Page 11

Chapter

Eight

Delilah came down slowly from the pleasure pumping through her. She blinked rapturously, her head still swimming. She couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t sought them out for this and certainly not like… that. Her cheeks flamed with the memory of their cocks taking her in unison. As the population of men slowly dwindled, she felt positively hedonistic after enjoying the wild rutting of two males in their prime. Or she assumed that they were. She didn’t know their ages, but it was clear that they were enthusiastic, and everything was in working order. And despite the shock of having her cunt filled simultaneously by their writhing cocks, they had left her with a blissfully languid feeling of satisfaction afterward.

Was it her imagination or had they literally caught on fire? That was mildly concerning, but as her skin didn’t look in any worse condition, she let it go. It had to have been an illusion conjured by her mind with the intense heat of the moment. She hoped that now that she demonstrated what she could offer them that she wouldn’t have to worry about them disappearing into the night now.

Not that it stopped Zack.

That dimmed her pleasure, and she frowned. She didn’t even know that for any certainty. She reminded herself of that like a mantra to protect herself from the ugliness of what was likely the truth.

“Swiya,” Agrel rasped, pressing his lips to her brow. “What is on your mind? You are thinking quite intently. I can see it.”

Delilah blushed in embarrassment. “It’s not that. It’s just… when will you be done with gathering your provisions?” she finished lamely.

Agrel’s brow rose in surprise, but he smiled down at her flirtatiously. “Eager are you? We are as well. I suspect that we will be ready to depart in two days.”

Two days… that was a lot faster than she had expected. She would need to work quickly to convince them to take her and Lily from the village. She’d hoped to invite them to share pleasure with her a few more times before she broached the subject. It seemed that it wouldn’t wait.

“Of course, we will assist you in packing whatever belongings you wish to take,” Gehj continued. “It may be difficult to take everything, but you can direct us as to what small things are most important, and we will see to it. Truly, we are most honored that you have chosen us.”

She blinked; this time it was her turn once again to be caught by surprise. Chosen? Had they known all along what her plan was? And they went along with it? “Really? You would do that? You won’t leave me… us… here when you leave?”

“What an odd question,swiya,” Agrel teased. “Certainly, you did not imagine that we would leave our mate to fend for herself?”

Mate? Her mind stuttered in a silent note of utter shock. That was not the plan. It brought back memories and should have rightly inspired the same feeling of dread and horror that she felt upon learning that the Ragoru had come to takehumans, something Zack had been quite vocal about. His anger at the High Council for agreeing with the bride program had been palpable for weeks after they got word of it on their communication device. She could still hear the echo of his words.

“Mark my words, Lila, the aliens have a plan to breed out and replace humans on this planet,” he growled.

She had no illusion about what he would think about a winged alien mating with a human, even if their features looked slightly more human. She’d been afraid back then, when the announcement about the Feriknikal agreement between humanity and the Ragoru came out, but for some reason the word “mate” wasn’t dredging up the same ominous feeling she had felt back then. She didn’t understand it.

“W... what?” she whispered. “When? How?—”

Gehj’s smile faded, and she immediately felt even more guilty as he peered at her warily. “You did approach us while we were bathing and accepted us into your body because you wished for us to mate, correct?”

Her mouth opened and closed ridiculously like a fish gasping for air. She suddenly couldn’t breathe, struck as she was with the enormity of what she had done without realizing it, as well as how vile the truth would sound. She was an adult and knew that there were always consequences for every action, but this was beyond what she would have ever imagined. But she wouldn’t have imagined, not even in her wildest dreams, that she would somehow suddenly become their mate—both of them at that. It was supposed to be a bargain of mutual benefit—nothing more! And now she had two males looking at her like she’d just presented them with a great gift, like it had all been carefully decided and acted upon in some great romantic gesture, and she had merely meant to convince them to accept the temporary trade of her body for safe passage.

Agrel’s expression shifted to one of concern. “Delilah?”

“I… I just need a minute,” she said between gasps for air. Not only was she struggling with being blindsided by something she hadn’t even entertained the thought of, but she suddenly felt incredibly guilty that they thought she had made some grand gesture that she’d never made.

The male’s expression sobered. “You had not intended to mate with us,” he said quietly and pained lanced through her heart at the hurt and disappointment in his voice.

“It’s not quite that exactly,” she said quickly, stumbling over her words. “I just hadn’t presumed that… that….”

Understanding dawned, and Gehj’s expression softened. “You did not think that joining would result in a permanent bond,” he murmured.

A lock of shock descended over Agrel’s features, but the other male gently nudged him. “Do not make her feel worse,” Gehj scolded quietly.

Agrel blinked rapidly, but nodded, his head bobbing. To Delilah’s surprise, he took her hands in his, clasping them warmly as he raised them to his brow and pressed them against the soft feathers there.

“Forgive us. We misread the situation. We would never have mated you against your will. Such a crime is met with great punishment among our people.”

Delilah gaped at him. As much as she was struggling to overcome her shock—not to mention wrestling with her guilt for having less than honorable intentions than they clearly had toward her—she certainly didn’t want them remorseful about what happened between them or the fact that they had been happy and excited to bring her into their family unit. She hadn’t believed that they would desire that and wasn’t even sure that was what she wanted, but she couldn’t deny that it was terribly sweet that they had such pure intentions before laying with her.Now Agrel looked genuinely distressed, as if he had committed some huge sin. She understood how it looked—especially how it would look to outsiders. She knew that most humans would say that she’d been tricked into it. She shook her head in frustration and Gehj’s red wing brushed her shoulder and arm sympathetically. She met his eyes and saw understanding and compassion there.

“We all got carried away with the moment. Do not blame yourself for the misunderstanding. You are not Atlavan, so if you chose not to remain with us, it will not adversely affect you.”

“But it will affect you,” she gathered, and he shrugged his wings, unconcerned.