A possessiveness coursed through her—one she'd never felt before. "Yes."
At the fierceness of her words, he sat up a little to better see her face before he said, "I want you to know right here, right now, that no matter what happens in the coming days—weeks?—I will be around to help raise our kid."
Gaby wanted more than a sense of duty, but knew it was soon, way too soon to expect anything else from him.
Still, she couldn't help but tease, "You'll just have to survive my family first. Because if you can't handle them, then you don't stand a chance with our kid."
Just saying "our kid" made her belly flip in a good way.
Ryan raised his brows. "Trust me, if I can deal with my sister, I can deal with anyone."
She snorted. "You may think so, but my family is close, really close, and it's not unusual to have twenty or thirty people at my parents' house for dinner. And subtlety is not an art form that either the Santos or Garcia families are known for."
The corner of his mouth kicked up. "Well, that's a lot different than what the TV is always saying about dragon-shifters being private and almost hermit-like. The more I learn, the more I think you're a lot like humans."
She lightly bopped his nose. "Except for the small detail of us being able to shift into dragons."
He moved up until his face was a few inches from hers. "And I can't wait to see yours. I'm sure you're the prettiest dragon, too, even if I don't know what color she is."
"Gold." The compliment stirred Gaby's beast and she knew it wouldn't be long before her dragon came out and took control again. So she added quickly, "I see you're already trying to get on my dragon's good side. And before she comes out again, I'll let you know that usually she's my best friend and would never try to hurt me. However, the frenzy does things to our inner beasts, things they can't control, either." She bit her lip and said, "If you can find a way to win her over, too, then it might help in the long run."
He cupped her cheek. "I'll try, but ADDA doesn't exactly hand out how-to books when it comes to wooing a dragon."
"You seem resourceful. I'm sure you'll figure it out. Although two small tips—she loves compliments and dirty sex. So, really, when with her, do your worst. She'll love it."
"Well, then, I guess I'll have to get creative."
As he smiled at her, she admired how brave he was. She didn't think many human males would take a mate-claim frenzied dragon so easily.
Speaking of her beast, she stirred inside the mental prison again. So Gaby closed the distance between her and Ryan, needing to kiss him for as long as she could before her dragon broke free.
Ryan pulled her close, into his lap, and tilted her head for better access. She moaned, wishing she could have him make love to her again.
However, the pounding inside her mind grew, to the point she knew her dragon would burst free any second. So Gaby broke the kiss to say, "She's coming, Ryan. Get ready," before her beast took charge of their mind and jumped their human again without warning. A little less frenzied than before, but not by much.
Still, her human male managed to handle her beast almost as well as he had her human side.
And it made her want to get to know him all the more.
Weird as it was to think it, she couldn't get pregnant fast enough. Only then would she regain control and be able to finally date the father of her child.
Chapter Five
Days and days later—Ryan had lost count after about day five—he awoke, feeling every twinge in his body.
He loved sex as much as the next guy, but a sex marathon was a lot more work than anyone realized.
It was a miracle he didn't have cock burns by this point.
But then he looked over, finding Gaby awake and smiling at him, and her smile erased every ache in his body. He rolled over to cup her cheek and kiss her gently. "Good morning, I think?"
"Yes, it's still morning, but only just."
She studied him a second and only the smile on her face prevented him from worrying. "What is it?"
"Well, I don't know how else to put this, but it's happened. My dragon suspected, and the special pregnancy test confirmed it—we're having a baby."
He blinked as she took his hand and placed it over her lower belly. Ryan stared at their hands, fully aware that had been the goal, but this was reality.