Chapter Ten – Bianca
The Rayne Five Network played recaps of what Gylden had done for a few days with constant reassurances from the network that the network was looking for the two escaped slaves, even going so far as to place a bounty on their heads – alive, of course, since that was what the public apparently wanted. There were also regular updates for the impossibly long surgery that Taskus Draw was subject to.
Seeing him on the table, surgeons working on him, made Bianca's bionic arm ache and her stomach twist. She watched his glassy eyes and wondered if he was aware of everything that was going on around him like she was during her surgery. And despite what a truly despicable person he was, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. It wasn't anything she wished on another being – to go through that.
On the fourth day, he died.
Bianca wasn't sure what to feel. Should she be a little sad that a person was dead? Happy that a murderer was dead? Gylden expressed no such confliction. He walked around the ship with a giant grin on his face until Bianca turned off the holoscreen.
There was no noticeable difference between her bionic arm and her flesh and blood one except visually. Everything else felt exactly how it always had before. It was odd; Bianca felt like she should have gone through more of an adjustment period, but there was nothing.
"The network is still after us," she told Gylden, tinkering with the circuitry in her arm. It was fascinating stuff, and when she thought about it, she could actually have weapons up her sleeve – literally. The ship was full of things she could use. "We don't have enough fuel to get us all the way to the Sanctuary. We have no money—"
"We'll just have to steal a new ship. It's going to be okay, Bianca. I won't let anything happen to you."
He sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. As had become a habit, both of their free hands drifted to her stomach. She was pregnant. A little baby was growing inside of her. Gylden's baby. Her worries melted away and she grinned up at him. He always knew exactly how to make her feel better, give her new hope again.
"You never told me about your life on Earth," Gylden said, resting his head atop hers.
"I've done my best to forget."
"Because it's too painful?"
Bianca shook her head. "Because I'm so glad it's over."
Gylden arched a brow in silent question.
"I didn't have a great family. Things were really rough. My parents were constantly making me feel small and stupid. I never did well in school despite the fact that I loved to learn. Since my life out here, I've found I'm really good with technology, but on Earth, it was like nothing I did was good enough. I wasn't smart the way my parents or teachers wanted me to be smart."
Gylden's hand rubbed small circles on her belly.
"I dropped out of school at sixteen. Started dating a guy who ended up using me to finance his drug habits. He got me addicted. And it continued to spiral from there. I dragged myself out of that relationship into an even worse one. I had a string of boyfriends that would suck my finances dry and gave me only the barest level of affection back. I'm just glad that I never got pregnant."
Gylden tensed, and she shook her head, cupping his face with her hands.
"You're different. You protected me. You got me out of there. And…" She took a deep breath, feeling vulnerable. "I love you."
A sly smile stole over his face and he bent over her, pressing a deep kiss to her lips. "You love me, huh?"
"Yes. If you don't feel the same way, I understand—"
"Shh. What makes you think I don't?"
Bianca ducked her head, blushing. "Well… We were together because of the network, and I couldn't know if everything you said to me was real or just for viewers…"
Gylden shook his head. "I may have started off exaggerating for the public, but the core of it was always true. I picked you for a reason, and the time that has passed with you has only confirmed it. I told you I've never known love. Well, I know it now."
Bianca felt her heart swelling. She wrapped her arms around Gylden's neck and kissed him deeply. He pulled her closer, hands gentle as they moved up and down her back. The warmth of the love in her heart spread out through her body, making Bianca feel like she was as light as air. This was what she had always wanted. Her perfect match, the second half of the flipped coin, the completeness that made her whole.
Gylden tucked his hands under her shirt, caressing the soft skin of her stomach. Bianca leaned into his touch, wanting more. As his hands moved up, capturing her breasts, a new type of heat began building in her. She moaned with desire, flicking her tongue over her mate's lips. He opened them, letting her in.
Desire flooded her. Every inch of her skin began to burn, her heartbeat increasing. She eagerly relished the taste of Gylden's mouth on hers, moving to straddle him as she breathed in his heady scent. His strong fingers continued to caress her breasts, sending tingles down her body. He abruptly withdrew and wrapped his arms around her hips. He stood, lifting her.
Bianca gasped. She clung to him, expecting to be dropped at any second – most of her boyfriends refused to even try to lift her, and those that gave in to her pleading always dropped her on purpose – but Gylden held her close, carrying her towards the little bedroom. Bianca's worries ebbed and she giggled.
"What's so funny?" Gylden grinned at her
"Nothing. It's just so nice."
Gylden's brow furrowed at that, but he nodded and set her down on the bed. His hands ran up her body, stripping off her shirt. His gaze darkened with desire as he stepped back and look a good look at her. He shucked off the loose robe he wore, baring himself in all his glory to her. Bianca couldn't suppress another moan. She looped her thumbs into the waistband of her booty shorts and pulled them off.
She moved up the bed before lying down, letting her knees fall open. A feral growl rose out of Gylden's throat, surprising her, but not in an unpleasant way. With a saucy wink, she slid her hands between her thighs. Gylden's muscles knotted as he watched, the dilation of his pupils hardly visible in his dark eyes, his massive chest heaving.
When Bianca let her head fall back and she let out a throaty moan, Gylden came for her. She giggled again as he jumped onto the bed before her. His hands roamed every inch of her as he caught her mouth in his. He nipped at her lower lip before trailing kisses down her neck. Rough at first, but gentler as he moved between her breasts and to her stomach. He ended with a kiss so light she could hardly feel it just below her navel.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you, too."
He made his way back up, his touch tame and gentle this time. When he got back to her mouth, he entered her. Floods of pleasure coursed through Bianca, and she immediately rolled her hips, encouraging a quick pace. Gylden chuckled, grasping her hips tightly. He held her in place as he started a slow rhythm. Bianca's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she grasped at him, trying to anchor herself as heady pleasure made her forget everything but the moment.
Gylden increased his pace, grunting as his face twisted in concentration. Bianca's back arched, cries bursting from her mouth in time with her lover's thrusts, heat coiling tighter and tighter inside her until she couldn’t breathe.
Fireworks exploded in her brain, turning it to mush. Every coiled muscle in her body went slack, a feeling of warmth shooting up and down her spine. She gasped for breath, the only thing anchoring her in place the feeling of her lover's body twined around hers. Gylden also went limp, just barely supporting himself so he didn't crush her.
Bianca smiled. "Amazing."
"Yeah." Gylden kissed her. "And it's ours. All ours. Just for you and me."
She could hear the grin in his voice and nodded. "Ours," she agreed. "Ours."
***
There was no getting to the Sanctuary on the little fuel they had left, so Bianca plotted a course to the nearest planet. There was no talk about what might find them there, no talk about the manhunt that the Rayne Five Network still had after them. They only discussed how they would steal a new ship that would take them all the way to the Sanctuary.
Until they actually landed. Then Gylden grasped Bianca's hand and looked her deep in the eye. "If we are attacked, save yourself first."
Bianca shook her head.
"Yes. Save yourself, and our child."
"Gylden, I don't think I—"
The sound of an explosion rocked the ship. Smoke billowed out from the gangplank. Gylden jumped to his feet, reaching for his traluthian blade. He pushed Bianca behind him as three T'shav emerged from the smoke. They grinned.
The one at the front stepped forward. "Looks like the bounty is ours, boys."