The Dragon Prince’s Daddy: An M/M MPreg Shifter Romance (Royal Heat Book 1)

by Lorelei M. Hart

  Father and Dad were still receiving guests, along with Aiden, but Devlin and I had slipped out after the formalities as Draeke needed feeding. I was more than done with smiling and shaking hands, and Brenton had trailed along after us.

  Our phones beeped. Lunch! I was starving. Feeding a little dragon had me constantly eating to build up my energy. We made our way to our fathers’ private dining room—as opposed to the one where official dinners took place—and Devlin carried our son. He proudly showed off the baby to staff who stopped and complimented us on the birth.

  “There’s my grandson.” Father and Dad were seated, each at one end of the table. But it was Father who rushed toward us and cradled my son’s head as he kissed his brow.

  I caught Dad’s eye. When me and my brothers were younger, Father had been a new king and spent hours huddled in his office buried under piles of paperwork or touring factories and farms. Now his reign was established, and he had his first grandchild, he was a doting grandparent.

  As we served ourselves from the huge side table, Dad said, “Aiden has some news.”

  “Dad!” My brother’s cheeks reddened.

  I elbowed Aiden. “Well, go on, tell us.”

  Brenton rolled his eyes and concentrated on his food but I ignored him. “One of Father’s friends suggested I meet up with his nephew.”

  “It’s archaic,” Brenton muttered.

  “Oh, shush you,” Dad said lovingly as he shoved a slice of Cook’s famous bread in my brother’s mouth.

  “I’m never leaving the palace unless the person I mate with can prepare food as well as our Cook does,” Brenton said.

  “Planning on being here forever, are you?” Father asked with one raised brow.

  “I could steal her away,” Brenton replied.

  “We do have a dungeon, Brenton,” Father reminded him as he made silly faces at Draeke. “Don’t make me use it.”

  There was a stunned silence in the room until Father glanced up, a broad smile spreading over his face. “Gotcha!”

  The room burst into laughter and Devlin slapped my brother on the back. “That was a good one. If you could have seen your face.”

  “Glad I didn’t. Father, that was mean!” Brenton retorted.

  “Don’t blame me. It was Draeke’s idea. He made me do it. Twisted my arm.” Father bounced the baby in his arms.

  “I had no idea we had a dungeon. I’ve never seen it,” I admitted as I chewed a slice of roast beef.

  “We converted it to a laundry after you three hatched,” Dad explained. “The amount of washing three babies generated was enormous.”

  “Sorry you got interrupted, Aiden.” I fake-glared at Brenton. “What were you saying about meeting someone?”

  Aiden cleared his throat. “King Shadrick has a nephew who’s been away at university and then worked abroad. The king has enticed him home with the offer of a job, and he thought the two of us might get along.”

  “Oh!” My one word spoke volumes.

  Aiden screwed up his face. “Not everyone is a brat who breaks all the rules and needs a nanny, and then falls in love with said nanny.”

  I pitched an apple at him but he caught it. He always had great reflexes. “I’m not a brat.” I slid a glance at Devlin who was sipping wine. He paid me no attention but his thigh brushed against mine. I changed the subject. “Besides, I don’t see a problem, Aiden. The king is playing matchmaker. Nothing wrong with that.”

  “If I’m going to be tied down, I want to pick my own person,” Brenton grumbled as he tossed a grape toward his mouth and missed.

  “Children, where are your manners!” Dad growled.

  “If you’re going to punish us, include Father because he scared me for a minute,” Brenton protested.

  Dad flashed a look at Father and lowered his voice. “That can be arranged,” he vowed.

  “Ewwww!” my brothers and I shrieked, and I leaned over and covered my son’s ears. Poor Devlin who’d given me a sassy grin a moment earlier, now had blood draining from his face.

  “Getting back to what we were discussing,” Aiden announced.

  “Yes, please,” Brenton agreed.

  “Finding someone to spend the rest of your life with is not easy, especially if you’re a prince. I can’t really use a dating app.” He nodded at me. “Finding love as Chance did by having it fall in his lap is rare.”

  Not my lap! A vision of that first night in the bar storeroom, me on my knees, Devlin’s cock in my mouth, intruded into my thoughts. Now it was my turn to blush. Dad gave me a knowing look as he passed me a platter and Devlin’s hand crept under the table and brushed over my crotch. “Oh!” I squeaked.

  Epilogue

  Chance

  “Once upon a time, not so long ago, a prince laid the most magnificent egg. It wasn’t magnificent because of its size or color or even its shape…no, this egg was magnificent because of what was inside.” I swayed back and forth, my little man swaddled in his favorite blankie, the one from my dad, his eyes popping open every time I stopped moving to put him down.

  He was not one to miss a thing.

  “Inside was the most adorable dragon, and the day he cracked through his egg was a day of joy for the entire kingdom.” His eyes were now more closed than opened. Great, I’m boring him to sleep. But whatever worked. He’d reached that perfect spot where he was ready to sleep, but not too ready, making him grumpy and fussy.

  “His fathers loved him so much.” I started to slow my movements, testing to see if he was asleep or just almost there. “They named him Draeke, a word meaning dragon for the fierce dragon he was.” I came to a stop and he stayed there, eyes closed, face relaxed... content.

  “One day, he is going to take his wings again and we are going to fly through the mountains not setting things on fire, like I maybe accidentally did at that age.” Fine. Not accidentally as much as I wanted to see what would happen.

  One day you’re going to have a son who gives you as much a run for your money as you gave us. My father’s words from that day came back to me. Oops. I maybe owed my fathers an apology or fifty.

  “But for tonight, this dragon is going to sleep and dream of happy things like rattles and silly songs and playing peek-a-boo so your dad can get a shower.” I settled him into his crib, the one that lived in the far corner of our bedroom.

  “Sleep well, my fierce little dragon. Sleep well.”

  I tiptoed out of the room, the monitor in my hand. I had amazing plans for the evening. I was going to take a long hot shower, cook something easy, and fold the towels.

  The exciting life of an omega father. Who was I kidding? I adored my life. I got what every dragon dreams of, a mate who loves him unconditionally.

  “Happy anniversary.” Devlin startled me, and I swung around to see him sitting by the fire, a charcuterie board on a small table in front of him.

  He was wearing his jeans, the ones that made me drool still…the ones he wore that first night in the pub. Hmmm... it was the same shirt too. He looked good enough to eat.

  I was on board with that as a plan.

  “It’s not our anniversary.” I adjusted my shirt, hoping to look a tad more put together. Draeke was finally at the point where he would sleep through most nights, but it came with a side effect of only taking one nap a day, and that meant there were days like today when I was a disheveled mess, especially now that Devlin was back at work—his real work—the one he was hired for and not the babysitting me one. I was proud of him, but also—I missed being able to spend all of my time with him.

  “But it is.” He stood up and closed the distance between us. “Don’t you remember…? I do. Like it was yesterday.” He brushed a hair from my brow. “I was sitting in the pub with my friends celebrating my new job when the sexiest of omegas caught my eye.”

  “He’s gone.” I wrinkled my face and looked down at the ruffled mess that was dad mode.

  “Omega mine, he is gone... only to be replaced by someone a thousand times sex
ier.” He ran a finger down the side of my neck, my body already coming alive. That was all it took with him, the slightest touch, a glance, his voice. He owned me in the best way possible, and I couldn’t get enough.

  “Flattery will get you everything,” I assured him. Heck. It didn’t even need to be flattery.

  “Mate, I am getting the impression you don’t realize that I already have everything. I have you, my sweet boy. That is everything I ever wanted and more. And then, just when I don’t think life could get any more magnificent... our family grew. No. Flattery doesn’t get me everything... that was you. You did that.”

  I threw myself into his arms, his words removing any doubt that I was still worthy, even with my disheveled appearance and pile of dirty laundry… not to mention the bags under my eyes. I was what he wanted. Me. Just as I was and just as I would be tomorrow or the next day.

  “Now, my sweet boy. Dinner can wait, but I get the feeling you’ll feel better if you take a shower.” His lips pressed sweetly on the top of my head. “Would you like Daddy to wash your hair?”

  I nodded into him. “You are still Daddy?” We’d never actively said he wasn’t, but also with the egg and the baby—I needed the reassurance... needed to know that becoming a father didn’t take that part of us away.

  “Look at me, my sweet boy.” I pulled back and did so, his eyes filled with so much love. “You are, and will always be, my sweet boy, and I will always be Daddy. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, Daddy. I just thought... maybe things changed now because we’re a family?” It sounded silly as I spoke the words out loud. Of course he was still Daddy. Why would that change? “You are my Devlin, my mate, my person, my daddy, the father of my child and future children if we are looked so favorably upon by the fates... I don’t know why I... of course you are.”

  “I am.” He kissed my forehead. “And you are my Chance, my mate, my sweet boy, the father of my young, my person, the one who taught me how it feels to truly live…the other half of my dragon... my everything.”

  I slammed my lips into his, my eyes filled with happy tears, my body needing more than to simply be standing alongside him. We kissed until my knees started to give and both of us were breathless.

  “Now let’s get you that shower I promised and then celebrate our anniversary in style.” His hand ran down my arm and he intertwined our fingers together.

  “Style?”

  “More... naked and sweaty with good food and enough love to fill the hearts of the entire kingdom than in style.” He shrugged with a wink.

  “I was never one for style.” I started to drag him into the bathroom. “But I’m on board with all the rest of it.”

  His rich laughter filled the air as he scooped me up. “How did I get so lucky?” He kissed me far too quickly for my liking as he carried me into the bathroom.

  “I think that’s my question,” I sassed back, but it was true. I didn’t deserve the happiness I’d been granted, but I was going to cherish it for the gift it was.

  “I love you, alpha mine.”

  “As I love you, omega mine. As I love you.”

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  Omega dragon shifter Brenton is living his best life. As the middle prince of Montipan, he has all the benefits of his family bloodline with none of the responsibilities...or so he thought. When his brother is unable to attend the General Assembly of Nations on the mainland, representing their island kingdom, he finds himself flying there in his stead. How boring could it be? Spoiler alert: Very! After only two days, he’s ready to skip out early, find somewhere he can be himself, without all the Your Highness nonsense.

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  The Dragon Prince’s Binding is the second book in the M/M mpreg shifter Royal Heat series about three (or is it four) dragon princes who are in a race against time to find their true mates and save their ruling line. The Dragon Prince’s Binding features a dragon with a side to himself even he didn’t know about, a hawk shifter who is far less boring than he appeared and a quick learner when it comes to ropes, an accidental meeting that turns into so much more, a club that leaves Brenton a little tied up in more ways than one, an unexpected clutch, adorable babies, and a first time royal heat. While each book stands alone, they are enjoyed best when read in order. If you love dragons, nesting, royal brats, and true love, this series by the co-author team of Lorelei M. Hart, Colbie Dunbar, and Trisha Linde is for you.

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