“Resigning? You want to resign over one news report?” Ēostre whispered. She strode across the room to him and touched his chin, directing her husband’s eyes to her face. “Why?”
“They’ve lost faith in me, Ēostre. How can I possibly lead a country occupied by humans who fear my very existence?” Max shook his head and tossed the remote aside on the cushions. “I was a foolish idealist to believe we could live in peace together.”
“A small fraction, Max, and we expected as much.” She rubbed her thumb across his cheek. “You are not a quitter, so tell me what’s really on your mind.”
“No, I’m not a quitter,” he replied tersely, “but I understand the grim reality of our future — every dragon’s future now that I’ve exposed us.”
“Actually, Fafnir exposed us, so it would have happened at some point anyway. Yes, they’ve seen some of the worst of us, but they have also seen our best. Your heroic stunt has won people over. What we did at Rainier, saving lives, has shown the people we’re not monsters.”
“My wife, the voice of reason and my most critical advisor. All right. It was only a brief ponderance. I won’t resign,” he agreed.
“Good, because we need you to remain strong.”
“Oh, my love, if not me our kind would find someone else to look to.”
“I wasn’t referring to our kind, Max. There’s more. More I need to say to you…”
“Of course, there’s always something more,” he half-grumbled, putting a smile on his face.
“I had hoped to speak to you about the possibility on our date, but… well, with everything that’s happened there hasn’t been a good moment.”
His brows raised. “You can always talk to me, no matter the time or issue. You know that.”
“I do, but this is different.”
“What is it? Are you unhappy here? Are you still thinking about what to do with Fafnir?” Preparing himself for bad news, he rose to his feet and took in a breath. Calm. Remain calm.
“No. While the latter does worry me, it isn’t what I wanted to talk about.”
“Then what? The suspense is killing me, Ēostre.”
“I’m pregnant.”
Her two words took him by surprise, hitting him like a sledgehammer. For a moment the room spun and his body broke out in cold tingles of mounting excitement.
“Pregnant,” he echoed her. “As in have a cub? We’re going to have a cub?”
Her lips curved up in a smile. “Pregnant has no other meaning, as far as I know. You’re going to be a father.”
“Again,” Max whispered. He sat down too heavily in the seat, his knees losing control at the last moment. Fortunately, he didn’t miss the chair and it caught his weight. “I never thought… You were never in season while we were together. How?”
“Fate, maybe? I could not begin to tell you, though it isn’t entirely unheard of to breed outside of our season. Are… are you happy?”
“Happy? Ēostre, I am speechless. Thrilled. I…” He shook his head, unable to find the words, and leaned forward to pull her close. With his arms wrapped around her waist, he set his cheek on her tummy and closed his eyes.
Had the Ancestors smiled upon him somehow, and given him a chance to right his past wrongs? Another chance to be the father he’d always wanted to be?
“I know this was unexpected,” she whispered, running her fingers through his hair.
“But gladly welcomed, my love. So very welcomed.” Another chance, he thought again, only for dark memories of Brigid to shadow his elation. Another chance to ruin another child.
As cold waves of dread washed through him, Ēostre stiffened, her fingers stilled, and she leaned back to look down at him. “What’s wrong?” All of his doubts flooded through their link, and a rush of shame warmed his face.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s something,” she insisted. “What’s wrong?”
His fingers closed over a handful of her shirt. He shivered and produced the worst outcome in his mind, a child just like Brigid, spoiled, selfish, and unconcerned with anyone but herself. “What if… I am a poor excuse for a father again?” he asked quietly.
“Oh Bel…” Her fingers threaded through his hair in a tender gesture. “I am not Mahuika, and you are not Fafnir. I… since his return, I realize now my perception of him was colored by our bond, and with it severed I wonder why I tolerated so many things. I thought the sun rose and set with my mate, but he was the very definition of an absent father. When I needed help, you were there for me.”
Maximilian digested her words in silence, and when he failed to speak, Ēostre whispered quietly, “Maybe I’m the one who failed you. I should have extended my hand to Brigid.”
“Brigid hated you,” Max mumbled against the spot between her breasts. “You did try, and she would have nothing to do with you. You tried many times. Brigid was beyond your help and anything you could do.”
“Then you understand, my love, that these words also apply to you. There is only so much we may do as parents. Brigid received all of your love, and you taught her right from wrong, but in the end, she chose what to ignore from your lessons.”
“I know,” he admitted. “I know it in my mind, but I don’t yet know it here,” he whispered, touching one hand above his heart.
His wife took the same hand from his chest and placed it on her lower tummy. The small bump he’d thought was from her snacking alongside him was something more. Their baby. He wondered how long it would be until their little one would meet them in the world.
“I love you with all of my being, Ēostre. Both of you.”
“And I love you, Belenos.” A mischievous expression came over her face, brightening her eyes. “Let me show you.”
“Show me?”
Her sly smile remained as she seized him by the belt and unfastened it. It pulled free from the loops with a sharp tug, then Ēostre deftly removed his cock and slid her fingers up and down the stiffening length. His body reacted immediately to her, promptly awakening his desire. Growling in response, he playfully nipped her ear. “Should we be doing this now?”
“Why shouldn’t we? I sent away all of the housekeeping staff early.” She leaned back, a bemused smile on her lips. “Are you afraid you’ll harm the baby?”
“I… somewhat,” he admitted.
“Mm. No. Trust me, he or she is very safe, and I have… plans.”
“Plans?” he echoed dumbly as she stroked from root to head.
“Mmhmm.”
With the blood rapidly leaving his brain, Max barely noticed her slipping down to her knees on the floor.
“What are you doing, Ēostre?”
“A surprise.” Her fingers glided over him again, practiced and slow, tracing over the veined ridges while he pulsed beneath her touch. “I learned many things recently about humans. They’re incredibly imaginative when it comes to sex. More so than dragons.”
He shuddered beneath her torturous teases and reached up to loosen his tie. His throat went dry. Kneeling between his legs, his wife looked like a silver goddess. She gave him a coy smile then dipped forward, and the rest was lost to bliss.
Ēostre’s soft lips kissed over the head of his cock, then parted to gradually accept him into her mouth. Inch by inch, gentle increments took him deeper, only for the dragoness to withdraw and let her tongue play over the glistening tip. His head fell back as he moaned, clutching a handful of the fabric on the sofa arm.
“Fuck,” he swore under his breath.
“Patience, we’ll get to that soon enough,” she promised as she delivered delicate little nibbles around his ridged crown.
Up and down, she worked him in a slow, leisurely manner that drove him to the brink of madness. With one hand fisted in her hair and the other clutching the sofa cushion, Max moved his hips in time with her set rhythm. She stopped only to catch her breath, and when she did, her fingers took over by curling around his thick girth and pumping until her mouth resumed the tempo, teasing
with kittenish licks and tasting the occasional clear drop offered from the tip.
As his pleasure spiraled higher, the tension wound tighter, and heat coursed through his body. Fire burned through his veins and threatened his self-control.
He tried to withdraw to spare her the taste of his seed, but he was too slow, his reflexes delayed by the abrupt wave of rapture sweeping over him. And her hold. She didn’t release him, and their eyes met at the moment of his release. “Ēos-Ēostre,” he groaned out as he spilled in her welcoming mouth.
Max slumped back against the couch and waited for his eyes to focus. “Wow.”
“Feeling better?”
“Immensely, but what about you?” Max asked once he had his wits about him again. He swept a few flyaway strands from her face and tucked them behind her ear. “I did nothing for you.” Her lips were plump and swollen from her effort. It turned him on again, knowing his cock had done that to her.
“Please. Having you at my complete mercy was immeasurably nice for me. You dragon men are notorious for wanting control.”
“Then I think it’s time for the tables to be turned.”
“Oh no!” Ēostre called in mock dismay. She hurried to her feet and moved to escape him, but she was too slow. Max scooped her up from the floor and carried her into the adjoining master bedroom, leaving the den behind.
***
Unlike their first night together, Max didn’t abruptly toss her into the bed. He treated her more gently than he handled the fine china in the White House dining room.
“Where did you learn that?” he asked as he peeled down her leggings.
“Secret.”
“Uh huh.”
“Like I said, I’ve been learning things.”
“Chloe lent you her romance collection, didn’t she?”
Damn, she thought. Max would never let her hear the end of it if he knew she’d practiced for a week and was responsible for the shortage of cucumbers in the kitchen.
“No comment.”
Max laughed and stripped off his shirt and pants. She drank in the sight of him, sweeping her gaze up his strong legs and over his muscled chest. The scars left from the bomb only accentuated his strength — made him even more impressive in figure. No matter which form he took, he was striking, and made her pulse race and her heart flutter.
The first time they’d mated in their dragon forms, six months earlier, they’d snuck out of the White House in the middle of the night to his hoard where they spent hours alternating from human shape to draconic form until they were exhausted, comparing and contrasting the differences. Giggling like teenagers, they’d decided the humans were definitely on to something.
Most other males preferred their draconic bodies, but Max, her sweet, dear husband, never missed an opportunity to make love to her. She’d never met a dragon like him before.
Struck by a sudden fit of evil, Ēostre spread her legs and glided her fingers over the neatly trimmed strip of silver hair at the apex of her thighs. Max made a rumbly noise in his chest, growling low.
“Tease.”
“I haven’t teased anyone but myself,” she replied, creating a circuit over the slick folds. Her fingers slid up and down, back again, gathering moisture she traced over her clit. She moaned into the quiet bedroom and opened her eyes to find Max watching her with undisguised lust in his eyes.
“Maybe I should take over.”
“Have you been in Chloe’s romance collection as well?” she teased.
“I’m a man with access to the internet.”
Max knelt down on the mattress and grabbed her by her ankles. A single tug dragged her across the silken sheets. His palms glided up her calves, skimmed over her knees, and up her thighs.
A broad stroke of his tongue touched her, warm and wet between her thighs. Every muscle in her body tensed. He licked her again and her thighs trembled, her core clenching in anticipation before his tongue thrust into her receptive embrace.
“Bel,” she whispered shakily. She’d seen videos of it, knew what he was doing, but had only briefly entertained the thought of him invading her with his tongue and making her quake in ecstasy.
“Should I stop?”
“No… Stars, no.”
He touched her clit with it, teasing or uncertain, and the shock of it jolted through her. Ēostre’s fingers flew to his head and took a handful of his hair, nearly pulling it from the scalp.
He paused.
“Don’t stop,” she pleaded again. He chuckled, warm breath against her damp skin. For the first time since he began, she heard skin against skin, his aroused length in one hand. Ēostre became torn between the desire for him to finish and the need to have him inside her.
He sucked the delicate nerve button again and Ēostre soared, her body cresting on waves of indescribable pleasure. At the moment of her climax, he was above her again, slipping into her in a single thrust. Her legs automatically raised to lock around his hips, and she drew him to a hilted fit.
He thrust in and out, granting her body something to hold onto until long after the timed clenches of orgasm subsided. Then he made love to her again. Face to face, one tender stroke after the next with gentle touches accompanied by whispered words.
When they finally collapsed together in a boneless heap, they were slick with sweat. Ēostre stretched beneath him then sighed, sated and beyond content. “What brought that on? Mm… not that I’m complaining.”
“I needed to show you what you did for me goes both ways,” he murmured huskily, “and I’ve wanted to taste you for a long while. I just thought…” He stopped himself and chuckled quietly. “I don’t know what I thought.”
“That I’d believe you were strange?”
He nodded briefly.
“No, Bel… I…” Her cheeks warmed, a sudden rush of warmth overtaking them. “I think… I want to try everything with you.”
“A good thing we have all the time in the world then.”
Chapter 23
“What are you doing to her?” Max asked, interrupting the obstetrician for the third time. “She flinched.”
“It’s only a lubricant. See? You can touch it if you want.”
Their doctor came with high recommendations and thirty years’ experience. She even gave them an enthusiastic welcome, either naturally fearless or too eager to have the prestigious accomplishment under her belt of delivering a dragon’s child. Age had lined her face, and she wore her steel gray hair in a severe chin-length bob. She couldn’t be younger than seventy, and despite her unveiled fascination with their dragon halves, she exuded only warmth and a caring, grandmotherly feeling that put Ēostre at ease.
“Max, relax, my love. It’s only cold.” She chuckled at his fretting. “Chloe told me all about this.”
“Oh.”
Her husband quieted, but he remained tense as a coiled spring beside her, perched precariously on the edge of his seat and leaning forward to stare at the black screen. Ēostre didn’t blame him. Waiting for something besides her name, the date, and the time to appear was killing her, too.
“Now, you’re going to see me change the angle and stop to take measurements on occasion,” Dr. Shapiro explained. “If you have any questions, feel free to ask.” The woman beamed at them, providing the reassurances Ēostre needed. Max was a bundle of nerves, and with their link, it meant all of his anticipation and worries flowed through to her whether he tried to suppress it or not.
The doctor pressed a device into the puddle of clear gel on Ēostre’s belly. A spherical shape snapped into focus, and as she rolled the device over Ēostre’s mildly rounded tummy, it gained further clarity. “Here’s the face. Eyes here, and a nose.”
“It’s like magic,” Max breathed. “How can it see inside of her?”
The doctor chuckled at his enthusiasm and adjusted the angle. “It isn’t magic, Mr. Emberthorn. Only science. Now right here is the arm. We’ll also listen to the heart rhythm, and I’ll be attempt to estimate the due date based o
n the fetal size. A typical dragon pregnancy is two years, you said?”
“Twenty-five months,” Ēostre clarified.
“We’ll figure it out.” As promised, she saved pictures, measured internal organs, and then a rapid noise whoosh-whooshed into the private examination room, catching Ēostre by surprise.
“What’s that?” Ēostre asked, furrowing her brow.
Frozen in place with a bewildered expression on her face, the doctor stared at first. “A heartbeat, but…” The image changed, their fetus becoming smaller, a tiny bean-shaped silhouette beside its mirrored image. “Two heartbeats. Twins. It’s twins. Are twins typical for dragonkind?”
“No,” Ēostre breathed. “Far from it.” Beside her in the chair, Max had yet to utter a word. His mouth hung open, amber eyes fixated on the image of their unborn children.
“This is amazing,” the doctor told them. “You’ll have to forgive me but I—”
“You expected them to look different,” Ēostre finished for her without ever losing her smile. “The same magic that allows us to shapeshift also works on the children we carry until they are born. Were we to try this in my natural shape, the babies would take on dragon form as well.”
“Can we do that?” Doctor Shapiro’s eyes widened and she blushed at her own enthusiastic outburst. Her professional demeanor returned with the utterance of an apologetic, “Sorry.”
“No, no need to apologize. Personally, I’d prefer for you to share in our excitement than to judge or fear us. Your idea has merit,” Max murmured. Bringing their linked hands to his lips, he kissed Ēostre’s knuckles. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Twins. The revelation awed her, leaving her and Max speechless through most of the remaining sonogram. They asked few questions, unwilling to interrupt or provide unnecessary distractions. By the time the doctor had wiped Ēostre’s tummy clean and lowered her shirt, the shock was finally beginning to fade.
“And these are for you,” Dr. Shapiro said, placing a strip of black and white photos into Ēostre’s hands. “It’s too soon to tell you what you’re having as far as gender goes, but we’ll do this again in a few months when they’ve developed further. In fact, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d actually like to get an ultrasound each month of your pregnancy for documentation.”
Smitten Page 23
