Page 34 of The Pregnancy Pact

“Is it cheating if you know beforehand that I will be bedding other females?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you hard of hearing? I said there won’t be any bedding other females. You have sex only with me and I have sex only with you as long as we’re married. After we’re divorced or separated or however the hell we handle it, all bets are off. You can sleep with every available female in the universe for all I care. I just won’t stand for it while we’re together.”

“And what will you do if I choose not to concede?” he taunted, stepping closer. His air had changed from negotiator to predator. “I will already have a child by you. I will have what I need. What will you do then, female? Lorelai?”

Hastily, he corrected himself, proving that he was actually considering my list of demands.

“I’ll take our child and flee,” I said coldly. “That’s what I’ll do. I won’t stay with another man who breaks his word to me. And you better believe while I’m acting as your wife, I’ll be building up my own lines of communication with people who can help me take our child and run. Run so far that you can search the entire galaxy and never find us.”

He regarded me in terse silence, before saying quietly, “I am not intimidated by you, Lorelai.”

“And I’m not intimidated by you, either,” I shot back. Which wasn’t completely true. “But I think we stand a better chance of getting what we both need and want if we work together instead of turning this pact into a war that we’re both desperate to win. Surely, you’ve been through enough diplomatic situations to see the value in that.”

In tense silence, we regarded one another. Him, irritated, still haughty, but hopefully pondering?

Me, determined. The more I considered this, the more determined I became.

I would not let him beat me. If I had to surrender my body to him, my womb to carrying his child, I wanted a second fresh start in return.

I would not back down. Not even if—

“Lorelai.” His even tone shattered my train of thought. “You are far more astute than I gave you credit for.”

I gave my eyes a little roll. “Gee, thanks.”

“I accept your gratitude,” he said, “for it was a compliment.”

Damn Asterions and them taking everything literally. I had not been thanking him. Rather than correct him, however, I let him talk.

“I will accept the terms you propose,” he said. “I will bed no other females while we are married. I will help you dissolve our union when you feel ready. I will assist you in finding a suitable career, one that can be sustained once you leave me. We will reach an agreement upon child visitation. And, I assume you will wish a reoccurring stipend from me to thank you for your troubles?”

Oops. Child support. Alimony. I hadn’t even considered that. I should have. Both were age-old customs on Earth; although, given the current political climb, they’d largely died out.

“Absolutely,” I agreed, nodding firmly, like it had been my idea all along.

“Very well. I shall concede to that too. It is not as if I do not have adequate financial means. Nor do I truly have an option for an heir, since Caide has rejected me and the Council insists upon this.”

He wasn’t asking for pity. I highly doubted he wanted pity. Yet something about the way he stated these things gave me pause, made me recall the family portrait hidden in his closet. One son gone. The other son rejecting him as his father—for good reason, likely, but it still had to sting. Now, stuck in a marriage with me that he didn’t want any more than I did.

My pity quickly dissolved, however, when he added, “I would add a stipulation for you, however.”

“Oh?” I felt my hackles raise. “What’s that?” What kind of stipulation could he possibly want? After all, I was planning to give him an heir, for heaven’s sake.

“It concerns you,” he said, stepping closer to me. Goosebumps popped up on my arms. I couldn’t tell if they were caused by attraction or fright. “If you are to be my wife, and I am to remain faithful to you, bedding no other females so long as we are wed, then I propose that we reach an agreement on that.”

“On what?” I demanded. “What you are driving at?”

“On simply this.” He lifted an arm to touch my face, cup my chin in his hand. “On how often I am allowed to bed you.”

Chapter 19

Ellax

“On how often…” My new wife echoed my words before stammering to a stop. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means…” I caressed her chin with my thumb, testing the feel of her skin against my fingertips. It was silky. Entrancing. I couldn’t say I was happy about this odd turn of events, but she was a beautiful female. “…that I am allowed to bed you whenever I wish.”

I do not know what I was expecting. I thought I was seducing her. She must not have agreed. In a rapid motion, she reached up and knocked my hand aside, expelling a harsh laugh.

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