Page 44 of Double Her Pleasure

“Fair enough,” Jill agreed with an acknowledging smile.

She was still smiling when Brydis popped in moments later. His eyes scanned the group of females cautiously before settling on Jill.

“Just coming through and decided to check in. Is everything okay in here?” he asked.

“Everything is perfect,” she chirped. “And I’m glad you came. I was just going to hunt you down to see if we had any immediate plans for the bigoor wine in the cooler.”

“Bigoor wine?” Mariia chirped. “That would be wonderful.”

A smile teased the corners of his mouth. “Go ahead. We have a few more bottles set aside. Making new friends seems like the perfect occasion for it.”

Jill beamed happily, waving her fingers to her mate in farewell as he ducked back out. As she retrieved the bottle and began to open it, the females hurriedly stood and fetched cups. Laughter quickly filled the kitchen as wine was poured and shared copiously among them. Jill lost count of how many cups she drank, but she would worry about the hangover in the morning. Tomorrow would come soon enough with all its worries. She decided to enjoy the moment of companionship she was experiencing, wishing that Diane was there. She would have gotten a kick out of the whole thing.

Her mood remained jubilant as she prepared the midday meal and then later into the day as the evening meal came around. They drank another two bottles between them over the course of the day—something that highly amused all the males whenever they came inside—but by the time the day was over and Agor was carrying her to bed, Jill was pretty certain now that she had friends. Even if Iridi objected to calling her friend, that wouldn’t stop Jill from privately considering her such.

“Sleep,” Brydis murmured as her males tucked in on either side of her. “Tomorrow and all that we must do will come early.”

Chapter34

The port was more crowded than Agor remembered. Of course, then again, his experiences within the port had been few and at odd hours and situations. The training they had received in keeping their wings pinned firmly against their backs proved to be highly useful. From the time they stepped off the flyer upon docking it at the port, they had immediately been surrounded by a crush of milling humans and the odd Geminidos among them. Jill had also proved correct in her estimation that the humans would be more accepting of their presence with the presence of females with them.

The other Geminidae at the port—all solitary males or twins—appeared to be treated with wariness and suspicion were apparently given a wide berth because of it. Which Agor was briefly envious of until he realized that it seemed to keep the males from moving very well within the crowd since no openings were made for them. Rather, they appeared to be blocked in at every turn, creeping forward at only a sluggish pace. In contrast, the division was moving at a slow but progressive rate along the passages as they made their stops. Once the fleece had been dropped off, inspected, and paid out by the marketer, the females were taking the opportunity to drag them into various shops to gather supplies and small luxuries that caught their eye. Any wary stiffening among the humans immediately eased upon seeing the females, and he caught more than a few smiles directed toward the females as they took such fascination in everything.

Everything was going so well that, although his tension still ran high as he guarded his mate, even Agor was slowly relaxing. He glanced over Brydis and gave him a wry smile.

“Ever get the feeling that something should be happening and instead of being relieved, you’re oddly disappointed when it doesn’t?” he asked.

Brydis chuckled, his attention momentarily caught on a necklace set with large blue stones and boldly displayed. He lifted his head and grinned. “What, are you disappointed that you don’t have to fight your way out of here with our mate tucked protectively under your wings?”

Agor grunted, unwilling to admit that some sort of tiny pushback would have given him a small pleasure to demonstrate for his mate. He didn’t want to be embroiled in a huge conflict with his mate present and vulnerable as well as those of his neighbors, but a tiny one. Perhaps they should start doing practice drills again just so that she could admire their strength and dexterity that served her so well in the bedroom and out of it.

Or perhaps he was out of sorts with how politely everyone was treating them despite the way they looked at him and the other males. It was as if being with Jill and the other females somehow made him “safe” but only in the way a leashed and muzzled grifalc would be considered “safe.” He knew that because the humans stared at him as if they expected him to suddenly break his leash and do whatever they feared a Geminidae would do. It was frustrating, but he tried to understand given the physical differences and current strain between their species. Yet, as the day wore on, his usual friendly smile slipped more and more, especially when more than one well-meaning human asked Jill if she required help getting to a safe place. Away from her mates they meant. And it ate at him.

“Don’t overreact,” Brydis murmured as his glare chased away another human hoping to rescue Jill. “Our people would do the same if we expected a Geminidae female to be a captive of a potentially dangerous male. Don’t you recall when my sister mated, and all of my elder brothers went insane at who she accepted?”

Agor chuckled at the memory. “Your mother threatened to beat them all into unconsciousness if they didn’t leave Cicina and her mates alone.”

“Exactly. This is a nuisance, nothing more. We just have to tolerate it for a short while longer. Before you know it, we will be home.”

Sighing, Agor inclined his head in acknowledgement and smiled when Jill suddenly turned from where she was whispering with Iridi over a jewelry case. They had already waved away the human who’d approached in hope of a sale, but the warmth in her eyes told him she was enjoying herself. That alone was enough to make him happy.

“A human mate!”

The sound of shock from the Geminidos at the door was enough to send a sick sensation through him as the heads of several other males near the shop snapped up and turned toward them. Aggression raced through Agor, causing his muscles to bulge and his wings to snap out and fan around him as he hissed at the male who’d spoken.

The dark blue male didn’t even acknowledge his reaction with how fixated as he was on Jill. A look of fascination crossed his face, and Agor stepped closer to his mate, intervening at the male’s approach as Brydis closed in on Jill’s other side. Brydis’s wings flared protectively, and all the females fell silent as the males with them backed them away with low hisses in warning. This behavior toward a mated female was unusual in any male who wasn’t rogue. However, as he watched, several males flared their wings with interest and pushed their way forward in an attempt to get a better look at Jill. Agor doubted that every one of them was a rogue male unable to form a normal taliazon bond. He didn’t understand it. Why were they advancing on her?

The humans shopping and working in the area froze in reaction, their gaze flitting between all the Geminidae closing in, even regarding Agor and his division with open fear whereas before they had been wary and accepting of their presence there. Mariia shuffled back further, her dark pink feathers trembling as her mate Masix wrapped his wings protectively around her. Even Iridi, who was the boldest of the females there, was withdrawing as her gaze darted between the Geminidae and humans.

“Hey, back off now!” The human shopkeeper came around from behind the counter, her face tightening with worry. “If you’re going to do some crazy alien shit, you need to take it out of my shop.”

“Good idea,” Brydis gritted out as he curled his wings tighter around their mate. “I think we’re done shopping. I believe it’s time to return to the flyer,” he remarked to other males’ agreement.

“I’m definitely done,” Iridi sniffed, and she leaned into the male at her side. “Let’s go.”

“Yes, me too,” Jill murmured. “As fun as this has been, I want to go home.”

The nearest of the males approaching paused at her words and shook his head. “No, don’t go yet. Stay.” He pushed forward through the humans, sending them into each other as he charged toward Jill. “You must stay and speak to me for a moment.”

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