Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Delaney
Delaney slowly opened her eyes to a bright light.
“Shit, there is no way I died right before landing my dream mothman,” she muttered.
Someone snorted. The sound was different from her man’s.
She blinked awake and sat up with a groan. Her eyes widened as she took in the space.
Oh. I am definitely on a spaceship.
Weird lighting. Metal walls. And an orange dude.
Like, literally orange. Kind of like a goldfish?
Okay, not a goldfish. He didn’t look like one at all.
Well, maybe if goldfish were attractive men and not puffy little fish.
He had long locks of creamsicle hair and sharp cyan eyes.
His features were almost delicate for how big he was, and the whole fins-and-scales thing was jarring.
She shook her head and noted that Maelic wasn’t there. Had he gotten injured? Her memory right before taking that shot felt off.
The orange male seemed to sense her unease. He put his hands up in an appeasing manner.
“Easy now.” He eyed her like she might bite him.
“Hey, not to be a dick, because I think you helped save me? But where is Maelic?”
The male blinked at her, frowning.
“Ah, my cipherbots have not synced properly. Drat.” He pointed at his chest. “I am Katan.” He made a motion on his wristband—the same kind Maelic had.
She stiffened, the name clicking.
“Oh my gosh. You’re Katan.” She smiled. So this was her mate’s mentor.
Katan stared at her, his head nodding slowly. He seemed to understand pieces of what she was saying. That was good.
“Where is Maelic?”
She needn’t have asked. The big guy was already barreling through the freaky hologram-like doors, his eyes wide and anxious. He was at her side in an instant, checking her over. A kind of black mask covered the lower half of his face now. It must be a new damper mask. She frowned.
“She is fine now, yes?” he asked Katan.
Katan chuckled. “Yes.”
“Wait, how can I understand him?”
Maelic smiled, kissing her cheek. “You were given cipherbots while your body healed. I hope this does not upset you. It is standard practice and painless, but if you do not want them, they can be expelled.”
Delaney curled her lip. The idea of expelling them sounded gross, and she didn’t care anyway. She shook her head.
“It’s okay.” She checked him over, pleased to see he was healthy and in a jumpsuit thing again—this one not mangled. She’d miss the sight of him in Grandpa’s hideous Christmas sweaters. “But more importantly, are you okay?”
“Yes, I was luckier than you in this.” His hand moved to cup her face, frowning. “I swear to you, I will never let anyone ever hurt you like this ever again.” His lips brushed against hers.
Katan cleared his throat, a little scandalized by the mouth touching if she had to guess.
Maelic’s gaze flicked to Katan. His expression sobered.
“We lost Barvarti’s ship.” Maelic hung his head.
Katan shook his head. Something flickered in his gaze.
“Even had you commandeered it, you were injured. And your mate was—” His gaze flicked to Delaney. He didn’t finish the sentence. “It does not matter. You managed to take down that scum. You will not be punished.” He paused. “But you will take time off.”
“Wait, that is—”
“That is what you will be doing.” Katan’s voice was final. “You have a new mate who needs tending to, as well as support as she acclimates to a whole new life.”
Maelic’s jaw tightened, but he nodded.
“I have received word that Barvarti’s crew may have abducted some natives of this planet Earth,” Katan continued. “I will be embarking on a mission soon to intercept.”
Maelic raised a brow. “It has been a long time since your boots were on the ground, Captain. Are you sure?”
“I think something big is happening.” Something shifted in Katan’s eyes. “And you are correct, it has been a long time. Too long.”
Delaney’s stomach dropped. “Abducted? You mean… taken from Earth?”
Katan’s expression darkened. “Yes. Barvarti’s crew had been operating in this sector longer than we realized.”
Her chest tightened. People. Real people, taken from their homes, their lives. “How many?”
“We do not yet know.” Katan’s voice was firm. “But I will find them.”
Maelic’s hand covered hers. “Katan is the best of us,” he said quietly. “If anyone can bring them home, it’s him.”
Maelic hesitated. Something still seemed to be weighing on him.
“Captain, there is something else.” His voice was low. “Before he died, Barvarti said something. About Piotecha.”
Katan’s expression didn’t change, but Delaney felt something in the room shift. The air seemed to thicken.
“He said Piotecha doesn’t forget. And then he told me to ask you about…” Maelic paused. “Neraxis.”
The effect was immediate.
Katan went completely still. The bright cyan color of his eyes flared to a blinding hue. His jaw locked so tight Delaney could see the muscle jump beneath his scaled skin.
For a long moment, the captain said nothing. When he finally spoke, his voice was flat. Empty of the warmth that had been there moments before.
“Neraxis is not your concern.”
“Katan—” Maelic started.
“I said it is not your concern.” The words came out sharp. Final. Katan’s gaze shifted away, staring at something only he could see. “Take your mate. Rest. Heal. That is an order.”
The walls had gone up so fast Delaney barely understood what happened. Whatever Neraxis meant, it had hit a nerve. A deep one.
Maelic glanced at her, then back at Katan. “If you need—”
“I do not.” Katan’s voice softened, just barely. “You have earned your peace, Maelic. Let me handle the shadows for a while.”
There was something in those words. Something that spoke of old pain and older debts.
Maelic nodded slowly. “Understood, Captain.”
Katan turned to leave, but Delaney caught the look in his eyes before he did.
Whatever Neraxis was, he was going to hunt it down.
And when he found it, there would be blood.
After Katan left, Delaney looked up at Maelic. “What was that about?”
“I do not know.” He pulled her closer. “But whatever it is, it belongs to Katan now.”
She studied his face. Saw the concern there, but also the relief. His war was over.
Someone else would carry the weight for a while.
“Will he be okay?” she asked quietly.
Maelic’s expression softened. “Katan is the strongest male I know. If anyone can face whatever darkness Barvarti left behind, it is him.”
She nodded, curling into his chest. The universe was so much bigger—and darker—than she’d ever imagined. But at least there were people like Katan fighting against it.
If anyone could save her people, it would be that guy.
After a lot of fussing from Maelic in the ship’s medbay, she was finally released. She stood in the corridor outside the medical bay, Maelic’s hand warm in hers, and just… looked.
The walls were smooth metal that seemed to glow from within. The floor had some kind of cushioning she couldn’t name. Through a viewport, stars streaked past in patterns that hurt her brain to track.
She was on a spaceship.
She’d left Earth.
The farm. The cabin. Grandpa’s chair. Russell’s stupid offers. The Christmas tree lot she’d never set up this year. All of it—gone. Behind her. Literally light-years away by now, probably.
Her chest tightened.
“Del?” Maelic’s thumb stroked across her knuckles. “Are you well?”
Was she? She’d signed away her entire life in a fit of grief-fueled clarity, run through the snow to a man—alien—she’d known for less than a week, gotten shot, and woken up in space.
She should be terrified. She should be having a breakdown.
But when she looked at Maelic—at his worried eyes and the way his wings shifted protectively behind him—all she felt was relief.
“Yeah.” She squeezed his hand. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just… a lot.”
“Too much?” His antennae drooped slightly. “I can speak with Katan. Perhaps there is a way to—”
“No.” She stepped closer, pressing into his warmth. “No, it’s not too much. It’s just… real. You know? Like, really real.”
He wrapped his arms around her, wary of her freshly healed chest. “You can change your mind. If you wish to return—”
“I don’t.” The words came out firm. Certain. She tilted her head back to look at him. “I chose this, Maelic. I chose you. I’m just… adjusting.”
Something in his expression softened. “You are remarkably brave, little human.”
She snorted. “Or remarkably stupid.”
“Those are not mutually exclusive.”
The laugh surprised her. God, she loved him. When had that happened? Somewhere between the Christmas lights and right now, she’d fallen completely.
“Come.” He kissed her forehead. “Let me show you where we will be staying for now.”
He carried her to his private resting chamber, despite her protests. Bedroom would be a good word for it, but new world, new words, she supposed.
She was a little shell-shocked, but Maelic was already enveloping her on the bed, pulling her close.
“You will never know that type of danger again, my astara,” he murmured, his voice slightly muffled through the mask.
“I better fucking not.”
She reached up, fingers finding the edge of the black material covering his face. He stiffened.
"Del—"
"Can I?" She asked softly.
He hesitated, then nodded.
She pulled the mask free. That scent hit her immediately—thick, floral, and intoxicating. The azalea sweetness that made her head swim.
His hand caught hers. "I can put it back on. I should. I will not let my biology pressure you—"
"I'm okay. You're okay. It's fine now. We made it out." She cupped his face, enjoying the soft felted texture of his skin against her palm.
He relaxed. Just slightly.
She wanted to tie herself to him. Make sure nothing could pull them apart. She wanted the security of knowing they were bound, that his biology wouldn't fight him anymore. And now that she had truly decided to let go, she wanted to do so completely. As crazy as it was.
“Maelic.” She paused, her eyes locking on his. “Do you want to make this thing official?”
His brow creased.
“I mean, do you want to mark me?”
His body went rigid. His breath hitched.
“Are you sure?”
She considered that. After almost losing each other? She was. Delaney was the type to die on a hill once she chose to plant her ass on it.
This hill just happened to be a mothman-shaped one.
“Yes.”
The sound he made wasn’t civilized.
His lips crashed into hers.
This wasn't tenderness. This was desperation. They shed clothes frantically—his daks, her medical garments—until nothing separated them. He shifted her beneath him, and the heat of him was overwhelming.
His tip nudged at her seam. He froze, trembling with restraint.
"Once we do this, there is no going back." His voice was choked. "Do you want me? Truly?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck. Reached up and softly tugged one of his antennae.
“I want you, Maelic. There has hardly ever been anything in my life I’ve let myself want. Until you.” She pulled him closer. “Please.”
He didn’t need more than that.
He surged forward. They both froze, groaning at the sensation. He was so thick—the first time had been shocking, and this time was no less so. But she needed him and didn’t want to wait. She widened her legs around his hips and tilted upward.
He sank in deeper. The moan that had been building in her throat spilled out. She was overwhelmed, drowning in his scent—it was so intense now. The air felt sticky with it, and her pulse throbbed in time with her core.
Maelic’s hand latched onto her hip, a steadying weight as he buried himself deep. The stretch burned, but the pleasure overrode it.
“This is the best,” she panted.
He was holding himself still, and she remembered how slowly he’d tried to ease her into it last time. A frown formed on her face.
No way.
She rocked her hips to encourage him, and encourage him it did.
He began to thrust, she gasped at how deeply he was inside her.
His coremata was swelling, writhing, rubbing against that spot she could never reach with fingers or toys.
Her mind grew cloudier as his hips picked up speed.
His hand snaked between them to work her clit in tight circles.
It was too much.
“Yes, like that!”
Maelic grunted, his cock swelling within her.
“Whatever you need, astara,” he rasped against her neck.
His movements were becoming less precise, but it still had her right on the edge. He pulled back and slammed forward one last time.
Stars danced across her eyes. Her body exploded around him with a scream.
Maelic paused, breathing hard.
“It will hurt for only a moment,” he murmured.
Then his mouth was on her neck. The same spot he always fixated on. There was a burn of pain, an oddly hot sensation as his fangs sank into her—but she couldn’t focus on that.
His cock was swelling. The movement of the coremata as it bunched together and locked had her breathing sputtering.
His fangs slid out of her skin. His forehead pressed to hers.
“You are doing so well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” He covered her face in soft kisses, panting the words between each one.
Her eyes rolled back at the intense swell. Her pussy fluttered in another small orgasm. His scalding come pumped into her in thick, lazy spurts—she could actually feel it filling her. There was no room for it to escape. The pressure was foreign but didn't feel bad.
After a few more moments, he carefully rolled them over, gentle so as not to hurt her. His arms wrapped possessively around her body, massaging her exhausted flesh.
He kissed her cheek. She relaxed into his chest.
“So… No take-backs.”
Maelic snorted. He was getting used to her offhand comments. Good. He’d just signed up for life.
“I would never return such a gift.”
She nuzzled into the soft fur of his neck. Her heartbeat finally slowed.
“Merry Christmas, Maelic.”
His chest rumbled. He rubbed his face against her hair.
“Merry Chresmas to you as well, though it has been a few rotations since we boarded.”
The laugh cracked out of her before she could stop it.
Grandpa used to say Christmas lights kept the darkness at bay. She’d thought he was wrong. Thought the darkness had won when she buried him, when the farm died, when she’d been so alone she could barely remember what hope felt like.
Turns out, she just needed a bigger light. Apparently one attached to a weird alien, but hey—what can you do?
The grief hadn’t gone anywhere. It probably never would. But grief didn’t mean she had to stop living. For the first time since Grandpa died, she wasn’t standing still.
She was finally moving forward.
Moving forward with her mothman. And she couldn’t be more excited for the future it promised.