be embarrassed if I hadn’t been so turned on by the way he’d screamed Daddy when he came.

I climbed back onto the bed beside my sweet angel boy, pulling the blanket over us and wrapping my arm around him. Yeah, I’d never be embarrassed for blowing my load from watching him come. His pleasure was my own, and it would remain that way until the end of time.