Chapter Seven

ARNON

She didn’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation. We all tried to explain at the same time, interrupting each other, using every argument we could think of but leaving out the most important one to us.

If the humans found out about the suffering that came with our wings, they would never let us impregnate their women.

In fact, if Jayne knew, I believed she would withdraw from the program. What female on any planet would willingly put her child through that kind of agony? I understood their point of view, and none of us wanted to lie. But this secret was imperative for the survival of our race.

She sensed there was something I wasn’t telling her. I wanted to take away the disappointment in her eyes, but I wasn’t supposed to say anything to anyone who wasn’t from Auxem. On the other hand, Jayne would never be completely trustworthy until she knew and accepted the truth about us.

As soon as we landed on the first planet, looking for women, we ran into problems. The negotiations quickly fell apart when we told them about the pain that comes with adolescence. When they found out, they kicked us off their planet.

Ever since then, we were forbidden to tell anyone about our wings. We hadn’t needed the restriction, however. None of the other planets contained enough compatible women to produce female children.

Earth was the first one.

There was nothing more important than having an Auxem generation with plenty of girl babies. Not my happiness, and not even Jayne’s.

When we ran out of things to talk about, and Jayne swore herself to secrecy one more time, I suggested that we leave. We needed to get back to the hotel before morning light appeared and made our presence obvious to anyone looking at the sky. Right now the light pollution barrier completely concealed us.

Ayrie was the last to leave. “See you back at the hotel.”

“Have a safe flight, brother.” I turned to look at Jayne, but she didn’t say anything. I lowered myself and presented my back to her so she could climb onto me.

She hesitated.

“Is something the matter?”

“You don’t have to do this. I can ask someone to come get me.”

“Why would you do that? I’m right here.”

She looked reluctant to speak. “You said that flying with a stranger is uncomfortable.”

“You’re not a stranger.”

She stared at me. “I’m not?”

“No, you’re not. Besides, if you asked someone for a ride, wouldn’t they wonder how you got here in the first place? Those are the kinds of questions I don’t want people asking.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I know what I’m doing.” I gazed into her eyes and remembered the kiss that might have been if Ayrie and the fire had not interrupted us. Now that the emergency was over, I thought I could remember the feeling of her naked breasts pressed against my back.

Was I getting an erection? I turned around. Once she was on my back, she wouldn’t be able to see my crotch. She climbed onto me, and I took a deep breath, jumping and pumping my wings until we were high enough for the air currents to lift us and I could soar.

“This is unbelievable.” I thought I heard a smile in her voice.

After a short flight, I spotted my hotel and started descending. “What are you doing?” Jayne asked.

“You can’t go back to your house right now.” I landed lightly on the balcony, and she climbed off me.

“You’re right. I didn’t think about that.” Jayne looked unhappy. “I need to contact my parents. They’ll be worried about me. I’ll call them right after I go to the bathroom.”

I nodded, waiting for her to shut the door before I began my transformation.

JAYNE

I dashed across the patio and into the hotel room, which looked far more expensive than anything I had ever seen before. I tried all the doors until I found the bathroom and relieved myself. When I finished, I found Arnon inside the suite, sitting on the couch, looking like something was the matter with him. His gray face appeared strained. All the muscles in his shoulders and neck were taut with tension. Something about his appearance made me think he was as fragile as glass. He might shatter with a single tap.

“Are you okay? You don’t look good. Is it the smoke? Can I get you something?” I slowly realized that I was bombarding him with questions without letting him answer. “Er, sorry about that.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. You wouldn’t ask questions if you didn’t care, right? Don’t worry about me.”

“What happened to your wings? They disappeared.”

“What wings?”

“Don’t even start that with me. I’m never going to forget about them.”

“I put them away. Does that bother you? Do you like the wings?” There was a hint of amusement in his eyes.

“They’re interesting, that’s for sure. I don’t know if I would say that I liked them. I can see how other girls might find them sexy, though.”

“Really? I’ll make a note of it.”

“Do you know something? It’s past time to call my parents.” I managed to reach my mother on her phone. They had both been terribly worried, but I explained that Arnon had picked me up and I wasn’t in any danger. I felt embarrassed about being vague, but I couldn’t tell her the truth without revealing anything about their wings. Those boys were concerned about my ability to keep a secret, and I felt it was important to prove Arnon could trust me.

My parents didn’t care about the details. They just wanted to know if I was safe. They had been in a part of the city unaffected by the fire. I was relieved to know that they were safe, too. They had rented a suite at a hotel and gave me their address. When the conversation ended, I noticed Arnon was watching me. He looked better than before, but he still didn’t get up to see me to the door.

“I’m heading out now,” I said. “I’m going to my parents’ hotel.”

“Of course.” I thought he looked a little disappointed. Maybe he didn’t want me to go, but we barely knew each other. He wasn’t expecting me to spend the night here, was he? Of course not. They mated for life.

But I felt sorry I had to go, too. Part of me wanted to stay and take care of him. Ever since we arrived at the hotel, something seemed vulnerable about him. I just couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

I sighed to myself. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Let’s see the waterfalls. On foot, no wings.”

He smiled. “Of course.”

I left the room, but an ache in my heart urged me to stay.

As soon as I saw my mother, she enveloped me in a tight hug. I saw she had tears in her eyes. Before I knew it, my father appeared and wrapped his arms around both of us.

“Thank goodness you’re okay,” he said.

“Is Maria all right?” I had forgotten to ask about my older sister, who lived in the city to the north.

“She’s fine. The fires didn’t go up that far.”

I nodded weakly. All of a sudden, I felt the events of the last few hours catch up with me. I fell down on the couch as my legs gave out.

Mom reached out a hand to touch me. “Are you sure you’re okay? You had a close call tonight. That can be more stressful than it seems.”

“I’m all right, Mom. I think I’m just tired. I was lucky that Arnon showed up when he did.”

“Who is Arnon?” my father asked curiously.

“Khellen.” My mother shook her head. “Not now. He’s the crown prince of Auxem.”

“I don’t care who he is. I’m sure he’s not good enough for Jayne.”

“He’s the best, Dad. Don’t worry, okay? We’re...” I hesitated, suddenly feeling shy.

“You’re what, sweetie?” Mom looked worried.

“We’re moving on to round two together.”

“Are you kidding me? Don’t you have days to decide? You just met this guy!”

“Khellen.” My mother grabbed his arm. “You remember our courtship, don’t you? Or are you so old that you’ve forgotten everything about it?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“I might remember something.”

“I seem to recall someone saying they fell in love with me the moment they saw me.”

“If anyone ever said that, they must have been an excellent judge of character.” A smile broke out on my face. For just a moment, I stopped seeing him as my dad and realized that he must have been attractive during their courtship.

“Are you saying you think Jayne doesn’t have good judgment?”

“Well, she does, of course, but...”

“There are no buts. Do you trust Jayne or not?”

“Yes.” He turned toward me. “I trust you. But I don’t trust him.”

“Didn’t you read the brochure? These aliens mate for life. They’re not like human men, fucking anyone who can breathe. They wait patiently for their bond mate and stay married forever.”

“Yes, I read it. It sounds good, but there might be problems at the same time.”

“Why would you say that?”

“They might mate for life, but what if you make a mistake? You’ll be stuck with him forever.” Dad looked distraught. How long had he been thinking about this? “I don’t want to see you fade away in a loveless marriage.”

I sighed. “I am an adult. I promise I will not marry anyone I don’t love. If Arnon doesn’t work out, and there’s no one else who interests me, I’ll withdraw from the program. I might be able to go as a supervisor.”

I knew I was telling a lie. There was only room on the ships for fertile, bonded females. They wouldn’t carry any dead weight. Specifically, people who weren’t going to produce babies.

“Maybe you’re right.” Dad looked like he knew what I said wasn’t true, but he wasn’t going to contradict me.

I appreciated my parents’ concern, and I knew that they wanted what was best for me. But I was a grown woman and had to make decisions for myself. I remembered how fragile Arnon had seemed back at the hotel room. It was a sharp contrast to how confident he had been during the fire. I had been thinking about his hot skin and the hard muscles of his body all night.

I stared off into space, thinking about him for a moment, barely registering the knowing glance my parents exchanged. I wasn’t in love with Arnon already, was I?

“You look fantastic.”

Arnon stood beside me, properly clothed, and not a feather in sight. His beautiful brown eyes gazed at the waterfall. A calm breeze blew through his hair and made it stand on end.

The wind was going to destroy my ponytail. I pulled my hair out and rapidly fixed it before the wind could tear it all out of my fingers. Even though I worked as fast as I could, some curls escaped and blew into my face. Apparently, there was no point in trying to fix my hair until we were out of the wind.

“Your hair looks nice that way. You don’t have to change anything.”

“There’s no point. It doesn’t listen to me in calm weather. And on a day like today? Forget it. Let’s do something so you forget about my hair. Do you want to go behind the waterfalls? It’s my favorite part. Come on.”

I led him to the end of the walkway where a couple was taking a picture of themselves. They smiled at us and started making their way to the next observation point. Once they weren’t looking at us anymore, I grabbed Arnon’s hand and pulled him to the rail.

“What are we doing?”

“We are jumping the fence.” I put one leg over the rail and hooked my toes onto the board. Once I had stable footing, I swung my other leg over the edge and climbed down the rest of the fence like a ladder. When I came close to the bottom, I let myself fall and looked up. “Are you waiting for an invitation? Get down here before someone sees us. We’re not supposed to go off the walkway. That’s why there’s a barrier.”

I beckoned to him while moving my head around to see if anyone was approaching. He looked behind him, then flipped over, easily climbing down. I admired his athleticism. And his ass looked cute when he dropped to the ground beside me.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? There are usually rules for a reason.”

“That’s something my sister would say. She’s always wanted to stop me from doing anything fun.”

“It sounds to me like she was protective and smart.”

I frowned. “Look, this isn’t going to be dangerous. They stopped letting people go through here because everyone was destroying the landscape. It’s totally safe.”

“You’re the expert. Lead us.”

We followed a twisting path that led through the forest and over rocky terrain. Eventually, we began climbing. After a few minutes, we emerged on a point of land that overlooked the waterfalls. The rushing water was close by, and the spray immediately started getting my clothes wet.

“Make sure you don’t go too close to the edge,” I said.

“If you say so. You know I can fly, right?”

I nodded, and we gazed at the awesome power of nature. The sight was so inspiring that we fell silent. I loved this spot, but there was another place I wanted to show Arnon. I led him back down the way we had come and down a different crooked path. Soon we were standing directly behind the falls with water pouring down in front of us.

The water splashed into a rocky basin which fed into a deep pool. The humidity was off the charts. We were both sweating despite the wind.

“Do you want to go for a swim?” I impulsively pulled off my tank top before he could answer me. Arnon stared at my pink sports bra in stunned amazement.

“Won’t it hurt if we go down?” He was looking at something in the distance, and his eyes appeared glassy.

“Not in the waterfall, in the pool. It’s deep, cold, and will cool us off. Aren’t you hot?” I undid my jean shorts and dropped them to my feet, kicking them away. It wasn’t like I was naked or anything. I still wore my pink panties that matched my bra. “I hope you’re not offended. Just think of my underwear like a bikini.”

I slid into the pool. “This feels terrific,” I said, ducking my head under the cold water. “Come in, Arnon. I don’t bite.”

Once I was submerged, he seemed to regain the power of speech. I wondered if the sight of my body had affected him.

He smiled. “Sure. It is awfully hot out here.” He pulled off his T-shirt revealing powerful biceps, a broad chest, and six-pack abs. I had seen it all yesterday, but I wasn’t going to complain about seeing it again. He was a good-looking alien.

“Would you mind turning away for a second?”

“I guess so, but it seems weird. Are you afraid of me looking at you?”

“A little bit.” He didn’t explain further but looked uncomfortable.

I blushed when I realized that he didn’t want me to see his cock standing at attention. I would have bet my life on it. I turned away from him without a word and ducked my face into the cool water again. When I surfaced on the other side, he was in the water and had carefully submerged his dick.

He swam over to me. “Jayne, round two involves physical contact, you know.”

“I know. I’m in charge of this project, remember?” My chest was starting to rise and fall as my breathing became erratic. He leaned into me. I could feel the heat coming off of his chest.

“Well, then.” He moved closer and made my heart start pounding. “May I touch you?”