Page 51 of The Monster at the End of This Courtship

"I think so."

I struggled to my feet, and Punky transported both me and my forgotten chair back to the cabin.

"I'll be back with Axel. Sit tight, okay? Don't start until he's here with you."

I waddled to our bed, both hands supporting my balls. They were four times their normal size, which was far smaller than the ten times some clutches could be. I would settle for one or two eggs, as opposed to five or six.

I hadn't even had time to make our nest, thinking I would have at least a week to prepare once my eggs dropped. Without magic, I could only sit on the bed and pout, wishing I'd had a chance to stack the bed high with blankets and pillows. I didn't want to risk scouting the room and building a tentative pile without Axel here in case I went into labor … Was that even what it was called?

Yes, I went back to school after my clutch failed, but Priestess Alma glossed over some of the reproductive terms on account of my previous experience. I hadn't minded at the time, but right about now, I wished I knew what to call the involuntary swelling of my cock and the pressure building at the base of my spine. If I wasn't careful, I was going to start laying these eggs without Axel, which was not an experience I wished to repeat.

Chapter 22

Axel

"Tuft is going into labor."

I had to blink twice to catch the words the purple-striped omega had just spoken. "Labor? His eggs dropped this morning. Is that a bad sign?"

"He looks healthy as can be," Punky said. "He needs you, though. I can sub in. The rules say it's okay to have more omegas than alphas on a team in emergency situations."

I laughed. Tuft and his betas had haggled over that rule for a long time. Alphas, betas, and omegas were virtually the same physically. Even their magical differences were questionable among mated pairs. The rule was based on the old intramural rules of human males and females on the same teams. I had a feeling they would take it out once this season was over. If anything, teams with more omegas seemed to win more games.

I was stalling. I shook my head to clear it and handed the volleyball to Punky, since it was my serve. We were up 13-11. "If we lose, you owe us breakfast tomorrow."

He nodded. "Deal."

I teleported home without a backward glance. I stopped in the living room to grab a few blankets from the couch and the pillows we'd been collecting in a corner for this moment. Oureggs hadn't given us much warning they were coming today, or I would have stayed home from work to prepare.

"Axel?" Tuft called from the bedroom. "Hurry. I need you."

"I'm here, mate." I rushed to the bed with my accessories, and Tuft quickly built a small reservoir for our eggs. I almost forgot the tarp. I'd left it by the back door of the cabin because I didn't like the smell of new tarp by my bed. It reminded me too much of camping. I wouldn't have a choice now, but at least the smell wasn't as strong as it had been when I'd brought it home a few short weeks ago.

With a burst of magic, I lifted everything off our mattress and wrapped it in the tarp. Once the bed was remade, I covered Tuft's side with a sheet of softer plastic to catch his slick.

"I'm scared," Tuft whimpered as he stared at the offending plastic sheet. "What if I don't make enough slick this time, either?"

"We'll deal with that when it happens." I pulled him to his feet. He was still in too many clothes. As urgent as it was to get the process started, I didn't want to rush him. He'd tried to rush before, and it hadn't gone well.

I undressed him slowly, planting gentle kisses on each inch of exposed skin until I had his shirt off. Then, I unbuttoned his pants and massaged his hard cock through his compression shorts. The eggs hadn't progressed into his cock yet, but they would.

I helped him take off his pants and shorts, exposing his gorgeous cock and his swollen sac. Our babies were in there, and they wanted out. I was ready to do whatever it took to help them on their way.

"Fuck!" Tuft stared at his cock head like it was a snake about to bite him. "My cock hasn't split yet. The eggs are going to get stuck in there."

I could see the seams waiting to open for our eggs, but they hadn't separated yet. This wasn't a new problem for kobold/human hybrids. Even the kobolds of old sometimes needed a little cock tease to draw out the eggs.

"I know how to fix that."

I hurried out of my clothes and dropped to my knees before Tuft. I licked along the compass-like seams of his cock, willing them to open with pressure and a lot of saliva. When I took the head into my mouth, he moaned and grabbed onto my shoulders. I teased the seams open one at a time. The final seam opened, and a gush of precome hit my tongue.

"I'm so close," Tuft said.

I released his cock with a wet pop and gazed up at him, loving the blissed-out look in his eyes.

"Let's get into position."

I helped him onto the bed and over the ledge of our nest. When he tried to lean over for me, I held his hips still and repositioned, so my head was crotch-level once more. I worked my tongue inside the seams, pushing them even further apart as Tuft moaned above me.

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