by Laurie Roma
Tavius had a way of making her feel like she was the only person in the world when she was with him. There was a bond between them that was different than the one she had with the oldest Adaro brother. With Maddox, there was intense passion, a deep need that drew them together like magnets. Her connection with Tavius was just as strong, but there was a lighter feel to it. He was playful and sweet, a friend as well as a lover.
He’d ordered them up a delicious meal from a Krytos restaurant when they’d gotten back to her suite. It had surprised her when he insisted on feeding her by hand, but she’d just gone with it, joining in the fun by feeding him in return.
After they’d eaten, he’d introduced her to the pleasure of showering with a male. They took their time cleaning one another. Because he was so open with her, Mya felt comfortable touching him and exploring his magnificent body. But when she’d tried to take his cock into her mouth, he’d jerked her up into his arms, carrying her into the bedroom where he’d made desperate love to her on the bed.
They’d fallen asleep with her sprawled over his chest, and had woken in the same position when his wrist unit alarm had gone off. He’d obviously learned from his brother’s mistake, because Tavius made sure she knew he had to leave for a meeting with some of the TechCon sponsors. She’d waved him away, then had immediately fallen back to sleep.
When she’d woken up a few hours later, she discovered messages from both Maddox and Tavius. They both told her that they would be busy with meetings until late that night, and that Daimon had been up the previous night working with the crew to fix the damage from a fire that had broken out in one of the kitchens. She loved that they had both contacted her, but it confused her because the messages were so similar, since it made her think that they weren’t discussing their time together with her.
Was that how all multiple couples acted?
Wanting an answer to that, she’d contacted Pia, but she’d only gotten more confused when her friend came over. Mya had seen the concern flash in Pia’s eyes when she’d told her about being with two of the brothers, and it had made her worry. It wasn’t that she was ashamed about being with them, but she did feel a little guilty.
Both Maddox and Tavius had been possessive with her. They had insisted that she tell them that she belonged to them, but they hadn’t said anything about being with all three of them, together. It was like she had separate relationships with each of them that they knew about, but didn’t want to discuss.
Mya and Pia both didn’t know much about the Krytos, since the race as a whole liked to keep personal details to themselves. When Pia suggested that Mya talk to Kahla, she opted not to. While Kahla was a new friend and a valuable source of information, she was still the Adaro brothers’ cousin. Talking to her about sex with Maddox, Tavius and Daimon just seemed…complicated.
Last night, she and Tavius had talked about their families and their pasts. She’d told him what her life had been like on Earth. In turn, he told her how they had come to own New Vega, and how much hard work had gone into making it the empire it was today.
He’d briefly mentioned the loss of his parents, but had quickly moved on to talking about his brothers. According to him, Maddox was a workaholic that didn’t know when to stop trying to oversee everything. And Daimon closed himself off so much sometimes, that it was difficult for even his brothers to reach him.
Reading between the lines, Mya figured out that it might take Daimon a long time to make a move. He was quiet and contemplative, but he had kissed her. She knew he wanted her, but she didn’t know how to go about getting him to do something about it.
She’d spent the rest of the afternoon fretting about it, then decided to take action. Perhaps Maddox and Tavius were holding back because she hadn’t taken the next step with Daimon yet. If that was the case, it was about to change.
Which was why Mya was outside the door of their suite.
She was determined to take control of the situation and…stars, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do. Mya considered trying seduction, but the problem with that was she didn’t know how.
When she’d asked Pia, she’d gotten a long, convoluted battle plan that had made her head hurt. She was trying to get a male’s interest, not conquer a planet. Taking another route, Mya had contacted Reva and asked her what she should do to seduce a male. That hadn’t been helpful either.
Reva’s response had been simple—just get naked.
Disappointed with their answers, Mya decided to use a combination of both. But first, she was going to have to actually knock on the damn door. Taking a deep breath, she did just that. After waiting several heartbeats, she frowned when the door didn’t open. She jumped when her wrist unit signaled. Looking down, she saw that it was Maddox contacting her.
Pressing a button, she smiled when Maddox’s face popped onto the small screen, but frowned again when he immediately asked, “What’s wrong?”
“What? Why? And is that anyway to greet someone? Is that how you make vid calls to all people or just to me?”
His tight expression softened, and he smiled ruefully at her. “Hello, Mya.”
“Better.”
He laughed. “I will try harder next time. Is there something you need?”
“What? No. I’m so confused. You contacted me, remember?” she reminded him slowly.
His eyes narrowed. “Is that another dig about my age?”
She bit her lower lip, trying to stop the laughter from spilling out. “You’re the one who started all that.”
He grumbled for a second. “I was just contacting you to see if there was something you needed since you’ve been standing outside our suite for the last ten minutes.”
Mya lost sight of Maddox when she started waving her arms around in agitation. “Seriously? You’re spying on me again?”
“I’m not spying…exactly,” he insisted over the link. “Mya, can you stop waving your arm around. I’m getting a little queasy watching your image bounce around.”
“You deserve it,” She muttered. She may have done what he asked and lowered her arm, but her voice rose. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
A door opened down the hall, and Mikal came out. “What’s wrong?”
Mya felt her eye twitch when Mikal repeated the same stupid question that Maddox had said as soon as she’d answered his call. “Go away,” she yelled back. “This doesn’t concern you.”
Mikal leaned against the wall near the door to his suite and crossed his arms over his chest as he smiled. “You’re yelling. That’s never a good sign.” He turned his head and called out, “Hey, Ry, Pia, Mya’s pissed about something. She’s yelling at someone, and this time it isn’t us.”
“Yeah?” Ryland said as he stepped out into the hallway. “Who you yelling at, Mya?”
“Oh, for the love of…” Mya closed her eyes and tried taking a deep breath.
Her eyes popped back open when the door in front of her slide open, and a sleepy-eyed Daimon stood framed in the doorway. His chest was bare, and all he had on was a pair of thin drawstring pants that did nothing to hide his impressive erection.
She didn’t realize she was staring, until Daimon reached out and tilted her chin up. The amusement in his dark eyes had her cheeks flooding with heat. “Ahh…”
“Mya?”
“Crap…sorry…I just…”
Double crap! Why couldn’t she speak?
“Daimon?” Maddox’s voice came from her wrist unit. “Is she well?”
Tilting her wrist toward him, Daimon saw his brother’s face. “It sounds like she is angry with you, brother.”
“Yes, she is,” Mya confirmed, coming back to herself. She pulled her arm away from Daimon so she could glare at Maddox. “You and I are going to have to have a serious talk about your stalker issues.”
“I am watching out for your safety,” Maddox growled.
That left her sputtering. “You…that’s—”
“You’re not helping matters. I’ll handle t
his,” Daimon announced to his brother before disconnecting the call. He pulled gently on Mya’s arm, taking her with him into his suite. The doors slid shut behind them, but as Mya looked around the room, she just got more annoyed by the situation.
She hadn’t seen the inside of their suite before now. Maddox or Tavius had stayed with her in her own suite, and neither of them had invited her into their own space.
What was up with that?
The doorway opened into a large living room area that was filled with furniture made of black wood and dark brown leather. Dark wood covered the floors, and the walls were painted a light mocha. It was a classy room, but Mya thought it was in desperate need of some splashes of color.
There was a large kitchen area off to the left that looked like it had never been used. Noticing the elaborate food console, she figured that the brothers didn’t need to cook food. Not when they could order up anything they wanted from the numerous restaurants on New Vega at whim. She didn’t blame them. It wasn’t exactly like she knew what she was doing in the kitchen either. Give her a bolt of material, and she could make a dress that other people would die for, but give her a pot of water, and she’d find some way to burn it.
Daimon watched silently as she started to pace in front of him. He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, content just to look at her. He’d worked late and had been sleeping when he’d heard the commotion in the hallway outside their suite. He’d been pissed because it had interrupted a damn good dream he’d been having about Mya, but when he’d opened the door and saw her standing there, all he wanted to do was pick her up and carry her back to bed with him.
She looked beautiful in long, flowing violet-colored dress that seemed to float around her ankles. She had white sandals on her small feet, and her hair had been twisted up on the top of her hair using some sort of clip. He liked when her dark hair was down more, and had the urge to remove the clip so he could run his hands through the silky strands. But she didn’t look like she had thoughts of loving on her mind.
“Want to tell me why you’re so upset?”
She stopped pacing to glare at him. “Your brother is so annoying.”
His lips twitched. “Which one? Both of them can get pretty annoying sometimes.”
Pointing a finger at him, she said, “You think this is funny.”
He held his hands up in front of him, smart enough to be wary of a female when she was angry. “I just want to know what made you mad, Mya.”
“Maddox was spying on me…again! That has to stop. He saw that I was outside your suite on the security monitors. That wasn’t the first time. I was all set to come in here to see you to—” she cut herself off. “But then he contacted me and I got mad, and now it’s all ruined.”
Daimon didn’t know exactly what she meant, but he was pleased that she had sought him out. He knew that she’d been with Tavius the night before, and Maddox had already informed him of the time he’d spent with her. He wanted to know exactly why she had come to him, but the sadness in her eyes made him want to soothe her first.
“Mya, this section of the second level is just for friends and family. When you came here, we blocked off the rest of the level from accessing this section, but people can still get to it through the security area near our offices. Maddox just wants to protect you. We all do.”
Her shoulders slumped. “It’s just that I thought it would be different here.”
He walked over to her and rubbed his hands up and down her bare arms. For a moment he was distracted by how soft her skin felt, but he forced himself to focus again. “You’ve had guards your entire life. Who you are makes you a target, and the people who care about you want to protect you. That isn’t a bad thing, but it is a reality.” He pulled her to him and was pleased when her arms wrapped around his waist. “We want to protect you, too.”
“I know,” she said, sounding more resigned. “I should be grateful, but I just wish I didn’t need to have guards or people watching me on security.”
“If it makes you feel any better, Maddox has security guards watching over me and Tavius, too.”
“Seriously?” She tilted her head back so she could look at him. “And you let him?”
Daimon shrugged. “It makes him feel better to know we’re safe. It’s annoying at times, but he can’t help himself. I think it’s because he is the oldest. He hovers. He’s been this way since we lost our parents.”
Mya realized that Maddox watched out for his brothers and cousins because they were all the family he had left. And she was now included in that group. A rush of pleasure that swept through her at that thought. “I guess I shouldn’t be mad about it, then.”
“Not mad. You can be annoyed, though.”
“I guess that will have to be enough.” She let out a little laugh, then wanted to protest when he let go of her and stepped back.
“So, you said you came here to see me for a reason?”
Biting at her lower lip, Mya wondered what she should say. She’d come here to ask if he liked her, hadn’t she? Stars, what was she, twelve? She couldn’t ask him that. And the seduction plan really wasn’t going to work now either. Not that she had any clue how to go about doing that beside taking off her dress and throwing herself at him like Reva had suggested.
Giving up, she whispered, “I just wanted to know if you wanted…”
Daimon was glad that he’d taken the time to visit the bathroom to use his nano-cleaner before he’d gone to check out what was going on in the hallway. Because when understanding dawned about why she was there, he just had to kiss her.
He stepped forward and pulled her back into arms slowly, giving her time to protest if she wanted to. But she didn’t. Bending down, he brushed his lips over hers. Her mouth opened for him, and his tongue swept inside, stroking against hers. His body heated, and his erection grew heavy and thick. Daimon wanted to strip her down so he could take her right there, but Mya deserved better.
Making a quick decision, he pulled back. “There is something I’d like to share with you. Come.” He took her hand and pulled her with him down a long hallway.
Mya was quiet as she willingly went with him. She held her breath as they passed the brothers’ three large bedrooms, and felt a tinge of disappointment when he didn’t lead her into his room. Instead, they headed toward the bathroom that he and his brothers shared. Before they walked into the room, Mya noticed another doorway at the end of the hall, and she absently wondered what was behind the closed door.
“We like our space, and our suite is our refuge. Our place to relax. Over the years, we expanded our living quarters with the suite next door. We combined the two bathrooms, and made it into something…special. It is now my favorite room on the entire vessel.”
Mya wasn’t sure what to expect as they stepped into the bathroom. The first thing she saw were three large sinks on one side of the room, while opposite that was a single sink with lots of counter space on either side. The floor was a mixture of different colored stone squares, and the counter top was a dark-gray marble shot through with veins of gold and silver. Beyond that were two small separate rooms where the toilets were located. It was a nice bathroom, spacious and exceptionally designed, but she wasn’t sure why he was so excited to show it to her until they turned the corner.
Hidden from view from the bathroom entrance was a tropical paradise. Instead of a shower and bath area, there was a large lagoon filled with pink water, complete with a small waterfall that continuously fed more water into the pool. Lush plants surrounded the lagoon, clinging to the rocks and stones that covered the walls of the spectacular grotto. A few stone benches were placed around the exterior of the sunken pool, and the warm air was perfumed with the fragrance of sweet flowers that bloomed on the vines hanging from the ceiling.
“What is this? How is this possible?” she gasped.
Daimon smiled at the look of wonder on her face. He felt his heart beat faster, and had to remind himself to keep
breathing. “Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for this. The first time the Dragon Warriors Xavier, Galan, Thorn and Brydan came to New Vega, they created this for us.”
“I know them. They’re mated to my friend Alexis.”
“Did you hear she just had her babies? She had twin boys…Gideon and Kadan. They’re all still on Tartarus visiting with Katra and Jaden Tor.”
She had a wistful expression on her face when she said, “Twins. That’s so wonderful.”
“The Dragon Warriors are an interesting race. We had them over for drinks one night. We enjoyed their company, and liked hearing the stories about their travels. Before they left, they said they wanted to give us a gift. At first we refused, but they insisted. When my brothers refused to say anything, I asked them to show me a memory they had of the Krytos home planet, since we have never seen it. I thought they would show me a projection or something, but they gave us this instead.”
He looked around the beautiful grotto, thinking back to the shock he’d felt the first time he’d seen it. The Dragon Warriors had used their magic to do a little remodeling, and their gift had been the reason the brothers had expanded their quarters. The lagoon used to be the bathroom of the suite next door, which had fortunately been empty at the time, but he didn’t mind. How could he when they created something so spectacular for him and his brothers?
“This is a replica of a place they had visited when our home world still existed. Brydan added the additional gift of water from the Dragon Warrior home planet. It’s a little thicker than what we are used to—almost like gel—but it has healing properties and cleanses without the use of any additional products.”
“I’ve heard about it, but I just never thought I’d have the opportunity to see it. To have something like this on your ship…it’s amazing.”
He nodded. “I’m still a little sore from last night’s work, so I was considering taking a bath when I woke. I hope you will join me.”