Chapter 19 Pregnancy （Part 2） #2
“Eat your peppers,” Doc grumbled. He unwrapped a package and pressed a new pepper into Ottis’ hand. This pepper was small, smooth, and red. It looked so innocent.
Except the first bite sent hot tingles straight to his brain. He belched a mouthful of orange flames.
Marcie giggled and kicked her legs; Doc rumbled with pride.
“This might be the best part of a dragon pregnancy,” Ottis said, his breath catching.
Up until now, he hadn’t quite believed it was happening. The nausea and fatigue could have been due to an illness. But breathing fire was definitely not, and it was obvious that his body was changing.
“I can’t wait to see your belly swell,” Doc murmured. “Five months ‘til we meet this child.”
“More like four, since wolf pregnancies are three months. Four would be the average.”
“Even better,” Doc said.
Ottis shivered at the heat in his gaze.
“Here, try one of these.” Doc handed him a round, wrinkled pepper. This one was dark red, and it looked dangerous.
Ottis popped it into his mouth and chewed. Pleasure burst through him; sparks fizzed in his belly. The longer the pepper sat in his stomach, the more heat it gathered, until it pushed out of him in a blaze of the hottest blue flames.
Ottis made a strangled sound. What if he burned down the entire mansion? Especially now that the inferno was licking the high ceiling?
He tried to suck the flames back in, but they kept pouring out of him.
“That’s beautiful,” Doc growled, his wide eyes lit up by Ottis’ flames. The alpha lifted Marcie into the air; Marcie reached into Ottis’ fire breath.
For a terrifying moment, Ottis panicked. Except Marcie’s tiny fingers stayed whole and intact, wriggling as she tried to grasp a ribbon of flame.
“Doc!” Ottis squeaked, the flames sputtering.
“Sorry, sorry.” Doc looked sheepish. “I should have warned you first. I really am sorry.”
“Just give me a warning next time,” Ottis grumbled.
“I’ll make it up to you. Anything you want.”
Ottis raised an eyebrow. The flames subsided, and Doc settled Marcie back in his lap. “Anything?”
“Pickup lines,” Hijinks whispered. “Embroidered on your pillows and underwear.”
Doc shot him a narrow-eyed look.
“Pickup lines on your sex toys,” Hijinks added with unholy delight. “Charm them so they’ll read aloud the pickup lines while they’re in use.”
“No,” Doc said, horrified. “You’re not allowed to do that.”
Hijinks cackled. “I will refrain from it in the future.”
“In the future?” Doc asked. “But what about the past?”
“The past is a black box of mystery,” Hijinks said solemnly, and promptly disappeared from sight.
Ottis exchanged a look with Doc.
“Fuck,” Doc muttered, glancing at the stairs.
“You have sex toys?” Ottis asked. “I mean, aside from the plug?”
“I ordered some this past week. Hijinks, please tell me you didn’t fuck with them.”
“I didn’t fuck them!” Hijinks yelled back.
“That’s not an answer,” Doc growled.
“Feel free to use them,” the butler’s disembodied voice replied. “They’re perfectly safe.”
Doc growled louder.
But now Ottis was curious. “What kind of sex toys did you buy? Do we even need them?”
Doc shifted a little, like maybe he was... self-conscious? “Let me just make sure they haven’t been tampered with.”
He handed Marcie back to Ottis, turning toward the stairs.
Ottis stood up hurriedly, the peppers on his lap scattering everywhere. “Wait for me! I wanna see them too!”
Doc paused. “Really?”
“Yeah! You were gonna use them on me, right?”
Doc turned pink. “Yes. But it was going to be a surprise. When I presented them to you, I mean.”
“I want to see.” Ottis looked down when Marcie wriggled in his arms. He sighed. “When Marcie’s asleep.”
“I guess I’ll wait.” Doc sighed too and sat back down. He gathered the crinkly packages and lined them neatly on the coffee table, stealing a pepper and turning it around in his hands.
“You can eat that if you want,” Ottis offered.
Doc moved his jaw. “Maybe later.”
“If this is about your scars, you know you don’t have to worry, right? I’m not going to run away, no matter what you look like.”
Doc’s eyebrows shot up. “Last week, you said you weren’t sure about your reaction to them.”
“I’m sure now,” Ottis said, letting his steady heartbeat speak for itself. “I’m not going to run.”
Doc swallowed. “I’ll... keep that in mind.”
He headed to the kitchen and returned with drinks—juice for Ottis, red wine for himself. Ottis let Marcie latch onto his chest, blushing when Doc watched him intently.
Doc didn’t comment on any of it, but his attention settled on Ottis, warm and steadfast. He watched as Ottis wiped Marcie’s mouth when she was done; he accompanied them to the bathroom, watching as Ottis cleaned Marcie’s teeth.
He even stuck around when Ottis changed Marcie’s diapers.
“You don’t mind the smell?” Ottis asked.
Doc shrugged. “Again, I’m a doctor. I’ve smelled worse.”
“Are there wolf shifter doctors? Feels like they’d have the short end of the stick.”
“Some of my coworkers are wolves,” Doc admitted. “They have much stronger stomachs, for sure.”
Ottis shuddered. “All those years of med school, and they still have to suffer the smells.”
“It’s really not so bad.”
Ottis studied him. “Did you always want to be a doctor? Even when you were a child?”
Doc laughed. “As a child, I wanted to be a farmer. Then I fell into a pile of manure one day, and it took a whole week for the smell to wash off. After that, I reconsidered my options.”
Ottis snickered.
“What did you want to be when you were growing up?” Doc asked.
Ottis bit his lip. “A tailor, at first. The earliest that I remember. Then I wanted to be a firefighter, an artist, and a professional bricklayer, all at the same time.”
Doc laughed. “What about now?”
Ottis opened his mouth, then closed it. “I... don’t know. After Sevrian fucked with my life, I was adrift for a long time. It felt like I was running from one alpha to another, trying to find somewhere to belong, except I didn’t find it. There wasn’t much time for me to think about my future.”
Doc drew a slow breath, his pulse picking up. “Okay,” he said. “How about this? If there’s something you think you might like to do, like trade school or some online classes, tell me, and I’ll make it happen.”
“That’s a lot of commitment,” Ottis blurted. “Are you sure?”
Doc touched Ottis’ belly. “This is a lot of commitment. Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Ottis said. Then he realized what Doc was getting at, and huffed. “It’s still too generous of an offer.”
“Well, I kidnapped you, so you don’t get a say in how much money I spend on your behalf.”
“That’s such a strange way to provide for me,” Ottis muttered. He didn’t have the heart to protest, though. Online classes probably cost a drop next to the ocean of Doc’s wealth. “But thank you.”
“Of course.” Doc wrapped an arm around Ottis’ shoulder, pulling him close and nuzzling his hair. He felt so comfortable that Ottis sagged into him, inhaling his scent.
Eventually, Doc pulled away. “I’m going to shower off my day before we get ready for bed. Want to join me after you tuck Marcie in?”
“Yeah.” Marcie was asleep. Ottis’ heart skipped as he followed Doc up the stairs, leaning into Doc’s side just because he could.
At the nursery, Ottis tucked Marcie into her crib, making sure she was comfortable.
When he turned, he found Doc leaning against the doorway, watching him.
His heart skipped. “I thought you were going to shower.”
“Saw something I wanted more.”
Ottis’ face burned. He ducked his head and made his way over to Doc, only for Doc to slip an arm around his waist.
“You’re amazing with her,” Doc murmured. “Such a good dad. Makes me want to put a pup inside you.”
Just like that, Ottis’ entire body lit up with arousal.
“I, uh,” he said, suddenly breathless.
Doc grinned, leaning closer. “Yes, you. I want you bent over and spread for me.”