Her eyes took in strange, organic looking foods that she had never seen before in her entire life. She felt almost as though she were looking at a bag of tricks! There were all sorts of things in there, and she could only assume that the low temperature of the closet kept the obviously fresh produce cool. She pressed a hand to the wall and jumped as it crumbled against her fingers.
Lifting her hand to her nose, she smelled the greenish substance on her fingers. She realized it was where strange scent originated. She smelled it again and clicked her fingers as she remembered what it reminded her of . . . soil. It had been such a long time since she'd smelled it, but, now that she had, she realized that while it had different coloring, it had the same earthy scent.
For some strange reason, the smell had her belly rumbling.
Goldie peered about the shelves and spied a strange looking . . . . She could only describe it as a thing. She sniffed it, and the scent went straight to her empty stomach. Picking at it a little, she tasted it and savored the taste of this thing that was meaty in flavor.
She pinched a few more bites off of it before stopping and realizing that, unlike the processed foods on Earth, this actually filled her up faster than the powdered meals she usually ate. Not only that, but its flavor was almost mind blowing. She could only describe it as meat, but it seemed to touch every single area of her tongue and satisfy each little part.
Amazed, Goldie laughed again.
But the thought that it was very likely an expensive product, she determined that when the property's owner or owners returned, she would pay them back, perhaps make a trade with them for something.
A part of her couldn't imagine three men living together, but, in this house, she was ninety-nine percent positive that that was the case. The three glasses with the engraved words and then the three chairs around the table and the photo on the wall of three indistinguishable but large men.
She just hoped they would take pity on a stranded female! The entire home seemed to be crafted from a desire to recreate the past. She hoped against hope that they still had some chivalry left in them.
Looking around the kitchen again, she took a seat at one of the stools around the table. Slumping against its surface, she relaxed against it. A feeling of well being permeated her. Her stomach and thirst quenched, she thought that she would just sit there until the owners returned.
Hours seemed to pass and no one returned home and no noise was made from the exterior of the property. Sporadically, she'd ask Eve for the time and realized that almost two hours had passed. Sleep was riding her hard now. After all, she had had a distressing couple of hours, and, combined with the perpetual up and down of adrenaline flooding her system, it was enough to have anyone ready to collapse!
Using her arms to push herself away from the table, she managed to stand, just barely, and, as soon as she was upright, her legs began to wobble from exhaustion. Staggering from the kitchen, she fumbled with the switch on her way out.
As soon as darkness swamped the room, Goldie noticed that she'd left the light on in the small closet. She felt guilty for having wasted their energy, but, at the same time, the prospect of walking to the closet and back and then finding somewhere she could rest was just too much.
Closing her eyes, she fought herself momentarily, but it was too engrained in her to save energy. Dragging herself over to the closet, she turned off the lights and then retreated to the circular hallway once more. She headed into the nearest door and fumbled around for a switch. Finally finding it, she could have dropped to her knees in thankfulness. As soon as the light came on she saw before her a bed! Slinking over to it, she sat down on it and then immediately jumped up.
“What the fuck?” she grumbled and rubbed her butt. Talk about sitting on stone! With a slight whimper, because it had looked so inviting, Goldie knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep on that bed. Even though she felt as though she could drop to the floor and fall into a deep slumber, this mattress was simply far too hard for her.
With a pout, she switched off the light and then walked into the hallway and into the next room. She went through the same procedure and plopped down on to the bed as her legs gave up from under her.
As her body collided with the bed's surface, Goldie almost fell off the damned thing as she sunk down into the soft mattress. She jerked upwards and nearly toppled off it again as she tried to settle herself on the surface. This one wasn't as bad as the other, but still, it wasn't comfortable. There was a sloshing sound in the very middle of it that reminded her of water. But surely they didn't have water in their beds?
Water must have been truly abundant on this planet for them to have been able to use it so extravagantly. Years of prudent water consumption warred with interest, but, again, Goldie knew that she would be rolling off the bed every time she moved were she to stay here for the night!
Frowning, she clambered upwards again and into the next room where there was another bedroom, which confirmed her earlier suspicion that there were at least three inhabitants in this house.
She sat down on this bed and almost collapsed with relief as it supported and cushioned her simultaneously. Feeling like she could purr, she lay down on the bed and nuzzled her butt into the lovely mattress. Her head felt like it was pillowed by a lovely fluffy cloud, and, within seconds of sinking into perfection, she fell asleep.
* * * *
“Can you smell something?” Faeron asked, a puzzled frown on his face.
Solden, in the middle of stretching tiredly, shrugged. “Yeah.”
“Don't you think that's odd?” Faeron questioned pointedly. “We own the woods. There are no other houses or shifters in a twenty mile radius, and, yet, we can smell something?”
“Wake up, Solden!” Turin said wryly and slapped him on the back.
Solden glared at them both and jerked at Turin's hand which rested upon his shoulder. “Fuck off both of you. Does it scent of danger? If not, then I don't give a fuck. You might have gone for a run, but I'm the one that caught that damned thing.”
Turin flipped him the bird. “It was only a four hundred pounder, half your damned weight, woman!”
“Yeah, half my fucking weight but double my speed. You do the math.”
“Both of you shut the fuck up,” Faeron commanded and then sniffed at the air. “Whatever it is, it's female.”
“Female?” Turin replied with sudden interest and stuck his nose upwards and inhaled.
“Luria?” Solden asked. “She usually comes this time of the month, doesn't she?”
Faeron rolled his eyes. “She only came two weeks ago. Fucking hell, Solden.”
He grunted. “Fuck both of you.”
“Anyway, it's not a bear. It's . . . human? Turin, do you scent that too?”
Turin nodded and started walking with his nose literally upright in the air as he moved down the hallway. “It's strong in the kitchen.”
They all trudged down the hall and into the kitchen where the scent was indeed the strongest. They all separated into three different directions, Turin headed to the sink and cooking area, Faeron to the pantry, and Solden slumped down at the table.
“Someone's been eating my chicken. Was it you, Solden? Mother fucker.”
“Fuck you, Faeron. Why would I want to eat your gods bedamned chicken?”
“Someone's been drinking from my cup,” Turin pointed out with a frown. He held up the glass to the light. “There is definitely a female lip imprint.”
“Check the bedrooms,” Solden commented blandly.
Turin nodded and headed out of the room and into his bedroom. “Someone's been in my bed,” he called out to the others.
Faeron's head popped out of the closet. “Did he say someone's been in his bed?” he asked Solden.
Solden nodded tiredly and pressed his head against the table surface.
Faeron followed Turin and noticed that his bed also had disturbed sheets on one side of the bed. “Solden! Check your bed. Mine's been touched too.”
“Fuck off!” Solden called back, and, even though it went against every shifter bone in his body to allow someone apart from himself into his own territory, at that moment in time, he was too fucking tired to do anything but rest against the table.
There was only one problem with living on Sirius, and, for as long as Sirians had lived on the planet, it had always been the same-Grogdes, a cross between an insectoid and a reptile. They were ugly bastards and damned mean. They did no damage to the Sirian population, just to their properties, but a Sirian's den was his castle and had to be protected at all costs.
Living in the center of the woods, as they did, he and his brothers were prone to Grogdes. Once the fuckers managed to enter a house, they were nasty bastards and destroyed everything in their wake. Today's had been a female. They were naturally meaner than their male counterparts.
“Solden! Get up,” Faeron ordered from the kitchen door.
Solden flipped him the bird and grunted as he found himself hauled upwards and away from the kitchen table. “What the fuck?”
“Check your damned bedroom. If I go in there, I know you'll slaughter me tomorrow for entering your territory. So do it your damned self and save me the earache.”
Gritting his teeth, Solden stomped down the hall and opened his door so forcefully that it slammed back against the interior wall. His shifter eyes watched in partial astonishment as a woman, a human female, shot up in his bed and looked at him with petrified eyes. With another grunt, he flipped the switch and watched as she blinked at him in a state of what he could only assume was shock.
“Turin. Faeron. She's in here.”
Solden dragged himself over towards the bed and climbed in the other side of the female, who immediately jumped off it and on to the floor and started to talk in some kind of foreign language.
Uncaring, he toed off his sandals and sank into his mattress. A part of him wondered why he didn't mind that his bed was full of her scent, but the other part was too tired to give a damn.
He watched through slitted eyes as his brothers walked in, and, instantly, the woman's agitation levels shot sky high. As soon as they did, he scented something she was exuding. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, but it was damned pervasive!
“She doesn't understand you,” Solden said.
“Eve. Start translation.” By the time she'd started the next sentence, Goldie was speaking in Sirian. “I'm so sorry about this. Please, my humblest apologies.”
“It's all right,” Solden remarked sleepily. “I'd have gutted you if you'd been a guy, but you smell good, so I will leave you alone for now.”
“Solden!” Faeron chided. “Ignore my brother, woman.”
Goldie licked her lips nervously. “My name is Goldie Lockswood.”
Upon hearing the name, Solden burst out laughing. “Goldie? Is that really your name?”
Through his partially hooded gaze he could see her grow all the more irritated. “Naturally it's my name. Why would I lie?”
“Fuck knows,” Solden said with a shrug.
“My father chose it, and I happen to like my name, thank you very much.”
“He didn't mean to offend you, woman.”
“Of course, I didn't.” Solden rolled on to his side and supported his head by raising his elbow and cupping his head with his hand. “Look, Goldie, have you never heard of the story of Goldilocks and the three bears?”
He watched with hooded eyes that veiled his interest as she shook her head nervously.
“It is an old Earth fairy tale. Goldilocks steals into the home of three bears. She breaks their chairs, eats their porridge, and then slips into in their beds. You, my dear, are the modern day version. Hence, my laughter. Irony. Do you understand the term?”
Goldie's brow furrowed in irritation. “I'm not an imbecile. Of course I understand the term.”
“Laugh then!” Solden muttered impatiently and rolled on to his back again.
“It's not funny, and my name is not funny.”
“I said it was ironic and therefore comical.”
“You're making it worse, brother,” Turin pointed out.
Solden grinned. “I know. Look, Ms. Lockswood, maybe you can tell us why you decided to break into our home and sleep in my bed?”
The woman looked down at her feet and then back up again. Her gaze sought out each of them in turn. “I really am ever so sorry about this. It's just that I'm a freighter pilot and I crashed into your planet about five miles from here. My computers scanned the local area and said that within these woods there was a source of metal, which is the component my nanobots need to fix my ship. Apparently, the material is at this location.”
“Naturally,” Solden commented. “The frames of our houses are made from metal. Do you wish us to make ourselves homeless to fix your ship?”
She shook her head from side to side so quickly that the long red braid with gold highlights at the back of her head whipped with her.
“Solden, don't be mean!” Turin chastised and came to sit down on Solden's bed.
Instantly, he grunted and the sound was the nearest human vocals could get to a bear growl.
Goldie jumped almost two feet out of her own skin. “I-I-I can pay. I have money. I just need help.”
“Aid we can give, but we have no metal here. I shall have to talk to a friend to bring some over. Do you know how much you require?” Faeron asked.
The woman nodded and looked at the device on her wristband which made a whirring sound. “Around half a cubic ton. Do you understand that measurement term?”
“Woman, we may live simply, but we are not stupid,” Faeron replied. “I shall place the order.”
Having said that, he left the room and retreated into the den to make the call. Sirians were technologically aware, they simply chose to lead more simple lives. That did not mean they were entirely out of touch.
“You do realize, Ms. Goldie Lockswood,” Solden said, trying to fight back a smile, “that females only enter the bedrooms of adult males on Sirius to mate, don't you?”
Turin grinned down wolfishly at Solden as Goldie gulped. “Mate? You mean like animals?”
“Didn't you know, my dear? We are animals.”
She shook her head. “No. My computer told me that you were shifters.”
“And is your computer always right?”
The woman grimaced. “No, but she is usually.”
“Ah, not the best source of information, but, in this instance, your computer is correct,” Solden said with a sleepy purr. “That does not take away from the fact that females only enter a male's chambers for recreation or procreation . . . .”
* * * *
With a disturbed frown on her face, Goldie contemplated the two men before her. The similarities between them were almost, hell, were very disconcerting. Twins were nothing new and neither were clones, but these three were so alike that it was almost like talking to one of the men and then two mirror images.
The only difference she could see between them was a difference in their attitude. The one on the bed was playful and obviously overtired. The one who had gone to order her parts was obviously the leader, and the one that sat on the edge of the bed that was grinning over at her was a mixture of the two, more responsible than the sleepy one but less so than the leader. It was the only thing that she could use to separate them in her mind, because it was sure as hell impossible to separate them by looks alone.
Each of them had short dark brown hair and their eyes were a startling blue. Hazarding a guess, she'd say cerulean, a deep, rich mixture of turquoise and green that had her thinking of the only ocean left on Earth. Their noses were strong and straight, and their jaws firm and luscious enough to kiss with a slight stubble there that surrounded lips that were bite-able. And if their faces weren't enough to seduce her, their bodies did the rest of the job!
These guys had muscles upon muscles upon muscles and every part of them was on show. Only a small sarong-like swath of material covered
their manhood from her sight. Their stomachs were so developed that she knew if she rested her head against one of the taut luscious slabs it would be as comfortable as resting her head on a metal floor.
Not that she would be resting her head on one of their bellies, she mentally backtracked quickly. Looking at them, she began to flush with her guilty sexual appraisal of them.
God, it had been way, way, way too long since she'd had sex. And it had been a hell of a way away from before she'd set off on this particular haul. So it was definitely more than eight months and counting.
In fact, she thought cringing, the last time she'd been laid had been two missions before this one. At least thirty six months ago, and, considering that a lunar year ran for eight months, that was four and a half years ago! Instantly, her pussy started to ache.
How the hell had so much time passed? She shook her head, not knowing where it had all gone and why during that time, she hadn't realized that she needed, quite desperately, to be fucked.
Goldie tried not to contemplate how tempting that thought actually was.
She scowled at their wording. Mate?
“Only animals mate,” she retorted and instantly regretted her hastily blurted out statement.
“Why, Goldie, what do you think we are?” the sleepy one said. She thought he was the one they'd called Solden.
The Forgotten Realms: Primal Instincts Page 3