shape. Aside from that, she wasn’t fussy.
When you married a forest creature, you took your chances, and when he refused to let you struggle through life and grief alone, you counted yourself lucky. Today, her lucky self was in a fluffy-lined nest, reclining against Kiloh and enjoying some snacks and pastries. Her major pregnancy symptom was a call to sleep, and here, she could do it a world away from the village, the forest, and her own thoughts.
“Are you happy, Abiha?”
She smiled and placed her hand over his on her abdomen. “I am delighted. We have been working toward this for over a year.”
“Yes. We have. And I have been enjoying all the combinations of attempted conception. It has been a fun challenge.”
“A challenge? I am pretty sure that this little magical moment occurred inside the bath.” She closed her eye as she remembered the six hours and the deep languor afterward. It was definitely a good memory.
He grinned. “It is likely. Perhaps the next one should be conceived at breakfast.”
“Next one?” She smacked the hand on her belly lightly. “Let me get through this one first. I don’t plan on spending every moment of the next decade pregnant, remember?”
He nodded. “I remember. No children after the tenth year unless we have a contract in place again.”
“Yeah. That.”
He licked at her neck. “I might be able to persuade you.”
She shivered. “I am still wondering if we started the clock when we began trying or when we conceived.”
He nibbled next to the mark on her neck. “I think it is only fair that it begins at conception. You were not sure it would work after all.”
“You were?”
He smiled against her skin. “I was confident. Others have mixed successfully with your species throughout nearly a dozen star systems. I had the advantage of not splitting myself before meeting you. It increased the chances of creating the right genetic mix.”
She held up her hand and let the light glow through it before making it opaque again. “I wish I had known about that in advance.”
He nipped her collarbone. “You took it well. You only went after me with the sacred sword twice. It is a good thing that I am nimble.”
She snorted. “Not quite village, not quite forest, not quite city, not quite human, and not quite Other. That is a lot of not.”
“But you are yourself; you are mine; you are becoming a mother; we are beginning a family and evolving society—just the two of us. You are part of us, and definitely all you. No other woman on this entire world would be right for what you are doing right now.”
She blushed, and it had mostly to do with his hand sliding between her thighs and fingers curling inside her. “I think there might be someone more suited to being fingered in a tree. Wait. Well. Maybe not.”
She reached up and clutched at his arms, arching into his touch as she felt her ability to have a grouchy conversation slipping away.
She looked up at him, and his focused expression caused her heartbeat to thunder through her. Her body tried to take another shape to make the contact easier, but she couldn’t. The definitive sign of pregnancy locked her into her human shape just as she had been getting the hang of running through the forest in a variety of creature shapes. One day, she was a forest cat; the next, she was back into getting dressed manually.
She took in his focused expression as he ran his hands over her while she writhed against him and smiled. There were bonuses for making him do all the work. Even after two years, he was still focused on the human experience. Her human experience.
It wasn’t a bad thing to be worshiped by the one that everybody else held in frighteningly high esteem. It wasn’t in the job description, but she was satisfied with this addition to her responsibilities. Being the mistress of the first forest wasn’t for everyone, but it was her destiny.
Walking with her newborn holding her hand seven months later did draw a bit of attention. The villagers came out to see the new family, and Kiloh was beaming brightly.
Abiha was standing to one side when her very pregnant sister stood next to her. “Hello, Ledana.”
“Honourable Abiha. Your daughter is... tall?”
Abiha snorted. “She was a regular baby size when she emerged, but she grabbed hold of Kiloh’s finger and started to get bigger. Before we knew it, she was the size of