“I think we’ve all heard how happy he makes you,” Scarlett says.
I feel my cheeks heat as well as the tears pricking at the back of my eyelids.
“What can I say? When Deus wants me, he wants me.”
“Don’t we know it.” Scarlett laughs.
I suppose I can’t help that Deus, now he has the green light, wants to mate me wherever we are, and that often includes other sectors, as the warlords have a much more open door policy, and he has been recruiting warriors.
And the fact he wants me makes me only want him more.
“It’ll only get worse after he dances for you.” Scarlett puts her hand over her baby bump. “Oh and once he’s knocked you up.”
“And once you are knocked up,” Rosalie says.
“And once you’re ready to be knocked up again,” Kerra adds.
“Basically, what we’re saying is these Sarkarnii willworshipyou to a standstill and thenworshipyou some more,” Maggie says. “And by worship, I mean f-”
“THANK YOU, MAGGIE,” Kerra roars.
“It’s time.” Scarlett takes my hand. “I’m not going to ask you if you’re ready because I know you’re not, but what I can say is once you see him, you will be.”
Outside of the small ante room where I’ve been getting dressed, I can hear the sound of the drums beating a slow, steady beat.
My heart flutters like a butterfly in a window.
“I don’t…”
“You do.” Kerra has my other hand. “And you can. We believe in you, and more importantly, Deus believes in you.”
I nod as the door swings open, and I see the crowd part ahead of me. Deus stands in the clearing, the light filtering through the forest canopy, and behind him are all the other warlords. Deus’s jaw drops when he sees me, and all my fears about my dress vanish in a puff of Sarkarnii smoke.
Darax pokes Deus in the side, and he snaps his jaw shut again as the drum beat changes, speeding up and getting louder.
And then I have my great Sarkarnii warlord, hips swinging, tail lashing, stalking towards me, dancing to the beat, getting ever closer to me.
Because I belong to Deus.
He belongs to me.
And the universe belongs to both of us. Now and forever.
EPILOGUE
LYDIA
I run my hand over my stomach. My barely there bump is still, well, there.
Beside me, Deus rumbles with interest. A vast, clawed hand covers mine, spanning my abdomen with ease.
“Filled.” He rasps.
Of course, it hasn’t taken long, after our dance for this to happen. I’m not entirely sure I didn’t get pregnant the first time we were together, and since then my friends have informed me the male Sarkarnii have the conceit they can’t get a female pregnant unless she’s hooked.
Apparently the female Sarkarnii have made it very clear that is not the case at all.
In fact, there are going to be babies galore. Not just me and Deus, not just my human friends but our Sarkarnii warriors too. There are so many baby bumps everywhere you look these days. Especially in our sector, given all the female warriors live in it with us.
