Origin

by Dani Worth

  I loved digging through that ridiculously packed box of goodies, loved to imagine his big hands plucking all the small containers off shelves with me in mind.

  He walked into my room dressed in something he called Earth denim. I’d noticed both he and Clay favored the strange pants. This pair looked like they’d gone through the cleaner so much, they’d thinned, cupping each line of muscle in Anders’s thick thighs lovingly.

  Curling my hands into fists to keep from reaching out to see if that material was as soft as it looked, I looked up into his face and promptly pictured his expression when Clay had taken him into his mouth.

  “Oh, sweetheart, I’m pretty sure I know what you’re seeing in that pretty head of yours, but you have to stop thinking about it before I embarrass myself. From what the crew has told me, no man wants to walk onto Burga One with a visible hard-on.” He looked at the bed, then the small table bolted into the wall. “You packed?”

  “Packed?”

  “You didn’t think we’d leave you on the ship, did you?”

  “Isn’t Speero staying on?”

  “Speero doesn’t share our bed.”

  I looked down because I hadn’t thought I did either. Not more than once—not until I could fully participate with them as I knew they wanted.

  “Hey,” he said softly as he raised my chin with his fingers. “We can’t risk you being alone here. You’ll need to stay in the rent room with the captain and me. I wish this wasn’t the first planet you were getting to see after being locked up, though. If we had more time, there is one in the Toquarian Sector that will take your breath away. Waterfalls like those on Kithra, but you can actually swim in their pools at the bottom and the most delicious fruits and vegetables that grow right on the trees. A person can wallow in pleasure for days without doing more than lazing in a pool and eating food right off the limbs that hang over the water.”

  “I’d like to see this place. I remember Kithran waterfalls because I loved watching them as a child. My mother would—” I broke off, staring at him in shock.

  He squeezed my shoulders. “Another memory. Can you coax it all the way through?”

  I closed my eyes and suddenly, I saw her. Saw that her hair was the same color as mine and that she had freckles like me, that she was small next to my Gwinarian father who towered over me as he lifted me up to settle on his shoulders. I touched the ends of my wet hair, recalling how long and soft his hair had been, that it had been one of the lighter Gwinarian shades, a kind of reddish blond. Like my friend, Kei’s.

  My eyes flew open and I wrapped my fingers around Anders’s forearms.

  “I remember them. I remember my parents and I remember a friend. Kei.” I tried to pull up more memories of Kei other than a vague recollection of his name and the color of his hair and I couldn’t. Frustration made me tighten my fingers. “Why can’t I remember more? Where did the memories go? It’s not like I was a toddler when I left. I was nine years old.”

  “Years of torture would wreak havoc on anyone’s mind, Siri.” He stroked my cheek, then cradled my face in his hands before leaning down to brush his lips over mine.

  I didn’t flinch. Didn’t even think of it, and the warmth that came with the realization made me slide my palms up his arms.

  He pulled back, surprise in his gaze…surprise and a growing warmth that made him shake his head. “You are determined to make me walk out there with a raging erection, aren’t you?”

  “I could take care of that for you.” Clay stepped into my room and palmed the door closed behind him.

  Anders sucked in a breath, his green eyes not leaving my face as the captain came around to stand next to us both.

  “What did I miss?” he asked.

  It was hard to pull away from the crazy heat coming from Anders’s gaze, but I looked at the captain and again wanted to hold my breath. His piercing stare affected me just as much as Anders’s did. I marveled over the way the men raised feelings in me simultaneously. I didn’t feel more for one than the other, and in fact realized they’d kind of morphed into a solid, unbreakable pair to me—especially after being in that bed. Again, I saw Clay’s steady stare as Anders had lifted his knees and spread himself open to the captain. I had a feeling the bigger man preferred topping—he’d pretty much told us with the hump him like an animal statement. But he’d laid himself out, vulnerable to Clay, and even though they hadn’t taken it to that point, his invitation had been clear. I wasn’t the only one humbled by the experience.

  I knew what it was to be vulnerable in a way neither of these men would ever understand.

  I shoved those thoughts away because they had no business being anywhere near the memories of these two loving each other.

  “She was picturing us together again.” Anders hadn’t let go of me and when I glanced down, I saw that he had lost the battle to the erection. His cock, one I knew was long and thick, pressed the denim out in a way that looked uncomfortable.

  “Were you, Siri?” Clay stepped closer, then moved around so he was behind Anders. He slid his arms around Anders’s waist and cupped him through the pants, stroking his hand up and down until Anders closed his eyes. His hands trembled against my cheeks.

  “We don’t have time for this. Everyone is waiting,” Anders said with a groan.

  Clay came around, his mouth in that crooked, naughty smile that made me think I could work up the nerve to rip off my clothes at some point. “True. Though it’d be fun to see their expressions if we made them wait. Thing is”—he stretched up to kiss Anders—“I don’t want a quickie. I want lots of time so I can sink into your body properly.”

  “Fuck, Claybourne,” Anders muttered, squeezing his eyes shut.

  I laughed, couldn’t help it. “And here I thought Anders was the wicked one in this relationship.”

  “Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea how naughty the captain can be.”

  Clay waggled his black eyebrows in agreement.

  Still grinning, I leaned forward, grabbed Anders’s cheeks and kissed him. He didn’t even close his eyes, too shocked apparently to do more than stand there. I let go and turned to grab… “I don’t have anything to pack my clothes in. Maybe I should just stay here.”

  Clay shook his head. “I’d rather you aren’t out of our sight—not on this planet.”

  “Nobody is making me want to see this place. Sounds awful.”

  “I looked it up. It is,” Anders said, adjusting his still-hard cock in his pants. “And I’m going to put some cold water on this thing so I don’t carry it out there into the wild.” He walked into my washroom.

  Clay opened the door. “I’ll get a satchel for your things.”

  Lia was standing on the other side of the door, grinning. “Aw, we thought things were just about to get interesting.”

  I noticed Bucho, Speero and Juniper standing there too. My cheeks flushed hot, I bit my lip and started folding…no refolding my clothes to give me something to do other than stand there blushing.

  “I’m going to be moving them into my room when we get back.” Clay strode past them. “Better walls.”

  But if he had heard Anders and me in Anders’s room, then it would work the other way. There weren’t any rooms on the other side of Clay’s cabin, so maybe I could talk him into locking up Anders’s room. Or talk Anders into it. I smiled, pretty sure I could talk either man into anything at this point. I kind of liked the surge of power that thought gave me.

  Burga One was the biggest shit pile of metal and fumes.

  I truly understood Lia’s version of the word instantly. I hadn’t been allowed to see most of the planets the entertainment ship had docked on, but the few that I had seen over the years hadn’t been like this. Standing in front of a window that made up an entire wall, I looked down from the sixteenth floor of the rented room. One mining pod after another lined up as far as my eyes could see. The sun that warmed this planet sat fat, bright and hot on the horizon with only the tip visible through the layers of fire-c
olored smog.

  Outside, I hadn’t been able to breathe.

  Stone paths had been carved right out of the planet’s surface, each one leading into mine openings.

  I walked away from the window, frowning at the mismatched patterns of wood on the floor. Squares of all shapes and sizes, some hadn’t even been smoothed down to the match the surface of those around them. I’d tripped twice in here. My feet were uncomfortably stuffed into a pair of Clay’s boots—we’d had to use four pairs of socks just to keep them from sliding around.

  Eying the bed, I shivered and thought about sharing it with the men. Clay and Anders had locked me in the room and left to scout out the halls, they said. After walking from the shuttle stop to this rental building, I understood why they locked me in and wouldn’t leave me on the ship. I had seen only one woman and even I could recognize an overworked professional sex worker.

  When the men came back into the room, I was at the window again. I turned to them, frowning. “This place is awful, but the bathing place is really nice. The brochure called it an old-fashioned shower. Water comes out from every direction or you can set it to come out of one nozzle and that one even comes off the wall so you can hold it in your hand.”

  “I love old-fashioned head.” Anders’s grin was all kinds of naughty but I had no idea what he meant.

  Clay chuckled and hurried into the washroom. “I get it first.” He firmly palmed the door closed behind him.

  “Asshole probably locked us out too.” Anders walked to the bed. He bounced on it a couple of times. “It’s not as cushy as Clay’s, but it’ll do. Too bad we had to dock the ship so far out.”

  It had taken us two hours in a shuttle to get to the part of the planet they thought Crichton would be. That mining crew had already shut down for the night, so we planned to go out in the morning.

  Anders’s small vidscreen beeped inside his bag and he crossed the room to dig it out. I could see Speero’s shock of bright hair from where I still stood by the window.

  “Captain there?”

  “He’s showering. What’s up?” Anders walked to me, carrying the screen.

  “Namito and Juniper just got into some trouble. They’re in a bar in the building next to yours.”

  “That was fast.” Anders cursed, walked back to his bag and took out a strange-looking weapon. I frowned, not recognizing it as either a tranque gun or a laser. It was like the ones they’d carried onto the entertainment ship.

  “Any more info?” he asked.

  “Yeah. It’s bad. They’re cornered and Namito thinks Lashin is there.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Anders set everything down and walked to the washroom to bang on the door. Hard.

  Clay opened the door wearing a towel and a scowl. He still had shampoo in his hair. “Impatient? I promise, we’ll get to the good stuff, Sullivan.”

  “Lashin’s been spotted.”

  Clay’s expression went flat and deadly. He nodded and shut the door. When he came back out, he didn’t even bother with a towel, just walked naked to his satchel and began pulling out clothes.

  Anders and I looked at each other and I saw my own worry reflected in his green eyes.

  Pulling on another pair of the Earth denim pants, Clay muttered under his breath then hopped a foot or two when his toes got stuck. The play of muscles in his thighs did manage to capture my attention long enough for some appreciation before he covered up and hauled a thick, long-sleeved shirt over his head. He covered that in some sort of thicker layer that made him look strangely bulky. He saw my confused frown and opened it up to show me it had pockets inside—pockets full of weapons, including another of those strange gun-type things.

  “Are those laser guns?”

  Anders strode across the room to dig another of those thick jackets out of his bag. “These guns are unique. Basically a combination of tranque, laser and holy shit, you’d better run now.”

  Clay smirked, pulled his out to check the power levels. “We call them erasers. Juniper found them in Sector Two. Bought them all up right after their inventor was killed trying to modify one.”

  “He was killed modifying his own weapon?”

  Nodding, Clay stuck the weapon back inside his jacket. “Pretty stupid, eh? We’re surprised he managed to invent these wonderful things. We’ll never know what he was trying to add to them but it doesn’t matter. They belong to the Ultio crew now.”

  “I don’t want to go without a weapon too.”

  “Of course not,” Anders said, walking toward me and handing me a laser. “I don’t want to give you one of the erasers until we can train you on them, but you can work a laser just fine. On lights anyway.” He winked at me, then all hints of humor left his face. “You ready for this?”

  “I’m surprised you’re not insisting I stay here.”

  “Hell no. Like I said, we won’t leave you alone on this hellhole.”

  “You just did.”

  “Not for long.” Anders leaned in close. “Clay thought he’d spotted a naughty adult toy shop down the hall.”

  I blushed.

  “Plus,” Clay said, coming up to lift my chin with his fingers. He gave me a soft, lingering kiss. “We’re not leaving you because you have even more reason to put that man down than we do.”

  “He destroyed your brother’s life. Lia told me.”

  “He helped to destroy your world, your people, and he kept you as a slave.” Clay kissed me again, running his tongue along my bottom lip.

  I groaned softly, couldn’t seem to help it. “I’d kill him just for what he did to Bastian.”

  “That’s one sweet kid.” Anders pushed the captain aside and kissed me too. “We’ll make sure to hurt him a lot first. For Bastian. And for you.” Anders turned to Clay. “I’ll have your back, Captain.”

  “You always do, Sullivan. Even when you’re pissed at me.”

  “Expect that won’t change.”

  “Which part? My back or being pissed.”

  Anders snorted. “You have to ask? Both, of course. Small, nosy fucker.”

  “I’m not small.” Clay suddenly frowned at my clothes. “We’ll have to walk to this place and I didn’t bring another weapon’s jacket for her. She can’t just walk around with that monster laser.”

  “I’ve got a big shirt in my bag. It’ll go down to her knees.” Anders walked back to his bag and tugged it out. “I’ve got a smaller tranque gun she could put in the waist of her pants. The shirt will cover it.” He handed me the green shirt and we switched out the laser for the tranque. “You know how to use a tranque?”

  I nodded. “I had one nice handler. He showed me. I still think he planned to get me out at some point even if he didn’t manage to.”

  “Then let’s go. Apparently Namito and Juniper are holed up in the bar with the others. They won’t move without us, but if they’re recognized, they’ll be in a hell of a lot of trouble.”

  Chapter Ten

  My eyes watered when we stepped outside. Not only from the blast of cold that swept my face, but from the dust and burning oil in the air. It felt like I inhaled sludge with every breath—was worse than it had been earlier. I looked around and saw smoke coming from tall pipes. Everywhere. Anders pulled a square of cloth out of his pocket and stopped us on the stone path. He placed the material over my nose and slid his hands under my hair to tie it off at my neck. He stroked his thumb over my throat before pulling away.

  I smiled my thanks, knowing he’d be able to tell by my eyes. He nodded, took my hand tight in his and glared at the two men and woman who’d stopped off the path to stare at me. One smirked outright, then quickly stopped when Anders turned up the heat on his stare. They moved along quickly then.

  I wondered if I’d be able to use the tranque gun tucked into my pants on someone other than Lashin. Then I thought back to some of the government men and women, mostly human, some not, that he’d given me to over the years.

  Yeah, I could use my gun, or better yet, one of the
erasers on them easily.

  When we reached the bar, it didn’t take me long to accept that I could easily use a weapon on anyone here who raised a gun on Clay or Anders. Because they did. The second Clay stepped inside the grungy black building, snaps filled the room as weapons hit palms.

  “I see my reputation precedes me here,” Clay said loudly, humor lacing his tone.

  Anders and I were still outside. I lifted an eyebrow at him.

  “Guess I should have said this whole mining operation is run by Saturna,” Anders murmured.

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “Didn’t want you scared.”

  I yanked the cloth off my face and stuffed it into my pocket. “And you think I’m not now?”

  He chuckled. “Sweetheart, now you’re too pissed to be scared.”

  I scowled at him, causing him to laugh harder. This only pissed me off enough to kick him in the shin.

  “Hey now,” he said, still laughing.

  “You think you know me that well, Sullivan?”

  He shook his head. “I’m learning. Want to learn more.” He leaned close, his eyes on the people in the room because he could see over Clay’s shoulder. “Want to maybe keep learning the rest of my life.”

  My heart fell into my stomach, but I didn’t have time to process what he’d said because Juniper suddenly stood in the back corner of the bar with his weapon aimed at the head of someone I recognized. My hands started to shake even as I lifted Anders’s huge shirt to pull out my tranque gun. “That man’s name is Lackey Hinters, Lashin’s favorite handler. Can I have the laser back?”

  Clay, who still held his weapon trained on the roomful of people, turned his head only enough to aim words over his shoulder at me. “That man handle you, Siri?”

  “Repeatedly.” I held my hand out to Anders. “I meant it about the laser,” I told him.