Page 82

Luca squeaks, though, and runs from the nest into the attached restroom, while Grayson subsides from his full-on attack mode to a low-key growl.

He’s gorgeous, with his long black hair swirling around his head in the room’s breeze, and his basil-vanilla scent is almost eclipsed by his new perfume. It’s enthralling, and for a second, Nix forgets what set him off.

He looks so wild and familiar that Nix almost follows the memory back, back through his mind.

“Sorry. Thanks, that was close,” Jamie says.

Luca climbs back in the nest and settles his butt in Jamie’s lap so he can get a front-row seat to the excitement. “Thatwasclose. I nearly peed. You scared me, Big Daddy.”

Jamie was Big Daddy?Yes, Nix loves that.

“Did you have a bad dream, Jaybird?” Rowan asks, unwrapping the granola bar he’d dropped previously. He’s so thoughtful, his Rowan.

“No! Look.” Jamie points at Nix’s belly again, and Gideon smirks.

Nix knows the joke is coming before he even says it. “No, it’s the babies. Look.”

The babies stop for a second like they have stage fright, and then, when Luca puts his hand flat under Nix’s belly button, they kick up a fuss, even more active than before.

“Holy shit balls.” He laughs and puts his soft, round cheek to the subtle movements. “Sugar, they’re moving!”

The smirk drops from Gideon’s handsome face, and he meets Nix’s eyes.

“Kitten?” Luca grabs his hand, and Nix feels his alpha’s and beta’s hands cover their pack’s babies. It makes their tri-bond swirl.

“Ohhhhh, they like that.”

It’s a novelty to see Gideon’s biggest grin, the sight of which makes tears prick behind Nix’s eyes.

“Rowan? Gray?” Gideon asks, pulling a grumbling Luca back so the enigmas can get close.

Grayson nods to Rowan and the younger alpha puts his giant hand over the small space first. There’s a jolt as the little beans bump up against it like they know he’s there.

Rowan meets Nix’s gaze, and now they’ve both got tears in their eyes.

“She’s real. She’s really real. Gray, you gotta feel.”

He pulls Grayson’s hand in under his own, and the two of them just smile at each other over this shared bond of fatherhood, filling the room with happy spiced rum and fragrant perfume-y basil vanilla.

There’s a loud honk and all eyes are on Leo.

“What? A man can’t blow his nose?”

“He can. Come feel before they go back to sleep,” Nix says.

Stretching out a hand over Jamie’s lap, Nix reaches for Leo’s hand.

Leo comes as bidden, lying on his belly so he can put his mouth against the tingling skin in a kiss. The babies show no signs of slowing down, however, and a fierce bump gets Leo in the mouth.

“Ow! That’s quite the hoof to the kisser. You know what that means?” He blows raspberries against his belly as Nix bucks and giggles.

“Alright. My turn. Move out,” Finn says, voice hoarse with overuse.

He looks exhausted and so lean, once Nix gets a good look at him. But he’s smiling that big smile where he shows his top and bottom teeth at the same time.

Jamie rolls Leo off so he can start blowing raspberries on Leo’s tummy instead, and Luca joins in. It gives Finn enough room to come in close.

“May I?” he asks with a gentle smile, just like he always does when he’s checking Nix over.