Taelon didn’t hesitate to cover her small, slender body with his own.
Again she eagerly took him in hand and guided his hard length to her entrance. “Just go slow,” she murmured. “You’re really big.”
He nodded. “Let me know if I hurt you.” Seth had assured him Lisa was fully recovered from childbirth, but Taelon wanted to make doubly certain he didn’t hurt her.
He slowly pushed forward into her. An inch. Two. She was so tight. So small. Felt so good. He withdrew, then pressed deeper, his gaze on her lovely face.
She bent her knees, braced her feet against the mattress, and tilted her hips more to try to ease his passage.
He withdrew, then pressed deeper. Withdrew and pressed deeper.
She bit her lip.
He stilled. “Too much?” He had not yet fully seated himself inside her. Every muscle was wound tight from restraining his desire to drive into her.
She shook her head. “I was right. Those ridges feel really good. Keep going.”
He did, forcing patience when he thought he had none and easing a little deeper with each thrust until he was finally, finally buried to the hilt. “Still good?”
“Very good,” she purred. Sliding her arms around his waist, she undulated her hips beneath him. “Now stop holding back. Bond with me, lifemate.”
Groaning, Taelon lowered his lips to hers and let go. This time when he nearly withdrew, he drove inside her so forcefully the bed shook. Then he did so again. And again. Needing her. Wanting her. So drekking desperate for her.
Lisa moaned and gripped him tighter, arching up to meet him thrust for thrust. Little cries of pleasure emerged from her as she slid her hands down to grab his ass and urged him on.
“So good,” he moaned against her neck.
She nodded, breath coming in gasps.
“You’re mine,” he growled, possessiveness sweeping over him.
“I’m yours,” she agreed. Then she squeezed his ass, rotated her hips, and clenched his hard cock tight with her inner muscles. “And you’re mine,” she growled back.
“Drek yes,” Taelon vowed, driving harder, deeper, as deep as he could get, grinding against her clit.
Lisa stiffened and cried out as another climax took her.
This time Taelon joined her, shouting her name as pleasure shot through him and he spilled his seed deep inside her. Nothing had ever felt so right.
Collapsing atop her, he swiftly rolled them to their sides, their bodies still joined.
Both panted, little aftershocks of pleasure rippling through them.
Lisa snuggled closer. “That was amazing.”
He nodded. Stroking her damp hair back from her pretty face, he brushed a tender kiss across her lips. “I love you, Lisa.”
She granted him a tender smile. “I love you, lifemate.”
Taelon hugged her tight. “There was something else I meant to ask you.”
Her lips twitched. “Before we got distracted?”
“Yes.” Smiling, he stroked her cheek. “I’d like to name our daughter after your mother.”
Surprise lit her pretty brown eyes. “What?”
“Marcus told me he and Ami named their daughter Adira, a short form of my mother’s name, so she would always have something from home with her. And I thought perhaps you would like to name our daughter after your mother, so you can have the same. I know you loved her. And I know you miss her.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she nodded. “I do. I miss her every day.”
“And I regret not being able to meet her.” He kissed her. “Let’s honor her by naming our daughter after her so she can always be part of our lives.”
Lisa’s nose began to pinken as tears spilled over her lashes. “Her name was Abigail. But my dad and her friends called her Abby.”
“Then that will be our daughter’s name.”
Lisa pressed a hard kiss to his mouth, then squeezed him tight. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too, dashura.” And as he held her close, Taelon knew he had never been happier or more content in his life.
Lisa’s stomach fluttered nervously as Taelon buckled her into a seat on the transport, carefully adjusting the straps so they wouldn’t disturb the baby.
She glanced down. Abby slept soundly, curled up in the sling carrier that bound her to Lisa’s front, her face the only part visible.
“Is that good?” Taelon asked quietly.
She nodded as she tried not to gawk at her surroundings. The interior of the transport was not at all what she had expected. The ceiling was white. The walls—interrupted by square windows with rounded corners—were, too. The alien equivalent of carpet covered the floor, the short nap looking so soft she wanted to kick her shoes off and feel it on her bare toes. The seats were all the palest gray, very cushy, and so comfortable she could sleep in one. There was even an L-shaped sofa that curled around a gleaming table.
It looked like something she would expect to see inside a billionaire’s private jet.
A deep chuckle drew her gaze to Taelon as he buckled himself into the seat beside her. “Not what you were expecting?”
She shook her head. “I was expecting something a little more utilitarian or militaristic.”
“This is a royal transport, so the interior is rather nicer than that of most transports. But in terms of defense, it is actually better armed than other transports, which is why Ari’k likely chose to use it.”
Marcus and Ami settled into two seats across an aisle from them. Marcus wore a sturdier baby carrier on his chest that looked more like a backpack and boasted a large pocket in front that Adira dug through, looking for toys.
Lisa returned her attention to Taelon when he took her hand. “I mean no insult when I say this, but I don’t know which is weirder: that you’re an alien or that you’re royalty.”
Marcus grunted. “I was going to say the same.”
The Lasaran siblings laughed.
Seth made his way to a chair behind them. He really did love Ami like a daughter and had asked if he could accompany them. Lisa suspected he wanted to gauge firsthand the king and queen’s response to the Earth mates to whom their children had bonded. If he didn’t care for it, he would probably balk at forming any kind of alliance with them.
The door closed. Ari’k strode past them and opened a door in the front wall. Lisa caught a glimpse of two more Yona soldiers before he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
The next thing she knew, the land outside her window fell away.
She gasped. Though Seth and David had mentioned hearing engine noises, Lisa heard nothing. Nor did the craft shake or vibrate or do any of the things planes usually did when they took off.
Taelon grinned. “Ari’k.”
Ari’k’s response emerged from speakers she couldn’t see. “Yes, Prince Taelon.”
“Activate the front viewscreen.”
“Yes, Prince Taelon.”
The wall with the door through which she had spied the pilots lit up like a high-def television screen, providing them with a view of the land below them.
“Bloody hell,” Marcus murmured as he stared at it. “Would you look at that?”
Lisa nodded. David’s home rapidly shrank, as did North Carolina, then the entire continental United States as the ship climbed faster than she thought possible without subjecting them to serious g-forces.
Taelon tightened his hold on her hand. “You might feel a little something as we leave Earth’s atmosphere.”
Shutters slid down over the window exteriors. The floor beneath her feet began to vibrate.
She felt a peculiar sense of weightlessness for a second or two. Then all was calm and as it was before. The shutters rose and…
Lisa stared.
They were in space.
“Holy shit,” Marcus breathed.
She nodded. “What he said.”
Taelon grinned. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Why aren’t we
floating?” she blurted. Astronauts on the news always free floated through the space station. But it felt as though she were still on Earth.
“The transport provides us with artificial gravity,” Taelon explained.
Marcus shook his head as he looked at Ami. “You weren’t exaggerating when you said your people are far more technologically advanced than ours.”
“Nope,” she said with a smile, then swiveled in her seat to glance behind them. “What do you think, Seth?”
Lisa glanced back to catch the Immortal Guardian leader’s reaction.
“It’s beautiful,” he responded. “You’re sure Earth’s satellites and radars can’t detect us?”
“Yes.” Ami wrinkled her nose. “The only reason they knew I was here when I arrived was because I let them see me.” Clearly she regretted that decision.
Seth’s eyes narrowed speculatively as he stared through his window. “I wonder if I can survive in the vacuum of space.”
Ami’s eyes widened. “Don’t even think about it!”
Lisa glanced at her. “Think about what?”
“Teleporting outside the transport to see if he can survive it,” Ami said, her disapproval clear.
Taelon frowned. “I agree. If you don’t survive, you will die so quickly you won’t have time to teleport back inside.”
Seth’s gaze dropped to the planet shrinking beneath them. “I wonder if I can teleport to David’s home and back.”
“Hell no,” Marcus barked. “If you tried it and survived, Leah would kick your ass. And if you didn’t survive…”
Seth took no offense. He just nodded and glanced at Ami. “I was just wishing I could teleport you to Lasara for a visit so you could see your family again in person without the lengthy travel time.”
Ami’s smile held a touch of melancholy. “Perhaps when Adira is grown, we can make the trip.”
Lisa glanced at Taelon. “How long does it take?”
“About thirteen of your Earth months.”
Sheesh. “That is a long time.”
He drew a hand over Abby’s downy hair. “Which is why I thought it best to make the trip before Abby forms attachments here.”
Concern rose as she tried to recall everything she’d heard about space travel. “It won’t harm her in any way?”
“No.”
Marcus watched them. “Are you sure? I’ve read that exposure to space radiation can increase an astronaut’s risk of cancer significantly, that it’s similar to having hundreds or even thousands of chest X-rays.”
Lisa stiffened. “Shit. Will we increase Abby’s risk of cancer by leaving Earth’s atmosphere?”
Taelon frowned. “Of course not. The materials our engineers use to fabricate the hull of both the transport vehicles and the ship protect those inside from all exposure to radiation. Our dual shields provide the same, doubling our protection. Even the suits we use to walk in space provide full protection.”
She relaxed. “I’m sorry. This is just all very new to me. I didn’t mean to imply you’d risk our daughter’s health.”
His face cleared as he pressed a kiss to her temple. “I would never do anything to harm you or Abby. I love you. You’re my happiness.”
Damn, the man could melt her heart.
“Approaching the Kandovar,” Ari’k announced.
Lisa glanced at the front viewscreen and—for about the thousandth time since meeting Taelon—felt her jaw drop. Holy crap. It was like something right out of freaking Star Wars. The ship was huge. Sleek. Black. And as they approached, it reminded her of the beginning of the movie Spaceballs. The ship just went on and on and on. Except the exterior of this ship lacked the WE BRAKE FOR NOBODY bumper sticker.
A sliver of light appeared on one side as a small section of wall began to rise like a garage door. As they moved closer, she realized the small “garage” was actually a massive hangar that contained several other transports.
“What is that?” she asked.
“One of the docking bays.”
“One of them?”
He nodded. “This one is for civilian transports. Another is strictly for loading and unloading supplies. Most of the others are for fighters.”
“Fighters? Like fighter jets but in space?”
“Yes.”
Ami cut him a look. “Did you bring an entire regiment?”
“Yes.”
Lisa realized anew just how close Earth had come to getting its ass kicked. “What does an entire regiment include?”
Taelon hesitated. “Enough ground forces and fighters to completely decimate Earth’s communication systems and disable any military forces that might greet us with hostility.”
Seth swore. “Disable or destroy?”
“Destroy.” Taelon offered a sheepish shrug. “I thought they’d tortured and killed my baby sister.”
“Considering my history,” Seth mumbled, “I suppose I can’t criticize.”
Lisa didn’t know what that meant, so she shifted her attention back to the front viewscreen. “There are people moving around in there.” The opening to the docking bay wasn’t far now, and she was able to discern men and women in uniforms moving about inside it. “Shouldn’t the atmosphere be escaping through that opening? How are they breathing? They aren’t wearing any protective gear that I can see.”
“As long as the shield remains in place, the bay has the same stable atmosphere and artificial gravity as the rest of the ship,” he replied.
She glanced at Marcus. “Wow. Technologically speaking, we are freaking toddlers compared to these guys.”
“Such was my thought,” he murmured, his handsome features reflecting the same awe she felt.
“Ari’k,” Taelon called.
“Yes, Prince Taelon.”
“Have all personnel vacate the bay, please.”
“I will do so at once.”
The men and women stopped what they were doing and looked up as though listening to something. Seconds later, the bay was empty.
“Why did you want them to leave?” she asked Taelon. “Do we need to go through some sort of decontamination or something?”
“No. The computer on board the transport has not indicated we need decontamination. I’m just eager to speak to my parents and didn’t want a crowd to slow us down. Ami and I will greet them all once we’re done.”
Butterflies returned to Lisa’s belly at the mention of his parents. Would they think her beneath him because she was from Earth? Would they scorn her and their baby? Taelon didn’t believe they would, but what if he was merely seeing things through rose-colored glasses?
A brief flash of light lit the interior of the transport as they entered the bay.
“That was the shield,” Taelon murmured.
A clear shield they could pass through without disabling it first? She would love to know more about that—what exactly it was, how it worked. She had always loved science and intended to pepper Taelon with questions later if this meeting went well.
The transport set down so smoothly she didn’t feel a single vibration. Then Taelon unbuckled her safety straps with a smile. “Time to go.”
Chapter Eighteen
Lisa rose on shaky legs, glanced over at Marcus to see if he was as nervous as she was, and froze.
Marcus caught her staring. “What?”
“Your eyes are glowing.” Normally brown, his eyes now glowed bright amber as though someone held candles behind his irises.
He swore and drew a hand up to rub them.
Ami curled her hand around his arm. “You aren’t nervous, are you, sweetie?”
“Yes, damn it,” he grumbled.
Ami wrinkled her nose. “Yeah. I am, too. They’re going to be pissed at me for defying them and sneaking across the galaxy.”
Taelon laughed. “You know they’ll forget their anger as soon as they see you. Come on. Let’s go.” Taking Lisa’s hand, he guided her down the ramp and into the bay.
Ami, Marcus, and Seth followed.
Taelon gave her hand a squeeze. “Welcome to my home away from home as you Earthlings say.”
She smiled, trying to slow her racing pulse. Her heart slammed against her ribs so violently she was surprised it didn’t wake the baby.
Taelon led the way to a door at the far end of the docking bay.
Boots clomped behind them as the Yona soldiers disembarked and followed.
Taelon pressed his palm to a dark rectangle on one side of the door, then typed in a code.
The door slid up without making a sound.
“A security measure?” Seth asked behind them.
He nodded. “To ensure anyone who manages to dock without our permission can’t obtain access to the rest of the ship.” He strode forward down a long hallway about as wide as one might find in a high school. Other hallways branched off to either side.
Two men rounded a corner and walked toward them, speaking Lasaran. As soon as their eyes fell upon Taelon and the rest of them, the men gasped and stopped short.
“Prince Taelon!” one exclaimed.
Eyes wide, both bowed.
When they straightened, the other blurted, “Princess Amiriska!”
They bowed again, then erupted into rapid Lasaran speech as they hurried forward.
Heads poked around corners farther down. Eyes widened. Then bodies flooded the hallway as men and women—all wearing different versions of the same uniform—raced toward them.
Taelon smiled and shook arms with the men, nodded to the women.
All were clearly overjoyed to discover he and Amiriska were alive and had returned.
Lisa eased back to stand beside Marcus while brother and sister greeted their people.
“Speak Earth English, please,” Taelon said with a laugh as he reached back and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her forward once more, “so our lifemates can understand.”
More gasps filled the hallway. Everything went silent. Then the word lifemate whispered through the small crowd, passing through them like a breeze through trees.
Lisa swallowed when all eyes turned to her, then dropped to the baby.
Exclamations in Lasaran filled the air.
“We must speak to the king and queen,” Taelon said, gently pressing forward through the throng. “Then I will gather you all together and greet you properly.”
The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance Book 1) Page 28
