Page 45 of Claimed By the Dragon
Was he ready? Could he claim his mate? Would she want it?
He asked his dragon,Even if I attempted it, would you be able to hold back, still? I need to be in control the first time, I think.
His beast paused, and then replied,I think so. Although not much longer after that. I don’t need a frenzy. That could hurt our mate since she birthed the twins not long ago. But I would need to claim her, too.
Grace’s voice snapped him out of his head. “Did you like everything I did? If not, you need to tell me.”
His hand traveled down her back until he could rub one of her bum cheeks. He’d never really enjoyed touching before. But Grace was soft and warm, and he felt more connected to her whenever he was skin-to-skin.
Maybe they should always sleep naked. And together. He would sleep better with her pressed against him.
“Trahern?” She lifted her head, and he didn’t like her furrowed brows.
He replied, “Yes, I liked it. All of it. I like you, touching you. Just like with kissing, I think I need to practice with you. A lot.”
She smiled and laid her chin against his chest. “Practice what? Do you mean shaking hands?”
He gripped her butt cheek. “No.”
“Hmm. Maybe sitting together, holding hands?”
His fingers traveled upward, until he could tickle the top of her breast. Grace laughed and rolled onto her back. “That tickles, Trahern!”
He rolled to his side and danced his fingers over the top of her breast again. She tried to get away, and he followed, until Grace laughed and stopped him with a kiss.
Trahern devoured her mouth with his tongue and had just started moving a hand between her thighs when he heard one ofthe boys squirming. Grace couldn’t hear it yet with her human hearing, but the twins would awaken soon.
Pushing aside his disappointment—the twins were important to him too—he eased his kiss until he could cup Grace’s cheek and look at her slightly blurry face, wishing he had his glasses on. Regardless, he said, “I won’t claim you fully yet. But I want you to sleep in my bed with me, Grace. And be naked.”
She stroked his jaw. “The twins still wake up several times a night. They’re getting better, but it’s going to be a few months, probably, before they sleep through until morning.”
“I will help you with them. But I want to feel you next to me, Grace. Please.”
She smiled, kissed him gently, and nodded. “Okay.”
Triumph surged through him just as one of the boys—he thought Eli—started crying. He said, “I’ll check on him whilst you get dressed.”
As he changed both boys and then helped Grace to feed them, Trahern nearly hummed. He might not have had a real family growing up, but he had one now. And they’d become part of his routine, one he’d take seriously forever.
Chapter Thirteen
The next morning, Grace’s brain slowly woke up, until she could make herself blink her eyes open.
She was snuggled next to something solid and warm. After looking up to see Trahern still asleep on his back, she smiled.
He looked peaceful and younger, free of trying to maneuver in a world that didn’t see things in quite the same way as him.
But what some would label quirks, she only thought of as parts that made up her mate—the dragonman she was falling for.
Between offering to help with the twins during the night and his tender way of holding her close and kissing her gently before telling her to go back to sleep afterward, Grace had struggled not to cry.
Not because she was sad or upset. No, Trahern was the sweetest man she’d ever known. And when combined with how he could make her come quickly—he’d demonstrated twice more yesterday using his mouth again before they’d gone to bed—she still had trouble believing he was hers. How had no one snatched him up before?
As she reveled in her dragonman’s heat and scent, Grace realized she was happy. It was a strange feeling after so manymonths of misery and worry inside the prison. And yet, she woke up each day wanting to talk with Trahern, to learn more about him, and to watch as he played with her boys.
No—their boys, she corrected.
Despite everything Trahern had done, though, Grace still struggled to believe her happiness would last. She wanted it to. Oh, how she wanted it to. However, her track record wasn’t great. The last time she’d thought she cared for a man, it’d ended in disaster.