Page 87 of How to Rescue Your Surprise Baby

Mav laughed lowly. “What would you like?”

“Something good. Something big. Hey, what’s in Estie’s pres—”

Before Telos could complete his sentence, he burped again. This time, orange embers flew out of his mouth.

Mav grew so still, he might even have stopped breathing. “Telos, babe—”

“You saw that?” Telos asked warily. “Do you know what the hell is wrong with me?”

“Yeah.” Mav’s hands came up to grasp his hips. “That’s a dragon pregnancy.”

21

STRANGE BODILY CHANGES

Mav turnedTelos around to face him, traces of smoke lingering in the air between them.

Telos had just breathedembers.

Before this, his pregnancy had been... just a concept. Sure, Mav had seen the pregnancy tests. Sure, he’d seen Telos’ nipples leak.

But the smoke and embers—those were the signs of adragonpregnancy.

They were proof that the baby in Telos’ belly was Mav’s, and Mav’s instincts roared.

He pressed his palm flat against Telos’ abdomen, over the trail of black hair diving into his shorts. “Mine.”

Telos narrowed his eyes. “Mine too.”

Then he burped again, and Mav had to lean in, breathing the smoke straight from his lips.

“That’s weird,” Telos muttered. “Burping smoke? Really?” He wasn’t moving away from Mav, though.

“It’s going to get weirder,” Mav said. “You’ll start to crave spicy food. We’ll need to ask Uriel to fireproof your place.”

Telos worked his jaw. “You could lend us some of your fireproofed things in the meantime.”

“Or you could come live with me. Just to see how you like it.”

Telos narrowed his eyes. “What’s the catch?”

Mav sighed. “The catch is that we’ll have two butlers under the same roof.”

“Fuck.”

“‘Fuck’ is right.”

“‘Fuck’ is not right!” came Hilly-Billy’s voice from elsewhere in the penthouse. “You love us!”

Telos rolled his eyes. “Let me... Let me think about it.”

“Take however much time you need.” Mav wet his lips, suddenly nervous. He’d spent all that time looking for gifts for Telos, but it still didn’t feel like enough. “Would you like me to make you some food?”

Telos raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Something spicy. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

“I have a limit to my spice tolerance,” Telos said suspiciously.

---