Page 14

Chapter 14

Lynn

O ver the course of the next two days, Yorix’s plumage fully appeared. And with it, his frenzied need to claim me again and again. Thank goodness for Ullalilly and her practically magic bath salts. On the third day, after we’d made love twice before taking a nap, Yorix woke up seeming more focused on everything else. We took a shower together, and for once, he didn’t end up fucking me against the tiles.

“You alright?” I asked. “You seem less itchy,” I said diplomatically, which was true, as he’d stopped scratching at least.

“I’ve reached the peak, and while I will always hunger for you, the need to couple is not overriding everything else,” he admitted. “My plumage will start fading back, though not all will disappear completely.”

I nodded. “So that’s why some Mylos always have scales and some do not?”

“It is one of the ways to tell a mated male, yes. Though some unmated also always have scales, depending on the non Mylos part of the bloodline.”

“You mean like in the same way Korah and Oshar always have fangs, right?”

“The Drani? Yes. Their female parents hail from Sanguine.”

I laughed. “That sounds so, I dunno, like a world a human named, because sanguine is a word we have that means blood red, though it can also mean happy and cheerful.”

“Interesting confluence,” he replied gravely, shutting the water off.

We quickly dried off thanks to Ulalilly blowing us gently dry while she cleaned the bathtub from our shower.

“I can’t wait to see Chris again!” I confessed. “Though I’m not looking forward to telling him about my fib.”

Yorix gave my arm a gentle squeeze as he passed me to return to our bedroom.

“I am certain he will forgive you.”

“Yeah, I just have to find the right moment and tell him in the right way, I guess,” I replied, following him. I quickly chose a denim skirt with a scoop neck cotton top and slid on my favorite pair of flat sandals. By the time I’d finished my make up and hair, Yorix was in the living room playing with Charlie, my cat. Well, more Yorix’s cat, seeing as Charlie fell in love with my mate as soon as he clapped his little kitty eyes on him and quickly made the decision that his new favorite person was Yorix. Oh, he still loved me, but if Yorix was there, he made a beeline for him.

“Okay, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be!” I said brightly, and Yorix put down the feather teaser.

“We’ll play more later,” he promised Charlie, who glared at me, before turning his back to me entirely in true feline dramatic fashion, and began washing his back leg. Yorix stood up, walking towards me with a look of appreciation upon his face.

“I hate to think of all the other males seeing your great beauty,” he growled softly.

“Stop it,” I laughed. “I know I’m far from looking like a troll, but I’m no supermodel.”

“To me, you are the most beautiful female in all the universe. And it is not only because I love you.”

My heart skipped a beat. “You love me?” I asked softly, placing my hand over my heart as if to urge it to keep beating.

He inclined his head. “Before you, I was half a male. You have completed me.”

I crossed the short distance to him, turning my face up to his so I could kiss him.

“I know it’s early, but…yeah. I feel it too. It’s more than the absolutely fantastic sex. It’s all the in-between times we’ve shared so far, too. It’s like we’re on the same wavelength and everything is as it should be. It feels new, yet also as if it’s the way we always were.”

Yorix nodded. “It is because we are perfectly suited, and the stars themselves always meant for us to be together.”

“Like fated mats,” I whispered.

“Exactly that,” he agreed, taking my hand and leading me to the front door. “I already fed Charlie his Tiki Cat, and he has his Meow Mix in his bowl.”

“Guess we’re all set then,” I replied as the front door opened to let us out. It was two short walks and an elevator ride to reach the small shuttle bay on the opposite side of the ship from where we’d arrived. Since Chris lived on another ship, we had to shuttle over, which was a fifteen minute ride.

“This time last week, public transport to me was taking the subway or catching a bus, or calling an Uber,” I chuckled as we disembarked. “Look at me now! Elevators that move in almost all directions and flying saucer shuttle buses!”

Once we reached the closest elevator at our destination, Yorix consulted the directions Xeranos had provided us for reaching Chris’s new place.

“Deck seven,” he requested, and the elevator began to move. “Hello Yorix!” Xeranos greeted him. “Going to visit Chris, Oshar, and Korah?”

“Yes,” Yorix replied. “This is the time we agreed upon.”

“I’ll take you to the nearest exit point this transport unit can reach. You’ll have to take a right when you get out. His is the fourth unit on the opposite wall.”

“Thank you,” I piped up.

“You're most welcome, Lynn. Enjoy your evening!”

The elevator changed direction twice before coming to a stop. As promised, Yorix found the quarters marked as theirs just where Xeranos had told him. Yorix placed his palm on the scanner, which, since we were guests, caused a doorbell to chime rather than open the door to admit us.

We stood waiting expectantly, only for no one to answer the door, though we could hear Daisy barking. Yorix frowned slightly.

“Let me try. Maybe they didn’t hear it the first time for some reason," I said, reaching across and pressing my own hand against the scanner.

“Hi, guys!” Xeranos called out. “They asked me to let you know they are on their way. They’re running a tad behind.”

Mere moments later, the door opened, revealing Chris.

“Hi!” he said, sounding out of breath.

I eyed him suspiciously, taking in his flushed appearance and the very fresh hickey mark I could see peeking out, plus the state of his dress, I decided to play it cool.

“Hi!” I replied enthusiastically. “Um, did we interrupt something?”

He turned as red as a ripe tomato.

“Huh? No, no, why would you ask that?”

“Um, because your shirt is on inside out and backward?”

He grew an almost impossibly deeper shade of red at this, glancing down to see that I was right. “Oops. I wasn’t wearing a shirt, like these guys, haha. Just grabbed it to answer the door and didn't notice,” I babbled. “Um, why don’t you come inside?”

We stepped in just as Korah emerged from what must be their bedroom, calling out for Daisy, admonishing her for her barking. Oshar soon made an appearance and after we'd completed our greetings and agreed upon drinks, I was racking my brain figuring out what to say next. Glancing around the space, I said, “Your place looks different than ours. We have a big eat in kitchen separated from the living room by a wall. It’s just as nice, though. I like your furniture!”

“Thanks,” Chris replied, taking one of the caramel lattes that appeared on a small tray as Korah held it out. “None of us knew what to get, really, so Xero showed us some room ideas and we just got that.”

I laughed, thinking how grateful I’d been to find our place furnished already in a style we both like. “I used to go to Ikea and imagine making only little changes and setting my house up the way they had their room displays set up,” I admitted. “My aunt works at the one in West Chester, so I felt disloyal to buy stuff from anywhere else.” Shit! I should have added that it was when I went to shop for new bedroom furniture my freshman year of high school and Mama took me shopping, because then I could have gone on to explain that my roommates were actually my parents and brother and that I’d paid a nominal rent after graduation to them. I took a sip of my coffee, trying to figure out if my pause had made it too late to do so, only for Chris to gesture towards the dining room table.

“Shall we sit there, or would you prefer the living room? Seeing as we have couches and chairs and the nice things we’ve just been talking about.”

I giggled nervously. Yep, I’d missed the boat. I’d have to try to find a way to broach the subject again. “The table’s fine,” I assured him, and we all quickly took our seats there.

We bantered about how gentlemanly our mates were for holding our chairs out and Chris joked about nearly passing out when he’d found he had not one, but two mates. So what did I do next? Did I say, “Look, I feel like I need to clear something up. I told you I was living on Earth with roommates. That’s sort of true, as I paid a bit of rent, but my roommates were my parents and brother.” No, I did not. Instead, my big mouth brought up our wedding plans, which, so far, we did not have any of. Nothing concrete, yet anyway.

“So, we were at Gyros without Capes, this cute little Greek place on the main rec deck over on the flagship, and that's a total pun by the way! It’s gyros like the food, g-y-r-o-s.” I giggled, nerves jangling. “Anyway, we were talking about our wedding plans and then I came up with the greatest idea!”

“You decided my mates and I should go,” Chris concluded.

“Not just that, silly! We should have a double wedding!” I replied excitedly. Oh, shit. He was staring at me now. He hated the idea. “Don’t say no just yet. Promise me you’ll think about it. I mean, it’s kismet, really. You ended up at my appointment, and then we got matched at the same exact time!” I pleaded.

He kept staring at me for another long moment. “What did you have in mind?” he asked finally. “White dress, tuxedos, on the beach in Hawaii, and all that?”

Oh, thank God! He didn’t think I was a loon for suggesting this.

“Well, yes. Xero showed us this package with the Hilton in Waikiki. We can have an archway facing the water and say our vows with all our family and friends - I know you probably don’t want to invite your family,” I hurried to cut him off before he could do more than open his mouth to interrupt me, “but I’m only having my roommates and my parents and sister and aunt and uncle.”

Shit. Now I’d gone and added in new roommates he’d think I’d lived with, when what I rally meant was kids I’d roomed with at Astronomy Camp. Now I’d dug myself into an even deeper hole! My mouth didn’t pay any heed to my inner turmoil, though, as it just kept going, almost of its own volition.

“You could maybe invite your longest dog walking customers? They might like to come, see that you’re okay, and it won’t cost them anything. Be like a mini vacay for them, all paid for by the Mylos.” I placed my hands together in a pleading gesture. “Please think about it.”

He glanced over at Oshar and Korah, seeking their opinion.

“Whatever you want is fine by me,” Oshar said, holding his hands up in surrender.

“Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy,” Koshar added.

Chris breathed out a breath, turning to look back at me. “And Yorix is okay with that?” he asked.

“Oh, I think it’s a wonderful idea, given the situation,” Yorix replied.

“And we can get tickets to the big luau there later in the week and have some of Duke’s famous hula pie, and go sightseeing together when we’re not in our rooms doing other things.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively.

He took another deep breath, and I was sure he was about to say no, only for him to come out with. “Okay, then.”

“Really?” I squealed.

“Really.”

I almost knocked my coffee over as I jumped up to run around the table to give him a big old hug. “Thank you! And when you guys are our kids’ guncles, we can tell them the cute story about how we all met and got mated and then married all at the same time!”

“Guncle?”

“Gay uncle, silly. And don’t look at me like that. He’s not knocked me up yet. At least I don't think so.” I hoped not, as I wanted to go to school first, but then we’d had a lot of sex and I wasn’t sure if Mylos had super sperm, and I needed to be on alien birth control instead of human. I really needed to check that out ASAP. Ulalily could probably tell me. Wait - if I were preggers, she’d have told me. Whew. Now to sort out the birth control and talk to Yorix about it. But first -

“Okay, I guess we’d better nail down some details so we can ask Xero to wedding plan it for us!” I eyed his shirt pointedly. “It’s not like you can even put your shirt on correctly these days, so good thing I’ll be around!”

“Yay,” he replied in a barely audible voice, earning him another giggle from me. He smiled at me wryly.

“Um, where’s the little girl’s room?” I asked, and Chris stood up to show me the way.

“You okay?” he asked me. “You seem stressed. Were you that worried how I’d react to your suggestion?” he asked me quietly.

We reached the bathroom door, and I knew this was it. I had to come clean, even if it meant losing the plans we’d just made and his friendship forever.

“I’m sorry!” I choked out, big fat tears rolling down my face. “I lied! I didn’t mean to!”

He stared at me, dumbfounded, pulling me into the bathroom and shutting the door behind us. “What? When?” he asked.

“Back at the Center and kind of just now,” I hiccupped. “I told you I lived with roommates. That was only kinda true.”

“Okay? Explain,” he said, his voice still gentle.

“When I graduated high school and decided to take a gap year, I got a job and started paying a small amount of ‘rent’ to my folks. My roommates are my mom and dad. Um, and my brother.”

He laughed. “Is that all? Wait, so what roommates were you talking about inviting, because you’d named your parents too?”

“The ones from astronomy camp. We shared the same room since we started going in seventh grade. Do you forgive me? I swear, I'll never lie to you ever again!”

He laughed. “I know you won’t, if that one bothered you so much. So the furniture from Ikea?”

“Mama took me shopping my freshman year to get a more grown up looking bedroom.”

“Aha.” He booped my nose. “Just be completely honest from now on, okay?”

“I just didn’t want to mention my parents that day,” I said softly, nodding.

“Oh…” He pulled me in for a hug. “Your heart was in the right place, honey, but don’t do it again. Also, you need to wash your face. You kinda look like a raccoon now.”

I turned to look in the mirror and laughed shakily despite myself. He was right, I totally did.

“I’ll leave you to it. All is forgiven, but never again, no matter what, yeah?”

“No matter what,” I agreed, taking his proffered pinky, hooking it with my own.

“Pinky swear,” we said in unison, shaking.

Then he left me to clean my face up and do my business.

“Waterproof mascara and eyeliner from here on out,” I vowed as I desperately tried not to make it worse. At least my conscience was now clear, and I hadn’t lost my new best friend, who apparently still wanted to have a double wedding with me.

It was all good, I decided, and then remembered all the bathrooms had an assistant. One who could help me with some makeup remover, perhaps.

“Hello, bathroom assistant?” I called out.