Ross growled. Stopping, he turned to face her. “You will be my mate if I have anything to say about it, Lorna MacKenzie.”
She blinked. “Pardon?”
“You heard me the first time with your supersensitive hearing, woman. I thought something had happened to you, and it felt as if someone punched a hole in my heart. I don’t want to ever feel that way again. It just means I need to take care of you and make sure you don’t push yourself too hard again.”
“Ross,” she answered breathlessly.
“That had better be a good ‘Ross’ and
not a warning.”
Rolling her eyes, Lorna smacked his side. “Tone it down a bit, human.”
“No.” He caressed her cheek with his thumb. “You are my future, Lorna, and I will fight for it. The only question is, do you want the same future as me?”
~~~
After Ross’s question, Lorna leaned into his caresses. Each strum of his fingers relaxed her body and eased the sore muscles of her back.
She could get used to having her human around.
Her dragon spoke up. No need to get used to it. We will keep him.
She wanted to agree without hesitation, but a small part of her was afraid Ross might tire of her eventually. Lorna’s personality tended to wear on those who weren’t strong enough to stand up to it.
Her beast grunted. Why do you doubt him? Ross has lived with us for nearly six months. Every morning we had breakfast, and every evening we watched telly together. The only thing keeping us from being a couple was sex. But he’s good at that too. I want to keep him.
Ross’s voice prevented her from replying. “Tell me your doubts, Lorna, so I can erase them.”
The way he said it, with such confidence, only made Lorna lean a little closer to him. It was still sometimes hard to believe Ross was human and not a dragon-shifter.
Lorna didn’t break Ross’s gaze. “How are you so certain you want to spend the rest of your life with me, Ross? Tell me that first.”
He nodded. “Aye, I will. But I won’t let you back out from answering afterward.”
“I won’t try, so don’t worry, human.”
Placing his free hand on her hip, he pulled her gently against him. At the little thrill racing through her body at the contact, she had to focus to listen to his words. “Before I came to Lochguard and stayed with you, I was struggling to find out what to do with my life. My daughter was grown, cancer was killing me, and my wife was dead. When Holly was able to get me to Lochguard, I wondered how I would fit in. Dragons were completely different from humans, or so I thought originally.”
“I hope you’ve changed your mind,” Lorna muttered.
Ross chuckled. “You’re impatient, love. Let me finish.” Ross raised his brows and Lorna nodded in agreement. He continued, “Your family reminded me of my own growing up. While my brother is now in America, as a child, he and I would play with our eight cousins during summer holidays. The Anderson family gatherings make the MacKenzie ones look tame in comparison.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s true, love. And I’ll tell you all about it later. Once I finish this, aye?” He waited for Lorna’s head bob before adding, “From the first day I stayed under your roof, you didn’t treat me as a stranger or an invalid. No, I was simply Ross, the stubborn-headed human. With each day that passed, I forgot I might be dying and lived in the moment. Your smile, laugh, and even frowns helped me fight against my cancer even more.”
“Ross.”
“Aye, that’s my name. Glad you remember it.” Lorna rolled her eyes, and Ross grinned. “I love your eye rrolls. I try to provoke them as often as I can.”
“I know, you old fool. Are you going to finish your story?”
“I’ll try, although you’ll interrupt me again, I’m sure.” Lorna looked at him expectantly, and he spoke again. “Aye, well, when the doctor finally told me I was healthy again, the first thought I had was to rush out and tell you the news. Not Holly, but you, Lorna. I felt guilty at first, considering everything Holly had done for me, but I eventually realized why you popped into my head first. I was already halfway in love with you, woman. And when I had my life back again, I wanted to make sure you never left my side.”
Lorna tilted her head. “But you never said anything.”
“I didn’t feel as if I had the right. Until we watched that human bloke mate the Stonefire dragonwoman, I didn’t think we had a chance. Sure, we could’ve lived together until we were older and grayer, but I know how important matings are to dragon-shifters. I didn’t want everyone to gossip, and you lose any of the respect you have with the clan.”