The Dragon's Need (Tahoe Dragon Mates 2)

The only thing left was to see if he could stand up to her family and the others on PineRock.

Normally her dragon would pipe up with an opinion, but her inner beast was too tired to say anything. But Gaby didn't worry. Frenzies tended to wear dragons out and make them a little more complacent for a few days after, or so her brother had said.

Not wanting to think about her brother and allow reality to invade quite yet, she darted in the opposite direction, straight for Ryan. She jumped into his arms and he caught her, hugging her against his body. He grinned as he said, "Giving up while you still can, darling?"

Looping her arms around his neck, she grinned back. "You can think that way, if it helps to stroke your ego. But one day you'll see me at full force, I'll win, and then I’m going to collect a prize from you."

"A prize, huh?" He nuzzled her cheek. "I'm not enough of a prize?"

She leaned into his caress. "You're a great prize, but competition and small bets make things more interesting."

He leaned back to look into her eyes. At the amusement in his gaze, she wanted to jump onto the counter and ask him to take her all over again.

But she resisted. They'd had plenty of sex over the last week and a half. For now, she wanted to know him a little better before he met her clan, but especially her family. Everyone would either want to talk, observe, or challenge him at first.

Days could go by before Gaby could have more than an hour or two alone with her human.

Ryan kissed her, banishing her worries about the near future, and eventually set her back on her feet. "Speaking of bets, do I remember right that Vegas has 'no dragon-shifter gambling allowed' signs all over the city?"

She sighed. "You remember right, they do. However, Reno will let us enter a few of their casinos. And that's only because the dragon clans help with emergencies in the city sometimes, when humans can't quite handle it themselves."

He brushed the hair off her cheeks. Would she ever tire of his warm, strong fingers against her skin?

He did it again, and she decided, nope.

Ryan grunted. "Well, at some point we're going to visit one of those casinos in Reno then. Because I'd like to take my dragon lady out on the town before the baby comes."

The baby. Even though she'd stared at the special pregnancy test herself—one used only for dragon-shifters to detect early conception—for about five minutes, it still seemed unreal.

But as she stared at the handsome, grinning man above her, she knew that as long as he was around to help, it would turn out okay.

Well, as long as everything went smoothly once she returned to Clan PineRock with him. He was only human after all, which made him an easy target.

Her dragon said groggily, If anyone tries to hurt him, we'll protect him.

I know, dragon. I just wish we didn't have to worry about it.

Before Ryan could ask her about her flashing eyes and her dragon, she wanted to keep their conversation light and said, "I'd like that. I'm not much of a gambler myself. I deal enough with high stakes for my job, but there are shows and even games and things in Reno. I think Circus Circus is one of the casinos who'll let me inside, and there's plenty to do there."

He chuckled. "Whatever my lady wishes, we'll do. Except I want to take one of those cheesy commemorative photos they have at some casinos with you, and more than once, too."

"I think we can manage that, although you have heard of cell phones, right? And a selfie?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not that old, Gaby."

When he lightly smacked her ass, she laughed. "Okay, okay. But I can't make any promises about not teasing you later, though."

Her belly rumbled, which made Ryan frown. "Let's get you something to eat, darling. Okay?"

She nearly sighed at his lovely twang. She'd never get tired of it.

Even though he released her body, he took her hand in his to walk to the fridge.

Her heart warmed at the gesture. Even after everything, he still constantly wanted to touch her.

And her possessive dragon side reveled in it.

After scouting the contents of the fridge, Ryan stated, "I guess it's going to be toast, eggs, and yogurt. There's not much else left in here."