Crossbred Son Read online

  Yes. She’ll do that when we bind.

  Gabe brought his secondary to her empty vaginal entry and thrust both cocks deep. Abby grabbed at his arms and gasped out something indecipherable. He let her move against him, though every instinct told him to pin her down and take control.

  She vented cries at every movement of his hips, back and forth, driving them both on. At last, she shattered around him, and Gabe followed her over.

  Abby was unnaturally still and quiet, and Gabe reached for her, panicked that he’d harmed her somehow. She shifted, moaning his name, and his heart rate eased.

  “Are you all right?” he questioned her.

  Abby sighed. “Three days of that?” she asked in return.

  “Yes. That and much more.”

  Her hand stroked down his chest to his hip. “How often do you sleep during the binding?” Her voice announced she was on the edges of sleep already.

  Gabe swallowed a laugh. “As often as you need to.” No matter what torture waiting would be for him, the male always took his cues in mating from his woman.

  She nodded and murmured something that sounded like agreement. With that, Abby fell asleep, still impaled on both his cocks.

  She’ll agree. There was no question Abby would allow Gabe to bind her when the time was right.

  Thank the Seir-God.

  Chapter Five

  “You have to go back to work tomorrow.”

  Gabe looked up at her, turning and lifting his head from her abdomen to accomplish the task. Abby’s fingers trailed through his hair, a gentle combing that he’d always found soothing. She wasn’t focused on him. Rather, her gaze seemed directed inward instead of at anything in their current environment.

  “You work every day,” he reminded her.

  “I work from home.”

  “True. I can’t exactly catch criminals here.” Just the thought of the scum of the Earth anywhere near Abby and Michael tightened the muscles that would raise his ridge plates.

  Michael was lucky that she worked from home. Many children weren’t so lucky, he knew.

  Gabe wished Abby could do all of her work from home. It had been a trip out to the store to pick up supplies that had landed her in the café where they’d been attacked in the first place. Michael had needed to eat and have a diaper change while they’d been out on such errands. The café had been a convenient stop, though ill-fated.

  Maybe I should offer to do her supply runs for her. Or accompany her, when I don’t have work. There were plenty of cowardly humans who would attack a human female with a Xxanian infant, but few wanted to attack a Xxanian male protecting his mate and child. Bound or not, Abby was his mate, and properly mated or not, Michael was his son.

  And I’ve waited far too long to introduce them to my family. He opened his mouth to broach the subject.

  “What will we do now?” Abby asked.

  “What do you mean?” Was she asking what future they had?

  “If you live the same place you did when...”

  “I do.” It came out rougher than he’d intended it, but the memory of her packing and walking out on him still hurt.

  Abby winced. She took a moment, seemingly calming herself. “Why?”

  Gabe turned on the bed, stretching out beside her while he tried to decode the strange question. “Why what, Abby?” he invited.

  “You make so much more money now. You never let me contribute to the rent at your apartment. So, why haven’t you moved on to somewhere larger?” She didn’t look at him when she asked it.

  That was a difficult question to answer. “I suppose...”

  Her head swiveled around, and she stared at him, her eyes wide. “What? Why didn’t you move?”

  “I always hoped you’d walk back through the door to me.”

  Abby didn’t seem to know how to answer that.

  “If my seir hadn’t beaten a woman’s choice into me so soundly, I might have followed you and begged you to come back to me.” It wasn’t an exaggeration.

  “I wish you had.”

  Her wistful tone stilled the need to balk at the implication that Abby would have preferred to see him beg.

  “I would have had no excuse to hide the truth from you. And if you’d come looking for me and found me gone... You would have looked for me. You would have found out I was at SLAL.”

  “Damned right I would have.” Gabe succeeded in keeping that lighthearted, when the concept of having to search for Abby made the Xxanian warrior in him stir in preparation for battle.

  “So, what do we do now? Where do we live? How do we...arrange things?”

  He laid a kiss on her forehead. “My apartment isn’t large enough for all of us. I suppose I should start packing my belongings and terminate my lease.”

  Abby wriggled in what he would assume was apprehension.

  “I would be most comfortable here with you, but that would be a short term option. As Michael grows, we will need more room.”

  “I agree.” Her muscles eased.

  Did she really believe I wouldn’t come to her nest, if that was the only option we had? If she was most comfortable here?

  “We could find a larger place, if you were willing to move into one. One with good schools and a safe neighborhood.” A Xxanian nest nearby.

  She nodded.

  “Or, we could take the safest option and move into my family’s nest.”

  Abby gasped, and her eyes widened. “But...Will your family...uh...?”

  “Accept you? Of course.”

  “But they don’t know us.” There was an edge of panic in that.

  “Which is what I want to talk to you about.” She gave me the opening. I have to take it.

  “What is?”

  “I have to introduce you both to my nest, and I can’t risk waiting too much longer to do that.”

  Abby stared at him, working at words that didn’t emerge.

  “How old is Michael now, Abby? Two months? Almost three?”

  “F-four.”

  His heart stuttered. “Four?”

  She nodded. “But he doesn’t look it, because—”

  “Four?” he demanded.

  She cringed, drawing away from him on the mattress. “Yes, but—”

  “Seir-God, he will set his scent without a firm nest scent unless we introduce him to the nest soon.”

  Gabe worked at that, making calculations and speculations. It would have to be this week. He didn’t dare procrastinate on this. It was too important to give Michael a firm grounding in his nest. And what will happen if he doesn’t have it? He could end up like—

  “I didn’t know.” Her tone announced that tears threatened. “What happens if he doesn’t have a nest scent?”

  The possibilities were too dire to consider. He could end up like Arren Raash.

  No. I will not allow that to happen to my son. “We can make it right, but we must act quickly. Are you willing to come to the nest with me today? If we expose Michael to the nest at least a day a week for the next few months, we can imprint the nest scent on him before it’s too late.”

  Abby nodded. “If we moved into the nest, would it be better?”

  Gabe took his time answering. “It would, but it would mean a concerted move. I can get my seir and brother to help move the necessary belongings...possibly other allies as well, but I don’t want you to make that choice until you’ve seen the nest. If you can’t live there, we will make the effort to spend a day or two there at a time while Michael acclimates to the nest.”

  “Okay. What do we have to do?”

  “I have phone calls to make. I need S’suuhhea for you and S’suumea for Michael. I will arrange a gift of spice for my nest.” His head spun in plans. Most of it would come from Spice Industries. With the Raash nest as allies, accommodating them would be a priority.

  “I really didn’t know,” Abby whispered.

  Questions warred for the right to be first to spring from his lips. Gabe took his time, prioritizing them in
to what he needed to know before he called for the clothing they’d pick up on the way.

  She tried to tell me something. It was probably important. “Why does Michael appear to be younger than he is?” If he had a medical failing, his seir and gran-seir would never forgive Gabe for not being there to aid them. I won’t forgive myself for it.

  I couldn’t have known it.

  Abby swallowed hard. “Because he was premature.”

  Terror shafted through Gabe. “How far?”

  “I carried him for a little less than three and a half months.”

  “Michael survived that?” The words were out before Gabe could think of something more appropriate to ask.

  “Doctor Rayn said he’s had a lot of experience with premature crossbred infants.”

  “He has.” Raash’s young alone would account for that. “How small was Michael at birth?”

  “A little less than a kilogram and a half.”

  There was nothing Gabe could say to so shocking an answer. It was difficult to contemplate a babe so small. He could have fit in my joined hands, I’d bet. I should have been there. I failed my family when they needed me most.

  “Gabe?”

  “We must go today. Please say you’ll accompany me.”

  Abby nodded. “Make whatever calls you need to, and we’ll leave as soon as Michael has his lunch.”

  ****

  Gabe lifted Michael from the car seat and hooked the bag of supplies over his shoulder. Beside him, Abby reached for the computer bag.

  “Not now. My seir and I will collect the rest later.”

  She closed the car door and looked around the garage bunker.

  Like most Xxanian nests, it was designed to deceive. It appeared to be a typical ranch-style house with attached garage from the outside, but this house was akin to a bomb shelter. It was a reinforced bunker: outfitted with blast doors, defensive systems, a hanger with two shuttles, a self-contained support system, and emergency escape tunnels. The tunnels of the main nest areas themselves were three stories beneath the surface and could be isolated from the outer shell.

  Gabe guided Abby to the door, coded in, and escorted her into the s’sanuea. The garage door closed behind them, and he got down to business.

  “We’re going to dress appropriately. That means stripping off everything you have on now. Hang the clothing on the hooks, and place your shoes under the bench.”

  Abby shot a nervous look at the door to the nest, then complied. Gabe went to work on Michael’s one-piece outfit.

  Dressing them in the traditional Xxanian garb didn’t take long. Each of them would only be wearing a single item of clothing—Michael’s diaper aside—and proper wrap and folds were second nature to someone born and raised in a nest. Gabe had been aiding Ariel with her S’suuhhea since before she could walk and tying his own S’suumea since shortly after that age.

  He took a moment to admire her. “You are beautiful.” And strong and confident. My family will love her.

  Abby was a stunning shade of embarrassed red, and she stared at him, shifting from foot to foot. “What now?”

  “Now we enter the nest.” He hesitated. “Don’t try to introduce yourself or Michael to anyone. There is a tradition for bringing new family members to the nest. I have to introduce you.”

  She nodded. “Anything else I should know?”

  “I’ll have to teach you Xxan. Usually, we all speak Xxan in the nest, but everyone knows English. They’ll understand you, but I’ll have to do a lot of translating for you for now.”

  Abby groaned. “I have completely screwed this up, haven’t I?”

  Gabe gathered her into his arms. “We both have, and it’s my job to make it right. Just let me.”

  A shaky nod was her only reply.

  Best I can hope for. It wasn’t ideal to walk in with Abby so obviously frightened, but it was better than chancing Michael.

  Gabe hefted the bag and Michael, then offered Abby his arm. The internal door slid open for him, prompted by facial recognition scanners hooked to the defensive systems. It was a layer of security most of the nests didn’t have. That way, even if someone got the code to open the outer door, he or she would be stuck in the s’sanuea with no way into the nest proper.

  They stepped through, and the door slid closed behind them. The faint click announced the first of the blast doors securing at their backs. It was a sound that made Gabe feel safe. Behind doors like these, no one would try to kill his mate and son.

  Not now. For now, he could only hope Abby would like the nest and choose to stay.

  The first two downward sloping chambers were behind them before he sighted his seir. Abby stopped abruptly, as Brien stepped out of the shadows, the elder’s zuahhhbeahhh in hand.

  He surveyed their little group, then lowered the weapon. “The scanners showed three,” he offered by way of apology.

  “Safety of the nest, the women, and the young first,” Gabe intoned.

  Brien stepped toward them and offered his hand. “I welcome the brother warrior to the nest. I welcome all that come with—” He stopped speaking abruptly and focused on Michael. His tongue extended a bit to take in the baby’s scent. “The elder will have questions,” he grumbled.

  “I know. I expect it.” It was clear his seir had questions as well, but tradition said that the elder would be privy to all news first.

  Gabe clasped his seir’s hand in a warrior’s welcome.

  “He’s waiting for you.” With one last questioning glance at Michael, Brien turned and led the way toward the center nest.

  Abby hurried to keep up, and Gabe reeled her in. A woman being added to the nest should never be rushed.

  When they reached the center nest, the family was assembled and waiting for them. Ariel and Geoff waited with their Hauaa, Geoff in a protective posture. Between that group and Gabe’s little family, Brien stood with Zhaahvan.

  Abby looked up at the elder...and up. She took a shuffling step backward, then planted her feet before Gabe could draw her to his side.

  Zhaahvan cocked his head to one side and surveyed the visitors to his nest. “A most interesting pair, Gabe.”

  It was a challenge of bringing a young one to the nest, Gabe was sure. Scent him, stars blaze you. Scent him, and you will know he belongs here. “They are, Gran-Seir. A most pleasant surprise for me.”

  “Who is responsible for this young one?” His tone was gruff, a warning that he was highly displeased. Whether he was displeased with Gabe or with whatever male Gran-Seir suspected was the seir was unclear.

  “I am.”

  Zhaahvan snapped a look at him, and his ridge plates stirred minutely. Gabe’s did the same. He settled Michael in Abby’s arms and took a step toward his gran-seir in challenge.

  Slowly, with precision, the elder extended his forked tongue and drew in Abby and Michael’s scents. A growl built in his massive chest, and Zhaahvan showed his hunting teeth. Abby sank back another step, her breathing rasping in and out in her terror.

  “You hid a child from us? From your nest and elders?”

  “No. I didn’t know my son existed until three days ago. My mate was gone from my life before either of us knew he existed.”

  The elder snorted in displeasure, his ridge plates extending fully, his frills shaking in challenge. The rest of the family was silent. This was a judgment, and for the first time, Gabe feared his gran-seir might turn them away.

  Then Michael will have my nest scent and not my family’s. It is the old lizard’s choice to accept us or not. Gabe squared his shoulders and prepared to tell the old buck precisely what he thought of him. That would most likely end in bitter battle, but if that was the elder’s choice, so be it.

  “And you were such a worthless male she didn’t come to you to help raise your own son?”

  Gabe bristled at the insult. “No. She was told our son would not survive and didn’t want to cause me pain. She knew how important family is to me and was afraid of letting me tie mysel
f to a woman that reportedly couldn’t give me young, to force me to mourn a son that had no chance of surviving to see his first days.” It still amazed him that Abby thought so highly of him.

  Zhaahvan scented again in earnest. “I can detect no frailty in the young Dominant.”

  “The frailty is my mate’s. She carries badly, but my son’s presence proves she can carry and has already blessed the nest with a young Dominant.” It was a half-truth, since the human doctor had determined Abby couldn’t possibly carry so close to term again.

  They told her she couldn’t the first time. Maybe I should ask Rayn his opinion of her chances of carrying again.

  His gran-seir’s voice snapped Gabe back to the continuing judgment. “You call the female your mate, but her scent proves that is not so.”

  “Only because our son is nursing. When he weans, we intend to bind. What sort of male do you think I am? I would not risk my son, even for this.”

  A moment of tense silence fell. “And you believe this female when she promises to mate?”

  “I trust my mate is sincere. If you do not, we will leave this nest and never return.”

  Gabe’s Hauaa gasped out a protest, and Zhaahvan’s ridge plates retracted part way. Brien glanced at his mate, made a soothing sound, then shot a glare at Gabe.

  Gabe forced back a wince. He hadn’t meant to distress his Hauaa, but a show of his strength had been warranted.

  “Perhaps I should see the young Dominant and his Hauaa,” Zhaahvan suggested.

  “Perhaps you should.” Gabe didn’t pretend all was forgiven and forgotten. That wasn’t a Xxanian warrior’s way. He back-stepped to Abby’s side.

  She grasped his hand, trembling more than a little. “He won’t accept us. Will he?”

  The elder snorted, and she jumped minutely.

  Chapter Six

  Zhaahvan took a long stride toward them and reached one taloned hand toward Abby. Her heart pounded in fear. Moments ago, he’d clearly been arguing with Gabe. What if he didn’t approve of them?