Talia's Match [Coalition Mates 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Sarah Marsh

  * * * *

  Talia tried to regulate her breathing as she walked behind Delai, hoping that the stunning female in front of her would distract any attention from her nervousness. Then, before she could get herself under control, all of a sudden one of the delegates from the front of the room stormed over to her friend and began asking her in a whispered tone about why she was here. Delai’s answer seemed to spur him into a rage as he stomped over to the little purple slaver and began to rant and rave about kidnapping free citizens, and how he should go directly to the Coalition Justice Department and have him brought up on charges.

  By this time, the entire room’s attention was on the slimy slaver, and Talia took the opportunity to look around at the other delegates. At the back of the room, she abruptly noticed the only two people in the room who weren’t engrossed with the drama unfolding up front, but they seemed to be quite enthralled with her, of all things. Her face and chest started to turn a vibrant shade of pink as they stared at her with blatant heat in their eyes.

  Both men were giants. The bulkier of the two had the most beautiful, long golden hair and striking green eyes she could see from across the room. The other man was slightly shorter than the blond god, but his muscle tone was more defined, and his rich, black hair was wild and choppy around his face. His eyes looked black from where she was standing, and his skin was a dark, tanned contrast to the other man’s lighter golden hue. They were an exceptionally good-looking pair. She could see the dark-haired man’s hand gripping the upper thigh of his companion, so she assumed they must be a couple.

  * * * *

  “Goddess, Grae, she’s human. What in the nine hells is she doing here?” Asher said in a low whisper. He didn’t want to draw attention to her while most of the other delegates were watching the slaver get a tongue-lashing from the Verine delegate about the pretty Tertian female that was up for sale. He’d been trading with the Verines for years now and knew that the lead delegate’s wife was Tertian, and he must be irate that this woman had been apparently kidnapped and sold.

  As he looked over at Grae once more, he saw that he was already purchasing the human female on the table’s console, at a shocking price that would make sure the slaver did not try to start a bidding war. With the drama that was unfolding, he was not surprised when the host’s second came directly over and nodded his agreement to the sale.

  “Grae, what have you done? We cannot purchase a slave!” he said in disbelief as he looked at his partner.

  “She’s human, Asher. I will not leave her to a fate such as you know most of these females will have. We will not keep her a slave. I have just purchase her freedom for her. If we tried to go through legal channels to have her freed, you know she would just be sold faster and hid away, never to be seen again,” Grae answered, still not taking his eyes off the attractive female.

  As Asher thought about it, he could only agree with Grae’s assessment of the situation, and after meeting Daegan’s beautiful bond mate, he knew a human female would not survive as a sex slave on an alien planet. Her spirit would be the first thing that was broken, most likely her body not far behind.

  He took a closer look at the woman before she was led away to be prepared for transfer. She was the tallest female in the group. She had long, wavy, dark hair reaching her mid-back, and he could see a flash of surprise in bright blue eyes before she left the room. Overall she was a stunning female, nice and curvy with enough muscle tone to handle even shifters’ sometimes overexuberant appetites. If Daegan’s mate Sarah was a general example of a human woman, then they would be expecting a fight on their hands until they were able to explain the situation.

  Chapter Four

  Talia didn’t know why she was now being led from the dining hall. It didn’t seem like any purchasing was going on with such a commotion drawing everyone’s undivided attention. Almost everyone’s, that is. She began to get anxious when she thought back to the two men whose eyes seemed to be all for her. Had she been purchased by these huge men? The looks on their faces left little to the imagination of what her main job would be, and it made her sick to her stomach.

  She was led into a room a couple of levels down from the dining hall and told to undress and lay on a treatment table while two other women were busily preparing items behind it. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought she was at a spa getting ready for a massage, but Talia was pretty certain she wasn’t going to like what was about to happen. When the two purple females, obviously the same race as the awful little slave trader, began to rub fragrant oils into her skin, she began to relax a bit. One of the women lifted a cup for her to drink. It smelled like some sort of citrus fruit juice, but was it safe?

  “Excuse me, what is this?” she asked politely, hoping they would answer her.

  “It’s your vaccinations for Adoan. You will not be permitted to land on the planet without them,” the woman who was holding the cup said without even pausing. Talia assumed she was questioned about this every time, and seemed to be telling the truth, so she grabbed the cup and downed it. It was pretty freaking tasty, a little tingly on the tongue, like when she ate too many kiwi fruits, but good all the same. She was really starting to get into this oil-rubbing thing. It wasn’t as firm as a good massage but there was something soothing about it. She didn’t even notice how sleepy she was getting until she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

  Chapter Five

  “Why is she sedated, Asher? I thought they only did that if it was requested?” Grae was obviously irritated that the woman was drugged and carted aboard like livestock.

  As the guard set her down on the bed in the back room, he answered, “Sir, it is not standard procedure to sedate the females, but Master Halko wanted to let you know that this one has been fairly troublesome since she arrived. He also took the liberty of dosing her with seba root to make your transition easier. The dose should last for a few rotations.” Then he bowed and left the ship.

  “Seba root!” Grae was furious now, Asher cringed when he thought about how such a powerful aphrodisiac might affect her human biology.

  “Well, at least she’s sedated so she won’t suffer any discomfort for the trip home, and our physicians can nullify it once we reach Xexos,” he said as he brushed some dark hair from her face and covered her with a blanket.

  “That slaver is a bastard. It is beyond me how the laws let them get away with this kind of thing,” Grae said as he tried to regain his composure. It was torture for his kind to watch any kind of abuse of a female. On his planet, there were so few and every one was treated as a precious treasure.

  Asher knew that Grae couldn’t stand to see a female mistreated. “We will make sure she is well taken care of and respected, Grae.” He took Grae’s hand and led him back to the front of the ship. “We need to be on our way. Prepare for departure.”

  After they were off the planet and safe on auto-course, Asher turned to Grae, who was finishing up with the ship’s log. He could tell that the tension hadn’t left his consort from the set of his shoulders as he worked. As a shifter, Grae was naturally muscled and beautifully graceful, but since the first time that Asher had seen him, there was something undeniably sensuous about the gorgeous male. Every move he made was intended to seduce his prey and Asher had found himself caught more times than he could count by that trap. Right now, all he wanted to do was give his mate comfort and take care of him the way he was constantly taking care of Asher.

  As the third eldest son of the royal family, Ash was not raised to take care of the everyday running of a household or even taking care of other family members. His family was loving, but not overly close, and he was instantly smitten by the way shifters were naturally so much more physical, constantly touching and showing their family how much they cared. They had spent a lot of time on Grae’s home planet of Dali with his family, and even though Ash loved his family, he couldn’t help but wish he had been raised in a similar way instead of the cool aloofness of the Adoan palace. He could
tell when Grae felt him staring. Ash saw a small smile begin on Grae’s face as he tried to quickly finish the log.

  “What are you thinking about while looking at me so seriously, love?” Grae asked in a low voice. He was pretty certain he knew a little about what Ash was thinking, because his cock began to harden as his lover’s pheromones became impossible to ignore.

  “Oh, I was just thinking that there’s no reason we can’t relax a bit while our lovely guest sleeps,” Ash said as he turned Grae’s seat toward him and began slowing running his hands up the hard thighs of his lover.

  “So you can feel her pheromones as well?” Grae asked as he stood up and began to undress slowly.

  “What do you mean?” Ash asked as he watched Grae disrobe while trying not to fall over as he also began to undress himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this desperate to feel Grae’s naked skin against his own.

  Grae laughed at the look on Asher’s face. As a shifter, he was much more used to noticing the change in scents and pheromones, but it seemed as though the aphrodisiac that was used on their luscious female was beginning to work as her body began releasing pheromones to attract a mate even as she slumbered. Ash, on the other hand, was not used to this bombardment of blatant need.

  “The female is emitting a large amount of mating pheromone. It is no doubt why you want to fuck so bad right now,” he said as he began to slowly stroke his cock, noticing how Ash’s eyes followed his hand up and down.

  Ash stared at Grae as he stroked his cock. The man had such a beautiful body, it was all he could do not to jump on him and take what he wanted fast and hard. But this was supposed to be for Grae, and he would not rush this. He went to his knees and looked up at his lover as he licked his lips.

  “Baby, let me take care of you.” Ash pushed Grae’s hand off his hard cock and lightly licked the drop of pre-cum off the tip.

  He felt Grae’s hands slip into his hair and massage his scalp as he took his time and licked him from his balls all the way up his shaft and took him deep into his throat. He heard his lover moan as he sucked harder and increased his pace.

  “Yes, Ash, suck me harder and take it all,” Grae said in a low voice. “Think about that little female in our bed, lover. How good would it feel to have those luscious lips of hers wrapped around your big cock while you suck me down? While you two have your mouths full of hard cock, I’d like to eat her pussy. I know she’s going to taste so good. We may need to purchase a larger bed before we begin to woo her. I have all sorts of ideas that will require the extra room to manoeuvre.”

  Chapter Six

  Asher didn’t think he could get any harder until Grae started talking about the human female. They’d been told her name was Talia Booth when they had finalized the purchase. It suited her. She looked strong yet still delicate compared to many of the females of various species they had been with. As altruistic as their decision to purchase her freedom for her had been at the time, he now knew that Grae had wanted her just as much as he had when he first saw her. Ash could almost feel her mouth on his cock. Grae had created a fantasy that would have them both coming in record time. He wrapped his fist tight around his cock and began to stroke fast as he took the hard cock in his mouth faster and deeper.

  “Ah, Gods, Ash! We’re both going to come hard thinking about fucking her, that’s it!” Grae bellowed as he came down the back of Asher’s throat. Grae shuddered as he felt Ash come all over his legs. He pulled out of his lover’s mouth and lowered himself to sit on the floor while he pulled Ash close and kissed him.

  “I want her, Grae,” Ash said quietly into Grae’s neck. “I know we can’t just keep her, but there’s something about her that fits with us and I can’t even explain it.”

  Grae smiled and continued to stroke Ash’s beautiful hair. “I know, baby. I feel it, too. I’m certain she’s the one. All we can do now is show her how much we want to take care of and adore her. The rest is up to the fates.”

  Ash’s mouth turned up in a devious smile as he looked back at his lover. “We can also contact Daegan’s crew and find out exactly what an Earth female finds irresistible. This might be easier that we think!”

  * * * *

  Talia slowly woke, and for the first time in ages, she didn’t want to get out of bed. She was warm and cozy, and it was the most comfortable mattress she’d ever felt. As she burrowed deeper and pulled up the comforter, she abruptly froze as her memory flooded her. She certainly wasn’t still in the preparation room she’d obviously fallen asleep in.

  As she cracked open one eye and then the other, once she saw that she was alone in the room, she was shocked. The room was huge, and expensively decorated in beautiful furnishings with a large, open balcony that overlooked mountains and an oddly purple-coloured body of water.

  She’d hoped that she would be ending up on a planet once she was “sold” and not another ship or station, but imagining an alien planet and seeing one with her own two eyes were different things. It brought the reality of her new life crashing in on her in a real way she wasn’t prepared to deal with. The tears that she’d been holding off, just trying to survive once she’d been taken, all came rushing in on her at once as she collapsed on the floor and cried into her hands.

  So many things she grieved for, her family, her friends, the small apartment that she had finally finished paying mortgage payments on. Talia couldn’t deny that while she loved her friends and family, she had been lonely for a partner and a family of her own. The few close female friendships that she had were slowly dwindling away over the years once she had hit thirty. As those women got married and began having children, it wasn’t all that surprising when they stopped having time for dinners and coffee with their single girlfriend. That didn’t make it hurt any less to be left behind, though.

  She was almost out of tears when a young girl came into the room with a platter of food and stopped abruptly. Obviously, the girl wasn’t prepared for her to be awake yet.

  “Mistress, you are hurt?” the girl asked quietly.

  Talia just looked at her. She wasn’t sure which surprised her more, the fact that she had called her “Mistress” or the fact that she seemed so concerned about her. She had, after all, just been purchased as a slave. The girl looked distressed when she didn’t answer, and quickly put the platter down on a table.

  “I will go and fetch the Prince immediately,” she said as she rushed from the room back out the wide doorway.

  * * * *

  Ash was in his office going over the week’s schedule when the young attendant burst into the room, almost hyperventilating. She was such a tiny slip of a girl, and he’d thought she would expire right in front of him with the worry that was on her face.

  “What is wrong, little one?” he asked as he stood and went over to her.

  “Sire, Mistress Talia has woken and she is crying in your rooms! I asked her if she was hurt, but she didn’t seem to be able to hear me!” Her little hands were grabbing at his arms in panic.

  “Shhh, I’m sure she was just startled to see you, Suri. I will go and make sure she is all right. Now, go to the kitchen and have your mother fix you something to eat,” he said gently as he pushed her toward the door and started for their wing in the palace. He would swing by the training hall and collect Grae on the way.

  Chapter Seven

  Talia had just managed to collect herself and wander over to the table to inspect the food the girl left when she heard heavy steps on the tile coming toward her through the large, open doorway. After a moment of panic, she raced to the balcony and hid around the side so she could peek out and see who was coming. When the men stepped into the room and looked for her, it took her a few moments to recognise the two handsome giants from the auction hall that had been giving her the eyeball while all the drama was happening. They must have seen the movement of her head, as they locked onto her immediately. Then they smiled and held out their hands while slowly creeping closer, as if trying not to startle her.


  “Hello, Talia. You are safe here. You can come out now,” Ash said in a low voice, like he was trying to coax a frightened beast. When they got to the sofa in the middle of the room, they both slowly sat down and waited for her to come out from the balcony.

  Grae put on his most seductive smile and gestured to the food and wine on the table. “Are you hungry, lovely? Did you eat anything?”

  Talia didn’t know quite what to think of these men, but she decided that she’d best nut up and let them know she didn’t have any intention of being their little sex slave, even if they had paid for her! She took a big breath and stepped back into the room, and just as she noticed both men’s eyes widen and their entire bodies go rigid, she realised that she was completely buck-assed naked.

  So much for a confident start, she thought to herself as she erupted into a whole-body blush that went all the way to her toes. She quickly rushed to the bed and pulled the sheet to wrap around herself before turning back to the men.

  She felt her embarrassment slip into anger at the entire situation and she decided to just let them have it right now. No point in delaying the inevitable if they were just going to kill her when she refused to put out!

  “First of all, I’m no slave! I’m a free woman, and if you think for a second that I’m just going to lay back and let you do whatever you want to me, you have purchased yourself a world of disappointment, assholes! Because that will never happen!” she said in her best “I’m about to bitch-slap you” cop voice.

  She waited for the anger to explode from both of them, but all she saw was both men with their mouths hanging open and almost-amused smiles beginning to form on their faces. What was wrong with them? Had she not said any of that out loud? Just when she was about to open her big mouth and repeat her diatribe, the male with the beautiful blond hair stood and smiled at her.