The pod scanned her body and I paced as I waited for the readout. When I heard K-Vik gasp, I rushed back over, anxious that something was wrong with my sweet Marcy. The med tech’s eyes were wide and he was staring slack-jawed at the reading on the pod lid.
My heart skipped a beat as I stared from K-Vik to my mate, who was starting to appear slightly panicked inside the pod. Her chest rose and fell rapidly and there was a wild look to her eyes. I shoved the med tech out of the way and lifted the lid on the pod. Marcy practically launched herself into my arms.
“I hate that thing,” she said, pressing her face against my chest. “It feels like it’s closing in on me, like I’ll die trapped inside of it.”
“What’s wrong with my mate?” I asked K-Vik, who still looked at the readout on the pod as if he’d never seen it before.
“Nothing,” he said, a hint of awe in his voice. “Your mate… she’s a true miracle.”
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“She’s carrying three embryos in her womb,” K-Vik said. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. Elorian women could only ever carry one at a time. But your mate… the pod detected four life-forms inside, your mate and three offspring.”
He blinked and looked up to stare at Marcy. My arms tightened around her protectively, unsure what to make of K-Vik’s statement. More than one child? Would it be dangerous for her to carry three babies at once? I didn’t want my mate to suffer, regardless of how wonderful this news might seem to my people. I had to put Marcy first.
“Would you permit me to take a blood sample?” K-Vik asked. “With three embryos, I’m not certain if I can get an accurate reading on the genders, but I’d like to at least have a sample to study and use as a baseline during your pregnancy.”
“I guess,” Marcy said. “As long as I don’t have to go back into the pod.”
“No, you can remain in your mate’s arms,” K-Vik said. “It will only pinch a moment.”
I made Marcy focus on me as K-Vik took the blood sample, and then I carried her out of the med clinic. I knew if K-Vik were able to determine anything about our children, or Marcy’s health, that he would contact me immediately. Right now, my mate looked like she needed a quiet place to process the news we’d received.
It seemed she was every bit as surprised over her pregnancy, and I wondered if any of the Human females at the settlement had ever given birth to more than one baby at a time. It seemed unlikely, judging the stunned expression on my mate’s face. Did that mean my Marcy was special? Or was it our combined genetics that had made such a thing possible?
Chapter Five
Marcy
I didn’t know what to think about having more than one child at the same time. I’d assumed I would never have a baby, not after all the years I didn’t conceive. Now to found out it wasn’t only possible, but we were having three? I wanted to panic, but I knew K-Tan had to be excited. This was a huge bonus for his people, assuming even one of the babies was a girl. The fact there would be children at all was joyful news for the Elorians, but I knew a baby girl would make them even happier. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about her being abused. K-Tan’s people would cherish her, protect her. I couldn’t ask for more than that for my child.
I might have asked about women being leaders on his world, but that wasn’t such a big thing compared to my baby being safe and loved. Maybe one day I’d want to fight for more, but after everything I’d been through, just knowing my children wouldn’t suffer the horrors I’d faced was enough for me.
If I did have a daughter, she would never have her innocence stolen, wouldn’t be forced to serve men in whatever way they demanded. And a son wouldn’t be trained to be cruel and hurt those weaker than him.
K-Tan was honorable, and I knew any son of his would be the same. My big sexy alien wouldn’t allow for his child to turn out any other way. I might not know K-Tan overly well, other than intimately, but I only had to spend a short amount of time in his presence to know that he was kind and loyal.
Snuggled against K-Tan’s side, his arm around me, I felt safe and protected. Even more, I felt this warmth inside of me whenever he was near, and it wasn’t the mating heat. It was something more, something… I’d almost call it love, but that was ridiculous. No one fell in love that fast, did they? My mother had loved me, but I didn’t know a single woman who loved a man. I hadn’t known there was a guy out there who would be so different I’d want to trust him, much less be willingly intimate with him. K-Tan was the kind of guy I’d dreamed about. I just hadn’t counted on him being an unknown type of alien. A really big, golden alien. Maybe it was a good thing he didn’t look Human. If he had, it might have taken me a lot longer to let him near me. Oh, he was humanoid in shape and most of his features could pass for Human, but there were enough differences that it set me at ease.
How silly was that? That an alien was preferable to my own kind? Maybe not silly. Perhaps ‘sad’ was a better description.
“You’re thinking deep thoughts,” K-Tan said, his hand rubbing up and down my arm.
“Just grateful that I found you, or rather that J-Ril found me. If the men from the settlement had caught me…” I shivered at the thought. No one ran from Bruce without paying the price. I probably wouldn’t have survived whatever punishment he deemed fit for my transgression. I only lamented that some other woman had probably faced my fate that night. If Bruce had promised his friends a good time, then he’d have found a replacement when I ran away.
It made me feel ill, thinking about the possibility they’d taken someone much younger. I knew there was a chance such a horrific thing had happened. Not that any woman at the settlement deserved that fate, but some of those girls were still very much children. Just because their bodies were changing didn’t mean they were fully grown yet. I hated it. I hated the men there, and the lawlessness that ruled over this planet.
“There’s a matter we need to discuss,” K-Tan said. “It’s not something you’ll like to hear, but I think it’s necessary.”
My body tensed as I looked up at him. His jaw was firm and I could see the determination in his golden gaze. Whatever he wanted to tell me, he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I didn’t think K-Tan would ever do anything that would hurt me, but there was still so much we didn’t know about each other.
“I know you want to save the females on this world,” K-Tan said, “and my males are going to do what they can, but now that I know you’re not only pregnant but carrying three babies, I think it’s imperative I get you off this world.”
“K-Tan, I can’t just abandon them!”
“Yes, you can. I know you care for them, and I can only imagine the horrors they face every day in that settlement, but I can’t risk you or our children. Please understand, Marcy. I’m not trying to punish you, I’m protecting you. All four of you!”
I wanted to argue, I really did, but I had to admit that he had a point. The longer we remained on this planet, the stronger the possibility of Bruce or one of the others finding me. The moment he noticed I was missing, he’d have sent someone after me. No way he’d ever let me go, not willingly.
If they knew the Elorians were here, I wasn’t certain how they would react. They’d either try to fight them, or maybe even attempt to steal the ship.
The thought of those men anywhere other than this world made me sick to my stomach. They’d done enough damage already. But if we could find a way to save the females, maybe even get rid of the men, then I’d feel better about leaving this place.
“Marcy, I can assure you that my males will do everything they can to save your females. J-Ril has personally asked to remain behind and I’m putting him in charge in my absence. You and I will take a much smaller ship, one that doesn’t require a crew, and will return to Elora.”
“If your world is so far from Earth, how far is it from this planet?” I asked. “How long will I be on board a ship to my new home?”
“We are almost a dozen sol
ar cycles from Elora. I believe Humans call them days. I’m uncertain why the Marwain ship was so far out, but it’s possible they were still gathering slaves before selling everyone. Most of the planets purchasing Human slaves aren’t this far away from your planet.”
“How far are we from Earth?” I asked.
“A few of your Human years. I’m uncertain where the ship was heading when it crashed here. While the data on your species and the others was easily attainable, as were the coordinates showing where the ship had been, any data about future destinations was wiped from the system, or perhaps just corrupted. All Marwain ships are linked to a type of information hive. That’s what we were able to hack, and that’s where we found the information about X-2.”
“You promise that if I leave with you that your men will stay behind and try to save the other women at the settlement? You have no idea what they’ve suffered, and will continue to face if they aren’t removed from this place. Even better, get rid of the men!”
K-Tan cupped my cheek. “My sweet mate, I would give you anything within my power. If you wish the Human males to be destroyed, I will ask J-Ril to make it happen. The females will not be taken without their permission. We would never snatch them and force them into a life they don’t want. I only hope they won’t be scared of my males when they see them.”
“If you promise they’ll at least try to save them, then I’ll go with you. I don’t like the idea of leaving them behind, but I understand why you’re worried. I know the children I carry are a miracle for your people.”
K-Tan softly brushed his lips against mine. “It’s more than that, Marcy. Yes, our children will be loved and protected on Elora. But it’s not just them I’m worried about. It’s their mother. You’re everything to me, little Human. Even if we couldn’t have children, I would still want you by my side.”
I blinked back tears, but they weren’t tears of pain or unhappiness. They were tears of joy. Hearing that I meant so much to him, that I was just as important as the babies, if not more so, made my heart feel full.
“I love you,” I said. “I didn’t realize that’s what I was feeling, even though I suspected. I’m glad that J-Ril found me, and I’m so happy that he placed me in your quarters. Meeting you, being here with you, is the best thing that ever happened to me. You’re everything I could ever want in a mate.”
K-Tan rolled me beneath his body and his lips found mine. His kiss made me feel like I was burning from the inside out. Even though I was already carrying his children, it didn’t seem his desire for me had waned. I hadn’t known what to expect. The Human men wanted sex all the time, and not for the sake of procreation. When the alien had said his people needed mates and children, I’d assumed that intimacy would only occur as a way of making babies. Then again, I hadn’t realized that women could find it pleasurable. Now that I knew how incredible it felt to have K-Tan inside of me, and his lips on my body, I was more than willing to have sex as often as he wanted.
He nipped at my collarbone and I felt his hard cock drag along my leg as he moved lower. He sucked at my nipples, making them harden. I could feel myself growing wet between my legs and an ache was building.
K-Tan seemed to know just the right way to touch me, to taste me, that had me begging him for more. When he flipped me onto my stomach, I tensed for a moment. I knew I was with K-Tan, but for a split second I was transported back to the settlement and the abuse I’d suffered at the hands of men like Bruce.
K-Tan kissed a path down my back, his gentle touch reminding me that I was safe with him.
“I’ve been told females can experience great pleasure from this position,” he said, lifting my hips and pressing my shoulders to the bed. “The angle is different from before, and will let me fill you more. I want to please you, Marcy. I love hearing your cries and feeling your warm, wet pussy milking my cock.”
“K-Tan,” I said, nearly breathless. “Please.”
I felt his cock brush against me, and then he was slowly sinking into me. My pussy stretched to accommodate his size, and it burned a little yet felt so incredibly good.
He went deeper than he had before and I clutched the bedding tight. He gripped my hips and set up a slow pace, one that teased and tormented me. I could feel my body tightening, straining for a release I knew only my mate could give me.
“So tight,” K-Tan said in his deep, rumbling voice.
“Maybe you’re just really big,” I said, gasping as he drove into me harder.
“Or possibly you’re really small.”
I could hear the humor lacing his voice and glanced at him over my shoulder. He winked, then his expression shifted and his eyes fairly glowed. I could tell that he was getting close, and he wasn’t the only one. K-Tan slammed into me again and again, his hold on me all that kept me in place. I screamed out his name as pleasure rolled over me, making my vision go dark and the room spin. My mate growled and kept thrusting until I felt him come inside of me.
“One day, I will last long enough to make you scream like that multiple times before I come. You just feel so good when I’m inside of you that I lose control,” he said. “I’ve never had that problem before.”
Everything in me went completely still. Before? I didn’t know why I’d assumed I was his first. The way the Elorians spoke, they took it seriously when they claimed a mate, and if there were no females on his world… I’d foolishly thought they didn’t have sex if they weren’t part of a mated pair. He hadn’t come out and exactly said that, but it’s what I’d taken from the conversation.
It felt a little like my heart was cracking. I’d never felt like this with anyone, had never voluntarily been intimate with anyone but K-Tan, but it seemed he had previous experience.
I should have known. He’d mentioned that females liked certain things and seemed to know what he was doing. It had been wishful thinking that he’d come by that knowledge from reading reports or something.
When K-Tan withdrew from my body, I curled into a ball on my side, the bedding clutched in my hand. I’d been so stupid, thinking I was special. He’d said all the right things and treated me better than anyone had before, but maybe I’d been wrong about him.
I’d thought perhaps Elorians were different, that they weren’t the type to have sex just for the sake of a release like the men at the settlement. If they were no different from the Human men in that regard, how else were they similar?
Once K-Tan grew tired of me, would he move on to someone else? Just because he’d said I would be tied to him forever, it didn’t mean he would remain faithful.
K-Tan reached out and smoothed my hair back from my face and I couldn’t stop myself from flinching. Concern filled his eyes as he lowered himself to the bed next to me. When he reached for me again, I held still.
“Did I hurt you? I thought you were enjoying it, but if I was too rough…”
“No,” I said, my throat tight with unshed tears. “You didn’t hurt me.”
Not physically anyway. His words, however, had been an emotional blow. It felt like someone had reached into my chest and tried to pull out my heart.
“My mate… my sweet Marcy, tell me what’s wrong.”
“It’s nothing. I’m sure I’m just being overly emotional. I’ve heard pregnancy can do that.”
I didn’t really think it was the babies making me feel so distraught though. I’d trusted K-Tan, not just with my body but with my heart, and it felt like he’d betrayed that trust. He continued to watch me, his gaze soft and his touch light as he tried to soothe me.
All it did was make me break a little more, and soon I was sobbing harder than I had in a long while. K-Tan pulled me against his chest and I heard his two hearts beating. For once, mine didn’t feel like it was in sync with his, and he seemed to notice.
“You’re withdrawing from me?” he asked. “You’re refusing me as your mate?”
“Wh-what are you t-talking about?” I asked, trying to get control of myself again.
“
Your heart isn’t beating with mine anymore. I know I did something to upset you, but I don’t know what. Please talk to me, Marcy. Let me make it right.”
“I just didn’t realize you’d been with other women. I thought I was special,” I said, feeling stupid voicing the words aloud. “I thought… I thought you were only intimate with your mates and to create a family. I didn’t realize you were the same as the men at the settlement and had sex just for the sake of sex.”
He growled and pulled away from me, rising from the bed and pacing furiously. He glanced at me, his jaw tight, his lips thinned. The anger was practically rolling off him and his tail lashed back and forth with every step.
I trembled as I reached for the covers and drew them across my body. He stopped and stared, his chest heaving before he took a deep breath, shut his eyes, and all the tension seemed to ease from him.
“Do you know how old I am?” he asked.
“N-no. Maybe thirty?”
He snorted. “I’m fifty-three, Marcy. That’s a long time to go without the touch of a female. I purchased time with whores, in hopes of learning how to please my mate if I ever found her. I never had an emotional connection to them and considered those times to be lessons, even though I did find my release during those moments. I should thank them, since the things they explained and showed me have allowed me to bring you great pleasure.”
“I had no right to expect to be your first. It’s not like you were my first,” I said, swallowing the knot in my throat.
He fell to his knees beside the bed and reached for my hand. “You weren’t given a choice in the matter, my female. I wish that I had been here to save you from that fate. And if I could undo the past, it would bring me great joy to have shared my first sexual experience with you.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Loved by the Elite Commander Page 6
