Settler's Mine 2: The Lovers

by Mechele Armstrong

  “I know…even with his attitude, I like being with him. I…feel something when I’m in his presence.” Bren spoke haltingly, these things hard for him to admit. “I love you, Zelda. I always have. But Amory…”

  “I know. I feel it, too.” The lure of Amory called to her. It had her seeking him out, even when he’d tried his best to isolate himself. Others had noticed that she and Bren spent time with the young man. The rumor mill spread fast. Some had her leaving Bren for Amory. Some had her taking Amory before he found his heartstone, always violently. She snorted. Like she’d rape anyone. Not her style. She didn’t have to. Even with Bren in her life, people came on to her everyday. There was no need to make someone fuck her.

  “I guess we have to wait and see what happens.” Bren let out a sigh, his chest rising and falling.

  She smiled, unfolding up to her knees before straddling his waist. “We don’t have to wait for all things.”

  “Oh, good.” Bren reached up to palm one of her full breasts, slowly rubbing his thumb across her nipple. It pebbled in reaction to his touch. Her breath sped as his cock poked up hard against her thigh. He’d gone from flaccid to rock hard in seconds. She loved how ready Bren always was for her. The sides of her rubbed deliciously together, ready to take in her willing man.

  “Ummmm, yeah.” She wiggled against Bren, but didn’t take him fully into her pussy, only allowed him to rest at her entrance. “Yeah, it is good.”

  Amory would be at her back. He’d kiss down her spine, thrusting against her while she took Bren into her body. Perhaps he’d even breach her from behind while Bren pierced her from the front. No. No thoughts of this now. It might never be.

  Wetness seeped from her. Bren’s tip bridged her entrance. He slid in slightly, making a guttural sound as he did.

  Oh, the friction as he slid into her folds, parting her. She raised up, easing him out, then ground herself back down around him again. Up and down, she rocked them both, squeezing her muscles around his cock.

  Her breasts danced up and down from the fast movement. He reached up to capture one fleshy mound in his rough hands, hands which saw toil every day. No smoothness there. Her back arched, and her nipple stabbed his palm. His hand tightened before squeezing, then sliding away. It trailed a path over her stomach as it headed downward. Her lower stomach muscles spasmed. He reached her pelvis, his hand gliding gently. His thumb pushed into her slowly and pressed directly on her clit. Her movements sped up, breathing coming quicker and quicker. She was so close to the edge.

  He grabbed her hips, stilling her.

  The almost to orgasm glow faded. She ground her teeth together. “What?”

  He eased her off of him. “I wanna last a little longer.” He lay back on the pillows amid the softness of the sheets.

  Bastard. She’d been about to rocket over the edge, and he knew it. Bren liked to drag their encounters out, make the time they had together last until they were both so in need of orgasm, their desires almost hurt.

  “What did you have in mind?”

  His lopsided grin made her heart jump. “Good vibrations.”

  A shudder racked her frame. The slickness between her thighs increased even more. At least, he was good at this torture stuff. Probably the only thing that saved him. “Well, let’s get to it.” She snapped her fingers together.

  He opened the drawer in the small nightstand, which rested by the bed. Where their toys were. Her breath hitched.

  He pulled out a blue rubber cock ring, which had a silver egg vibrator on each side of it, and a container of lube. The shimmery metal of the vibrators glittered, winking in the light from above.

  Scooting across the bed to where he sat, toys in hand, she grasped the tip of his cock, playing in the moisture contained there. He’d leaked a tiny bit of precum, which had combined with the moisture of her to form a slick pearl on his cock’s end.

  He leaned back, allowing her hand to have its way with him. She sheathed the bottom and worked her way up. Grasping the cinnamon lube with her other had, she opened the tube with her teeth, pulled her hand away from his cock, and poured a generous amount on both her hands. His eyes rolled back in his head as she slathered him up, creating a channel for him to ride across her palms. His hand released the cock ring, letting it fall onto the bed beside his legs. His cock became an exclamation point from his body, glistening with lube.

  “Z.” His breathy whisper made her smile. Now, who was being tortured? Much better to do these things to him.

  She picked up the cock ring with one hand. Grasping it with the other, she then pushed the ring up onto his cock, sliding it gently over his tip and pushing the circle farther down his length.

  He gritted his teeth at the tightness of the cock ring. His engorged flesh fit, but not by much, which was the point of wearing one. The vibrators added stimulus to both of them.

  Swirling a finger around the tip of his cock, she switched on the vibrators.

  A moan tripped over his teeth and out his mouth. Grabbing her arms, he pressed her down into the mattress, pulling himself over her to straddle her. The eggs hummed in the silence of the bedroom.

  He used one hand to help guide him into her warmth. The vibrations hit her as the eggs slid around while his cock slid in. He arranged the eggs, one at her anus, one at her clit. And a big cock in the middle, going in and out of her pussy.

  Her whole boy clenched in a wave of pleasure.

  It never ceased to amaze her how good sex felt.

  He raised up further, deepening his strokes. Sliding her fingers across his chest, she gazed up at him. One finger pinched a flat nipple. Her hands worked as hard as his, so there was no softness to the skin there. His close-cropped black hair slipped like silk through her fingertips when her hands reached his head. They slid down across his big expanse of back before her fingernails raked across.

  The orgasm ran through her, rolling her upwards higher and higher. Her hips pistoned under his, trying to get herself as close to him as she could. The vibrators buzzed harshly in time with the chaotic rhythm.

  Her mouth dried as her climax finished, leaving her body in its sweaty wake. He ground down so that bottom vibrator would pinch against her bottom opening even more, not to mention press the top one harder against her clit.

  “Ohh.” The second climax spun around so hard it left her dizzy and drained.

  Speeding up the rhythm from lazy to frantic had her whole body shuddering to meet his thrusts.

  She drew nails against his back again, scoring him. Marking him as her own. He bore the heartstone as she did. So bonded. So combined. They became one in the thrusting of their bodies. She didn’t know where he began and she ended. The way things should be.

  His neck straightened, the cords in his arms visible as all of him tensed, his skin breaking into a sweat. His hot seed poured into her as he jerked spasmodically until he was spent. He lay there a second, his breathing calming after a moment. Rolling off of her, he pulled her against his side. “Good not to wait on that.”

  “Oh, yeah.” She laid her head on his shoulder, cuddling into the warmth of his body. Safe. He always was the one place she felt the world couldn’t touch her. Didn’t matter the place, as long as Bren was there. “This was good.” Better than good. No one else had ever made her feel the way Bren did. He could turn her on with a look, but yet, being close to him, drifting off to sleep made her feel secure.

  Tilting his head, he kissed the tip of her nose before sweetly savoring her mouth. “Yeah. Yeah, it was.”

  They lay in the afterglow of their loving for many minutes. Distantly, she could hear the tapping of a hammer into the rock. That almost sounded too close. She’d have to check the mine permits. That is, when she had the energy to get up. “Remind me to make sure everyone’s where they should be in the mine.”

  “Will do.” Another comfortable silence stretched out between them. “Think the bed will fit three?”

  Her eyes glanced to his twinkling ones. Bren found amusem
ent in the damndest things. “Yeah. Yeah, I do. But we don’t know…”

  “I know.” He let out a long drawn out sigh. “But we will soon.”

  “How do you know that?” Her nose crinkled. Was he ready for the answer? She was. Now she only had to find the patience to wait until things moved forward.

  “Just do.” His voice had that sleepy tone, like he was already gone, his eyes just hadn’t closed yet. Then, they did close, and not too much later, he emitted soft snores. Sounded like the purr of a Seelie cat.

  She rubbed a hand over his chest, laying her arm over him. Her last thoughts as she drifted off to sleep were about their friend and what would happen when he found his heartstone and left Settler’s Mine.

  * * * * *

  Amory clanged his hammer on the rock. Damn mine. Damn heartstones. Clanging it again, he moved around to the side of the path he sat on while he pounded into the wall, dislodging stone, while uncovering what lay underneath in his section of the quarry.

  Especially after seeing Bren and Zelda that night at the bar, frustration had set in. He wanted what they had. With Tania. And he couldn’t have it until he found that stone that eluded him at every turn.

  He brought the hammer down even harder on the rock. A resounding bang echoed through the cavern walls.

  “Hey, now.” A deep voice said behind him. “That might break whatever is embedded there. Be more careful.”

  Amory’s eyes darted up to Bren’s. “Who cares?”

  Heartstones were tough. They were said to be the hardest thing in the universe, even more so than diamonds. If only he had first-hand experience with one to find out.

  “I’m sure those who will mine after you care. Especially, if you broke someone’s heartstone. Miners have been killed over less. Not that they break easily, but you should be careful.” Bren lowered to crouch down in front of him. “Haven’t found it yet?”

  “If I had, do you think I’d still be here?” Amory tossed his hammer down to the path, glaring up at him.

  “Oh, I thought you just liked our company so much you might stay on after.” Bren’s mouth revealed his straight white teeth with a lazy smile.

  Amory snorted. Bren and Zelda had sought him out over the last few weeks. Didn’t they understand he wanted to be alone, find his heartstone, and go? Not even other miners commenting on how unusual it was for Zelda and Bren to mingle had made him pause too much. He just wanted to leave, his future intact and in his hands.

  Bren’s head cocked to the side. “There’s a heartstone right by where you’re digging.” His fingers traced up a seam on the lower wall.

  The simple touch inflamed Amory. He looked, not seeing any evidence a heartstone rested there. “How do you know?”

  “It…I don’t know. But it’s there. Why don’t I help you get it out?”

  “Why would you help me? Need more platinum?” Amory rubbed a hand over his face. Nothing was free in this settlement. Hands of help cost, no matter how it was offered. And he didn’t have that much platinum left.

  Bren chuckled low and deep. “It won’t cost you. If it ain’t yours, it’s someone’s. They’ll pay a pretty price for their heartstone.”

  “Bastard. Capitalizing off others’…needs.” Zelda and Bren both took advantage of the need for heartstones. Everyone of Quatar descent, especially males, wanted to find theirs. There would always be a steady business for Settler’s Mine.

  “Pfft. If Zelda didn’t, someone else would. It’s the way the world works. Time you got used to it.”

  It was grossly unfair and not anything he’d ever adjust to.

  Bren picked up the hammer that Amory had tossed down. He knelt to his knees close by Amory, clipping away in little strokes.

  His muscles flexed in his uncovered arms, rippling under his sleeveless shirt. His movements were pure precision. Amory had no idea how such big hands could be so gentle in their ministrations.

  Awareness crackled along Amory’s nerves. He pushed away from Bren, who seemed to be oblivious to any reaction. Each time either he or Zelda came around him, awareness of them pushed into his psyche. About the only place it didn’t go was his cock. Damn heartstone. Why did they affect him that way? He didn’t understand the feelings they brought about.

  Not that anyone would do anything to him no matter how jazzed up he got. Sex without a heartstone had been forbidden long ago. To break the rules committed you to death. Etruscans were obedient to rules. Even a good screw wasn’t worth it to most. Amory had heard of some places in the larger outposts where virginity was bartered and heartstones weren’t required. But, they were few and far between. Not to mention, so he’d heard, sex was more satisfying with a damn erection. And no man got one before they found their heartstone.

  Yet another reason to hurry up and find his, dammit.

  Tania’s face blurred in his mind. All he could picture was a dark red-haired beauty with brown skin, eyes snapping at him to hurry up.

  “You could help, you know.”

  Amory almost startled. Good thing Bren didn’t have mind reading abilities. Must get home to Tania. “Yeah.”

  Bren looked back to arch a brow, hammer poised in midair. “Let me rephrase. Help me, asshole. Get on the other side.”

  Amory picked up a second hammer and slid to the other side of Bren, where the heartstone lay embedded in the rocks. Not that he saw it yet, but Bren seemed sure it was there. “Fine.”

  He hammered away just as Bren did. They would get out the heartstone in a big chunk of rock. The heartstone would rest in a pocket. It wasn’t attached to any pieces of the rock itself. Once they broke inside that pocket, the heartstone would come right out of the rock.

  A beep sounded from Bren’s waist as they pulled the last tendrils of rock from the chunk. “Shit. I have to run. Get that heartstone out of there, the way we showed you earlier. I’ll be back to claim it, if it’s not yours.”

  He took off, rounding the corner quickly. Yet another way of showing him extra attention. Bren didn’t have to come back to pick up the unclaimed heartstone.

  What had happened to make him dash away so quickly? Was something wrong with Zelda? Dammit, that shouldn’t matter to Amory. But it did.

  Amory took a small chisel and began pinging away at the rock. Once, he reached the pocket where the heartstone was, he should be able to extricate the rock carefully.

  Not that what he did mattered. The stone wouldn’t be his. He’d been so excited to find the first heartstone in his quarry. The hope had faded quickly because the thing never lit for him. Nor had any that he, Zelda, Bren, or any other miner, had procured. Amory had tried them all. Nothing. His life was a big nothing.

  When he hit the first corner of the pocket, the one the heartstone rested in, Amory thought he saw a glimmer. As more of the rock fell away in little clipped pieces, he saw a glow.

  Could it be?

  His heart raced, breathing grew shallow. “Must get it out.” His hands trembled as he chiseled. He stilled them, straightening his back. No, he must be careful. Must not knick or scar the heartstone, though he didn’t think he could. He had to get the stone out. See if the glimmer continued to shine. Maybe this could be his.

  He stopped, darting his head around him to look every which way. Alone. No one was walking by.

  Please let it be mine.

  As he finally got one side away, he pulled on the heartstone, and it slipped completely out of the rock.

  Glowing.

  The heartstone emitted a blue glow around the small section of the cavern that was his.

  The heartstone belonged to him.

  Chapter Four

  “What the fuck do you two think you’re doing?” Zelda watched the two miners turn around, pickaxes in hand. She tapped a booted toe on the cavern floor. The sound echoed throughout the narrow passageway.

  “Digging?” one offered, while the other one leered at her. He acted as if he could see right under her clothes.

  Let him look. Her nose wrinkled up.
The one who leered was Hahnzwei. A race which had two dicks, four eyes, a bad attitude, and treated their women like dirt. Fuck no, not in her mine, he wouldn’t. If she found he’d so much as fucked with a woman’s head, there would be hell to pay. “Oh, really? And where might you be digging?”

  The one who was probably part Proletariat with nasty burns on his mouth said, “In t’e rock.”

  “No kidding. As the whole mine is made out of fucking rock, I think that’s a given wherever you dig.”

  “Ayep.” The second swirled his tongue around his lips while looking at her cleavage. His eyes gleamed with unrestrained appreciation.

  She caught his eye and glared, but didn’t pull anything tighter around herself. Let him look if he wanted to. If he touched, she’d cut off those fingers.

  Who were these clowns? Her mind ticked over new arrivals she’d approved from the past few weeks. She’d been so busy lately, she hadn’t met many trouble making drop-offs of settlers in person like she usually did. To reiterate the rules. Fuck. That had been a lapse in her judgment, though she’d never met every transport ship, only the ones that contained people who might be trouble. She’d have to check up on these two. Their records must not have caught her eye, or she’d have been there to greet them, no matter what. Or would she?

  Amory had taken up plenty of her time, too, taking away her care of her mine. Why did he have to be so fascinating?

  Wait a minute. Clyde, the barman, had mentioned a man pinching the ass of one of his waitresses. He hadn’t wanted an intervention, but he had wanted the mine set on alert. He’d said the wacko looked like trouble and hung out with two others. If only those other than of Quatar descent had to find their heartstone before they could get it up or on, the galaxy would be a better place.

  She pointed, indicating the spot where they’d dug a small hole. “You’re digging on protected ground in the mine. No one digs here.”