Of course, to make that a reality, she needed to make an effort, too. It couldn't all fall to Jose. So she blurted, "How about you just start by telling me how to win your family over? Or, at the very least, how to make a good first impression?"
He searched her gaze, approval burning strong. "You want to win over my family?"
"Of course," she stated. "I want my—no, our—child to know all of their family. Mine might be more difficult since my parents live all the way in Scottsdale in Arizona, but I'm sure we can find a way for them to visit, too. It will probably be the strangest Christmas or Thanksgiving in history, but even so, I'm going to make it work."
Especially since half dragon-shifters could rarely go off a clan's land without permission, and her child would be one.
For a split second, she wondered how the dragons dealt with so little freedom.
But then she pushed it aside. That was a conversation to have with Jose later. Getting to his clan, learning the ropes, and getting used to the idea of living with a dragon clan were her main goals right now.
Oh, not to mention the teensy little fact she was pregnant—inner dragons could almost never lie about that fact—and would be a mom before long.
Placing a hand over her lower abdomen, she tried to believe it was real and imagine a tiny person growing inside her. However, at this stage, it was merely Jose's word telling her so.
He placed his much larger hand over hers, his warmth an instant comfort. She met his gaze as he said, "I'll be with you the whole way, love. It'll be all right in the end."
It was the closest either of them had hinted about the reality of a human birthing a half-dragon-shifter baby—in other words, there was a chance, about a fifty-fifty chance, she could die.
Jose kissed her cheek and said, "Your chances are much better than they would've been a few years ago. As much as I hate to admit it, those bloody British dragon-shifters have been busy figuring out how to keep their human mates alive, even with having more children than dragons usually have in such a short time period. If I have to make a deal with PineRock's head doctor to make sure he finds out why—if he doesn't know already—I'll do it. I want my true mate for more than nine months."
Since Victoria didn't know much beyond the book and the new videocast that had slowly started to introduce dragon-shifter culture to humans, she had no idea what he was talking about. She echoed, "My chances are better now?"
"Yes, love. Much better. The Brits haven't lost any human mates in childbirth for nearly two years." He kissed her lips slowly before adding, "I'll tell you everything once I get the chance to better know my mate. But in order to do that, we need to get to PineRock." He picked up a shampoo bottle. "Now, let me help you get clean and we'll do exactly that."
Victoria had never thought a man helping to wash her hair would be so rewarding, but as he massaged her scalp and she leaned her forehead against his chest, she thought it was something she could get used to.
And she was so relaxed from Jose's ministrations that she barely thought about anything but the dragonman in front of her and how she already wanted to stay with him beyond the birth of their child.
Chapter Seven
Victoria tried her best to focus on the scenery during the car ride to Clan PineRock instead of staring at the dragonman beside her.
It was difficult, and she did steal a few glances, but as long as he held her hand, Victoria could at least attempt to memorize her new landscape. Growing up in and around Las Vegas, she was used to the desert—sand, brush, and yes, even cacti. Not to mention lots and lots of rocks.
However, while Lake Tahoe itself was famous for being a deep lake in a beautiful shade of blue, she'd never really thought much about the surrounding area. The tall, thin pine trees, the ridges with little greenery at the top but occasionally snow—even in late summer—and the chance waterfall here and there were beautiful.
And as they drove deeper into the Desolation Wilderness, an area to the west of Lake Tahoe, Victoria fell in love with the forests and mountains. So very different from back home.
She wondered for the first time if dragon-shifters ever carried humans in the air. She could only imagine how much more beautiful an aerial view would be in winter when snow covered everything and some of the smaller lakes nearby would freeze, although never Tahoe itself.
Jose squeezed her hand and she met his gaze. He motioned up ahead. "There's the entrance to PineRock."
Leaning forward, she tried her best to see it from the back seat.
There was a huge metal gate in front of what looked like an entrance carved into rock. "I never saw anything about you living inside the mountain."
"No, we don't. Just wait. I don't want to ruin the surprise."
She was about to demand more when the gate opened slowly and the ADDA employee Ashley drove them through it, into the carved-out tunnel.
About forty feet later, they emerged into a huge valley—or maybe some sort of clearing? Victoria didn't know the right term—surrounded by mountains on all sides. Within the open space lay various houses and buildings. She could just make out a black dragon launching from the ground into the sky.
Jose murmured, "Welcome to PineRock."
As another dragon soared down
and then landed—a golden one—she wanted to burst from the car and run to see him or her shift into a human.