Page 38 of The Dragon at the End of This Pregnancy

"You can try it on in our hotel room," Mac said. "You just can't wear it out on the town. Those hats are meant for one day a year, and we missed it by a month."

"Thank you. Now I understand." Human culture seemed to allow for fun, but only in tiny increments. One day a year to wear a horse hat was silly. Horse hats were meant to be worn until the toy horses fell off and you needed a new one. "I thought Tuft was the rule for humans, but it seems he is the exception."

Mac grinned. "We're lucky to have him."

"I want to be more like him when we return home." I was going to wear my derby hat to the dragon pavilion every week when I watched the recreation leagues play. Now that I could shift into a kobold, I could even play while wearing my hat. I couldn't wait.

Mac paid for his items with cash, and we returned to Rapture. The sun had set while we were inside, and ours was the only vehicle in the parking lot. The little dragonet sniffed at the plain paper bag and snorted smoke at Mac.

"I know. I'm sorry. You'll have to wait for breakfast tomorrow."

I was excited for our trip to the amusement park with Punky, Lark, and their children tomorrow, but I'd realized something else while helping Mac choose his items.

"We need to talk," I said once we were back on the highway.

"That sounds ominous."

"Momentous," I said. "I want you to fuck me before we return home."

Mac snorted. "You couldn't tell me that before I spent all that money on toys?"

"We have two more nights," I said. "Plenty of time to do both."

Mac shook his head. "Not both. I'll gladly fuck you when we get back to the hotel, but I won't be ready to take your cock and ovipositor until we're home." His cheeks bloomed with pink. I didn't need to smell his arousal to know the thought turned him on. "And only if you help me prepare."

"Yes, anything."

This was going to be fun.

* * *

Once again, my body failed me. I took a quick shower before Mac, but by the time he joined me in bed, I was too sleepy to keep my eyes open.

"I want you inside me." My plaintive growl sounded more like a whine with my human vocal cords.

"It was a long day," he reassured me. "Tomorrow will be a lot of standing around. After dinner, we'll call it an early night."

That meant an entire day of anticipation. It would test my limited patience to the brink, but I was willing to withstand it for Mac.

"Does this mean you've decided kobolds are still worthy to sire dragons?" He whispered it, like he thought I was already asleep.

"Yes," I answered. "You are part human, but you are still kobold. We failed you by making you so small and cold-blooded. You are better equipped to withstand dragon fire now. I wouldn't take that away from you."

"You don't think we're too violent?"

"As a species, no more than dragons." Humans had us both beat with their wars and backward ways of raising their children to desire violence over sex. I didn't understand it, but I was grateful my kobold friends still taught their children to honor sex before violence.

Weld, the green-striped alpha who had attempted to mate with Tuft, had chosen violence. He had been reprimanded for biting Lark. He had also kicked another kobold pair from their cavern in the grotto, but only to protect his disastrous first clutch. Now that he knew he would be mated to Lark and Punky's son Robin when Robin came of age, Weld strived to be better. Mac and I had accompanied him to several kobold villages over the last two years in his attempts to stay busy and teach other kobolds efficient uses for their magic.

I respected kobold culture far more than I did these humans. They weren't the same, even with their shared genes. I was willing to bet my future hatchlings on that.

I was too tired to say all that to my beloved mate. Instead, I relaxed against him. He anchored me in place with his arm across my chest while we slept.

ChapterThirteen

Mac

A knockat our door roused me from a sound sleep. I needed to learn how to set an alarm. I curled around Galen. I wanted to stay there, wrapped around their warmth.

---