21. Strange Bodily Changes

21

STRANGE BODILY CHANGES

Mav turned Telos around to face him, traces of smoke lingering in the air between them.

Telos had just breathed embers.

Before this, his pregnancy had been... just a concept. Sure, Mav had seen the pregnancy tests. Sure, he’d seen Telos’ nipples leak.

But the smoke and embers—those were the signs of a dragon pregnancy.

They were proof that the baby in Telos’ belly was Mav’s, and Mav’s instincts roared.

He pressed his palm flat against Telos’ abdomen, over the trail of black hair diving into his shorts. “Mine.”

Telos narrowed his eyes. “Mine too.”

Then he burped again, and Mav had to lean in, breathing the smoke straight from his lips.

“That’s weird,” Telos muttered. “Burping smoke? Really?” He wasn’t moving away from Mav, though.

“It’s going to get weirder,” Mav said. “You’ll start to crave spicy food. We’ll need to ask Uriel to fireproof your place.”

Telos worked his jaw. “You could lend us some of your fireproofed things in the meantime.”

“Or you could come live with me. Just to see how you like it.”

Telos narrowed his eyes. “What’s the catch?”

Mav sighed. “The catch is that we’ll have two butlers under the same roof.”

“Fuck.”

“‘Fuck’ is right.”

“‘Fuck’ is not right!” came Hilly-Billy’s voice from elsewhere in the penthouse. “You love us!”

Telos rolled his eyes. “Let me... Let me think about it.”

“Take however much time you need.” Mav wet his lips, suddenly nervous. He’d spent all that time looking for gifts for Telos, but it still didn’t feel like enough. “Would you like me to make you some food?”

Telos raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Something spicy. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

“I have a limit to my spice tolerance,” Telos said suspiciously.

“Believe me, you don’t have a limit right now.” Since Telos still hadn’t protested his touch, Mav slowly rubbed his belly. Somewhere in there was his and Telos’ baby. It was going to grow, and soon, Mav would get to hold their baby in his arms. Telos’ muscles twitched against his hand.

“Fine. Make me food,” Telos said imperiously.

Mav was only too happy to raid his kitchen.

“I filled your fridge with ghost peppers,” Hilly-Billy said airily.

“Ghost peppers?!” Telos spluttered. “Are you trying to murder me?”

“You’ll enjoy it,” Mav said. He pressed his hand to the small of Telos’ back, leaning in to sniff him properly. Telos’ scent was usually a mix of freshly cut grass and wild berries, but right now, it was overlaid with citrus, sage, woodsy notes and sea salt.

Mav froze. That scent, he knew like the flame in his core. “Are you wearing my cologne?”

Telos stiffened against him. “No.”

Mav stepped away and retraced his steps to Telos’ hoard, except this time he turned and pushed open the door to Telos’ bedroom.

“You’re not allowed in there!” Telos squawked, feet thumping on the floor.

Mav scanned the room. An antique wooden dresser hugged the closest wall, covered in all manner of knick-knacks—picture frames, books, dinosaur keyrings... and a very familiar glass bottle.

Mav picked it up. The bottle was half-used, smudged with fingerprints, and it smelled like grass.

Telos froze in the doorway, his face growing red.

Mav’s thoughts raced. He’d never caught Telos wearing his cologne before. He would know; he sniffed his friends discreetly when they met, just to check out what scents the others wore. He’d never caught this on Telos.

And yet... This bottle had been used. A lot.

“Did you buy this new?” Mav asked.

“Yes,” Hilly-Billy shouted.

Telos rubbed his temples with one hand, hiding his face. “What the fuck.”

“You secretly wanted to smell like me?” Mav asked, amazed. He set the bottle down and closed the distance between them, brushing his palms down Telos’ sides to leave his scent on Telos’ skin.

“He sprays it on his bed at night,” Hilly-Billy added.

“I’m firing you right now,” Telos growled. His ears were red. He really was kind of adorable like that.

“You could just sleep in my bed,” Mav said quietly. “It smells more like me.”

Telos’ breath hitched.

“What’s more, it’s already fireproofed. You won’t have to worry about embers.” Mav tucked his nose against Telos’ neck and breathed in deep. Beneath Telos’s scent and Mav’s cologne, he thought he smelled a hint of smoke.

Mav growled, pressing Telos up against the wall. “You smell like us. And the pregnancy.” He rubbed Telos’ belly again. “I can’t wait to see you swell up with our baby. Can’t wait to hear our baby’s heartbeat. Show Estie her new sibling.”

Telos’ gaze softened, right before he puffed up his chest like an indignant bird. “I’m going to fucking waddle, and it’s going to be your fault. I’m going to get mood swings, and puke, and make you drive out at 4 AM for ice cream.”

Mav nodded. “I’ll get you ice cream.”

“You’ll have to rub my feet for hours,” Telos added, on a roll now. “And rub my back. And make sure you show up to doctor’s appointments. Because it’s your fault.”

“Granted, you enjoyed it when I filled you up with multiple loads.”

Telos glowered.

Mav shut up and nodded again. “I’ll be there. I’ll do everything you ask.”

“Good.” Telos sniffed. “Maybe this won’t be so bad.”

“I want to make this worth your while,” Mav said. “Whenever you’re ready, feel free to move into my lair.”

“ Move in? Not stay temporarily?”

Mav hesitated. He hadn’t meant to say that, but... “Yeah. We’re going to have a baby. You’re welcome there anytime.”

Telos watched him warily. “I will decide when I’m ready.”

“Okay.” Mav nuzzled his throat. “Will you let me make you some food now?”

“Fine.”

Mav wrapped his arm around Telos’ waist and tugged him out of the bedroom, to the kitchen. Telos perched on a bar stool; Mav opened his mouth.

“If you tell me that I’m going to fall off this stool, I’ll gut you,” Telos hissed. “Especially when I’m very pregnant.”

“Actually, you’re kind of hot like that too,” Mav admitted.

Telos scrunched up his face. “I guess I will forgive you. Carry on with the praise.”

“You’re seriously very capable.”

Telos watched him for a while. He must’ve decided to believe Mav, because he smiled. “Yeah?”

“You were amazing on this rescue. Even when you stayed out of the fighting. You got us intel, and you got it fast.” Mav grinned. “Hearing you rattle off all the guards’ positions and what you found, that was hot.”

“I hope you weren’t groping yourself while you were listening.”

“Maybe I was.”

Telos laughed. He was handsome like that, too, his eyes sparkling, his lips parted. He wasn’t what Mav had expected to find in a mate, but... he was a good man. He was strong, competent, and he had a lot of emotions. Emotions that Mav wanted Telos to share with him.

He opened Telos’ fridge to take stock of what he had. He grabbed the bag of ghost peppers; Telos eyed him warily and backed away.

“You won’t have a reaction to this right now,” Mav said. “Estie, too. But Hilly-Billy will; he doesn’t have any fire resistance.”

Hilly-Billy pouted. “I need an adult.”

Telos snorted and exchanged a look with Mav; Mav straightened his shoulders.

“You could wear a gas mask,” Mav said, and opened the bag of peppers.

“You know what, I’m going to pull out Telos’ baby pictures,” Hilly-Billy said.

“No,” Telos growled.

“Too late!” Hilly-Billy cackled and sprinted away, his shoes clicking against the floor.

“Stay in your fucking room,” Telos yelled after him.

“I want to see the pictures,” Mav said.

“Don’t you dare, Minion,” Telos growled.

“Baby photos, coming right up,” Hilly-Billy yelled.

Telos glowered at his brother as though he was going to tackle Hilly-Billy to the ground. To derail him from that thought, Mav cleared his throat. “Want a ghost pepper omelet?”

“It’s going to kill me,” Telos whined.

“If it kills you, I’ll give you permission to kill me back.”

Telos scoffed, but he smiled. “Fine.”

“I’ll make you a ghost pepper sandwich, too.”

“Fine.”

Mav turned on the oven and chopped up some peppers, sautéing the smaller pieces with mushrooms. Once the oven was hot enough, he slid in a tray of larger peppers, and their spicy aroma filled the air.

“I can smell them,” Telos said, covering his nose. “I’m going to sneeze.”

Then he sneezed, and even that was kind of cute.

When the peppers were done roasting, Mav retrieved them and diced them up. He whisked together some eggs and cream, poured that into a frying pan, and made a fluffy omelet he was pretty damn proud of.

“Okay, I think that’s enough reason to marry you,” Telos said.

Mav stopped breathing. “What?”

“That omelet looks perfect.”

Mav tipped the mixture of ghost peppers and mushrooms into the omelet, and Telos immediately scrunched up his face.

“No, no more marrying. I take it back.”

Mav rolled his eyes. “At least taste it first.”

He grabbed fresh toast from the toaster, spread some butter on them, and sandwiched a pile of roasted peppers between the slices. “Here.”

“ You take a bite first.” Telos pushed the plate back.

“Scared?” Mav asked dryly. “Big, strong alpha afraid of some little red fruits.”

“Fuck you.” Telos grabbed the sandwich and bit off a corner. Then he chewed gingerly as though expecting his tongue to fall off. He swallowed.

A few seconds later, Telos burped, long and loud. It was accompanied by a majestic plume of fire, almost touching the ceiling.

“Holy crap!” Telos coughed and spluttered. “What the hell was that?”

Mav raised an eyebrow. “Are you really that unfamiliar with dragon pregnancies?”

“In case you haven’t realized, babies were never on my bucket list!” Telos belched. Another ribbon of flame fluttered between his lips. “How the hell am I not in pain?”

Mav reached over, patting Telos’ abdomen. “Baby gives you immunity. For now.”

Telos scowled. But he pulled his omelet closer, carefully scooping some into his mouth. More flames erupted from his lips in a wondrous display.

“I’m going to accidentally burn down this building,” Telos muttered. “Someone save my fossils.”

“You won’t burn it down.”

“How would you kn—”

Mav leaned in when Telos burped again, breathing Telos’ flames into his own mouth. When the flames subsided, they were left staring into each other’s eyes, Telos’ lips parted ever so invitingly.

Mav wet his own lips, trying to think of something to say. Telos’ gaze dropped to his mouth.

“Baby pictures!” Hilly-Billy cried, skidding into the kitchen.

Telos broke their gaze and leaped at his butler with a snarl. Mav grabbed the album from Hilly-Billy’s other side, and ran.

It was a few moments before Telos realized what had happened. Mav raced to the only door with a heartbeat behind it, slipping into the nursery as quietly as he could.

Estie was already awake in her crib, grabbing the bars and trying to pull herself to her feet. Mav dropped to a crouch next to her. “Hey, Estie. Want to see your dad’s baby pictures?”

“Gods damn it! Mav, ” Telos growled, stopping in the doorway.

Mav grinned. “I bet you want to show her your baby pictures. Don’t you want to see how similar you look?”

“Fuck,” Telos muttered. “I do.”

He stalked over and scooped Estie out of the crib, bringing her to the couch on one side of the nursery. Mav sat down next to him and opened the album—the first picture was a baby with his face covered in strawberry cake.

Estie made a happy sound, reaching for the photo.

“Now, we can’t have you ripping it into pieces,” Telos warned, holding her away from it. “I bet you want to get your little hands all over those photos.”

“Wa wa wa!” she cried, wriggling in his arms.

Mav remembered holding her, his heart swelling. Having Estie in his life, along with Telos and their baby... There wasn’t much else he wanted, really.

“Do you think we look alike?” Telos asked, glancing at Mav sidelong.

Mav turned the page, studying the baby tangled up in some blankets, then Estie. “Yeah,” he said, looking back and forth between the babies. “She really does look like you.”

He wondered who the child in Telos’ belly would resemble more.

When he looked up, he found Telos watching him, a soft smile playing on his lips. “You got shot because you tried to protect me.”

The wound had scabbed over. Mav couldn’t use that arm too much while it healed, but at least it was still functional. “I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“Awww. I think you wouldn’t have done that much to save me, two weeks ago.”

Mav growled. “I would have, you know. You’ve always been important. You got under my skin, sure, but you’re a good person. With a strange penchant for finding the best restaurant in any town.”

Telos snorted. “It’s called ‘Looking at reviews’.”

“You keep showing up at random to annoy me,” Mav added. Except Telos hadn’t done it to annoy him, had he? Over the centuries, Telos had pretended to stop by Mav’s lair to watch him wash his car; he’d trailed after Mav at their friends’ parties, throwing tiny appetizers at the back of Mav’s head. All so Mav would turn around and notice him. “Telos—”

Telos’ smile turned affectionate. He leaned in and bumped their shoulders, and Mav was vaguely aware of Estie with a photo in her hands.

“I think you’ve earned it, you know,” Telos murmured.

“Earned what?”

“Have you forgotten it already? Do you have pregnancy brain?”

Mav bared his teeth.

And Telos leaned in, pressing their mouths together.