She turned her head so she could see his face and smiled. "More than all right."
He searched her gaze, concern in his eyes. "You're not afraid or mad at my dragon, are you?"
She laughed. "Far from it." She raised a hand to his cheek. "I meant it before—I love all of you, Wes Dalton. So if your dragon was holding back, he doesn't have to next time."
His pupils flashed before replying, "You may regret that later. But at least it placated him a little, meaning you can have a short rest before we go again."
She turned so she could sit on the mattress and be almost eye-level with Wes. She kissed him gently. "Just a short one. Maybe hold me and kiss me a few times? As much as I like it rough sometimes, slow and easy can be good, too."
He lay down on his side, and she faced him. Wes traced her jaw, her shoulder, and down her side until he rested a hand on her hip. "I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to control my dragon, but I'll remember it for when I'm in charge." The corner of his mouth ticked up. "Although not every time. The human male part also likes it rough sometimes."
She gave a devilish smile. "Good."
He blinked in surprise. Needing to feel his skin against hers, she snuggled closer. "Stop worrying about me. Seriously. I can handle it all. Well, provided you feed me every once in a while. Is there some sort of dragon frenzy delivery service?"
He chuckled, and she felt his muscles relax. "There is, actually. Because as much as I can give you short rests for food, the bathroom, and sometimes even a shower, there's no way my dragon will let you take time out to cook. He'll see it as a waste of time."
She kissed his lips briefly. "Hey, if I don't have to cook, I'm a happy person."
As they smiled at each other, Ashley
could hardly believe it was real. She'd beaten the odds to find her happy ending with a dragon-shifter. And not just any dragon-shifter, but the sexiest, most perfect match for her.
So when he took her again, repeatedly, over the ensuing days, Ashley didn't notice her exhaustion or any other negative thing. No, all she knew was that she was spending time with the man she loved, and it was perfect.
Epilogue
Years later
Wes stood with his young son, Ben, in his arms, smiling as he watched Ashley splashing in the cold water of Lake Tahoe with some of the other females.
Even though he'd tried to warn that the water was too cold for her since she was finally pregnant with their second child, she'd merely raised her brows and given her best "watch me" look before diving in.
Although, in retrospect, it wasn't all bad watching his dripping-wet female splash around in the water.
His dragon snorted. And you say I'm bad.
One of the other clan leaders, David Lee from StoneRiver, walked up to him and chuckled. "Our mates aren't going to put up with all of our protective bullshit. If you don't know that after how many years of being mated, then no one can help you."
He glanced over at the slightly older male. "Says the male who declared he'd never have a mate because they were a weakness."
David rolled his eyes. "How many times are you going to bring that up?"
Wes grinned as he readjusted his sleeping son against his shoulder. "As many times as I can. After all, you wouldn't have your mate if not for us."
The other leader muttered, "Maybe, maybe not."
He raised his brows. "The only reason Tiffany ever came to live near all of us is because her brother mated one of my clan members. You're always going to owe me for that, David."
Ashley screeched, and he watched from the corner of his eyes as Tiffany and Gaby both dunked her in the water.
Of course, Ashley laughed when she surfaced and went after Gaby for revenge.
His dragon spoke up. Why can't we shift and join them in the lake? You can give our son to our mother. She'll watch him.
Wes glanced down at the little boy passed out against his shoulder. Not yet. The last few years have been busy, and I just want to spend time with our son.
David interrupted his conversation. "Trust me, I'd rather be over there with my mate, too. But we need to meet with the other two leaders from SkyTree and StrongFalls before the official ceremony begins."