He froze. “Brood?”
“Yes, you know what a brood is. We have two of them.”
His heras sputtered. “T-two? But how?”
“How?” Her eyes sparkled. “Well, it starts with me doing this.” She grabbed the hem of her tunic and inched it up to her waist.
Lans averted his eyes. “Eema.”
“What? There is no need to worry. Your mother is watching our little gems.” Eema’s hands deftly pulled at his pants, her slender fingers reaching for the hardness inside. “So you and I could have some alone time.”
“Mother?” Lans pulled away from her.
Neh. This had to be a dream.
His mother was dead.
Eema remained on her hands and knees, her eyebrows pulling tightly. “Lans?”
“My mother is no longer alive.” He shook his head. Pointed to where she had been about to instigate a mating. “And you would never… you detest me.”
“What?”
“This is not real.” His eyes darted around the room. “None of this…”
“Lans. Lans, my love, listen to me.” She grabbed his hands. Her pale fingers wrapped around his blue ones.
“Neh.” He shook her off.
Eema grabbed him again. “I am real. So is your mother and our broods.”
His chest heaved as he fought her words.
The Red Plague wiped out every Plutonian female.
There was no peace on the planet.
Threats of war and nature abounded.
They had been existing for so long only thanks to the Healer and his ability to reverse all wounds.
And Eema—
At times, only in snatches of moments, her eyes flashed with desire when she looked at him, but she would never be so aggressive in bed. She would never rub her hands over his chest and suckle his ears. She would never paw at his pants and straddle his waist and insist he mate her.
Neh.
This…
Neh.
“Lans, please.” Eema licked her lips nervously. “You are scaring me.”
“This is not…” He stumbled out of the bed.
“Lans!”
He ignored Eema’s pleas and shuffled to the door. Throwing it open, he stepped out and fell into a pair of familiar purple eyes.