Ginny

GINNY

S omehow, sometime, we made it back to Xnos. I know the captain pushed the fleet to its absolute limits to get us back.

"We're at the palace?" I query as Asteron carries me down the gangway and out into the fragrant evening air, wrapped in a comfortable soft blanket.

"I'd have preferred the lodge, but it would have taken longer to get there, and I wanted you to be somewhere you can be properly monitored by medics," he says, his jaw tight.

"It's going to be okay." I put my hand on his arm and rub reassuringly. "I am giving birth. It's not terminal."

"I understand, , but without you, I am nothing."

I laugh, and he looks at me with confusion shining in his dark eyes.

"Oh, Asteron, you are everything you wanted to be."

"You make me better, little queen," he says in his deep, gorgeous voice.

"Will you bring her in this instant…your majesty?" Thannie growls from the doorway as she stomps off ahead of us, muttering about pregnant cows being stood out in the cold.

Not that it is cold or that I was standing, but I sort of get her point.

Asteron follows her through the palace and into his suite of rooms which I remember from my initial time on Xnos.

"I have set up the birthing stall for you both," Thannie says. "Of course you will have complete privacy during your mating and knotting sessions, but I would like the queen to wear this monitor at all times.

She holds up a small disc, like the one Phinade used on me when I first arrived, which Asteron takes and gently clips to my arm.

"What do you mean, mating and knotting?" I ask because my horny has not abated, and I can already feel my thighs are slick with need.

"Has your mate not discussed this with you?" Thannie positively growls at Asteron.

"I…thought we'd have longer," he says.

"Your young comes when they want to come. This should not have been left until the last nova-minute," Thannie scolds him. "In order to birth a Xnosson child, you will need to be mated and knotted through your contractions until your bond completes."

"Bond?" I look up at Asteron. "What does she mean? I love you…you love me, don't you?"

"With all my heart, but it is the fated mate star bond Thannie speaks of. It is the bond which brings a Xnosson couple together with each birthing and reaffirms the bond each time. Once the star bond sets, the young will birth."

I look over at Thannie. "Is this true?"

"Completely true, and it does not matter you are human. The mere fact you are Asteron's fated mate will mean the bond is there, waiting to be locked into place."

"And we will be together, no matter what," Asteron says, his lips brushing my forehead. "And I will take care of you and our little one, no matter what."

"It is time you paid attention to your mate, my king," Thannie says, her voice softer.

She withdraws and Asteron takes me around the back of his huge bed to where the stall used to be.

Instead, there is another contraption. This seems to be designed with my new body in mind. Instead of a single bench, there are two, the top one complete with receptacles which have to be for my breasts. Between the two is soft material, to support my bump and there are no ties, which causes some slight disappointment to rise within me.

But it's nowhere near as much as my desire for Asteron.

"So, this bonding, is it why I need you so much?" I ask as I'm placed on my feet and Asteron carefully unwinds my blanket until I'm naked in front of him.

He falls to his knees, hooves scraping on the floor, cutting grooves in the stone as he places a hand on either side of my belly and takes a nipple between his lips, causing me to cry out in pleasure.

"We need each other. I have been hard from the moment I saw you on the Habosu ship, and until I'm buried inside your soft, sweet cunt, I will not be happy," Asteron rumbles in between mouthfuls.

"You seem happy enough." I laugh, stroking up one of his horns and reveling in the delicious groan it elicits from him.

"Let me mate you, little queen. Let me fill you up, give you my knot, and make you feel amazing," he rasps.