Brida Pact

by Leora Gonzales

  The expressions that ran across his face went from understanding to anger quickly.

  “That is not going to happen.” Biting out those words, he put his arm around Val’s shoulder and squeezed.

  An angry look came over Val’s face at that statement. “Are you saying that another warrior would not be attracted to me?” she asked tightly.

  Judging by Thorne’s face, he must have realized how that had sounded. He quickly sputtered out, “That is not what I am saying. I simply meant that you are mine.”

  By this point, Val and Thorne had created their own little bubble and Poppy felt as if she were watching a soap opera. Wishing for popcorn, she kept silent and waited for Val to respond to Thorne’s declaration. This was better than Netflix.

  “I’m yours?” Val asked with a teary but happy smile.

  “Of course you are. I believe I have shown you that this week.” He leaned closer to give her a soft kiss on the lips. “Multiple times.”

  “Oh.” Val turned to Poppy and smiled widely, her eyes sparkling with happiness. “We have to leave now.”

  Poppy couldn’t help but give herself a little pat on the back for helping that situation along.

  “Yeah, I can see you totally need to leave,” she said with an eyebrow wiggle that made Val and Thorne laugh. Poppy walked them to the door.

  With hugs to both of them, she took the moment to whisper into Val’s ear, “You really should drop by the med center and see me soon.” Leaning back to make sure that Val understood what she was saying, she was happy when Val nodded back.

  “I’ll try to come tomorrow. I’m going to talk to Thorne a bit more and make sure we’re both on the same page. I’ll suggest he comes with me just in case the tests are positive.”

  Knowing that Thorne would want to be there if Val found out she was pregnant made Poppy feel a moment of sadness. She had found out about her baby without Wheaton there. It was a moment she would have loved to share with him. Hell, there seemed to be a lot of things they were missing out on considering he hadn’t been able to even join her tonight. The bonding time they had once shared was no more and Poppy missed that. She missed their shared dinners. During those times they had talked about her previous life on Earth or things that were trivial, like movies or music. They had talked about subjects that were unimportant but that at the same time were instances that made up who they were as people. It was during those relaxed times that Poppy had felt able to connect with Wheaton the most.

  Wishing she could simply hear his voice before she went to her lonely bed, she paused when she heard the tone at the door. Had Val forgotten something?

  Opening the door and seeing her beautiful man standing in front of her had Poppy grinning like an idiot. She felt like crying but didn’t want to scare him off so she settled for launching herself into his arms.

  “I thought I wasn’t going to see you tonight.” Her words were muffled by his leather shirt.

  “Nothing could keep me away, little flower.” Wheaton hugging her in return, his hand running down her back to cup her ass and lift her so he could walk into the bedroom. As they walked, he kept talking. “Behyr came as the Council was letting out and asked Hannah if she would share a meal tonight, so I escaped while I could.”

  “He asked her to dinner?” Poppy smiled, clinging to him.

  “Yes, why do you sound so surprised?” He lowered her until her feet touched the floor.

  “Because he had a full meal here not even an hour ago,” she said with a smile as he whisked her shirt over her head.

  Unbuckling his pants, he quickly shucked them down his legs. After he was done with most of his own clothing he helped push her pants down.

  Poppy grinned at Wheaton. “I have a feeling that Behyr may take Hannah off our hands,” she said, eying the now half-naked form in front of her.

  Dear god, this man was pretty. She would never tell him so—that would probably ruffle his feathers—but he was so beautiful to her it made her stomach clench. She was pretty sure that her stomach wasn’t the only thing clenching. Leaning forward to nip at his muscled chest, she heard him hiss, and flicked her tongue out to follow the nip with a lick.

  With his chest fully rumbling, Wheaton leaned down to grip her under her now naked thighs. Walking her to the bed, he tossed her backward. Poppy let out a laugh at his playful mood and his hot gaze on her pussy as she lay back and opened her legs.

  Wheaton clenched and unclenched his hands while breathing in her scent. Leaning down with his fists on either side of her hips, he smiled sexily at Poppy.

  “Little flower?” he rasped.

  “Yes?” she said with a now-dry mouth.

  “I am thirsty.”

  That was her only warning before he pounced.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Poppy stretched in bed and groaned loudly as her back popped. She felt the bed move next to her as Wheaton chuckled at her actions.

  “What?” Poppy turned over with a smile.

  “Nothing. I am just happy.” Wrapping one arm around her shoulders to pull her closer, he kneed her legs apart.

  “I’m happy too. In fact, I can safely say I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than right now.”

  The bedroom had simulated sunlight during the day and dimmed automatically at night. Right now, the light was reflecting perfectly off Wheaton’s sculpted face. Poppy stared at him for a moment and absorbed his handsome visage. Brushing his long hair away from his eyes, she cupped his cheek.

  “I love you, Wheaton.” Following the declaration with a kiss, she nuzzled his cheek.

  “I love you too, my little flower.”

  Meeting his gaze head-on, Poppy had no choice but to believe he meant what he said. She’d had fears at first that Wheaton would not be able feel love to the same depths as she did. Those fears had been unfounded. He was capable of love and she was the lucky girl he felt it for.

  “And I love our little baby.” Moving down the bed, he stopped to nuzzle at her soft belly.

  Poppy raised an eyebrow at him. “You realize I’m going to get fat, right?” she admitted. “Well, I guess it would technically be ‘fatter,’ to be honest.”

  Poppy was actually someone who believed being fat was okay. People came in all shapes and sizes. She just happened to be more padded than some. She also didn’t mind the word fat, which surprised people. She loved her body. There was a time, around high school when she’d hated the teasing and would wear baggy shirts to hide what she thought were lumps of unattractive fat. At some point she’d started not caring and had embraced the word fat. It made the bullies realize that being called names didn’t bother her. Eventually, when they wouldn’t get the reaction they wanted, they left her alone. She would never be able to run a marathon and that was okay with her. And if it was okay with her, then anyone who it wasn’t okay with could go fuck themselves.

  Truthfully, there were some things she would change about her body. She didn’t know one person who would say differently. Honestly, she would love it if her arms didn’t resemble bat wings. Was she willing to order that stupid shake thing she saw on TV to make it go away? No. In her opinion, nobody should look that stupid exercising. Sweating was punishment enough. She would wear tank tops and let her arms jiggle with pride and give the skunk eye to those who she saw judging her.

  The extremely baggy jeans and tops had left her closet, and she’d started wearing yoga pants and fitted T-shirts. The jeans she did have were expensive and fit well, but she just hadn’t had a chance to really wear them much since she spent so much time at home. Poppy tended to dress for comfort but she had come to realize very quickly that there was a difference between dressing for comfort versus dressing to cover up what others viewed as flaws. She’d admit that when she’d first been naked around Wheaton it had taken every ounce of courage she had. Being comfortable in your body was one thing. Hoping that your body sexually aroused a man who could be a body double for a god was another. He had shown her quickly that he d
idn’t have a problem with her form and in fact craved it. Generally as naked as he could get her.

  “I love your body,” Wheaton said with a smile. He could obviously read her face well enough to realize she wasn’t being disparaging to herself.

  “Well, big guy, I’m glad you love my body, because after years in it, I have come to the realization that it’s not going to change much.” She grinned mischievously. “Now, on the other hand…if you lose any of your muscles, we may have a problem.”

  Laughing out loud when he caught her grin, he nipped her belly and tickled her sides. “Oh really?”

  “Yes sir. I am going to be counting those ridges on your abdomen daily to make sure you don’t start slacking on me.” Between laughs as he tickled her, she was finally able to gasp out that he needed to stop before she peed herself.

  “Wheaton! I’m warning you. Seriously!” At her frantic tone, he literally rolled off her—and right onto the floor. Of course, this caused her to laugh even more as she hurried off to the bathroom.

  Relieved she’d been able to hold off having an accident, Poppy laughed at herself. Well, that would have killed the romance quickly, she thought while washing her hands.

  “I have a few meetings scheduled with the Council today but I should be able to come and join you for lunch in the med center,” Wheaton offered as he finished his breakfast.

  “Anything important I should know about?” Poppy asked, hoping he had news regarding their match that he would share with her.

  “Just some minor items are scheduled for today’s talks. I believe we have the majority of our negotiations with Earth complete. We have only a few more days before we reach Phaeton Major and then I can show you around,” Wheaton said, sipping coffee.

  “Hey, that reminds me. One of the guys explained that warriors live in barracks on your home planet,” she interrupted.

  “Yes.” Raising an eyebrow in question, he waited for her to elaborate.

  “How are these warriors supposed to have families if they live in barracks? In fact, that brings up the question regarding our baby. Where are we going to live?” When he opened his mouth, she held up her hand. “And before you say it, if you even suggest that we let our innocent baby be taken away to a training house, I will literally kill you with my bare hands.” She was completely serious.

  “I admit that we might not have thought the family aspect through very well when it comes to housing but this is easily solved.” Standing up to hug her, he whispered to the top of her head, “And I would never let anyone take our baby.”

  “Good. Now since you believe this is so easily solved, let me know what your plan is.” Poppy highly doubted that he was able to figure out a solution when both she and the guys had been unable to do so. Their new timeline only added to the problem.

  “First, we have many cloning centers. I would suggest we start turning those into housing for warriors who have been granted brides. Since the cloning has not been satisfactory for a few cycles, the centers should only contain machines that would need to be moved out. The same goes for a few training centers. We recently had some young warriors cycle out to be assigned to posts. Those buildings will be vacant as well.”

  Seeing the surprise on her face that he did indeed have a plan, he continued with a smile. “By my calculation we should have fifteen to twenty buildings available for us to transform into housing as soon as we have Council approval.”

  “Okay, Mr. Smarty Pants, I have something I doubt you’ve thought of yet.” At his look, she continued, “What about baby-proofing the ship? I’m assuming you’ll be on Squadron One quite a bit and would want us with you… How are you going to solve that one?”

  “You are correct. That is something I never thought of.” Wheaton tapped his fingers to his chin, unable to immediately handle that question. “I admit that the housing on Phaeton Major would not be ideal for the Council since we do have to travel quite a bit. And I do want you with me while I am traveling for my duties.”

  Wheaton smiled when he saw the glee on her face at having stumped him. Laughing at her little victory dance, he swung her up into his arms, hugging her hard before setting her back down on her feet.

  “You got me, little flower. I will think more on a solution today while in the Council meetings and let you know what I can come up with. Now give me my last morning kiss before I have to leave you.”

  Leaning forward to steal some kisses, Poppy pulled back before it got too hot and heavy. “Let me know if you can do lunch,” she whispered against his chest, taking the cuddle time to breathe in his scent before she would be deprived of it for the rest of the day.

  “Of course. I should know what the Council schedule is within the hour.” Walking to the door, Wheaton gave her one last hot smile before he left.

  Poppy was bored out of her mind for the rest of the morning while waiting for Behyr. She had tried to call Pixie a few times to video chat but the interference was wicked. It seemed the farther they moved away from Earth, the more static was a problem. During the initial Hannah situation, Poppy had emailed Pixie a few times back and forth. Her sister had been sufficiently pissed-off on her behalf and had threatened to “hijack a ship and whip some alien ass”.

  After Poppy explained everything that had happened, Pixie had calmed down but was still holding Wheaton responsible for hurting her baby sister. She demonstrated her anger at Wheaton by thumping her fist into her palm a few times and reminding Poppy of what had happened in high school. As if she would ever forget that memory-worthy tidbit. According to Pixie, she was “about to kick ass and take names” at work but hadn’t said anything more regarding what was happening. Instead she had said that it was too much to email and she would rather explain things face-to-face.

  Annoyed by having to sit and twiddle her thumbs, Poppy realized that the whole “escort” thing was actually starting to grate on her nerves as well. Before she had been familiar with the ship, being shown around had made sense. Now she felt like a little kid constantly waiting for someone to come and fetch her from one place to another. Deciding she would talk to Wheaton later that day at lunch about her need for a chaperone, she made a mental note not to forget to show him her cheat sheet. That should placate him if he brought up the issue of her getting lost. She was sure there were things the warriors needed to do other than walk her around all day anyway.

  The tone at the door indicated that her “babysitter” had arrived and Poppy took a second to stick her tongue out at the closed door. It wasn’t fair to kill the messenger so Poppy pasted a smile on her face for whoever the lucky guy was today. Opening the door, she greeted Behyr, who appeared to be a little ruffled.

  “Hey, Behyr, how’s it hanging?”

  Behyr took a moment to inspect the doorway above him, searching for something hanging down.

  “What?” he asked.

  Confusion was evident on his handsome face and as he glanced around, she saw a noticeable hickey on his neck.

  “Wowza.” Not realizing she’d said it out loud, Poppy jumped when he repeated her exclamation, his tone one of bewilderment, and she realized her attention had been focused solely on his neck.

  Trying to drag her gaze away, she smiled wickedly as Behyr tugged the neck of his shirt up.

  “Oh nothing,” she continued, in response to his puzzled look. Gathering her items busied her hands for a moment. “Nothing at all.” Biting her lip to contain her laughter, she slipped on her shoes and studied him closely. The poor guy seemed so out of sorts compared to his normal put-together manner that she wondered what exactly had happened last night with Hannah. Unsure if she should ask him how things had gone, she followed him silently to the med center.

  As they approached the med center door, she paused. “Behyr, how was your second dinner last night?”

  Behyr stopped so quickly he almost tripped over his own feet. As he turned toward her, he had a slight blush on his cheeks. Sensing that she was enjoying his discomfort, he smiled down at Popp
y.

  “You liked that, didn’t you?” he said. Laughing at her expression of innocence, he shook his finger at her. “Do not act like you did not enjoy catching me off guard. Wheaton must have mentioned that I took Hannah for a late meal last night, did he not?” Rubbing his hand up and down the back of his neck, he grinned down at Poppy widely enough for her to catch a glimpse of his fangs.

  “Why yes he did…and I noticed your close encounter with Hoover Hannah.” At his questioning glance, Poppy motioned to his neck.

  Now with his face completely red, he pulled his leather collar up higher and flashed her full fang.

  “Do not call her that and yes, we had a wonderful night.” Walking the last couple steps to the doorway, he swiped his hand across the wrist plate and continued, “She is not anything like you described her before.”

  Poppy made a face at him and folded her arms across her chest before she smirked and dropped the bomb she was sure he wasn’t aware of yet. “Oh really, well then I guess I shouldn’t have hated her for a while because she kissed Wheaton.” Turning, she walked through the med center doors as Behyr sputtered behind her.

  “What?” Obviously shocked, he didn’t move for a moment and the door closed with him on the other side.

  “Oh, you hadn’t heard that part of the story?” Poppy asked when the door opened again and he still had his mouth open.

  “No, I did not. Explain the story please.”

  “Yeah, apparently your new girlfriend decided to test out her seduction skills on Wheaton before I made her realize it was a bad idea.” When Behyr’s face fell in disappointment, Poppy realized that she might have ruined the idea of Hannah for him. She clutched his arm and tugged him into the room so he wouldn’t be shut out again.

  “Don’t make the gloomy face. She was testing the waters, and I don’t have a problem with her anymore…at least as long as she keeps her eyes off Wheaton as potential mate material.” Winking at him and nodding to his neck, she went on, “Plus, I think she may have someone new on her mind.”