"Well, you made me come twice," I tell him, pleased. "And that was the best sex I've ever had."
Rektar looks thoughtful. "There's a lot of room for improvement, though. I obviously need to practice." He leans in and kisses me, giving my nipple a tiny pinch as he does. "Will you be up for more practice shortly, my mate?"
I wiggle under him, pretending to consider that. My answer is obviously “yes,” but I like being playful with him. "I'll think about it. I should probably put the cake in the oven, though. We forgot about the batter on the counter."
He leans in and presses small, nibbling kisses on my ear, then licks the shell of it, and my tired body begins to heat up all over again. "This might shock both of us, but I find I am far more interested in licking my wife than any cake."
I giggle, feeling happy and girlish and oh-so-blissed-out. "Play your cards right and you can have both."
Epilogue
LUCY
Two Years Later
Most mornings, I wake up thrilled to be pregnant. I rub my huge belly, excited for the future and for the baby inside me. But at fourteen months pregnant, the thrilled mornings are getting few and far between.
This morning, I wake up with a cramp in my back and my husband isn't home to massage it. I fight back a pout and haul myself out of bed, waddling to the bathroom. The fact that Rektar isn't home this morning isn't all that odd. He takes early mornings so he can be home with me at night, and if something comes up in Port, he climbs out of bed so quietly I don't wake up, leaves me a note, and goes in to work. He loves his job, and he loves helping out the locals. He loves that he and the other mesakkah “custodians” are slowly cleaning up our little corner of the universe and making it a safer place to live.
I love that, too, but this morning I wish he was here so he could rub my back and tell me how beautiful I am even though I feel like a beached whale.
I take a shower, hoping it'll ease some of the pain in my back, but my belly's so big now that I feel like I'm carrying a boulder slung at my waist. Rektar's a big guy and I'm not exactly dainty, so I shouldn't be surprised that my belly is popping out all over, but hauling it around for fourteen months instead of the human nine is wearing thin. Milly—Lord va'Rin's wife—said she carried her first one for almost sixteen months, and I might lose my damn mind if that happens.
As I dress, the baby kicks my bladder and pushes against all my organs, as if she, too, is complaining about a lack of space. I put on a supportive harness over my shoulders and fasten it under my belly, and that helps a little. My shoes are little more than slide-on sandals, because my feet are swollen and I haven't seen them in months, and if Rektar's not home, I can't put them on. I tie my curly hair up in a knot atop my head and waddle out to the kitchen to bake muffins for Rektar and his co-workers.
Even though I “got” my man and there's no need for me suck up and bake for the officers in Port, I still do. In the last year or so, two other mesakkah have joined Rektar and Khex working in the custodial office, and they're all young and idealistic and come from a similar background as my Rektar does. They're awed and so happy every time they have someone bake for them. Maybe it's that my nurturing side is in full force with a baby on the way, but someone's gotta take care of them. So I bake and bring it in, because it feeds my husband…and I squeeze information out of the others so I can try to matchmake them with potential women.
Everyone needs to be as happy as I am, after all.
Today is my two-year anniversary to Rektar. Ever since that fateful day, life has just gotten better. I didn't realize how starved I was for company until I woke up, every day, with my mate at my side and realized I no longer felt achingly lonely. That I loved having someone to talk to every day and go to sleep with every night. More than that, that I love Rektar himself. My mate is alternately a big protective bear and the sweetest person I know. He loses his mind at the thought of me hurting, and the one time I sprained my ankle in the field, he carried me back to the house and acted as if my foot had snapped clear off, he was so frantic over me. I love that he babies me, and so I baby him back in return.