Page 32 of Iced Heat

Piece by piece our clothes came off revealing the slightest egg bump around my middle. It was almost enough to make me furrow my brows at it, but the growth was a sign of a healthy egg.

“Stretch out, mate,” Xav said, patting the nest.

I stretched out on my back while I still could. If my belly grew much more the position would be a no-go but for now it was the perfect position for Xav to lean over and kiss all over my egg bump. He dragged his mouth over my flesh, showering me in a million bits of affection. I ran my fingers through his hair, reveling in how soft it was under my fingertips.

“And how would you like to get off today, mate?” He nuzzled his cheek against my belly and glanced up at me.

I blushed. This man started an egg growing inside me and could make me blush. What sort of trickery was that? I bit my lip. The possibilities were endless when Xav asked that question. I glanced around the nest for where he hid the snacks. Xav wasstill under the impression that I never ate enough. So he kept some stashes everywhere.

“Oh, snack and jack,” he teased.

“I am peckish,” I shrugged. “Besides, you’re the one who got it started.”

Xav reached over me and pulled out a cloth bag from in between layers of padded, ash-stuffed fabric. He pulled out a bag of real fruit snacks and chips. We’d become experts at feeding each other while staying very busy with our other hands. That day in the nest was no different. We stroked each other while enjoying the food he’d stashed in the nest. He kept feeding me those healthy little fruit gummy snacks until I knocked them out of his reach. Salt was my latest pregnancy craving and blue cheese and vinegar chips were the only thing to hit the spot. Even then, he only fed me tiny bits of them, claiming I might choke on them otherwise. Anyone else I wouldn’t have believed but my choking crossed his mind every time we did this.

“Cum for me and I’ll feed you the whole damn bag,” he said, leaning over to steal a kiss. “You’re close. You feel so fucking close it’s almost enough to give me blue balls.”

I thrust my hips up, sending my hard dick through his fist. He was right. Every stroke pushed me closer to the edge and the salt on my tongue only made me think of other ways to pick up the same taste. Pushing the bag of chips away, I kissed him hard as our fists pumped in time together. I squeezed him hard, reveling in the moan crawling out of his throat and his delight raining down on me over our mating link. Ever prepared, Xav pulled a towel out of seemingly thin air right before I came. I saw stars flash before my eyes as my body trembled. My grip on him tightened and he drew in a sharp breath before his own pleasure poured out of him in warm, sticky streams. Our lips crashed together and we kissed hard as if we might perish the moment we pulled apart.

Eventually we did as always, collapsing in a heap of limbs with my head resting on his chest. Xav kissed the top of my head and reached for the chips. He made good on his promise to feed me the whole damn bag.

“You make being a good boy so easy,” I teased him.

“I think food and orgasms go together. They probably hit the same part of the flesh brain,” he shrugged and fed me another chip.

Chapter Seventeen

Xav

Just as we had at the Scale B&B, Sequin and I fell into an easy rhythm of living together. This time that rhythm just included a few extra people. We went to Fred’s house at least once a week for dinner and another night we’d visit Selt and Liatris for the same. Teddy was usually over there more than he was at home but when he stayed at Sunny’s we’d drop in on him there. All of them dropped in on us too. It was so strange that Sequin had a whole family that he actually wanted to see. I figured I’d have to fight my mother if I ever laid eyes on her again. She’d definitely begrudge me every molecule of happiness I’d found since leaving home.

Any time she crept into my thoughts I pushed her away. In a perfect world, I’d have been excited to tell her she was gonna be a grandma. Only where Sequin mourned the fact Lotus as herself would never know our hatchling, I was preparing an escape plan if mine ever tried to come near our kid.

“You’re thinking so hard, alpha,” Sequin yawned, stretching.

He was laid up on the sofa reading the latest romance novel by some guy back from the GGB. I couldn’t keep track of all the names of the people he knew who wrote books and had given up trying. His belly had grown into a full on baby bump and more than once we both wondered if our egg had cracked and headed toward a live birth. Riz and everyone else assured us that it didn’t work that way but we joked about it a lot anyway.

“Sorry. Most guys want to hit the healers, though. So, I get credit for not having that illogical obsession, right?” I smirked.

“Remember, two-way street. Anyone makes you look like that in person and I’m going to eat them. I’m going to forget mymama was a civilized debutant and eat them. I’m going to devour them whole – bones and entrails and all. Or fire or whatever makes up the inside of your family. You’re mine to love and protect. That’s why I’m being all cute and cuddly to distract you from what you were thinking about.”

“You are adorable when you’re threatening to rip people asunder,” I grinned.

“I love that you mean that,” Sequin laughed. “If I ever give birth-birth to a baby I’ll probably do a lot of that. So, I’m going to be extra super adorable then.”

“I might actually freeze dry anyone who said you weren’t adorable,” I said, moving from the chair onto the sofa with him.

“I know where those dreamy eyes lead, mister,” Sequin smirked.

“You’ve never complained about that destination before.”

“Egg soon,” he scrunched up his nose. “I think anyway.”

“Okay,” I held my hands up.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t get you off if you need me to.”

I shook my head and moved to sit behind him. He leaned back against me and went back to his book while I did my best not to think of my family. Why the hell were they so on my mind these days? It was like my mother was breathing over my shoulder. A chill ran up my spine. That had to be my nerves, right? She wasn’t ice. She’d never be ice. She had said it herself only men can be ice. I held on a little tighter to Sequin until he swatted my hand with the book and stood up.

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