Page 12 of The Dragon’s Surprise (Tahoe Dragon Mates #7)

Chapter Eight

W hile Kyle looked forward to better knowing his son and starting the adoption process, both man and beast were glad they could spend some time alone with Lexi. The fact she was giving him a chance, even after he’d been an ass, was something he wouldn’t take for granted.

His dragon spoke up. Good. Because she should be ours. Don’t fuck it up again.

I’ll try not to. But it’s not as if you’ve been helping, flashing images of her naked in our bed.

I consider it motivation. Maybe I should give you some right now.

Before he could protest, the doorbell rang, and he said quickly, Behave. At least for a little while.

We’ll see. It depends on how you do.

Not wanting his dragon to give him dating advice, Kyle went to the front door, opened it, and promptly forgot how to speak.

Lexi wore black jeans and a tight top that highlighted her slight curves. The top was dark blue with sequin things around the neckline, and it drew his gaze to her breasts.

Small, just a handful, and ones he wanted to worship with his mouth.

Lexi cleared her throat, and he met her gaze again. “Keep looking at me like that and I might do something I’ll regret.”

Once she was inside, he asked, “Which is?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

She smiled, and he chuckled. “I would. But somehow, I think you’re going to make me work for it.”

“Damn straight.” She sniffed the air. “Is that tonkatsu?”

He guided her down the hall. “Yes. I’ve never made the dish, and I have no hope of it being as good as your grandmother’s, but I tried.”

The deep-fried pork cutlet was simple enough, but getting the seasoning and the sauce right had taken some time. Especially since he’d had to ask around for all the ingredients in a single afternoon.

But as she entered the kitchen and rushed over to the plates he’d made—the pork cutlets were served with diced cabbage, a little dish of sauce, and rice—the excitement in her voice made it all worth it. “It looks so pretty! And you even have sesame seeds to grind up, for the sauce.”

“You said they made the difference. I had to try making the tonkatsu sauce, though, since it’s not something they sell in the clan store.”

“Where do you keep the spoons?”

He handed her one. She scooped up a little of the sauce and put it between her lips. She sighed in pleasure, and his dragon growled. We could make her sigh even louder, if she’d sit on the counter and let us devour her pussy.

Ignoring his beast, he moved behind Lexi and placed his hands on her hips. He stroked her side, and she leaned back against him. For a few seconds, he merely enjoyed the warm, soft female in his arms. “So? Is it good?”

“Almost as good as my Baa-chan’s, but not quite.”

“Baa-chan?”

“Oh, I forget sometimes that not everyone understands. My great-grandmother emigrated from Japan, and while my grandmother was born here, Japanese was her first language, not that anyone could tell since she didn’t have an accent.

And in Japanese, Obaa-chan means grandma, and Baa-chan is the more cutesy version, sort of like granny or nana.

” She turned her head and glanced up at him.

“Make sure to tell me if I over-explain and you get bored. It’s hard, sometimes, when something is second nature to me but others don’t understand. ”

“I’m a dragon-shifter, Lexi. I understand more than you think.”

Her smile shot straight to his cock. “That’s true. Which means the both of us should just explain away, right?”

He tightened his grip on her hips. “Always. Don’t hold back with me, Lexi. Ever. I need someone who isn’t afraid to be honest with me, even knowing I might be a grumpy asshole about it.”

“What, does no one hold the clan doctor to account?”

“You’d be surprised. Oh, my aunt and clan leader have no trouble telling me the truth.

But even with dragon-shifters, some of them are afraid of doctors.

And then there are those who think that if they get me mad, I won’t help them, which is bullshit, of course.

But when it comes to being sick or in pain, not everyone is rational. ”

She turned in his arms and placed her hands on his chest. He nuzzled her cheek, loving how she arched more against him. “So, will you be honest and possibly face the wrath of the clan doctor?”

“Wrath is a rather strong word.” He ran a hand down to her ass and squeezed. She squeaked and then playfully hit his chest. “It’s hard to think when you’re touching me.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No.”

He smiled and squeezed her again. “Good. Because I’ve been thinking of holding you and teasing you since the barbeque.”

“Hmm, me, too. And turnabout’s fair play.”

She ran a hand down his chest, down some more, but stopped at the waistband of his jeans. She traced just above them, each caress shooting to his cock and making him harder.

His dragon hummed. Forget about dinner. Let’s eat her instead.

While Kyle was tempted to worship her with his mouth and have dessert first, this was more than a quick fuck. No, he wanted her to be his mate. And that meant more than sex, no matter how much man and beast wanted it.

So he kissed her cheek. “More of that later. First, the food’s getting cold, and you’re going to need your strength, given the way things are going.”

“Someone’s cocky.”

“Have you ever been intimate with a dragonman?”

“Er, no.”

He grinned. “Then you’ll see.”

She rolled her eyes, but allowed him to guide her to the table.

After he helped her into her seat, Kyle retrieved the plates and then the small bowls to grind the sesame seeds. He sat down and gestured. “Dig in.”

“Or, as we used to say at my grandma’s house, itadakimasu ! It’s a kind of thank you for the meal, although it literally means to humbly receive, but that’s stuffy.”

“Er, maybe you can teach me later. Right now, it sounds like I Eat Docky Moss, or something.”

She laughed. “If she were still alive, Baa-chan would’ve laughed too.” She dipped a piece into the sauce, took a bite, and moaned. “This is good, though. Especially since you’ve never made it before.”

A thrill of pleasure shot through him at her praise. “I’m glad. Although I wish I could’ve met your grandmother, and not just because she sounds like a good cook.”

Lexi’s eyes filled with wistfulness. “She was an amazing woman. Barely five feet tall, but had a will of iron, for sure. However, I think she was always sad about not being able to help her daughter more. You see, my mom was an alcoholic. She managed to get her act together after meeting my father, but once my dad died in a car accident, she fell back into old habits and never regained control of her addiction again.”

“It must’ve been hard to face that all as a child.”

She picked at her food. “It was, but Jennifer and I were lucky since we had our grandmother, and I couldn’t have asked for a better woman to raise us.”

“It was like that with my Aunt Rita. She took me in, too, once my parents were killed by dragon hunters.”

Hunters who’d wanted their blood and had left their dragon forms to the animals for days before his clan had found them.

His beast spoke up. They found the people who did it, and they all died in prison. Don’t waste time on ghosts when our true mate is right here in front of us.

Glancing at Lexi, he took a deep breath and tried to tame his anger at their unnecessary deaths.

She placed a hand on his arm, and his anger melted away as she said, “I’m so sorry, Kyle. That’s beyond awful.”

He nodded. “ADDA spent a few years after that chasing away the dragon hunters from this area, but not so much in recent years. Probably because a lot of them are now working with the League.”

She made a face. “I hate those bastards, and can’t wait until all the hunters and League members lose their power and are prosecuted as they should be. The latter, especially, makes my job extremely difficult. But in some ways, the hunters are worse since they kill more often.”

At the thought of Lexi being targeted by those assholes, he growled, “How have they made your job more difficult?”

She shrugged. “Since their goal is to drive all dragon-shifters out of the United States, they try to kidnap the orphans and drop them off in either Mexico or Canada—alone, in the middle of nowhere, with the full intention of them dying. I’ve only had a close call once, but it’s happening more and more, to the point even ADDA is concerned.

My sister tries to do what she can, but unlike her and Ashley Swift, not every ADDA employee is passionate about dragon-shifters.

Too many just want a steady paycheck.” She sighed.

“I wish people would stop focusing on how we’re different and look at how we’re more alike. ”

Kyle reached across the table and took her free hand in his.

He squeezed her fingers. “As a doctor, I know firsthand how people will always try to find someone or something to blame. Sometimes it’s a coping mechanism, and sometimes it’s just the inability for people to admit they were wrong or made a mistake.

I try not to take it personally when they yell at me.

But that’s from my own kind, and I admit it’s harder to see a human run away because they think I’m going to carry them off and drop them from the sky for fun. ”

“And yet you don’t hate all humans. It’s a big difference, I think.”

“Well, I’ve met good and bad ones. Some may paint all dragon-shifters with a single brush, but I try not to do the same for humans.”

“You’re far more gracious than I am. I’m not sure I could see the potential good in anyone with the League.”

“Well, I try to heal others, whereas you have to deal with abandoned children. I’d probably be more cynical, too, if that were the case. But you do so much good for the children, and to them you make a difference. Probably more than you realize, Lexi.”