12. A Nest For Ivo
12
A NEST FOR IVO
Ace froze. The smoke from Ivo’s breath stuck to his skin, fine particles clinging to his eyebrows.
Mink shifters did not burp smoke. The only time a non-dragon did, was when they were pregnant with a dragon child.
And Ivo had burped smoke more than once.
He was pregnant.
With Ace’s baby.
A low rumble began in Ace’s chest. “Mine,” he said.
“Y-yours?” Ivo’s eye widened.
“My baby.” Ace covered Ivo’s bare abdomen with his palm, trying to feel a connection to their child. “Mine.”
He nudged his fingertips against Ivo’s soft, warm skin, feeling the give of his body. He rubbed his fingers from left to right, growing disappointed when he couldn’t tell where exactly their baby was. “I can’t feel it.”
Ivo huffed. “It’s only been two days. I don’t even know if it’ll show up on a pregnancy test.”
“It will. Telos’ pregnancy had half the test kits showing positive the day after.” And that had happened in the middle of their rescue mission, right before they’d saved Ivo and his friends.
“Telos is the one who can shift into a baby, right?” Ivo asked.
“He prefers his pterodactyl shape,” Ace said dryly.
“How did he get pregnant? He’s an alpha.”
Ace shrugged. “Feel free to ask him for the details. He’ll probably try to turn it into a book.”
Ivo lit up. “I’ve never read an alpha-alpha story before.”
“Definitely don’t ask Telos and Mav for theirs. I bet it’s all fucking. Maybe even pterodactyl-fucking.” Ace rubbed little circles all over Ivo’s belly. Then he tried to lift Ivo higher, except he accidentally bumped Ivo’s head against the roof of the car.
“Oof!”
Ace immediately lowered him. “Fuck. Did I hurt you?”
Ivo shook his head. “You didn’t do it quickly enough to hurt. What were you trying to do?”
Ace’s cheeks warmed. He mumbled, “I was trying to kiss your belly.”
“Oh.” And now they were blushing at each other, at a loss for words.
“Maybe if I lay you down...” Ace arranged Ivo on the backseat, with Mary cradled against Ivo’s chest. While Mary wriggled around, Ace nuzzled down Ivo’s stomach to his belly.
Somewhere in there was their baby. Ace’s breath hitched.
He was about to kiss Ivo’s abdomen when a shadow darkened the tinted window next to them.
The person knocked. “Police. Open up.”
Ivo squawked and tried to cover himself.
“Fuck!” Ace looked around for Ivo’s clothes, only to remember that he’d stuffed them into their shopping cart—and left it back at the store.
He tore off his shirt instead, covering Ivo with it.
It was only when he had one hand on the window’s controls, that he heard a snort from outside.
Ace narrowed his eyes and opened the window to confirm his suspicions.
His older brother Blade stood next to the car, hunching quite a bit so he could look Ace in the eye. Like Ace, Blade was tall and muscular, although he had chestnut hair and reddish-brown eyes. Blade was in his police uniform, and he’d parked his patrol car in front of Ace’s SUV, blocking their way out. “Fancy catching you here, performing indecent acts.”
Ace scowled and flipped him off. “We were being innocent. ”
Blade looked pointedly at Ace’s shirt draped over Ivo. “Yeah?”
“We’re just—I was just kissing his belly,” Ace muttered, his hot cheeks betraying him.
“ Oh? ” Blade grinned widely and turned to Ivo. “Welcome to the family. I guess we’ll be hearing from you soon.”
Ace spluttered. Holy fuck! There was so much to do before he could even think about inviting Ivo to join their flight. “Not yet,” he hissed. “Shut up and go away!”
“I’m Blade,” Blade said to Ivo. “My mate, Joey, stole a baby from some kidnappers. I think you’d hit it off with him.”
Ivo blinked rapidly. “Wow. That’s really brave of him.”
“Yeah. We got into a world of trouble for it, but hey. No regrets.” Blade flashed a brief, happy smile, before giving Ace a hard look. “Treat him right.”
Ace rolled his eyes. “What do you think I’m doing?”
“Seducing someone in the back of your car. You’re lucky I recognized your license plate number.”
“Pfft! You just wanted an excuse to spy on me.” Ace clutched his chest. “I’m so touched. Truly. Besides, I’ve already put a little something into Ivo.”
Ivo flushed bright red.
“Take your touching somewhere else.” Blade knocked on the roof of the car and turned away. “Guess I’ll be a great older brother and help clean up your mess.”
He disappeared into his patrol car and drove off, leaving Ace and Ivo looking at each other.
“That’s my older brother,” Ace said fondly. “He tries to be gruff but he’s just a squishy marshmallow inside.”
Ivo sagged into the backseat. “That was scary.”
“He’s really not. He and Joey have two kids so far.” Ace huffed and helped Ivo sit up. “Blade’s right, though. I’d rather be doing this at home. C’mon.”
He rolled up the window and buckled Ivo in, checking to make sure that Mary was doing great. She chattered and kicked, trying to wriggle out of Ivo’s arms.
“Mary! You’re going to fall off,” Ivo chided.
“I’ll catch her if she falls,” Ace promised.
Ivo’s smile turned soft, and Ace’s heart skipped a beat.
“She’s adorable,” Ace said softly.
“She really is,” Ivo agreed. Even when Mary grabbed his nose and tried to reach Ace with her other paw, protesting loudly when she couldn’t catch him.
Ace gave her a finger to grab. Mary clung onto it, then began to gnaw on his fingertip.
“Mary,” Ivo squawked.
“It’s okay. It’s practice, right? For our baby.”
And now Ivo was as red as a tomato. Ace sneaked a quick kiss onto his forehead, before slipping out of the backseat and behind the wheel.
Ivo was pregnant. With his baby.
A tiny bubble of excitement fizzed in his gut. Ace hummed and drove out of the parking lot, turning them toward home.
A sudden thought struck him. His heart stopped; he met Ivo’s eye in the rearview mirror. “You’re carrying our baby to term, right?”
“ Yes! ” Ivo frowned. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“It’s your body. I can’t force you to make that decision.” Ace chewed his lip. “Although I could make some very persuasive arguments.”
Ivo tried to frown, but the corners of his lips twitched up. “I’m keeping the baby. I kept Mary, didn’t I? She was a surprise, too.”
“I would’ve reminded you to be careful during your heat, but... seeing as it’s my baby, I can’t say I mind.”
Ivo blushed. “Me, neither.”
Oh, Ace wanted to keep him and never let him go.
He checked his mirrors the entire drive home, taking several detours to make sure no one was following them. It was only when they’d crossed the wards surrounding his property, that he managed to relax. “Finally home.”
Ivo peered around, his forehead wrinkling. “Do you think Harvey and our cart will make it back okay?”
“Yes. Neither of them is particularly rare; Harvey will be careful, too.”
“Good.” Ivo looked so relieved—over a butler and a shopping cart—that Ace’s heart swelled.
He parked in the middle of the driveway and carried Ivo and Mary bridal-style across the grass, to where they had built their nests. “I’m going to put you in my nest,” Ace growled. “You belong there.”
Ivo blushed. “But where would you sleep?”
“Outside the nest. I’ll build a larger one. Although I’m terrible at weaving twigs.”
Ivo studied his grass nest, which was just half-built. Ace went around collecting all the abandoned blankets, bringing them back to his larger nest. When he tried piling them all inside, the pillows and blankets spilled back out.
“I think your nest might be too small,” Ivo said in wonder.
“We need a bigger nest,” Ace said solemnly. “You should use this one. I’ll get started on the one I have in mind.”
Ace’s new nest would be the last nest they would ever need—large enough for several dragonets, both adults, and enough pillows to resemble a ball pit.
The more Ace imagined Ivo’s reaction to that nest, the more intense his excitement grew.
Ivo would like a huge nest... right?
Ace made sure his guests were settled in. Then he hurried over to the house and popped into the kitchen, cooking up a quick breakfast—fried eggs and bacon on toast, but this time with a handful of spicy peppers.
He made hot chocolate too, with a generous dose of ground peppers in it.
Ivo lit up when Ace brought him the food. “But what about you?”
“Gotta go. I have a new nest to build.” Ace brushed his fingers through Ivo’s hair. He grabbed some tools and set off for the far side of the property, where the grass grew lush and thick.
Ace tried to make himself focus on cutting the grass, instead of what Ivo was doing with the food.
Ivo squawked a few minutes later. When Ace looked up, he found Ivo breathing a tiny ribbon of orange fire.
Because Ivo was pregnant with a dragon baby, his spice tolerance had shot all the way up. Spicy food made him breathe fire now.
Ivo looked over at Ace accusingly. “You did this on purpose!”
Ace grinned and shouted back, “Did you like it?”
For a moment, he thought Ivo might say no. Ivo’s face flickered through a few different expressions. Then he relaxed, and just looked begrudging. “Yes. That was crazy.”
Ivo took another sip of hot chocolate, and breathed fire again. The flames lit up his face beautifully.
“Damn it,” Ivo said, laughing. “This is actually kind of fun.”
Ace let out the breath he was holding and grinned, sweeping his scythe through wide patches of grass.
“So,” a voice rumbled.
Leathery wings flapped next to Ace, unleashing gusts so strong that they scattered the grass he’d just cut.
Ace scowled deeply. “Hey!”
Raptor landed with a thump and folded his wings, regarding Ace with a bright red eye. His dragon form was identical to Ace’s, all gleaming black scales. “I noticed that you stopped raiding my fridge.”
Ace let go of his irritation—because he hadn’t told his twin the news. “Rap, you won’t believe it. I found him! Remember the omega at the bar?”
Raptor’s eyes gleamed. “Yes. Hassel told me you have a visitor.”
“It’s Ivo.” Ace’s chest puffed out. “He’s the one who slipped away. And he’s pregnant.”
“Oh?” Raptor grinned toothily; stark envy flickered across his face.
Raptor didn’t talk much about it, but he had a medical condition that Ace didn’t. His hormones went out of control sometimes, in a way that made him urgently need a bed partner. Often, he got rough in bed, and it chased away his potential mates.
They tried not to talk about it.
“I put a dragonet in his belly.” Ace checked that his twin was fine with this news, before doing a silly dance. “I’m gonna be a dad!”
Raptor fell into step with Ace, doing the same dance but as a dragon. “I get to be godfather!”
Ace paused in his dancing. “Do you need to be godfather if you’re already going to be an uncle?”
“Both. I want both. I’ll be your dragonet’s goduncle-father.”
“I don’t even know what that is, but sure.” Ace began dancing again. He paused, though. “I need you to do something for me.”
At his tone, Raptor shifted back into a man. “What happened?”
“We were attacked earlier, while we were shopping, but that’s not the important part. You know how Ivo has scars all over his body?” Ace waited for Raptor to nod. “He was captured by a poaching ring a few years ago. They were taking his fur and experimenting on him. He managed to escape but couldn’t free the other captives.”
“Fuck. Where were they?”
“That was in Colorado, but they moved. Ivo couldn’t track them down. He told me that the ringleader is some shitstain named Watsonator.”
Raptor wrinkled his nose. “That’s a terrible name.”
“Want to bet his first name is worse?”
“I’m with you on that.” Raptor glanced at his own mansion. “I’ll put out some feelers, see what I can find.”
“Thanks.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry your mate went through that,” Raptor said quietly.
“He’s not my mate.” At Raptor’s pointed look, Ace clarified, “Yet.”
“Well, what’re you waiting for? Make him your mate!”
“I was building him the biggest nest ever! Until you interrupted.” Ace rolled his eyes and gestured at the cut grass around him.
“Need some help?”
Ace shook his head. “I have to do this on my own.”
“Well, I suppose I can spare some time to teach him about your quirks.” Raptor turned toward Ivo and the creek.
“Wait. Are you going to pretend you’re me?”
Raptor shot a smile over his shoulder. “Can he tell us apart?”
Ace didn’t know the answer to that. When Raptor shifted back into a dragon and began heading Ivo’s way, Ace scrambled to shuck off his own clothes.
Ace shifted and took off after Raptor with a powerful beat of his wings, flying close to the ground so no one beyond the tall hedge would realize there were dragons in here.
Raptor heard him, though. And he flapped his wings to propel himself forward, keeping just a snout’s length ahead of Ace.
“Ivo,” Raptor crowed, landing with a thump in front of the man. “I’m Ace.”
Ace scowled and landed next to his twin. “No, I’m Ace.”
Ivo stared wide-eyed at them, Mary clutched to his chest. “Um.”
“Can you tell us apart?” Ace asked, genuinely curious.
Ivo opened his mouth. Only to have the mansion gate open, his shopping cart racing up the driveway. Pillows threatened to fall out of its cargo basket.
A huge bird came soaring in after the cart. The bird took one look at Ace and Raptor, and flew over to join them.
The moment the gate closed, Harvey shifted into a black dragon, too, landing on Ace’s other side. “ I’m Ace,” he announced.
“Oh, gods,” Ivo breathed. His gaze darted from one of them to the other. “At least I know you’re not Ace,” he said to Harvey, before glancing between Raptor and Ace. “It’s easier when you’re in your human shape.”
His gaze fell to Ace’s neck, then Raptor’s.
“ Oh, ” Ace murmured, pleased. So Ivo had noticed his tattoo. It didn’t show in his dragon form, though; the scales hid it too well.
“Can you tell them apart like this?” Ivo asked Harvey.
Harvey puffed out his chest. “Of course.”
Ace held his breath as Ivo studied them. They hadn’t known each other for long; he didn’t expect Ivo to get it right.
“Tell me something about Ace,” Ivo said to the three of them.
“I’m Ace, and I have a big wobbly marshmallow center,” Harvey said immediately.
Raptor glanced sideways at Ace. “I’m Ace, and when I was eight, I stole my twin’s birthday cake.”
Ace narrowed his eyes. “I’m not going to prove my own identity. I want to build a nest, damn it.”
Ivo’s gaze landed on Ace, bright and thoughtful. “Did you really steal Raptor’s birthday cake?”
He recognized me. Something bright swelled in Ace’s chest.
“I ate every last crumb,” he said with great relish.
“Fucker,” Raptor said, snapping his wing open to hit Ace in the head. “I got him back by eating his breakfast the next morning.”
“Cake is better than breakfast,” Ace said.
“I don’t know. Sometimes breakfast can be really amazing.” Ivo glanced at the empty containers next to Ace’s nest, and Ace grinned.
He stretched out his own wing, smacking Raptor in the head. “Get out of here. Leave me to my nest-building.”
“Fine, baby brother.”
“I’m just younger than you by three minutes,” Ace grumbled.
“Still a baby. I’m glad one of us is getting a mate, at least.” A look of deep longing flashed across Raptor’s face. He tucked it away and turned to Ivo. “Pleasure to meet you, future family.” With a beat of his wings, he took off, flying over their hedge maze back to his own mansion.
And now Ace felt better, knowing he had Ivo all to himself. “Ignore Rap,” he told Ivo. “I’m not putting any pressure on you to be my anything.”
But something must’ve shown on his face, because Ivo ducked his head and blushed.
Ace’s instincts wanted.
“I’ll bring your cart over,” Harvey said, ambling toward their shopping cart, who was trying unsuccessfully to make its way through the tall grass.
Ace turned back to Ivo. “You liked the breakfast I made?”
“I wasn’t expecting fire! It felt weird.” Ivo rubbed his stomach thoughtfully. “But I was surprised that the peppers didn’t hurt me. The fire, too.”
“You know why that is, right?”
Ivo traced his fingers over his belly, his breath hitching. “Yeah.”
Ace rumbled and closed the distance between them, touching his knuckles to Ivo’s jaw. “I’m going to make you the best nest ever. It’ll be so big, you can have all your books in it. Even food and a pillow pit.”
Ivo’s eye lit up. “I want to help. Mary too.”
“Maybe. It’s an alpha’s responsibility.” Ace filled his lungs with Ivo’s scent—wet and leafy, like a creek running through a forest. There were two newer smells, though. The first was a light smokiness, as though Ivo had taken on some of Ace’s scent.
The second was a damp ozone, like it was about to rain.
Ivo licked his lips. Ace watched the movement of his tongue, reaching up to cup Ivo’s cheek. Ivo’s breath hitched. And hitched again when Ace pressed his thumb to one corner of Ivo’s mouth.
What did he taste like?
Ace leaned in, sliding his thumb over Ivo’s plush lower lip, nudging it away from his upper lip. He was so soft. So willing to open.
“So beautiful,” Ace whispered. “I want to—”
The heavens opened up, and sheets of rain poured down onto them.