Page 15 of Having the Dragon's Baby

But now that it was just them, Rachel was more hesitant when thinking about being alone with him. She still wanted to, but she was definitely feeling more pressure about what was expected from her.

They’d been one-on-one talking, but this was different, and she didn’t want to fuck it up.

Out of nervousness, Rachel started to clean up the few things that had been missed or left out from the party.

“What are you doing?” Marcus asked when he came back inside from saying goodbye to his last guest.

“Just trying to get things tidied up,” Rachel responded, reluctant to make eye contact.

Marcus placed his hand on hers. She finally forced her gaze to meet his green-gold eyes. She was breathless for a moment, swept up in the color and the desire that radiated from them.

She could sense how badly he wanted her, making her ache for him even more.

“You don’t have to do that. This all can wait until the morning. But now that it’s just us, why don’t we talk about how we want this to work out so we are on the same page?”

She nodded and smiled as he took her hand and led her to his overly large couch.

“So, I guess the first thing to address is what role you would like to play in our child’s life.”

This is it, Rachel thought. Now is the time to tell him exactly what you want and get a sincere reaction from him.

“I want to be involved. Not just in carrying it, but I want a say in what happens in their future. Like their schooling and how they are raised.” She held her breath, waiting for his response.

To her surprise, he smiled at her and leaned forward from the armrest to turn and face her more personally.

“Good. That’s what I was hoping you would say. I want you to be a part of it as well. We are all about family here, and just because you aren’t a shifter, it doesn’t exclude you from this thunder by any means. In fact, you being the alpha’s partner in parenting would give you the right to make the calls on a lot of things. No one would question you. I would always ask for you to just speak your truth and your mind. Hold nothing back.”

Rachel let out a small chuckle. “You might regret saying that.”

“I highly doubt it,” Marcus responded with mirth dancing behind the glowing, golden flakes in his eyes.

The space between her thighs throbbed with heat as she tried not to blush, looking at his captivating smile that was only for her.

“I will say that I want our child to attend all the den-specific schooling and training. I feel that is the best decision given his or her set future in the den. I know how it’s run, what they are taught, how they are trained, and so on. You, of course, can add anything you want as well to the agenda.”

“That makes sense. Would it at least be possible for me to look at the school, meet the people in the system, and just get a general lay of it all?”

She wasn’t sure how involved she was allowed to be. She knew Marcus said as much as she wanted, but she wanted to tread carefully, given that she had never been very involved in the shifter world. All she knew was it was always a tight-knit group, so she wanted to make sure that was respected.

“Of course you can. Whenever you want to. You can even help out should you desire to. They are always looking for extra hands when it comes to the care and education of the children.”

Rachel grew more and more relaxed with every word Marcus said. This would be better than she thought possible. Almost as if this was a normal relationship, and they wanted the best for their child.

Except it’s anything but normal. Rachel tried not to giggle at her intrusive thoughts.

As the night progressed, the air between them grew more comfortable.

They discussed their hopes and dreams for the future. Much to Rachel’s joy, a lot of what they shared, specifically for the little one that would hopefully soon be a reality, were the same.

Rachel was continually surprised at how paternal Marcus was, especially when she considered his initial outward appearance.

He kept showing her that his soft, caring side was a lot more dominant than it appeared to be. She held on to the feeling that he was careful who he showed this side to and felt more than privileged that he chose and trusted her enough to share it with her.

Listening to Marcus being vulnerable made Rachel fall for him even harder. Not only that, but she felt safe. And the fact that he was a dragon and an alpha had nothing to do with it. It was his sureness in being able to handle any situation as well as his purpose behind it … looking after his family.

“There is one thing, though, that I will not budge on,” Marcus said, adjusting his position to a more serious one, eyes sharp.

Rachel almost laughed at the sudden change of demeanor. “And what is that?”

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