Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Lila
C uddling with my babies is high on my agenda today. When I exit the bedroom after showering, leaving Cas, Saxon, and Xavier to nap, and head in the direction of the living area, squeals of delight can be heard coming down the hallway, and I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my lips.
I feel like I’m probably letting the team down with how much I have on my plate, but I’m lucky to have such an amazing group of men to pick up the slack. I did have a moment of worry when I woke and all three of my original guys were in bed with me, knowing both Maxsim and Echo are in the med bay, but then I quickly let it go. I have more mates now, and it’s their turn to take up daddy duty. The others are getting a trial by fire at their new status. Brannock already knows what he’s doing, and Tirrian, well, he will either quickly get with the program or suffer in silence if he knows what’s good for him.
I’m pleasantly surprised, though, when I stop in the doorway. Tirrian is sitting on the floor, surrounded by blocks and toys and cardboard books, entertaining my three troublemakers. Cordy, Cally, and Jack are thoroughly enthralled by little smoke dragons that swoop and dive and fly around their heads. The smile on his face is kind of blinding, and I get a little starstruck. He’s usually so surly and grumpy, and seeing the joy he feels from playing with my children is nothing short of intoxicating.
When Jack stands up to reach for one of the dragons, he’s quick to snatch him up and sit him in his lap, quietly warning him that the dragons are hot. I have no idea how he’s doing it, but my inner dragon purrs with delight and coos something about being a good daddy and giving him his own hatchling. My kraken pokes her head up and murmurs her agreement. The horny bitch doesn’t care who knocks us up as long as we get a good dicking when it happens.
Settle down, there will be no more babies coming out of my hoo-ha anytime soon. You have four more coming shortly, so that’s going to have to keep you happy.
They both sulk, and I roll my eyes.
Doesn’t mean we won’t be practicing , I assure them, which seems to mollify them for now.
I push off the frame and head toward the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, but I freeze when I catch sight of a strange human in my kitchen. My heart starts to race, and I can’t decide what to do. The man’s back is broad, and he has tousled black hair. He wears jeans and a shirt that stretches deliciously across the expanse of his back, hugging his golden biceps like a lover. My eyes drop to his ass cheeks, which are perfectly cupped by the jeans he’s wearing. My gaze stops on his bare feet as my brain tries to make sense of what I’m seeing.
“Brannock, I think you are freaking out my mate with your appearance,” Tirrian grumbles.
I blink in surprise as the human man turns around and smiles at me. His green eyes sparkle with mirth, and I just about swallow my tongue. He pushes a hand through his hair and holds out a cup of coffee as I study his face. He has black stubble across his jawline, but it doesn’t hide his pouty lips that sit below an aristocratic nose and sharp cheekbones. He looks like he could be modeling some expensive fragrance in some high fashion magazine. The look on his face is so completely different from the sneer and aggression that I originally saw when he wore this glamour, he’s practically a different person.
“Brannock?” I ask, a little unsure as I take the offered cup. I mean, who else could it be? I recognize his glamour from the prison, but I’m not sure why he’s wearing it.
“Hi, I guess you’re probably wondering why I’m wearing this,” he says as the kids notice me and shout their hellos.
“Mama, look, dragons,” Jack calls and points at the smoke entertaining them. “Roar!” he growls adorably and hisses like he’s trying to blow fire. I’m not sure how he knows that’s what dragons do, but I’m sure his new father has something to do with it.
“They are great, baby,” I call, still slightly distracted by Brannock. I’m pleased that he’s here and moved in, but we still haven’t done the mate thing, aka fucked five times, and I’m kind of nervous that maybe he’s going to change his mind or that life with me isn’t what he thought it would be. It’s going to be a real trial by fire. He’s either going to run screaming or possibly throw me over his shoulder and drag me off to his bedroom so we can finish mating. I’m secretly hoping for the latter of course.
“Why don’t you come and sit down. I’m making scrambled eggs for the kids. It’s one of Chloe’s favorites, and I’m pretty damn good at it.” He points to the eggs on the counter in front of him.
“You’re making them?” I take a seat. The children’s chatter in the background provides a soothing balm to my soul. None of them seem upset about my lack of attention. “I didn’t even know we could do that. I thought the replicator did everything for us.”
I lift my cup to my mouth, swallow a large mouthful of coffee, and sigh, feeling some of the tension easing out of my body. There’s nothing better than starting my day with a mug of coffee. I think it’s because it’s familiar and reminds me of my life before everything that’s happened. It’s reassuring and comforting that despite all the changes, I’m still me.
“Yeah, you can still get things to make from the kitchen if you feel like cooking, but with no staff or deliveries at the moment, the stores are pretty bare except for a lot of stuff in the deep freeze. Eggs come from the chickens on the bio zone level. No one else is eating them, so they are going to waste. The automatons collect them every day, and I’ve been going up and moving them to the cold storage. I’ve been cracking them into containers and freezing them. I figured we can use them for baking or just get rid of them later.”
My eyes widen, and I look at this man with a whole new perspective. It hadn’t occurred to me that he would be the most like a human male. How domesticated is that? I’m not even sure Mark would have known you can freeze eggs if you crack them.
“Why this look?” I ask him. “You know I’m just as attracted to you in your other form, right?” I want him to know this. He had to hide himself for so long while he was on Earth, and I don’t want him to feel like he needs to hide here as well.
“Yeah, I know, but it’s kind of comfortable to be back in this one. I wore it for so long that it became natural. Also, I was thinking it wouldn’t hurt for people not to know you have an Aaz’axian in your pocket. The Madovians were certainly surprised by the two of us. Plus, I don’t have to worry about the children getting hurt by my spikes.”
“But I thought they didn’t hurt. They haven’t hurt me.” I think about touching him all over when he was naked. I also hugged him previously, didn’t I?
“No, because I’m attracted to you, but anyone else probably would have been damaged,” he explains. “I’m almost certain the children would be fine, since they aren’t perceived as dangerous, but I don’t want to risk it. I wore a glamour all through Chloe’s childhood, and I can do it for these children too.”
I narrow my eyes, thinking there is more to this than just that. He was happy walking around in his natural form previous to us fucking. I hope I didn’t make him feel inadequate or something.
He sighs and looks at Tirrian. I follow his gaze, and Tirrian nods encouragingly at him. What is going on? Are these two suddenly besties?
Brannock stops cracking eggs for a moment and looks me dead in the eye. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m with you because you are the only female of my species that I have come across. I like you for you and couldn’t care less if you never change into that form again,” he announces, and I blink, kind of shocked and not sure what to say. That’s certainly a declaration, but I hadn’t been worried about it, though it must be nice for him to be able to have sex without worrying about destroying a woman’s vagina.
“But you can’t orgasm in this form,” I remind him, and he winces.
“Actually, I can. The glamour doesn’t stop the barbs on my cock. It just means your insides will be ripped to shreds. I never let myself get that far with my wife. Remember, I got very good at faking it.”
I grimace at the thought. I wonder if I can change just a part of me. I know Oshan said it wasn’t possible, but I’ve been able to use some of my powers in this form, so I think it is worth investigating.
He returns to cracking eggs into a bowl. He has ten in there already with ten more waiting to be cracked. I guess he’s feeding himself, a dragon, and three hungry kraken shifters as well as me. The others can feed themselves when they eventually surface.
I get up and move around to him, wrapping my arms around him from behind and leaning my cheek against his broad back. Oh, this is nice. I sigh and close my eyes.
“Well, just so you know, I like you either way, and I don’t think you’re with me just to procreate. You’ve heard me complain enough to know there aren’t any babies being pushed out of this body for the time being.”
His body shakes with his laughter, and he stops what he’s doing and spins around so I’m pressed against his chest. Hmmm, his chesticles feel wonderful. This man is ripped in this form. I can’t actually feel any of his original form underneath him. Maybe he actually changes forms completely, so it’s not a glamour but a full change. I think about his cock—well, almost a full change. I wonder if Chloe is the same and has two forms because she’s part human. I’m nervous about meeting his daughter, but also desperate to get her out of Agent Smith’s clutches, and that is weighing on me. We need to get all of this other crap wrapped up so we can do that.
He presses a kiss to the top of my head. I’m not short, but all of these guys are so much taller than I am. They make me feel dainty, which is nice. “Oh, I am very aware of that. Now grab a seat unless you want to put some of that bread in the toaster.” I pull back and notice a loaf of bread on the counter. It has a label on it I recognize from Earth.
“What the heck?” I release him reluctantly, and he returns to crack the last couple of eggs before adding a splash of cream into the bowl.
“There are all sorts of things in the cold storage in the kitchen. There is lots of Earth ice cream too. I guess the boss men must have stocked up while we were there.”
“The cold storage must be huge for a ship this big,” I mutter as I remove the plastic tie from the loaf of bread and pop some into the toaster sitting on the counter. This all feels so normal, and for the first time since I left my apartment I shared with Susie, I feel like I’m at home. Who would have thought that it would take an alien man making me breakfast while wearing his Earth glamour to make me feel settled? Don’t get me wrong, I love all of my mates, and I feel like I have a place here, but the normal, mundane exercise of making toast just really drives home the fact that Earth is no longer where I belong.
I watch as Brannock whisks the eggs and cream before adding a shake of salt and pepper. I didn’t even know we had any of these things in our cupboards. Tirrian wrangles the children over to the table. Their chubby little legs are adorable as they all race to get there first. I pop the toast down and help Cordelia into her chair. She gives me a kiss and wraps her chubby little arms around my neck, and I just breathe in her scent. Much like Caspian, she smells of sun and sea, as well as having that delicious baby scent.
My heart melts as she claps her hands to my cheeks to purse my lips and plant a sloppy kiss on them. “Love you, Mama,” she says before I place her in her chair.
“Love you too, baby,” I tell her, brushing a hand across her mop of purple hair exactly like her father’s.
“Mama, can you watch fish movie with us today?” Cally asks as she tugs on the leg of my sweatpants. I bend down and pick her up before swinging her around and placing kisses all over her onesie-covered belly. She giggles with laughter and grabs my hair with her hands. I extract her and place her in her seat.
“Of course I can watch the fish movie with you.” I don’t really want to watch Finding Nemo for the billionth time, but it’s better than The Little Mermaid .
“Daddy Dragon and Daddy Bran are going to watch them with us too,” Jack tells me from Tirrian’s arms as he places him in his seat before sitting down next to him. “They haven’t seen them before.” He sounds like he can’t believe they’ve never seen such cinematic masterpieces. I stifle a laugh. I bet the others are relieved that there are two more men to watch movies with now. My kids are slightly OCD when it comes to what they like to watch.
“Well, they are in for a real treat then,” I reply, returning to the toast and buttering it now that it has popped up. Brannock heats a large pan on the stove before pouring the egg mixture in.
Before long, we are all sitting at the table, enjoying a nice, uneventful family meal. For a small moment in time, I forget all of our worries and enjoy just being with the ones I love. Future Lila is probably going to be annoyed at me, but I need this.