Claiming Derryn

by Vivian Arend

  Melina sat and three of the beasts crawled closer. They brushed their soft faces against her skin and purred. She gathered them in her lap and stroked them, amazed to see they were already the same size as their sires.

  “It’s fascinating how environmental changes affect the local species. Actually, even the transplants like the humans on Derryn probably felt the impact of the solar storm. We may all share the common ancestry of Earth, but our new planets of origin have changed us slightly.”

  “You think the beasts were affected by the solar flares that knocked the technology on Derryn back down to preflight level?” A warning tickled the back of Melina’s brain. If the original solar flares caused one set of changes, what about further bombardment?

  “It’s a high possibility. Nothing else seems to have occurred. I’m fairly certain it’s the DNA changes that allow them to turn the crystals. That’s why there never used to be mines on the planet.”

  Melina frowned. “If we set off another series of flares, what effect will it have on them? Could it cause them to revert to their previous characteristics?”

  Sal shrugged. “It could cause a whole new series of mutations to occur. We know massive solar eruptions can have intense medical and emotional consequences on humans, even causing strokes and heart attacks. I don’t see why there should be less effect on the fauna. Solar activity even has the potential to trigger widely fluctuating feelings including despair and depression. One study showed social unrest increased after massive flares to the point of inciting revolutions.”

  “There’s the source of the paranoia the Derrians exhibit.” Melina brushed the sharysa off her lap and stood to pace the room. There was potential for a lot more danger in this situation than she’d suspected. “Can we really justify setting off another set of flares and sending them further down the spiral?”

  Sal raised a brow. “Can we justify doing nothing? Letting them continue to bomb unsuspecting mines and storage facilities in their quest to take over the market? Melina, sometimes it’s not that we have the best solution, but that we have the best possible solution right now. When there is nothing better to be done, we do what we can for the good of the most people.”

  The doctor gathered her things together and then turned to wink at her. “You of all people should know about balancing choices for more than one person at a time.”

  Melina blushed. She’d wondered when the first comments would be made about the three-way relationship.

  Sal shook her head quickly. “I’m not condemning you. Davis and Trev are wonderful together, but they’re even better with you in the mix. We all think so, the crew.” The doctor smiled. “I’m glad you’ve joined us. We have a marvelous time ahead of us. Thanks for signing on.”

  She left Melina alone with the sharysa. The beasts played together, rolling across the floor, stalking each other and pouncing with little roars. Some lay heaped together in little piles, with their soft snoring and purring filling the room. Melina knelt to stroke a pure white beast. They were beautiful creatures. She hoped the coming solar storm didn’t cause them any harm.

  An awful thought flooded her mind. What if the radiation changed the sharysa this time so they could no longer create crystals? The Nottingham and Eagle would both be stalled in their orbits without a power source. The SIC would follow up on the lack of transmissions and come to the Eagle’s assistance shortly, but the Nottingham would remain an easy target to be captured.

  She had already come to the conclusion her chances of making it off the Eagle to rendezvous with the Nottingham were low. Her grandfather hated her almost as much as he hated the rest of them, but there was no way she would share that information. Davis would insist on being heroic and going in her stead. Or he’d vote to leave the fate of the Eagle up to chance, and if anything did happen to the vessel, it would haunt her forever.

  A sharysa leapt to her shoulder and pulled at her ear with its baby teeth. Warmth and love flowed from the little thing as it fed emotions directly to her brain. A strangely blurry picture that looked like a spatial coordinate hovered there as well. Jem had shown her the same thing, and it frustrated Melina she couldn’t figure it out.

  She sat on the floor, surrounded by warm fuzzy bodies, and tried to decide the best plan of action.

  It didn’t seem fair. After finally being reunited with Davis and Trev, the first people with whom she’d ever felt totally loved and accepted, her only choice was to give them up. Melina rose and headed back to the quarters she shared with the men. There was one final experience she wanted again. It would help her find the courage to go through with her plan.

  ———

  “What are you up to?” Davis asked suspiciously. Trev stepped around his partner into their room to find Melina wrapped in Davis’ oversized robe, smiling wistfully at them.

  She raised a brow. “Do I need a reason to ask you to come to your quarters? Is this sufficient?” She dropped the fabric to reveal smooth, creamy skin unhampered by any clothing.

  Trev’s mouth went dry. She strutted forward, grabbed them by the belt buckles and backed toward the bed.

  “Good enough for me.” Davis hummed with approval as she made short work of his pant fastenings, stripping the fabric to his knees and releasing his swelling cock.

  Trev reached for his own belt and Melina slapped his hands. “I want to do it. I want to taste you both, and take you both. It’s been too long since I had you in my body at the same time.”

  She dropped to her knees and slipped his belt open. His cock pressed eagerly against the fabric of his uniform. Melina dragged her teeth over the visible ridge and he swore, blood pulsing through him, his reaction harder and higher than he could control.

  Beside him, Davis stepped out of his uniform. He moved closer, his cock thrust straight forward and already leaking moisture. Melina barely had time to open Trev’s pants before Davis tapped her cheek with his shaft, leaving semen clinging to her cheek. She glanced up at them both, scooped the liquid on her finger and lapped it clean with a seductive stare.

  Trev’s cock escaped the confines of the fabric and Melina hummed in approval as she drew the men closer together, touching the weeping tips of their erections together. Davis’ heat enveloped Trev before the even-hotter moisture of Melina’s mouth took precedent. She licked them simultaneously, curling her tongue around them. One hand on either shaft, she stroked and sucked in turns, her beautiful body gyrating before them.

  Trev concentrated as the exquisite pressure built. Melina shifted to hold their cocks upright in her joined clasp. Trev adjusted his hips and the two lengths rubbed together. The rigid crest on the head of Davis’ cock rasped the tender sweet spot on the underside of his erection and he hissed. Then Melina sucked them both into her mouth as best she could and there was nothing but sensation and electric pulses racing up his spine. Again and again she surrounded them, and Trev clamped his jaw together to stop from coming too soon. The torment lasted until Davis took back control. Wrestling his cock from Melina’s grasp, Davis laid her on the bed.

  “I want to taste you.”

  Melina may have called them to the quarters they shared, but now Davis took control. He lifted her ass and buried his face between her legs, sliding his tongue over her wet opening in slow, controlled drags that had her legs shaking in moments. Trev crawled beside her and kissed her sweetly, enjoying the taste of both Davis and himself on her tongue. She stroked her fingers through his hair, like she used to do unconsciously when they sat together studying or discussing the future.

  This was the future as far as he was concerned. Melina, Davis and him. Wherever they went in the universe was unimportant as long as they went together.

  She panted softly as she approached her climax and he pulled back to watch. He reached a hand to trace circles around her nipples, the tight peaks shaking with her uneven breaths. A flush of desire spread over her torso and she cried out. Trev stared, fascinated, as she let herself go completely, trusting Davis to know what s
he needed. He slowed his intimate kisses, easing his touch on her sensitive clit until she lay still on the bed. She smiled down at him and tugged on his shoulders to bring him level with them. Trev slid to the side and Davis rolled between them. He pulled Melina into one arm and Trev into the other and kissed them slowly, one after another. Trev took the tenderness he received and passed it on to Melina. Each brush of their lips, the rasp of Davis’ beard, the soft touch of Melina’s cheek, filled his heart a little more. He reached down to pump his cock, the need for release growing more urgent.

  Davis caught his motion and chuckled. “Trev wants you, and so do I. It’s time, sweetheart.”

  Melina climbed on top willingly, and Trev scrambled for the lubricant in the bedside table. By the time he returned, Melina had enveloped Davis’ cock with her body, the two of them locked in a tight embrace, kissing again. Trev smoothed a hand down her back, one finger stroking the seam of her ass again and again, watching the tight star of her anus wink as she instinctively tensed at his intrusion.

  He couldn’t resist. Leaning over, he started where Davis and Melina joined and licked the entire length of her slit to circle the rosette between her cheeks. He hardened his tongue and rimmed her. She cried with delight into Davis’ mouth.

  Trev fought to slow down, to take the time to add lube to his fingers and press them into her depths. He felt Davis’ cock against his fingers and the need to join in made him rush. Even with a thick coating of lubricant she was tight as he pressed the flared head of his cock through the tender rim of muscles. When he would have slowed, Melina swore and pressed back on him, forcing him farther in until he was buried balls-deep.

  So good. It was so fucking good he couldn’t move. Surrounded by heat and tight pressure, the sight of Davis caressing Melina’s breasts and the nudge of Davis’ sac against his—it was all too much. Trev held on to his control before he blew it all in less than a second.

  He dragged back slowly, each inch of his cock hypersensitive. Timing his motions in opposition to Davis’ thrusts, they filled Melina in turn. His head spun from a lack of oxygen and he realized he’d been holding his breath to avoid coming too early.

  Melina screamed with delight. She impaled herself on Davis again, slamming her hips down and leaning back as far as possible. Trev buried his cock deep in her ass, her heat scalding him. The flared head of his cock rubbed against Davis’ through the thin membrane inside Melina.

  Holy hell, it was incredible. Davis shifted and retreated slowly, withdrawing in a smooth motion that massaged and teased, caressing the three of them intimately. Melina tightened around them both and Trev swore, the enveloping pressure breaking his concentration and he let loose. Driving in, he watched his cock disappear into Melina’s welcoming body. Below him, Davis entered her as well, their balls rubbing at the apex of every stroke. Stars imploded at the back of his brain as every nerve grew more sensitive and Trev climaxed, shooting long pulses of heat to bathe Melina’s passage.

  Davis’ cock jerked as he found his release. Melina cried as she came, squeezing them. Her core pulsed, milking their cocks and drawing them all together into one.

  Satisfaction at being reunited filled Trev as their trio connected—body, mind and soul.

  ———

  “Davis, get up here, we’ve got trouble.” There was a note of panic in Trev’s voice.

  “Why do you sound so surprised? You’re on the Nottingham, we’re supposed to be in trouble,” Davis muttered, striding back toward the main deck. “What’s happening?”

  “Melina is up to something. She didn’t take the sharysa with her. I mean, she took a sharysa, just not Jem and Piata. I dropped in on our quarters and they’re sitting on the jukebox, chattering like they’ve gone insane. We’ve tried hailing the shuttle, but she’s not responding.”

  Davis stopped at a wall com-unit and stabbed the link to the shuttle. “Melina, report. What the fuck are you doing?”

  Her face appeared on the small screen nestled into the wall. There were tear tracks down her face and her nose was red. She stared at him, hopelessness in her eyes.

  “I’m almost at the cutoff line for communication blackout, Sir.”

  Had she gone insane? “Why are Piata and Jem not on the shuttle with you? I put them in the damn ship myself.”

  Melina sniffed softly, and then dragged a hand over her eyes before she responded. “I didn’t think it was in the best interest to take them too close to Admiral Davenport, Sir.”

  Trev’s voice cut in. “What is with the ‘Sir’, shit? Melina, how are you going to get back if you don’t have the sharysa with you? The one you took is immature—it won’t be able to produce crystals yet.”

  “I realize that.” She closed her eyes and sighed deeply before turning to face the screen again. “There’s something I didn’t tell you. There’s nothing worse in the eyes of my family than a traitor. They were disgusted at the three of us having a relationship back at the Institute and embarrassing them. When you left, I thought it would change how they treated me, but they refused to forgive me for the slight to the Davenport name. Then a month ago I made a chance discovery of information involving a high-level conspiracy in the SIC, and I turned it over to the authorities. My father was one of the players involved, and he’s been taken into custody for investigation.

  “I’ve been cast out. I doubt Grandfather will let me get away from the War Eagle without some kind of incident. I’m pretty sure he sent me as one of the landing party to Derryn in the hopes I would be killed. Or better yet—humiliated, raped and then killed. If I did manage to grab a ship, he’d stop at nothing to follow me back, especially if he finds out you’re involved. You thought he wanted revenge on you but that’s not the half of it. He hates you with a passion. Some of your missions in the past year implicated him in questionable situations. He’s had to talk long and hard to maintain his squeaky-clean image for the SIC board.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us this when we suggested the plan?” Trev demanded.

  “Because I could see no other option.” Melina made adjustments to her flight line as she spoke, her steady hands and quick gestures efficient even as she sniffed and another tear rolled down her cheek.

  Davis swore. “We could have left the lone sharysa onboard and let it—”

  She jerked upright and glared at him through the monitor. “It’s not a private vessel with only my grandfather aboard. There are civilians, plus a crew of over a thousand. You may jokingly call yourself a pirate, but you’ve never once taken innocent lives in your missions. There’s no way I’ll let you start now, not for my sake. I can’t allow it or I become no better than the rest of my family, motivated by nothing but greed. I need to be different.

  “There’s another thing. Sal discovered the sharysa might be genetically compromised by the solar storm. Future generations could lose the ability to produce crystals. If it’s true, then the sharysa you have onboard are the only ones with the ability to produce crystals. Set the magnetic bombs to deal with the Derryn concern and then get out of the system before the flares trap you.”

  The implications of what she said him tore him apart. She didn’t have the trained sharysa with her to generate energy crystals for her escape. She was headed back into the grasp of a man who would have no qualms about killing her. Like hell would he sit back and let her sacrifice herself. In the background, he heard Trev swearing and calling out orders to adjust their flight pattern.

  “We’re coming to get you, Melina. Put yourself into a pod and—”

  “No, Trev. It’s not possible and you know it. Attempting to rescue me would be a completely illogical exercise that would put the entire team at risk. I’ve made my decision based on what I felt was the best possible solution for the most people.”

  She stared at Davis across the screen, the light in her eyes fading to sorrow. “I love you both. I can’t let them catch you because of me. If I get the chance, I’ll find a way to rejoin you at some point in the future. Now go do
some piratey things for me. Melina out.”

  Davis howled into the air as she cut the connection and the screen went black.

  Chapter Seven

  Had she ever seen him without a scowl?

  Melina stood at attention as her grandfather marched his way to where she waited. His line-worn face seemed to have grown more stern since she’d seen him last, a mere three days ago when he’d announced her as part of the landing committee to Derryn’s surface, the mission that would have turned out oh so well if Trev hadn’t been on hand to save her. Her heart pounded, but she fought to keep her fear from showing. She’d made the right decision, but she ached with the desire to return to her lovers.

  “How did you get away?” he snapped.

  Nice to see you too, Grampa. Yes, I had a lovely time on the planet, being taken hostage. Thanks for your concern about my well-being. “Commandeered a ship, Sir.” She stared forward, body held rigid. He stood inches in front of her, sniffing as if she’d brought contaminants onto his vessel.

  “The others returned days ago. Why not send you as well?”

  “The Mari 14 had only two-man—”

  “Did they rape you?”

  Holy hell, nice to know her suspicions were accurate. “No Sir.”

  A single muscle in his cheek twitched, and for a second she swore he looked confused before the mask went back up. “Report to the nursing station for a full physical. We’ll meet to take your account once it is completed.”

  “I would like to—”

  “Lieutenant, do you have a problem with my orders?”

  Yes, and with your whole stinking attitude. “No Sir.”

  “Any vital information to deliver before I dismiss you, Lieutenant? Since you’re so good at ferreting out secrets, I would assume you would be eager to inform the proper authorities of any developments.”