Chapter Twenty-Eight

Elio

I gave Marsin and the others the go ahead for the inground pool under the stipulation they planned it around the houses. The homes for the crew of the Medwin 2 and their future mates were more important than any pool. Marsin as always planned down to the tiniest detail.

Autumn was coming in and the purple haze turned almost midnight blue with the change of the seasons before the pool was completed. It was a deep inground pool that had to have the approval of several building councils. All through the city dragons whispered about perhaps installing their own. Marsin loved being the center of attention when it came to the pool.

The first weekend after the pool was declared safe by all the council members, Marsin hosted a pool party for all our nearby neighbors. I was excited to see everyone. It'd been almost three months since I met Fred and had accidentally retired from society. Being pregnant and romping was hungry work. I was always hungry. Thankfully, Fred turned out to be an excellent cook even if he was unfamiliar with a few of our spices and nearly set my mouth on fire a few times. Still, it was nice to have someone around to cook for me when I was starving at 2AM and no mere snack was going to quash the craving.

By the time the party rolled around my stomach was still mostly flat. I was bloated day in and day out. Izora said that was to be expected and that all the photos of our egg showed it growing just as it should. No one could predict when the egg might've come but the morning of the pool party I woke up and I wasn't ravenous for breakfast, but I was particularly bloated.

I floated through the morning with Fred offering to make me just about everything under the sun, if I would only eat. Slowly, the party outside ramped up. We had planned to go, but there was no way I was going to squeeze my bloated ass into a speedo. Sure, trunks were probably an option, but my dragon wasn't keen on getting in the water anyway.

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" Fred asked.

"Yes. My dragon isn't getting in that water."

"Is something wrong with that water, Elio? My kid is out there."

"Not unless he's pregnant," I crossed my arms.

"Mate, I love you, but I don't know what your dragon is trying to tell me," Fred sat down on the coffee table and pulled my feet up onto his thighs.

"That we're not getting in the water. You can. It's not a safety thing, I don't think. He just doesn't want to get in the water right now."

"Okay, we'll stay home."

"The party is at home," I laughed.

"Do you want me to shut it down?" Fred asked.

"No," I shook my head. "Let them have their fun. You can go out and swim too, alpha. I'll be alright."

"I want to be where you are," Fred said, running his hands up and down my calves.

"You can be where I am, but I don't think you're going to get what you want, mister," I said and poked his half-hard dick with my toe. "I'm too bloated for all that."

"That's alright," he said, still rubbing my legs. "Believe it or not I went decades without romping."

"Only because you were asleep," I laughed, and he did too.

Fred didn't try to rub any higher than my knees. I would've let him rub higher, but not too high. Not sexy high. My dragon might've bitten his hand off with how bloated we were. I dozed on and off with my heels resting on his legs. There was something soothing about his repetitive touch and his willingness to stay inside with me despite the laughter trickling into the house from the party.

"I don't know most of those dragons anyway," Fred grinned, picking up my thoughts from our mating link.

"And Teddy gets to party," I teased him.

"And maybe we'll hear a roar of true-mates meeting. You know that's why Sunny talked Marsin into building that damn thing right."

"Some houses had pools before you all got here. Not many, but some. Usually, water dragons."

"Huh? Wait!" Fred blinked and I froze in place.

My dragon sniffed the air for threats, but only the smell of the partygoers and their snacks reached my nose.

"What is it, alpha?" I whispered to him.

"Sorry," he shook his head. "I didn't realize you two were so on edge. I didn't know there were water dragons in the flight."

"Ummm…. Yeah. We have all the basic elements," I laughed.

"Really?"

"What you don't have any water dragons in the Moonscale Flight?"

"We do, but mate, we even have foxes, wolves, bears, and stuff too. I don't know if you could ever call the Moonscales normal."

"You said it! Not me!" I teased.

His warm fingers trailed down my calves and then over my shins. I let my eyes drift closed and that's when he got his revenge. Fred's gentle fingers disappeared from my legs only to find the soles of my feet. My toes twitched. I wasn't against a foot rub, though. Fred's part of our mating link was quiet until both he and his dragon burst into laughter as he tickled my feet. I bolted upright, eyes wide, unable to stop laughing. I kicked at his thighs with my heels, but he just grinned and tickled me again.

"Stop!" I shook my head, still laughing. "Really!"

Fred's hands went up, but his scent was on guard for revenge.

"Now I gottta pee!" I said because there would be time for revenge later when every muscle in my lower back wasn't doing the fox trot.