“I seem to have gotten ahead of myself. Do you need anything for tonight? What are we going to do about your belongings? Do you have to report to someone to get reassigned to my room?”
“I will deal with it tomorrow. Do not worry, Selena. Let us get ourselves settled and go to sleep. You need a lot of sleep in your condition.” A small smile crossed his face.
I opened the bedroom door and peered inside. I couldn’t see much. The room was dimly lit along the perimeter of both floor and ceiling. As I stepped across the door frame, the lights brightened, revealing the strangest furnishings I’d ever seen.
“What in the Stars is that?” I exclaimed.
Xylo looked over my shoulder to see what I was talking about.
“That is a Queen’s nestbed. One fit for royalty. It is large enough to allow up to fourteen nestmates to surround her—two in the center with her and twelve surrounding them.”
“You’re telling me your Queens have fourteen nestmates? And they need a nestbed this large?”
“They each have ten nestmates, last I heard. I do not pay that much attention to them after their treatment of our princes.”
The nestbed covered almost the entire room. There was enough open space around the nestbed for a few people to walk side-by-side. There were stairs built into three of the corners, while the back corner contained a table with an elegant lamp. Dark blue pillows decorated each of the outer sleep platforms, and the center was a lowered platform, its walls covered with pillowed pads. All the sheets were black.
In the corner, across from the nestbed sat an L-shaped couch wedged against the glass wall overlooking the terrarium. Two doors led to additional rooms.
It was completely overwhelming.
“So, how do we do this?” I asked, looking around the room.
“How about you get ready for sleep, and I will prepare the nestbed,” Xylo suggested.
“Okay. I won’t take long. Which door is it?”
Xylo pointed to one of the doors next to the L-shaped couch, and I nodded in thanks. I gasped as I pulled open the door and saw what lay within. These were the wash facilities? The room was enormous. To the right lay a pond-like bathtub with breathtaking views of the terrarium. It was filled from a flowing waterfall that constantly refreshed the bathwater. Baskets of scented soaps sat at the tub edge. In the center of the room stood an elegant sink, topped with a silver mirror. Two additional alcoves held the waste unit and shower unit. The walls were covered with shelves and cabinets, presumably containing towels and other bathing sundries.
Conscious of Xylo waiting in the next room, I hurried through my ablutions and headed back to the master bedroom. The lights had been dimmed and a tinted curtain covered the glass wall, cutting the glare from the terrarium lights.
I blushed when my eyes fell on Xylo. He lay on top of a silver blanket on the raised area at the back of the nestbed. My eyes traced his strong body, the way the grass-like strands of his hair fell across his pillow, simply appreciating how gorgeous he was. He’d removed his wristband and placed it on the table beside the nestbed. A second silver blanket had been placed in the sunken platform at the center of the nestbed along with one of the navy pillows.
“I prepared your bed.” Xylo gestured to the central spaceas I shucked my gown and wristband and ascended the nestbed steps. “If you need any more blankets or pillows, let me know. I will be happy to get them for you.”
I eyed the sunken platform as I stepped down onto it. The black sheets were silky smooth, and the mattress felt soft, yet springy. Giggling, I bounced up and down a few times, testing the mattress’s elasticity. I heard Xylo’s answering chuckle at my antics.
“Aren’t you going to join me?” I glanced up at Xylo, peeking through the fall of my hair.
“The center is reserved for the nestqueen and her Favored—”
“You keep forgetting I’m human. And what do you mean ‘Favored’?”
He avoided my gaze, staring down at the center of the nestbed.
“Only the nestqueen’s Prime and Second sleep with her regularly in the center, her Favored occasionally. Everyone else sleeps up here. And we are not even fully bonded.”
“Then why don’t we correct that?” I whispered, my cheeks aflame at my brazen suggestion.
His eyes snapped up to mine, face shocked. “Right now?”
“I told you I wasn’t going to reject you.”
“But are you sure, Selena? I don’t want to rush—”
“I know what I want for the future. For my family. And I think you do too.... We may not love one another yet, but I feel I could fall for you...” I looked away. “I don’t even know if your species is capable of love,” I whispered.
Two arms wrapped around me—I hadn’t even felt him move—crushing me against a smooth, felt-soft chest. I listened to the strange double beat of his heart—or perhaps hearts—as my ear pressed against his firm muscles. His voice rumbled through me.
