Page 48

TWO MONTHS LATER

AIDY

There are few pleasures as enjoyable as watching your mate work.

I stand back, admiring the strong flex of Corvak's back as he loads heavy rocks onto a sled with Gren.

The stones are gargantuan, but they're also flatter down at the far end of the beach, and Corvak said he wanted them for the floor of our hut that's currently being built.

The two men set the enormous flat stone down on the sled they brought for transporting.

They look pleased at the accomplishment when it crashes onto the sled and the entire thing shakes but holds together.

"Good stone," says my mate, unaware I'm standing nearby. "Aidy will like it."

I hate that I'm going to have to ruin his day. "Do you have a moment, love?"

Corvak's face brightens as he realizes I've arrived. I love how just seeing me—even though we were in bed together hours ago—puts the biggest smile on his face. "Done already?" he asks. "I thought they would commandeer you for a while."

"Nope, we're all good. It was a short lesson today.

" I've been sitting in with the Ancestors—Those Who Remain—that are living above-ground with the Icehome village.

There's no language-translating chip for them like there was for myself and Corvak, and so they recently went to an old, crashed ship to get what Harlow calls a "language" dump.

That worked and they can understand our words now, but a party is going to return to the people underground, and they want to make a language guide to help with learning.

Somehow, I'm the best with languages in the entire group.

There are nuances to the Ancestors' language that can't be communicated easily. I noticed this when Rosalind was trying to explain to Set’nef the differences between two words that sound the same in English—the "sea" and "to see," and I jumped in to help.

I've also been able to understand the Spanish that Marisol and Callie switch into constantly, before the translator kicks in.

It's like my khui has some sort of language superpower, where I grasp the concepts quicker than others.

As a result, I've been working with Rosalind, Set'nef, and Tal'nef to go over common words in the Ancestors' language (with Rosalind recording things on parchment skins) so we can establish a travel "guide" for future visitors.

Today, however, our lesson was cut short due to weird circumstances. "I've got good news and bad news," I say to my mate. "Which do you want first?"

He glances over at Gren, nodding at him, then wipes his brow and moves to my side.

Gren goes to check on his son, who's stacking smaller rocks nearby, his constant little shadow.

Ever since we arrived at Icehome, we've gotten along with everyone, but there's a special bond between Gren and Corvak.

It's like Corvak's found a brother in the quiet gladiator, and I'm so happy for him.

I know Willa, Gren's mate, is equally thrilled.

There's community, and then there's family .

It doesn't matter if Gren and Corvak aren't truly brothers—they feel like they are, and that's all that matters.

"Are you not sewing?" Corvak asks, approaching and placing a kiss on my forehead. He cups my face and then slides a hand to my neck, rubbing it. "Is your stomach all right?"

Aw, he's so sweet. "I'm okay, really." Morning sickness continues to be a beast, but I've been drinking that awful-tasting tea Veronica suggested, and it helps. I have it in my waterskin right now and sip it throughout the day, hot or cold. "I need to talk to you, though. I have bad news."

His gaze immediately flicks to my waist, panic on his face.

"No! It's not about the baby! It's about the hut."

Corvak sags, and then pulls me into a tight embrace, squeezing me against his chest. My nose is buried in sweaty pectorals. "Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," I say, voice muffled against his chest. "But we need to wait on the hut."

"Wait on it? Why?" He pulls back a little, letting me breathe.

While it's nice to be able to draw air into my lungs, I kinda miss being cuddled up against his pecs.

He's got such a nice chest. It's muscled and covered in thick dark hair, and I just want to touch him.

Or bite his skin. I stare at his nipples, arousal hitting me out of the blue.

Being pregnant has made me incredibly horny as well as pukey.

Silver lining, I suppose. "Um. Devi says it's going to be snail season. "

"Snail," he echoes. "What is a snail?"

"Well, to be technical, she said 'ammonite,' but they're in snail shells so I just keep picturing giant snails.

" I shrug, trying to focus on something other than my mate's glistening, sweaty body.

"Four years ago a bunch of them came up on the shore to lay eggs and destroyed all the houses.

She said the waters are showing signs that it's about to happen again, which means there's no point in building a hut right now if it's just going to get crushed. "

Corvak puts his hands on his hips and glances over at Gren. "Do you know anything about this?"

Gren comes over and I repeat everything Devi told me.

At my words, annoyance crosses his face.

"I remember this. It was not a good time.

" He gestures for Shade to come join him.

"And if what you say is true, I need to speak to Willa.

We can move our things to caves to prepare, so we do not lose supplies. "

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news." I edge a little closer to Corvak, wanting to breathe in his scent, just because I love it when he's sweaty. He smells so damn good. "But I guess the rocks for our floor can wait."

Corvak nods, distracted, and slides the heavy rock off the sled while Gren and his son take off back towards the village. "I don't like this," he says when we're alone again. "I thought we'd be safe here."

"We are. From what Devi tells me, the creatures are harmless, just bulky and determined. As long as we stay out of their way, we'll be fine. I'm okay with living in a cave again for a short while."

He grumbles, sliding his arms around my shoulders and tugging me close again. "I will build you a hut anyhow, if you want. I will fight all the snails if they try and crush it."

I giggle at the thought, shaking my head and sliding my arms around his waist, running my fingers up and down his back. "I can wait a few weeks more. I truly don't mind." I brush my lips against his chest, letting my tongue flick out and taste a bit of sweat. "And now that your afternoon is free…?"

He growls low in his throat, one hand sliding to cup my ass. "You want me to take you behind a pile of rocks and fill your cunt?"

Oh sweet baby Jesus, do I ever. "Yes, please."

It's later, when we're back in our hut and curled up in bed, that I remember the other thing I was going to tell him. "I forgot to tell you my good news."

"Mmm?" He leisurely kisses down my arm, then moves over to my belly. Nothing's changed there in the last three months, except that now it feels hard. Corvak's eager for me to start showing, if only so it'll ease his fears that I'll somehow have to pop out a toddler instead of a newborn.

"My name," I breathe. "I remembered it."

He sits up, astonished. "What? How?"

I'm delighted at his reaction, because it's as big a deal to him as it is to me, and it just makes me love him all the more.

"I was talking with Mari and Penny. They're both pregnant right now, too, and we got to talking about baby names.

Mari said she was going to name hers after her mother if it was a girl, and I automatically said that it was what I was named after.

It's like I didn't even think about it—it just popped out.

I'm named after both of my grandmothers, Agnes and Dorothea.

My mother wanted to honor them but thought the names were too old ladyish, so it became A.D. Aidy."

"Agnes Dorothea," Corvak echoes. "Such a long, lovely name. I like it. We will use it for our daughter." He leans down and kisses my stomach again.

We'll see. There's something nice about having it again after "losing" my name for so long. I might want to keep it for myself for a while. "It might be a boy."

"Whatever it is, I will love him—or her—as much as you."

The things he says make my heart swell. "You're just trying to get laid again, aren't you?"

He chuckles, pressing another kiss to my still-flat belly. "Is it working?"

"A thousand percent," I say, and take my alien lover into my arms again.