with you when you face them too. But no more thinking you have to fight alone. Babe, you’re not alone. You have me and Kirill and we’ll stand by your side fighting assholes like Seth until the sun burns from the sky.” The words were right there on the tip of his tongue, but…
“You know how much I love you both, don’t you, precious,” Kirill said softly.
Yes! Arvyn hadn’t been sure if Kirill would actually say the words.
“Love… me…” His eyes wide, Ra looked at Kirill and then back at Arvyn.
“Me too.” Arvyn nodded. “Apparently our ancient vampire isn’t overly romantic, so there’s no wine, or flowers, or a meal at a fancy restaurant, but like Kir, I love you both with all I am and always will.”
“You love me? Like really love me, just the way I am?” Ra had tears pouring down his face.
Arvyn crooked his finger at Kirill, wrapping Ra in his arms, Kirill doing the same. “Exactly the way you are,” Kirill said fiercely. “Your snuffly little snores…”
“The way your hair all sticks up in the morning…” Arvyn added.
“The sheer joy you take in simple things like sending a text…”
“And how you want to try every new thing…”
“The way your smile lights up a room…”
“We didn’t mean to make you cry,” Arvyn said, “and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way yet…”
“I do!” Ra burst out sobbing again. “These…” he hiccupped, “these are happy tears. I just… I’ve spent an eternity up to now thinking all I was fit for was worship and adoration, but never love... Not the love that comes from the very essence of a soul. I love you both so much, please believe me. I would pluck the sun from the sky for you.”
“Doesn’t your friend Helios ride the sun chariot across the sky every day?” Arvyn chuckled his heart bursting that both of his mates loved him too. “He might object.”
“He might, but only because it will interfere with his mate hunting.” Ra sniffed and rubbed his hands down his cheeks. “So, does that mean we can go back to bed now? I need to show you…”
“We’ve all got that need, babe,” Kirill said roughly, grazing his fangs up Ra’s neck before pulling back. “But first, Arvyn, babe, do you have any news for us?”
Yes. Gods, Arvyn had had to sit on his wolf all afternoon so that none of his news leaked to his mates across the bond. “We’re pregnant.” He grinned widely.
“We’re… Who?” Kirill looked confused. “Me, you, Ra? Who’s we? Is that we in that we all participated, or…”
“We, as in we’re all expecting a child, but our precious Ra is the one who’ll be carrying it.” Arvyn felt like his face would split he was so happy. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
“Holy shit, we actually did it.” Kirill’s face went white and seconds later he slumped on the couch, his eyes closed.
“I think he fainted.” Ra leaned forward, tapping Kirill’s face gently. “Babe. Babe, are you in there?”
Arvyn chuckled, and then he started to laugh. The next few months were going to be interesting.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Why are all the doorways and windows so tall?” Kirill tried not to look like a kid in Disney World as he looked around Ra’s realm. It’d been a week since Arvyn’s startling revelation about their expected baby and Kirill had taken his beloveds’ ribbing about his fainting fit in good grace. Now he bristled, his protective urges surging in an unfamiliar place.
“Everything is bigger here,” Ra explained, lifting the hem of his robe as they climbed the steps leading to his ‘palace’. Although the place was unlike any palace Kirill had ever seen. Tall, that was a given seeing how tall the doors were, but it was made out of what looked like sandstone, very squared and with very little ornamentation to break up the stark façade. “Once upon a time, it was important to keep up appearances with other pantheons.”
“It smells sterile.” Arvyn’s nose was twitching madly. The wolf had no idea how cute that made him look when he was in his human form. “Almost lifeless.”
“People don’t really live here.” Ra swept through the doors as if he owned the place, which of course he did. “Decades ago, this place teemed with life, but one by one a lot of the gods decided living on earth, starting their own businesses, and forming lives for themselves was more fun than sitting around picking at each other.”
“You didn’t want to do that?”