10. Stone-Cold Adventures

10

STONE-COLD ADVENTURES

Pinks stared at Galent, his brain slow to work. "You... knocked me up."

When he looked down, he found their lower bodies pressed tightly together, Pinks' leg slung over Galent's hip—because there was something big and round still inside his ass. Along with a very thick length that jostled his insides whenever he moved.

"You were in heat," Galent said lowly, his gaze dark. "And you shared it with me. You wanted me to pump you full of cum."

Pinks flushed. "I..."

He couldn't deny that, because it was exactly what he had wanted. And now... There was a lot of cum inside his body, enough to make his belly bulge.

Galent reached between them to stroke Pinks' belly with a finger. "You're so round here because of how much cock you have inside you," he purred. "And also cum. I can't wait for you to stand up with your hole unplugged, and everything comes gushing down your legs."

Pinks shivered. That... actually sounded hot.

Galent grinned. "Oh, you are perfect."

Pinks made a face. "Wait. If you're still cursed, does that mean if— if! —I get pregnant, the baby will become a statue inside me, too?

Both of them froze, staring at each other in horror.

"The baby will unfreeze, right? Just like me," Galent said uneasily. "We could watch a cum sample and see if it becomes stone."

"But cum isn't a person. Not like a baby."

They stared at each other for another long beat.

"We have to get rid of this curse," Galent muttered, his eyes narrowed. "I can't protect you like this."

"How? Wren already tried to undo it!"

Galent winced. "We may have to seek out the thing that cursed me in the first place."

That shadowy person-thing in the woods, who had tried to attack Galent? Pinks shuddered. "As much as I'd like to, that's seriously a last resort. What if they use the magic in your curse to control you?"

Galent growled. But he didn't say it was impossible. "We'll find another way. Find something to stop me from hurting you or Zarrie."

Pinks had heard about electricity and steel nets being used to subdue dragons, but he really didn't want to hurt Galent if he had a choice. Then a worse thought struck him: "The curse isn't slowly killing you, is it?"

Galent frowned and turned his focus inward. "I... can't tell. Dragons have long lives."

Pinks pressed his hand to his stomach. "But our baby won't just be a dragon. It'll probably be a wolf, too. A mixed breed."

Who knew how Galent's curse would affect their child?

Worse, mixed breeds were something the kidnappers were targeting, too, not just rare species like Zarrie. Having two at-risk children... It made Pinks anxious.

"Hey." Galent tightened his arms around Pinks and drew him even closer, so they were pressed chest-to-chest. "I'll do my best to protect us."

Pinks allowed Galent to reassure him. He held onto the giant and let himself believe, just for a moment, that Galent might stick around and help him with everything. So he wouldn't be the only adult responsible for stuff. "You promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay. But I also want to help. I know I'm weak—"

"You're not weak." Galent frowned.

"I am." Pinks sighed. "Wolves are stronger as a pack. And alphas will always be stronger than omegas. I'm an omega without a pack, which makes me the weakest—"

"Sweety-Pinks," Galent growled, cupping Pinks' face with both his hands. "Why don't you have a pack?"

Pinks scowled. "It's all because of stupid pack politics. Packs are supposed to pool their resources together, right? But my pack never liked to do that. They were all ‘Every wolf for themselves,' and when my mom fell sick and couldn't afford the medical bills, they didn't help in any way. They said we'd be able to pay it if we just tried hard enough." Pinks bit down the anger rising within him. "She was on her deathbed! And we didn't have the strength to worry about the bills."

Galent froze, hugging Pinks tight. Quietly, he asked, "What happened after that?"

Pinks buried his face in Galent's chest, his lungs constricting. "Dad and I were in debt. I was going to turn eighteen soon, and Dad fell sick trying to pay off Mom's bills. It wasn't looking good. We were thinking about taking out more loans to cover his bills, and he just... One day he just officially disowned me, so the debtors wouldn't come after me demanding payment. I know why he did it. But it just hurt a lot."

"Fuck." Galent rolled them over to cover Pinks with his body. "And your dad...?"

Pinks sniffled. "He refused to see the doctor. Then he died. I was so disgusted with the pack that I left."

"You don't have to worry about that anymore, all right?" Galent growled. "If you need help paying for anything, tell me. I'll deal with it."

"I don't want to leech off you like—like a worm!"

Galent ducked his head and bit Pinks lightly on the shoulder. "It's not leeching if I'm trying to provide for you."

Pinks wiped his tears off on Galent's chest. "Why are you doing this? Calling me cute nicknames and... and offering your protection?"

Galent sighed patiently. "Because I'm trying to court you."

"We've known each other for less than a day."

"So?" Galent stroked Pinks' hip with his thumb. "We'll be knowing each other for a lot longer."

Because of the—the potential baby. Pinks gulped. Galent sounded too good to be true. "I already have my hands full with Zarrie."

"That's okay. I'll help."

"Don't you have a job and everything?"

"You don't have to worry about that. I've got it covered." Galent met his gaze fiercely. "In any case, you're not weak. You came to my rescue. I would've gotten into a lot more trouble without you there, Pinks."

"Fine." Pinks still didn't feel strong. But it helped that Galent had that much confidence in him, and it helped that Galent didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon. "I'm thirsty."

"Oh! That's right. You lost a lot of fluids." Galent glanced at the rumpled sheets next to them, his lips pulling into a proud smile. "Here."

He scooped Pinks into his arms, and with his knot still locked inside, he carried Pinks to the kitchen, holding him up with one arm while he used his other hand to grab a water glass. "Water? Iced, room temperature, or warm?"

"Iced, maybe about ten cubes. You make me warm."

Galent's smile grew. "You can sleep in my bed tonight."

Pinks was about to agree, when he remembered Zarrie. "I'd rather sleep in my room. "I'm not leaving Zarrie alone for the whole night."

Galent watched him seriously. "You're worried about the kidnappers."

" Yes. We've already been kidnapped once."

The giant hesitated. "What species is she? I know you weren't willing to tell me before."

Pinks took a deep breath. Did he trust Galent?

He watched as Galent filled the glass with ice cubes, then tap water. Galent handed it over without demanding an answer, and Pinks drank greedily. For the next minute, he watched the giant.

Galent had kept his promises about the massage and sex. He'd bought Pinks all the food he'd wanted at the store. Hell, he'd even cooked for them and tried to give Zarrie some tomato.

So Pinks strained his ears and listened hard to the neighborhood, making sure there wasn't anyone nearby who could hear. Then he said under his breath, "She's an angel."

Galent blinked. His eyebrows crawled up his forehead. "She's—Those exist?"

"You're over two hundred years old. Surely you've heard," Pinks said dubiously.

Except Galent wet his lips, looking torn. "My parents always said they'd tell me about the different species as I grew older. They taught me the basics, and for every decade that passed, they'd tell me about another rare species. Because they wanted to leave some intrigue in the world. Just that some hunters found them, and killed them."

"Oh, no." Pinks' heart sank. He set his glass on the counter and wrapped his arms tight around Galent, trying to soothe the giant even though he knew the past couldn't be undone.

"I found their bodies and killed their murderers," Galent said, tucking his face against Pinks' neck. "But it doesn't bring them back."

Pinks hugged him even more tightly. "I guess we're both orphans."

"I guess we are." Galent hesitated. "I could... join your pack? We'd be a pack of two. Three, including Zarrie."

Pinks' thoughts tripped over themselves. "Y-you forgot the cart. Limesicart."

"We can have the cart in our pack, too." Galent squeezed Pinks' hip, his mouth curving into a small, excited smile. "And... and the baby, if you conceive."

"If." But with that much cum locked inside him... he was very likely looking at a second lifetime commitment. Pinks tried not to freak out.

"Here, drink more water." Galent grabbed the water glass and brought it back to Pinks' lips, waiting for him to finish it. His gaze dropped to Pinks' chest. "Are you nervous?"

"When I woke up today, I wasn't expecting to have a new baby in my belly!"

"Mmm. Mine. I'll take care of you." Galent leaned in, his gaze locked on Pinks' lips.

Pinks froze. Galent was so close, his breath on Pinks' mouth, his own lips looking so soft and luscious that Pinks maybe grew a little bit excited.

A cry shattered the moment.

They both looked up, suddenly alert. Galent tightened his arms around Pinks and hurried to Zarrie's room, even as Pinks strained to listen for any possible intruders.

Instead of a kidnapper, they found Zarrie sitting upright, her clothes halfway off and two tiny, feathery wings flopping against her back.

"Aww, she's so adorable," Galent murmured, his face lighting up.

Pinks breathed a sigh. The last thing they needed was another attack. "Hey, Zee."

Zarrie reached out with both arms like she wanted to be carried. Pinks opened his mouth to tell Galent to bring him closer.

Except Galent stopped moving.

With a growing sense of dread, Pinks turned back, only to find the last tuft of Galent's hair turning into stone.

"Oh, gods!" Pinks tried not to grow anxious. It was one thing to be stuck on the giant for fifteen minutes.

But he couldn't go four hours trapped on Galent's knot, with no way to feed Zarrie or change her diapers.

"What am I going to do?" Pinks wrung his hands.

Zarrie babbled louder, kicking her little feet and leaning forward into a crawl. She pressed her face against the crib's wooden bars and stuck her hands out, trying to reach him.

"Hey, hon." Pinks winced, leaning forward as much as he could without losing his balance. The last thing he needed was to rip himself open on Galent's rock-hard knot. "I hope you don't need a diaper change yet. Or food."

She scrunched up her face and made soft, hungry sounds, straining against her wooden prison.

"I'll be there in a second," Pinks said. "Just a minute, all right?" He began to pat Galent all over. Had he touched a special spot the last time to make Galent change back? He couldn't remember—all he knew was that the cure wasn't a kiss.

He squished his hands over Galent's face, his touches growing more desperate when Zarrie's whimpering grew louder. Pinks grabbed Galent's chest and squeezed; he patted down Galent's arms and clenched around his knot, only for the giant to remain a statue. Pinks hooked his arms over Galent's shoulders to thump his back, cursing when the giant's broadness meant that he couldn't reach all of it.

Zarrie began to wail. Pinks groaned, whistling loudly to get her attention.

She stopped, watching him tearfully as he twisted around.

"I know it doesn't seem like it, but I'm stuck here right now. I'll feed you as soon as I can, okay?" Pinks waited for his words to hopefully sink in, before he began patting Galent's thighs with his feet. "Dammit! Why can't we fix this curse already?"

Zarrie shoved her face between the wooden bars like she was trying to push her entire body through.

"Please don't hurt yourself," Pinks begged. Maybe Galent could break the bars if Zarrie got herself stuck?

He'd just decided that he would howl for help if there was no change after half an hour, when color returned to Galent.

"Thank fuck," Pinks breathed, sagging against the man.

A moment later, Galent said, "You said no swearing in front of Zarrie."

Pinks scowled. "Well, you try being stuck and having to listen to your baby cry!"

"Sorry." Galent looked sheepish. The moment he could move, he brought Pinks over to the crib, carefully leaning him over the edge so he could reach Zarrie.

But Zarrie wasn't looking at Pinks anymore. She was watching Galent, her hands outstretched toward him as Pinks lifted her into the air.

"Don't touch him," Pinks chided gently.

Except Zarrie kicked, and her foot smacked into Galent's arm.

Galent jerked like he'd received an electric shock. Zarrie shuddered and turned gray.

"Zee!" Pinks cried.

"Kiddo!" Galent growled.

Zarrie was a miniature statue in Pinks' arms, gray all over.