Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
It matters not. I inhale deeply of her scent and growl low in my throat.
She is mine.
EPILOGUE II
Months later
ZOHR
A crinkle of a wrapper rouses me from my sleep.
Next to me, on the bed, my mate goes still. I roll over and squint at her with one eye. She has a candle lit on the nightstand, and resting on her rounded belly is the package of cookies I hid earlier.
“I can explain,” Emma tells me, her mouth full of crumbs.
Explain that you are eating your present? The one I hid for you to surprise you? I tease, sliding my hand over her hips and pulling her against me. She picks up the cookies and sets them on the nightstand, and I lean my head against the swell of her stomach, listening to our young kick and move inside her.
“I was surprised,” she protests, but she does not sound guilty. “The baby was hungry.”
I snort. You say that every time I catch you eating.
“Well, it’s true.” She licks her fingers and shrugs. “Your kid is always hungry.”
He is like his mother. I press a kiss to her belly. Eating and eating and eating.
“You’re just jealous because I didn’t save any cookies for you,” she teases, then slides her hand through my hair. Her caress is gentle, and I can feel her laughter move through her body as she chuckles. “What can I say, Junior wanted something sweet.” She regards the nearly empty package with a little sigh. “I’m so sad it wasn’t a bigger box, though.”
Your need for sweets grows as your belly does.
“You ain’t lyin’,” she says with a sigh. “I could totally demolish another box right now.”
Then you and our young—I pause to press another kiss on her protruding belly—will be pleased to know that Kael and his mate are holding two more packages for me.
Emma gasps. “Are you kidding?” She wiggles underneath me.
Yes. We will pick them up tomorrow. I told her I would exchange soap for the cookies. It seems that the longer that Kael’s mate is carrying his young, the more that strong scents bother her nose. Lately she has been wanting soaps and shampoos with a particular scent to them…and my mate wants sweets. It is a deal that works well for us, just as the one we have for Sasha and her peanut butter works well. Dakh’s mate’s is generous, though. The last time she had a jar of peanut butter, she invited the others over for snacks.
It is a good thing to have a clan again, even if it is a small one. At first, my Emma was not sure if she wanted to remain near the other dragons and their mates. The loner in her has been taught the need for solitude, but she likes her friends and she likes the safety our small band of dragons and riders can offer. She says sometimes that we will move on…but that day has not arrived in months and months. I do not think it will arrive anytime soon.
I do not care either way. All I care about is being with my Emma. She is all that matters.
It is much like my wings. We stretch them nightly, working hard to ensure that they are as capable as they can be. I can fly again for short periods of time, but they tire easily and I lack the finesse that the other dragons have on the air. Next to them, my thicker wings are clumsy and inept. It does not matter. I can fly enough to protect my mate, and her eyes shine bright with pleasure at even the smallest of airborne flights.
Perhaps I will fly fully again someday. Perhaps not. I find that it matters less each day.
My female grabs another cookie from the bedside and munches it, while the young in her belly shifts and twists. “He’s busy tonight,” she tells me between bites. “Even if I wanted to sleep, I couldn’t. It’s like he’s dancing in there.”
I rest my ear against her stomach. Perhaps he is just happy.
“Maybe.” She traces my face with her free hand, her mind thoughtful. “How about you? Are you happy?”
Beyond happy.
“Me too,” she says softly. “Especially at the thought of two more packages of cookies.”
A laugh rumbles in my chest, and I love the sound of her accompanying giggles.
“Happy” is such a strange, fleeting word. To think that months ago I was out of my mind with insanity. My world was nothing but bloodlust. “Happy” was not even a consideration. Yet now there is so much more in my world, and it is all thanks to my Emma.
I am…happy. She is my happy. She is my everything. And now that we will have a family, I cannot imagine a drakoni warrior that has ever been so filled with joy.