Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Words. He was asking a question, so she needed to form some words. Only that seemed an almost impossible task at the moment.
“Mmhmm.” She settled for a sound, but her response was so faint, she wasn’t sure it had been audible. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Yeah, I think.” Still very soft, but with his enhanced senses he would probably work it out.
One wing unfolded and draped across her, just as she realized she was cold. It was warm, heavy, and comforting. The weight of it soothed her frazzled nerve endings and allowed her to regain some semblance of normality.
She squirmed closer to him once the slightest touch stopped setting her off. Although she did still suffer from the occasional aftershock. “I—is it always going to be like that? Because I’m honestly not sure I’ll survive if it is.”
He laughed. “Maybe a little less intense as time goes on, but I didn’t even get to show you everything. I was afraid if I added any more sensations I’d have to scrape you off the ceiling.
Ellie groaned and covered her face with her arm. “You’ve got to be joking. There can’t be anything else.”
“But there is.”
She could hear the smirk in his tone and slowly uncovered her eyes to look at him. “Really?” When he gave her a solemn nod, she sighed. “Well, you can’t just say that and not show me.”
“Sweetheart, are you sure you’re up for more? Because you look like you’re about ready to sleep for twelve hours.”
He wasn’t wrong. She was worn out and ached in places she didn’t even know she had. But now that he’d brought it up, she was desperately curious. “You can give me just a little taste, can’t you?”
“Hmm. Okay, close your eyes.” He gave in so easily that she suspected a trap.
It didn’t stop her from obeying. Her curiosity had always been difficult to control, and on this night, of all nights, she wasn’t going to be able to rein it in.
At first, she felt nothing, but then something brushed across her thigh, her stomach, her breasts. It was feather light, but when it came around for a second pass, she realized it was vibrating. She couldn’t hear the buzz, but she could feel it getting stronger every time it touched her.
She wondered if he was using some kind of sex toy. He really didn’t need artificial ways to make her come, but she wasn’t going to complain about anything that felt good. When it settled on one breast, the sensations swelled until it sent ripples across her skin.
Her eyes popped open. She gasped when she realized it wasn’t some battery-operated toy. It was him. “Your antennae?”
Lium chuckled. “Mhm.”
“They vibrate?”
“Sure do.”
“But…” She gaped at him and then slowly shook her head.
Actually she knew that from her studies.
The vibrations helped with flight and also detected scents.
She’d just never considered how they might be used for sexual pleasure.
But then, to be fair, she’d never pictured a moth that stood well over six feet before.
The vibrations seemed to have scaled to match.
“Want to see what it feels like on your clit?” he asked in a low teasing tone.
She did. She really did, but… he wasn’t wrong about having to pull her off the ceiling.
Her poor pussy had been seriously overtaxed by the rapid-fire orgasm attack he’d put her through.
Her clit was trying so hard to stand up like a good soldier, but its needy pulse at the thought of the vibrating fun was halfhearted at best.
“I’ll save it for another time then,” he said, before she had to actually voice her decision.
“Will there be another time?” She hadn’t planned to ask the question. It had just popped out.
He didn’t answer. Instead he sat up and got off the bed. “I’ll be right back.”
She frowned, wondering if she’d said something wrong, but the moment he left the room a wave of loneliness descended on her.
It was suffocating and scary. She was struggling to get the energy to follow him, instinctively knowing she needed to be closer, when he returned with food and a glass of water.
“I thought you might need these.”
She hadn’t realized she was hungry until just then. Thirsty, that was a given, but she’d been trying to ignore it because she didn’t want to move. But the moment she set eyes on the food, her stomach rumbled loudly and her mouth watered.
Sitting up was a lot of work, but her stomach demanded she make the effort. She took his offering with both hands, gobbled down the sandwich, and emptied the glass in record time. Only after, did she remember to say, “Thank you.”
He’d been quiet while she ate, and there was something pensive above the way he watched her. “So, what did you feel when I went to the kitchen?”
“I—nothing.” It was a lie, but she was too embarrassed to admit she’d already become weirdly attached to him.
“Ellie, don’t lie to me.” He was using what she’d come to realize was his Daddy voice. “This is too important,” he added.
She rolled her eyes. “I just felt a little lonely. Probably because of the weird night we’ve had.”
“Maybe… a lot lonely? Scared? A need to be closer to me?”
Her eyes narrowed, head tilting. “How did you know?”
He drew in a deep breath and let it out. “I was afraid of that. As I warned you, it’s not a good idea to get too close until you’re sure you want the bond. And we did, uh, a lot of ‘getting close’. I would say our bond is well and truly formed.”
“And that means?” She played with the empty water glass, watching it turn in her hands, and sneaking the occasional glance at him.
“It means that we’re pretty much officially mates now. I mean, there’s a ceremony we can have, but biologically it’s a done deal.” He said it with an air of someone who was delivering bad news.
Ellie rolled her bottom lip under and chewed on it, as she considered what he’d said, and how he’d said it. Did he not want her anymore? She didn’t think she’d be able to handle that. “Is… is that bad?”
“Not for me. Remember, we talked about this earlier. I wanted you to have a choice.”
“So, you don’t mind? That we’re mates now?” She looked up slowly, not sure what she expected to see, since she still couldn’t read his facial expressions.
A laugh burst from him. “Mind? Are you kidding?” He gently took the glass from her hands and set it on the floor, before pulling her into his arms. “Ellie, sweetheart, I am absolutely thrilled. I mean, I feel guilty as fuck for letting you make this choice so soon, but I couldn’t be happier to have you as my mate. ”
She burrowed against his chest. “You mean it?”
“Yes. The question is… are you okay with it? You’ve had almost no time to process all of this. Before tonight you didn’t even know this world existed.”
He was right about that, but honestly, she’d solved one of the biggest mysteries of her life. Uncovered new ones and solved those too—with his help. She couldn’t ask for much more than that. “I’m definitely okay with it. I sort of feel like my whole life has been leading me in this direction.”
“Metaphysical shit is weird, so yeah, maybe.” He shrugged, which was a much bigger process when wings were involved.
“And… about the whole Daddy thing…”
“Yeah, that’s a done deal too. I’ve decided that you can’t be left to your own devices. You need a Daddy, since you’re basically a lemming with opposable thumbs, and I have to keep you safe.”
“Hey, I am not!” She narrowed her eyes, frowning.
He stared at her, and she sensed the disbelief radiating from him. “You set yourself on fire, Ellie. Literally on fire.”
“That doesn’t count. I’m normally very good at keeping myself safe. Tonight was all extenuating circumstances, on account of you kidnapping me from my backyard.” She said the last part very slowly, enunciating each word.
“It was an accident.”
“So? Accident or not, I would have been safe in my yard where there was no fire. The only danger I was in, was because of you.”
“Is that so?” His voice had dropped into the growly levels again.
She nodded firmly.
“Then while we’re on the subject, maybe we should talk about the dangers of trying to confront an unknown thief or stalker in the middle of the night, without even a weapon for protection. Was that an example of you keeping yourself safe?”
Well, when he said it like that… “Um.”
“What would you have done if you’d caught someone dangerous? Or something?”
Screamed and fainted probably, at least that’s what the evidence pointed to. “Um, I had my phone to call 911.”
He snorted. “And in the fifteen minutes it took for them to get there, you could have been hurt or killed. There are sick humans out there, wild animals, and… worse. Do you want to end up eaten?”
Ellie laughed. She’d grown up in the city where there were real dangers. Compared to that, small town life was nothing. “Oh, c’mon. There was nothing dangerous out there. There’s hardly any crime around here. It’s perfectly safe.”
“Really? You sure about that?”
“Nothing was going to eat me. Even you, the scary cryptid, were only eating my clothes.”
“And you really think I’m the scariest thing out there?
” He laughed, but it lacked the warm humor she was used to hearing, and his body had tensed next to hers.
“Oh, sweetheart. Didn’t I tell you that the woods and mountains are filled with dangers?
There are a lot of monsters out there, and I’m far from the worst of them. ”
She squirmed, and this time it was from nerves. Was he saying there were other cryptids besides his people? She shivered and decided not to ask. “I’m sure my yard was safe enough. I’ve got a fence.”
A fence he’d gone right over with no trouble, but there was no need to think about that.
“You’ve learned things tonight that most people never discover.
You’ve taken one step on the path and think you know exactly what’s out there.
Well, you don’t, and that’s why I need to take care of you.
You’re my mate and I will keep you safe, even from yourself if I have to. ” His tone was determined, resolute.
She swallowed hard, beginning to realize that she hadn’t stepped into a new world, she’d just been blissfully unaware of the realities of the one she lived in.
If Mothman was real, and her aching body was proof of that, then what were the chances that some of the other famous cryptids were too?
Judging by his lecture, it was pretty high.
It had definitely been an eye-opening evening.
She wasn’t sure how she was going to acclimatize to all the new information.
As a biologist, she was very aware that there were tons of mysteries still in the world.
New species of plants and animals were being discovered every day, but she’d never expected something like this.
It was a lot to take in, a lot to deal with. “Okay, Lium, I get it now.”
“Try ‘Yes, Daddy’. I want to make sure you understand that putting yourself in danger is going to lead to consequences.”
“Yes, Daddy,” she repeated. The attitude was gone from her voice, for now. And while she didn’t like the idea of needing to be taken care of, it was obvious he knew more about her new life than she did. She’d let him lead the way, and she didn’t think she’d mind too much.
But she wasn’t going to be a meek girlfriend, or wife, or mate—whatever she was to him now. She was going to continue to be herself and she’d simply accept the consequences when they came, as she always had.
From the moment she’d woken up in the cabin, he’d made her feel safe. Now he was making her feel a lot of other things. He probably hadn’t expected the threat of consequences to turn her on, and make her want to get in trouble, but that just meant he had as much to learn as she did.
She was happy to follow this road wherever it took them, and if there were dangers ahead, they would face them together—no matter what her bossy mate thought about it.
But in the meantime… “Is there anything else to eat around here? I’m still hungry, and then maybe, uh, we could try that thing with your antennae?”
The End