by Opal Carew
She slumped back onto the pillows and stared at the ceiling.
A few moments later, he pushed himself from the bed.
“I’m needed on the bridge. We should be arriving on Sa’oul within the next few hours.”
He disappeared into the bathroom. When he emerged several minutes later, he was dressed in his uniform, his long, dark hair damp from a shower and bound tight behind his head. He paused at the door, his back to her for a long moment, then he proceeded forward without looking back.
Once the door slid closed behind him, Aria sank into the pillows and let her tears flow. Her mother had loved her other children more than Aria, giving her up for adoption. Aria hadn’t been important enough to love. Her chest clenched painfully. Now Tai felt the same way. His love for his king—his brother—was greater than his love for her.
Chapter 8
Tai marched from his quarters, jagged emotions twisting through him. Loyalty to his brother, who was also his king. Knowledge that Aria was to be Zander’s wife, not Tai’s. A compelling need to be with Aria, to hold her in his arms, to join with her. To have her in his life always.
The memory of her soft, supple body in his arms, responding to his lovemaking, tore through him, ripping at his heart. His feelings for her were stronger than anything he’d ever felt before.
He stopped at the door to the bridge and stabbed at the button. The mechanism automatically checked his fingerprint and DNA against the database and the door slid open.
Could it be that Aria really was Tai’s tanash’ae, not Zander’s?
He remembered when he’d told Aria that what he felt was his brother’s link. How do you know? she’d asked.
He knew because…Zander had told him.
He marched onto the bridge. Terrien and Baryn glanced up from their stations, smiles tingeing their lips—until they saw Tai’s face. Their smiles faded and both men locked their gazes on their consoles.
Of course, they’d be happy. They’d both found their tanash’ae.
He settled into the command chair and displayed the ship’s status on his monitor, then stared at it with unseeing eyes.
Zander would not claim Aria was his tanash’ae if it wasn’t true. Tai could depend on Zander’s judgment above all else. That had been clear ever since their parents had died, leaving the throne to the older of the two twins. A difficult task for a thirteen-year-old, but Zander had brought Sa’oul to great prosperity and social freedom. Their people were happy and it was because of Zander’s excellent leadership.
Tai jabbed a button on his console and his monitor displayed blackness sprinkled with distant stars. A small, orange ball hung in the center. Sa’oul.
A tinge of guilt crept through him. Zander had sent Tai to fetch Aria, entrusting his greatest treasure to Tai. How could Tai even entertain the thought of keeping Aria for himself? And what sense did that make? This link he felt for Aria was only a reflection of Zander’s link with her. The real link.
He focused on the stats displaying below the picture on his monitor, but a nagging doubt kept pushing at his consciousness.
What if Tai’s was the real link? What if what Zander felt was a reflection of Tai’s link with Aria rather than the other way around?
The thought unsettled him more than he cared to admit.
Aria watched out the small window in the bedroom. A great orange ball of a planet loomed outside.
Several hours had passed since Tai had left her alone. Casey had come by to tell her they would be arriving soon and Aria should get ready.
Aria’s heart sank. Soon she would be transported from this ship and handed over to the king. Tai’s brother. She would be expected to fall in love with him and live happily ever after, just like in a fairy tale. This fairy tale would have no happy ending, however. Tai would disappear into space to pursue whatever mission his brother commanded and forget all about Aria, or at least suppress thoughts of her. Probably quite successfully. He seemed very good at it.
She sighed, wiping away a tear. She’d been torn from her family at a young age and thrown into homes with no real connection. She would find a way to cope with this new situation.
She would be a queen, or a concubine, or whatever this planet did with arranged mates for their king. She had no doubt she would be well cared for.
The door slid open and Tai stepped inside. “Are you ready?”
She felt empty inside, but she drew her shoulders back and stood up.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She wore her power suit once again. Ironic, since she’d never felt so powerless.
He led her down the corridor to the lounge where she and the other women had first appeared on the ship.
“Where are the others?” she asked.
“They’ve already transported down.”
She nodded. He led her to the door of the elevator—or rather, transporter. The door swooshed open.
He hesitated.
“Aria.”
She turned to face him. “Yes?”
Did he have instructions for her? Would he tell her how to behave in front of the king? Give her some last minute etiquette tips?
“This has meant a lot to me. I…” He stared for a moment, his silver eyes filled with turmoil. He touched her cheek tentatively.
Electricity blazed through her and the desperate need raging inside was almost unbearable. Then he tugged her into his arms and kissed her, his lips moving on hers with a quiet desperation. She fought to stay immune, but the ache inside her was too potent. She melted against him, her arms curling around his neck.
“Gattra, Aria, what will I do without you?”
Before she could respond, his hand slid to the small of her back and he pressed her into the transporter. As soon as the door close, the immediate feeling of movement and the resulting nausea overwhelmed her. Dizziness slammed her against the wall, then everything went black.
Chapter 9
Wakefulness came slowly, along with the awareness of a warm, hard body pressed against her. She glanced around the room, trying to get her bearings. The light seemed clearer than she was used to and the air fresher. She lay in a huge bed covered by a thin, sage green sheet with no other blankets or coverings. As she ran her hand along the silky, smooth fabric, she realized it was warm to the touch, as though infused with sunlight. The walls seemed to shimmer, until she watched carefully and realized they were constantly changing color, a very subtle shifting of shades through a range from pale moss green to amber gold.
Hands encircled her waist and lips nuzzled her neck.
“Tai?”
“Yes, my love.” His voice rumbled through her, caressing her insides like a silk scarf.
My love? She must be dreaming. She snuggled against him. If so, she intended to enjoy every lovely moment of it. She shifted his large hands to cup her breasts, then let her eyelids fall closed, enjoying the intense feelings of arousal at his loving touch. Her nipples peaked, thrusting into his palms.
The mattress in front of her compressed and her eyelids snapped open. Another man sat on the edge of the bed.
Tai. She stiffened. But if Tai sat in front of her, who was behind her? She glanced around. The man behind her also wore Tai’s face.
There were two of him? His hands tightened around her breasts, sending shimmering heat through her.
Oh, God, this was shaping up to be the best dream ever.
“Hello, Aria,” said the new Tai.
She turned to face the Tai sitting in front of her.
“Hello, Tai,” she murmured in a throaty purr.
He smiled, that familiar devilish smile she’d come to love so much.
“I’m not Tai. I’m Zander. Tai’s twin brother.”
She stiffened. Tai’s twin brother? That would explain the link Tai talked about between them.
Maybe this wasn’t a dream after all.
“You’re right, Tai.” The king’s gaze washed over her face. “She is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Are you going to hold me down while he takes me?
“Don’t look so terrified, Aria,” the king said. “Tai and I had a long talk and he told me in no uncertain terms that you are his tanash’ae, not mine.”
Rather than looking angry, he smiled. Hope flared inside her.
“You really are a good influence on him,” he continued. “When I was put on the throne after our parents’ death, my brother learned to defer to me. Although it was appropriate under the circumstances, it took something from him. He never learned to be himself. To depend on his own judgment where I was concerned. It’s wonderful to have such a loyal subject, but I also want my brother. With you, he learned to speak up for what is his, and I respect that.”
Warmth glowed in his silver eyes, but a sadness edged with hunger flickered in the depths.
“But you thought I was your soul-mate. Do you now believe you were feeling Tai’s link to me because of your special connection as twins?”
“Yes. That’s the only thing that make sense.”
“So what will happen now?” she asked.
“Well, that’s between you and Tai.” He shrugged. “I assume you’ll marry and live happily ever after, but I can’t speak for my brother.”
Tai’s arms tightened around her. “I’m never going to let you go. I want to marry you. But I’ll give you time to—”
She rolled toward him and threw her arms around his neck. “Yes!” She didn’t need time. She needed him. Her lips locked on his in a spine-tingling kiss. His hands stroked up and down her back and she moaned in pleasure.
“Ahem. I’m still here, you know.”
Tai relaxed his hold on her and she rolled onto her back again. She gazed up at Tai, then at his brother. My God, looking at the two striking men, both wearing the face of the man she loved, sent her head into a spin. What would it be like to kiss two of him? What would it be like to be held by two of him, one in front and one behind? What would it be like to make love to two of him at the same time?
Heat flooded through her. Shocked at her thoughts, she lowered her eyelids, her cheeks burning.
Tai and Zander exchanged glances. Tai smiled and nodded.
“Tai, may I kiss the bride-to-be?” Zander asked.
“Aria?” Tai asked.
A delicious tingle danced up her spine at the thought of being kissed by Tai’s twin. “Well, I guess…”
She sat up, keeping the sheet securely wrapped around herself. Tai’s muscular leg still pressed the length of hers and his hand rested on her hip. Zander’s hand settled on her shoulder and she sucked in a breath as warmth spread through her, radiating from his touch. He leaned forward slowly, ninety percent of the way, then held, waiting for her. She closed the remaining distance, watching his glimmering silver eyes.
When their lips touched, lightly and with tenderness, awareness lurched through her. A deep, strong, emotional well opened within her. The same as she felt with Tai, except… stronger.
Intensely stronger.
She became lost in his lips, drawn into a depth of feeling that surpassed comprehension. Her mouth blossomed, her lips shimmered in delicious, tingling need. Her body quivered in excitement, yearning for his lips to explore every inch of her.
The feeling was so powerful she recoiled at the intensity.
As his lips parted from hers, thoughts sparked through her brain like lightning.
How could she have made such a disastrous mistake? She had convinced Tai she was meant to be with him when in truth she was Zander’s soul-mate after all.
“Yes, I feel it too.” Zander’s words were a barely audible whisper against her ear, one she was certain Tai could not hear.
So it was true. Her teeth tugged at her lower lip.
Oh, God, how could she have been so wrong?
No matter what, she would never betray Tai. She knew what it was like to be abandoned by someone who claimed to love her and she would never do that to someone else. Especially Tai, the man who had risked so much to be with her. She couldn’t hurt him like that.
But as she stared into Zander’s intent, silver eyes, her heart ached as she realized she would be betraying him. By choosing to stay with Tai, she would condemn Zander to life without his one true soul-mate.
Goose bumps quivered up her arms as she realized he might not give her a choice. As king, he could command her to do whatever he wished.
He nuzzled her ear, murmuring quietly, “Don’t worry, my love. Everything will work out fine.”
She wished she could believe him. Before she could dwell on it, however, his lips swooped down on hers again and thought dwindled.
He drew back and stroked her cheek, holding her gaze as he spoke to his brother.
“Tai, I think your beloved is curious about what it would be like to experience us both in her bed.”
She trembled at his words.
“Really?” Tai’s smile brightened.
“What do you think, brother?”
Tai stroked her lower back under the covers, sending tingles up her spine. “I think it is quite an exciting prospect.”
Chapter 10
Tai sat up and kissed the back of her neck and shoulders, his lips sending quivers through her. His broad chest was snug against her back while Zander pressed tight against her, too. He stroked her shoulders, then captured her lips again.
If she had wanted to protest, the time was long past. The erotic feel of being tight between Zander’s body and Tai’s swamped her with intense, physical need.
She wanted to pull the sheet away and rip Zander’s shirt open. To feel her naked breasts against his hard, muscular chest.
Tai eased her backward, until she was lying on top of him. He stroked her hair to one side, arranging it over her shoulder as his fully erect penis stroked between her legs. She felt her vagina grow moist and slick.
Tai pushed away the sheet, baring her to Zander’s appreciative gaze, then slid his hands around her ribcage and stroked her breasts. Zander’s silver eyes darkened to pewter as he watched Tai tease her nipples to full, rigid arousal. Zander leaned forward and licked one nipple, then the other. She moaned in delight.
Zander knelt in front of her and kissed down her belly. Tai lifted her with his pelvis, then caught her legs and held them wide. Zander’s mouth slid past her neatly trimmed curls and kissed her intimate folds.
“Oh, God, yes,” she cried.
Tai cupped her breasts and held them in his warmth, pulsing his fingers around them while Zander licked the length of her opening. Heat surged through her. When his tongue swirled around her clit, she gasped.
Then he sucked and her pulse pounded loudly in her ears, as heat washed over her in erotic waves. Her breasts swelled. Her clitoris blossomed. Moisture flooded from her as her internal muscles clenched, demanding something long and hard to grasp.
Zander’s skillful mouth continued to cajole her, driving her arousal higher and higher. She ran her fingers through his long hair, pulling him tighter to her.
“Oh, God,” she whimpered.
Intense pleasure swept through her, then exploded in a maelstrom of bliss. She clung to him as she rode the wave of ecstasy. He kept the orgasm going for an eon with his skilled tongue, then finally slowed, until she collapsed on Tai, panting for air.
Zander’s tongue slipped away and he stared down at her with a smile.
Tai rolled to his side, settling her on her back in front of him. Zander sat down beside her as Tai kissed her deeply. She touched Tai’s cheek tenderly, knowing she could never hurt him.
He leaned down and captured her nipple in his mouth. Aria started as a second hot mouth planted over her other nipple. The sight of her two beloved men, each sucking on her breasts, paired with the exquisite joy of being doubly pleasured, stormed through her.
As their mouths sucked and licked, the waves of pleasure swept her away on a long, swirling journey of delight, where time stretched and
contracted in a rhythm all its own. Suddenly, she plummeted into another orgasm.
When she finally collapsed in sated bliss, they both smiled at her smugly.
“You’ve known her longer than me,” Zander said, “but I do believe she’s enjoying herself.”
Tai chuckled. “I think you’re right.”
She couldn’t believe they were teasing her. She reached out and grabbed Tai’s rigid cock and squeezed. She held out her hand to Zander, arching her eyebrow. He rewarded her with a grin, then stood and shed his shirt and pants. A second later, she felt the weight of his huge cock drop onto her hand. Hot and heavy. She closed her fingers around him and stroked, eliciting a groan.
Tai knelt in front of her, his huge, throbbing cock pulling free of her hand and sliding across her belly. As he kissed her, she grabbed his shaft again. She continued to stroke both penises as his tongue slipped into her mouth. It thrust in and out, driving her wild.
She felt Zander’s fingers encompass her hand, the one that held Tai’s big erection, then he guided her to position the huge head against her slit. Zander slid Tai’s rigid flesh up and down through her slick moisture, then eased the tip inside. She groaned at the exquisite feel of Tai’s cock stretching her as it pushed inside.
Zander’s hands covered her breasts as Tai drove into her all the way. He drew out, then thrust in again. He spiraled, then tilted sideways, then spiraled again, stimulating the walls of her vagina in an erotic massage.
Her muscles contracted and a warm eruption of pleasure started deep inside her, then blasted through her entire body. She moaned, long and loud as he kept pumping into her, making her orgasm go on and on. She clung to his shoulders, totally lost in bliss.
Finally, as the ecstasy started to ebb, he groaned in pleasure as he released inside her. Her gaze locked on Tai’s face, sweaty and glowing as he gazed back, love lighting his silver eyes.
She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him tight against her, loving him with all her heart. He stroked her hair, then kissed her cheek.