Page 43 of Claim the Light
“We need to eat,” he says. “Then we can start training.”
Despite his declaration, he pulls me higher and the temptation to wrap my legs around his waist and never let go is high.
“Fuck, you smell good,” he murmurs, grazing his lips across my skin.
Damn. How am I supposed to focus on training now?
I groan against his mouth when he presses his lips to mine. “Micah, I know you want to take it slow, but I want more of you. I wantallof you.”
His arms tighten around me and the hard press of his pelvis against my thigh tells me he isn’t immune to my nearness. He lowers me to the edge of the bed, where he kneels between my legs, a tantalizing position.
The bed is low enough that we remain face to face. One of his hands rises to the back of my neck, while he continues to plant kisses across my face. He inhales deeply against my cheek before he pulls back a little to see me.
“I want that too,” he says, his gaze steady. “But my wolf’s senses are telling me you’re fertile now. We don’t have any contraception, so your chances of becoming pregnant are high.”
My eyes widen. I’m not so much concerned with how he can tell what’s going on with my body, but the fact that I could conceive.
None of us dragon shifters have been able to have children in recent years—Emika was the last—and it’s a dream I forced myself to forget. The dream of becoming a mother.
“We could have a child?” I can barely breathe, let alone speak. “But that’s incredible.”
His lips rise into a crooked smile, but it quickly fades. “Right now, though?” he asks. “Is it the right time?”
It’s a sobering question. I force myself to swallow some of my joy—but not all of it.
His arms tighten around me and his voice takes on a growl. “We can’t stay here forever. We have a battle to fight out there. I’m going to struggle to watch you putting yourself in harm’s way as it is. To knowingly bring a child into existence with everything that’s ahead of us doesn’t feel right.”
I chew my lip, fear rising within me, but not of the battle ahead. “Will my body do this again? Will we have another chance?” My anxiety builds. “What if this is a one-time thing?”
His hands glide in soothing strokes down my back as he rears back up. I catch the flash of his brown eyes before he buries his face against my neck again and his teeth graze my skin beneath my ear. It’s a weirdly comforting gesture.
“My senses tell me this is just the beginning, Sophia,” he rumbles against me. “You don’t have to fear losing your ability to have children.”
I relax into his touch, allowing every stroke of his palms, every soft brush of his lips, to calm me.
Children. It feels like a wish come true. Of course, I know it won’t be easy. Protecting a child and raising a child are challenges beyond anything I’ve experienced, but I welcome them.
I sigh as he continues to rub my back, drawing me closer to him and once again, I fight the impulse to wrap my legs around him. “How did a wolf survive within you?”
He’s quiet for a moment. Doesn’t answer me.
“Micah?” I lean back a little, searching his eyes. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay.”
It can’t be an easy topic. Micah has lost both of his parents. His mother died when he was young and his father was recently killed by Sienna Scorn. That was before Lana ended her.
Micah gives a small grimace. “I believe it has something to do with my mother’s heritage.”
“You mentioned she was a wolf shifter from another city.”
He nods. “Dad met her right after he found theBook of Light Magic. The book was located in a forest to the west of Portland. She was a member of the Western Lowland pack—one of two rival packs in that city. Dad met her when he was traveling home.”
“What do you know about her?” I ask, uncertain if I’m pushing him too far now.
Micah’s brow furrows. “Dad wouldn’t tell me much. He had so many fucking secrets and my mom was one of them. But I found out that her brother was the alpha of their pack at the time. A very dangerous wolf. Prone to sudden violent outbursts. Like I said, my father wouldn’t talk about her, but when I was a teenager, Leon told me that Mom was hiding a dark family secret.”
Leon is Micah’s beta. I met him for the first time at the battle with the angels. He has a voice like a rusty, old engine and a scent that evokes the dryness of the desert. He has a calm demeanor, but he’s as deadly as the other Grudge dragons. Perhaps more so, given that he was also beta to Micah’s father.
Micah continues. “When Leon dug deeper, he discovered that there could be old magic in Mom’s family. It didn’t seem to be a good thing, though, so he stopped asking questions.”
