“Bullshit,” Titus tossed back. “I beat you just the other night. She totally screamed louder for me.”
I gasped. “Titus!”
Cyrus just chuckled. “Keep telling yourself that, Firefly.”
“Call me that one more time, Royal Jackass.”
“Firefly,” he repeated, smirking.
Titus made a move to stand, but Sol clamped a paw on his shoulder to shove him back down while Vox released a long, drawn-out sigh.
Exos merely shook his head. “We want to have a baby, Claire,” he said. “And we’ve devised a series of trials to determine who gets to do the honors.”
I blinked at him. “I’m sorry… what?”
“And that’s my cue to go,” Gina said, pushing away from the table. “You’re all welcome, by the way.”
“Pretty sure none of us thanked you,” Cyrus replied.
“Yeah, totally not invited to Thank You Day,” Sol added.
“It’s Thanks Day,” Vox corrected.
“Whatever,” my Earth Fae mate growled back. “She’s not invited.”
“Are you talking about Thanksgiving?” Zephyrus asked.
“Thanksgiving?” Sol repeated, his dark brows drawing down. “That doesn’t even make sense as a word.”
“But Thanks Day does?” Zephyrus countered.
“Seriously, I want to know who wins,” Titus said, his forest-green eyes on Gina. He drew his fingers through his red hair and gave her a beautiful smile. “It’s me, right.”
She just grinned. “Well, it’s been great. I’ll see you all next month at the nesting party.”
“Baby shower,” Zeke said as he pushed to his feet beside her, his motions fluid and somehow regal, even while being blind.
“Yes. Right. Baby shower,” she agreed.
Not that I was paying attention to them.
I was too busy gaping at the table.
Except, what had they just said? “Baby shower?” I repeated on a squeak.
“Yes, but fae call it a nesting party,” she replied, already walking away with her mate, his hand on the small of her back. “Oh, and you’re going to need the Hell Fae to agree. I suggest you meet with one of Lucifer’s Hellhounds. But don’t let Cyrus near them. If he douses their flames, they won’t agree to your proposal.” She gave a little wave, then started toward the exit.
“Hold on,” I called after her.
But she didn’t listen, instead turning the corner before I could ask what the hell she was going on about. I almost chased after her, but she had already stepped through the doors, disappearing into the snowy beyond. She’d be in a portal in the next few seconds, traveling to wherever she wanted to go.
No wonder she’d recommended eating at the restaurant by the border.
She knew this was going to happen.
Damn Fortune Fae!
“Someone had better start explaining things to me,” I said, not in the mood for any more word games.
“I already did,” Exos replied calmly. “We want to have a baby, Claire. And rather than ask you to choose who gets to be the first father, we’ve devised a series of trials to help determine a winner.”
I gaped at him. “What if I don’t want a baby?”
He didn’t even bat an eye, saying, “Then we won’t bother with the trials.” Except I felt the pain instantly spike through my bonds, all my male mates suddenly concerned that I might turn them down.
Even Vox had a wary note to his silver-rimmed gaze.
Aflora cleared her throat again. “Uh, I think, we’re just going to, uh, go…” She spoke so softly I almost didn’t hear her. And as rude as it was, I couldn’t even reply. I was too consumed by the emotions thriving through my bonds.
My mate-circle had spoken about children several times over the years.
Cyrus needed an heir for the Water Kingdom.
Exos also required an heir for the Spirit Kingdom.
Vox had chosen a profession in teaching because he enjoyed philosophical studies, but he also possessed a soft spot for children and watching them learn.
Sol wanted a little one of his own to nurture and grow.
And Titus, well, he tried to pretend that practicing the art of mating was all that interested him, but I caught the flickers of excitement in his thoughts around having a little fae to play Fae Ball with.
They all wanted kids.
Not necessarily one of their own—except for maybe Exos and Cyrus, who had royal duties involved—but the others just wanted to expand our circle with little fae. Even my two king mates wanted that, despite their obligations to their thrones.
This went beyond duty for all of them.
They just wanted to create life.
Which was an Elemental Fae’s greatest gift.
But I could also sense their willingness to wait, if that was what I desired. They didn’t want to push me. They also didn’t want to make me choose. Hence, the trials.
I couldn’t discern the details from their thoughts, their minds closing off around whatever they had planned.
However, anticipation hummed through my veins, ready for whatever they had in store.
“Okay,” I said slowly, looking at each of my mates. “Tell me about these trials.”
“Okay, I’m going to need you to go back to the orgasm trial again.” There’d been other items mentioned, but that was the competition that had captured my interest.
Titus smirked. “It’s exactly what it sounds like, and we intended to start here tonight.” He gestured around the cabin my mates had sequestered me off to in Iceland, of all places.
After we’d paid for the food and drink bill at the Fae Pub—yes, that was the extremely original name—and Cyrus had said goodbye to his cousin, my mates had portalled me to the middle of the woods where a cabin waited with a very large bed inside.
I suspected they’d taken the beds from the guest rooms and just pushed them together in the center of the living area, because the sheets were a bit haphazard, and the size of the mattress definitely wasn’t common in the human world.
Regardless, it worked.
And I really wanted to start the orgasm trial… like, now.
“So you’re all just… going to see how many orgasms you can force out of me over the next five days.” I did not see a problem with this logic. At all.
“Six days,” Titus corrected. “We decided the first one doesn’t count because of the excitement. So we’ll warm you up properly for a day, then we each get a twenty-four-hour period.”
I swallowed. “Oh, okay,” I said. “Um. Yeah, we can start now.”
Exos grinned. “So eager.”
“We need you to agree to all the trials first, little queen,” Cyrus murmured. “And we also need to know you’re really okay with the outcome. Are you ready to have a baby with us?”
All five of them studied my reaction, my mates always putting my comfort above their own. Was I ready to have a baby? I wasn’t sure. Was anyone ever ready?
But I knew in my heart that my mates would be amazing fathers.
They would help me through this, protect me, and love me unconditionally. All facts I felt through our bond yet already knew.
Because they’d been there for me from the beginning, even before we were fully mated.