“I am yours and you are mine.”
Well, that didn’t leave much wiggle room for misinterpretation.
I found myself, once again, extremely grateful for the translator in the base of my skull. The thought of being unable to communicate with these foreign people seriously set me on edge.
Though, communication aside, the cultural differences were still… something I would need adjustment for. And since the Council didn’t provide many details, I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this union—what to expect out of Alek’dar. Or what he expected from me other than the occasional marriage duties.
And while I knew what was to come, I couldn’t help but wish for a little more time—before things changed and went past the point of no return—before I was no longer just Mallory Delour and became a wife in every sense of the word to this stranger.
“Right.” I could feel my chest tighten, as panic swelled. “About that…” I trailed off, unsure of how to put into words what I wanted to say. After all, I’d agreed to this. Who was I to refuse him if he wanted to consummate the relationship?
“You are changing your mind?” He inquired, cocking his head to the side.
An image of my sister being bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life flashed through my mind and I shook my head. “No, no. It’s not that.”
He took a step towards me, and I couldn’t help but step back instinctively. “Then what is the problem?”
“I was hoping we would get to know one another a little bit before we took things any further.” I took a deep breath to attempt to calm myself before opening my mouth and forcing the words stuck in my throat. “What I mean is, normally humans get to know one another first before they, you know, get married. We didn’t have that opportunity, and I would really like it if we could get to know one another before that,” I gestured to the bed or nest—whatever the hell it was they used to sleep in—my face burning.
It took an extreme amount of effort to force myself to push through the rising panic. I had to be able to communicate with him if this was going to work, and I was not ready for the next step.
Taking care of Stephanie had been my priority so fooling around or falling in love… it hadn’t been in the cards for me.
I was still untouched.
And while I might have found him physically attractive, I didn’t think I had it in me to lay with someone I’d just met.
He didn’t say anything for a long moment, and I wondered if I’d angered him. God, I hoped I hadn’t pissed him off. It wouldn’t do to royally fuck up the treaty between our peoples already.
“I understand,” he finally replied, startling me out of my thoughts.
I felt a wave of relief wash over me. “Really? So, you’re not angry?”
He frowned. “Why would I be angry?”
I shook my head before giving him a small smile. “I keep forgetting that you’re not human.”
His frown deepened at my response, but I didn’t care to elaborate. To be honest, I didn’t have much experience with human males. And it wasn’t from lack of suitors—I had plenty. But Stephanie… she needed me more than I needed a husband or a family to call my own. From watching how my mother dealt with the various men that came to the house, I learned early on that denial meant bodily harm.
I wasn’t interested in that kind of treatment and degradation.
I sincerely hoped that the Striss were nothing like humans.
“Do you need food?” He finally asked, thankfully changing the subject.
“What?” I shook my head in the negative. “Oh, no. No thank you. In’ka and Rinna allowed me to eat while they were preparing me.”
“That is good.”
“Yes. I really liked the pink grape looking fruits. They were delicious.”
“Then I shall make sure we keep them in stock for your consumption.”
I was a bit surprised at the offer but delighted all the same. Maybe this would work out after all. He seemed like a nice enough fellow.
“Oh, well, thank you.”
Another silence fell between us as a breeze from the many windows of the dwelling traveled through the room. I shivered, feeling goosebumps prick my skin.
“Um… I was wondering…”
“Yes?”
“Well, since we’re not going to… you know, consummate the marital bed, could I possibly get some clothes to wear?”
“You are chilled?”
“Yes. A little.”
He frowned and moved through the dwelling, stopping briefly in front of me, pressing the back of his hand gently against my arm. I shuddered at the warmth radiating off of him, almost leaning into him before I caught myself.
Nodding to himself, he brushed past me to the wall, pressing on a panel. It opened a small closet, much to my surprise. Pulling out a thick downy fur that was larger than even him, he wrapped it around my shoulders.
“Thank you, Alek’dar.”
To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself now. There wasn’t really a handbook for situations like this to help me know what to say or do.
I hoped we would lose this… awkwardness between us soon.
***
Alek’dar
I watched the human woman slumbering in the nest curled in on herself.
When she had been presented to me, I was a little shocked. Though she looked completely different from a Striss female with her soft peach skin tone, she was no less appealing in the ceremonial garb and paints. To be honest, only a few key features separated humans from the Striss. They were land-dwellers while we were able to soar the skies with our wings.
They were also soft, if the human woman was anything to go by. I’d noticed how fleshy and supple she felt as I carried her to our shared dwelling.
We would be compatible and able to reproduce; I knew for certain. We were not the first human/Striss pairing on the planet, though we would be the first in this flock. And the other pairing was successful in producing children from their union.
All of those children were blessed with the wings their human mother lacked and didn’t look much different from normal Striss children save some lacked clawed feet or horns for some of the males. But otherwise, they didn’t really stand out from others.
It was because of them that I even entertained the idea when the human males came to me with their ‘treaty’. Being the leader of our flock, children were mandatory for me. I came from a long uninterrupted line of alpha’s and knew there would be some tension if it was broken.
And to be honest, it was likely I would not have been able to attract a female of my own species due to the cursed red feathers tainting my wings. They painted a target on my back and made me undesirable.
Most of the women in the flock didn’t even see me as an eligible male in that regard, long before I’d accepted the humans terms.
But I clawed my way to the top of the flock even when it seemed impossible.
I was born to lead, red feathers or not.
I could only hope that any children born of our union would not be doomed to inherit my coloring or they would face the same issues I had for the last twenty-three years.
From what little I’d learned of her, she might be suitable for this union. She didn’t appear to be deceptive and came across more submissive than I thought she might be. The intelligence we’d gathered over the years on the human species painted human women in a different light.
They weren’t really meek, though I figured it very well could be the situation leading her to behave this way. Either way, she would do.
Looking upon her strange appearance would take some time to get used to, but she was close enough in shape to the Striss that I was able to overlook it for the most part. She was definitely softer than any Striss woman I’d come in contact with. And I found myself drawn to her in a way I’d never felt before.
Thoughts of the woman currently lying in our nest had me growing aroused.
She was much more attractive than I ha
d believed possible. And I found myself a little disappointed when she requested that we wait to consummate the union. But it was most likely for the best.
I wouldn’t push the issue.
We didn’t know one another, and we didn’t need the added tension between us in the event of a miscommunication. I knew that the Humans knew little about our species, let alone our culture.
To have Mallory misinterpret something could be disastrous.
Thankfully she didn’t panic too much over the harati. Striss women knew of the custom and expected it. It was more tradition than anything now, so to awaken in a strange place must have been terrifying. From what Bel’an informed me she was fine for the most part. Mallory didn’t even awake when Bel’an went through the medical check process or the resulting procedure to help her womb carry any child she would conceive to term. Not that it was all that invasive with our superior technological advances.
Then again, how she slept through the night when Qui’da and I stole into her dwelling and took her to begin with was a bit of a mystery. She barely stirred at all during the flight from her village to mine.
It was hard to miss how she weighed little more than a Striss child, much to my surprise. Then, humans were not built like the Striss so it shouldn’t have been as shocking to me.
I shook my head with a slight smile quirking my lips. She sure was something. How humans had survived on this planet was beyond me.
While they might have adapted their technology and ways to serve them best on our homeworld, I wondered how she would take to the Striss culture.
While we were a bit more drawn to our roots when it came to our homes and how we lived, we made many scientific advancements alongside the Vrun, our cave-dwelling neighbors—another intelligent native species to our homeworld. So we were by no means ignorant. We just didn’t allow technology to invade our way of living.
And with the Avekshaa Festival only a couple of weeks away, I wondered how she would respond to it and our traditions.
With a yawn, I pushed off of the table and strode to the nest, taking care not to disturb Mallory as I laid down beside her. She shivered in her sleep causing me to frown.
It wouldn’t do to have her catch a chill, so I pulled her into my arms. She tensed at the contact before relaxing as my body heat began to warm her chilled skin. It wasn’t too long before I joined her in slumber.
Chapter Five
Mallory
I glanced about the dwelling unsure of what to make of it. From what Alek’dar explained last night, this was our home from now on. It was kind of scary to think of how high up it was.
Unnerving really.
I’m just glad that I wasn’t deathly afraid of heights because that would make this situation a complete ‘no go’ for me. With time I think I would get over being so frightened. I glanced at the doorway, certain death could befall me if I so much as stepped wrong. The ground was at least four stories down. It would be a beautiful last sight to see with the blue and purple leaves falling around me, but deadly for certain.
One trip and it was all over.
I was going to have to speak to Alek’dar about putting something similar to rails up. And maybe a door for privacy.
The fact that they don’t have doors was a little shocking, but theirs was a completely different culture and I was going to have to get used to how open and exposed the dwelling was. Hell, the walls could barely be classified as such with all the ‘windows’ there were. Thankfully it wasn’t right next to anyone else’s from what I could tell so there was a little bit of privacy.
Speaking of Alek’dar, he was still asleep in the nest/bed thing. Waking up with his arms around me was somewhat disorienting. Part of me wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening and just go back to sleep so he would wake up and extract himself from me, but judging from the light flooding in, it was already mid-morning. And my stomach was beginning to grumble from hunger.
So, carefully, I pulled myself out of his warm embrace and stood, carefully exiting the nest/bed. I still wasn’t sure what to call it because it wasn’t like any bed I’d ever seen before.
Taking in my surroundings, I bit my lip before heading for the kitchen area, ready to raid some food. The design of this place was so modernized and different from what I was used to back home. The storage was in the walls, and it was almost impossible to tell the difference between actual wall and the storage. By sheer luck, I was able to stumble across what appeared to be a pantry and went through the food stored there, trying to find something that wouldn’t just come right back up.
I was still a little paranoid about the non-hybrid food that he kept. I had no intention of puking my guts up all day because something disagreed with me.
There were some pink and purple melon looking fruits that had a rough fuzz on it closest to the pantry door. Beside it was a few bundles of yellow root vegetables that I’d never seen before. I shuddered as I glanced over what all I could see, before finally laying my eyes across something familiar.
Finding some of the bigger fruits that I’d been given the day prior by In’ka and Rinna, I snagged one and started filling my belly, shutting the pantry closed behind me.
I gave the room another glance as I nibbled on the fruit, going over things more thoroughly. I hadn’t had much of a chance to take it all in and see what all was here.
Last night had been a bit overwhelming.
To my surprise, there appeared to be a little bit of technology throughout the dwelling, like what might be a stove and a refrigerator of some sort. There even appeared to be working water and while part of me was curious how it all worked, I didn’t fiddle with anything.
I’d noticed the water bit yesterday while I was being prepped by In’ka and Rinna on my first bathroom break, much to my pleasant surprise. Their bathrooms were set up much like the human settlement but there wasn’t a shower or bath to be seen. How they cleaned up was still a bit of a mystery.
Determined to solve it, I finished my breakfast and wandered through our dwelling, trying to see if there were any rooms I might have missed.
“What are you looking for?” Alek’dar abruptly asked from behind me.
I yelped in surprise, whirling around to see him standing right behind me within arm’s length. How did I not notice him wake and sneak up behind me?
Honestly. It was going to become a safety hazard one day.
Clutching my hand to my throat in an attempt to calm my speeding pulse, I murmured, “Um, I was wondering if there was a shower or something in the house?”
“A shower?” he parroted, a quizzical look on his face.
I nodded enthusiastically. A hot shower sounded amazing right about now. “Yes. I should have cleaned this off last night, but I was so exhausted I completely forgot.”
“We do not have such a thing as that here. We cleanse in the waterfalls.”
I could feel my heart drop.
“Really?” Surely he had to be joking. Tell me he was joking.
“Yes. I can take you there in a moment.” He wasn’t joking. What in the world had I signed up for? Backwards primitive living? I resisted the urge to massage the bridge of my nose in annoyance.
Stephanie. You’re doing this for Stephanie, I reminded myself.
I wasn’t going to break things up over a hot shower. Though I was going to miss them. “Thank you, Alek’dar.”
He grunted in response. “It's not a problem.”
The thought of my bags randomly crossed my mind, and I bit my lip. “Um… I was also wondering…”
“Yes?”
“When you… came for me, did you happen to bring any of the bags that I had packed?”
“Yes. They're here,” he informed me with a wave of his hand towards one of the wall panels. Upon further inspection, I was able to find the nook to open it and did so. Much to my delight, all of my bags were there.
“Oh, thank you Alek’dar.”
***
Alek’dar
The dul
l roar of the waterfall got a little louder as we came into the clearing; Mallory clinging to me with her face buried in the crook of my neck.
Feeling her pressed against me was quite appealing, I’d decided the night before. It stirred things within me I had not experienced before.
Landing on the bank by the water, Mallory pulled out of my grasp rummaging through her bags for her things to prepare for her cleansing. It didn’t take her long to pull out what she needed. Stepping by a larger boulder, she began removing her clothing.
I watched, entranced as she slipped the skirts down her hips revealing even more of her supple flesh to my gaze.
“Sorry about the paint,” she called out, eyeing me over her shoulder. With a frown, she asked, “Aren’t you going to clean off too?”
I nodded in reply, untying my sarong in swift and sure movements. Within moments I was naked before her. Judging from her roaming eyes and the slight blush in her cheeks, she found me pleasing to the eye.
When her eyes finally met mine, she let out a squeak and rushed into the water—eager to put some distance between us.
I was mentally preening at the reaction, releasing a low chuckle as I followed her into the water.
“It’s caked on, ugh,” she complained under her breath, viciously scrubbing at the ceremonial paints decorating her delicate flesh.
My lips quirked into a smile as I went about cleaning myself off. Some of the paint had rubbed off on me during the night. But it didn’t bother me. She felt nice in my arms.
I couldn’t help but glance at her every now and then while we bathed; my eyes were drawn to her naked flesh.
“I don’t know how I’m going to get all of this off,” she griped, glancing over her shoulder at the paints on her back.
“Do you require assistance, aashra?” I asked knowing full well that she did.
“Um…”
Chuckling at her hesitation, I offered, “I will not be untoward with you.”
“Yes… thank you, Alek’dar.”
She turned her back to me once more, arms crossed to protect her exposed breasts. I closed the distance between us, towering over her. I was once again reminded of how small she was in comparison.
The Alien Chief's Bargained Bride Page 3