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Impossibly, my cheeks felt even hotter, and Evan’s grin grew while I full-on blushed. He was still deep inside of me when he leaned forward, kissing my burning cheeks, then my nose, before stopping a breath away from my lips. “I like it.”
I laughed, and he eased me onto my feet to reach for a bottle of shampoo.
“It’s probably a combination of all the hormones,” he said as he worked the shampoo into my hair. “Pregnancy and dragon puberty.”
“Sounds like a killer combo,” I grumbled.
“I’m certainly not complaining about this part of puberty.”
I giggled at the comparison, but I had felt like a horny teenager. We took our time washing each other thoroughly, and by the time I was dressed, I felt like a completely different person. I didn’t feel like I was going to burst through my skin at any second, and my dragon seemed sated for the moment.
If that was what it took to keep her calm, I was happy to comply. Unfortunately, I had a feeling there’d be more to it than that.
When we stepped together out of our bedroom and into the hallway, I felt my heart swell at the sight of Sofia on the bottom floor, zipping past the stairs with a walker, her little legs flying to keep up. I wasn’t sure what I thought about the toy Abi had bought, but Sofia sure seemed to like it.
“Mama. Dada.” Sofia's delighted cries echoed up the stairwell. I grinned. She’d seen us as she sped past.
“Hey there, sweet girl,” I said when we reached the bottom of the stairs. I wanted to go to her, but the memory of my dragon’s jealousy had me hesitating. Evan picked her up and gave her a kiss, and I braced myself for it. Surely, if she was going to rear her head, it would be now when she’d so clearly wanted to stake her claim on Evan in the shower.
To my surprise, it never came, and instead of feeling possessive or territorial in any way, a suffocating feeling came over me. An emotion so strong, it nearly overwhelmed me.
Evan frowned as he stepped to my side. “Mariah?”
I shook my head and recognized the feeling coming from my dragon: guilt.
I stared at Sofia as the full understanding hit. The dragon seemed remorseful over the jealousy she’d felt toward Sofia. The realization had me beaming up at Evan.
“Mama!” Sofia demanded, her hazel eyes shining with excitement as she leaned out of Evan’s arms and reached for me. I took her and held her close to my chest, waiting for any reaction on my dragon’s part, but she seemed even more settled with Sofia now in my arms. The worry I’d felt had been for nothing. If anything, my bond with Sofia seemed even stronger, as if my dragon were able to connect to that dormant shifter energy in her as well.
When I glanced back at Evan to find him smiling softly at us, a sense of peace settled over me that I hadn't realized I was craving. My emotions had been all over the place for so long. It was nice to have a moment where everything felt so normal. So right.
“Come on. Let’s go see what Abi is whipping up for breakfast,” Evan suggested, guiding us toward the kitchen.
I placed Sofia in her highchair, then took a seat next to Evan as Abi announced the pancakes were almost done.
“Thank goodness. I’m starving.” My stomach rumbled in emphasis. “I can’t remember the last time I felt this hungry.” Evan and I must have worked up an appetite in the shower.
Abi looked over her shoulder at me. “Double order it is.”
I laughed. “Is this because of dragon puberty, too? Am I going to be eating like a thirteen-year-old boy now? It can’t just be from the pregnancy.”
Abi chuckled. “Actually, it is.”
I glanced at Evan, who just shrugged. “But I don’t just feel hungry,” I said, my hand coming to my stomach. “I feel ravenous.”
“You’re more in tune with it now that your dragon is awake, but that is most certainly a sign of the pregnancy. You wouldn’t believe how much food I ate when I was pregnant with Lucas.” Abi shook her head as she filled a plate high with the pancakes and pushed it across the island. My stomach rumbled again.
“Not puberty,” I said. “Huh.”
“You know how dragons are hoarders, right?” Abi said, and I had to laugh because I hadn’t seen much of a sign of that. “Well, dragon babies are hoarders, too, only with food.”
Evan smiled. “I don’t know, Abi. I remember eating a crazy amount of food when I went through puberty.”
She shook her head. “That was nothing compared to what Mariah will need. She’s growing a life in there on top of going through dragon puberty.”
Great. Still, I supposed there were worse things than a ravenous appetite.
“Looks like we’ll need to make a trip to town for more groceries,” she said. “We can go this morning.”
