Cherished by Two

by Morticia Knight

  “Very. He’s my closest friend, and similarly to you, we’ve known each other since youth.” Lasar furrowed his brow. “I need to share with you exactly why I came here today.”

  Hallosh pressed his lips in a hard line before speaking. “I sense that your visit is in regards to my new house slave? I caught your obvious interest, as well as your shock upon first seeing her.”

  Lasar sighed as he regarded Hallosh. The stars had guided him well, his connection with them strong. But his innate protectiveness over Chris and anyone in his mate’s family was just as strong. He couldn’t face what he feared would be a coming revolution alone, though. Alliances had to be formed.

  “She’s the mother of my new sex slave. And yes, the small females with her are her children.”

  Hallosh arched his eyebrows. “How is it that you know this? Did your slave tell you directly? And why did he chance revealing such a thing when he must have realized that you could send warriors on a sweep for them?”

  “I also need to clarify something else.” Lasar cleared his throat. “I’m sure I don’t need to mention this, but anything you tell me I will keep within the confines of our trusted allies, of which my mates belong as well.”

  Hallosh straightened, his position shifting slightly as if he might sway at any moment. “Mates? Plural?”

  “Yes. Plural.” Lasar inhaled a deep breath before letting it go slowly. “My human sex slave is also a soul match to both me and Nary.”

  Hallosh swayed once before punching his chest with his fist. It remained pressed to his body. Lasar sympathized with Hallosh’s need to protect his heart, the center of all that he kept sacred. The discovery that so much more of the Alasharian’s way of life had been eternally altered had to be affecting him the same way it had when Lasar first detected the hum between himself and Chris.

  My beautiful Chris. I’ve found your family.

  “I understand how strange and disturbing this knowledge must be for you right now. I was so unnerved that I sought the immediate help of Sha Sha Ar.”

  Hallosh gasped. “You actually attempted to contact the Soul Healer?”

  “I did. Through Mara.” He winced at the mention of his sister’s name. Dearest heavens, please don’t let her be stained by the evil of whatever it is that has permeated my race.

  Worry radiated from Hallosh’s eyes. “How much did you share with her?”

  “I’m ashamed to say that I kept the truth from my own sister. I know now, and I sensed at the time, that it was the right thing to do. It doesn’t, however, make me any less uncomfortable at the deception.”

  “I understand. Unfortunately, it seems as if withholding or coloring the truth is about to become a more common occurrence with Alasharians, myself included.” Hallosh leaned forward. “These are much more troubling times than we’d first been led to believe.

  “Or perhaps,” Lasar added, “it’s that we’ve never known anything but battle, that we couldn’t imagine anything beyond our own need to stay banded together in order to fight our oppressors. Now it appears that our enemies aren’t just outside forces, but within our ranks as well.”

  “I never believed such a time for Alasharians could be possible.” Hallosh shook his head, the pain in his eyes clear. “Did the Healer ever contact you?

  Lasar needed to reveal all to Hallosh. As frightening as it was to reveal to others how important Chris actually was to their combined futures, he needed to temper his natural protectiveness in order for them all to move forward.

  “No. He contacted Chris, my human mate.”

  Chapter Five

  Chris stood next to Nary as he prepared the final meal for himself and Lasar. He regarded the can of kidney beans that Nary had plucked from the kitchen cabinets before placing it in front of him. What little fresh fruit and vegetables they’d acquired for him had been partially spoiled, and he’d already consumed what had remained of it the day before. He glanced over at Nary’s project. Beans had lost their appeal.

  “What type of meat is that?” Chris pointed to some slabs of brown lumps that Nary was in the process of thinly slicing up. “I mean, that’s what it is, right?” His mates had eaten something similar the night before and it had smelled pretty damn good, like being at a barbecue.

  “Yes, Nasha. It is. It’s the meat from a basha, the same animal of which we use the skins to fashion our clothing accessories and implements for our balancing sessions.”

  In other words, whips. The now-familiar tingle of arousal sparked at the base of his spine and Nary glanced sideways at him, the corner of his mouth quirking into a smile.

  “Soon, pet. Once Lasar has returned and we’ve eaten, you’ll get your spanking, I assure you.”

  Chris’ face heated and he thought a change of subject was in order—anything to distract him from his dick getting any harder. “I was wondering. Have any of the humans eaten Alasharian food yet?”

  Nary shook his head as he changed knives and started to dice up navy-blue and maroon-colored balls the size of a small tomato. They didn’t produce any juice, but made a crunching noise instead as Nary cut into them. “Not that I’m aware of. When it was announced that sex slaves would be awarded to those chosen worthy, we were warned against feeding them anything Alasharian in the event they had an adverse reaction.”

  “Oh.” He hadn’t thought of that. Bummer. But it seemed as if something smelled good to him, it had to be okay, right? Not that I know anything about that type of stuff.

  Nary paused in his chopping. “Don’t you like that food, pet? I was sure it was the correct one for humans. I heard that some animal foods are stored in the same type of metal containers, but I got the right one for you, didn’t I?”

  Chris was at the point where he might consider Purina if it meant he could eat something other than beans. Don’t be ungrateful. He didn’t want to think about his mom and sisters and what they might be eating in order to survive.

  “You got the right one, Nary. I shouldn’t complain, but I’m getting bored of eating the same thing. At home we used to…” His eyes filled with water and he swallowed down the tears. He was sick of being so weepy all the time. “We didn’t eat much canned or frozen food in my family. Sometimes to supplement or if we had nothing else since we didn’t have a lot of money, either. But we mostly made stuff fresh, like what you’re doing now.”

  Nary considered him and Chris could sense a thread of sympathy from his mate. He knew it was related to what he’d just said, but couldn’t figure it out exactly. Nary stroked his head.

  “We need to get you better food, Chris. I’m sorry. I thought the metal containers were something special for humans. Alasharians don’t have anything like it. We learn from an early age to properly estimate how much we need for food. If there does happen to be extra—for instance, if we’re suddenly called into battle—we save it to be consumed immediately upon our return.” Nary furrowed his brow. “The closest scenario to the human method of storage I can think of is when we froze edible plants and fruit to be transported here. One entire ship was designated only for plants, grains and animals, with additional stores on other ships in case that one were to be lost. But our food remained in their whole forms.”

  Chris glanced down at the bits and pieces that Nary had already chopped before looking up again. “Damn. That must’ve been quite a project to get all of that ready. I guess I never really thought about what you guys had to do in order to evacuate an entire planet. Were you given a limit on what sort of personal things you could bring?”

  “Oh, yes. In general, one carrying bag each, but Rahnas, advisors and their families were allowed two. An additional bag was designated for clothing. But we really only wanted our memory images, jeweled items and balancing objects.”

  Chris blinked a few times as he pondered Nary’s words. “I understood everything you just said except for memory images, which I’m guessing are like personal photographs?”

  Nary set down the knife, wiped his hands, then took a few
long strides until he reached the hotel dresser. He retrieved something from a top drawer, then quickly returned with a large black box in his hands. Nary lifted the lid and presented it to him. Chris peered down at a picture of Lasar and Nary, holding hands, leaning into each other with their heads touching. They both had radiant smiles, and their bunches and braids of hair were even more elaborately adorned than usual.

  “Wow. You have actual physical pictures. I would’ve assumed that they’d all be on those devices you carry around with you.” Chris swallowed, not sure why his stomach would twist in discomfort at the sight of the beautiful picture. “Is this from your soul match ceremony?”

  “Yes, pet. It is.”

  Nary gestured with a nod of his head for Chris to follow him as he moved toward the main area. He lowered himself onto the couch and Chris sat next to him. As Nary removed more and more of the images and laid them out on the coffee table, Chris was surprised at the burst of jealousy they caused. Not all of the pictures showed Lasar and Nary in romantic poses, but the full life they’d shared together before Chris had suddenly been added in highlighted how separate Chris still felt from his mates. He might love them, and they might love him, but he wasn’t yet completely a part of them.

  “No, Chris, that’s not true.” Nary set the box down then tugged him to his side, Chris’ emotions undoubtedly intense enough that Nary had understood him without words. “You’re precious to us, and we will have many memory images of you. When I first matched with Lasar, I wasn’t in any of his images, either. He possessed a lot already since he was quite a few parcels of time beyond me in age. I knew I would eventually be represented with him in the images. But I was assimilated as a part of his life from the moment we matched. The same is true for our match with you.”

  “Am I allowed to touch them?” Chris wanted to look closer, to get a sense of what his mates’ lives had been like on Alashar.

  “Of course, my pet. Now that you are matched with us, these belong to you just as much as they belong to us. That is also the case in regards to anything else we possess.”

  Whoa. He gently handled the first one he’d seen of Lasar and Nary. “Thank you for saying that. It makes me feel better.” He peered up at Nary. “I was worried at first that I was getting in the way of the relationship you guys already share, but seeing these…” Chris swallowed past a lump in his throat. “They made me worried that I wasn’t as important to you both as you are to each other.”

  Nary squeezed him and tipped his chin back with one finger. “No, sweet Chris. You are just as important. We are all even in the match.” Nary kissed him softly, his tongue sweeping through Chris’ mouth before he ended it with a press of their lips. “I love you as I know Lasar does too.”

  “And I love you guys as well. It’s all so overwhelming and new for me still, that’s all. I’ll try not to be such a baby about it.”

  Nary quirked his head. “It is like being a baby, though. The three of us together is a brand-new life. Our bond is right at the beginning, ready to grow into a wonderful entity of its own.”

  “Damn. You guys say the coolest things. I’ve always dreamed I could have love with a guy that was true and lasting. And not only do I have that, but I get it with two hunks.”

  Nary arched his eyebrows. “Are ‘hunks’ good things?”

  Chris snorted. “Very good things.” The images underscored something else regarding their new relationship. Because everything had moved so fast, it occurred to him that he didn’t know much about his new mates’ history together. “I was wondering. How did you and Lasar meet?”

  Nary let out a mournful sigh, but then quickly followed it up with a light chuckle. “I was very fortunate. The circumstances of our meeting were unpleasant, but the outcome more than worth it. While I was still training in the Saran, or warrior academy, I insulted the Nall’s son.”

  “Oops.”

  Nary raised his eyebrows. “Does that word mean that I made a mistake?”

  “Yeah. Definite mistake.”

  Nary cringed. “Yes, Chris. A big mistake.”

  “Uh-oh. What happened? Did the Nall get really mad?”

  Nary wrinkled his brow, his expression one of deep concentration. “You see, Chris, Alasharians prize respect almost higher than anything else. Only strength, balance, and of course, the love that exists between us in the soul match, matters as much. When I insulted the Nalls’s son by bragging to the other students that I was a better and stronger fighter than him, I committed a grave error. One moment of bravado almost cost me my life.”

  Chris dropped his jaw. “Oh my God. Just for showing off? They were going to execute you?”

  Nary shook his head. “Not exactly, at least in the way I think you mean it. My punishment would’ve been to fight the Nall’s son, but without any weapons to defend myself. However, he was allowed to have as many as he chose. He could also choose to fight with honor by only using one—the minimum required in the challenge—but instead, he picked every one there was.” Nary smirked. “I might have been disgracing myself by bragging, but it wasn’t without merit.”

  Chris laughed.

  “So,” Nary continued. “It would’ve been an almost certain death sentence had Lasar not intervened.”

  “Yeah?” Chris practically bounced on the sofa. The story was stressing him out even if he knew Nary was perfectly fine. Sometimes the deep soul match connection annoyed the hell out of him. “Did Lasar fight him for you instead?”

  “Oh no, that wouldn’t have been allowed. He invoked Hashor.”

  “Huh?” That’s it. Learning the damn language.

  “Hmm.” Nary rubbed his chin with one finger. “It’s a pardon that can only be used one time. You can’t request it for yourself, only for another. Anything can be forgiven, with the exception of willfully taking another Alasharian’s life. Although, that was a very rare occurrence on our planet. Lasar used his one Hashor on me, and I was spared.”

  “Wow.” Chris tried to imagine the scene in his head. “Did he do that because you guys were a soul match?”

  “He thought it was a possibility, but wasn’t certain. We hadn’t officially met, and as he explained before, I wasn’t ripe for either a match or a sharna, so he took a very big risk by giving away his only chance to use the pardon.” Nary smiled wistfully. “He’d been watching me train, had felt a pull toward me, so he decided I was worth the risk.”

  “I’ve never thought too much about romantic stuff before, but damn, I think that qualifies right there.”

  Nary let out a laugh. “Yes, I would agree.” Nary smiled as he regarded Chris. “I’m aware that you never had a sharna before the invasion, but wasn’t there a male who you found attractive? Perhaps…” Nary glanced away briefly before turning to Chris again. “Perhaps someone you hoped would love you?”

  Chris blinked several times as the intent behind Nary’s question sank in. He’s jealous. “No, Sir. I had a friend I messed around with once in a while, but it was out of curiosity, not love.” He snorted. “Not even a strong like.” Chris placed his hand on one of Nary’s. “You and Lasar are the only males I’ve ever loved.”

  Nary’s smile lit up his face, going straight to his stunning, sapphire-colored eyes. “Thank you, Chris. I’m sure you could sense my feelings of competition over other males, the way I did yours.”

  Chris cheeks heated and he went back to examining the photos. Nary gave him the story behind each one and Chris found himself wishing he could’ve visited Alashar, then surprised himself further by how sad he was that the planet had been lost forever. When he’d accidentally left a smudge of his fingerprint on one of the images, he’d been mortified. But Nary had simply wiped it off. He explained that the pictures were sealed in a way that it was almost impossible to damage them. They could even withstand a very high temperature should there be a fire.

  Chris jerked his head up at the same time Nary did. Very soon after, the telltale sounds of Lasar’s heavy footfalls could be heard as he d
rew closer. Without a word, they shoved the coffee table to the side in preparation to give honor to their shared Ahna upon his arrival. The moment the door opened, they simultaneously fell to their knees, then lay prone before him. They each in turn kissed the tip of Lasar’s nor boots. With the greeting complete, they straightened until they were perched on their knees again, their eyes downcast.

  Lasar rested his hand on Chris’ head, and in his peripheral vision, he saw that his Ahna had placed the other on Nary’s.

  “Thank you, Nashas. You may join me on the couches and you don’t need to hide your eyes from me. I have something important to tell you.”

  Chris’ breathing hitched in an uncomfortable way, and dizziness threatened as he tried to rise to his feet. Nary grabbed his arm.

  “Pet, are you ill?”

  “No…” Am I? “Extremely anxious, I think.”

  Lasar patted his lap then spread his thighs as if to make more room. “I want you both close. There is frightening news, but something wonderful, as well.”

  Nary guided Chris to Lasar, and the desire to get close to his other Ahna was powerful. He scrambled onto Lasar’s lap and leaned into him. Lasar wrapped an arm around his shoulders, his reach extending downward until he’d grasped Chris’ knee, his palm entirely covering it. Chris loved how both his mates could envelop him so completely with their larger frames.

  Once Nary had positioned himself on Lasar’s opposite leg, Lasar angled his head to gaze down at Chris.

  “I’ve found your family and they are safe.”

  Chris dissolved into sobs as he buried his face into Lasar’s armor-covered chest, clutching at him as Nary held him, too. They stayed entwined in one another’s arms as emotions made of relief, fear and elation washed over him. His mates kept him surrounded with their love, the sensation tangible as he worked through the feelings Lasar’s news had triggered.

  At last he lifted his head and searched Lasar’s eyes for reassurance. Instinctually, he already grasped the truth of Lasar’s words, but not knowing where his mother and sisters were, and whether or not they were okay, had been its own form of torture. Nary wiped Chris’ face with a cloth until he pulled away from his mate’s fussing over him. He had too many questions that needed immediate answers.