She’d used up much more of her store during her tirade. A gnawing ache burned in the pit of her belly. This hunger wasn’t base—it was primal. It was the pain that told her she was close to losing her strength. No Dareaux ever wanted to be in her position. She was on the brink of collapse.
“You waited too long,” Michaelerus commented. He walked up behind her and leveled his hands on her hips. “Jada.” A warning clung to his whisper of her name.
“I was a little busy,” she responded in a vicious whisper.
“You know better, Your Highness.” Amanassa shook his head. “You do us little good if you die of starvation.”
“It’s not that big of a deal.” Okay, she’d like it not to be that big of a deal. Hell. She’d been hungry before. She’d even been nearly starved into a coma before. Still, that was back in the day when she’d been young and she’d given off energy as if she was self-rejuvenating.
“Get undressed,” Michaelerus fairly growled. Abruptly releasing her, he strode back to his desk. “Now,” he ordered when she spun around. “I’ll not hear of you languishing because you don’t have the brains to say ‘I need to eat.’”
He made it sound so simple. On many levels it was. Amanassa went to argue her position, but she stopped him by raising her hand. “He’s right.” She sighed. “How many times have you counseled me and then fed me after I have heard a confession. I should know better.”
Her advisor kissed the top of her head. “You should do as your mate has told you to.” He brushed his hand down her hair, an action synonymous with Amanassa trying to temper the truth. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
She bit back on a laugh. “Really?” More than aware that Amanassa appreciated her penchant for being punished, she giggled. She peeked at Michaelerus and wondered if he would get into a little Dom/sub.
Her mate cocked an eyebrow. His gray eyes sparkled. Lust infused the air with a heady scent. She moved a little farther into the room and strategically placed herself close to the door leading to the sanctuary.
“Run, tesra. Run now or submit.” Michaelerus’s words echoed in her head.
“Do you think you can catch me?”
He chuckled. “What do you think?”
Amanassa laughed at the duo. “I say we give her to the count of three.”
Michaelerus nodded. “The rules are simple in this game we play, tesra. I catch you, and you submit. If your counselor should be the one to corner you, he will be in charge of our game.”
She inched closer to the door. “Fine.”
“One,” Michaelerus said. The grin gracing his highly kissable lips grew. “Two.”
Jada spun around and raced for the door.
“Three.”
She would have slammed into the portal if Michaelerus hadn’t caught her arm and pulled her back against him. How such an enormous man moved so fast was beyond her. “You cheated,” she whispered. With her back plastered to his torso, his hot breath wafted her hair. Her heart rate exploded when Amanassa leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.
“I never said I fought fair,” Michaelerus whispered.
Delicious tingles raced down her body. A throb took hold of her core. She doubted she would ever get tired of Michaelerus or what his mere presence did to her body.
Sand slipped down on them. The music she was becoming more and more aware of played in the background. This time it wasn’t a soft, lilting tune. No. This time the beat was hard and fast. It drove through her. The pulse in her pussy grew in intensity. “By the Gods.” Her nipples turned to hard buds.
“Yes.” Amanassa winked at her. “You are true life mates.” He straightened and bowed to Michaelerus. “You have control of the play, Supreme Commander.” Naked hunger burned in his gaze.
“Are you ready, slave?” Michaelerus asked. He slowly turned her around.
“What do you think?” She lifted her hands to lay them on his chest. Beneath her fingers, she felt the hard tattoo of his heart. Images of having Amanassa deep in her pussy while Michaelerus pounded her dark hole popped into her mind’s eye. A shiver raced the length of her spine. “Tell me. I want to know what you expect from me.”
Her counselor was intimately familiar with her penchant of courting punishment during sex. She liked to be dominated. She also liked the mixture of pain and pleasure.
“I think you need a lesson in submission.” Michaelerus took a step back. “Undress.”
Caught between two alpha males had her nerves twanging with desire. Add in the lust careening through her and she was primed for anything, as long as whatever position Michaelerus chose for her ended up with her screaming his name.
“You’re learning, slave.”
“Get out of my thoughts.”
Liquid heat gathered in her panties when Michaelerus wrapped his arms around her waist. His left hand skimmed across her hip to gather her skirt. Amanassa strode to stand behind her and palmed her breasts. The already tight buds of her nipples amazingly tightened more, and she moaned. Michaelerus had dipped his hand beneath her skirt. He stroked her clit through her silky panties.
She’d have collapsed had he not held her upright.
“You’re wet for us, slave. This pleases me.” Michaelerus moved the elastic aside. The pad of his finger teasingly traced her slick folds. His fingers moved closer and closer to dipping into her soaked pussy. Her thigh muscles jumped and twitched as she tried to buck against the hand doing amazing things to her body.
Her body went haywire when Amanassa pinched her nipples. “Ah.”
Michaelerus’s mouth came down on hers. His tongue plunged between her lips, moving against hers, reminding her she was about to take the sexual ride of her life. She clutched his shoulders for support. Her fingers fisted in his shirt.
Please. Please. I need this.
Michaelerus lifted his face and traced a finger of his free hand down her cheek. Suddenly, he plunged his digits deep in her channel. The slap-slap-slap of his palm slapping against her clit as he fucked her with his fingers sounded in the air.
Energy zinged all around them. Her climax built. The throb thrummed stronger. A plea for release sprang to her lips. Michaelerus cut her off by sliding his thumb into her mouth.
Needing a good fuck, her poor pussy screaming to be stretched by a hard dick, she squealed when both men abruptly moved away.
“I want to watch you suck Amanassa’s cock—nice and slow. Show me your talents, slave.” Michaelerus slapped her ass. Behind her, she heard the rustle of clothing being removed. “Suck him nice and slow,” Michaelerus reiterated.
She took a few shaky steps to where Amanassa stood. Gulping, Jada nodded. She fell to her knees before the man. Gripping his giant cock, she took a tentative lick. She opened her mouth and took the head between her lips. It took her a few minutes to find her pace, but she was soon taking most of his shaft down her throat.
“Put your hands behind your back,” Michaelerus commanded.
Lifting her face to meet Amanassa’s steady stare, she released his cock from her mouth. She placed her hands behind her back and gripped them together in a white-knuckle clutch. It took her a few tries, but she managed to get Amanassa’s cock back in her mouth. She was just getting her stroke back when Amanassa gripped her head in his hands and held her still.
Every inch of her body tingled with desire. Zips of energy flowed between her and her advisor. Her pussy throbbed so bad she was only seconds away from coming.
“Not yet,” Michaelerus demanded.
Damn, she’d never been this turned on before. It was hot as hell to know Michaelerus was watching her suck off another man. I need you to fuck me. To give it to me until I scream your name.
Eased up by a pair of strong hands on her shoulders, Amanassa’s cock slipped out of her mouth. “Undress for me,” he muttered. The tone of his voice informed Jada that her counselor was on the brink of coming as well. “Once you are done, sit on the desk.”
“I want
to watch you touch yourself before I pound your ass.” Michaelerus began to disrobe.
Blowing out a breath, Jada imagined Michaelerus’s hard length stroking her dark hole. Her pussy ached for attention, too.
She gave her mate credit. He sure knew how to turn her on and keep her lust ramped.
She pulled off her top and tossed it on a companion chair. Her bra joined it next. After shimmying out of her skirt, she then removed her panties.
On legs that felt positively jellified, she made her way to his desk and eased her body down on the smooth surface. Turning her head, she watched Michaelerus and Amanassa stroke their cocks from base to tip.
“Spread your legs wide,” Michaelerus ordered. “Fuck yourself with your fingers. I want to see you come.”
She slid her middle finger into her pussy. A low moan broke from her throat. She added another finger. Her feminine walls clutched her fingers as she stroked them in and out of her channel. The pressure in her belly grew. Her free hand came up to tweak her nipple. She was on the verge of a major orgasm. “Yes. Yes. Yes.” Still, she tingled for a cock or two.
“Come for me, Jada. Do it now.” Michaelerus’s voice permeated the passionate haze fogging her senses.
Strong contractions ripped through her. Even so, she continued to pump her fingers into her pussy, keeping time with the driving beat of the music flowing in her—around her. “I need you!” she shouted.
“What do you need?” Michaelerus asked. He strode the short distance separating them. “Tell me.”
“Your cock in me,” she cried.
He eased his hand between her thighs, spreading her wetness across her already slick folds then down to tease her anus. He pushed his finger into her dark hole. The brief stab of pain was quickly replaced by a driving desire to have him fuck her hard. Though, like all her people, she was in no shade of the term an anal virgin. “By the Gods…”
“Easy,” Michaelerus whispered. She sensed he was reaching the end of his discipline. Amanassa wasn’t in any better straits.
Within the blink of an eye, she was lifted, and Amanassa settled beneath her. His cock was poised at her rim. Michaelerus climbed atop the desk. The head of his penis stroked her slit. Without warning, they entered her at the same time.
“Yes!” She took several deep breaths. Her pulse raged when they began a slow dance.
Almost there. So close. She clung to the roped muscles of Michaelerus’s shoulders. The first tremors of her orgasm bucked down her body. Her thigh muscles twitched. “Fardin frig, give it to me.”
The pace turned rampant as the two men plunged in and out of her. Her climax broke over her. The feel of Amanassa’s hot cum filled her ass.
Michaelerus continued to plunge.
A scream grew in her throat. The contractions rifling down her pussy milked him as she climaxed again. Her raging heartbeat threatened to burst her eardrums open. She hugged him.
Shots of energy jolted between them.
His cum drenched her core.
She huffed in deep lungfuls of air. “That was amazing.”
Chapter Four
It’s always darkest before it goes pitch black.
“Thank you for your insight, Larsus.” Michaelerus leaned back in his chair. His finger punched the button to disconnect the com-link with Community Headquarters. He narrowed his gaze on the rare beauty lying in his bed.
Gorgeous.
Mine.
Stretching out the aching muscles of his neck, he pondered the counsel he’d just received. The legate had delivered the right answer; penance would be paid.
In a sick and sad way, it seemed so easy when vocalized to him. Do this. Do that. Relinquish Leanderus to the Dareauxian authorities—yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah.
Michaelerus wondered if he could actually turn his half-brother over to the Dareauxians for trial. Stiffening his spine, he shook his head.
It went against every fiber of his being.
He raked his hand through his hair. This is incredible.
Not because he didn’t agree that Leanderus should be punished. He did. Still…
This is a mess.
Truthfully, he hadn’t been all that surprised that Leanderus had broken the crystal. It was almost par for the course anymore. Push buttons. Wait for the fallout. Go forward.
The boy was going to be the death of him. At least that’s what Michaelerus had believed, and then he’d been told that the Dareauxians took the destruction of healthy crystals very seriously.
He ground his teeth together. Anger welled up in him.
His half-brother had most likely forfeited his life in a juvenile tirade meant to show Michaelerus he didn’t like the fact he’d been mated to Jada.
Why?
How stupid.
He’d like to say he felt something for the young warrior—that he could empathize with his attitude or sympathize with the drastic decision the remaining Navorains were forced into. He couldn’t. He felt almost nothing except minor pangs of disappointment. And even those niggling feelings weren’t for Leanderus but for their shared father.
Wrestling with all of it was turning him stark raving mad.
Michaelerus understood what he had to do. He had to reckon his accounts. He needed to stare at the sins he’d committed versus the life he’d lived. For what he could, he’d atone. For the rest, he’d lay his soul bare upon his death and pray for the Great Fathers’ pity.
Guilty! You are guilty, Michaelerus. You never cared for what I felt or how lonely I am.
Shaunna’s words clanged like a gong in his already aching head. What would his grandfather, Fis Marran the Compassionate, have told him? Good question.
Start at the beginning. Start at the point that ties you to the past. That chains your future.
“Computer, show me the death of Navora,” Michaelerus ordered. Standing at the floor-to-ceiling iridium windows, the normally translucent panels flickered and then brought up the vidi he’d watched so many times he’d lost count.
The familiar stab of pain knifed his heart. His gaze remained trained on the computer record taken from a border sensor. His pulse elevated as the specially designed torpedo raced across the inky blackness of space.
Grimacing when the T-9 Planet Killer smashed into Navora, he gritted his teeth. Slowly, as if death was a patient observer to the suffering his people were experiencing, the rifts where the planet’s tectonic plates met grew red. The surface turned black except for the crimson-red lines snaking here and there.
The scientists had assured the survivors that by this time most of the victims were dead due to the gravitational shift as the tectonic plates heaved in their final death throe. Michaelerus prayed it was the truth.
He prayed and prayed. Paid penance. Longed for absolution until he couldn’t breathe in a full lungful of air.
The pain.
The excruciating terror.
The race to somewhere that wasn’t an exit but the final resting place.
The facts were his companions.
In his head, he heard the final conversation he’d had with his wife. They’d been arguing—again. In his heart, he was just as angry at her as she was at him, but he wasn’t allowed to vent the way she did.
The rage in her voice kicked him with the same force it had fifteen years ago. He fisted his hands to keep from doubling over.
She’d put it out there. The reality they’d both skirted. A truth that would destroy her reputation and bring him before the Council of Kings for breaking the Navorain War Code.
Mistreatment. Mental abuse. Dissolution of sacred bonds.
She wanted to dissolve their union.
His emotions stirred higher and higher as he tried to recall how they’d been when they’d first been mated. He shook his head.
What did it matter? It hadn’t.
The sand had obviously agreed with her decision to divorce. Even he had become aware that the emotional tie they’d shared had grown water thin as he went off to space an
d she remained behind on the planet. His career, the one she’d fostered for the first few years of their marriage, the one she’d reveled in and taken great pride in the fact she was his wife, became the bone of contention between them.
He blamed himself then.
He still did.
“Is everything all right?” Jada asked from the bed. She sat up. The sheet pooled around her waist. “I felt your distress.”
Rejecting the urge to explain all his mistakes to Jada, Michaelerus finished watching the vidi. The planet expanded one final time before pulling in. The explosion was soundless, the soft flaring flames of the debris shooting out from the place where Navora had once stood gutted quickly in the nothingness of space.
He looked at her over his shoulder. “Leanderus destroyed the crystal.”
“I know.”
“It told you.”
“It showed me who had beaten it.” She didn’t appear the least bit fazed, but she did bow her head. “It wasn’t my place to name the murderer. My duty is to console the crystal in its final moments.” She peeked at him. “To bear witness to its pain.”
“And, you just bore witness to my pain.”
She slipped from the bed and padded to where he stood. He immediately wrapped her in his embrace.
“I cannot understand your pain. I have no reference to losing a whole world in the span of a few minutes.”
“Seventeen minutes—exactly,” he corrected her. It wasn’t even as if he could do anything to save anybody trapped on the planet. He was more than a sector away from Navora when the attack occurred. “The first ten, most of my kind spent dying.” A sick sensation filled the pit of his stomach. He looked down at her. Big, fat tears filled her eyes.
She audibly swallowed. “Nor do I understand why a culture would ever build such a weapon.”
He didn’t want to hash out why the Andromedains had built the T-9 Planet Killer. “Some cultures are harder to understand than others.”
“You wonder why the Dareauxians would put Leanderus to death, don’t you?”
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