Book 2. Nine - Back at the base 2
Book 2. Nine - Back at the base 2
I turn to face Cax right away.
My mouth turns dry as I notice the torment brewing in his gaze. It’s like he’s been in great agony for a long time.
So many thoughts rush to my mind, but words refuse to leave my mouth, so I wait for him to speak first.
So very gently, he brings a hand to my face and brushes the tips of his fingers along my cheek. Then, he exhales softly.
“You are real,” he murmurs.
A smile tugs at my mouth. “Very,” I say.
His fingers reach my jaw, while his gaze keeps mine captive. “Let this not be another trick of my imagination,” he says before pulling me into a tight embrace.
He holds me in his arms for a long time, me on top of him, my head resting on his chest, before I feel another pair of arms on my back. Xak’s.
“Is it over?” he asks.
“Yes,” Cax breathes. “We are out of that nightmare.”
My head jerks up, and I look first at Cax then at Xak. “I need you two to explain what you are talking about.”
Xak starts telling, “After we were separated during the avalanche, we were saved by a Myrris.”
I interrupt him to say, “Tarev. I know.”
“You know him,” Cax says.
“He does know me,” I confirm. “And he also knows what my fists can do. Each time I bump into him around the base, I break his nose. Thanks to the So’oks being on Azuron, he and the two Myrris won’t be able to return to the research facilities, so they are stuck here in the meantime. I’m not complaining, nor is he, because he knows how wrong he was in tricking you and putting your lives at risk.”
Cax presses his lips together for a moment before saying, “What he did wasn’t honorable.”
“It wasn’t,” I agree grimly. “But I’ll make sure he will know that he will die a slow and painful death if he ever pulls this shit again on someone else.”
Xak blinks, confused. “He pulled shit on someone?”
Zun isn’t the only cute when confused. Xak is equally cute.
“It means making bad choices,” I explain.
“I see,” Xak murmurs, but sounding unsure.
Even if I don’t want to bring up this subject, I need to know what the So’oks did to them.
“What happened while you were in the hands of the enemy?” I ask. “When Zun and I found you, it was more than clear that you had been tortured and drugged, but no matter what we tried, we couldn’t span you out of it.”
Cax squeezes his eyes shut for a moment before looking back at me. “The drug given to us connected my mind to Xak’s and sent us to an endless nightmare. We relived that day of the blizzard countless times, on an endless loop, driving us to the edge of insanity. And we would have gone insane if not hearing your voice. It’s what eventually pulled us out of that nightmare.”
Two emotions hit me at once–deep sadness and blinding fury. I want to go scorched earth, find all the So’oks hiding on Azuron, and use the same drug they used on my men on them, and let them suffer for eternity.
I press my lips to Cax’s. “I’m so happy I was able to help.” Seconds later, I kiss Xak. “You have no idea how much I missed both of you.”
Xak snatches me away from Cax and showers my face in kisses. “And we missed you.”
Cax grabs my legs, trying to pull me away from Xak, which makes me laugh loudly.
The door to the room opens, and Zun steps in. “Are you alright?” he asks before he notices Cax and Xak, and he freezes.
“They are back,” I say.
A couple of hours later, after a short stop by Doctor Bhids to make sure Cax and Xak are indeed well, all four of us go to our meadow.
We lay on our backs, looking up at the clouds.
“I heard you,” Cax says, randomly.
“Heard who?” I inquire, not understanding what he meant.
So Cax explains, “When you were talking to us, I heard every word you said. And I know that you love us.”
Zun immediately looks at me. “You do?”
Without hesitation, I reply, “I think I fell in love with you first. Because of how cute you are. Then with Cax and Xak.”
Zun looks smug. “I know you cherish me above Cax and Xak. That’s why you let me fleck your sacred hole first.”
Cax almost jumps to his feet at that. “Even if that’s the case, she’s going to have my child first.”
I sit on the ground cross-legged. “About that, I’ve been thinking. I understand that on your planet, the main mate is the first to father a child with his Kelari, but for humans is different. Human women have one mate, who is called a husband.” I don’t explain polyamorous relationships because I don’t think they will understand. To Cax, I say, “I don’t care who fathers our first child, but if it’s something you care about, then you will be the first to get me pregnant. If not,” my shoulders shrug, “we should let fate decide.”
Cax takes his time to reply. He studies Zun first, then Xak. Eventually, his gaze rests on me.
“For all those who live here, Azuron means a chance at a new life,” Cax says, his words measured. “While my people’s customs are important to me, we should live our lives as we want. Let’s fate decide which of us three gets you first pregnant.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, not wanting him to feel pressured in any way.
Cax nods. “Ggans are a peaceful race, yet we have been sold by our queen to the Confederation, and we were forced to become soldiers. If we learned how to fight and send out to kill So’oks without even being asked, if that’s what we wanted to do. As our Kelari, you don’t need to ask what you need from us; you only have to tell us, and we will do it. But always talk to us, include us in your decision. You respect us not only as your mates but also as males. So yes, I am sure. I only wanted to be first to father a child with you, because that’s what was expected of me as your main mate, but I care more about what you want than what thousands of years of custom dictates.”
I smile, then lean forward and kiss Cax. “How about we start trying for a baby right now?”
Prologue
“You look happy,” Cax says as he presses a kiss to my cheek after he and the others are back from patrolling around the base.
“Rachel is speaking to me again,” I muse.
It took a couple of weeks, but she and the others forgave me for my involvement with D’rel becoming a researcher at the base. He’s now working with the Myrris.
Xak smiles. “Glad to hear that.”
“And, she’s pregnant,” I add.
“She is?” Zun asks.
I nod. “And she’s not the only one.”
Cax blinks. “Not the only one? Don’t tell me General Raadalx got Julia pregnant again.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “No.”
Zun tilts his head to the side. “Then who?”
I look at my men–all of them cute but so damn clueless.
So, I give each of them a small box. They give me puzzled looks.
“Gifts,” I explain as they open the boxes. “Rachel helped me make them.”
Each box contains two small baby onesies–one yellow and the other orange.
On the yellow ones, with black letters, it says: My daddy is the sexiest alien alive.
While on the orange one, I love my alien daddy.
My men look even more confused. I might need to take them to the nest and show them exactly what they do to me when they are so cute around me.
“I’m pregnant. Twins,” I tell them.
It only took two months of almost daily sex to finally get pregnant. From what the doctor told me this morning, I’m already ten weeks along, and the babies are healthy.
I don’t know who the biological father of the twins is, and I don’t care.
They fall to their knees at the same time, tears shining in their eyes.
Xak’s throat bobs. “Kelari, you made us the happiest males in the entire Universe.”
Neither do Cax, Zun, and Xak care who got me pregnant. All three of them are the fathers of our babies.
“Good. Now, it’s time for you to make me happy as well.”
They get up right away.
“How do we do that?” Zun asks.
“By taking me to my nest. I want to cuddle with all three of you.”
I never thought I’d find happiness or love, but I found a lot more on Azuron–a family of my own, friends, and a happy ending.
I hope you all liked Nova's story :)