by Ava Frost
― Stephanie Perkins
Five months later…
“Dominic,” Lorelai whispered in the dead of night tugging on his shoulder.
“Huh?” he said sleepily.
“The baby, the baby’s coming,” she grunted and turned unto her side. It felt as if her lower back was about to snap just above her tailbone. She spent most of the night staying calm and timing each contraction, not wanting to raise a false alarm. At first she thought it to be normal Braxton Hicks, but this was way over the top.
“Dominic! The baby, oh my god, it’s tearing my insides!” she cried as she folded over in pain.
Dominic leapt out of bed in an instant and came around to her side. It was exactly as in the movies, while the mother tries to stay calm and collected fighting through each painful contraction, the father appeared to be like a headless chicken, not knowing what to do next.
She gripped his hand and squeezed, glaring at him as she tried to breathe through the next contraction, “If you don’t call Pam now, this baby is going to drop out and land on the fucking floor.”
“Are you sure?”
What the hell? “Yes the baby! Call Pam, now!” she cried out as she fell back unto the bed writhing in pain.
Luckily the midwife was a part of their pack and all it cost was a telepathic message to her, she knew he could do this. While he paced the floor she tried to keep her wits about her. This baby was determined to be born today and right on time too. As soon as her last contraction eased off, she moved to stand up. She read somewhere that walking helps with the labor, but as she stood her water broke and the hot fluid washed down her thighs.
She could have laughed was it not for the searing pain that bent her over. Dominque rushed to the bathroom and returned with a towel, “Tell me what to do?”
“How the hell do I know, where Pam is?” she ground out. Just then she heard a knock on the door and Dominic sprinted down the stairs, returning with Pam.
“When did the contractions start?” she asked as she stacked pillows behind Lorelai.
“Earlier in the evening, I think about four hours ago?” she said as she clutched the blankets either side of her.
Dominic could hardly believe what was happening, although they were expecting their child any day now, it was still so surreal. And now the day had arrived. He came to kneel next to Lorelai as the midwife started coaching her on pushing. His admiration for her grew with each painful push and even when she squeezed his hand to the point of crushing the bones in his fingers, he didn’t care.
The love of his life was about to bring their child into this world and that was all that mattered.
“Breathe sweetheart, remember to breathe,” he encouraged as she looked at him with eyes wide.
“I-am-breathing!” she cried out and screamed as another contraction ripped through her.
“Okay I need you to push as hard as you can with the next contraction,” the midwife instructed as she went to kneel between Lorelai’s legs.
The next contraction followed almost immediately and as she pushed she pursed her lips together and gripped Dominic’s hand and then slumped back onto the pillows.
Dominic looked over at the midwife who was focusing her attention on whatever was happening under the blanket. Why was the baby not crying? Please let his child be alive he prayed silently as she squeezed Lorelai’s hand.
The midwife smacked the baby’s bottom lightly and then a little more. And then suddenly the small mewing cry of a baby echoed through the room. Pam looked up and smiled at them, “It’s a boy,” she said as she wrapped the baby in a cozy blanket.
Dominique was speechless for the first time in his life, and as the midwife placed their son in Lorelai’s arms, he could hardly hold back. Tears stung his eyes as he looked proudly at his own family.
Lorelai looked up at him and smiled weakly but genuinely. She was a true omega, strong willed, fearless and his.
“What are we going to call our son?” she asked him as she stroked the baby’s little fingers.
“Aiden, Aiden Marcus Blythe,” he said and he saw the sparkle of love in her eyes.
“I love you Dominic,” she said as she looked up at him, “but I swear if I have to do this again, I’m going to have to kill you.”
They both burst out laughing as they huddled on bed with little Aiden. Their family was finally complete, and together they will lead their pack as equals. The first law to be scrapped was arranged marriages, because even though theirs worked out, others may not have the same luck they had.
THE END
Double Dragon Desire
Chapter 1
Shane and I have been friends for over 1,000 years. We met somewhere in ancient Rome but time and age were inconsequential for us. We moved together, as a unit, waiting to find the prophesied one. As dragons, we were programmed to find our mated treasure, love her and protect her. That was our life’s purpose. Collecting treasure along the way was merely for fun. Shane was 26, 6’3 tall and his body was chiseled at 200 pounds. I was 24, 6’1 and a trim 180 pounds. Shane had a bald head and a thick black beard. I couldn’t grow a beard to save my life, but my dimpled chin and curly hair made up for it.
When I told Shane we would find the one tonight, he was reluctant to believe me. He should have. For all the time we’d been together, my prophecies were never wrong. He had several questions when I told him we would be moving to Raleigh, North Carolina. He loved everything about Europe and had heard horror stories about American culture. I admit, when we first encountered the sleepy small town it was hard to believe it would become the capital of North Carolina. But it did. As time passed, it developed as we matured.
Despite all his excuses, the truth was he just didn’t want to go to a new place. It was hard for land dragons to move about. They left the nomadic natures to sky dragons behind. Still, here we were, and five hundred years later, I was right. Raleigh was the best thing to happen to us. It was right in the middle of North Carolina giving us free range to travel in any direction when Shane needed more land and mountain hikes or when I needed the sea and a long swim.
Things got better as we waited. We invested and tripled our initial finances. We were retired though we owned several businesses and gave several scholarships for youth to go to college. Why? Because the universe returns everything back to you if you give it in love. A year ago, when I said we should purchase a law practice, he was seriously concerned, but I had a good reason. He trusted me. I loved him, and he knew I only wanted what was best for us. Eventually, Shane would tire of hearing me say, ‘I told you so.’
We were different. An enigma. While trinity mates were normal, cross-species trinity mates were almost unheard of. I am a sea dragon. Typical green eyes, calmer personality, slow to speak and submissive. We tend to be sage-like and have been known to be summoned for wisdom. But anyone who dared solicit wisdom from me were tested on their own knowledge. Should they fail, I was known to be a typical sea dragon and drag them to their death under water or sink their cities. I would say I’m sorry, but I wasn’t. To my credit, I haven’t killed or drowned a city in centuries.
Shane was a perfect stereotype for a land dragon. Territorial, brute and a muscular powerhouse archetype. His dragon form held shades of brown and spikes on his tail. Between his stubbornness, adverse reaction to moving to new places, dominant personality, and golden eyes, I thought we were the perfect combination. He was the yin to my yang. I don’t think I would like being with a sky dragon. Sky dragons are sneaky, playful, and in my opinion, the most arrogant. They think they’re so special. Anything that can't fly is inferior to them. They rule the sky, and they'll quickly blow who or whatever out of it without a second thought. Very rarely do they take to the land, only to rest momentarily or to hunt and eat. Between their free spirits, aversion to commitment and nomadic nature, I wouldn’t be happy. Developing cities hadn’t been good to the sky dragons. They were a dying and a rare breed now, tending to live in mountainous areas.
Which in my opinion was why I was with Shane. Fate knew what it was doing. The cards all aligned and put us where we were supposed to be. If we questioned it, we would never run out of questions. Why was I fated to be in love with two people? Why was I dragon? How did we exist? Why did we find the love of our lives in a club? Why did she have to be a lawyer? Who knows? But either way, I wasn’t going to question it. Not when the most beautiful woman I have ever seen was naked just waiting for me to love her.
~ 4 hours Earlier~
Cheers to me. I was in downtown Raleigh, ready to drink to my accomplishments. After four years of undergraduate, two years of law school and one year of studying for the biggest, most expensive exam I have ever taken, I was done! I didn’t just pass; I scored in the top ten percentile. Just one of those accomplishments were worth an applause, but altogether, drinks were on me tonight. Spending those many years of school hadn’t made me the most social of beings. I enjoyed partying, but I enjoyed finishing school and being successful more. Now all I had to do was find a job. But that worry would have to be postponed until tomorrow. Today, I would party like my grades depended on it, which equated to something pretty serious. I was going to dance. I was going to drink, and hopefully, I was going to have the best sex a one night stand could give me.
The music pulsed from the club’s speakers, and the drinks were flowing. I could feel eyes on me as I moved my body to the beat. There were several beautiful figures along the wall and trying to dance with me, but I preferred to perform alone. It was sexier to see a woman dance with herself and touch herself. The longer the show, the more attention, and the better my option. Hours passed by as Trish, and I danced. Sometimes we danced together, other times we danced with men. Mostly, we danced beside each other, encouraging each other and giggling from the looks men were giving us. No one would have expected we were drunk lawyers, but we were.
“Girl, eye candy at one o’clock,” Trish said in my ear.
Trish, my one, and only friend had on a crimson silk scarf. Her pale skin contrasted beautifully with the red and her dark brown hair. At 5’10 in heels, she always was the head of the class. Literally. She often complained about men being too short for her and she prioritized studying. That’s why we were friends. Our friendly competitive natures kept us at the top of the class and focused. I appreciated her, and she deserved to celebrate as much as I did tonight. It was hard funding such an endeavor. It was also hard staying true to the cause. We saw many students come and go. Whether it was too much reading, they couldn’t afford the ridiculous prices of law books or realized it was too much like selling their soul to the devil, I wouldn’t know. What was important was that Trish and I were the cream of the crop. We rose to the top. We didn’t stop and we didn’t fail.
“Seriously, do you see them?”
I gulped down my shot before looking over my shoulder. Eye candy was right. Jesus Christ. Two men sat casually talking at a table against the far way. The lamp above them illuminated their features. The male on the left was brown skinned, bald with a thick black beard. I loved a well-maintained beard, and his was beautiful. The one on the right was white, with curly blond hair, a European nose and a dimpled chin. Something about looking at them warmed my skin. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was something more. Either way, I could imagine all the ways I could work a man that looked like either one of them.
“Would you stop staring,” she said bumping my shoulder.
She was right. I had to play it cool. I wasn’t exactly here to pick anybody up. I wasn’t against it either, perchance it happened, I would give it serious consideration. My primary goal was to get sloshed. After countless nights of cheap wine and barely a tipsy buzz, I deserved some good stuff.
“Oh my God. Oh my God. He’s coming over here.”
I had on a golden top that almost matched my blond hair perfectly. I liked the way it illuminated my blue eyes, and I had on makeup for once. All together with my high heels, red lip stick and confident stance, I felt better than hot. I was short, shorter than your average woman, but I was curvy. Despite what the media said about curves and nerds, I have found men enjoy me just fine.
I turned to sip my fourth drink for the night, a cosmopolitan and sipped through the small straw, pretending I didn’t know he was standing behind me.
“Hi,” he said ducking low to speak into my ear. His voice was toe curling deep.
“Hello,” I smirked demurely over my shoulder. I may not know how to be social, but I’ve seen enough Sex and the City to know how to flirt.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
I drowned my glass and blinked innocently. “Of course.”
He put a $100 on the bar counter, and the bartender walked to him immediately “Get the lady whatever she wants,” he spoke without taking his eyes off me, “and keep them coming.”
I love a man that takes control. “What’s your name?”
“Angela,” I husked, sticking my hand out. Thank God I splurged and got a manicure and pedicure. Something about being beautified from head to toe made me more confident. Smooth kitty, pretty nails and silky hair, I was every man’s sexual dream.
It was like he could smell the arousal in between my legs. His eyes were piercing green, and they smoldered as he looked into mine.
“And you are?”
“Chad.”
“And who’s your friend?” I said between sips.
“Who?” he leaned closer, pretending he didn’t know who he left at his table.
“The one who’s trying to stare a hole through us for talking right now.”
He chuckled lowly.
“Shane. Don’t mind him.”
“Is he jealous?” I was starting to get concerned. I could see what I imagine was a hard chin underneath his dark beautiful facial hair.
“Sorta,” he smiled dangerously.
“Then why isn’t he over here?” I said as I raised my waxed brow.
“Because he’s a man of a few words. He’s more into actions.”
“Oh,” I said shocked. “So are you his wingman?” And here I thought he was interested in me.
“Sorta,” he leaned a little closer. “But what if we both wanted you?”
I almost choked on my drink.
“Sorry,” he says, though he sounded anything but sorry. “That was ungentlemanly.”
I recovered quickly and crossed my legs, causing the slit in my skirt to raise. “Yes, it was.” After another gulp, the glass was empty. “But I don’t mind.”
I just met this man but in minutes, his charm had me blushing like a school girl virgin and I haven’t been anything near that in some time. Between him and the man left at the table, my blood was boiling. I wanted to know how ungentlemanly he could be.
“You should tell him to come say hello.”
He leaned so close his breath tickled my earlobe. “I’ll let him know.”
As soon as he left, the temperature sunk a few degrees. He took the heat with him. It was like his body radiated it. Trisha saddled up to me quickly, “what was all that about? Why’d he leave?” she cried.
“Don’t worry. He’s coming back. Plus one.” I bragged.
“Oh girl, I’m proud of you!” she said high fiving me.
Five minutes later, instant warmth infused my core.
“Hello, beautiful.” His voice was deeper than Chad’s and sent chills down my spine.
“Hi.” My voice was lost in his golden irises. They had to be contacts.
“Would you care to dance?”
My stomach practically dropped out of my body. My legs wobbled at the thought of him holding me. Me in his muscular brown arms, his body rubbing against mine and keeping rhythm?! Good lord.
“I’d love to.”
He held his large hand out to receive my small one and together, we moved in between the thumping bass and the energetic crowds.
His hands slid down my arms slowly, caressing the uncovered skin and descended to my waist. His face held the mos
t stoic look of intense concentration on his rugged features. I could imagine that would be the exact expression he would wear while I rode him. The vivid imagery made my body shiver against his thick thighs.
He led me from behind putting pressure on my hips when they should move, and I never felt more on beat. I wasn’t the best dancer though with alcohol I’ve been told I could really move. I look back to see what he thought of my gyrations, and he does the lazy smile thing before pulling me closer. One hand was splayed on my abdominal, and the other rubbed his thumb up and down my spine. The thin material of my shirt let me feel all of his calloused skin. Something large and hard nudged my bottom, and I gasped before standing upright.
“There’s still music,” he whispered.
“You’re distracting me,” I moaned, before putting my hands on my knees. His hand slid a little lower making me dizzy but then the song ended, changing to a slower tempo song and Chad was standing right in front of me.
“You want to go somewhere?” Chad asked, conveying what was on his mind with his eyes. I wanted him. I wanted this, but I have never done anything like this in my entire life.
“Ok,” I said in a breathy voice, whether from dancing or from the idea of what these men were going to do with me, I’m not sure.
Chad’s eyes darkened at my response and sparkled with wickedness.
Was I about to make a mistake? Chad didn’t let me change my mind. He grabbed my hand as his friend growled into my ear. “Text your friend. You’re coming with us.”
I quickly shot off a text to Trish and my roommate. I had no intentions of making it home tonight. Trish’s text came back quick, like she had been watching me as I made my way to the exit.
Good luck!
I think I didn’t even need lady lucky tonight. I was doing just fine on my own.
Chapter 2
He kissed me full on the lips, parting them as his tongue darted in and out, enticing mine to give chase. We were in a hotel hallway, to the side, just outside of public view and he didn’t care one bit. He broke off the kiss with an impish grin turning my head to the other side so he could kiss my neck. Shane was off paying for the room, and here we were waiting for the key. He needed to hurry because Chad wasn’t wasting any time. As his tongue danced lustfully along my collar, I rubbed my hand underneath his shirt, slowly down Chad’s bare chest, along his firm abs, and ended up on his bulging jeans. His muscles twitched under the pressure my nails made on his skin. I squeezed gently, feeling his growing erection.
