Brida Pact (30 page)

“I want you undressed,” Wheaton muttered, his voice now
gruff with need. Leaning forward for a quick, hard kiss before he set her on
her feet, he whispered against her lips, “Right now.”

“Ditto.” Poppy had already started tugging her shirt over
her head the minute her toes touched the floor. Wiggling out of her pants,
Poppy glanced up to find a nearly naked Wheaton. She smiled.

“What?” Wheaton said, catching her grin.

“Nothing. I just like looking at you.”

“I love you looking at me. I love looking at you also,” he
replied with a smile. Slowly advancing on her, he reached for her hips and
tugged her nude body to his own. With his chest rumbling softly, he leaned down
and rubbed it against her hardened nipples.

Poppy tipped her head back and let out a groan. “I love the
feel of your body too.”

Wheaton bent his knees to grip her ass to lift her up. Poppy
wrapped her legs around his waist and swayed forward to nip at his chest.

“Biting now, are we?” he mused. He nibbled at the spot where
her shoulder met her neck.

Wheaton turned so her back was to the bed and walked until
his legs touched the edge. Laying her down, he stretched out on top of her.

“I want to hold you close for a moment. No clothes. No
talking. Just us,” he said while staring into her eyes.

Poppy reached her hand up to trace the area around his green
eyes and smiled into his serious face.

“This is a good place, isn’t it?” Poppy asked.

Taking her hand in his own, he kissed her knuckles. “It’s
the perfect place.”

After a few moments of silence, Wheaton reached for her
mouth with his own. Kissing had never been such a turn-on before. Deep and
intense, she felt invigorated and yet out of breath while time seemed to stand
still. Long, drugging kisses soon made her squirm under his strong, hard body.
Running her hands down his back, she let her nails drag against his skin and was
rewarded when he pushed even harder into her body. Wheaton shifted his weight
so he settled into the cradle of her body and Poppy felt her legs open
helplessly against him. Her body seemed to be on fire and the only thing he had
done so far was kiss her.

He ran the tip of his tongue from her collarbone to her
nipples, circling each in turn before he gave a hard suck to the tips. Bringing
one hand to her chest, he squeezed and plumped each breast that he wasn’t
worshiping with his mouth. Once her nipples were almost too sore to get any
more attention, Wheaton moved even farther down her body.

At her stomach, he stopped and scattered kisses over the
area housing his baby. Seeing his eyes water with tears, she reached down to
his face and cradled his cheek.

“I love you,” Poppy couldn’t help but whisper again.

Clearing his throat, he took a moment to calm his emotions.
“I love you. Both of you.” Wheaton kissed her stomach before moving lower. Widening
her legs with his shoulders, he raised them until they were hooked over his
shoulders. With her legs draped over his back, he began nosing into her folds.
Poppy’s head dropped back to the pillow. His tongue and teeth teased her nether
lips before swiping at her fully.

Wheaton adjusted himself to bring his arms up around her
legs. He managed to hold them wide enough to make a meal out of her. Panting
and twisting on the sheets, Poppy couldn’t seem to stop her body from
simultaneously fighting and reveling in what Wheaton was doing. Her wonderful
warrior was giving her no chance to catch her breath or move away from his
mouth. His taking turns sucking and giving pointed licks straight to her clit
had her panting. Getting to the point where she was sure she was going to pop
his head off with her legs, she realized she needed to loosen not only the grip
she had on his hair, but also her legs.

When he moved a finger to her opening to circle the entrance
that had been treated to a tongue bath, she gripped the silky strands of his
hair even harder. So what if she plucked him bald? She couldn’t help herself.

When the telltale tremors started in her belly and moved to
the rest of her limbs, she heard a voice she recognized as her own shout out.
Not the standard “Oh god” or even Wheaton’s name, she instead went with the
“oooooooohhhh” that was all her brain could think to form as she was taken over
with chills.

As Wheaton gave one final lick to her now too-sensitive clit
and spread her juices around her opening to ease his way, he leaned up onto his
knees and positioned his cock right where she wanted it. “Are you ready for me,
little flower?” he asked, wiping his mouth.

“Fuck yes,” Poppy whispered, getting an eyeful of what he
was preparing to plunge into her. “Have I told you how much I love your body?”
she asked huskily, running one hand down his abs and smoothing her finger down
his member that was poised at her body.

“You can tell me more. Later. Right now I want you too much
to talk.” With that he leaned his weight forward and allowed his cock to fill
her one inch at a time.

Once he was fully inside her, their eyes locked as if they
each understood how perfect this particular moment was.

“I will never get enough of you, my little flower.”

“Ditto,” Poppy said softly with a smile that turned to a
gasp. She arched her back as he started thrusting.

Still on his knees, he kept hold of her legs while he pumped
into her over and over again. Not being able to reach his body easily, Poppy
reclined and gripped her hands into the sheets under their straining bodies. As
her knuckles tightened on the fabric, she knew she was close again. Wheaton’s
clenched jaw was now coated with beads of sweat. Letting go of the sheets,
Poppy reached down between her legs to finger her still-hard clit. Wheaton must
have felt her move, because when his eyes saw her hand, he groaned and started
thrusting even harder into the cradle of her hips.

“Let me.” He pushed her hand away and pinched her clit with
a sharp flick of his fingers. As if he had his own personal switch to her body,
she immediately detonated. Under her straining, open legs, she felt his thighs
tighten as he pumped hard into her sheath. Groaning out loud, his body stayed
tense for a few more moments while Poppy tried to catch her breath.

“I will never get tired of this.” His voice was hoarse with passion,
and Poppy smiled at him through sleepy but satisfied eyes.

“That’s a good thing.” Reaching up to tug Wheaton down, she
cuddled him a second before turning over to wiggle back into the curve of his
body. As they lay there, damp with the passion they were unable to control, she
traced the muscle on the forearm that was around her waist.

“What happens now?” she asked quietly.

“We will be happy, Poppy.”

Smacking his arm, she said, “I know that, you goof. I meant,
what happens with everything else?”

Pulling her back into place, he settled his chin on the top
of her head. “We will try to have Demascus brought before the Council to face
charges. We wait for our baby to be born. We keep you safe.” As if those were
the easiest things to do, he didn’t pause with his answer.

“What about calling more brides? That’s been ruined for so
many warriors.” Poppy couldn’t help but feel bad for the men who wouldn’t have
a chance to find their mates. She’d made friends with some of them and couldn’t
imagine them being alone until they fixed whatever Demascus had done to the
computer system.

“Actually, before Demascus installed the virus, we had
already pulled fifty more matches from the system.” Leaning down to kiss her
hair, he paused. “Depending on what he was able to upload it could take some
time for us to fix the damage that he has done. The virus he installed has
managed to infiltrate so many parts of the system. Our first step will be to
see how far it was able to reach before we can estimate the length of time we
will be without new bridal matches. One of the system engineers believes that
Demascus may have uploaded the virus earlier than expected. We will not know
for sure, but he may have been the cause of the system matching me with Hannah.
We suspect he may have infected the system first to set up false matches and
cause the Council to doubt our alliance with Earth. When that did not work, he
went to more extreme measures.”

“What an asshole. I hope they can get it all sorted out. I
feel so bad for all the warriors still waiting for their chances at getting a
bride.” Closing her eyes, she suddenly felt everything catch up with her.
Yawning widely, Poppy snuggled closer and murmured, “Night, babe.”

Feeling him nuzzle her ear, Poppy smiled when she heard him
whisper, “Sleep well, little flower.”

“E.T. phone home… E.T. phone home.”

“That’s still not funny, Pixie.” Poppy stuck her tongue out
at the video monitor that showed her sister’s smiling face.

“Oh c’mon, it is totally funny.” Wiggling her eyebrows back
at Poppy, she gave her a pointed look. “How is my future alien niece or nephew?
And tell me again why Wheaton didn’t want to know the sex of the baby?”

“He or she is perfectly fine and you can blame it on
watching too many movies. Apparently he wants the full ‘surprise’ experience.
Tamin and Rodin have been sworn to secrecy to anyone and everyone who tries to
weasel it out of them.” She rubbed her stomach and leaned back so Pixie could
get a glimpse of her rounded belly. She smiled. “By the way, it is so nice to
see your ugly mug again. I was getting really tired of just hearing your
voice.”

Pixie grinned back. “I know. Being able to see and talk to
you makes a big difference. Almost like we aren’t too far apart. Oh and let me
see that ring now!”

Waving her hand in front of the screen, Poppy showed Pixie
the ring Wheaton had put there not too long ago. After Pixie’s appropriate
“oohs” and “aahhs” Poppy laughed at her sister and gestured for them to move
on.

“So, what’s been happening in your neck of the woods?” Poppy
asked. Keeping one hand on her stomach, she realized it had become a habit to
rub her baby belly. It weirded her out when other people touched her stomach
but she was always comforted when she was able to massage the rounded-out area.

“Well…a lot actually,” Pixie answered. The seriousness on
Pixie’s face caused Poppy to worry for a moment.

While Squadron One had gone to the Phaeton Prime for a few
short weeks, they were currently zooming back to Earth to relieve Squadron Two
due to ship malfunctions. The planet had been beautiful but Poppy was relieved
they were going back home for a while. Hoping that the timeline matched up, she
was crossing her fingers Pixie would be able to visit her for the birth of the
baby. Thinking back to her time on the planet, she realized it had been rushed
but wonderful. It was a beautiful place that Poppy had been enthralled with.
She had even managed to get Wheaton to capture some images on a camera-like
object so she could show Pixie.

When it had been time for Squadron One to move back into
orbit around Earth, Poppy had talked Wheaton into moving back into their
apartments. She figured that when the baby was still an infant, they could
handle sharing the small space and one bedroom but once the baby got older,
they would need to broach the problem of setting up a nursery.

“Hey, you still with me?” Pixie waved at the monitor to
catch Poppy’s attention.

“Sorry, baby brain has settled in. So what’s so important
that we had to wait for video chat for you to talk to me about?”

“I’m just going to start at the beginning and I don’t want
you to get mad, okay?” Pixie began.

Oh dear. With that start, Poppy braced herself, wishing
Wheaton hadn’t been called down to the sparring room, so he could be there. She
found his mere presence had gone a long way in soothing her lately. The baby
also loved being around him, because the little bugger usually calmed down and
took it easy on her bladder when Wheaton caressed the skin stretched over her
growing stomach.

“I broke up with Brian,” Pixie informed her baldly.

Poppy searched Pixie’s face for signs of sadness but
amazingly didn’t see any. “Ummm, okay…why?” She thought about the man her
sister had wanted to marry, and wondered what had happened.

“Well, here’s the kicker. Remember Brenda?”

At Poppy’s nod, Pixie nodded too. “He was fucking her.
He.
Was. Fucking. Her.”

“No!” Poppy was truly shocked.

“Yes! Not only that but the woman who I thought was a friend
and assistant was messing with my work to make me busier so she could get me
out of the way so they could meet!” Pixie spoke as if she could truly murder
someone.

“When did you find out?” Poppy asked, so stunned that she
could only sit there with her mouth hanging open.

“I noticed mistakes that even an idiot shouldn’t be making with
the bookkeeping. One night, I decided to take home the extra work that she’d
been making for me and found Brenda in bed with Brian apparently doing
her
extra work. Well, technically they were on the couch.”

“No! Fuck! I loved that couch.” Poppy made a disgusted face
at the camera. “Now I feel the need to go and dip myself in antibacterial
soap.”

“Yeah, needless to say that is one piece of furniture I
didn’t take with me when I left.”

“Fuck. Me.” Unable to believe what she was hearing, Poppy
reached for one of the donuts that was ever present at her side. As she stuffed
her face, she waved her hand to get Pixie to keep spilling the beans.

“Nope, it was Brenda fucking Brian. Plain as day.”

“What did you do?” Face stuffed with a donut, Poppy’s words
came out mumbled but Pixie got the drift.

“Well, I told her she was fired and I told him to fuck off.”

“Wait…you asked me not to be mad earlier. What would I be
mad about that for?” Wondering where this was going was making Poppy crave
another donut.

“After I cleaned house at work and at home, I realized I was
going to follow in my sister’s footsteps.” Pixie smiled at Poppy and seemed
pleased with herself.

“I don’t get it.”

“I walked my happy ass down to the Intake Center and filled
out a bridal application.” Recoiling back from the screen as if she were
waiting for Poppy to reach through and strangle her, Pixie waited a minute
before opening her eyes and seeing what her sister’s reaction was.

“You what!” Where were more fucking donuts when you needed
one…or five? Poppy thought.

“Okay, I thought this through. I’m single. I knew that with
the Brenda-the-bitch fiasco at work, my boss was not going to be okay with me
staying on since I let her get away with fucking up for so long. The biggest
thing though is…I missed my sister.”

Pausing for a moment, Pixie seemed as if she were going to
cry. “Poppy, I want what you have. I’ve never seen you happier than you are
right now. You have a gorgeous man who adores you, a baby on the way, and
you’re living a life I’m truly jealous of.”

“I don’t know what to say, Pixie.” Poppy truly didn’t. Pixie
had always seemed to have her shit under control and thought everything through
to the point of obsession. Her path had seemed to be laid out from the time she
started college: finish school, find a management job and marry the man she had
been dating for years. Her two planned kids were scheduled to follow three
years apart after the honeymoon was over. This seemed so out of character that
Poppy hoped Pixie didn’t end up regretting her decision.

“But, Pixie, I thought Earth received the press release from
Phaeton that there would be a halt on bride matching. With the system down,
they’re working hard to get it going as soon as possible but it could be a
while before you’re selected.” Feeling a tiny bit better that Pixie would have
time to rethink her decision, she calmed slightly.

“Actually the whole Brian/Brenda clusterfuck happened a
while ago and my application was matched before that asshole kidnapped you.”
Seeing Poppy wasn’t understanding what she was saying, Pixie smirked and
explained, “I was one of the matches that was pulled before the system went
down.”

“Oh.” Not sure what else to say, Poppy sat there quietly for
a moment. “Do you know who your future husband is?” Trying to stay positive,
she thought to make the best of a situation that was worrying her.

“Yes I do, and the good thing is you know him too.” Pixie
had that look on her face she got when she had a secret.

“Oh really?” Consumed with wonder as to who it might be, she
wished Pixie would just spit it out.

“Yep. We would have already started our trial period, but
he’s been too busy to come to Earth to fill out paperwork.” Grinning widely,
she clapped her hands together. “This means that I will be on Squadron One once
you get close enough to Earth.”

“Who. Is. It?” Poppy was sure Pixie was doing this on
purpose. Even when they were little, Pixie would always drag things out just to
drive her crazy. She loved her sister dearly but dear god she was ready to
reach through the screen and strangle her.

“Okay, okay, okay, keep your ass calm before you go into
labor.” Pointing her finger at the screen, Pixie gave the order. “You’d better
not have that baby until I get there, bish. I mean it!”

“Pixie! Who the fuck is it?” If she kept this up, Poppy was
going to have her baby right before Pixie got there just to fuck with her.

“My future loving, gorgeous husband is…drum roll please…”
Pixie drummed her hands on the counter in front of her.

Poppy folded her arms across her chest, not at all amused.
“Piiiiiiixiiiiiie.” Raising her eyebrows, she leveled her with a glare.

“Jesus, Pissy Poppy, you take all the fun out of things. I
was matched with Dathrow.”

“Oh fuck.” Realizing she’d whispered it out loud when Pixie
stared at her in confusion, Poppy stuttered, “I… I… I mean…ummm… Dathrow?
Really?”

Not knowing what was winging through Poppy’s head, Pixie
smiled and nodded. “Yeah, you remember him, right? He was here with Wheaton
when you first met.”

“Of course I remember him.” Figuring now was a good time to
end the conversation before she said something that would freak Pixie out, she
changed the subject and then told Pixie she couldn’t wait to see her soon.

After logging off, Poppy sat in the chair for a little
longer while she went over their conversation again in her head.

Pixie had been matched to Dathrow.

Pixie. Had. Been. Matched. To. Dathrow.

Dathrow, who had become one of Poppy’s closest friends.
Dathrow, who at one point had been a second match for Poppy. The same warrior
who had gone to the Council and been transferred to another ship because of his
attraction to her. That same Dathrow had been matched to her sister.

Getting up and walking to the kitchen for another donut,
there was one thing Poppy knew without a doubt.

Things were about to get interesting.