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The pain in his injured shoulder subsided as she continued to stroke his skin. He leaned into the caress of her fingers on his forehead and said, “But you never gave up, did you?”
A tear rolled down her cheek and he wished he had the strength to reach up and wipe it away.
Melanie shook her head as she rubbed away her tears. “No, of course not. If you haven’t learned by now how stubborn I can be, then you never will.”
His smile ruined his words. “You bloody stubborn ox.”
She laughed and leaned down to kiss his lips. She lingered and he found the strength to raise his hand and cup her cheek. “Melanie.”
“Yes?”
As they stared into one another’s eyes, Tristan wondered what would’ve happened to him if Melanie Hall hadn’t entered his life.
It wasn’t just the fact she was giving him the chance to be a father or that the wound he’d received from the dragon hunters might’ve killed him without her coaxing and calming his dragon enough to let the healers help him.
There was also finding out the truth about Arabella and making him realize his sister needed more help than he’d offered.
And, most of all, Melanie Hall had convinced him that not all humans were bad. Yes, bastards like the Carlisle hunters deserved his hatred and scorn, but the average person deserved a chance. Some, such as his human, were downright amazing.
Before he could stop himself from asking the question burning in his mind, he said, “Why did you put up with me, Melanie? I was a right bastard to you. And as much as I recoil at the thought of another male touching you, I am honest enough to admit that you deserve a better man than me.”
She frowned down at him. “That is your opinion. Do you want to hear mine?”
Yes, his dragon screamed.Let her talk. Don’t try to push her away. We love her.
Rather than think on his dragon’s use of “love” again, he nodded. Melanie sat on the edge of his bed and said, “You’re partially right. You were a bastard.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. “No, it’s my turn to talk.”
He shut his mouth and fought a smile at her bossy tone. The short, fragile human wasn’t afraid to order him around, and both halves of him liked that. A lot.
Seeing that he was keeping quiet, Melanie sat up and continued, “But you were a bastard out of pain. Once I saw you interacting with the children, I knew there was a good man inside of you, buried beneath your animosity and anger. And since we were already tied together because of the baby, I decided it was worth fighting to see if I could help you. Your child will be half human, and I couldn’t—and still can’t—stomach the thought of you hating that part of him or her.”
This time he wasn’t about to allow her to think that of him. He said, “I could never hate our child because it will always be half you.”
Her hand found his and squeezed. “Oh, Tristan.”
He really should say more, but fancy, pretty words were not his forte.
His dragon-half, however, was pushing him to say more.Tell her how we feel. Then we should claim her and never let her go.
Tristan agreed with his beast. He didn’t want Melanie to leave. Even if, for some reason, she didn’t survive childbirth, he didn’t think he could ever care as much for someone again as he did for Melanie Hall. Her stubbornness, determination, and love had won him over. Completely.
But just as he wrestled the nerve to say something, there was a knock on the door. Melanie quickly rubbed her eyes and said, “Come in.”
Tristan had expected a doctor or maybe Bram. But it was neither.
His sister Arabella was standing in the doorway.
* * *
Over the past week,Melanie had won over Arabella bit by bit, but right now, she wished the dragonwoman would be anywhere but here.
Mel knew it was selfish, but Tristan was finally awake and she wanted to spend time with her dragon-shifter. Especially since the last of his inner walls constructed to keep her out were crumbling. His comment about never hating their baby because it was half hers had proven it.
But Arabella was Tristan’s sister and she had spent a good deal of the last week relieving Melanie of bedside duty and making sure Melanie had food to eat. While Ara still acted self-conscious whenever a dragon-shifter stared at her scars, at least she wasn’t cooped up in her house, locked away from the world.
And she had to be nearly as relieved as Melanie that Tristan was doing better. She smiled at the dragonwoman and said, “Did you hear? He’s awake?”
She frowned. “Why didn’t you call me?”
