“Samuel!” Rob shouted as we circled the house, heading in different directions.
“I’m here,” I heard Samuel say calmly. My eyebrows bunched as I realized our omega spoke too calmly.
We both gasped as we found Samuel pacing in a four-foot line back and forth, holding his tea with one hand and his back with the other.
“Sweetheart, let’s get you to Malinda’s. You’re in labor. I smell it. I can practically smell the baby.”
Samuel walked over and put his hand gently on Rob’s arm. “It’s going to be okay. I can do this by myself. I’ve seen it. I will deliver our child over there.” He pointed in the direction of the grove where we first shifted together, where we almost took our omega for the first time.
“Tell us what to do to help you,” I offered, not knowing what would happen next but also trusting the visions of our gifted mate.
“Right now, I just need to walk. You can hold my hand. I know you’re both nervous.”
I looked over at Rob who took the cuppa from Samuel’s hand and threw it behind him. It shattered on the ground.
“Hey, that was my favorite cup,” Samuel fake-whined, pouting with his lip out.
“I’ll buy you a whole damned set of cups.” Rob took Samuel’s hand first, and they crossed the same path over and over, Samuel’s gaze on the grove the whole time. His skin glowed, not golden unicorn glowed, but gleamed with health and vitality. I leaned against the house, satisfied in that moment to take in this memory and let it seep down deep to keep forever. My mates, hand in hand, one breathing slowly while the other shot me nervous smiles for what was to come. Our family of three would soon be four, and hopefully more. This was the beginning of everything we’d wanted all along.
Rob rubbed Samuel’s back as they strolled until Samuel stopped and the pain on his face made me rush to him.
“What can I do? This is torture.”
Samuel laughed hard, holding his belly. “I’m about to have a baby come out of my…and you’re being tortured? Please.”
It was so wrong that I was turned on by his snarkiness, but also so right.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I just feel helpless,” I said, looking down at our babe in his stomach.
Our omega reached up and put his hands on either side of my face and kissed me gently. “We’re all helpless this time, Sasha. Move with the tide. That’s all you can do.”
Sometimes our Samuel knew just what to say to me.
A noise from the other side of the house alerted us, and Rob and I flanked Samuel to protect him from whatever it was. Seconds later, his grandmother came around the corner with the biggest smile on her face and, in her hands, bags of what looked like groceries.
“I know I can’t help, but I’ll be right in the kitchen, doing what I do best. You all will need some food after the birth and in the next few weeks.” She came closer and I moved to give her room. She whispered some encouraging words to Samuel then kissed him on the forehead. He told her that everything would be okay then she repeated the process with Rob and me, leaving us feeling even more like a family, complete with a grandma in the kitchen making pies.
“It’s time to go,” Samuel cooed, after we were alone again.
“I don’t care if you want to walk. It’s not happening.” While the grove was within walking distance, my lion just wasn’t having any of Samuel making the trek when I could easily take on the task for him. It was the very least I could do.
I scooped him up in my arms and the three of us walked to where the sun shone down onto our little patch of happiness.
“Here. Let me down here. It’s happening.”
I set Samuel on his feet slowly while Rob helped, making sure we didn’t jar anything around.
“Are you sure we can’t get Malinda?” Rob chewed on his thumb nail, now holding onto my waist with the other hand for dear life.
“This is all me, my loves,” Samuel murmured then shucked his boxers right there in the rays of the sun and crouched down. Eventually, he got down on his hands and knees. His pelvis moved as he pushed and strained. I cringed with every push. I sat behind him, ready to catch our babe since Rob looked particularly white all of the sudden and hadn’t moved an inch.
“Is that…is that the head?” Rob asked as Samuel pushed one final time, and, just like that, our baby was born, his mini horn on top of his beautiful human head and all. Unicorn babies were strange and perfect and magical all rolled into one.
And Rob was on the ground, passed out cold.
Such a tough male.
“You did it, Samuel. Look at him.”
Samuel turned slowly and laid down on the grass, arms outstretched for his trophy. I didn’t know his name and he’d only been in my life for seconds, but already my lion heart belonged to that little squirming, crying being.
“In the woods. In the grass. Like animals. Figures.” Malinda was a few feet away, hands on hips, pissed as a witch.
I shot her my best shut-up-we’re-having-a-moment look before trying to wake up Rob.
“Rob, we have a baby. You might want to get off the ground.” I shook him a little, and he finally came to, moaning more than Samuel did giving birth.
We both surrounded Samuel and helped him sit up with the baby who had taken to his nipple like he was starving. His dark hair reminded me of Rob while the dimple in his chin was clearly my omega’s.
“He has your eye color. Don’t worry,” Samuel reassured me though I hadn’t spoken a word.
“Let’s get them inside. Clean up the baby and get Samuel settled.”
We agreed and, this time, Rob was back to himself again. He picked up Samuel, who had yet to let go of the babe who had yet to let go of his daddy’s breast, and I followed my family and Malinda into the house.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rob
Two months into our lives with Baby Saber…
From the moment he was born, little Saber was the center of our universe. For the first week, I don’t think he even touched down in his beautiful crib. We hovered over him, whoever held him in the middle, the others flanking the lucky baby holder. Guests came, everyone from the shower, our good red dragon stopped by with Emerson in tow, on their way to see a Disney movie. She clung to his hand like he was her best friend or her dad, and we three exchanged knowing looks. That little unicorn had a dragon in her pocket.
Samuel’s gram checked on us hourly, finally spending more time in her apartment over the garage than at Malinda’s. After all, the witch/midwife was at our place, too. And at first, we were okay with all the extra help, the advice, the pies…but by about day ten, we’d longed for the peace of just our little family and Sasha made like the lion he was and took charge. I was pretty bossy most of the time, but it secretly tickled me to be mated to a strong alpha like him. He chased out the friends and neighbors and helpful grandmotherly types, in such a classy way they left without feeling rejected.
We just needed time to be us, and so we were, for several weeks of amazing daddy, daddy, daddy and baby time. While Samuel loved nursing our little one, he pumped, too, claiming it was so he could get some uninterrupted sleep, but we knew it was so we could share in the joy of feeding our child—alphas really needed to provide for their families, and we were no exception. We also fed Samuel until he begged us to stop. It seemed his appetite had eased off once he stopped growing a baby, even though he was still providing sustenance for it.
Saber was a happy baby who gurgled and cooed at us almost from day one. He was charming, a good eater, and a champion pooper. And he never slept—or so it seemed to us. We’d thought three of us could manage one little baby, but, at the moment, we sat in a row on the sofa while Saber cat napped, trying to be as quiet as possible.
“I think we need a babysitter,” I announced, ending on a yawn. “It’s time we had a little mate-on-mate-on-mate time.”
“Not yet,” Samuel begged. “Saber is so little and he changes every minute. We might miss something.”
&nb
sp; I met Sasha’s gaze over Samuel’s head. “It’s time.” We’d discussed it the night before, while Samuel lay sacked out on the couch with the equally sleeping baby sacked out on his chest. “We need to complete the mating process, and we can’t do that with a baby wailing in the background.”
“Why would he be wailing?” Shut up, lion! “Is he okay?”
I cast him my best glare, but the only thing that could bring the former mercenary to his knees was our little Saber. “I mean he might get hungry or need a fresh diaper. And we will be busy mating, so the responsible thing to do is send him to Malinda’s for the evening.”
“I don’t know…” Sasha wrung his hands. “I want to mate, really want to move on to our next stage, but Samuel might be worried. Maybe we should wait another few weeks until the baby is older.”
I stifled a sigh. “Or until he goes to college?” Sure, I hated him being far from us, as in farther than where we could grab him without even standing up, but… “Malinda’s is the best warded place in the state, maybe the world, and we don’t want to be the kind of parents who cling, who wrap our son in bubble wrap, do we?” Although if I thought it would keep him safe, I’d buy a bubble-wrap factory.
Sasha growled deep in his throat. “Our son will be a warrior.”
“Yes, but not unless we let him spread his wings a little.”
“But think of Samuel. He won’t want—”
“Let’s go!”
Samuel stood in the doorway, diaper bags slung over his shoulders, stuffed animals under his arms, ice chest no doubt stocked with expressed milk dangling from one hand and baby carrier in the other.
I bit my lip, suppressing amusement. “I’ll grab my keys.” Looked like our unicorn was ready to mate.
Despite driving as carefully as if we had a load of dynamite that could blow if we went over a pebble on the way to Malinda’s, we broke every speed law on the way back. Baby Saber was in good hands with Malinda, Samuel’s gram who had ridden down with us, and Emerson. Not to mention a cast of town characters, all of whom would be carefully screened by our midwife for the slightest sniffle before being permitted into Saber’s royal presence.
We had briefly considered just sending the baby to Gram’s apartment on our property but mating is not a quiet activity.
Samuel bounced between us in the front seat of the truck. On the way down, he’d ridden with the baby in back, of course, but now he was a danger to others on the road, hugging and kissing us in turn and groping places Sasha—who had the wheel—and I could not ignore. Finally, after several warnings and a swerve too close to the edge of the road, I yanked him into my lap, flipped him over, and wrestled his jeans, which he’d just managed to fit back into, down to bare his buns.
“Hey.” He flailed, but I pinned his legs down with one of mine and rested my palm on the vulnerable cheeks. “What are you doing?”
“Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.” I lifted my hand and gave a sharp smack, not at all sorry to hear him groan. “Although I thought it would be more a fun, erotic type of spanking, this one is to settle you the heck down.” I spanked again, and he jerked, but his erect dick told another story.
Sasha steered around the last bend before the cabin and pulled into the driveway. “We’re home.”
“You go on in and get everything ready.” I winked at him. “I will finish up here.”
“I’m only amazed you’ve never spanked him before.” He patted our mate’s bare cheek. “Rob is a big spanking fan, you know.”
“I know now,” Samuel squeaked.
“I never did before because he was first too shaky with us and then, quickly, pregnant. But now all bets are off.”
“I’ll be inside. Have at it, mates.” His chuckle might have been a little mean, but it was a lot sexy. Our lion had a voyeuristic instinct that I’d definitely cater to another day. But this was between Samuel and me.
Working his jeans to his knees, I bared the playing field and waited until the door closed behind Sasha. “Now, you’re going to take ten more and calm down. When we go inside, it’s to a sacred space.”
He bucked. “I am fine now. Honest. Let’s go, mate.”
I might have bought it if not for the upswing at the end of his words and the fine quiver rippling through his muscles. “No, you’re not fine. You’re overexcited and wound for sound. There are lots of reasons for spanking. Fun. Punishment. This one is to center you. Okay, ready?”
He drooped on my lap, still trembling a bit but no longer fighting me.”
“All right. Go ahead.”
“That’s my brave unicorn.” I looked forward to introducing him to the joys of erotic spanking in the near future, but for now, his acquiescence was enough. That and the twitching erection butting my thigh. We were going to step into the most sacred of times between mates as well as the most intense moment we’d shared so far. Sure, our baby was incredible, but this was just us. Cementing a bond that would last far longer than most humans lived.
Drawing a deep breath, I lifted my hand and smacked, hard, leaving a print across both buns. He grunted but didn’t try to get away. I spanked again, and again, and when I got to five his hands flew back to cover the reddening area.
“Don’t do that, Samuel. Spanking 101. Your bottom can take it. Your hands could be harmed.” Grasping his wrists, I moved his arms out of the danger zone, pinning his hands at the small of his back. “Can you keep them there, or do I need to hold on?”
He whimpered then cleared his throat. “Would it be okay if you held them?”
“Yes.” I rubbed his printed cheeks with my free hand. “It’s okay. Five to go. Ready?” He no longer shook. My instinct about his care had been correct.
“As I’ll ever be,” he quipped, the snark back in his tone.
“Count ’em off, then.”
Smack. “One.”
Smack. On his sit spot this time, a more sensitive area that drew a gasp before he said, “Two.”
Smack. “T-three.”
Smack. “Four.”
The fifth one, was more a caress. But he dutifully counted off, “Five,” before bursting into tears.
I gathered him in my arms, and he buried his face in my chest, crying as if his heart would break, as if a dam burst. His counselor had warned us he was still holding in a lot of emotion, and I certainly knew a spanking could be a catalyst for some people, but his reaction this time startled me. Usually, it took a lot more stimulus than ten open-handed swats.
Stroking his back, I cuddled him, murmuring nonsense, hoping I hadn’t opened a can of worms I was not qualified to deal with. Maybe we needed to call off the mating for tonight and instead see if the counselor could fit him in. Guilt climbed my spine. I’d never spanked someone who’d been enslaved before. Sure, it helped a lot of people to release emotion, but this? How could I explain to Sasha I’d broken our mate?
Damn.
And the baby! He needed his daddy. Glimpses of his pain had emerged at odd times, but he’d never broken down like this. He’d probably been beaten. What was I thinking? Maybe I should just go back to the city and leave a family a beast like me didn’t deserve…
After an eternity, great gulping sobs slowed to hiccupping sighs and a few sniffles. My guilt grew, while I stroked his back and continued to murmur to him then finally he wiped his face in my flannel shirt and leaned back to look up at me.
I parted my lips to apologize, to offer to leave, to get him help, but to my shock, a slow smile lit up his face. “Wow,” he said, exhaling a long, smooth breath. “We need to add that to my therapy. I feel so good. Cleaned, relaxed…and horny. Is it time to mate now?”
The little fiend. Looked like I had a closet spanko on my hands.
I kissed him, hard, thoroughly, putting all my doubts, my relief, and my love into the contact. No telling where things would have gone from there, but a rap on the window broke us apart.
“Hey, you guys coming in anytime tonight? We are supposed to pick up the baby
in a few hours and mating takes time.”
Our laughter scared the birds from the trees as the three of us linked arms and headed for the front door and the ceremony that would bond us forever.
Love filled my heart to bursting.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Samuel
As I marched out of the truck to the waiting arms of Sasha, every brush of the denim reminded me of where Rob’s hand had marked me. I knew wolves were big into leaving marks, and I always thought them a little crazy. I finally got it. Wearing the red on my ass, the red he’d put there, tapped into a side of me that nothing ever had before.
“So he held my wrists in there.” I kissed Sasha’s cheek. “We might want to explore that—the restraint part.” And with that, I stepped out of his arms and into the bedroom, stripping my clothing as we did.
I knew they had been gentle with me, first because I was newly freed and they were afraid to break me. Then because they knocked me up and were afraid to break me. But there was no reason to fear breaking me anymore, and, from the way Rob let his hand work its magic on my ass, I had a feeling they were on the cusp of figuring that out.
I was blissfully naked when my men walked in, both of them slack jawed and their jeans very tight. Just the way I liked them.
I’d wanted them to mate me for freaking ever and had resorted to begging on more than one occasion, knowing they hadn’t taken me up on my desires simply for fear that they were somehow pushing me. They were wrong. I was ready. So ready I was about to burst.
“You seemed to have missed the memo that this was a naked event.” I tsked, waggling my finger at them. “I suggest you remedy that.”
“I think he liked being spanked,” Sasha scoffed as he yanked Rob’s shirt up and over his head.
“I imagine you’re right. We may need to repeat that again sometime.” He removed Sasha’s shirt slowly, and my hand found my aching cock. Just hearing the possibility of another spanking had me envisioning all sorts of naughty possibilities. Their bare chests all muscles, with two little rings on Rob’s nipples and that sexy-as-heck happy trail on Sasha only adding fuel to that creative fire.
The Lion, the Dragon, and Their Unicorn Omega: An MM Mpreg Shifter Romance (The Unicorn Omegas Book 2) Page 13