She wanted to scream, “Yes!”, but decided that would be a little too easy for her dragonman. After all, he’d admitted to being a bastard. She could tease him until he was well enough that she might reward him for not dying with more than words.
She tapped her chin in an overly dramatic fashion and said, “Hmm, well, you’re going to have to work hard at convincing me to stay. You’ve been a bit mean since meeting me.” She removed her finger from her chin and leaned down to whisper in his ear, “But I hope that you spend a good chunk of your time convincing me to stay by being naked in my bed.”
Arabella moved from the bed. “Okay, I really didn’t need to hear that.”
Oops. Mel had forgotten about the super-sensitive hearing of dragon-shifters.
She was about to apologize when there was a knock followed by the door opening to reveal Dr. Sid. “Someone reported hearing a male voice coming from this room despite the lack of male visitors, so I came to check and see if it was Tristan’s.” Her eyes darted to the male dragon-shifter. Then she looked from Melanie to Arabella and back. “And since he’s awake, I need to do a thorough examination and ask some questions. I know he just woke up and you’re happy about it, but I need you to leave me alone with him for fifteen minutes.”
Before she could reply, Tristan spoke up, “Melanie needs to go rest and eat something anyway.” She looked at his face and his eyes flashed to dragon slits. “My inner dragon doesn’t like the circles under your eyes or the fact I can tell you’ve lost some weight this week. Go. Eat, rest, and get well for me.”
“But you just woke up.”
He squeezed her hand and looked to Dr. Sid. “The danger has passed, right, Sid?”
Mel looked over at the doctor and she nodded. “While a complete examination will tell me more, I’m fairly certain you should pull through just fine. We were concerned that you’d never wake up from your coma, but that worry is gone.”
Tristan looked back to her. “See? Now that I’m getting better, I need you to take care of not only yourself, but our baby too.”
Melanie was teetering. Now that she wasn’t constantly worrying about Tristan, her exhaustion and hunger were starting to set it in.
Still, she looked to the doctor and said, “Will the exam be able to tell you when he can come home?” The doctor nodded and she looked back to Tristan. “Okay, then you win this time. But after a nap and some food, I’ll be back.”
Tristan said, “Good. Wake me up if I’m asleep.” She opened her mouth to protest but he shook his head. “No, Melanie. There are things we need to talk about and they can’t wait.”
She sighed. “Great. Now I’m sure that I’ll sleep just fine with that sentence hanging over my head.”
He snorted. “I’m not going to toss you aside or push you away again, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He moved his hand to her thigh and squeezed. “Get some sleep. Then we’ll talk about our baby and the future.”
She moved her hand over his and squeezed. “Okay, okay. If sleeping will ensure that you’ll talk openly later, then I can live with that deal.” She leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips. She stayed a hairbreadth away and said, “Until later, dragonman.”
The look in his eyes turned tender and sent a rush straight to her heart. She could still barely believe Tristan was finally hers.
She reluctantly moved from the bed and went out the door to allow Arabella to say goodbye to her brother. As she made her way to the exit of the building used as Stonefire’s hospital, Melanie couldn’t help but smile. Her dragon-shifter was awake, alive, and wanted to talk to her about their future.
Maybe her stubbornness and ability to see the good in people were about to finally pay off. She hoped so because Melanie couldn’t imagine living on Stonefire’s lands to raise her baby without Tristan by her side.
Chapter Five
Tristan had tried sleeping once the doctor had left, but his dragon-half wasn’t having it.
Our female is alone. No male to protect her. She doesn’t know she’s ours. Find her.
I’ve said it a million times. Soon. She’s sleeping and we are still recovering. The dragon huffed and went back to pacing inside his head. No doubt so that Tristan would try to relax enough to fall asleep, only for his inner dragon to start demanding action all over again.
There were few times in his life he truly wished to silence his dragon, but this was one of them.
Did his dragon not realize how hard it was for Tristan to lie here, alone, without Melanie’s scent or heat next to him? He wasn’t well enough to fuck anything, but he wanted to hold his human close, and not just because he owed her his life. No, he missed her.
There was a gentle knock on the door before it eased open. Melanie peeked her head inside, but once she saw he was awake, she came in and closed the door behind her. She frowned and said, “Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”
While he was happy to see his human’s face again, he decided not to hide his grumpiness. “I tried to sleep, but my bloody dragon is all but roaring inside my head for me to find you.”