by Dixon, Ruby
And yet…it is a good life, one I enjoy far more than being a gladiator. I enjoy waking up, watering my plants, and gazing out at fields that are mine, at endless rolling green hills without a cage in sight.
Kim yawns again, and when I set the bags down, I notice she drifts toward the bedroom. “Just gonna take a quick nap, I think.”
I make a mental note to check in on Bethiah—I asked her to find me the best fertility doctor with experience in human pregnancies. She complained. Of course she did. Said she was not my assistant. Then she saw the payment amount, jokingly called me “boss,” and promised to deliver.
I want a family with Kim. The sooner the better.
So I set down the bags and prowl after my mate. Watering the plants can wait. Checking on the bots can wait. I sneak up behind Kim and scoop her up in my arms, loving the little squeal she makes as I pick her up. I carry her to the bedroom, and before I can even set her down on the round mattress, her hands are all over me, tugging at my clothing.
“A quick fuck and then a nap,” she tells me, breathless. “Great idea.”
“I am full of such ideas.” I kiss her hard, sliding my hands under the hem of the dress she has chosen to wear this day.
“Full of something,” she murmurs, her fingers brushing against my cock. “God, I want you.”
“Are you wet enough for me?” I ask between kisses, and steal a touch between her thighs. She is soaked, her body hot and ready for mine. A groan slips out of me. “Ah, so very ready for your mate.”
Kim whimpers. “Need you. I’m so empty. Come fill me up.”
I growl deep in my throat, loving her demands. With one last kiss, I turn my mate over and adjust her hips. She gets on her hands and knees even as I push her skirts up, revealing her rounded pink bottom and the cleft of her ass. I rub a finger up and down her wet, needy folds as I free my cock from my trou, and then I am ready for her. I drag my length against her cunt to slick it, and then I push into her. Slowly. Always slowly, because Kim is small and I am large.
Her fingers curl on the mattress and she makes choked sounds, rocking her hips back. I tap her ass in a light slap. “Greedy girl.”
“More,” she demands. “More, Nassakth.”
I give her more. I feed my cock into her tight sheath with excruciating slowness, until her body claims my entire length and I seat myself to the hilt. She moans and wriggles under me, and I grip my mate’s hips and begin to pound into her.
Nothing feels better than being deep inside Kim, listening to her cries as I claim her.
I would give up a thousand houses for this, I realize. A thousand Praxii Minors, a thousand gladiator titles, ten thousand of the wealthiest, most revered positions amongst my people. I would give up being the head of every house, because the way Kim says my name as she comes, her cunt clenching so tight around my cock that it forces me to come, too…
That is everything.
Epilogue
KIM
“How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?” Nassakth hovers over the couch, watching me with a concerned expression. “Do you want more bread? Crackers?”
I press the wet cloth to my brow, laying down across the cushions, waiting for my stomach to settle. “I’m fine. Just tell me when the doctor gets here, okay?” I close my eyes, trying to relax. If I relax, the nausea is less overwhelming. It comes and goes throughout the day and I haven’t yet figured out what will settle my stomach. It’s been a process. I should have known it wouldn’t be the world’s smoothest pregnancy, given that it’s taken six months and a boatload of fertility “encouragement” from the doctor. I’ve had so many injections and supplements and even a DNA tweak, all to encourage my body to accept a praxiian pregnancy.
It’s paid off, finally, and both Nassakth and I couldn’t be happier.
Well, I couldn’t be happier. Poor Nassakth is a wreck. The big guy spends less time working out and more time hovering over me, giving me foot massages or handing me drinks. He makes the meals, holds my hair back when I puke, and absolutely refuses to let me train on self-defense any longer. His mate is fragile, he says stubbornly, and needs to be pampered.
I mean, I’m not hating the pampering and the foot rubs. I just feel a little bad that Nassakth is so amped up over things. I have months and months to be pregnant, and the guy has absolutely lost his chill. It’s cute, but I also worry he’s going to stress himself out.
“I’m fine,” I tell him for at least the fourth time in the last few minutes. “It’s just a little sickness. Human women get it all the time when they’re pregnant.”
“I do not care.” He perches on the edge of the couch—or tries to, except he’s such a big, bulky presence that he’s shoving me over to the side—and brushes his hand over my cheek. “Those are other human women. This is different because you are my mate.”
He sounds so offended that I can’t help but smile. “You’re very sweet.”
“I do not like this,” Nassakth grumbles. “Your face is the same color mine is after I eat your cooking.”
I push his hand away, trying not to giggle. “Did I say you were sweet? Obviously I must be sick.” It’s been months and I swear Nassakth is the pickiest eater ever. He hates all human foods unless it’s just a slab of meat fresh off the animal. As a result, I’m happy to let him do all the cooking, and he’s also happy to do it because the man loves his food.
His smile is a little easier at my teasing, but I can tell he’s still on edge. He needs something to do to occupy him.
You’d think a guy had never knocked up his wife before. It was cute at first, but now I just worry about him. I know some of it comes from his years in slavery—he’s afraid of being too happy out of fear that it’ll all disappear. But he has to realize I’m not going anywhere…especially not with my stomach lurching like it does.
So I give him busywork to take his mind off of things until the physician gets here. “Could you get me a few crackers after all? The triangular ones, not the circles. And my datapad?”
He kisses my nose and leaps to his feet. No sooner does he return with the objects than the perimeter alarm chirps. “Air-sled incoming,” it says in a cheerful voice. “Visitor is…” It continues on, warbling and honking merrily in an attempt at the doctor’s name. It’s a word I can’t pronounce…the doctor is a race called the Mazu who have two chambers in their heads for making sounds as well as vocal chords. It means he can speak passable English but there’s absolutely no way I can repeat his name. I call him Doctor Roo, since “Roo” is the closest I can get to the first sound in his name. He’s nice, though, for an alien that looks a lot like a big, fat, walking aardvark with a domed skull.
“That’s for me,” I say, sitting up and pulling the wet cloth off my brow.
“Do you want company?” Nassakth asks.
“Nope.” I take the hand he offers me and get to my feet. It’s not that I don’t want my mate at my doctor visits. It’s that he asks so many questions and scowls so fiercely at the doctor that he makes the poor man unsettled. After the first few appointments with Doctor Roo, I’ve asked Nassakth to stay out of things. It just makes it easier, and the last thing I want is an unsettled alien doctor with his hands in unfamiliar places.
Nassakth kisses my brow and smooths my hair back. “You’ll tell me everything the moment you’re done? And you’ll ask him about the sickness?”
“Yes. And yes.” I give him a bright look. “Why don’t you do your workout and after dinner we’ll play more cards? You need more practice with Texas hold ’em.”
“That is because that game is nonsense.” He hesitates for a moment, and then grunts. “Very well. I will get in my exercise and spend the rest of the night devoted to entertaining you.”
As if a girl could complain about that?
* * *
* * *
* * *
The visit takes longer than anticipated, and by the time Doctor Roo is gone, I’m surprised that Nassakth hasn’t charged in to the m
ed center established in the basement. I thank the doctor and send him on his way, then go hunting for my husband. My hands rest on the small swell of my belly. It feels hard and now that I know what it contains, I’m a little concerned. Elated, of course, but concerned.
I find my husband in one of the alcoves down the hall, a sledgehammer in his hands as he considers a plas-sheet of construction plans. He’s working on the baby’s room, the addition we decided to include since I’m a firm believer that a sexually active couple (and boy, are we active) should have a private bed. He frowns down at the plans, lost in concentration. “There you are,” I call out. “I’m done.”
Nassakth turns, his face lighting up with anticipation. “What did he say? Tell me everything.”
I rub my belly again. “Well…”
I didn’t think it was possible for a praxiian to pale, but I swear Nassakth goes gray under his even grayer fur. “What is it? What is wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” I reassure him. “It was just an unexpected sort of thing to hear about today.”
“Unexpected?” He prompts, his body stiff. “Unexpected in what way?”
“So…these plans?” I pull them out of his grip. “Is there enough room for, ah, more?”
“More?” Nassakth’s brows furrow as he tries to follow what I’m saying. Then, it dawns on him and he gapes. “You mean another room? For another child?”
I clear my throat delicately. “Triplets.” When he doesn’t react, I say it louder. “Triplets. Three babies.”
Nassakth blinks.
“All very healthy,” I reassure my silent mate. “It’s just that…Doctor Roo thinks that because of all the fertility stuff there was bound to be a chance for additional babies and it turns out that multiples run in my family and so it shouldn’t be all that surprising, but…yeah. Triplets.”
My mate blinks again. Slower. Then, he sags, and I watch as the biggest, scariest alien I’ve ever met passes clear the fuck out.
It’s alarming at first. I kneel next to him and pat his cheek, and then the giggles hit me. I can’t stop laughing. Nassakth the fierce, the Arena Scourge of Askorthi Prime, just fainted at hearing he was going to be a dad to triplets. It really is cute. I pat his cheek a little harder, and when that doesn’t wake him up, I calmly slap him as hard as I can.
My praxiian groans.
“It’s too late to back out on me now,” I giggle. “I’m going to need all the help I can get.” I put a hand to his collar and shake him. “So wake up.”
“Kim,” Nassakth says, voice thick. His eyes open a slit and he gazes at me. “Tell me I have heard correctly? We are to be parents to…three? At once?”
“All at once,” I agree. “It’s amazing and also utterly terrifying, so I get the whole passing out thing—”
“I did not pass out,” he says staunchly, sitting up. “I merely…was resting for a moment.”
I snort.
Nassakth reaches for me, and his hand moves down my arm in a gentle caress. Always so gentle with me, this big guy…unless I’m screaming for him to be rougher. Which I do. In bed. Frequently. He regards me with a thoughtful look on his feline face. “This…makes you happy? You are not upset?”
I shake my head. “Why would I be upset? We wanted a big family.” I take his big hand and place it on my stomach. “We’re going to have one…just sooner than we thought.” He’s so quiet, though, that I’m a little concerned. “Are you upset?”
As I’m still seated on the ground, I’m not entirely surprised when Nassakth leans over and puts his head against my belly. It’s not flat anymore (or, cough, ever was) and I’m only a few months along but I’m already starting to show in a major way, and Doctor Roo says I’ll be enormous by the time I get ready to deliver. I think of the fact that I have three of Nassakth’s children inside me and suspect my belly’s about to grow to gargantuan proportions…and I’m slightly giddy over the prospect.
“Not upset,” Nassakth says in a quiet voice. His arms go around me and he just nuzzles my belly. “Overwhelmed. Three at once.”
“The doctor said it’s two girls and a boy.” I curl my fingers in his mane and play with it. “I don’t know how much will be human and how much will be praxiian, so it’ll be interesting to see. I hope they look like you, though.”
His arms tighten around me. “Three.”
“At once,” I agree, chuckling. It definitely took a moment for it to sink in for me, so I totally get his stunned expression.
“We are selling none of them,” my mate says thickly. “I cannot imagine how callous my family—my people—are to just turn their backs on a child.” He shifts a little and presses his mouth to my belly. “If they felt like I do right now…”
His voice trails off.
“Good?” I prompt, stroking his mane. “I hope you feel good?”
“I am at once delighted beyond words and utterly terrified.” His expression grows thoughtful. “I am so happy it feels my heart cannot contain all the feelings inside it.”
I smile.
“And I think I will need to increase my exercise regimen.”
I blink. “To…hold all three babies?”
“No. Because I will need to destroy anyone that looks at my daughters.” His voice grows fierce. “Anyone.”
I’m hit with the giggles again at the thought. Nassakth is going to be the overprotective dad from hell…and that’s so adorable. “You could always hire Bethiah to be their bodyguard.”
He considers this, and grunts. “It is a good thought—”
“No! I’m joking!”
“I am not. As you have said, with three cubs, we will need all the help we can get.”
“No,” I say firmly, and grab a fistful of his mane, forcing his head back to look at me. “This is our house. You and me, and our babies. No one else…certainly not Bethiah.”
“More weapons, then,” my mate says thoughtfully. “And perhaps well-trained guard animals.”
I smother a groan. “Are you going overboard because we’re having three babies now instead of one? Or has this been brewing for a while?”
“It is not overboard to wish to protect one’s family.” Nassakth strokes a big hand over my belly, his gaze on it thoughtfully. “Maybe we need a larger house.”
“I like this one.”
“And a larger air-sled.”
I frown at the thought of going anywhere with three infants. “Not right away—”
“And I will need a cart.”
“A…cart?” I echo, distracted. His hand continues to rub my belly, and I get turned on. There’s something about his hand on my stomach, and the thoughtful expression on his gorgeous face that’s making me completely and utterly horny. Of course, it doesn’t take much lately to get me turned on, but this is absolutely doing it for me.
“Yes. Between three cubs and my affections, I fear you will be too tired to walk. I will need to cart around my poor human like—”
I grab a fistful of his mane and yank. “You ass!”
He grins widely, showing sharp teeth, and then rolls both of us on the ground, laughing. “I am to be a father three times over, Kim! My heart-feelings overflow!”
There’s such utter delight on his face that I decide to let his teasing slide. I roll around on the floor with him, as overjoyed as he is. There’s nothing better in the universe than the smile of my handsome praxiian mate.
Nothing at all.
Epilogue II
Years later
KIM
Breakfast for a family of five—especially my family—is an all-out affair. There’s meat for my husband, who still refuses to eat anything but slabs of roasted animal, the bloodier the better. The girls are like me—they love a good pancake in the morning but they also like to pair it with an even sweeter hot beverage. My son is a cross between human tastes and praxiian tastes—so he gets pancakes with tidbits of meat mixed into the batter and covers them with a thick gravy instead of syrup.
It’s kind of
gross, but after years of dealing with all the different diets in my household, I don’t blink an eye. I prepare each plate, along with my own of bland noodles and dry crackers. It’s not the usual breakfast fare for me, but the thought of eating something sweet this morning makes my stomach turn, and I touch my abdomen absently. A lot of things have made my stomach upset lately. Now that I know the reason, it makes sense, even if it fills me with wonder. Life never turns out how you think it will, I muse as I fold napkins and set them next to the array of plates on the table.
When all is ready, I head for the training room, where my mate works with our children. I can hear their violent little bellows from down the hall, and grimace to myself at how loud they are. While I’ve gone through hours and hours of training with Nassakth, most of mine has been of a more “dutiful” nature. It’s in my best interest to know how to defend myself, so I do it. But my children love battle time. They love training. They love hitting things.
Well…my girls do at least.
I open the door to the war room and gaze in at the sight. It’s like any other day, with my small son seated in a corner, coloring flowers on one of his father’s training plans. His sisters each have a staff in hand, the weapon larger than they are, and are striking at training dummies with a ferociousness that makes their observing father proud.
“Harder, Laina,” Nassakth commands, arms crossed as he watches their movements. “And Elkha, you need more precision in your hits.”
“I’m pounding his face, Daddy!” Defiant little Elkha tells my mate. Her cat mouth (just like her father’s) is screwed up in a scowl of concentration as she smacks the dummy. “He’s a mean man!”