by Zoe Chant
“Great,” said Malachi.
Behind him, he heard a startled, “Ronan?”
“You know him?” Malachi asked softly.
Ronan nodded. “Second cousin. Always kind of a little idiot, from what I remember. Not surprised he showed up like this, making challenges without thinking about what he was doing.”
“But we can expect more to follow,” Malachi said, not really needing the confirmation.
Ronan nodded anyway. “Less foolhardy, probably, but that might mean more dangerous.”
Malachi nodded soberly.
“Then you’ll need to be in top shape,” Elizabeth said tartly. “Why aren’t you seeing the doctor? Where is he?”
“He’s coming,” Flynn said behind them. “Malachi, you really don’t look so great, you should let him see you.”
“I have shifter healing, remember?” Malachi told everyone. “I’ll be fine.”
Admittedly, he did feel a little...lightheaded. And the pain was extremely difficult to ignore.
Then Elizabeth touched his shoulder, and suddenly the pain was much easier to ignore. He turned to look at her. God, she had beautiful eyes. So sparkly. And...blue.
“You’re seeing the doctor,” she told him firmly.
Well...if she said so. “All right.”
“And getting all of your injuries photographed so that the court case is airtight,” she added.
“Good thinking. Okay.” There had been something he’d wanted to say to her...what was it? “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she said, looking simultaneously amused and worried.
Oh yes, that had been it. “Why didn’t you stay in the house? I said stay in the house.”
“I did, at first. Then I could tell you’d been hurt. Flynn still wouldn’t take me to you until the other dragon had shifted back to human.”
Well, there was that, at least. “Good.”
Her eyes moved away from his, which he wanted to protest. “Here’s Reid. He’s hurt pretty badly,” she said over his shoulder. “A little woozy.”
“Got it,” Reid said. “All right, Malachi, I’ll need you to sit down.”
Malachi started to protest—he really hated being fussed over—but then Elizabeth caught his hand.
“I had to do what the doctor said and keep myself healthy, so you do, too.” Her tone of voice didn’t brook any disagreement. Malachi found himself nodding without really thinking about it.
“I’m calling you anytime I have to see him from now on,” Reid said, sounding rueful, and Malachi squeezed Elizabeth’s hand, thinking about having her with him always. From now on.
He didn’t care about any mild little injuries, next to the reality of the future. Of life with his mate. She squeezed his hand back, intertwining their fingers, and he turned back to Reid, already feeling better.
Chapter 19: Elizabeth
“You’re sure he’s going to be okay,” Hayley said for the third time.
“I’m right here,” Malachi interrupted grumpily from his spot on the couch.
“You’ll just lie, Dad,” Hayley said, with an air of sainted patience. “You’ll say you’re totally fine and there’s nothing to worry about, which is exactly what you’d say if your organs were all on the outside of your body. I don’t trust you.”
“He’s going to be just fine,” Elizabeth said, as Malachi subsided into the six pillows Hayley had insisted on carefully placing all around him. “If there was going to be any danger, it would have been right in the moment the injury happened. Shifters are very resilient. And Dr. Reid said he’d leave his phone on all night, and we could call if there was any cause for concern.”
“Which there won’t be,” Malachi put in.
“Which there won’t be,” Elizabeth agreed.
“Okay,” Hayley said, still clearly worried.
Elizabeth hesitated, and then gave into her lioness’s instinct and reached out to tug Hayley into her side, putting an arm around her shoulders.
It was the right move. Hayley immediately buried herself against Elizabeth, putting her arms around her and holding on tight. It brought a lump to Elizabeth’s throat—when was the last time she’d hugged someone like this?
Someone other than her mate, that was.
Malachi was watching them fondly. Elizabeth smiled back. Unlike Hayley, she wasn’t actually very worried about Malachi’s safety—because unlike Hayley, she’d been witness to plenty of shifter fights and injuries, back in Victor’s pack, and she knew that shifters could recover from the most dangerous-looking injuries with a little bit of time and rest.
Besides, she could feel the mate-bond in her chest, strong and easy. It had been tight with strain during the fight itself, but now it was like she knew there was no cause for worry.
“He’ll be fine,” she told Hayley, “but we can still make him lie still for the evening. Bring him dinner on a tray. Tuck more pillows around him.”
“I don’t know if we have more pillows,” Malachi put in. “I think Hayley cleaned us out already.”
“I bet I could hunt up a couple more,” Hayley said, smiling a little.
Elizabeth smiled too. She had to admit, it was nice to be up on her feet, feeling well, and even able to take care of someone else for a change—even though she wished Malachi hadn’t been injured at all.
She herself felt a million times better. She didn’t know if it was the rest she’d gotten, the mate-bond and the strength she drew from it, and from Malachi, or just the fact that she was safe and sound in her new home, with no need to worry about Nevin or Victor ever again.
Nevin was in jail, and about to be transported back to Leosville for arraignment. He’d admitted that he’d been acting on his own, not on Victor’s orders, so Elizabeth had been able to let go of the faint worry that there were five other enforcers out in the woods ready to back him up.
And that red dragon was in jail next to him. She wondered what they were talking about. The idea made her smile a little, but mostly she was happy to let go of having to worry about her past catching up to her.
And instead, looking ahead to her future.
Thinking of the future made her say, “You know, Malachi, you should really appreciate the opportunity to lie around propped up on pillows. In a few months, none of us are going to be able to take a real break.”
“Even me?” Hayley said, a little dismayed.
“You’ll be the reserves,” Malachi said. “Don’t worry, we won’t call you in unless we really need you. Which we probably will.”
“Well—fine, I guess. I do want to get to know—is it a him or a her?”
“Too early to say,” Elizabeth said.
“Do you want one or the other?” Hayley asked, curious.
She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter to me. I guess your dad probably wants a boy.”
“No,” Malachi said, sounding a little surprised. “I mean, I wouldn’t turn one away or anything, but whichever is fine for me.”
Elizabeth blinked, finding herself once again having to reorder her perceptions of the world. “I guess—I guess after Victor’s pack, I’m used to men wanting sons,” she admitted. “To carry on their name and—to teach them hunting and fighting and so on.” Said out loud, she was starting to realize how obviously it was a remnant of her old life.
“That’s sexist,” Hayley said, with solid finality. “Besides, how do you know a boy’s going to be into all that? Maybe he’ll be super fabulous and love showtunes. Maybe a girl would be totally badass.”
“Language,” Malachi said, sounding amused.
“Dad, badbutt doesn’t really have the same ring to it.”
Elizabeth laughed, squeezing Hayley’s shoulders.
“I just want it to be known,” Malachi said, “that I am happy to go see my son on Broadway or support my daughter’s following in my footsteps as town sheriff. Whatever makes them happy.”
My son. My daughter. The words sounded inside Elizabeth’s chest like bells.
“I love you,” she said involuntarily.
Malachi’s eyes softened even further, looking up at her. “I love you, too.”
“You guys are gross,” Hayley announced. “I’m going to go make dinner.”
Malachi started to laugh as she made her escape, and Elizabeth, already smiling so hard her cheeks hurt, laughed with him.
Epilogue: Elizabeth
“So what’s happening for the holidays this year?”
Elizabeth glanced up from Lachlan’s specials menu, startled. There weren’t a lot of things that could’ve drawn her attention away from winter squash risotto with pancetta and brown sugar, but Hayley’s blithe introduction of a classic fraught family topic was one.
“What do you mean?” she asked, buying herself time.
“Well, Dad and I—” Hayley punched her father lightly in the arm, “usually go it solo on the days themselves. Lachlan does a big thing here on Thanksgiving Friday, so that anyone who doesn’t have a lot of family gets a nice dinner. Hanukkah is pretty chill, but we do candles and presents and stuff. I spend Christmas with Mom, because it’s not really Dad’s holiday. But now we’ve got you! So we can also do whatever you do.”
Elizabeth glanced at Malachi, a little nervous about admitting her holiday practices. Although Hayley’s total nonchalance on the topic helped a little bit. “I don’t really—I haven’t really done much for the holidays,” she admitted. “They weren’t a big deal for my family growing up, and I lived alone in the city, so—the pack usually did a Secret Santa, but that was it.”
Hayley’s eyes widened in outrage. “You didn’t have turkey? You didn’t visit your family?”
Helplessly, Elizabeth shook her head.
“Well—” Hayley started, but Malachi interrupted.
“Honey, not everyone celebrates the holidays the way we do, and that’s okay. How about we ask Elizabeth what she wants to do?”
“Oh, well, if you want to be all reasonable about it,” Hayley grumped, and Elizabeth laughed.
“All of what you said sounds wonderful,” she told Hayley. “I can’t wait to share it with you. I’ve never celebrated Hanukkah before.”
“It’s fun. And I make a mean latke. You missed the big-deal holidays earlier this fall, we can do those next year.” Satisfied, Hayley went back to the menu. She’d declared that she was going to try every single thing on it before she graduated, and was working her way through with dedication.
Elizabeth felt a warm arm come over her shoulder, and let herself settle into Malachi’s side. “By next fall, we’ll be a family of four,” he murmured into her hair.
“New traditions,” Elizabeth said wonderingly. Family traditions that the baby would grow up with, know as this is how we always do it, with the same happy confidence that Hayley had.
Oh, she couldn’t wait.
***
Hayley had to run off to meet some friends after dinner, but Elizabeth and Malachi lingered. As they were finally gathering themselves to go, Reid appeared, with the mayor and a man who must have been his father.
They said hello, and there were introductions all around. Then Mr. MacAllister said, “Elizabeth, I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”
“Oh?” Elizabeth asked, surprised.
“Yes—it’s about my practice...”
He drew her aside. Five minutes later, he bid her a cheerful goodbye and went off with his wife and son, leaving Elizabeth dazed, looking at Malachi.
“He wants to retire in the next few years,” she said blankly, “but he was worried, because there aren’t any local attorneys he’d trust to take over his practice, and if he didn’t fine one, the people in the surrounding towns would have to go all the way to Leosville if they wanted legal help. He asked if I wanted to come work for him, and if it goes well, he could gradually phase himself out and me in.”
“Congratulations,” Malachi said fervently, taking her hands. “Elizabeth. I know this was something you were worried about. That’s fantastic news.”
She nodded, still feeling a little off-balance. “This is exactly—this is exactly what I wanted. We’ll have to find a day-care for the baby...”
“We can figure it out,” Malachi said firmly, and leaned in to kiss her. “There are plenty of people in town who are experienced with kids. No need to worry about it.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Her baby was going to grow up with all these other children around—Lila’s son would be a couple of years older, Katie had a baby about the same age and was talking occasionally about another one sometime soon—
She was distracted from her thoughts by another kiss, this one a bit deeper. “How about we go home and celebrate?” Malachi said into her ear.
Elizabeth’s breath caught. “That sounds like a great idea.”
***
Celebrating, in Malachi’s terms, turned out to mean, see how many times I can make you come in a row.
“Three,” Elizabeth gasped when she could talk again. She was starting to be able to catalogue how multiple orgasms felt, as opposed to just one, which was a deliciously satisfying data set. This one had been brief, just a moment long, but so intense she’d thought she might die of pleasure.
“Mmm.” Malachi lifted his head. “Want to go for four?”
“I want you inside me,” Elizabeth said as imperiously as she could manage, which wasn’t very.
Malachi didn’t exactly hop to attention, but he did smile softly and come up for a damp kiss. “Are you sure?” he breathed when they separated. “Because I could keep going.”
“Forever, I think sometimes,” Elizabeth said, still slightly out of breath. “But I want—I really want—”
She felt empty. She wanted him in her, filling her up.
“All right,” he said, his voice a low rumble in his chest, betraying his own excitement. He tried, when they were together, to pretend that her desires were the only ones that mattered—but paradoxically, that only made her more excited to know when he was turned on, when he couldn’t wait any longer.
It was like the world’s best contest, where they both won every time.
She could feel him nudging at her entrance, and tilted her hips back. Her stomach hadn’t swelled enough yet to really get in the way—it was coming, she knew—so she took advantage, wrapping herself around him as he pushed inside her.
And oh, there was the feeling she’d wanted, like he was exactly what her body had needed to be complete.
They started moving together—she was so wet from three orgasms in a row that it was like a dreamy glide, like a flow of pleasure that wasn’t interrupted by any friction, any pause. It built and built until she knew, with absolute certainty, that number four was on the way.
“Wait for it,” she gasped, digging her fingers into Malachi’s back.
He groaned, knowing what she meant, and sped up just a little, just enough to hurry it along, until—
Oh God. Her vision darkened as pleasure swept over her, blinding and impossibly good, better than the first three, better than anything she’d ever felt before—
She could feel Malachi letting go, the burst of joy inside her that was the echo of his pleasure through the mate-bond. They shuddered together.
“Wow,” she said finally, when they’d both recovered a little. “Do you suppose we’re going to keep getting better at this? Will we survive into old age, if we do?”
“I am very excited to find out,” Malachi said solemnly.
As he’d started doing whenever they were naked together, he kissed first her mouth, and then the gentle swell of her belly. Elizabeth watched, a soft feeling building inside her.
“I’m very excited for everything,” she admitted quietly.
He looked up at her, then caught her hand and kissed that, too. “Me too. I love you, Elizabeth.”
“I love you, too,” she said, and smiled as she thought about the future.
The End
A note from Zoe Chant
Thank you for
reading The Dragon’s Pregnant Mate! I hope you enjoyed it. This book is the third in a series set in Oak Ridge, where plenty of lonely single parents (and their kids!) find love, family, and a little magic. Check out Ronan and Katie’s book, The Red Dragon’s Baby; Lachlan and Cam’s book, The Midnight Dragon’s Mate; and Flynn and Lila’s book, The Golden Griffin’s Baby, if you missed them! There’s also a convenient box set of books 1-3 if you’d rather have them all in one.
Santos’ book will be next, and I can’t wait to share it with you all!
Please review The Dragon’s Pregnant Mate, even if it’s only a line or two. I love to hear what my readers think.
If you’d like to be emailed when I release my next book, please click here to be added to my mailing list. You can also visit my webpage, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter.
Page down to read a special sneak preview of The Red Dragon’s Baby.
The cover of The Dragon’s Pregnant Mate was designed by Belle Arden.
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