Kneus: A Terraneu Novel (Book Four) (4 page)

Kneus wasn’t sure he could take it much longer. Yes,
he had faced a lot of terrible things in his thousands of years. Yes, he had
just survived being shot and lying in a coma for days. Yes, it was a natural
and beautiful process to give birth...that being said however, the sounds his
brother’s mate was making could not possibly be natural! She had been getting
louder and louder with her discomfort as the hours passed, until now she was
making guttural half groaning-half screaming noises with barely any pause!

Gwen had asked him and Kniam to stay on this side of the curtain. Only
Amber, Knollig and Gwen were on the other side with the laboring Mairi.
Catherine had gone with Knaleg to update Jen and Thian. Even though they had
told her they could tell Thian telepathically, she said the exercise would do
them good. He was sure the excuse to get away had nothing to do with the fact
that with every sound behind the curtain Knaleg had broken out in a sweat and
turned a new shade of green.

“How much longer do you think this will last?” His brother whispered to
him as they crossed paths. He would pace one-way Kniam the other until they met
in the middle, then they would step around each other and continue pacing.

“I don’t know how long it has been to say how much longer it could go.”
Kneus whispered back. Then he heard Gwen state loudly from behind the curtain.

“Okay Mairi I need you to push.” Until this point it had been whispered
encouragement from Amber and Knollig with the occasional loud mutterings from
Mairi.

Kneus looked to Kniam who was frozen just as he was. He heard a great
grunting noise from behind the curtain. He had to assume it was Mairi making
that noise.

“Keep pushing!” Gwen encouraged excitedly. “There is the head. Push
harder.”

There was an unholy screech that had the hair on his neck stand on end,
and then Gwen yelled, “Stop pushing.”

“Stop...pushing...how?” Mairi managed to yell. Kneus wasn’t sure how she
was able to talk. She should be hoarse from all the screaming she was doing.
There had also been some yelling about Knollig and his anatomy and what she was
going to do to prevent this pain from happening again but Gwen had just laughed
and told his brother to ignore anything Mairi said while in labor. Kneus wasn’t
so sure that was sound advice. Mairi sounded deadly serious when she made her
threats.

“I don’t want you to tear, I just need to adjust...” whatever she was
going to “adjust” must have happened because with another unholy scream from
Mairi he heard, “It’s a girl!” Then the loud yell of a baby crying.

After Mairi and Knollig got to hold the baby, he was supposed to use the
new medical unit to make sure the infant was healthy. Gwen would pass her to
him when she felt it was time. So he waited with Kniam for a few minutes until
the curtain opened. He noticed Gwen’s hair was sticking to her face in spots
from sweat, and her purple tinged, brown eyes were misty from emotion. Making
certain to ensure Mairi’s continued privacy she hurried over with his niece.

“Once you do the check-up can you bring her back to Knollig please?” She
bit her lip waiting for an answer and his eyes were stuck on her mouth for a
second. “Kneus?” she hesitated.

He snapped out of it, “What? Yes, of course.” He hurried to take the
newborn infant from Gwen and placed her in the portable unit designed for this
purpose. Gwen hurried back behind the curtain to help Mairi. The portable unit
did a quick diagnostic of the infant, and when she was cleared he hurried to
bring her back behind the curtain. There were bassinets ready for the babies to
rest in while Mairi recovered. He averted his eyes from Mairi, and quickly
handed the infant over to Knollig. His brother looked like something a sacath
dragged home after playing with it, chewing on it and then deciding not to eat
it after all.

“Here...we...go...again...” Mairi gasped out. “The
con...tractions...are...building...”

Kneus hurried out of the way to wait with Kniam. He didn’t want to
embarrass Mairi by seeing something he shouldn’t.

“I will need to turn on the monitor for this delivery Mairi. After I see
which direction the baby is facing. If it’s safe you can deliver otherwise we
will have to do a c-section.”

Kneus didn’t know what any of that meant, he just wanted this night to be
over. When the doors to the dome opened, he saw that Catherine and Knaleg had
returned.

“
One of the babies has been delivered.”
 
He spoke in mind to Thian since Knaleg couldn’t have known to tell
him.
“The other should be any minute now.”

Thian answered,
“Thank you for telling me. Let me know when the second
baby is delivered.”

Catherine rushed over to him while Knaleg hovered at
the door, “Did we miss it?” She sounded disappointed, but Knaleg looked
relieved.

Kniam managed to get out, “One of the babies is delivered...” when from
behind the curtain Mairi screamed out.

“The scan shows her head is down and the cord isn’t prolapsed. You are
going to have to push again.” Gwen’s voice could be heard over Mairi’s groans.

“You can do it Mairi...” Amber cheered her friend on.

“I know you are tired sweet Mairi but you can do this.” Knollig’s voice
was at odds with his disheveled appearance. He sounded confident and
reassuring.

“Push Mairi! One big push and hold it!” Gwen encouraged.

Again there was a lot of grunting and panting...then one final scream
from Mairi and a babies cries rent the air again.

“It’s another girl. The scans had it right. Twin girls.” Gwen’s happy
voice called out.

Congratulations were shared around the room. Catherine and Knaleg were
hugging each other and he hugged Kniam. Thian, Asteen and Ailech were informed
telepathically that both babies were delivered, one of them would relay it to
the other males of the community. That being done Kneus waited for the second
baby. It wasn’t long before Amber came out from behind the curtain with the
second female and handed her over to be scanned.

Gwen moved the curtain back so everyone could see Knollig and Mairi.

“I used the portable medical unit on her lower extremities so she isn’t
feeling any side effects from the birthing process.” Gwen told the group. “As
far as I can tell both mother and daughters are doing fine.”

Kneus had moved the portable unit closer to the medical bed Mairi was
lying on. When it completed the scan on the second infant he moved her to the
bassinet that was waiting for her. Two girls, both healthy with all ten fingers
and ten toes. The first-born had a smattering of dark black hair, her sister a
fine red. Both with full cupid bow lips, and big blue eyes.

Mairi looked exhausted and sounded it when she asked, “Can someone please
tell my grandfather that the babies are healthy. He will want to come visit.”
She yawned hugely, which had her mate yawning too.

“We will tell him Mairi. For now you might want to rest while you can.”
Gwen had moved to do an assessment of both of the infants. Kneus watched as she
made sure both babies were bundled to her satisfaction.

Mairi, Knollig and the twins were given some privacy when everyone moved
across the room to give them space.

“I can stay to help.” Amber stated only to frown when Gwen shook her
head.

“I think it’s best if you go home and rest, check on the triplets and
Tabec. Someone can get you a message through to Kniam if anything comes up.”
Gwen advised and before Amber could argue she cut her off, “You need your rest
too Amber. You won’t be any help to your family or Mairi if you exhaust
yourself.”

“She is right little female.” Kniam moved closer and massaged Amber’s
shoulder, “You can come back first thing in the morning after you are rested.”

Amber sighed and curled into his brother’s arms, “You are right of
course. I am tired.” Giving Gwen a thankful look she headed for the doors with
Kniam. Just before they cleared the doors she called out to Mairi, “I will be
back first thing tomorrow if you need anything have Knollig get me.”

“I will. Thank you Amber.” Mairi called back weakly.

After Kniam and Amber left, Knaleg and Catherine followed. Everyone would
return at some time the next day.

Kneus had asked telepathically if any males were near Callum McPherson.
When he got a reply from the fabricators, he asked them to pass along that his
great-granddaughters were born. And his granddaughter would be up for visitors
in the morning.

It was his turn to leave he supposed. Walking quietly to his brother he
noticed that Knollig was sound asleep tucked around Mairi, so he went back
toward the doors. Gwen was busy with a console and he was torn as to if he
should bother her or not. Deciding he should say something he moved toward her.

“Gwen.” He started then when she looked over at him he paused. He hadn’t
noticed before but she had really beautiful eyes. They were intelligent and
warm and flashed with good humor. “Uh...that was very well done. The twins are
beautiful and you did a really good job.”

Her smile made flurries dance in his stomach. He must be really tired to
be having these strange reactions to Gwen. He had been around her for weeks now
and never had this unusual awareness of her. Maybe it was being around a female
giving birth that had him all out of sorts? Perhaps he was having a chemical
reaction? Something along the lines of the need to find a mate and have
children of ones own to further his genetic line?

“I can’t take any credit for the beauty of the twins, but I can say ‘thank
you’ for the compliment on doing a good job in getting them delivered without a
hitch.” She teased and his heart rate picked up. “I couldn’t have done it
without the equipment you fixed for us.”

“That was nothing. You did all the work with this being a natural
delivery. Mairi got to have the birthing experience she wanted, and it is due
to your skill not the machines.” Kneus went to move away then looked back,
“Well again, good job.”
 
He was losing
his mind. Maybe he should do a scan on himself if he couldn’t even have a
conversation with Gwen without getting all tongue-tied. Before he could make a
total ass of himself he fled the dome.

Gwen was exhausted but didn’t want to leave the medical dome in case
Mairi needed her. In order to stay close and get some rest she went to sleep on
the second medical bed.

What a great ending to the day! Mairi had delivered her twins, they were
all three healthy and now Terraneu had two more babies to make life
interesting! The triplets were developing about the same as an Earth baby. They
were crawling, sitting up by themselves, and talking baby babble. She knew that
in a few months they would be walking and saying their first words. In a year
from now the twins would be doing the same. Gwen felt her eyes get misty
thinking about how fast the triplets were growing, and how happy the families
and mated couples seemed to be. Damn hormones anyway! She was a medical
professional still, and she would be damned if she would get emotional. It had
to be her new body chemistry because she had never daydreamed about starting a
family and having a “mate” on Earth. She had been a driven professional and
none of the things she fantasized about having had ever mattered to her before.
Sure she had been lonely, but she hadn’t wanted a permanent relationship.

She laughed softly to herself. She had never been around a man like Kneus
before. He could make any woman wish for a bed nearby, and not for the comforts
of sleep. But it went deeper than that and on some level it scared her. She
knew that she was highly attracted to Kneus sexually. She felt like a teenager
when he was around. She must be putting off enough sexual energy to light a
small city. It was her admiration of his other traits that really scared her.
He was the whole package of what she would like in a mate and she had no idea
how to go about gaining his attention. She had always been a bit awkward around
the opposite sex...well both sexes for that matter. She didn’t easily make
friends and hadn’t dated a lot either.

Sighing at how unfair it all was finding the man you know could be a
compatible mate, and he didn’t even know you existed. Well unless you counted
as a “friend.” She had to remember that Kneus was highly analytical and might
need some kind of push to see her as a “female” and not a colleague. She would
have to put some thought into how to go about swinging him from thinking of her
as friend material, to wanting more.

Kneus walked into the technology dome and his heart
rate picked up. Gwen had arrived before him and was sitting at a console. He
smiled when she looked up and offered a quick hello.

“Good Morning.” She replied, “How did you sleep last night?”

“Well, thank you.” He moved and took the seat next to her. “How are the
twins?”

She had turned to watch him, “They are doing well.” He was surprised when
she got up from her seat and leaned over to him. “How long are we going to do
this?” When his eyes widened and before he could ask what she was talking about
she leaned closer, placing her hands on either side of his chair. “How long are
we going to deny our attraction for each other?” Then before he could recover,
she pressed her lips firmly against his.

He had read a lot of those romance novels Amber had insisted he send back
to Terraneu. It was something he considered “research” for when he had a mate.
In all of the scenes where the female and male kissed, this is what was
described. The burning feeling of her soft lips moving against his, the push of
her tongue trying to gain entrance into his mouth. With a low groan he opened
his lips wider to allow their tongues to spar. Kneus felt the chair shift as
Gwen moved her hands from beside his head, into his hair. It was unbelievable
the heat that her fingers were rubbing into his scalp. When her fingernails
gently scraped against him, he thought the answering electric spark might catch
his hair on fire.

Breaking his mouth away from hers he gasped in air, “Gwen...I don’t
think...” she moved a hand desperately into his pants and he stopped trying to
talk.

“That’s right love...don’t think.” She flexed her fingers and his eyes
closed at the feel of her soft palm against his hard shaft. “Don’t talk.” She
squeezed again, harder this time moving her hand back and forth as much as his
pants would allow. “Don’t do anything but feel.” She leaned in and this time
moved her mouth aggressively against his.

All thoughts of going slowly were driven from his mind. With a growl of
frustration Kneus grabbed the clip holding Gwen’s hair and released it. Her
brunette curls fell free down her back, the soft length of it brushing against
his hands. Moving his grip from her shoulders into her hair, he fisted great
handfuls and pulled her against him. His fingers going along her neck, he
grabbed the soft length and squeezed slowly.

“I do feel something.” He whispered, “I feel your pulse beating in your
throat.” He squeezed harder. “I feel your panic building as I squeeze.”

Gwen grabbed his wrist in frail fingers and tried to pull his hand away.
Her violet eyes were widened in growing terror.

“
We are coming.”
The voice called out to him, a hint of mocking
laughter instead of malevolence in its depths.
“We are coming.”

Kneus jerked awake his body drenched in sweat as per the usual. He
struggled to wake fully and hold onto the dream at the same time. With a groan
he swung his legs over the edge of his bed and moved drunkenly into the
bathroom. He had been having a dream about Gwen and they had been kissing. When
she had grasped his shaft he had almost lost control right then. Glancing down
he almost laughed that the ‘erection’ part of his dream wasn’t real. Still
nothing down there to report. With a start he remembered the final part of his
dream. He had grabbed Gwen by the throat and squeezed. What was wrong with him
that he fantasized about choking someone? Not just anyone either, it was Gwen
during a sexual dream.

He had not been truly worried about the voice and the warning. He had not
been really worried about finding information in the archives as to the cause
of the blackouts. He wasn’t even truly worried that they would find a way to
advance their weapons and shielding. All of those things he was confident they
would find answers to. He was now, thanks to this dream, very upset about his
mental state! He was truly concerned that he was losing his mind!