“You understand so much, and yet act on almost none of it,” Sithren rejoined. “Take her away. I will punish her later.”
The Tess bearers lifted her up and carried her away again without a word. The Dinavri world did not seem like a kind place for Tess. If she was truly captive, Atlas had no doubt she would suffer at Sithren’s hands. He attempted to argue on her behalf, feeling some loyalty to the poor thing.
“That human is not someone you want on your planet,” Atlas said. “The tales I have heard of Tess… she has ruined more males than you can imagine. It is a common reaction to become obsessed with her beauty. Many of her marks have fallen in love with her.”
“I am not common,” Sithren said, the tip of his forked tongue flickering at the insult. “And I believe I know precisely what that devious little human is.”
“What is that?”
“My destiny.”
Atlas sighed into his glass as he took a long drink. There was no saving those determined to suffer.
“I think it is time we gave you your own quarters, Kitari,” Sithren said, changing the subject. “You need a home here to settle into, especially with the new arrival due in a matter of months.”
“Oh, someone else is coming?” Atlas imagined Sithren must entertain all manner of guests. He was a very hospitable creature that way.
Sithren quirked a brow at him. “I mean, when the human has the baby, she’ll…”
“What?”
Sithren stared a moment, then laughed. “She didn’t tell you? We had her examined by a physician when she arrived. Her behavior was so erratic by normal human standards we had to ensure she wasn’t suffering from some transmissible brain disease. Turned out she wasn’t suffering from a disease at all. Her hormone levels were elevated, which we traced back to the fetus living inside her.”
Atlas stared at Sithren, stunned.
“She’s pregnant?”
“Yes. And you can relax with the scowling. It’s yours. You don’t have to kill anybody today. Testing revealed a perfect little Kitari-human hybrid. I wonder if he’ll have your eyes.”
“It’s a boy?”
“I’m spoiling a lot for you, aren’t I,” Sithren smiled, enjoying himself immensely. He took another sip of the v’kar. “I wonder why the human didn’t tell you herself.”
Jerri woke up with the feeling someone was looking at her. She opened her eyes to discover that she was absolutely correct. Atlas was standing over her, his eyes boring into her.
“Hello,” she said. “How can I help you?”
“Is there anything you’d like to tell me?”
“I don’t think so?”
“Jerri!” He snapped her name.
“What?” She looked at him, confused. “I was asleep. I can’t possibly have done anything wrong.”
“You’re pregnant.”
“Oh!” Her eyes widened. “Yes. Yes. I am.”
“And you didn’t tell me because…”
She sat up, curling her legs closer to her body. “It was early, and I didn’t want you to feel trapped and obligated.”
Atlas sat down on the bed with an astounded expression on his face. “You thought I would feel trapped if I knew that you were going to bear my seed?”
“Sure. Human men call it baby-trapping. I didn’t want you to think I—”
“Human men are scum,” Atlas growled, furious. “To have even put that concept into your head. Do you know what a great honor and joy this is? Do you understand how… what…” His mouth opened and closed a number of times without any words emerging. “I am going to be a father.”
“I know. Weird. Right?”
Jerri had not come fully to terms with the whole situation herself, if the truth were to be known. She had been afraid that telling Atlas would make it all real. She had been right. It suddenly felt very fucking real.
Tears started to stream down her face, tears of joy, tears of fear, tears of being entirely overwhelmed. Atlas grabbed her and held her tight, whispering soft words of reassurance to her until she calmed down.
“You’re really happy?” There was still a touch of concern in her voice.
“I am thrilled,” he said, his voice deeper and richer with emotion. “And I will devote my life to you and to our family. There will never be another authority besides your needs. Do you understand?”
She nodded, too choked up to speak. They had been through so much, and come from such different places. She would never have imagined when they first met that he would ever love her, and she would ever love him, and that they would make new life together on a new world. It was all too wonderful to contain, and so it kept leaking from her eyes as the love of her life and the father of her baby held her through the long Dinavri night.
Chapter Sixteen
“Fuck this!”
A diaper sailed across the room, propelled by a very petulant, somewhat heavily pregnant young human. The domestic lessons, part of Atlas’s ongoing attempt to try to teach Jerri how to adult, were not going well.