Dragon's Christmas Baby Read online

  He’d managed to control it because he’d been determined to do so. He’d known it would be something else to set him apart from others, and even though he’d just been twelve, he’d also realized anyone learning his secret could be dangerous. He’d learn to control his shifts, and even the compulsion to shift, in a matter of days.

  She threatened to undo all that, undermining two decades of self-control with her fresh face and wet hair, all wrapped in a white robe. He muttered under his breath, cursing himself, before waving a hand to the bowls that were waiting at the small table. This was a retreat for lovers, and everything was designed with that in mind. There were only two seats at the cozy table, and there had only been two sets of dishes and silverware in the cabinet.

  As she sat down, he abruptly remembered the last Christmas they’d been here, when they had enjoyed a feast prepared by the owners, but delivered to the cabin they’d rented. They had started out at the kitchen table, but finished up in front of the fire as they shared their meal leisurely, feeding each other, and completing it all with the can of whipped cream intended for the pie. They’d had the pie for breakfast, sans whipped cream, since they’d consumed it all the night before.

  His dragon was prancing again, and he tamped down hard on the impulse to shift. There was no room in the interior to shift into the dragon, and it wouldn’t get the crazed creature any closer to his sudden goal of claiming Marlie again. Eben knew that was a bad idea anyway, though his dragon didn’t listen. Even if he had been inclined to try again, he was certain Marlie wanted no part of it. She’d already been upset with him and angry at his lack of communication and shutting her out for the past several months, and that was before she discovered he was a dragon-shifter.

  She ate quietly and without speaking or even looking at him. It was a marked contrast to the last time they’d shared a meal under such circumstances, though that had fortunately been in a different cabin. It was hard enough to deal with the memories of their Christmas past in a cabin they hadn’t shared before.

  Finally, when she was finished, she pushed aside her bowl, and her gaze seemed to bore into him. “What are you, Eben Meiser?”

  He finished his last bite of soup before scooping up the bowls and taking them to the sink to run water in so they would be easier to wash. It was a way to buy a little time, though he didn’t think it would matter if he had ten seconds or ten years to compose his thoughts. He was sure to blow it either way.

  With a reluctant sigh, he turned to face her, though he leaned against the sink with his hip propped by the counter. “I’m a dragon-shifter. Dracos sapiens, to be exact.”

  She let out a sharp, short laugh, but seem to quickly stifle it. “So I’m not completely insane? For a moment, I thought maybe I was having some hallucinations from eclampsia.”

  He didn’t know what that was, but it sounded serious. “Do you have this eclampsia?”

  She shook her head. “It’s a medical condition pregnant women sometimes get, but most of the time it’s caught when it’s still pre-eclampsia. I was just being silly, I guess. I desperately wanted an explanation that didn’t include the reality that I saw you transition from human to what I swore was a blue dragon before you went invisible.”

  “I’m actually more red than anything. The blue is my underside, and the silver’s my scales, but when I’m in my dragon form, I’m mostly red. That’s what you’d see if you looked down at me flying. From looking up, you’d see a blue belly and red wings.”

  “Oh.” She seemed at a loss for words at his detailed explanation. “How does this happen? Were you involved in some kind of government project?”

  Eben couldn’t help a small laugh. “No, of course not. I was born this way. Mind you, I had no idea until puberty, when I was suddenly shifting into a dragon. Living at Harper House, that was pretty terrifying.” He shuddered as he briefly recalled trying to hide the secret of his dragon while living in a group home for orphans. It had been almost impossible at times and had necessitated his quick control of the beast inside.

  Her eyes were wide. “How does this happen though? Is it magic?” She seemed skeptical as she asked, but also afraid of the idea, as though preparing to reorient her worldview.

  He felt a surge of sympathy for her as he shook his head. “No, not at all. I’ve met a few other shifters over the years, and I’ve learned it’s just a different evolutionary path from humans.”

  Her skepticism deepened. “But you’re a dragon. Dragons aren’t real.”

  He shrugged. “I’m as real as you are. Dragons have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. Our ability to shift is what saved us when the rest of the creatures perished. We were still pretty primitive ourselves back then, and nowhere near what you would call human. We were like a strange hybrid of reptile and mammal, from what I’ve heard. I wasn’t alive back then.”

  He was hoping to draw a small smile from her, but her expression didn’t change. He shrugged. “Apparently, it took my ancestors a while to learn to live incognito. I assume the ability to camouflage was an evolutionary trait that evolved from necessity. We were viciously hunted by early humans, and they really tried to wipe us out during the Dark Ages. There aren’t many of us left, but the ones I know live in society just like everyone else.”

  She seemed almost disappointed. “I guess that makes sense, but I was sort of preparing myself for it to be a case of magic.” She looked a little self-conscious when she laughed. “I was kind of hoping the world of Harry Potter was real.” She winked to reveal she was joking, though she still seemed to be shaky and not quite adapted to the change in her reality.

  Her expression suddenly darkened, bordering on panic. “Is my baby a dragon?”

  “He or she probably will be, since it’s a dominant trait. But like I said, the actual changing anyway, doesn’t start until puberty. I’ll be there to help him or her along with the process.”

  She seemed skeptical of that, but she said in an almost grudging fashion, “Her. It’s a girl.” She got to her feet after making the revelation, clearly intent on putting some distance between them.

  Acting purely on instinct, his head still reeling from the news that not only was he going to be a father, a thought which he was still adapting to, but he was going to be the father of a little girl, he trailed behind her and sat beside her on the couch. She seemed annoyed by him and his presence, but he couldn’t physically be away from her right then.

  When he reached out a hand to put on her knee, she jerked away. He couldn’t hide his hurt when he looked at her. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’d never do that.”

  She glared at him. “You’ve already hurt me deeply, Eben, so don’t pretend like you won’t do it again.”

  A wave of relief swept through him as he realized she wasn’t afraid of his dragon, at least not anymore. She wanted to avoid him because of their past, not because of what he was. The relief disappeared under another wave of remorse that threatened to make him shake under the force of it. “I’m sorry I hurt you. That wasn’t my intention when we got involved. I just didn’t realize how completely different we were then, and you were getting too close.” That was more honest than he’d planned to be, but it was the truth.

  She tilted her head sideways for a moment, as though evaluating his words. A spark of something he couldn’t identify appeared in her eyes. “Did you pull away from me because you were trying to hide the dragon thing?”

  It would have been an easy out, but it was only partially the truth. He’d always known that if he met a woman he wanted to claim as his mate, he’d have to tell her about, and likely show her, the dragon. Reluctantly, he just shook his head. “You were getting too close to me emotionally, Marlie. I didn’t know how to do that then, and I don’t know how to do it now.”

  The spark of whatever it was fled from her gaze, leaving her looking bereft. “Do what?”

  “Relationships, intimacy, and sharing. Part of me wants that, but I don’t know how to handle it. I had no
one and nothing growing up, and then you were suddenly there, pushing past all my boundaries and battering down the walls. You were more than I could cope with, and when you made that ridiculous donation on the company’s behalf, I might have overreacted a little bit. I seized it as an opportunity to end things before they got even more serious.”

  She glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. “It wasn’t a ridiculous donation, but I can see why you let such a trivial matter become the catalyst that blew us apart.”

  He gritted his teeth. “You gave a hundred thousand dollars to Harper House.”

  She shrugged. “The firm could afford it.”

  His anger was surging to the forefront again from the old argument, and though he wanted to rein it in, he couldn’t seem to. “We might have had a healthy bottom line, but we’d already expended our charitable donations for the year. There was no tax advantage in giving that place money.”

  “That place was your home for eighteen years, and though you didn’t have a family, the people who worked there were responsible for helping you become the man you are. At the time, I thought that was a good thing, but now I’m questioning it.”

  His dragon was roaring in the back of his head, and he suddenly had a pounding headache. He took several deep breaths in an attempt to restore his calm and quell the impulse to keep arguing with her. The last time they had discussed this, it had escalated into a screaming match followed by her storming out on a bright summer day and not returning for six miserable months.

  He was almost shocked to realize he didn’t want to drive her away again. He was still afraid of getting too close and needing her in a way he didn’t know how to handle, but he knew from experience that living without her was a thousand times worse than facing the uncertainty of needing her more than she needed him.

  He deliberately gentled his voice. “You’re right. I overreacted about the money, and part of it was because it went to Harper House. They might have raised me, but it never felt like my home. Maybe they do good things, but it was a place I would never choose to support. Too many bad memories, I guess.”

  Her expression softened as her anger visibly faded away. “I’m sorry, too. I never thought to ask you about that. I really thought it would be a good thing, especially when the director of Harper House came to the firm to solicit the donation. Maybe I should have realized there was a problem when he came to me instead of you. I really was trying to do something good for them and for you.”

  He nodded, able to accept her words without the corresponding surge of anger that had plagued him for months. “I lost you over money and my own cowardice. I don’t want to make that mistake again, Marlie.”

  She bit her lip, her uncertainty clear. “You really hurt me last time, Eben. First when you reacted with what I perceived was an unreasonable amount of anger, and all related to money. I didn’t understand there was a personal history involved with it too, but even now, it still hurts a little bit when I think about that day. I’m not saying no to giving us a second chance, but I need to be certain it’s what you really want, and you’re ready to commit to such a goal.”

  She put her hands on her stomach in what appeared to be an unconscious gesture as she started to move them in a soothing circle. “There’s more than just you and me at stake now. We have to think about her too. If you want to be part of our lives, I’d like that. I know it’s what’s best for her, but you have to be sure you’re not going to panic and shove us away. So take some time to think about that and be certain of what you want.”

  He watched her with confusion, surprised when she got to her feet and moved away from him to the loveseat, where she curled up as though giving every semblance of preparing to sleep. He wasn’t certain why she had pulled away after he’d made himself vulnerable. “What do you want?” The question was thick with frustration.

  Her placid response gave no indication she had recognized his irritation or confusion though. “I know what I want, Eben, but I can’t influence you. Right now, I’m going to sleep, and we’ll figure out everything, including the future, when we wake up.”

  He wanted to argue, to keep hashing out the situation, and to confront his own fears and batter them down while reassuring her he was confident about what he wanted. Instead, he stretched out on the couch, seeing the wisdom of staying near the exit in case they were discovered instead of curling up in the king-size bed in the back of the cabin, and stared at her in brooding silence as her eyes closed. She seemed to fall asleep quickly.

  It was probably just exhaustion, but he still worried that maybe she had no trouble sleeping because she didn’t really care about what decision he reached. Six months apart could have given her plenty of time to move on and get over whatever she’d felt for him.

  They’d never said the L-word in all the months they had been together, and that was unusual with Marlie, who was generally open about her emotions. Excessively so, at times. Had she been holding back in an effort to protect herself and her heart until she was certain of him, or had she simply never cared as much as he thought she had? It was a question that plagued him for the next few hours, preying on his mind and preventing him from stealing more than a few minutes of sleep here and there.

  Chapter Three

  Somehow, Eben had fallen asleep, but it was a restless type, and as soon as he heard a sound from Marlie, he was wide awake again. With his eyes opened in the dark, his dragon easily saw all the details around him. His gaze moved to Marlie when she made a sound again. She was obviously dreaming, but he abruptly realized it wasn’t a nightmare when she made a breathless little moan. He recognized the sound. He’d heard it from her often.

  The scent of her arousal hit him a moment later, confirming she was having a sexy dream. His cock grew hard when he inhaled her pheromones, detecting she smelled differently than she had before pregnancy. She smelled a little richer and sweeter now, and he was almost salivating.

  Determined to ignore the sounds coming from her, though he doubted he could get back to sleep, he sat up and looked away. However, his gaze returned to her a millisecond later when he identified a single word among her gasps and moans.

  “Eben.”

  He was off the couch before he could talk himself out of it or exert common sense. He knelt on the floor in front of her as he bent forward to brush his lips against hers. She was still sleeping, but even in her sleep, her lips clung to his. He kissed her, starting as sweetly as he could before her intoxicating taste scrambled his control. When he slipped his tongue inside her mouth, she made a different sound, and he pulled back.

  Her eyes were open, and she was frowning at him. “What are you doing?”

  “You were dreaming.”

  From the way her face darkened with a flush, she clearly remembered what kind of dream she’d been having. She blinked rapidly before licking her lips. “That’s not the usual way to wake up someone from a nightmare.”

  He grinned at her. “I agree, but we both know you weren’t having a nightmare.”

  Her eyes widened, and she looked horrified. “Does your dragon read minds?”

  He couldn’t help a small laugh at her expense. “No, not at all. You were making the same little whimpers and moans you used to make when I was inside you, and then you sent me over the edge.”

  She frowned at him. “I was asleep, so I fail to see how I could’ve done that.”

  “You said my name.” He chuckled when her flush deepened, speculating she didn’t realize he could see her that well in the dark. Otherwise, she probably would have made more of an effort to hide her reaction. “You still want me as much as I want you, Marlie.”

  She looked grumpy. “It’s pregnancy hormones. Get over yourself.”

  Eben was in too good of a mood to let her words deflate him or his ego. “That could be part of it, but you still called my name while having a sexy dream. Did you come, Marlie?”

  She choked, a rasping gurgle her only response.

  He already knew the a
nswer, because her pheromones hadn’t changed enough to indicate she’d found release. He shook his head. “Let me take care of that for you.”

  She seemed slightly distrustful, but didn’t try to push him away when he rearranged her slightly on the loveseat before untying the robe and spreading it open. He spent a moment just staring at her body, appreciating the changes that had taken place. Her breasts were fuller, and obviously her stomach was round and ripe, with a slightly darker line running down the center of it.

  Moving carefully, and keeping his mouth gentle, he leaned forward to take one of her nipples between his lips. He started out with gentle suction, but when she pressed against him, he increased the forcefulness of his sucking. She seemed to enjoy it when he alternated his attention between her nipples, one moment tender, and the next forceful.

  She let out a familiar whimper of pleasure when his fingers moved between her thighs, slipping into her folds to stroke her taut bud. She was like molten silk, simultaneously slick while clinging to his fingers. It was as though no time had passed at all, and he remembered exactly where she liked to be touched and how. She was soon thrusting frantically against his hand as she called out his name while threading her fingers through his hair to hold him against her breast.

  She was beautiful when she climaxed, and his dragon murmured his approval at the sight of their satisfied mate sprawled limply on the loveseat after they had brought her pleasure. He was still hard and aching, and he would have slid inside her tight heat right then if her stomach hadn’t growled.

  She giggled and blushed. “I’m sorry, but I have to eat every few hours. I feel like I’m always hungry these days.”

  “It’s fine. I’ll see what I can find.” He paused, allowing all his hunger for her to show in his gaze, though he wasn’t entirely certain her human eyes could make out his features well enough in the dark to see what he was showing her. “You should probably get dressed, or there won’t be any eating going on—at least not food and not for a while.”