ANDI

The afternoon turns into busy distractions, as Amy rushes about to prepare for her trip. She packs a bag while telling me all of the things going on in the fort, some of which I’m aware of, and some I’m not. Melissa’s daughter just started menstruating and is a bit hormonal. Dani and Mara moved in together (which I knew about) and are wearing rings, which I did not know about, but I’m happy for them both. I knew they were close, but I guess I didn’t realize how close. Gwen will be thrilled, and I wish she was here to share with. Maybe once we’re done here, we can visit Claudia and Kael ourselves, and somehow get word to Gwen and Vaan in Fort Dallas for a meet-up…but only if it’s safe for Liam.

I won’t risk him.

Some of the food has gone bad, so Amy’s been scouting local areas and has a marked map of places with supplies. If the red takes off, we can head out to pick some up. If not, well, there’s still plenty of unexciting corn and beans and the occasional deer that wanders too close to the fort. Amy’s fussing like a new mother that’s never left home before, though, and it’s kind of amusing. “Jemma’s baby is teething,” she reminds me. “So she’s going to be fussy. There’s been some griping by her roomies, so you might have to step in.”

“Or give her a new room,” I joke. “She can have mine.”

Amy blinks, then grabs my arm. “You’re a genius. You have the space?”

“Dani moved out weeks ago to be with Mara, remember?” I point out. “And Gwen’s gone. And I’m going to be with Liam, so I can stay with him. Problem solved.”

She smiles brilliantly, then hauls her overstuffed bag off her bed. She said she was only going for a week, but in true female fashion, she’s packed enough clothing to supply a fort all on her own, plus food supplies, a canteen, toiletries, and extra shoes. The moment she hefts it onto her shoulder, though, Rast comes storming into the room, an irritated look on his face. He’s utterly naked, his big, wild mane of hair cascading down his back. He snatches the bag from her, a growl erupting from his throat.

“Oh, you,” Amy says, exasperated. “It’s not that heavy.”

I say nothing. It looks rather heavy, and Amy’s slender and delicate. I glance over at Liam to see how he’s handling Rast’s appearance.

I’m fine, he promises me, and his thoughts are strong and untroubled. He clasps the back of my neck, though, in an intimate and possessive gesture, and I decide I like it. If being manhandled and possessed and constantly claimed as his property keeps my Atalim calm, I am all for it.

I secretly like it, anyhow.

You have no secrets with me, he purrs in my head. I’m going to remember that you like being manhandled the next time I’m between your thighs.

You…I begin, and then stop. I can feel Rast’s flare of annoyance as he silently argues with Amy, but beyond that, there’s something else. Something…new.

Liam’s eyes flare black, and Rast goes still.

I go still, too. It’s like there’s a ripple going through all of our minds.

“What is it?” Amy asks, curious. “What’s going on?”

I shiver, suddenly cold. And ravenous. My mouth waters and I’m so upset that I feel like crying. It’s so strange. I rub my arms, puzzled. “I’m freezing. And hungry.”

“It’s…a child,” Liam says slowly. “A new one.” He looks at me with wonder. “That’s who’s speaking.”

“A child?” Amy asks, and then sags. Her mate catches her before she tumbles down onto the bed. “Claudia’s child?”

A newborn, Liam tells me, his thoughts full of wonder. Its mind is so strong…I’ve never felt anything like it. He presses a hand to his brow as another rush of anger and hunger rolls over me. “She’s quite the little broadcaster.”

“But she’s okay?” Amy asks, and then before anyone can answer, she looks at Rast and nods.

She’s fine, Liam reassures me before I can ask. Just hungry and cold and angry at the world, like all new young.

“I can’t believe you’re hearing her from here,” I tell him, surprised. I can’t believe I’m picking her up, either.

“Perhaps it’s the mix of bloods,” Liam says slowly, his gaze focused on me. “Your abilities have been magnified with my blood in you, and increased now that we’ve mated and you’ve taken my fires. Maybe this is what human and drakoni create when they get together.”

A baby with a strong mind and enough psychic power to touch people from hundreds of miles away.

And a name, Liam tells me. She’s all but shouting it in our heads. He winces, and as he does, I get a faint mental “glimpse” of what he’s hearing. It’s the psychic equivalent of an angry baby’s wail, and through it all, there’s a name. She’s practically bludgeoning my poor Liam with it.

Sallavatri.

A good, strong, long name, Liam tells me, and then gives me an awed grin. Her sire is going to have his hands full with that one.

Amy and Rast eventually leave, after Amy’s re-packed her bag, this time stuffing as many baby things as she can possibly fit into one satchel. Sallavatri’s mental “shouting” continues for a while, but the hunger fades and I’m guessing she settled down enough to eat. Thank god babies sleep a lot, because I don’t know how I’d handle the constant blast of hunger and newborn crankiness. I can only imagine what Liam’s feeling.

It’s not so bad, actually. I like it. It reminds me of home. Young ones there would touch minds with their community, but not nearly so vocal as Sallavatri. His thoughts are amused. She’s a strong one.

Strong despite how “early” she is, though no one’s entirely sure that she is early. It seems that drakoni gestation is a lot shorter than human gestation, though Liam can’t say how short. I’m no female. I don’t know these things. A month? Two months? The fires quicken swiftly in our females, though.

Which means if we have a baby, I get a few months to get used to the idea, and then boom, I’m a mom to someone that arrives with the psychic equivalent of a bullhorn and her own name to boot.

I…actually don’t hate the idea.

I don’t either, Liam tells me. He’s playing with my fingers as we lie up on the roof, watching the stars. Jemma’s taken over my old room and I’ve packed my things into my trunk, which sits in Benny’s room, waiting to be taken to our new home. We’ll stay in Fort Shreveport until Rast and Amy get back, but then we’re off again to make our nest in “our” territory. It’s another idea I don’t hate. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like it. Alone time with Atalim? Living without walls and fences for the first time in years and years? Privacy to make love as noisily as we like?

I am all for all those things.

Until then, we’re in the fort, though, and since it’s stuffy inside, we’ve taken a few blankets and pillows out onto the roof. It reminds me of that night so many weeks ago, when Liam sat with me and reassured me that all would be well with Benny. That he’d never leave my side.

It feels like it’s been a million years since then…and it also feels like no time at all.

Look, Liam tells me, pointing at the sky. Can you see them?

I look over to where he’s pointing and for a long moment, there’s nothing. Then, I feel a new presence just as I see a flash of wing in the moonlight.

A dragon.

Then, another presence touches my mind. A second dragon.

I gasp, holding his other hand tightly. “Two dragons?”

Don’t worry. Can you feel them? They’re not a danger to us.

I do feel them, but it’s not the oppressive cloud of anger and rage that normally comes with an approaching dragon. There’s nothing but calm…and curiosity. Who are they? Do we know them? Are they sane?

I’ve asked their names but they’re ignoring me. That, or they don’t know them. They’re on their way to see the child. Sallavatri. Her mental touch must be calling them.

Oh. The drakoni instincts must be kicking in when it comes to a new baby. Are Claudia and Amy in danger, then?

I don’t think so. Liam’s thoughts are equally calm. They merely want to see who touches their minds. I do not think they will harm her.

I hold Liam’s hand tightly and try to pick up emotion in his thoughts, to see if he wants to follow and go visit the baby himself, or if the nearness of the other dragons flying overhead is going to incite madness.

I’m fine, I promise. He pulls me closer, tucking me against him. I have no desire to see the baby, and no desire to attack anyone, unless they decide to come and get a closer look at you. Then, I might have to bare my fangs.

Fair enough. You think we’ll see more dragons going to visit the baby, then?

Undoubtedly. He chuckles, the sound reverberating through my head and his big chest. I don’t envy the parents. I hope they’re expecting a lot of company, because they’re going to get it.

That might mean Amy and Rast are gone for longer, I tell him, a little worried. Are you okay with that?

I am, he tells me, and his thoughts are calm. Being in my two-legged form helps…as does having you by my side. I will try to stay in this form as much as possible.

That worries me a little. Gabe’s red still lurks around the edges of the fort, just far enough away to not be confrontational, but too close for comfort. “And what about Gabe’s little friend? Is she going to see Claudia and Kael’s baby, too?”

I don’t think so. I haven’t tried reaching out to her tonight, but I don’t get the impression that Teva’s leaving.

Teva? Hearing a name gives me a stab of jealousy. So she has a name? When did this happen?

Suddenly Liam rolls and I’m under him on the blankets, his bright golden eyes smiling down at me. “I can feel your jealousy, you know.”

“Well, you should. I’m not hiding it.” I push at his chest half-heartedly. “If she’s so crazy, how does she have a name? Are you two chitchatting on the sly?”

Liam snorts. He leans in and rubs his nose against my jaw, then presses a kiss to the side of my neck, right where he bit me just a few days ago and gave me his fires. “You want to hear what she says?” His teeth scrape lightly over my skin, sending shudders through me even as he opens his mind to me.

A new mind curls in through Liam’s thoughts. It’s definitely female…and desolate and as unhinged as anything I’ve ever felt.

There is a baby. I want a baby. Where is my mate? Why won’t he challenge me? I want a baby. Where is my mate? There’s a pause, and then it starts over again, a little wilder than before. There is a baby. I want a baby. Where is my mate? Why does he hide away?

I shake my head slightly, and he closes the link, silencing the female. His tongue flicks over my skin, sending shivers of pleasure up my spine. “All right, point proven. There’s no need to be jealous. So she doesn’t think you’re her mate?”

Definitely not. She smells my fires on you. She knows I’m taken.

Then…Gabe?

She’s fascinated with him, but I don’t think it’s occurred to her that he could be her mate. I think it’s just the ramblings of an unbalanced mind.

But she knows there’s a baby, so she’s not entirely gone.

He pushes my shirt up and drags his rough tongue over my nipple, distracting me. I whimper, holding his face to my breast as I close my eyes, losing myself to his touch.

She’s not having it with me. Liam’s thoughts are silky and full of need as he kisses one aching tip and then palms the other. I have someone else I’d rather give a baby to.

I gasp, both at his words and the gentle nip of his teeth against my breast. You want to have a baby?

He lifts his head, his eyes pure gold as they meet mine. Don’t you?

Well…yes. But what if it broadcasts to the world like Claudia’s baby? Sallavatri?

Liam lowers his head again and kisses a path down to my navel. I know he’s heading for my pussy, because the man could spend all day there and never get enough. Sallavatri is sane, as far as I can tell. She’s healthy. And if our baby brought a lot of company, she’d be the safest child in two worlds, because no one would ever hurt her. There’s nothing but joy in the minds of the dragons racing to visit. They’re excited for her presence.

Then let’s make a baby, I tell him, utterly breathless.

My sweet Atalim presses a kiss to my mound, then gives me a long, delicious lick that makes my legs slide apart and my body sing.

That’s not how you do it, I tease him, gasping.

So impatient, he tells me. Don’t worry, my sweet mate. I’ll give you everything I have.

And as I gaze up at the stars overhead, he does.