Page 56 of The Pregnancy Pact

My mouth was suddenly watering alright, but it wasn’t for the damned food. I was staring at Ellax’s forearms and hands, the dark silver skin starkly contrasted by the white of his shirtsleeves, which he’d rolled up earlier before washing. All of a sudden, my mind leapt to very naughty images of those hands and the things they could probably do…

To the bed dominating the bedroom, and to the fact that we were married and alone.

“Lorelai?”

The sound of my name snapped me out of the spell.

What was wrong with me? I hadn’t felt a surge of unbearable attraction like this in well…ever. Even when Charlie and I were horny young teens, first going out, our relationship was really more like we’d been thrown together enough that we eventually had sex, not because I couldn’t keep my mind and hands off him. Then I’d gotten pregnant, and getting married had seemed the smartest thing to do, so that’s what we’d done. I’d never felt an attraction to Charlie like I felt to this alien, and what did that say about me? I barely knew him! I wasn’t sure if I knew enough about Ellax to like or dislike him.

“Y-yes,” I stammered, hurrying over to take my seat. He gave me a sideways look that seemed to be calculating my odd reaction. Mortified, I hoped he’d never realize I’d been turned on by the sight of him rolling up his damned shirtsleeves and of his sexy forearms.

To make sure it didn’t happen again, while he served me, I did my best to bounce my gaze off the bed, the wall, the rugs, the study, the view outside…anything to avoid glimpsing his hands and arms. Once we both had a plate, he seated himself in the opposite chair and we ate with little communication between us. Until Ellax remarked,

“I will have a witnessing mecha fetched as soon as possible.”

My mind leapt to catch up with his. When it did, I sort of dropped my fork with a clunk to the side of the fancy, heavy plate. Ellax noticed and frowned.

“Are you well?”

“Of—of course,” I replied, trying to summon a smile.

Was I? Once the pact was witnessed, there was no other delaying tactics to keep me from going to bed with him. Judging by my reaction a moment ago to simply seeing him roll up his sleeves, and gauging by the way my toes curled inside my shoes, that could be either a very good or a very bad thing.

You’re in danger of losing it, Lorelai, if you’re not careful.

Losing myself to an alien male I barely knew, but who held the power of life and death over my species. Despite an insane physical attraction to him, I could not afford to forget that fact.

Chapter 34

Ellax

We dined as Asterion’s twin suns slowly sank beyond the mountains. Considering that we were in my bedchamber, with a bed mere feet away, I would have predicted my thoughts to be full of nothing else besides lying with my wife. Instead, a sort of pall had fallen over my spirits. Mere days ago, I had left on a trip to Earth, full of tricks and schemes, determined to convince my son to return to Asterion as my heir. I hadn’t accomplished my purpose. Instead, I’d returned home with a human wife and possibly the largest decision I’d ever faced, both as an Asterion Elder and my new role as a Lead Advisor. While it was true I had no more fondness for the human species than I did for any other, besides my own, I feared how my action or inaction might affect my son and his wife.

My own wife.

Weightier matters than merely coupling lay on my shoulders. If Lorelai sensed it, she remained quiet and steadfast, eating while saying little, mainly watching the ever-changing colors of the sky through the windows and outside porch.

“It feels so strange to call another planet home,” she finally murmured. Having finished her meal, she wiped her hands on a cloth which she dropped onto the table between us. “Asterion is very beautiful, though. Parts of Earth used to look like this, before…”

She stopped. No need to go further. Before the Final War. Before humans had devastated their own planet. They were far from the only species to have done so. Did I owe it to this reckless species to try and salvage their mistakes? Or did we wipe out the rebels and start fresh with the compliant members? Cull the herd, as animal species were sometimes culled in order to produce better offspring?

I heard a heavy breath escape from her lungs.

“I guess it’s time, isn’t it?”

I turned my head to look at her. “Time?”

She waved her hand, gesturing loosely towards the doorway. “To bring in one of your mechas. Get this pregnancy pact witnessed. Isn’t that what we agreed?”

It was. The pact was important. Whatever the outcome of my decision concerning the Council’s proposal, I was still bound to this female. I still needed an heir. None of those issues were negated because of the uncomfortable choice I faced.

“You are not wrong,” I agreed. Twisting my wrist to reach the series of button inlaid on the underside of my wristlet, I pressed the center button, which would call Fertis.

“My chief mecha will be here soon,” I said.

Her face and posture were tense. I felt much the same way, although I did my best to appear confident. Bored, even. In control of my feelings, no matter how they twisted beneath my skin.

“Dear stars, we’re going to do this,” she murmured. Her fingers wrinkled and smoothed the fabric covering her knees. Wrinkled and smoothed. Wrinkled and smoothed.

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