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Chapter 24: Ellis the Platypus
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Laurel worked like clockwork. She came right on time to accompany Ellis to the bath but found her curled up against Logan, groaning. Logan stroked her hair, hoping he could comfort her.
"Come on," Laurel coaxed.
"I'm turning inside out. Leave me alone..." she groaned.
"Oh, you're pregnant," Laurel commented, surprised. She didn't say any more about how it happened and what not and left it to Ellis to explain later.
"Yes, any other disease could be cured, apparently," Ellis snapped. She felt horrible immediately. "The nausea is making me cranky," she explained.
"Don't lie. This is your real personality. You have been holding for so long. It is finally coming out!" Laurel burst into laughter.
Ellis glared. "Go without me. I don't want to go..."
"Come one," Laurel insisted. "You need to."
"Do I stink?" she whispered. She surreptitiously smelled herself but found nothing wrong. Were her senses da
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Ellis put up a firm front in face of his worry. "Think about it carefully. Nin is sitting right outside the door. Arkan is here to make sure I don't need anything and he will inform you if I do. Moreover, Laurel will come over too. Nothing will happen to me." She paused. "You're close by, too." That seemed to appease him.He finally left but not before instructing Nin about how to keep Ellis safe. Ellis burst into laughter as she imagined Nin's patience wearing thin and the image of Nin hitting Logan in the face with her staff in protest.Arkan settled into his position by the wall. "You're not going to stay there, are you?""I must obey all orders given to me,," he declared. "The Emperor has never hurt me, but I do not wish to test his patience. Especially when it comes to his mate and young." He bowed deeply."Are all Zothean men like this with their children?" Ellis found herself asking. She was mildly irritated by the fussing, so she meant
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[Warning: This chapter contains R-18 content. Please read at your own risk.]"Stay right there," she demanded. "Don't move." She started to kiss down his neck."For how long?" he rasped.She reached the top of his chest. "Until I say so," she teased freely. She followed his collar bone to his arm and was delighted to discover that he reacted to her mouth in the same way she had on their wedding night. What a delight. When her tongue touched the crook of his elbow, he jerked violently, gasping something that the translation chip couldn't translate. She followed his rib cage, counting with his lips."Did you know you have twenty pairs of ribs?" she said, stopping her kisses for a while."No," he gasped. "I did not count before. Thank you for doing so in my stead."She peppered him with kisses and licks. "My pleasure," she said, punctuating with her touches. "You have eight more than a human.""I will g
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Logan woke her up the next morning with a cup of Isabella’s concoction. She drank it quickly, hoping to prevent inevitable nausea from taking over.“I must go for a few minutes,” Logan confessed. “I won’t be long but I must sign the treaty in front of the Council.”Ellis smiled sleepily. She heard the door click behind him and woke again a little while later, her stomach roiling with nausea. She reached for the pot and found it empty. She clapped a hand over her lips and dashed for the bathroom but a pillow became tangled between her feet and she tripped with a cry of surprise.Arkan caught her before she hit the floor. She vomited helplessly on the floor, Arkan keeping her steady.“I’m sorry—”Before she could finish, a roar shook the room. They whipped their heads to the side to see an utterly enraged Logan standing at the door, his fangs bared in a snarl. Before Ellis could say a word,
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Laurel held Ellis until the storm of tears had passed. She spoke quietly to Dorian and he brought a wet cloth, which Laurel used to wipe the drying blood from Ellis’s face and hands. She even brought over Isabella’s concoction for her to drink. Ellis accepted the drink but did not drink from the cup. Instead, she stared down silently. Her mind kept replaying the look of terror on Arkan’s face and her inability to stop Logan.She had to admit that she had only screamed and had done nothing to stop Logan. She had been scared of him at that moment. Ellis didn’t think Logan could have hurt her, but in that moment, she had been terrified for both Arkan and herself and she chose to protect herself.“Ellis, you have to go home,” Laurel said gently. “Poor Logan is sitting outside in the hallway and he looks awful.”She said nothing.
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Ellis stepped into the hallway. Her eyes immediately caught Logan sitting at her feet beside the door frame. Isabella was seated beside him.“Ellis,” he jumped to his feet.“Let’s talk,” Ellis said. Nin, on the opposite side of the door frame, rose and stood silently not a hint of judgment on her face. Ellis wanted to hug her but wasn’t sure how well-received it would be. Nin had become a constant in her life, no matter what the situation was.“May I hold you?” Logan asked, his voice apprehensive and full of longing. Ellis thought for a moment before shaking her head. She saw him shudder at her refusal and look behind him to see the look of appreciation in Isabella’s eyes.That confused her.She peered curiously and on seeing the approval on Isabella’s face suddenly understood that t
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The apartment Ellis chose was small, a bedroom and a bathroom and nothing else. She liked it quite a bit, considering she would have chosen such an apartment for herself if she were still on Earth. But that was not the matter at hand. She was busy adjusting everything when a wave of nausea hit her. She ran to the bathroom and puked for a few minutes before coming out.The room to the apartment was ajar and Nin stood at the door frame looking anxiously towards the corner of the room. Logan had brought over a pile of gifts to decorate her room, it seemed. His torso was twisted, looking over his shoulder and his arms moved back and forth. Ellis walked around to the other side and gasped with shock when she saw all the blood. To see so much blood in one day…“Logan!” she ran forward and grabbed his arm, forgetting her rule not to touch him. “Stop it! What are you doing?”
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"I saw a doctor less than an hour ago." Izzy unwound her tail from her leg with effort and gnawed on the end of it anxiously.Her father stood and without a word, headed for the door."Daddy, wait, please!" Nessie pleaded. "I'm so sorry! Talk to me.""I can't." Logan's eyes were on the door and his tail lashed in either agitation or anger; she couldn't tell which."Please," Izzy pleaded. "I need to know what you're thinking. Do—do you still love me?""Of course, I do," Logan said tightly. He twisted the doorknob."Don't leave," Izzy begged."Sweetheart, your father just needs a little time," Ellis interjected. "Let him go, and we'll all talk over this later."Goddess, didn't her mother understand that her anxiety was increasing exponentially every moment? She wouldn't survive a wait of a few hours. "Daddy… please.""You want to know what I'm thinking?" Logan turned from the door and marched back to stand in
