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“Don’t be silly. Gareth and I love nothing more than a full house with lots of laughter. You should come.”
Rafe stared at the older dragonwoman and wondered how the bloody hell the woman could be Kai’s mother.
However, before he could think too long, Cora wiggled in her mother’s arms. “Please, Mummy. I want to play with the English dragons. Their accents are funny and they probably have new games to play.”
Gwen finally bobbed her head. “I suppose, as long as Lily doesn’t mind.”
“Drop the formalities, Gwen. You’re welcome anytime. Right, then, it’s all sorted. We’ll see you at seven.” She moved to the door. “Come, Nikki and Rafe. We’ll take the long way home so I can give you a tour of the public areas. Rhydian said those parts were okay to show you. Although, given how often that male changes his mind, we’d better hurry.”
As Mrs. Owens exited the door, Rafe looked back to Gwen. “We’ll see you at dinner, then.”
Cora waved. “Bye!”
With a chuckle, Rafe waved back before leading Nikki out of Gwen’s quarters. As they walked to catch up to Mrs. Owens, Nikki whispered, “I think she’s still mourning Noah.”
He squeezed his woman closer. “I think so, too. At least she didn’t yell or punch me in the face. That must be a good sign.”
“I liked your offer about our children being friends. While I love your alpha side, your emerging father persona is winning future brownie points.” She paused before adding, “For the first time, I wish I was giving birth next week so I could see you hold our baby and go all soft.”
“But if you were nine months pregnant, you would look huge on TV for our mating ceremony in a few days.”
She hit his side. “There goes your brownie points. I won’t be huge. I will just have a tiny person inside of me. There’s a difference.”
He chuckled. “I want to say more, but even I know better than to push a pregnant dragonwoman too far. You might ‘accidentally’ drop me on our way home.”
“Now there’s an idea.”
As they looked at each other, they laughed. Part of Rafe felt guilty that he had the love of his life and best friend at his side when Gwen didn’t. But at the same time, he couldn’t change the past. He could only make the best of his future and of those around him.
Giving Nikki a quick kiss, Rafe decided he would try his damnedest to make those close to him happy, Gwen included. Somehow, someway, he’d try to take care of his dead friend’s family.
But in the present, he would take care of his own, which meant surviving a night with Lily Owens and getting back to Stonefire in time for his mating ceremony.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Nikki smoothed the dark purple fabric of her traditional-style dress for the hundredth time. The material draped over one shoulder, hugged her chest, and then flared out to the ground. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t be wearing so little outside in March in Northern England with little more than a cloth tent for shelter, b
ut the day was special.
She was about to mate Rafe Hartley in front of possibly millions watching the ceremony on their TVs.
Her stepmother, Delphine, rushed into the partition where Nikki was waiting for her cue to walk out. The dragonwoman touched Nikki’s cheek. “You look so beautiful.”
“You should’ve seen me fifteen minutes ago with my head in the toilet,” Nikki drawled.
“Nikola Helen Gray, this is your mating day. Let’s try not to talk about being sick in a toilet.”
She shrugged. “It’s not my fault. The future Hartley Heartbreaker inside of me has decided something doesn’t smell right.”
Delphine smiled. “Hartley Heartbreaker. I like that.”
Her mother’s smile was infectious. “By the way, I wanted to thank you for making my dress, Mum. Sewing is definitely not one of my skill sets.” She held out the skirt. “I almost feel like a normal female in this.”
“Of course you’re a normal female.” Her mother’s frown eased. “But I’d do anything for you, Nikki. I may not have given birth to you, but you will always be my daughter. And I’m so happy you found your true mate.”
The tears in Delphine’s eyes made Nikki tear up. She sniffed. “Don’t make me cry. I’m already puffy from retaining water. I don’t need to add red eyes, too.”
Engulfing her in a hug, Delphine whispered, “You could be bald and wearing a bin bag and Rafe wouldn’t care.”
