And for probably the first time in her life, Victoria wished the house was full of people. With a sigh, she said, "I actually miss your family."
She felt his smile against her forehead. "That didn't take long."
"Well, I don't know why, but when I'm around your family, it doesn't feel like a crowd. Maybe because there's always so much chaos, and conversation, and laughter that I don't feel everyone watching me. I still don't know them all yet, at least very well, but no one's said even one harsh word to me. I think that helps, too."
He hugged her tighter against him. "I can invite as many of them over as you like in a little while. However, right now, I just want to hold you and make sure you're okay."
She leaned back to meet his gaze. "That's the thing—just sitting here is making me think of everything that could've happened today, Jose." She turned in his lap to straddle his hips. "What I need is a distraction. Or maybe a mini-celebration of life." She kissed his cheek. "As I sat on that bathroom floor, all I could think about was seeing you and one day, our baby." She kissed his brow. "Remind me of how we're both still alive, and that you're here with me right now."
She placed a gentle kiss on his lips, lingering there, merely reveling in his soft, warm skin.
When Jose finally pulled away, he searched her gaze. "Are you sure, love?"
She raised her brows. "Are you saying you don't need me, too?"
With a growl, he picked her up and carried her to one of the guest bedrooms upstairs. "Don't you ever say that. You're my life, my happiness, my guiding light, Tori. I was trying to be sensitive and understanding, but I think you need a little animalistic dragon-shifter attention. "
At the intensity of his gaze, the heat, the wanting, the desire rushed forth. Her heart rate kicked up. "Yes, I do. I really do."
He sprinted the last few feet to the guest room, shut the door after him and tossed her gently onto the bed. "Tell me you'll stand in front of the clan and officially be my mate under both human and dragon law."
"Yes," she breathed.
He ripped off her top and bra. "Tell me you're mine."
"I'm yours, Jose. Always yours."
Her skirt and panties were next.
Which meant she sat naked on the bed, a sexy as hell dragonman surveying every inch of her body with approval. "Then it's time to pleasure my little mate and show her just how much I need her, want her, can't live without her."
His clothes were gone within seconds. And before she could do more than blink, he was lying atop her, his hard shaft pressing against her belly as he leaned his head down, his lips nearly touching hers. "I love you, Tori. Always."
Her heart thudded so hard she swore it'd explode. "I love you, too, Jose."
With a growl, he crushed his lips against hers, the kiss no longer gentle but demanding, probing, seeking. It was as if he needed to confirm she was still with him.
And Victoria needed the same.
So she tugged his head even closer, her other hand going to his shoulder and digging in her nails. He growled into her mouth and started to thrust against her, his long, hard cock rubbing deliciously against her throbbing clit.
Her legs fell open even more, and soon she ached to feel him, needing him inside her. She broke the kiss and lifted her hips. "Don't make me wait, Jose."
His pupils flashed quickly, never settling on either round or slitted. She had no idea who was in control, but she didn't care. Victoria loved all of him, inner dragon and all.
He positioned his cock at her entrance, murmured, "Mine," before thrusting deep.
She scratched down his shoulder and moaned, "Oh, yes," before he began to move.
Each thrust of his hips was a claim, a reminder that he was here with her—right here, right now.
His lips never left hers, his tongue nearly as demanding and aggressive as his cock, plunging, taking, stoking her to a fever pitch.
Then one of his hands found her bundle of nerves and with a few strokes, she crested over the edge, pleasure rushing through her body, making her scream his name into his mouth.
Jose followed, his orgasm sending her even higher, to the delicious point bordering on pleasure and pain. The place only he could send her.
Her mate, her love, the father of her child.