Chapter Nineteen

QUINN

"Come here, sweetie. Daddy's trying to do some work. You and I didn't finish the puzzle," I said, scooping up my daughter and swinging her around until she squealed. She loved being with Airik. Whenever he tried to get some work done at home, Lalla always was stuck to him like glue. She didn't like separation from her father, but she would come with me because she loved puzzles.

"Wait, Quinn," he said, his eyes still on his screen. "I just got the results of the intervention you foresaw. The one you didn't tell me about because it happened before I knew you were a Precog. The little girl got hit by a car, remember?"

I looked at the ground silently. I couldn't stare at him.

"Don't worry. We saved her. The Precogs on the scene are foreseeing a long life for her. She will be an old woman someday."

"Really?" I asked, relief filling my chest. "Thank you so much for telling me, Airik." He winked at me, and I smiled back. I carried Lalla out of Airik's office and felt as light as air.

"One more thing, Quinn." I turned back to him. "Rob and Deerva have invited us over for dinner next week."

"Sounds great." After their adventure together, Rob and Deerva started dating almost immediately. They recently moved in together. No one was happier for them than I was. Especially since it meant that Rob wasn't interested in me anymore.

Airik and I had been together for three years. Lalla was fifteen months old. I thought we conceived her on our first anniversary, but I didn't have any proof.

Everyone else had been shocked that we quickly got pregnant, but it didn't surprise me. They thought it was because I was human. I knew we would have a big family like Airik's. I never had any family except my father. It pleased me more than anyone knew to have many people around who loved us and loved my daughter.

It made me happy to see her with all her cousins, aunts, and uncles. Her Nana and Papa were over almost every day. Their place was like her second home. She loved them all.

I carried her sturdy little form into the living room, giving her a kiss or two before I set her down in front of our puzzle. She didn't need my help, but she liked it when I watched. After she was asleep and I was in my pajamas, reading in bed, Airik came into our bedroom.

"Is Lalla asleep?" he asked, giving me a kiss.

I nodded.

He pulled his T-shirt off, giving me a view of his well-muscled chest. I lifted my eyebrows at him. He gave me a sexy smile that I loved. Then he took off his pants and crawled into the bed wearing only his boxers.

I tingled when I saw the look in his eye.

"Do you remember what it was like before our mission, Quinn? Before I knew I loved you?"

"Yes," I said, dropping my eyes at the memories of the sadness.

"You know what?"

"What?" I asked, playing along.

"I don't. I feel like there's never been a time when I didn't love you. I can't imagine being with anyone else. I'm glad you're the mother of my daughter and future children."

I smiled and put my hand on his cheek. "Future children? That sounds optimistic. Isn't the birth rate on Koccoran something like 1.4 children per couple?"

"I don't know how people manage to have a half a kid, but I'm glad we have one whole little munchkin."

"She's enough of a handful as she is, never mind an extra 0.4. I can't imagine having as many kids as your parents. How did they manage that on this planet?"

"They're an anomaly."

"Maybe it's in the genes," I said, raising my eyebrows.

"It's definitely in the genes. I think a brother or sister for Lalla wouldn't be a bad thing."

"Of course not," I said. "It's just improbable."

"Lalla herself was improbable. I don't believe in limiting ourselves."

"What are you suggesting, Airik?"

"We should get started on a sibling for our little darling."

"I want at least two years between them." His eyes lit up at my acquiescence.

"We should start practicing." He took the computer from my hands and set it on the bedside table.

"I love you," he whispered into my ear. His English made me smile and shiver simultaneously. He trailed his fingers down my shoulder until he came to the thin spaghetti strap of my blue silk tank top. He drew it down slowly. Baring my shoulder, he kissed it, then did the same on the other side.

I slid down until I lay on my back. He sucked on my nipple through the fabric, driving me crazy. The sensations of his mouth through the silky material aroused me, and I moaned.

"Babe, you are smoking hot," he said, pulling the shirt off me to reveal my breasts. His hands covered them and massaged them, making me writhe under his touch.

"Airik," I whispered.

He knew what I needed, and his hands slid into my shorts, pulling them off along with the panties I wore underneath. He disposed of his boxers as well, lying beside me and sliding his hand down my inner thigh. As his hand brushed my sex, I gasped. He reached to cup me, letting one finger slowly open my folds.

I was already wet for him, and he rubbed me, focusing on my hard nub.

"Please," I said desperately.

He rolled onto his back. He knew I liked to straddle him. There were no artificial barriers between us, of course, since it was against the law to have protected sex on Koccoran. All babies were desired, even if the parents didn't want to raise them.

I lifted myself and carefully positioned my opening, letting myself down an inch at a time onto him until we joined. My breath was coming in short bursts. He reached up and twisted my nipples, making me even more aroused.

"I love how you look when you're sitting on me, Quinn. You're a sex goddess," he said, his eyes cloudy with lust.

I didn't answer him. I lifted myself up and took him deep inside me again. Oh, fuck that felt good. I rode him slowly until I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Now?" he asked, and I nodded. I was so close to orgasm that I couldn't speak. He rolled us over, being careful to keep us coupled together. He pinned me under his hard, hot body and began driving into me wildly, the way I liked it at the end.

The pleasure built until I couldn't stand it any longer. When he dipped his head to take one of my breasts into his mouth, I cried out and came. He put his hand over my mouth to stifle any more sounds. He was always paranoid we would wake Lalla. My hips moved against him as he continued to pound into me, looking for his release.

After another minute, I felt him stiffen and fill me with his seed. His orgasm sent me off into another round of aftershocks until I finally lay in a state of bliss. He kissed my chest, lifting his dead weight off of me. Then he gave one of my nipples a suck, making me spasm again. I moaned, and he smiled, lying down and pressing his body against mine.

"I love you," I whispered to him in English.

"I love you, too," he said in his language.

A vision rocked the both of us, showing our fiftieth anniversary, surrounded by children and grandchildren. We saw ourselves kissing like we were still young.

I looked at him for confirmation that he had seen it as well.

"I counted five, at least," he said, kissing my forehead.

"At least five what?"

"Kids," he said proudly.

"Well," I said. "I'll give you an hour's rest, but then we'll have to practice some more. Five children will be hard work."

"An hour," he snorted. "I'm not an old man yet."

"Oh, really?" I said, grinning. "Why don't you show me?"

And he did.