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“This is your planet, Rylec. Your people.”
He caressed a hand down her cheek. “None of them matter. What do you want?”
Inez swallowed. What did she want? Artema wasn’t her home. Neither was Earth. She had spent most of her life within the empire. With Rylec as her emperor, could they make it a better place?
They could try.
She would never forgive herself if she didn’t try. “I think I want to stay.”
Rylec nodded. “Then we stay.”
Eliaz cleared his throat. Inez and Rylec shot him twin glares, but the archlord had no shame. “And our deal?”
Inez didn’t even need to consult Rylec to know they’d agree. “Round up Calanthe’s guards. Sollir has new rulers.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
Chapter 15
10 Months Later
Inez dug her hands into the silk bedsheets, her head thrown back against Rylec’s chest. “Oh, Gods, Rylec.”
Her star-husband didn’t say anything, but his body reacted, his thrusts becoming deeper and faster. His magic held up her leg, leaving his hand free to flick and tease at her clit. Inez’s body arched and thrashed uncontrollably. The heat in her climbed, ready to peak, ready to send her body over the edge.
Rylec’s hand slid up and over the bulging curve of her swollen belly. His head dipped until his ragged breath was in her ear. “Come for me, wife.”
His next thrust struck true. Inez exploded, her body convulsing. She grabbed for Rylec’s hand and screamed out his name. She didn’t care about the servants in the halls overhearing and gossiping with the court. Rylec was hers and she was his, star-wife and star-husband. Nothing would break them apart again.
A thousand years later, Inez drifted down from the clouds. “I love you so much, Rylec.”
“I know, wife.” Rylec kissed his way from her neck to her forehead before propping his chin on her head. “I love you more and more each day.”
Inez snuggled into his side, her hand linked with her husband’s above her belly. Her truly massive belly. “Soriya wasn’t this late.”
“Alesia does what she wants. Just like her mother.”
Inez squeezed his hand. “I think that’s more of a you thing.”
Rylec chuckled, the sound reverberating through his chest. “Is it now?”
Inez tried to twist around, to look into those intoxicating dark eyes. But at forty weeks pregnant, she was due to pop at any minute and every movement was a struggle. She hadn’t been nearly as large with Soriya. The physician had assured her she wasn’t having twins, but a part of Inez didn’t believe him.
Not that anyone would dare to lie to the Empress of Sollir.
Rylec sensed what she wanted and pushed onto an elbow, the strong lines of his face coming into view. The tips of his white hair brushed her skin. He had grown it out the last few months at Inez’s urging. She loved a male with long hair.
Inez cupped his cheek. “I do what I want now, but I was afraid for so long. If you hadn’t let me breathe and find myself, I wouldn’t be the woman I am today.”
“You were always that woman.” He leaned down, brushing a kiss against her lips. “And I won’t let anyone take her away from either of us.”
“I know.” Inez had lost track of the number of assassins who had come for her since news of Calanthe’s death spread across Sollir. With Rylec at her side—and her newly formed Star Guardians, an elite team of former star-maids—none had gotten close enough to do any damage. Every attempt only pushed her forward. The Sollirians feared her and the threat she presented to their old ways. Inez fought not only for herself andher growing family, but for every star-maid who had ever been kidnapped and abused.
She would fight until her dying breath.
Which, if Rylec had any say in the matter, wouldn’t be for another hundred years or so.
Inez smiled up at her husband and brushed a thumb against the sharp line of his jaw. Gods, even after all this time together, his beauty struck her. The sensation swirled in her belly—
