Unexpected Mates (Sons of Heaven) (9 page)

Sakkra cocked his head to one side, then nodded. “I would imagine that is true, assuming I am a head honcho.”

“You are. I met a man today.”

His eyes gleamed at the news.

“Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not prepared to make a choice this second.”

“Very well. What are you saying...or asking?”

“Today’s meeting was a zoo.”

Sakkra looked around as if seeking input from the healers. “Zoo? I don’t understand.”

Idiom. Sakk males were often lost by idiom.
“It was...too much. A smaller group might be better. Less crowded. Less stressful.”

“It might.” Sakkra seemed to consider it. “You want to meet the males in smaller groups?”

“I would prefer a small town anyway, and since Holly has left the choice of place to me...” Hayley leaned toward him. “Could it be arranged? Meeting the men from a small town?”

He was silent for a moment, seemingly mulling something over. “You want to meet males from small towns only?”

“For now. If I don’t find someone I like there, we could move to the men from larger towns...but meeting them in smaller groups.” Hayley secretly believed she wouldn’t need more than one more meeting day to announce a choice, if she worded her next request well.

He nodded slowly. “If it would lessen your stress and make you happier, of course.”

Hayley considered how to phrase the rest.

“Is there a particular town you would like to start with?” His smile said Sakkra knew precisely what she was after.

A knot lodged in her throat, and Hayley swallowed it. “The man I met told me about a town.”
Either he approves or disapproves.

“Do you recall the town’s name? Or the male’s name? I can find out what town he’s from for you.”

“The town was called...” The name escaped her, and Hayley wrestled with what Parrin had told her. “Soothgrain?” she ventured.

Sakkra’s brow furrowed in confusion.

The master healer stepped forward. “I believe, Ms. Hayley, that the town might have been Sutrane?”

Sakkra shot the healer a smile. “Ah. Sutrane. A lovely town. Let me see how many men we have from that area.”

Hayley bit her tongue to avoid admitting she knew how many men were from Sutrane, more or less. When she trusted herself not to blurt it out, she offered a smile that felt strained. “Thank you. May I return to my room now? I’d like to check on Holly.”

“Absolutely. One of the guards will escort you, if that is all right with you?”

They’d never required guards for Hayley and Holly before, but perhaps the men were still ‘hot-blooded’. “Sure. I’ll wait here for him.” On some level, it surprised her that Sakkra wasn’t going to escort her personally.

He rose and smoothed his
cuzta
. “I will send him in. In the meantime, I have to change the schedule of meetings.”

Her heart light, Hayley waved goodbye to him.

****

“We are
in
,” Trabor announced, strutting into the barracks room he shared with Parrin and two other mid-level officers.

Parrin chuckled at Trabor’s human euphemisms. “In what,
homie
? You’ve found a party tonight?”

“No, my friend. The schedule of meeting days for the two lovely ladies has been rearranged.” He stopped at the mirror and started primping his deep red hair feathers.

“Changed? We’ve been moved forward?” That was big news.

“Not just moved forward. We meet the ladies tomorrow.”

I’ve already met one of them.
It was amazing that Trabor didn’t already know it.

Trabor continued, oblivious to his hesitation. “I don’t know what caused the change, but the entire schedule has been rearranged to work small towns to large.”

Parrin smiled. “You know I was a guard at the meeting today.”

Trabor turned and gaped at him. “I’d forgotten that.” He hurried over and settled on the edge of Parrin’s bunk. “Tell me about them. What are they like?”

“As different as can be from each other. The younger is like a wild bird on the wing. The elder is dark and refined.”

He scowled. “Unlikely to choose our small town then. Neither sounds as if they would choose Sutrane. The younger will want excitement.”

“We are close to several larger towns, capable of providing that. You visit them often enough.” In fact, Trabor might be a good choice for Holly.

“True, but the elder will prefer a large town with its many refinements. Rumor has it they have never been apart.”

“I’ve heard the idea to move to smaller towns was Hayley’s idea. That’s the elder,” he supplied for Trabor, since it was unlikely he’d read the files on them as most of the males had. “And I have heard their nest has a tradition that the eldest chooses a mate first. Holly won’t choose first and will follow the elder, wherever Hayley settles.”

Trabor smiled slyly. “Then we must convince the elder to choose Sutrane.”

Bitter anger welled in Parrin’s gut. “I would not be overly familiar with Hayley. She took offense to one of the males she met today, and there was a brawl at the meeting.” He considered that. “Perhaps that is why she asked to meet males from smaller towns.” Surely she hadn’t asked for Sutrane in particular.

“Really? Why weren’t the alarms set off?”

Parrin waved off the suggestion. “It was two errant males. Hardly something that required more than a few guards.”

Trabor’s brows went up, and a knowing smile curved his lips. “But the guards there would have protected the females and broken up the fight. Which did you do, Parrin, my old friend?”

Heat worked its way up his neck and cheeks. Parrin cleared his throat. Trabor waited patiently for an answer.

“I took Hayley to medical.”

“A female was injured?”

His horror at the idea was understandable. A male who injured a female could be killed for it. Even an accident that caused a female to be injured held the most severe punishments.

A male who was not constantly aware of a female, his own or not, wasn’t trusted with a female of his own. Since only one in a little less than two hundred males ever got a mate, losing your slim chance at it would be a crushing blow to a male.

Parrin reminded himself that Trabor had asked a question. “Hayley tripped. I don’t know if the males will be held responsible for it, since she tripped backing away from their altercation.” Personally, he hoped they would, but that would be Sakkra’s choice and not his own.

Trabor sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. “Perhaps being the first to meet the ladies after such a scene is not a gift.” He shot a calculating look up and down Parrin’s body. “Or perhaps you are in and do not know it.”

“What are you talking about?” Parrin thought he knew, but it was outrageous to suggest such a thing. He’d barely spoken to Hayley.

Trabor laughed heartily. “Do me a favor, old friend.”

“What favor would that be?”

“Put in a good word for me with the young...with Holly.” He rose and ambled away, still laughing, while Parrin fought for the proper words to vent his outrage.

****

Hayley stood before the mirror again, surveying her reflection.

Sakkra had taken her musing about wearing a shorter dress to heart. Today’s outfit was roughly based on the design of the first dress but just shorter than knee length.

It was purple, as the first had been. When Hayley asked, she’d been told purple was the color worn by females that had wings or had given birth to a winged female child.

On the orders of the healers, her modest heels had been replaced with Mary Jane-style flats. Though they’d healed her sprained ankle, the healers maintained that Hayley needed to rest it for a week.

Other than that, she was just as primped as she’d been the day before. The beauticians brought in for them had arranged Hayley’s hair in an up-do and left curling tendrils floating around her face.

It was all too easy to imagine herself as sexy, and that was something she’d rarely imagined. Hayley had always envisioned herself as gawky and scarred. It was hardly a sexy image.

But the reflection told another story. Hayley’s heart fluttered in excitement. She was a sexy woman, setting out to meet a man she wanted.

A knock brought her attention to the corridor door.

“Yes?” she called out.

“Are you prepared, Ms. Harrison?”

More than prepared.
“Yes. I believe I am.”

****

It took only a moment to spot Parrin. He was in the far corner of the room, talking to a young man with burgundy hair. Hayley tried not to stare at him, but the looks Holly and Sakkra shot her said she’d failed miserably.

As they had the day before, all the men stopped talking and turned to watch them enter the room. The redhead leaned toward Parrin, whispered something, and Parrin scowled at him.

Hayley looked away, unsure of herself again.

She settled into the chair set up for her and repeated her order of a non-alcoholic drink. When she looked up, a dark-haired Sakk man was already approaching.

Damn.
Hayley had been hoping Parrin would meet them first.
Relax. It’s probably tradition. Much of Sakk culture is tied up in tradition.

She pasted on a smile that felt strained and settled in to meet the men in whatever order was required by their tradition.

****

Parrin found himself watching Hayley avidly. Every man that approached her stepped up his frustration another notch.

What if Trabor was correct and Hayley had chosen Sutrane for him and not for his stories about the town? It was such an appealing premise, he could hardly control his arousal at the thought.

Stop it. I am not a pre-prime buck anymore. I can control myself.
He stopped short of reasoning that Hayley was just another woman. There was no such thing as ‘just another woman’. And if there was, Hayley Harrison wasn’t it.

Korr backed away from the ladies with a bow, and Trabor started forward. Unlike the other males, he didn’t sit at Hayley’s side. The hot-headed young cock made a beeline for Holly and sank into the chair with a wide smile for the ladies. It was a unique entry that had the possibility of alienating them...or making a favorable impression on the ladies in question.

Let’s hope he makes that favorable impression on Holly and not on Hayley.

****

Hayley watched the cocky newcomer schmooze Holly in amazement. Sakk men were usually accommodating, deferring to Earth-born women. This one was self-confident and not afraid to flaunt it.

Moreover, he’d gone to Holly’s side and not Hayley’s. Since Holly’s announcement the day before, none of the men had chosen to sit next to Holly.

Holly seemed to be eating up the newcomer’s banter. It was the usual…trying to impress her with his family’s holdings, the types of things he gauged she might like to do, and on and on.

Good. Maybe she’ll decide she likes him.

Hayley searched out Parrin, watching his gaze slide away as hers locked on him. A smile flirted at her lips.

“So... Tell me, Trabor,” Holly purred. “Are you close friends with the blond over there?”

Hayley snapped a look of disbelief at her. What was Holly doing? She couldn’t be thinking about choosing Parrin herself.

Trabor glanced Parrin’s way, and his smile widened. “Parrin? You could say that. We went to school together, a
yan
apart. Our homes are very close, no more than a quarter of the way across town from each other.”

“Do you think your friend likes to dance?”

“I’m not certain. Why don’t we call him over here and find out?”

Trabor yelled out Parrin’s name and waved him closer.

Hayley took a calming breath and looked up at Parrin as he approached.

“These lovely ladies would like to dance, Parrin. I was certain you would oblige one.”

Without delay, Parrin offered Hayley his hand. She placed a trembling hand in his and let him help her to her feet.

****

Parrin swallowed hard at the feeling of Hayley’s hand in his.
I have to be dreaming.
But he knew he wasn’t.

Hayley took a step forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, going up on her toes slightly to accomplish it. Parrin hesitated a moment before he wrapped his hands around her waist.

She’d only protested when Jamil put his hands on her shoulders. As a guard, Parrin hadn’t reacted to that move, because Jamil hadn’t been moving his hands down her body to inappropriate touches. He still wasn’t sure what had upset Hayley about the move, but he wasn’t about to repeat it.

They started to sway together, her body enticing his to semi-readiness.

Not a good idea. I need to keep my errant body under control.

“I never thanked you for helping me the other day,” Hayley breathed.

His lips quirked up. “Actually, you did.”

She smiled a knowing little feminine smile. “I think you’re right.”

There were many things Parrin wanted to ask, but he was afraid he would be, as Trabor would put it, pushing his luck. Instead, he opted for a compliment. “You look lovely today, Hayley.”

“Lovelier than yesterday?”

How does a man not offend?
“I believe I like this dress better than the last, but the lady herself is always lovely.” This dress was shorter and showed off her legs. Not as short as the dress her younger sister wore, though.

Her cheeks went a stunning shade of red. “Why thank you, Parrin.”

That spelled the end of his control. His cock went hard and heavy behind his
cuzta
. Hayley gasped, and he winced, anticipating her reaction to his erection.

Her color rose another notch, and Hayley nestled closer to him. “Did you know I requested to meet men from your town next?”

He shook his head, at a loss for words.

“Do you know why I asked for that?”

“No.” Parrin felt they were closer together, though he was sure he hadn’t closed the distance between them.

She swiveled her hips against him, stealing Parrin’s breath.