Over the next several days, Shay used the warp drive every twenty-four hours to jump the ship into the next solar system. Ella had been rocked to the core during the last battle, but Shay assured her that the Mulgor mothership was badly damaged and would be unable to follow them at the same speed they were running.

She had been strapped into her chair in the bedroom when the last battle had taken place but even still, it had left her dazed and confused. Over the days it took to travel back to Galaton, Ella and Shay were able to get to know each other for the first time.

Being together with him filled her heart with gladness in a way she had never imagined possible in her previous life. She loved her students and she loved being a teacher but spending time with her prince fulfilled a need in her that she hadn't even fully recognized before. It was as if all of the stars aligned inside her heart and she would never be lonely again.

They spent as much time as possible alone in their chambers, working together on the mating ritual. Her body was still not prepared to take his in the natural way between a man and a woman.

Even though she was pregnant with his son her human body had not yet adjusted to him. Ella wanted him inside her more than anything she had ever wanted before, but Shay was reluctant to do what needed to be done to bring them to their final complete connection to each other.

After five days of warp drive jumps, from solar system to solar system, Ella and Shay were sitting together in their chamber looking out the window at an asteroid belt between two gas giant planets.

They had just jumped and had to allow the warp drive to power up again before their next jump. Ella leaned over to Shay and put her hand on his thigh, letting him know that she wanted to be with him right then and there.

“When can we be together?” she said, looking up at him.

We can see how things are progressing,” he said with a sly smile. “But I don't want to hurt the baby. As much as I need you, as much as my dragon roars to claim you, I cannot bring myself to do it. I fear that my body would harm the child. If that happened, I would never forgive myself.

“It won't hurt the baby for us to be together,” Ella said.

She had been doing as much research as possible on the mating ritual, and she was convinced that if he claimed her, all would be well. Her body would adjust and she would be able to have a natural childbirth instead of surgery.

A Draconian baby was quite large compared to a human one. Human female bodies needed to have the genetic transition that happened during claiming, otherwise her body would not allow such a large child to come through it naturally. The other brides of Galaton had obstetrics births, but Ella was determined to give birth naturally and to produce the milk her baby needed from her own breasts.

“You are being so stubborn, my prince,” she giggled, running her hand up his chest.

She saw the bulge between his legs that grew at her touch. She knew that she had him right where she wanted him.

“You make a convincing argument,” he growled.

He flicked the spot on his neck that made his uniform retract. Suddenly, his gorgeous nude body was there before her eyes, and she marveled at the sight of his magnificent manhood.

She would never be able to get enough of him, and the sight of him would always fill her with a sense of absolute awe. He was as hard as a steel rod, his erection reaching up past his navel.

Ella gripped it with her tiny hand, her fingers barely wrapping around his girth. He was larger than her entire forearm and half again as thick. She began to stroke him up and down his amazing shaft and watched his eyes flutter shut in his head lean back against the couch.

“My bride,” he growled in a low voice.

Ella loved the way he looked when she touched him like this. It made her want to do it as often as he would allow. She continued stroking him up and down using both her hands to grip his thick cock.

Just touching him like this made her gush moisture and made her quiver with anticipation. She wanted to taste him on her lips and feel the head of his cock throbbing against her mouth.

She leaned down, still holding him in her hands. Her lips parted and she took him in as deep as she could manage. Licking and sucking at the head of his cock, she continued to stroke him with ever increasing intensity.

Shay sucked a sharp breath through his clenched teeth and Ella moaned with arousal. She tasted the drops of precum that beaded out of the head of his cock. The flavor drove her mad with excitement and she felt she would lose her mind if he made her wait a second longer.

She felt his cock stiffening against her mouth and she knew he was about to burst. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she continued to stroke and suck and lick at him. In that moment, she was happier than ever that she had taken the chance to leave her planet to go find her mate.

Just as she was thinking about her good fortune, Shay groaned and his seed shot deep in her throat. She drank it down, wanting to consume every last drop. Shay pushed her back and pulled her skirt up around her waist.

He sank to his knees on the floor in front of her. She wasn't wearing any panties as had become her custom since Shay had arrived to rescue her. He spread her legs wide and dove between them, greedily lapping up all of the juices that flowed between her legs.

She was so aroused from the taste of his cum that by the time he shoved two thick fingers inside her, she was ready to explode. She ran her fingers through his hair and screamed with release. But he didn't stop fucking her with his fingers. As he thrust inside her again and again, he looked up into her eyes and pulled her dress down away from her breasts, exposing her swollen globes and tight nipples.

“My princess is almost ready to take my cock,” he growled. “Very soon, beloved. Very soon.”

“Oh, Shay,” she groaned. “I want you now.”

She orgasmed again, her mind ablaze with desire for her mate. She was in the kind of transcendent madness that only true lovers felt for each other. After they were sated, they sat together on the couch and watched a video on the holo-screen that covered the bank of windows in front of the couch.

It was one of Ella's favorite movies from Earth that she'd brought with her on her wrist holocom storage. Shay didn't really understand many of the subtleties of human language or culture, even though Galaton had been watching human media for the last thirty years.

She still had to explain some of the details to him. When he didn't understand this or that, it made her giggle and find him even cuter than she had before. Being together with Shay like this in such a normal human way made her feel as if she hadn't really lost anything by leaving Earth behind. She could still have all of the things she’d had before through her memories and her stored media.

Even on Galaton, and over the vast journey, it was possible to communicate with Earth. Location in the galaxy in relation to other celestial bodies made a difference in how well the communication would transfer through space, but it wasn't impossible.

In fact, it was quite common. Galaton communicated with Draconia on an almost daily basis in one way or another.

“Tell me more about the water lands,” Ella said when the movie was done.

“The water lands are covered in a vast ocean that covers most of the west of Galaton. We live in an underwater dome in a place called the Coral City. It is a city of living coral, kept vibrant by the deep underwater roots of the system.”

“I can’t wait to see it with my own eyes,” she said.

She’d seen many pictures of his homeland, but being there would be another story. She’d spent half a year aboard the spaceship, first waiting for him, and then having him with her. Now things felt as natural as could be. But she still wanted to finally settle down with him at home.

What she wanted more was for him to finally claim her.

“Do you think I’m ready now?” she asked him, slipping onto his lap.

“Perhaps,” he growled through his sharp teeth, his hands sliding up the back of her dress.

He cupped her ass with his big hands, sliding her over his erect cock, her belly big between them.

Shay pulled her bodice open, her breasts pert in his face. His big mouth nuzzled the ripe mounds of her breasts, his hands cupping them gently. His tongue roved her nipple, flicking over the tight flesh. It amplified her lust, and she rubbed against his cock, finding the spot on his neck that made his uniform melt away.

His naked flesh rubbed against her pussy now. She was wetter than she’d ever been in her life.

He cupped her ass, sliding her back and forth over his shaft. He was so thick she didn’t know how he would ever fit inside her.

Her pregnant belly kept her from tipping her hips forward and sliding over the head of his cock. She wanted him so badly. Her body ached to take him. She was so open, so ready for anything.

Shay sucked her tits, cupping them and squeezing them as he lapped up her nipples, drawing out the tiny drops of milk from inside her fertile bosoms. She gasped at the pleasure, and Shay groaned. Their eyes locked. His moss-green orbs told of unknowable depths of emotion. She wanted him to fill her with everything he had to give.

Shay gripped her hips and turned her over on her knees. The couch felt velvety soft below her skin. Shay slid his shaft under her pussy and rubbed up and down the length of her folds, while he fondled her breasts. He towered above her and arched his broad back to hold her against him and nuzzle her ear. His thickness rubbed back and forth over her ready opening. She knew she could take him now.

She bit her lip as the head of his cock pressed her hole. He was so wide. So unimaginably wide. She gasped. He held her breast in his hand, and held her to his chest. With her on the couch, and him on the floor, he was able to control their considerable height difference. His huge cock angled up below her, and he pushed her legs open wider.

She looked behind her to see his massive form towering over her little body, his naked blue-green skin shimmering in the light. His hands caressed her back as he pressed his head into her core. Ella moved forward, resting against the back of the couch, the cushions soft and warm against her electrified breasts.

His hand pressed against the small of her back as he widened her ass. The thick head of his cock slid further inside her. She groaned, feeling herself widened beyond imagining. Shay leaned over her prone body and whispered into her neck.

“Are you ready for this, my darling?” he asked her.

She groaned in agreement.

“My little princess,” he growled above her.

She could feel the tips of his fangs graze over the skin of her neck. She longed to have his fangs deep inside her, to be claimed by him. His cock pushed deeper, inch by inch, she took him. His wholeness. All of him.

That long, hard shaft she’d worshiped for days. She finally felt it inside her soaking wet core. She erupted at the feeling of him pressing against her swollen desire. Her nipples throbbed, and she bit the cushions again, the pleasure and pain mingling as one. When he pushed the last inch inside her, she felt him expand. His fangs bit deep into her neck.

His hot seed erupted into her pussy. It shot to the very back of her channel, making her quiver into a full body climax. His teeth bit hard and deep, his jaw clamping. Ella clenched on his cock as her mind expanded into the deep reaches of the universe.

She felt the bond between them explode in her soul. It radiated through every pulse point on her tiny frame. She burned with a new awareness, broader than she’d dared ever dream. It flew outward in all directions but always brought her back to Shay.

She was his goddess and he was her god. Their bond wrapped around and dove inside her, their pairing rooted at her depths. His hands slid up her waist and she was burning. The climax radiated between them still. She knew him deep into his most secret parts. This enigma who’d been lost to her for so long was finally revealed and it was magnificent.

He pulled carefully out of her body and laid her on the couch. He transformed the couch into a bed with the flick of a button and they lay together, looking into each other’s eyes. She cupped his cheek, adoring the sight of his gorgeous face. He leaned in and kissed her.

“Now that we’ve mated, I feel like I understand you in so many new ways. I never imagined it would be this intense.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” she giggled. “It’s like we’re the same person.”

“I will give my life to protect you. You are my everything.”

“I can’t wait to get home,” Ella said. “For us to finally start our life together. It’s all I think about.”

“It has been a long journey for you, my beloved, but soon it will be done. I will get you to my palace where I can worship you as you should be worshipped.”

Ella giggled as Shay moved in to kiss her hard against the mouth, already ready to make love again.

Sirens blared through the room, making Ella flinch. Shay jumped from the bed.

“Prince Vishak, we are under attack.”

Ella stood up and pulled on a robe. Shay flicked on his uniform and went to Ella.

“You need to strap in, beloved, the Mulgor have found us.” He helped her into her seat and gave her a kiss on the top of the head. “Everything is going to be all right, Ella” he said, looking at her earnestly. “Don't worry, my beloved,” he said as he hurried out.

Ella clung to the straps of her harness as the ship began to move at a new angle. Her experience in the last battle had not been any fun, and she didn't expect this one to be any better.

She screamed as she saw a Mulgor fighter jet flying toward the bank of windows in front of her.

The furniture was all strapped down to the floor so there was nothing flying around the apartment. And even though the antigravity mechanisms made it so she didn't fly around, she still felt the massive amounts of force when the ship spiraled and dove this way and that.

A ships coming toward her window was smashed in an explosion of laser fire and the Black Spear sprang upward and away, spiraling around and around. Ella gripped her stomach and felt as if she might be sick.

There were so many ships coming at them all at once. As they turned again, she saw the mothership outside the window. She could see the black hole from Shay’s attack in the hull of the Mulgor vessel, but she wasn't any less terrified.

The Black Spear shot in the opposite direction, shooting laser beams at the oncoming fighter jets. Shay maneuvered around until he was coming up hot on the mothership. Huge fire balls propelled through space toward the giant ship. It hit again, and this time there was a chain reaction, catalyzing each and every layer of the mothership. The chunks dropped off the exterior and the interior imploded. The fighter jets exploded one by one, somehow connected to the mother ship. Just at that moment, Ella felt the inertia of the beginning of warp drive.

When they settled into the next solar system, Ella was as relieved as she’d ever been. They were that much closer to Galaton and she would finally be home.

She slid out of the harness and climbed back into bed, waiting for Shay to return. Her mate would always protect her with his life.

He returned several minutes later and lay beside her.

“We’ll be back on Galaton in just a few days,” he said, reassuring her. “I don’t think we will have to worry about the Mulgor again.”