Gay Paranormal Romance: Mpreg Box Set (MM Shifter Mpreg) (Gay Paranormal Fantasy Romance)

by Sy Walker

  The following day, he woke up to find he was even larger than the day before. He frowned down at his stomach, looking easily as if it were the midsection of a woman in her first trimester of pregnancy. How would he ever get back into shape after having a child ripped from his womb?

  “It will go back to normal very quickly, Albert. You’ll be amazed how quickly all of this heals as if it never happened. About as much as you’ll see will be a thin scar where the incision was made. Just consider it a battle wound.”

  Devon smiled at him sheepishly as Albert studied his face, realizing once again that Devon could read his mind. It was a bit disconcerting in a way. What if he thought something bad or hurtful that he really didn’t mean? He wondered if there was a way to block his thoughts.

  “No. I don’t read your mind. I feel it more so than read it. You’ll not be able to block it for as long as you are carrying my child. The good news is that it will stop once that connection is broken after he is born. However, I will always know how you are feeling, even if I can’t pick up on the exact thoughts. I will know when you are sad, hurt or frightened. It’s just a part of the powers that come along with the shifting.”

  “What’s it like to be alive so long, Devon?”

  “Tiring. Incredibly tiring in a lot of ways. You watch people come and go. You see the same mistakes made by societies all across the globe. It can get very bothersome at times.”

  “And the shifting? What is it like? How does it happen?”

  “I don’t know how to explain it. It is just a feeling that comes over me. If there is danger to me or someone I feel I must protect, it happens without any real thought on my part. I feel a heat come over my body and then there is just a numbness that takes hold, like my body is protecting itself from the pain of the massive changes that must take place for me to shift from human to dragon.”

  “That must be incredible to see.”

  “Let’s hope that you don’t.”

  “Why? I would love to see it. It must be so fascinating.”

  “If you see it, there is serious trouble on the way. The kind of trouble that you don’t want to encounter.”

  “I suppose so.”

  Their conversation was cut short by the sound of the doorbell. Devon looked toward it and back at Albert.

  “That will be the doctor. Prepare yourself for another round of his impression of a sailor,” Devon laughed.

  “He does have quite the colorful vocabulary, doesn’t he?”

  “Certainly does. You’d have to know the kinds of places he’s been and seen during his centuries as a physician to understand why he’s such a rough cobb of a man.”

  “I think I’d like to learn a bit more about that too.”

  “Curiosity killed the cat.”

  “Good thing it had nine lives,” Albert laughed just as Devon opened the door.

  Without warning, there was a loud noise as the man at the door fired a large gun, but Devon was too fast for him. He ducked out of the way in the nick of time and it only clipped him on his left arm. Blood ran down it as he seemed to refocus and realize what was happening. In an effort to draw the man away from Albert, he suddenly heaved himself at him and pushed him out the door. They tumbled down the slight incline that rose up to the front door and off into a small ravine that only dipped a few feet down. Albert rushed to the door, but had already lost sight of them.

  A moment later, the man climbed from the ravine, pulling himself up over the edge and getting to his feet. His eyes fell on Albert’s stomach and a sick smile came across his face. He began moving toward him at what seemed like an unnaturally quick pace. Albert reached for the door to barricade it from the inside just as a large form appeared from behind the man. It was like something out of a medieval film as the wings of the enormous dragon spread open and flew above the man’s head, grabbing him by the shoulders with two immense claws.

  There was a horrible shrieking sound as the pulled him up off the ground and shook him furiously back and forth in the air and then dropped him on the ground. The man rolled to one side just as Devon’s dragon form came down on top of him in an attempt to crush him. The man scampered for the gun that he had apparently dropped in their previous scuffle and fired at him, hitting a wing and leaving a huge gaping hole in it.

  Devon’s loud squawk of pain filled the sky around them as he clattered to the ground momentarily then struggled to regain his footing. The man was on him in a heartbeat, a large metal object raised well above his head. Albert was horrified as he realized it was a large silver dagger aimed at getting to Devon’s neck. Just as he brought it down, Devon rolled, taking him off to one side. The man disappeared under his large body for a moment as his wing fluttered wildly down upon him.

  Once again, Devon’s unnatural cry of pain filled the sky as the silver point of the dagger appeared from within his wing. His massive form rolled away from the man as he dragged himself away from him, trying to get up from the ground, the dagger still protruding haphazardly from his wing. The man was once again upon him quickly, yanking the dagger free and attempting to climb atop him. He was standing on his back and raising the sword for yet another attempt at driving it downward into his neck when a shot rang out.

  The man stumbled forward and fell onto the ground. He lay there quietly for a moment before attempting to get up. A second shot rang out and he was still again. Albert turned to see the doctor walking up the sidewalk, the gun in one hand and his case in the other. The man began to move again and he fired a third shot. Albert could see that the gun was apparently not enough to kill the immortal, but it was enough to slow him down.

  Shifting his attention toward Devon, he could see that he was still struggling to get up from the ground. Albert was relieved that he was still alive, moving, though he appeared deeply hurt. He was very distraught that he might not make it. Looking toward the man, he saw that he was once again rising from the ground. The doctor pointed the gun to shoot him again.

  “Fuck. Piece of shit is jammed,” the doctor growled, looking at the man, who was now on his feet and walking toward him with an air of complete disinterest.

  “I’m about to fuck you up, old man.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time, would it, O’Hannon?”

  “Aye, it wouldn’t. I aim to bet you that it will be the last though.”

  “Good luck with that. I’m a betting man and I’d have to say odds are that you are more likely to end up feeling like a proper roast duck here in about thirty seconds.”

  “What?” O’Hannon said. Then, a sudden realization hit him as the doctor dove behind a nearby block wall and onto the ground. Albert had been watching Devon steadily rise to his feet and stand quietly behind the man. Just as he turned around, a scorching blaze came shooting from Devon’s long snout and engulfed him in flame, completely incinerating him until there was nothing more than a pile of ash.

  Devon collapsed back onto the ground as the wind picked up and began blowing the ashes of what was once an immortal named O’Hannon down the street and across the mountain side that flowed down from Devon’s house. The doctor walked over toward what was left and kicked it up, sending it along with the rest on his way to aid Devon.

  “I never did like you, you rotten son of a bitch,” he muttered as he helped Devon, now panting on the ground in his human form to the house. “Get me some clean towels and a bottle of vodka,” he shouted at Albert.

  Albert hurriedly retrieved what he had asked for as he lay Devon across the kitchen table and pulled open his bag, making quick work of stitching him up, dabbing at his wounds with one of the towels and then taking a swig of the vodka directly from the bottle. Albert looked at him in disbelief as he patched Devon up and drank the entire bottle of vodka. When he was done, the smiled down at him and closed his bag.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Albert asked, looking at Devon’s unconscious form.

  “Of course. All of the injuries were to his wing, which in human form is just his arm. He h
as a gunshot wound, but it was just a graze and two puncture wounds that go all the way through, but will heal just fine. Nothing vital was hit. He was damned lucky.”

  “I can’t believe he was able to kill that man. He told me that he could only kill him today at a certain time.”

  “He did. You don’t think it was a coincidence that I showed up with a gun in my hand and loaded do you? Do you think that Devon couldn’t have roasted him right off the bat? He was merely toying with him while he bought himself time to do what needed done. The gunshots were only to slow him down and divert his attention.”

  “I don’t understand. The two of you planned this?”

  “No, not planned. We just knew he would show. We didn’t plan for it, but we were prepared for it. We prepare for it every year. You see, just like us, there is only a certain day and time that he can kill Devon.”

  Albert looked at him incredulously for a moment until he heard Devon stir behind him. He ran over to him as he sat up on the table, holding him to steady him. Devon smiled up at him and then looked up at the doctor.

  “Thanks for your help, Doc.”

  “You’re welcome. I thought he might get the best of us once my gun jammed. Good thing the clock was ticking. You came up right on time and toasted that little fucker just like he deserved.”

  “Thank goodness. It will be nice not to have that jackass following me for centuries to come.”

  “Right. Now, let’s get on to this little bastard you’re plighting upon the world then.”

  “If I didn’t know how excited you really are about the fact that we are bringing a new dragon baby into the world I’d be offended by your commentary,” Devon laughed.

  “Don’t be so sure about that, you punk.”

  “I love you too, Doc,” Devon teased.

  The doctor scowled at him and began his exam of Albert, looking him over for any signs of distress. He listened to the baby’s heartbeat and handed the stethoscope to Albert, then Devon so that they could listen.

  “Oh wow, that sounds like wild horses thundering down a field. That’s fantastic!” Devon exclaimed.

  “It does, doesn’t it?”

  “Maybe you’re having a fucking Clydesdale rather than a dragon,” the doctor replied sarcastically.

  “You’re such an old cod,” Devon teased him as he packed up his things and headed for the door.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, waving behind him as he tottered toward the door.

  “Bye, Doc,” Albert told him.

  Devon shook his head and laughed as he left, then winced a little as the inadvertently brushed his injured arm against a nearby curtain. He turned toward Albert and smiled, leaning forward and kissing him on the forehead as he stroked his cheek with his thumb and looked into his eyes.

  “You will always be safe with me.”

  “I know I will. I could see that today, but I was so scared.”

  “No need to be anymore. He can’t come back from being reduced to ash. I hit him in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.”

  “I don’t get it. Why would he come here if he knew you could do that to him?”

  “Vengeance is a powerful force. He was hell bent on it. He was perfectly willing to risk dying in order to have a chance at taking me out. He’s been looking for me for years. It took him a while to figure out that I had built my cabin at exactly the place I knew I could kill him. All this time he thought I was fleeing, I was waiting. I was waiting for the day that he would figure it out and come here.”

  “But Doc, he was here to help right on time. How did he know?”

  “He didn’t. He was here just in case. It just so happened that this year was the year O’Hannon came.”

  “I take it that he and O’Hannon have tangled before.”

  “Oh, yes. Many times. Those two have made a sport for years out of beating the hell out of one another. There was no way for them to kill one another, but the things they have done to each other in the name of the sport would make some pretty brutal men wince.”

  “How do you think O’Hannon finally figured out where you were?”

  “Doc put the word out that I was here.”

  “What? Why?”

  “To lure him here and get it over with once and for all.”

  “Devon! What if he had come in here, if he had hurt me or our baby?”

  “He was never getting near you, Albert. Not only was Doc outside to help me, but if you had taken a closer look around, you’d have seen some quiet figures waiting in the nearby fields just waiting to see if they needed to get involved. My kinsmen were here. None of them could kill him, any more than Doc, but they are all capable fighters and could have done more than enough to protect you from him had it become necessary.”

  “Why? Why now? Why would you risk this with our baby on the way so soon?”

  “It was because of our baby that I risked it. I didn’t want either of us living in fear that our child might be harmed by O’Hannon. I’m capable of taking care of myself, as are my kinsmen, but a child. He will be vulnerable until he becomes a teen. He’ll be like any other baby, any other child, any other teen . . . until he turns sixteen. Then he’ll begin to notice certain changes that he can’t explain. It is then that I will begin teaching him what he needs to know to survive this world.”

  Albert looked sad for a moment. The thought that his son would spend his life fighting and coping with the fact that he was a dragon shifter seemed like a horrible burden to him.

  “It won’t be a burden,” Devon said, reminding him that he could read his mind once again. “With O’Hannon gone, there is no one to hunt him. There is no one that will know what he is or what he can do other than people who can’t do him any harm. They won’t try to harm him. There will be two of us and if he had children, we will grow again. We will become a clan of dragon shifters instead of just me.”

  “What about other children? Will we have other children? Other shifters?”

  “No. I’m afraid that is how we have come to the brink of extinction. A shifter can only have one child and that child will always be the same shifter that his father is. Only true mates can have a baby. My father and mother were true mates. You and I are true mates. That is how it works.”

  “This is all so new and so very complicated, Devon.”

  “Yes. I know it must be bewildering to you, but you’ve seen it for yourself. You know it to be true. You are a part of me now. You are a part of this life. Can you accept that and stay with me?”

  “I can. I realized something today when I was watching you. I was terrified that something horrible would happen to you and it felt like the end of the world was approaching. I don’t know how or why, but somehow, in only these few days since we met, I’ve fallen completely in love with you.”

  “I feel the same for you. I love you with all my heart, Albert. I love you and I love our unborn child. It’s going to be a fantastic life for us from now on.”

  “I believe you.”

  “Let’s go take a nap. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. Breathing fire takes a lot out of you, you know.”

  “I imagine it does,” Albert laughed.

  The couple climbed into bed, Devon curled around Albert’s back, his hand resting on their growing child within his center. The baby stirred about, getting impatient as he grew bigger and stronger, ready to enter the world and take it by storm. The pair drifted off to sleep, content to just be together.

  The doctor returned daily to check on Albert, always spouting off expletives and playful insults. Albert had quickly learned to dismiss his rather crude nature and appreciate that he really did care about both of them and the baby. Finally, several days later, he showed up with a young female in tow and shuffled inside, pointing her toward the spare room where a portable procedure table had already been set up for the impending birth.

  “Albert, this is my assistant, Madeline. She’s a great looking tart for a four hundred year old, wouldn’t
you say?”

  “Shut your dirty old mouth, you filthy animal,” Madeline barked back at him as she prepared the room for Albert’s delivery.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Madeline,” Albert said to her nervously. He was, in fact, scared quite shitless at the thought of having his insides opened up and a baby plucked out from within. Madeline smiled at him kindly and walked over, taking his hand in hers and patting it softly.

  “Don’t worry, darling. The doctor is batshit crazy, but he’s an excellent surgeon. You are in the very best hands. I promise you that it will all be okay.”

  “Thank you,” Albert said, feeling only a modicum better.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Why do you always feel compelled to assure my patients that I’m a qualified doctor. I have a fucking medical degree. In fact, I have quite a few from over the centuries thanks to these bastards always having to make sure I’ve a proper license out in the real world. I should have given up practice to mere mortals years ago, but it’s just so much fun to screw with some of the insolent bastards.”

  “I don’t even want to know what that means,” Albert replied.

  “You’re spot on about that. Now, let’s get you undressed. I’m going to need to splice open your cock for the delivery.”

  Albert looked terrified for a moment. Madeline reached over and popped the doctor in the back of the head without warning and scowled at him.

  “Stop being a dick. Can’t you see the man is already petrified at having you as a doctor?”

  “Fine. I’m sorry, Albert. Here is what is going to happen. We’ll do this just like you see them do C sections on women. A thin slice, poke around a little and pull the little dragon out. Then, I’ll sew you up and you’ll mend in a matter of days.”

  “Um, anesthesia?”

  “Yes and plenty of it. In fact, I may have some myself if I’m going to have to deal with this old codgy bastard the rest of the day,” Madeline interjected.

  “I’ll show you codgy later on when we are done with his surgery,” Doc told her.