Page 49 of Sway’s Peace (Delivery Service #2)

Instead of making this some kind of chore or mission, she was taking away the seriousness, the purpose, and giving him a chance to just watch.

To see how they interacted with each other, with her, with him, with Loyalty.

It was a chance to just see the normal people on the streets; young lovers canoodling, experienced parents guiding their offspring, elders on strolls, younglings playing about.

He could immerse himself not in the strict details of his culture, but in the day-to-day life of the people that made it.

The farasie were, as he expected, a calm and peaceful group. People walked around with confidence in their safety, joyous smiles on their faces. They weren’t going to be accosted or assaulted here, and he could feel the sense of security they felt in that knowledge.

It was really in the younglings. They ran around practically without supervision.

Sway wasn’t accustomed to younglings anyway, but it was even stranger to just see them out.

Without an adult immediately hovering over them just in case.

They weren’t common on Rik-Vane, and the few unfortunate enough to be born or taken there were usually hidden by their caretakers. Or they simply ended up dead.

But in the Song, younglings ran amok without fear.

With bright smiles and no scars to mar their skin or disturb their feathers.

The musical tones of their chirping laughter echoed through the air.

They wove in and out of crowds. People, strangers, watched them with indulgent smiles.

None of them looked threatening, annoyed, or disgustingly amorous – all looks Sway would have anticipated in his old life.

No. The younglings were free. The people were free.

Grace interacted with them in the same vein. She copied their tones and, though she couldn’t make her voice as obviously musical, her laughter as she talked with the female operating the clothing store was more beautiful than all of the Song together.

The people were kind to her. They offered her smiles. Sellers beckoned her into stores, calling her lovely and pretty in attempts to entice her into buying their wares. Sway rather liked seeing how well she blended in with the people.

But then the female farasie took her into the back to try on the dress she was going to buy and have it quickly tailored to fit her smaller body.

The difference without her was immediately obvious.

Because Loyalty was still with him. In complete contrast to how they spoke to Grace, Loyalty was treated like a pariah.

No one came near him. No one even spoke to him.

They still gave him dirty, mistrustful looks, but no one dared approach.

He was the only person whom people would take younglings by the hand and divert them away from.

Loyalty, for being a 108, was the disturbance in the otherwise idyllic scene.

And, strangely, he didn’t seem to mind. He paid none of those dirty looks any mind, just leaned back in his chair at his comfort as they waited for Grace to return.

“It doesn’t bother you?” Sway asked.

Loyalty didn’t pretend to not know what he was talking about. “Honestly, you kind of get used to it.”

“Is it really that simple for you?”

“The way I see it, the entire universe can consider me a monster if they like. It doesn’t bother me.

Because to the ones that I love, the only ones who matter, I am not.

” Loyalty turned his grin onto him. “But that is also why I am so dedicated to my friends. For those that are kind to me, I will always do more for them than anyone else. I consider it a trade. Those I trust are smaller in number, but my relationships with them will be stronger. Is that not how you and your crew operate?”

Sway chuckled as the door to the back opened.

He was sure that’s exactly how they operated.

But before he had a chance to say so, he caught sight of Grace, and the words died in his throat.

All that came out instead was a long, low, yearning whistle as his crest started to rise and his cock throbbed inside his body.

Humans were a sensual species, but they combated that by also being a modest one.

In comparison to what the farasie considered normal clothing, humans were practically smothered in fabric.

He was accustomed to that from Garnet and Goldie and now even Grace.

He had honestly expected Grace to make some adjustments to the farasie style dress to make it less revealing for her own comfort.

But he was absolutely wrong. She wore it in the farasie style, the majority of her body completely bare, all that luscious, smooth, glowing skin on shameless display.

The dress she chose came in two pieces. The skirt was barely a skirt at all.

The scrap of fabric hid her rear but only barely, while the front piece trailed all the way down her front, leaving her legs completely exposed on the sides all the way up to the braided belt around her waist. The banding covering her breasts was more substantial than that, though it still left her belly, shoulders, and arms completely bare.

The yellow, orange, and fuchsia coloring of the complex pattern of overlapping triangles looked beautiful against her pale skin.

He liked it a lot – a whole lot – but didn’t understand exactly why until she stopped in front of him and her eyes darted up to his crest.

She had chosen a dress in his colors. The feathers that he never displayed.

Until this moment, when he could feel his crest lifting proudly, showcasing the very colors that she had adorned her body with as she smiled at him. Confident and beautiful and enticing.