Page 17 of The Monster at the End of This Molt (The Monster at the End of His Pregnancy #4)

Chapter Seventeen

Robin

Living with Weld was a waking dream. His cheery alarm pulled us from slumber each weekday morning. We ate breakfast with my parents unless we took too long in the shower. Then, we walked to the fortress together and made out in my office for a few minutes before the first school bell rang.

While Weld taught with my dad, I met clients in my office. Lunch, I usually ate with my siblings in the cafeteria. Now that Grover and Ernie had met their fated mates, they chose to eat at home instead. That left me with Clementine. She seemed more distant, the closer we came to the dragon reunion.

"I don't want to leave," she said on the Friday before the big event.

"Who says you have to?"

She stared at her tray so intensely, it made me worry. Clementine was my smartest, bravest sibling.

"Hey." I took her hand, and she met my gaze. "If I could do it, you can do it."

"You knew you were coming back."

I shook my head. "If Weld had wanted to stay in The Meadows, I would have. It's a great place. You'll love it."

She frowned. "How do you know?—"

"The pink dragonet from your dream, remember?"

"He's from The Meadows, and so is Lemon." She repeated the question she'd asked when Lemon arrived. "What if my dream wasn't about me?"

"You said there was more than just the dragonet and the hunky beta kobold."

She nodded. "He took me to a stone palace in the woods, abandoned and beautiful. He said it was far enough from his village to conduct my experiments, and close enough for me to teleport there and back." She looked around the crowded cafeteria and sighed. "There's nothing like that here. Galen's too concerned about their precious ancestral mountain caves."

"You blew the top off a dormant volcano back on Earth," I reminded her. "That's some villain-level shit."

She nudged my shin with the side of her foot. If she'd been offended, she would have gouged me with her talons. "You've been to The Meadows. Does this palace exist?"

"Weld took me to some ruins about an hour north." I could see it now, Clementine working her magic to restore the place to its former glory.

"I still don't want to leave," she mumbled.

"We're only a dragonet ride away," I reminded her. "We can visit you, too. Galen won't let a week go by without their bestie."

She laughed and wiped at her eyes. "True. And I could amplify the magical Wi-Fi so I could text you all from my secret laboratory!"

"That's the spirit!"

We high-fived across the table, and she smiled. "Thanks for being an awesome big brother. I don't tell you that often enough."

"We non-alphas stick together," I said, repeating what Papa had called us when we were little. "Alphas with Dad, non-alphas with me!"

"We should make non-alpha t-shirts for the dragon reunion! I bet they would sell like nobody's business!" And she was off, talking hastily to the dictation program on her phone as she raced from the cafeteria.

That left me to clean up her lunch mess, as usual, but I didn't mind. She was in a much better mood now than she had been all week.

Meanwhile, the rest of the afternoon dragged. My last two clients canceled, both mentioning they needed extra time to prepare for the dragon reunion. All school, work, and other recreation halted for the next two weeks while we welcomed dragons and kobolds alike to our village. It would be awesome, but I needed it to hurry up and get here, already. Tomorrow morning couldn't come soon enough.

I forgot my boredom the moment Weld stepped through my open office door. "Are you ready for our date?"

"Date?" If we'd planned something, I must have forgotten.

"I thought it would be fun to take Kermit up into the mountains and watch the dragons arrive."

"That sounds like a good way to get eaten by dragons."

He laughed. "We can hide in one of the dragon caves. It'll be fun."

It still sounded like suicide to me, unless, "Do we have Galen's permission?"

"Yes."

I took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. "Okay."

"Kermit will be so pleased! He wants to stretch his wings before all the dragons get here." He blushed. "My bond with him is different from the one I have with you, but it's gotten much stronger."

"I'm glad." Our bond gave Weld his magic, and I was happy to help him develop it. I'd never seen anyone take to magic as quickly as he did. He'd taught magic theory for so long, the spells flowed like water from his fingertips.

By the time we reached the dragonet stable, Kermit was already saddled and waiting for us.

Mac stepped out from a stall as I swung up into the saddle. "He's much calmer now."

Weld nodded. "We understand each other better."

"I'm glad." He walked over and patted Kermit's neck. "You were too smart to turn out into the wild."

Kermit nuzzled his chest before craning his neck toward us.

"That's my sign." Weld grinned. "He's ready to fly before the dragons arrive."

Mac waved as we shot past him. The moment Kermit cleared the barn door, he leaped into the air, shoving me to the edge of the two-seater saddle. I missed the intimacy of the single saddle, but this would keep me less horny, I hoped.

A few minutes later, Kermit balanced on a mountain top. Beneath us, beautiful crystalline stone reflected the afternoon light back to us.

"This is the ancestral dragon birthing mountain," Weld said. "Galen and Mac hatched their little ones here."

"It's beautiful."

Kermit scrabbled down the mountain to the narrow landing before a cave mouth. Weld hopped out of the saddle and lowered himself to sit on the edge with his feet dangling over the side. I wasn't a huge fan of heights, and the drop-off was steep, but when he offered me his hand, I gingerly stepped to the edge and sat down beside him.

"There's a dragon." Weld pointed. "Looks like Bale. Their little one is so big now!"

"Almost as big as Slate," I said. I couldn't remember the name of Bale and Olaf's little one, but the two young dragons were only a year apart in age.

Weld curled his arm over my shoulder. I clung to his waist, still afraid of the steep drop. Several dragons appeared on the horizon. We didn't recognize them. Lux, Galen's red-scaled sibling, circled the mountain once, but they only waved a wing claw as they passed.

The sunset from this height was as magnificent as the ones in The Meadows. The sky turned yellow, orange, and angry red before the blackness of the night sky creeped in with violet and indigo hues. Not long after, the first stars appeared above us.

"Thanks for sharing this with me." Weld leaned his head on my shoulder. "I have something I want to tell you."

His words sounded ominous, but the elation pulsing along our bond with his every heartbeat told a different story. I tipped my head against his. "Go on."

"I'm ready."

I didn't have to ask. While I couldn't read his thoughts through our bond, we'd greeted several families with kids on our way to the fortress this morning, and he had the same certainty then as he did now.

"Let's try to have a family. It's unfair to both of us not to. I've prepared myself for what could go wrong, but I've also considered how it could go right."

My response stuck in my throat, and he continued.

"I hadn't allowed myself to think about the possibilities in a long time. I want this for us, for you. I want to give you the world, Robin. I love you."

My throat was still too tight to form words. I leaned toward him and my right butt cheek almost slipped off the rock shelf. I shrieked when Weld teleported us both into Kermit's saddle with me in his lap. I kissed him, not caring that one wrong move from the dragonet would send me falling to my death. I would die happy.

I didn't have to worry about dying. As soon as Kermit touched down in the stable yard, Weld sent our saddle back to the tack room.

Then, he teleported us home. "I'll apologize to Mac later."

"No talking about Mac." I shook my head and shoved him toward our bedroom. "You really want to have babies with me?"

He turned back to me, cradling my chin in his hand as he stared into my eyes. "Yes, Robin. Only if you want, though."

"It's all I've ever wanted," I admitted. "You were my favorite adult. My siblings and I had so much fun with you. Our kids will, too."

The moment felt too honest and raw for more words. I leaned against him until our chests touched and pressed my lips to his. While he was distracted, I used a spell to remove our clothes. I was a lot larger now, but I could still climb him like a tree. Once I had securely wrapped my legs around his torso, I sucked his tongue into my mouth.

Weld carried me to the bed and dropped me on my back in the middle. A towel already waited to collect my excess slick, though Weld did his part by scooping up a generous amount and covering his cock with it.

Tonight, he skipped the teasing foreplay and went right where I needed him. His cock filled me with one deep thrust. He lay on top of me, pressing me into the mattress and grounding me like no one else could. His mouth found my mark at the same time his hand wrapped around my cock.

"I won't last."

"Neither will I." His breath was hot on my neck. "Are you ready?"

I knew what he was asking, but tonight meant so much more than the movements of the act itself. Weld loved me and wanted to have a family with me. I loved him, too, but that was a given. He'd had to talk himself into loving me.

"I was born ready."

He groaned against my neck as he pulled out. Just when I thought I'd said the wrong thing and turned him off, he slammed his cock back into me, stealing my breath. He continued the punishing rhythm. Each time, I thought he would fall out of me, but by some miracle or magical aim, he drilled back inside, his cock dragging along my prostate with each stroke. The first time, he startled a grunt out of me, and it turned into a long moan interrupted only by the force of our bodies slapping together.

Weld matched his speed with his hand, taking me ever closer to release. When his thumb caught in the slit of my dick at the same time he nailed my prostate just right, I came shouting his name.

"Fuck, Weld!"

With each spurt of cum, my channel constricted. Weld growled in my ear before dropping his head to my chest and licking along my mating mark. A new wave of pleasure pulsed through me, and my balls tried valiantly to pump even more cum onto my chest.

Weld grunted and froze above me as his cock pulsed deep inside. With each beat of his heart, I felt his knot expand.

Our magical birth control spells were nothing like condoms. They didn't take up space or have a taste or smell. There was virtually no difference between sex with the spells or without them, but his knot felt so much bigger and more significant now that they were gone. Pregnancy wasn't guaranteed, but it was a lot more likely without our spells.

The room blurred around us as my eyes filled with tears. Weld wanted to start a family with me. While I had been truthful when I said a family was all I'd ever wanted, Weld was also part of that family. I'd been content to wait until he was ready, thinking it would be years. I was so grateful it had taken only weeks, instead.