Page 11 of Sway’s Peace (Delivery Service #2)

Grace

Sway’s feathers were so soft.

Grace was being way too forward. Way too comfortable.

Being human in a universe that considered that alone to be extremely attractive, Grace was usually very good at setting her boundaries.

She’d met many captains and crews that flirted outrageously with her, and she was adept at dodging their attention, keeping them on task, and doing her job without earning their wrath over a clear and firm rejection.

A combination of diplomacy, communication skills, and professionalism that would have made her mother proud – as annoying as that was – kept her kind but untouchable to everyone.

Grace may not appreciate much that her mother gave her, but the ability to juggle the male ego without being beholden to it was a skill that had come in clutch.

So, when Sway offered his arm for her to pet, she should have laughed like it was a great joke and made some quip about not wanting to upset his feathers and ruin his good looks, or say that her hands were too dirty to touch such fine plumage, or even just say that that she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.

Whatever quip she used, she would have immediately, without pause, followed it up with her well-practiced spiel to get them focused back on the job at hand.

But she didn't really want to.

Maybe it was because he was a farasie. They were known as the most staunch and reliable pacifists in Coalition space.

You could always count on a farasie to be nonviolent.

So, that automatically made him safe in a way others weren’t.

She could touch his feathers and know he wasn’t going to do anything bad to her in return.

But realistically, she knew that wasn’t the whole truth.

Honestly, she was attracted to the guy. It was that simple.

Grace wasn’t like the girls that mated into the universe.

She couldn’t claim that she’d been interested in aliens sexually as a fantasy.

She was on the shorter side anyway, so human men were more than enough for her in a universe where humans were considered the shortest known species.

She also just preferred them. Skin seemed more natural and attractive.

Scales looked scratchy and uncomfortable.

Fur seemed way too hot – as in temperature.

She wasn’t even really attracted to beards; covering the entire body didn't make it better.

Not to say she couldn’t appreciate the various species around her.

She certainly could admit that there were lots of beautiful people out in the universe that looked very different from her.

While, personally, she didn't want her skin irritated by embracing someone with hard scales, she thought that Reetak was absolutely beautiful in her way.

But aesthetic appreciation didn't translate automatically to sexual desire. Grace hadn’t dated since she’d lived on Hir-Fallow, and maybe that was because work took up so much of her time. But even back when she lived on Holotulle with her sponsor, she had only dipped her toe in dating waters.

With mating so much more common out in the universe than on Earth, casual dating culture wasn’t as prevalent. And with her being a rare, unmated human, there were plenty of people that wanted to claim her for that reason alone.

No, she never really allowed herself to flirt with people anymore. She did her job, went out with Reetak and other coworkers, and watched her alien dramas. It wasn’t an exciting life, definitely not the one she signed up for, but it was good enough. Satisfying in its own way.

So, taking Sway up on his offer to feel his feathers for herself was far outside of her norm. But it also wasn’t something she wanted to resist or undo.

Feathered species were the second most uncommon type in the universe – the first, chitinous, was even more rare.

So, Grace hadn’t seen many of them. She’d only ever caught glimpses of farasie from afar, usually walking amongst other crew members.

She’d never gotten to appreciate one up close.

And, honestly, it was a shame, because he was beautiful!

Sway was much taller than her – his head fully above hers. He was also lean and fit, trim in a way she appreciated much more than the hulking, roided out look someone like her boss had going on.

The light blue feathers that covered most of his body were bright like the sky on Earth.

They formed a soft but not fluffy layer that still managed to define the muscles in his bare arms, which were completely exposed thanks to the high-necked, sleeveless black top he wore.

There were no feathers on his palms, but the skin there was the same shade of blue, making it easy to overlook.

Across his knuckles, however, the skin was rough, thick, and gray. Almost scaley. Like he was wearing pads across them meant for boxing. The feathers in that area were completely missing.

She frowned at the sight, concerned. Was he injured? Was that similar to a callous?

“It’s normal,” Sway said, his voice low and melodic, like he reading her mind. He wiggled his fingers before tightening them into a fist. The knuckle pads were very prominent now. They really were like a boxer’s glove then. But…

“My people are pacifists,” he said, relaxing the fist. “Not helpless. Males have thickened skin here, and on our legs below our knees, for protection. So, we can defend our nests and females if necessary.”

Grace’s gaze automatically dropped, but of course she couldn’t see his legs.

He was wearing thick leather boots that extended halfway up his lower calf.

His gray jumpsuit pants were tucked into them, while the top of his jumpsuit was tied around his waist, partially covering the long, vibrantly colored tail feathers that hung down to the floor.

Male farasie, she knew, possessed those dramatic tail and crest feathers as a means of display for their mates.

She couldn’t see them fully right now since they were neatly folded together, but Sway’s long feathers were bright in color, yellow fading neatly into orange, before being tipped with bright, hot fuschia.

They weren’t spread right now, but she could see the tail feathers twitching like he was fighting the urge to fan them out. And on top of his head, there was a distinct bump where his crest was trying to rise, the same colors flashing underneath a singular, long blue feather that laid across them.

It was his face, however, that was really alien.

In a universe of so many species, she was amazed by just how similar sapient species tended to be.

Evolution liked to fall into patterns, with little deviation from certain shapes and types of beasts.

There were a lot of differences, but at the end of the day, they were all limbs attached to a torso topped with a head, all driven by the biological imperative to breed and make friends.

But that didn't mean he looked human.

Sway had two eyes like her, but they were both more rounded in the body, and pointier at the ends.

They were also all black, glassy and flat, like a doll.

There was an iris there in the center, but it blended with the color so well it was hard to see until she was up close.

Instead of eyelashes like her, he had a long feather that swept over his eye that ended in a tuft at the end.

The stiff center was white, the tuft dark blue.

His nose wasn’t as defined as hers either, only coming to a sloping edge on his face.

His lips, as well, were stiffer than her own, the skin there gray, but not as rough as that on his knuckles.

His ears weren’t really visible on his head like her own, but he did have feathers there that covered the same spot in the vague shape of pointed ears.

Two eyes. Two ears. A nose. A mouth. Normal.

And completely abnormal.

She wanted to get closer. Intrigued. Drawn in by the differences between them. And unlike fur – that she felt would shed everywhere and be a mess – his feathers didn't deter her interest at all.

Especially not when she touched them. She had to resist the urge to make a low, practically sexual sound as she stroked his arm.

They were so smooth. The hard spine down the middle of each feather was super thin, so he wasn’t bumpy around the softness.

He also wasn’t as slight or delicate as a bird.

There was tightly packed, heavy muscle underneath that layer of velvety fluff, making petting him even better since she wasn’t worried about being too rough.

Inappropriately, she dearly wanted to keep caressing him, but she settled for that one touch. Though it left a burning tingle in her hand, and she had to fight the urge to rub her face on that softness, she limited herself to indulging only that far.

Maybe she lingered more than necessary, but it was still only once. She raised her gaze to stare into his black eyes as her hand came to rest over the back of his. Not quite holding it but close enough that it still felt intimate.

Neither of them said anything for a long moment. Quiet and still. They stared at each other. And, really, his face didn’t seem that alien at all. He was actually quite handsome, now that she was getting a good look-

Something beeped out in the docking area, yanking her forcefully back to reality. She cleared her throat, pulling her hand away. Her fingers closed, hovering over her heart as she smiled at him.

“They’re soft,” she said lamely, because she needed to say something. She dearly hoped her voice didn’t sound as breathy to him as it did to her.

“Warm too,” he agreed with that soft, kind smile as he let his arm drop back to his side. It sounded like an invitation to cuddle him and find out.

He suddenly cleared his throat, looking away as he took a steadying breath.

“So, the, er…”

“Inspection! Right!”

“Yes, inspection. That’s what it was.”