“Are you going to keep the baby from him?”
Frost gasped and shook her head until she felt a bit dizzy. “No, he’s the father. I would never do that. Even if he doesn’t want me, he’ll want him.” She choked on the last word and rubbed gentle circles on her belly.
Liv nodded, satisfied. “Although it’s been two weeks, he seems bigger than a normal baby, almost like he’s months old instead of weeks. May I lift your shirt?”
Frost nodded. But before Liv could move her shirt out of the way, the front door crashed against the wall and she flinched at the sound. Xander stomped through the entrance into the living room where they were sitting and stood in front of her. His eyes were both full of fear and anger, the anger currently winning over the other.
She lowered her head onto her hand and rubbed at her brow, groaning aloud. Fuck. She then remembered her promise not to leave Xander again.
Steeling herself, she glanced up and prepared herself for whatever he wanted to say to her. The anger that radiated from him had her moving her hands to the front of her belly, holding her little man protectively.
Xander paused and closed his mouth. His eyes followed her hands as they rubbed against her stomach. She watched as his eyes widened as he spotted the baby bump for the first time since he walked in. When he blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair, all the anger and fear that marred his face when he arrived disappeared in an instant.
“Are you pregnant?”
She gritted her teeth as a pain that she didn’t know she could ever feel and still be alive ripped through her chest. He sounded less than happy at his realization and she braced herself for the actual rejection that was coming. “Yes.”
It completely shocked her when he dropped straight to his knees in front of her and wrapped his arms around her. He buried his head against her chest. He squeezed her close to him, but she had no idea what this meant.
She sensed more than heard Kai and Liv exit the room, but she continued to sit there on the couch. She was stunned by Xander’s reaction and as she tried to figure out what it meant, her mind kept blanking on the possibilities. Warmed by the embrace, she wanted to lean into him and hold him, but she held herself stiffly, prepared for anything he might say, whether hurtful or not.
After a long while, Xander raised his head and captured her lips in a kiss that wasn’t rushed, but instead was sweet and loving.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” His ragged voice reached her ears and she found herself sinking into his arms. His hold tightened as he continued. “I’ve always been cautious, it’s my nature, but I should have told you how I felt from the moment I brought you home.”
“How…” Her voice broke and she had to start again. “How do you feel?”
“I love you. I will always love you, for the rest of my existence. I wanted to claim you so many times, but my practical side kicked in and I knew I had to talk to you about what it meant, and it scared me to think that the knowledge would drive you away. But I did that with my stupidity. When I claim you, you will always carry my mark on you, and I want you to claim me as well. It means that I will kill for you, sacrifice my life for you. As long as you’re happy and whole, I will be happy, because you are my life now.”
His eyes were pleading as he looked at her, and she shook herself out of her stupor.
“I love you, too, Xander. I felt it the moment you came into my life.”
For a long time, they held each other’s gazes as he caressed her face. He kissed her and when he pulled back, he glanced down, but not before she spotted the sheer happiness on his face at the thought of a baby.
“Can I…touch…”
She grunted her displeasure at him asking in the first place and grabbed his wrists, yanking up her shirt with one hand and moving his opened hands over her belly.
Xander’s face lit up and she knew that he’d felt the same connection to their little man when he touched her. She could feel the vibration in her belly, a little bit like a burst of happiness, before it settled down into a hum.
“You’ve given me more than I could have ever expected. The moment you came into my life, you gave me a sense of peace I’ve never known, and a love that I could hardly believe I could find. But more than our connection, we share our baby. I promise, I will never hold anything back from you again.”
“I know.” Frost smiled and leaned forward to kiss him, a small touch of reassurance. “Are you going to claim me now?”
“Yes. That means our connection will be unbreakable.”
“But I’m…I haven’t shifted yet. What if I’m damaged in some way?”
“Every immortal is different. There is no normal. None of the immortals remember their transitions or much about the first few weeks after. You can’t compare shifters to other shifters, much less shifters to vampires. Take Ara. She’s brilliant with her telekinesis, which grew stronger after she transitioned, but it takes her close to twenty minutes to shift completely. Liv would rather heal than hurt, and each time Kai or the others go out on assignment, she’s a wreck. Aubrey had been a vampire of ten years before she met Seth and knew nothing about other immortals until she met us.
“You are who you are, sweetheart. Whether you shift or not, I’m in love with you and from now on, I will show you every day. Never taking you for granted.”
Tears pricked her eyes and she nodded. She blew out a breath and wrapped Xander in a hug. Once her tears dried, she pulled back and watched as Xander stood, offering his hand.
“We should have Liv look you over.”
She nodded and took his hand, smiling when he pulled her close.
“Please, don’t ever leave me again. If I’m being dense or a dumbass, just punch me in the face. Trust me, it would be less painful.”
Her cheeks heated with embarrassment and she nodded. “I promise. I won’t ever leave you.”
Chapter Nine
Xander
Xander opened the door and groaned aloud when several voices drifted up to them.
Over the years since Liv had gotten her own lab, Kai and Ghost had added medical equipment and a triage section, so she could fix any odd injuries from an assignment. Liv had also self-trained, reading as many medical journals and any information she could find and even studied with a doctor to obtain emergency medical experience, detailed anatomy lessons, and tips that she couldn’t glean from a book. It was enough knowledge that she could perform surgeries with skill.
She had said that the more she understood human anatomy and their blood on a cellular level, then she could solve the differences between humans and immortals, and yet, the answers still eluded her.
Xander turned to Frost and watched as she smiled back at him. She had grown close to the others over the past few weeks, especially when he’d been researching code from breaking into computer systems. He loved how they welcomed her as though she’d always been a part of them.
She led the way downstairs, and he could tell when she had been spotted because Jade squealed a second before Frost was enveloped in a tight hug. Frost chuckled and hugged her back.
Jade ushered Frost to the exam table and easily lifted her up on it, treating her as if she were the most delicate being. Xander moved when Frost had, and stood by the table and reached for her hand.
Liv, impatient to know more, pushed everyone out of the way and came to stand in front of the two nervous parents.
“May I?”
When Frost nodded, Liv uncovered her stomach and there was a collective gasp from around the room. His gaze was on his mate’s swollen belly.
How had I missed this?
Several emotions ran through him, but nothing as prominent as how proud he was of his mate. He leaned down to kiss her, needing the connection.
“Are you happy?”
“More than I’ve ever been in my life. I’m so glad I finally found you,” he admitted.
The next few minutes were a whirlwind. Liv drew her blood and set Frost up to perform an ultrasou
nd.
The room grew silent as Liv adjusted the picture of the baby on the monitor. They all stared as the barely developed feet and hands of the baby came into focus. Xander felt his heart beat hard in his chest at the sight and pressed a kiss to Frost’s forehead, keeping his eyes on the image the entire time.
Although they could hear the faint sound with their enhanced hearing, Liv turned on the sound and their baby’s heartbeat echoed throughout the lab as everyone gathered around the monitor. None of the immortals had ever believed that a baby was possible. Hell, Xander hadn’t even thought about protection whenever they made love, but he would forever feel a flare of happiness knowing that he’d been a part of bringing this little being into this world.
After checking and double-checking, Liv glanced up and met Frost’s gaze. “You’re about eight weeks along.”
“When will he be due?”
Liv patted her hand and Frost melted against him, relaxing at the vampire’s reassurance.
“It’s only a guess. But since you were already a half-shifter, your pregnancy schedule will be similar to a snow leopard’s gestation cycle, so your little boy will be born in three and a half months.”
Xander’s eyes widened and he turned to look at Frost. Most parents had much more time to prepare for a baby, but that didn’t bother him. He knew Frost would make a great mom and he would try to be a great dad, but he was curious about something else.
“We’re having a boy?”
“I don’t know for sure. But I have a sense that our baby is a boy, yes.”
He couldn’t keep the goofy smile off his face. Until Frost gasped and turned to Liv, gripping the vampire’s forearms and pulling her closer.
“What does this accelerated growth mean for him?”
Liv smiled in reassurance. “He will be perfectly fine. I estimate that he’ll be similar to Reaper and Xander. Bitten before they had become adults and they developed normally until they became of age. For some reason, when the shifter becomes an adult, the stasis takes over and they don’t age beyond that moment. He will grow up like any other baby and will be as immortal as the rest of them, but his full stasis won’t kick in until he’s of age.”
They both relaxed at the news.
Xander wasn’t the first to sense the sun starting to rise, but he knew that the vampires would need to retire soon. He wanted to take Frost home and download all the books on pregnancy he could find, even though their little man wasn’t going to arrive on a human timeline. He still needed any information he could get.
“Are you showing any other physical symptoms linked to pregnancy?” Liv asked.
What symptoms?
I had to pee, a lot, for the past two nights. Didn’t you notice that I got out of bed every two hours?
Yeah, but you always came back. Until tonight, but I didn’t think much about it.
Frost laughed, her nose wrinkled at him. He found it endearing.
“What symptoms?”
“Sore breasts?”
Frost shook her head.
“Fatigue?”
“Nothing serious.”
“Morning sickness?”
Frost flinched but shook her head.
“Heightened sense of smell?”
“Don’t think so. But I’m new to this shifter thing.”
“Cramps that spread out from your stomach?”
“Nope.”
“Strange dreams?”
“Nah.”
“Spotting?”
“No.”
Frost glanced at him and he turned his full attention to her. I have been increasingly horny.
And with that, he picked her up and started up the stairs.
Liv’s voice carried up to them when he had her halfway up the stairs. “Where are you going?”
“We’ll be back over tonight.” Xander paused for a moment before a question popped into his head. “Will claiming Frost do anything to harm her or the baby?”
“No. She already transitioned.”
“What about sex? Is it safe for her?”
Axel chuckled before the others joined in, but he smiled when Frost giggled against his chest.
“Yes, perfectly healthy.”
“Thanks. Later.”
Xander ran home faster than he ever thought possible, with Frost laughing the entire way home.
Chapter Ten
Xander
Xander unlocked the door and carried Frost through, making sure to lock the door and arm the system. He started toward the stairs and up to their bedroom. Her moan stopped him on the first step as her arousal struck him and he glanced down at her.
Her eyes flashed with desire and her hands fisted the shirt he had hastily donned when he realized that Frost wasn’t asleep next to him, or anywhere in the house for that matter. He knew that her desire matched his own, and now he was free to express his feelings without his own strict restrictions.
She tilted her head toward the solid oak dining room table. “Now, Xander. I can’t wait.”
He nodded, shifting her to one arm so he could reach for two couch pillows, before making his way the short distance. He sucked in a harsh breath when her mouth latched onto his neck and marked his skin with teasing bites and heavy suction. Something about the action made his body heat and his cock press harder against the front panel of his jeans, the denim uncomfortable against his bare skin. When he reached the table, making sure that he didn’t trip over his own feet from the overwhelming sensations rippling through his body at her touch, he laid the pillows on the table. He lowered Frost down until both her head and her hips were cushioned against the softness.
But it seemed gentle wasn’t what his mate was after.
Frost reached for him at the same time she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer. “If you don’t rip off my clothes and slide your cock deep inside me in the next thirty seconds, I will fuck you on the kitchen floor.”
Xander, sensing that her need had flared during the short distance they’d traveled, did exactly as she asked. It took only a few seconds after she growled for him to make quick work of her clothes. He rubbed his thumb over her clit before moving it lower, finding her wet heat coating his digit. Unable to stay away from her heat, he sank his thumb inside her and growled when she clenched against his flesh. When he removed his slick thumb, he sucked her sweetness off before his hands opened on her hips and pulled her closer. He lined his cock up with her entrance and pressed deep inside, savoring the entire experience, until he was fully seated inside her. His chest heaved with deep breaths and he closed his eyes for a moment, loving that his mate could bring him to the brink with little else than a demand.
He started to thrust at a pace that had her growl at him in frustration, but she felt so good clenched around his cock, preventing him from moving more than several inches at a time.
Frost clawed at his back and drove her hips up to meet his, riding his cock, until she pinned him with her bright blue-green gaze, and he lost all control. His next thrust rattled the table underneath them as the low, nearly obscene moan escaped from her lips. The sound encouraged him to drive harder into her tight, hot pussy and he reached for the edge of the table, giving him enough leverage to hit the exact spot she needed.
He was taken by surprise when her first orgasm struck. She clenched down on his cock so hard that he had to close his eyes and concentrated on his breathing to prevent his impending orgasm from overwhelming him. The mewls and curses that escaped her throat had him clutching the table harder, listening to the creak of the wood under his hands.
The slight pinch from her nails digging into his back sent pleasure straight to his cock and he jumped inside her, drawing another moan from deep in her throat. When she relaxed and slumped back on the table, he shifted his hips back and groaned as she moved her hands to clutch his forearms, pressing her hips up to meet every one of his thrusts. She released the sexiest fucking sound he’d ever heard and he wanted to draw that sound from her for the r
est of their existence.
“More, Xander. Fuck me.”
He still held back, gentling his thrusts as he resumed. He noticed that her entire body was shaking, and he didn’t want to do anything that would hurt her.
“Harder. Take me hard.”
Xander trusted Frost to tell him if he was too rough and he didn’t have enough strength to hold back any longer. With his next thrust, he held her hips steady and drove into her until he felt completely absorbed by her. He loved that she clawed his skin and screamed his name as he continued his relentless pounding. He lost himself in the sensations that only his mate, the woman he truly loved, drew from him.
Not relenting, his hips drove forward until she threw her head back and screamed his name. Her second orgasm ripped through her body. Unable to hold off any longer, he closed his eyes and savored the pulsing of his cock deep inside her; he let go and followed her into blissful oblivion.
It took him several minutes to come back to reality and the first thing he spotted was her exposed neck. Her muscles had gone limp and he smiled as he watched her chest heave up and down with deep breaths. He was still burrowed deep inside her, so when he leaned forward and took a long lick where her neck curved near the collarbone, she moaned and clamped down on his still hard cock.
His teeth elongated without a thought, and he bit down, expelling his venom deep in her system. The act drew another long moan from her throat as she clutched him closer. When he felt his venom slow, he readied himself to extract his teeth and lick the wound closed, but Frost tensed and he felt her orgasm wash over his cock as she released for the third time.
Moaning, he removed his teeth slowly and licked the wound closed, before he gathered her into his arms. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
“I’m perfect.” Her words were slurred with sleep and she burrowed her face closer to his neck.
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