The Unexpected Yuletide Baby (Starscale Mates #3)

Chapter Four

Medwin

The night before our big holiday party I leaned on the ledge of our nest and stared at our big egg. It’d shot up to hip-height for Clarence, but the baby wasn’t making any good on coming out of the damn thing. I almost reconsidered Clarence’s suggestion that we call off the party. It would probably be safer for everyone if I did.

“I wouldn’t fry the grandkids and their kids,” my dragon rolled his massive eyes inside his inner sanctum. “That would be moot. That would defeat the purpose of ever sitting on Cade’s egg. It would defeat the purpose of bringing them over to visit every summer he and Eston would let us since London was rebuilt. That would defeat----” He rambled on, and I tuned him out for a long moment. When he began to talk about any sort of defeat it was best to ignore him and let him get on with his monologue.

“And we are not so easily defeated,” he finished up. “We will have this party. Our grandkids will see their aunt or uncle’s egg and that will be that. Oh – or whatever they call a nonbinary aunt or uncle or whatever. Shit! I’m trying! They will see their relative’s egg!”

“I think everyone has their preference for what to be called if they’re non-binary,” I thought back at him. “That’s why I said no to the non-binary box on official documents. Everyone can just write in their gender on the blank line. Can’t leave anyone out that way then.”

“It was one of your better ideas,” my dragon nodded.

“Well, we aren’t uncivilized,” I nodded back to him.

“We’re dragons after all, not – con--re--- idi--- humans after all,” he chuckled, finally settling on the word that covered a few groups of humans that annoyed him back when we were forced to study their history.

I nodded again and considered climbing back into the nest. Clarence napped on the other side of our egg. A nap wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world but if the party was to go on, I had a few last-minute details to iron out and double-check.

“Do you need me?” Clarence yawned.

“Remind me to eat in a few hours?”

“Of course,” he muttered with his eyes still shut.

“Thank you.”

“Anything for you.”

I spent the next few hours sending texts and emails to our family and friends ensuring they were still coming. The snow was already here and coming in more each hour. Some effects of what the humans did to Earthside still lingered around us. I didn’t mind the snow so much. The climate was cooling after being superheated for too long. I’d take the long, freezing days of winter over a scorcher anytime. Winter was cuddling weather.

I was just about to wrap up some final details with the caterers when Clarence sauntered into my office carrying take out containers in either hand. I sniffed the air and smiled at him. He was a sleepy dragon carrying in Chinese takeout. He was a dragon after my own heart. He already had it but I appreciated his effort to keep it. He sank onto the sofa on the other side of the room and waved me over. I hit send on my last email and joined him as he set up the table and handed me a fork and chopsticks. I could use chopsticks but went back and forth on what I preferred. Actually, I preferred to have both. Options were never a bad thing.

“Except for mates,” Clarence teased.

“I had options. I could’ve chosen a mate. Fate liked you but so did I,” I teased him back. “And you had options too.

No denying that.”

“No, my position had options.”

“Yeah, I know. Everyone loves a vers alpha,” I chuckled.

He opened his mouth, but I shook my head.

“I refuse to believe that those guys were only into you because you stood to become the next flight leader.”

“Most of them, though,” he shrugged.

“You underestimate yourself.”

“No, I don’t. Remember, I have shinymania and an inflated ego according to all those internet shrinks that like to psychoanalyze my speeches and public remarks. Now, my dragon does have shinymania but so does yours and every other dragon I’ve met. Not our fault that the furry ones can’t see what we do,” he shrugged.

“Eh, fuck them with pineapples,” I shrugged. “They don’t have lives of their own to talk about. So, they talk about ours. They should stick to policies and such but no, they’d rather discuss our personal lives.”

“Well, we’ll send them all some tickets for Mated for the Holidays next year,” Clarence said. “Perhaps then they’ll have something else to make their little videos about.”

“I’m sure the Gilmore-Monteros will thank you for siccing the gossips on them.”

“Perhaps, I’ll hire PIs after sending the gifts and I’ll make little videos of them. Sandy just couldn’t get along with Randy. One wanted eggnog and the other thought it tasted like feet. They wanted some apple cider, but it was sold out. Then they fought over which one of them was nicer – that one slept on the sofa of course.”

“You’re horrible! Absolutely horrible!” I laughed in between bites. “I love it! I love you! I think our grandchildren would call more often if you did start a gossip thing online.”

“I hope our grandchildren aren’t wasting their time on such nonsense,” Clarence frowned. “Some of them probably are but I hope they’re not. I hope they’re watching real news.”

“Real news,” I leaned back against the arm of the sofa. “Don’t say that around them. That makes you sound old and you sounding old makes me feel old.”

“We are old.”

“We are not!” I shook my head. “We have an egg in the nest. Old men do not have eggs in the nest.”

“We are compared to Teal, Cobalt, and Indigo. They are dying their hair blue now. They’re grown up, dating, and dying their hair blue. The second generations of heirs to the Moonscale Flight have blue hair.”

“Well, at least they’re going to the salon! That’s a good sign.”

“I swear. I’m all for expression but blue?”

“It’s a young person thing. A young dragon thing, even,” I shrugged. “I like it. I can still tell them apart. So it doesn’t bother me. I think it makes them look snazzy. Besides, you only brought that up to distract me. We’re not old.”

“Eh, old doesn’t mean what it used to.”

“I’ll show you what an old man looks like later.”

“Later, eh?” he laughed, setting aside his takeout box and stretching his long legs out in front of him. “Later when we’re asleep? Or later tomorrow morning when our descendants start to arrive and fill up our house? Or later while I’m begging you not to eat them or their plus ones?”

“Later after I take a shower,” I smirked. “I smell like planning.”

“You smell like you always do.”

“Don’t worry. No more events until after our egg hatches.”

“Ha!”

“What?”

“New Years is just around the corner.”

“Someone else can host.”

“But we can’t go anywhere,” he reminded me.

“Shit! Shut up! Do you want to see me naked or not?”

“I do. When have I ever turned that down? How about I join you in that shower?”

***

Perhaps we were getting old. We made it through our entire shower without trying to devour each other. We made it all the way into our dark bedroom and turned on the camera to keep an eye on our egg before Clarence pushed me onto the bed and stood between my legs. A chill shimmied down my spine as his hungry eyes raked over my nude body. His nostrils flared taking in the scent of my arousal.

“I’m starting to rethink this whole old thing,” Clarence smirked above me.

“Quit eavesdropping on my brain,” I said and poked him with my big toe.

“I can’t. You’re stuck on me like glue. You’re tattooed on my soul and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Yep. I tattooed my name on your soul in the Other World,” I nodded as he stepped between my knees.

“I wouldn’t put it past you. There’s not much I’d put past you.”

“That’s why we get along. You know all my dark secrets.”

“And your light ones. I ordered those floral curtains you wanted for the nursery. If the baby’s a boy, maybe he’ll grow up to be a gardener like Eston.”

“Eh, I think he’s a bit more than that but thank you for the curtains.”

“If anyone says anything about them, I’ll send them to live in the middle of the ocean alone,” Clarence smirked, his thumb drawing circles over my bare knee. He was already hard, his pulse practically visible in his dick.

“Are all the condoms out in the nest?” I asked, glancing at the nightstand where we kept them during normal times.

“Nope. I wouldn’t fuck with us like that,” he shook his head. “You’re up to date on the shot, right?”

“Eh, no,” I confessed. “They always make me feel weird if I get them too soon after an egg. Learned that with Cade. Confirmed it with Sunny.”

“So,” he said, still playing with my knee, “what’s on the table tonight?”

“Me,” I smirked.

“Are you sure? Isn’t that how we ended up with the nest this time?” he asked, his brow quirking up.

“We’ll be careful.”

“We’re always careful,” he grinned.

“Maybe I’m thinking,” I said, reaching out for his hands.

He gave me one and I held it in both of mine.

“Thinking what?” his eyebrow arched higher on his forehead.

“Isn’t it time for us?”

“Time for us to do this? Yeah. Well, if we get started soon. Otherwise, I’m likely to sleep through the alarm in the morning but fuck it. It’s Yule Eve tomorrow,” Clarence shrugged one broad, muscular shoulder.

“No, I mean, time for us,” I pushed myself up on my elbows.

“I should sit down, huh? We’re having some sort of talk now?” he asked, stepping back away from my spread legs and grabbing his robe from the hook on the closet door.

“You don’t have to put that on,” I said, trying and failing to snatch it away before he did.

I was horny. Really bloody horny. Too horny for Clarence to be putting his robe on for some talk.

“Are you in heat?” Clarence asked, leaning against the closet door as if unsure if I might decide I’d waited long enough for his affections and jump his bones. “It’s not unheard of after laying an egg.”

“Don’t tell me it’s not unheard of! I’m the one who taught you all about that!” I said, trying to keep my voice level despite my frustration. “When we got together you were sorely undereducated about omegas and our reproductive systems.”

“And I fixed the Moonscale curriculum. So no other person ever went through that bloody ordeal, did I not?” he asked.

“You did,” I softened my voice. “Still, do not attempt to be a cave-alpha and explain my body to me. No, I’m not in heat. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. You’re right. We’re not getting any younger. Sure, we might live for centuries yet but that’s not promised, Clarence. Nothing is promised and I want to raise a family. Cade and Sunny get along but they’re only close because Sunny sees Cade and Eston like some second set of parents.”

“They’re his god parents,” Clarence nodded.

“Yes, they are, and they were lifesavers for us during the war. I’m not saying I’m not grateful.”

“What are you saying then, mate?” he asked, his voice frustratingly level.

“We should have another baby,” I spat out the words before I lost my nerve.

“We are having a baby. I suspect our hatchling will come out any day now,” Clarence said, choosing each word that crossed his lips carefully. His scent whispered of treading carefully which was the last thing I wanted him to do.

“Don’t do that. I know that. You know that. You know what I mean.”

“Mate. Medwin. Love of everything I hold holy and sacred in my life. I do not assume anything when it comes to pregnancy or egg carrying. I’ve seen too many people do that. I’ve seen the bad outcomes and they’re assholes. I’m only sort of a mind reader and for something as serious as I think you may be intending to say, excuse me for being dense, but I need to hear you say it aloud.”

“I think we should have another baby. I think we should get pregnant again. I’m not saying we turn Hemlock and fill up the Moonscale Manor with kids. Nothing that extreme. One more and not long from now. Let’s give the hatchling in its egg someone to grow up with.”

Clarence stared at the floor for a long time. I strained my inner ear listening for his thoughts over our mating link. He was a closed and locked book to me and my dragon. We couldn’t even hear his inner beast. I slid to the end of the bed and rested my feet on the floor ready for whatever debate followed. There was always an excuse not to have another one. Wars, politics, travel, giving all our attention to one kid. They were good reasons too but even if we couldn’t predict the future, I wanted our next baby to have a sibling they actually grew up with.

“Clarence? Dear?” I asked, tentatively.

He held up a finger for me to wait and he cocked his head to the side as if talking to someone else. I strained my ears again, praying it was just his dragon. If he was discussing our fertility timelines or sex life with someone else ---

“Okay,” he said before I finished my thought.

“Okay. What?” I asked.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “Are you sure you want another one straight away? You don’t want to wait months or years? The timeline you want is that we start trying immediately.”

“Immediately and without pause,” I nodded.

“Immediately and without pause,” he nodded back.

“And you’re okay with this?”

“I have my concerns. Not for the state of the flight or even the children having to put up with each other, which I can assure you at times they will not want to do, but about you. Are you rested enough for another pregnancy? Sure, our egg might take months more to hatch or it might hatch two minutes from now. Will you be okay carrying while we care for a newborn?”

“Others have done it throughout history,” I reminded him.

“Well, I don’t care about what people did throughout history. I don’t care what our friends are doing or even our adult relatives. They can carry as many eggs or babies or whatever as they want. You are my concern. You’ll have to plan fewer affairs unless you intend to hire a nanny.”

“Not less affairs. Different ones once the children are a bit older. Affairs for them,” I countered.

“But not straight away. Our newborns will not need elaborate dinner parties. They will need a carrier who is well rested and happy.”

“I am happy. Well-rested comes and goes but that’s life.”

“You will rest more. You will allow me to insist upon it.”

“You’ll allow me to counter with the opinion of our healer,” I came back.

“Fair enough.”

“But no nanny.”

“No nanny,” he nodded. “What about when Sunny comes back?”

“What about him? He’d already moved out.”

“If he wants to nanny?” Clarence arched a brow.

“Oh, you mean if he wants to play Cade,” I laughed.

“Something like that.”

“He can. Cade too, if he wants. They should get to know their younger siblings. Is this a yes then?”

“Yes,” Clarence nodded. “It’s a yes if you’re sure about this. You’re correct. There won’t be a better time. There won’t be a perfect time but I think we can manage.”

“Cade and Sunny are alive and besides I bet by the time they figure out how to get back to Earthside via the Other World Gateways, Sunny will have found his mate.”

“I hope so. Either that or he and Teddy finally get married.”

“I don’t see that happening,” I laughed, holding my hand out to him. “Now get re-naked and come back over here before I decide that the next time you give me your dick I’m not giving it back!”

“Sheesh, mate! Are you sure you aren’t already with another egg?”

“Don’t be silly!” I said, scooting back up the bed as Clarence shrugged out of his thick, black robe and joined me. “I’m horny because every evening it seems I fall asleep before we get down to business.”

“I offered last night,” Clarence met my gaze.

“You did and I was too tired.”

“How about now? Are you tired now?”

“Yes,” I teased him. “Exhausted and horny. I plan to lay back and make you do all the hard work.”

“Pillow princess,” he teased, offering me another pillow.

I took it and tucked it under my head. Why shouldn’t I be comfy while Clarence fucked my brains out?

“Some nights, yes,” I nodded my agreement before tugging him down for a long, slow kiss.

“Tonight?” he asked, pulling away from the kiss.

“Are you teasing me or afraid I’m going to change my mind?” I asked.

“A little of both. Okay, a lot of the latter.”

“I’m not going to change my mind. I know there’s no sending eggs back. I want two in the nest.”

“Well, you better go beg our third child to spend at least a few more weeks in their egg then,” he said.

“Shut up and kiss me, Clarence,” I laughed and took his face in my hands. “I’m not going to change my mind.”

“What if we conceive multiples this time?” he asked.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop doing that thing you do where you test something from every angle.”

“Had you already considered that angle?” he asked, settling in between my legs, still hard.

“No.”

“Does it change anything?”

“No.”

“What if its triplets?”

“Umm… We’ll have four babies then. What if three babies come out in one egg? What if there are ten babies in the egg in the nesting quarter right now? What if my brain explodes because you won’t fuck me?” I laughed.

“Legs up,” he said, patting my hips as he rose to his knees.

“Huh? Get back here and kiss me!”

“I’m going to see if you’re in heat!” he laughed, and a scorching blush spread over my ears.

“That doesn’t work!” I said, wanting to both squish my knees together and put my ankles behind my ears.

“It does too! I’m the one always tasting you. That is unless you’re getting way kinkier without me. Which okay, it’s your body, but didn’t you think I’d want to watch?”

“I am doing no such thing!” I said and playfully slapped his arm.

“That’s because you have me around to do it for you, mate,” Clarence said, stretching out on his belly as he pushed my thighs further apart.

“The taste is not different.”

“You can’t possibly know that!” he chuckled. “As far as I know I am the only man alive who knows what you taste like while you’re in heat! I mean, unless you’re saying no to the act.”

He let go of my legs.

“No, I’m not! I just—”

“Too much teasing?”

“No—”

“Then what?”

“I don’t think about you tasting me.”

“That’s because I do it properly and don’t leave any brain cells behind, mate,” he smirked, his hands back on my legs. “Now, shush up and lay back and be my pillow princess.”

I settled in on the pillow as Clarence dragged his soft, kissable lips down one of my thighs. Then his tongue came out to play, licking and tickling my flesh as my hips relaxed. Fake exam or not, I loved his mouth on me as much as I loved to put mine on him.

His warm breath danced over my bare flesh, making me aware of just how much slick arousal pooled around my omegahole waiting for him to lick it away. I bit the inside of my cheek as he licked his way down to where it waited for him. The first lick came slowly as if he savored the taste of my arousal coating his tongue.

“Not in heat,” he murmured against my skin. “Not in heat at all.”

Reaching down, I entangled my fingers through his thick, dark hair and rocked myself against his face. My train of thought derailed, spiraling away from me. The party could wait. The making babies would come when it did. I glanced at the screen. The egg was still and silent. So it could wait too. I gave in to him, surrendering to the familiar movements of his mouth.

Clarence’s big, strong hands held on to my hips, keeping me in place as his tongue worked me over. Scales rose on my flesh and on the pads of his fingers from the pressure. We were more tender as younglings – now we knew the power of each other’s bodies. I leaned into his grip, reveling in the flexing strength of his fingers as his tongue made long licks over my hole.

“Clarence,” I moaned out his name and smoke followed it out. “Clarence.” I tugged on his hair to get his attention.

He paused, mouth still pressed against me, and looked up. A look was all it took to let him know I was ready. He pushed himself up onto his knees and grabbing his hands, I tugged him down onto me for a long slow kiss. Kneading my fingers into his flesh, I kissed him hard, letting his tongue slip between my lips to dance with my own. He thrust, his dick sliding against my thigh and balls. He paused to ask what I wanted but thought better of it. If we were going to have another egg, we both knew what I wanted.

Reaching between our bodies, I grabbed his dick and gave it a hard, promising squeeze and a few strokes before leading him home. I rubbed the head of his hard, throbbing member against myself, teasing us both before pushing his tip inside me. Above me, he grunted, the sound vibrating down his throat and sending a smoke ring out of his nose. I kissed him again, tasting the tongues of fire dancing in the back of his mouth. He thrust forward, feeding himself to me inch by glorious inch. I welcomed him home as his dick brushed against all the places I liked the best. He tapped my hip, and I wrapped my legs and arms around him. Clarence liked me close when we fucked in missionary. I clung to him as our bodies found their rhythm.

Sometimes we had to rush, and every time was a quicky. Some years and decades of our relationship were like that. Not this one – not this time around. Clarence kissed up and down my throat and over my shoulder to where he once laid his claiming bite. We took our time, reveling in slow, steady motion and sharing long, drawn-out kisses until the fires inside of us burnt too bright to be held back any longer. Our sensations mingled over our mating link, multiplying our pleasure as he rocked back and forth inside me. Still wrapped around him, my limbs trembled as pleasure flooded my body.

“Medwin,” Clarence murmured my name as his dick trembled inside me.

Struggling, he reached between our bodies and grabbed my dick. He squeezed and stroked me in time with our quickening thrusts. I bit my lip until the coppery tang of blood teased my tongue. Then came the moan that rolled over me followed by smoke and fire dancing from my nostrils. Clarence kissed it away, still thrusting deep into me. His dick trembled again, and I shook in his hand, my balls drawing up close to my body.

He claimed my lips in a hard, fast kiss as if he could swallow down the moans he coaxed from me. Our fires mingled together inside our locked mouths. I came first – but only by seconds – covering our squeaky-clean stomachs in the proof of how much I still loved having him inside me. Loved everything we did together. Clarence thrust into me again, growling into my mouth as I rode out the waves of orgasm. His dick shook one more time before his warm, sticky seed spilt into me. We didn’t fall still until neither of us had another drop to spill from our bodies.

“We need another shower,” Clarence laughed, rolling onto his back.

“Eh, you clean me up. I’m a pillow princess, remember?” I teased him and started to sit up.

“Hold on then,” he laughed and disappeared into the bathroom a second later.

“I was joking!” I called after him, but he was nothing if not a doting mate.