Page 51 of How to Rescue Your Surprise Baby

Now that he knew how tender Mav could be, it would hurt even worse when Mav inevitably left him.

“What’s wrong?” Mav asked.

“Nothing.”

“Try again. I can feel your misery.”

Telos scowled. “Stop spying on me.”

“I can’t stop. Your emotions feed straight into my brain.” Mav began moving his fingers through Telos’ hair, slow strokes like a light massage.

It felt good.

Telos couldn’t help but sag against the other alpha. Mav gave a small rumble, increasing the length of his strokes until all of Telos’ scalp tingled from his touch. “Fuck.”

“Feels good?” Mav watched him. “You’re not pulling away.”

Telos glared at the floor. Quietly, he said, “No one’s done that for me in a really long time.”

Mav kept on massaging him. “How long?”

“Since...” Telos sighed. “Since I was still living with my parents. That’s well over two hundred years.”

Mav sucked in a slow breath. Then he pulled Telos closer, and brushed his fingers through Telos’ hair.

Telos’ throat tightened. “Why’re you doing this?”

Mav wet his lips. “Thought I should... make things good for you.”

“Because of this?” Telos gestured at his belly.

“Partly. And also partly because I haven’t been the best to you.” Did Mav look...regretful?

Telos squinted. “You’re being weird.”

“If I put a baby in you, I’m allowed to be.”

That was still kind of hard to swallow.

“What’s this about a baby?” came Duke’s voice from just outside their door. Both of them jumped. “Did we hear right? Is Telospregnant?”

Telos flushed hot and cold. How much had their team heard? Gods, why hadn’t he thought about who was listening? He rolled his head back and closed his eyes, trying not to feel ashamed. “Possibly.”

“Get out here. We’re going to have an emergency meeting,” Duke said.

“Crap.”

Mav gave Telos’ hair a final brush, then pulled away to grab some folded clothes off the dresser. He tossed a pair of pants at Telos and stepped into one himself.

Telos had to disconnect Estie from his chest. She whimpered unhappily, kicking and reaching for him. “Soon, sweetheart. I’ll have Hilly-Billy make you some formula, and you won’t be hungry anymore.”

It rubbed him the wrong way, having to rely on Hilly-Billy this much to keep Estie fed. But he was also on a mission, and that took priority right now. “This is the worst time to be a new dad.”

“No kidding,” Mav muttered, opening the door.

In the suite’s living room, the others were gathered and waiting. Duke looked unimpressed; Crush was sniffing discreetly, his eyebrows rising to his hairline. Ace and Raptor grinned at each other, tucking away their phones.

Telos sighed. “Tell me how much you overheard, so I don’t have to rehash the embarrassing parts.”

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