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Mel still had a grip on Tristan’s hand and squeezed it. “Don’t look at me like that. It was only a few minutes ago and I think I earned a few minutes alone with my dragonman.”
Tristan tugged at her hand and said, “Your dragonman is awake and can talk for himself. Can we stop pretending that I’m not here?”
She couldn’t help but smile and motioned for Ara to join them before Melanie turned back toward Tristan. “There, now you’re the focus of our attention again. Does that soothe your male ego?”
He frowned and Mel barely resisted laughing. He said, “I’m not awake five minutes and you’re teasing me again. What happened to taking care of me? I think this qualifies as being unwell enough to merit it.”
“If you think I’m going to coddle you and wait on you hand and foot, then you’ll be waiting a long time.”
Tristan smiled and Mel’s heart skipped a beat. The man was beyond handsome when he smiled.
Before he could say a word, Arabella sat down on the other side of Tristan and said, “So I’m guessing that you’re going to keep the human.”
Melanie tried not to hold her breath as she waited for his answer. Every cell in her body screamed that Tristan cared for her and never would toss her aside, but he’d never said anything out loud and she desperately wanted to hear it. She wasn’t a needy person by nature, but she’d like to know what her future held.
Well, at least for the next seven or eight months. She could still die in childbirth.
But she pushed that thought aside. Right now was a happy time. Tristan was awake and teasing her. Arabella didn’t hate her and could stand being in her company. Things were good compared to when she’d first arrived here a few weeks ago. She could worry about dying later.
Tristan glanced at her before looking at his sister. “I’m not sure anyone could ‘keep’ her. You’ve seen what she’s like. A right menace she is.”
Mel’s heart plummeted, but then Tristan looked at her with mischief in his eyes and hope surged again. He said, “But I plan on spending the time we have until our baby is born convincing Melanie to stay with me. Both the man and the dragon want to keep her.”
She wanted to scream, “Yes!”, but decided that would be a little too easy for her dragonman. After all, he’d admitted to being a bastard. She could tease him until he was well enough that she might reward him for not dying with more than words.
She tapped her chin in an overly dramatic fashion and said, “Hmm, well, you’re going to have to work hard at convincing me to stay. You’ve been a bit mean since meeting me.” She removed her finger from her chin and leaned down to whisper in his ear, “But I hope that you spend a good chunk of your time convincing me to stay by being naked in my bed.”
Arabella moved from the bed. “Okay, I really didn’t need to hear that.”
Oops. Mel had forgotten about the super-sensitive hearing of dragon-shifters.
She was about to apologize when there was a knock followed by the door opening to reveal Dr. Sid. “Someone reported hearing a male voice coming from this room despite the lack of male visitors, so I came to check and see if it was Tristan’s.” Her eyes darted to the male dragon-shifter. Then she looked from Melanie to Arabella and back. “And since he’s awake, I need to do a thorough examination and ask some questions. I know he just woke up and you’re happy about it, but I need you to leave me alone with him for fifteen minutes.”
Before she could reply, Tristan spoke up, “Melanie needs to go rest and eat something anyway.” She looked at his face and his eyes flashed to dragon slits. “My inner dragon doesn’t like the circles under your eyes or the fact I can tell you’ve lost some weight this week. Go. Eat, rest, and get well for me.”
“But you just woke up.”
He squeezed her hand and looked to Dr. Sid. “The danger has passed, right, Sid?”
Mel looked over at the doctor and she nodded. “While a complete examination will tell me more, I’m fairly certain you should pull through just fine. We were concerned that you’d never wake up from your coma, but that worry is gone.”
Tristan looked back to her. “See? Now that I’m getting better, I need you to take care of not only yourself, but our baby too.”
Melanie was teetering. Now that she wasn’t constantly worrying about Tristan, her exhaustion and hunger were starting to set in.
Still, she looked to the doctor and said, “Will the exam be able to tell you when he can come home?” The doctor nodded and she looked back to Tristan. “Okay, then you win this time. But after a nap and some food, I’ll be back.”
Tristan said, “Good. Wake me up if I’m asleep.” She opened her mouth to protest but he shook his head. “No, Melanie. There are things we need to talk about and they can’t wait.”
She sighed. “Great. Now I’m sure that I’ll sleep just fine with that sentence hanging over my head.”
He snorted. “I’m not going to toss you aside or push you away again, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He moved his hand to her thigh and squeezed. “Get some sleep. Then we’ll talk about our baby and the future.”
She moved her hand over his and squeezed. “Okay, okay. If sleeping will ensure that you’ll talk openly later, then I can live with that deal.” She leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips. She stayed a hairbreadth away and said, “Until later, dragonman.”
The look in his eyes turned tender and sent a rush straight to her heart. She could still barely believe Tristan was finally hers.
She reluctantly moved from the bed and went out the door to allow Arabella to say goodbye to her brother. As she made her way to the exit of the building used as Stonefire’s hospital, Melanie couldn’t help but smile. Her dragon-shifter was awake, alive, and wanted to talk to her about their future.
