Chapter 22

Lorelai

I 'd half wondered what we'd do for the rest of the day aboard ship. Watching Ellax draw up our pregnancy pact quicky turned boring. I didn't know how long it was supposed to take. Was he the sort to put tons of legal-ese into the document? I had a feeling, being a diplomat, that he might. In fact, the longer I watched him write, sitting up straight on his desk chair with his beautiful dark-silver hair lying perfectly around his shoulders, the more I considered that he might be the sort to wrap all sorts of hidden pitfalls into the language of this contract.

I'll need to read this very carefully, I decided, rubbing my finger across my chin in thought. He might have some line in there that all bets are off if I don't have sex with him as often as I want. Or that, if I don't get pregnant and give him a baby, he gets to have my head cut off, like that King Henry who ruled the country of England hundreds of years ago.

I couldn't suppress a shiver. Ellax didn't seem like the sort to have my head cut off. He seemed more like the sort to dump me for a younger woman and try the whole pregnancy pact again. But what did I know? Literally nothing, except that he'd cheated on his first wife, which sure didn't put me in a frame of mind to trust him with my life.

"If you are bored or anxious," he suddenly spoke up, his stylus never pausing as it swept across his screenpad, you might visit the ship's fitness center. I believe you humans refer to it as a gymnasium, or gym. You will find plenty there to keep you occupied."

I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. "Are you implying I need to lose weight?"

For the first time since he'd sat down, he stopped writing and twisted his neck to study me.

"What?"

"You told me to go to the gym and workout. Do you think I need to lose weight?"

His golden eyes drifted over me from top to bottom. I resisted the urge to squirm, telling myself sourly, I don't care what he thinks.

Maybe I did, though. Because I remained uncomfortable until he swiveled back around in this seat and returned to his writing.

"You are a bit thicker, perhaps, than a younger woman would be," he said, calmly swooping and swirling his stylus across the screenpad. "However, you are no longer in your early maidenhood. And you have born two children. It is natural in females of most species that their hips spread and they retain a bit more weight."

He'd said it so calmly, so matter-of-factly, so…so scientifically, that I couldn't tell if he was being straightforward or if he was insulting me.

"Soooo…is that a yes or a no?" I demanded.

"No, I do not think you need to lose weight," he replied. "Your physical body, clothed, is very attractive. I can only imagine what it would look like…" He paused as he used the stylus to create several dots across the screenpad. "Unclothed," he finished.

Mercy.

I glanced down at myself. So. He didn't think I needed to lose weight, and he wanted to see me naked.

Of course he wants to see you naked. He wants you to have his baby. That's all this is about.

Silencing the cynical side of myself, I spoke up, "Why did you suggest the ship's gym, then?"

"Physical exercise is a healthful way of passing the time and relieving one's anxiety," he answered. "That is why I suggested it.

"There are other ways," he continued, "of passing time and relieving one's anxiety as well, but you made it clear you wished to have this document written up, signed, and witnessed before we engage in those pursuits."

"Oh. Um." Despite our recent searing kiss, which could have easily ended up with us both naked on the bed, I felt my cheeks flush. "Yes, I still—I still stand by that."

I hated how foolish he could make me sound, and feel. This guy was pretty much a creep. Why did I react to him the way that I did?

"Besides," he summarized calmly, "I can think better to write up our pact if you are not in the room."

"Oh, because I'm talking too much?" I asked rather snidely.

"No," he replied smoothly, "because, after our kiss, my body desperately desires to join with yours. Furthermore, this pact is all about you accepting my seed and bearing my offspring. It is difficult to turn my mind to legalities when my body wishes to turn itself to yours."

Oh.

Outwardly, he was so calm I figured the urge for sex must have passed completely. Apparently not.

"Don't let me distract you, then," I said, hopping up from the edge of the bed. "I'll go to the gym."

"They have an attendant there who will let you in," he said, "and a locker with appropriate clothing. Ask the attendant. They will show you."

"Will do."

With that, I practically bolted for the door, glancing once more over my shoulder to see my brand-new husband continuing to scrawl away. Writing a contract about me accepting his seed and bearing his child.

"Oh damn." Outside the door to his—our—suite, I slumped against the wall, covering my face with my hands. "What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Lorelai?"

A visit to the gym suddenly seemed like a great idea.