“Not long now, sweetheart. Just hold tight.”

Jareth’s voice was soft and low as the shuttle went through the final approach procedures and flew into the shuttle-bay of the big battle cruiser in the colony’s orbit.

Curled up in the next seat, she clutched Jareth’s hand as the bay doors loomed over them. She’d never seen a ship this big, other than an intergalactic liner, and never one that bristled with weaponry on every available surface. It was beautiful, but in a deadly sort of way. The sort of beauty she’d prefer to admire from the safety of another system or a holo-vid. She shivered, reminded again of what Jareth did, what the uniform he wore stood for.

It had been a short ride in the shuttle, not that it would have mattered to Keliana anyway. She snuck a glance up through her lashes at the tall, imposing-looking man next to her. His hair was unbound, longer than it had been before she’d left the palace, and she had to resist the urge to reach up and brush it back from his face.

Then it struck her. Why not? He was hers. He’d traveled across several systems to find her, nonstop if Devil was to be believed, and half killed the man he thought she was kissing before pouring his heart out on his knees and begging her to forgive him. After all that, she really doubted he’d mind her touching his hair. Reaching up to catch the wayward strands, like rough silk beneath her fingertips, she pushed them gently behind his ear.

He stopped talking to the officer opposite for a moment and smiled down at her. The blue of his eyes was warm, almost turquoise, and he hadn’t let go of her hand yet. Not that he had actually let her walk far, he’d carried her most of the way to the shuttle, telling her firmly that pregnant women needed looking after.

If the shuttle crew had been surprised to see their colonel carrying a woman with a belly the size of a house, they hadn’t let on, instead switching out the safety harness in the seat next to Jareth to accommodate her with silent efficiency. She was surprised they hadn’t had to lash two harnesses together. To say she wasn’t the usual commando build was an understatement. Although she could probably match their chest measurements, with the tape around her butt.

She sighed as he gave a quick squeeze of her hand and carried on talking. It was all ship-type stuff so she let her mind wander and tried not to stare at him. It all felt a little like a dream. After so many months of waiting, she couldn’t believe he’d finally come for her. A burst of warmth spread out from the center of her chest, enveloping her. He loved her, she loved him, and now they were going home. Heat enveloped her at the thought, settling low down in her body before she squashed it. She was huge, there was no way he could find her pregnancy-swollen body attractive. They’d have to wait until after the birth.

The shuttle touched down with a metallic clump, and she didn’t get any time for reflection. Jareth finished his conversation about some kind of weapons array, then reached over and unclipped her before sweeping her up in his arms.

“Hey…I really can walk you know,” she protested as she was forced to cling to his shoulders again. She didn’t protest too much, she liked the feel of his strong arms around her too much for that. “You’ll put your back out. I’m the size of a shuttle at least.”

“A small, very pretty shuttle.” He chuckled, the corner of his lips curling up in that quirky little half smile she loved, and carried on walking down corridors that all looked the same. The crew they passed nodded at them politely, but by the time Jareth approached a set of doors that swept open to reveal the spacious quarters within.

With long steps, he walked right through them to the bedroom. The bed was huge, set under the floor to ceiling windows that curved up the walls and over the ceiling as they followed the curve of the ship. A gasp left her lips at the stunning view of the stars outside, the lilac and gold of the Philisaria nebula just visible in the distance.

He stopped by the bed and looked deeply into her eyes. All humor had disappeared from his face, leaving love and something darker lurking in his blue-black eyes. Tension hummed through his big frame, the muscles in his chest and shoulders tight.

“Keliana, I love you more than life itself.” He paused for a moment to claim her lips in a soft kiss. It didn’t last long enough. She pouted a little as he lifted up, aching for more.

“I want to lie you down and make love to you under the stars, but I don’t want to hurt you.” His voice was low, rough as he flicked a worried glance down at her bump. The expression in his eyes softened for a second before he looked up at her again. Longing and resignation flickered across his expression for a second. “No, we can wait. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you or our baby. Just as long as I get to hold you, that’s all I need.”

She chuckled and cupped his cheek with her hand.

“Hey, I won’t break you know.”

He shuddered and his eyes flickered closed for a second as he nuzzled into her palm. Then they opened, the look in them hot enough to flay the skin from her bones. Heat seared through her, settling low down in her body. She ached for him, needed him in the worse possible way…ways she shouldn’t need him while she was heavy and swollen with his child.

“Are you sure? We’ll take it slow…gentle. I promise,” he whispered as he set her down in the center of the bed and climbed in after her. Bracing himself on strong arms over her, he blocked out her view of the stars above until there was just him. His blue-black gaze studied her, face surrounded by the long strands of his dark hair.

“I burn for you, princess. Always have and I always will. I’ll never leave your side. I want you as the mother of my children and the grandmother to our children’s children.” He leaned down and claimed her lips in a searing kiss.

“And I will always, always love you.”

Keliana melted as he whispered the promise against her lips. The words reached deep down inside her and wrapped around her heart, binding it as it ached with love for him.

“I love you too.” Her response was soft as she wound her arms around his neck and reached up to kiss him fully on the lips. This time she didn’t let him get away, becoming the aggressor as she tempted and demanded with her lips. He groaned, opening up at the first brush of her tongue against his lower lip.

He wrapped his arms wrapped around her and took over, his tongue surging thickly into her mouth as he turned onto his back so as not to crush her. Letting her rest against him as their mouths mated in an erotic dance hotter than anything she could recall them sharing before.

Heat became desperation, became movement as she ran her hands over his body. He was bigger, harder than she remembered, his lean frame packed with muscle. He’d been fit before but now…her mouth watered as she pulled at his uniform eliciting a chuckle from his broad chest as he helped her strip the jacket from him. The chuckle turned into a groan as she whispered kisses over the satiny skin of his chest and flicked at one flat nipple with her tongue.

“I’m sorry, sweets.” He moaned as he captured her hands and pinned them against his chest. “I can’t take that, I need you too much. Need you now.”

She didn’t get time to answer or argue as he kissed her again. His hands shaped her curves, a low growl of approval in the back of his throat as he did. The sundress and her underwear disappeared under his gently determined onslaught and she pulled back.

“I’ve changed…” she murmured, self-consciousness burning her cheeks as she pressed against him so he couldn’t see so much of her. He wouldn’t let her, clucking his tongue against his teeth as he pulled back and swept her body with a searing look.

“You’re gorgeous. Here, feel what you do to me.”

He grabbed her hand and pushed it against his groin. A gasp escaped her, and her eyes widened as she explored the thick, hard length of him. He was solid, almost bursting out of his uniform pants, which weren’t tight to begin with but were now, straining at the zip. Her clit ached with anticipation, her pussy clenching as liquid heat slipped from her.

He watched her with a burning gaze, his dark eyes narrowed. “Release me, princess. Let me love you.”

Her hands shook as she pulled down the zipper. She barely got it halfway before the pressure of his cock completed the journey, leaping eagerly into her hands and filling them with his hot, hard length. She stroked and he groaned, head thrown back and the strong cords of his throat taut.

“I’m sorry…slow next time,” he promised, pulling her up for a hard kiss. His lips still fused to hers, he turned her in his arms, breaking away at the last minute to pull her leg up gently. The hard pressure of his hair-roughened thigh behind kept it raised, Jareth using his body to support hers as he shifted.

The broad head of his cock pressed against her pussy lips from behind, sliding against the slickness there until he reached his goal. Her moan entwined with his deep, masculine sound of need as he pressed up and into her. Inch by slow inch he parted her, his cock pressing against her inner walls. Parting, stretching, filling, until his hips met hers.

“You feel… I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered, burying his lips against the curve of her throat as he started to move. Long, slow strokes designed for maximum sensation. Measured pleasure delivered with love as his hands stroked gently over her body, cupping her heavier breasts and smoothing over the swell of her belly.

“You’re beautiful. Sexy. And tight.” His breath came in pants, matching hers as he increased the pace a little. His cock slid in and out of her slick channel, the slippery friction driving her insane with need as he reached down between her legs. “You turn me on so fucking much.”

His fingers found her clit and circled it…toyed with it before he rubbed his fingertip over the swollen bud and pressed. Sensation flooded her, the tension in her body reached breaking point and held, as she realized that he found her attractive, heavy with child or not.

“Oh my godde—” She clutched at his arms for support as she hovered on the edge. Just one more stroke and she’d be there, the climax crashing over and sweeping her away. “Jareth, please.”

“I’ve got you, princess. Let go, I’ve got you.”

He pulled back and thrust again. She screamed his name as something inside snapped. Ecstasy washed over her in a torrent of sensation, a thousand tiny bubbles of pleasure that burst and popped through her blood as, behind her, Jareth growled and upped his pace. His heavy thrusts, cock driving into her silken depths, only elongated her release until he stiffened, growling her name as he came and thick, hot bursts of seed he filled her pussy, bathing the neck of her womb.

Smiling, she wrapped her hand around his wrists over her stomach as he groaned, cock still pulsing deep within her.

“I’ve missed you too, my prince. And I’ll never let you go again.”