Chapter Seventeen
Virion
The rails had been completed on time. Soldiers-turned-laymen returned home on the very rail they built forward day by day as they finished the first line between Liaberos and Drashil. And the first run would be that morning, several cars lined up against the front engine of the thalmway, a train they’d referred to the lineup as. Each car had been designed with the care of Liaberos, the style, not the white that Virion expected but a rather elegant sage trimmed with gold. They’d discovered that white dirtied and fouled far too quickly and the greenish gray hid dust far better, and Virion could say it suited the machines.
Cradling his growing bump, Virion hefted himself aboard with Nemiah aiding him, cautious hands smoothing his robes in a worrying fashion. Nemiah had become somewhat of a mother hen since Virion’s little belly had first presented. The slight tilt of his navel had rounded considerably, but he was far from due quite yet, and the difference between the high fashion of Drashil and Liaberos for omegas with child was quite astonishing.
Drashili clothing erred on the side of warm, and since omegas could identify as they chose, the clothing even there differed, but the masculine slant of the tunic he wore fitted perfectly over his chest and had a panel laced in back for his growing bump. The coat he wore over the outfit brushed the tops of his knees as he surveyed the carriage that Nemiah had reserved for them, a private space with a comfortable lounge, sleeping quarters, and a small kitchenette and bathroom. Virion understood that he’d be sleeping there for the duration of their visit, as Nemiah wanted that extra security for him while carrying their child.
Virion dutifully rested a hand over the brocade surface of his tunic and huffed in amusement as he took a seat, drawing Nemiah’s curious gaze. A playful bubbling sensation danced within him, evidence their little one stirred within him.
“Vir?” The short affectation from Nemiah’s lips warmed Virion’s heart.
“Come here.” Virion delighted at the movement and drew Nemiah in to slip his hand beneath his tunic.
The movements up until that point had been small flutters too imperceptible to show, but it was as if their child celebrated their ride to come on the thalmway and the barest flutter danced beneath Nemiah’s fingers. His eyes glimmered with wonder. “Our little one.”
“Praying for a beta or alpha?” Virion chuckled, and Nemiah frowned.
“Not a girl or omega?”
Virion raised a brow. “That isn’t an heir.”
“Is our mother moon not a female? Is my mother not a great leader? Are you not capable of doing so much and educated to do so?” Nemiah withdrew his hand and leaned in to kiss Virion with a soft brush of lips. “An heir is an heir. If their thalms are true, they will gift our worlds.”
“Ugh! I am trying to prepare myself for bigotry. Quit being so damn sweet.” Virion playfully pushed at Nemiah, turning his head to hide his cheeks. From the heat over them, he knew they must be red, and Nemiah teased him endlessly for how easily he showed his state.
“All prepare to board!” A shout from somewhere outside from a former soldier-turned-thalmsmith had people ushering into cars farther down the line. Nemiah opened a window to watch the spectacle and waved at eager people rushing into carriages. Only a few tickets had been sold for the event, the rest won by lottery from surrounding villages, on the caveat they stopped at one of three points along the way and a stipulation that the visit was for family or business only. They wouldn’t be ready for recreational use for a while yet.
“Should I prepare to board you, husband?” Nemiah finished a polite wave and turned, bearing a lascivious grin.
Virion wilted in his seat. “I don’t feel particularly amorous. I’m big and people keep staring at me. I feel so disgusting.” Virion sighed.
With a loud click of the blinds keeping the windows covered, Virion jumped in his seat, heart racing.
“I’ll swear before our mother moon that I find you far more beautiful than any other, my Sugarmoth.” Nemiah approached, that sweet name for him such an unfair weapon against his surliness.
“Trust me, I know you find me attractive. It’s just at the point to where—” Virion trailed off, cheeks burning again.
“Point where, what?” Nemiah joined him on the lounge and brought a hand to his belly.
“I leak .” Virion said those two words in a whisper, and Nemiah frowned. At nearly four months along, his bump was merely half of an omega’s cycle. He bore a rather gentle swell, like that of a small melon, the bow of it higher against his belly.
Nemiah placed his hand atop it reverently, anxiety fluctuating in his thalms. “Do I need to call the healer? I can have her here. She’s two cars over. I would go nowhere without her with you in a state.” His eyes, wild as a cornered animal’s, went wide and before he could stand, Virion gently nudged him with a soothing noise.
“No. It’s… The little one has put weight on my organs and bouncing tends to have them putting weight on my bladder.” Virion’s voice squeaked at the end.
“Oh… Well, that’s easily solved.” Nemiah gave Virion a dirty chuckle and pushed him over.
Virion bleated in shock and struggled until Nemiah had him on his side, his body spooned flush against him. “There, no weight.”
“I’m fine just sitting, Nemiah! I can—” Virion struggled until a rather fetching throw that had been draped over the back of the lounge flowed over them. A warm hand circled his stomach and slid downward, inching up the hem of his tunic until he cupped Virion’s cock through the fabric of his trousers. “O-oh.”
“Think we could cuddle like this awhile?” Nemiah rumbled a dark purr against Virion’s ear, drawing him into a full body shiver. Hand dipping down, Nemiah fondled Virion’s groin, teasing him into middling hardness.
“Perhaps.” Virion shivered and stifled a sound. A pulse of pleasure rocked through his body until Nemiah’s hand fished down the front of his pants and palmed his hardening length. “Definitely.”
“I thought so.” That lascivious, evil chuckle against the back of his neck made the world spin.
“What about you?” Virion sighed, relaxing with a lazy, catlike stretch while Nemiah did all the work.
“Perhaps we can try something later, after we get to Liaberos. Perhaps we can find some corner of your father’s castle to defile.” Nemiah nibbled Virion’s ear once more and slowed his strokes.
“Yes. Please,” Virion said, his breathy words near silent as shouts from outside announced the engine being primed. “In the library. I want to ruin the lectern.”
Nemiah laughed and nuzzled along the back of his neck, warm lips brushing the fine hairs there for a moment before his spare hand cupped the underside of his head to tilt his ear into nibbling distance. His teeth, so sharp in places and calculatedly so, gave a peaking sense of danger. “Goddess, I love it when you whimper like that.”
Virion didn’t even realize the vulnerable noise had eked from him, but he silenced it the moment he realized and stiffened.
Nemiah’s dark voice vibrated through him. “We’ll be the first to fuck in this carriage. The first to fuck on the thalmway.”
“Oh fuck, please.” Virion’s inhibitions eased, the pressure on his belly receding moment by moment.
With a slow stroke, Nemiah rolled his thumb over Virion’s tip and circled the leaking head, the slickness there spreading across his sensitive nerves. “Are you going to come for me? Get your filth all over this blanket? Make a mess? How embarrassing. I bet you’re leaking through your trousers as we speak for want of my cock deep insi—”
A sharp rap shook the door before it swung open. Virion instinctively held the blanket over them tighter, making prolonged eye contact with a saluting soldier.
“Apologies, Your Majesties, for interrupting your rest, but we are loaded and ready to leave. The motion is rather unsettling, so if our Silver Prince is delicate, he may want to sip something light. My mate had troubles on carriages when he carried ours. I realize you may not have ridden since your pregnancy was announced.” The guard nodded his head politely, completely unaware of the hard ridge of his king’s cock pressing into Virion’s backside and the stroking hand gently squeezing his cock that refused to soften.
“I appreciate your care. Thank you for telling us, Otha, was it?” Nemiah’s flat voice held an amused edge of it that Virion had only recently learned to pick from his dryness.
“Thank you, my king.” He bowed shortly and retreated, closing the door behind him right in time for Nemiah to lean forward, nip his ear, and grind in.
Virion stifled the cry of pleasure, and the sudden relief of the tense moment overcame him and pleasure streaked down his spine. “Oh! Shi—” Virion’s entire body lurched and Nemiah’s hand moved, cupping over the end of Virion’s cock to catch his release in time, letting his thumb stroke to coax him down.
“Foul mouth.” Nemiah’s laugh slowed Virion’s heart. “I’ll have to grab you a linen. One moment.”
Virion adjusted himself as Nemiah pulled away from him, hand all but dripping with Virion’s release. Boneless contentment slid through Virion, the post-orgasm bliss making him yawn and settle. With a brush of his hand, he had the evidence of their mess cleaned away with his magic. Nemiah didn’t allow him to finish though. He aided Virion in fastening his trousers and settled back into the couch with placating kisses and warm arms.
As the first jolt of movement jostled Virion, he tensed, letting the thing gain speed beneath them, the blacksteel tracks clacking beneath them. As told by the guard, Virion winced as the gentle motion increased, taking with it his peace. “The next thing we invent will be something to settle stomachs. Goddess alive…”
“Need I get the healer?” Nemiah stroked Virion’s side.
“No. I’m fine. My body is just more sloshy than I’m accustomed to.” Virion rolled onto his back and patted the small swell of his belly.
“Ahh. Sloshy. I so often enquire about the babe, but how are you, really?”
“Tired, sore, nauseous. They move around a lot, so it’s uncomfortable.” Virion offered Nemiah a half grin.
“That’s more about the state of you and the baby than it is about you. How are you, emotionally?” Nemiah rejoined him.
“Anxious, I suppose. I’m not ready to see my father again.”
“Well, he has to find out about our child sooner or later, and you do want to help with the springs. It’ll ingratiate yourself with your father. Earn that respect.” Nemiah took his hand and joined him on the lounge. “And we’ll need to return your suitor to him.”
“Most of him.” Virion couldn’t withhold the grim snort.
“Ah, something tells me his wife will not miss his testicles.” Nemiah fondled a lock of Virion’s hair and smiled. “And I’d castrate a thousand more men to keep you safe.”
“That’s the most disgusting and sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. But leave the emasculations to your mother.”
With a dark chuckle, Nemiah settled in next to Virion and offered him a soft grin. “She will be thrilled .”