by Ophelia Bell
She was determined to heal, to return to the arena, and to fulfill her promise to herself and to her dead brother that a Garrick would hold the spot of alpha champion for as long as she could. She still had decades of competition years left in her, if she could find a way to heal. A way that didn’t involve taking a single mate, much less three. Because this sensation was too good. She was afraid if she gave in and let her dragon have its way that she would never want to leave their bed, that she would lose that drive to win in favor of domestic bliss, regardless of how tight a bond she formed with her dragon as a result.
No, the better answer was lying at her side right now. Her only real hope was Val and his lab.
A few minutes passed with the question on the tip of her tongue. But she held back because broaching the topic on the tail end of amazing sex would seem too opportunistic. She wanted to enjoy the glow a little longer because she was positive this would be the only chance they got to all be together.
Javin returned a moment later and her stomach lurched with dread.
“You all right?” Val asked, looking down at her and Astra realized she’d actually groaned.
Javin chuckled. “She hates this, but we’ll get it over with fast and maybe give you a little reward after. Now lie back and spread your legs, baby.”
Val and Simon shifted to give her space, Simon adjusting her pillows so she could sit up a little higher. He leaned in and whispered, “This can be even more fun than when I did it.”
“Or me,” Javin added, reminding her of last night, when he’d administered her shots and proceeded to devour her pussy for the next half hour, giving Simon a run for his money.
Val laughed. “Then it is definitely my turn,” he said, reaching for the bundle that contained the syringe and the cartridge of serum for her wound.
Javin took Val’s place while the handsome panther settled between her thighs. The other two curled their fingers around her legs, spreading her open for Val. His nostrils flared, and for a moment his attention fixed on her core and she thought he’d forgotten his task entirely.
After a second, Javin snapped his fingers. “Stay on track, man.”
Val blinked and shook his head. His gaze flicked back to her pussy once before he focused on her thigh. “Right. Give me a sec.”
He hopped off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Astra heard water run and when he returned he was wiping his hand on a towel. He flipped on a light that bathed them in a golden glow.
“Even better,” Simon commented, dropping his lips to her shoulder, then lower to nuzzle at her breast. Astra sighed and leaned back, watching as Val prepped the syringe and Javin removed her bandage.
“Looking better even after a day,” Val said, scrutinizing her wound. “Is your link to your dragon improving?”
“A little, I think.” She darted a look at Javin.
He gave her a sad smile, and a pang of longing twisted in her belly. He didn’t say it out loud, but she knew what he was thinking. That the nearness of the three men had helped improve her link even without mating them.
“I’m feeling stronger too, Midnight,” Simon said. “Just being with you guys is helping me feel like I can kick this once and for all.”
Val focused on the syringe but shot a glance at Simon. “You’re dependent on the drug, aren’t you?”
“I’m more addicted to this,” Simon said, glancing around at them and squeezing Astra’s thigh. He dipped his head and gave her nipple a light flick with his tongue. She sighed, grateful for the pleasant distraction. “Now, are you going to hurry up and take a taste of her or should I shove you out of the way and take my fill?”
Val paused, narrowing his eyes at Simon. Then he surprised her by shoving the syringe at Javin. “You do it, I’m not waiting.”
He dropped down to the bed, settling on his belly between her legs and pressed a kiss to the top of her mound. Gazing up at her, he extended his tongue and licked in a long, slow stroke right through the center of her core.
“Oh God,” she murmured. Her head fell back on her pillow when the tip of his tongue paused at her clit and swirled around it. Then he pulled it between his lips and sucked. He paused and pulled away and she glanced down, ready to protest.
Javin chuckled. “He needs to let me do this.” He swiped a disinfectant swab over her wound and jabbed her with the needle for the first time.
She hissed, but the pain fled the instant Val dipped his head again, capturing her clit once more and teasing it. Then he tilted his head and pushed his tongue deep into her, making her tilt her hips up to meet his tongue’s delving thrusts.
Beside her, Simon let out a low rumble of approval. “You, my man, are a fucking master. Make her come.”
Val’s laugh rumbled through her, vibrating against her pussy as he teased her to a panting mess before pausing again to let Javin give her another injection. Simon returned his attention to her breasts and they proceeded to torment her with pleasure in between each spike of pain until she eagerly awaited the prick of the needle because of the delicious surge of ecstasy that would follow.
But finally the pain didn’t come and big hands gripped her hips and turned her. She rolled slightly to face Simon as Javin gripped her knee, keeping her leg lifted over Val’s head. Then Javin pressed his cock to her entrance and pushed in, grunting against her neck as he filled her. Val returned his mouth to her clit, Simon to her breasts, and she curled her fingers into their hair, clinging for dear life as the three of them drove her to the very brink of climax yet again and sent her hurtling over with a triumphant yell.
25
Javin
Astra’s scent clung to Javin and he was loath to bathe but it was also something that would haunt him if he didn’t. He slipped out of bed, leaving her tangled with the other two, and made his way down to his second-floor bathroom. He stood leaning over his sink as the steam billowed out from the shower behind him, agonizing over his unrequited desire to follow through on marking her. His teeth ached with the need for it, but it wasn’t what she wanted, so he would have to just deal with it. If he could have her halfway, it had to be better than not at all, didn’t it?
A soft knock sounded at the open door. Val stood there, naked and frowning. Javin’s mood improved slightly, and he smiled at the other man, letting his eyes peruse Val’s physique.
“You need something?” he asked in a suggestive tone.
“Just wanted to ask a question. You know her well, yeah?”
“I’ve known her all her life. Loved her just as long.” He hadn’t meant it to sound like a challenge, but the pinched expression Val gave him suggested he’d failed. “I didn’t mean . . .”
“I want to know her, but she’s holding back a lot, I think. What the hell is up with this fear of mating? She wants us. You feel it, I know Simon feels it. It’s un-fucking-mistakable.”
“Get in,” Javin said, gesturing to the shower and stepping through the glass door.
Val’s brows lifted and he shrugged, following Javin into the steamy enclosure. Javin sighed with pleasure as the hot stream pelted down on his back. “She has a legacy to uphold and she’s stubborn as hell about it. I don’t think there’s anything we can do. Just take what she’s willing to give.”
Val was leaning back against the far wall, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. “For the record, I think that’s bullshit.”
“You have no idea. She’d heal faster if she marked us, but she’d rather do things the hard way.”
The other man let his head thunk back against the tile wall and sighed. “All right, I guess we’ve got to deal with it for now. I’m not giving up though.”
He stepped aside and reached for his body wash, gesturing to Val to take his place. The panther shifter strode into the water, his toned body exuding sinewy grace with every movement. Javin couldn’t help but admire him despite his smaller stature—all Earth shifters were smaller than Nova Aurora shifters, but still impressive specimens by Earth standards.
Val distractedly dipped his head beneath the water. “I just wish there was more I could do to convince her. My panther’s itching to mate her but I’m not willing to let that happen until she agrees.”
Lathering up his hair, Javin said, “Can you formulate a counteragent for her? Because that’s the best gift you could give. Let her do things her way and maybe she’ll come around.”
“Yeah, that was on my agenda anyway. Simon needs one too—that serum is going to stop working eventually, so the sooner the better. But the first thing I need to do is get into that fucking lab my dad hired and make sure production ceases. Not to mention destroying whatever drug they have stockpiled.”
“I’m in all the way to the end,” Javin said. “But what’s to stop your dad from going somewhere else?”
“Hopefully, the cost of setup. He’s a shrewd businessman, so he’ll cut his losses if he’s in it for the money. Exporting this shit off planet can’t be cheap. I still don’t understand why he’s even producing it.”
Javin slowed his lathering and Val turned around, giving him an inquisitive look. “You have a thought on that?” he asked, switching places with him.
“Your dad’s been taking the drug, according to Astra. If he’s formed a dependency, that may be all the logic he needs. Drug addictions are expensive. It’s an outrageous step, but if he’s got the resources to take it, is it any surprise? My guess is that he outsourced production for his own use but sells off the excess just to finance his personal supply. The alternative is that he’s always had a secret urge to become a drug lord, but based on what you’ve told us, that doesn’t sound likely.”
“It isn’t,” Val said. “He was a good man before . . .” His voice broke and Javin turned to face him, peering out from the cascade of water. Val looked troubled and a little haunted.
“Before what?” He took a step closer, frowning.
“This happened because my mother got sick. All of it. She was human and he loved her like crazy, but mating a shifter isn’t enough to protect a human from the worst diseases known to man. She was first diagnosed with cancer when I was a kid and the treatment worked, but it also gave me a healthy drive to want to fix it. That’s where my research began.
“When the cancer came back, we were in the first stages of simulated trials of the drug. The results were more promising than we’d hoped, but the side effects were too damaging yet. The first time Dad stole the formula was around that time. I think he took it at the same time he gave it to Mom, maybe as a sign of solidarity, I don’t know.”
He took a breath and Javin waited, his heart aching. His own pain was something he’d long since accepted, his need to take care of Astra the only thing helping him push aside his grief over Talon’s death. But Val’s discovery about his father’s true role in his mother’s death had only served to open that old wound.
“It happened,” he said, his voice gruff as he hooked a hand around the nape of Val’s neck and squeezed. “We still need to fix it, then you can get your dad some help. Create a counteragent to clean the shit out of his system.”
Val let out a shuddering sigh and nodded, his gaze finding Javin’s. “Thank you,” he said. Val reached for Javin and he slipped into his arms, hugging him tightly. The slippery heat of Val’s body awakened his senses and his cock roused. He cursed silently, willing the traitorous appendage to calm the fuck down. But Val let out a murmur of interest against his neck, his hips tilting closer.
“I’m not doing this without her,” Javin whispered.
“But you want to,” Val said, his lips brushing Javin’s ear. He pressed his hips tighter, his own erection an undeniable presence gliding along Javin’s belly.
“I want what she wants, whether she knows it or not,” Javin said, wry humor tingeing his voice.
Val pulled back and laughed. “She wants us all. So you’re saying you want that too?”
“Yeah. And maybe down the road this will be possible,” he said, gesturing between them, “but it’s too soon yet. Especially before we have this whole issue resolved.”
Val nodded. “Fair enough, but I need to be clear: I want the same thing. You, Astra, Simon. I felt it the second I set eyes on you three when Gerri introduced us. I was a little . . . no, a lot disappointed when I learned you were here for another reason.”
Javin started to step out and let Val finish rinsing but Val grabbed his arm. “Just one thing.” Then before Javin could react, Val had clutched his jaw and pressed his lips to Javin’s mouth, kissing him hard and deep. A fresh spike of lust shot through him, and when Val released him, he stood there in a daze for a second before fumbling for the door and exiting.
Val chuckled after him. “Yeah, it’s like that with all of you and there’s no way in hell I’m turning my back on it. I don’t care why she brought us together. Gerri Wilder is a fucking genius.”
26
Val
Val resisted the urge to crawl back into bed with her, instead letting Javin wake the pair and bundle them into Astra’s shower so they could get on with their plan. By the time they all finished breakfast, he’d reviewed the data and done some research into the lab his dad had hired to produce the drug.
“We’ll split up to cover more ground,” he said. “Javin and Simon will hit the outside facility, sabotage their production and destroy their data and the stock they have on site. While you two do that, Astra and I will head to my lab. I can prep the counteragents, then purge all my research.”
It hurt like hell to even suggest such a thing and Astra gave him a worried look. “Are you sure about that? It’s your life’s work.”
He swallowed thickly and nodded, giving her a grim look. “Yeah, it has to be done. Too much damage has been caused by this drug. It isn’t worth the risk anymore.”
Astra rose from her seat and came to him, slipping her arms around his neck and settling on his lap. He held her close, breathing in her peachy scent to calm his tumultuous heart. No amount of research was worth the risk of losing her, even if she never chose to mate him.
At sunset they departed, Javin and Simon riding off on a pair of motorcycles while Val drove himself and Astra to his lab. Once the job at the outside lab was done, they’d regroup at his lab, then drive together to confront Val’s father once and for all. He planned to create a counteragent for his dad at the same time he prepared one for Astra and Simon. He hoped like hell the old man would see reason enough to take it once he understood how much damage he’d caused.
The sleek, low-profile glass facade of Val’s lab came into view, nearly invisible in the twilight. All he could see was the reflected remains of the sunset past the hills to the west, a dark, jagged edge bordered by a purple-bruised sky that reminded him of the remnants of Astra’s wound.
He pulled into a parking spot near the entrance and jogged around to open Astra’s door. She stared at him in irritation.
Val laughed. “I’m old-fashioned. This is what old-fashioned guys do for women.”
“Where I’m from, you open my door because I’m a champion, not because I’m a woman,” she said, climbing out and stepping close enough for him to feel her breath. “Or because you’re my mate, which you are not.” She clenched her jaw and turned away, leaving his panther bewildered by her hot-and-cold treatment. Hopefully she would come around once she was healed.
“How long will it take to create the counteragents?” she asked, already heading toward the door. Val caught up to her quickly, swiping the security badge and opening the door for her again. He gave her a narrow-eyed look of challenge, his lips quirked in a cocky half smile. She glared at him but he didn’t back down.
“A couple hours start to finish.”
Astra sped up, forcing him to increase his stride to keep up with her. Her urgency was understandable, but he had hoped this added time alone with her would give him a chance to gain a deeper understanding of what she wanted. It seemed she was a much tougher nut to crack than he’d thought.
Once in the ele
vator he turned to face her, bracing his hands on the wall on either side of her head.
“I’m not letting this go, Astra. You may not be in sync with your animal so it isn’t as clear to you, but it’s clear as fucking day to me and Javin. The four of us belong together. I don’t care how we make it work, whether you mark us all or we just carry on a ridiculous affair on the side, but I want this.”
She gave him an incredulous stare. “You realize I have to go home soon, right? After this is over, we’re all heading back to Nova Aurora. Don’t tell me you’re planning to leave your entire life behind to be our fuck buddy.”
Val winced at the reminder of how inaccessible they were. She was right though. He couldn’t just leave. EG-Alpha might have been his pet project, but it was far from his only project, and he took pride in the work he oversaw for the company.
“You know it isn’t like that,” he said. “We’re more than that, and whatever we have is worth making a bigger effort to hold on to. I just need you to know I’m willing to make that effort.”
Her gaze softened, and she lifted a hand to his face. “Why would you want something so uncertain? You’ll wind up alone most of the time.”
“I don’t see it as uncertain. I want you and Javin and Simon however I can get you. I’m a workaholic so it’ll be easy for me to distract myself when we’re apart. But the time we spend together is too perfect. Don’t you agree?”
He could sense the gears in her mind turning and knew he had her. Maybe she’d never agree to mating, but if she agreed to something official, that was a step in the right direction.