Page 50 of Mated to the Alien Warlord

"I don't want to hurt you or the baby," I explained.

Forafractionofa moment, I truly feared he didn't want me anymore, no matter that it didn't make any sense considering everything we had said and done so far. But love is a funny thing. It can make you fly so high above the clouds where nothing can touch you, and then one wrong word can make you come crashing down, no matter how stupid it is. And for that one moment, I crashed so hard my heart skipped a beat.

Thankfully though, clear-headedness returned quickly, and I was able to say, "I don't understand."

"I don't want to hurt you or the baby," he explained, looking dead serious.

At first, it was only a little bubble that rose in my throat, and I tried to suppress it. But the more I realized how serious he was and that he actually believed the old wives' nonsense that pregnant women shouldn't have sex, the more the bubble expanded until it was joined by many more, and I couldn't hold my giggles back any longer. When my laughter erupted, he stared at me, confused.

"Damaris?"

"I'm sorry, Vandor." I tried, I really did, but within seconds, I was bent over my waist, holding on to his arm for support, laughing so hard my waist and stomach hurt.

Feeling his hard muscle under my palm made things even worse. Here was this strong, capable, hard warrior, a man who had just slain I didn't know how many enemies and another warlord, and he believed in old wives' tales.

Concerned, he held me up. "Are you alright?"

"I… will… be," I managed to push out between giggles.

I knew I was overreacting, probably from all the pent-up stress of the last few weeks, but it felt good to laugh, even though I felt bad for laughing at his expense.

When I finally caught my breath, I looked up at him. "I'm so sorry, but you don't actually believe in that old wives' tale, do you?"

Hurt, he looked at me. "It's not an old wives' tale. Babies can be born deformed from their parents… lovemaking."

I bit my lip, but snot and giggles still made their way through, and then another thought occurred to me that had me doubling over. "You are big, Vandor, I give you that, but you're notthatbig. You wouldn't even reach the baby."

He stared at me as if I had lost my mind, and by the way I was acting, I couldn't fault him, so I tried my hardest to control myself and act like an adult and not like a giggling teenager.

"Us having sex will not result in a deformed baby," I finally explained. "It's only something a woman invented to keep her husband away from her for a few months."

His eyebrows rose. "It is not an old wives' tale."

I nodded. "It is. Trust me."

He cocked his head. "And how do you know that?"

He had me there. It wasn't like I had a lot of experience in the area. "Just trust me."

His head now almost touched his shoulders as he regarded me, clearly not amused. "I won't take any risks with my child. Or you."

"Are you truly saying you won't touch me until the baby is born?" I asked, exasperated.

For confirmation, he crossed his arms over his wide chest.

My eyes, however, moved lower to the growing bulge between his legs, tenting the towel he wore slung around his hips. "Oh really?"

He looked even less amused as I approached him, and he took a step back. "Damaris."

Finally, he couldn't back up any further and stood with his back against one of the beams supporting the tent. It would have been comical to see this mountain of a man backing away from me if his kiss hadn't aroused me so much, and the pent-up longing for him hadn't fully broken out in my body, making my clit pulse. My tits and nipples were already hypersensitive, but after the kiss, they were nearly throbbing with need for him.

"Trust me, Vandor."

I reached for the towel wrapped around his loins, but his hands stopped me. With a deep sigh, I fell to my knees in front of him, careful not to show how much my swollen belly wanted me to just collapse instead of sinking down gracefully.

"Trust me," I repeated, freeing my hands from his hard grip, and he let it happen. There was no way I could have freed them had he not cooperated.

"Damaris," his voice was torn between warning me off and longing for me to continue.

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