Page 90 of How to Rescue Your Surprise Baby

Telos glowered at his brother as though he was going to tackle Hilly-Billy to the ground. To derail him from that thought, Mav cleared his throat. “Want a ghost pepper omelet?”

“It’s going to kill me,” Telos whined.

“If it kills you, I’ll give you permission to kill me back.”

Telos scoffed, but he smiled. “Fine.”

“I’ll make you a ghost pepper sandwich, too.”

“Fine.”

Mav turned on the oven and chopped up some peppers, sautéing the smaller pieces with mushrooms. Once the oven was hotenough, he slid in a tray of larger peppers, and their spicy aroma filled the air.

“I can smell them,” Telos said, covering his nose. “I’m going to sneeze.”

Then he sneezed, and even that was kind of cute.

When the peppers were done roasting, Mav retrieved them and diced them up. He whisked together some eggs and cream, poured that into a frying pan, and made a fluffy omelet he was pretty damn proud of.

“Okay, I think that’s enough reason to marry you,” Telos said.

Mav stopped breathing. “What?”

“That omelet looks perfect.”

Mav tipped the mixture of ghost peppers and mushrooms into the omelet, and Telos immediately scrunched up his face.

“No, no more marrying. I take it back.”

Mav rolled his eyes. “At least taste it first.”

He grabbed fresh toast from the toaster, spread some butter on them, and sandwiched a pile of roasted peppers between the slices. “Here.”

“Youtake a bite first.” Telos pushed the plate back.

“Scared?” Mav asked dryly. “Big, strong alpha afraid of some little red fruits.”

“Fuck you.” Telos grabbed the sandwich and bit off a corner. Then he chewed gingerly as though expecting his tongue to fall off. He swallowed.

A few seconds later, Telos burped, long and loud. It was accompanied by a majestic plume of fire, almost touching the ceiling.

“Holy crap!” Telos coughed and spluttered. “What the hell was that?”

Mav raised an eyebrow. “Are you really that unfamiliar with dragon pregnancies?”

“In case you haven’t realized, babies were never on my bucket list!” Telos belched. Another ribbon of flame fluttered between his lips. “How the hell am I not in pain?”

Mav reached over, patting Telos’ abdomen. “Baby gives you immunity. For now.”

Telos scowled. But he pulled his omelet closer, carefully scooping some into his mouth. More flames erupted from his lips in a wondrous display.

“I’m going to accidentally burn down this building,” Telos muttered. “Someone save my fossils.”

“You won’t burn it down.”

“How would you kn—”

Mav leaned in when Telos burped again, breathing Telos’ flames into his own mouth. When the flames subsided, they were left staring into each other’s eyes, Telos’ lips parted ever so invitingly.

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