Loved by the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons 4.50)

“I love you, Bram.”

“I love you, too, Evie Marie.”

Evie snuggled her arse against his groin and Bram tightened his grip on his female. As she relaxed against him, Bram closed his eyes and reveled in the heat and softness of his mate.

His dragon paced in the back of his mind and Bram couldn’t bring himself to tell his beast to stop. In a way, it helped relieve his own nervous energy. Sid couldn’t come back soon enough with Holly MacKenzie.

Chapter Three

Evie was sorely tempted to cut off Bram’s balls so that she’d never be pregnant again.

Another contraction had just finished and she was still trying to catch her breath.

Bram wiped her brow and she glared up at him. “I am never doing this again, Bram. Never. You’re getting a vasectomy as soon as the baby is out.”

Bram removed the cloth from her forehead and shook his head. “It’s just the labor talking. After you finally hold our wee Evie and gaze at her soft, pink face, then you’ll forget all about the pain.”

“Forget about the pain, my arse. How about we push a grape up your penis and then we’ll talk.”

Bram shifted his legs. Good. He deserved some sympathy discomfort. “If I could take the pain away from you, love, I would. But I can’t. So if thinking up ways to abuse my cock and balls helps in anyway, go right ahead. None of them will come true, though.”

The nurse sent to watch over Evie was currently downstairs doing some kind of test on her urine, so Evie didn’t have long to make her dreams a reality. She looked around the room to see if she could use anything to show Bram how wrong he was when Sid walked through the door with a dark-haired woman. Right behind the dark-haired woman was one of the MacKenzie twins; Evie would recognize the auburn hair, tall build, and blue eyes anywhere. Because of the scar near his left eye, she knew it was the younger twin, Fraser.

Without preamble, Sid motioned to the woman. “This is Holly MacKenzie. Holly, meet Evie Marshall.”

Evie had heard of the human woman before, but due to her advanced pregnancy, hadn’t made it up to Lochguard to meet her. “Hello, Holly. I would offer you a cup of tea and some biscuits, but I’d probably drop the lot as soon as my next contraction hits.”

Holly smiled. “My mother-in-law feeds me so many biscuits and scones that I’d pop if I ate any more. Thanks, anyway.”

Evie grinned. “Lorna MacKenzie does like to bake. I keep telling Bram to invite all of Finn’s family down here so Aunt Lorna could teach me something. I have a tendency to burn toast, so there’s a lot of room for improvement.”

Bram grunted, but it was Sid who spoke up. “Enough with the pleasantries. Bram, Fraser, I want you out of the room for five or ten minutes so that Holly and I can exam Evie properly without either one of you hovering over my shoulder.”

Evie’s dragonman growled. “No bloody way I’m leaving Evie.”

Sid crossed her arms over her chest. “Go or I will inject you with a sleeping drug and Fraser can drag your arse down the stairs. I might even hint for him to tie you up so you can’t escape. I need Evie as calm as possible and that won’t happen with you growling every two seconds. Especially with what I might need to do if we think she has preeclampsia. So, which will it be?”

Fraser rubbed his hands together. “I vote for the second.”

Holly slapped Fraser’s side. “Stop it.”

Fraser shrugged and Evie couldn’t help but smile. Holly had sacrificed herself to the Scottish dragon clan to help her father, but

it looked like Holly had fallen in love with a dragonman in the process.

Evie hoped one day it would always be that way with the human sacrifices.

When all Bram did was stare at Sid, Evie sighed. “You can run up the stairs in about three seconds if anything happens. Hell, you can even post guards outside if it’ll help ease your nerves. But if Sid needs to see me, then let her do it. She probably has drugs and I very much want them.”

Holly spoke up. “Actually, research has shown that pain medication and anesthesia usually elevates dragon-shifter hormone levels and increases the risk of death. You’re going to have to do this au natural.”

Evie blinked. “What? No drugs?”

Holly answered, “Not the pain-killing kind. I’m sure Dr. Sid has mentioned it before, although you are a little early, so maybe she was saving it. Regardless, the research is sound, so we’re going to follow it.”

For a human, Holly MacKenzie sure knew how to thread her voice with dominance. It had to be her midwifery training.

Sid took a pre-filled needle from her medical bag and held it up. “I don’t make idle threats. Out, Bram, or you’re going to be taking a long nap.”