Page 11

Chapter

Eight

D elilah 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 take humans, 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.

“An Atlavan ahaku typically only mates once in their lives. We will not suffer terribly other than a loneliness of spirit, but we would have likely not mated anyway. We do not expect you to adhere to a promise that you did not realize that you were making.”

Agrel nodded in agreement, though his expression was far more miserable as he made the gesture.

That didn’t make her feel any better. Although it relieved a lot of immediate pressure, it also left a void in the pit of her stomach.

They were giving her exactly what she was going to originally ask them for—at the time unable to imagine that they would want forever with her—but suddenly she wasn’t so sure that she wanted it.

She also wasn’t sure if she was ready to commit forever to someone she barely knew when Zack had committed years to her and still disappeared into the woods, whether by accident or design.

“I… I’m not saying that I wouldn’t consider being…

ah… mates,” she replied, heat rising once more into her face as she recalled what all that entailed in very vivid, knee-knocking detail.

“You are right, though. It isn’t the reason I came out here…

I wanted to offer an exchange for help. But I may be open to it. If given time,” she quickly added.

Gehj regarded her shrewdly but inclined his head with a sympathetic smile.

“I see. You were going to trade pleasure for passage, correct?” At her nod, he sighed, his tail feathers fanning slightly to betray a hint of emotion despite his even demeanor.

“I understand your reasoning. You have your nestling to care for. Of course, your primary concern will be for her welfare. As for time—time is what we have plenty of while we are traveling, especially since traveling with two humans will not be as quick. If you are open to considering us, we will consider that a fair chance. Rest assured, you are welcome to travel with us as far as you like regardless, even if you prefer to settle among other humans rather than accompany us in our search for our new home. Is that not right, Agrel?” he asked as he looked over at the other male intently.

Agrel inclined his head, though he wasn’t as successful in covering his disappointment. His crest lifted slightly as his tail feathers fanned, only for both to flatten miserably. Despite that, there was no reproach in his gaze as he met her eyes. Only sympathy.

“We would not have left you, or your nestling, behind willingly in this place, even if you had not joined with us. You would have been required to chase us away, insisting that you did not wish for our assistance before we would comply,” Agrel quietly affirmed and Delilah felt her heart rise in her throat, choking her with emotion.

An uncertain look crossed his face. “Would you at least consent to allowing us to care for you as we would our mate as we travel? I do not necessarily mean sex,” he quickly added, “though neither of us would object if you desired to share pleasure with us again. But our instinctual needs are more… performative,” he said with a wince.

“He means that it is ingrained with us to tend to our mates and offspring,” Gehj explained. “Because it is instinctual, it is difficult to ignore our drive to caretake and protect our families. If you do not find it objectionable, it would be very welcome.”

Delilah nodded, overwhelmed all over again.

She could hardly believe that they truly desired a family that included a middle-aged woman who had already birthed a child for another man.

It was a little shocking. With the exception of Vernon, who was old enough to be her father or an uncle, no one had looked twice at her since Zack’s disappearance.

Though a few men chose to be huntsmen, the fact that the number of men born every year was declining within the population had many even more fussy with their insistence that the females they accepted and married not have the inconvenience of children that they had no desire to spend their energy on.

In recent generations, the man being able to be increasingly selective for his bride meant that it was increasingly evident that “used up” women were expected to not attend any social events where they might be mistaken for one that they considered eligible for marriage.

Though she may be present for casual pleasure.

There were even some strange ideas that if a woman had given birth for one man that her womb would not be hospitable for making sons for another. So that somehow it was being turned on women despite all scientific knowledge. And it was even worse in the villages, far from the citadels.

She would have to be insane to refuse something so simple and yet meaningful as their instinctual desire to nurture and shower with attentiveness.

Lily would soak that up…. And even Delilah could not recall when time, affection, and consideration were freely offered by Zack during the course of their marriage without Delilah begging for it.

And there wasn’t a time that Lily had been given it by anyone in her life who wasn’t her mother.

This mate thing was at very least worth considering.

“Okay,” she said at length. “I can agree with that. In fact, I think it would be very beneficial to Lily to be exposed to that for however long it lasts. Of course, that means that we will need to tell her our plan to travel together. Just don’t make promises about the future that we are not certain if we can keep.

” She hesitated, his eyes flicking toward Gehj and then Agrel uncertainly, and both males nodded in agreement.

“Perhaps… would you care to eat with us?”

That was one way to get things moving. Her momma had always said that being around a table brings people together.

Though, knowing Lily, she would be angling to have everything.

If only she didn’t get hurt—that was all that mattered.

Otherwise, she was going to do everything in her power to give her daughter exactly what she deserved and needed.