Page 64 of Mated By Twilight
But she heard nothing. Skara didn’t say a word. It took Leah a solid minute to convince herself to lift her head and look at heragain. Flinching again when she caught her eye. But there wasn’t censure or displeasure looking back at her. Just satisfaction.
“See?” Skara said, crossing one arm over her chest, the other held out in a sassy pose. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Wasn’t hard!? Who was she kidding? Leah was pretty sure she was having a heart attack!
Skara gestured to the room around them. “Look. Nothing collapsed. Nothing is on fire. No one is coming to demand retribution for your words.”
That was… true. The world hadn’t ended. She hadn’t been immediately damned. The only difference was in herself. Her heart was pounding like she’d run a marathon, and her belly was churning with emotions she couldn’t detangle enough to identify.
“You’re not wrong for wanting your mates,” Skara continued evenly. “As a matter of fact, I’m rather sure they’d quite enjoy hearing such a thing from you.”
Leah’s response was mumbled. But apparently not too soft for Skara to miss.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you consider your mates’ desire for you to be a burden? To be unwelcome? To bewrong?”
“No, but… they’re men…”
“They’re what?” Skara hissed.
“Well, it’s normal for men to want their women, right?”
“But it’s not normal for women to want their men?”
“I mean… My mom said desire wasn’t something for women. It was only for men. Women’s pleasure came from theirs and from having babies to love.”
“Ugh,” Skara put a hand to her belly. “I think I just almost regurgitated. Where did you hear nonsense likethat?”
“My church?” She mumbled.
Skara groaned. “Save me from fools… Leah. Listen to me. Skara knows. Skara is older and wiser than you. You must obey Skara. Say these words.”
“I must obey Skara?”
“Say it with feeling!” She snapped, toothy muzzle clamping shut with a rather scary snap.
“I must obey Skara!” Leah squeaked.
“Precisely. I cannot speak to men. For I have never met a human male. So, I know nothing of them. However, you are not mated to a human male, so whatever you think you know – and it’s clearly not much – you can toss it away. You are mated to avanava males. If you tell them you want their dicks, you will be quite surprised by how quickly you receive them. And how enthusiastically. Trust me, there are females that wouldkillto be mated to avanava males.”
“I, er…”
“What did I just say?”
“Skara… knows?”
“Exactly. So, you listen to Skara and express your wants. You can then thank me afterwards.” She chuckled, the sound hissy and slightly scary. “That is your assignment from today’s lesson.Practice saying what you want. Tell them just as you told me. Now, come. You have vocal training.”
Leah wasn’t sure what to say, so she didn’t argue as Skara led her from this room to the next where Corvidair was waiting with an eager smile.
But vocal training didn’t go much better than the acting lessons.
Chapter 28
Tillos
Going through fan messages was part of the job Tillos usually enjoyed. It was like a chance to meet his fans without having to be among them. It was quieter and easier to bear. Sollit, who sat beside him, reading their messages – because they were very rarely addressed to only one of them – was not having quite as good a time. Though he did enjoy the fan letters, he much preferred to actually meet them in real life. He thrived on their energy.
Today, however, both of them were distracted.