A package sat on the floor outside their quarters when they returned from med-bay. Eight weeks old today, Cierra had her checkup after living aboard ship for the recommended thirty days. This meant Eryn’s final postpartum exam was today as well. Both physicians had given the go-ahead for the baby’s space travel, and Eryn had been released to resume all regular activities.

This also meant their departure from Earth was imminent. She should have been relieved to be moving forward, but it left her feeling on edge.

As they reached their door, Ram bent and scooped up the box.

“Cierra Lockwood,” he said, reading the label aloud. “From one of your friends, I gather. You need to inform them you are a Lockwood no longer, and neither is my daughter.”

“I’ll always be a Lockwood,” she replied, irritated by his order.

“That is in your past. You are Primarian now and are of my line.” He waved his hand over the door sensor and, after it slid open, with his hand on her lower back, guided them in. Annoyed he so cavalierly expected her to cast off all she was leaving behind, rather than getting into it with him, she went straight to Cierra’s room and put her sleepy baby down for her nap.

Her daughter yawned huge and squirmed for a few moments then settled in and dozed off. Eryn lingered, taking in every beautiful detail, noting how her cheeks had filled out more, and she didn’t have the newborn appearance any longer, and that her hair had grown, becoming thicker with a natural wave, another thing she’d inherited from her mama. She stroked the back of her finger down her soft cheek then left her in peace. When she returned to the main living area, her irritation came surging back.

Ram stood at the vid-screen, reviewing correspondence, completely unaware of her irritation. Although she knew she shouldn’t, she picked up where they’d left off.

“Just because we’re mates, doesn’t mean my past evaporated, or that Cierra doesn’t have a heritage from my side of her family.”

“Agreed,” he replied, without turning. “Nonetheless, using your family name for our child is inappropriate.”

“But you don’t have a last name. Won’t it be confusing when she goes to school and there are five Cierra’s in her class? How will they tell her apart?”

“First, it’s doubtful there will be more than one Cierra in her class. It is an Earth name. Second, she will be known as Ramikin’s first born or as the Master Warrior’s daughter which won’t be confusing at all, since there is only one of me.”

“Don’t women have any identity on Primaria?” she snapped, unable to temper her rising agitation.

His head came around in surprise. “It is the same with sons. All children are identified by their father’s line. What has gotten you so stirred up? Don’t children on your world identify through their father, and an Earth female, through her mate?”

“Cierra, the Master Warrior’s daughter is a mouthful, don’t you think? Wouldn’t a surname be easier?”

With brows raised, he faced her head-on. “So, it’s all right if she took my last name, if I had one, but not my first or my title? Eryn, you’re not making sense.”

It did sound like she was nitpicking.

He approached and stroked both hands up her arms until they curled over her shoulders. “You’re tense. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Yet she did, no matter his promises of forgiveness, things remained strained between them.

“Are you worried about the trip? About Cierra? Or is it starting over on a new world? Talk to me.”

Given the opening, she didn’t take it, shaking her head instead.

“If it’s this business with the council, I told you I’d take care of it, and clear the path back to Primaria for you. It may take a little time, but we have plenty to do on the new colony, so put it from your mind.”

Ram had told her all about his conversation with the elder. Being suspect of detonating the mine and wanted for questioning was disturbing, but she’d made a full statement naming Lorkin and Odo as her contacts before leaving. Ram knew, as did Kerr, Trask, and the elders. It was all public knowledge and she had nothing more to add. With the inquiry going on galaxies away, she’d relegated it to a distant corner of her mind. Other more pressing matters weighed on her, like how to bridge the chasm between her and Ram, in the here and now.

“I’ve told Mordrun,” he went on, when she didn’t respond, “and I’ll also tell Kerr, looking at you or any of your crew as being complicit with the mine explosion is ridiculous. You may have had motive, but lacked opportunity—”

“It isn’t that. I mean, being thought capable of such a horrible act is appalling, truly…”

“Then what is it, little rebel?”

Uncertain how to breach the delicate subject, she put it off, again. “It’s nothing.”

“Eryn, I can’t help allay your worries if you won’t confide in me.”

She blew out a breath. “Fine. It’s not nothing, it’s everything. Because it’s all happening so fast. Not so long ago, I only worried about my next EPIC class and which recruits couldn’t climb the rope wall. Now I have a mate, a daughter, I’m wanted for questioning about a crime I didn’t commit, and I’m heading off across the galaxies to a whole new life, on an undeveloped planet with the barest of necessities.” Her gaze shot to his. “How much progress have they made? Is there electricity? Good God, what about plumbing? I hadn’t considered—”

“Do you think I’d bring you and Cierra there if it didn’t?”

Her shoulders slumped in relief, at least she could check one worry of her list.

He drew her close. “This is why you were arguing with me about names?”

She shrugged.

He chuckled, which raised her hackles immediately.

“We don’t use middle names, but I did so out of respect for your custom when you couldn’t. Be happy in choosing Cierra’s, I rejected your appalling suggestion.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Cierra Ramikin Lockwood?” Of course, he had seen her journal. “You didn’t honestly consider the name Ramikin for our girl? She is too beautiful to be saddled with a male name.”

Recognizing the teasing hint in his voice, she wrinkled her nose. “It wasn’t my first choice, but I couldn’t come up with a better girl’s name with Ram in it.”

The amusement faded from his face. “You were serious?”

“Yes.”

“Even before the tests proved she belonged to me?”

She didn’t know how to answer. She’d been certain he couldn’t be the father, but it didn’t mean deep down she didn’t have a suspicion. Heaven knows Juna and Lana had planted the seeds of doubt. And she couldn’t rule out a subconscious yearning for her child to be his.

“You knew all along and didn’t tell me.” His voice took on a hard edge.

“No! I didn’t find out for certain the day of the attack, and I wasn’t an easy sell.”

He frowned.

“It means hard to convince.”

“I know the expression, Eryn. But the notebook I found in your room looked old and tattered.”

She dropped her gaze, and answered quietly. “They were scribblings, Ram, nothing more. And if you’d flipped back to the beginning, you’d have seen a bunch of other names. I truly believed the baby couldn’t be yours. The three tests I took on the flight home which were negative convinced me.”

He studied her for a moment. “Who did you think the father was?”

She stiffened. One of many subjects she’d hoped would never come up. They had much left unsaid between them, and these two topics merely scratched the surface. “It doesn’t matter now.”

His fingers tightened on her shoulders. “It does to me, mate. I asked a question.”

“Why, when it has no bearing?”

“My mate being intimate with another male has every bearing.”

She lifted her gaze to his, knowing complete honesty in this touchy area mattered greatly. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. And I never believed we were mates. Other tests, ones done on your planet, by your physics, declared it impossible.”

“Which has been disproved.”

“Now, but at the time—”

“Who was he, Eryn?” he demanded in a clipped hard voice.

She closed her eyes against the anger blazing in his.

“Did you have feelings for this man?” he persisted. “Love him, perhaps?”

“No, he meant nothing. I made a stupid mistake. I was trying…”

“Trying to what?”

She shook her head while pulling away. He wouldn’t have it, however, and held fast, one arm sliding around her waist to keep her near. “Answer me.”

Face-to-face with him, could she tell him the truth? What if he didn’t feel the same?

“Eryn,” he growled with ebbing patience.

“I thought someone else could erase your memory and make me forget you. It didn’t work. You still haunted my dreams. It turned out to be a painful mistake I regret to this day.”

“Painful, how?”

She gave him an annoyed look. “I bare my soul, and you want graphic details?”

“Yes, did it burn when you coupled?”

“Ram, please, this won’t help repair the rift between us.”

“Did you feel scalded, the burning so intense you had a hard time extinguishing it?”

It had. In fact, it burned horribly that night and into the next day, even after taking several oatmeal baths, she’d almost gone to the clinic. Afterward, she’d been tested, afraid he’d given her something bad.

“The look on your face tells me it did. It was the mate bond at work.”

“The what?”

“Once the breaching is complete, a biocellular change takes place within both mates. This establishes the bond and triggers the transformation in the female. Sex with anyone except her mate will cause severe burning. It is the female body’s way of rejecting foreign seed, not to mention a strong inducement for fidelity.”

“Is the man similarly affected?”

“Yes. If a male joins with another’s mate, it can be worse. Like a chemical burn, I’m told, with redness and painful blisters.” His mouth twisted into a wry grin. “I’d wager your meaningless mistake wasn’t operational again for weeks.”

“It really meant nothing to me, Ram. But I suppose now that you’ve dragged it out of me, you’ll hold this against me, too.”

The humorless smile faded from his lips. “I can’t hold it against you, Eryn. How could I when I tried to eradicate you in the same way?”

A knot formed in the pit of her stomach as images of him with other women flashed in her head. The hurt visceral, yet she couldn’t fault him, any more than herself.

“Did you dream of me?” she blurted.

“Every night. I should have known they were mate dreams, although they usually haunt the female. And since we are being honest, the other women paled in comparison to the real thing, and left me cold and filled with regrets.”

“Women? As in plural?”

“I am not proud of the fact. Like you, I thought we had parted ways—forever. But no more.” His fingers curled around her nape and drew her closer, pulling her up onto her toes as he dipped his head, not stopping until they were nose to nose. “We are mated, Eryn. No other male will touch what is mine.”

“Will you give the same vow?”

“Without hesitation. I crave the luscious, delectable, tempting body of my redheaded Earth mate; no one else.”

What she’d planned to say next went unsaid, quickly forgotten as his mouth came down on hers and his tongue swooped inside. Only when she clung to his shoulders, fighting for breath, did he raise his head.

“You’re mine, Eryn, forever.”

“Maes eternium,” came her whispered response.

“You remembered.” His voice gruff with emotion, he was clearly moved she had.

“How could I forget?”

“Juna determined you were free to resume all activity?”

“Yes, she made a specific point of telling me that.”

“Thank the Maker,” he growled, and buried his face in her neck, opening his mouth on her skin. One hand slipped lower and claimed the lower curves of her ass, dragging her up against his body until her soft thighs cushioned his rigid length. “I have taken enough cold showers to do me a lifetime. I was destined to create a water crisis on the ship if this day didn’t come soon.”

“Not to be critical, however, it’s been almost nine months. What are you waiting for? Are you all talk, Master Warrior? Or are you ever going to fuck me?”

A husky laugh rolled up from his chest, while, at the same time, he ground the hard ridge of his cock against her pussy. “Such a taunt deserves a trip over my knee, but today it’s like music to my ears.”

His kiss smothered her delighted laughter as his hands parted her robe and slid under her short nightshirt. With a quick tug, he eliminated her panties, ripping them apart, his patience gone. Then he lifted her, and, while he palmed both her ass cheeks in his big hands, she wrapped her long legs around his middle.

Her back hit the wall the next instant, and she gasped when his fingers found the wetness of her sex.

“Mate, you are testing my control when I know I must go gently.”

The head of his cock slid through her heat, passing through her drenched folds until the head was slick and easily entered her. Then, with the utmost control, he filled her for the first time in months.

In contrast, his lips and hands moved hungrily over her skin. She arched her neck as his hot mouth slid up the side. He caught her earlobe between his teeth and tugged, soothing away the sting with his tongue the next instant.

Trembling with need, she didn’t think she could take much more without flying apart. “Faster, Ram.”

“Not yet.”

“Harder, please.”

“When I say, mate.”

“Your teasing is driving me mad,” she cried.

He began to move, drawing out slightly then easing back in. With each stroke, he took more, bit by bit, with a deliberate unhurried glide that ignited every nerve ending. She shuddered, her heels digging into his firm ass cheeks, trying to get him to hurry.

“I’m not going to be able to wait.”

“Don’t. I plan to take my time. Come as you will, little rebel. I shall enjoy feeling you convulse and quiver around me.”

Continuing at this measured pace, he slipped a hand between them, his fingers sliding through her folds until he located the point where his cock entered her. He moaned against her ear. “I’ve dreamed of touching you while we joined. I was robbed of that last time. Never again.”

The reminder of their first time came as her climax rolled through her. She cried out from both ecstasy and the pain of regret. Had he really forgiven her? Was it a random comment, or did he dwell on it still?

Eryn buried her face in his throat and hung on as he moved faster but still with care. Ram’s fingers, flexing and curling into the flesh of her bottom, announced his impending climax. His cock swelled further inside her, and he stiffened above her. His head flew back as he thrust once and held then did it again. A groan rumbled up from his chest, the tremors of his release rocking his body.

Moments later, when the tension began to ease, he settled into a slow and easy glide again. It felt wonderful, the friction creating a delicious warmth inside her.

Maybe a bit too warm, she decided. As the seconds passed, it got worse, getting uncomfortable. Shifting, did no good.

“Ram?”

“A moment more inside you, Eryn,” he murmured against her throat. “It’s a feeling close to heaven.”

“But I’m hot. Burning actually.”

His face came away from her neck, and he met her anxious gaze. “Did you burn the last time? With me, I mean?”

“Not that I recall, and if I did, it was nothing like this. Something is wrong.”

“I think not. It sounds like the breaching fire. I thought it would have passed by now, but it’s not unusual to occur during the first few joinings. It should ease soon.”

“It’s not. It’s getting worse,” she cried, squirming against him now.

He eased out of her, still holding her in his arms. “Let’s get you in a tepid bath, which should help.”

He carried her, which felt nice, but the awful burning was unbearable. In the bathroom, he set her down beside the large oval tub. An upgrade for the Odyssey, in accommodation of their allies much longer frames.

“I can’t stand it.” The burning so bad, she tore at her clothes unable to wait while he adjusted the flow of water into the tub. At the rending sound of fabric, he brushed her hands aside and unzipped her dress. After sweeping it over her head, he set her on her feet in the filling tub.

She sank into less than an inch of water and began splashing it in strategic spots. Soon, the cool water eased the burn.

He knelt beside her, watching. “Better?”

“Yes, thank you.” She turned her frown on him. “Why is this happening now? Oh, my God. Is this what it’s going to be like every time?”

“I can’t answer—”

“What? Ram!”

“Slow down and let me finish. First, I can’t answer why. Our mating has been so far from normal I don’t know what to expect. Second, I’ve never heard of the breaching fire happening every time, so I’m certain it will pass.”

“But you can’t be sure.”

He shrugged then dipped one of those round sponge things into the water and squeezed it out over her shoulders, “In a typical breaching, each time lessens in intensity until the transformation is complete.”

With the water deeper, and the burning gone, she leaned back, savoring the relief. When she did so, the tips of her breasts rose above the water line. Of course, he noticed. Dipping the sponge again, this time he let it drizzle over her chest and the pebbled pink tips.

She licked her dry lips. “I have your golden eyes already, does the burning mean there is more transforming ahead?”

With great patience, he continued to bathe her. “We never know what will change. Each mated pair is different, hair, eyes, skin tone, full change, half and half, stripes, and, for fated mates, there is a marking.”

“Stripes!” she gasped. “I could wind up looking like a zebra?”

He chuckled. “I should have specified striped hair, not all over, and it’s more like a streaked effect, similar to what some Earth women pay to achieve at your beauty shops. The one thing that is certain is the end result is always a surprise.”

“Do you burn, too?”

“No—”

She threw up her arms with a splash. “Once again I get the short end of the stick. Has anyone ever mentioned your species as a whole is unfair to women?”

“Galita, if it makes you feel better, I will experience the hunger if it goes as expected.”

Her eyes went wide. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that. What is the hunger?”

“An overwhelming craving for my mate. It diminishes over time, yet doesn’t ever entirely go away.” He looked down into her shocked features and smiled. “After what we just shared, I’m anticipating a lifetime of unappeased desire and attempting to satisfy it with your luscious body.”

“Like I said, unfair to women. I burn and you get horny.”

“It’s our species’ way of ensuring offspring.” Dropping the sponge, he leaned over, until his lips hovered over hers. “Besides, your end of the stick is me working my horniness off on you.”

She stretched to get closer, but he pulled back a fraction of an inch, teasing. Then he relented, kissing her with a barely-there lip touch. Over in a wink, he sat back then dipped his hand in the water, retrieving the sponge to resume bathing her.

Leaning back, she cleared her throat. “Ordinarily, I’d say bring it on, big boy, but I think you’re forgetting we have an infant for a roommate, which doesn’t bode well for your increased appetite.”

He glanced up, sponge dripping in his hand, his brow furrowed deeply. Cierra had obliged them by sleeping this time. They couldn’t count on her doing so numerous times a day.

“I’ll line up some volunteers to watch her.”

She gave a little huff of disbelief. “What will you tell them? Come babysit so we can satisfy your mating hunger?”

“Yes.”

“Ram!”

He angled a cheeky grin her way, while squeezing the sponge over her chest. “Primarians will understand and be accommodating.”

“I can’t see your warriors changing diapers.”

He leaned back as if offended. “I have. Often.”

“You’re her father,” she countered, stating the obvious.

“True. I’m sure they will be fine with it. We’ve been anxious for babies to come along for two very long decades.”

“I’ll ask Lana. She’s already offered. And Juna. She has a soft spot for Cierra.”

“That’s a start.”

Again, she blinked. “What do you mean a start? Two isn’t enough?”

“When the hunger peaks, it can be consuming.”

“How consuming?”

“I think the name for the period speaks for itself.”

“No, I mean how many times. Two or three?”

A grin curved his lips. “Yes, for a start.”

“Again, with ‘a start.’ Can you be more specific? Four or five?”

“I’ve heard nine is the record, but I think that was boastful. For me, no more than six, maybe seven at the most. But never having experienced it, I’m guessing.”

“Which averages once a day. I’m up for it.”

He stared at her for a single beat. “Eryn. I didn’t mean per week.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Six times a day? You’re not serious. I won’t be able to walk.”

With a brow arched, he replied, “You’re exaggerating.”

His gaze swept down her naked body, lingering on her breasts and then the fiery-red curls still visible as the tub filled.

She recognized the glint in his eye. “Ram…”

“Scoot up,” he ordered while he stood, his erection as big and hard as if he hadn’t fucked her against the wall five minutes ago.

“Already?” His recuperative powers stunned her.

“The hunger also ensures new mates spend a lot of time together, intimately, so the bond takes.”

“But, it’s taken. We have a baby, and I have your gold eyes now.”

“You’re just going to have to go with it, little rebel. As am I.”

“Yeah, I can see you’re all broken up about it.”

He chuckled, climbing into the tub with her. When he sat, he lifted her and brought her astride his thighs facing him.

“How is the burning?”

“Much better.”

“Good,” he murmured, aligning his cock with her still-warm and tingling center. “Although the fire might spark to life again, very soon.”

He eased her down his length.

“Do you know what this means?” Her question came out half sigh, half moan.

“What?” His response was all groan. Flexing his hips, he thrust up inside her.

“I got pregnant our first time together. It’s bound to happen again after six or seven times a day.”

His dimple made an appearance when he grinned, making her heart flutter.

“Cierra will have a brother or sister. I’m looking forward to being with you the entire time, watching you bloom with my child inside you.”

Warm and wet, his hands slid up her back, one not stopping until it wound in the hair at the back of her neck. He angled her head down until his gaze locked with hers, his smile soft like Ram from the early days.

“Will you mind a large family?” His lips brushed against the underside of her chin as he began moving gently within her. “With six of us growing up, it was chaos, but I always thought to have as many one day. Although a son, so we have one of each, would make me happy.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” she answered, her desire for him making her breathless already. “Good thing you’ve got stamina, because by round three or four, you’ll have to do all the work.”

“I have no problem with that, although I think you’ll find a second wind and perhaps a fifth and sixth.”

Her husky groan drowned out his chuckle when he bent his head and circled one of her nipples with the tip of his tongue. After lapping up a droplet of water quivering on the end of the stiff peak, he sipped it between his lips and suckled. She arched her back, giving of herself, as she began to writhe on top of him.

“Easy, Eryn,” he whispered against her wet skin while his mouth skated to the other peak to give it equal attention. “It’s not a race.”

“You’ll have to remember those words when your daughter wakes and you’re not near the finish line. Besides, you got to set the pace last time. With me on top, it’s my turn. How do you like that, Master Warrior?”

He leaned back in the tub, lying more than sitting, both breasts dangling over his mouth while he feasted. “I rather like you on top, little mate,” he growled, with his teeth latched firmly on a nipple. “It gives me free use of my hands.” A slap rang out, skin on wet skin resounding like a blaster shot in the small room.

Letting out a little yelp, her head came up and she met his molten gaze. “What was that for?”

“A reminder. Although you’re on top, I’m still the mate in control.” Both of his hands slid over her bottom and squeezed. Guiding her movements, his cock slid out, but Ram stopped before she lost all of him. Then, his hands began to explore, one slipping between them. Slick from the water and her natural wetness, the work-roughened tips glided easily through her folds and around where the head of his shaft stretched her. His thumb found the nub in front, making her gasp as it rubbed in circles.

The fingers of his other hand explored the cleft of her bottom, locating the tight hole in back. One dipped inside, ever so slightly. And while all of this was going on, his mouth didn’t become idle, never once stopping the sensual torment of her nipples, licking, sucking, and, every so often, his teeth nipping so his tongue could soothe.

With all this stimulation, she felt her milk let down. But his mouth didn’t slow, instead, she felt and heard his approving groan against her skin. “Sweetness.”

Her head fell forward until her cheek rested against his slightly damp hair. She moaned helplessly. Never in her life had she been touched so intimately or quite so thoroughly. Then, while his strong arms kept her in place, he began thrusting inside her, his cock going deep one time then withdrawing again to tease her with only the tip. As sexual torture went, she found it phenomenal.

Still, she squirmed atop his body, trying to take more of him, but her pleasure was literally in his hands and he had her right where he wanted her, motionless except for his fingers on her clit and rear opening, his mouth wide on a nipple, lashing it with his tongue from the inside.

“Ram, please,” she moaned, near out of her mind with need.

“You’re on top, Eryn, but who’s in charge here?” He growled the question with a taut peak caught between his teeth.

“You are, now please, go faster.”

At the same time he released her nipple, he slowly filled her again. Watching her, he began another unhurried glide in reverse, pausing once more at the mouth of her rippling, clutching, needy opening. “Who decides, galita?”

The source of her pleasure so close, but for his strength and determination, she gave the one response that she could, “You do, Ram, only you.”

Sinking in all the way, he impaled her once again on his hard shaft. “Yes, sweet mate, I decide where and when, how fast or slow, although I’m always open for suggestions on venues and new positions.” He chuckled when she shot him a scowl.

“You’re tormenting me on purpose.”

“Maybe, but at eight or nine times a day, they can’t all be frenzied fucking, or we’ll wear each other out.”

“Eight or nine!” she objected, even while the motion of his cock, at last moving steadily in and out, had her gasping. “You said five or six.”

“About that.” He thrust up with his hips, his fingers spreading her wider as he drove inside, taking up every trace of available space. “After having you, my initial projections may have been underestimated.”

“I definitely won’t be able to walk, let alone move or get out of bed.”

“And the problem with that is…?”

“Ram!”

“I’m teasing you, galita,” he whispered, while his lips slid up to her throat and he latched on there. And not once did he stop the rhythmic motion of his hips. “If we go slow like this, and make it last, it will be six, seven tops.”

“I’m mated to a sex maniac,” she muttered, while hanging on.

“No, Eryn, you’re mated to a Primarian male. Now quit fussing and give me your mouth.”

To keep him from saying anything more outrageous and arrogant, she did, and also because the man could kiss.

There was little talking from then on, unless breathless sighs and moans of delight counted, as he moved faster—at long last. They splashed half the water onto the floor as they skidded and grappled in the slippery tub. In the end, with an arm around her waist and one beneath her bottom, he lifted her, stepped out, and set her wet behind on the nearby counter, finishing her there. She grumbled something about how she liked slick, but not when it came to surfaces, and had to let him go to hold on. Draping her legs over his forearms, clasping her ass in his great big hands, Ram anchored her and took her more deeply.

She clung to him, unable to do much else except take while he drove into her fast and hard, just like she’d begged him to do. Her back arched and her toes curled when she cried out her passion. Only then did Ram let go, shuddering, and convulsing as he poured himself inside her while growling her name down her throat.

Wrapped around one another, wet skin adhering to wet, tingling parts still joined, their pulses had just begun to slow when Cierra’s fretful cries reached them through the door.

Breathing deep as a last tremor passed through her, she said on an exhale, “Your daughter has bad timing.”

“I disagree. Both of us came before she decided to make her demands, which makes our daughter very accommodating.”

He disengaged and reached for a towel, quickly drying himself, and then pulling on his damp trousers that hadn’t been safe from getting splashed even in a far corner of the room. He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “You take a few minutes to collect yourself. I’ll get her.”

“Thank you, Ram.”

He eyed her bare body, where she sat with legs splayed, collapsed against the wall, totally wiped out. “Pure selfishness, mate. You need to reserve your strength.”

“Mercy,” she sighed as he headed for the door. “This is just round two, and it isn’t midday. I’m going to have to see Juna about more vitamins.”

“Good idea. Tell her to make it a mega dose, little rebel. If you’re winded and exhausted after twice, you’re going to need them to keep up with me even without the hunger.”

Surely he’s kidding. But as the door closed behind him, he chuckled, and she reconsidered. He could walk, talk, and function, while she sat spent, like a useless puddle of goo on the bathroom counter. Getting megavitamins went to the very top of her to-do list.

Hearing him whistle as he moved down the hall toward the baby’s room, she smiled, her mood much improved from earlier today, and a world of difference from what it had been a few months ago. She considered how fast her life had changed. Although their future was daunting, she now had a sated mate and a perfect daughter, and six weeks within the confines of the ship, allowing few distractions, to devote her full attention to both. Maybe by the time they arrived, some of the remaining doubts and the reserve Ram still showed around her would be gone.

Cierra’s cries made her breasts swell. Before she got to the point where she hurt, she jumped down and, on rubbery legs, cleaned up and went to feed her firstborn of what seemed destined to be many. Oddly enough, she didn’t mind, not if twofers with Ram like what had happened this morning were part of the deal.