Page 7 of When She Wishes

I hope he realizes I'm probably going to rub one out while he's in the shower.

Chapter

Five

BODHRRI

Iam glad she allows me to use her shower. She is trusting and kind, my Payton. Which is good, because it means I get the opportunity to mark the lavatory area. I marked the front door days ago. Soon, I will mark the bedroom, and then it will be well established that Payton is claimed and no one will ever think to touch her...because she belongs to me.

While I do need a shower, it is not the most pressing thing on my mind. Instead, it is declaring Payton and our children asmine. I undress and step into the shower cubicle and then take myself in hand, stroking with rough, practiced drags over my cock. I picture Payton as I come, my hand pressed to the tile as I spray my seed and my scent all over the walls. I do this twice more, hitting different spots each time, before I get down to the business of getting clean. I scrub my skin, noting that the bath soaps smell like her—floral and sweet—and for once, I like the scented cleaners because it means I can carry her smell with me as I go about my day.

Once I'm clean, I rinse the shower walls off, watching my seed trickle down the drain. Doesn't matter. Any praxiian whodared to come into her home would smell my presence here, just as they'd smell me on her doorstep. It's a praxiian tradition—to mark the home and territory of a female they are courting.

And I absolutely intend upon courting Payton. Haven't the stars brought her to me, just as I asked? The fact that she is carrying my children just feels like a present on top of things. But I must go slow. I do not want to scare her off, and I don't know a lot about human courting rituals. I have to let her set the pace of things.

For now, I will simply take care of her. I will tend to her farm and clean her home. I will make sure she does not push herself too hard and that she gets naps. I will feed her good, nutritious meals. Perhaps that will be enough to tell her that I could be a good mate to her.

I wrap a towel around my hips. It's human sized, so it doesn't cover much, but I make the attempt anyhow. I exit the lavatory and immediately the scent of feminine arousal hits my lungs. I pause, sniff deep, and turn, incredulous, towards her bedroom. She's been touching herself.

She's been touching herself while I've been touchingmyself. I wait outside her door, wondering if she's going to invite me in. If she's going to tell me that she's attracted to me and we can forget all about this careful dancing about. When she doesn't speak up, I prick my ears, straining to hear her.

A gentle snore comes from the other side of the door.

I smile despite my disappointment. Payton may be interested, but I need to remember that she is leading the way on this, and that she is very pregnant. She might not be ready for any sort of relationship until after the babies are born.

I can wait. I adjust myself under the towel and then head to the laundry machines to pull out fresh clothing.

Chapter

Six

PAYTON

Having Bodhrri here is utter bliss. In the space of a month, he's gotten the farm into shape and somehow made himself indispensable to me. He took over all the chores for a while, but as the doctor eases me off bed rest now that my fatigue is improving, I'm trying to do more around the house. I have to fight Bodhrri to let me do anything, though. It turns into a game between us—I'll start making dinner and he'll take the utensils from me. I'll gather laundry, only to discover that he's hidden the basket when I turn my back.

"Your job is simply to grow the children," he tells me. "I can do everything else."

It's hard to fight with that. It's not as if I'm dying to put fresh hay in the barn or I really love cleaning my floorboards. Sometimes I get restless, though, so Bodhrri bought a bunch of scraps from the tailor in town so I can make blankets and tiny clothes out of the castoffs. I spend most nights sewing baby clothes that look more like sacks with a gathered end, becauseI know how big human babies are, but I have no idea how big praxiian babies are.

My stomach is not a good guideline, because it's ridiculously enormous and seems to double in size every time I look in the mirror. My hips have been spreading, and my back hurts as I struggle to carry the weight of my belly in front of me. I've made a sling that goes around my neck and under my belly to try and give it some support, but then my neck just ends up hurting. So...I sit a lot. I sit a lot and drool over Bodhrri as he takes care of me and the house, and I feel like a creep because I'm as big as a planet with babies and yet I've never been so turned on in my life.

It doesn't help that Bodhrri's everything I wanted in a partner. He's warm and caring. I love talking to him. Love just hearing about his day. His sense of humor matches mine. He loves a good cup of tea, fresh air, and morning sunrises. He approaches every day with enthusiasm, and even the smallest of chores make him happy because he's here on Risda. I know just how he feels. This planet is a gift, and I have yet to take it for granted. It's his enthusiasm for life that I find as appealing as the rest of him. I try to come up with things I don't like about him and...I can't. I don't even mind that he's fuzzy and has different, cat-like features. That's just who he is. He's affectionate and funny, and I just...I'm obsessed.

Call it hormones, call it whatever, all I know is that I think about him constantly.

I don't do anything about it, of course. I'm heavily pregnant and I've never felt less sexy. I worry that my attraction to him is one-sided. He might be humoring me because he wants to stay on the planet, and the thought of him playing along makes my pride shrivel. So I say nothing.

I do feel guilty he sleeps in the barn, though. My house is small and there's very little room, but I'm pretty sure I cansqueeze a cot for him in the living area. I need to ask him to move inside. I just haven't come up with the right way to phrase it yet. I think about this all day, and I don't know how to bring it up without it feeling like the creepy older woman is hitting on him. I don't want to chase him off because I need his help desperately.

That night, I decide I need to bring up a change in circumstances. It's unfair to make him sleep in the barn any longer, and I toy with the idea all through dinner. Do I casually bring it up? Have a sit-down conversation and make it a big deal so he doesn't think I'm hitting on him? What?

I'm quiet through dinner, waiting for the perfect moment to bring things up as he eagerly discusses the repairs the barn needs for the upcoming colder weather. I toy with my noodles, nodding assent.

Bodhrri reaches over and puts his hand on mine, startling me. "Are you well? Is your stomach bothering you?"

"Hm? Oh no, I'm fine."

"But you are not eating. And you are very quiet. Are you feeling all right?" His expression is one of pure worry.

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