Page 80 of Mating Her Dragon

He laughed, low, and felt her smile against his skin.

She traced idle circles against his chest for a while, comfortable and quiet, and then she asked him, the way she had once before, a lifetime and a road trip ago. "Where do you want to go?"

Garrett went very still.

That was the question that had started all of this. Before the Pacific. Before the bluff. Before Keevandrie. Before Hell. Before any of it. The first time she'd asked, he'd barely understood what she was actually offering him.

He understood now. "Alaska," he said.

Sydney lifted her head off his chest. "Alaska?"

"I've never seen it."

She stared at him for a long moment, and then, slowly, a smile spread across her face. It was the exact one he remembered from that first night, when he'd told her he'd never seen the Pacific and she'd looked at him like the answer had been obvious the whole time.

"Then let's start there," she said.

Full circle. The first time: the Pacific. Now: Alaska. There would always be somewhere else he hadn't seen. Something else he wanted. Another road, chosen freely, together.

"We're going to need a bigger coffee maker," Sydney said.

"Done."

"And better Wi-Fi."

"Fine."

"And I'm driving sometimes."

Silence.

"Garrett."

"We can discuss it."

"Not a discussion."

He decided that particular battle could wait for daylight and let it go. Sydney settled back against him, satisfied, already halfway to sleep, and he made up his mind that he would wait until they got to Alaska to give her the aquamarine and diamond ring he’d had commissioned for her. Maybe with a nice meal, some wine, and those yellow and red roses she loved so much.

Dreaming up all the ways he could slide the ring onto Sydney’s finger, the Airstream continued to exist around them, ridiculous and small and entirely theirs. They didn't need a house yet. Their home was already exactly what they'd built it to be, mile after mile, choice after choice: each other, and the road.

Garrett looked down at Sydney, nearly asleep against him now, the Mating Mark warm over his heart, the scar quiet and finally just a scar, Han peaceful in the back of his mind. Outside, somewhere past the dark water, a real road waited. Not the road to Hell. One he was choosing.

For most of his life, Garrett had gone wherever duty sent him.

Tomorrow, he was going somewhere because he wanted to.

And for the first time in a very long life, home was coming with him.

Until we meet again…

Remember, Fate and Destiny may have tons of power, but YOU have a choice, and sometimes that makes all the difference in the world.

Be happy! We’re sure gonna try!

XOXO, Sydney and Garrett

Epilogue