Curve Charm (Paranormal BBW Erotic Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

table, Esme sat down across from Leah and took the swatches from her. "You can put some coppers and silvers in there, gold and pewter."
    Looking up, Esme saw worry pinch at Leah's brow. "What's wrong, bestie?"
    Leah rubbed nervously at her stomach, her cheeks pinking once again. "When he comes out…"
    Esme tilted her head, nostrils flaring in search of Leah's scent. As a latent, her sense of smell was far removed from a wolf's, but a dozen times better than any human's. She couldn't detect enough of the baby's smell within Leah's signature to tell the cub’s gender. "He?"
    Leah nodded, smiling. "Seth thinks so. He gets all growly and rubs himself over me, says that's because it's a boy." Her gaze turned serious again, her voice dropping an octave as she finished her question. "What will he look like?"
    Esme relaxed back in her chair. "Like every other baby you've ever seen in your life, maybe just a little leaner. He probably won't shift until he's about seven."
    Leah finished adding sugar and cream to her tea. Blowing on it, she took a little sip. "What do you mean by probably?"
    "Assuming he's alpha like Seth," Esme explained. She had arranged the front of the binder with a rainbow of browns, greens, dark aqua and teal, rust and metals. Leah's smile when Esme passed the binder back to her eased a little more of the last month's weight from her shoulders. It was near impossible to feel sorry for herself when her friend was across from her beaming joy. "If not seven, it might be as late as nine or ten. I only know of one who shifted before seven…"
    She trailed off, hoping Leah wouldn't ask which wolf she was talking about. Leah looked up from the fabric, understanding glowing in her eyes. Leah took another sip of tea, her expression and the energy buzzing around her telling Esme the question about the baby and the nursery were just two of the reasons Leah had stopped by for a second visit that day.
    "Don't keep me waiting all evening," Esme teased.
    Leah spent a few more seconds chewing at her bottom lip before she sucked a big breath in and released it, the news spilling out with the expelled air. "I'm not the only one pregnant!"
    Esme nodded. "I hoped your pregnancy would trigger something in the--"
    She stopped talking when Leah vigorously shook her head, the raven black hair flying around her shoulders. Leah froze, looked away, her mouth puckering and moving in some kind of internal debate before she turned back to Esme and captured her friend's gaze.
    "They seem to have gotten pregnant on the night of the ceremony and I think there are a couple more pregnant, but…" She gave a little flick of her nose, indicating it wasn't something she would be able to smell and no announcements had been made.
    Trying to deny Leah's meaningful gaze, Esme closed her eyes. It was nothing more than coincidence if the female shifters actually had conceived on the night of the ceremony. Just like it was coincidence that the baby well ran dry around the same time Dana rejected her a decade ago. The two events weren’t connected.
    Esme shook her head. "Their bodies just needed a little time to catch up after they started scenting your pregnancy, Leah. That's all it is."
    "What about you?" Leah asked softly. When Esme lifted a confused brow, Leah gestured at the witch's stomach. "Are you -- you know -- pregnant? Seth said you weren't allowed to use a condom."
    Leah finished with her eyes cast down, another hot blush burning across her cheeks, the same one that surfaced on the two occasions she'd tried to talk to Esme about the ceremony. Closing her eyes, Esme soaked in the energy leaking from Leah and knew her friend felt ashamed that the clan had demanded the ritual and even more ashamed that a part of her, the part that wanted to keep her baby safe, was glad they had.
    Esme brushed a tear from her own cheek and made sure her voice was even before she answered. "No, I'm not pregnant, thank the gods and goddesses."
    Leah looked up, her