“Mum—”
“Don’t ‘Mum’ me, Faye. You’ve brought this on yourself.”
“It’s okay, really. She doesn’t need to convince me,” Gillian said in a small voice.
“Nonsense,” Lorna said with a wave of her hand. “You could do with some laughter yourself, Gillian. As a matter of fact, we all could. Now, how about we get a coffee? We can talk about our children’s mating and how we can spoil any ensuing grandchildren.”
Faye looked about ready to say something, so Grant reached for her hand and squeezed. She met his eyes and he gave an imperceptible nod. Fighting with Lorna would accomplish nothing.
Lorna looked to the pair of them. “We’ll be back to check on you shortly. We might even smuggle back some contraband. You’re too thin, Grant, and could do with some meat on your bones.”
As Lorna guided Gillian out of the room, Grant kept a hold of Faye’s hand. Once they were alone again, she asked, “Why did you want me to keep quiet? Your poor mum is going to be traumatized after a coffee with mine.”
“If there’s one thing they have in common and can bond over, it’s future grandchildren. And speaking of which, I think we need to talk about that. I’m going to be blunt. Before lust clouds your brain, I need to know if you’re ready for a child.”
“Yes,” she answered without hesitation. “But just know you are going to help out as much as me. Although I’m not above using my family to help babysit when there are Protector duties we need to attend to.”
The corner of his mouth ticked up. “I suppose having a big family is good for something.”
She raised her brows. “They also have my back if you ever try to hurt me.”
He growled. “Don’t even joke about that, Faye. I’m not my father. I will never intentionally hurt you.”
“I never said you were your father. And ‘hurt’ is a broad term. It could, for example, refer to hurt feelings. If I gain a lot of weight when pregnant and turned into a chubby dragon, you might be blunt and say so. With hormones raging through my body, I won’t be above calling my brothers to set you straight.”
His dragon growled. I can take her brothers. As I’ve said before, they’re not soldiers or fighters.
Maybe not, but they’re good at getting in trouble. I’m sure there are ways they could go after us without a physical fight.
His beast sniffed. Let them try.
Faye’s voice filled the room again. “If any of this is scaring you, then maybe I should rethink the whole kissing and mating you aspect.”
“I’m not afraid of your brothers.”
“What about Finn? He is clan leader after all.”
“If I wasn’t laid up, I would pin you against the wall and drive you crazy right now. Maybe that would convince you I’m not giving you up for something as simple as meddling brothers or cousins. You’re worth every battle, Faye MacKenzie. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to convince both you and your bloody dragon that you’re mine.”
~~~
Faye knew she was needling Grant, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. It was probably due to so many years dealing with her infernal brothers and their antics. She was a “never say die” type of female.
Her beast spoke up. He seems confident, but you should tell him it’s harder to completely win me over than it is you.
Can you stop it, dragon? You fancy him just as much as I.
Grant took her hand again and tugged her toward him, garnering her attention. “Are you going to say anything, bloody woman? Talking about feelings isn’t one of my strong points.”
“Technically, you haven’t said anything about feelings,” she pointed out.
With a growl, Grant tugged her hard enough for her to fall over his chest. It had to be painful, but he didn’t so much as flinch.
He whispered huskily into her ear. “You want feelings? Then I care about you, Faye MacKenzie. No other female can both put me at ease and make my blood boil with irritation. I want you to be mine. Will you bloody agree?”
“That’s not exactly the most polite way to ask.”
“Faye Cleopatra MacKenzie.”