The Beast (Black Dagger Brotherhood #14) - J. R. Ward Page 0,202

expression was wary and nervous, but she seemed determined to see for herself what was going on with the dragon.

More chuffing, as if the beast were trying to communicate that it was okay. He wasn’t going to be a bad boy. He just wanted to say hi.

Biggest lapdog on the frickin’ planet, Mary thought. And let’s just hope it stayed that way.

“Be careful,” Mary said. “No sudden movements—”

“I think he likes me? I’m not sure … but I think he likes me.”

A minute later, Bitty stopped right next to the dragon’s head, right beside those gnashing jaws, right by those reptilian eyes that blinked vertically, not horizontally.

“Can I pet you?” she asked.

The beast made an inquiring sound, as if it were mimicking her tone.

“Is that a yes?”

When it did the half-purr, half-exhale thing again, Bitty extended a shaking hand and placed it right on the beast’s cheek.

“Oh, you’re so smooth. You’re much smoother than I thought—”

There was a sudden rush of movement, and Mary lunged forward and grabbed the girl, dragging her out of range. But she shouldn’t have worried.

The beast had rolled over onto its back, its comparably small arms curling up on its chest, its house-size rear legs stretching out. In order to scratch its belly, Bitty would have needed a six-foot ladder—and Mary two Xanax and a bottle of wine, thank you very much—but the girl made the best of it, going over and reaching up on her tiptoes as the beast angled its head to watch her with soft eyes.

“He’s so cute,” Bitty said. “Aren’t you? Who’s a cutie?”

“I really need a drink,” Mary muttered to herself. “I need a frickin’ drink.”

But at least we have this part of it all solved, she thought.

When Rhage came back into his body, it was full-on panic time. “Mary! Bitty! Mary!”

But then he realized that two sets of hands were holding his palms, and there were two beautiful voices that started to reassure him—well, one did the reassuring. The other one was just reassuring to hear.

“It’s okay, we’re okay—”

“Rhage! You have a dragon! A pet dragon! I got to rub his tummy!”

Say what, he thought in the blindness.

“When can he come back! I want to see him again! Can I play with him!”

His delirium was thankfully not accompanied by stomach pains, so he took that to mean that he hadn’t snacked on any of those fucking douches who had aggressed on his Mary. And oh, good, there was a blanket over the lower half of his body, so he wasn’t naked.

But he had to start shaking his head even though he wasn’t sure where the girl was looking. “That is not a toy, Bits. He’s dangerous—”

“He likes me! That was amazing!”

“—and I can’t just call him out of me, okay? But when you come to live with us, I’ll see what I can do.”

Complete. Silence.

And then Bitty said in a small voice, “Come live with you?”

“Oh … shit,” he muttered. Even though his King had brought up the whole no-cussing thing. “I mean, carp. I mean, crap.”

“Live with you?” the girl repeated.

As Mary cleared her throat, Rhage tried to sit up, even though he lacked the strength to get very far in the vertical department.

“Bitty,” his shellan said. “I’ve tried to find your uncle. Actually, a lot of people have attempted to locate him—and nothing’s come of it. I don’t know what happened to him or where he is—I can’t even begin to guess. But assuming he isn’t … available … Rhage and I have been talking, and you know, we don’t want to take the place of your mahmen. Not at all. It’s just … we’d really like it if you’d consider coming to stay with us. It can start out on a trial basis, and if you don’t like it, you can always—”

There was a muffled impact and Mary stopped talking.

At which point he smelled tears.

“What’s happening?!” He flailed around. “What’s wrong? What’s she doing—”

All of a sudden, little arms wrapped around his neck, and Bitty’s voice was in his ear. “Does this mean you’ll be my father?”

Rhage’s breath caught in his throat. Then he carefully hugged the girl back, mindful not to crush her. “If you’ll have me…” Okay, he couldn’t talk here. “Yes, yes, I will.”

He felt Mary rub his back in circles, and could sense his mate’s happiness soaring right beside him—but that wasn’t enough. He pulled her in tight so that both females were up against his chest.

So this … was his family,