“No one has given a date, not in my hearing anyway.”
Gemma liked the way the tips of Camron’s ears reddened, as if he was mildly embarrassed by this discussion of another couple’s baby. “Never mind, I’ll figure it all out.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Two weeks later…
“You’re a difficult patient, Dr. Garrison,” Gemma said with mock severity. “I tell you to get more rest and what do you do? You pull an extra-long shift here in the clinic, on your feet all day. What am I going to do with someone who disregards my orders? Should I decree total bed rest? I’m sure that imposing mate of yours would see my order carried out.”
“I was needed, with the outbreak of the contagious jabeebi virus in the single women’s dorm, and you know it. I’ve had it, I’m immune.” Megan Garrison had a sheepish expression on her face, but her voice was firm.
“I’m immune too and so is Rik the head nurse, and the Badari healers.” Gemma shook her finger at Megan. “Don’t make me take drastic action here.” She was laughing but more than a little serious. Megan Garrison was a stubborn woman, dedicated to her patients, but at this stage of such an unusual pregnancy, she shouldn’t be overtaxing her body’s resources.
“Order what’s needed, Dr. Madarian, and I’ll ensure my mate complies.” The words were spoken in a mock growl but from what Gemma had seen so far in her time as a resident of Sanctuary Valley, Mateer the huge, scary enforcer was head over heels in love with his mate. No matter how he was regarded by the Badari soldiers, she’d observed he was a pussycat when it came to Megan. Gemma approved. She liked the way this Badari pack valued and treated their mates.
“All right, I’ll rely on you to make her stay off her feet tonight and see how she feels in the morning. The rest of us can pick up the load if there’s another spike of virus patients.” Gemma said her farewells and left the examining room. She checked in with Rik, conducted rounds of her few patients then gratefully made her way to the tent assigned to her and Camron as a temporary dwelling.
Tent was a misnomer. Their home was a huge, sturdy dwelling, suited to be a field hospital, but equipped with a Badari-sized bed, an efficiency kitchen, assorted living room furniture and a self-contained bathroom unit with shower. For anything more elaborate in the way of bathing, the clinic had a private hot spring. The chef sent over meals on request and the entire valley had bent over backward to make her transition to living here pleasant. The tent had thick walls and was made of material ensuring complete privacy. It was located in the most heavily guarded portion of the valley, adjacent to the clinic, and living there gave her necessary peace of mind.
No cave spiders.
The one thing the Alpha had insisted on was the necessity for her and Camron live as close to the hospital as possible until Megan Garrison had safely delivered her baby.
“Then you can have a cave of your own, the same as the other mated couples,” Aydarr had said when welcoming her to the valley.
“Actually, I prefer the tent.” She knew she’d surprised the Alpha and the rest of the welcoming committee with the remark. Her mate only grinned.
“You did tell me you’d be living in a tent,” he’d said with a wink.
Camron wasn’t back from running a patrol yet, so she ate a little of the dinner waiting for her to hold herself off until they could dine together, and then went into the bedroom area to strip for a shower. She heard Camron enter the portal so she strolled out naked to greet him.
He paused in the act of removing his weapons belt and whistled, eyeing her. “I could get used to coming home to this view every day.”
“Care to join me?” she asked.
“You don’t have to ask me twice.” Hastily, he took off his boots and his clothes hit the floor shortly thereafter. Then he walked to the sofa, where Gemma had plunked herself down to admire the view as her well-endowed mate got naked.
When he stepped close enough, she reached out to caress his cock, which was already hard and standing at attention. “Now this is promising.” Gemma swirled her tongue over the plum-shaped head, while running her hand from root to tip.
“We could skip the shower and go straight to bed,” Camron said in a choked voice, holding her gently to her self-appointed task with his fingers threaded in her hair.
Gemma gave him a final lick and a promise and rose, pressing against him, loving the way their bodies fit together. His arousal pulsed against her belly, and he ran his hands over her back in a sensuous massage. Grinning, she leaned away and said, “I have my mind set on a shower.”
“Well then, your wish is my command.” He scooped her into his arms and carried her off to the bathing area as she giggled and ran her hand over his chest, teasing the nipples with her finger nails. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “If you keep that up, I might drop you.”
“I’m not worried.” Gemma adjusted the water temperature to warm and steamy, like her current mood. As the droplets flowed gently over her like a Spring mist, she changed position, sliding from his arms and going to her knees on the shower floor, grabbing a towel to use as a cushion. “Now where was I?”
Camron braced himself on the wall with both hands. “You’re testing me tonight, mate.”
Gemma continued her efforts, taking pleasure in knowing how to drive him wild, which touches reduced him to impatient need and what drove him to the edge of climax. With a groan, Camron scraped his talons on the tile and said, “Too much—I need to be inside you before I come.”
She released him from her mouth’s erotic attention and laughed as he picked her up effortlessly. “What’s stopping you?”
As he caught her in a demanding kiss, exploring her mouth with single minded attention, Camron plunged two fingers into her channel. Gemma was fully aroused—every time she saw her mate he affected her powerfully, and especially when he was wet and naked, skin to skin. Carefully, he sheathed himself in her welcoming body and they began the dance leading inevitably to incandescent pleasure. Gemma resisted the building pressure to climax as long as she could but finally threw her head back and screamed his name as the intense power of the orgasm rippled through her body and she couldn’t hold a conscious thought. Camron thrust hard and deep, holding her so tightly she had no fear of falling and she climaxed again in response to his ardor.
She and her mate actually did take a shower eventually, laughing and playing with the soap, washing each other’s bodies in a sensual ceremony leading to another torrid encounter with her posed in front of him and accepting his thick cock from behind, held in place by his hands on her hips as Camron gave in to his passion, kissing her neck and murmuring endearments.
After this second release, he caught her in his arms and hugged her as if he’d never let her go, and Gemma clung to her Badari warrior fiercely, thanking the Great Mother for putting them together in the doomed Khagrish flyer weeks ago.
Eventually, they adjourned to the bed, snacking on morsels from the amazing dinner the chef had sent over, cuddling and sharing tidbits of information about their respective days.
“How’s Megan?” he asked, peeling a fruit for her and sectioning it neatly with his talons.
“I can’t discuss my patients obviously, not even with you, but I can say she’s doing fine. The baby’s kicking and growing.” Gemma accepted a piece of the fruit he placed on her tongue, chewed, savoring the juice, and swallowed. She found it hard not to keep adding details—she liked sharing her work with her mate—but despite being on an alien world, she still owed her patients their privacy. She was sure Megan would do the same for her.
“Mateer told us he can hear the baby sometimes,” Camron said, munching on a roll spread with jam. “Not words, but impressions in his mind.”
“That would be amazing,” Gemma said. “I hope we have a child someday.”
He sipped steaming tea from the mug they were sharing. “Even with the uncertainty of our lives here?”
She nodded, taking the cup from him and swallowing
“It would be my dream,” he said. “To be a father, to have a real family. The pack is a family of one kind and you and I are another, but adding a child—” His eyes glowed with emotion and he kissed her. “The time will come for us.”
“For now I’ll be happy just to enjoy sleeping in a real bed, not being chased all over the planet by the enemy—” She waved a hand at the remnants of their dinner—“Eating real food I didn’t have to personally hunt, having meaningful work to do…”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Grinning mischievously, he ran one hand possessively up her leg, under the edge of the towel she’d wrapped herself in and tickled her curls.
“Who could forget that?” Laughing, she stacked the mug and the assorted dishes and handed him the tray to set on the floor. “In fact, seeing as how I’m not on duty tonight and neither are you, I vote for some after dinner dessert. If you’re in the mood again so soon?”
As she lay back on the pillows, he moved himself over her, saying tenderly, “I find with you I’m perpetually in the right mood, mate.” Camron lowered his head to capture one rosy nipple carefully.
Gemma enjoyed the devoted attention, running her fingers through the heavy silken mane of his hair. Who would have guessed the day I was selected to go on the doomed shuttle flight I’d find the man of my dreams? The one I didn’t even know I was looking for…
Camron raised his head and cocked one eyebrow. “What are you thinking? You seem as if you’re somewhere else, despite my best efforts.”
“Marveling how really good things can come from even the worst situations,” she said, kissing his forehead. Laughing, she added, “Now, are you sure this is your best effort?”
He swept her under him, enveloping her in his arms in a full body embrace, rolling playfully across the bed, ending up with her on her back, and Gemma surrendered to the happiness of the night with her mate.
***
Thank you for reading CAMRON! I hope you enjoyed the adventure (and, of course, I’d love a review if you have time and the inclination to write one. Even a few sentences would be wonderful. Authors relish reader feedback).
Next up is BADARI WARRIOR’S BABY, which is a novella about the events surrounding the birth of Megan and Mateer’s child. This release should be coming in June 2019. Next will be REEDE, also in 2019, continuing the Badari story and the quest to defeat the Khagrish enemy.
If you’d like to stay up to date on all my new releases, please sign up for my newsletter HERE.
USA Today Best Selling Author
Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.
Seven time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job, not her romances!
She read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in the audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “The City On the Edge of Forever.”
Keep in touch with Veronica, via Facebook, Twitter, and her Blog.
Also by Veronica Scott
Science Fiction Romance
Sectors New Allies Series
Aydarr: A Badari Warriors SciFi Romance Novel
Mateer: A Badari Warriors SciFi Romance Novel
Timtur: The Teacher’s Alien Healer (Badari Warriors): In the Stars Romance
Note: Timtur is book 2.5 in the series timeline.
Jadrian: A Badari Warriors SciFi Romance Novel
Darik: A Badari Warriors SciFi Romance Novel
Gabe: A Badari Warriors SciFi Romance Novel
Kierce: A Badari Warriors SciFi Romance Novel
The Sectors SF Romance Series
Wreck of the Nebula Dream
Escape From Zulaire
Mission to Mahjundar
Hostage to the Stars
Trapped on Talonque
Star Survivor
Danger in the Stars
Two Against the Stars
The Fated Stars
Lady of the Star Wind
Star Cruise Series
Star Cruise: Marooned
Star Cruise: Outbreak
Star Cruise A Novella:
Stowaway Plus Rescue and Golden Token Short Stories
Star Cruise: Songbird
Star Cruise: Mystery Dancer
Historical Paranormal Romance
The Gods of Egypt Series
Priestess of the Nile
Warrior of the Nile
Dancer of the Nile
Magic of the Nile
Ghost of the Nile
Healer of the Nile
Lady of the Nile
Song of the Nile
Fantasy Romance
The Captive Shifter
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