Kex rolled me onto my back, and leaned over me, his face level with mine. His hand slid down my body to rest over my belly. “My heart, I thought there was nothing in this world that would make me happier than having you in my arms, but having you in my arms with our child growing inside you... there are no words.” He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against mine. “How do you feel?”
I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent. “I want this. I want you. It’s just so... fast. Like really fast, Kex.” I pulled away and he moved, giving me space. I sat up, pulling my legs under me, while Kex’s release dripped out of me. I played with the edge of the blanket, not making eye contact. “On Earth, it would have taken weeks before we even knew I was pregnant. A week ago,I was in a cell with a dozen other women wondering if we were going to be sold as slaves or eaten by aliens. Two weeks ago, I was working a crappy job and spending my evenings with my cat. Now? It’s just a lot of change all at once.”
“You have been through a lot. But you also don’t need to feel any certain way.” Kex ran his hand along my knee. Likely desperate to hold me, but understanding I needed a minute. “We’ll take this each day at a time, each task at a time. We’ll bathe, then get dressed. I’ll feed you, and then we’ll take the flyer to the edge of Monai. Then we’ll have a few days of walking ahead of us. We’ll find your friends and bring them back to the city where we can find places for everyone.”
“What will happen to them? They don’t have jobs and can’t go back to Earth.” A thousand new worries flooded into my head.
“We will house them, provide for them, and find a place for them here on Ormon. We’ll integrate them into our society.” Kex lifted his hands and let them fall. “Or if they wish to leave, we can help them find a place in the galaxy where they will be safe.”
“That’s a lot of kindness. What would they owe in exchange?” I asked.
Kex took my hand. “There are funds to support refugees. Many people were displaced in the war Rainair and I recently fought in, and the Zapharian Empire has laws in place to protect peoples from preflight planets.” Kex sighed. “There will be documents to build, but we will protect your people.”
I sat up and crawled toward him. He snatched me up and deposited me in his lap, his arms coming around me. There was so much to figure out and solve, but with Kex’s arms around me, I felt like maybe it wouldn’t be impossible. “I’m sorry I can’t help with the documents,” I said. “Your written language is all squiggly nonsense.”
“It’s fine. I have people to do the heavy lifting,” Kex said, and nibbled on my ear. He pressed soft kisses to my neck.
I snorted. “You have people. Of course you do. Okay, fine. Should we get to it? If you keep kissing me, we won’t get out of bed.”
“I would much prefer staying in bed with you all day,” he said, but he picked me up and carried me into the shower, where we might have gotten a bit distracted.
Once we were clean and dry, Kex led me to an adjacent room filled with clothes and shoes. I snorted. “You have a lot of clothes.”
Kex grinned. “Some of these are yours. The tailors worked fast, I think, to give you a few basics while they work on the rest.” He crossed to a rack and pulled out a shimmering golden gown.
“That’s the basics?” It was stunning, and my fingers itched to try it on.
Kex hung it back up. “It is basic for Lady Emily of Langula.”
The thought made my stomach squirm, but something caught my eye, out of place among the finery. I stepped next to him and pulled down a brown shirt with a kitten on it. I’d been wearing it when I was taken from Earth, but now the fabric was perfectly clean. I knew Kex had brought my clothes with us, but when I’d left them in a heap on the flyer floor, I hadn’t really expected to see them again.
“I asked them to save and clean your things. I wasn’t sure if they had sentimental value for you.”
“Thank you,” I said. My throat felt a little tight.
Kex ran a hand across my cheek, his eyes growing dark. “We should dress,” he said, but didn’t step away.
I snorted. “We really should.”
Kex sighed and crossed the room. Laid out on a long bench were a number of garments made of a light, pale, purply fabric. Kex riffled through the pile and handed me a tunic in my size. It was lightweight but a little rough. He handed me pants in the same color and pulled a matching one over his own head.
Looks like I was going braless. Maybe we could do something about that eventually. My chest was too big to be comfortable swinging free.
“I love this color, but is it a uniform of some kind?”
“No, that is the natural color of the fiber. Anything we bring with us into Monai must be natural to this planet and made by hand, with only tools fashioned by hand.”
“So, why were you only in leaves when we met if you had access to clothes? Mind, I’m not complaining. I quite liked the view.” I glanced over to where he was doing up his pants. No underwear, I noticed.
“Eyes on your own, woman, or we’ll never get out of this city,” he growled, his voice heavy with lust. I snorted and turned back to my own clothes. “I was on a sojourn to decide what choices I should make next. I could have brought supplies, but I wanted to truly purge my spirit, rely on my own two hands, so I entered the forest naked like I used to with my grandfather. He taught me to hunt, and most of my skills. The hut was one he built for my grandmother.”
“He was a politician, right? Did he have time to go camping often?” The pants were loose-fitting and tied at the waist. They were comfortable, sort of like something a drug lord would wear as he walked along a beach, but in purple.
“He made time. He said it was important for him to keep himself grounded, to keep things in perspective.” Kex pulled on a leather vest over his tunic. It pulled the fabric tight against his chest.
“He sounds like he was a wise man,” I said softly. Kex didn’t respond, so I changed the subject. “Why are the rules around the forest so strict?”
“History, politics, greed, and elitism.”