Page 26 of The Dalgur’s Pet

Vrix picked up the tray, setting it on her lap and eyeing her with a solemn look.

“Here, you must replenish your energy. Eat. Thase will return to bathe you.”

Before Giselle could argue, he exited without another word, and she was alone with her water and neogel.

It wasn’t long before the door was whooshing open once more, Thase striding in with a strange look on his face.

“Are you finished eating?”

His voice was gruff, though without the normal bite to it.

Giselle narrowed her eyes, nodding to the empty tray.

He stepped up to the bed, looking her up and down—pausing on the streaks of dried seed coating her bloated belly—and offered a hand.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Her heart raced as she took it, letting him lead her to the bathroom. As the tub was filling with steamy water, he turned back to her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

She was shocked by how gentle he was, the smile on his face with none of its normal sadism.

“How do you feel, little human?”

“Fine,” she said, eyes still narrowed with suspicion.

That was far from the truth, the eggs in her belly waging a war both in her mind and body. The sensation was strange, like she’d eaten an enormous meal, but without the nausea that may accompany something like that. What was worse was the way her hands kept unconsciously stroking her bare stomach, as if something could really grow in her empty womb.

Thase must have believed her because he gave her a gentle squeeze, then helped her into the tub.

The heated water soothed the last of her aching muscles, and she tried to relax as he massaged her shoulders.

“So beautiful with your belly full of our eggs,” he murmured.

A knot welled in Giselle’s throat, overwhelmed by the sweet words, by the sensation of the clutch filling her, by the feelings of forced parental love that overflowed her with simultaneous joy and disgust.

“Vrix said you’ve hatched many clutches together,” she said, trying to distract herself from the uncomfortable feelings.

Thase chuckled, running his fingers through her hair.

“We have. In both living wombs and artificial incubators.”

“What happened to all your… offspring?”

Clearly, there weren’t any Dalgur children running around the Starlet.

He glanced away, his jaw tense, before returning his gaze to her with a strained smile.

“We let the broodlings off on their own. Dalgurs do not require parental care. Many offspring do not reach adulthood, but those that do are strong, hardy.”

It reminded her of sea turtles, laying their eggs in the soft sand and letting their children fend for themselves as they raced to the ocean. A valid form of life, though it seemed to sadden Thase, his eyes blinking rapidly as he watched her.

“So why do your eggs give the vessels the biological imperative to protect? Won’t the brood survive once outside the womb?”

“Of course, little human. But while they are in the womb, they are fully dependent on the incubator.”

Giselle nodded, gulping in a breath of air as she cupped her bloated belly once more. She bit her lip, asking her next question without looking at him. She hoped she wasn’t pushing her luck, but he seemed calm enough at the moment, kinder than he’d been the entire time she’d been on the ship.

“If you need a vessel to procreate, then how do you and Vrix… have sex?”