She snuggled into his chest. “Keep this up and I might agree to some suggestions in your fake sacrifice contract.”
“Oh? Which ones?”
Smiling, she said, “It’ll be a surprise. I know how much you hate them, but in this instance, I think you’ll like it.”
He kissed the top of Jane’s head. “When it comes to you, Jane, I’ll love anything and everything you do.”
She yawned. “Careful, dragonman. That may come back to bite you in the arse.”
“As long as you’re doing the biting, I’m fine with it.”
Her chuckled turned into a groan. “Don’t make me laugh, Kai. It hurts in this position.”
“Sorry, Janey. I should probably let you rest alone in the bed. I can watch you from the chair.”
She tightened her arm around him. “Don’t even think of leaving this bed, Kai. I need my big hunk of dragonman meat by my side. I have trouble sleeping when you’re not next to me.”
His dragon spoke up. As it should be. She is our mate. We will always be together.
Kai agreed with his beast but focused on Jane. “Then your hunk of man meat will be here. Now, rest. The sooner you heal, the sooner you can surprise me.”
“Such a male,” she mumbled.
After a few beats of silence, he glanced down. Looking at Jane’s sleeping face, contentment settled over him.
His sister might still have a long road of recovery and there was much to do before being able to send Protectors to Snowridge, but as long as he had Jane at his side, he could do anything.
She was his mate, end of story. Their life together had barely begun, and he looked forward to every second to come.
Epilogue
Eight Weeks Later
Jane paced from one side of the room to the other. “Why are they taking so long to get here?”
Kai’s voice filled his mother’s living room. “You know Nikki’s too pregnant to shift and fly, so they’re driving. It takes longer.”
She turned on her mate. “I still say you should’ve gone to get them.”
He raised his brows. “A dragon landing in your parents’ small village would’ve caused a stir, not to mention a considerable amount of paperwork to garner permission for me to do so.” He patted the empty spot next to him on the sofa. “Come sit down, Janey. Otherwise you’ll wear yourself out before your parents arrive.”
“I told you that I’m fine. My shoulder is a bit stiff still, but your magical dragon’s blood did its job.”
Kai shrugged. “They’re your parents. But if you end up needing to take a nap or pass out from exhaustion, then you get to explain why.”
“So much for being a supportive mate.”
“I am, but you’re being irrational. The meeting will go fine.”
“Provided you and Rafe don’t kill each other,” Jane muttered.
“I promised to behave and I mean it. Now, come here, Janey.”
Jane could fight it and pass the time by arguing with Kai, but her shoulder ached a little from all of the arm swinging she’d done while pacing. With a sigh, she plopped down next to her mate and leaned against him.
Between her videocast series and its PR, f
ollowing the case and prison sentence against Maggie Jones, and working on her own recovery, Jane hadn’t had a lot of downtime with her mate. Kai had been busy as well with finalizing agreements with Snowridge and even helping out Glenlough in Ireland.