by Jade Waltz
I stopped in my tracks, studying the group. Others pressed against my back, my cloak getting snagged on them as they passed around me.
My nestmates never looked at me like that.
A sharp smack stroked my ass cheek, followed by a tight squeeze.
“If you are looking for a good time, I can give you a night to remember. You will beg me for more once I am done,” a rough voice purred into my ear. He breathed in deeply, sending a shiver down my spine.
Time stopped as flashes of the past merged with the present.
Sounds muted. Vision blurred as the busy lights of the club turned into a familiar, damaged ship.
“Looks like I got myself a little pleasure toy to enjoy during my escape.”
I covered my gaping mouth and winced as the remembrance of the pain flashed through me.
An arm wrapped around my waist as his gripped hand was forcibly ripped from my body.
I closed my eyes, shaking my head, snapping myself back to the present.
“It’s okay, Selena,” Kaica whispered. She gently pulled my side against hers and rubbed her hand up and down my arm soothingly.
“Didn’t I tell you to leave my sisters alone?” B growled.
I turned around to see what was happening.
B had my assailant by his bulge, her nails penetrating his black pants from her vice-like grip. The offending male kept trying to move to either attack or free himself, but she effortlessly dodged and swayed with his movements, squeezing tighter each time.
“If you are looking for a good time, perhaps I can help you. Lucky for you, I like it rough,” B chuckled, squeezing him tighter as he gasped.
“Please. Stop,” he begged. “I didn’t know she was one of yours.” The dark hooded male raised his scaled brown hands, their black claws twinkling in the club’s lights as they passed over us.
“She is one of us. Leave her be if you want to keep your small junk.” B released his shrunken bulge and stepped closer to him, drawing her midnight blade as she stared him down. She pressed the blade to his inner leg and growled, “Next time you mess with one of my sisters, I will cut off your pathetic excuse of a cock and feed it to you before slitting your throat. Understand?”
“Y-y-yes,” he whimpered as he stepped back. He glanced at me for a brief moment before scrambling backwards into the crowd. I watched him until he was lost in the crowded darkness.
“Selena. Are you okay?” Odelm asked urgently.
“I am fine, Odelm.” I sighed. I pulled all four of my nestmates bond threads together, adding the others to our conversation before they all tried to contact me about my extreme reaction. “A random stranger grabbed me unexpectedly. B took care of him. I will stay with them from now on.”
“I know they told us we shouldn’t worry about you… that you would be taken care of and protected,” Xylo mentioned hesitatingly.
“But they are worried… trying hard to shield you tonight. They are not used to ignoring any loud thoughts and strong feelings you may produce—at least not like us,” Z’fir explained.
B stepped in front of me and grabbed my shoulders.
“You have nothing to worry about. Your nestmates need to allow you a night to yourself. You escaped your prison, where they kept you away from others, only to surround yourself with males.” She squeezed my shoulders, smiling gently. “Tell them you won’t leave my side. They can focus on preparing for the meetings they have tomorrow.” She released her grip and pulled my hood farther over my head. “If someone gives you trouble, I will kill them and ask questions later.”
“How can you ask them questions when they are dead?” I asked, confused.
“Exactly. They should know better than to fuck with us,” she chuckled. “If we don’t do it, Kaede will. He is the one with the reputation.”
She stepped away as the others surrounded me, giving me worried looks as they led me through the crowd once more.
I took in a deep breath and sighed. Kaica rubbed my side and gave me a reassuring squeeze before letting me go.
Perhaps it was a mistake to come here. I was clearly out of my element. The sisters made it seem easy, their heads held high as they surveyed the room. The crowd parted as soon as they noticed us, a mixture of fear, lust, and respect radiating from their faces whenever the lights passed over them. A few watched me with jealous anger. Others failed to hide their curiosity as they tried to peek into my hood.
I focused on B’s back as an uneasiness fell on me.
“I promise I will call out if anything happens,” I said as we walked up to an empty table. “Please don’t let me distract you… Are you sure either of you doesn’t need me tomorrow? I can—”
“No, Selena. We will take care of it,” V’dim interjected. “Trust us. Let us take some of the burden off you. The Destiny leaves in two nights, and you don’t have enough time to do everything.”
“Enjoy yourself. You deserve it,” Xylo said.
I smiled as I sat down last at the round table, focusing on the blackened display screen surface. Their words comforted me and removed the guilt I felt, spending time away from my nestmates. They truly wanted me to have a good time without them—to have independence.
“All right. I promise to enjoy myself tonight with Kaede’s sisters and won’t worry about tomorrow. Just don’t leave me out of any major decisions and let me know the outcome of your meeting later tomorrow.”
They all agreed and wished me a good night.
A shot glass filled with a bubbly purple drink was placed in front of me, pulling me into the present.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I placed an order for you since it seemed like you were busy having an important conversation with your nestmates,” Zesha said with a wink.
“What is it?” I asked as I lifted the glass and peered into it. There was a dark disk slowly dissolving on the bottom of the glass, its particles creating the bubbling effect in the purple beverage.
“A favorite of ours,” she said as she grabbed her own. “Try it. It’s an alcoholic drink, Purple Asteroid Field.”
I sniffed and failed to distinguish the scent. Glancing up at the sisters, I noticed they were all watching me with their own drink in hand, waiting for me to take the first sip.
Throwing caution out the window, I tipped my head back and threw back the drink—like I saw others do with drinks in similar-sized glasses.
A dull fruity flavor was replaced by a strong bitterness that burned as it traveled all the way down my throat. I gasped from the feeling of the fizzing tablet as it attached to the back of my mouth. My eyes watered as it dissolved, continuously sending a burning sensation down my throat. I fanned myself as I struggled to keep steady breaths, trying to cool the burning in my cheeks.
Laughter filled the air.
“I figured you hadn’t had many chances to try… adult beverages since you were pregnant when you escaped, but I didn’t think you would have that kind of reaction,” Zesha exclaimed.
“You should have seen yourself,” Nyx chuckled. “I haven’t seen anyone react like that since Kaica—and that was because she panicked over the bubbles as they went down.”
“If your idea of a good time is to find ways to embarrass me, then I will go back to my clan,” I growled, slamming the glass onto the screened table and sliding it away.
“Hold up, Selena.” B raised her hand. “We should have told you what to expect. For that, I am sorry. Please don’t allow our poor judgment to ruin the night.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Talking, drinking, dancing. Perhaps even meeting someone new. The night is yours to do whatever you fancy.”
“I don’t need any more males in my life. I don’t know if you saw, but I currently have five in my clan,” I said pointedly. “Unless you guys are looking for someone.”
“You don’t want to dance?” Nyx asked and pouted as something crossed over her fuchsia eyes.
“It is more like I don’t know where to start.” I looked
over at the crowd and watched couples—and groups—enjoying themselves as they bumped and ground on each other. Everyone moved as one to the blaring music as if it was natural for them.
“Did someone say dancing?” a familiar melodic voice purred.
B rolled her eyes. “Why are you here, Qran? I don’t believe I sent an invitation to your crew.”
Qraniebi—who I had been calling Q—strolled up and brazenly wrapped a winged arm around B. His bright neon green bandoleer was missing. Only his neon blue loincloth remained, its belt equipped with flashing lights that strobed toward his crotch.
“You know you can’t hide from me,” Q smirked. “Rumor on the station is the Fab Five are now six, and they were here to celebrate. I took it on myself to investigate.”
“O’course you did,” Aunya scoffed. “Can’t keep yourself away. You always got to stick your beak in our business.”
Q gasped and covered his chest with a hand. “Aunya. You wound me.”
“No. We know your ways.” Aunya crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as her tails shuffled behind her.
“Then, you all know why I am here.” Q looked down at B. “I would have to be dimwitted to believe you added Selena to your crew.” He glanced over at me. “No offense to you, Selena, but you don’t seem… equipped with the necessary skills needed to join their special forces. That is all. Besides, Prince Zirene would never put you in danger on purpose.” He returned his gaze to B and squeezed her arm. “I am wondering when you will set your sights on me and realize I am a very virile male who is interested in you.”
B’s face hardened as sadness filled her eyes. “I am not going to be a member of your flock, and you know this.”
“I told you I gave up my Quaww ways when I joined Prince Zirene’s cause.” Q opened his winged arms. “What can I do to get a chance?”
The table was silent as everyone watched the two leaders interact.
What history did these two have?
B tapped her empty glass on the table in thought and peered over to me. She smirked as a chuckle escaped her lips.
“I have a way for you to prove yourself, Qran.”
He followed her gaze to me and looked between us, confused. “I thought you didn’t want to live in a flock…”
B rolled her eyes. “Selena has never been dancing before. If you can show her a good time and respect her boundaries, I will entertain allowing you to take me out sometime. But…” B smiled and pulled Q to her, guiding the side of his feathered head to her lips.
I watched as she blocked her face with her hand as Q’s face flooded with multiple expressions—lust, confusion, curiosity, mischievousness.
The burning on my face and throat slowly traveled along my body, creating an uncomfortable heat. Was it from the drink or the embarrassment of being the center of attention? I didn’t have this reaction when I was on the Assembly floor, yet somehow, I felt even more out of my element here.
Wetness dripped between my legs, forcing me to stop myself from rubbing them together.
“Ready to dance, Selena?” Q asked.
His voice jolted me from the cloudiness of my inner thoughts. I blinked a few times and shook my head, trying to focus on the here and now.
“Selena?”
Q now stood next to me as he offered his hand, his face scrunched in confusion as his pale green eyes searched mine.
“I can understand if you don’t want to…” he trailed off.
“Dancing isn’t a part of Circuli culture. I am sure your nestmates won’t mind,” Kaica said.
I glanced at B. “Are you sure you don’t mind? I mean… I don’t want to ruin anything between you before it even started.”
B raised a hand toward Q. “I wouldn’t trust any other male, other than the few who are already in your clan, to dance with you—my brother included.” She crossed her arms and leaned back. “Besides, if Q messes up with you, he ruins any chances he has with me. I won’t even start entertaining a male who can’t respect and treat any of my sisters well.”
“If you are fine with it, then…” I grabbed Q’s hand as he pulled me out of my seat. “I guess I will take advantage of the opportunity.”
Q pressed his hand against my back and led me away. “I want my reward after this,” he said behind me.
“Then show her a good time and bring her back in one piece,” B shouted.
He led me silently through the crowd. It seemed Q also had a reputation on the station. Everyone’s reactions to him were slower compared to the sisters, but once they saw who he was when he tried to squeeze past someone, they automatically moved out of the way without a word.
We stopped in the middle of the room, and Q turned toward me as the dancers gave us a respectable amount of space around us.
He chuckled. “This is going to be fun.”
“What is?”
He placed his hands on my hips. “Do you want to face me or away from me? Typically, the female leads, but since this is your first time, I don’t mind being the aggressor.”
Nothing he said made sense. I did a quick survey of the crowd. It was too dark to make out colors, but I assumed the smaller and more slender members were the feminine ones. They were either surrounded by taller and bulkier forms, sandwiched between two, or paired up with one. There were a variety of other pairings—including all feminine and all masculine.
They all had one thing in common.
Someone was in control.
“What is easier for you?”
“How about you face away from me? That way, you can watch what others do as I take the lead,” Q suggested. “And whenever you feel comfortable, you can take over.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
In an instant, he gripped my hips harder and spun me around, pressing my ass against his leg. A rush of arousal coursed through me as his knee brushed against the edge of my nether lips. Lifting me up on my toes, he forced me to lean back against him.
“Listen to the beats of the music and follow along with your hips, hitting each one,” Q breathed against my ear, his melodic voice drowning out the surrounding sound. He directed my hips, rocking us as one to the beats of the music, slowly and gently at first until it picked up faster, harder, and sharper movements.
“Dancing is used as a way to test the compatibility between partners. How they perform on the floor will show how they will be in the bedroom,” he explained softly, sending shivers down my spine. “Will they be sensual? Or will they demand control? Will they like it fast and rough or slow and gentle? These are things easily interchangeable between dancing and the bedroom.”
I tried to focus on what he was saying but couldn’t comprehend. It was as if something was preventing me from thinking and heightening my sense of touch.
Each beat rubbed my pussy against his knee as burning heat turned into throbbing arousal. I could feel my center becoming drenched. My vision blurred, but somehow, it didn’t matter. The heavy cloudiness returned—in full force—yet, I didn’t care. I closed my eyes and focused on the one thing that did—easing my arousal.
I needed to dance. To grind harder on him. To feel another pressed against me.
I turned around and wrapped my arms around Q’s soft feathered neck, pulling myself closer to him. His hands traveled from my hips to my ass, lifting me, pressing me harder against his leg.
I leaned forward and laid my head against his chest, breathing in his airy scent. Something about the slight fruitiness made me hungry. Who cared about food when you had a delicious male to feast on?
Unhooking my hands from around his head, I dropped my arms and wrapped them between his torso and wings. I clawed at his back as something drove me to nibble along his feathered chest, unable to mark his skin.
A hiss escaped him. “I knew you were kinky, but I didn’t think you liked it rough.”
His taloned tips dug into my ass as he raised me higher, grinding our torsos together. My legs hooked around him as he wrapped his wings around me, blocking us f
rom view.
He kept thrusting as if he was fucking me savagely to the beat of the music, not caring who saw. I wanted—needed—to remove my suit, to feel my skin rubbing against the softness of his feathered chest. A moan escaped me at the thought of how it would feel for my nipples to be pressed against him, their peaks rubbing against each individual cyan feather as he took control.
Thoughts of him using my body for his pleasure combined with the heated arousal coursing through my body and his aggressive rocking hitting my clit deliciously each time he jerked to the beat made me only want one thing.
I needed to be filled. Now. And didn’t care who it was.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kaede
Kaede paced angrily in his room as he tried to rid himself of his need to watch Selena, to study the moves of her and everyone around her. His addiction to her was dangerous—not just for her and her clan, but the Aldawi Empire as well. One missed moment could mean her death—or worse, her kidnapping—by those who would love to torture and use her as bait against Prince Zirene. Selena’s importance to him made her a prime target for those who wished to bring Prince Zirene to his knees.
That didn’t include the value of her capabilities. He heard the whispered murmurs and saw the long, stolen glances others made around her. They saw her as an object. A prized possession, capable of unlocking secrets to create many things—hybrids, clones, mass breeding, even harvesting all her eggs to create a new army—all the things that had been forbidden by law to prevent one nation from taking over the galaxy.
The Quaww didn’t enjoy being second best. A few minor species rode their tail feathers, hoping they could rake in the benefits. If they found any means to take the Aldawi down, the rest of the CEG would crumble. The Quaww were only in it to protect themselves from outside threats. Now that the Aldawi had gotten rid of the invading Yaarkins, the Quaww were beginning to believe they had no reason to continue playing nice with the others.
He would be a fool to believe that just because Selena won her case, everything would be smooth flying from here on out.