“Fuck,” Hades whispered. He wasted no time in bringing his face close, sniffing out the place at the crook of Aaren’s neck, where he smelled most strongly of tulip. Then he pressed a soft kiss to that spot, and paused there for another moment. “You’re sure?”
“I think I need to give you an actual smoke ring,” Aaren said.
Hades laughed and sank his teeth in, breaking skin. Pain and pleasure twisted through Aaren’s body; he gasped and clutched at Hades, his entire body throbbing for Hades. “Alpha.”
“Mine,” Hades growled. He tipped his head to offerhisthroat, and Aaren felt awed, suddenly. That an alpha as strong and powerful as Hades would offer himself to someone like Aaren.
“You’re amazing,” Aaren whispered. He sniffed Hades to find his scent gland, and kissed it gently. Then he pressed his teeth against it and bit down hard, so Hades jerked and swore beneath him, his fingers gripping Aaren bruisingly tight.
When Aaren released his teeth from Hades’ skin, he found Hades panting, his pupils dilated, droplets of blood welling up on his skin. So Aaren licked his bonding mark and kissed it better, purring when he found Hades rock-hard against his thigh.
“Mine,” Hades said again, pressing kisses all over Aaren’s face. He turned them around so Aaren was lying on his side, mindful of Aaren’s round belly, and carefully slid his cock in. “Mine,” Hades said again, leaning in to cover Aaren with himself.
“Yours,” Aaren said, right before Hades made him scream.
32
LABOR AND BIRTH
Aaren’s waterbroke on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
He stared between his legs and groaned. “I just sat down!”
“What? What happened?” Hades asked.
“My water broke.”
Hades froze. Sure, they had both been preparing for this day. And sure, the nursery was all set up, ready to go. Hades had been hoping for their baby to arrive sooner rather than later, because Aaren was in a lot of discomfort.
But he still panicked anyway.
“Fuck,” Hades said, his hand clenching around Aaren’s fingers.
“Fuck is right,” Aaren said, looking down at his belly. Then he squared his shoulders and put on a brave face. “It’s okay. Once this is over, the scary stuff will be behind us.”
Hades huffed. “Sure about that?”
“No,” Aaren said, his shoulders sagging. “But at least we’ll be in this together.”
“Yeah, that counts for a lot,” Hades agreed.
They exchanged nervous smiles. Then Hades straightened too. “I’ll get the overnight bag ready. Want me to tell everyone?”
“I’ll tell them,” Aaren said.
Hades dropped a kiss on his head and went off to prepare.
There was only so much he could do, though. He cleared out his own schedule for the next few days and arranged for some food deliveries; he double-checked their overnight bag and made sure everything in the house was off and ready for them to leave. Then he checked his phone.
Jag
How are you holding up?
Fury
You’re going to be a dad soon!
Rex
