Protecting His Mistress - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,29
from crying as he pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her.
“Karn…” She buried her face in his chest and sobbed miserably. “Karn, I’m not ready! I might not mind having a baby if I had someone to help me raise it. But I don’t want to just have one and then shove it off on a nannybot or send it to a convent. I can’t…I just can’t.”
“You shouldn’t have to,” Karn said fiercely. He frowned thoughtfully. “But you know…who says you have to?”
“Who says?” Lilli looked up at him, her brown eyes still filled with tears. “Why, Mother says. And she’ll be so angry she’ll probably disinherit me if I don’t show up at the conception center!”
Karn was thinking hard.
“Okay, she wants you to go to the center. But tell me this—does the conception process always work?”
“Well…no.” Lilli sniffed. “I’ve heard of some Mistresses having to try two or three or even seven or eight times. And with some it never takes and they have to have their baby in an artificial womb—which is very unfashionable,” she added.
“I’m sure it is,” Karn said dryly. “But listen, why not go to the center and just not have the process done.”
“What?” Lilli looked scandalized. “Are you serious?”
“Of course I am!” Karn told her. “Listen, why not let your Mother think you’ve had the impregnation procedure done and that it didn’t take? Then you don’t have to have a baby you’re not ready for, and it won’t be your fault.”
Lilli’s tear-streaked face brightened.
“You know, the process is fully automated. So it’s not like there’s an attendant who can tell on me for not having it done.”
“Sounds like the way to go, then,” Karn remarked.
“Oh, do you really think that would work? You think I could pull it off?”
Karn shrugged.
“Why not? Unless your mother comes in the center with you, I don’t see how she could know you didn’t really have the procedure done.”
“She won’t,” Lilli said quickly. “She’s already talking about sending me by myself—well, with you along, of course—because she’s going to be busy that day.”
“Well, there you go.” Karn grinned at her. “Problem solved.”
“You know…you could be right.” A tentative smile came over her face as she looked up at him. “Karn, what would I do without you?”
“Get impregnated by some cold machine, I guess.” He shook his head and grinned at her. “Luckily for you, I am here.”
“I am lucky to have you.” Lilli sighed and snuggled in his arms and looked up at him. “Tell me something—why do I feel so comfortable around you?” she asked and yawned. “Why do I feel like you’re the piece of my life that I’ve been missing for years without even knowing it?”
“I don’t know, little Mistress.” Karn cuddled her close. “But I kind of feel the same way about you,” he admitted—both to himself and to her.
What was happening to him? Was he going soft? He was on a mission here, he reminded himself. He had to find the Kindred warriors who had been taken by the Yonites as bodyslaves and get that information back to the Mother Ship.
And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to stop holding Lilli. The very full day and the emotional release of her tears seemed to have tired her out. She cuddled against his chest like a sleepy kitten and sighed contentedly.
“You’re falling asleep, little Mistress,” Karn murmured. “Let’s get you changed for bed. Where’s your nightdress?”
“In the closet. One of the drawers on…” Lilli yawned. “On the right.”
Karn laid her gently on the bed and went to find the garment in question. After searching through several drawers, he finally found a sheer, silky white gown as virginal and innocent as Lilli herself.
He also found a pair of long white sleep trousers made of the same silky material for himself. Were they the remnant of some former bodyslave who had been sent to the mines by Lilli’s mother? The thought didn’t bear thinking about. Karn grabbed them along with the nightdress—at least they had a crotch, which made them preferable to the black leather trousers he was wearing now.
Coming back to the bed, he helped Lilli undress—yawning all the time—and got her into the soft little nightdress. He took down her hair, letting it flow free over her shoulders, and removed the diamond nipple drops as well. Then he tucked her under the covers and—very gently because he couldn’t help himself—placed a tender kiss on her forehead.