by Aubrey Cara
I realize the men have turned these things on from inside their minds, like living computers.
“A Joslyn spacecraft just entered Kadeema’s atmosphere.” Situs strides over to the control panel, and a hologram of a blue stone appears. “We have sufficient power if we need to flee off world,” he says.
“What’s going on?” Jual’s left eye, that’s normally quite ordinary, has a tiny scroll of indecipherable symbols. It’s easy to forget my new husbands aren’t entirely human, but I am fully reminded now how “other” they are.
Jual explains, “The loud blast was the sound of our sensors being triggered.”
I expect more action, but the men calm after the initial rush to get me inside. The lights dim and shut off entirely and the low hum of the engine disappears. “Shouldn’t we be lifting up? Leaving?”
“False alarm. For now we will stay put,” Situs explains.
The men can see in the dark, but I stumble forward, trying to get my bearings, before Situs lights one of the crude candles they made for me. I’m not afraid of the dark, but am instantly relieved when I can see their faces again.
“A lone Joslyn ship is heading to our northern hemisphere,” Jual says. “It’s very far from here. And Joslyn are peaceful creatures. The craft could be here for any reason. Or it could be—”
“A trick,” Situs finishes. “Ko’sars are in the near neighboring galaxy. They may have sent in a Josyln shuttle as decoy to discover the source of activity on Kadeema. If so, they’ll linger outside the planet, waiting.”
My stomach gives a sick twist at his words, terrifying scenarios running through my mind.
“We will not fall into their hands,” Situs reassures me. He is grim faced but appears determined.
While I’ve grown complacent over our time on Kadeema, I realize the men have stayed ever vigilant, the guards they were created to be.
“Then what do we do?” I ask.
“We wait,” Jual says with casual resolve.
My heart pounds. “Wait?” I mutter. We may be invaded by an alien race who…my mind stutters. I don’t know if these new aliens will kill us or give us to the Zapex. And we’re supposed to wait? My mind is screaming we need to flee. Then I realize the men are calmly standing there…naked.
We’re all still naked!
A high-pitched laugh of hysteria bubbles out of me and I cover my mouth, horrified. “If we’re going to wait to be slaughtered like sheep, can we at least wait with clothes on?”
Situs face darkens in offense, but Jual’s lips pull up at the corners. “I think our little lamb deserves a punishment for having so little faith in our ability to protect her.”
Situs shakes his head. “No distractions,” he tells Jual. “We must be on guard until we know who is on that shuttle.”
“Our poor geliebte thinks we will all be led to slaughter,” Jual says, his heated gaze tracking over my body until I squirm. “I think a distraction is exactly what the little lamb needs.”
Situs’s brows pull down like he’s considering this. “Perhaps you’re correct.” Like a shift in the air, his eyes take on a predatory glint. “I do not care for her believing we could not keep her alive and well.” His cock fills, the hard length pointing at me, and I take an involuntary step back.
He cups and strokes his lengthening member as his gaze wanders my body in a way that makes my nipples tighten and heat unfurl low in my belly. He stalks forward, and I take another step back as Jual comes in from the other side, and I’m trapped.
Jual nods in agreement. “Nor I. Have we not kept her fed and sheltered, and killed all who threatened to take her from us?”
I shiver at the dark reminder.
“We have,” Situs says. “And when she was lost and afraid, I found her and killed a beast about to make a meal out of her.”
“Yet she seems to have so little faith in her mates.” Jual shakes his head, as if disappointed in me. “What should be the punishment for a mate who doubts us so?”
Situs lifts his hand. and I flinch. Not because I fear his touch. I’m just on edge. He hesitates before he runs his callused knuckles over the swell of my breast and down my sides. “She obviously needs practice in trust.”
Jual nods. “Do we still have the cuffs from the med table?”
Situs produces them as if from thin air. One dangles off the end of his finger, while he holds another three in his other hand. “Are you ready for your lesson, little mate?”
“No.” The denial is out of my mouth before I can stop it. “I mean, yes!”
Each man quirks a brow at me. “Which one is it, geliebte?” Jual asks.
I swallow, my throat suddenly tight and dry. “Yes?”
Jual shakes his head, tsking. “That doesn’t sound convincing, little lamb. Put your hands up and spread your legs.”
I hesitate. Do they mean to restrain me? Punishment is one thing, but I’ve never been bound. I’m not sure I’ll like it. A stinging smack to my bottom makes me jump.
“He meant now, little mate.” Situs’ words rumble at my ear, daring me to defy them.
Not happy with the turn of events, I raise my hands halfheartedly and step out so my feet are barely hip-width apart.
Jual looks me in the eye as he kicks my feet out a little farther, letting me know I’m no longer in control. “Just like that, lamb.”
They snap the same wide black cuffs on me we used on Situs. They’re thin wide bands and do not appear that strong, but I give my arm a test jerk to see my range of movement, and it’s none. Somehow, the cuffs are locked in the air above my head. With my thighs so far apart, air swirls over my heated center, making me embarrassingly aware of the wetness gathering there.
Jual’s grin is wicked as if pleased to see me discover how well and truly trapped I am. The men circle me, brushing fleeting touches along my lower back, my sides. They draw near then retreat, making my head spin.
I can’t keep my gaze from avidly wandering over their bare torsos, chiseled to perfection with muscle. My cheeks heat each time they catch me staring. From the way their cocks stand from their bodies, they’re enjoying tormenting me.
A cloth is dropped over my eyes and tied at the back of my head. A surge of panic rolls through me at the loss of sight.
I can’t see.
I can’t move.
“Gentle,” Jual growls at my ear.
My hair is swept aside as soft lips and the scrape of beard tickle along my nape. Callused fingertips stroke down my spine. I shiver, more heat escaping between my spread thighs.
A mouth takes my nipple, teeth nibble at the curve of my waist, and the large, rough hands of my men trail over my body, never quite getting to the junction where I most need their touch. I mentally play the game of trying to discern the identity between strokes and kisses.
Jual’s lips are fuller, his tongue thicker. His touch is surer but no less worshipful than Situs, whose hands are gentle and whose caresses linger. Hands spread my bottom cheeks, and warm breath blows over my nether lips before a tongue tastes me where I have never been tasted. I try to retreat, but I’m locked in place, squirming in the hold of the cuffs.
I hear the men’s laughter in my mind and know I’m projecting.
Be still, little lamb, Jual says through our link, Your lesson is only beginning. The rumble of his voice somehow amplifies when in my mind.
Fingers trail through the slickness gathered at my core, painting around the rim of my rosette, lightly pushing in then retreating. I whimper. Another set of hands cups my breasts, pulling and pinching my nipples until my breath catches and I nearly ask for mercy. Soft touches trail up my thighs before disappearing. A stinging crack of a hand on my bottom sends sparks through my body and rings in my ears. More pressure at my anus, pushing in, stretching. I dance up on my toes, my head falling back against a shoulder. A warm weight presses my back, as another presses my front, a hand delving between our bodies right where I need it the most. He circles my clit, not giving me enough pre
ssure, and I moan.
“Do you want us, just like this, little mate?” Situs asks, his warm breath puffing against my neck, and I know for certain it’s him stretching me. Possibly preparing me. My heart races with renewed anxiety at the idea of both men taking me at the same time.
Jual’s tormenting fingers push inside me, and I’m suddenly full of both men, a teasing glimpse of their offering. “Do you trust us to care for you, geliebte?” Jual asks, his digits slowly retreating and pushing in. My mind reels from the seesaw of their fingers, moving back and forth.
I pant and nod my head, at a loss for words.
Another stinging slap strikes my ass. “Use your words,” Situs says, with a grin in his voice.
Hands retreat from my body and the men move back. Cold air swirls around me in their absence. I’m suddenly struck with three hard smacks on the same spot of my bottom, the sting blossoming and radiating out, pulsing between my legs.
“Let us ask again,” Situs says. “Are you ready to experience what it is to take both your mates? Do you trust us with your body?” He runs a hand down my side. “Your mind?” He kisses my temple. “And your spirit?”
Tears come to my eyes at the realization I’ve already given myself wholly to them. “They’re already yours. Now and forever.” I had never belonged to, or with, Jonah. I am the center of Situs and Jual’s universe, and they are the center of mine. “I trust you both to care for me in every way. I want you both.”
I expect them to move in at my proclamation, and take me fully, but the torment begins again. A slow buildup of teasing caresses has me squirming and begging for them to fill me.
My torment in waiting for their touch has successfully distracted me from the fact the safe world we’ve created for ourselves may be about to be invaded. More than ever, I want to feel the reassurance of their arms around me. Their bodies moving over me. Inside me.
A hand lifts my thigh, bodies bracket me. I feel the hot trail of a hard length at my back and against my thigh before one of the men is pushing into me from the front. “Is this what you need, geliebte?”
“Yes,” I nod. “Yes, please more.”
Jual moves inside me, until my walls start squeezing in preparation. I cry out when he abruptly pulls out. More hands bracket my waist and thighs. I’m lifted higher, and Situs is pushing into my wet heat from behind, working me to the edge and retreating. Back and forth Jual and Situs take turns driving me to the brink of ecstasy, driving into my core, then leaving me empty, on edge and quaking as I beg them to let me come.
When a hot, sticky length presses my back passage, I panic stiffening up. I hear Relax and Be at ease simultaneously in my mind. Jual takes me in a kiss. I force my body to relax as the tip breaches me, pushing in slowly.
Inch by inch, the stretch burns, and I pull at my restraints. “You’re too big.”
“Shh, my beloved mate.” Situs, his breath puffing against my ear, his voice strained. “Please trust me to make this good for you.” He pauses, but my body fights to accept his invading cock. “Do you trust me?”
I whimper, conflicted, but then the burn pulses out in a low throb that spreads to my core. Fingers circle my clit, building my need back up until I’m panting and squirming.
Do you trust me? Situs asks again in my mind when I don’t answer.
“More,” is all I say. It’s all they need to hear.
Situs pushes in the rest of the way and is only seated a moment before Jual is fitting his length against my dripping core. Situs already filling makes me so tight he struggles to push in. It’s a snug fit that takes my breath. I’m ready for them to move, but, instead, fingers delve between our bodies and find my clit, circling and rubbing until my body is convulsing on both their lengths and I’m screaming, straining against my bindings.
As if waiting for my release, both men begin moving in heavy strokes, filling and retreating at the same time. They lose their rhythm the faster they thrust and I can’t breathe, so overwhelmed with sensation. Arms grip me. Bodies slide against mine. Stars burst before my eyes. I feel them swelling, and I can’t take much more.
Situs pulls back a little as Jual pushes in even farther, and then they’re spilling, the blast of their seed pulsing deep, until it gushes out between us. My body trembles in aftershocks of mini orgasms, drawing groans from the men. Again, they pulse and spill inside me. The throbbing of their knots pushes against an internal spot that makes me quake, and I nearly pass out.
Wrung out and limp, I slump forward. My arms are released, and one man holds me as the other massages my arms, trailing kisses over my shoulder and my nape.
You are perfect, Jual tells through our mind link, at the same time Situs says, How beloved you are, my precious mate.
When their swelling goes down, they pull from my body only to carry me to the bak to bathe. It’s not large enough for all of us. Situs holds me and cleans me before laying me out on the furs. The men clean themselves then me, their warmth seeping into my skin and down to my bones. I’m tender and sore but replete in a way I’ve never experienced before. They pet me, kiss me, tangle their fingers in my hair, and rain praise down on me until I’m practically glowing.
I think I may doze for a bit, content in our cocoon of warmth and safely tucked between my two men. Situs watches me. He runs a finger down my nose, traces my jawline. His mouth opens like he will say something but stops.
“What is it?” I ask.
“This is what I thought it would be like.”
“What’s that?”
“Having a mate,” he explains then makes a face. “Well, I did not think Jual would be here.”
Jual’s arm’ draped over my waist tenses and lifts as he shoves Situs. “You’re lucky I am here. You’d still be in the field, brooding and longing, if it weren’t for me.”
Situs grins down at me with a lightness I’ve never seen from him before, and I can’t help but smile back up at him like a loon.
Neither of them jerks or shows reaction, but I can tell the moment they receive a message. There is a loll in conversation. Jual curses in a language I don’t understand, but I know a curse when I hear one. Plus, Situs gives him a word of censor.
My heart drops. For a moment, I had forgotten what trials may await us outside the shuttle doors. I’ve just become accustomed to this new reality I’m in, and I don’t want it taken away from me. Not when everything I’ve ever desired in life is within my grasp. I’m no longer angry at God for bringing me here. This is where I am meant to be, and I pray with all my heart he does not take these men, or the baby I carry, from me.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
The men share a look, and I wonder if they’re secretly deciding how much to tell me. “A Monrok has landed. He was en route to another station when the rebellion began,” Situs says, his good humor evaporating. “He has a human female. They’re not sure where she came from. She stowed away.”
“Well, why are you frowning? Isn’t it a good thing that they came here?”
Jual shakes his head. “The ship they arrived in was stolen from the main shuttlebay in Pacbar, our galaxy’s capital planet. Galactic security gave chase. That alone is enough to cause concern since we Monrok have only recently been recognized as a liberated species by the Galactic Unity Council. Fortunately they were not followed, as far as they know, but the female…she still has a chip.”
“What chip?”
Jual touches the tiny scar on my temple. “The Zapex implanted a translation chip when they took you, and it also was a tracking device. We removed it when we left. It’s why you cannot understand us when we speak in other languages.”
I try to remember hearing the Zapex talk to me. The blue men who had come for me were always silent, and then they gave me drugs… It’s all a haze I would rather forget.
“Can’t they destroy the tracking device?”
“They likely have,” Situs says. “But those of us who brought females here removed the chip when we were still cycles a
way from Kadeema.”
“Whoever was transporting the female may be able to trace her here,” Jual says.
“Does that mean we’re leaving?” I just started to think of Kadeema as home. I don’t want to wander space again. The walls are closing in on me thinking about being up in the great void of night again. My breath comes in short gasps.
Jual lays a hand on my shoulder. “Settle. We are not going anywhere. Kadeema is our home now.”
“But the Zapex can find us,” I reason.
“We always knew they would,” Situs says, and I’m not sure if I’m reassured by this knowledge.
He cups my face, his stare a solid wall of security. “Calm.”
I take a few deep long breaths, a little dizzy.
When my rush of panic settles, he continues. “We thought we had more time to prepare ourselves. We must get a force field up around the planet. We are still searching for a natural source of tash stones. They are the energy source for our ships and will allow us to create a defensive magnetic field around the planet.”
“But have no doubts, geliebte,” Jual says, his face going savage and dark. “Whether we have a force shield up or not, if and when they come for us, we will destroy them.”
I shiver at his words and the cold look of death on his face. He didn’t even appear that brutal when he killed Aryl. I glance back at Situs, and he gives me one succinct nod. They will destroy whoever comes for us. A part of me is still shaky, but I know to my bones when the time comes, they will do everything in their power to keep me safe.
“What do we do now?” Do we hang in limbo, waiting for the Ko’sars or Zapex to find us?
“We enjoy the rest of the day with our mate,” Jual says, and Situs shakes his head, probably knowing that’s not what I was asking.
“We continue building our lives here and preparing this world to be our fortress,” Situs tells me. “We are Monrok warriors, elite guards, and the most powerful beings in the universe.” He says this without a trace of arrogance, only as a point of fact. “The Zapex thought they could control us, but it was only a matter of time before we took our freedom. Protecting and defending is what we were created for, but we never were fighting for ourselves or defending anything belonging to us. Now, we have Kadeema, the home we have claimed for our own, and females who already carry our future.” He says the last giving my abdomen a meaningful look. “You are ours, this world is ours, and we will do anything to keep what belongs to us.