“You’re just a sore loser,” Kiloq said.
Koroq glared at his brother. “And you’re just ugly.”
“I look just like you.”
“Exactly.”
Thargen shoved a forkful of cake into his mouth. “That’s the last gift. Now can we admit that my present was the best and finally break out the booze?”
Shay laughed and shook her head. “Okay, firstly, you gave her a knife.”
“Yeah. Pretty clear I win.”
“No, no you don’t. That thing’s half as long as her!”
“She’ll grow into it, right?” Thargen tapped his temple, just in front of his scar. “Thinking long term, terran.”
“She’s not touching that thing for years, vorgal,” Drakkal growled.
“Secondly,” Shay continued, “this is a baby’s birthday party. We’re not breaking out the booze.”
Thargen’s jaw fell, and he threw up his hands. “What is this, a damned nursery now? First the azhera—who has knives for fingers—says no knife for the kid, now you say nothing to drink?”
“We all know how you get with booze,” Sekk’thi said.
Thargen jabbed a finger at her. “I get fun.”
“The sort of fun you mean isn’t appropriate with a youngling underfoot,” Arcanthus drawled, curling his tail around Samantha’s leg. “If you’d like, I’m sure Samantha would be up for some Conquerors and gurosh later.”
“Um…no,” Samantha said, patting Arc’s chest affectionately. “I’m pregnant. No drinking for me.”
Thargen turned back to his cake, picked up the remnants with his hand—it was at least half of a big slice—and shoved it into his mouth, smearing frosting on his lips. He chewed noisily as he stood up, licking pink frosting from his fingers, and said, “Been a while since—mmm—I went out. Damn, this is good… I’m gonna—mmm—go get a drink.”
“Take it easy out there,” Urgand said, frowning.
Thargen waved a hand dismissively before crouching in front of Leah. He patted her head—thankfully not with the hand he’d just been licking—and smiled. “Keep everyone out of trouble, kid. They’re bigger babies than you are.”
Leah beamed up at him with a giggle.
Thargen’s eyes softened, and his grin widened. “Yeah, you know it. I’ll, uh…find you a more suitable present, I guess. See ya later.”
“That does not mean a blaster, Thargen,” Sekk’thi called after him as he exited the room.
His deep, booming laughter sounded from the hallway just before the door closed.
Drakkal’s arms slid around Shay from behind, and he pulled her against him, lowering his chin to rest atop her head. She settled her arms over his and smiled. She never tired of this, any of it—the closeness, the companionship, the love. It was all here, in this room…
But it was the closeness, companionship, and love from Drakkal she enjoyed most of all.
Kiloq gathered all the ripped wrapping paper into a pile. Leah stood up from Razi’s lap—with a bit of help from him—and dove into the paper with a high-pitched laugh.
Shay glanced at Samantha and Arc, who were now cuddled on one of the sofas, speaking softly to one another with their love plain on their faces. There was awe in Arc’s eyes as he again covered Sam’s belly with his hand.
Over the last several months, Arcanthus and Drakkal had been working to steer their business away from illegal activities. Shay wondered if that process would speed up now that Sam was expecting. They’d already become even more selective in accepting clients than before, and they’d even helped a few of the former prisoners from Murgen’s zoo with ID chips free of charge.
Most of the animals and intelligent beings there had been left to the Eternal Guard’s care; the Consortium had programs to help victims of kidnapping and enslavement that extended even to species not yet integrated on Arthos, but a few of those prisoners had wanted to leave with Drakkal, Shay, and the others. Arcanthus and Drakkal had worked to get those individuals established, to help them acclimate to life on an alien world—a world of technology far surpassing anything some of them had ever seen on their homeworlds.
Fortunately, no one had started a crusade to find Murgen’s killers and bring them to justice after it had all gone public—none of the other wealthy elite wanted to risk calling attention to themselves by speaking out, lest their own dirty secrets come to light. Not that they would’ve found much anyway. Arcanthus had brought in cleaners within an hour of Murgen’s death; they’d removed all the physical evidence while Arcanthus wiped the computer records and surveillance recordings, effectively making it like none of them had ever been there, including Shay and Drakkal.
Just like it was difficult to believe Leah had been born a year ago, it didn’t seem like months had passed since the incident at Murgen’s. Those experiences had helped Shay finally understand what her father had meant when he’d said those life and death situations never really faded from your mind. They stuck with you forever; you just had to learn how to live with them.
But here, now, surrounded by her friends—her family—she could look back and be grateful for all of it. Those hardships had led to this.
As if sensing her thoughts, Drakkal slid his hand down to Shay’s belly, covering it possessively, and pulled her against his body just a little more firmly. Heat stirred in her core.
He moved his face to the side of her head and brushed his lips over the shell of her ear. “I’ve got you, kiraia. Always.”
Shay smiled and raised a hand, sliding her fingers into his mane as she turned her face toward him. Her lips grazed his. “I know you do.” She turned fully in his embrace and looped her arms around his neck. Their eyes locked. Those familiar fires burned in his gaze; their effect on her had only seemed to strengthen as time passed. Her heart fluttered and her breath quickened.
“Kraasz ka’val, Shay, I love you,” he said in a low rumble that vibrated into her before he cupped her backside and slanted his mouth over hers in a hungry, scalding, breathtaking kiss.
Author’s Note
Thank you so much for reading Untamed Hunger! We hope you enjoyed it!
We didn’t realize how long this book was going to be. When we wrote the outline, we figured it’d be a little shorter than the other books in the series, but things just kind of took off. We’re not the type of authors to rush a book, and we definitely don’t skimp on world or relationship building, so we allowed Drakkal and Shay’s relationship to develop naturally while they interacted with the world and people around them. I’m sure there are scenes we could have cut out to tighten the book up more, to make it shorter, but honestly, we love having those slice-of-life moments.
And if you’ve stuck with us this long…THANK YOU! You guys don’t know how much it means to us every time we receive a message, comment, post, email, or review letting us know how much you enjoy our books. It means the world to us. <3
So, we’ve been asked this question a few times recently, and we wanted to address it here: Is this the end of The Infinite City series?
Nope! If you haven’t already guessed, Thargen will be getting a book of his own! We’re shuffling things around in our schedule, and so you don’t have to wait too long, we’re going to be writing his book in January/February. That vorgal needs some love.
And as long as you guys continue reading and reviewing, we have a lot of stories we’d love to write in The Infinite City world. We actually planned for this series to be a bunch of standalones taking place all over without any real connections, but…you know how it goes. Things never work out as planned. But we’re glad for it because we’ve enjoyed writing about characters who were nothing more than blips on the radar in Silent Lucidity—well, all of them but Arcanthus, who loves to steal the spotlight. It’s crazy how characters just come to life, and we’re helpless but to write their stories.
What’ll be released next after Untamed Hunger? We’re diving back into The Kraken series with a novella featuring Ector called Lover from the Waves. We’v
e missed those sexy kraken boys. If you haven’t read our Kraken series yet, give it a try! Don’t fear the tentacles! They’re not slimy. Promise. Cross our hearts.
Again, thank you all for following us and reading our stories! We love you.
Also by Tiffany Roberts
THE INFINITE CITY
Silent Lucidity
Shielded Heart
Untamed Hunger
Savage Desire (Coming Soon!)
Entwined Fates (In the Pets in Space 4 Anthology)
THE KRAKEN
Treasure of the Abyss
Jewel of the Sea
Hunter of the Tide
Heart of the Deep
Rising from the Depths
Fallen from the Stars
Lover from the Waves (Coming Soon!)
STANDALONE TITLES
Claimed by an Alien Warrior
Dustwalker
His Darkest Craving
The Warlock’s Kiss
Ice Bound: Short Story
ISLE OF THE FORGOTTEN
Make Me Burn
Make Me Hunger
Make Me Whole
Make Me Yours
COSMIC FAIRY TALES COLLABORATION
Escaping Wonderland
VALOS OF SONHADRA COLLABORATION
Tiffany Roberts - Undying
Tiffany Roberts - Unleashed
About the Author
Tiffany Roberts is the pseudonym for Tiffany and Robert Freund, a husband and wife writing duo. Tiffany was born and bred in Idaho, and Robert was a native of New York City before moving across the country to be with her. The two have always shared a passion for reading and writing, and it was their dream to combine their mighty powers to create the sorts of books they want to read. They write character driven sci-fi and fantasy romance, creating happily-ever-afters for the alien and unknown.
Website:
https://authortiffanyroberts.wordpress.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTiffanyRoberts
BookBub:
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tiffany-roberts
Untamed Hunger Page 40
