Page 29 of Alien Dragon's Bride

Her face colored red and she snatched the garment out of his hand. “Yeah, well. Not like I have time to clean up when I’m hardly here except to eat before I pass out.”

“Nah, it’s fine. No need to make excuses.” He gathered up newspapers and dumped them into the trashcan in her kitchen. Her stove was pristine like it had hardly been used.

“Stop.” She pushed him toward a couch with mix-matched pillows. “Sit.”

“I will if you stop cleaning,” he leaned back against the cushions.

“Fine.” She huffed, brushing her hair out of her face. “At least the living room is presentable now. What would you like to drink? I’ve a bottle of wine and beer.”

“Beer is fine.” The desire to saunter off and examine her bedroom teased him but he stayed on the couch, resisting the temptation. She handed him a can of a weird-named beer and he raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, it was on sale.” She sat beside him on the small couch, then took a sip of her drink. Her face scrunched up like she’d licked the back of a yronmx on a hot day.

“That bad?” he asked setting aside his can on the coffee table.

“Ugh, yeah. No wonder this stuff was so cheap.” She moved to stand. “Let me get you a glass of wine.”

He reached out and touched her hand. “Megan, it’s fine. I don’t need a drink.” What he wanted was to kiss her but that was absurd. She was a human and he was a dragon…well, mostly. All she knew was what she could see, him in his human form.

“That’s good cause my water filter is broken and I used the last of the milk this morning.” She let out a shaky sigh. “I shouldn’t have asked you up here. The place is a disaster and now I worry what you might think of me living in a dump like this. It’s not to gain your sympathy or more money, I just wanted to be able to talk with you without women staring at you or a rude waitress coming on to you.”

Her blush made his heart skip a beat and he gently squeezed her hand. What waitress was she talking about? All through dinner, he’d wanted to be alone with her. He couldn’t even remember what their waitress had looked like.

“I want to get to know you too.” All the things that made her fascinating, he wanted to press into his mind so he could tell their child about her when he or she was old enough.

“What do you want to know?” She pulled her hand from his, running her fingers through her dark hair before shrugging. “You’ve met my dad, know where I work or worked, and now you’ve seen my place. What else is there?”

“So much more.” He set the horrible beer down on the coffee table. “For starters, why don’t you tell me about your mom if it’s not too painful.”

“Oh, she was great,” she breathed out, “always kind and resourceful. Once I had to have a last minute costume for school and we didn’t have the time or money to buy anything. She rummaged through our stuff and brought out a straw hat, my dad’s overalls, and a red bandana. With makeup and dried grass from the front of our house, she made me into a scarecrow. Honestly, it was the best costume I ever had.”

“Tell me more.” His own mother had dropped him off at his father’s doorstep after she gave birth. When he was old enough to confront her, she’d shrugged. Her duty to the empire of giving the king another prince was completed…she had no desire to be a true mother to him. The words stung him so deep he’d worried she’d slashed through his scales. And now, here he was, trying to woo a human woman so to speak into carrying his child so she could walk away and not feel the crushing guilt that he’d wished his mom had felt a fraction of.

“She never liked going to the doctor. Not even for a cold or stomach ache.” Megan hiked up her legs underneath her on the couch. “Her appendix erupted just enough to leak out. Me and dad dragged her to the ER when she couldn’t stand up straight. Still,” she laughed, “she argued with the doctors telling her she had to have surgery.”

“Sounds like she was an amazing woman,” he said.

“You’ve no idea. Guess you can say I get my stubbornness from her.”

He leaned back against the couch. “I’m sure you’ve gotten a lot of excellent traits from your mom.”

Her eyes brightened. “Thanks. So tell me something about you. What’s your dad or mom like? Do they support your decision to have a child?”

“My father is pushing it but my mother is off on the other side of the world having some adventure or another.” He couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice.

Megan reached over and placed her hand on his knee, sending warmth radiating through him. “She doesn’t know how lucky she is to have her family. Believe me, I was that way too. Living my own life before Mom got sick. Sometimes we take for granted what’s right in front of us when we should be grateful. I’d give anything for one more moment with my mom. Just a moment to tell I loved her, to hug her, to bask in her company.”

“You’re lucky to have parents who love you,” he said in a hoarse voice.

She licked her lips. “I’m certain your folks love you but maybe you should talk to them…tell them how you feel…seize the moment.”

Her words were so soft and her concern so palatable that he couldn’t stop himself. He leaned forward, cupping her cheek in his hand, and brushing his lips across hers. What surprised him even more was that she returned his kiss. His mind screamed to stop but his hands looped across her back and drew her to straddle his lap. And in response, she kissed him harder. Maybe he’d been right all along about his attraction to her.

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