“Not yet. It’s my turn.” I got out the rod I’d found in the garage. “Ready?”
My mate heated the rod with his breath until it glowed. I picked up one end with a kitchen glove. I chose the opposite shoulder to Vince’s mark. My hands trembled because I didn’t want to hurt Theron. But he nodded and smiled, and I placed the tip on his bare skin. He took a deep breath as the heat singed his skin and I removed it.
“Nowwe’re mated.” I gave him the rod, not wanting to burn the bedding.
“My mate. I adore you.” With one hand holding the rod, he planted a kiss on my lips.
“Right back at you.”
I traced over my new mark and glanced at my mate. He touched Vince’s mark and then mine.
“Thank you,” he told me.
“For what?”
“For not asking me to remove the mark that Vince gave me.”
My gods. No, I hadn't considered it. The thought of scrubbing Vince from his skin would have broken something in me, and who knew what it would have done to Theron.
“He’s part of you and the children. I’m not here to replace anyone.”
I kissed two fingers and placed them on Vince’s photo which still sat beside the bed. But my pic was there too, right beside my mate.
FOURTEEN
THERON
“I have a list.”
I wasn’t interested in any list when my hot mate—and he was literally hotter than any other human, with a baby dragon nestled inside him—was beside me and brushing his beautiful pregnant belly against my skin.
“Mmmm. That’s great, treasure.”
“Oh, you.” He whacked me with a cushion. Even though he’d told me he wasn’t fussed about my using that pet name, I was pretty sure he liked it because his mouth turned up when I used it, and he wriggled his ass.
That name is very dragon-coded.
I didn’t ask my beast how he understood “coded” anything, but he was right. Dragons in the wild protected what was theirs with their life, and my beast and I would do the same for Ledger.
My mate held up his phone that had sixteen items on the list. I’d done this three times, and half the stuff the blogs, books, and social media said were must-haves were absolutely not-haves.
But this was Ledger’s first baby, and I refused to snatch that joy from him. No matter how much money it cost or the timeit took. And I’d love every minute of it. And so would our kids because they were coming too.
“Daddy, Dad, hurry up.” Fraser was at the door beckoning us.
“Oh, right.” Ledger took my arm, and we headed outside. “We can’t have all those other prospective parents swarming the store and buying up all the baby paraphernalia.”
“They might.” Skye climbed into the back seat, and I buckled her in.
“Don’t worry, pumpkin.” Ledger patted her leg before getting in. “I won’t let them.”
My mate read off the items on his list. “We obviously need a car seat and bassinet. Our baby needs somewhere to sleep.”
“Can the baby sleep with me?” Skye hugged her doll who did sleep beside her every night.
“Your new brother or sister will love you, but they’ll be too tiny to sleep in abiggirl bed.” I glanced over my shoulder at our daughter. “Maybe when they get a little older.”
“We need heaps of diapers.” Ledger put his hand on my thigh. “Lots of changing poopy diapers in our future.”
