by T. J. Quinn
“I won’t let that happen,” Colborn assured him.
“Good. Then get dressed to go down.” He turned to look at him. “Use the hood all the time. Your height will call enough attention as it is.” At first, he had rejected the idea of sending Colborn down to the planet along with Gil Ra, but the drogon’s insistence had won.
“I will. No one will see us, believe me.”
“I sincerely hope so. I don’t want to lose this market.” The captain warned them.
“You won’t. That wouldn’t suit our plans either.” Colborn assured him.
“Very well. I’ll let you know when it’s time.”
“Thank you.”
They went back to their quarters to get changed. They were ready when a soft alarm warned them they would start the time travel.
Gil Ra felt as if she had been pushed out of her body and back in a matter of seconds, and soon the alarm was off.
“This is it. Are you ready?” Colborn asked her, taking her hand in his.
“As ready as I can be.” She said, shaking a bit.
“Everything will be alright. In a matter of hours you’ll have your baby with you,” he assured her.
She nodded, too nervous as to utter another world.
One of the crew members came to pick them up. They had to board a smaller vessel that would take them to the surface.
In no time, they were landing under the bridge. It helped them that it was a very dark night, with snow clouds covering the stars and the moon, what made it easier for them to go unnoticed. Gil Ra guided Colborn through the empty streets, and soon they were hidden in a corner, very close to the orphanage, but out of sight. They had agreed Colborn would be the one picking up the baby since he was faster, Gil Ra would stay behind watching, and making sure no one was around.
They had to get the baby before the door was opened.
“Promise me you’ll stay here. We’ll meet on the other side of the street after they close the door.” He asked her, in a very serious tone.
“I promise you I will. I know what’s at stake.” She assured him.
He kissed her and nodded.
Just a few moments later, they heard a baby’s cry, and they knew the moment had arrived.
It was awkward to watch herself walk up to the door with the baby in her arms, ring the bell, drop the baby and run out.
She was still in shock when Colborn ran from where they were hiding, got the baby, and ran away to the other side of the street, just in time. The orphanage door opened up, and the same woman that had helped her at the homeless shelter come out. She looked around, intrigued, but didn’t stay longer. It was too cold.
When she closed the door, Gil Ra crossed the street running, to meet Colborn. Nari was still crying; she was still hungry and surely wet. She had lost track of time that night, so she had no idea how long she had wandered on the streets.
Colborn handed the baby to her, and she took her in her arms, crying her heart out. She couldn’t believe she actually had her baby back in her arms. She pressed her against her chest as Colborn hugged both of them.
They stayed like that for a few moments until she recovered her composure. “We need to get her some food and clothing.” She said, with a frown.
“I thought of that and Rurik got me some local currency. Can we find any store opened at this hour?” he asked, smiling.
“Yes, there are a few.” She nodded.
“Then take me there. I’ll wait outside with the baby while you buy. Remember to get enough for the journey back home. I doubt the Slythonians have what you might need on board.” He warned her.
“Very well.” She guided him to a minimarket opened 24/7, and after leaving him reluctantly with the baby in a safe place, she went inside. After recovering her baby, she didn’t want to let her out of her sight, but she knew Colborn couldn't buy what they needed.
So, she went in and bought several cans of baby’s formula, bottles, diapers, some clothes and even a travel crib. Fortunately, the captain had given Colborn enough money.
With all the bags on a shopping cart, she returned to where he was waiting. He handed her the baby and took care of the bags. In no time, they were heading back to under the bridge, where the vessel was waiting for them.
She kept the baby in her arms all the time, happy she wasn’t crying anymore, though still worried about her and eager to get to the ship and feed her.
Chapter Fourteen
Back on the main ship, the captain congratulated them on the success of the mission, but Gil Ra didn’t waste any more time. The baby had been sleeping for the last minutes, but she was sure she was only exhausted. She took her straight to their chambers and proceeded to change her and to prepare her a bottle. Colborn entered the room when she was about to give it to her.
The baby suckled the bottle with obvious hunger, and Gil Ra let out a sad chuckle. “She’s starving.”
“She’ll be alright now.” He assured her, kissing the top of her head.
“Can you please check her umbilical cord? I want to be sure it isn’t infected.” She asked him, a bit worried.
He nodded and opened the baby’s clothes and checked the cord. “Can you explain to me what’s this?” he asked, intrigued.
“Babies breathe and are fed through this cord, while their inside the mother’s womb.” She explained. “Once they’re born, they’re able to breathe on their own, and the cord is cut, and eventually it dries and falls off.”
“Intriguing.”
“You don’t have it?” she asked, curious.
“No, we feed on the nutrients inside the placenta.” He explained.
“I guess it works as an egg.” She concluded. “How long are your women’s pregnancies?” she asked.
“Four months.” He replied.
“Sweet. Ours take nine months.” She said with a scowl.
“That’s a long time.” He nodded. “It all seems to be alright. I’ll check it every day, just in case.” He concluded, covering the baby.
“Thank you.” she removed the baby’s bottle and put her up, patting her back to help her expel the gases from her stomach. She closed her eyes for a moment before she told him. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means for me.” Tears were starting to flow again.
“Hey… of course I know how much you wanted this. I just want you to be happy.” He leaned down and stole a sweet kiss from her lips. “Take care of the baby. I’ll go talk to the captain.”
She nodded and watched him leave. She put the baby down and gave her the bottle again, staring at that little miracle. She really had her in her arms. She still couldn’t believe it. It still felt like a dream. She was her little miracle.
Once the baby finished eating she put her in bed and laid down next to her, just staying there, looking at her, trying to compensate for that whole year she had been without her.
Thanks to the Slythonians, she wouldn’t miss a single day in her daughter’s life, but she would never forget that terrible year she had been without her.
At some point, she heard the alarm for the time travel, and she picked her baby in her arms, holding her tight to her chest, but just seconds later, they were back to present time with no problem.
Colborn joined them at that moment. “How’s the little one?” he asked, with a smile.
“She’s fine, didn’t wake up with the travel. I guess she was as tired as I was.” She said, with a sad smile.
“That’s all in the past now, literally.” He said with a smile, lying in bed next to them. “She looks so much like you,” he said with a smile.
“Yes… I think so too.” She smiled back.
“You better get prepared for the commotion you’ll cause when we get back. There hasn’t been a baby girl on the planet in a very long time.” He added, smiling, caressing the little girl’s head.
“I don’t mind.” She said. “Are you sure we’ll be able to find a place for us there?” she asked, still a bit scared.
“Ye
s, I’m sure.” He said, with a firm tone. “We’ll be leaving to head back home in a few days. Rurik is capturing the women we came for, and he needs some time for it.”
She had known that from the start, of course, but the possible meaning of that hadn’t hit her up until now. New women meant new potential soulmates for Colborn. Her time with him could be much shorter than she ever thought and that realization felt like a punch straight to her heart. Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe right, and the pain was quite excruciating. She jumped out of bed and put the baby in the crib she had bought.
“Do… do you mind… watching the baby for me?” she managed to utter the question. “I would like to shower while she’s asleep.” She explained, eluding his eyes.
“Yes, of course.” He agreed, and she almost ran out to the bathroom.
Once under the warm stream of water, she allowed the tears to fall, covering her mouth to muffle her sobs. She wasn't ready to lose him. How was she supposed to go on without him?
She was so lost in her pain; she didn't notice him coming in and entering the shower stall with her.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her against his chest.
“The baby…” she tried to say.
“She’s fine, and I can hear her perfectly from here.” He assured her, tightening his embrace, not letting her go. “What’s the matter?” he insisted.
“Nothing… I guess I’m overwhelmed, that’s all.”
“Gil Ra… I can tell you’re lying to me.” He warned her. “Please, don’t let me out. Tell me what’s wrong.”
She shook her head, crying louder. She didn’t want him to feel sorry for her. That would be terrible.
He pressed her tighter against his body. “Tell me, please.”
“You’ll find your soulmate.” She mumbled, closing her eyes.
“Would that matter to you?” he asked, pulling her chin up, making her open her eyes.
More tears came rolling down. “I would be… happy for you… of course.” She uttered, ending her words with a sob.
“You don’t sound happy.” He insisted.
She closed her eyes, trying in vain, to stop the tears from falling. “I want you to be happy.” There was no doubt in her words this time.
“Even if that means I would be with another woman?” he asked, finally understanding.
She turned around her face nodding, but he made her face him.
“Are you sure?” he insisted.
“Yes…”
“Would that make you happy?”
Once more, she closed her eyes and sobbed. “Yes… I would be happy for you.” she wiped the tears from her face and closing the faucets, she tried to leave the stall.
But he stopped her, pulling her even closer to him. “But would you be happy? Would that make you happy?” he insisted, emphasizing the ‘you.'
“What do you want from me, Colborn?” she shouted, revealing a side of her, he had never seen before, a fierce, passionate woman.
“The truth.” He insisted.
She let out a bitter laugh. “I guess it’s a small price to pay for all you’ve given me.” She grumbled. “Do you want the truth? So here’s the truth. Yes, I want you to be happy, but if that happiness is next to another woman, then no, that sure as hell won’t make me happy.” She shouted, losing her strengths right after the last word. She rubbed her eyes, trying to hold back any more tears.
“Then be happy for me.” He said, with a broad smile.
Startled, she looked at him. “You’ve found your soulmate.” She wasn’t asking.
“Yes.”
One single word and she felt it had destroyed her whole world.
“She stubborn, reserved, beautiful, talented, and I fell for her the minute I saw her on a video. Seeing her in person, only confirmed that to me and I’ve fallen for her more and more with every day I’ve spent with her.” He continued. “I would give her the stars and the moon if she asked for them since my new purpose in life is to make her happy above all.”
At first, she didn’t listen to his words, but as they started to dawn on her, she looked at him, with a deep frown.
“You haven’t met her today.” She wasn’t asking.
“No, of course not.”
She took a deep breath, struggling to keep hope at bay. Could it be possible? “Who is she?” she finally gathered the courage to ask him.
“Can’t you guess válkana? Can’t you feel it in your heart?” he asked instead.
“My heart rarely gets what it needs.” She sobbed.
He cradled her face and claimed a deep kiss from her lips. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips, with a broad smile. “The day I saw you, I felt complete for the first time in my life. I had never felt anything like that, and I have to admit it scared me, a lot.” He explained, taking her out of the shower and taking her to the bed. “And that’s why I tried to take things slowly, keeping you at a safe distance, or so I thought. The minute I told you to stay at the palace, I was regretting it to the bones.” He sighed. “But I couldn’t go back with my decision without making you suspect.”
“You could have told me later on.” She protested.
“It never felt the right moment.” He explained. “The day I caught you at the cliff, was the worst day in my whole life. Losing you would have meant losing my other half, my soul, the love of my life.” He said, and she could still sense the pain in his tone.
“I never meant to hurt you.” she assured him, regretting her thoughtless decision.
“I know… and that day I wanted to tell you just how much you meant to me, but you weren’t ready to hear it.” He said, tucking a wet lock of hair, behind her ear.
“I’ve been a terrible soulmate.” She murmured, kissing his hand.
“I knew something was troubling you and all I wanted was for you to trust me enough to tell me what it was. I would do anything for you,” he assured her.
“You have done it all for me. You gave me back my daughter.” She said, closing her eyes for a second before she faced him and showing in her eyes all the love, she felt for him. “I love you, more than I thought possible to love someone else.”
“I love you too.” He said before he leaned over and kissed her once more.
The passion between them fluttered to life, and when they were about to lose control, a sharp cry interrupted them.
Nari needed attention.
Colborn let out a loud laugh and fell back on the mattress, as he watched Gil Ra picking up the baby from the crib.
“Are you sure about this? You’ll be gaining an instant family.” She asked him, feeling a bit insecure.
He jumped out of bed and closed the distance between them, pulling her and the baby into his arms. “She’s part of you, and I want you and all that comes with you, especially this little angel.” He assured her, running a finger down the baby’s silky cheek.
The little girl turned her face to follow his finger, trying to capture it with her tiny mouth.
He laughed and released her. “I guess she’s hungry again.” She said smiling. “Why don’t you hold her, while I prepare a new bottle?”
He took the baby from her arms, smiling and went to sit down on the bed while Gil Ra prepared the formula.
Chapter Fifteen
He hadn’t paid much attention to the baby before, more worried about their safety, than with anything else, but now that he had the time; he took a good look at the little baby in his arms. She was tiny, but for him, she was precious. She was an exact copy of Gil Ra, and he felt that he had fallen for her as much as he had fallen for her mother.
“Are you sure you don’t mind having her in our lives?” Gil Ra asked him with a shaky smile. She was standing next to them with the bottle.
He took the bottle from her and gave it to the baby. “Of course I don’t mind. She’s perfect; I’ll be the envy of every man on the planet.” He chuckled.
She smiled and took a sea
t next to him. “This will change your whole life.”
“I know, and I’m actually looking forward. You’ll bring life to my house.” He assured her, leaning over and kissing her.
She cradled his face and kissed him back. “Thank you for being so special. I never thought to find such happiness was even possible.” She said when her lips left his.
“All I ask is for you to trust me, to share your problems and your doubts with me. I know things have changed quickly for you, and they will still change more, but I need you to share things with me.” He asked her, in a gentle tone.
“I will, I promise.” She nodded and added after a few moments of silence. “Do you want to convert me? Is that the change you’re mentioning?”
He let out a sigh and pulled the bottle from Nari, as he had seen her doing before he answered the question. “Now that Brynjar has done it and it turned out it wasn’t that dangerous, yes, I would love to do it. I don’t want to lose you a second earlier than necessary.”
She nodded. “I feel the same way.”
“Would you be willing to try it?” he asked, with an alluring smile.
“Yes, I would.”
He kissed her before handing her the baby. “Thank you.”
They put Nari to sleep before they continued with what they had been doing.
Colborn pulled her to the bed and quickly rolled over her, cradling her face and claiming a passionate kiss from her lips, his coarse tongue sliding inside her mouth and delving every inch of it, marking it as his own.
From her lips, he drew trails of fire along her cheeks to her earlobes, combining kisses with nibbles and licks, arousing her and fueling the fire burning between them.
His hands slid up her legs and her sides until they cupped her perky breasts, his claws drawing spirals around her hard nipples, ripping muffled moans from her lips.
Colborn could feel the pull of his drogon, its need to make her his, but he knew this still wasn’t the moment nor the place. He would have to hold back a little longer.
But this time, fighting the urge was a lot harder. Having their love out in the open had made the passion they shared a lot fiercer and so much stronger.
