But she resisted. They'd had plenty of sex over the last week and a half. For now, she wanted to know him a little better before he met her clan, but especially her family. Everyone would either want to talk, observe, or challenge him at first.
Days could go by before Gaby could have more than an hour or two alone with her human.
Ryan kissed her, banishing her worries about the near future, and eventually set her back on her feet. "Speaking of bets, do I remember right that Vegas has 'no dragon-shifter gambling allowed' signs all over the city?"
She sighed. "You remember right, they do. However, Reno will let us enter a few of their casinos. And that's only because the dragon clans help with emergencies in the city sometimes, when humans can't quite handle it themselves."
He brushed the hair off her cheeks. Would she ever tire of his warm, strong fingers against her skin?
He did it again, and she decided, nope.
Ryan grunted. "Well, at some point we're going to visit one of those casinos in Reno then. Because I'd like to take my dragon lady out on the town before the baby comes."
The baby. Even though she'd stared at the special pregnancy test herself—one used only for dragon-shifters to detect early conception—for about five minutes, it still seemed unreal.
But as she stared at the handsome, grinning man above her, she knew that as long as he was around to help, it would turn out okay.
Well, as long as everything went smoothly once she returned to Clan PineRock with him. He was only human after all, which made him an easy target.
Her dragon said groggily, If anyone tries to hurt him, we'll protect him.
I know, dragon. I just wish we didn't have to worry about it.
Before Ryan could ask her about her flashing eyes and her dragon, she wanted to keep their conversation light and said, "I'd like that. I'm not much of a gambler myself. I deal enough with high stakes for my job, but there are shows and even games and things in Reno. I think Circus Circus is one of the casinos who'll let me inside, and there's plenty to do there."
He chuckled. "Whatever my lady wishes, we'll do. Except I want to take one of those cheesy commemorative photos they have at some casinos with you, and more than once, too."
"I think we can manage that, although you have heard of cell phones, right? And a selfie?"
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not that old, Gaby."
When he lightly smacked her ass, she laughed. "Okay, okay. But I can't make any promises about not teasing you later, though."
Her belly rumbled, which made Ryan frown. "Let's get you something to eat, darling. Okay?"
She nearly sighed at his lovely twang. She'd never get tired of it.
Even though he released her body, he took her hand in his to walk to the fridge.
Her heart warmed at the gesture. Even after everything, he still constantly wanted to touch her.
And her possessive dragon side reveled in it.
After scouting the contents of the fridge, Ryan stated, "I guess it's going to be toast, eggs, and yogurt. There's not much else left in here."
The ADDA employees had been leaving groceries at the front door every few days, not that Gaby could remember what she'd eaten most of the last two weeks. "It's food, which is all that matters."
Even though he released her hand, he motioned around his waist. "Hold me from behind. That way we can talk while I cook."
It would be easier for her to pull up a chair near the stove, but she craved the closeness too much.
So Gaby complied, and followed him to the stove and nearby counter. As he prepped things, she said, "I never heard much about your sister, aside from the fact she got you to enter the dragon lottery. And since it would've been weird to bring her up during the frenzy, will you tell me about her now?"
Even though she had her head against his back, she could hear the smile in his voice. "Tiffany is a lot younger than me, by about ten years. She was a surprise for my parents, but I'm glad she's around. I'm not sure I would've survived the last two years without her."
Because of his bitchy ex-wife. True, Gaby didn't know a whole hell of a lot about her, but the fact she'd cheated and married Ryan's twin was enough to anger both woman and beast. "Why, what did she do to help you?"
"Well, she never let me hide away from the world too long, and continually tried to get me to do something, anything, outside of my house." He turned on a burner, placed the frying pan, and continued. "I even started working from home to avoid everyone, and the results weren't pretty. Let's just say I'm glad she never gave up on me. If she had, I wouldn't be here now."
He touched one of her arms around his waist and she hugged him tighter. "I hope she can visit soon. I'd like to meet her."
He snorted. "Oh, she'll visit. I don't think you could stop her, if I'm honest. Tiffany is sort of awed by dragon-shifters in general."
The rules were different for the human entrants, in that not all siblings had to enter at the same time to qualify. So she asked, "But she didn't enter the lottery for herself?"
Ryan shook his head. "No. She wanted to make sure I was okay first."
There was a hint of guilt in his voice. Gaby released him to stand at his side. Only when he met her gaze did she say, "Well, you are now, right?" He gave a small nod and she added, "Then maybe I can help your sister. While I can't rig the lottery, she can at least visit PineRock. I have plenty of single cousins, after all. If she wanted to enter the lottery, I guess she likes men?" Ryan nodded again. "Then there are a lot more options for her, given how dragon-shifters skew male."
Ryan sighed. "Please don't tell her about your plethora of single cousins or she'll stop at nothing to nab one."
Gaby shrugged. "It wouldn't be that bad, provided she doesn't mind overprotectiveness."
Ryan gave a half-laugh. "Having two, much-older brothers during her teen years wasn't easy, so I'm sure she can handle herself. Not that I'm encouraging it, mind you."
She leaned against his arm, watching him stir the eggs into the pan. Gaby burned to ask about Ryan's twin, yet she didn't want to ruin the morning.
No, she'd ask later, once they'd spent more time together.
Once the eggs were cooking, Ryan popped some bread into the toaster and glanced at her. "Right now, I probably should be more worried about your brother and that gaggle of male relatives you talked about."
The term gaggle made her think of them with feathered wings instead of normal dragon ones, and she laughed. "I dare you to call them a gaggle to their faces."
"Not if I want to stay alive, darling. I'd prefer they didn't change into dragons and drop me from a great height."
She lightly hit his side. "They won't do that. Although they'll threaten it, I'm sure. But me and my cousin Luna are the only female cousins in the family, and they'd all do anything to protect us, which should soon extend to you, too."
Ryan stirred the scrambled eggs again. "Well, if you have any hints on how to get into their good graces, now would be a great time to tell me. After all, we'll be on your clan later today."
Yes, they would. What she wouldn't give for another day alone with Ryan.
However, if ADDA found out they'd been keeping the pregnancy secret, the contract spelled out consequences.
In other words, ADDA wanted to wash their hands of them as soon as possible.
She glanced up at Ryan's expectant face. "Just don't act afraid and you'll do fine, I think. Fear will make you unworthy in their eyes. And even though it's my life and my decisions, some of them will ignore that and think you need their approval before you can be with me. The only good news is that my brother has a human mate now, so at least you'll have an ally."
It had hurt a little to receive the text message from Jose about his mating ceremony, but she couldn't fault him for wanting everything legal, to give his mate the best protection under the law.
Her dragon sniffed. We've met Tori and like her. That's all that matters.
Breakfast ready, Ryan divvied up th
e eggs, took the bread out of the toaster, and dished out the yogurt. Taking both plates, he put them on the island behind them.
He, of course, put the plates really close together.
When she raised her brows, he said, "I was thinking you could sit in my lap."
She snorted. "Right, because that won't lead to other things."
He crossed his heart. "I promise you'll keep your robe on."
She shook her head. But after he sat, she jumped into his lap and leaned against his chest. "I'm feeding myself, though. And that's not up for discussion."
"Ah, and here I thought to 'accidentally' miss your mouth and get yogurt on your lips. Which then I'd have to lick clean, of course."
She lightly hit his chest but grinned as she did it. "Are you sure you're not part dragon-shifter?"
"Since I can't shift, nope, I'm not. Just a guy wanting to be as close as possible to his woman."
Maybe it should bristle her feathers—it probably would've coming from anyone else—but she liked being "his woman."
Putting a finger into the yogurt, she dabbed it on his lips. "Well, look at that. I guess I'll need to keep my male clean, huh?"
He grinned, but lowered his head down, not quite touching her lips. Gaby licked once, twice, three times until the yogurt was gone.
But to tease him, she stayed where she was and didn't close the distance between their lips.
Ryan growled. "Woman, you drive me crazy."
"That's the plan."
With another growl, he kissed her and held her tighter against his body. Gaby immediately parted her lips, loving his strong tongue against hers, branding his taste with her own.
All too soon, he pulled away. "Eat, love. You need food more than kisses right now."
As if conspiring with him, her belly rumbled.
With a sigh, she picked up her plate and fork. "I used to like eating, but now it just irritates me because it's stealing time away from our happy bubble."
"I want this happy bubble to last a long, long time, Gaby. Possibly forever. So enjoy your meal and know I want to have this every day with you, no matter where we are."
She paused with the fork partway to her mouth as her heart skipped a beat.
Gaby wanted that, too. And if he kept it up, she'd be in love with him in a matter of weeks, if not days.
Not yet, Gaby. Since he was a human male, he didn't have to live on PineRock after getting her pregnant. He could leave at any time.
And so she needed to ensure he wanted to stay, root up his entire life, and be with her forever before any mention of love or feelings.
So she ate her breakfast, talking about nothing and everything with her human, and hoped her clan would welcome the male into their fold.
Chapter Six
Later the same day, Ryan sat next to Gaby inside an SUV, with his arm around her shoulders. He'd lost track of how long they'd driven by mountains, pine trees, and various forms of water, but he finally spotted a huge metal gate covering some kind of tunnel up ahead.
Gaby murmured, "That's the entrance to PineRock."
The gate opened and as they drove through the tunnel, Gaby leaned against his side. He wanted to stare down at her face, to memorize the last few moments they had nearly alone, but as they exited the tunnel, he couldn't tear his gaze from a giant black dragon launching into the sky, joining another purple one hovering in the air, waiting for their friend.
"Damn, they're big," he whispered.
Gaby laughed. "Those are two females. Males are even bigger."
He frowned and finally tore his gaze from the two dragons soaring away from the surrounding mountains. "Great. So that's what I have to contend with, times how many men in your family?"
"Only thirteen adult males. I have a second cousin who's too young still, so that's one less worry."
"Gaby," he growled.
She grinned. "Oh, come on, this is fun." Her expression turned serious. "I can tease you. However, if my family does, they'll have to deal with me."
He played with a section of her hair. "I hope you'll let me try to handle them first."
The ADDA employee driving the car, Ashley, snorted. "Good luck with that. It took me about three years on the job to finally meet them head-to-head without flinching."
Gaby growled, "You're not helping, Ashley."
The woman replied, "Hey, it's the truth, and I find that helps the most when it comes to humans and dragon-shifters. And since I'll be watching over Ryan—in addition to your new sister-in-law, Tori—you'll just have to put up with me and my ways, Gaby."
Ryan chimed in. "It'll be fine. And honesty is always the best policy, even when it's bad news." He touched Gaby's cheek with his free hand, until she looked at him again. "Just give me a chance with your relatives before coming to my defense, okay? You mentioned how they like strength, and I want to show them I have it, especially beyond just the physical."
Gaby sighed. "You know what? I just realized that I sound like all my overprotective male cousins, and I really don't want to. So yep, try away. But I'll always have your back, Ryan. So don't be afraid to ask for my help. They can, after all, change into giant dragons."
He lightly pinched her side. "I'll keep that in mind, minx."
She grinned and Ryan's heart skipped a beat. Yes, for this woman he'd face an army of dragons and find a way to come out the other side in one piece.
Ashley pulled in front of a nondescript building several stories tall and shut off the engine. Turning in her seat, she glanced between them. "I waited to tell you this until we were here, so you wouldn't get nervous. But while you two were away, someone attacked Jose and Tori's cabin."
Gaby's brother and his wife. Gaby leaned forward and Ryan did, too. Gaby said, "Tell me they're okay, and the baby, too."
Ashley waved a dismissive hand in the air. "They're both unharmed, although a little shaken. The reason I bring it up now instead of letting your clan leader tell you is that both of you need to be on your guard from the second you step out of this car. While Wes has started to clean house, he thinks there may be a few lingering clan members who are pretending to accept humans living on PineRock, but in truth, they're lying in wait to try and attack again."
Ryan tightened his grip on Gaby's shoulder. "I hope the clan leader can tell us how to spot them, apart from the obvious, such as when one attacks me. Or, at the very least, he should give me some tips on how to protect against them."
Ashly nodded. "Wes and his head Protector, Cris, will have plenty to say to you. But since no one can hear anything said in this car—ADDA decided to take precautions in light of recent events—I want to add that it's possible even one of the Protectors could be suspect at this point. So trust Gaby's family, Cris, Wes, and the head doctor, Troy Carter. The rest we'll have to watch and be vigilant about."
Gaby unconsciously put a hand over her belly and murmured, "Not the best atmosphere to have a half-dragon-shifter child, is it?"
Ryan leaned closer to his woman and said, "Whatever needs doing, I'll help. I won't allow any child or woman of mine to come to harm if I can help it."
Gaby smiled weakly at him. "Let's hope the worst is over."
Ashley cleared her throat. "Probably, but regardless, given everything Wes, Cris, and ADDA are doing, things should be figured out in no time." She gestured toward the building. "Now, let's get going. If we're late, I'll never hear the end of it."
Once he and Gaby disembarked, Ryan drew her against his side and rubbed her upper arm.
He'd known there would be challenges, but it seemed as if he'd be facing them from day one instead of some later date.
However, he hadn't been bluffing—he'd do whatever it took to protect his child and hopefully future wife. Sure, he was at a huge disadvantage being human, but there had to be some way—or ways—for him to protect his soon-to-be family.
And even if it took him training every day until he fell dead from sleep, it was a small price to pay for the future he wanted so desp
erately.
Gaby walked down the corridor of the main clan security building, her head buzzing, and tried her best not to give everyone the side-eye.
She'd always thought PineRock was a relatively peaceful place, one that didn't suffer some of the extreme hatred and prejudices of other dragon clans in the US.
But it seemed even her beloved home had its share of bad apples.
Her dragon spoke up. I trust Wes and Cris. They'll make it a safe space. Until then, we'll just have to be careful.
She glanced at Ryan from the corner of her eye. I wonder if ADDA will even let him stay now. Tori is legally mated to my brother, so there's no danger there of them sending her away. Ryan isn't similarly protected.
Her beast fell silent, no doubt because it wasn't as easy for a female dragon-shifter to mate a human male. One major reason was some old-fashioned bullshit about how a male dragon-shifter could protect their human female mate, but a female dragon-shifter wouldn't be able to accomplish the same for her human male.
Gaby kept up with all the male dragons in her firefighting unit. Even against a male dragon bigger than her, she could hold her own.
But even if she convinced ADDA of that, the problem ran deeper. After all, Ryan had fulfilled his lottery contract requirement—she was pregnant. And ADDA didn't see a reason to create more trouble and paperwork by letting human males stay. Neither of the males from the last two lotteries had been allowed to live permanently with the dragon clans. Something about them not being dedicated enough.
Of course they couldn't use the dedicated reasoning with Ryan. Her human was dedicated, more than she'd ever dreamed. She had to believe that between her strength and his actions, he'd get to stay with her.
Because if he didn't, Gaby's heart would break. It hadn't been long, but it was enough. She cared for the human and was halfway in love with him, too.
Her dragon growled. Don't think like that. Otherwise we'll be defeated before we even start.
I'll try my best. But I won't pretend the odds aren't against us.
The Dragon's Need (Tahoe Dragon Mates Book 2) Page 5