Iyanna shook her head, still confused.
“But…how is that even possible?” she demanded. “You can’t get a woman pregnant unless she’s ovulating. And no woman is ovulating all the time.”
Dra’vik looked up at her.
“Remember the syringe full of rapid ovulation drugs the Lix’dorians injected that little pleasure slave with?”
“Uh…yes.” Iyanna nodded.
“And remember my Breeding Barb? You pricked your tongue on it when you were, uh, tasting me,” he growled.
Iyanna remembered the sharp little pain and the weird tongue orgasm that had followed when she’d been exploring his cock.
“Yes, I remember,” she said, nodding. “It was like my tongue was turned into a second clit for a minute. It felt really good but it kind of freaked me out—or it would have if I hadn’t been so high from that damn fondle-mush,” she added.
“Yeah, because my Barb injects pleasure compounds,” Dra’vik told her. “But it also injects hormones that cause immediate and rapid ovulation. Basically they call an egg down and cause it to ripen and get ready to be fertilized immediately.”
“They do? You can do that?” Iyanna exclaimed.
He shrugged.
“I can’t help doing it—my body does it automatically to insure impregnation of the female I’m bonding to me and the continuation of my species. That’s why I told you there was no making love or fucking for a Drake Monstrum—there’s just breeding. At least, when bonding is involved.”
“So…if we bond, you’ll get me pregnant right away? Is that it—the whole reason you thought I wouldn’t want you?” Iyanna demanded. She was still trying to digest this strange information.
“No, that’s not the whole reason.” Dra’vik sighed wretchedly and ran a hand over his face.
“What—there’s more?” Iyanna asked, startled. What else could there possibly be?
“There’s more,” he agreed, nodding grimly. “And I’m afraid you’ll like it even less than the instant pregnancy part. You see, little girl, you don’t just get pregnant immediately when I breed you—the baby I plant in your belly will go through the first three months of growth in a very short span of time.”
“Like…days?” Iyanna asked.
“Try minutes,” Dra’vik said. “But it wouldn’t be like it was with the pleasure slave,” he added hastily. “Your belly would only swell a little. You’d be left with what I think you humans call a ‘baby bump.’”
“But…but how is that even possible?” Iyanna asked. “How can a baby go through three months of growth in a matter of minutes?”
“It has to do with the growth hormones my breeding barb injects,” Dra’vik explained. “You see, the first three months of pregnancy with a Drake Monstrum child are the most precarious—it’s when a female’s womb is most likely to reject the pregnancy. So our bodies developed the ability to speed up that part and make certain the baby will be carried to term.”
Iyanna remembered watching the strange sight of the pleasure slave’s belly swelling until it burst through her outfit and hung like a ripe fruit beneath her. That really had freaked her out, she had to admit. And now Dra’vik was admitting that something similar—if not quite so extreme—would happen to her if she bonded with him. Was she ready for that? Ready to be pregnant? Ready to be a mom?
To be honest, she just didn’t know.
“I’ve always known I wanted kids,” she said slowly. “I just thought I’d put them off for a few years after I got married.”
“I know you feel that way,” Dra’vik said in a low voice. “And I know what I’m asking is a lot. That’s why I didn’t want to ask it. But, Iyanna…” He reached for her and took both her hands in his much larger ones. “I have to ask,” he said, looking into her eyes. “I can’t lose you again because I’m too much of a fucking coward to tell you the truth. I have to lay everything out on the table for you and let you consider it.” He squeezed her hands gently. “I’d rather you turn me down knowing the truth than think I don’t love you. Because I do, little girl. I fucking love you,” he added in a low growl.
“Oh, Dra’vik…”
Iyanna felt like an invisible hand was squeezing her heart. She remembered the revelation she’d had on Lix’dor Prime, when she’d been so certain he was dead. The way she’d realized that she loved him and wanted to be with him—wanted to spend the rest of her life with the big Drake. And now he was saying he wanted to be with her, too.
Of course, being with him was going to entail certain things she hadn’t imagined and she was going to have a baby much sooner than she’d ever expected. But wasn’t it worth it to be with the man she loved?
You haven’t known him long at all, a little voice whispered in her head. Are you sure, Iyanna?
Was she sure? Yes, she knew that her acquaintance with the big Drake had been very brief. But somehow being with him felt as right as being with Ian had felt wrong. She didn’t have that feeling of a trap closing in around her. Instead, a beautiful, peaceful sense of assurance filled her.