Page 31 of Iced Heat

Chapter Sixteen

Sequin

The new house smelled like Dad and Teddy but not in a bad way. Their scents made it feel like home from the moment we walked inside. Dad had even taken care to find me a sewing machine nearly identical to the one I inherited from my carrier and to set up a sewing room. As soon as we unpacked the meager belongings I brought over from Earthside and the stuff Liatris had brought over of Xav’s, I headed straight in and started making baby stuff. I’d brought along a whole box of my favorite fabrics and it seemed Teddy had stocked some he thought I might like in the room too.

While I worked on clothing, stuffies, and bedding for our future hatchling, Xav set to make the nest. I almost asked if he needed help but that felt speciest. Just because he wasn’t a dragon didn’t mean he wasn’t knowledgeable about nests. I made a mental note to ask whether or not they used nests where he came from.

“Most of the time, carriers go fleshy to have their babies, but the babies don’t stay fleshy that long after being born. For weeks they’re just little tiny element balls that get away from you and get misplaced,”Xav chimed into my thoughts over our mating link.

“I hope our kid doesn’t do that. I’d spend the whole time afraid I’d step on them,”I sighed both mortified at the mental image and grateful for our link. Having it meant I was never truly alone.

“Not on them. You’d step through them. It might feel weird, but it wouldn’t hurt them. You’ve walked through me plenty of times.”

“Your icy self has been in my crevices,”I teased.

“I like your crevices,”he said, the smirk evident in his voice.“I get stuck in there a lot.”

“You don’t hear me complaining. Do you think I could make a pouch for the baby if they turned into an element?”I asked him.

“Maybe if they’re stone or earthy,”Xav said.“I get you want to prepare for all possibilities but there is a pretty good chance that our baby won’t turn into a ball of anything besides scales.”

“What do you think hatchlings do? Roll around like rollie-pollies?”

“I dunno. If I was a dragon and the right shaped sort, I might,”he laughed.“What? It would probably be fun.”

A few hours later, we met up in the topmost room of the house, designed to be the nesting room. It had big almost ‘garage style’ doors that opened up to allow a fully grown dragon to fly in and out. Xav had managed to put together the nest but the whole room smelled suspiciously like ash and ice. Not only his scent but the literal items themselves. The whole nest was covered in a soft plushie material that seemed to be piled up to form padding everywhere it was exposed to the air.

“Did it catch on fire while you were building it?” I asked him from the doorway.

“No, I just burnt some of the parts together to make them sturdier. The whole thing is encased in forever ice. It’ll stay nice and warm,” he said, motioning for me to try it out.

“Encased in ice and warm?” I blinked.

“Come on. Trust me. Have I frozen you to death yet, mate?” he said and flashed me that smile I couldn’t resist.

So, into the icy nest I went. Only he was right. Whatever the padding was, it blocked out the chill of the ice. It was toasty to the touch.

“It’s stuffed with the good ash stuff,” he said.

“Good ash stuff?”

“The stuff that comes off my fire. It stays warm forever, but the actual fire is all burnt out of it, so it won’t burn or spark embers,” he explained, climbing into the nest behind me. “To be honest, I’ve thought about this since our night in that cave. Building a nest is important dragon business and while I knew the basics I wasn’t sure how to make it good enough for you. I had a lot of time to plan things out while you napped during your heat cycle too. You’re my favorite dragon in the world. You deserve a one of a kind nest that only I can give you.”

I blinked back tears. I’d survived most of my carrying time so far without gaining much weight or becoming too hormonal but this man was going to be my undoing. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into him. I leaned against him, reveling in how strong his muscles felt against me. With Daliah off living her own life, Duke on the other side of the world, and Dad and Teddy on a different planet – all while I was on Earthside, for a long time it felt like no one had my back. It felt like I was on a dinghy at sea with nothing but my wits and charm to fight off the sharks and krakens.

“You’re not alone anymore, mate. Even if they all run away to do whatever with their lives, you’ll never be alone again,” Xav whispered to me. “I’ll be right by your side no matter what.”

“That’s why I’m crying,” I said, blinking fast again. “It’s always felt like I’m just another dragon. Just another one of my sire’s kids. Just another Moonscale. But with you sometimes you make me feel like I’m the only one in the world that you see.”

“Sometimes you are,” he shrugged. “You’re the only one for me, Sequin. You’re the only one I can imagine spending the rest of my life with. You’re the only one who knows me – all of me and that’s not something I’ve ever been able to let anyone else do. Anywhere except my home world my magic is strange, but I can just be ice and chill with you while you scroll on your phone or sew or whatever.”

“I like when you do that. I like it even more now that we have our link open. It’s like you breathe easier when you’re ice.”

“I do but this form has its advantages too. This form lets me hold onto you and wipe away your tears,” he said, doing both of those things. “It let us make our baby.” Xav slid his hands down onto my belly. “Heck, without it I don’t think we could’ve met at all. So, I’m both fleshy elf and icy mist and sometimes other things.”

“You’re Xav,” I grinned and leaned up for a kiss.

It started as a long, slow kiss as most of ours did. Then his hands cradled my face, and I knew I was a goner. Even without pregnancy hormones egging me on, that move always made me melt into putty in his hands. I leaned against him, deepening the kiss and sucking his tongue into my mouth. He tasted like vanilla and ice-covered ash. My dragon loved it. It was as if he ate candy fire for every snack.

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