Page 26 of The Last Bachelor Dragon

“I’ve been cheating and having half a cup every once in a while,” Juliet said. “But I should probably stop.”

“There is some good decaf coffee out there if you look hard enough,” Kennedy said. “I’ll send you a link. I thought I sent it to everyone.”

So much had happened, there had been so many things in her brain that Nora suddenly realized she’d missed something. “Wait, hold on a second,” she said. “Are you all pregnant?”

There was a silent pause as the three other women looked at each other. “Every single one of us,” Kennedy said. “It seems to be a side effect of bonding with a shifter. I guess Max didn’t tell you.”

Shocked, she just stood there, her mouth hanging open, then looked at the three other women. “He forgot to mentionthat little tidbit,” she said. “Just another surprise I wasn’t expecting.”

“Let me guess, he was more worried about explaining bonding to you,” Juliet said, rolling her eyes. “If you weren’t the last one, I’d have a talk with them, but….”

Juliet must have seen the look on Nora’s face because her words died away. “But it might not happen to you,” Stella quickly said. “You might be different.”

She gave herself a second to think about becoming a mother, a moment to think about having Max’s baby, and felt warmth spreading through her. “It’s a little late to start worrying about it now,” she said, a smile on her face. “But you can bet Max and I will be having a long talk when this Carlos stuff is over.”

Stella put her arm around her. “Just think, we could all have babies together,” she said. “We’ll all have the best support system ever.”

“You got that right,” Juliet said, hugging her from the other side.

CHAPTER 17

***MAX***

It was after two in the morning before they got back from their mission, but it had gone better than anyone could have expected, and they were all riding high on success. Nora was asleep on one of the couches when he came into the conference room, and he stood quietly watching her sleep for a few minutes, his heart swelling with love. This time tomorrow, she would be his wife, and there was nothing he could think of that he wanted more.

Nora’s eyes fluttered open when he kissed her forehead, and a smile slowly spread across her face. “You’re back,” she said, slowly sitting up. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. It was just so quiet after we knew you were coming home.”

“I’ll tell you about it on the way back to the cabin,” he said, helping her up. “It’s late, we need our bed.”

She looked over at him and smiled. “That sounds nice,” she said. “I’m not sure I’m up to the red thing tonight.”

“That’s okay, we’ve got the rest of our lives for the red thing,” he said, smiling at her. “Let’s go home and get some sleep.”

When they walked outside, Max put his arm around her and she leaned into him, still half asleep. “How did it go?” she finally asked. “Everything was working from our end, so they must not have had any problems.”

“It was almost too easy. We were definitely over-prepared,” he said, shaking his head. “The island was almost dark when we got there. There were only a few guards posted, and most of them were asleep. The rest were in the basement partying. Keith and Harrison slipped past them did their thing and were back out before anyone even knew they were there.”

“Well, it’s better to be over-prepared, but I’m glad it was that easy,” she said. “I’m surprised Adaloni didn’t have more security in place.”

“He’s cocky, he can’t imagine that anyone would try to invade his territory,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “That attitude is going to be his downfall; he’s so used to winning that he can’t see himself losing.”

“Well, I just hope it’s over as quickly as this was,” she said, shivering. “I’m not going to stop worrying until this is done. Dealing with vicious drug dealers isn’t exactly something I’m used to, I can’t help but think that something is going to go wrong.”

“I wish I could tell you that everything will go according to our plan, but the reality is, something always goes wrong. That’s why we have backup plans,” he said, pulling her a little closer. “The thing you need to remember is that what’s important is how you handle the situation when things do go wrong. Try not to panic, think the situation through, then act. It’s always better to do something instead of nothing.”

Nora looked up at him. “I just wish we didn’t have to be separated. I know I’m going to spend the entire time worrying about you,” she said, then sighed. “I want to do something, not just sit around waiting for you to come back.”

He stopped and looked down at her. “My little warrior princess,” he said. “You will be doing something, you’ll be keeping the guests safe. That’s an important job, and you know it.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she said. “Sometimes it’s just frustrating to be left behind.”

“I need to know that you’re safe, Nora,” he said. “If you’re with us, all I’ll be thinking about is you. I won’t be able to concentrate.”

“It’s a shifter thing, right?” she asked, searching his face and finding the affirmation she wanted. She let out a long sigh. “I guess it could be worse, you could be insanely jealous.”

The next morning, Max was woken by the sound of someone pounding on his door. He forced his eyes open by the force of sheer will, letting out a groan when he saw the sun high in the sky. Groaning, he threw back the covers, grabbed his robe and headed for the door, grumbling under his breath the entire way about rude people waking him up.

He threw open the door with a growl and was met by two smiling faces. “Good morning, well, it’s almost afternoon,” Kira said, her voice much too perky in his opinion. “You’re needed in the conference room, Carlos is about to meet with one of his arms suppliers, and he doesn’t sound happy.”

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