TakeMeNow Page 4

  "Deirlin."

  "Shev."

  "Tikki."

  "Thank you. Now, to tell you about Kenvin. It is a minerally and agriculturally rich world. The men who live here work hard but have no opportunity to find women of their own. So, the Enforced Colonization Act was created. The money that the men pay for you is a deposit for the expansion of the colony and a trust for the education of the children."

  Nadir, a shy woman with golden red hair looked up, "What if we don't like them?"

  Raeda sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "All the men who come here today have clean psychological profiles and enough money to provide for you and any offspring you might have. You will like them and love might grow from that. If there is one in particular that you are attracted to, let me know. I will see what I can do to check compatibility."

  One of the women, Felani, asked. "Why are the blenders here? They are sterile."

  Raeda giggled at the offended look that Taro shot her. "They are here to guard me. They would not let me into the auction house without them."

  "You were bought?"

  She bit one of her nails while smirking. "No, not exactly. I was simply handed over."

  The women gasped. As horrible as their circumstances were, apparently being simply given to a blender was beyond revolting.

  "Handed to a blender? That's horrible."

  Oh, her men's egos were taking a beating.

  Deliberately, Raeda unlaced her leather tunic and opened it to show the mark that she had been given as a child. She turned from side to side, letting the group see her mark. "I know all about being given little to no choice in the matter of mates."

  The women went silent while she laced up her tunic. "Now. On to your matters. You will be led out, announced and I want you to put everything down on this document pad about yourself that you can. Right down to your sexual preferences."

  That got the women muttering to themselves.

  In explanation, she raised her hands. "It will narrow down the men who have similar sexual interests. Be specific and honest. There is no means of divorce on Kenvin, so a lie in what you do and don't like could tie you in an unsatisfactory situation for a very long time."

  The women swallowed and started to fill out the questionnaires.

  Raeda sat back and waited. She had no idea if this would work, but it was worth a try.

  The men of Kenvin did, in fact, have a method of relieving themselves of an unwanted wife--they could return her to the auction and she would be resold. Their original expense was never refunded, so this was a serious financial matter for most. Telling the women that they could change hands was not going to calm them about living on Kenvin, so Raeda left that part out.

  She chewed her nail while the women worked and thought about what Felani had said. She had been hiding her pregnancy from the men, but she wasn't sure that they didn't suspect.

  Three weeks along, she shouldn't have been able to tell, but her body felt different to her. If she could get away from her men long enough to get to the medical centre, she could have it confirmed, but they didn't like her to wander off on her own.

  The ladies had all come through their exams with clean bills of health. A few had fought the docs, but all in all, they were fine.

  Raeda sighed and sent patience to the guys. It would be a journey of several hours, but hopefully, these women could enter Kenvin as citizens in a more dignified manner than she had.

  The auction took only two hours. Without the promise of nudity or exposure, only men who actually wanted a wife attended. It was still over sixty men, but with the information that the women had given, men who saw them as people and not just a physical vessel took them.

  Geera was an excellent cook and the man who bid on her owned a commercial orchard. She stared up at him in surprise and he looked down at her, besotted.

  Nadir made more of a meeting of the minds. Her love of reading and education put her in line to be one of the teachers in the growing town and her purchaser owned the bookshop.

  The others made good pairings with men who had complementary lifestyles. It was a good night.

  Sighing, Raeda leaned back against Dorn. "I hope that it goes well. It was a better start anyway."

  The rest of their set gathered and Renner ran his hand along her jaw. He tilted her face up to his and pressed a soft kiss on her lips. "Now, let's all go over to the med centre. We have an appointment to find out if we are going to be fathers."

  "You know?"

  Taro grinned and lifted one of her hands, pressing a soft kiss to the palm. "Raeda, your whole mind is screaming I have a secret every moment of every day for the last week."

  Dorn chuckled behind her and wrapped an arm around her, covering her belly with his hand. "Even I picked up on it, dear heart, and I am thick as a brick."

  "Aw. Not that thick. I can just get my hand around you." She reached up and patted his cheek with her free hand.

  After their group moment, they walked in an orderly fashion to the med centre. The doctor was off his regular shift but had come at the request of the lawmen. "Now, Miss Wolf, could you sit here while I run the scans?"

  Her men growled in unison and the doctor looked alarmed.

  Raeda laughed. "It is Mrs. Wolf. They are most specific about that."

  "Uh. I see. Mrs. Wolf then."

  "Call me Raeda."

  "Raeda then. This won't hurt." He used a high-tech scanner that she wasn't used to seeing on any but the most elevated of worlds.

  A pleasant chirp out of the scanner put her men on alert and she could almost see their ears perked toward her.

  "Raeda, you definitely are pregnant. Your body is reacting in a peculiar manner, but you are definitely going to have a child."

  The howls of triumph from the exam room must have carried, because security rushed into the room and found Raeda in the careful grip of her three mates and the doctor up against the wall.

  To Raeda's amusement, the doctor waved the security guards out and explained prenatal diet and care to them and her men soaked it up as if they were receiving words from a deity.

  When the appointment was over and the follow up arranged, Dorn lifted her in his arms and she blasted out a sigh. "What are you doing, Dorn?"

  "Carrying you."

  "My legs work perfectly fine."

  "But you might knock it loose."

  She couldn't help it. Laughter spilled out of her until her sides ached. "If walking was going to knock it loose, what do you think last night's fucking would have done?"

  His look of horror stilled her laughter, but she was still smiling when she kissed his face. "Babies have been growing in women far more active than me for eons. Doc Deveraux designed us to survive and I am pretty sure that it includes her defacto grandchildren. I am fine and I will remain fine."

  Renner nodded and crossed his arms, "We will make sure of it. From now on, one of us will be with you at all times."

  "You could just leave me with a communicator."

  "And yet we won't. Any assignment we go on is at least an hour away from you. That is too far for your safety."

  She was still in Dorn's arms, but Taro helped her out of them and to her feet.

  "Gentlemen, let's go home. I have some negotiating to do and I believe that it is best we be naked before I start the proceedings."

  They bundled her onto the family skimmer and together, they flew through the night, planning a baby's addition to the longhouse.

  With the autumn air around them, Raeda relaxed. One way or another, everything was going to work itself out. She had three wolves to guard her and a planet to make her own.

  Chapter Seven

  Raeda snuck away in the early hours. The skimmer took her into the village and she relaxed once she passed the security beacon on the outskirts.

  Seeing her goal, she smiled and dismounted from her personal transport. "Geera, Nadir, how nice to see you again."

  The two women looked up from their craft booth at
the spring market and smiled broadly. "Raeda! How is it that they let you out of their sight?"

  She chuckled and approached her friends. "It took some doing, but they don't have heads for peach wine, especially not when you mix it with fruit juice and a sedative."

  Her friends laughed and together, they took a seat at the outdoor café and enjoyed a leisurely girls' breakfast, the last one she would have as a woman and not a mother. Her belly was so huge that she waddled when she walked and fear flickered in her mates' eyes whenever they got a good look at her.

  "I am tired of them looking at me like I was about to explode."

  Geera leaned back and gestured at her from head to toe. "Well, you do look enormous, pet."

  Nadir nodded. "It is a little startling. Here we don't see you for a few months and you build a whole person in there. It looks like he will be in secondary education before he arrives."

  Raeda laughed and ignored the rhythmic twinge that ran from her back in a band around her belly. She let the pain drift through her thoughts and felt a wave of anger and irritation.

  The boys were awake and they were not impressed that she had left. Dying in a skimmer wreck because Dorn was watching her and not their surroundings was not high on her list of things to do today.

  She felt the shift from two to four legs and winced at the knowledge that they would be chewing her out while they were butt naked. Their special trousers were in the baby's room where they had tangled on the floor the night before.

  She tried to rise, but another pain wrapped her body tightly and she breathed until it passed.

  Geera paled. "Raeda, are you all right?"

  Nadir grimaced. "Of course not, dummy. She is in labour. Do you think she normally breaks a sweat eating a scone?"

  "I just want to wait here until they arrive. Then, I will calmly go to the med centre and have my baby. You might want to get some wraps for the boys. They will be coming into town on all fours."

  Geera widened her eyes but left her chair and headed for the clothing stall for the early morning farmers' market. She returned with three lengths of cloth that would suit the wolf set and folded them carefully.

  "There, they will be decent within moments. Not that any of the local ladies are complaining. They are very appreciative of the view when your set comes out on protection duties improperly attired." Nadir grinned.

  They tried to carry on polite conversation, but the pains started to pile one after the other, Raeda breathed through each one, wincing when her water broke.

  The café server realized that something was going on and brought out a glass of chipped ice for the woman in labour, as well as sent one of the bussers to notify the midwife at the med centre.

  As the three huge wolves sprinted toward her, she had to admit that it was an impressive sight. The monstrous beasts skidded to a halt, throwing dust everywhere. Raeda calmly covered her hot chocolate.

  The low growls of displeasure that they treated her to made her laugh. "Knock it off, fellas. I am in labour. So, either I have this kid here next to the pastries or someone helps me to the med centre."

  They shifted so fast that she barked another laugh as pain gripped her.

  A blushing Geera handed them the wraps and once they were all wearing the fabric snugly around their hips, Raeda started to struggle to her feet.

  Dorn snarled, "You are the most stubborn woman," as he scooped her up.

  She poked him in the chest with two fingers. "And don't you forget it."

  Taro asked quietly as they strode to the med centre. "Why did you leave?"

  She sighed. "It's complicated. But since I have been here, I have been doing what you wanted me to do, not what I wanted to do. I wanted one morning of making my own decisions. One morning before I became a mom."

  Renner looked like he was blushing. "We just wanted you safe…"

  "And in the best of health for the baby. I know. I just wanted to have a morning breakfast meeting with friends. I need friends you know. It's important." The last was said through gritted teeth.

  "We will try and keep that in mind, but for now, you have to have a baby."

  She grunted. "Why? Why do I have to do this?"

  Dorn looked down at her with a smile. "Because we have already decorated the baby's room?"

  Laughter came again. "Good answer."

  The midwife took one look at their grouping and started to shake her head at the peculiar collection. "I have booked one of the larger rooms. Something tells me you need the space."

  The next two hours went by quickly.

  Raeda groaned and grunted, her men growled and took turns holding her hands. She bit both Taro and Renner in turn when they got too close to her face. Dorn had the sense to keep away from her head while he rubbed her back and fed her ice chips.

  When the time came for her to push, Dorn held her shoulders, Taro and Renner each took a leg and with seven groaning pushes, her daughter slid into the world.

  The relief of the intense pressure brought tears to her eyes and when her tiny little girl was placed on her chest all wet and naked, she sobbed. The rest of her set joined her in her tears.

  The midwife smiled benignly until something started happening between Raeda's thighs.

  The second child arrived without the fanfare of the first. A little boy that confused his fathers but was held in huge muscular arms with the same reverence that his sister had experienced.

  After all the fanfare and the midwife had helped Raeda clean up, she leaned back and watched her men carefully holding and comparing the two little ones, one in royal blue and the other in bright red.

  The little girl had Taro's colouring with Dorn's eyes and the little boy had Renner's hair with Taro's eyes.

  "Sirn and Masha, after my parents. I only had them for a few years, but they meant the world to me and wherever they are now, I want them to know they had an impact." Her words were meant to be thoughts, but her men smiled.

  Sirn and Masha started to fuss and with a laugh, Raeda held out her arms. "I know you want to hold them forever, but they are hungry and you are not equipped to take care of it."

  The little ones latched on with ferocity and Raeda could only thank her lucky stars that they were not born with teeth.

  She leaned back and gave her men a weary smile. "I have no idea how we are going to get home, but I do know that we need more baby supplies. Kenvin has two more citizens, so perhaps you can use your clout to work out a deal."

  She listened to them making a list that included a crib, extra diapers and tiny baby clothing for both genders. They fought each other for the first diaper change and she concluded that three dads might just be the right amount.

  Raeda let her mind fade into sleep and felt arms come around her to hold her and the babies. It didn't matter which one it was, they were in her mind, all around her, all hers and she was theirs.

  About the Author

  Zenina Masters was born in Canada and lives in Canada. She has a regular job and does nothing particularly exciting with her life. She enjoys fishing, silence and the ability to pick and choose friends she can trust. Life is too short to watch your back all the time.

  Her writing life is a teeny bit of escapism, she would probably chicken out if confronted by three naked men and looks forward to one day finding out.