While it wasn't quite as good as if it'd been their own place, she would always be happy to wake up next to Ryan.
Her dragon yawned. He needs to get up, too, so I can shift and show him our dragon form.
I know you're eager, but he deserves some sleep after the frenzy.
Her beast grunted. He enjoyed it just as much as we did, so I won't apologize.
Ryan's voice rumbled inside his chest. "Good morning."
Looking up, she smiled as her male blinked away his sleepiness. "It is with you here."
He grinned and pulled her up so he could kiss her. "I thought I was supposed to be the charming one."
"There's no rule that I can't be charming, too, on occasion."
He placed a possessive hand on her hip. "So what's on the agenda for today? A meeting with the clan leader, but is the rest of it ours?"
She sighed. "I wish. But Cris sent me a text late last night and she wants to meet with us in an hour or so."
He tightened his grip on her. "As long as she's not going to tell me to leave, it should be fine. Although, I was hoping I could see your dragon today."
At the disappointment in his tone, she sat up. "We can still manage that if we hurry. After all, Cris wants to meet at the small landing area near the main security building, so there's plenty of room for me to shift."
He searched her eyes. "Will it be safe there? Ashley mentioned one of the Protectors might be hiding their true intentions."
Gaby tucked a section of hair behind one ear. "It should be. I mean, if they were going to try and harm either of us, they'd wait until we were somewhere more remote and with no witnesses."
He raised his brows. "Why doesn't it surprise me that you've thought of that?"
She placed a hand on his chest and lightly ran her fingers back and forth, loving his now familiar muscles and heat. "Well, what my brother said yesterday, about me not making the best decisions when I was younger, is true. I may, just may, have had a thing for sneaking off PineRock and exploring the outer areas as a teenager. That's how I saw Clan SkyTree for the first time, albeit from a distance." She sighed. "However, it was also the last time. I got busted on that one, and from there on out, the Protectors and my family watched me super closely, afraid I'd end up in major trouble, or worse."
Ryan placed a hand over hers on his chest and squeezed. "Don't the dragon clans visit with one another? There are a lot around Tahoe—four, I think—and it would help your cousins find their true mates if there was more visiting among them all."
She shrugged one shoulder. "It depends on both what a clan leader and ADDA thinks at any given time. Some of the Tahoe clans fought each other in the not too distant past. Not to mention an early form of ADDA shuffled dragons around willy-nilly, sometimes even taking in outcasts and prisoners from other countries to earn some money, and placed them all over the country."
It was why the US had the most diverse group of dragon-shifters in the world, with Australia being a close second.
Ryan grunted. "Well, once we get everything settled here, maybe we can plant the seed into your mom's head about your cousins finding mates outside the clan and then it'll spread to the rest of the family. With enough people, maybe ADDA and Wes will allow dragons from other clans to visit."
She smiled down at Ryan. "You've been here a day and you're already trying to fix things."
He shrugged. "If my child is going to be a dragon-shifter, then why wouldn't I want to try and start changing things now? Sort of like how some people start saving for college before a kid is even born, except this is a lot more important to my kid's future."
Using her free hand, she traced Ryan's jaw, his cheek, and then his lips. "You are too good to be true, huh?"
He tugged her down and rolled her under him. "No, I'm just an average guy who finally has a future to fight for."
She stopped breathing. At the love and desire in Ryan's eyes, she wished she could do more than kiss him and show how much she wanted him, too.
But as the old porcelain statues and dusty stuffed animals hovered at the edge of her vision, reminding Gaby of where they were, she merely settled for saying, "We'll do it together." She kissed him quickly. "But first, you should see my dragon. If you're going to live with a dragon clan, you need to get over the mix of amazement and fear that comes with us being in our dragon forms. Otherwise, that could be a huge negative for you if a dragon tries to attack you."
After kissing her gently, he murmured, "As if I could ever be afraid of you, Gaby."
Her beast sat up at that. Maybe just to test his limits, I'll roar and flash some teeth.
She laughed and Ryan quirked his eyebrows in question. Gaby explained, "You just threw down a challenge to my dragon half. You're going to learn quickly how doing that isn't always the best idea."
He kissed her again. "Then tell your dragon to bring it."