“Shhh, baby,” Rees whispered.
“She’s beautiful, Rees,” Rio rumbled behind her. “Tight and beautiful.”
Talan screamed again, for pure pleasure. She felt both cocks in her, one in her anus, the other in her pussy. They were both hard, both pulsing, both so near each other, yet not touching.
“Tight,” Rio repeated. “So damn tight.”
She felt Rio’s lips on her back, his hands stroking her.
Rees kissed her. She lost herself in his mouth, in his kiss, in his touch. His cock moved in her.
Rees possessed her. Rio played with her. Their cocks moved in and out, the pleasure so intense she couldn’t stand it. She couldn’t take it.
She must have screamed that, because Rio kissed her skin and Rees smoothed her hair again.
“Yes, you can,” Rees murmured. “You can take it, Talan. You’re my good girl.”
“She’s a sweetheart,” Rio said. “Best ass that’s ever swallowed me.”
Talan could only make incoherent noises. Rio laughed. “She likes us.”
She loved them. Rees kissed her. His balls rubbed against her pussy as he rocked his hips. Rio thrust in slow rhythm, his slick cock sliding in and out.
Rees held her face and looked into her eyes. “You’re beautiful, love.”
They’d clouded her mind, making her warm and relaxed and at the same time, tight with excitement.
She loved them both. She was grateful to Rio for helping Rees, for pulling him back from insanity.
And she loved Rees. She loved him, and she would never ever stop. He might think he’d twisted her emotions to think so, but she knew the truth.
She loved him.
She always would love him.
She came, twisting and writhing, her mind dark with pleasure. They held her, keeping her soothed, keeping her from hurting herself.
“I love you, baby,” Rees whispered.
She pulled those words in, savored every one.
“Fuck,” Rio said. “I’m coming. I wanted to stay here all night.”
His words died into a groan of satisfaction. He pumped his hot seed into her, then stilled, his hands on her back warm and shaking.
“Rio,” she whispered.
He leaned forward as he withdrew, kissed the nape of her neck. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
Then he was gone. Talan cried out at the loss of the warmth on her back, the fullness in her ass.
But Rees took over. He drove himself hard into her, while Rio sat back and watched.
Rees’ hips moved. “Love you,” he said, while she screamed her pleasure.
He shot his seed high into her, saying her name over and over, telling her he loved her. Rio was next to her again, smoothing her hair, touching her skin, kissing her neck while Rees rode out his climax.
Then it was over. Rees gathered her in his arms, and she settled down on him, with him still inside her. He was sweating and hot, his arms shaking as he held her.
Rio stroked her back, then lay his head on it, brushing little kisses to her skin.
Comforted by her two Sha reem and exhausted from passion and worry, Talan fell asleep.
When she came awake, they were all in the sterilizer, Rees holding Talan on her feet while he carried on a conversation with Rio.
She couldn’t hear what they said through her sleep-fogged mind, but Rio laughed every once in a while.
They’d removed her chains and the collar. She was as bare as a newborn baby.
Rees must have noticed she was awake. He leaned down, planted a kiss on her cheek and smiled at her. “Hello, sleepyhead.”
He sounded his normal self. Well, as normal as a man called R294E8S who had been made to be the Sha reem that surpassed all other Sha reem could sound.
“Ready for bed?” he asked.
She nodded. She could sleep for weeks.
Rio rumbled with laughter. “Poor baby. Having to be slammed by Rees all night.”
Talan smiled. She wrapped her arms around Rees’ strong neck. “Was nice.”
Rees lifted her into his arms. “She likes me,” he informed Rio.
Rio laughed again.
This was what Talan liked. Laughter and love and the warmth of Rees.
Rees carried her out of the sterilizer and through the sitting room to her bedroom. He laid her on her bed, which came alert and moved to conform to her body.
Rees hugged her in a way no bed could compete with.
Rio had followed them. He was still naked, his cock still hard, the black hair at the base of it a smudge in the dim room. He leaned over and gave Talan a kiss on the lips. “Sleep tight, pretty girl.”
Rees’ kiss lasted longer. “Thank you, baby,” he said.
She touched his face. He was handsome and gentle and rough, and she loved him.
Rees stood up. Talan snuggled down in her bed, liking the fact that two very handsome, very naked Sha reem stood over her bedside.
She saw Rees and Rio exchange a glance. They looked down at Talan again.
Then, to her everlasting happiness, they climbed into the bed with her and took her together once more.
* * * * *
When Rees emerged from the bedroom an hour later, Rio was already dressed and packing up his gear. Behind him in the bedroom, Talan had sunk into profound slumber. Rees left her to sleep. She needed it.
Rees pulled on his tunic, sat down on the Spartan sofa in the middle of the room. He was exhausted. Even R294E8S had his limits.
“Rio,” he said. “I owe you one.”
Rio’s face split into a grin. “I think I got some recompense.”
Rees lowered his voice. “I told you I’d help you get off-planet. And I will. I have some contacts I’ll see in the next couple days.”
Rio sat on a chair. Leather stretched across his arms as he rested his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know, Rees. Maybe I shouldn’t go.”
“You should. You hate it here.”
Rio sighed. He glanced at the closed door to the bedroom. “I’ll tell you what, if I had a girl like her, I wouldn’t go anywhere.”
Rees’ reaction was instinctive and swift. “Leave Talan alone.”
Rio chuckled. “You’ve got it bad, buddy boy. Don’t worry. She’s yours.”
Rees calmed himself deliberately. “Is she?”
“I saw how she looked at you and heard what she said. She had fun with me, but it’s not me she wants.”
“She doesn’t want me either,” Rees said. “At least, she doesn’t need me, whatever she thinks she wants.”
“You so want to make this complicated, don’t you?”
“I’m Sha reem, Rio. She’s upper-class. The two don’t mix. Look what happened tonight. I can’t be sure that won’t happen again.”
“You were pretty wild,” Rio admitted. “But hey, I can always come over and calm you down.”
“Not if you go off-world, you can’t. And I won’t make you stay here so you can control me with Talan.”
“If it had been any other woman, I’d have just thrown you in a holo-pond somewhere. But she’s worth it. I hope you realize that.”
Rees looked at him. “I’m not that stupid, Rio. I know what I feel about her. So, what do you think is the fastest way to ruin a sweet girl’s life? Pair her with R294E8S.”
“That’s not who you are anymore. You’re Rees.”
“A name I gave myself.”
“You gave yourself everything,” Rio said. “A name, freedom, a life. Who else was going to give it to you? That’s the man she cares about. Not some Sha reem experiment.”
Rees sighed. He leaned against the sofa, which was doing its best to make him comfortable. “She doesn’t know what she cares about. She has a head full of ideas and thinks she knows all about life. Now she’ll think she knows all about sex.”
“Not if you stick around and keep teaching her.”
Rees said nothing.
Rio knew he was fighting a losing battle. He shook his head. “Yo
u’re stupid sometimes, Rees.”
Rees gave him a look. “You want it to work out with me and Talan because it didn’t with you and Serena.”
Rio shrugged. “So? I figure one of us should be happy.”
“You will be. You’ll get off-planet to some green world and get yourself four or five women of your own. They won’t know what hit them.”
“Hey, if you’re giving up Talan, maybe I’ll stay. If you don’t want her, I can always visit.”
Insane jealousy rose up inside Rees. He suppressed it with effort. “She doesn’t need you, either.”
“Hey, she seemed pretty happy with me not half an hour ago.”
No.
“We’re both leaving her alone,” Rees said. “You’re going off-world if I have to pull in every contact and favor to make it happen.”
Rio held up his hands. “It’s your loss, boy-o. A beautiful woman and your best friend.”
“My only friend.” Rees stopped. It was true. Rio was the only person, besides Talan now, who knew who Rees really was. Rio had never betrayed him, never made life hard for him, never acted like he feared him. They were friends. Period.
“I’ll miss you, Rio,” Rees admitted. “But your ass is out of here.”
“Aw, and I didn’t think you cared.”
“Shut up.”
Rees got to his feet. He collected his things, including the collar that had adorned Talan’s neck. He was tempted to linger and touch it, remembering how beautiful she looked in it.
He stuffed everything in his pack. “Come on,” he said to Rio. “It’s done.”
Chapter Sixteen
Lady Petronella was reading her letters when Talan made it to the morning room for a very late breakfast.
Talan sat gingerly, wincing as her tender bottom touched the seat.
Lady Pet looked up, sent her a knowing smile. “You must have had a good night.”
Talan blushed. The footman placed a plate in front of her, and she dug into the food. She was very hungry.
“Two Sha reem,” Lady Pet went on once the footman had departed. “Absolute bliss. We’ll have to get the security cams repaired, but I imagine it was worth it.”
Talan thought about Rees and Rio in her bed at the last, how they’d held her between them, kissing her and touching her, their bodies warm and comforting.
She thought about Rees telling her that he loved her.
“Yes,” she said quietly. “It was worth it.”
“Well, I am pleased to hear that. No more turning up your nose at beautiful men, eh?”
Talan ate without answering. The mysterious Lady Ursula had been right all along.
She finished off her fruit, sipped the chilled, flavored liquid in her glass. “Did Rees have breakfast earlier?”
“I don’t believe so, no.”
“He was not in his room.” Talan set down her glass. “I thought perhaps he’d walked Rio to the station.”
Lady Petronella gave her an odd look. “No, Talan. Rees is gone.”
For a moment, Talan didn’t register what she said. Then all the feeling drained out of her limbs. “What do you mean, gone?”
Lady Pet carefully set down her letters. “I saw him earlier this morning. By himself. He told me you were finished with him, and he was going home.” She looked at Talan. “Oh, dear. You didn’t know this.”
Talan couldn’t answer. She remembered how Rees had kissed her for the last time, his hand gentle in her hair. “Good night, little girl,” he’d whispered.
“He asked to speak to me this morning.” Lady Pet’s eyes held pity. “He told me you had finished, that he’d taught you all he could teach you. I had assumed you were in agreement.”
Finished. As if what they had could be finished with a shrug and a smile.
Rees was right, Talan supposed. She’d asked him to teach her. And he’d taught her. Now it was time for both of them to move on.
The coldness of that struck her. Talan squeezed her eyes shut and balled her hands on her lap.
She heard the swish of Lady Petronella’s robes, and then Lady Pet pressed a light kiss to Talan’s hair. “Oh, my dear. I am so sorry.”
“You warned me,” Talan said stiffly. “You said I was too affectionate.”
“I know, dear. But I had no idea you were going to lose your heart.”
“I was stupid.”
“No, darling. It’s never, ever stupid to fall in love.”
Lady Pet was wrong. It was the most foolish thing Talan had done in her life. She’d been curious, she’d wanted to touch fire.
Well, she had touched it, and now it burned.
She raised her head. The silver globe that Rees had bought her brushed her skin. She unclasped the chain, drew the trinket off, and opened it.
The holo-lights played, red and violet and brilliant gold and soft yellow. The patterns danced and twisted ‘round on themselves. It was a cheap trinket, but a thing of beauty.
Talan closed the globe, shutting out the lights, laid it on the table, and quietly left the room.
* * * * *
As the days passed, a part of Talan thought that Rees would come back, if only to say goodbye in person.
Talan rehearsed meeting him again. She would quietly thank him for his time and shake his hand. She’d promise him that if he ever needed anything, she would be happy to help him.
She’d be dignified, sophisticated, and above all, not a crying, clinging, silly woman.
She would keep everything cool and impersonal.
Days turned to weeks. Rees did not come back. He did not send her a message. He’d cut the tie, neatly and thoroughly.
Talan knew where he lived. She could journey to the city, look for him in his apartment. She could place a com call to him. She could call Judith at the bar and casually inquire if her friends Rees or Rio were there.
She could do all those things, but she didn’t.
The wild time she’d spent with Rees became another of her memories, and her life went on.
She’d meant to write up her experience with her Sha reem in a diary, similar to what Lady Ursula had done, but whenever she tried, she found the memories too painful to touch.
Her body healed, but her heart remained raw.
She received an invitation to go on retreat with her sisters in the Way of the Star. They would travel to a remote town in the desert, where they’d meditate and study and listen to lectures.
Talan jumped at the chance. She packed her sun-robes and fled.
She spent two months in the sanctuary trying to find peace. She meditated, she chanted, she studied, she learned.
But whenever she looked at the stars looming over the empty desert, she’d wonder if Rees had managed to get Rio off Bor Narga, and toward which star Rio had gone.
When she meditated through a gazer, which zoomed in on a specific star, she’d wonder if she’d ever calm her raging emotions to be as still as her body.
When she listened to lectures about separating mind from body, she remembered Rees explaining that Sha reem learn to live in their bodies fully, integrating body and mind into a perfect whole.
She tried desperately to forget all about Rees, and as the two months drew to a close, she pretended she had.
She returned to her home with Lady Petronella and decided to have a grand clear out. She went through all her books and vids and either threw them away or gave them to charity.
While Talan sorted through her study one afternoon, she came upon Lady Ursula’s diary.
She nearly threw it in the recycler. But on impulse, she sat down, put the disk in the reader, and cued up the first entry.
She read the diary all the way through. Lady Ursula made her laugh when she described her first meeting with her Sha reem, how nervous and excited she was.
Lady Ursula went on to recount how she felt when Brandt first spoke her name, how it felt to touch him.
The Sha reem have strange eyes , she wrote, so intense and changeable. One mome
nt they’re light and playful, the next, dark with wanting.
Rees’ eyes had been like that.
An entry much later in the book read—I have fallen in love with this man. He touches me like no other person in my life. I cannot decide if the emotion is mine or part of the soothing chemicals he emits.
The last entry said—We have come to the end. There is no more time to decide. My life will never be the same again.
Lady Ursula had written no more. Talan could find no records of her after the last date in the diary.
Lady Pet had not known what had become of her. She was no longer in the social directories or even the directory for the city. She had simply ceased to exist.
Talan flipped back to the beginning of the files. Twenty years ago, Lady Ursula had been fairly young, about twenty-five. She would hardly be an old woman now.
Talan sat up, her heart beating faster. She checked the city database of anyone who had popped up new twenty years ago, around the time of the end of the diary. Lady Ursula could simply have changed her name.
She found no one who might have been Lady Ursula. She also found no evidence that Lady Ursula had moved off-planet. People left an amazing number of records behind them wherever they went, but Lady Ursula had not.
So, she stopped looking for Lady Ursula.
She looked for Lady Ursula’s Sha reem instead.
She easily found Brandt’s record in the databases of DNAmo and also registered with the city.
The city had record of where he lived, but she did not have the clearance to make the database spit up his address.
But she knew someone who might point her in the right direction.
She ordered the litter and her bodyguards, filled up her breather, told Metri she was going out, and let the litter take her down to the old city.
* * * * *
When Talan walked into Judith’s bar, everyone in the interior stared.
The day she’d come here with Rees, in her short-sleeved tunic, her hair up, holding Rees’ hand, no one had paid her any attention. She’d been just another girl with a Sha reem.
Now she was obviously upper-class, fully swathed in robes, descending from a hover litter. She left the bodyguards outside.
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