Kur’tok didn’t hesitate. His feelers swam towards me. He’d never touched me with them before, but I had no time to wonder how it would feel. It happened fast. I gasped soundlessly as his feelers burrowed into my skin in a weird, ethereal motion. It was surreal and dreamlike.
But then the agony evaporated. I felt completely fine.
I blinked, taking a few slower gulps of air. What happened? My pain level was at a ten one second, and a zero the next.
I lay there dazed for a couple moments before my brain kicked back to life. I turned to Kur’tok. His eyes were strained and squinted, his jaw was clenched, and he squeezed my hand tighter. He sucked in a low, sharp breath through flared nostrils. Was he takingallmy pain?
“You don’t have to do that,” I said, still breathless from the contraction.
He met my gaze, then shook his head stiffly.
“Kur’tok.”
“Let me do this for you, Paz,” he growled. As much as he tried to hide it, I heard the edge of pain in his voice. “After everything you’ve done for me, it’s the least I can do.”
“But—”
“Please.”
His eyes glistened. His love for me shone past the pain.
I thought of a million arguments, then let them go with a sigh. Kur’tokwantedto do this for me. I didn’t want to deny him.
“Fine,” I mumbled. “But if it’s too much for you, give some of it back to me. Okay?”
He smirked. “Don’t worry, flesh-bag. I can take it.”
Well, at least he was confident. The pain didn’t matter to him; as long as I felt better, that was all he cared about.
I blew out a breath. “Okay, Kur’tok. You got me. Just get ready for it to hurt like hell.”
He raised a brow. “What ishell?”
Before I could answer, his face twisted and his fangs gnashed together. He hissed like a cat, arching his spine and lashing his tail. On the other hand, I felt nothing at all except a gentle pulsing in my lower abdomen, like I was being pushed and pulled by a tide. I glanced down—which was difficult, since my belly was the size of a fucking beach ball—and noticed something out of the ordinary.
A fleshy green-gold tube extended from my hole.
I shuddered. Okay, that was weird, but not as freakish as I expected. After staring at it for a few moments, I got used to it.
Then it started pulsing.
“Uh,” I said, “is it supposed to do that?”
Jaeyoung glanced over nonchalantly. “Yes. I expect the baby will arrive soon.”
A ripple of excitement ran through me. Did it really happen that fast?
I turned to Kur’tok. He grimaced through the pain, but otherwise looked okay.
“How is it?” I asked.
He grunted thickly. “Nothing I can’t handle. You just focus on giving birth.”
I nodded. The faster I got through it, the faster Kur’tok’s agony would be over. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine my sexy alien boyfriend would soak up my contraction pain like a sponge.
I held his hand and pushed in time with the pulses. I craned my neck to see the fleshy tube; it wriggled and twitched likea living thing. I couldn’t believe it was part of me, something my very own body had created—with help from a Maeleon, of course.
A big shudder shot across my skin. At the same time, Kur’tok grunted loudly through clenched teeth. Was the baby close?
