16. Avery
sixteen
Avery
T he food synthesizer is taking way too long to make our breakfast. I mean, it'd take way longer if we had to cook something ourselves, but I can still complain.
As soon as this food is done, we're going back to Phial's room, and we're going to spend the day lazing about in the nest. We have a new season of Choosing Her Mate to watch already downloaded onto our comms, and there will be nothing for us to do but hang out, hopefully, maybe while Phial is naked.
"Oh good, you're here," Alik says as the kitchen door slides open.
He's followed by Jovi and Sloane who take up seats at the kitchen table while Alik talks to us. I'd prefer it if they didn't because I still look like trash. I haven't been near a hairbrush this morning, and my dress is damp in the back.
Phial's in his skirt, so he has more reason to be embarrassed than me, but his feathers don't even lift as he turns to face Alik. Phial wraps his arm around my waist, tugs me closer, and then rests his chin on my shoulder.
"So you guys finally talked, then?" Sloane asks, wiggling her brows as she considers how close Phial and I are.
"Yeah, we finally talked," I blush as I say the words. Phial's hand only tightens on my waist. His soft chirping sound is muffled by how close we are, but I hear it.
"You talk all night, or did you at least finally get laid?" Sloane asks.
Alik groans at the question, an exasperated sound. Jovi beams even brighter, his three eyes dancing in amusement at how red I'm getting. I'm pretty sure I can feel the air moving with how fast Phial's feathers stand on end.
"None of your business." Phial's teeth snap together, his hiss emphasizing the last word.
"Phial, we've all been waiting for you two to get your heads out of your asses for months. I think the least we deserve is to know whether or not the wait was worth it?" Sloane doesn't back down, her smile playing across her lips as she says each word.
Her eyes drop down to the middle of my chest, where the pleasure crew necklace is still glowing green across my dress. She quirks a brow up at me, and it makes me want to explain that it doesn't mean the same thing as when she was using it, but Phial's already back to hissing and snapping his teeth.
"My female," he snarls, stepping in front of me, his hands clenching at his sides, his feathers shaking. "Mine. You do not get to know what we do when we are by ourselves. That is for me to know."
Sloane's brows rise up to her hairline, and she holds her hands up, a surrender on her face. "My bad. I didn't realize you liked keeping that stuff between you two. We've been on Rythar too long. I think watching other people fuck every night is getting to my head."
"It's getting to you somewhere else, too." Jovi nudges her foot underneath the table. Alik huffs loudly and moves to stand between Phial, who still looks upset, and his own mate, who's now flirting with Jovi.
Phail starts to calm down and turns to face me. He looks worried, almost like he's unsure how I'll take his little outburst. I don't hate it. In fact, I'm nowhere near as open as Sloane is when it comes to talking about relationships.
"I'll be happy to be off this planet." Alik rubs his temples and then resumes what he was trying to say when he first found us here before Sloane started asking about whether I got laid or not. "Our contact at the Intergalactic Alliance says the trial for your father is starting in two days. They need you on Earth by then."
Of course, this news has Phial whipping back around, feathers once again standing straight up.
"Her heat will be here soon." Phial's hiss is extra pronounced, making his displeasure clear in his voice. "The sanctuary is a safe place for her. We can't take that from her."
"Hey." I place my hand on Phial's shoulder, hoping to calm him a little bit. "She's right here and perfectly capable of talking for herself."
Sloane opens her mouth to say something, but Jovi's hand clamps over it so fast she doesn't get more than the start of a word out. She casts him a dirty look, but he smiles and keeps his hand in place. Alik looks like he wants to turn around, but his attention is on me now. He might have two silly partners in his life, but he makes up with enough seriousness to counteract them.
"Yes, yes, of course," Phial grumbles under his breath, but he steps back behind me, resting his head on my shoulder again, and pulls my body close to his. "You know I only want to look out for you."
"I know," I murmur, coasting my fingers over his forearms and tracing small circles around his larger scales. I lift my eyes back up to Alik's gaze. "I've been working with Kithi and Jia on ways to help me get through my heat on Earth. I'll need a few accommodations, but they should be relatively easy to get."
"You'll have whatever you need," Phial says in a clipped tone. His words are directed at Alik, who's narrowing all three eyes on Phial and looking unimpressed.
"Of course she will," Alik says, shaking his head and rubbing his temples again.
The poor guy has to deal with Tweedledee and Tweeldeldum all day just to come in here and have Phial snap at him for no reason. I look over at Sloane, who no longer has her mouth covered. She stares at Alik with a tender devotion that I've seen her give him plenty of times. Whatever exhaustion Alik is feeling right now, I'm sure she'll find a way to make it up to him later.
"If you're amendable to leaving, we want to do it as soon as possible," Alik says. Phial opens his mouth, but Alik holds up a hand and keeps going. "The sooner we get you on Earth, the more prepared we can be for your heat and the trial."
Alik takes a deep inhale, his jaw working. Obviously, he doesn't want to ask whatever this next part is, but he'll do it anyway. There's not much that he shies away from, except apparently his feelings for Sloane when she was first here, but I didn't get to witness that, so I have to take Phial's word on it.
"Will Phial be assisting you during your heat, or do we need to secure him somewhere?"
Phial hisses again before the words fully even register in my mind. I haven't even thought about him helping me out through my heat. I mean, I did when I was in the sanctuary, begging for him to be there, for him to help make me feel better, to make the ache inside me go away. That wasn't ever possible, though. As much as I wanted him during my heat, I was still terrified of being with him outside of it. Not to mention, he was offered a mate room twice, and he rejected it both times.
"Avery?" Phial's voice is soft as his hand moves from my hip to pluck the pendant off my chest. His other hand grabs one of mine and puts the pendant in it.
I didn't realize I'd started trembling until the thin chain shakes against my neck. My fingers work quickly as my mind races with thoughts about my heat, why I even have a heat, flashing back to all of those months in the smugglers' ship when I had to go through it on my own with nothing to help.
I click the pendant until it's shining red on my chest, my fingers still shaking as I let them fall back to my sides.
"Get out," Phial snarls, his grip on me loosening, allowing me to retreat further into a corner of the kitchen as he stands in front of me.
I don't know what he says or what the others say to him. I only know that my arms are wrapped around me, tears tracking down my cheeks. It's not even that bad. My thoughts are more manageable now, but I can't stop falling into the spiral of fixating on one moment.
All I can think about right now is how Vyron and the others on the smuggling ship took away my ability to move. How they made me go through my heat completely paralyzed because I cried too much, and it annoyed them.
I'm so scared it's going to happen again. It won't. The crew would never let it, and I'll never wear another slave collar. Still, my mind is stuck on when it happened, and I have an overwhelming fear of it happening again.
When the haze of my thoughts finally starts to clear, I don't know how much time has passed, with me cowering in the corner. The first thing I notice is Phial's still in the room with me, walking around, placing eating utensils, grabbing a canister of water, and setting it on the island.
His claws click against the metal floors as he walks to and from the food synthesizer. His tail is softly swaying on the ground behind him, and I focus on that as I come more into the real world instead of being trapped in my mind.
"How long?" I ask, my words coming out dry and cracked. My throat is sore, like I've been screaming, but I know it's just the burning of emotions that rammed into me and took over my body.
Phial's movements stop. His back is to me, but he turns around slow enough not to startle me. I lift my eyes, worried about what he'll look like when I look at his face. Every time he's seen me through one of these attacks before, he's been patient and kind, not rushing me for answers or asking questions I don't want to answer. We're more now, though, so I worry he might expect me to offer him more.
"It's only been about ten minutes," Phial says, his fingers twitching near his thighs as he tilts his head to the side, taking in my appearance. "Do you need more time?"
I suck in a deep, uneven breath and shake my head. I step toward him, my whole being wanting to be close to him, for him to wrap his arms around me, tell me everything is okay now, that he'll never let anything happen to me. As if he knows, he lifts his arms, opening them for an embrace that I dive into.
"Do you want to talk of it?" Phial asks, his hand stroking down my back as I bury my face in his shoulder. I shake my head, and he doesn't ask about it again. "We have that new season of Choosing Her Mate . If you want to watch it after we eat, I was thinking maybe we could first go say our goodbyes."
"Our goodbyes?" I ask, my voice becoming more and more normal as Phial talks to me.
It takes me a second to remember that we're leaving Rythar today, probably as soon as we get our supplies and Phial gets the ship ready for travel. My body jerks, thinking about how I need to say goodbye to Kithi, Jia, Holoth, and K'Vella. I'm sure we'll be back at some point, but I don't know when it will be, and I don't want them to think I left without saying goodbye.
"I already commed Jia and Kithi and told them you'd be there in about twenty minutes. I wanted to make sure you ate before you went," Phial says, keeping me close to his chest when I try to pull away. I settle back in his hold until he feels like I'm calm enough, or maybe just until he's had his fill of me pressed against him. "If you want me to go with you, you need to wait until I put on some actual pants, though. I don't need Jia seeing me in this skirt anymore than she already has."
I push away this time, and he lets me. A snort leaves my nose as I laugh. He beams down at me and presses a fork into my hand. I don't waste any time sliding into the seat at the island and digging into my food. I don't know its name, but it's some sort of meat dish from Essa's planet that tastes a little bit like spicy curry.
"I'll go see Kithi and Jia on my own," I tell Phial after a few bites. "I'll probably cry, and you've seen me do that enough today."
Phial snorts and then realizes I'm being serious and lifts his tail from where it's lying limp behind him to wrap around my middle and pull me half out of my seat and closer to him.
"I don't know if you remember our first days of knowing one another, but all you did was cry. Your tears won't scare me away." He narrows his eyes, his tongue flicking out. "You're stuck with me, Avery, always. Not to mention, if I'm not here for you, who's going to keep you fed and full of come?"
My cheeks heat at the reminder of how needy I am for him—something I haven't even started to process yet. He notices my embarrassment, making his lips kick higher and his eyes crinkle.
"Finish your food so you can say goodbye to your friends," Phial says. "We have much work to do to get the ship ready. You're copilot now, which means in between feasting on my cocks, you'll have other work to do as well."
"Shut up!" I squeal and push at his shoulder, which only has him tightening his hold on me.
"Never." He smiles, grabbing the back of my neck and dragging his lips down to meet mine. "Never."
Kithi wraps her arms around me as I leave her office. "I'm so proud of you," she tells me as she pulls away, her hands on my shoulders. "You have my comm number, and we're scheduled for a meeting the week after your heat's over. If you need to talk sooner, you can just call or message me, okay?"
"I will, and thank you for everything." I wipe away the tears that are trying to fall down my cheeks. "You have no idea how much I appreciate you."
"We all need someone to talk to," Kithi says, her hand tightening on my shoulders as she smiles. "I'm glad I could listen to you."
I wipe away the tears that have definitely started falling. Kithi pulls me in for another hug, and then her door opens. Jia stands there wide-eyed and frantic. Her eyes land on me, and she lets out a long breath. She walks over to where I'm still being squeezed to death in Kithi's hug and wraps her arms around me.
"Phial said you all were leaving, and I thought he was trying to be an ass, but then Holoth was hugging Jovi, and I realized Phial was telling the truth, and I didn't know where you were."
"I'll miss you, too." I laugh as I turn my head toward Jia. Unable to wrap an arm around her with how tight Kithi's hugging me, I nuzzle my head against the side of her head. She does the same to me.
"Do you need anything from us?" Jia asks, wiping her tears as she pulls away.
Kithi lets me go, and I follow Jia out of the room. I wave goodbye to Kithi, who has a meeting coming up. Otherwise, she'd probably be coming with Jia and me. I've grown close to the two women since being here. They've both helped me so much.
"I don't think so," I tell her. I chew on my lip, my fingers fiddling with one another as I debate, telling her how I plan on getting through my next heat.
"Have you spoken with your male about your heats?" Jia asks, her gaze turning sharp as she looks at me. She sniffs the air as we enter the alcove, but when she doesn't send a scathing look to the corner, I assume Phial's not lying in the dirt, invisible and eavesdropping on us.
"I'm going to when I get back to the ship," I tell her.
"I wish you would've done this with him while you were still on Rythar," Jia says, her voice turning soft. "I only worry that he won't be enough."
My fists clench at my sides, my teeth snapping at her. I'm territorial over my male, just like any other Rytharian would be, but I've always managed to keep it in check. Mainly because I'm not strong enough to fight anyone. The more that Phial and I do with one another, the needier I am for him and the more protective I seem to be.
"I'm not trying to upset you," Jia says, choosing her words carefully, which is good because this is the angriest I've been at any of the females. Phial is enough. He'll always be enough. He's perfect. "I only worry because you need a lot, and he's not a Rytharian. There's a chance he won't be able to satisfy you during your heat."
I'm throwing a punch before I fully realize what I'm doing. One second, I'm about to punch Jia in the face for saying anything negative about Phial, and the next, my arm is in a firm, cool grip an inch from Jia's face. Her eyes are wide, and her cheeks are stained pink high on her cheekbones.
"As much as I'd love for you to fight for me, I don't think Jia deserves this," Phial says, his voice teasing and close to my ear. His body is pressed against my back, his hand wrapped tight around my fist, keeping me from making a mistake and hurting my friend.
I drop my hand, worry settling in over the anger. "Oh, I'm so sorry."
"No." Jia holds her hand up, shaking her head. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked bad about your mate."
Phial's other hand is wrapped around my waist, and his hand flexes against my abdomen at the word mate. My cheeks flush with embarrassment, arousal, and a little bit of anger still.
"Do you care if I steal her away from you?" Phial asks his question aimed at Jia even as he stays pinned to my back, touching me with as much of his body as he can.
"No, go right ahead. She's all yours," Jia says, her words a little shaky. "You'll visit again, right?"
"Of course," Phial and I both answer at the same time.
I smile up at him, and he smiles down at me. We'll be back. His best friend, who isn't me, lives here now and two of my friends are here. Jia nods again before waving us off. As much as I want to stay and talk with her before we leave, I want to be with Phial more.
"I think I like it when you're protective of me," Phial says as we walk back toward the ship.
It hasn't escaped my notice that Phial is naked, which means he's been following me around for who knows how long, and if that doesn't have the butterflies ramping back up inside me.
"You just like me." I nudge his shoulder with mine. He smiles down at me, and I know it's him telling me he likes me more than anyone else ever.
"I want to try getting naked tonight," I say, blushing fiercely as the words leave my mouth.
Phial snaps his teeth close to my ear, his hiss rattling loudly. "Avery, I love you more than anything, but I'm without pants right now, so maybe speak of your naked body when we are safely back in our room."
I blush harder, the feel of his cocks brushing up against my back as he steps even closer to me. "Sorry," I squeak out.
"Oh, don't worry," he chuckles close to my ear, keeping his body pressed close to mine so no one sees his hard-ons. "You'll make it up to me as soon as we get back on the ship."
My body buzzes to life at his promise, and my mouth starts to water at the idea of taking him in my mouth, swallowing down every drop he can give me. I hum in the back of my throat, and Phial accompanies it with a soft chirp of his own.