Jonah laughed and then took her mouth hard. “I’m afraid your little vipers are going to bite me if I don’t make you an honest woman.”

“They’re ready for me to be mated. And you need to mate with me right now, mister. Be mine, Jonah. You’re already mine in everything but bond. Love me.”

“Always, my Poppy. My precious, my mate. Always.” And then he slid into her, and she groaned.

He licked up her neck and then kissed her again before going back to her shoulder, his fangs piercing her flesh in the mating mark. Even as he did, he thrust in and out of her, his cock thick, hard, and pulsating with need. She groaned, wrapping her legs around him, wanting more, needing more.

As the mating mark burned, it sent them into oblivion. She knew this was it, the moment she had been waiting for. He spun them so that he was on his back with her riding him, his hands on her breasts, his fingers pale against the dark brown of her nipples.

She grinned down at him, arching her back just slightly so he could go deeper. And when his thumb moved down to her clit, rubbing that little nub just so, her whole body clenched, and she shook, calling his name as she came.

Jonah gripped her hips and thrust in and out of her, harder, faster, until both of them were shaking. She screamed again, her hands on her breasts as she plucked at her nipples.

He came inside her, deep and hard, fast. The bond between them slid into place, perfect, everlasting. She couldn’t do anything, couldn’t breathe. It was all she could do not to beg for more.

Then she was on her back, and Jonah was sliding in and out of her, once, twice, and then again.

She held onto him, her hands sliding down his sweat-slick back. His lips were on hers, and she was lost.

She had found her mate, her love, and even though she had been the one on the run, she hadn’t known where she would land, let alone that it would be with him.

Afterwards,they cleaned each other up and then got ready to head to work. After all, she still had a job to do. When she wasn’t training so she could protect baby Penelope and the others she loved, she was still a bartender. Dante the dragon still needed her until he could find a replacement, and she didn’t mind in the least.

She went back behind the bar when they got there, and Jonah went to the large table in the corner where the seven lightning-struck were sitting with their families. It was one of the baby’s birthdays, and even though it might feel weird to have a birthday for a child in a bar, it didn’t here. It was daylight, and Dante’s Circle was open for everybody. Plus, no humans were around. It was just the supernaturals. So, when a baby dragon and a baby bear started wrestling on the floor, nobody thought much of it. Poppy wanted to take a picture and never forget.

When Jonah walked up, baby Penelope in his arms, she just grinned.

“Poppy!” Penelope babbled, her hands outstretched, her little arms waving around.

Poppy reached out and plucked the baby from Jonah’s hip and held her close. She smelled of powder, innocence, and sunshine.

A little baby lion cub, one that she loved with her whole heart. And as she looked over at her mate, she grinned. One day, they would hold their own child, and she couldn’t wait. But for now, they could breathe, and she was safe.

She was no longer running from anyone, only to a future she could have with her mate.

They had a child to protect, a future to pave, and as someone called out for another beer, she knew she also had a job to do.

Because Dante’s Circle was open to everybody, and those who stayed had a home, a family, and, in her case, a future.