Now, rubbing his gradually expanding stomach, he had a hard time understanding what had seemed so important in all that academia, what had held his attention so tenaciously. This new life, his changing body, and his slow-growing relationship with Heath seemed much more compelling. The inner world of his heart and mind, the development of the child inside, the small movements he was beginning to feel, and the peaceful pace of his thoughts were addictive.
His current life was far from dynamic. It was, if anything, even more steady and easygoing than the way he’d lived before. There was no pressure to be anywhere or do anything other than what pleased him. The academic world seemed fuzzy and almost silly in the scheme of the beautiful, endless mystery of generating new life.
None of the science he’d studied could fully explain the animalistic urges inside him to bond with Heath, to fuck and suck, or explain his sense of the growing child’s nature, already so different from his own. Life was slow and sensual now, but there was something new every day—in his body, in his small world of the nest Heath had built for this purpose.
The blossoms of the roses, the caterpillars, the butterflies, and the bluebird feather found on the bench in the gazebo kept him company while he sat naked most afternoons feeling the cooling breeze against his hot skin.
His baby was moving inside of him now, shifting languidly from one side to another, and he loved the flutter and kicks. They made him feel simultaneously tiny and infinite, tied to the universe yet just a speck of it. He
sometimes got a glimpse of the world from so far away that it was as though he were in the stars, and what he saw was the same across species: life striving for life. It was simple and stunning.
He was calm more often than not despite having not left the nest to even explore the castle. Heath had been right: the semen he swallowed or had deposited up his ass kept him sated and happy. It was almost like a drug, he supposed. But he couldn’t be bothered to really mind it.
Everything about his life now was sweet, and he couldn’t help but want it to last.
“Adrien,” Simon said, stepping out of the nest with his butler’s outfit askew. Heath had suggested he stop wearing it while taking care of Adrien, since they kept the nest so hot for Adrien’s comfort, but the old man was set in his ways and refused to completely let it go. He did unbutton and untuck his shirt, sometimes, to waft in some cooler air against his skin, and he carried a fan, too.
“Yes, Simon?”
“Dinner is ready. Unfortunately, lovey, Heath won’t be here tonight with you. He sends his greatest sorrow and wants you to know he’ll be back before the night is up, but he’s been called to the city to deal with a problem regarding his nephew.” Simon frowned. “He’s a disaster in the making, that one is. But that’s what we all said about Heath, too, and he’s turned out just fine.”
Adrien’s ears perked up at the mention of Heath’s younger days. He’d wanted to know so much more about his alpha’s life before him, but Heath was tight-lipped about much of it, saying it didn’t matter anymore. The future, the baby, and what they shared right now was the most important thing, he claimed. He often reminded Adrien, too, of his own words about wanting to keep the nest peaceful for the pregnancy, claiming the past was an unnecessary hornet’s nest and it was best not to kick it.
For the most part, Adrien understood. He didn’t want to spend a lot of time talking about his lost father, the years of loneliness on the farm, or retraining his brain from the religious doctrine he’d been spoon-fed since infancy, either. But there was so much more to Heath’s life, being older.
Adrien had more years ahead of him than behind, and hopefully Heath did, too, but surely there was some interesting history there?
Simon had turned to go back inside, but Adrien stopped him. “Stay,
Simon. Sit in here with me. There’s a nice breeze through the forest today, and the shade beneath the gazebo roof is almost chilly.”
“Are you cold? I’ll fetch you the silk robe—”
“No,” Adrien called out, patting the bench.
He did enjoy the silk robe Heath had brought for him, though he’d long ago stopped feeling shy about his nudity in front of Simon. Not after Simon had walked in on all manner of activities with Heath during the last few months, and not after his skin on his stomach had started really stretching with the baby and the rest of him came alight like exposed nerve endings.
Still, he did sometimes slide the soft robe on when he was chilled, but today he enjoyed the breeze across his skin, raising his nipples and ruffling his hair.
It made him feel alive.
“Just sit with me.”
Simon crossed over to him, bypassing some of Adrien’s favorite roses, red blowsy ones with a scent that made him moan, and took up a place in the shade across from Adrien. He fanned himself with his small fan and leaned back with his ankles crossed.
“Do you want to stay for dinner with me?” Adrien asked. He didn’t like to think of himself as needy. In the past he’d always been content alone, but now he was accustomed to spending his days reading or contemplating the clouds in the sky while feeling his baby move and the evenings lost in Heath’s company. An evening alone, too, seemed like too much.
“That is a kind offer,” Simon said, rubbing his jowl and smiling kindly.
“You’re a sweet man. I’m afraid I have other obligations in the evenings, however.”
He’d never wondered much before about Simon’s afterhours, where he went, or what he did, but suddenly he was curious about them. Did he eat alone at night or with the other servants of the big castle, always invisible since the first day? Or did he even live in the big place? Maybe he had a house on the estate somewhere or in the city. Perhaps a lover or a spouse. No children, though. As a beta, he couldn’t have any.
“Do you have someone waiting for you?”
“You could say that,” Simon said elusively. “Heath won’t be very late.
You could watch a movie, maybe. I noticed that you’ve barely touched the entertainment console in your room.”
Adrien shrugged. He liked to live in his dreamy, quiet contentedness
during the day, and at night Heath took far too much attention, what with his hard cock and strong arms and rapid-fire fucking. He felt his face flush at the memory and crossed his legs to hide his cock’s reaction. “I might. Or I could read some more.” He returned to his original reason to call Simon over.
“Or…I was wondering…does Heath have any old photo albums? From his youth or teen years, that is? Not recent digital pictures. Older than that.” He smiled. “I’ve been curious lately what the baby might look like.” It seemed a good enough excuse to want to see and didn’t sound as pathetic as admitting that Heath barely told him anything about his history.
“He does, yes,” Simon said. “Would you like me to get them for you?”
“Do you think Heath would mind?” That was a risky question, he knew, the one that might get this opportunity to explore even a little of Heath’s past revoked, but he wouldn’t have felt right not asking it.