by Erin M. Leaf
“Hang on, hang on,” Jake was saying, trying to get them to settle down. When they realized none of them were going to answer their questions until they behaved, the crowd settled down. “Duncan and I are also bonded to Emma.” Jake gestured to her on the other side of Duncan, and she waved with her free hand, smiling despite the butterflies in her stomach. “And yes, that makes our bonding a triple-way thing. I don’t know of any other cases of this kind of bonding, but it’s real and we’re very happy.” He paused, gathering himself. “We’ll take your questions now, one at a time.” The commotion started again and Jake glanced over at Lisa, who stood waiting on the sidelines to organize the questions.
She stepped forward, raising her hand. “Yes, Melissa, what’s your question?”
“My question is for Jake—I thought you were straight? How did you end up bonding with Duncan?” Melissa leaned forward, holding her recorder out as she waited.
“I was straight. As far as I know, I’m still straight, but once you bond, labels like that don’t really matter anymore. You love where the heart goes, regardless of gender. Loving Duncan was easy. Falling in love with him was a surprise and bonding was a total shock, but I’m happy.” Jake set his hand on the back of Duncan’s neck and squeezed slightly, smiling when Duncan leaned into the gesture.
Lisa pointed to a man wearing a bowtie and a belligerent expression. “Matthew?”
The man shoved forward, ignoring the dirty looks thrown his way. “You say the three of you are ‘bonded.’” He used air quotes to emphasize his skepticism and Emma found herself frowning. At a quick glance from Lisa, she smoothed out her expression, listening to the man’s questions. “Do you have a sexual relationship? How does that even work? Do you take turns?”
Emma sighed as Duncan straightened up a bit. “Yes, we have a sexual relationship, not that it’s any of your business.” Then he grinned, eyes wicked. “And why would we have to ‘take turns?’ There’s plenty of room on a king sized bed for three people.” The crowd laughed as Matthew’s face turned red. Emma found herself blushing and smiling at the same time.
Lisa chose another journalist, this time a woman dressed in bright pink. The woman smiled at Emma. “My question is for Emma—how did you meet Duncan and Jake? What was it like finding yourself bonded to a rock star?”
Emma cleared her throat. “Um, well, we bonded before I met them.” The crowd erupted and Emma looked over at Jake, worried she’d said something wrong.
He held up his hands. “Let Emma finish.”
She waited until the murmurs died down then tried again. “The bond wasn’t solid or complete, but we dreamed about each other for weeks before we finally met. I didn’t understand what was happening, actually. I remembered seeing some reports in the news about bonds, but then all the information disappeared. It wasn’t until a couple of students in my school bonded that I realized what was happening to me.”
The reporters started shouting again, and Lisa stepped forward. “Take it easy, folks. You, in the blue shirt.”
He stretched out his arm, holding his recorder up. “I thought bonds were between two people, usually people who were already together.” He glanced at Duncan and Jake. “Or close to being together.”
Duncan dropped Emma’s hand and sat up straighter on his stool. “That’s been our understanding as well. We don’t know of any other people who have bonded with two partners, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we started seeing some. There has been a suppression of information regarding this in the last few weeks.” He laughed as some of the reporters shook their heads in agreement. “I know, I know, it’s absurd considering that the reports of the phenomenon only started coming out around a month ago, but it’s true. And the lack of information is largely because someone found a way to manufacture a drug using the blood from bonded couples.”
If Emma though the noise was bad before when Jake announced the bond with Duncan and Emma, it was nothing to what happened now. She lifted her hand and put it over Duncan’s on his leg and Jake shifted closer, the three of them seeking comfort. This was the true purpose of the press conference. After they’d dealt with the police at the warehouse two nights ago, they had agreed to keep quiet about the victims’ identities but not about bonding or the drug. Duncan firmly believed that the public deserved to know what was happening and the three of them were in a position to get it out there because of Duncan’s fame. They were also clearly able to protect themselves because of their new abilities. Emma and Jake agreed with Duncan. It was up to them to spread the word. Emma shifted on the hard stool, thinking back to that night. They never caught Ms. Brown when she snuck out during the commotion. Jake thought it was because she was the person who’d invented the drug, one of the people in charge of the whole thing. Given her pharmaceutical background, that made her extremely powerful. Anyone who had the resources to kidnap people, suppress information of that magnitude, then disappear in the middle of that chaos was clearly a dangerous individual. Emma hated that she’d escaped.
Lisa pointed again as the noise subsided.
A woman in a blue blazer moved forward, fighting her way to the front. “What kind of drug? What does it do?”
Emma nodded at Jake and he answered. “It’s a liquid. We don’t know the exact chemical composition but we know that it’s extracted from our blood. I don’t know how much you know about bonded couples, but most of us can sense the emotions of our bond-mates. It’s sort of like empathy, only not as perfect as you see in sci-fi movies.” He smiled and Emma relaxed. The hard part was over. They’d agreed not to mention their heightened sense of empathy, their telepathy, or their extra powers, but she knew they needed to explain how bonded couples sensed each other. Jake continued, “And it hurts, a lot, if you’re separated, especially in the initial stages. We need to have a honeymoon week. Eventually the bond settles down and we can be apart, but only for short periods of time.”
“How long can you be separated?” someone shouted.
Jake shrugged. “A week? Maybe more? After the bond is complete, it doesn’t hurt, but you get irritable. It feels like you’re itchy or like something’s missing. It’s unpleasant.”
Emma watched the crowd. Their surprise was genuine. They really didn’t have any information about bonding, did they? she thought.
Duncan glanced at her. No.
We need to make sure as many people as possible see this, she realized.
Duncan nodded. We will. That’s why we’re doing it this way. They didn’t know we were going to talk about bonding like this. They thought they were just getting a good scandal story about me and Jake. He grinned and turned back to the crowd.
Lisa picked out a man dressed in a grey T-shirt. “How did you find out about the drug?”
Emma answered this question. “Two of my students were kidnapped. One of them managed to get to a phone and she called me, telling me some information about where she was being held. She explained that their kidnappers were drawing blood and that she and the others had been separated from their bond-mates. She was in a lot of pain because of the separation. She knew I would help find her because I’d talked to her and her bond-mate in school, trying to help their parents understand what it meant to be bonded. She went missing a few days ago.” She took a deep breath. “The police didn’t believe us when we called them with the information about my student. I was afraid of what would happen if she was kept from her bond-mate for much longer. She’s young and I was unable to convince her parents that bond-mates need a great deal of physical contact until the bond settles, so she was already in distress from the lack of touch. It’s difficult for a parent to accept that their child has suddenly formed a permanent connection to another person, particularly such an intimate connection.” Emma shook her head as she saw the mixed emotions of the crowd. Their expressions ranged from sympathy to outrage to disbelief.
“Duncan, Jake, and I tracked down where she was being held. With the help of Duncan’s security, we managed to free the kidna
pped couples. One of Duncan’s men, Charlie Williams, lost his life that day. We’re all going to miss him terribly.”
Jake coughed and Emma knew he was using it to cover up his grief. Lisa pointed to another journalist who stepped closer. “What did the police say about this drug? I haven’t heard anything on the news.”
Duncan answered this question. “The police don’t know anything about the drug. That’s why you haven’t heard a report. They didn’t even know it existed.”
Another reporter asked a question before Lisa could pick again. “What does the drug do?”
“It heightens the mental senses of the person who takes it, for a short time,” Jake said, not elaborating.
“What does that mean?” the reporter asked, looking confused. “Mental senses?”
“It means that it gives the person a limited sense of empathy. The person taking the drug can read the emotions of others while on the drug. I’m sure you can see how dangerous that is. When the drug wears off, the user experiences a sort of mania, then disorientation. We don’t know what the long-term effects are yet or how addictive it is. It’s called ’Path’ on the street.”
“Why are you giving us this information instead of the police?”
“We think that the origin of the drug is tied to a large, underground criminal organization.” Duncan held up his hands, trying to quiet the crowd down. “No, we don’t have a lot of evidence and, no, we don’t know where it began or who is behind the drug. All we know is that we rescued eighteen people and one of the seven kidnappers escaped. Clearly there is something larger going on. It’s not easy to draw blood and synthesize a drug based on a new phenomenon like bonding then get the drug on the streets in a little over a month. That takes a great deal of money.”
The crowd was quiet as everyone considered the implications of what Duncan had just said. Then one man moved forward. Lisa nodded at him when he looked to her for permission.
“How safe is it for you to be telling us this?”
Duncan snorted. “Not safe at all. But we’ll be a lot safer the sooner you write your articles and post the video of this interview on the web. The more people who understand what’s happening the better.”
Jake slid off his stool and moved closer to Duncan. “And we’re going to be hiring more security in the near future.” Duncan looked at Jake with surprise. Jake looked back, clearly serious. Duncan smiled.
Lisa pointed at the crowd. “One more question.” She gestured to a woman near the front.
“What does this mean for your tour? Are you canceling any dates? What about Emma? If you have to stay together since you’re bonded, does that mean she has to travel with you?”
Duncan laughed. “That’s a lot more than one question.”
The woman flushed but didn’t back down. “Hey, some of us are actually here to find out about your music.”
Jake grinned at the woman. “I like you.” She blushed even more, and Emma had to smile. Her men were charmers, that’s for sure.
“I’m going to keep touring. Emma has resigned her job as a librarian and will be coming onto the tour as my personal manager. Jake will be taking over as my keyboard player, and of course he will continue writing my songs with me. So it all works out great for the music.” With that, Duncan slid off his stool and slung an arm around Jake. Then he turned to Emma and pulled her down too, hugging her with his other arm. His and Jake’s love spun through their link loud and clear. She pulled Duncan into a kiss, laughing when Jake shoved in first. She kissed Jake, then Duncan, then the two men kissed each other. None of them paid any attention to the flashes exploding like fireworks around them.
Epilogue
The crowd roared and Emma glanced at her clipboard to make sure everything was ready for Duncan and Jake to go onstage. The dressing room was set up, the sound guys were ready, the equipment was working with no problems. The musicians jostled each other good-naturedly behind the metal stairs at the back of the stage. Everything was perfect. Emma closed her eyes and let the anticipation of the crowd wash over her. She sensed Jake and Duncan savoring it with her and smiled. When she opened her eyes, her men were standing in front of her, ready to go onstage. Duncan had on leather pants, combat boots, and a black T-shirt so tight she could clearly see the metal studs of his nipple rings through the fabric. Jake wore tight black jeans, soft boots, and a brown leather jacket with nothing on underneath so that the smooth skin of his chest flashed every time he moved. They looked good enough to eat.
“Hey, none of that. I don’t want to go onstage with a hard-on again,” Duncan said, his smile belying his admonishment.
Emma laughed. “Yeah, right. Like that’s anything new. By the time you get to the third song it’ll be like you’re having sex. On stage. In front of a million people.”
“Don’t yell at Duncan, honey. I like to watch him get all hot and bothered when he’s performing.” Jake grinned and swooped in for a kiss. Emma batted him away haphazardly.
Duncan shook his head in exasperation. “It’s all your fault, Jake. You’re the one wiggling your ass behind the keyboards. I can’t help but be appreciative.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “You have no self-control.”
“I have plenty of self-control. I just don’t see the point in using it,” Duncan retorted.
“Boys, please,” Emma scolded. They turned to her at the same time and she nearly melted beneath the heat of their combined attention. She pointed to the stage. “You’re on in thirty seconds.”
Duncan smiled and kissed her, taking a moment to press against her lips until she opened her mouth, breathless. He licked inside, and Emma gasped as he swiped his tongue against hers, then pulled back and bit at her lower lip, sucking until it throbbed. She didn’t even have time to savor the sting before Jake moved in, kissing her until she dropped the clipboard to hang onto his shoulders. Then he gently broke the kiss and set her away from him. “Not now, honey. We’ve gotta put on a show.” She swatted at him as he ducked, then laughed as he goosed Duncan on the way to the stage, making the other man jump and swear. How is this my life? she thought.
* * * *
Three hours later, Duncan and Jake crashed into the dressing room where Emma waited. As soon as they were through the door, she swung it closed and locked it. Jake was already kissing Duncan, his mouth wild, his hands in Duncan’s hair. He looked like he was trying to climb the taller man as their auras sparked and flared around each other. Emma stepped closer, hoping to prevent costume damage. She remembered how embarrassed she’d been the time she and Jake had ripped Duncan’s shirt off after his performance. She’d had to send someone out to find something for him to wear for the fan meet and greet and he ended up wearing one of the concert T-shirts sold for his own show.
Come on, that was funny, Jake thought to her as he continued to devour Duncan’s mouth.
If you can form a coherent thought, you’re not doing that right, Emma thought back at him.
Jake pulled away from Duncan to glare at her. “You think you could do better?”
She shivered at the look on his face, then squared her shoulders and nodded.
“What are you doing all the way over there, then?” Duncan asked, mouth wet and swollen, his voice sounding low and fucked-out after singing for three hours. “Come here.”
Emma walked over to her guys, unbuttoning her blouse on the way. Her aura reached out to them, waiting to thread through theirs. She moved closer, letting her top fall from her shoulders, not caring where it went, not caring about much of anything as she watched Duncan try to wrestle Jake’s jacket off. He paused for a moment with the garment half on, half off, looking at Jake’s gorgeous chest, Emma thought. Then, in an unprecedented move that she would remember for the rest of her life, he grabbed the leather in his fists and picked the smaller man up, turning and pressing him against the dressing room wall. Emma gasped and Jake didn’t look like he was in much better shape as Duncan mauled Jake’s mouth. Jake lifted his legs up and locked the
m around Duncan’s waist as Emma swayed on her feet, trying not to come just from watching. Duncan rocked into the smaller man, shoving his hips forward. Emma felt their arousal, enjoying the way Duncan’s thrusts pressed against Jake’s swollen cock. A little bit longer and they’d all come, just from this. Then Duncan lifted his face and let Jake slide down the wall.
“Emma, come here,” he said, turning. Emma swallowed at the heat in his eyes. He reached out a hand and she took it, letting him pull her over. He tucked her against his chest then leaned forward, pressing her back into Jake. She gasped as she looked down, the colors of their auras blending and sparking as Jake’s arms snaked tightly around her ribs. Then Duncan slid her panties down and she groaned as his hands lingered on her skin. Now all she had on was her bra and skirt, but that didn’t stop Duncan as he stepped back for a moment to unbutton his pants. He pulled out his cock and Emma looked down at the crown, leaking and red as it peeked out between Duncan’s fingers. She itched to touch him and tried to move, but then Jake groaned behind her, squeezing until she could barely breathe. Duncan surged forward, his hips jerking as he slipped his dick against her soft folds. Emma shook and Jake lifted her off the ground, angling her pelvis just right. Then Duncan pushed inside her body, shoving her against Jake. She’d never been so grateful for going on birth control as she was now because—Wow, no condom. He felt divine.
She threw her head back and Jake bit along her neck as Duncan began rocking. Jake’s cock throbbed against her lower back like a brand, and she couldn’t move or think or do much of anything except tremble as their arousal ramped higher and higher. She reached an arm around Jake’s head, holding his mouth against the soft skin of her throat and threw the other arm around Duncan’s neck. He buried his face in her hair and began thrusting harder, short, sharp stabs forward. Emma reveled in the thick heat of him as he slid inside, bumping her clit over and over with the base of his erection. Jake moved one of his hands down to her pussy and he grabbed Duncan’s cock, making the other man groan. Jake chuckled into Emma’s ear as she squirmed, trying to rub herself against his thumb.