Imani felt her heart swell.
“Oh, baby—I want to make love to you, too. That sounds wonderful.”
“Ride me then.” J’are’s voice was hoarse and his eyes were half-lidded. “Let me watch you taking me the way I took you. Let me feel you all around me, my Defender.”
“I’m more than your Defender now,” Imani reminded him breathlessly as she began to raise and lower herself on this thick shaft. “I’m your wife—your mate. And soon I’ll be the mother of your child.”
“You’re the one the Goddess chose to Claim me,” he growled softly. “The female who was sent to set me free. I love you so much, Imani.”
Imani felt her heart swell.
“I love you too, J’are,” she murmured as he began to thrust up into her again, picking up her rhythm. “And we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.”
“And all because you trusted me and came for me,” he murmured.
“Yes,” Imani agreed, moaning as she rubbed herself against him, taking him deeper. “God, yes, J’are!”
In that moment she knew that somehow the two of them would find a place to live—a place to raise their child and make a new life for themselves and they would never be parted again.
All because the Goddess had put them together and she had come to set him free—because J’are had been… Unleashed by the Defender.
Epilogue
“So are you ready to find out if it’s a boy or a girl?” Kat squeezed her hand excitedly as they waited for the little machine Liv had put Imani’s blood test into to finish its business.
“I am but I’m so nervous.” Imani put a hand to her heart. “Of course I know it’s probably going to be a boy, which means we’ll either have to go live on J’are’s home planet or go back to Yonnie Six.”
“Yonnie Six?” Liv looked shocked. “Why in the world would the two of you go there?”
“Well, because we got a message from Judge Thoughtgood—the judge who was trying J’are’s case,” Imani said. “She let us know that since Lady Bittlebum, was dead, the property and money she had stolen had all reverted to J’are, as his adopted mother originally intended.”
Kat snorted. “About time! So I guess you two could go live in the lap of luxury?”
“Yes.” Imani nodded. “I could pretend to be his Mistress and he could pretend to be my bodyslave.” She sighed. “It’s not really how I want to live but neither of us knows anybody on his home world and I really don’t want to be exiled to a planet that’s mostly wild and covered in jungle.”
“You could just go back to Florida and live in the Everglades if that was what you wanted,” Liv pointed out.
“We thought about that,” Imani said seriously. “About going back to Earth—maybe buying a place near the wilderness so J’are could run through the woods when he goes feral at night.”
“Why don’t you, then?” Kat asked. “That sounds like the perfect solution.”
“Because the Kindred High Council won’t allow it.” Imani sighed unhappily again. “Not because of J’are—Commander Sylvan has spoken to them and made them see that he’s safe now that he’s bonded to me. But when I have the baby, if it’s a boy, well…”
“You’re going to need someplace an unbonded Nightwalker Kindred male can grow up safely,” Liv said softly, finishing her thought.
“Exactly.” Imani nodded. “Which is one reason we were thinking of moving back to J’are’s old house on Yonnie Six. It has the simulator room where our son could run and play as he grows up, just like J’are did.”
“But what an awful culture to raise a child in!” Kat exclaimed. “You don’t want to raise your little boy in a place where he’s considered a second-class citizen.”
“No, I don’t…” Imani bit her lip. “But I hate to move to an alien jungle planet where neither J’are or I know anybody, either. Which is why this is such a tough choice!”
“And it’s all because you’re probably pregnant with a boy, right?” Kat asked sympathetically. “I mean, if you were having a girl, you could either stay on the Mother Ship or move down to Earth.”
“Exactly,” Imani said sadly. “But I know that’s not going to happen. I’ve been praying about it, of course. Praying that the Goddess will help me make the right choice and accept whatever comes…”
At that moment, the little machine dinged musically.
“Oh, the test is done!” Liv exclaimed. She reached into the little slot at the bottom of the coffee-maker-sized machine and curled her fingers around something. “Are you ready to find out?”
“Yes.” Imani gripped Kat’s hand tighter and nodded her head. She knew it was going to be a boy—or, well, she was ninety-five percent sure it was going to be, anyway. That was the way it was with the Kindred—they almost always fathered sons. But still…
“Here you go.” Liv opened her hand, revealing… a small, delicate flower with a lovely pink bloom.
“Oh! Oh my God!” Kat exclaimed excitedly. “Imani, it’s pink—that means a girl! You’re going to have a girl!”
Imani stared with disbelief at the lovely little pink flower.
“A girl?” she whispered, cradling it in her hand. “But…but this means we can live wherever we want!”
“You can sell the place on Yonnie Six and buy a big farm by a forest on Earth and then you can commute to the Mother Ship by shuttle if you want to,” Kat suggested.
“That…that sounds just perfect.” Imani’s heart flooded with joy and relief. It wasn’t that she didn’t want a son—but this made things so much easier. And she loved the idea of a delicate little daughter to raise and love. Her mom and dad would be overjoyed too, that
