Although seeing two dragon-shifters having breakfast with their three kids made her wonder if this was what it would be like with her own family. Provided she agreed to the mating with Brad, of course. And if it went well, then agreed to the sex-marathon deal that would supposedly guarantee a baby at the end.
Tasha hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about what she wanted in the relationship and family department. Her bar had been everything.
But now, she had little choice but to wonder about what she truly wanted. Being targeted by a crazy terrorist group sort of put things in perspective. Did she want to give up her bar? Of course not. But maybe she wanted more in her life now, on top of owning a successful business.
Megan’s voice brought Tasha back to the present. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
She looked back at Megan’s smiling face. Tasha’s gut said the woman could be a good ally to have if she stayed on StoneRiver.
Although that was still a big if to staying. “Are there any
other humans living on StoneRiver? Brad has never exactly been chatty, and he’s the only real dragon-shifter I’ve known for more than an hour or two here and there. Dragon customers tend to keep their clan life pretty secret.”
Megan answered, “Yeah, I imagine they would. After all, the League is why you’re here, right? We have to worry about them, and others like them, all the time.” Tasha nodded—the daily lives of dragon-shifters were becoming more real to her—and Megan continued, “But no, as of right now, there aren’t any other humans. Clan PineRock has at least three humans living with them, although there’s talk of some sibling of the human male—what was his name? Oh, that’s right, Ryan Ford—petitioning to move there, too.”
Since Tasha didn’t keep track of dragon mates—it wasn’t as if many of her customers had revealed them to her at the bar anyway—she had no idea who Megan was talking about. So instead, she focused on StoneRiver. “So I would be the only human living here then.”
Megan smiled sadly and said, “Yes, at least for the moment. Although now that Ashley has mated a dragon-shifter—which gives her even more reason to push for humans to be allowed to mate a dragon if they want—I suspect it’ll change soon.”
It seemed everyone knew Ashely Swift. Tasha really needed to reach out to her ASAP and get some advice. She’d been too tired the night before to make the call, and she wasn’t about to call her at the ass-crack of dawn.
As Tasha pondered being the only human surrounded entirely by dragon-shifters, the doorbell echoed inside the house. Megan went to answer it and came back with her brother right behind her.
Brad found her gaze and grunted. “Good morning.”
The words were simple, but as she held his blue-eyed gaze, a small tingle rushed through her body.
She’d allowed herself to think of Brad as more than just her employee last night. And as a result, the hour or two of sleep she’d finally nabbed had been filled with fantasies, such as him stripping her slowly before kissing her. Not knowing what a mate-claim frenzy entailed—she’d learned the actual name of the sex marathon—her dreams had also been full of hot, often rough sex.
Had he dreamt the same thing over the night? Or had his hatred of humans been front and center?
Brad’s pupils flashed repeatedly, but he never looked away.
And neither did she.
On the walk to his sister’s house, Brad had managed to pack away all his emotions like he normally did, bracing himself to face Tasha and her mesmerizing eyes.
But then she’d had to go and stare at him as if she could lick him from head to toe and still not get enough, shattering most of his hard work.
If her heated gaze hadn’t been enough, he’d never forget the scent of his true mate’s arousal. She saw him as more than her security guard now. Which meant that between last night and this morning, her view about him had shifted.
His dragon sighed. Which most dragon-shifters would take as a sign to pursue. But you’re still going to resist, aren’t you? Because her scent doesn’t have to be a one-time memory.
While Brad was no longer outright arguing with his beast about Tasha, he still hadn’t convinced his human half that mating the human—and making it a true mating—was a good idea. Remember our deal.
I know, I know. I need to let you have some time to talk with her and then with David before I badger you again.
His sister’s voice snapped Brad out of the moment. “Well, good to see your manners are as bad as ever, Brad.”
Since he knew Megan would go on to annoy him like any little sister would if he didn’t brush past her comment, he merely grunted.
His oldest nephew, Andrew, stood up in his seat, fork in the air. The blueberry on one of the fork prongs nearly came off in the process. “Hi, Uncle Brad. I eat my fruit. Then I get a hug.”
His two nephews and niece were his weakness when it came to remaining stoic. He smiled slightly at Andrew. “Fruit is good for you. If you don’t eat enough, your teeth can fall out.”
Andrew poked one of his little front teeth. “Fall out?”
“Yes. There’s some good stuff in fruit and some other foods that help keep them strong and in your mouth.”