escape. “You can’t go alone. It isn’t safe.”
“Watch me!” I say, trying to get around him.
But he won’t move.
“Don’t make me hurt you,” I growl.
“I’m sorry,” Orion says behind me, and there’s something so raw and vulnerable in his voice, that I can’t help but turn back around. “It’s just so...wonderful. It’s hard to believe that something this good could happen.”
“You think it’s good?” I say, heart hammering.
He smiles. “Of course it’s good! We’re going to have a child.”
“Well, you’re an ass for implying it wasn’t your brother’s,” I say, mad even though I’m starting to calm down.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry.”
“I’ve always liked kids,” Blaise blurts out. “I kind of pictured myself as more of the fun uncle than a dad, but if Orion is the strict, grumpy one, and Andros actually knows how to take care of a kid, then I can keep the baby smiling.”
I look back at him. “You paint a beautiful picture.”
Blaise takes my hand, and we walk back to the ring of stones. Orion hugs me, and then Blaise hugs me too. When I draw back, they’re both looking at my stomach.
I can’t help but laugh. “I’m not far along. Just a few weeks.”
Orion’s gaze snaps back up to my face. “And you’re sure?”
I nod. “A doctor told me and everything.”
I swear Orion gets the silliest grin on his face, and Blaise smiles while he goes around and picks up firewood. I lay my cloak back down and sit down, touching my stomach and chest where it struck the ground. Everything feels okay. I only hope that means everything is okay.
Before a few minutes pass, Blaise has a fire going, and Orion sets out to make soup in a pot over the fire. I go back to the small lake where the falling water has pooled, drink, then undress and bathe. The two men join me after a few minutes, and it’s kind of cute when they can’t seem to decide what to look at, my stomach or my boobs.
When the soup smells too delicious to ignore any longer, we all dry and dress, then return to the fire. Orion spoons out food to everyone, and I notice he gives me a bigger helping than usual.
I lift a brow and look in his direction.
“What?” he replies grumpily. “You should have told us before. A pregnant woman needs certain things...like more food and water, and more breaks. We shouldn’t have been pushing you at this pace.”
I laugh. “I’m pregnant, not broken.”
His frown deepens. “We should’ve been more gentle with you. Even the sex…” His eyes widen and his gaze goes to my stomach. “Could we have hurt the baby when we were...when we were?”
I laugh until I’m crying, my bowl of soup in my lap. “You’ve seriously lived this long and know that little about how a woman’s body works?”
He glares.
I try to stop laughing, but can’t. My words come out broken between laughter and gasps for breath. “You’re both well-endowed, but the baby’s too far for you to hurt.”
Blaise starts to laugh too, then eats his soup, grinning between us.
Orion gives an angry humph, but he’s trying to hide a smile.
We all eat, and the conversation moves to other things. By the time the soup pot is empty, we’re all yawning. Orion cleans out our pot and the plates, then puts them away. When he’s done, he hesitates, then glances at me, looking nervous.
“What is it?” I say, lying on the cloak by the fire.
These guys might not realize it, but even grumpy, they have a way of treating me like a princess. If I have to spend the rest of my life with three men cooking, cleaning, and caring for me like I’m someone special, I think I’ll be the happiest woman alive. And that thought creates such a sense of relief inside of me.
Orion clears his throat. “Would it be okay if I laid by you tonight?”
“Me too,” Blaise says, perking up.
I laugh. “Of course.”
We readjust our blankets so that I’m sleeping in the middle of the two guys, and it’s absolutely wonderful. If Andros had been lying there with us, it would’ve been perfect. But I sigh and close my eyes, loving how safe I feel between. Loving how we all seem to fit together.
“We should have done this from day one,” Blaise says, wrapping his arm around my waist.
I snuggle closer to them. “Yeah, we should have.”
“So is this all your spell?” Orion