Traveler: Planet Athion Series (Equinox Book 1)

by Lily Harlem

  “Yes, they’re all present and correct and on their feet.”

  “Dolly seems a little shaky.”

  “Mmm, she does.” I stepped into her pen and gave her ears a rub the way she liked. “There you go, girl. All over now. No more nasty Trads on our tail.”

  She butted me softly.

  “How about some more grain to help you forget about the ringing in your ears?”

  “You think their ears buzz like ours?” Anki asked.

  “Yes, I’m sure they do.” I added grain into Dolly’s bowl then pointed at the hay. “I’ll make a start on this.”

  “No. I can do that. Why don’t you go and see if Hurin needs any help.”

  “Good idea.” I smiled. “Thanks, Anki. I really appreciate all you do in here.”

  “I’m here to help and learn.”

  I nodded, then after washing and sanitizing my hands, I left the pen.

  As I walked to the sleeper pod, I worried again about Hurin’s burn. But he was the medic, he’d know what to do with it.

  There was still more vibration than normal. Gavyn and Mateo were keeping Equinox in a heightened state of protection and speed. But that was good, it meant we could not only outrun the Trads, we could also protect ourselves from them.

  To enter the sleeper pod I had to go through a full body sanitizer in an airlock and change into scrubs and soft white plimsolls. The process took a few minutes.

  I rarely went in to see the sleepers. It wasn’t my territory, and although I could keep them alive should anything happen to Hurin, I wasn’t skilled at fine-tuning their comas.

  The long room was in semi-darkness. In neat rows, beds sealed within glass capsules were all hooked up to tubes and wires which came down from the ceiling. At the base of each bed was a touch-sensitive screen.

  A tinge of nervousness went through me. It always did when I saw the sleepers. It was so strange, so trusting to allow others to not just take you through space but also take responsibility for your body for six months.

  I glanced around but couldn’t see Hurin.

  Walking a little deeper into the room, I stopped at the third capsule. It contained a woman. She was naked, and I guessed from the olive tone of her skin and her shiny black hair that she was Asian. There were a few condensation drips on the glass. I wondered if she had an Athion lover on board Equinox or if she was a single female escaping Earth and the predatory Trads. If so, she’d go to a processing station when we docked.

  I moved to the next pod. In this one was an Athion. Maybe he’d coupled up with the Asian woman at his side, and they’d requested to sleep close together. Perhaps she wasn’t single after all.

  My gaze trailed over him. The blueness of his skin seemed to highlight his muscles and tendons. His abdomen was a wall of bricks. His cock was flaccid, and his wide chest slowly rising and falling.

  A noise sounded farther into the pod so I wandered in that direction. On the other side of a large storage cupboard I found Hurin tapping away at a monitor. Like me, he now wore scrubs.

  He looked up when I approached. “Uma.”

  “I came to see if you needed any help.”

  “No.”

  “Actually, I was ordered to by our captain.”

  “Oh, okay.” He frowned and continued to work quickly on the monitor. “No, I don’t need help.”

  “Are they all okay?” I gestured around.

  “A few have lost pressure in their capsules, it’s causing condensation.”

  “Oh, yes. I just noticed water droplets in that one up there.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes, the third capsule down from the entrance. Asian woman.”

  His frown deepened. “I thought she was okay. I need to go and check again.” He tapped the screen, and it beeped. “This one is all set.”

  He brushed past me as he set off, his closeness reminding me again how tall he was.

  “Hey, Hurin.”

  “What?” He didn’t pause.

  “Are you okay after the magnetism? Did you get burned?”

  “I’m fine. You can go.” He lifted his hand and flicked his wrist.

  Now it was my turn to frown. Sometimes Hurin was just rude.

  I folded my arms and looked around. The place gave me the shivers, and once again I was glad to be a cognitive traveler. Of course, I could understand why they choose to bypass a six-month journey—what could be considered a boring and tedious journey—but it wasn’t for me.

  A sleeper to my right caught my attention. It was an Athion with dark blue skin the same as Hurin.

  A Southern Tip Athion.

  I approached his capsule and admired his handsome face—straight nose, wide mouth, and strong jawline—and his broad chest. His muscles were significantly larger than the other sleeping Athion, and his biceps bulged. My gaze drifted lower, over his defined abdominals which moved slightly with his breaths, and then down to his cock.

  His cock.

  “What the…” I set my hands on the glass and peered in. His was an anatomy I’d never seen before. It appeared as though he had two cocks, one set above the other and resting against dark pubic hair.

  I swallowed and stared. Both surprise and inquisitiveness wound through me. It was an oddity, yes, but quite fascinating. What would they look like hard? And why had Athion evolution made the Southern Tip men this way?

  “What are you doing?”

  My heart stuttered.

  At the end of the capsule stood Hurin. He was glaring at me, his jaw tight and his eyebrows pulled low.

  “I…er…nothing.”

  “I told you to go.”

  I stepped back. I’d been caught staring at a Southern Tip Athion’s cock.

  Hurin is a Southern Tip Athion.

  “I’m going now.” I took three more backward paces and banged my butt against another capsule.

  “Be careful,” Hurin snapped, pacing toward me. “And go.”

  “I am. I’m sorry.” I turned and set off at a fast run toward the door. I had to get out of there. Hurin was clearly angry with me.

  But why?

  Because of what I’d discovered.

  Hurin has two cocks.

  Once in the air lock, I stripped off the scrubs and put them in the laundry shoot. I dragged my pajamas back on and rushed out of the sleeper pod. My head was spinning with my new knowledge.

  It can’t be true.

  But I knew it was. Anki had alluded that Southern Tip Athions were different. I’d seen the large bulge in Hurin’s sweats when he’d been working out in the gym. And also, why else wouldn’t a man strip off his pants when his zipper was at melting temperature unless he had something to hide?

  I rushed to the canteen, still thinking about Hurin. Was he embarrassed to be different? Being different wasn’t a problem in my world. In fact, as new worlds had been discovered it had become normal to be unusual.

  But in my guts I knew he’d retreat even further into his work now. Any chances I’d had of getting to know him had slipped away because I’d peered into that capsule.

  Which was a damn shame.

  When I reached the canteen, Mateo and Anki were there. Mateo had a coffee before him, Anki a glass of Dolly’s milk.

  “Sit down,” Mateo said. “The three of us need to talk.”

  “We do?”

  “Yes.” Mateo gently kicked the leg of a chair to push it back. “Come on, hun. Let’s sort this out, it’s gone on long enough.”

  “What has?” I ignored the chair and poured myself a herbal tea. I needed to calm down.

  “You know what,” Mateo said.

  I sighed and sat. Taking a sip of my drink, I peered at him over the rim.

  Anki was perched on the edge of his seat with his elbows on the table and his eyes wide.

  Mateo had his right ankle crossed over his left knee and was lounging back in his chair.

  “I’m guessing,” I said, placing my cup down, “that this is about the fight last week.” I looked bet
ween them. “You’ve apologized to each other, right?”

  “Yes, of course we have.” Anki nodded.

  “Gavyn was quite insistent on that the next morning,” Mateo added.

  “So you wouldn’t have otherwise?” I raised my eyebrows. “If the captain hadn’t insisted.”

  “Sure we would have,” Mateo said. “We’ve got to spend months together. No point in letting an argument drag on with a fellow crew member.”

  “We’ve got to be friends, right?” Anki said.

  “Sure thing.” Mateo nodded at him.

  I was pleased his attitude had softened toward Anki.

  “But what we need to do now.” Mateo uncrossed his leg and leaned forward. “Is apologize to you.”

  I glanced at Anki.

  He smiled at me.

  I’d already accepted his apology. Anki and I were good again.

  “Go on,” I said to Mateo.

  He reached for my hand. “You know I adore you and I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

  “Yes.”

  “And I understand you don’t want us to be exclusive, but for the record I will be utterly faithful to you. You’re everything I want and more.”

  “You don’t have much choice here, unless a sleeper takes your fancy.”

  He huffed. “Don’t say that in front of Hurin.”

  I smiled. “I appreciate that, and to be honest, Mateo, I don’t like the thought of you with another woman when we dock but I’ve never asked you not to.”

  “Since we’ve been together I haven’t looked at another woman and I don’t want to. But what I’m saying is, I’ve come to accept that you want to be with another man.”

  Again I glanced at Anki. I did want him. It didn’t detract from how much I wanted Mateo, but my need for the handsome, gentle Athion was very real.

  “And being as there are more men than women on planet Earth now, I guess I’m not the only guy who is having to come to make this compromise.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. With the Trads’ hideous kidnappings and Earth women fleeing to the safety of Athion, it was true and the situation would only continue.

  “So.” Mateo drew closer and captured my gaze with his. “If Anki is the other man you want—”

  “As opposed to Gavyn.”

  Mateo held my gaze and nodded. “Yes, and not Gavyn. I’m okay with that.”

  “You’re okay with that?”

  “I’m never going to be thrilled. It’s not in my nature to share well, but I’ll give it a go.”

  “We have talked about it,” Anki said. “I told him I was sorry for what I said about you carrying my babies.”

  “Good.” I took my hand from Mateo’s and rubbed my hip, over my implant. “Because I have contraception covered.”

  “Which is your prerogative,” Mateo said.

  “And it’s what makes Athions different to Trads.” Anki frowned. “We will not force Earth women to repopulate Athion. We want to share our lives with Earth women, treasure them, pleasure them, and if babies come then that is a blessing from the Laird.”

  Mateo was studying Anki as though searching for any hint of untruth in his words and face.

  “I know.” I smiled at Anki. “You’ve explained that to me, and I understand.” I took another sip of my drink. “And I’m sorry for being distant this week.”

  “We get that,” Mateo said.

  “Yes, we wanted to give you some quiet time.” Anki clasped his hands on the table.

  “And I appreciate that,” I said. “Really I do. But let’s put it behind us now, the fight, and the argument. Deep space is a lonely place, we need to stay friends.”

  “And lovers.” Mateo stood and reached for me.

  I allowed him to pull me into his arms and tug me close. The familiarity of his body pressed against mine, his faded cologne, and the adoration in his eyes filled me with love for him. It was like coming home. He had been my safety net, my protector, my lover for so long. “Yes, and lovers.” I kissed him, hoping he’d understand my apology was also sincere. I’d hated falling out with him. It had been miserable not hearing his quiet knock at my door and even worse not having him hold me all night. “I love you.”

  “That makes me very happy to hear,” he whispered. “And you know I love you.”

  “Let’s not argue again,” I said, “and by that I mean all three of us.”

  “We won’t.” He ran his hands over my hair and cradled my head. “I promise.”

  We kissed again, and it occurred to me it didn’t feel strange that Anki was watching. For a long time Mateo and I had kept our relationship secret, but now it didn’t matter, and that felt good.

  “I’ll leave you two alone,” Anki said.

  I broke the kiss. “No, please, don’t go.”

  “It seems you need some time to make up.”

  “Time is something we have plenty of up here.” Mateo stroked his hand down my back.

  “That is true.” I adored his touch.

  “So please,” Mateo went on, “this is your night with Uma.”

  Anki appeared confused. “It is?”

  “I interrupted your quiet moment with her in the cinema, you should have it now.”

  Anki swallowed. “If she’ll have me.”

  “Of course,” I said. He was so big and handsome but looked so worried standing before me. “Come here.”

  He stepped close and took my hand. A soft smile spread on his face.

  “I have to get back to the bridge,” Mateo said, moving away. “Gavyn will need relieving for a while.” He paused. “You two have fun.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I asked.

  “Yes.” He nodded a little stiffly. “I am.”

  As he walked to the door, I could tell there was tension in his shoulders. He was struggling with his emotions. He didn’t really want to share me but knew he had no choice. If he wanted me, he had to allow me to spend time, intimate time, with Anki.

  But it would be okay. I could share myself between both men. How hard could it be to juggle their needs, and mine, while traveling through deep space at hyper-speed?

  I guessed that was something I was about to find out.

  TO BE CONTINUED…Get your copy of DREAMER now!

  About the Author

  Lily Harlem is an award-winning, bestselling author of sexy romance. She writes for several publishers including HarperCollins, Bonnier, Evernight, and Stormy Night Publications.

  **Check out Lily’s popular (complete) reverse harem series – The Challenge – available on Kindle Unlimited.**

  Lily writes Male/Female, Male/Male and ménage a trois romances that all leave the bedroom door wide open and have a happily ever after. Her emotionally charged M/F novel Breathe You In was named a USA Today Reviewer’s Recommended Read of 2014.

  Lily also self-publishes and The Silk Tie, The Glass Knot, Cold Nights, Hot Bodies, Bite Mark and Shared have been blessed with many 5* reviews – all available on Kindle Unlimited. .

  If you love sporty romance don’t miss Hot Ice a seven novel 5* series about those sexy bad boys of the ice all available on Kindle Unlimited and the first book FREE when you sign up to her VIP Group.

  Lily also co-authors with Natalie Dae and publishes darker plot lines and suspense under the name Harlem Dae - check out That Filthy Book which has been hailed as a novel 'every woman should read' and is available in book stores nationwide. The Sexy as Hell Trilogy, a critically acclaimed boxed set, is available on Amazon and KU. Treat yourself to the Harlem Dae Collection

  One thing you can be sure of, whatever book you pick up by Ms Harlem, is it will be wildly romantic and deliciously sexy. Enjoy!

  Visit Lily’s website for more details of her other books or her Amazon Author Page. Subscribe to her newsletter to get a FREE ebook and be the first to hear of new releases, and if you enjoy Facebook hop on over there and say hi! For those of you who like to get up close and personal, join Lily's Reader Group and hang out in th
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  Find your next great read…

  Male/Female

  Male/Male

  Menage a Trois

  Reverse Harem

  Hot Ice

  Harlem Dae

  Audio Books

  Find your next great Planet Athion Read

  Planet Athion is a shared world that once you’ve dipped into will have you hooked.

  Now you’ve enjoyed TRAVELER, grab your copies of DREAMER book #2 and SEDUCER #3 in the EQUINOX series, also by Lily Harlem and starring Uma and her men both human and alien.

  DREAMER #2

  SEDUCER #3

  To immerse yourself in other stories about Earth women’s struggle against the Trads, find more fantastic reads from a whole bunch of awesome reverse harem authors by following these links.

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