Chapter 2
Two weeks later
“Where have you been?” Victoria asked, hating the unfamiliar accusatory tone in her voice. She’d texted and called her mate, but he hadn’t responded. Something that normally wouldn’t have bothered her. But normally she wasn’t a billion months pregnant and about to pop. Drake was free to do whatever he wanted, but these pregnancy hormones were making her edgy and cranky tonight.
He stripped out of his jacket and set it on the chair near the window before approaching the bed, his expression concerned. “Out flying. Is everything okay?”
Okay, hormonal or not, he was lying. Or maybe not lying, but he was holding something back. And that wasn’t like Drake. They didn’t keep secrets from each other. Ever. She hadn’t thought her mate even knew how to lie. “Flying?”
His frown deepened as he swept his gaze over her, those silvery-gray eyes seeing far too much. “Yes. Are you hungry? Do you need something?”
She shifted uncomfortably against the bed. “I’m okay.” But she wanted to know what he was keeping from her. And she wasn’t sure how to ask without sounding crazy. Gah, whoever said pregnancy was awesome or that pregnant women glowed were full of crap.
Shaking her thoughts away, she trailed her fingers up his chest, enjoying the sensation of all that strength underneath her fingertips. She knew what she needed and that was time with her mate. They’d barely seen each other the last week as the holiday insanity of the clan set in. That was all that was going on, she told herself.
“I know what might make me feel better,” she said, smiling as he let out a low rumble in his throat, his dragon peeking out in his gaze, telling her he wanted to play too.
Drake cupped the side of her face gently, stroking a thumb over her cheek. “Aren’t you supposed to meet my mom and aunts for dinner?”
She lifted a shoulder, the sheet rustling slightly under the movement. “I can be a little bit late.”
Laughing lightly, he leaned forward and pressed his lips over hers for a far too short kiss. “If we start something now, you won’t be just a little late. You won’t make it at all.” He kissed her forehead then pulled back and stood up, taking all that wonderful warmth with him.
Once again that rush of emotions welled up inside her as he turned his back on her. Moving quickly, he started stripping off his clothes and heading toward their bathroom.
He hadn’t rejected her, not really, but for some reason it felt like it. She wanted to ask him to stay. Hell, she wanted to blow off tonight’s dinner completely. But she knew if she did that, her relatives would descend on their house and pester her. She loved her family dearly, but all these dragons were driving her crazy. The truth was, if she’d been back in Biloxi, she knew that her former packmates would be doing the exact same thing.
Well, maybe they wouldn’t have been as intense as all these dragons. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was pregnant with a hybrid or if it was because she was a wolf and smaller than the majority of the Petronilla dragon clan. Either way they were all driving her crazy and treating her as if she wasn’t a shifter, the same as them.
And now her mate had rejected her.
No, he didn’t! that annoying little voice in her head snapped.
“You can shut the hell up,” she muttered to herself. As she stood and stretched, her back muscles twinged in pain. Ignoring it, she headed to their walk-in closet and looked for a thicker coat.
Shifter bodies were different than humans so she often didn’t need as much outerwear during colder months, but for some reason her body chemistry had changed during this pregnancy and she found herself with a temperature much closer to that of a human. It was disconcerting to be experiencing it, but not exactly rare. After dressing properly, she opened the bathroom door.
Steam billowed out in pale white waves. God, what she wouldn’t give to get in the shower with Drake. “I’m headed out,” she called out, inhaling his spicy, earthy scent that seemed to be magnified because of the steam.
“Okay, I love you,” he said, peeking his head around the corner of the glass and stone enclosure, a soft smile on his face. “Text me when you get to the restaurant?”
She was sorely tempted to just strip and get in with him but unfamiliar insecurities bubbled up. Her body was so different now and while she knew he hadn’t actually rejected her, she was feeling self-conscious for the first time in her entire life. “I love you too. And I will,” she said before stepping back out into their bedroom. She was seriously ready for this baby to be here.
And now it was time to face the music and deal with her overbearing relatives.