Page 12 of Having the Dragon's Baby

Marcus showed off his pearly teeth, his eyes twinkling and showcasing the amber light of his iris. She watched as he languidly studied her eyes and lips, circling back till his voice deepened to a sultry and dusky lilt.

“I think you’re pretty beautiful yourself.”

Rachel beamed. Her heart felt like an insane, fluttering bird in her chest. She took his hand and glided it slowly toward the inner walls of her thighs.

“That was very smooth,” she whispered back.

Before either of them could take advantage of the sensual moment, Rachel felt a stern grip take her by the wrist. It ripped her out of the trance-like state she was in.

“Don’t hog the woman all day!” a redheaded female shifter proclaimed. “We want her to meet some of the kids."

Marcus sighed and then shrugged, removing his hand swiftly from between her legs.

“Do as you will then. Don’t scare her too much, though.”

Rachel was led by a flock of women, all unreasonably attractive with curvy, voluptuous shapes … though they were also all unreasonably muscular and looked very strong. The redhead’s name was Christina, and she did most of the talking as they walked toward the cabin that was deemed the nursery.

“Three of us just gave birth,” Christina said, walking Rachel through the cabin. "I thought you might like to see what your offspring will look like when you mate with Marcus.”

Offspring. Mate. The words would be considered highly animalistic and insulting in human company, but it was entirely normal around shifters. It gave her a jolt of anxiety, thinking that she had signed her life away to something she didn’t completely understand.

But the second Christina and the four other women welcomed her into the bedroom, all of those fears soared away.

Some of the newborns slept, while others cooed and wiggled their tiny bodies adorably. They looked just like human babies, beyond the length of their bodies and eyes that glowed like stars. Rachel’s hands went to her chest while a glow of her own bloomed in her heart.

She wanted more than anything in the world to be a mother. Seeing the innocence and beauty of the shifter babies reinforced the feeling that the decision she had made was a worthwhile venture into the unknown.

“What do you think?” Christina whispered.

Rachel’s vision blurred, and tears cascaded down her cheeks. For the first time in ages, she was speechless with happiness.

SIX

MARCUS

Watching Rachel walk away with several of the women stirred something inside Marcus. He had been reluctant to sign up with the surrogate agency despite knowing the crown of being alpha was a heavy weight to carry … and it included finding a mate and reproducing, whether that person was your fated mate or not.

He was the son of Artemis, the noble alpha of the dragon thunder, and the sole heir. He proudly took on the mantle once his father passed away. He was considered a bit young by those around him, but none of the idle chatter ever stopped him from ruling with a quiet yet stern empathy.

Finding a mate had been on the horizon the second he took his father’s place as alpha. But he had placed it somewhere in the back of his mind for safekeeping until the den and Vincent reminded him of its vital position in his world.

He sat on the bench while the training shifters, all of them young, learned to hone their skills in shifting. It was easy to become egotistical and bloodthirsty with such capabilities, especially when the hormones of puberty were thrown in. Marcus mused about who he had been at that age and how quickly he was forced to grow up when his father passed.

He swirled the ice of his cocktail around, feeling nostalgic. Meeting Rachel had flushed out a lot of pleasant memories that he thought he had forgotten. Learning to shift himself, being taught about patience, and making calculated moves on the battlefield. The way his mother taught him to never lose sight of the needs of others and even the needs of the enemy.

The memories were intricately woven stitchings of the tapestry that made Marcus who he is today. There wasn’t a single act, thought, value, or notion that wasn’t produced by his parents before being reformed and shared with his shifter community.

Rachel was his future. He knew it the same way a dragon could sniff out fear. It was a cosmic sensation that humans could never fully understand. And he had to, somehow, explain it to Rachel.

He rose from the bench, ready to save her from the swarms of shifter women who would likely be asking her every question under the moon about human life. Marcus resolved to keep the whole fated mates reality a secret … for now.

He walked to the cabin where the nursery was, following the sound of excited women to where the newborns slept. When he walked around the corner, he was struck by the sight of Rachel holding one of the twins who had been born only a few weeks before.

“He’s so beautiful,” Rachel said, whispering with a look of complete awe as she stared down at the infant.

The women sitting around Rachel all chuckled. She was sitting on a rocking chair near the window of the nursery, which looked out to a sublime waterfall scenery. Marcus found himself frozen to the spot, watching Rachel smile her radiant smile, cooing and rocking the swaddled child.

It was one of the most peaceful sights Marcus had ever encountered. He felt the coil of dread that had been tied in his gut ever since he learned he had been accepted by the agency release its hold. Looking at Rachel had defrosted that cold sensation like the sun on a snowy day.

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