by Eva Chase
“Oh, I’d imagine you’d have been fine,” Aaron said. “But I was happy to help. I can’t wait to see her face when she opens that up.”
My feet hesitated before I reached the door. I glanced at my fellow alpha. “Do you think she’s all right—just in general?”
Aaron raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“Just—all the effort she’s been putting into these celebrations, running around, handling half the work on her own, trying to make each one of them spectacular… I know she’s enjoying it, but at the same time, it seems a little much. Considering...” I motioned to my belly area.
Aaron chuckled. “You’d better not let her hear you suggest she should be taking it easy,” he teased. Then his voice turned more serious. “One of my healers on staff looked her over yesterday morning and didn’t raise any concerns. Hanging decorations isn’t pushing herself all that hard.”
“Not physically,” I agreed. “And I suppose it makes sense that she wants to accomplish something major before she has to take it easy for a little while.” Even our dragon shifter would have to take some time to settle into life as a mother. It was going to be an adjustment for all of us—but one I couldn’t have been looking forward to more. The thought of finally getting to hold my infant daughter in my arms sent an eager quiver of excitement through me.
“Exactly.” Aaron nudged me toward the hall. “Serenity knows her limitations. If she needs more from us than we’d naturally offer, we can trust that she’ll ask. I think what she needs most right now is to have all of us there by her side, celebrating with her.”
Which was all the more reason we should get back to the festivities.
We emerged into the back yard to the sound of voices raised and instruments blending together in harmony. As the final part of her celebration of our disparate natures, Ren had invited all those among my kin who performed music of one sort or another to play a song or two for everyone. Those watching the band of raccoon shifters playing now were swaying along in time with the melody. Ren stood near the front of the crowd, her face lit with pleasure as she took in the music.
During the Christmas before this one—Ren’s first as dragon shifter—we’d still been so busy picking up the pieces and getting our domains back in order after dealing with fae and vampires and rogues that the holiday had passed with relatively little fanfare. I wasn’t sure how much she’d celebrated her last few years before we’d found her, when she’d been scraping by mostly living on the streets. But she’d occasionally mentioned the private holiday moments she’d shared with her mother while they were still together: sparkling trees and colorful window displays, curling up together in their apartment watching classic movies over hot chocolate.
If the events she’d put together over this week filled even a little of that hole, I guessed I could understand why she’d put so much energy into them. My heart ached, in a good way, seeing the happiness in her expression right now.
Damn, I really hoped I wasn’t about to break that.
I caught the eyes of a few of the book’s contributors in the crowd and motioned them over. The white-haired badger shifter, the elegant horse shifter, and the wizened black bear shifter came to join me. Yvonne’s eyes sparkled as she smoothed back a silver mane no less impressive than that of her animal form.
“It’s time?”
“Seems like as good a moment as any,” I said.
We let the raccoon shifters finish their song, and then I stepped forward with my hand raised for attention. “Ren,” I said, beckoning her. “You’ve given us the gift of this incredible celebration. Now I and my kin have a gift for you.”
“Nate,” our dragon shifter said, glancing around as if checking that no unexpected figures were going to appear in the crowd like the fae monarch had yesterday night. She walked up to us and came to a stop in front of me with a curious expression. “I’m starting to get the impression there’ve been a lot of other preparations going on behind my back while I was busy with my own.”
I couldn’t help grinning at that comment. “You’re not the only one who wants to honor the people you care about.”
A flush colored her cheeks. Her gaze slid over the shifters who’d accompanied me. Yvonne spoke up in her clear smooth voice.
“We disparate kin have many different natures and perspectives, as you pointed out so well in the dining hall. One of the beliefs we—and all shifter kind—can unite under without hesitation is the certainty that your mother, our last dragon shifter, was a leader we’re proud to have called our own. And we’ve been more than pleased to see how you’ve been following in her footsteps.”
Ren blinked hard. “Thank you,” she said, and was that a wobble in her voice? Damn it, Aaron might be right about the tears. Hopefully on both counts and not just the first.
“We can only imagine, as difficult as it was for us to lose an esteemed leader, how hard it was for you to be torn from your community and then to lose your mother as well,” the bear shifter said in a gentle tone. “Which is why, when our alpha asked us to help bring her back to you in the only form we can, we were more than happy to.”
I offered Ren the gift bag. She eased it open with trembling hands. When she pulled out the book, she just stared at the cover for a moment, reading the gilded lettering there. A History of Haven Drake.
“I asked kin from all across my people—and some from the other groups as well—who spent time with your mother while she ruled to share some of their memories from her time as our dragon shifter,” I said. “So you can get to know that side of her in a way you didn’t have the chance to before. Over a hundred of her people—and yours—sent me recollections.”
Ren opened the book slowly, turning from the title page to the table of contents to the beginning of the first account, from an old wolf shifter who’d worked on Ren’s mother’s estate while Haven was growing up and who had helped organize the ceremony of her ascension. Aaron and I had decided to include the stories in chronological order, for lack of any better guiding principle.
Our dragon shifter ran her fingers over the first few lines. The tears the avian alpha had predicted glimmered in her eyes. But the smile that came with them reassured me that they hadn’t been brought by pain.
“Thank you,” she said again, nodding to the three shifters standing with me in turn. “I’ll need to thank everyone who contributed. And… thank you.” She threw her arms around me, still clutching the book, hugging me with all her dragon strength.
Applause broke out in the watching crowd. I hugged Ren back and bent over her when she eased away to claim a kiss. If I hadn’t already been convinced, the enthusiastic press of her lips to mine would have told me I’d chosen my gift well.
I motioned for the next group of musicians to jump in with their performance. Ren stayed tucked close to me as she looked over the book again.
“The only problem is that now I want to abandon my own party so I can start reading,” she said.
I kissed the top of her head, my heart swelling with so much love it threatened to burst through my chest. “I’m sure my kin can spare you for a little while.”
She paused, and then she shook her head, tucking the book under her arm. “This week is about all of us celebrating together. And anyway, it’ll probably be better if I take those memories in gradually so I completely appreciate each one.”
“Whatever makes you happy,” I said.
Her arm tightened around me. “I am happy,” she said. “So much.”
She did sound happy, but a faint tremor had crept into her voice as well, bringing me back to the concerns I’d mentioned to Aaron earlier. I didn’t think our dragon shifter was going to appreciate me asking yet again whether she was all right in front of so many of our kin. So I settled for resting my palm on her belly next to her hand, encircling her and our unborn daughter in all the steady warmth I could offer.
CHAPTER 5
Ren
“WHAT ABOUT THE ORDER FROM FRANCE?” I
said into the phone. “Has that shown up?”
The attendant of the feline kin estate gave a short sigh. “No, but the shipping company has promised it’ll be here in the morning.”
I adjusted my position in the plane’s seat. The soft leather that covered most of the surfaces in the private jet that was carrying us from Nate’s estate to Marco’s was one of the most comfortable materials I’d ever sat on, but between my irritation and the weight of my daughter pressing down on me, I couldn’t enjoy it.
“It’d better be there,” I muttered. That was half of the drinks for the feline kin’s Christmas celebration. “And that machinery I put in a rental order for?”
“It showed up this afternoon, but apparently the delivery person realized there was a piece missing. He promised he’d get that to us tomorrow.”
Great. I stifled a groan and tipped my head back in the seat. The plane had gone through a bit of turbulence earlier, but now it was cruising along smoothly with nothing but a faint vibration in the floor and the hum of the engine to match. Maybe I’d feel better if I got up and paced some of this frustration out.
“Okay,” I said to the attendant, rubbing my eyes. My head was getting muggy from two busy days in a row. But we were only halfway through—and the feline kin had exacting standards. I couldn’t screw up there. “Thank you for the update. I’ll touch base with you in person in the morning.”
“Happy to help!” the puma shifter said in that slightly flat tone the feline kin were so good at, that always left you wondering if they were actually being sarcastic no matter what they’d said.
I shoved my phone into my purse and clamped my jaw against a yawn.
“Hey,” Aaron said, leaning over from the seat across the aisle from me. “Don’t you think you’ve been working on this enough for one day? I don’t think much is likely to change overnight.”
“I guess,” I said, and the yawn snuck out despite my best efforts, stretching my jaw. Well, that wasn’t the most convincing show of alertness either.
Marco got up and held out his hand to me. “Why don’t you come to the back room and really get some rest? We’ll all join you.”
I gave him an odd look. “It’s just the five of us. It’s not like we don’t have plenty of privacy right here.”
He shrugged with a sly smile. “One more door if the pilot happens to peek back from the cabin. And also, I may have arranged a bit of a renovation of the back room.”
He did know how to appeal to my curiosity. I hefted myself out of the seat and let him guide me down the aisle to the inner door just past the bathroom.
When I’d come into the back section of any of the alphas’ private jets before, I’d found nothing more than a smaller room with similar seating to the front. Tonight, the first thing I noticed as I pushed open the door was the lack of any seats at all along the closer wall. Then my gaze caught the end of a broad footboard.
The back room was set up as a bedroom. An oversized bed filled most of the space, two lamps glowing on the end tables at either side of it. A pearl gray duvet that looked deliciously airy stretched across the mattress.
“Okay,” I said. “I see your point.”
Marco laughed and nudged me toward the bed. I sat down on the edge and rolled my shoulders. The stress of the days ahead was still dragging at me. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to fall asleep.
“I think our dragon shifter deserves to relax,” Nate said, his rumble of a voice even lower than usual. He dropped down beside me and applied his strong hands to my shoulders. A contented sigh escaped me as he started to work over the tensed muscles of my neck and upper back with his insistent thumbs.
I sank into his touch, letting him support me while he continued his massage. Aaron and West climbed onto the bed, each taking one of my ankles and easing off my shoes. I hummed happily at the enjoyable burn of their careful fingers stretching the arches of my feet.
Marco settled next to me and started to stroke his hand lightly over my belly. It wasn’t the same sort of release as the others were offering, but I wouldn’t have wanted much pressure in that area anyway. His caress sent delightful shivers over my skin.
Nate worked his way down my back, and Aaron and West eased up from my feet to my calves. My eyes slid shut. I gave myself over to their ministrations, feeling every kink and knot smoothed away. For a few minutes, between the joint massage and the fluffy duvet beneath me, I could almost have believed I was floating.
As Nate’s hands circled my waist so his thumbs could dig into the small of my back, a different sort of pressure formed between my legs. The heat flowed up to my chest and down my thighs. My heart thumped faster with it.
My hunger for my mates had never completely faded, but I couldn’t say I’d felt all that much desire in the last month since my body had gotten increasingly unwieldy. But right now? Oh, hell, I desired. There were other kinds of knots inside me that only these men could release.
My arousal must have scented the air. When I glanced down the bed, a spark had already lit in West’s eyes. He slid his hand up to my knee. “Can we do even more for you?” he asked, his voice so husky it made me shiver.
“Please,” I said. “I want— Mmm, yes, that.”
My wolf shifter had lowered his mouth to my leg, charting a course over the sensitive skin on the side of my knee. The stubble on his jaw in contrast with the tenderness of his kisses made the perfect mix of sharp and soft sensations.
With a pleased thrum in his chest, Nate scooted closer to me, pressing his lips to the crook of my neck. Marco eased up my dress to bare my panties and belly. He slipped his hand up under the fabric and flicked his thumb experimentally over the tip of my breast. At my eager gasp, he grinned.
Aaron kissed my hip as West continued his slow scorching path up my inner thigh. Nate cupped one of my breasts with a gentle squeeze while Marco teased the other nipple until it stood stiffly at attention. With all that pleasure coursing through me, the immense bulge of my belly didn’t seem all that awkward. After all, our daughter was a result of moments of pleasure like this.
When West’s mouth reached my core, my breath shuddered. I arched up toward him as much as my body would allow. He swiped his agile tongue over my clit, sending a bolt of bliss straight through me, and dipped lower to tease over my opening.
At the same moment, Marco lowered his lips to my breast and sucked the tip into the heat of his mouth. I moaned, every nerve quivering.
West went back to devouring my clit. Every flick of his tongue sent fresh quivers of pleasure all through my limbs. He slicked a finger over the liquid arousal on my folds and eased it inside me with careful pulses. Another moan escaped me. I tried to push into his hand, wanting more, wanting him deeper. Wanting everything my mates could offer me.
Nate trailed his fingers along my jaw and captured my lips with his. Marco tested the tips of his teeth against my nipple. Aaron was peppering kisses all along the side of my body. And West—West was summoning ecstasy with every stroke of his tongue and his fingers.
My hands balled in the duvet, my breath breaking into pants. I kissed Nate back hard until his tongue twined with mine. Marco reached to fondle my other breast while he continued to have his way with the first. Then West sucked hard on my clit with a swivel of his finger, and I shattered with a cry of pleasure. The release rolled over me in a shimmering wave.
The wolf shifter drew back with a grin. The heat flowing through me pooled again around my core. Some part of me wasn’t quite satisfied yet.
“Aaron,” I gasped out.
One look in my eyes, and my eagle shifter knew what I needed. He undid his pants with a jerk of his wrist, kicking them off to the side. His cock already jutted at stiff attention, so thick and hard my mouth watered at the sight and my sex dampened all over again.
“You’re sure?” he murmured as he bent over me. Nate nuzzled my shoulder, still supporting part of my weight. I couldn’t have asked for anything more delightful than the feeling of all my mat
es so close around me.
“Go gently,” I said. “I’ll be fine. She’ll be fine.” My hand drifted to my belly, just briefly.
Aaron slid his cock over my folds, and I whimpered. A ragged breath escaped him as he pushed inside. Oh, God, yes, this was what I’d been missing. That fantastic heady rush of being completely filled.
As the avian alpha moved in and out of me with measured thrusts, I realized I wanted to be filled even more. My mouth was still watering for the taste of my mates. I gripped Marco’s shirt, and he met my gaze with a lifted eyebrow. My hand slipped down to the waist of his slacks. His erection strained against the fly.
“Oh, princess,” he rasped. With a few quick movements, he’d freed himself. I flicked my tongue over the head of his cock, and he groaned.
Nate began stroking my breasts as I welcomed Marco into my mouth. He rocked into me with the same steady rhythm Aaron was setting between my legs. West swiped that sharp tongue of his across the recently massaged arch of my foot, sending a giddy tremor through me alongside all the other swells of bliss.
I bucked to meet Aaron as well as I could, urging him faster. He let out another groan and followed my cue. Marco’s fingers closed around my hair as his hips jerked.
“I’m there,” he warned in a shaky voice, so different from the feline alpha’s usual self-possession that it turned me on even more. I squeezed my lips around him to encourage his release.
He came with a low guttural sound, a salty tang filling my mouth with a rush. Aaron clutched my thigh, torn between caution and desire, and I clamped my hand over his, rising to meet him even more deeply.
“I want you,” I gasped out. “I want all of you.”
He plunged into me again, and again. His cock penetrated me at just the right angle to hit that perfect place inside me, and my body exploded with pleasure. The sensation crashed through me, leaving me slack and trembling and smiling uncontrollably. Every inch of my body seemed to be singing with joy.