Empire Builder 1: Breed, Populate, Conquer by Dante King (free e books to read online txt) 📕

redden at the unexpected innuendo. “Why did you say that you would have caused a scene?”

“Seeing how you slaughtered those mountain ogres with such brutality and strength, then how you treated the nymphs with such care,” Melody broke off, her lips parted. She drew a heavy breath and continued. “It made me quite, ahem, wet. I didn’t know if I could have maintained my composure for much longer.”

Ben laughed, as much amused as he was embarrassed and confused by this reaction.

Melody also laughed, evidently able to see the funny side of it all. Then she smiled warmly at him. “I think you will make a great father, Benjamin. If you raise our child with the same courage and kindness you have shown today, he or she will be very fortunate indeed.”

He kept forgetting he was apparently a dad.

“Where’s the egg?” He remembered leaving it in the rucksack up on the hill. Melody had said she would retrieve it.

“The egg is sitting safely in our bedroom.” Melody pointed to the other room.

“I want to see it again,” he said. It was still hard to believe that the thing contained their child. He wondered if it would show any signs of change by now.

They both got up and walked to the bedroom. A large bed stood in the middle of the room, its back to one wall. Aside from that, the room was almost entirely bare.

The egg sat in the far corner of the room, on the hotel blanket he’d stuffed into his rucksack. The torchlight spilled into the room from the doorway, gleaming on one creamy smooth side of the egg. On the other side, moonlight streamed through the glass pane of the window. This hut was one of the few with intact glass windows.

He bent to examine the egg once more. It was still the same as it had been this morning. He laid his right hand on one side, noting that the surface was warmer than he remembered.

“When will it hatch?” he asked.

“I cannot say.” Melody’s voice was hushed. “I have no experience of these matters.”

She knelt beside him, her knee brushing against his. Her apron folded against her waist. She placed her hand on the other side of the egg. They gazed at it in silence for a short time.

No other sound could be heard aside from the occasional hoot of an owl in the night. It was possibly the deepest quiet Ben had ever heard in his life.

At length, Melody raised her face to look at him. The pale moonlight glinted on her moist eyes.

She smiled, her cheeks getting dimples in them, and a tear ran down their surface. “I have dreamed of becoming a mother for a long time. I was not allowed to think of this dream in the Arcanarium, but they could never kill the mother’s love inside me.”

Ben lifted a finger to her face and wiped her tear away. “I haven’t known you for very long, Melody, but I can see already what a good heart you have. I can’t wait to see you as a mother too.”

Melody beamed that enchanting smile of hers again. Ben felt desire stir inside him, and he reached out a hand to pull her toward him. Swift and catlike though, she slipped away and got to her feet.

“Let me just remove this.” She lifted the strings of the heavy apron she wore from around her neck and took the garment off. She flung the garment through the doorway behind them, and it perfectly landed across the back of one of the kitchen chairs.

Ben got to his feet and walked over to stand in front of her. He was still wearing the farmer’s trousers and tunic Melody had found for him, and she still wore the close-fitting frock she had discovered.

Melody looked up at him, her face serene. “It is good to have you with me in these wild lands, Benjamin.”

He put his hands on her arms. “It’s good to have you as my guide.”

“The journey through this forest on my way to your world was harrowing.” A cloud passed over Melody’s bright eyes.

“Really? You seem like a very capable sorceress to me.”

Melody looked vulnerable. Her doe eyes were wide as she recalled the trials she’d been through. “I was able to defend myself. But there were times when I was lonely and afraid.”

“We have each other now.” He drew her close to him.

Melody traced her fingers down his torso as she gazed at his chest. “I hadn’t expected an Earthling to be as strong as you are.”

Ben felt a stirring in his loins as her fingers traced still lower.

She looked up at his eyes, mischief sparkling in her own. “Though you are no true Earthling.”

Melanie leaned toward him. He placed his hand on the side of her neck and brought her face toward his. Her full, parted lips sparkled in the moonlight.

He felt Melody’s breath warm on his face. Her soft skin was covered in goosebumps, and he felt her quiver with nervousness.

Their lips touched, and he felt an electric tingle shoot through him. He felt her body react the same way, as her body went rigid. Then she pressed herself against him, and they kissed passionately, and slowly.

The scent of her fragrance filled his nostrils, mixed with the herbs they had both bathed in. It was a heady smell that filled his mind with images of freshly tilled earth and rain on the hot soil.

Her probing tongue touched his lips, gently but firmly. As they explored each other’s mouths with their tongues, his tastebuds exploded with sensation. Her mouth was savory and enticing.

Her hot breath on his face came in rhythmic gasps, passionate and intense, not so urgent as the night before.

The heat of her torso pressed against his own through the linen they both wore. He felt the pressure of her stomach against his. The pressure of her pelvis against his own was also noticeable, and he felt himself growing hard.

This woman’s body was supple