Her Mate's Secret Baby:Interstellar Brides, Book 9(19)

Mine and Noah's.

I placed my son in his playpen and stood watching over him, my hands  shaking. I ignored the sounds of confrontation outside. Ignored Curtis's  shout of pain, his ranting and cursing as he walked to his car and sped  out of the driveway. I felt like I was in a dream, a fuzzy dream. When  my mate stood in the doorway, looking down on me like a conquering god,  the dream faded and he was all too real.

"Roark," I whispered. I couldn't make it any louder than that and I couldn't move.

"Do I need to be concerned about that Earth male?"

Roark's voice was all dark and possessive and I had to laugh. "Curtis? No. He's not a problem."

He wasn't. Never had been. And with Roark here, Curtis who?

Roark's eyes found mine. Held. Yes, that was the look I'd craved. Desperation. Need. Hunger. Love.

In three steps, he crossed to me, stood so close I had to tilt my chin back.

"You're not dead." It was a stupid statement, but that one thought  consumed me as I drank him in with my eyes, afraid to touch him, afraid  he'd vanish like a ghost. "The doctor told me you were dead."

Roark shook his head and gathered me close. His scent, god, his scent  was fabulous. One that triggered every happy memory of the short time  with him. His voice rumbled through his chest and into me as he  explained. "I was captured. They held me for nine days before I could  escape. Everyone at Outpost Two was gone. I transported to another  outpost and they told there were no survivors. They told me you were  dead." His grip was tight, too tight. My ribs felt like they might snap,  but I welcomed the pain. It was real. He was real.

"You thought I was dead?" My voice was high, tight.

"Yes, gara." He breathed deep. "Gods help me, yes."

I shoved at his chest, fighting back the anger rising in my stomach,  churning its way up my throat, into my head, leaking out my eyes. I  would not cry, but these tears fell unbidden. "Nine days?"

He groaned "Ten now, love."

"Ten days?" I nearly shouted. "Ten fucking days? Is that supposed to be funny?"

Roark lifted a hand to my face and tucked a strand of hair behind my  ear. How could he be so calm as he lied to me? "What is wrong?"

I shoved at his chest and stepped away, putting Noah's playpen between us. "You thought I was dead?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you here now? This is what, light years away? Why now?"  How had he found me? Why was he here? Ten days? Hardly. I'd been alone  and miserable for thirteen fucking months. I'd been pregnant, alone and  scared. I cried myself to sleep every night for months. I'd grieved him  for over a year.

Ten days? No. Not even close.         

     



 

"You activated the medallion's emergency signal, mate. I don't know how  you did it, but I was never so relieved as when that ping came through  the transport center on Trion. I came at once."

What. The. Hell? "What ping?"

He stepped around the playpen, where Noah had rolled onto his side, busy  shoving a crackling golden bear into his mouth. Was Roark really so  dense? So confused? How could he not see that Noah was his son? He had  not really looked at our son, at the small replica of the giant man  before me. I wanted him to look. I wanted him to see.

"The medallion I gave you, gara. The one I put on your chain that night.  When I claimed you, made you mine forever. It can only be activated  by-" His voice faded and his attention focused wholly and completely on  Noah for the first time. I'd wanted Roark to acknowledge his son, to  know. To grasp the significance of that sweet, little face. But now that  Roark's full attention was on the baby, I suddenly felt nervous.

I'd longed for this moment, wished it. Dreamed it. But now that it was  happening, I was worried Roark wouldn't want Noah, wouldn't want me  again. Us.

Roark's eyes clouded with wonder, with awe, and I watched the riot of emotions cross his face like a storm. "Gara?"

"It's been more than ten days, Roark," I whispered, the tears falling again. "A lot more."

He shook his head slowly. The truth was before him, but he couldn't seem  to fathom it. "How …  how is this possible?" By the way his fingers  twitched, I could sense that Roark wanted to touch him, to hold him, yet  was afraid. Shifting, I lifted Noah up so Roark could take him.

With wide eyes and big hands, he took Noah from me, pulled his son into  his chest, snuggled him close. A groan escaped Roark's body, part joy,  part pain, and the baby squealed in delight, smacking at his father's  chest with his toy.

"Gara." Tears gathered in Roark's eyes when he lifted his glittering  gaze to mine and the sight made my heart split in two. All the anger  drained from me in an instant. I didn't know how or why Roark was here,  or why it had taken him so long to find us. But he'd kept his promise.  He'd come across the galaxy to find me, to find us. And the violent  wrenching in my heart meant I loved him still.

"His name is Noah. He's your son."





Chapter Eleven

Roark



Natalie was curled into my side. A fire burned in the strange hearth  before us. But there was no fuel, no tree or brush feeding the flames.  Still, it heated the room, and the little one who slept on my chest.

My son.

Just thinking the word caused my eyes to burn, my heart to ache. My son.  And I'd missed so much already. My mate's rounded belly, the swell of  her breasts. I'd missed his birth, his first smile.

My son did not know my face, my touch, my voice.

But his mother did. My mate melted into my side, soft and sweet and more  beautiful than I remembered and it had only been ten days. Her face was  slightly rounder, her luscious curves more pronounced. I could not wait  to strip her naked and claim her once more, remind her that I was her  master, just as she'd vowed. And yet, the small body resting with such  trust, such vulnerability against my chest exerted his own influence,  and I remained locked between them, powerless to resist.

"What took you so long, Roark?" My mate's arm draped over my body, just below our son.

"They held me prisoner, gara." The pain of those days felt distant now,  as distant as Trion was from Earth, my new reality so overwhelming and  vibrant that the time spent chained in that tent felt hazy. "I came for  you, mate."

She tilted her chin up so her eyes met mine. "It's been thirteen months, Roark. More than a year."

A year? I shook my head. "I don't know how that is possible, Natalie.  But we will get answers. For me, it has been just ten days. Eight days  of torture. My escape. Half a day in the ReGeneration Pod. And then the  medallion. You."

A soft sound escaped her throat and I turned my attention from the  sleeping perfection of our son's round face to hers. "ReGeneration pod?  They tortured you?"

"My apologies. I do not wish to cause you upset. It is over now. Of no consequence."

"Of no consequence?" Her fingers gripped my shirt. "It matters to me."

I should have kept my mouth shut, for I was a universe away from the  danger on Trion. The Drovers couldn't harm either of us here. Noah,  either. I wished my words hadn't made my little mate's fair face flush  pink with outrage. Not only did she get up, moving away from me, she  took my son from me and walked to the door. She called for a woman and  asked her to take Noah to his crib and watch over him for a few hours.  She was of similar age to Natalie and seemed to be a maid or childcare  giver.         

     



 

I stood then, ready to tell Natalie no, that I didn't want my son to go  with anyone. I just had him in my arms and he was mine. I didn't want to  ever let him go.

The woman, though, had a kind smile, and Noah nestled in her arms  without waking. Natalie seemed to trust her and I must as well. It  didn't make it any easier.

I could see the woman carrying Noah up the stairs through the open doorway. With Noah out of my sight, a small growl escaped.

Natalie closed the door and turned to face me. "Don't worry, she's just  taking him to his room for his nap. She'll stay with him."

I nodded, knowing she was right, and relaxed my hands from the fists I  hadn't realized I'd made. Noah would be fine while he slept.

She crossed her arms over the full swell of her breasts, eyed my body. "In the meantime, take off your clothes, mate. Now."

I arched a brow at her demands. I was not used to her being so commanding, so in control. I liked it. So did my cock.

I had no wish to argue. This was her world and she knew it better than  I. She knew our son was safe and I would trust in her on that. She also  knew we needed to settle some confusion between us. For her, a year's  worth of confusion. If she wanted to do it while I was naked, I would  not deny her.

The room was warm and comfortable, the rug on the floor before the  hearth soft and thick, the perfect place to spread my mate wide and fill  her with my cock. But I would let her have her way. For now.

I undressed quickly, not caring if she had meant for me to remove  everything or not. My reward was there, in the quickening of her breath,  the dark lust rising in her eyes as she inspected my body. Remembered.