Eventually, she digs her heels into the mattress, lifts her bottom off the bed, and stiffens. A second later, she wets herself. A long sigh escapes her lips as she fills her diaper.
I lift her hands up to my lips and kiss her fingertips. “Such a good girl. See? That wasn’t hard, was it?”
She pouts and turns her head away from me. Adorable.
With one hand around her wrists, I raise her arms over her head and step to the side so Kafran can change her diaper. There are two of us and one of her. How do other Papis manage their Little girls without a second set of hands?
Mercy continues to pout, but she doesn’t struggle as Kafran removes her diaper, cleans her tender skin, and fastens a new absorbent wrap around her.
I lift her into my arms and wrap a blanket around her so she won’t get chilly on the roof of the building. As I carry her, she snuggles into me and wraps her small arms around my neck.
“I didn’t like that, Papi,” she whines.
I rub her back and kiss her temple. “I know, Baby girl, but you’ll get used to it. You don’t have any other choice.”
Mercy leans back, eyes wide as we step out onto the roof of Club Zoom. “We’re really going to leave this planet?”
“Yes, Little one,” Kafran assures her.
“And we’ll never come back?”
“Never, Baby girl,” I add as I step into the pod. I point toward the window next to us. “Would you like to sit up and look outside while we take off?”
She nods and leans toward the window. “There are two police cars at the entrance to the club,” she points out. She covers her mouth and turns to look at me before a giggle erupts. “He can’t get to me.”
I return her smile. “No. He can’t. Never. You’re ours. He doesn’t deserve you. That part of your life is over, Baby girl. Aslong as Kafran and I are living, you will never know a day of sadness or abuse again.”
She settles into me again.
Kafran hands me her bottle, and our precious girl doesn’t even balk when I tap her lips with the nipple.
A soft moan escapes her lips as she finds her rhythm and begins to suckle. Her eyes close, and she wraps her fingers around my pinky while I feed her. This is a moment I want to burn into my memory forever.
When I glance at Kafran, I see he’s just as humbled as me. After a few minutes, I adjust Mercy in my arms and pass her off to Kafran. We both deserve to savor this first feeding. It’s monumental.
A weight lifts from my shoulders. We’ve found our mate, and we’re leaving her planet. She’s ours now. No one can stop us. I don’t care if her dick of a husband called the police. He can stand down there and argue all night if he wants. The law is on our side. Once a female enters the club and signs the waiver, she is agreeing to the possibility that she might be chosen and whisked off the planet.
The situation may have been unusual, but Mercy entered Club Zoom of her own freewill. She signed the paperwork. And now she’s ours. I glance out the window as we speed away from this deteriorating planet. I’m so relieved that I blow out a long breath.
The rest of our lives begin now.
As Mercy leans back in the crook of Kafran’s arm, I settle her legs over my lap. Keeping her covered in the soft blanket, I rub her shins. We won’t let her keep this blanket always, but it’s helping her remain calm as we head for the mothership.
By the time she finishes her bottle, we’re docking, and she pushes to sitting once again to look out the window of the pod. “Wow. I can’t believe we’re this far from Earth. I never thoughtin a million years I would ever leave my planet. Will we be able to see it from Eleadia?”
I shake my head. “No. We’ll be very, very far from here. You’ll never see it again, but transport vessels are constantly coming and leaving, so any new content from Earth arrives on Eleadia almost daily. It’s just a bit outdated when it arrives. Books, movies, music… That sort of thing.”
She smiles. “That’s kind of cool.”
I thank Riand as we exit the pod. Kafran carries Mercy in his arms. She clings to him in the same way she always clings to me when I’m holding her. Part of her death grip stems from fear. She’s nervous. I can scent it wafting off her. She has every right to feel unnerved. She’s embarking on a new life. When she woke up this morning, she had no idea her day would end with her no longer on Earth.
As we head down the hallway that leads to the processing office, Kafran holds her upright against his hip. He lets her keep the blanket tucked around her. She looks around with wide eyes, not that there’s much to see. We’re in a sterile silver hallway. Boring.
Finally, we arrive at our destination, and I open the door so Kafran can pass by me. Jefared is waiting for us, and he rises to shake my hand. “Welcome to the mothership, Little one. I understand your name is Mercy. Do I have that right?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
Kafran strokes her cheek with his thumb. “Manners, Little one. You’ll speak respectfully to every man you encounter. Always address Eleadian men as Sir.”
