9. Stella

Chapter 9

Stella

T he next morning I'm immediately hit with a powerful wave of nausea.

I'm snuggled against Rake's brawny, sexy chest, his hot erection prodding against my stomach. This is a dilemma because his warm skin and bare chest are the best cushions of all time. Puffs of white smoke float out of his red nostrils. His black, barbed tail rests on my hip. This man's body is so much bigger than mine and I feel petite, which has never happened in my entire life. I could stay here all day and all night, just soaking in this luxurious male attention.

But if I don't move immediately, I might literally vomit on our sheets. I let out cries of distress, scoot off the bed and race for the bathroom.

"Stella?"

I get there in time to violently throw up in the toilet.

And Rake is standing behind me, gently holding back my hair. "All done?"

"Yes," I groan. "I'm done."

He flushes the toilet and hands me a glass of water to drink.

"Thank you," I gasp and then gulp down half the contents and hand it back to him. "It's crazy how fast I feel better after I throw up. You'd think I was sick, but I've learned last week that if I get that out, I'm able to move on with my day as if it didn't happen."

I stand and use the mouth cleanser and tie my messy hair up again. Then I glance over at the huge Hyrrokin who is waiting in the doorway. "I'm so embarrassed. I'm sorry you had to wake up to that."

"There is no need. It is my job to help you. And you warned me and I'm here to help. You are doing the main job of bringing our new offspring into the world, the least I can do is to make sure you are comfortable while this occurs."

I stare at him, amazed at his kind words. I really like this guy. I've only known him for basically twenty-four hours and I'm starting to feel like he could be the one. He's so easy to talk to, I feel as if we're already best friends. I've heard of people falling in love instantly and thought that was a bunch of lust-driven crazy talk, but I'm starting to understand that maybe they were speaking the truth.

"Do you want to get dressed for the day and go downstairs?" he questions. "Or do you want to go back to bed and continue to rest?"

"Do you need to leave for work right now?"

"I have some time. There is no rush."

"Oh good, well…can we go back to bed and snuggle some more?"

"Yes," he smiles.

First, I open the cage and pet the baby kitties, then I let them out to sniff and explore the room, the closet and bathroom.

I happily return to the bed with my huge, bare-chested Hyrrokin, resuming the same position as before, with his arms around me. Not even the kittens making cute sounds can distract me. It's still early, the sun barely rising. I'll feed them in a bit. Right now I've got to concentrate on the guy who is making my body hot and bothered.

I move my position so that our faces are more aligned.

I reach up a hand. "Can I…?"

"Yes."

I cup his jaw, which is so very masculine. I stare at his lips. They are lush and black, with sharp white teeth and a hint of forked tongue. He smells so good, like sunshine, soil and leather. It also makes me feel good, knowing that he finds me attractive too. Last night I changed into my skimpiest pajamas, a little worried that I was exposing too much wiggly thighs and thick waist. But his molten gaze tagged me from head to toe. He's been staring at my ass and my boobs and he's still half hard under his pajama shorts.

I love it.

"Despite the fact that a few minutes ago I was barfing in the toilet, I feel fine now. My stomach is settled and my mouth tastes good. It's always like this, I throw up once, maybe twice in the morning and then weirdly just move on with life as if it didn't happen."

"I will take you to the med lab today so we can start your care plan."

"Thank you for how kindly you have treated me since the moment you saw me on that platform."

He meets my gaze. "You are my bound."

I give him a watery smile and my hands move to rest on his chest. "I've never had a real boyfriend, so getting close to a man in this way is new to me. I've only ever lived with my mother and a few roommates in college. And all I've ever experienced with a man was the occasional makeout session at a party, or what happened recently, a one-night stand after picking up someone at a bar. A fun night to scratch an itch, but nothing serious. And that itch was never fully scratched."

Rake grins. "I will scratch that itch fully and with complete satisfaction."

He cracks me up with his bold pronouncements.

His skin is so warm and lush. It looks hard but so soft to the touch. His legs and thighs are magnificent, as if he were an athlete. His feet are huge and rough, with silver-tipped toenails, but they look good on him, matching his massive body.

"Is it okay if I kiss you and place both my hands on other parts of your chest?"

"You may touch me any way you want."

My hands continue to roam over all that red muscle and soft skin. I had my hands on him last night, while he was carrying me and when he placed me on his lap at the firepit. And of course I slept with him in this bed, but I made sure to keep my hands to myself as much as possible.

I touch his black nipples and he groans with desire. Hmmm, good to know he likes that.

I lean forward and place my lips against his. I gently kiss my large, satanic-looking Hyrrokin. Despite the forked tongue and the sharp fangs, it's not that dissimilar to kissing a human male. But the main difference is that he tastes amazing. At first, it's simply a light kiss, almost a peck. Then I go back for more, kissing him again and slipping an arm around his neck so I can move closer.

I have a feeling he's holding back, letting me explore.

I'm realizing I forgot to tell him that he could kiss me back and touch me too.

A faint buzzing sound breaks into my consciousness.

Rake breaks off the kiss, which is heartbreaking. "Oh hells." He reaches back toward the nightstand and grabs a glass screen that's flashing a red light. He gazes at the message on the screen and a lets out a deep rumble in his chest. A puff of grey smoke escapes his nostrils. "My family is arriving soon."

I blink with surprise. "Your family? Your brothers? This early?"

He sits up and taps a message in reply on the screen. "Yes, all of my family is arriving to visit."

"Because of me?"

"They want to meet you. I did not tell them that you'd arrived and they did not know that I'd purchased a mail-order bride. They must've been told by Maytina, who is in charge of the transporter station. Or it could be Lorn. Secrets aren't kept very well in this community. The word is out and now all my family spoke to each other last night and they are descending upon us this morning. They said we are having breakfast together."

I sit up and twirl a strand of hair that's fallen out of my tie. "But there isn't any furniture downstairs. Where is everybody going to sit and eat? Can the food dispenser make that much food for everyone?"

"I reminded them of this problem and they didn't seem concerned. They said they will bring everything."

"Wow. This also means I'll meet your parents and the other women who live nearby and the babies will be here too…your nieces and nephews?"

"Yes, everyone."

"Oooh this could be a good thing…except now I'm worried all over again about the thought of them not accepting me because I'm pregnant. How are your parents going to feel about you getting married to some girl who's already pregnant with some other guy's human baby?"

Rake gets out of bed and stands nearby, tall, powerful and glorious with a massive red chest and shiny black horns. "I don't know and I don't care. They will accept you or they will not be included in our lives."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

I bite my lip. "I promise I'll do my best to befriend your parents, and all your family. There shouldn't be any problem from my end. You seemed ready to make my mom a part of our lives and I'll do the same for you."

"All you need to do is to be yourself."

Dear gods, I might be falling in love with this guy. I still have one month to make up my mind but…

I scoot over and stand next to him on the side of the bed. The top of my head aligns with his shoulders. "Me being myself is where everything usually goes wrong."

Rake chuckles and gives me a quick kiss on the top of my head. "Tell everyone the truth. Neither of us have anything to hide. They'll be here soon. Do you want to use the cleansing unit together? To save time."

My body heats up again at the thought of him naked with me and water spraying that glorious body. But I shut down at having to take all my clothes off in front of him. "I'm not ready to strip naked in front of you yet. But that doesn't mean never."

A puff of smoke escapes his nostrils. "I'll use the unit in the room next door. And I assume I'll be finished first, so I'll also bring up food for the tiny beasts."

"Thank you," I cry out as I rush into the bathroom to get ready. "And they have names. They are Coco and Boots."

The cleansing unit in this house is fancier than mine from back home. This means I'm able to moisturize and I cry out with joy when I see it even does laser hair removal. I program it to blow-dry my hair shiny and straight this time. Rake has a simple home he created himself, but I can see the touches of fabulous wealth in this upgraded unit and the one cleaning bot, which is the most expensive model and that private med lab he purchased all by himself and had installed right here on the property. Amazing.

I step into the closet to try and figure out what to wear to meet his family. Luckily, I'm a teacher so I have lots of appropriate clothing. I put on a nice but modest sundress and sandals I'd wear if it was the first day of the school year and I was meeting the parents. Then I apply light makeup and some small earrings.

I look in the mirror and take deep breath.

I can do this.

I pause to pet Coco and Boots and then put them back in the cage. They seem agitated because they are ready to play, but at least I can see two empty bowls of food and fresh water. Rake did indeed feed them while I was getting ready.

"Sorry babies but you need to be in here with your little kitty litter box because I don't know how long I'll be gone. And the good news is that I think your daddy is falling in love with you as much as I am."

I open the bedroom door and hear distant voices.

Eeek. They're already here.

The whole living and kitchen area are spread out before me as I descend the stairs. There are maybe ten Hyrrokin downstairs and I immediately recognize Lorn because I learned that one of his horns has a large crack. I even know how it happened because last night I had the opportunity to get to know him and everyone else who works here, which was wonderful.

Two women stand amongst all the red-skinned Hyrrokin.

One is a redhead and the other has darker hair with a hint of gold and fabulous golden skin. I notice that both are about the same weight as me, which is unusual. Typically, I'm the only one overweight wherever I go and these two look like they're both in their twenties. I already start to feel an affinity for them. Like maybe we could be friends. It'll be nice talking to other people who ended up here and how that happened and how their life is going now.

Everyone quiets and turns to look at me as I reach the base of the stairs.

I smile nervously because this reminds me of last night when I first entered the dining hall. I can tell already that I'm not as scared as I was amongst a group of them. Spending all that time with the ranch hands hopefully cured me and this group has humans embedded within and they look happy and safe.

"Good morning," a commanding female voice says in the Hyrrokin language, which I can understand and speak easily. An older Hyrrokin female steps forward. "My name is Gryce Flagstone and I am Rake's mother. I am happy to meet you." She points to another older male standing behind her. "This is his father, Agril Flagstone."

The male nods and gives me a grunt. He reminds me very much of Rake.

Rake stands next to me, his hand on the small of my back.

I look up and smile at him and he gives me a warm smile in return.

Then he turns and looks at everyone and starts to make a group introduction, like he did last night. "This is Stella Smith. She just arrived yesterday from New Earth. I purchased her from a site as a mail-order bride."

"Is that even legal?" a deep voice questions.

I glance over and see a male wearing an official-looking uniform with a blaster holstered on his belt.

"I still don't know the answer to that," Rake answers, "but she is here. "The problem is that she wasn't sent here as a true mail-order bride, but instead sent as penance by her community."

"Yes," I nod. My cheeks are getting hot because they're looking at me quizzically and I see glances down at my waist. I take his hand. "What Rake says is true. I can see that all of you have many questions and I promise to tell you the truth and answer all your questions. But first, how about all of us get some food and get comfortable, then I will tell you everything."

His mother grins. "I like this girl."