Page 63 of Stolen By the Alien Prince

She tapped his nose. “I know. And you’re being so good waiting until she’s born.”

Crinkles formed at the corner of his eyes. “You are a tricky one. You know that?”

She grinned. “Yeah, I know.”

“There’s that smile that I love.”

Gianna couldn’t help but laugh, her mood feeling much more improved the longer she sat here cuddled up in her mate’s arms. He really was the only one who knew how to cheer her up and pull her out of her bouts of despair, no matter what the cause was.

She had no idea how he did it, but it was kind of fucking magical.

“Let me buy you a dress, Gianna. Something that you can wear tonight for dinner.”

That made her perk up. “Really?”

Kozien nodded. “Of course. You deserve to feel beautiful. Tomorrow morning we can get up a little early and go shopping for a new wardrobe. One that you’ll feel comfortable in while you’re still pregnant.”

She smiled at him, her chest filling with warmth and love. “Thank you. I’d really like that.”

Kozien tucked Gianna down for a nap, letting her body rest while she recuperated from her stressful closet purge.

Kozien quietly tiptoed out of their bedroom, pulling the door slightly closed so that any movement or noise he made when coming back in from shopping wouldn’t disturb her. He wanted her to sleep as much as possible.

This part of the pregnancy for Lorr warriors was always the most taxing—at least, according to his mother.

Heading down the hallway, he grabbed his comms and his wallet off of the kitchen island, securing both of them onto his person before heading out the door. He was halfway down the stairs leading down to the village when his comms alerted him of an incoming call.

He tapped the wristband, recognizing the signal.

“Yes, Grux?”

The other end was nothing but static. It made Kozien raise his brow and tap his wristband a few times.

“Grux.”

He heard some rustling before his brother’s voice came on.

“Kozien.” His voice seemed far away for some reason.

“Yes, what do you need?”

“You need to come back to the city.”

He snorted. “I can’t.”

“That wasn’t a request, brother. I need you.”

He sighed. Sometimes his brothers could be overly needy, even about the little things—issues—that he knew they were more than capable of solving for themselves. He didn’t know why they were always so quick to call him as soon as a small inconvenience rolled in.

What were they going to do once Gianna was in labor and he was unreachable?

“I can’t do that, Grux. I need to be here taking care of Gianna. You know that being this far along in a Lorr pregnancy can cause major complications.”

Grux let out a frustrated noise, his comms becoming staticky once more.

Kozien shook his head. “Where are you? Are you in the city?”

“No.” His voice was garbled for a few seconds. “—had to come to Xogoli.”

---