Page 26 of Dying in Flames (Reborn 4)
“Are you building a nest, peanut?”
What?
I snapped my head towards the bed, and my eyes widened.
Oh. Oh, wow.
“Am I?” I frowned as he came up behind me and slid his hands to my hips, causing me to lean back into him, his throat producing a low rumble.
“It appears like it,” he pointed out. “Why today? What made you want to start?”
I turned into him and tilted my head thoughtfully. “I’m not sure, I just felt this random urge to do it… This is so weird. Why would I build a nest?”
“For when you go into heat.”
I jolted slightly, peeking around Anani to find Croy standing in the door, smiling at my creation as well. My cheeks filled with warmth at the word ‘heat’ and what that would mean in all its context. My gaze moved to Anani’s neck, nearly frowning at the lack of a mark there.
I also knew what marking Anani would mean. My understanding, based on what the royal physician said, was that as a Blue Phoenix, I would have to mark all my mates in order to go into heat, so his lack of one was the only thing preventing it from occurring. Something that obviously hadn’t been on purpose, but now seemed like a massive obstacle my phoenix and I wanted to push past. I could practically feel the instincts roaring through me, and his eyes darkened on the way I leaned into him further, his dragon producing a low rumble. He seemed to steady himself before breaking away to walk along the window wall, causing me to sag slightly, feeling his loss despite Croy’s body heat suddenly surrounding me.
I knew Anani didn’t mean to hurt my feelings, but the idea of him walking away from me had me feeling a bit down. I distracted myself a bit by looking up at Croy. “Why would I start this now?”
Croy nodded towards my mate. “Because you only have one mate left to mark. Your phoenix and magic are probably preparing.”
“Preparing for heat.” I drew out the word on my lips, my excitement growing at the concept.
Then I felt my eyes widen, remembering Dr. Bates’s words about what the mating heat meant, ‘beside the obvious.’ It meant we could possibly create a child in that timeframe…that I could get pregnant.
I exhaled sharply as I felt my knees break, and I sat on the floor, blinking as I tried to process the reality of the situation. It wasn’t an upsetting reality, but I was hit both by feeling completely unprepared and feeling an instinctual amount of joy at the concept of creating life with my mates. My phoenix loved the idea, and I found myself entertaining the notion, loving it as well, even if it scared me a bit…
“Maya.” Anani was there then, cupping my jaw, looking concerned. “Don’t freak out. We can put it off as long as possible, as long as your health and life aren’t at risk. I want you to be comfortable—”
“I am not freaking out about the mating heat.” I grasped his fingers and smiled up at him. “Or marking you. None of that…I was just considering the baby part. Dr. Bates said that it was possible I would get pregnant during my first heat, and if not the first, then the second. That is the part that is causing me to…”
“Freak out?” Croy asked, crouched down with us.
“Not exactly.” I shook my head. “The idea doesn’t bother me. I love the idea of creating a life with any of you. I mean, you’re my mates…” I swallowed, feeling my cheeks heat. “It’s just a lot at once, and I didn’t even realize I was preparing this weird little nest thing until Anani brought it up. It’s almost like this entire other side of myself is in charge, and it’s a bit jarring.”
“The more in touch with your shifter side you become, the harder it will be to fight against it,” Anani admitted quietly. “It becomes essentially half of you. I have a feeling that the mating heat is one of those things that sort of steamrolls everything else.”
I inhaled, nodding as the door opened more. Henry stood there, looking at us in confusion, before glancing up at the bed. “What’s going on?”
Standing up, I shrugged and motioned to the bed. “My phoenix had me making a nest before I even realized it. Something about the mating heat, apparently.”
Henry’s eyes darkened as he seemed to consider saying something before looking at Anani and Croy. His voice was rough as he announced, “The seamstress for the costume just arrived.”
“Oh good.” I smiled. “Send her up.”
“Will you guys bring her up here?” Henry asked, keeping his gaze on me.
Croy walked out of the room, seeming amused as Henry kicked open the door further, Anani offering him a head shake I didn’t understand before it was just the two of us. Henry walked over to my bed and tilted his head, examining the nest before noticing that Bella was sitting on top of one of the piles, sleeping peacefully. His eyes were dark as he looked down at me, his hand slipping over my waist and pulling me against him, my breath catching at how hard he was.
“What areyouthinking about?” I asked quietly, unable to help myself from teasing him a bit, as his lips kicked up into a smile.
“You probably don’t want to hear that right now, sweetheart.” He leaned down to brush his lips against my ear. “Especially since the seamstress is about two seconds away from entering.”
I blushed. “It’s something good then?”
Henry’s chuckle was soft and dangerous. “It is definitely something that would feel good.”
