Indeed, it was going to be difficult to wait. Every moment she was with him, breathing in his warm, spicy scent, her ripening intensified, demanding that she take his shaft inside herself and let him bathe her inner channel with his seed. That was what she needed to get through her first ripening, but she was going to have to wait a little while until she healed, she told herself.
At least now that the awful spreader was out of her, she felt much less anxious. She knew that Bard could take her when the time came and that made her happy, if a little impatient.
Soon, she told herself. We’ll be together soon. And after the first ripening is over, hopefully he’ll want to marry me.
It didn’t matter that they hadn’t known each other long—her body was telling her that Bard was the man for her. And Makenna was determined to listen to that little voice inside her—the one telling her that Bard was the one she needed to be with for the rest of her life.
18
After they ate, Makenna seemed to be feeling much better, so Bard took her out shopping. She needed some new clothes to wear because his definitely didn’t fit her.
Bard didn’t know anything about fashion, so he took her to a shop he’d heard some of the other Council members’ wives talking about and found a helpful saleswoman.
The saleswoman, a girl from Earth with blonde hair and sharp green eyes, was more than happy to help. Soon she had Makenna trying on all kinds of pretty clothes that complimented her lovely, creamy complexion and big, dark eyes.
Makenna, for her part, was delighted to try on the clothes. Bard asked her to choose her favorites and she seemed to understand, because she pointed them out. She showed a definite preference for jewel tones—crimson and deep purple and emerald—which looked lovely on her—though to be honest, anything looked lovely on her, Bard thought to himself.
He couldn’t help smiling as he watched her twirling around in the dresses she had picked—(she wasn’t interested in anything resembling trousers, probably a cultural thing, he speculated)—and exclaiming in her own language with excitement.
The trip was a complete success until he went to pay the bill and the saleswoman who had been helping him said,
“Oh my goodness, your daughter is as cute as can be! Are all these clothes a birthday present?”
“My daughter?” Bard asked blankly, caught off guard.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” The saleslady flushed a bright pink. “Is she not your daughter? I just thought she must take after her mom. I mean—”
“Never mind,” Bard said abruptly. “I’ll pay and then we need to get going.”
Still red-faced, the saleslady did the rest of the transaction in silence. But Bard found that a tiny bit of the joy he’d gotten from watching Makenna try on dresses and twirl around was dampened.
Of course the saleswoman thought she was your daughter, whispered a nasty little voice in his head. Looking at the two of you together, nobody would think anything else. Nobody would imagine such a young, vibrant female would be with an old bastard like you!
He was so wrapped up in his own self-deprecating thoughts that he only noticed what was going on with Makenna when they were almost back to his suite.
She was wearing a new emerald green dress that looked beautiful with her skin as well as some little black slip-on shoes that went with almost all the new outfits he had bought her. The outfit was pretty and well-suited to her curvy figure but it wasn’t until she gave a little cry of pain that Bard noticed she was walking funny.
“Hey, baby girl—what’s wrong?” he asked, frowning.
Makenna took another hobbling step and winced in pain. She looked up at Bard with anguish in her dark eyes.
“Makenna is sorry, Bard. But…Makenna hurts.”
“Makenna hurts? Hurts where?” Bard demanded, instantly worried.
Biting her lips, she pointed to the spot between her thighs.
“Walk hurts,” she explained. “Much walk today.”
Bard bit back a curse. Yes, they had been walking a lot—the Mother Ship was a big place. And hadn’t Dr. Olivia told him to let Makenna stay home and rest? But she’d seemed so much better, he had thought a little shopping trip couldn’t hurt.
Well, it did hurt her, you idiot, he told himself. You should have followed the doctor’s orders! Instead, you took her out all over the place while she was still sore from having that damn thing removed from inside her! What in the Seven Hells is wrong with you?
He didn’t have an answer for that, but he did have at least a temporary solution. Transferring all the bags to one arm, he leaned down and picked her up with his other.
Makenna gave a little gasp, then sighed and snuggled against him as Bard carried her the rest of the way back to his suite.