Page 55 of The Ruby Dragon's Unconventional Mate

“Oh! Burn.” Lars started laughing, shoulders shaking with it. “Logan does let himself get a little amped up, and they’ve had four babies in two and a half years. That’s?—”

“It’s intense, is what it is.” Bryant grinned at him. “I can see talking about having four children, but maybe we should do it in a steady wave. You know, one now, then three or four years from now, another one, and just kind of do it that way.”

“We’ll see. I guess it will depend on what the magic wants and what we want and—” Lars stopped suddenly and gave him a look. “So… I need to know. Are we going to live together? I mean, we don’t have to. I know that you don’t love this place, and that you have Lachlan, so if we have to have two separate places, that can work. But this is my place, my guardian home, and I’m not going to leave it and go live in Lachlan’s castle.” Lars shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Lachlan’s castle, but this is my home. So if you want to not live together, I would understand.”

“Baby, I want to live together. I gave you hell about this place because I thought I would never be able to be here with you.” Bryant paused, gathering his thoughts. “But I think we can do this. I really do. And I can live here. It may take some time to transition to full time. And by that, I mean a few weeks, not anything huge. And I’ll always be on call if Lach needs me…”

“Bryant, mate, we’re guardians. We’re all always on call.” Lars granted him, those pretty eyes dancing. “Do you think fora second that if Lachlan called out, we wouldn’t come? Or Jake? I mean, I understand—Logan is the one who calls me first—but you were there, and Lachlan was there, and Jake was there, and Bea was covering for all of us who weren’t there because we weren’t available.” Lars took a deep breath. “We’re a family inside a family, or maybe a family outside of family. I don’t know, but we’re a family, that’s for sure.”

He blinked. “Well, I’m glad you told me that after you and I decided to mate, otherwise it would have felt incestuous.” He winked, making sure that Lars understood that he was teasing. He had the feeling that maybe Lars wasn’t in the most…receptive and relaxed state on earth right now.

“You’re a nerd.” Lars blew out a hard breath, holding his gaze. “So, I think there’s going to be a baby.”

“I think that’s amazing. Are you excited?”

Lars squeezed him tight. “Not yet. I’m just a little queasy and scared and nervous. But now that you know, and you aren’t angry, it’s easier. And I think I’m going to be fine. Do you think we’ll have a boy or a girl?”

Like he cared. He wanted happy and healthy. “I don’t know. We’re pretty even up right now, aren’t we?”

“Um, I think the boys are one ahead. Bea and Mickey have a little boy. Logan and Dakota have two of each. Jake and Samuel have one of each.”

“Well, then I guess it doesn’t matter. It’ll be perfect no matter what.” Bryant would worry about that later. Now he was going to rejoice in his mate’s pregnancy.

“Oh, I hope so. I need this to be okay. I hope the baby looks like you.”

Bryant frowned and shook his head. “Why? You’re beautiful, Lars. I can’t think of anything more amazing than for us to have a silver baby dragon to love and care for.”

Lars’s cheeks turned bright pink. “You think so?”

“Yes.” Bryant didn’t even have to ask about which part, because it didn’t matter. “You’re the single most beautiful dragon I’ve ever seen. When I saw you the very first time, I knew you were mine. I chased you around like a cartoon skunk for months, and then I was evil to you. And still you were good to me.” He stole a soft kiss. “You’ll never know how much you mean to me. I love you, dragon.”

“I love you too, mate. More than I can say.” Lars rested hard against him.

He stroked Lars’s back, his whole body alight with love. And joy. And all the good things.

He couldn’t wait to tell Lachlan, but Lars needed all his focus right now. So he would give it.

But Lachlan? Was going to be over the moon, just like he was.

Their family was growing by the day.

Chapter

Eighteen

“So, we have news.” Lars set a load of groceries down on Lachlan’s counter, noticing it had gone from concrete and stainless steel to warm wood tones and grouted river rock since his last visit. Castle was so much nicer than brutalist mansion.

“Yeah?” Lachlan unpacked bags, making happy noises over the cheesecake that the market had sent him. Not that Lars wouldn’t devour half of it tonight himself, but hey. He had a right.

He was preggers.

“What’s up?” Lachlan asked.

“We’re pregnant,” he and Bryant said at the same time. The expression on Bryant’s face reassured him every time they talked about this. He looked so happy. So in love. And Lars loved putting that look there.

“What?” Lachlan glanced back and forth between them. Then he beamed, coming to kiss Lars’s cheeks one after the other before going to give Bryant a huge back-slapping hug. “Gods, that’s fantastic! I’m going to be an uncle!”

Bryant grinned wide. “Right?”

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