Mated by Twilight (True Match)

Chapter 6

Leah

Two. Two! Two.

Okay. That was fine. She could do this. She could handle this. It was just like… twice as much of a good thing, right?

Two!

Oh, crud. What if she ended up picking favorites? What if one of them liked her but the other didn’t? What if neither of them liked her? What if she liked them both, but then things soured between only one of them later? What if they got jealous of each other? What if she liked neither of them?

This sudden, new complication made all the anxieties about this whole, interspecies mating thing come rushing up to the front of her mind from where she’d pushed them all away. Everything she’d refused to think about was now plaguing her, plus a whole new host of worries she didn’t even know she’d have to consider.

Luckily, the two of them weren’t demanding of her attention. They asked her to climb onto the floating luggage cart and she sat there, holding her purse, as Sollit walked the hover through the space station, Tillos leading the way. Sitting on the cart, no one was able to get close to her, and she didn’t have to worry about keeping up with the long-legged males as they took her outside either. She was free to look around and stare at everything and everyone.

Tillos used his combot – a floating robot that projected a hologram display in the air – to summon an alien taxi to come pick them up as they moved towards the entrance.

The hover car was cool too. It was self-driving and responded to Tillos’ spoken commands after he and Sollit climbed in – one on either side of her. She had been told to sit first as they unloaded her belongings into the storage space underneath. The hovering vehicle was roomy enough for all three of them to sit without crowding, but she was still acutely aware of them.

Their size. Their heat. Their sheer proximity. She’d never been this close to a man unchaperoned, much less two of them. All the wicked warnings her mother had ever given her about men and what they wanted to do to defenseless women rushed through her head all at the same time.

And Leah, honestly, wasn’t sure how to deal with it. She wasn’t excited, but she wouldn’t say she was apprehensive either. She didn’t know enough about sex and intimacy to really appreciate what their closeness could mean. At the same time, there was an instinctive side of her that knew exactly what it meant and was trying to convince her to crave it.

And then multiply it all by two.

She was just confused.

They didn’t talk, but instead let her stew in her thoughts as they flew to the diner deep in the heart of the alien city. And that perked her up immediately. She had plenty of time to dwell on the whole two mates thing after she was done ogling this beautiful, sparkling purple city. A purple almost as bright a lavender as the males to each side of her she realized with a thudding heart, sitting back in her seat.

“This is the Kirang District,” Tillos said suddenly, catching her attention. “One of the 500 Districts of Holotulle. It’s something of a travel hub for all species. Most visitors to Holotulle come through Kirang. Whether they’re staying or going further.”

“Oh, wow,” Leah breathed, once again enchanted by the city. It was massive, stretching so far it was all she could see, even from the air. It was all the splendor of Dubai combined with the sparkling beauty of the Emerald City in a different hue, but with the technical advancements of a sci-fi movie. It wasn’t the dirty, dingy glow of cyberpunk, but instead resembled the stunning cities you never got to see but could only imagine from afar from movies that teased something greater beyond .

“We’ll stay here tonight,” Sollit added on her other side. “But then we’re chartering a ship to take us back to our troupe’s starship.”

“Troupe?”

“We’re zero-g actors.”

“Right. You said that.” Her face burned. “I thought it was a translation error. I realize that I’m just closed minded and unable to understand things different from what I’ve experienced. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Tillos said quickly, leaning into her field of view. “You had no way of knowing what that is. But you’ll see soon enough. There’s plenty of time to get used to everything.”

“And we’ll be with you the whole way,” Sollit agreed, smiling brightly, warmly. The two of them were so opposite – warm versus cool. She was starting to wonder how she had ever mistaken one as a reflection of the other.

But she didn’t get to wonder for long, as the hover came down to street level, dropping into a designated landing zone for them to get out. Since everything was flying, the streets were completely full of people, not vehicles, all walking around. Shopping, eating, laughing, living lives that seemed so completely normal despite how different it appeared at first glance.

The diner was not what she expected, however. From the term, she expected a small, greasy joint like she would get on Earth. Instead, what she experienced when the two males flanked her, walking her inside, was a casual but upscale atmosphere. The tables had white tablecloths, but the people weren’t wearing fancy clothes – at least, they didn’t look super fancy. There was a fountain in the middle that had water jumping up the tiers in high arches, while sparkling crystals hung in individual bulbs from the ceiling. There was soft music coming from somewhere, while gentle conversation and laugher bubbled amongst the patrons.

The three of them were shown to a small, round table. Tillos pulled out her chair, Sollit helped guide her down. Both of them made sure she was comfortable before taking their own seats. There were no menus, but both males pulled up a selection of food off their combots. She had no idea what anything was, of course, and just asked them to order for her, promising she had no dietary restrictions. She was a bit of a picky eater, but she hoped that didn’t become a problem. And even if it was one, how would she know until she actually tried the food?

With everything ordered, the two of them finally put all their focus on her and she tensed, sensing the coming conversation that, realistically, she knew needed to happen. Even if it felt too much like confrontation – something she was loath to experience.

“So, have you taken it in a bit?” Tillos asked, not needing to clarify what he meant.

“Er, it’s less shocking now?” She admitted, grimacing. “I’m sorry. In hindsight, this was obvious. No one made any attempt to hide it from me. I was just reading things and deciding they didn’t mean exactly what they said. So, like, how does this whole thing work?”

“How do you want it to work?” Sollit asked, smiling at her with such sweetness, like he was happy just to be there, looking at her.

“I mean… I guess, that’s up to you. Right? I mean, you’re… Are you really both my m-mate?” She stuttered the question uneasily. Some part of her afraid that they might start laughing at her for thinking something so foolish.

But, at the same time, they answered, totally confident, “We are.”

“And you’re… okay with that?” She shifted uneasily. She knew about men that had multiple wives, of course. That was more normal on Earth. But she couldn’t imagine two guys, as good looking as they were, wanting to share a woman. They could have their pick, probably of a pack of females, but they were both looking at her like she’d hung the sun in the sky.

“We’re avanava,” Sollit said, like that explained it.

Luckily, Tillos expanded further without her having to ask. “Avanava males are born in pairs – always. Sollit and I are bound in ways that twins from other species are not. We are designed to mate a single female. That is the way of our people.”

“So, I’m not supposed to, like, pick between you?”

Leah knew she said the wrong thing immediately. Neither of them was able to hide the hurt that flashed across their faces. They sat back, pulling away from her, from the very idea, and her belly sank with guilt.

“I’m sorry,” she rushed to say.

“It’s fine,” Tillos assured her, fixing a small smile back in place. “You’re from a monogamous species. You don’t know about our mating practices.”

“It’s both of us or neither of us,” Sollit added, his expression still a bit sad. “I mean, there are some females who will pick a favorite from her mates but… it’s considered quite cruel.”

Leah grimaced, shifting nervously in her chair. She was pretty sure she just made things worse in this already bad meeting. “Okay. I won’t pick. I’m sorry.”

“Tillos and I are connected,” Sollit told her, touching his chest. “It’s not inaccurate to describe us as the same person. We share one heart. What I feel, he feels. The bond is such that, to the Coalition, he and I are considered one. Even on our home planet, we are always combined into one. It’s expected that anything that goes to Tillos would also go to me. That’s just how it works.”

“But… you’re not one person,” She frowned, looking between them. “You’re different.”

To her surprise, they both smiled, leaning back in. Just as quickly as she had hurt them before, she pleased them now.

“You think we’re different?” Tillos asked.

“Aren’t you?” Her gaze darted between them. “I mean, you look identical, but you’re just… you’re not perfectly identical. You’re not the exact same person.”

Sollit chuckled. “I’m glad you think so, aevea .”

“What’s that mean? Ah…Ay-v…er…”

“ Aevea ,” Tillos repeated for her, the sound delightfully rumbly in his voice. “It’s from our native tongue. It translates to ‘center’.”

“Center,” she repeated, unsure what to think about that. She thought it was a pet name or endearment, just based on the way they said it. But center wasn’t a very romantic name. Maybe it sounded better in their own tongue with their own connotation. “Oh, okay. Erm… So, what now?”

“We enjoy our night on Holotulle, then we return to our troupe,” Tillos said. “You’ll meet the rest of our troupe then. After that, we live.”

“I think she meant romantically,” Sollit smiled. “In which case, we’ll do whatever you need. Courting is a process on Yeluka Akuley that can last for years before a female softens to the males pursuing her. If you require that of us, we’ll be glad to give it to you.”

That reassurance finally relaxed her. She found her shoulders untensing, her smile softening. And it must have been obvious, because the two males similarly relaxed, the tension in the air clearing. It was a relief, she realized. She had been trained, from birth, to be ready for her wedding night by her religious parents. She was to be kept pure and untouched until the night she gave herself to her husband in holy matrimony. He would tell her what he wanted her to do, and she was to do it, whatever it was, because pleasing her husband was her greatest purpose in life.

Of course, she no longer really expected to save herself until marriage, but it was already hard enough to have an alien mate. To go from a virgin without a boyfriend one day to then having two male aliens both claiming they’d have her together as her introduction to sex the next was just too much. She’d heard that some aliens really did sleep together immediately upon meeting each other, and part of her had been genuinely afraid that’s what would be expected from her in this relationship.

And she didn’t know if she’d be strong enough to tell them that she wasn’t ready for it.

“Really?” She asked, needing the reassurance. They didn’t seem like they’d demand more from her, but she’d always been told that’s all men would want from her.

“Of course,” Tillos said simply. “You have your own hotel room and everything.”

Leah beamed. “Thank you for understanding.”

“Never hesitate to tell us if you feel uncomfortable,” Sollit told her. “Let’s be friends first, hm?”

“Yeah,” she nodded eagerly as a floating tray brought their food. Now that the main issue was, mostly, settled, she was able to focus on the meal. And the alien food – whatever it was – tasted pretty good. The future of her alien life seemed pretty promising.