Page 49 of Mated to the Alien Warlord

She kissed me then, stopping my words. "This wasn't your fault. At all. This was all Fionbyr and Grobhan."

"Fionbyr is dead, but Grobhan is still on the run. He managed to escape Kendryx," I filled her in, agitated that we hadn't managed to terminate that threat too.

"I'm glad Fionbyr is dead, and you will get Grobhan too," she said vengefully, and a chuckle escaped me. I had forgotten how bloodthirsty my kallini could be.

More servants entered, bringing food and drinks. I stood to shield Damaris from view when she squealed at their sudden appearance.

"Leave it on the table. That will be all for tonight," I ordered before a thought struck me. "Find clothing for Lady Damaris."

This was the second time I had to give those orders, and despite the situation, I grinned at the absurdity of it.

Damaris insisted that I take a bath next. She grabbed a sponge to clean me, but I drew the line there. "You go sit and eat by the table. I can wash myself."

"It will only take a moment and—"

"Kallini," I interrupted using the only words I knew she would listen to. "Feed. My. Son."

She smiled and did as I asked her to. Somewhat relaxed, I leaned back in the tub, taking a strange sense of satisfaction from knowing that I was taking a bath while Gryck was waiting for his. But then Damaris dove into her story and all amusement left me.

"I wish I hadn't killed him yet and could do so more slowly," I fumed, climbing out of the tub and drying myself with a towel after Damaris finished her incredible story.

I had only interrupted her once, when she said that she had been watching me through the window where she had been held captive at Slotenburg, and I remembered the strange sense of being near her and being watched that overcame me a few times during the short siege.

"I wish I had known," I said.

"There would have been nothing you could have done," she replied.

As much as I would have liked to contradict her, I fell silent, because she was right. Besides the paralyzing agony I would have experienced at knowing Fionbyr held her captive, there would have been nothing I could have done.

"Why didn't he hold it over my head?" I wondered.

Fionbyr could have sent a messenger, telling me about Damaris being his hostage. He could have blackmailed me, taken me prisoner. I would have gladly done so in exchange for her freedom.

"He wouldn't have gained anything besides you being dead," Damaris said. "I think… I think he wanted you alive and to hurt you more than he wanted you dead."

I nodded, unable to think of how I would have felt had Fionbyr followed through with his threat if Damaris had not managed to escape. I almost felt the agony that would have pierced me, almost. Because the truth of it was that the pain was unimaginable with her sitting here, next to me, healthy and seemingly no worse for her ordeal.

"Gods, I love you," I confessed, getting up and embracing her from behind, needing the physical contact more than I had ever needed anything in my life.

She turned in her seat and clung to me. "I missed you so much."

"I'm so sorry," I offered again, feeling guilty for not even having known she was in so much danger. I wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse that I had been so oblivious. "You are the strongest kallini I know."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," she said, shaking her head. "And I'm not so sure about being strong. There were plenty of times I broke down."

"But you made it," I pushed. "You!"

"I did, didn't I?" A hint of pride settled on her features, and I caressed her cheek.

She rose from the chair and slung her arms around my neck, and I didn't hesitate to claim her lips. With a moan she pressed herself against me, responding to my kiss with a fire I was all too willing to return. At least until the hard bump of her stomach pressed against me, and I remembered her condition. Her hand moved to cup my already erect cock, and I stopped her.

"Damaris, nyck."

Her eyes were deep pools of desire, her lips swollen and wet from our kiss. She was the picture of temptation, but we couldn't. She was pregnant. Insecurity rushed over her features. "You don't want me?"

"Gods, I want you." I hated the insecurity in her voice and bent down so I could lean my forehead against hers. "There is nothing in the entire universe I want more than you. But we can't, Damaris."

"I don't understand." She leaned back to read my eyes.

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