Page 29 of Devin (Warriors of Etlon #5)

Grena waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry, it was probably for the best. I moved back home to Takalia and have been such a busy woman after that. I’m very popular. I have had several offers of marriage, one just last week!”

“You were on the ship last week,” Devin muttered.

“Well, the last week I was on the planet. At that party, you know?” She looked at Devin.

“The one where you were dressed as a fruit?”

Grena laughed and rolled her eyes at her son. If still on the same side of the table, Val would have bet Grena would have smacked him again.

“A woman in my position is best to keep her options open. You on the other hand, at least you know you have the security of not having your husband sent into a warzone any time soon. He’s too smart for that.”

“Mother,” Devin grumbled under his breath.

“Oh, I had so much heartache before they let him specialize. But don’t worry dear. If for some reason he kicks the bucket, you and the children can come live with me on Takalia. Are you pregnant yet?”

“Mother!”

“Stop repeating yourself and mind your manners. Why is she turning red? Is that a natural phenomenon?”

Val wanted to disappear into a vast hole somewhere far, far away.

“You are making my mate uncomfortable,” Devin stood up, towering over his mother. She did not look intimidated in the least, but at least she was smart enough to change the subject.

“How many cities are you planning on building here? It feels quite empty.”

“Two to start. More to come later. As we plan on making it a pure Mahdfel endeavor-”

“Ridiculous. You must have at least some citizens that are not Mahdfel. Otherwise, you will totally be lacking in civilized society. Have you tried to have a conversation with one of them, other than something that is not related to their job?” Grena asked Val.

“Or killing things. Especially the dreadful lizards. Those things should be wiped off the face of the universe. But we don’t need all the gory details.

Just no. I don’t know how those things breed so fast. You’d think with all the death the Mahdfel had been dealing them that they would just be gone by now.

And then we could hold a parade and be done with it. ”

Val went back into smile and nod mode. Grena seemed happy to continue the conversation herself.

“Of course if the Mahdfel ran out of things to kill, so many of them would be extremely unhappy. And that was one thing my father has warned me about repeatedly. A bunch of unhappy soldiers tend to get themselves into trouble. But not my boy. He’s one of the smart ones.”

Devin was smart, that Val could agree with. He was still deadly, but that could be said of any of the alien warriors around.

“This humidity is something. Why don’t you have more environmental controls?”

“We do. Inside. But this is a jungle and some of the resources we plan to farm need the humidity,” Devin said.

“I was promised a tour. Inside?”

It was a relief when Devin gladly stood up and began to escort his mother around the bones of the new city.

He took her to see many of the inner workings that Val had seen - the labs and the view from their quarters, but he also took her into some of the more technical places, like the future shops and commerce areas, meeting rooms, entertainment and gathering areas.

Devin had thought of most everything in his design.

By the end of the tour, Val was lagging, but Grena seemed just as fresh as when they started.

“I believe my quarters should be located over there,” Grena said, pointing from their balcony view of the city to a large penthouse area to the left.

“Guest quarters will be over there,” Devin said, pointing in the other direction.

“I’m not a guest. I’m your mother. Now I’ll need at least a suite for me, and one for my guests, maybe two.”

Devin’s skin started to mottle.

“It’s such a long trip out here, that when I do come to see my grand babies, I will have to bring some decent company along,” Grena continued.

“You aren’t supposed to be here in the first place,” Devin tried to interrupt.

“Oh, Etlon and I go way back. He’s a reasonable man, especially when it comes to his children.”

“You have been speaking with Etlon?”

“Of course! It would be rude if I did not.”

Val bit her lip. It seemed like the equivalent of an overbearing mother dictating the terms of employment to the boss’s boss of a grown ass man, and Devin was not happy.

“Mother-”

“Get over yourself, sweetie. I do everything for your own good.”

“I’m getting hungry,” Val announced, and strangely, it worked. Suddenly, Grena was being ushered down the elevator and Val was being seated and fed by Devin, though he was watching her put the food in her mouth with such intensity that it was getting a little weird.

“I’m not really that hungry. I was just looking for an excuse to get rid of your mother. I hope you don’t mind.”

Devin pulled her into a long languid kiss that told her he was not upset at all. When he ended the kiss she was in his lap, sitting primly sideways over his concealed erection.

“I’ve been trying to think of an excuse to get her to go home all afternoon,” Devin said.

“It is a long way, though. She should have asked first,” Val said.

“Yes, but my mother does anything she wants, any time she wants to. We could be under the threat of a full Suhlik invasion and my mother would be trying to tell the golden devils that they could not interfere with her plans. It is an endearing trait when you want something, but annoying when her will is counter to your own.”

Val wiggled a bit, and then smiled at Devin. “Are you planning to do something about that?”

“If I indulged every time, we would never leave. I do have to work, you know.”

“Do you have any pressing appointments?” Val asked, feeling slightly naughty that she was tempting him away from his work.

Devin’s mouth opened and she could see him debating with himself.

Val took the decision out of his hands and shuffled off his lap.

She dropped her panties and slid back onto him, this time, not so prim and proper.

She could feel his shaft poking up from his shorts, prodding her rapidly wetting folds.

“Pressing?” Devin repeated as he wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sure the warlord wants an update. And I should check on the arrangements Goru is making with the Adrastian.”

“Are they pressing?” Val said, making sure she was pressing enough to wet the front of his shorts. Either way, he’d have to change.

“Not that I can focus on at the moment.” With one arm, he lifted her, and with the other, freed his cock. She slid on him with delicious ease. Val was definitely getting used to this.

She rode him there, forgetting to ask if he could at least put a lock on the door, to prevent his mother from coming back unannounced. She’d probably be nonplussed anyway, giving helpful hints on conceiving a grandchild.

Conception was extremely low on Val’s list of thoughts as Devin worked her through paces she didn’t know she needed, reaching her first climax and then being guided to a second and third.

She honestly lost count by the time Devin picked up the pace and pulled her tightly to him, groaning out that sexy growl of his own release.

“You’re going to need a shower before heading out for your next appointment, pressing or not,” Val said when their heartbeats had returned to a normal cadence.

“True. But I should manage this on my own, because if you and I get wet together again, I shall definitely be late.”

Devin stood and carried her to the bed where he gently placed her. Val closed her eyes for a moment and she must have fallen asleep. When she opened them again, Devin was showered and gone.