Brock’s excitement for our baby was one of my favorite things about him. The world was falling to shit, psychotic mermaids were probably about to lead a demon hoard onto earth to slaughter us all, but Brock was ready to paint the nursery.
“Hmm.” Sabine pushed the ultrasound wand into my stomach a little more firmly than usual.
“What’s wrong?” Brock’s every muscle bunched as he scrambled to stand, ready to fight whatever was ailing our baby.
Sabine looked at her alpha. “Nothing. I just can’t see the sex, er, gender. Little baby has its umbilical cord between its legs, and those legs are crossed.”
Brock let out the breath he’d been holding, and I burst into a fit of giggles. When he looked over at me, eyebrows raised in question, I grabbed his arm. “Maybe we shouldn’t know. Let it be a surprise.” I was a total control freak and normally hated surprises, but this sounded kind of fun.
Brock ignored me and faced Sabine, staring at the screen. “That’s a penis. It’s a boy!” He pointed excitedly to a dangling blob.
Sabine chuckled. “Seriously, that’s the umbilical cord. You’re going to have to wait until next week.”
His whole face fell.
“Or we could let it be a surprise…” I offered again.
He looked back at me with amber eyes. “No. If I’m having a daughter, I need to mentally prepare.”
My jaw dropped. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Sabine cleared her throat. “That’s my cue to leave. Baby looks healthy. We’ll do this again next week. You can shift one more time. Baby seems to be handling it okay.”
Sabine was tracking the shifts that were sprouting new tails and granting me more powers and how it was all affecting the baby. We were so far into uncharted territory that we weren’t even on the map.
I just nodded, anxious for her to leave Brock and me alone. He had some major mansplaining to do.
The second Sabine was out of ear shot, Brock grumbled, “You’re taking this the wrong way.”
I wiped the gel from my stomach in choppy movements, yanked down my shirt, and crossed my arms to glare at him. “Explain yourself. I will not have a child with a sexist alpha whatever you are.”
Brock grinned. “Sexist alpha whatever…”
“Explain.” I kicked my legs over the edge of the bed and started tugging on my boots.
Brock reached out and stilled me, cupping my face. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
The breath whooshed out of me, and I couldn’t help but stare up into those honey eyes of his.
“And if our daughter has even half of your beauty and a quarter of your feisty independence, I’ll need to put bars on all the windows and have a tracking device implanted in her neck because the boys will be lining up for miles and my heart can’t take it.”
I grinned. “It’s still sexist, but since that’s pretty fucking sweet, I guess you’re off the hook.”
“Hmm, that’s good, because I have better plans for that pout of yours.” He edged between my legs, parting them.
“Oh, do you?”
“Definitely.” He tilted my face up and lowered his lips toward mine. Right away, his tongue urged my lips apart; heat rushed across my body as our tongues met. I stood and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against him. Weaving my hands around his neck, I claimed his mouth. He kissed me like it was the first time and the last time, all at once. And even though we’d already made love that morning, I couldn’t help the moan that escaped me and the way every part of my body urged me along, wanting more, more, more of this gorgeous man.
Brock groaned and cupped my ass, pressing my pelvis against his, convincing me that there was no such thing as too much sex. I’d never get enough of this man.
“Boy or girl, I’ll be thrilled, I promise,” he whispered against my lips, sending shivers vibrating down the length of my body.
I was two seconds away from tossing him onto the bed when someone banged on the door to the bedroom. I hadn’t even realized Sabine had pulled it shut, but it was no secret in the house of wolves with acute hearing that Brock and I ended up between the sheets more often than not. She must have closed it to afford us privacy.
“Go away!” Brock ordered, trailing his fingertips across my collarbone like an erotic whisper.
“Evie! Get out here!” Cass yelled, and I froze in Brock’s arms, whipping my face toward the closed door.
