Page 54 of The Pregnancy Pact

“The adjoining rooms?” she asked.

I paused mid-step, puzzled. “Yes, the adjoining rooms. Did you wish your chambers further from mine?

“I…” She pursed her lips, glanced around, then asked quietly, “Why aren’t we, um, sharing rooms?”

“Sharing rooms?”

Druea and I had never shared rooms, except temporarily for coupling.

“I suppose…”

Why? Was it because Druea and I had not liked one another very much? Was it because we preferred our own space? Or was it an unspoken rule among Asterion nobility?

My mind flashed to my living child and I frowned. I had little knowledge of his private relationship with his new wife, yet I could hardly imagine them living the formal, restricted relationship that Druea and I had shared.

“I suppose it is simply all I’ve ever done,” I replied honestly.

“It seems weird to me.” She rubbed her forearms, as if encouraging herself to speak up despite her discomfort. “I know we haven’t had our pact witnessed yet, but if we’re going to be married—and it appears we’re going to have to be married for several years, at least—I’d like to make it feel as real as possible. Wouldn’t you?”

Something in me craved what she sought. Honesty. Vulnerability. Intimacy. A real marriage. Not married in name, while both of us walked different directions and had as little to do with one another as possible.

Is this what it means to have not merely a wife but a mate?

Earlier, when I’d marveled rather than mocked my concern for her fear of heights, the notion of Lorelai as my mate had threaded its way into my brain. Now it exploded, striking me like a comet from the universe, shattering against Asterion’s invisible shields.

Mate.

Is she my mate?

Staring down at this human female who had unexpectedly entered my life and changed everything, I tried to absorb the concept.

Caide claimed a human female as his mate. The things I feel for Lorelai…are so different than anything I’ve ever felt for any other female…is this possible?

“Ellax?”

Her quiet question splintered my churning thoughts.

“Yes,” I said. “Yes, I would also like to have our union feel as real as possible.”

“Then…no adjoining rooms?”

I nodded. “No adjoining rooms. I will change my orders to Fertis.”

“The robot has a name?” she giggled. It was the most charming, endearing sound I had ever heard.

Stop this! What sort of folly is this?

I caught myself before I could smile at her humor.

“Even though they are mechas, they are functioning members of our households and society,” I replied a little sternly. A little too sternly, truth be told, but I was attempting to quash these shocking new feelings towards her behind a mask of indifference.

She raised an eyebrow. “Wow. Almost sounds like you Asterions have more feelings for your non-sentient robots than you do for an entire species back on Earth.”

Another uncomfortable truth that threatened to stop me in my tracks. This one was far more unpleasant.

“All things in their order,” was the only reply I could think to make.

The truth was, unless the average Asterion had visited Earth themselves or had relatives living on the planet, most interacted far more with their mechas than they ever would with a human. Which was why, I considered, clasping Lorelai’s elbow and guiding her towards my—our—rooms, she could be a vital, living symbol of Earth, its prime species, and what it meant to Asterion. Even if we were to wipe out the non-compliant humans.

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