Alien Warlords' Baby: SciFi Menage Surprise Baby Romance (Warlords of Octava Book 1)

by Vi Voxley

  Now she was free.

  The victory itself was nothing compared to the way Riley slipped her hand into his.

  35

  Riley

  A few weeks later...

  She'd given it a fair bit of thought.

  Opening the tablet's ultra-long distance call, Riley had a hard time suppressing the smile that wanted to sneak on her lips. Perhaps she was being a little cruel.

  Nah.

  Rowan answered almost at once, beaming like he'd found a goose who laid golden eggs.

  "My girl," he bellowed, the cigar moving from one corner to the other in a cloud of smoke. "I was wondering when you were going to give me a call. It's been years. I understand, of course. With those Gargon hunks, no wonder you haven't had a moment to call an old bear like me.

  “So, what is going on with the book? Ava tells me you weren't happy with my promotion tactics."

  "She was correct," Riley said, smiling sweetly. "I think you took advantage of my coma. The book I promised you more than three years ago isn't going to happen. Or, well, it is, but the way I wanted to write it. So you either fall in line or I'll find someone else who wants my story.

  “Imagine that. Two Gargon commanders, an evil warlord, a coma and a baby. What a story."

  Rowan grinned, utterly sure of himself.

  "I happen to agree," he said happily. "That's why I took the liberty of putting out the teasers so everyone would know you're mine."

  "I'm not yours," Riley said and the warning tone of her voice finally wiped the smile off Rowan's face. "I've been thinking a lot here on Octava. You'd like it here. Maybe you should take a vacation. Come here, meet my fateds."

  Rowan didn't reply and Riley watched with perverse glee as his mouth dropped open, the cigar falling somewhere under the desk as the commanders stepped forward into his line of sight.

  She'd specifically asked them to wear their battle armors and look as menacing as possible. They were doing a great job at it, she had to admit. Even Riley herself was shaking a little although it had very little to do with being afraid.

  "Rowan, meet my fateds. These are Commanders Harbor and Cole."

  The publisher managed to nod.

  "I'm afraid they're not huge fans of your work, Rowan," Riley carried on cheerfully. "You exposing our private life to the galaxy and so on. Let's try this again, then. I will write the damn book I owe you and then we're done.

  “It's going to be my book, though. I will take however long I please and you won't edit a thing. You'll get it the way I want it. Is that understood? Or else I think we ourselves might take a little trip to Terra, show our daughter the planet I was born on and so on."

  Once again, Rowan barely managed to move his head forward a little.

  "Good," Riley said. "I'm glad we had a chance to catch up."

  She shut down the call and turned to the commanders who were observing her with knowing grins.

  "Do you think I was too harsh?" Riley asked, a bit worried.

  "Not at all," Harbor said, flexing his muscles. "If you want, we can actually go and pay him a visit. After what he did to you, we'd like a few more words with him."

  "You meant what we did to us," Riley protested. "I was the one who sent him all that stuff. Gods, I was so stupid. How could I trust him with something that personal?"

  "It's not a weakness to put faith in people," Cole said, coming to sit next to her on the sofa on one of the higher balconies of the villa.

  He still limped a little from the Eridon poison coursing in his veins. With glee, Riley had discovered that the many healing qualities the jewels in her necklace possessed also worked on poisons.

  She'd laughed quite a lot, wrapping the trinket around Cole's thick arms when they had gotten back to the villa and watching the warlord wince just a bit when she pressed the stone against his wounds.

  There was something else weighing heavily on Riley's mind.

  "I really am sorry," she said, hesitating a little, "I just hope you know this doesn't make it alright? Rowan will stop the promotions and I'll control what else gets out. Nothing can be done about what's already there, though. We can't erase words."

  "No need to," Harbor said, leaning against the edge of the balcony, his armor thrown off now.

  He looked stunning in the golden aura of the daylight, the rays playing on his bare chest. Riley had been staring at them all day, deciding that summer was definitely her favorite season. If it meant her fateds were going to walk around shirtless all day, she was prepared to suffer through the oppressive heat. She was already feeling a little sick because of it.

  "We," Harbor went on, sending Cole a confirming look, "have made peace with the book. You can write whatever you want, make the book exactly the way you envisioned it."

  "You don't mean that," Riley said, frowning. "I said terrible things."

  "Yes," Harbor admitted with a smile that brightened up the harsh lines of his face. "And we thought terrible things. The way you told it, that was the point of the book. The bonds... they are so much greater than we are.

  “Even those lucky enough to have happiness literally thrust into their arms can mess it up. They can miss opportunity after opportunity, taking every wrong turn and still come out happy.

  "I think even Gargons would appreciate a book like that. We like pretending that all bonds are flawless. It might make some couple glad to know they aren't the only ones suffering through dark days."

  Riley listened to him, shocked. She hadn't considered the Gargon market if she was being honest. Objectively Terra definitely didn't cater to them, yet she found herself agreeing with Harbor.

  The book she had in mind really was meant for everyone, as all-encompassing as she could possibly make it, with herself in the middle to show she wasn't prettying things up.

  "Thank you," she said quietly, smiling. "I promise I'll make it a good one. I love you both for this."

  She considered quickly.

  "I love you for a lot of things," Riley added then.

  Like taking away my nightmares, this time for good.

  The commanders came over to her, pulling her in for long, lingering kisses that told Riley they felt the same. They stayed there on the balcony until it was dark outside and the city of Taria shone like the jewel around her neck.

  The happiness Riley felt was unlike anything she'd ever felt before and it made her feel, above all else, like a fool. How could she have missed the earlier relief and simple satisfaction for the real thing when it didn't even come close?

  Chasing the truth, she thought with irritation she hadn't been completely able to shake. As far as my own story was concerned, I never chased the truth. I had already come up with the truth and I explained away everything that didn't fit that picture.

  It was hard to admit she had been so wrong, only Riley finally had the courage to do so. Her life had already been shortened by Magorra – nothing more than a bad memory now as he and the raids were finished thanks to her fateds – and Riley didn't want it to be wasted on needless lies.

  There had already been so many. Embracing the simple answers felt good, liberating even.

  Riley chuckled softly when Cole kissed her neck, showing her the distant lights of the Roapur Mountains in the distance, promising to take her there one day.

  It was perfect exactly because she didn't know why. All Riley could be certain of was that she was where she wanted to be, with her two fateds she now knew she'd loved from the very start.

  Her trained eyes that were so keen to see the lies of the world hadn't been able to pierce through her own.

  She was almost grateful to fate for throwing such challenges in her way. Now, at last, Riley was free to make her own story instead of following the one she thought she had to follow.

  Epilogue

  Riley

  It turned out it wasn't the heat that was making her sick.

  She chose the moment to tell her family when they were all gathered around the dinner table. Mya was tryin
g to learn how to hold a knife properly and Riley was tempted to interfere and say a girl her age didn't need to know the many other uses of knives.

  To be more specific, she chose the moment when Harbor was about to show Mya a trick with her blunted knife.

  "I'm pregnant," she said and tried to fight the smile on her lips when one of the commanders of the Gargon armadas dropped the knife in the table and the other simply stared. "I went to see the healers this morning, thinking I wasn't handling the heat very well and they told me."

  Harbor and Cole jumped up as one and rushed over to her. Riley smiled throughout the passionate kisses they pressed on her lips, the gentle love in their eyes the best assurance she could have received.

  The news was incredible, yet just a bit terrifying. This time she would have to be there for the entire pregnancy as a mother who learned everything with her second child.

  The joy that filled her heart was nothing compared to that,. The only concern Riley had was Mya. She knew sometimes children didn't take too well to news of getting a sibling.

  "Mommy, what does pregnant mean?" Mya asked, right on cue.

  The commanders had been about to ask her something or possibly express the absolute happiness Riley saw in their eyes. Now all three of them turned to their daughter.

  "It means Mommy is having another baby," Riley said, smiling. "A little brother or sister for you. Would you want one?"

  There was a second's pause, the longest second in her life, and then Mya's eyes went wide.

  "Yes!" she exclaimed at once. "Can I tell the baby stories? Can I take her for a walk? Can I name her?"

  Riley laughed. The requests were all much more reasonable than she'd dreaded and she was amused by the fact Mya thought she was getting a sister, a girl just like her.

  "Now I have time to write my book," Riley said when the commanders sat back down, too excited to contain themselves properly, their eyes nailed to her. "I'm going to get so fat..."

  "You'll be beautiful," Cole promised her, a grin on his lips. "We've already seen you pregnant and you were glowing. That was when we knew you'd come back to us, that we merely needed to be patient."

  Riley considered that. It was comforting to know that her body was able to handle childbirth even when she was in a coma. Very comforting.

  After she finished eating, Riley took Mya to her room, having promised her fateds that she'd come to them as soon as she could.

  In reality, she took her time to tell Mya more about the metalbugs, pressing her daughter tightly against her, unable to believe that soon she would have two angels to love more than anything else in the world.

  "Are you going to tell the baby stories too, Mommy?" Mya asked when her eyes were already fluttering shut.

  "Yes, of course," Riley said and waiting for Mya to fall asleep, she had an idea.

  Back in the room she now fully shared with the commanders, Riley stayed up after they'd gone to sleep and started to write another book. For Mya and the baby, this time.

  It had metalbugs and a princess and two noble knights. In future editions, Riley was certain her babies would join the everlasting quest to defeat the bugs as well.

  She caressed her belly softly as she wrote, barely able to wait to meet her baby.

  Riley's second daughter, Malia, was born on the same day her book was finally published. Mya was the first person to run into the room to hug her and name the baby. Her eldest daughter had spent weeks trying to come up with the perfect name and Riley was honestly happy with it.

  There had been much more extravagant contenders.

  "See?" Cole told her after he'd kissed her so hard Riley was gasping for air. "I told you that you would always be beautiful."

  "Not as beautiful as her," Riley whispered, looking at her newborn daughter lovingly. "I think it's safe to say we make pretty babies."

  "Yes," Harbor agreed, standing on the other side of her bed. "Thank the gods they get their looks from you."

  Riley laughed softly. She sat on her bed all day, ignoring all initial reports and reviews of her book. Rowan had informed her in a very official way that the book was a bestseller and that was all Riley had heard of it.

  She truthfully didn't care that much. After months of hard work and meeting other Terran brides, learning heartbreaking stories and hearing some truly magnificent ones, the book had been the one she'd set out to write. Everything else was just numbers, Rowan's domain.

  Riley was wrapped in her own world of peace, love and happiness and she wouldn't have changed it for anything.

  The commanders were sitting on her bed that was perilously low under the weight of their armors. They were trying their hardest to hold back laughter, watching how Mya tried to make sense of her new baby sister.

  "Careful," Riley warned her, laughing. "Those are her hands, yes, she has two just like you."

  "She's so tiny!" Mya protested as if she found it hard to believe someone could be that small.

  If she was being honest, Riley kind of agreed. Malia was so small in her arms, perfect and pure just like Mya. She couldn't believe she'd had a hand in creating something so amazing.

  "And so soft," Mya continued with the detailed analysis, poking at the baby gently. "She smells good, too."

  Riley laughed again, meeting the loving gazes of her fateds. Tomorrow, she knew, they'd arrange the best ship they could find to take her home.

  This time, going home really meant what they had in mind.

  Until then, the world outside kept spinning and the galaxy was still full of great, untold stories. For the first time in her life, Riley felt like she was in her own and it was definitely the best one.

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  Alien General's Bride

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  Don’t miss the excerpt of Vi's next book, Alien Warlords’ Heir, on the next page!

  Alien Warlords’ Heir Excerpt

  "Look at you guys. On Terra, we have all sorts of men. Some are big like you and some are not. To each their own, I always said. Before I came to Octava, I mean.

  "Then I realized that there is some statute of hotness a woman can handle, some line in the sand that Gargons have crossed with your entire species. Everything about you is just so damn masculine. It's like catnip to women."

  "Catnip?" Havoc asked, a hint of lust in his voice that he couldn't hide, and it having nothing to do with the question he asked.

  "It means we can't resist you," Dana said, the look in her eyes making all air rush out of the room.

  "Is that so?" he asked, standing up.

  Her eyes went wide as Havoc slowly approached her, setting his own chalice down on the low table between them. He could see all the signs of hesitation, of the inner conflict that was raging in her.

  She didn't say anything. Dana's lips opened and closed as she searched for words that didn't come.

  Havoc had known that. He had seen the signs for days. Piece by piece, her stubbornness was falling behind, breaking down like the barriers she had built around herself. With every day, she had tempted him more, opening up without even noticing it.

  The way her body moved when they were near was a clear testament to that. She no longer tensed up, on the contrary. Whenever he was close, Dana edged closer to him too.

  He wondered if she knew that.

  Havoc extended his hand to her, just like a week ago on the arena. This time, slowly, with her pulse so loud he could hear it, Dana took it. She let him pull her to her feet gently and then further, into
his sure embrace.

  It was indescribable, to hold her at last. The feeling of having her in his arms, the softness of her skin and the warmth of her body under his fingers... Havoc doubted he could have stopped.

  Even so, he needed to be sure. Unlike Hannah, Dana was a wild, dangerous creature, one you never took for granted or underestimated. She needed to be tamed, brought in slowly and surely.

  He lifted up her chin with his right hand, the left holding her against his wide chest. Without his armor, Havoc could feel her rapid heartbeat.

  "Go ahead," he said quietly, his lips almost touching hers. "Resist."

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  About the Author

  Vi's a small-town girl with big city dreams. Born and raised in Texas, she's always had her eyes to the stars. Telling stories is her passion and when she can mix a whole lot of steam with equal parts sexy alien hunks, well, things just get that much better, right?

  An ardent Rangers fan, she believes all men should come in a yummy beefcake package and that's exactly the kind of heroes she prefers. A curvy woman herself, Vi likes to write heroines as sassy as she is.

  She likes indulging in a little wine and a little chocolate, but her first love in life is writing and everything else follows second.

  If you have enjoyed her books or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact Vi via e-mail: voxley.vi@gmail.com.

  Thank you for reading!

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