40. Sylas

FORTY

Our first yearon the S.S. Paradise had come and gone. So far, the second year was shaping up to be the best year yet. Even if we were only a month into it.

Tomorrow, we would dock at another planet to explore. Each one was a brand new adventure, an entire world to explore.

None of them would ever be as special as our planet. The one where we'd found each other. I thought about the cave where we'd come together that first time. Where we'd found Brina. So many memories.

We'd made even more ever since making it official. It turns out it was much easier to be in a relationship when you weren't sneaking around, trying to hide it from everyone.

Aurelia groaned, zipping up her dark gray jumpsuit.

"Need a hand?" I asked, stepping up behind her and looking at her through the mirror.

"It doesn't fit," she huffed, giving me her best little pout. "I was supposed to have more time before this happened." Aurelia buried her face in her hands. "This sucks. Everyone's going to know."

"Guess we'll have to find you something else to wear." I was perfectly fine if she wanted to wear my sweats all over the ship. Thinking about my crewneck on her lithe form shouldn't have been sexy, but it was.

"Sy." She glared at me, punching me in the shoulder. "This isn't a time to joke around."

"You can't even tell in your officer's uniform, Rae."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Those pants are itchy. And I don't know if they'll zip, either. It's official. I popped."

She looked down at her belly, that was slightly poking out in her jumpsuit. Her breasts, which had also grown over the last few months.

I wrapped my arms around her middle.

Aurelia threw her head back to rest it on my shoulder.

My wife.

And now, the mother of my child.

I'd told her it was up to her when we wanted to start trying, and six months after that, we'd both intentionally skipped our shots. Imagine our surprise when we'd found out that I'd knocked her up on the first try. A late-night visit to Astrid in the MedBay had confirmed it, and we were over the moon.

We hadn't told anyone yet, though wanting to keep it to ourselves for a little while. At first, we'd wanted to get through the first trimester. And now, well…

I flattened my palm against her belly. "We should tell everyone."

She sighed. "Everyone's going to treat me differently, and you know it. They're not going to let me fly anymore. Not the transport shuttle. Which means I'll be left behind."

"I don't think that's true." I patted her shoulder.

Even though it definitely was. I'd been trying to get her to stop flying those shuttles for the last two months.

And she was right. At sixteen weeks, her belly was visible in her uniform.

"Fuck it. I'm wearing leggings." She pulled out a pair of stretchy black pants from the closet.

I wasn't sure where we kept acquiring clothes from—given this was a starship, and it wasn't like we were stopping at a shopping mall on any of our stops—but her closet kept growing.

Luckily, we had an enormous suite, and there was plenty of room. Perks of being the captain, as I always joked.

She pulled on her officer's tunic, smoothing the fabric over her small belly and admiring the curve in the mirror. Her officer's badge glinted in the light, and I threaded my fingers through hers.

"Ready?"

"Do I look okay?" Her eyelashes fluttered.

"You look beautiful, Rae." I never understood that shit about pregnant women glowing—not until now. Because she did.

"You're just saying that because you're my husband," she pouted.

I gathered her hair up, helping to pull it off her neck by braiding it down her back. I'd noticed fairly quickly into her pregnancy that she was getting migraines fairly frequently, and her tight buns and high ponytails hadn't helped that.

"I still think you're the most beautiful woman in the world," I said, kneeling in front of her and placing a kiss on her stomach. "Just as much as the first day I met you. Maybe even more so, now that you're carrying our baby."

"Yeah, yeah, you big sap." She gave me her best puppy dog eyes. "Will you help me put my shoes on?"

Once I'd finally gottenAurelia out of our room and onto the bridge, she'd perked up. Standing tall, you could hardly tell that there was any bump in her uniform top anyway—not unless you were really looking.

"Good morning," she said to Violet as she passed her console, positively beaming.

I settled into my chair, and my sister looked over at me. "Morning."

Orion gave Aurelia a nod of greeting, and she looked back at me, blowing me a kiss.

"You two seem happy," Kayle said, a smile dancing over her lips.

My only response was a hum.

My communicator pinged with a message from my girl.

Aurelia

Now?

Sylas

Whenever you want.

Okay.

Kayle raised her eyebrow as she glanced at the device in my hands. "Are you two really sending messages when you're only this far apart?"

I shrugged. "Can't help it."

Of course, I left out the fact that it was normally Aurelia who started our conversations. Half of them were flirty, and practically all of them left me hard by the end. She was a brat, through and through. Only for me, though. I liked how she didn't show her bratty side to everyone else. Just me.

She caught me staring and winked at me.

"Hey, guys. Sy and I have an announcement."

I stood up, and she slid into my side, wrapping an arm around my middle.

All eyes in the room slid to us expectedly.

"I'm pregnant." Aurelia rested her hand over her belly.

"Oh my gosh!" Violet squealed. "Really?"

"Yeah. We wanted to wait until I was a little farther along to tell everyone, and well…" Her cheeks flushed as she looked down at her bump. "Surprise. I can't really hide it anymore."

"I was wondering about the pants," Kayle said with a laugh.

"My flight suit doesn't zip anymore," Aurelia pouted. "I'm so sad. I love that jumpsuit."

"I have a friend on board who makes clothes," my sister offered. "I could see if she could make you something more comfortable to wear on the bridge."

I crossed my arms over her chest. "No field suits."

Aurelia sighed. "He's a little overprotective now."

"A little?" My sister laughed, and her eyes lit up. "I can't believe I'm gonna be an aunt." She pulled Aurelia into a hug before turning her attention to me. "I'm so happy for you, Sy. You deserve every happiness in this life and more."

"Thanks, sis." I squeezed her shoulder before we pulled apart. "It's going to happen for you too. I just know it."

She looked over at Leo, their eyes connecting briefly. "We'll see."

Astrid came onto the bridge, screeching loudly. Her blue hair was bouncing when she finally made her way over to Aurelia. "You told everyone, and I wasn't here!"

"Sorry." My wife gave her a guilty smile. "Decided it was time. My pants don't fit anymore." She curved a hand over her little bump.

"Look at you!" Astrid held both her hands, squeezing them. "Damn, you really did pop."

"I thought I'd be able to get away with my jump suit for a few more weeks, but no…" She twirled a piece of hair around her finger.

"Do you know what you're having?" Finley asked. "I found out with Kins."

"No." Aurelia squeezed my hand. "We decided we wanted to be surprised. Boy or girl, I don't care."

"I'm hoping it's a girl, though," I added, my voice a little gruff. A little mini-Aurelia sounded good to me. I hoped they'd get her hair. It was much prettier than the dark brown of mine.

"Awww," Violet said, placing her hand over her heart.

"I think it's a boy, but what do I know?" Aurelia shrugged. "We'll see in a few months."

Astrid had a little smile on her face, watching Aurelia's interactions with the crew, and I narrowed my eyes at her. "You know, don't you?"

"Of course I do." She winked at me.

The guys all patted me on the back, wishing us the best, and I was very aware of the fact that all nine of us that were supposed to be running this spacecraft were all just standing around on the bridge.

I swallowed roughly. "Alright. Back to work, the lot of you. Don't let me catch you goofing off."

"Yes, sir!" That was Aurelia, who gave me a flirty little wink. I pinched her ass before she could walk away, and her eyelashes fluttered.

Brat.

"Everyone took it well."

She looked around, blushing, but no one else was on the observation deck. It was just us.

I'd made sure to lock it this time.

Getting caught once was enough for me, and we'd scarred the poor crew member who'd come in as I had her hoisted up against the window. I'd been too desperate to be inside of her, and neither one of us had wanted to wait.

Turns out that being off the fertility blockers had made both of us extremely frisky, and I had no problems satisfying my girl whenever she needed me.

Aurelia was standing against the railing, looking out the large windows of the observation deck, one hand resting on her bump.

"I don't know why I thought they'd react any other way."

A chuckle came from my lips. "They love you."

"They're our family, you know? Especially up here."

"Yeah." I wrapped my arms around hers, resting my chin on her shoulder. "And you're my family. You and our little space baby."

She hummed, snuggling against me. "It's surreal, isn't it? Knowing that we're doing this, millions of light years from home, and yet I'm completely, utterly happy?"

"Yes." I pressed my lips to the side of her neck. "I agree. But I'm so thankful for you and them."

"Sylas," Aurelia whispered, squirming against me.

"Yes, baby?" I asked, continuing to press kisses on her exposed skin.

"I need you," she whispered.

"Here?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or do you want to go back to the cabin?"

She shook her head, rubbing her ass against my already-hardening length.

"So needy," I muttered, creeping my fingers down the stretchy waistband, dipping them underneath the fabric.

I pressed my thumb against her entrance, feeling the wet spot already growing as I rocked my palm against her clit. "What do you need?"

"Your fingers," she said with a gasp.

Pushing back the elastic of her panties, I gave her two, sliding them inside her tight, wet heat. Aurelia wrapped her hand around my wrist as I stuffed her full of my fingers, working them inside of her.

Another side effect of pregnancy: she was insatiable. Not that I was complaining. I'd do whatever it took to keep her satisfied.

Between my fingers working inside of her and the way I was rubbing against her clit, I could tell she was already getting close. A series of little breathy noises came from her throat, and I stilled my movements, delaying her orgasm.

She squirmed against me as I pulled my fingers out, and I tsk'd my tongue against her ear. "Patience."

I pushed the waistband of her leggings down, helping her out of them. Her panties were next, the plain black set, and then those were on the floor, too.

She whimpered as I pulled her uniform top off, exposing the swells of her breasts. Unhooking her bra, it joined her shirt on the floor.

"Fuck. Look at you."

Her nipples were peaked, begging for attention, and I continued my perusal of her naked body. The swell of her stomach, rounded and firm. Aurelia cupped her breasts, rubbing a finger back and forth over her nipples as I stood there, fucking entranced, just looking at her.

Finally, I reached out, placing a hand on either side of her little belly. Our baby was in there.

"You're so beautiful carrying our child," I murmured, caressing her skin.

Splaying my fingers out over her bump, I leaned down and flicked her sensitive nipple with my tongue. Aurelia let out a low moan as I did the same to the other side before running my teeth over them. Her whole body shuddered when I sucked one into my mouth.

"I love how sensitive you are," I said, pulling away.

She ran her hand up the front of my pants, cupping me through the fabric. "Let me have you," she murmured. "Please."

"You know I can't say no to you," I muttered, playing with her hair.

Aurelia unzipped my pants, her small, nimble fingers sliding into my boxers to wrap around my cock, the touch of her soft skin making my brain short-circuit.

Freeing my cock, I let her have her fun for a few moments before I gripped her hips.

"Turn around," I ordered, spinning her to face the window once more. "Grab the railing."

She did, bending over and arching her back just slightly, and turned to look at me.

"Good?" I asked, not wanting to put too much pressure on her belly, and Aurelia nodded.

"Yes. Please. Give me your cock."

"Good girl," I praised, guiding my tip to her entrance and pushing in slowly. I didn't want to be too rough with her, not when she was carrying precious cargo.

She wiggled her ass as I filled her completely, feeding her inch after inch of my thick cock.

"Damn, baby. Look at you taking all of me. The perfect fit."

A moan slipped from her lips as I slowly pulled out, feeling her insides cling to me, before thrusting back in. Over and over, I picked up my pace, not caring about anything but how it felt inside of her.

At some point, I would have assumed it would have stopped getting better. But the more time we spent together, the better it got. Fucking amazing.

"Sylas," she cried out. "Harder. I need?—"

Moving my hands from her hips, I cupped her belly as I snapped my hips into her, driving us both higher and higher.

"I know," I rasped out. "Let go. Come for me, Aurelia. Let me feel you."

Her pussy contracted around me as she came, my name on her lips, and it pushed me into my own orgasm.

I splayed my fingers across her stomach.

"You're obsessed," Aurelia giggled as she stood up, turning back around in my arms to face me.

"I can't help it. I love your belly."

She hummed, relaxing into my hold.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead, and we stood there, wrapped up in each other, blocking out the rest of the world.

There wasn't a single thing in this galaxy that could draw my attention away from her.