Her life had changed in an instant with the lightning, and now it had changed once again. She was mate to Malik and soon to be a mother. She was a phoenix and an artist. She was still Eliana, but never only Eliana.
And because all of that was too much to deal with after a long and emotional day—especially since she was pregnant—she wanted to see Malik shift into a lion and back again before she passed out from exhaustion.
One thing at a time, she reminded herself. If she just did one thing at a time, she could make it. Because once the baby came, there wouldn’t be another option.
Malik ran his thumb over her cheek. “Ready, beauty?”
She loved that he called her that. He hadn’t called her that before, only her name. Now it was though he was finding small ways to be close to her since he didn’t have to hold back as much as he had before. Or maybe it was just her putting too much emphasis on a word. Either way, he was hers and he’d have to fight her if he ever wanted her to let him go.
“I’m ready.”
Malik grinned and took a step back. “I can shift with my clothes on and have them come back because of my royal line. The baby, once he or she learns to shift and gains enough power, should be the same. But we might have a naked baby crawling around for a bit.”
She grinned at the idea, even if her mind whirled. It was scary enough to think she would have a baby, now that she was apparently having a cub, it just made it that much more monumental.
“When can lions shift for the first time?”
Malik frowned. “Soon after birth. I know I shifted about an hour after birth because I apparently wanted to curl up and nap, but it’s different for each baby.”
Thank the goddess she hadn’t gone to a human doctor to have this baby. Because, holy hell. “Shift for me?” she squeaked.
He winked then glimmered out of sight for a moment. It was so fast she’d barely caught it, but one moment he was all sexy brown skin and man, the next he was a lion of such exquisite beauty it took her breath away.
He was larger than what she figured normal lions were. Much larger. And he had a black mane on golden fur. She’d known lions with black manes existed and had even heard a news report about a famous one at one time, but she’d never really seen one.
“You’re beautiful.”
Malik chuffed, and she figured that was some form of lion laugh.
She smiled and reached out to touch him, only to freeze at the feeling of an inward snap. Wetness covered her legs and she looked down in horror and shock.
“Oh, dear goddess.”
Malik shifted back right away. “Eliana? Did your water just break?” Panic filled his voice and she couldn’t blame him.
She met his gaze and clutched her belly. “I think so. I think the baby’s coming, Malik.”
She tried to smile, tried to think, but all she could do was freak out. Because she wasn’t ready for this, and yet she knew no matter what, her life was about to change yet again.
Chapter Six
Eliana had told herself she would remain calm once she went into labor and the baby came, that she wouldn’t freak out, but she had a feeling she was freaking out anyway. She’d literally just run through all the new and challenging things in her life and she’d told herself that she’d deal with things one at a time.
Apparently, little squirt had different ideas.
Freaking squirt.
Malik had her in his arms and in is Rover before she could tell him to take a breath and not freak out with her. One of them had to be calm, and she would have preferred it to be the large lion.
“Malik,” she gasped as the first contraction hit. Her friends had lied. All of them. There was no way the girls hadn’t used drugs for these because this hurt. Her stomach tightened and something rocked through her before ending in a cramp from hell in her back. She was going to die. That was it. The first contraction, and she already knew she wasn’t strong enough for the rest.
Some mother she was turning out to be.
“What’s wrong? Does it hurt?” Malik cursed but didn’t start the Rover. “Of course, it fucking hurts. You’re having a baby and we’re not ready. I’m not ready. But it doesn’t matter about me. We need to worry about you.”
For some reason, seeing Malik freak out like he was even though he was usually the one who was calm and growly and took charge calmed her.
“Malik, honey, I need my bag. And my purse.” She looked over at him and gripped his hand. “I have a bag packed for the hospital and I need my purse. It has my phone in it.”
“You can’t go to a hospital.”
She nodded. “I know. You’re going to take me to your realm and they are going to help me.” She only guessed that was the right course of action, but from the way some of the tension left Malik’s shoulders, she figured that was a good plan to start with.
He gave her a solemn nod. “Stay right here.”
“It’s not like I’m in position to leave right now,” she said dryly.