Mated by Twilight (True Match)

Chapter 19

Tillos

Leah stared after Sollit for only a moment before focusing on him. She smiled, her expression dazed. Sollit had been feeding her – he could tell by the lusty, unfocused look in her eyes. Approval and desire burned in him. He wanted to feed her as well.

For now, he took her hands and stepped her back off of the alcove. It was his turn for their date, and he’d chosen a slightly different location.

“Did you have fun?” He asked, leading Leah out of the vine maze.

She nodded, smiling as she focused on him. “It was a good idea. This separate date thing. I feel like I understand you two a bit better now.”

“Good.” Tillos gave her a cocky little half grin. The date had been his idea. It was pleasing to know that his instinct had been right. “If you have any other questions, aevea , I’m happy to answer them for you too.”

“Well, actually,” she started, her face still bright from his brother’s kiss. “I asked Sollit this too, but I just have to make sure. You’re really okay with this? With the three of us?”

Tillos laughed. “How cautious you are. Is it really so strange to you, as a human, that both of us would want you equally, and be happy to share you together?”

“Kind of,” she admitted with a grimace. “Men on my planet… they don’t share. I mean, maybe some do? It’s not really fair for me to say no, never, because of course there is going to be someone who has done it before. But in general? No, never.”

Tillos hummed thoughtfully. He understood, but in the opposite direction. He couldn’t imagine mating a female without his brother being beside him. Wouldn’t it be lonely? Wouldn’t a pair be more overburdened than three working together?

“There are avanava females that mate other avanava females,” Tillos said thoughtfully. “They seem happy to me, but they do have more work between them than three.”

Leah blinked at him. “Are there gay males avanava?”

“Naturally.”

“And they mate in groups of four?”

Tillos laughed. “Yes, of course. Are they supposed to leave their twins behind?”

“This is so weird to me,” she mumbled. Her face turned red, and she whipped her head around. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way! I’m sorry.”

Tillos chuckled, putting his arm around her shoulder. “I wasn’t offended. Our ways are different. I’m glad you’re curious. The more you know, the more comfortable you’ll become with it. But to answer your question, it’s a biological imperative that we mate with two males to one female.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The way we mate determines gender.”

Leah frowned. “Like… how you two mate together?”

Tillos grunted in confirmation. “If we mated one-on-one, our species wouldn’t be able to survive because all younglings born would be females.”

“What? How does that… what?” Leah shook her head quickly, like she was trying to get her confused thoughts back in order.

“It’s simple. Don’t overthink it,” he chuckled. “Males in my species determine gender. If one male inseminates a female, the resulting youngling will be one female. Both males need to inseminate the female – either at the same time or one right after the other – in order for two males to be born. One male alone cannot produce males. Therefore, if we only mated one male to one female, we would only produce females.”

“Oh…” Leah breathed, blinking quickly as she digested that information. “Two makes… How does that even…”

Tillos chuckled. “I’m afraid I didn’t study the sciences, aevea . At least, not beyond the basics. I don’t know exactly how it works. I just know that a single sperm will produce a female, but when two sperms, from both brothers, fuse on the way to the egg, they produce a male.”

“Huh…” She made a funny face. “So, it’s kind of a requirement that you mate together. Oh. Duh. That’s not… I’m dumb.”

Tillos chuckled at how flustered she suddenly became. Like the truth of what they were and how they mated finally hit her. It was rather precious, and he found himself kissing the top of her head.

“You’re not dumb, aevea . You’re experiencing an entirely new world. There’s going to be some confusion involved. The important thing is that you understand now.”

She nodded, smiling as she turned into him, putting her arm around his waist. “Thank you for being patient with me.”

“It is my true pleasure. And don’t hesitate to ask. Your questions are good things. It means you’re interested. And we want you to be, aevea .”

She smiled, placing a hand on his stomach. It wasn’t a smooth or confident movement at all. She applied pressure like she didn’t think it was her right to do so. He said nothing, just smiled at her encouragingly. Ease and comfort would come. The fact that she was reaching out for him at all was a milestone in and of itself.

“So, I know the role of a man and woman in a human relationship,” she started slowly. “I know what would be expected of me there. But what’s my role in an avanava relationship? Sollit just said I have to look after you and any younglings we have.”

“Just?” Tillos snickered. “You say it so dismissively. As if those two things alone aren’t enough work by themselves.”

She licked her lips, like she was nervous. “That guy I was going to marry, the one my dad chose, he expected those things from me too. I had to take care of him. Feed him, clean after him, make sure he was satisfied. And I had to take care of the kids. Both the ones from his previous marriage, and any he might have with me. I was also expected to help him with his business. He wanted me to work for him.”

Tillos frowned. “He expected all that from you as well as for you to be employed?”

“Oh, no. He wasn’t going to employ me. He just wanted me to work for him. He owned a barber shop. He wanted me to clean up there and probably do the scheduling and other things like that. Just help him out.”

“Wait,” Tillos’ brow furrowed. “He was going to make you labor for him – without compensation. As well as care for the younglings? And him? But, of course, he was going to help you with the younglings, right?”

“No. That’s considered women’s work.”

“Women’s… You are one female! How can you possibly be expected to do all of that? And for the rest of your life! What would he do?”

“He would work.”

“So would you!”

She shook her head sadly. “It’s not the same.”

“In what way? Forgive me for saying so, Leah, but I am having a hard time understanding this mating arrangement. You both work, but he does not help you with the younglings… But he cares for you, right? He takes care of you as you would him?”

Leah didn’t answer, and Tillos felt sick. What kind of terrible male was her father trying to give her away to? Did he know? He couldn’t know! But Leah had said their meetings were chaperoned, so how could he not…

“Your father was the same,” he said, realization dawning. “He treated your mother in the same way, didn’t he? You grew up learning and expecting that you would be doing all the care for a male who selfishly demanded you look after him, the young, the home, and work as well.”

Leah hesitated before mumbling, “He loved us. In his own way. But… yes. That’s how things worked in our community. The man ruled the house. He made the rules, and he demanded respect. His wife was a servant to him.”

“Servant?!” Tillos recoiled in horror.

“That’s just how it was,” she whispered, head lowered. “I know that’s not right. But it still seems so strange when you two trip over each other to try to take care of me when that’s supposed to be my job. And how do I devote myself completely to my husband when there are two of you? It feels like I’m not going to love you the way you deserve and I’m going to fail you. Like I won’t be enough, and you’ll realize what a mistake you’ve made.”

“Leah, no!” Tillos grabbed her, pulling her off the path, stepping out of the way of the others that were going about the station on their own dates and outings. He took hold of her upper arms and leaned down so that he could look her in the eyes. “Leah, that will never happen.”

She smiled, wan and sad. “You don’t know that…”

“I do . I really do,” he chuckled, wishing he could make her understand. “The very fact that you’re even concerned about it tells me that you won’t let it happen. And you are only responsible for a third of our relationship. Sollit and I share responsibility for the rest. We work together to make sure that none of us are left wanting or unsatisfied. And you certainly aren’t going to be responsible for taking care of us and our home and our young and work on top of that.”

Leah smiled at him. But there was a hesitancy in her eyes. Like she was hearing him but didn’t quite believe what she was saying.

Tillos stood straight. “You’ll see. But don’t worry. When Sollit and I are done with you, you won’t have a worry left in your head.”

Surprised laughter bubbled up past her lips. “You almost make that sound like a threat. When you’re done with me? What’s that mean?”

“You’ll see,” he repeated, kissing her forehead. “Come on. We’re almost there.”

Taking her hand, he pulled her along. For his date, he’d chosen to bring his soon-to-be mate to one of the handful of viewing platforms on the station.

The square shaped station had, at the four corners and directly in the middle of the long roads, platforms at the top that offered an external view in all directions but down. There wasn’t much to see out in the blackness of space, but the station and the ships connected to it through the tubes were all illuminated.

As far as views went, it was the best you could get on the station. And, truly, it was impressive. Even more so to a human female that had never seen a space station before.

Tillos knew he made the right choice when, after riding up the railless lift, Leah let out a gasp before ripping her hand from his, rushing for the edge of the dome shaped glass overhead. There were a few others up here, two couples and a triad, but they ignored each other as, smiling, Tillos followed after Leah at a more sedate pace.

He caught up to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind, staring out at the massive station over her head.

The view of Jin-Raun station from here was pretty common to him, but he could appreciate how breathtaking it must appear for someone seeing it for the first time. He’s spent more time in space than planetside in his life, so he couldn’t even remember when he’d seen something like this for the first time, or the last time he’d appreciated it.

But he did so now with Leah. The sparkle of the docking lights, the exterior flood lights, and the various warning and guide lights were like its own galaxy spread out before them. A variety of ships, of all makes, models, and origins, connected to the square station, from all angles. The long tubes that came from the station, connecting them together, had sensor lights along them in rings so they couldn’t get lost among the black.

“It’s incredible,” Leah breathed, leaning back against him.

“The Twilight Star is there,” Tillos pointed, directing her attention to their ship. She hadn’t been able to see it from the outside before.

Their ship was a model designed specifically for performances. Most of its size was made up of the huge, disc-like top. Within that was the stage and the audience seats. Underneath the disc were the crew quarters, bridge, and engine. The effect was a ship that was roughly ovoid in shape with a disc on top easily twice the size of the others surrounding the station. The Twilight Star wasn’t capable of going down onto a planet. The shape of the ship alone wouldn’t be able to withstand gravity pulling on it. However, it was designed and capable of being the home of many people for years, if not a lifetime. For those that lived and worked within, it was a small town in its own right.

“Have you and Sollit been part of the troupe for long?” She asked, still staring outside in wonder.

“A few years. We left our last troupe because of some disagreements over payment with the owner. He seemed to think our rise in popularity shouldn’t come with a rise in salary, but we were inclined to disagree. So was Corvidair, as it happens. I think it was a great choice. He takes a lot better care of us than our last troupe. Which means we can take better care of you. Plus, our rooms are bigger here. And the food is better.”

She giggled. “Yeah. I’m not sure how much I can agree with that considering how many bugs you guys make me eat.”

“You love it,” he whispered right in her ear, making her wiggle against him.

She was wonderfully soft and sweet, and he loved her reactions. She was so sensitive and responsive to his touch. His whispers. His kiss. It made caressing her a special joy. He enjoyed knowing how honest and open her reactions were.

Taking her wrist, he pulled, turning her in his arms until she was facing him instead of space. She smiled, and it seemed like all the lights of the universe were in her eyes. He ran his fingers through her hair, humming thoughtfully as he felt the strands. They were soft, but he could definitely make them softer.

“I’m going to take such good care of you,” he whispered.

She blinked, surprised, then chuckled. “Will you now?”

“You won’t even recognize yourself when we’re done with you.”

He was so looking forward to it.

For now, he settled with taking her face in his hands and bringing her up. He kissed her once. Twice. Then flicked his tongue at her lips, requesting entrance that she eagerly gave. Already introduced to this by Sollit, she was more open to him this second time.

He took full advantage. Pressing his tongue into her mouth, towering over her, feeding her directly from his tongue. She shivered, hands clenching against his shirt. Clinging to him eagerly as she tasted him.

“Why…” She breathed against him.

He hummed his questioning response, not wanting to break the kiss yet.

“You taste… so good… why?”

He grinned. “Enjoy it, aevea . It’s for you.”

She made a soft, whimpering little moan deep in her throat that made him hard as stone. He wished Sollit was there so he could kiss their female’s lower lips at the same time. So that they could take and claim her together. So they could feed her together. Stroke her together. Mate her together. He knew she needed this – private time with both of them – and he certainly loved having her undivided attention, but there was definitely something missing.

Breaking the kiss, he looked down at his mate with a smile. Her lips were parted, she was panting. She was beautiful.

“Sweet aevea ,” he breathed, stroking her cheek. “Are you ready for your surprise?”

“Huh?” she frowned. “Has it been half a mark already?”

He chuckled. “I’ve been having fun with you too. But yes. And I can feel Sollit’s impatience. He’s got his part ready as well. Come on.”

Taking her hands, he kissed her knuckles once, twice, before pulling her back towards the lift. She was still wearing her courting bracelets. She hadn’t taken them off since they gave them to her. She wasn’t supposed to, but they hadn’t really expressed that to her. She chose to wear them daily, and that pleased him greatly.

“Why is your kiss… like that?” She asked.

“Like what?”

Her face was burning. She was so sweet. Innocent, in a way. He frowned as that thought occurred to him.

Just how much experience did she have? He wanted to ask. Not because he particularly cared, he was only curious. And it would explain a lot about her reactions to them. She was unaccustomed to two mates, and he understood that. But it almost seemed like she wasn’t accustomed to the attention of any male at all.

But no, there was that male her father chose…

A male she’d admitted to kissing, but only ever being with when chaperoned. Probing for more information about such a topic would be considered unforgivably rude among his own people, so he couldn’t bring himself to ask. Though, he would be sure to mention it to Sollit later. It would only change how careful they needed to be though. It would change nothing else.

It didn’t matter what happened in her past. They were going to take good care of her. If she had any other lovers, she wouldn’t remember them by the time they were done anyway.