Claire hummed in agreement. “Yes, you’d better not stop what you’re doing. I command you to be the official foot-massaging mate.”
Sol took that as a challenge. He’d learned how to control his strength over the years and demonstrated his skill by carefully kneading Claire’s other arch with just the right amount of pressure, based on the way her eyes rolled back in her head.
“Correction,” she said. “Both of you can be my foot-massaging mates.”
My lips curled. “We’ll let you know when the food is ready.”
CLAIRE’S EYES widened as we brought the trays of food to her, placing them all around her so that she wouldn’t have to move from her chair. I’d found a breakfast tray that worked perfectly to perch food at eye level without disturbing her growing stomach.
She scanned the offerings as she licked her lips, the motion going straight to my dick.
Yes. Sex was absolutely what she needed tonight.
As well as the human food.
Already, she appeared healthier and happier, and well on her way to phase three.
We all sensed it coming.
Tonight.
She plucked at a miniature cake with white cream in the middle and moaned as she took a bite, making my pants suddenly tight.
“Claire,” Cyrus warned, his lips lifting in a sly smirk. “If you keep making sounds like that, you’re going to make us want to eat something, too. And it won’t be food.”
An adorable blush flushed over her cheeks as she chewed. “I can’t help it,” she said around a mouthful as she grabbed another item. “I’m just starving, and this is fucking delicious.”
Mmm, I like that word from your mouth, I told her. Say “fuck” again.
Her gaze sparkled at me. Fuck.
I smiled. Good girl, Claire. I’ll reward you later for that.
Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.
When have I ever not followed through on a sexual promise? I asked, arching a brow.
That had her flush creeping down her neck to disappear beneath the mountain of blankets.
I allowed her lack of a response, mostly because she made another moan as she bit into her cupcake again, and I couldn’t think of anything else other than that sexy little sound.
All of us watched her eat, our own appetites growing with each passing minute. She seemed completely oblivious to the intensity, too lost to her meal. Which was good. She needed the energy for phase three.
/> But the new thread pulsed among us all, the life inside her tugging on our sources with such urgency that it couldn’t be ignored any longer. The elemental source called to my affinity for spirit, urging me to bring the life in her womb to fruition by sharing my magic through our bonds on an intimate level.
I usually watched.
I usually waited.
This time… I wasn’t sure I could.
When Claire had sufficiently sated her appetite for food, she leaned back with a contented sigh. “I feel much better,” she admitted. Her eyelids drifted closed as her hands roamed over her stomach, smiling when her fingers twitched. “The faeling is kicking. He’s happy, too.”
And probably growing, I thought.
She’d slip into a preparatory sleep, soon. I sensed her closing in on the end of the final stage, the one where another mating would be required. It was an indescribable sensation of anticipation in the mate-bond, one that drove me to resolve that lingering requirement that plagued my mate.
While her appetite for food had been sated, I spotted the fleeting frown that crossed her face as her eyelids fluttered open to glance at us. She still had one need left to be met.