6. Strange Bodily Changes
6
STRANGE BODILY CHANGES
Ace was gone for a long while. Ivo completed the hooded shelter for Mary and let her play under it, continuing to weave the grass into his own nest.
When he’d used up all the grass Ace had cut, he tried swinging the scythe himself.
Ivo almost cut off his toes.
“It’s safer for me not to try,” he said to Mary. Instead, he pushed the scythe back to the shed, careful to keep the blade as far from himself as he could.
When he returned to his nest, he scooped Mary up and brought her across the creek. She tumbled between the tall grass; Ivo gently wove in the ends of Ace’s twigs so they’d stop popping out of his nest.
He was halfway through fixing what Ace had done, when the man showed up on the other side of his nest.
“Eek!” Ivo scrambled backward and tumbled into the creek, cool water splashing up his shirt and arms.
“Damn it!” Ace leaped forward. With strong, gentle hands, he lifted Ivo out of the creek. Then he sat Ivo upright and examined his hands. “Did you get hurt?”
Ivo stared at his palms. They were pink from where he’d smacked them against the creek bed, but there was no blood. “I think I’m fine.”
“You’re wet.” Ace frowned harder. He pulled off his own shirt with a rustle, scrunching it up to dry Ivo’s face. “I’m sorry for scaring you so badly.”
With every press of that warm shirt against his skin, Ivo caught another whiff of Ace’s smoky scent. There were mere inches between them. And Ace was painfully shirtless, a trail of hair leading down his abdomen, slipping into his pants.
Ivo was suddenly reminded of last night, with Ace on the other side of the thin wall, his fingers dipping into Ivo’s body.
What would it be like if Ace pinned him down right here, all rippling muscle, his mouth hot on Ivo’s skin?
Ace reached for the edge of Ivo’s shirt, sliding his fingers under it. “Your shirt is wet. I don’t want you to catch a chill.”
Ivo’s heart stuttered. Is he going to take it off?
He wrapped his arms around himself and held the shirt down. “I-I can do it myself.”
There were too many scars on his body, even if Ace only thought of him as someone to be rescued.
“Okay.” Ace looked into Ivo’s eye. “You know that I’ll do my best to help you, right? In any way you want.”
Even sex? Ivo thought but didn’t say aloud. Ace only saw him as a friend. Nothing more.
Ivo swallowed his disappointment and tried to change the subject. “Where did you go? Earlier.”
Ace’s shoulders tensed. “I fucked up last night.”
Ivo’s heart clenched. Does he know?
Except Ace kept talking. “I’m trying to find someone to tell him how badly I messed up, but I can’t seem to locate him. I left to search for him again; I was looking for him earlier when I found you.”
“Oh.” Ivo’s heart thumped. This was what Ace had texted Uriel about, wasn’t it? And why Crush was holding Ivo’s shirt this morning? “Is it bad news?”
“I might’ve—” Ace sighed and shook his head. “I’ll deal with it.”
“You can tell me, if it helps you feel better.”
Ace chewed his lip. “Not right now.” He patted Ivo on the hip and turned away, leaving Ivo unexpectedly cold. Ace glanced around; his gaze landed on his twig-and-grass nest. He froze. “You—You fixed my nest.”
Ivo shrugged awkwardly. “Not all of it. I only just got started.”
Ace ran his hands over the smoothened surfaces of his nest, his face lighting up with awe. “It’s amazing.”
He looked at Ivo, reaching for him. Except he paused. “May I touch you?”
Ivo’s heart began to thump. “I-I guess.”
Ace brought his calloused fingertips to Ivo’s jaw, tracing all the way to the end of it. His thumb followed the jagged scar up Ivo’s cheek, closer and closer to his blind eye.
Every touch of his fingers sent a thrill through Ivo’s body. It was perfect. And Ivo never wanted it to end.
Ace pulled away, smiling warmly. “Thank you for helping with my nest.”
Ivo couldn’t even breathe; that was the most intimate touch an alpha had ever given him. His cheek tingled. “You’re—welcome? I haven’t even finished fixing it.”
“Continue, or don’t—I’m grateful either way.” Ace grinned easily at him, and Ivo’s heart tripped.
He thought about testing the waters further, seeing if he could tempt Ace into touching him again.
Except Ace cocked his head, glancing at the mansion. His smile dropped. “I have to go. Here, I brought you food.”
He picked up another wicker basket and shoved it into Ivo’s hands. Then he took off at a sprint, running away from the mansion.
In fact, Ace was racing toward the iron gate, tearing off his shirt. He kicked off his shoes, too.
Ivo took two steps in his direction.
His stomach grew unnaturally warm. Heat and pressure built in there, until he couldn’t help but burp.
What came out wasn’t air. It was smoke, faint white coils that he’d seen once before.
The smoke—the nesting —was exactly what had happened when he’d been pregnant with Mary.
“Oh, hells,” he hissed.
How the hell was he even pregnant? He hadn’t had sex with anyone, until last night—
He’d given Ace a condom. Ace wasn’t the sort of person to lie about using it.
What if... What if the condom had broken, but Ace thought Ivo had tampered with it?
Was that why Ace was trying to find the mystery omega? Would he kick Ivo out the moment he knew? Burn Ivo into a crisp?
“Oh, gods,” Ivo groaned.
Then something roared, and there was no time left to worry.
Ivo dropped the basket and grabbed Mary, tucking her against a tree that was further from the creek. He strained his eye and ears for signs of other threats.
It sounded quiet beyond the hedge. Ace’s butler, for all his sharp hearing, didn’t come running out. So Ivo dropped a kiss on Mary’s head. “Stay put,” he whispered, pulling some tall grass over her. “I’ll see if Ace needs help.”
He stumbled through the tall grass and onto the driveway, where his feet pounded down the asphalt. Past the iron gate, orange fire glowed. Ivo veered to one side of the gate and peeked out.
Ace was locked in a grapple with two other men. One of them had him in a chokehold; the other held up some knives.
“Give us the baby,” Knife Man demanded.
“In your dreams,” Ace snapped, kicking up viciously.
He knocked the knives out of Knife Man’s grip, but Chokehold Man punched him in the head.
Ivo’s stomach clenched. He couldn’t fight, and his shifted form was no good against anyone larger than himself.
But he could cause a distraction.
“Hey, jerkwad!” Ivo shouted.
“Ivo, no!” Ace paled. “I have this handled!”
Before the men could release Ace, Ivo flung a fist-sized rock as hard as he could.
The rock struck Chokehold Man in the head. Bullseye!
Chokehold Man loosened his grip on Ace. Ace lunged away, punching Knife Man so hard that he dropped like a sack of rocks. Then Ace turned, and punched Chokehold Man until he blacked out, too.
Only then did Ivo notice the two other bodies on the ground.
“You were supposed to stay in there,” Ace growled, glancing around.
“You didn’t tell me to. I came to see if you needed help.”
“I don’t want you getting hurt again.” Ace glowered. He dragged the men into a pile. “Hand me the rope under that hedge.”
“Rope?” Ivo frowned and peered under the hedge—tucked beneath the leaves was a thick coil of rope.
He had to drag the rope over; it was heavy. “Why do you even have rope there?”
Ace sighed noisily. “Once upon a time, my butler decided that roping off the entire driveway was a great way to keep me out while he ‘redecorated’ my home.”
“Redecorated?”
“More like ‘plastered the walls with enlarged pictures of porn.’” Ace rolled his eyes. “He said it might encourage me to ‘sow my wild oats’ across the land. Fucker.”
“Hey! Who are you calling a fucker? That was a great idea; don’t deny it.” A giant bat fell out of the sky. He shifted into a man and landed on his feet, before pulling on an expensive suit. The man was in his thirties, chubby with a smug grin, and just a little taller than Ivo. Ivo watched him warily.
“Go back into your hole, Harvey.” Ace shot the man a look. “Don’t interfere.”
“Ah.” Harvey straightened his lapels. “But who else would offer your special guest the embarrassing tales from your childhood?”
Ace stiffened. “No! Fuck off!”
Ivo stared. “Childhood stories?”
“Yes!” Harvey sidled closer to him. “Once upon a time, when Spicy Master was a wee lil one, he ate his parents’ anniversary cake before they even got to cut it.”
“ Harvey! ” Ace’s face was turning pink. “Shut up!”
“No.” Harvey’s grin turned shit-eating. “Lil Ace was so proud of it, too. He carried out the half-eaten cake and tottered over to show his Papa. ‘Look, look!’” Harvey said in a high-pitched voice. “‘See how big my mouth is!’ And all three of them stared at the cake. The entire top was almost gone; you could barely make out the word Anniversary.”
Ace covered his face. “Oh, dear gods.”
Ivo couldn’t tear his eye away. “What happened next?”
Harvey puffed out his chest. “Lil Ace began stuffing great handfuls of cake down his own shirt, to save it for later.”
“I was seven, ” Ace said indignantly.
Ivo tried not to melt; it was too adorable.
“Cook had to bake an emergency cake; that had been a surprise from his Papa to his Dad,” Harvey said, shaking his head. “His papa simply sighed. In a house with that many... spitfire children, it was only to be expected.”
“I tried to help Cook,” Ace said sourly. “Raptor too.”
“Is that how you both learned to cook?” Ivo asked.
“Yes. We went to the kitchen a lot after that, sneaking food and being Cook’s little helpers.” Ace snorted. “Raptor said he wanted to get real good to impress his future mate.”
Ivo glanced in the direction of Raptor’s mansion, before turning back to Ace. Ace’s ears were pink; he kicked one of the assailants who was starting to stir.
It was eye-opening, to see Ace being strong and fierce one moment, and so strangely vulnerable the next.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Harvey asked slyly.
Ace sighed. “Ivo, this is Harvey. Pain in the butt. Butler.”
“Ah, ah. That should be butt -ler, with two T’s,” Harvey said.
Unsure how to respond, Ivo glanced at Ace.
Ace shook his head and grabbed Harvey, turning him bodily toward the fallen men. “Stop talking to my guest.”
“You know I won’t,” Harvey said. He helped Ace tie up the men, though. “I’ve contacted Blade. He’ll be here shortly.”
“Good.” Ace exchanged a look with Harvey.
Ivo stayed well within the boundaries of the hedge, keeping an eye out for more attackers in case Ace and Harvey were distracted.
Harvey looked up when the men were contained. “Oh! If you’d like to see Spicy Master’s baby pictures, all you have to do is ask. Hell, I could even print some for your nest.”
Ivo squawked. “What?”
“Harvey,” Ace hissed.
“They’ll be like little charms you can surround yourself with,” Harvey continued as though this was the most ordinary thing. “Spicy Master doesn’t agree, but I feel that every mansion should have a portrait of its master. Your nest should include a photo of the man who’s letting you stay there.”
Ivo couldn’t even begin to imagine it.
“I even have pictures of his bare chest,” Harvey whispered. “You can tuck one under your pillow.”
Ivo blushed so hard, he couldn’t look anyone in the eye.
Ace covered Harvey’s face with a large hand, and shoved him toward the mansion. “Enough. You’re grounded.”
“You can’t ground me! You’re younger than me!” Harvey flounced away and fluttered a handkerchief. “Now, Ivo, if you’ll follow me, I’ll walk you back to your nest.”
Ivo fidgeted. Mary was still in her cluster of grass, right? She was still in her human shape, right? “I-I can do it by myself.”
Except the thought of walking back alone, after someone else had tried to kidnap Mary... It made him uneasy.
“Harvey will inspect the area just in case,” Ace said.
Ivo relented. “Okay.”
He followed Harvey up the driveway, straining his ears for Mary’s sounds.
“So,” Harvey said when they were almost to the cluster of trees.
“What?”
“What are your intentions toward Spicy Master?”
“M-my intentions?” Ivo wanted to sink into a hole in the ground. “I don’t have intentions!”
“Hmm.” Harvey scrutinized him. Then he glanced at the trees, where Mary was chattering in her hiding spot—as a mink. Crap.
Ivo hurried forward, stumbling over the bumpy ground. Mary was still in the tall grass where he’d left her, except she was tangled up in her human clothes.
Ivo kept his back to the butler and gently freed Mary. When he was certain that Harvey couldn’t see, he tucked Mary under his shirt.
“Hmmm,” Harvey said from right behind him.
Ivo jumped. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”
Harvey gave him a long look. “Why are you really here?”
“I needed a place to nest. Ace offered me this spot.”
Then a familiar pressure began to build in his stomach.
Ivo swallowed desperately. He couldn’t let Ace’s butler discover his secret. Except the pressure grew, and Ivo had to keep swallowing.
Harvey watched him avidly.
The burp forced its way up Ivo’s throat. He turned away and tried to contain it in his closed mouth, except a wisp of smoke escaped through his nose. Crap!
Harvey’s eyebrows rose.
“Why is it so quiet here?” Ace said suddenly.
Ivo yelped in surprise. The smoke escaped in a puff. Fuck! He began sucking at the smoke, trying to pull it back into his body.
“It’s not quiet anymore,” Harvey said slyly. “Ivo is practicing his... sucking techniques.”
Ace tripped in the grass. “What?”
“You should suck harder,” Harvey said mildly. “I don’t think you’re doing it hard enough.”
The thing was, he was right. Because there was still some smoke in the air.
Ivo began sucking more vigorously, moving his head around to capture all the white wisps he could see.
“What the hell are you sucking?” Ace asked.
“White stuff,” Harvey said.
Ace tripped again. “Damn grass!”
“Yes, blame it on the grass,” Harvey said, grinning wickedly.
Ivo wondered if Harvey would tell his boss all of his secrets.
But Harvey flapped his hand dismissively and flounced off. “See you later, alligator!”
“I’m not an alligator,” Ace grumbled.
“You’re just a glorified alligator with wings,” his butler called back.
“Better than a dinosaur.” Ace scowled, but he stomped his way through the grass. Then he crouched in front of Ivo, smudged with blood and dirt but still devastatingly handsome. Perhaps even more so now. “Are you all right?”
Ivo nodded. “I didn’t do anything except throw a rock.”
Ace raised an eyebrow. “You can only see out of one eye. For the most part, you move like you’re still missing your depth perception. But that throw—you hit him in the head on your first try. How did you do that?”
He noticed. Ivo ducked his head, his neck prickling. “It was the one thing I could do before—before all this happened.” He gestured vaguely at his body. “I spent several months relearning how to throw projectiles.”
Ace’s mouth curved into a pleased smile. “You did well.”
Ivo blushed, trying to hide how good Ace’s praise made him feel.
“Even so.” Ace’s voice dropped to a growl. “I’d much rather you stay out of fights. Leave the protecting to me, Ivo.”
“I was worried about you!”
“I appreciate that. But Mary needs you. I want you to be safe for her sake.” In the fading light, Ace’s lips glistened, his gold eyes flecked with brown. They were so close again, Ace sweeping his gaze down Ivo’s body to check if he was hurt.
Ivo felt so safe with him, the way he felt with no one else. “Why does Harvey call you Spicy Master?”
Ace snorted. “Because he’s not allowed to call me Dragon Master in public.”
“And because you’re hot, Spicy Master!” Harvey shouted. “Just ask Spicy Consort!”
Ivo froze, wondering how he was going to escape all the awkward questions.
“Quit eavesdropping,” Ace grumbled.
“You know I can’t!” Harvey yelled back.
“Ugh,” Ace said. He looked so disgruntled that Ivo laughed.
Ace glanced up suddenly, his eyes wide. “I like it when you laugh.”
Ivo blushed. No one had ever said that to him, either. “Oh. You too.”
Ace grinned. “Yeah?”
Ivo kept his eye on the ground, nodding. His stomach growled loudly.
“Oh!” Ace stood and looked around, grabbing the wicker basket they’d forgotten about. “I brought you dinner. Look.”
He set the basket in front of Ivo and opened it, showing him the boxes of food inside.
“I think they’re still warm. C’mon, let’s get you back to your nest, and you can eat.” He lifted Ivo to his feet. “Your nest is looking good.”
“I ran out of grass,” Ivo said sheepishly. “And I’m... not good with the scythe.”
Ace looked horrified. “You tried to use it?”
Ivo grimaced; Ace’s horror grew. “I didn’t get hurt. But I almost did.”
“Fuck,” Ace whispered. He glanced at Mary’s dozing shape under Ivo’s shirt. “Fudge. You really should’ve told me sooner.”
He helped Ivo into the barely constructed nest, making sure Ivo was settled in comfortably. Then he began pulling out the boxes of food.
“This is a ham and mushroom omelet, and these are my special potato wedges. This box is fluffy mashed potatoes, and I managed to stuff three pizza toasts in here.”
“These are leftovers, right?” Ivo said.
Ace shook his head. “After I got back, I went straight to the kitchen and made these.”
Ivo’s chest tightened. “Wow. You... You did a lot for me.”
Ace grinned. “Eat some. Tell me if you like it.”
Ivo attacked the omelet first, then the mashed potatoes. “It’s so good,” he moaned.
Ace’s eyes darkened. “Yeah?”
“Mm-hm.” Ivo tried the potato wedges next. They were savory, addicting, and he had to cram more into his mouth. Then he picked up a pizza toast—pepperoni, sausage, and tomato paste, with melted cheese on top.
“I didn’t have time to make the crust from scratch, so I improvised,” Ace said sheepishly.
“This is all amazing,” Ivo said around the pizza toast. “I wish Mary was old enough so she could try all of this, too.”
Ace’s smile could’ve lit up the entire place. Ivo’s heart fluttered.
Then Mary stirred and made a soft dooking sound. Ace’s expression grew so warm, Ivo wanted to have his babies.
Except he was already pregnant with Ace’s child, and fuck, Ivo hadn’t had time to process that yet.
“I’ll let you eat in peace,” Ace said, tracing his knuckle along Ivo’s jaw. He stood up and backed away. “I’ll come back with blankets. The nights can get cold here.”
He didn’t head straight for the mansion, though. Instead, he looked around and grabbed the scythe from the shed. Ivo watched in amazement as Ace cut down more grass, bundling it into another huge armful.
“Just in case you need to keep working on your nest,” Ace murmured. He took the scythe away and came back to give Ivo a parting wave. Then he turned, and finally headed home.
Ivo watched him leave, Ace’s broad shoulders visible for a good long while over the surrounding grass.
“He’s really nice,” he whispered to Mary when the dragon had disappeared into the mansion. “What do I do?”
Mary wriggled against him and chattered softly—the mink equivalent of babbling. It wasn’t an answer, though.