2. Todd

2

TODD

L ewis is curled at the center of a nest he's made entirely of pillow guts, surrounded by the odds and ends he's collected over the last week. At first I didn't understand what was happening with the Wii controllers. But when he added the XBox controllers and the hat he always wears when we have semi-public sex, I realized it was his nest—the collection of things that make him happy.

They're all mementos of things we've done together. That made my heart grow three sizes.

Daniel told me that alpha penguin shifters have instincts that guide them during an egg-laying. He walked me through the process, step-by-step, because he assumed I wouldn't have those instincts. Alpha polar bear shifters don't normally help their mates nest. But now that Lewis has laid down to rest, my inner bear insists on taking over. He covers Lewis with a blanket and goes to the kitchen to fill a water bottle for Lewis. When Ansel shows up with bags of pillows, my inner bear takes them, and shuts the door again, without so much as saying "hi." There's a part of me that understands how rude that is, but my inner bear insists we don't have time to say hi to Ansel. We must help Lewis build his nest.

Lewis left the knife on the nightstand. I use it to tear open the other pillows, and add their insides to padding Lewis has already collected. Building the nest reminds me of metal magic. There's the same deep, pulsing connection to my bear. Only instead of creating a necklace, I end up with an enclosed circle of padding around my beloved. Once it's finished, I cover it with blankets, undress, and join him in our nest.

We're both cocooned in the center now, my little penguin shifter curled into my lap. His naked skin is warm against mine. He stirs, opening his big, brown eyes.

"Todd?"

"Yes. I'm right here."

He looks around at the nest we made together.

"Ohhh," he moans, and tucks his head under my chin. "So perfect."

Daniel told me that penguin shifter alphas feel no greater pride than in the moment when their mate approves of a finished nest. The omega may start the nest, but the alpha has to complete it. Even though I'm a polar bear shifter, I still feel pride from Lewis's approval. But the nest isn't quite done. It's still missing one last thing.

"Our scents," he whispers into my chest. "We must add our scents."

I can already smell his pheromones rising and the thick, heady aroma of his slick. His cock is hard against his stomach. Mine is hard too. Ready. I can give Lewis and our babies what they need. It doesn't matter what kind of shifter I am.

I adjust Lewis in my lap, and guide one of his knees to the side until he's straddling me. He leans forward and presses his forehead to mine. Our cocks brush against each other.

"Please. We need to…"

"Shhhh, love. I know what our nest needs."

I run my fingers along our slits where there's plenty of precum. I coat my fingers with it, so they will glide easily up and down our shafts. I squeeze our cocks together, and Lewis's breath catches. I've never frotted with Lewis. I was worried he might be self conscious about how much bigger my cock is. It's at least twice as thick and a full three inches longer. Secretly, I like the way we look next to each other. It's one of the sexiest things I've ever seen.

"Is this okay?" I ask.

"Oh, yes." His voice is breathy—full of lust.

"Your cock is perfect," I say, just in case he needs to hear it.

His lips quirk into a smile. "Perfect with yours."

All this time, I've been worried about being too strong or too feral or too big for Lewis. That I might scare him or make him feel small. And here he is, eyes half-closed with desire, staring at us with the same arousal I feel.

"You like to push your small cock against my big one?" I ask.

He lets out a loud breath. "Yes."

"Rock into me, love."

He rolls his hips, fucking his cock into my hand. "Ugh. You're huge, Todd."

"That's right. Can you take me? All of me?"

"Oh, yes."

His hips become frantic. The friction from his cock and my fingers, along with the glorious smell of him is too much for me. My balls tighten, and my body moves with his as I come over our hands. There's so much of it. Daniel told me that penguin shifter alphas instinctively produce more semen when their nest needs to be scented. I guess polar bear shifter alphas do too.

Lewis groans and comes with me. His slender body shakes as he spurts and spurts, adding to the pool of cum on my hand and our bodies. He slumps against me and gasps for breath.

"It's okay, love."

I spread the cum over the nest with one hand, while holding Lewis to my chest with the other.

"I need some of your slick too, okay?" I say.

He nods against my sternum.

With one tentative finger, I slide between his crack and feel for his entrance. It's already drenched and puffy with arousal. To my relief, I can easily sink one finger inside of him, so I try pushing in two.

He whimpers.

"Is this okay, love?"

He grabs for my shoulder. "Yes. So good." He's already hard again.

Penguin shifters rely on their alphas to get their birth passage ready, and that process is very sexual. Nesting isn't just about creating a soft place for the eggs. It's about opening Lewis up for their arrival.

I push my fingers in and out of him. The squelching sound of his slick is encouraging. There's plenty to spread around the nest. He whines when my fingers leave him.

"Shh, love."

As quickly as possible, I spread his slick on the blankets around us. Then I push inside him again, with three fingers this time.

"Mmm, Todd. Please."

"Do you need to come?"

His head bobs up and down.

I curl my fingers, pressing against his prostate. He bucks his hips against the pressure and digs his fingers into my shoulder. "Oh, please. Please!"

"Squeeze my fingers, love. C'mon."

His ass clenches on me hard.

"That's it. You can take more, can't you?"

He doesn't respond except to rock his hips more desperately. He's too far gone. So I piston my fingers inside him, ramming into his prostate with every thrust.

"Oh, Todd!" He comes apart in my arms, pulsing hard on my fingers and crying out. He sobs as his orgasm goes on and on, the slick gushing out of him in a wet, messy pool underneath us. I smear some of it on the nest, but use the rest to slick up my fourth finger. Daniel said artificial lubricant should be avoided, if at all possible.

"You ready for four fingers?" I ask.

He's boneless in my arms, but his cock is still hard, so I know he needs more stimulation.

"Please." It's barely a whisper.

The fourth finger is harder to squeeze in. I've stretched Lewis plenty of times before. My knot is certainly bigger than this. But my knot never has to pass through his rim. The eggs will.

I sink my fingers in to the knuckle. "Relax, love. I need you to take more, okay?"

He shakes his head.

"Are you too full?"

He shakes his head again. He doesn't know what's happening.

Then his inner penguin takes control. He rolls his hips against my hand, pushing it in further and further. Past my knuckles. My palm.

He squeezes me hard, and I think he's going to break my hand in half.

"Todd! I can't!" He's in a panic. His consciousness is resurfacing. I need to figure out how to let his inner penguin take control again.

"Shhhhhh." I stroke my hand up and down his cock, trying to relax him.

"Oh, God. I'm going to come, and it's going to tear me apart!"

"It's not, love. Relax. Let yourself feel good. C'mon. I'll take care of you."

He screams, and his ass clenches me tight, but his cock doesn't ejaculate. That means the eggs are descending. I need to get my hand inside him to create a pathway.

Lewis is wiggling in my lap again. He's still so tight, I'm afraid to push any further.

"More. Oh, please, more," he whines.

I let him wriggle for a little while longer, until he gushes all over my hand, then I tuck my thumb inside his tight rim. It barely fits. He bears down, and I thrust my hand inside. He wails, as his ass swallows me down to the wrist.

He shakes his head, his breath quickening, his hands clawing at my skin.

"It's okay. I've got you," I say. But he thrashes his legs, and he bears down again, trying to push me out. That's when I feel it. The solid, smooth weight of an egg against my fingertip.

"Oh, you're doing such a good job, love. I can feel our chick. C'mon. Push my hand out. You can do it."

His hands shove me down onto my back. I have to be quick to maneuver my body, so my fist doesn't rip out of him. He kneels over me, and begins rocking back and forth, squeezing my hand and moaning.

"That's right. You can do this."

He sobs, and pulses over my hand again, so I put pressure on his prostate, and his whole body tenses.

"Todd! Oh, Todd!"

"I'm here. Push me out." I keep rubbing his prostate. He clutches at my chest, his fingernails sinking into my skin. I increase the pressure, and I start to inch my fist against his rim, like when I thrust shallowly with my knot.

He throws his head back. "Fuck! So big!" Then he relaxes his neck and bears down, pushing out my hand with a violent strength. "More," he whispers. "I need more."

My little penguin shifter sets his jaw, and bears down, until the widest part of my hand is stuck at his rim. He contracts around me, moaning, and orgasming again. I have no idea how many orgasms he's had at this point. I slowly ease my hand out, but he snaps, "Stop!" Then pushes again. My hand slips out and a white egg peeks out from his pink, swollen hole.

While I can't be sure from this angle, that egg looks bigger than my fist.

"You've got this," I say.

"Shut up, Todd," he snaps. Then his eyes cloud over with lust, and his body goes taut. He sinks his fingers so deep into my chest, I have to stop myself from yelping.

"Nnnnggg!"

The egg protrudes out further, only to be swallowed again by Lewis's hole. His body is coated with sweat now.

"I can't. It's too big," he sobs.

"It isn't. I'm big, remember? You can handle me."

He slaps his hand over my mouth. "Don't. It's your big cock's fault, oh!" His body tenses. "Oh, oh, oh!" The egg slowly pokes out, and I think it's going to slip back in, but then Lewis lets out one last cry, and it drops onto my stomach.

I grab it and hold it out in front of him. He still has his hand clamped over my mouth, so I can't say anything, but I'm sure he can see the excitement in my eyes.

He releases my mouth.

"There's still one more," he says. He sounds tired.

"Sure, but you can do this."

He glares at me. "Shut up."

Right. Keeping my mouth closed. Instead, I massage his thighs. It's not exactly a foot rub, but he moves with the motion of my hands, so I think he likes it.

This time as his body tightens, I stop massaging to let him focus.

"Oh my God!"

A second white egg descends, but unlike the first egg, it doesn't travel back up when Lewis is finished pushing. It stays there, opening his rim up wide. He breathes in and out too fast, clearly panicking. I continue massaging him, and he returns to the rocking he did before. He clenches his jaw, and the muscles in his neck bulge.

"Todd! Help me! Todd!"

The second egg drops onto my stomach.

I'm glad Daniel warned me what would happen next because the moment both eggs have been laid, Lewis takes one look at them, and begins to shrink. He sprouts tiny feathers and his arms flatten to wings.

Unfortunately, I feel a desire to shift too. I don't know if the nest is large enough for my bear form. I tuck the eggs next to Lewis, and allow myself to expand. Lewis shuffles over to give me space. To my surprise, the nest is exactly the right size for all four of us. We have to cuddle close to each other, but that feels right.

Lewis gestures both of his tiny wings toward the eggs, as if to say, "Look what I did."

I drag my tongue along his head. It musses up his little feathers. Then I lick our eggs one-by-one. They need to smell like me. Lewis seems to think this is appropriate behavior because he titters approvingly. Once all of my family smells like me, I gather them close. Now that our eggs are with us, it's time to rest.

Lewis lays his body on my paw and falls asleep.