“No...probably not.” She gave a shaky laugh.
“I can’t believe you’re having my young,” he said in awe. “Bayla—”
“No.” She covered his mouth with her fingertips. “Whatever you’re going to say—don’t. I don’t blame you for not wishing to see me after what I did. I hope, someday, you’ll forgive me. But I want you to know that his pregnancy doesn’t have to change anything. I can remain here with my kind.”
“Enough.” The sternness returned to Daneth’s voice. “I made a mistake. I never should have sent you away from me. I didn’t want to be apart from you then, and I certainly don’t want it now. I won’t leave here without you.” He stroked her cheek. “You belong to me, Bayla. You’re mine.” His fingertips traced over her pulse and down to her collarbone. “And it turns out, there’s nothing to forgive. Lamira’s extrasensory perception told her the egg wasn’t viable anyway.” He ran his index finger down her breastbone, reminding her of the time he’d thrust his cock between her breasts. “And I researched this herbed water of yours. It’s nearly impossible for parsley tea alone to cause a miscarriage. So let go of your guilt, sweet girl. You did no further harm to what was already damaged.”
Her eyes burned with tears of relief. Thank the stars. Daneth’s forgiveness alone would’ve made her heart sing, but knowing she had not been responsible for ruining the last chance and prolonging the Zandian species lifted a huge burden from her shoulders.
“Will you forgive me for not including your feelings in my plans to save my species?”
She ducked her head against his neck again. “Yes.”
“Good.” His palm circled her belly.
A shiver of pleasure ran through her. She’d never shared a pregnancy with a partner before, but somehow her body, her very essence knew how right this one would be. She’d have a mate to take care of her, to share her excitement, to make a family with her.
He bit her ear. “You’re carrying my baby.” His gravelly tone sounded all-male. All proprietary and proud.
“Yes, I am.” She turned to look up at him. “You’re happy?”
“Beyond happy. I’m ecstatic.”
She had to ask. “You’d never take this baby from me?”
He leaned his forehead against hers. “Never in a million solar cycles. And I’ll help you get your other babies back, too.”
Her heart tumbled around in her chest. “Will you? Just one might be reachable. A full human girl. She’d be two solar cycles this spring.”
“I’ll find her. I promise you.” He swore it like a solemn oath, and she believed him.
His wrist cuff blinked with an incoming message. He answered immediately. “Yes, my lord?”
A hologram of Prince Zander’s face sprang out in front of them. “I need you on the ship, now. Lamira’s having contractions again. She said the child will be born this planet rotation.”
Bayla surged up off his lap.
“We’ll be right there,” Daneth said. He caught her hand, and they raced together down the corridor to the dock.
Prince Zander already had the engines on the ship running. His face had lost color, turning a pale shade of lavender.
She threw herself into a seat and buckled the harness, smiling when Daneth double-checked her work before he sat in his own. Daneth picked up her palm and squeezed it. “Why are you smiling?”
“Births are a miraculous event,” she said, the joy of every birth she’d witnessed thrumming through her.
Daneth’s face softened, the warmth behind his gaze nearly stopping her pulse. “I’m so glad you’ll be beside me for my first.”
Chapter Twelve
Daneth marveled at the confidence and strength of his beautiful slave. No, not slave. His mate. And maybe still his slave. Because, if he guessed correctly, she wanted to be owned by him. Hadn’t she chosen it freely already once? His female liked to serve on her knees, to boggle his mind with her incredible body, to plead and pretend that he was in charge, when she knew she had him wrapped so tightly around her little finger that he’d tie himself in a knot to make sure he stayed there.
“Make this sound—uhhhhhhh,” Bayla coached Lamira. “If the mouth and lips are soft, the pelvic floor will relax, too.”
“Uhhhhhhh,” Lamira moaned.
Leora joined her, and the three women toned together, their primitive song reverberating off Zander’s walls.
Zander sat on the edge of the sleepdisk, holding Lamira in a squat on the floor by her armpits.