The Dragon's Need (Tahoe Dragon Mates Book 2)

by Jessie Donovan

  "Nice to meet you, sir."

  Jorge snorted. "Call me Jorge." He motioned with his head toward the glass sliding door. "Hurry and go grab something to eat out there while you have the chance. My mate and I will join you later."

  Her mother began, "Jorge, just wait a minute—"

  Jorge cut off his mate. "Give them some time to breathe, Maria. It's going to be hard enough for them to be newly together on PineRock, but add in them staying with us to boot, and it makes it a little trying."

  Gaby blinked. "What are you talking about?"

  Her father frowned. "Didn't Wes mention that to you? For at least the beginning, you two are staying here with us, along with Jose and Tori. Keeping the humans in one place will make it easier to protect them."

  Great. Not only would she have pretty much zero opportunity to be naked with her male inside her parents' house, she'd probably have to deal with Jose's teasing, too. "Do we get any say in this?"

  Her father shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I won't risk my children or their mates."

  Ryan was at her side, rubbing circles on her lower back. He said, "As much as I hate to admit it, he's right, Gaby. It'll be easier to protect me and your brother's mate this way." He glanced up at her parents. "Although it is temporary, right?"

  Maria snorted. "Believe me, I'd rather my newly mated children have their own places, too. Walking into a room becomes a dangerous thing until that happens."

  Gaby shuddered at the thought. "Ew, Mother, you shouldn't think of such things."

  Maria shrugged one shoulder. "It happens to us all. You wouldn't be here otherwise."

  Jose sighed. "Come on, Gaby. I think I see Tori out back with Luna. Let's leave before Mom and Dad think of giving some sort of strange dragon and the bees lesson to your human."

  From the corner of her eye, she could see Ryan pressing his lips together, trying not to laugh.

  The bastard.

  Taking his hand, she headed toward the door. "Let's go, Ryan. After you meet Jose's mate, then maybe you can help me tease my brother a little, just because."

  "Not unless he wants to irritate someone who can shift into a dragon," Jose stated.

  She glanced up. Heaven help her from alpha males.

  Her dragon chuckled. It'll only get worse, as the months roll by and Jose's mate starts to show.

  The only good news is that I'm pregnant now, too. So maybe Jose will be a little nicer to me.

  Her dragon snorted. Good luck with that.

  Her beast curled up into a ball and shut her eyes, leaving Gaby to talk and eat in peace.

  Well, as peaceful as a meal with Luna could be. She loved her cousin, but Luna acted more like her sister and made it her job to irritate the hell out of her.

  Exiting the glass sliding door, Gaby made a line straight for Tori and Luna. Her parents were easy. Luna would take a little more fortitude from Ryan.

  Not that she doubted her mate. But it had been a long day, and it was only going to get longer.

  Ryan's lips would start bleeding soon if he had to keep biting them so he wouldn't laugh.

  Gaby had mentioned how her family was close, but hearing about it and seeing it in person were two different things.

  Even if he would've preferred not to stay with her parents straight away, he'd instantly liked them. Which was a far cry from his ex-wife's, who had only bothered to meet him once.

  The more he thought about it, the more warning signs he'd ignored. But he couldn't get mad any longer. All of those things had brought him to his Gaby, after all.

  Gaby waved to a slightly pale woman with dark hair and eyes. She stood next to another woman around Gaby's age who looked a lot like her, except for the shape of the eyes—same dark hair, brown eyes, and light brown skin.

  The two women came up to them. When Jose went to the pale woman's side, he figured her to be Tori and the other to be Luna. Tori spoke up. "You're back, Gaby!" She looked at Ryan and smiled. "Hi there."

  Jose growled, but the woman lightly elbowed him in the side and murmured, "Behave."

  Ryan cleared his throat. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

  The woman snorted. "I'm way too young to be a ma'am. I'm Tori."

  The other woman, Luna, slowly studied him from head to toe. "At least you picked a sexy one, Gaby."

  "Luna," Gaby growled. "That's my male, so don't eye him like a lollipop you want to lick."

  Luna smiled at him, her eyes flashing. "Are you super sure you want to be with my cousin? I can promise a little more adventure, in all aspects of our lives, if you get my meaning."

  Jose and Gaby both muttered, "Holy crap," but Ryan didn't look away from Luna. "Thanks for the offer, but Gaby is my dragon lady. I'm sure you'll find your own other half at some point."

  Gaby's head whipped to him. "You think of me as your other half already?"

  Shit, maybe he shouldn't have said that. But he wouldn't take it back. He gazed down at Gaby. "Yes, I do. I know it hasn't been that long, but I can't imagine going back to my lonely house. I'd constantly think of you."

  "Ryan," Gaby breathed.

  Luna made a gagging sound, ruining the moment. "And this is the guy you want, Gaby? You could've gone for a much bigger rebellion than him."

  Gaby glared at her cousin. "We've never had the same taste in males, so why would I want your type? Enter your name next time and maybe you can pick out a bad boy who acts like a bastard until he meets you and turns into a softie for his female. That's your dream, isn't it?"

  "I do like a challenge," Luna stated. "Of course, trying to seduce your male away would be the ultimate one."

  Gaby growled and looked away from Luna, back at Ryan. "Excuse my cousin's manners. I swear she lives to make my life miserable."

  Not caring that any number of people were watching, Ryan raised his free hand to cup Gaby's cheek. "Do you want to find somewhere quiet for a short while, to get away from any stress?" To take a break and let him kiss her as much as he wanted, of course. To add a touch of guilt toward her cousin, he said, "For the baby's sake."

  Luna cursed. "That's right, you're pregnant now. I sort of forgot. I'll try to be nicer, but I can't guarantee it. Don't tell my dad how I treated you as he has a big thing for revering pregnant females. Okay?"

  Gaby never looked away from his eyes. "Change the playlist to the one I like, and I'll forget everything that just happened."

  With a sigh, Luna trudged away.

  "What playlist?" he asked.

  "That's a long story," Gaby stated. She finally faced toward her brother and his mate. "Let's sit down together at that table over there to eat, and I'll tell you about it."

  "Are you sure you're fine?" He leaned down to whisper. "I wouldn't mind some alone time with you myself."

  Jose looked toward the sky. "If you're going to seduce my sister, do it some place where I can't hear you."

  Crap, he'd forgotten all about super dragon-shifter hearing.

  Tori laughed. "Oh, it wasn't that bad. Now, come on. You have two pregnant women here to feed. I'm sure your dragon doesn't like you starving us and all."

  Ryan expected a protest, but Jose merely placed a hand on his mate's back. "Come on. Let's find you something that you can keep down."

  Once the pair were a few feet away, Ryan kissed Gaby quickly. "You, too. Even without an inner dragon, my instinct is to keep you and the baby fed."

  She raised an eyebrow. "For tonight, I won't argue. Although start acting like my brother, and we may have a few words."

  He snorted. "Noted."

  As they headed to the barbecued offerings, Ryan smiled at his dragon lady. He'd thought it would be hard to stay with dragon-shifters, away from the humans. And while there was still a lot of challenges to face, so far, he kind of liked it.

  He'd miss his sister, but Tiffany was just finishing her master's degree and could move anywhere for an engineering job. He doubted she'd stay in Phoenix.

  So Ryan just needed to work as hard as possible to fit in wi
th Gaby's family and to start the seeds of his new life on PineRock. Because no matter if he had to delay the true start of his new life with Gaby—in their own place—for weeks or even months, he wanted it more than anything.

  Chapter Eight

  The next morning, Gaby woke up in her old childhood bedroom and snuggled against the warm, male chest under her cheek.

  While it wasn't quite as good as if it'd been their own place, she would always be happy to wake up next to Ryan.

  Her dragon yawned. He needs to get up, too, so I can shift and show him our dragon form.

  I know you're eager, but he deserves some sleep after the frenzy.

  Her beast grunted. He enjoyed it just as much as we did, so I won't apologize.

  Ryan's voice rumbled inside his chest. "Good morning."

  Looking up, she smiled as her male blinked away his sleepiness. "It is with you here."

  He grinned and pulled her up so he could kiss her. "I thought I was supposed to be the charming one."

  "There's no rule that I can't be charming, too, on occasion."

  He placed a possessive hand on her hip. "So what's on the agenda for today? A meeting with the clan leader, but is the rest of it ours?"

  She sighed. "I wish. But Cris sent me a text late last night and she wants to meet with us in an hour or so."

  He tightened his grip on her. "As long as she's not going to tell me to leave, it should be fine. Although, I was hoping I could see your dragon today."

  At the disappointment in his tone, she sat up. "We can still manage that if we hurry. After all, Cris wants to meet at the small landing area near the main security building, so there's plenty of room for me to shift."

  He searched her eyes. "Will it be safe there? Ashley mentioned one of the Protectors might be hiding their true intentions."

  Gaby tucked a section of hair behind one ear. "It should be. I mean, if they were going to try and harm either of us, they'd wait until we were somewhere more remote and with no witnesses."

  He raised his brows. "Why doesn't it surprise me that you've thought of that?"

  She placed a hand on his chest and lightly ran her fingers back and forth, loving his now familiar muscles and heat. "Well, what my brother said yesterday, about me not making the best decisions when I was younger, is true. I may, just may, have had a thing for sneaking off PineRock and exploring the outer areas as a teenager. That's how I saw Clan SkyTree for the first time, albeit from a distance." She sighed. "However, it was also the last time. I got busted on that one, and from there on out, the Protectors and my family watched me super closely, afraid I'd end up in major trouble, or worse."

  Ryan placed a hand over hers on his chest and squeezed. "Don't the dragon clans visit with one another? There are a lot around Tahoe—four, I think—and it would help your cousins find their true mates if there was more visiting among them all."

  She shrugged one shoulder. "It depends on both what a clan leader and ADDA thinks at any given time. Some of the Tahoe clans fought each other in the not too distant past. Not to mention an early form of ADDA shuffled dragons around willy-nilly, sometimes even taking in outcasts and prisoners from other countries to earn some money, and placed them all over the country."

  It was why the US had the most diverse group of dragon-shifters in the world, with Australia being a close second.

  Ryan grunted. "Well, once we get everything settled here, maybe we can plant the seed into your mom's head about your cousins finding mates outside the clan and then it'll spread to the rest of the family. With enough people, maybe ADDA and Wes will allow dragons from other clans to visit."

  She smiled down at Ryan. "You've been here a day and you're already trying to fix things."

  He shrugged. "If my child is going to be a dragon-shifter, then why wouldn't I want to try and start changing things now? Sort of like how some people start saving for college before a kid is even born, except this is a lot more important to my kid's future."

  Using her free hand, she traced Ryan's jaw, his cheek, and then his lips. "You are too good to be true, huh?"

  He tugged her down and rolled her under him. "No, I'm just an average guy who finally has a future to fight for."

  She stopped breathing. At the love and desire in Ryan's eyes, she wished she could do more than kiss him and show how much she wanted him, too.

  But as the old porcelain statues and dusty stuffed animals hovered at the edge of her vision, reminding Gaby of where they were, she merely settled for saying, "We'll do it together." She kissed him quickly. "But first, you should see my dragon. If you're going to live with a dragon clan, you need to get over the mix of amazement and fear that comes with us being in our dragon forms. Otherwise, that could be a huge negative for you if a dragon tries to attack you."

  After kissing her gently, he murmured, "As if I could ever be afraid of you, Gaby."

  Her beast sat up at that. Maybe just to test his limits, I'll roar and flash some teeth.

  She laughed and Ryan quirked his eyebrows in question. Gaby explained, "You just threw down a challenge to my dragon half. You're going to learn quickly how doing that isn't always the best idea."

  He kissed her again. "Then tell your dragon to bring it."

  She sighed happily.

  Damn, she wanted Ryan all to herself for days, no weeks, and then some. Hell, she’d settle for a few hours.

  But since she wasn't about to try and sneak around in her parents' house when everyone should be getting up soon—not all of the walls were soundproofed and her family would hear everything—Gaby motioned to the attached bathroom. "We're going to have to take the fastest showers in history to have enough time for my dragon to try."

  He tickled her side and she shrieked. "I can take a shower in a matter of minutes. Maybe I should help you, so it doesn't take forever."

  Ryan let her up and Gaby raced to the bathroom.

  And even though they were on their best behavior, there may have been some kissing. And definitely some fondling.

  They were basically like newlyweds, after all. Although the sooner they could truly be mated and act like it freely in their own house, the better.

  Ryan hated that he had to be vigilant of their surroundings as they walked toward the specified landing area near the security building, but he did it anyway.

  There were families walking their children, young dragons heading toward a three-story building that was probably a school, and quite a few solo dragon-shifters walking to one place or the other, probably on their way to work.

  It all seemed so normal. True, every once in a while, a dragon would fly overhead or jump into the air, but dragon-shifters weren't that different from humans. They were all just trying to live their lives to the best of their abilities.

  If only more humans would realize that, maybe they'd stop being afraid of them.

  Gaby squeezed his hand and he glanced down at his beautiful lady. She pointed to a structure that looked to be a duplex, with two houses sharing a wall. "That's where I live. Or, rather, lived. Now that I have a male and a baby on the way, I'm going to need something with a little more privacy." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "My neighbor is an older dragonwoman who would probably give us looks every morning since the walls are paper thin."

  He chuckled. "Yes, let's give the woman her much-needed rest by finding somewhere else to stay once we can leave your parents' place." He studied the front of the duplex, which was painted a light brown with a few shrubs in the front. "Still, I wish we could stop and check it out, though. Just like your room back home, I'm sure it'd give me some insight into who is Gabriela Santos."

  She snorted. "Better not, and not just because then I wouldn't have time to show you my dragon. I'm not the tidiest person in the world, and I was too anxious to get the whole lottery thing started to bother cleaning."

  "Later, then. Because I really do want to see your dragon, not because a little mess bothers me."

  His woman's pupils flashed. Ryan had be
come well-acquainted with the beast during the frenzy, but only when taking over Gaby's human form.

  He wanted to pet and charm her inner beast in her natural element, too. Gaby had mentioned something about scratching behind the ears, so he'd most definitely start there.

  He did have a question he'd burned to ask but had held back. No longer. "So I was wondering, will your dragon ever be able to take me up into the air?"

  Gaby shrugged. "I honestly don't know. ADDA forbade it once a long time ago and I think it's still against the law."

  He pushed aside his disappointment. "Hm, maybe there can be an exception for humans that live with a dragon clan? I know humans still worry about dragon-shifters swooping down to kidnap them, soar up to the sky, and then drop them to their deaths. It's sort of like a bogeyman for anyone who lives near a dragon clan."

  Amusement danced in her eyes. "It's hard to imagine I'm the stuff of nightmares."

  "So far, no. But I have yet to see your inner dragon dealing with pregnancy hormones."

  He winked and she rolled her eyes. "It won't be that bad. Well, as long as you don't try to piss me off." She sobered. "Did your parents use those stories with you?"

  He shook his head. "There aren't any clans close to Dallas where I grew up, so no. But when I moved to Phoenix about fifteen years ago, I heard it mentioned a few times."

  Gaby tilted her head. "Well, we'll add it to the ever-growing list of things to persuade ADDA to change. At this rate, it's going to take a few lifetimes to accomplish it all."

  He didn't like the defeated-sounding tone of her voice. "Hey, I'm sure we can get your brother's mate to help, and maybe a few others. It won't be just us."

  "True. Although, let's keep Luna out of the loop, if we can. She'll probably try to seduce someone from ADDA and then use it to blackmail them to get what she wants."

  Because ADDA employees couldn't fraternize with dragon-shifters. Ryan had read that somewhere, not that he could remember where. "I'll keep it from her for now, but I want to get to know Luna myself, too. Sometimes family acts one way with us and a different way with others."