Page 36 of Orange Spell
It looked like he was done waiting.
Alaina stepped aside to let Marlin in.She and Curran glanced at each other, and even though she didn’t say anything, Curran knew what she was thinking.
Both of his mothers had become even more protective of him since they’d found out he was pregnant.He didn’t blame them, but he was annoyed.They didn’t have to protect him from Marlin.Marlin would never hurt him.
“It’s fine,” he confirmed, smiling.“We’ll stay here and talk.”
“I can go do laundry.The towels need washing.”
“Or you could leave the apartment.I’ll be fine.”
She still didn’t look convinced, but he continued smiling until she sighed.
“All right.I’ll go grab some food.”
“Thank you.”He wasn’t sure he could actually do this, but he definitely didn’t want to do it with his mothers hanging around.At least Yarra wasn’t home.Curran had no doubt that she’d know that Marlin was here within seconds of Alaina leaving the apartment, though.
For the first time since Curran could remember, Marlin looked nervous.He stood to the side, shuffling his feet and looking like he was about to run as they waited for Alaina to leave.She took her time, glancing at Curran every so often until he glared at her.
“I’ll be back soon,” she promised.
“Not too soon.We have a lot to talk about.”Which was unfortunate because Curran wasn’t sure he was ready to talk about any of it.He’d promised Marlin that they would, and he realized that they had to, but every time he thought about what Marlin’s conditions would be, he started panicking.He wasn’t ready for Marlin to tell him that they wouldn’t be together.He knew it, but he wasn’t looking forward to hearing it from Marlin’s lips.
That was why he started talking about something that had nothing to do with him and Marlin as soon as the door closed behind Alaina.“I haven’t heard from Pearl again.She hadn’t stopped me in the dining hall or the hallways.Do you know what she’s up to?”
If Marlin was surprised by the topic of conversation, he didn’t show it.“No, I haven’t heard anything.I’m not surprised that she hasn’t contacted you again, though.She’ll want to give you space to think about what she said.”
“She can’t really believe that my brother would hurt me or that I’m afraid of him.”
“I don’t know what she believes beyond that she’d be a better leader for our clan than her brother.”
“Which is bullshit.”
“I agree.You don’t have to worry about Pearl, though.If she tries talking to you again, just do what you did last time—go along with it and come to me as soon as she leaves.”
Marlin moved closer.He was slow and steady, as if afraid to spook Curran.He wasn’t wrong to feel that way because Curran felt like he might bolt at any second.He wasn’t ready for the conversation.
The problem was that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be ready.
Marlin dropped on the couch next to Curran.He was careful not to touch Curran, which was annoying considering why they were here.They’d done enough touching to get Curran pregnant, for fuck’s sake.Why was Marlin behaving as if Curran was a scared virgin?
Probably because what had happened that night was never going to happen again.It wasn’t the kind of relationship they had, and it wasn’t the way they usually touched each other.Hell, they usually didn’t spend a lot of time together at all.
“You know I’m not here to talk about Pearl,” Marlin said gently.
It was that gentleness that broke Curran.He groaned and buried his face in his hands.“I know.”
“We can wait a little while longer if you’re not ready, but we’re going to have to talk about this eventually.We’ll definitely have to talk about it before you lay the egg.”
Curran peeked at Marlin.His expression was soft, and it made Curran want to throw up and kiss him at the same time.No dragon should be as perfect as Marlin was.
Not that he was actually perfect.Curran knew him well enough to know all of his flaws, but he still loved him.He was starting to think that he always would.
Which was a problem.
“I know we have to talk about it,” Curran said.“I know I promised we would do so after you gave me a few days.It just feels like too much, you know?”
“I do understand.I’m not carrying the egg, but I never expected to become a father.I still don’t know how to feel about it beyond being happy I’ll have a child withyou, but this isn’t something we can deal with when it happens.We need to deal with it now, before it does, and decide if you want me there when you lay the egg.We should also agree on who’s going to have the baby and when.I assume that you won’t want to leave this apartment since your mothers will help, but I want to be part of the baby’s life, and I don’t want to only be there when you need me.I always want to be present for the two of you and help however I can, but it’s more than that.I don’t want to miss one second of any of it.”
