Wanderlust Beastkin, Beauty and the Beastkin-Chapter 93: Ira and Eggs

I was disappearing into that kiss, our tongues dancing, his warm arms wrapping around my back while I played with his hair and my chest pressed up against his.

We lost ourselves in each other. Plus, he tasted like vanilla ice cream, and I haven’t been able to have ice cream since I got here, and kissing doesn’t give me calories. Even if I didn’t like him, I might be tempted to keep him just because he’s yummy.

Our kiss broke, and Ira gasped for air and then hugged me, burying his face in my hair and resting his head on my shoulder while we both breathed heavily. I ran my fingers through his hair while gently petting him. He let out a pleasurable shiver and held me as if I were the most precious person in existence to him, and I felt my heart swell.

"Would you like to become my mate?" I said in a quiet voice.

I felt a spike of anxiety while asking him, but I asked anyway. He could tell me that he isn’t interested, but would he be cuddling me if he weren’t interested? If he’s not interested, he can tell me no, and only my feelings and pride will be hurt.

He raised his head off my shoulder and looked at me with watery eyes. "Really?"

"It’s up to you. If you aren’t interested, we don’t have..."

I was interrupted by him kissing me. When he pulled away again, he had a huge grin on his face. Perfect white teeth with slightly pronounced canine teeth. Happy tears were dripping down his face.

"Yes! I accept! I’ll be your mate, I’ll be happy to be your mate!" He said and hugged me again before kissing me.

We broke apart again and looked over to see that Oliver, Sam, Milo, and Titus were all watching us. Sam grinned and lifted his drink to us. "Welcome to the family, Ira."

I could feel my face heating up from their scrutiny.

"Yes! Yes, thank you. I’ll do my best to be a valuable member of our family," Ira said and put his hands to his cheeks and cried happy tears.

Glittering...light blue gems? His tears were turning into tiny light blue gems and dropping into his lap.

"We need to head out soon, we could be there in a couple of days if we go at a brisk pace. You’d have to ride of one of us males backs the entire time, but you could sleep on Sam, which I’m sure would be comfortable. I’m obviously not a great choice to ride on until we travel along the river."

"Would you...like to mate after we get to Mistwood?" Ira said in a quiet voice. " I’ve never been with a female, but I was trained how to pleasure my future mate. I learned that underwater mating can be enjoyable if both are underwater beastkin. They have private."

I could feel myself flush while looking at him and the forward question that I wasn’t expecting.

"I wouldn’t be opposed to it, though I wouldn’t know the first thing about mating underwater."

"There are a couple of things you should know about my species that we only tell to outsiders if they’re intending to become a mate with my kind," he looked down, embarrassed, and I worried that it was something truly disturbing since I didn’t know much about the differences between beastkin.

"When my species mates underwater, we give off a sort of lubricant that makes it more comfortable to mate underwater and has some unusual effects. It helps with bonding by giving a euphoria effect, makes the body more sensitive, allows mates to experience each other’s pleasure almost as well as their own by linking emotions, and temporarily boosts energy. It’s meant to help Hippocampus mate with each other, but it would work just as effectively on a mermaid. If you don’t want to try it, we can do something else, whatever you’re comfortable with."

"That... sounds interesting. I’m not against trying it out. Though if I become uncomfortable, I’d want to stop," I said.

"Yes, of course, whatever you want. There is one other thing that you should know, though."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and waited for him to speak."

Then all at once his words came out in a rush, "Male hippocampus have to be careful about who they mate with, more so than males of different species, because we can get pregnant."

"What do you mean? Are you referring to when a woman gets pregnant, and a guy says, ’We got pregnant?’"

"No," he said while shaking his head. "Why would a male say that anyway? Why wouldn’t he just say that he was expecting eggs soon if he’s not pregnant?"

"I’m not really sure," I said. "Maybe enthusiasm? It’s not like guys can get pregnant," I said while shrugging.

"Well, usually males can’t get pregnant. Hippocampi males can get pregnant," Ira said.

"You...can get pregnant? You’d carry eggs and give birth?" I said while my mind raced. His great beauty, some of his personality traits, and the way he moves, as well as the reason why someone as beautiful and powerful as he has never been mated before. It makes sense. Then I remembered reading randomly about male seahorses that could get pregnant. Then I remembered how making a tape box worked on Kai. The beastkin possess traits similar to those of animals in my old world. That could make it easier to deal with them since I had a hobby of watching shows based on fun facts about wildlife. I wonder how much of it applies. I’ll definitely have to investigate that. sounds fun.

"Wow...so you can actually get pregnant?" Thinking about it made me excited. I wanted to have babies, but not have to do it myself. That definitely is more encouraging, especially given that I wouldn’t have to take care of them myself either. The majority of the males that I’ve met or heard about here have an interest in helping take care of and raise their children. I wouldn’t have to worry about raising a child by myself as long as I have mates, because the other mates seem to usually help raise their mates’ children that aren’t even theirs. I feel like I’m a bit too young to have children, but I’ve always wanted to have some, and if I don’t have to give birth, that removes a great deal of my worries.

"Would you be willing to birth eggs for me?" I said.

His face turned a bright and adorable pink. "I would, I’d be willing to have a batch of eggs for you. I would be more than happy to provide several batches of eggs for you if that’s what you want. Though I would want some breaks between batches, it is tiring after all.

"No, I was thinking that I wouldn’t be against having a batch of eggs with you, though I want us to settle down somewhere before we have a bunch of eggs," I said.

"Speaking of which, Oliver!"

Oliver was sitting with the others while we ate, trying to give me and Ira our space, which I appreciated him being so understanding, though I couldn’t see that his bottom lip was out a little bit and that he occasionally looked our way while trying to appear that he wasn’t paying any attention to us. It was cute and made me feel seen and loved, which I’d only felt from Beth and Nancy before I came here.

He jumped up with excitement on his face as if I’d just given him a wonderful present. His large chipmunk tail was swaying, bouncing excitedly as he rushed towards me. He was only about my height and small boned, not much larger than me.

"Yes, darling?" He said after rushing to me and crouching down in front of me. I reached out and took his hand in mine. I know that this is pretty sudden, but I suspect that I might be pregnant. You have a way of finding out, don’t you?"

Oliver’s hand stilled as if he’d suddenly become a statue. I tightened my hand in his. "Hey, you in there still?" I said and waved my other hand in front of his face. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"You...had already been on some medicine to prevent you from having eggs," he said quietly, and I momentarily worried that perhaps he didn’t want any babies after all.

"There isn’t a guarantee that I’m pregnant, but I was wondering if perhaps my medicine wasn’t as effective as I originally thought for multiple reasons."

"I will check immediately," said Oliver with enthusiasm.

He got up and went to one of his bags, pulling out some herbs and mixing them in a mortar and pestle until they turned into a powder. Then he put the slightly green-tinted powder into a small wooden bowl.

"You don’t give off the scent of a pregnant female yet, but this powder will change into a shade of blue if you’re going to lay eggs. All you have to do is put a little bit of pee in the bowl. If the powder stays green, then you’re not pregnant."

Coming Next Time: Test