Fire of a Dragon (Fallen Immortals 3) - Paranormal Fairytale Romance by Alisa Woods Page B

mother said, speaking first, as was custom. “I accept her into our House.”
    Then his father spoke next, his deep booming voice only slightly touched with gravel and age. “Her strength and good heart are a blessing upon this House.” His father’s words had a double-edged meaning for Lucian now. The same words had been spoken when Cara was accepted, but they proved not to be true. She was not strong enough to survive him and his seed. Her heart was good… but not good enough. Not with the doubts that must have lingered there. “I accept her into the House of Smoke,” his father continued. Then he raised his voice. “May your dragonling live long, and may the House of Smoke prosper under the blessing of a new prince.”
    That was the signal, along with the king’s raised hands.
    The House was holding their breath, waiting.
    Arabella didn’t know it, but the ceremony was sealed with a kiss. Lucian held his hand out to her, and when she took it, he pulled her close. With one hand on her belly and his son and the other in her hair, he brought her in for a kiss that was delicious and divine and sparked everywhere through him.
    And it was a damn good thing they were heading back to his lair immediately afterward.
    A roar of approval went up throughout the throne room, and Lucian let his kiss linger and linger, only releasing her when he sensed a flush of embarrassment running through her cheeks.
    He grinned as he pulled away. “Welcome to the House of Smoke, Princess Arabella.”
    The blush that was tinging her cheeks red and making her eyes flutter was almost as captivating as her kiss.
    “Lucian,” she said, her voice a little breathy. “Take me home.”
    He frowned, a spike of fear lancing through his heart and bursting the glory of the moment. “Are you all right?”
    She took his hand again and squeezed it. “Yes. Just…” Her gaze roamed the still-cheering House of dragons. They were putting their enthusiasm into applause and backslapping and rounds of chanting Arabella’s name. “Just a little overwhelmed.”
    His fear subsided. He turned quickly to his parents. “By your leave, your majesties, my mate cannot wait to retire to my lair.”
    His father grinned, and even his mother had a knowing smile.
    When Lucian turned back to Arabella, she looked stricken. “Oh my God, Lucian,” she whispered hoarsely. He smirked and swept her into his arms and carried her out through the cheering crowd, toward the back of the throne room and, eventually, his lair.
    With all the ceremonies behind them, he had every intention of making love to Arabella for the remaining three weeks of her pregnancy pretty much continuously.
    Woe to any dragon who interrupted them.

“Okay, these little, tiny, baby clothes are just fucking cute.” Rachel’s running commentary made Arabella laugh out loud.
    “This why I need you here, helping me sort this stuff out. Lucian can’t even look at the clothes.”
    Rachel scrunched up her face. “Oh. Yeah. Because of the baby before.”
    Arabella nodded. It squeezed her heart every time she thought about it—she could hardly even imagine what it was doing to Lucian. She held up a tiny jumper suit that was red with little hooks and buttons to hold the shoulder straps down. “How cute is this?”
    Rachel scrutinized the tiny clothing. “Maximum cuteness. Illegally cute.”
    “Perfect.” Arabella set it in the pile of keepers. She sighed before going on to the next one. “The only solution is for me to just have the baby, Rach. To live. That’s the only thing that will prove all of Lucian’s fears wrong.”
    “Well, you’ll get no argument from me on that.” She held up another tiny suit set, this one a miniature replica of Lucian’s formal attire, complete with a tiny emblazoned gold-thread dragon. “Although no baby is going to be happy wearing this getup.”
    Arabella giggled, and the baby kicked with the motion. Her hand reflexively went to her belly and soothed that spot