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Given that they had feasted on her body and had enjoyed every delectable inch of her, it amused him to discover that she was so shy when it came to enjoying intimacy together.

“What do you think?” he whispered to his ahaku.

The other male snorted in amusement as he stood. “I think that we need to prove ourselves, and we shall start with the kitchen. She labored enough for us, so now we can demonstrateto her the good ways that we will add to her life. Now, get up and haul in some water. We have work to do.”

Chapter

Twelve

Delilah lay awake in bed, her every sense acutely aware of the two aliens settling into the bed on either side of her. Zack’s preference for excessively large builds that filled an entire side of the bedroom with two oversized stuffed mattresses, while overkill at the time, was serving her in good stead now. Even with the extra space, it was a tight fit to accommodate their wings. Gehj shifted his weight and one of his wings trailed absently across her body as he adjusted his position.

Was she still experiencing some nervousness due to the newness of being with them this way… or was it because her thoughts kept returning to their conversation about mating and their obvious enthusiasm over having more children? Should she tell them about how much she struggled with conceiving Lily? How she was nearing the end of her reproductive years. Would it even matter at that point? They had made it clear that it was irrevocable for them, but all the talk about fledglings made her feel even more guilty than before, like she’d stolen something from them that they might have been given from another woman.

Worse, these were all things that would have come up and they could have talked about beforehand if she hadn’t been so bent on seducing them. Did she regret her decision—no. Lily’s welfare was her priority, but two things could be true at the same time. She could have no regrets about her decision while also feeling very guilty about the ramifications for the Atlavans.

“You are thinking too much again,” Agrel teased as he brushed a wing down her belly.

She watched it, her breath catching, as the little sparks of fire that sprung from it sizzled and faded out against her skin without causing any damage. That also seemed to be an unexpected benefit of mating with them. She was suddenly fireproof. That was surreal. She didn’t think that was scientifically possible. Unless sex had changed something basic in her biology.

She blushed and shook her head.

Gehj skated his clawed fingertips very gently along her shoulder. “We will not pry, but you never have to fear speaking your mind honestly with us. If there is any problem, we can get through it together.”

Wiggling into a more comfortable position on the bed, she sighed. She might as well just get it over with.

“Just how important is it for you to have more…nestlings?”

Gehj studied her for a long moment and then chuckled. “Nestlings, is that what this is about? You are worried that you will become gravid while we are traveling? There is no reason to worry. Atlavans are slow to breed, so it will likely be some time before you have to worry about preparing a nest for them.”

That was unsurprisingly not helpful. Goddess, they were slow to breed, and she struggled to carry pregnancies to term—that wasn’t a good combination if they were set on a house full of nestlings.

“Is that what is occupying your thoughts,swiya?” Agrel cooed as he wrapped a wing around her, its softness and warmth penetrating through the miserably thin blanket.

“No exactly,” she mumbled. “It’s more than I don’t if I… can. That is to say, I really struggled just to have Lily,” she hastily explained at their look of surprise. “And I’m no longer younger,” she added, her lips twisting in a grimace. “It seems that I’ve cheated you out of having a young fertile mate.”

“Cheated us?” Gehj echoed as he peered at her in confusion. “I do not understand. Why would we feel cheated? If you accept us, then we gain a mate and nestling. We already have more than most.”

“Yes, but you won’t have one of your own,” she explained.

Gehj cocked his head at her, his crests rising slightly. “But Lily will be ours.”

“Not your blood,” she clarified, suddenly confused as to why she was arguing the point.

“Of our blood,” he replied slowly, as if it was a foreign concept to him.

Delilah’s brow furrowed. Did the Atlavans lack a concept of paternity? She understood that they didn’t feel sexual desire until they were at the point of choosing their mate, but certainly there had to be some acknowledgement of biological connection. To not be aware of it seemed strange from her standpoint, considering the social importance given to it.

Agrel shrugged his wings with a clear lack of concern and smiled. “It does not matter; we do not make this distinction. Whether one or a dozen, any nestling is treasured. There are times where a male might wish to mate a female whose mate has died. He may not sire any additional offspring on her, but her nestlings are his own from the day they join.”

“Wait.” Delilah’s brow furrowed. “I thought you only mate once?”

Surprise briefly touched Agrel’s expression, but then he chuckled, the soft little clicks softening her wariness. “Typically, we do. No one expects that their mate would die, nor plans for the eventuality of it as it is seen as bringing misfortune. But if a female loses her mates, many ahaku pairs will seek her out if she becomes receptive to mating again. It can be quite competitive. No one would expect a female to rear her offspring alone unless she was determined to do so. Many would welcome the opportunity to provide her comfort and to father her young.”

That was so different that she struggled to believe it. Males didn’t just ignore the lone females but actually competed for her attention?

“So, the… bonds… between mates, they are absent after her mates die?”

He nodded and tucked himself closer against her side, his large frame relaxing as he peered down at her, his eyes oddly luminous in the room’s rapidly waning light. “But it seldom happens. Even if there is an accident, usually she still has one mate available to care for her and their nestlings. But this is not something you will have to worry about. We would never allow it to happen,” he assured her as his claw trailed along her collarbone. “We will not fail to be present to love and protect you and our nestling.”