Mated by the Dragon (6 page)

Marcy gaped. “No, sweetie, no.
Please
don’t tell me you let Freddy go bareback in you.”

“He didn’t come! I didn’t even want to have sex. I told you that.”

“Well…” Marcy bit her lip and fidgeted. “Those vasectomies, they fail sometimes, right?”

Fresh tears wet Chloe’s cheeks. She didn’t want to be pregnant, but the likelihood of Freddy being the father outweighed the chances of Saul impregnating her with some sort of magical dragon spawn.
I saw the hesitation on his face. He’s disappointed that I can’t bear him ‘young’. Disappointed that I’m human, and hell, I was disappointed too I guess.
It was one thing to decide on her own to enjoy life without a child, but another for circumstances to dictate the choice to her.

“I’ll run out to Walgreens and get you a test,” Marcy volunteered.

“I can’t ask you to do that. You just came in from work after a long day.”

“Are you serious? Give me thirty minutes to make it there and back. Saul’s a little worried about you, so you might want to pop out and say something to him. He thinks he pissed you off by trying to jump in to your rescue.”

Chloe nodded. “Sure. Yeah. I’ll get dressed and go talk to him. Just hurry back, okay?”

“Of course.” Marcy stepped backwards from the humid bathroom and pulled the door with her.

“Marcy?”

The door hesitated, cracked an inch. “Yeah, babe?”

“Thanks.”

Once Marcy was gone, Chloe smoothed her fingers over her belly and tried to imagine some tiny life forming within it. She’d had a false alarm in the past, a result of foolishly forgetting her birth control while dating Malcolm.

Dismissing the thought, she retreated from the bathroom and stepped into the open foyer to greet Saul with the towel wrapped around her drying skin. She met him halfway and stood on tiptoe to accept a sweet kiss. He had dressed while she showered and donned a t-shirt with a casual pair of khaki shorts.

“I’m not upset at you, silly. What happened to asking before assuming?”

“Perhaps I have begun to adopt your human ways.”

She poked him in the ribs before stepping back. “Hey, I’m still not feeling so great. Would you take Felix for his walk?”

“Of course I will, but may I ask a question first?”

“What is it?”

“I was under the impression that a litterbox serves that purpose, and yet we walk him each day.”

Despite the gravity of her worries, Chloe chortled a quick, sharp laugh. “We aren’t walking him to poop, Saul. It’s because he needs the exercise. Besides, Marcy went to get me some medicine from the pharmacy.”

“Ah. Very well then. As I said, it is no trouble. I was merely curious.”

Saul clipped a leash to Felix’s harness and left without argument. She loved that man and appreciated his sweet personality.

How do I tell him I might be carrying another guy’s child?

Chloe lit one of her handmade candles and breathed in the soothing clary sage and geranium that wafted toward her as the wax melted. Marcy and her mother made scented candles with organic essential oils, so Chloe had reaped in the therapeutic benefits for years.

While waiting for her pal to return, she dried her hair then tossed on plain yoga pants. She spent the rest of the time sitting on the bathroom sink while waiting for Marcy to return.

Thanks to the evening traffic, Marcy’s thirty minute trip to the pharmacy dragged into an hour. Chloe practically snatched the plastic bag and shut the door in her friend’s face. Minutes later, she opened the door with the answer held in one hand. Marcy bounced on her toes and fixed Chloe with an expectant look.

“Well? Don’t keep me in suspense, chica. What does it say? Are you good?”

She wordlessly held the pink plastic wand out for Marcy’s inspection. A big (+) stood out darkly against the white background in the little oval window.

“Oh damn…” Marcy blinked, rubbed her eyes, and then looked again. “Oh sweetie, you’re going to be a mommy.”

Chapter 4

Despite Marcy’s insistence, Chloe succumbed to disbelief and refused to schedule a doctor’s appointment to confirm the truth. As the rest of her vacation days in Houston dwindled, both women began the tedious packing process. Chloe’s initial guess of five boxes proved to be too few, so Antonio volunteered to visit his job site for more while the girls and Saul got her belongings together.

“Chloe?”

Chloe turned to find Saul holding up a semi-translucent slip of shell pink lace and silk. The tiny babydoll nightie was a favorite during her relationship with Freddy. She hadn’t worn it since.

“Why do you never wear such things? It is very attractive.”

Marcy, seated on the floor amidst a sea of porcelain, butterfly-winged unicorns, chortled out loud and continued to wrap newspaper around the delicate baubles. “The man has a good question. Didn’t you pay a lot of money for that?”

“I’ll go shopping in LA for new ones. Those you can toss in the trash bin over there.”

Saul’s disappointed expression brought a smile to Chloe’s face.
I’ll get some special ones just for him. Not these used leftovers.

When Marcy headed out for work the next day, Saul summoned Mahasti for the veritable mountain of boxes. It was as simple as wishing them away to his home. They would tell Marcy that they had a delivery service retrieve them.

“Finally. With all of that gone, I can find Felix’s carrier.”

“Why must we place him in a tiny box? Would he not be happier in your arms during the flight?”

“That’s for human babies only, Saul. Some parents pay for the extra seat and bring the baby carrier but most just hold them in their lap.” Chloe’s expression darkened, unbeknownst to her until Saul shrank back a step. The mirror behind him revealed the severity of her frown and brought her glaring expression into focus.

“Have I asked too many questions?”

“No. No. Sorry… I don’t mean to take it out on you. I’m tired,” she explained.

“Enjoy a nap. Felix and I shall enjoy a walk around the block.”

Chloe kissed him in apology. The moment Saul and Felix disappeared out the door she hurried for the bathroom.

Maybe the first test was a fluke.

It wasn’t. Like the first, the stick depicted a positive result.

The next week passed in a surreal haze, fueled by Chloe’s disbelief. What would she do, how would she tell her family, and most importantly, how could she break the news to Saul? On the final day of their visit to Houston, she and Marcy held each other tight at the airport security gate.

“If you ever need to come home, you always have a place to stay with me, Chloe. I mean it. No matter what,” the short-statured Latina told her fiercely with tears in her dark eyes. “Both of you.” Marcy wasn’t referring to Chloe and Felix.

“You better come visit for Christmas like you promised,” Chloe whispered back.

“Nothing could keep me away.” They hugged tightly again then Marcy even squeezed Saul around his broad shoulders. “Be good to her. Don’t give me any reason to come to California to kick your ass, buddy.”

“I would not consider myself worthy of Chloe if such a visit became necessary, Marceline. Travel safely.”

An uneventful flight delivered Saul, Chloe, and Felix to Los Angeles where Leiv retrieved them from the airport. As usual, her every wish seemed to be his and Saul’s command. He drove her to a Wendy’s for a Frosty and the greasy burgers she craved, allowing her to introduce Saul to the frozen chocolate decadence for the first time.

Still, things didn’t quite feel right, and it took a minute for her to figure out what the anomaly was. There was silence from the front seat.

Something must be wrong with Leiv. He’s never so quiet.

The odd, taciturn change of personality warred with her memories of the chatty bear shifter. He was polite as ever as he helped her from the car, but the sparkle was missing from his eyes. Reluctant to intrude, she left him alone and retreated to her bedroom with Felix’s carrier. Saul promised to join her after he checked in on the household affairs.

“This is home now, at least for a while,” Chloe murmured to the curious feline. If Saul allowed them to remain once she made her confession. It felt foolish to move blindly into his home, but the wistful, crazy-in-love part of her wanted to trust nothing would change.

“Go on now. Have fun, baby,” she coaxed the cat, urging him from the carrier. Felix scrambled across the polished floors and slid beneath the bed. He ran circles across the room and leapt into a window sill to peer outside into the golden afternoon.

By the time Saul arrived with her luggage and personal items, she had sprawled across the bed with Felix nestled beside her. He was bored of investigating his new digs but intrigued by the gold silk tassel on her pillow case.

“What’s wrong with Leiv?” Chloe asked. She absently teased Felix and giggled at his batting paws.

“Matters of the heart, Chloe. Mahasti is similarly pensive.”

“Looks like they took advantage of our absence.”

“Indeed,” he replied without elaboration.

Fine. I’ll have to ask Mahasti about it then,
Chloe thought, brimming with curiosity that her boyfriend wouldn’t sate with information. Since her arrival, she and the djinn in Saul’s service had developed a girlish camaraderie.

After she abandoned the bed, Chloe crouched beside the luggage pieces brought up from the car. Part of her wanted to lounge away the afternoon to enjoy the comforts of bed, but a desire to behave like an adult drove her to get an early start on establishing her professional career in California. She wouldn’t settle for being his low-maintenance human pet, a rent-free occupant of the manor who happened to share his bed. For Chloe, it was more than a mere desire to pull her own weight — she had worked her entire adult life and couldn’t fathom staying at home.

“Mahasti will unpack for you.”

“I can empty my own things, and I’m not unpacking right this moment,” she replied. She returned to the bed with a slim leather case and removed her laptop. “How do I access the internet here?”

Saul rattled off a complicated password that Chloe asked him to repeat twice.
Jeez. Dragons are all about security. How the hell does he have that memorized?
The long string of special characters, numbers, and letters looked like gibberish to her.

“What has you typing so busily?”

“Working on my resume. I need to update it.”

“That is unnecessary,” he told her with a chuckle.

“I mean it, Saul. I didn’t come here to be a trophy wife like one of the gems in your vault. I want a job.”

“Don’t be silly, Chloe. You will work with Drakenstone Studios.”

“As what?”

“You are a paralegal with many years of experience. Arrangements will be made for a new supervisory position—”

“I will not.”

Saul paused to stare at her and raise an inquisitive blond brow. “You will not do what?”

“Accept some management position handed to me. Everyone will know why I’m there! I’ll be a laughingstock. The boss’s new girlfriend given a cushy desk job to sit on her ass and collect a salary.”

“Why would I pay you a salary?” Saul’s quizzical expression deserved a punch, if not for the unveiled sincerity on his features.

“Are you teasing me? Saul, the entire purpose of employment is to receive a paycheck.”

“No.” His brow furrowed. “Did I sound as though I were jesting?”

Chloe sighed and rubbed her fingers against her temple. “Saul, I need a job. Income.”

“My love, it is common among dragons to combine hoards once mated. What is mine shall also become yours. We are not humans to maintain separate bank accounts and financial means.”

The bottom of her belly seemed to drop to her feet. Chloe stared. “Combine…
hoards?
Saul, I don’t have a hoard. I haven’t brought anything.”

“You have given me you. That is sufficient.” He paused, seemed to consider something, and then thoughtfully added, “And you have brought Felix.”

The tears flooded from Chloe all at once. Saul, who remained completely oblivious to the inner turmoil surrounding her secret, merely hugged her close and pressed his lips against her brow.

“Saul, you’re too good to be true.”

“No, I am a dragon.”

Chapter 5

“There we go, all set up.” Chloe stood back with her hands on her hips and regarded their tent with satisfaction. After Saul’s cavalier declaration of combining their holdings, Chloe had come to a single conclusion.

He needed to know about the baby, and she wanted to treat him to one fantastic night before she broke the news to him. Before she jeopardized their relationship and risked losing his trust.

Saul rumbled a noise of disapproval. “Am I not an improvement over a sleeping bag?” Her mate towered above her in his draconic body, seated on his haunches beside the tent.