Page 14 of Queen Isabella

Artifex

Artifex let out a relieved sigh as the queen accepted another drink, shaking off the harrowing events of the morning. He knew finding their queen would be a monumental event, but nothing prepared him for this.

“I should’ve wrangled my hormones and stayed with our queen.” Phara frowned. “She is so tiny, but her pull is very strong.” Phara gazed down at their queen in awe and disbelief as he rubbed her shoulders. “I didn’t think my omegas would be as affected as they were. They had no self-control at all, and like a pack of eager cubs, they woke and scared our queen.”

That was an accurate summary of what Artifex saw when they turned on the light. He would’ve done the same thing in Phara’s place. But as they were swiftly learning, hormones were complicated, and none of them had ever been exposed to a queen.

Artifex shuddered recalling their queen’s fear as the omegas exited the bed. The acrid scent of her dismay overtook her sweet perfume. Terror sparked in her otherwise gorgeous brown eyes.But the worst was when rain miraculously fell from her eyes. The beautiful yet sad sight twisted him in knots and nearly broke him. He wanted to hold and shelter her, except they were the ones scaring her. Nothing they said seemed to reach the queen and she was so disoriented that she even attempted to bow to them.

“But she is calm now,” Artifex replied, talking to himself as much as he was to the others. He smiled encouragingly at their queen then at Phara.

“She is much calmer,” Gregis, one of the consort betas rubbing her feet, agreed.

“Our plan is working. She has accepted our food and our touch,” Bellator purred as he massaged their queen’s hand, working out the tension.

They hadn’t formulated a complicated plan. They couldn’t, they didn’t really know what to do to woo a queen. Phara didn’t even know how to mate with her. But they assumed she’d be thirsty and hungry. They also decided a proper massage would be a good way to ease any lingering stress from the crash while getting her used to their touch. Though the eager mauling by the omegas nearly foiled that simple strategy. Thankfully they recovered, and the queen didn’t totally reject them.

“She is accepting us, isn’t she?” Phara finally smiled, then nuzzled the queen’s luxurious head fur.

She is.It was a miracle. She was a miracle.

Artifex stared in awe at the little queen as she opened her mouth and accepted another berry. It was followed by an adorable twittering sound that he equated with her being happy. A giddy thrill coursed through him. Her lips were as pink as the fruit and looked just as sweet.

Artifex’s gaze roved down the length of their queen, now that he could focus on her and her alone, instead of healing injuries or stressed brethren. She had two mounds on her chest that weretipped with berries that looked as pink and delicious as her lips. She had a soft round belly and full hips. He imagined squeezing them as he pulled their queen against his body. He couldn’t see what was between her thighs, beneath that teasing bit of fur on her mound, but he desperately wanted to. His shaft jerked in agreement. He wasn’t a consort, but he definitely wanted to do more than serve their queen.

Phara is right, our queen has a very strong pull.

Isabella

A cube of something that tasted like cheese touched Isa’s lips. She’d been surprisingly hungry and thirsty, yet wasn’t able to eat that much. Probably a side effect of being in stasis for so long.

“Last one,” she murmured, though it was doubtful they understood her words.

She opened wider and the alien she called Chevron slid the morsel into her mouth. He blinked and nodded at her as she chewed, so she returned the gestures, hoping they conveyed appreciation. Gestures and facial expressions were the extent of their communication so far, but it was progress, so she didn’t begrudge it.

Her gaze shifted to Chevron holding her cup. She knew that he’d offer it after she’d finished the bite, since that had been the routine. She shook her head and he understood, pulling his hand back. She smiled in appreciation and so did he. Though the facial expression still looked creepy with all his sharp teeth exposed, it didn’t bother her like it did before.

“Thank you,” she blissfully sighed.

Never in her life had she been pampered like this. It truly had her boneless after everything she’d been through. Of course this would’ve been considered depraved back home, even ifshe’d been clothed. Just the fact that she was being spoiled like this would’ve been frowned on. Not that she would’ve had the time for such pampering between working and her obligations at home.

Isa’s brow furrowed as a lesson from her ancient studies course suddenly popped to mind, particularly the part about ritual sacrifice. There were many cultures that would pamper their human sacrifices before ‘gifting’ them to the gods. Was this the preamble to being tossed into a volcano?

That’s what you get for acting like a whore!She could almost hear her brother sneer.

If Saul were here, he’d convince the aliens to sacrifice her in the most painful way possible, the way he encouraged their father to disown her.

Well screw that!She huffed, hating how pessimistic her thoughts had turned.

If this was the preparation for being sacrificed, fine, so be it. The fact she survived this long was a miracle anyway. She was going to enjoy being pampered. And if she died, she’d die fed and relaxed. Isa pulled in a deep breath, loving the heady scent of vanilla as Diamond massaged her back and neck, Vee worked her left shoulder, and the triplets rubbed her other arm and legs.

“Oh!” She squeaked and jumped when one of the trio shifted higher on her leg, his fingers grazing her inner thigh.

The alien men had been slowly working up her limbs, so she should’ve expected it, yet still she was startled. Despite her earlier bravado and resolve to enjoy being pampered, she was out of her depth.

Of course I’m out of my depth. Five alien men are touching me, while another hand feeds me.

Everyone had paused when she jumped. The triplet with his hand wrapped around her thigh stared questioningly at her. She smiled awkwardly and nodded. He continued massaging herthigh, and the other men also resumed kneading her flesh with their slick strong hands.

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