Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 19577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
He looks up at me, his smile wry. "It is not because I was cast out from my house for my poor lungs. I have no name to pass them anyhow. Even if I did, I am not sure I would want them burdened with it."
"Absolutely not," I agree. "We'll pick the names for our children together and they can decide who they want to be. And can I just say that your lungs don't sound that bad?" There's a low raspiness to his voice, but I find that sexy more than anything. "Your people are assholes if they tossed you out just because of a little congestion."
"It is very bad in recycled air," he says. "I cannot catch my breath on station. I end up sleeping with an oxygen mask, and the tanks can get costly."
Another reason he wants to stay. It's not just me and the babies, it's his health. I feel guilty, and I'm not sure why. I want him to stay, too. "Bodhrri..."
My side moves, as if one of the babies is turning over. I wince at the pinch in my side, but it lessens after a few moments. Bodhrri's hand remains and intense fascination is writ all over his face. "Fascinating. Can you tell them apart from their movements? I am eager to learn their personalities."
Sometimes I like to imagine that the one that kicks me in all my organs is a tough, feisty boy...but it might just be a girl who's sick of everyone's shit. Either is a possibility, and both make me smile. "No. It just feels like there's a crowd in there, pushing aside my innards to carve room for themselves."
The laugh that erupts from him is both surprise and delight. "Amazing. It is incredible how your small body can carry so much. Praxiians are not small infants."
"Neither are some human babies," I say. "But yeah, the body adapts. It's been a lot of change for me."
Bodhrri strokes my belly again, his fingers dancing over my tunic, and I'm tempted to squeeze my thighs tightly together. "Anything else I can help with? Any...needs?"
The way he says it feels deliberate. Obvious. Does he realize how aroused I am? That every touch of his fingers on my belly makes me imagine them lower? That I touch myself to thoughts of him every night before bed? That I don't know how I'm going to manage to make it through this pregnancy without having sex with him if he's around every day? I bite my lip, holding back the torrent of words that want to flood out of me.
Bodhrri traces a circle on my belly, and the sound of him purring fills the air.
"I'm horny all the time," I blurt out. Fuck it. I'm already pregnant with a billion babies on an alien planet. I'm not sure the universe has much more to throw at me. What's the worst that can happen? "So...there's that."
"I would like to help you with that, Payton." He leans in, and his purring grows deeper. "In fact, I would be honored..."
Chapter
Seven
BODHRRI
Finally.
I've been smelling Payton's arousal for weeks now, and it's been driving me wild. Every day, I'd enter the house and be hit with a wall of her sweet perfume. I've jerked off in the barn (and in the lavatory) more times than I care to think about it, all because her scent is so intoxicating that it's leaving me in a perpetual state of need.
Thank kef she's finally said something.
But she still looks shy and her scent has a hint of nervousness to it. That won't do. I rub her belly gently, since she seems to enjoy that. "Tell me more about your needs, my Payton."
"Oh..." Her gaze drops to my mouth and she shifts on the couch, as if her discomfort with the bluntness of my question makes her want to leave the room. "I just...what I said. Some pregnant women get turned on. I've heard it's normal."
"Of course it's normal," I soothe. "You are pregnant, not dead."
"Yes, but we're still strangers, aren't we?"
"Do you feel like a stranger? I don't." I reach out and caress her cheek. "I feel like I know you quite well."
She scoots closer to me, tilting her face towards mine, and then pauses. "Do your people kiss?"
Good, we are past the questioning. "I hope so, as you and I have kissed before."
Payton looks alarmed. "We did? Shit. I don't remember."
"You were very drunk. Ooli brew is powerful."
Her expression turns to misery. "I feel like such a jerk. I don't remember anything about that night and I wish I did. Apparently I'm a real fun time."
I chuckle, rubbing her belly lightly again. "Do not feel like a jerk." Whatever that is. "Our antics that night made these children, and I am very thankful for that."
She leans against my shoulder and gazes up at me as I continue to rub her belly with small, caressing circles. "So what else did I do that night that I don't recall?"