Page 27 of Dragon Mine (Dragon Kings 2)
“You can no’ know that for certain, love.”
Rhi hated that she was getting defensive. “I’m not the first Fae to get pregnant with a Dragon King’s bairn. Need I remind you of Melisse.”
“Between her and now, there have been none. Yes, Eurwen and Brandr are alive. Who is to say that if we had all made different decisions back then that you wouldna have lost the bairns?”
“Or had them,” she interjected.
A muscle ticked in Con’s jaw. “Back on Earth, Claire and V are going insane every day waiting to see what will happen with the babe she carries.”
An idea suddenly struck Rhi. “Bring Claire here.”
“What?” Con asked, visibly taken aback.
“The dragons here have no problem having children.”
“Claire isna a dragon. And the dragons didna have problems on Earth, either.”
Rhi shot him a dark look. “I know Claire isn’t a dragon, but she’s carrying the child of one. Add in the fact that Usaeil used magic to ensure that Claire would get pregnant, and I think she should come here. She’s overdue anyway.”
“Why here?” Con pressed.
“Because there might be something on our realm that prevents humans from having a child with a dragon,” Rhi said, just shy of shouting.
Con searched her face for several minutes before his face paled. “Shite.”
“There was always a fifty-fifty chance the bairn wouldn’t survive,” Rhi continued. “Claire is human, and I’m not sure what going through a Fae doorway will do to her or the babe. Everything might go as planned on Earth, allowing their child to survive.”
“Or it might be stillborn like all the others,” Con replied.
Rhi shrugged. “I say we leave it to V and Claire to make the decision.”
“That’s bringing another King and his mate to Zora. If you think things are precarious now, I can no’ imagine they’ll get better.”
“We’ll send Varek and Jeyra to Dreagan like we spoke about. Claire and V will come in their place.”
Con walked to her and pulled her into his arms. “We’ll tell Eurwen in the morn. Hopefully, she’ll agree.”
“Or we could go now.”
“That might no’ be a good idea.”
She leaned back to look up at him. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Vaughn leaving and how neither he nor Eurwen could take their eyes off each other, does it?”
“Nothing gets past you,” Con said with a grin.
Rhi playfully punched him in the arm. “You know I hate being left out of things.”
“Love, I was going to tell you everything.”
“Next month?” she asked with a roll of her eyes as she tried to turn away.
Con chuckled and dragged her back to him. “Come here,” he said in a husky voice before his mouth descended on hers.
Rhi was powerless to resist him. She wrapped her arms around him and sank into the kiss. “I’ll never get tired of your kisses,” she said when it ended.
“You better no’,” he said as he rubbed his nose against hers.
She smiled, her heart filled with so much joy. “I know this day didn’t turn out like either of us wanted, but we got to see one of our children. We’re in their realm, getting a glimpse of how they live. It’s enough. For now.”
“You’re a special woman, my love.”
“I know,” she teased. The smile dropped as she looked into Con’s eyes. “We’re going to need to take it slow with the twins. And by slow, I mean at their pace. It goes against everything I want to do, but I think it’s the only way.”
Con pulled her against him and held her tightly. “I agree. We hoped for the best, but we didna get the worst. It was somewhere in between. I think we could call that a win.”
“Yes, we can,” she said, blinking back tears. Then it became too much, and she couldn’t stop her shoulders from shaking as she bawled.
Con kissed the top of her head. “It’ll be fine, love. I promise.”
“I never got to hold them. Feed them,” Rhi said through her sobs. “I never got to see their first steps or hear their first words. We missed everything.”
“But they’re alive. You’re alive,” Con said. “I’d much rather have all of you.”
She buried her face in his shirt and sniffed. He was right, as usual. Erith could’ve let the twins die that day. Instead, she’d saved the bairns as well as Rhi. Still, Rhi couldn’t simply ignore all the things she wished she would’ve gotten to experience as a mother.
“Who’s to say we can no’ have more children?” Con whispered in her ear.
Rhi slowly lifted her head. “What?”
A slow smile pulled at Con’s lips. “I want to experience all those things as a father, too.”
“I–I don’t know why I didn’t consider that before.”
He tucked a long, black strand of hair behind her ear. “We both deserve to know what it is to be parents.”
“What if—?”
He placed a hand over her mouth to silence her. “There are always things to consider. I’m no’ saying we should start now. I’m telling you that I’m open to whatever you want.”
“It’s hard to answer that because I have what I’ve always wanted—you.”
“You never lost me. I know it seemed that way, but I was always yours.”
Rhi wiped at the tear streaks on her face. “We both made so many mistakes.”
“The past is the past. It doesna do either of us any good to keep looking back. You forgave me.”
“And you forgave me.”
“Hopefully, our children will forgive us eventually, as well. Until then, we’ll keep showing them that we willna give up.”
Rhi smiled and leaned forward to kiss him. “How long do you think we’ll be allowed to stay here?”
“No’ long.”
