Wyatt Drake

by Emilia Hartley

  They slipped past the dragon men raging around the flipped boardgame. Only Makenna saw them, and promptly looked away, lips sealed. Kennedy laughed under her breath and urged her mate up the stairs. They sought out a room as far from the chaos as they could manage, so that no one downstairs could hear them.

  Kennedy wondered why every room had a bed until they passed one full of matching recliners and a big, white screen. She looked up at Wyatt, brows raised in question. He looked as surprised to find a home theater as she was.

  “Why aren’t we watching movies in here on family night?” Wyatt whispered.

  “Maybe all Jasper owns for movies is porn,” Kennedy said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Didn’t we rent the last one online?”

  Wyatt laughed, but shook his head. He flipped through the stack of movies near the projector. Kennedy was not so patient, though. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him close. When their lips connected, he let out a low groan and pulled her into his body.

  This was right where she belonged. They made love in one of the reclining chairs, making quick work of their orgasms with the excitement of getting caught hovering over their heads. When they finished, they collapsed into one another, a mess of tangled body parts and contented laughter.

  She laid her head on his chest and sighed. “Is this all you ever wanted?”

  Wyatt stilled beneath her. She didn’t know what she’d said wrong. When she pushed herself up to look in his eyes, they were guarded. This was her mate, her forever, and somehow, she’d managed to push a button she hadn’t known existed. It was proof that no matter how long they lived together, a relationship would always be work.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

  Wyatt shook his head. The ghost of a smile on his lips slowly turned into one more real, and it lifted the shadows from her heart.

  “You didn’t do anything wrong,” he assured her. “Our bond is new, and I didn’t know when to bring this up, so I’ve put it aside. I didn’t want you to think that I was pushing us or disappointed with anything.” He was rambling, but Kennedy quickly caught on.

  Perhaps it was the mate bond that allowed her to read him so easily. Maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that they wanted similar things. She laid her head back down on his chest and smiled. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

  “You don’t need to be afraid to ask things of me,” she reminded him. “I want everything you want. Someday, we can try to have children. Not now. Probably, not even this year. But eventually we can try. I would love to see a little Wyatt stumbling around.”

  Kennedy paused, a thought occurring to her. “Oh man, our baby would be a little dragon man. Right? I’m not even sure what that means. Am I going to lay an egg?”

  Finally, she broke the awkward tension. Wyatt’s laughter filled the room. He hugged her closer, as if they could meld into one soul.

  “I take it that means no eggs?” She smiled hopefully up at him and earned another laugh. “I’m serious, though, about having kids. I want to raise kids who know they’re loved. I want to eat family meals together and talk about our days. Let’s give it a year to get settled in, to get used to living with one another.”

  “Then it’s a deal,” Wyatt said before laying a kiss on the top of her head.

  As if they were waiting for the conversation to finish, the door burst open. Ashton strolled in with a bucket of popcorn cradled in his arms. Behind him, Jasper and Griffin looked worse for wear, having taken their frustrations out on each other. Makenna was the last to enter. She shook her head at the dragons ahead of her. One by one, they all claimed a seat in the theater.

  All save for Ashton.

  “At least we know Jasper doesn’t have any homemade porn stashed up here. I haven’t seen him look at a woman since the third grade,” Ashton proclaimed.

  Jasper rolled his eyes.

  “He was in love with Mrs. Finley,” Ashton continued.

  “I remember her,” Griffin said, picking up the conversation. “She was a warthog shifter. Wasn’t she? Had a big wart on the side of her nose, but Jasper followed her around like a puppy.”

  Kennedy couldn’t hide her laughter. Even Wyatt snorted.

  “Change of subject,” Jasper announced. His voice shook the room and silenced everyone. When he turned to Kennedy, her stomach flipped. “When are you going to host family day? Ashton and Makenna’s house isn’t finished yet, but you two have a nice place.”

  That was what he wanted to ask? “Like hell am I letting any of you into my apartment. It could barely fit all of you. Someone would eventually go out a window, and I’m not going to have that.”

  She was a lady of Jasper’s court, mate to one of his knights. It was a strange kind of family, but Kennedy found that here was where she belonged.

  Thank you!

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