Chapter Eight

Vinnie

"Ihave a bit of a surprise for you."

"I don't need anything," Tatum says with a grin, shaking his head at me. "I have everything I could ever hope for already."

"As sweet as that is, you deserve surprises. I think you'll especially love this one."

We both get out of my car and I quickly make my way around it in order to take Tatum's hand. He gives me a look, raising his brow at me. "When you say something I'll love I expect we'd be naked but we can't really do that in public."

"We're not in public," I tell him with a grin, letting my eyes look him up and down. "But alas, that will have to wait until later. Right now we have a little bit of a hike."

"Hiking? In my condition?" Tatum asks, putting his hand on his belly. It's only been two days since we realized he was pregnant but already his belly is swelling. The sight somehow both makes me incredibly turned on and also warm all over with affection. There's something so beautiful about him being pregnant that leaves me in awe. I didn't think it was possible for my mate to be any more beautiful but here he is, proving me wrong.

"Didn't you just yell at me yesterday about babying you? You can't have it both ways."

"I think you'll find that I very much can," he answers with a grin. I pull him deeper into the wooded area I've brought him to. Living in a town filled with shifters comes with more perks than I care to admit. One of those perks happens to be this stretch of land just outside of our little town.

Years ago, the shifters in town pooled money together to pay a magic user to come here and ward this area. Unsuspecting humans could stumble upon this place but never see what's actually happening. It's like a trick mirror. Or something. I don't know all the intricacies of magic but I do know this is a safe place for us to shift and be ourselves.

The moment we step through the ward, I shiver, feeling the magic wash over me.

"What the hell was that?"

I look at my mate, tipping my head to the side. "That was a ward. Welcome to our little haven."

"Haven for what?"

"How do you feel about stretching your wings?"

Tatum's face breaks into a grin. "Are you serious? I can fly around here?"

"We both can. No one will be able to see us unless they're a shifter as well."

"Oh my gods. This is amazing," Tatum says, pulling me into a quick kiss before he's starting to tug his clothes off. I can't help but chuckle as he strips, stumbling over his jeans, hopping between his feet as he goes. "You too. Come on, Vinnie. I wanna fly with you."

I quickly follow suit, striping out of my clothes. The only difference is I carefully fold my clothes and put them in a pile instead of letting them fling every which way. I'm pretty sure one of his socks is stuck up in a branch after he flung it over his shoulder.

Once I'm completely naked, I turn back towards my mate. He heeds me no mind, turning towards the forest and breathing deeply. His body contorts and shimmers as he lets his shift take over. I blink, watching as my mate morphs from his human form into his dragon form.

"Wow," I breathe out, unable to contain the awe overwhelming me. "You're stunning, Tatum. Holy shit."

Tatum falls to his belly, laying his giant head against the forest floor. I walk over to him, touching his giant snout. He breathes out through his nose, puffs of hot air pushing my hair back and making me giggle. I run my fingers over his gorgeous purple scales, realizing that his scales match the earrings he always wears. His scales are rough against my fingertips and scorching hot. It's a good thing phoenix's are used to the heat.

I lean down and kiss the middle of his snout, watching as high eyes light up with amusement. I take a step back, letting my own shift overcome me. One moment I'm staring up at my mate and the next I'm even lower. Phoenix are bigger than an average bird but I'm tiny compared to Tatum.

I turn my head this way and that way, getting used to being in this form before stretching my wings, using them to hop up onto Tatum's snout. His giant eyes take me in and I can't help but preen, feeling more like a peacock than a phoenix. My red feathers shine in the sunlight, making me look like I'm on fire.

After a moment, I take flight. My stomach quivers with giddiness as my mate follows behind me. With his wings spread, he shadows me, the sun unable to compete with his wide spread. He quickly overtakes me with just a few swoops of his giant wings, leaving me to chase him.

Chase him I do.

We spend what feels like hours in the air, swooping around each other. He dives down towards the ground and I follow behind only to have him course correct at the last second, leaving me in his dust. We play and flip and fly.

By the time we get back to the ground, we're both pleasantly exhausted. Tatum descends first, landing on the ground and curling himself into a tight ball, not unlike a cat. That comparison fills my chest with warm amusement.

I carefully fly down as well, landing on Tatum's back. He gives a soft rumble but I ignore him, knowing that despite the size difference, he'd never hurt me. I tuck my legs under myself and get comfortable, enjoying the feeling of the sun shining down on us. Tatum's scales warm me from below while the sun warms my feathers from above.

I'm content. I could stay like this for a few more hours but Tatum seems to have other ideas. His body twists and contorts as he shifts from his dragon skin to his human one. As I find myself in my human mate's lap, I'm careful to keep my talons away from any of his sensitive bits.

I let out a happy chirp as his fingers brush over my feathers. "I can see why hunters come for phoenix feathers," he says softly. "It's wrong, don't get it twisted, but these feathers are so goddamn pretty. Plus, with their healing quality. Yeah, I get it." There's a long pause where Tatum just continues to pet me before he's sighing. "I wish hunters weren't a thing. That's why there's no more dragons other than me and my siblings. Hunted to the brink of extinction just like your kind. It's bullshit."

I quickly shift, not wanting Tatum to work himself into a full on panic. I find myself in his lap and I wrap my arms around his neck, holding him tight. "Hey, you're okay."

"I'm okay. It just doesn't feel fair sometimes. Why am I responsible for bringing dragons back into the world? Why was I spared?"

"I don't know," I say honestly, "but I'm glad for it. I'm glad you're here with me and I'm so glad we met each other."

"Me too." Tatum leans his face against my chest and I smile, feeling the way his belly presses against my own. "Thank you for this, Vinnie. I really needed this."

"We both did and the best part of it is that we can come back here anytime."

Kissing Tatum's cheek, I stand up, helping him up. We take our time finding Tatum's clothes and yep, his socks were totally up in a tree branch.