Chapter 15
Atem
His little female drifted away before he could cover her nude body with one of the fresh blankets he had received from the laundry.
He took a moment before laying it over her to bask in the beauty of her uncovered skin as she relaxed into sleep.
He didn't know how much of this exhaustion was a result of his fucking and how much was just the day catching up to her.
Probably a bit of both. He certainly wanted to do nothing more than climb in after her.
He hadn't slept last night beyond a light doze, watching them counting to keep time instead.
But he had to fly the ship. He couldn't afford to indulge himself. At least, not now. When he got back home, he was going to spend the entire night cuddling her close.
For now, he would have to satisfy himself with just seeing her resting. And that was enough.
As he watched, a small driblet of his pearlescent cum leaked from her cunt and began to trail back and down the crease at the bottom of her ass.
Before he could think of why it was useless to do so, he reached between her legs and pushed the seed back into her body.
It was pointless. He couldn't breed with an alien female. But the pang that thought brought to his chest made him want to hopelessly rage against how unfair it was that he had found his mate, but his seed would never take root in her womb.
But that was how a child thought, and he was Dominani. He had to be more mature than that.
He covered her mound with his hand and smiled at her lingering heat. This loss was a small price to pay to keep his pretty water eyes, but it was a price, nonetheless.
He let himself dream, only for a moment, of how beautiful Peony would be with her belly distended with his pup, cradled in a nest that she built in his den, smiling as she clung to him, and they watched a storm fall outside of his window. A perfect moment. But one he would never have.
He mourned it.
Then, he changed it. He didn’t need his pup in her belly. He only needed her, resting in their nest. His arms around her. He already had a child to raise anyway, and even if the boy had not come from his loins and would not call him father, he was his as surely as Peony was his.
His family. He needed nothing more.
With a shake of his head and a smile, he banished the fantasy and pulled his hand away before covering her with the thin blanket. He stepped into to the bathroom to wash himself before returning to the bridge.
Even if he couldn't impregnate her, Peony was still his mate. He was going to take her home, get her in his den, and spend an entire day, at least, refusing to let her go.