8. Maya #2
I felt this weird surge of energy as I tried to organize things differently in my room.
I wasn’t exactly positive how I wanted it set up at first, but I knew how it was wasn’t working for me.
I had also snuck into the boys’ rooms and took a few shirts and hoodies from each of them, deciding that I wanted some of each of them around me while I slept.
It should have sounded weird, but instead I just found myself loving the idea of having them close and currently had the clothing neatly stacked on my bed.
Also, once I had gotten the concept in my head, there was no denying the urge to do it.
I had started and hadn’t been able to stop until I had taken probably far more than I needed.
Oops. I honestly didn’t feel very bad about it though, because the mixing of their natural scents and colognes had my phoenix producing a happy noise from my throat.
“Maya?” A familiar voice had me turning towards my bedroom door, the early afternoon light filtering across the room and making Anani appear almost lit by sunshine.
“Hey you.” I offered a smile while straightening the last stack of clothes into a completed semi-circle at the end of the bed.
I had a second comforter wrapped around the back of the pile so they wouldn’t fall off.
Anani examined the setup as I walked over to him, letting my head drop back so I could get a kiss from him.
“Are you doing laundry?” he asked softly, his voice filled with curiosity. I eagerly met his lips as he brushed his mouth against mine.
“No, these are clean. I sort of went bedroom to bedroom to collect them,” I admitted.
His chuckle had me relaxing against his chest momentarily.
It was truly only a second before that weird strum of energy had me breaking back away from him as I went into my closet and lifted up on my toes to pull down some extra pillows to add to the fortress of comfort I was crafting.
I wasn’t positive why this felt so important to do, but it really did.
My bed was massive, and despite all my additions, there was still enough room for me and some of my mates. When I was done, I stepped back and smiled at how it turned out.
Perfect.
Turning back to Anani, I found him staring at me with amusement and something else a lot hotter.
It was a look I hadn’t seen in his eyes before, and it caused a sound to come from my throat in surprise.
The weird hyperness that had been running through me all morning came to a halt, his attention far more important than our mission.
“What?” I asked softly.
“Are you building a nest, peanut?”
What?
I snapped my head towards the bed, and my eyes widened.
Oh. Oh, wow.
“Am I?” I frowned as he came up behind me and slid his hands to my hips, causing me to lean back into him, his throat producing a low rumble.
“It appears like it,” he pointed out. “Why today? What made you want to start?”
I turned into him and tilted my head thoughtfully. “I’m not sure, I just felt this random urge to do it… This is so weird. Why would I build a nest?”
“For when you go into heat.”
I jolted slightly, peeking around Anani to find Croy standing in the door, smiling at my creation as well. My cheeks filled with warmth at the word ‘heat’ and what that would mean in all its context. My gaze moved to Anani’s neck, nearly frowning at the lack of a mark there.
I also knew what marking Anani would mean.
My understanding, based on what the royal physician said, was that as a Blue Phoenix, I would have to mark all my mates in order to go into heat, so his lack of one was the only thing preventing it from occurring.
Something that obviously hadn’t been on purpose, but now seemed like a massive obstacle my phoenix and I wanted to push past. I could practically feel the instincts roaring through me, and his eyes darkened on the way I leaned into him further, his dragon producing a low rumble.
He seemed to steady himself before breaking away to walk along the window wall, causing me to sag slightly, feeling his loss despite Croy’s body heat suddenly surrounding me.
I knew Anani didn’t mean to hurt my feelings, but the idea of him walking away from me had me feeling a bit down. I distracted myself a bit by looking up at Croy. “Why would I start this now?”
Croy nodded towards my mate. “Because you only have one mate left to mark. Your phoenix and magic are probably preparing.”
“Preparing for heat.” I drew out the word on my lips, my excitement growing at the concept.
Then I felt my eyes widen, remembering Dr. Bates’s words about what the mating heat meant, ‘beside the obvious.’ It meant we could possibly create a child in that timeframe…that I could get pregnant.
I exhaled sharply as I felt my knees break, and I sat on the floor, blinking as I tried to process the reality of the situation.
It wasn’t an upsetting reality, but I was hit both by feeling completely unprepared and feeling an instinctual amount of joy at the concept of creating life with my mates.
My phoenix loved the idea, and I found myself entertaining the notion, loving it as well, even if it scared me a bit…
“Maya.” Anani was there then, cupping my jaw, looking concerned. “Don’t freak out. We can put it off as long as possible, as long as your health and life aren’t at risk. I want you to be comfortable?—”
“I am not freaking out about the mating heat.” I grasped his fingers and smiled up at him.
“Or marking you. None of that…I was just considering the baby part. Dr. Bates said that it was possible I would get pregnant during my first heat, and if not the first, then the second. That is the part that is causing me to…”
“Freak out?” Croy asked, crouched down with us.
“Not exactly.” I shook my head. “The idea doesn’t bother me.
I love the idea of creating a life with any of you.
I mean, you’re my mates…” I swallowed, feeling my cheeks heat.
“It’s just a lot at once, and I didn’t even realize I was preparing this weird little nest thing until Anani brought it up.
It’s almost like this entire other side of myself is in charge, and it’s a bit jarring. ”
“The more in touch with your shifter side you become, the harder it will be to fight against it,” Anani admitted quietly. “It becomes essentially half of you. I have a feeling that the mating heat is one of those things that sort of steamrolls everything else.”
I inhaled, nodding as the door opened more. Henry stood there, looking at us in confusion, before glancing up at the bed. “What’s going on?”
Standing up, I shrugged and motioned to the bed. “My phoenix had me making a nest before I even realized it. Something about the mating heat, apparently.”
Henry’s eyes darkened as he seemed to consider saying something before looking at Anani and Croy. His voice was rough as he announced, “The seamstress for the costume just arrived.”
“Oh good.” I smiled. “Send her up.”
“Will you guys bring her up here?” Henry asked, keeping his gaze on me.
Croy walked out of the room, seeming amused as Henry kicked open the door further, Anani offering him a head shake I didn’t understand before it was just the two of us.
Henry walked over to my bed and tilted his head, examining the nest before noticing that Bella was sitting on top of one of the piles, sleeping peacefully.
His eyes were dark as he looked down at me, his hand slipping over my waist and pulling me against him, my breath catching at how hard he was.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked quietly, unable to help myself from teasing him a bit, as his lips kicked up into a smile.
“You probably don’t want to hear that right now, sweetheart.” He leaned down to brush his lips against my ear. “Especially since the seamstress is about two seconds away from entering.”
I blushed. “It’s something good then?”
Henry’s chuckle was soft and dangerous. “It is definitely something that would feel good.”
Before I could respond, the woman in question breezed into the room, immediately seeing me and plastering a smile onto her face. Henry kissed my forehead before introducing us, but I found myself distracted as I looked back at my nest, wondering just what would happen once I did go into heat.
“What do you mean you went to the Dreki realm for a day?! You’ve been gone for almost a month!”
Only an hour or so later, Jordan’s voice was echoing through my room, the familiarity of it making me smile.
Her eyes were wide as she sat at my desk, Bella on her lap.
Patricia, the seamstress with the costumes, was mostly silent as she worked, except for some occasional humming.
Honestly, her job seemed very cool. Because she already had our rough measurements, she’d brought along an assortment of costumes we’d been able to pick from that she could alter and could be paired and matched with a ton of accessories she had also brought along.
I was sorta glad we’d gone this route, to be honest, because now my mates would really be surprised by what I’d chosen to wear tonight. I couldn’t wait to see their reactions.
“Apparently time moves differently.” I shrugged, finding her reaction funny.
I loved my mates, but I was really glad Jordan was here.
I had missed her, and I was realizing that sometimes I just needed a bit of girl time.
Plus, my mates and hers were downstairs hanging out, and they seemed to all get along well.
Considering how happy she seemed, I was eager to meet them. Aside from her first mate, Marcellus, I hadn’t had the chance yet. I loved the idea of maybe doing a double date… Although, would it really be called that? We each had a lot more than one boyfriend…
“Insane.” She shook her head before looking at the inspiration pictures I had printed off for Patricia. Instantly, she was scowling.
“What?” I demanded.