Leaning over, he kissed her gently before murmuring, "I love you so much, it bloody hurts."
"Well, if I can make you swear about love, then I must be doing a good job."
Taking her bottom lip between his teeth, he lightly tugged before releasing it. "You cheeky human."
She winked. "Of course."
With a laugh, he kissed her again, taking his time to explore her mouth. When he finally finished, he said, "It's bloody amazing being able to kiss you whenever I want."
"You say that now, but I'm sure Rian will make comments about it being gross or something, as he's at that age."
Rian. A sudden longing to see his son coursed through his body. "Do you think he did okay without us?"
"He'll be fine. But judging by the look in your eyes, you missed him as much as me. We'll clean up and see him soon."
"Soon?"
She rolled him on his back and straddled his waist. "It's finally my turn to take you the way I want."
He was about to say she'd be too sore, but Delaney already had his traitorously hard cock in her soft grip. All he could do was moan as she positioned him and sank down slowly.
And for the next little while, Rhydian forgot about everything but the female he loved more than life itself and how her riding him was better than anything else in the world.
He'd found his true love, partner, and mate. And he'd never take it for granted, fighting as much as needed to protect what was most precious to him.
Epilogue
Years Later
Delaney watched as Rian read Snowridge's latest children's book to his two brothers and wished for a second her two-month-old daughter wasn't so fussy. The moment truly should be in a photo, one they could add to their ever-growing wall of family memories.
But then she looked down at her youngest child and readjusted her blankets. Lorraine would only be this small for a short time, so Delaney cuddled her daughter a little closer and contented herself with listening to Rian's reading. True, she'd helped write the book published by Snowridge, and Delaney knew the words by heart, but she'd never tire of him reading the story to his two younger brothers.
Rhydian eventually walked through the front door of their quarters and the three boys all rushed up to him. Even with Rian being at the stage when hugging his dad wasn't cool, it still warmed her heart to see him, Damien, and Morgan, all so clearly happy to have their father home. It was yet another picture she wanted to take, but she settled on keeping the memory for herself.
After her mate kissed all three of their sons, he came up to her, kissed their only daughter's forehead, and then gently kissed Delaney's lips. "Sorry I'm late, love. The Stonefire and Lochguard leaders are being more thorough than usual when it comes to planning things."
As Lorraine stirred, Delaney gently bounced her daughter until she settled. She drawled, "It's only the most important event in dragon-shifter history for hundreds of years. Who knew it would require so much planning?"
He lightly slapped her side. "Cheeky mate."
She grinned. "Of course." She tilted her head a fraction. "But everything is set to go?"
Rhydian nodded. "I'll be leaving in a few days for the special gathering. I can't say I'm looking forward to talking to dragon-shifters from over fifty countries—that's a lot of small talk—but I'll do it, and more, to secure our children's future."
"I wish I could go." Rhydian opened his mouth, but she beat him to it. "I know, I know, it's leaders only this time. But just think—I could set up a global training program for all the human females mated to dragon-shifters from around the world!"
He chuckled. "And I'm sure you'll do it someday, too. But let's get the leaders to agree to the treaty first. Then you can work on winning over the humans to your side and rolling out your training programs."
Delaney had refined her self-defense program over the years—despite having so many children in a short time—and as expected, once she showcased the results, all the overprotective dragonmen had insisted their mates be trained, too.
Still, she hoped to make all human mates more equal over time. The treaty was a huge step forward toward peace, but she wasn't blind to the fact some human mates were coerced despite it being the twenty-first century. And Delaney wanted to give every human mate—male or female—the chance to be in control of their own lives.
Rhydian leaned over to her ear and whispered, "Now, let's get these rascals fed and off to bed so I can give you a proper goodbye."
Even after years of marriage, her body instantly heated at Rhydian's words.
If they kept it up, she and Rhydian might break some modern-day record for the number of children they had. Thankfully the dragon's blood shots had worked well for Delaney, so she wasn't afraid to try for a few more.