Ronnie is waiting at his car when we get the shop locked down for the night. Now that I’m out in the early morning air, it helps to wake me up a bit. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly as I walk over to where he stands by the driver’s door.

He shuffles his feet when I stand in front of him.

I feel like there’s so much that we need to talk about. It weighs heavily between us. Right at this moment, I don’t want to talk. I want to take Ronnie to bed.

Officially, just like I promised him before we stormed Matthews’ building.

I draw him to me and his head drops to rest on my shoulder. His arms slip around my waist and I wrap him tightly in mine. “Tired?” I ask against his soft hair.

“Not really. I’m sure once I lay down, I’ll fall asleep, but I’m still kind of jazzed, you know? And I didn’t do anything.”

“Didn’t do anything?” I push Ronnie back to cup his chin. “I guess you’re right. I mean you only monitored every frequency they used to communicate, kept up with a dozen different video feeds, watched and coordinated a half a dozen different skirmishes at the same time—”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” Ronnie leans back against his car and chuckles. His fingers tangle in my belt loops on my jeans. “I helped a little bit.”

I cluck my tongue. “We need to talk about your self-confidence.”

“Can we do it after I’ve slept?”

“Depends.” I lean in and kiss his mouth in a gentle press of our lips. “If you promise you’ll sleep at my place. Permanently.”

Ronnie’s mouth fell open. “Like, permanently?”

“I think that’s what I said.”

He frowns, his eyes cast down to drop into thought.

“I’m not hearing a yes,” I say.

“I don’t know if you’ll have the room for me.”

“We can make the room. If there isn’t, we move into a bigger place. It’s not that complicated, Ronnie.”

“It is, actually. See, there’s a bigger problem.”

“I had two bears jumping on me like I was a trampoline and was almost blown up by a crazy phoenix on a death run. I can’t imagine there’s a bigger problem than that.”

“I’m pregnant.”

Okay, that isn’t something I was expecting. Not that it matters. My inner dragon is doing backflips over the news. Emotionally, I am, too. Ronnie is going to have my baby!

We’re going to have a family! That’s amazing and cool and the best news I’ve had in a long time.

I wait for him to say more but Ronnie falls quiet after that. “Is that the problem?” I ask.

“What do you mean ‘is that a problem?’ It’s kind of big, don’t you think?”

“Yeah it is big, but it’s not unwelcome news, Ronnie. It’s very welcome, in fact. I’m going to be a father! Is there anything better in the world than that?”

Ronnie plays with my belt loops. “So you’re not mad?”

I still his hands and draw them up to my lips to kiss the backs of each one. “Ronnie. Why would I be mad? When did you find out?”

“The morning before we went to the backlands. I tried to tell you, Varos, before you went to take Matthews down but…” Ronnie hung his head. “I didn’t have the time.”

“Maybe it was best you didn’t. I was worried about you the entire time I was in the building but I don’t know if I would have gone in at all if I had known beforehand.”

“I don’t want you to feel obligated—”

I silence him with a fierce kiss. My arms drag him into me again, to hold him against my chest tightly. He makes a soft sound in the back of his throat, his fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt. When we break, I kiss his nose, then his forehead. “Stop. There is no feeling of obligation. I want you in my life. I thought we established that at the arcade. Pregnant or not, there’s no separating your life from mine now, Ronnie Bould. I was serious when I told you I wanted to make us official. I still mean that. So that just leaves one question.”

Ronnie is cautious, his lips pressing together before he asks, “Which is?”

“Why are we still standing here?”

I’m of two minds when I key into my apartment.

One of which is to start rearranging things so Ronnie will have room for his work and to find the room for the baby.

The other is to take him to bed now and claim him officially.

The second wins out, hands down. We can figure the rest out later. Right now, my dragon is pressing pretty hard to finally make Ronnie mine, once and for all. He’s having my baby! I have to do this right!

My impatience is winning out, though. I just want to feel Ronnie beneath me, his body clenching tight when my knot slips in his ass to hold us together. When his pulse throbs beneath my mouth as I finish the claiming, then and only then, will I be able to rest easy, knowing that it’s official.

Something no one can take away from us.

His breath is quick as he pulls my shirt over my head and his eyes almost shine in the dim light of my bedroom when I do the same. Undressing him is like unwrapping a present. A gift to me for all time.

I climb on the bed, following his path across the mattress until he stretches out beneath me. Arms and legs wrap around me as I lower over him. Our mouths meet and I inhale his scent. He’s ready for me. His eager moans spur me on.

I have no doubts. This is what is meant to be. Since we first met, I’ve suspected but could never verify. It kept me guessing, was he meant to be mine or was it my imagination. I was content to be friends and lovers with him if we discovered we weren’t fated mates.

It is a lie if I say that being fated mates isn’t important. I know it is. But I don’t believe it is the be-all-to-end-all of relationships. Luckily for me, it’s not an issue. Even now, my skin tingles everywhere he touches me. I’m alive in his arms, my inner dragon soars with delight.

His lips are swollen from my kisses and it delights me when he smiles. “You’re going to make me beg for this?”

“I should, just to establish who’s in charge around here.” Just for good measure, I duck in for another kiss, one that leaves him breathless.

“We both know who that will be, once they arrive.”

I laugh, hooking his leg with my hand and dragging it to rest draped over my shoulder. “That’s true. I guess I better enjoy myself now. Bronaz bitches non-stop about not getting any sleep with small babies in the house.”

“You’ll love it.” Ronnie lifts up to kiss my chin. “And between the two of us, we’ll have more family and friends willing to help give us a break. Nosko swears by the babysitter chain he and Austin have put together. So far, they’ve always had coverage for when they need to get work done.”

Ronnie rolls his hips up so I can slide my fingers along the crevice of his ass. They find home, sliding into his body. My chest vibrates in a low, possessive growl. He’s so wet for me, his slick is positively dripping. It makes my cock jump in anticipation.

Only a slight shift to adjust; once my cock is in position, I flex my hips and slowly sink into his body.

His eyes roll back in his head as I pop past the tight ring of muscle. I bite on my lower lip to focus, full concentration on keeping control of my own body so that I don’t move too quickly and hurt him.

I start slow at first, ducking to steal kisses as I rock into him. He exhales with each thrust in, each rhythmic breath keeping time with taking him, one stroke at a time.

When his heels dig into my back, I know he’s ready for me to do something other than lay there, panting from the incredible grip he has on my shaft. Ronnie moans softly when I lower to my elbows to brace. His blunt fingernails scrape along my back, digging in. “Oh!” he says breathlessly when I thrust particularly deep to hit his prostate.

I’m lost in motion as I fall into him over and over. Lost in sound, lost in my deep and abiding love for this clever, quick-thinking man who has stolen my heart.

As we find our rhythm together, we approach that moment where the lines all disappear and I will become one with Ronnie and he with me. My teeth tease and tickle over the spot on his throat that soon will trigger our final moment. Energy spins crazily in my groin, winding up like a spring until I feel I can no longer hold it back.

Fumbling, I wiggle a hand between us to take up stroking along Ronnie’s dick, keeping in time with my thrusts until it’s all a blur. When the moment is right, just as I feel us both ready to tumble over, my teeth close down and the chemicals release that finally cement that we are bonded together as one until the end of time.

Ronnie jerks beneath me, a howl releasing from his throat. His cock jumps in my hand and the warmth of his release coats our bodies. I slam into him one more time, the swelling of my knot now stretching him wide to keep us locked together while I fill him.

But more than fill him, he fills me. Love as I’ve never felt before floods my senses. It’s enough to prick behind my eyes with tears I try to blink back. When I struggle to brace above him again, to look into his sweet face, I see his tears. He gives me a watery laugh and lets his head fall back.

They’re not tears of sadness, any more than mine are.

They’re the tears of pure joy.

Joy that we’re inseparable now; joy that he is going to have my baby and we will be a family.

There is no better feeling in the world.

With our bodies locked together, our heart beats return to normal. Ronnie’s arms and legs go slack and they fall away from me. While there, I cradle him in my arms, his head resting comfortably in the cup formed by my hands. He’s smiling at me. “I hope we made Annika happy.”

That catches me off guard and I laugh. “I think she will be.”

Ronnie stretches his arms overhead, then falls boneless again. “What am I going to do for excitement now? We’ve hopefully put an end to that wretched organization. There’s nothing to fill my time.”

I consider that for a moment. “Well, you still have your work, right? At the company? And maybe you can call the wolves and see if you can freelance for them. They were very reliant on your information.”

“Our information. With you and Austin working with me, and Carlo, we got that information.”

“Maybe.” I kiss his chin. “But you were the driving force. Without your expertise, we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we did.” Before he protests, I kiss his mouth firmly. “Don’t argue with me, just take the compliment.”

Ronnie huffs out a sigh. “Fine. Thank you. But it doesn’t answer my question of what now?”

“Getting ready for a baby sounds like it might fill most of your spare time,” I mention.

“There is that.”

“Maybe, try to focus on that and let our normal, everyday, boring life just unfold. There’s nothing wrong with that, you know.”

He nods. “I guess you’re right.”

I know I am. Just because I’m a mythical shifter, I’m not really cut out for this exciting life. We all stepped up because we were the only ones who would.

I’m glad for it to be done and over and I can go back to my work, my hobbies, and now my new family.

That’s the best treasure a dragon could ever hope for.