by Dani Worth
“It is,” Erik whispered from behind me, his hot breath brushing over the back of my neck. He reached past me, touched the tip of his finger to the moisture gathering on the slick head of Maska’s prick. He rubbed it between his fingers, then brought one finger to my mouth.
My eyes locked with Maska’s violet ones as I sucked Erik’s finger into my mouth. Maska grew still, cock pulsing under my hand, his stare so intense, so full of fire, I rolled onto my belly and scooched forward until I was half off the bed. He grasped under my arms to hold me steady as I swallowed him down. His slightly sweet flavor was here, only it was salty too, and I loved the feel of him on my tongue, moaned when he touched the back of my throat.
I’d missed doing this. Loved the slide, the satiny skin…the feeling of euphoria I got from knowing I caused someone else to lose control. Because he did. Maska thrust gently into my mouth. I could tell by the tense clasp of his hands that he held back, that he wanted to pound into my throat. I increased suction and flattened my tongue against the pulsing vein on the underside of his cock. He yelled, coming into my mouth so hard, it was all I could do not to gag from the force. I swallowed, pulled back and licked my lips.
His eyes were intense, focused so hard on my face, I frowned. He lifted me to my knees on the bed, then stroked one hand over the fuzzy hair on my head before tracing my right cheekbone with his finger. “You are not bony and hard. You’re beautiful in ways you don’t want anyone to see.”
I pulled away from his touch, stomach clenching into a knot. Shaking my head, I backed away more. “Don’t make this about anything more than it is. We’re having fun; you two are reconnecting. That’s all this is.”
He lifted a black eyebrow. “Is it?”
Erik stopped my backward scramble by wrapping one big hand around my calf. He pulled me to him, tucking me under his body before I could blink. My eyes went wide with shock when he spread my legs and slid inside me. Again.
“Watching you with Maska does something to me,” he whispered before kissing my jaw softly. The urgency from earlier wasn’t there this time. He moved languidly inside me, stroking, caressing.
I clenched my thighs around him, wanting to move away but unable to stop the rolling of my eyes as he moved deep and deeper, touching my womb and sending spasms of heat through my body. I clutched his ass, digging my fingers into the hard, round muscles that flexed as he pushed and pulled. “Gods!” I cried out, feeling the gathering of sensation low in my gut, the one that signaled the kind of orgasm all women strived for…but one Gwinarian women worried about. The one that opened them to breeding.
Gasping as fear speared into me, I let go of his ass and bent my legs to use my feet to push back.
He didn’t understand what was happening, held me too tight, wouldn’t let me move. Opening his mouth over mine, he groaned so hard, his lips vibrated against me. “You feel so good, so damned good. It’s like you’re pulling all of me inside you.”
I forgot about moving, forgot about everything but the rapidly gathering sensations flooding every inch of my system. My heart picked up until it pounded like thunder, my breaths rivaled the earlier Kithran storm winds and my fingers curled into claws that scraped the bedding beneath me. My head rolled back and my eyes opened wide, gaze locking with Maska’s as he watched with his mouth open, something close to awe and shock sharpening his features.
My orgasm hit me like a full body slam, and I couldn’t stop the scream that tore from my throat as my entire body went taut.
“Fuck!” Erik yelled, spasms wracking his big body even as he slid hands under my back to clutch me as close as he could.
I could only lie there, neck still stretched back, gaze still lodged with Maska’s as he shook. In his stare, I saw his acceptance of me, of Erik, of this new relationship.
And in that stare, I saw his knowledge of the bleak future ahead of him on Bastilleen.
I closed my eyes.
Erik groaned and rolled off me but didn’t let go, pulling me to his side until I was half draped over him. He held up his free hand to Maska, who climbed onto the black comforter and lay against Erik’s other side. I met Maska’s look again, this time across Erik’s chest. “I can tell what you’re thinking,” he said, voice low and husky with emotion.
“Wish you’d tell me, then.” I meant it. Inside, I was a shredded mess. I had to take Maska back to prison and I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I would go to jail so these two could be together. And somewhere deep, deep inside of me, a voice cried out that I could be going to jail with a babe in my womb. Gwinarian women only opened up enough to breed with people they loved deeply. We called it soul locking.
I didn’t think either of these men knew about it, would understand what that scream had meant.
“You don’t plan to take me back to Bastilleen.”
“I told you that in the communal showers.” I flattened my palm over the crinkly blond hair on Erik’s chest. His heart beat hard and strong beneath his skin.
Maska slid his hand under mine, threaded our fingers together and held tight. I suddenly knew that what he was about to say would make me run, and he knew it because he firmly clasped my fingers.
Erik must have picked up on it too because his hand tightened on my shoulder.
“Seven years ago, I bought passage on a cargo ship off my planet. We stopped here several weeks before the explosions.”
My blood ran cold and my heart stopped.
“I didn’t know you’d been here before.” Erik’s hand stroked Maska’s hair before he rubbed his fingers over the soft whiskers on Maska’s chin. “It must have been so different then. I’ve seen pictures of how beautiful Kithra was.”
Maska and I stared at each other as we listened to Erik go on about something that had absolutely nothing to do with this conversation. I knew what Maska was telling me even before he quieted Erik with a glance. Then he returned his gaze to me.
“I was on the ship that took you from here.”
Chapter Eleven
This time, neither could stop me from pulling away. I sat up and scrambled back, wrapping my arms around my bare knees. I stared at the Replicant with wide eyes, shook my head.
“What ship?” Erik whispered, his body tense now.
“The slave ship that kidnapped and chained Jarana in the cargo hold.”
I squeezed my eyes shut as Erik whispered, “No.”
Maska sat up and climbed over Erik toward me.
I opened my eyes, held up my hands. “No, please don’t touch me.”
“I didn’t know I was on a slave ship until you came tearing out of that hold, half-starved and crazed with grief. Until you freed other species that had been kidnapped, not just for DNA—they could have just taken that—but for worse things on my planet. Unfortunately, the slave trade is still strong in some areas.” He took a deep, shaky breath. “That part of my world sickened me, but Jarana, we are not all like that. We have the bad members of society just like any other.”
I didn’t say anything. Logically, I knew that, but all I could do was flash back to that time in the cargo hold when the details of Kithra’s explosions had played over and over on the news coms. When the captain had cut the clothes off my body and released me, believing I’d starved enough, was weak enough not to fight back.
He’d underestimated me, and to this day, my only detailed memory was the spill of his blood over the flat, steel floors of his ship. The blood as it pooled under my body, his heavy, fat frame slumped over mine. I’d slit his throat as his dick had entered me.
I stared at Maska, at the love I could see shining in those violet eyes. “I didn’t see you,” I whispered, throat so raw it felt turned inside out.
“You didn’t see anyone, not really.” He moved closer, his long, naked body curling into a cross-legged position that left his sex blatantly exposed. He didn’t cover himself; he only looked at me with a compassion I didn’t deserve. “You burst out of the cargo hold, and I saw that stunning, long hair of yours and kne
w instantly what kind of ship I was on. I was so sickened, I didn’t say a word, not even when I ended up on Bastilleen with the slavers.” He looked down at his hands. “I feel things more than most of my kind, feel them deeply. Bastilleen was killing me, so I joined the prison break. I signed on to help build Kithra because—”
“Because?” Erik prompted as he sat behind Maska and slid his legs around the Replicant, curling one strong arm around Maska’s waist to pull him tight to the front of his body.
“Because I felt it might somehow make up for what I’d done to you.”
“But you didn’t do anything to me.” I watched Erik bury his face in Maska’s neck and hold him. I felt apart from them in a way I hadn’t earlier. Apart and so alone, that numb, cold feeling crept back through my body. I welcomed it with open arms.
“I was on that ship and was so excited to be having adventures; I never looked closely at what was going on. Never questioned why we visited so many different planets. I was stupid and I deserved what happened.”
I shook my head. “No, you didn’t.”
Someone on that ship had been innocent. Maybe more. The rusty taste of shame flooded my mouth. I scooted off the bed and stood beside it. Looking at Erik cradling Maska to his body, I knew they would be okay. I let the image of them—one so light and one so dark—imprint on my heart.
“Don’t leave.” Maska held out his hand.
I stared at it as inside, I grew tighter and tighter. Afraid my lungs would burst, I backed up and bent to grab clothes off the floor. I barely registered that I was sliding on Erik’s huge drawstring pants and T-shirt, but I tripped over the hem as I backed to the door.
Erik looked up, frowned. “We’re not done talking. We have to figure this thing out.”
I nodded. “We will. I just need to process this, okay? I need a little time alone. And I need some whiskey.”
Surprisingly, they let me leave.
I walked to the mining pod where Lux, Kol and Egan had taken up residence. Kei had said they had some sort of weird attachment to the place and that’s why they hadn’t taken one of the larger, nicer living pods. Staring at the door, I blinked and tried to get control of my thoughts because they felt mired in sludge—thick, yet elusive. Before I could raise my knuckles to knock, the door slid open and Lux stood there, mouth gaping before she raked her gaze over my body and grinned.
“Wow, you look well used. So the catalyst thing worked?”
“Catalyst?” I blinked, worked to focus on her face.
She frowned and yanked me inside, calling out to Kol and Egan as she led me to the couch in the crowded living room space. She clicked off the huge vidscreen on one wall. Kol came in from what I assumed was the bathroom because he was wrapping a robe around his partially wet body. Egan came down the hall drying his hands. He had dirt on his wrists and arms, probably from the greenhouse. I stared at each of them, having totally forgotten why I’d come here. Frowning, I looked at my twisted hands, my white knuckles.
“Jarana?” Egan came to me and sat beside me on the couch, wrapping one arm strongly around my back.
I leaned into him and closed my eyes. He’d been such a good friend growing up.
“Jarana,” he prompted, lifting my face.
Opening my eyes, I let that gray calm take over. “I know how to get Maska pardoned. I need to fly out of here today.”
“Today?” Lux squatted in front of me. “Can’t you use the vidscreen and contact whoever it is you need to talk to? You don’t have to leave Kithra.”
I hadn’t said I was leaving Kithra permanently, but I was. Lux was too damned smart not to have realized that instantly. “It will go better for him if I do this in person. I have the wires to your ship hidden in a compartment in the floor in one of the west tunnels. I’m sorry I took them.”
“Sorry you—” She broke off and leaned closer, putting her hand on my knee. “Hey, what’s going on?”
I shook my head. If I tried to explain right then, I’d break down. “Please, can you get me out today? Without telling Maska and Erik.” I couldn’t stop the small smile that tilted one side of my mouth. “They probably won’t be coming out of my living pod for a day or two anyway.”
“They’re back together?” Egan rubbed my back. “You helped?”
I nodded.
“Good,” he breathed, hugging me. “That’s so damned good.”
“I knew you could do it,” Lux agreed.
Kol, who’d stayed silently in the background, came farther into the room. “I can have the ship ready to go in two hours.”
I met his black eyes, took in the frown. He didn’t like me in the least and wasn’t afraid to let me see it. Inclining my head to let him know I got the message, I stood. “Can you loan me a flight suit, Lux?”
“You don’t want to go by your place and get your things?” Lux grinned.
“No.”
“So you’re coming back?” Egan asked.
“Yes.”
“Oh good!” Lux breathed before she shocked the hell out of me by hugging me. She almost killed my numb.
But my lie worked. I had no intentions of ever returning to this planet.
Chapter Twelve
Explaining Maska’s involvement on that slaver ship didn’t fully convince the authorities on Bastilleen, but the huge profit from the sale of my ship did the trick. I’d worked in their system long enough to know how to manipulate the corrupt members.
I had ruined the man’s life by blindly dumping everyone on that slaver onto the nastiest planet in the known galaxies.
Giving up my ship and most of my money meant taking smaller jobs fast and hitching rides on cargo ships to transport the convicts, but in two months, I’d earned enough to purchase a unique fixer-upper. That description was as close to a compliment as I could get with my new ship. Nothing more than a cockpit, two tiny bunk rooms, and a cargo hold, she’d spent her years as a quick transport within a densely planeted solar system. Hell, her simulator was in the cargo hold next to a two-person wall table and bench combo.
But I wasn’t after luxury at this point. I just wanted to keep busy and to forget. I christened her Pitney, which was an Old English boy’s name that meant “island of the stubborn one.” There wasn’t room for more than one or two people to live on this ship, and I was kind of hoping the stubborn name would keep her in space.
With barely enough money left for docking fees, I had to park her in the shadiest station this side of the Toquerian Sector and wear my guns each time I ventured out for food and supplies. Luckily, I’d nabbed seven convicts in this sector—aptly named Sector Two because no one here was bright enough to come up with a real name when they’d slapped a supply station and a couple of bars on the rocky planet—so most left me alone.
I could do the repair work on her myself, so I stayed busy and tried hard not to think about my next move.
I could go after that last Replicant for a nice, big bounty, or I could keep taking the smaller, easier jobs and risk ruining my reputation for the bigger jobs.
Problem was, I didn’t have long to decide.
Dropping the wrench, I kicked the hover creeper out from under a low-lying nest of wires and touched my stomach. Looked like I’d be bringing another Gwinarian, or half anyway, into the worlds. The baby didn’t show much yet. I’d put a little of my weight back on. I was still thin and probably always would be—my energy burned too strong for idleness these days. Energy I attributed to the constant, raging need I had for Maska and Erik. Being separated from them felt like someone had torn holes in my body and just left them open and empty and aching. It was astonishing that I could have formed such a strong bond with them in so short a time. I truly didn’t know either of them well enough for what I felt, but it was there nonetheless.
The only reason I had gained weight was because I could do nothing that would jeopardize the tiny, precious life growing in me. So, I ate. Even though I missed my Kithran food nearly as much as I missed those two men.
The baby felt like a girl.
I hoped she was a girl because I wanted to name her after my sisters, but if he was a boy, he would be Galen. I’d already bought a garishly bright purple teddy bear, just in case. It had been my second father’s favorite color. The thing looked hellaciously silly amid the lack of color on this gunmetal gray ship, but it cheered me. I’d placed it on the bench seat by the simulator so it kept me company when I ate.
Today, restlessness burned through me like wildfire. I knew why. Official word had come down this morning, and I really needed to pass it along. Closing my eyes, I rolled off the creeper and walked to the simulator for a cup of coffee before flipping on the VR screen I had set up on the small table.
Taking a deep breath, I called Lux. I frowned when I got Egan, even though his white-toothed smile warmed me in ways the coffee never could. “Thought I’d called Lux.”
“You did. I got here first. You have black shit all over your face, did you know?”
I shrugged. “Leaky pipes this morning.”
“So?” He leaned forward, and his pretty face was such a welcome sight, I wished he were really in front of me.
“Maska’s pardon is official now. I got word this morning. He can live freely on Kithra with Erik, and he can do it as himself…or in whatever form they prefer.”
His shoulders lowered as he smiled. “Thank you. What are you going to do now? Lux found out you sold your ship.”
“Nosy bitch,” I muttered.
He laughed and pulled a strand of dark, coppery hair off his face. “She is nosy, but you gotta love her. Even you do a little, huh?”