Embarrassment? Shame? Dirtiness?
“How many times?” he repeated, implacable.
“Just once,” I murmured.
His strong arms pulled me onto his lap. I felt his vines pull the blanket up, cocooning us together in its warmth.Choked sobs continued to escape me as I burrowed into him, laying my head back on his chest.
I wasn’t afraid. I felt comforted by him; his presence made me feel safe. I could hear the thumping of what sounded like multiple hearts and his breath tickled my ear. Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath.
Listening to his heartbeats, breathing in his unique scent, I gradually calmed. And that calm slid straight into exhausted sleep.
“That’s all it takes,” he whispered gently. “And that is what matters...”
CHAPTER FIVE
Xylo
Xylo hurried from Selena’s room, hoping to catch the princes for a private discussion before she woke. He had checked her vitals via her medical bracelets before leaving—thankfully, she had not tried to take them off earlier. They were linked to his medical equipment.
He was still in shock she had cried herself to sleep in his arms, wrapped in his vines. He could already feel his body starting to biologically sync with hers. Typically, he had firm control over his vines, but during such an emotional conversation, they had instinctively tried to comfort her—even when he had willed them down so he would not scare her.
He could not believe everything she had been through. It pained him to learn of all the horrors the Yaarkins had perpetrated on humans—especially those Selena had been subjected to.
He was amazed at her resilience.
For her to be able to trigger a courting bond with him—accidental or not—was nothing short of remarkable. She was the first being outside the Circuli to engage in a courting bond—there was no record of any outsider bonding witheither Ulax or Wudox. Granted, their isolation from CEG prior to the war with the Yaarkins could be why. A simple lack of opportunities? But his court bond with Selena further proved Earth had been a planet the Creators had used as a playground.
Of the 117 sentient species registered with CEG, twenty-seven were so-called ‘Children’ species from worlds on which the Creators were known to have experimented. In every known case, the Children had dominated their home planet and eventually, traveled outside their star system. They had conquered neighboring star systems, massacring many lesser sentient species and had expanded their territories. They had waged many wars over many millennia. Over time, alliances had formed until eventually, CEG was created. CEG’s objective—to bring order and peace and protect the Euph Galaxy from those beyond.
The Ulax and Wudox were the most recently recognized of the Children. They had been added to CEG as Secondaries, allowing each a representative in the committee, with the Aldawi as their Primary Officer. As long as the Ulax and Wudox remained in Aldawi territory—the most extensive in CEG—they would remain Secondaries.
Before the war with the Yaarkins a hundred years ago, the Circuli had only been considered one of many minor sentient species under Aldawi protection—though Aldawi protection was not without cost. The Ulax and Wudox were required to provide soldiers for the Aldawi military and maintain an Aldawi outpost within their star system. Once they were granted membership to CEG, they were further required to patrol their star system’s sector on behalf of the Aldawi and CEG.
The Ulax and Wudox leaders didn’t believe there was a need to expand outside their star system since the Aldawi protected them, especially given what had happened to theunprotected humans. Their home planet, Circul, provided for their species’ needs with plenty of room for growth—they had had no need to explore off world.
If the Yaarkins had somehow discovered a way for humans to interbreed with the Children, the potential for hybrid offspring from interspecies couples could be both enormous and dangerous. CEG would want to conduct its own research.
Xylo worried about that now that he had a courting bond with Selena and knew her story. This could potentially cause ripples that could even impact the Ulax and Wudox’s relationship with the Aldawi—and that was without factoring in Selena’s pregnancy.
Xylo had not found a good opportunity to tell Selena the night she had lost her virginity had resulted in pregnancy. He had not known how to broach the subject with her. She was so overwhelmed by sharing her story, he had focused entirely on comforting her—not to mention he had been still trying to process the shock of the courting bond.
Selena was now his nestqueen and in charge of their newly formed clan, whether or not she knew it. She would remain so until she broke the courting bond with him. He hoped she might decide to keep him in her clan and make their bond permanent—even if she did not make him the Prime or the Second, even if she never graced him with her favor or love.
It would be better than to have the court bond severed.
He was used to being alone. If she accepted him, his mind would remain at peace, and he would do his best to honor and please her, to protect both her and her offspring’s future. If he proved himself to Selena and she accepted their bond, he would no longer be an outcast.
They were kindred souls in that regard.
Already the bond was making itself felt—Xylo could feel a pull to return to the room he had just left. A small smile tugged at his lips. If the courting bond felt this wonderful, hecould not comprehend how it would feel once and if Selena accepted his bonding spore. His studies had not prepared him for what he was feeling.
Shaking off the distraction, Xylo sent a mental brush to his prince, Z’fir. The princes were inseparable, so they were more than likely together right now.
“Report.”
“I seek an audience with both you and Prince V’dim, Sire.”
“We are about to retire to my suite. Meet us there.”
