[Warning: This chapter contains R-18 content. Please read at your own risk.]
"Stay right there," she demanded. "Don't move." She started to kiss down his neck.
"For how long?" he rasped.
She reached the top of his chest. "Until I say so," she teased freely. She followed his collar bone to his arm and was delighted to discover that he reacted to her mouth in the same way she had on their wedding night. What a delight. When her tongue touched the crook of his elbow, he jerked violently, gasping something that the translation chip couldn't translate. She followed his rib cage, counting with his lips.
"Did you know you have twenty pairs of ribs?" she said, stopping her kisses for a while.
"No," he gasped. "I did not count before. Thank you for doing so in my stead."
She peppered him with kisses and licks. "My pleasure," she said, punctuating with her touches. "You have eight more than a human."
"I will g
Logan woke her up the next morning with a cup of Isabella’s concoction. She drank it quickly, hoping to prevent inevitable nausea from taking over.“I must go for a few minutes,” Logan confessed. “I won’t be long but I must sign the treaty in front of the Council.”Ellis smiled sleepily. She heard the door click behind him and woke again a little while later, her stomach roiling with nausea. She reached for the pot and found it empty. She clapped a hand over her lips and dashed for the bathroom but a pillow became tangled between her feet and she tripped with a cry of surprise.Arkan caught her before she hit the floor. She vomited helplessly on the floor, Arkan keeping her steady.“I’m sorry—”Before she could finish, a roar shook the room. They whipped their heads to the side to see an utterly enraged Logan standing at the door, his fangs bared in a snarl. Before Ellis could say a word,
Laurel held Ellis until the storm of tears had passed. She spoke quietly to Dorian and he brought a wet cloth, which Laurel used to wipe the drying blood from Ellis’s face and hands. She even brought over Isabella’s concoction for her to drink. Ellis accepted the drink but did not drink from the cup. Instead, she stared down silently. Her mind kept replaying the look of terror on Arkan’s face and her inability to stop Logan.She had to admit that she had only screamed and had done nothing to stop Logan. She had been scared of him at that moment. Ellis didn’t think Logan could have hurt her, but in that moment, she had been terrified for both Arkan and herself and she chose to protect herself.“Ellis, you have to go home,” Laurel said gently. “Poor Logan is sitting outside in the hallway and he looks awful.”She said nothing.
Ellis stepped into the hallway. Her eyes immediately caught Logan sitting at her feet beside the door frame. Isabella was seated beside him.“Ellis,” he jumped to his feet.“Let’s talk,” Ellis said. Nin, on the opposite side of the door frame, rose and stood silently not a hint of judgment on her face. Ellis wanted to hug her but wasn’t sure how well-received it would be. Nin had become a constant in her life, no matter what the situation was.“May I hold you?” Logan asked, his voice apprehensive and full of longing. Ellis thought for a moment before shaking her head. She saw him shudder at her refusal and look behind him to see the look of appreciation in Isabella’s eyes.That confused her.She peered curiously and on seeing the approval on Isabella’s face suddenly understood that t
The apartment Ellis chose was small, a bedroom and a bathroom and nothing else. She liked it quite a bit, considering she would have chosen such an apartment for herself if she were still on Earth. But that was not the matter at hand. She was busy adjusting everything when a wave of nausea hit her. She ran to the bathroom and puked for a few minutes before coming out.The room to the apartment was ajar and Nin stood at the door frame looking anxiously towards the corner of the room. Logan had brought over a pile of gifts to decorate her room, it seemed. His torso was twisted, looking over his shoulder and his arms moved back and forth. Ellis walked around to the other side and gasped with shock when she saw all the blood. To see so much blood in one day…“Logan!” she ran forward and grabbed his arm, forgetting her rule not to touch him. “Stop it! What are you doing?”
“Have you spoken to Logan lately?” Laurel asked as she perused through Ellis’s new apartment. She had been oddly silent since she arrived but now she was speaking properly.“Of course. He comes every day when he gets time off work to check if I am doing okay,” Ellis shrugged. Laurel swiveled to look at her.“If you are seeing him, why are you not living with him?” she asked, perplexed.“This is crucial,” she started. “I have compromised on what I believe in for too long. It has been two days since the incident and I have not been allowed to go to the hospital to check on Arkan. They won’t allow me because it will spread rumors.” Ellis understood that rumors could be vicious, but this was ridiculous.“They are right, you know? I can see that you are not mad at Logan or scared at him, then wh
Logan came over for lunch the day, sitting silently and eating. It was astounding how much food he consumed, clearing the full table of food. Laurel and Isabella had mentioned that Zothean men would pack on the pounds before the birth so that they could incubate the eggs later on. In this case, they would not come out of their burrows or eat. Apparently, Logan would survive off of his fat stores and his body would shut down apart from all vital functions.“I need to go to the market today,” Logan said. Laurel had told her how Logan went out to get pillows every other day. He critically fluffed, poked and prodded every single pillow in the market stalls and agonized over the fabric types. Ellis refused to partake in such an activity as it would drive her insane.“I can’t go along,” she told him. “I have a lot of work and I need to visit the Koln hospital to see Arkan.” Ellis
Logan was dreaming, reliving one of the last nights that he and Mitch had spent debating politics in Logan’s room. Mitch had brought over a bottle of alcohol for them to share. That was the last time Logan had drank. He could even remember the taste of it, sweet and a tinge of tang on his tongue…“I’m saying that it is impossible for a single ruler to serve all of the interests of the people of the galaxy,” Mitch said. “A country, perhaps. But when the geographical location increases to planets, it becomes unlikely and a whole galaxy? Impossible.”“If the ruler is micromanaging every aspect of the government, yes. But in our case, the Empress and Emperor oversee the general policy, to which planets and countries and adapt as per their interpretation. There is no demand that every country and planet adopt a uniform code of law or culture.”
Though in the middle of the night, Logan rushed out of his apartment and sprinted towards the government quarters where Ellis was still residing. Guards watched in bewilderment as a large Zothean running towards them. Their fear grew and they found themselves on guard to fight off whatever fiend it was until they realized that it was their frantic Emperor.They stepped aside and watched as his form became smaller and smaller as he went down the corridor. He was sweating and panting mess by the time he reached Ellis’s door. Nin was stationed outside, her eyes trained in front of her. When she saw him at the door, she stood up and bowed.“Emperor, what brings you here so late in the night?” she asked.“I wish to see Ellis, please,” he said. He was humbling himself in front of someone else but the realization he had an hour before had rendered him incapable of feel