Heck, one of our first rules for Amy was to not masturbate. Ever. It was as embarrassing for her to hear as it was for me to tell her, but we can’t be too careful. Just like a shark can pick a droplet of blood out of the water from miles away, I suspect a mate-less dragon could follow the scent of a lone unmated female’s arousal from a long, long distance.

So we stay in our territory, and that means Amy’s always at home. I like having my sister there, but at the same time, I like alone time with my dragon, too. So we tend to fly off regularly and make out like bunnies in public places. On the back of a car, in an old bank lobby, on a roof. On the shore here. Wherever and whenever we can get a few moments alone.

We have sex a lot…and it’s had a few other unintended consequences. I study Kael’s handsome face, wondering if now is the right time to bring up what I want to talk about. I trace a teasing finger over his pectoral. “So. What were you like as a child?”

Kael thinks for a moment and then shrugs. I do not remember.

I bite back my frustration. One of the side-effects of Kael’s transport here was the madness. Unfortunately, the madness has sucked away a lot of his memories of his land, and all he recalls are occasional fragments. Memories are missing, leaving big gaps in his knowledge, and that means we don’t have a lot of information to go off of. “You don’t remember anything at all? What about when drakoni females get pregnant? How does that work?”

He gives me an amused look and rolls our twined bodies over on the sand until I’m under him. Shall I show you how a male drakoni claims his female? He shifts his hips, and his cock—still deep inside me from our mating minutes ago—strokes inside me.

I bat at his shoulder. I don’t want sex right now—okay, I’m a terrible liar, because I do. But I want to talk about this. “I need to know more about your kind, Kael. Do you know if females have babies in battle-form or what?”

He shrugs and gives his hips a delicious, grinding roll. I do not remember.

“Well, think,” I reply tartly.

He pauses, sensing my mood, and I feel him sorting through his muddle of memories. Edges of madness touch my mind, but a moment later, he pushes them away, his eyes swirling back to amber. I have a memory of my father.

It’s a start. “Oh?”

He rubs his cheek, and the white scar that is there. I remember disobeying him, and he gave me this. It was back in…the other place. His eyes go vague and unfocused for a moment. That is all I recall, other than I deserved it.

Great. “That’s not super helpful, baby. Do…do you think father dragons have high emotion?” I bite my lip, worried. Kael is calm around me, but what if that changes?

He snorts and leans in to nip at my neck. No more than any other time. I was not a drakoni youth that listened very well. He lifts his head and narrows his beautiful amber eyes at me. Why is this so important?

A stab of terror shoots through me. Now or never. I lick my dry lips and put my hands on his cheeks, cupping his face. “Because I’m pregnant.”

Kael hesitates. He blinks his gold eyes, and I watch as they flare to black, then swirl back to gold.

And he smiles. I can feel pride and joy bursting through his mind, and his hand slides to my stomach and he caresses it. My child?

Yours, I tell him, my throat too thick with tears to speak.

He grins, and it’s clear he’s happy. I am, too. I’m terrified, sure, but I’m happy. Things are going to be okay, I realize. This isn’t an end to our happiness but a beginning.

I mean, I need to know if I’m going to have an egg, or a dragon hatchling, or if it’ll come out human, but…we’re in this together.

We’ve got this.

And I smile back up at my beautiful, fiery dragon and feel a surge of happiness. “Pleased?”

The look he gives me is incredulous. The fire in my blood carries my child and you have to ask?

I grin and pull him down against me. “Come on, baby. You know by now that I always have to ask.”

His chest rumbles with laughter as he tangles his hands in my hair and pulls me closer. I do know this. Ah, my Claudia. My mate. My everything.

And as he nuzzles my throat once more, I’m full of love and hope for the future. I have no idea what it’s going to bring…but as long as I have Kael?

It’s going to be amazing.