by J. R Fox
In the six months since Aiden and David had escaped the circus and moved into their mountain cabin, they had settled into a pleasant routine of quiet domesticity, and happiness had followed. Pregnancy was exhausting, and David was grateful for the peace and quiet of their serene lifestyle while he dealt with the stress of carrying a child. Aiden enjoyed the freedom to stretch his dragon wings without being noticed.
David’s major concern in the beginning was the distance from their home to the nearest hospital, and finding a good obstetrician to deliver the baby when the time came. That’s when Aiden revealed another surprise: dragon pregnancies are only six months long. Going to a regular doctor would raise lots of questions it would be best to avoid. Being who – and what – he was, Aiden naturally knew doctors who were familiar with dragon birthing (and who made house calls). David was wary at first, but Dr. Parks had finally won him over. Now all he had to do was wait.
“Honey, can you get me some more hot chocolate? Oh! And a corn dog?” David sat with his feet up on an ottoman, reading through a book of baby names. “And don’t give me that look.”
Aiden raised his hands in defense. “What look?”
“You know, that eye roll thing you do,” David said without taking his eyes off his book. “I’m the one putting on weight, dealing with nausea and nonstop hunger at the same time, nursing achy feet, and going through some crazy hormonal stuff. You got to have all the fun, seducing me and taking my innocence. The least you can do is get me some more liquid chocolate.”
“Hold on,” Aiden said. “What do you mean I took your innocence?” His eyes widened. “Were you a virgin?”
“What difference would it make if I was?” David asked with a grin.
Aiden sighed. “I’m going to get your hot chocolate.”
When Aiden returned with the chocolate, he kissed David on the forehead and disappeared down the hall. He reappeared a few minutes later, took the baby book from David’s hands, and led him toward the bathroom. David’s hormones told him he was annoyed for being interrupted, but his curiosity had him up and waddling behind Aiden without complaint. The bathroom lights were off, and the only illumination came from the dozens of candles Aiden had placed around the room. He had drawn David a bubble bath, and had soft instrumental music playing in the background.
“What’s all this?” David asked.
“Well, you talking about your body made me think you deserve to relax in a nice, hot bath. I wish I could take the ache away, but that’s in the baby’s hands.”
David grabbed Aiden’s face and kissed him soundly. “I think I’m going to keep you around.”
Aiden helped David undress and settle into the tub. “If you need anything, I’ll be right outside.” Aiden winked one green eye, which gave David’s libido a wicked nudge.
Aiden barely had time to close the door before David called. “Ai--den!” The second syllable was still echoing in the tiled room, and Aiden was back.
“Something you need?”
“Yes,” David said. “You. Please get in here.”
Aiden didn’t need any coaxing; within seconds he had stripped down and was carefully climbing into the tub behind David. As he pulled David into his arms, his hands caressed David’s rounded belly, and he kissed up and down David’s jaw.
“Were you really a virgin?” Aiden whispered in David’s ear.
“Yes. It just never felt right until you.” David turned his head, meeting Aiden in a deep kiss. Aiden slipped one hand beneath David’s stomach and wrapped it firmly around his engorged member. At the same time, he pushed his own ready cock into his lover. David moaned, pressing his backside against Aiden’s groin, and let the natural lubricant of the water ease his lover’s way even deeper into his body. They made love until the candles burned out.
David went into labor the next day, and after nine hours of screams, sweat, and tears, delivered a healthy baby girl. When David held his daughter in his arms for the first time, his felt as if his life was truly complete. Nine months ago he had thought his life was over. With no family, home, or job, and a broken relationship that took everything and gave nothing back, he had believed he had nothing to live for. But all that had changed. Now, he had everything to live for. And he couldn’t wait to get started.
“Aiden?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you pinch me?” David looked at Aiden with a deadpan expression.
Aiden pinched him.
“Ouch!” David rubbed the red spot on his arm.
“Hey, you asked me to. Daddy asked me to,” he added for the baby’s sake.
“I just needed to be sure this is real,” David said.
“It is pretty incredible. If I had known I could have had this, I would have left Cecil and his stupid circus a long time ago.”
David placed a hand on Aiden’s. “Don’t think that I’m defending the man, but we probably wouldn’t have met if it hadn’t been for Cecil.”
Aiden thought for a moment. “You would have come to another show,” he said with confidence.
David guffawed. “Oh yeah, how do you know?”
“The way you looked at me that night in the tent, under the lights with your beautiful hazel eyes, there was no way that was the last I would have seen of you. I would have searched the earth to gaze into those eyes again,” Aiden’s eyes took on a soft, dreamy look as he recalled the fond memory that was now a special part of their past. It was the first time that David had heard Aiden’s recollection of that moment, and it was more beautiful than he could have imagined it would be.
“Have you decided on a name yet?” Aiden ran his fingers through David’s hair.
“I read through so many baby books and so many ‘behind the names,’ but now that she’s here, none of the names I liked suit her.” David kissed his daughter’s red, button nose.
“How about June?” Aiden suggested,
“I love it,” David said, “but why June?”
“Because it’s the month we met.”
David looked at Aiden, at the two emerald orbs that were more than just two beautiful eyes in a handsome face. Behind the pretty facade was a man with the most beautiful spirit David had ever known. He was the father of David’s child, and the reason David felt he was free to do anything that he pleased. Aiden credited David for saving his life, but it was Aiden who had rescued David. He squeezed Aiden’s hand and felt the tears spring to his eyes.
“Hello, June,” he said to their tiny daughter.
The Dragon Omega’s Best Friend’s Baby
MM Dragon Shifter Romance
Chapter One
After a long day at work fixing other people’s, Aidan sat down in front of his own laptop eagerly the moment he got home. Someone else might have shuttered themself off from technology when they were home if they worked with it all day, but most of Aidan’s life took place online. All of his friends were internet friends, and he was eager to see what all of them—especially Eric—had been up to over the course of the day.
His emails back and forth with Eric had quickly become the highlight of his days, and he needed a friend right now. His shifts were all over the place at the moment, and the whole office had just been upgraded to a new, proprietary operating system, so the helpdesk phone had been ringing off the hook from when he’d gone in, to when he’d left. He almost felt sorry for Manny, who was going to have to deal with the next shift of confused office workers who didn’t believe in reading help files before calling him.
As soon as he saw Eric’s email, though, he perked up. He loved that he could be in constant communication with his best friend, despite the fact that they loved on opposite sides of the country.
Once he was settled in with a snack and a soda, the TV on in the background for the closest thing to actual in-person human company he ever needed, Aidan opened the email.
The first few lines were the usual pleasantries, asking about his day, that kind of thing. As always, they made Aidan grin, but it was the second para
graph that really caught his attention.
There’s a Van Gogh exhibition in the gallery for the next two months, and I know how much you love his work. I was thinking it might be a good chance for us to meet. In person. If that’s something you’d like.
Eric was head of exhibition design at a large university gallery, so he often updated Aidan on what they were bringing in. Sometimes, as an IT guy, Aidan felt silly for putting so much value in art, but Eric had never laughed at him. Eric encouraged him, happy to bring him into his world as an equal, and their friendship had blossomed because of it.
Aidan had always wanted to study painting, but he didn’t have an eye for it. Art still meant a lot to him, though, which was part of why he and Eric had started talking in the first place. That, and a shared love of terrible sci-fi movies, plus jobs and personalities that prevented them from having a lot of in-person social time.
If it’s any kind of enticement, I can offer you a personal, private, after-hours tour.
Aidan could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Was he ready to meet Eric in person? What if Eric was disappointed by him? What if they didn’t get along as well in real life as they always had on the internet?
He’d fantasized about this moment often. There was little he wanted more than to be able to sit on Eric’s couch, eating and watching TV peacefully. Aidan didn’t really have any friends offline, and while he had quite a few online, Eric was the one he was closest to by a long way. Despite the distance between them, Eric was always there with a shoulder to lean on and sympathy to give.
Eric may have been an alpha, but unlike most alphas Aidan had met, he felt as though he could talk to him. For the most part, Aidan hated the way alphas looked at and treated him as though he was something they were entitled to, someone who had no thoughts of his own besides babies and mating.
From the moment they’d met—even though Eric had known immediately that Aidan was an omega—Eric had treated him with respect. That meant a lot to Aidan. He’d never thought he could be friends with an alpha, but here he was. Eric had easily become the most important person in his life. That was all he really needed to know to make a decision, wasn’t it?
I’d love to come meet you, he started his reply. I’ll have to see when I can get some time off, but this sounds like a great plan. Are there any specific dates you were thinking of?
He finished off by telling Eric about his day, asking about Eric’s, and reminding him that they were supposed to be watching The Reanimator later tonight when it was on TV.
Aidan checked through his forums and social media, not expecting Eric’s reply to come up only ten minutes later. He must have been as nervous about asking Aidan to come see him as Aidan was about agreeing to.
No specific dates. Come for as long or as short as you want, but maybe try to get a weekend in so I can show you some of the sights. Just let me know when to expect you at the airport! My couch folds out, or I think we’re both grown-up enough to share a bed.
A tiny spark of hope hit Aidan in the stomach at reading that. He’d had a crush on Eric that had varied in intensity for years, so there was a part of him that was hoping to find his feelings were returned, even if he dreaded a long-distance relationship. Being friends with Eric at this distance was one thing—it was Aidan’s ideal arrangement in a lot of ways— but he wasn’t sure how he’d cope with being anything more than that with him.
Aidan checked his calendar and immediately discarded the long weekend that was coming up as a possible vacation option—people who had families and things to do would have asked for time around that off months in advance. Instead, he picked a date two weeks in the future, and asked for the Monday and Tuesday off, so he could take a Friday evening flight. Four days was more than enough for a first meeting.
Hopefully, his manager wouldn’t say no, and he’d be on his way to see Eric in person for the first time in just a few weeks. He could hardly contain his excitement at the idea, and emailed him back to say that he’d put in for time off on the dates he’d chosen.
Aidan could barely remember being this excited about something for years. He couldn’t wait to finally get to hang out with his best friend, even if it was only for a few days.
***
Eric breathed a sigh of relief when Aidan agreed enthusiastically to come and see him, and his confidence only increased as Aidan made plans to take time off. He seemed to genuinely want to come, not like he was just humoring Eric and looking for a way to escape. That was a good sign, because while Eric always thought of Aidan as his best friend, he worried that because all of their communication was online, he misunderstood their relationship sometimes. Aidan had never said anything of the sort, but Eric still wondered sometimes.
Aidan had been the light of Eric’s life from almost the moment they’d met. He was smart and funny, as well as easy to talk to. He was also incredibly pretty—Eric wasn’t used to pretty omegas wanting to talk to him at all, but Aidan had always been happy to, taking Eric on as a friend straight away and making him feel like he mattered.
As a rule, Eric often felt as though he’d never matter to anyone, so Aidan was, in his eyes, basically perfect.
He’d wanted to meet Aidan in person for a long time, but they lived on opposite sides of the country, and they both worked a lot. The Van Gogh exhibition had seemed like the perfect opportunity, since Aidan had mentioned how much he liked his work. It was mostly lesser-known pieces, but Eric thought that was cool, and he knew Aidan would appreciate it as well.
There was an ever-growing part of him that wanted to give Aidan the world. He’d been such a constant, positive presence for Eric that the idea of getting to make him happy was the best thing Eric could think of. Besides, he’d often thought of places he wanted to show Aidan, and now he’d get that chance. They could get a lot into four days.
When Eric got an email to say that Aidan’s days off had been approved, he couldn’t help laughing giddily to himself. He was finally going to see his best friend in person, and maybe neither of them would need to feel as alone in the world.
He sat down and started a list of all the things he wanted to do with Aidan and all the places he wanted to take him, and made a note to his own colleagues that he’d be working remotely for the entire four days and was only to be contacted for things that were urgent or important during them.
If he was only getting four days with Aidan, he intended to make the most of them. Everything else could wait, and he deserved a break.
I can’t wait to see you, he sent back to Aidan once he’d calmed down enough to cope with emailing him. Just send over your flight details when you’ve got them.
The next two weeks couldn’t go by fast enough.
Chapter Two
Aidan wasn’t sure he’d taken a full breath between boarding the plane at home and stepping off it at the airport where Eric was picking him up. Eric had been all he could think about during the flight. They were going to meet him in person for the first time, and this could be the most important moment of their relationship so far. It had to go well. It had to, or Aidan wasn’t sure what he was going to do.
Eric was a huge part of his life, and the fear of losing him because they’d moved too fast, or because they’d taken this step at all, was huge. If they were just somehow incompatible in real life, Aidan wasn’t sure he’d ever really recover from losing someone who’d been as important to him as Eric had been.
On the other hand, the excitement of finally getting to see him spurred him on, and he found himself texting Eric as soon as his phone came back on to say that he’d arrived, and to figure out where they were going to meet.
You hungry? Because we can eat here, Eric’s text read.
That sounded like a good idea, if for no other reason than it would give Aidan a chance to breathe and get used to the idea that Eric was there, in person, before they headed back to his house. Besides, hungry was putting it mildly. He was starving to the point of being in pain, having not eaten since
yesterday.
I could eat. Possibly an entire horse. I guess we can meet in the food court?
Sounds like a plan. There’s Wi-Fi, so I’m all set to wait for you, Eric texted back. Aidan grinned and shoved his phone back in his pocket so he could grab his checked baggage from the carousel. Now all he needed to do was hope there was only the one food court, and find it. In a strange airport and a strange city, that seemed like a Herculean task, but there was a reward waiting at the other end of it that rivalled anything in Greek mythology. They could keep immortality.
Aidan made his way through the airport at an agonizingly slow pace, following signs and maps dotted about the place, finding himself walking in circles a few times until he finally stepped into an area full of tables and surrounded by fast-food options. He figured it was likely to be the right place.
After a few moments of scanning the crowd, Aidan’s eyes fell on a face he recognized. Eric was absorbed in his tablet, tapping away on the screen, pausing only to push his glasses up his nose.
He was much cuter in person than Aidan had expected. Eric had never been unattractive, to Aidan’s mind, but seeing him animated and alive made him look completely different. Aidan approached cautiously, wheeling his suitcase over to the table Eric was sitting at. He hesitated, then pulled out the chair across from him, and sat down.
Eric looked up, blinked at him, and then grinned broadly. His whole face lit up with recognition and affection as he looked at Aidan, which was a relief.