Page 14 of The Pregnancy Pact

She peered up at me from beneath her lashes. “Is this a question in the game or just a question? Either way, if I answer I think you should have to take a drink.”

She was teasing me. I shrugged and took a drink. I knew my limits with lyven. I did not fear to pass those limits, either.

“Fine,” she chuckled, “a maiden name is a saying on Earth. It refers to the last name a woman has before she gets married. In other words, ostensibly while she was a maiden.”

Ah yes. I was aware of that custom. I’d simply not heard the term before.

“My turn,” the human female, Lorelai, now said.

“No, it is mine,” I protested.

“Uh uh. You skipped my turn when you asked about maiden names. Remember?”

I chose not to reprimand her for arguing with me, although it was very strange to have any form of argument from a human female, especially.

“Very well,” I said. “Question—and don’t forget your drink.”

She shrugged one shoulder, took a drink, then asked, “Do you have any kids? You mentioned one living son, right?”

“By kids you mean…offspring?”

“That’s what I mean.”

“I have one. His name is Caide,” I answered. “He has chosen a life on Earth rather than Asterion.”

“Really.” Her eyebrows rose. “That’s unusual. Especially with you being an Elder and all. Don’t you Asterions retain that rank by genealogy? Don’t you need an heir?”

I found myself glowering at the wall in order to avoid glowering at her. The question stung.

“I am through with this game,” I said, tossing back the remainder of my drink and setting the glass firmly on the bar.

She was silent for a long moment, then said very quietly, “Wow.”

I heard movements as she, too took a swallow and then set her cup down.

“I guess we’ve both been screwed by those nearest and dearest to us, huh? You with your son, me with my ex-husband? Sometimes life really sucks.”

Without giving me space to answer, she sauntered over to my bed where she plopped down. Yawning, she kicked off her shoes.

“I don’t know about you, but all of this booze is making me tired.”

To my utter astonishment, she lay back against the pillows, an arm over her face to shield her eyes from the light. “Will you wake me up in a few minutes? I’ll go back to my ship, and we’ll pretend this conversation never happened.”

The audacity! No female I had ever bedded, besides my wife, had ever made free to simply lie down in my bed and go to sleep. Even Druea had preferred to slumber in her own bed once the coupling was past.

For some strange reason, my mind flitted to my son, Caide. To him and his human wife. I knew the layout of the apartment where he dwelled, there on Earth. I knew there was only one bedroom. Either he would share a room with his wife, or one of them would sleep in the living room. There would be no separate bedchambers, as my former wife and I had maintained.

Strange, I mused, studying the human female on my bed. I could not imagine surrendering my life as an Elder for her. Nor for anyone else. I had not surrendered anything for Druea. Not even my fidelity. Now she was gone, my son by her was gone, and my other son hated me.

These are indeed grim thoughts, I told myself.

Grim, yes, and detestable. I was not one to wallow in self-pity. I was one to lose myself in pleasure instead.

However, when I considered the pleasures awaiting me outside the walls of this ship?

They rang hollow. I would not lose myself in them tonight. I had hoped to find temporary solace with this human female. Instead, she had drunk herself into sleep and I had nothing to distract my foul thoughts or humor.

The Doreethan still waited outside. I could go to her chamber. If she had one. Likely, she shared a bunk room with other servers. Never mind that. We could find an empty area.

---