by Bethany Aan
When she could take no more, when she was weeping for him to fill her, he surged up and poised at her entrance. He waited for her to look up at him, wanting her to know who was loving her at this moment, and when her eyes fixed on his, he shot his hips forward, impaling her in one slick glide that seemed to shatter her world. Screaming in raw ecstasy, her legs clamped around his hips, her body spasmed, and she shook and shivered as she clutched him to her.
His body knew the way, though it had been many years since he’d made love to any woman. Reaching Arianna’s depths, Jace groaned deeply, holding still for just a moment, relishing the feel of her soft, hot, wet sheath around him. Though he would have loved to have made this go on forever, he had waited too long for her, anticipated this moment far too much. And Ri was too far gone to be patient with him. She beat at his shoulders, sobbing a bit angrily, when he held her hips still. He looked at her, his lips finding hers.
“Stay with me, little one,” he whispered. She nodded, burying her face against his neck and shivering in his arms.
In one powerful, rolling motion, he reversed their positions, lying with her on top of him. She gasped, then instinctively sat up, staring down at him, her eyes deeply green and nearly glowing with her passion. He grunted and drove himself upward, pressing her hips down at the same time. Ri threw her head back and cried out, weeping his name with the wonderful, deep penetration. He held her there, grinding himself into her, rubbing against that little nub that seemed to control her being at the moment, until she was sobbing and her body was bowing with the spasms that rocked her. Clamping his arms around her, he sat up, gathered her legs around his waist, and pumped into her fiercely several times, until his balls seemed to explode through the top of his head, and he shouted his triumph to the skies.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Hunter’s head snapped up when he heard his brother’s shout echo through the courtyard, and for a moment he was alarmed, until he felt the ecstasy of Arianna’s release. His heart pounding, he sank against the wall of the armory, where he and several other men were preparing their gear for the coming hunting expedition. He tried not to feel jealous, but he found that he was. He had hoped that only he would give their little one such bliss. It was unreasonable, unfair, and irrational, but he still felt that way.
After a moment of anger, at himself and his brother, he sighed and remembered that this is what they had decided on, that it was expected and not uncommon in his society. It still pissed him off a little, though. Grunting in annoyance, he threw the oiled rag he held toward the barrel where they kept such things, then glared at it when it missed the target and fell to the stone floor.
“Another man is making your woman happy?” one of the men jested. Hunter turned a glower on his cousin. Trey just grinned, as did the others. Realizing that he wasn’t hiding his feelings very well at all, Hunter ran a hand through his hair.
“I know that I should not be jealous,” he said after a time, “But I am. I cannot seem to help myself. I have had her to myself for these last weeks, but now she has welcomed my brother.”
Trey nodded, chuckling.
“You will get used to it,” the younger man assured him, clapping a hand on his leader’s shoulder. “My Bev lights up like a small sun for me, but she very much enjoys Erik and Rom, as well. When we began fighting over time with her, though, she came up with a very clever and simple solution.”
“What was that?” Hunter asked, truly curious. Trey grinned a bit wickedly.
“We shared her.”
Hunter was stunned at the thought. In all his memories of his parents, he had never seen them all go into the bedroom at once. As far as he knew, his mother had taken turns with Kess, Kale, and later, Geoff. So when he and his brothers and cousins had gone carousing, back in their much wilder youth, they had shared women, but only in that they would court the same girl at the same time. He hadn’t thought about any other way. He blinked in surprise at his cousin.
“Shared her?”
“Yes. We all worshiped her body at once, then we took her, when she begged, one after the other, until she could no longer ask for more. Or move, for that matter.” Trey laughed rather smugly at the memory. “She was so weak from climaxing so many times, we had to bathe her and put her chemise back on her ourselves, before she fell asleep. She hid her face from us the next day, mostly because she enjoyed it so much but didn’t think she was supposed to. But knowing that we could all have her when we wanted to, and that she would accept us all at once if she chose, has banished the tension from our household.”
A look of consternation crossed Trey’s face then, and he rolled his eyes.
“Damn it,” he muttered. “Now I must go find her and remind her who her favorite is!”
The other warriors teased and joked with Trey as he put away his tools and hurried from the armory.
Hunter returned to his work, lost in thought. He had never really thought about what he would do if he and Jace had to share a woman. He had thought he would simply accept it and they would take turns. But he found that he didn’t wish to do that. He’d seen the covers of the books she enjoyed. And he had felt her speculative glances on him and Jace a number of times. It had made him hard each time, thinking about it. He slammed a fist down on the long work table, frustrated with the fact that he was hard now.
She was his, by damn, and he wanted her. He started to go to his quarters, but then stopped himself. He had had her to himself, mostly, for the past two weeks, and Jace had hung back, giving them time to bond. Could he not do the same thing for his brother? For Arianna? Did she not deserve the same chance to find love with the other man who would be her mate?
Of course she did. Whether Hunter liked it or not.
And he loved his brother enough to want Jace to enjoy the wonder that was Ri, as well. Hunter would learn to accept it. After all, if something happened to him, Jace would step into his role as lover, protector, and if they were all very lucky, father. And really, if they had a household, their children would call both of the men Dad, not just one or the other. It was how their society worked, how it must work, so that children knew that if one father was killed in battle or in the hunt, they would still have another, or several others, to care for them, teach them, and raise them.
But dammit, he wanted his little one, and he wanted her now.
Arianna was drifting, weightless and limp, when she felt a warm, wet washcloth between her legs. Unable to rouse herself to do more than shift restlessly, she allowed Jace to bathe her, then stretched and enjoyed it as he brought a fresh cloth and bathed the rest of her body of their shared sweat. When she was reasonably clean, he left again, only to come back with a fluffy towel to rub her body dry.
She smiled and blinked sleepily up at him. He grinned back in response, his eyes warm with intimacy. She beckoned him closer, drew him down for a sweet kiss when he obliged and settled beside her on the bed. He leaned his head on one hand, the other gently rubbing over her tummy, as though he did not wish to stop touching her, even for a moment.
“That was…” she sighed happily. “Amazing.”
“It was,” he agreed, catching her hand and bringing it up to his lips for a soft kiss, holding her gaze. “It was worth the wait.”
“Yes,” she whispered, touching his lips with her fingertips. He closed his eyes and kissed them, then took her hand and started kissing her palm, her wrist, tracing the blue veins there with his tongue, pausing to feel the life force beating through her body.
“You are amazing,” he breathed, tucking her closer to him, her head resting on his arm now, as he lay back down and snugged her firmly to him. She drew the blankets over them both, prepared to take a short nap, when she heard the door to their quarters open and shut. Looking up at Jace, she felt her face burn with color.
“Now what?” she asked shyly. He smiled at her, tenderness shining from his blue eyes.
“Now, we enjoy each other, fully, all the time, anywhere, just because we can. That’s wh
at.”
“I like how my brother’s mind works,” Hunter said, lounging in the doorway, looking down at them. Jace, completely unabashed, slid up in the bed, rearranging the pillows behind him and tucking one arm behind his head in a nonchalant pose. He grinned up at his brother.
“Good! Wouldn’t want there to be any problems.”
“There will be none. A few of the other men have given me much to think about, brother.” His hot gaze lingered on Arianna’s kiss-swollen lips and rosy cheeks, and he slowly grinned at her. It was a rather wicked grin that kicked her heartbeat up three extra notches.
“For now… let us eat. I do not know about either of you, but I have worked up quite an appetite today.”
Jace got out of bed, naked and unashamed, while Hunter was still standing there. Arianna shot him a shy glance, but Hunter took away her embarrassment by lunging forward and yanking the covers from her body. With a startled yelp of protest, Ri leaped to her feet, glaring up at him. Both men chuckled at the adorable little noise she made, then watched in admiration as she swept her clothes up from the floor, threw her head in the air, and pointedly ignored them as she stalked out of the room stark naked. Her long dark hair was mussed from loving, but it hung low enough to swish tantalizingly above her full, rosy bottom. Jace came to stand beside his brother in the doorway as they watched their little woman pull her clothing into place.
“She is the most fascinating creature,” Jace murmured, “Is she not?”
“That she is. And we will share her with no one!” Hunter growled. Jace threw him a startled glance.
“Has anyone else expressed interest?” he said, then shrugged. “Not that I would blame them. There is nothing not to want about her. But has someone asked to join us?”
“No,” Hunter snapped. “But they will. And when they do, the answer is no.”
“When they do, brother,” Jace reminded him gently, “The choice is hers.”
Hunter whirled on his brother, the look in his eyes fiercely possessive.
“Then we must see to it that she has neither the time nor the desire for another.”
“I am doing my part,” Jace grinned, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. “Finally.” Hunter rolled his eyes, then smiled ruefully.
“As am I. We simply must continue to do so.”
“As our little one says, I’m game,” Jace said with a laugh.
Moving forward, the men joined her in the kitchen, taking things from her hands and urging her to sit on the stool and watch them as they cooked the meal.
“How am I supposed to learn, if you won’t let me do anything?” she huffed, but did as they asked. She watched them, taking mental notes as they cooked.
“You will learn when it is necessary,” Hunter told her, flicking a piece of vegetable at her. She caught it nimbly and chewed on it as they worked.
“But I want to learn,” she insisted. He straightened from lighting the fire beneath the grill and looked at her curiously.
“Why?” he asked simply. “We are happy to provide for you and please you.”
“Hunter, if we’re going to be a family one day-“
“We are a family already,” Jace reminded her gently. She colored prettily, then nodded to acknowledge his point.
“If we’re going to have a household together… I need to know how to take care of myself, in case something happens and the two of you aren’t around for some reason.”
“There will not be a time when that is so,” Hunter assured her.
She felt like screaming in frustration. She loved that they were so willing to take care of her. She really did. It was such a welcome change from the men she’d dated back home, and she was sure she’d never get used to being doted upon as these two were doing. But really, enough was enough!
“I like cooking!” she finally told them. The men stopped and looked at her in surprise. “I’m serious. I enjoy it. Some of the women on my world love cooking more than anything else, and live for providing their families with tasty meals. I like doing that sometimes, too. And I hate being helpless. I was helpless for the first few weeks, but I’ve got my energy and my stamina back, and I want to be useful to you. I want to take care of you guys, like you have taken care of me. I’m not used to being the one that’s pampered. I’m used to doing the pampering.”
The men looked at each other and shrugged. Finally, Jace took something out of one of the drawers and, handing her a knife and a marble-looking cutting block, gave her a pile of vegetables to prepare. She wasn’t as good at slicing them properly as the men were, but by the time she reached the bottom of the pile, she was able to present them with a decent offering. Hunter nodded in approval then dumped the legumes into the pot of stew he was creating.
They talked and joked as the pot came to a boil. Hunter put the lid on it and turned down the heat.
“The stew will take a bit to cook,” he said as he washed his hands. “Perhaps a walk through the compound while it simmers?”
Arianna nodded and hopped down from the stool to fetch the pretty little leather slippers Jace had made her.
Other family groups were out and about as well, enjoying the lengthening evening light. Spring was leaving and summer would soon be upon them. But there was a bit of a chill to the air that had not been there since the women had arrived. Hunter and Jace both looked up at the sky, frowning.
“It is unseasonably cool tonight. Usually, it is much warmer this time of year.” Jace noted. Hunter nodded thoughtfully, his brow furrowing.
“Perhaps I should check the weather systems, make certain that there is not a late snow storm brewing,” he said, then, kissing Arianna on the forehead, promised to return shortly and hurried off to the command center.
“How are you guys powering your computers and scanners?” she asked, curious. Jace tucked her hand through his bent elbow and covered it with his other hand.
“When we were hit by the Solvari, the shields were able to confine most of the damage to the non-vital areas… landing gear, and such. There are separate power systems for the engines and warp drives than for the life support and living areas, as well as the computer stations. So we were able to salvage enough from those to cobble together a working computer system, though it is far more limited than the systems back on our planet, or the system that ran the ship. We do not, for example, have enough power to generate a strong enough signal to drive even a homing beacon so that any of our people can find us, though the engineers have been working on that and promise that they’re close to a solution. We have been able to collect enough solar energy to keep the computers running for systems such as weather tracking and perimeter monitoring. And we’re able to run one long-range scan every so often, to sweep for possible intruders… or our own ships, if we get that lucky. We’ve got wind turbines going in the passes of the mountains, feeding energy this way, and we have water-power for our mills and wood-shop. Some of it is primitive, but it works and it has little impact on the ecosystem here, so it is preferable to older, more damaging forms of energy.”
Arianna stopped and blinked up at him in surprise. Everything she had seen had been sort of medieval in feel. They used wood for warming and cooking fires, and candles and oil lamps for light inside. Torches were used in the larger areas that needed lighting, and along the corridors. She had seen a water wheel that she assumed was used for grinding the sort of grains they’d found that could provide bread, though the bread was unleavened and hard. But she also knew that they had computer systems, the med scanners, and the ability to replicate and use nano-technology.
She was a bit charmed that, though they obviously had the technology and the knowledge to live more high-tech, they had chosen to take the low-tech, environmentally friendly route instead.
“I’m impressed,” she told him, grinning, then teased, “Here I thought you were all barbarian warriors with good looks and charm, but you’re actually high-tech soldiers.”
“We are both of those, little Arianna,” he assure
d her, sweeping her up against his chest for a playful twirl and a quick kiss on her lips. “And more. We are much more. Warriors on our world have to be a little bit of everything, and we pride ourselves on that. Only those who are qualified in many different areas are allowed to venture into space, and for the very reason you see now.”
His arm swept the compound. With a happy leap of her heart, Arianna saw that Hunter was returning to them.
“Space ship crews are carefully chosen, not just for the warriors’ prowess in battle, but also for the group’s good.” Jace went on. “We can have all the best warriors, but if they are dumb as posts and none are able to build a decent shelter, we’re all, as you once put it so eloquently, screwed.”
“So the crews are not chosen just by a warrior’s fighting skills,” Hunter took up the conversation as though he’d been there the entire time, “But with a mind toward settlement, if the need arises. We have men who are as proficient with architecture and engineering as they are with our most advanced weapons systems and fighting techniques. We have medical staff that is trained to work with or without scanners,” he nodded toward his brother, ““Though the lazy ones prefer the scanners.”
Jace chuckled, too satisfied with life at the moment to respond to his brother’s teasing as he normally would.
“I am not lazy, brother, but prefer the precision of the scanners to my own limited memory or observational abilities. If I had to function without the med-scans, I could. I just prefer not to until I must. It’s better for my patients.”
“And we have men of varying skill levels and abilities for woodworking, leather-working, animal husbandry, biology, horticulture, geology, crypto-zoology and biology… everything we could think to need should we find ourselves in the very situation we are presently in.”