Page 31 of Interstellar Love Song (Villains in Space #3)

ZIGGY

“So… it’s a portal to an alternate universe,” I muttered, intently staring at the ceiling of the infirmary as the Eki’s top physician poked and prodded at my already growing midsection.

I hate it.

“A multiverse, yes!” Micah replied excitedly, squeezing my hand for good measure.

“I’m not sure if Planet Eaters were born this way or if, after destroying the Markarians, they essentially created this pseudo black hole, white hole combo.

” When I stared at him blankly, he elaborated, “Meaning, matter gets sucked in on one end and then spat out on the other. Then again, a true white hole wouldn’t have allowed anything to pass back through…

We need to figure out how this soldier returned so we can use that intel to bring everyone back. ”

Leeloo chuckled sadly from where they leaned in the doorway. “I hope you are correct, My-kuh. Once the Star Unit soldier has rested a bit, I will ask whether they saw any evidence of the missing planets while they were… wherever they were.”

My mate chewed his bottom lip. “Their memory is probably spotty, not just from the trauma but because time passes differently inside a black hole. At least, that’s what they say.”

“They” meaning the few intelligent Earthlings to grace that floating rock.

The extent of Micah’s scientific knowledge far surpassed mine, but I was willing to discuss anything if it meant ignoring how I was currently being fondled like a ripe melon.

“The soldier mentioned it was still the Salus-Fides galaxy on the other side,” I mused. “Does that mean the other universe is a carbon copy of this one?”

“Not necessarily,” my mate replied, pausing to thank the physician as they finally unhanded me and left. “They saw the other soldiers there but not us… So the chessboard might be similar, but the pieces aren’t the same.”

Is this all just a game to the Planet Eater?

“Do you believe there’s a way to rescue the other soldiers?” I asked before glancing at Leeloo. “Or the missing planets?”

Micah’s expression was thoughtful. “Theoretically, yes, but I’m suspecting there was another force at play that pushed them back through from the other side…”

He trailed off with a faraway look in his eyes that had my anxiety spiking.

No.

Absolutely not .

“Whatever you’re scheming, you can forget it,” I growled, awkwardly getting myself into a seated position so I could better glare at him. “You are not going into the black hole, Micah.”

He had the decency to look embarrassed, but then smiled sweetly. Too sweet. “Okay, Space Daddy. I promise not to go into the black hole without discussing it with you first.”

Hmm…

It was as good a promise as any, since I couldn’t think of a single instance where I would agree to my mate putting himself in danger like that.

We have a stellula-nova to think about!

As if on cue, the miniature cluster of stars growing inside me stretched its tendrils, reminding me I now knew how it felt to physically share a vessel with a creature outside of my control.

None of this is in my control.

Once again, the enormity of our situation washed over me—not only the looming threat to the universe, but the fact we would soon be bringing new life into this precarious world.

Against all odds.

When I’d discovered my Rildrean form hadn’t been able to take Micah’s seed, I’d experienced an emptiness unlike anything I’d felt before.

Now that we had succeeded, I was drowning in overwhelming emotions.

Near-blinding joy was mixed with uncertainty, anxiety, and even dread as every possible doomsday scenario took hold in my mind.

What if ? —

“Hey, Leeloo!” Micah cheerfully called out, not seeming to share my concerns in the slightest. “I should probably learn the Eki language, huh? Then our baby can be multi-lingual!”

The Eki looked up from perusing the digital chart the physician had left with them. “We can easily add that to your training schedule, especially as you have already far surpassed what most Eki can do with their powers.”

True to form, my mate attempted to brush off the well-deserved compliment. “Oh, I dunno about that. I’m just making it up as I go.”

The certificate hanging on the cockpit wall says otherwise.

Leeloo smoothly debunked his self-deprecation. “I have never heard of an Eki—or a Stellarian—with the ability to particle leap an entire spaceship across several galaxies. Never mind how you transported multiple Stellarians without physically touching any of them.”

“Says the Eki responsible for shielding—and creating—entire planets,” Micah continued to deflect.

“Shielding Karn was a group effort, My-kuh, as was creating Kanrienus…” Leeloo confirmed his earlier suspicions before abruptly switching topics. “Would you mind explaining how you made the leap with so many in tow?”

Micah frowned. “All I did was form remote shields around the Stellarians, attach those shields to mine in the same way I’d tethered myself to the ship, and drag everyone along for the ride.”

Sounds familiar …

I scoffed. “This Stellarian-capturing method of yours is nothing new, sunshine. Don’t you remember the day we met?”

When you first captured me.

Even if I didn’t know it yet.

Micah lovingly rolled his eyes but obediently elaborated for Leeloo’s sake. “We’d barely been in the same room for five minutes when Zig casually mentioned he needed improvements made on his Celestial Cube. It was clearly entrapment, but how was I supposed to resist playing with alien tech?”

Leeloo chuckled. “And what were you tasked with improving?”

“The scanner function.” He grinned wide. “Because the fugitive he was after was a fellow Stellarian who could just star hop away during an interrogation.”

Theo, of course.

Leeloo shook their head with an amused huff. “It sounds as if what you achieved yesterday was based on this earlier model. You created what was essentially a tethered tractor beam with a higher concentration of density than what you were capturing.”

Well, this explains how he pulled me back through the ether mid-star hop on Xuniaa YS…

Micah was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, but I’ll be honest… I have no idea how I created something denser than a freakin’ black hole.”

A chill skittered down my spine as I recalled how helpless I’d felt staring into the pitch-black abyss of the Planet Eater, knowing I was powerless to escape its pull.

But the pull I have with my stellar collision is stronger.

“How do you create these tethers in general, Micah?” I asked, genuinely curious but also sensing he was close to the answer. “Yesterday, I saw you plug a mechanical tendril into the dashboard before you rushed off to collect the surface samples…”

And put yourself in danger once again.

“I plugged in so I could download the physical stats of the ship and use those in my calculations.” He scrunched his nose as he considered the rest. “But in general, I just think about the tether that connects you and me—how unbreakable it feels—and I replicate that… Not that I fully understand what our connection is made of.”

Oh, sunshine.

If there was one thing I never tired of, it was encouraging my partner in all things to recognize his greatness. So much of what came naturally to me—star hopping, symbiotically connecting to a vessel—had been scientifically explained since meeting my mate.

Usually explained by my mate.

“You don’t know what it’s made of?” I smiled, amazed by how consistently he underestimated himself. “My science-minded, space-obsessed Earthling doesn’t understand what makes up the universe?”

After I’d handed Micah my cube that first time, he’d asked what I was made of—so that he could create a tractor beam capable of capturing it. When I’d simply told him “star stuff,” he’d pointed out how similar our species were.

Everything is connected.

At the time, we hadn’t fully grasped how incredibly true that statement was, but the sentiment still stood. On the one hand, we were connected simply because we existed in the same universe, but our connection also went deeper than that.

I would recognize you anywhere.

My stellar collision laughed. “Are we talking about dark energy and dark matter or the theory of everything?”

I shrugged, since this was more his area of expertise than mine, but Leeloo piped in to redirect.

“What you created yesterday was not only denser than the creatures—and ship—you saved, but by the force opposing them. The universe operates on balance, and you balanced out the gravitational pull of the Planet Eater. You may not think you understand how you accomplished this, but I believe it was done on instinct, in the same way you instinctively knew how to reproduce with Zig-ee.”

My gaze dropped to my protruding abdomen, and when I glanced at my mate, I found him doing the same with an extremely familiar look in his eyes.

Since science talk is foreplay with him.

Leeloo must have also picked up on what Micah would call the “horny vibes,” as they laughed heartily.

“I know you do not wish to feel trapped on Ekistron, Zig-ee—especially as Honnor and the others have already returned home—but I hope you can enjoy this short respite with your stellar collision. The physician has cleared you for all activities, by the way.” When my cheeks heated, the Eki added, “Your guest quarters are ready, so if you would prefer some privacy?—”

“We sure would! Thank you, Sensei…” Micah grabbed my arm and star hopped us to the same lava rock room we always stayed in while visiting.

Blessedly, the hop didn’t trigger another wave of dizziness, but I was still oddly flustered. “Sunshine!” I gasped as he gently shoved me onto the bed and joined me. “Do you think this is… safe?”

“What do you mean?” Micah huffed, pawing at my clothes while attempting to remove his at the same time. “Auntie just said we’re cleared for takeoff.”

Auntie?

“It’s just…” I groaned as he freed my cock and gave it a lick from root to tip. “What if you… poke the stellula?”

“Poke?!” Micah cackled, sitting back in his heels to give himself a rough stroke with a lubricated tendril. “I appreciate the compliment, Space Daddy, but I’m not that big.” His gaze dropped to my abdomen again. “Look at you—looking like a wet dream…”

I dropped my gaze again, feeling dizzy for entirely different reasons. “Exactly like your dream?”

“You know it!” my mate exclaimed before growing serious. “It’s totally your choice, Zig, but, damn… I really, really want to fuck you right now. ”

I smirked, realizing there was a solution that would appease both of us. Locating the stellula inside my Earthling vessel, I gently gathered it in my tendrils and moved it out of harm’s way.

And so what if I’ve made my “baby bump” bigger in the process?

“Fuuuuuck, Zig…” Micah flopped forward, clasping his hands together in prayer. “Please, please, please let me fuck you while you’re all knocked up. Please, I neeeeed it…”

“Lie back, Commander,” I scolded, even as I smiled at his dramatics. “I’m in charge now.”

“Whatever you say.” He scrambled into position and patted his thighs. “Permission to come aboard, Space Daddy.”

With a dark chuckle, I crawled over him, relishing my mate’s groan when my bump dragged along his cock.

Oops.

We languidly kissed as he prepped me with his tendrils, but it wasn’t long before I was eager to fulfill his fantasies.

My fantasies as well.

“I spied on your dream that day,” I confessed, my voice catching as I lined myself up and slowly worked my way down his full length. “While I held you under and… used you as I saw fit.”

Micah moaned when I bottomed out. “You can do whatever you want to me, baby, you know that… Fuuuuck, how am I supposed to keep my hands off you and my dick out of you when you look like this?”

I held his gaze as I started to move, knowing I wasn’t going to last long. “You don’t need to. You should be inside me at all times. You belong inside me.”

Forever.

“Y-yeah, I do…” He gasped as I squeezed a tendril into his ass. “Just like you belong inside me.”

“Yes,” I panted, skin slapping as I increased my pace, chasing release for both of us. “And now you’ve put a baby inside me too.”

It was a dirty trick, since I knew my mate had an insatiable breeding kink, but I needed him to fill me with his cum. Immediately.

After all, I have a breeding kink as well.

“I did,” he choked out, running his palms up my stomach, almost reverently. “And I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my entire life.”

I’d discovered many things about my bedroom preferences since agreeing to be Micah’s “bestie with benefits,” but apparently, it was being unconditionally loved and worshipped that had me unraveling today.

Micah moved his hands to my waist to hold me steady as I dropped my head back with a helpless moan—shuddering in his hold as I tightened around him, spilling until I was dizzy all over again.

“Mine,” he whispered, thrusting forcefully as he filled me up—even though I was already, finally, whole. “Until we return to the stars.”