Safe to say, Ellis got mildly addicted to the high of her orgasms. She became so bad that Logan and she rarely ventured out of their nest. In the next ten days, they only separated to go to the bathroom and retrieve the platters of food given to them. It was only when Laurel banged on their doors demanding Ellis come out did Logan untangle his limbs from hers. The outside world existed. Ellis and Logan had an empire to govern. Without them, the citizens would be in a lurch. Ellis shame-facedly put on her clothes and hobbled down to the door. When it opened, she found Laurel grinning at her. "Thank god. I thought you were going to starve in there." She rolled her eyes. "It's a wonder Logan let you out. Twelve days, seriously? You horny bastards." Ellis couldn't help but give a sly grin. It was nice to have a girlfriend whom she could joke around with. As she hobbled down the hallway, she saw Nin giving her amused smirks. Laurel was no better.&nb

Laurel worked like clockwork. She came right on time to accompany Ellis to the bath but found her curled up against Logan, groaning. Logan stroked her hair, hoping he could comfort her. "Come on," Laurel coaxed. "I'm turning inside out. Leave me alone..." she groaned. "Oh, you're pregnant," Laurel commented, surprised. She didn't say any more about how it happened and what not and left it to Ellis to explain later. "Yes, any other disease could be cured, apparently," Ellis snapped. She felt horrible immediately. "The nausea is making me cranky," she explained. "Don't lie. This is your real personality. You have been holding for so long. It is finally coming out!" Laurel burst into laughter. Ellis glared. "Go without me. I don't want to go...""Come one," Laurel insisted. "You need to.""Do I stink?" she whispered. She surreptitiously smelled herself but found nothing wrong. Were her senses da

Ellis put up a firm front in face of his worry. "Think about it carefully. Nin is sitting right outside the door. Arkan is here to make sure I don't need anything and he will inform you if I do. Moreover, Laurel will come over too. Nothing will happen to me." She paused. "You're close by, too." That seemed to appease him. He finally left but not before instructing Nin about how to keep Ellis safe. Ellis burst into laughter as she imagined Nin's patience wearing thin and the image of Nin hitting Logan in the face with her staff in protest. Arkan settled into his position by the wall. "You're not going to stay there, are you?""I must obey all orders given to me,," he declared. "The Emperor has never hurt me, but I do not wish to test his patience. Especially when it comes to his mate and young." He bowed deeply."Are all Zothean men like this with their children?" Ellis found herself asking. She was mildly irritated by the fussing, so she meant

[Warning: This chapter contains R-18 content. Please read at your own risk.]"Stay right there," she demanded. "Don't move." She started to kiss down his neck."For how long?" he rasped. She reached the top of his chest. "Until I say so," she teased freely. She followed his collar bone to his arm and was delighted to discover that he reacted to her mouth in the same way she had on their wedding night. What a delight. When her tongue touched the crook of his elbow, he jerked violently, gasping something that the translation chip couldn't translate. She followed his rib cage, counting with his lips. "Did you know you have twenty pairs of ribs?" she said, stopping her kisses for a while. "No," he gasped. "I did not count before. Thank you for doing so in my stead."She peppered him with kisses and licks. "My pleasure," she said, punctuating with her touches. "You have eight more than a human.""I will g

Laurel held Ellis until the storm of tears had passed. She spoke quietly to Dorian and he brought a wet cloth, which Laurel used to wipe the drying blood from Ellis’s face and hands. She even brought over Isabella’s concoction for her to drink. Ellis accepted the drink but did not drink from the cup. Instead, she stared down silently. Her mind kept replaying the look of terror on Arkan’s face and her inability to stop Logan.She had to admit that she had only screamed and had done nothing to stop Logan. She had been scared of him at that moment. Ellis didn’t think Logan could have hurt her, but in that moment, she had been terrified for both Arkan and herself and she chose to protect herself.“Ellis, you have to go home,” Laurel said gently. “Poor Logan is sitting outside in the hallway and he looks awful.”She said nothing.