They dressed slowly, stealing kisses and touches as if neither of them could bear to stop, even for a moment. When they finally went back inside, Adara was still sleeping peacefully on the couch, Snuggles curled at her feet.
Leo guided Estelle to his bedroom, leaving the door partway open, enough for privacy, but enough to hear if Adara stirred. As they settled into his bed, Estelle fit perfectly against him, her back to his chest, his arm draped protectively over her waist.
“Sleep,” he murmured against her hair. “I’ll be right here.”
As Estelle’s breathing deepened into sleep, Leo remained awake, his mind turning over everything she had shared. Theweight of her trust, the years she had spent running, the fear she carried for Adara, it all settled inside him and sharpened into resolve.
She doesn’t do this alone anymore,his bear said.
No,Leo agreed.
He tightened his arm around Estelle’s sleeping body, breathing in the cinnamon-dragon scent of her hair. He had chosen them. Both of them. Not just as his mate and her child, but as his family.
And that was exactly why the next problem pressed at him now.
We can’t keep this secret forever,his bear pointed out.Not from our family.
Leo frowned into the darkness. His mother, his brothers, all of them, they were too close, too involved in one another’s lives not to notice. They would see the change in him. They would ask questions.
And if he kept putting them off, they would start looking for answers on their own.
That could not happen.
Not with Estelle already so frightened. Not with Adara caught in the middle.
We need to talk to her,his bear said.Soon.
I know,Leo thought.
He would respect Estelle’s need for privacy. He would protect it as long as he could. But his family was another matter. They were too woven into his life to be kept in the dark for long, and if he did not tell them himself, he might lose the chance to manage it at all.
That was a conversation for tomorrow.
Tonight, he held her close and listened to the quiet rhythm of her breathing, knowing only one thing for certain.
His family could not be kept in the dark much longer.
Chapter Thirteen – Estelle
“Morning,” Leo murmured against her hair, his breath warm against her skin.
Estelle blinked slowly into awareness, savoring the cocoon of warmth they’d made beneath his sheets.
“Morning,” she whispered back, turning to face him. The tenderness in his eyes stirred something in her chest she wasn’t quite ready to name.
You can name it,her dragon said smugly.It’s called happiness.
It’s called vulnerability,Estelle corrected, though without her usual edge of fear.
Leo traced her cheek with his fingertips. “I should probably check on Adara.”
“She’s still asleep,” Estelle murmured, her senses fixed on her daughter. “But yes, we should get up.”
Leo kissed her forehead before sliding out of bed. Estelle watched him pull on a T-shirt, appreciating the play of muscle across his back. When he left the room to check on Adara, she allowed herself a moment to simply breathe, to feel the unfamiliar sensation of waking up somewhere without worrying she might need to flee.
Too good to be true,her practical side whispered.
No,her dragon countered.Just good. And true.
