While Katarina slathered her tongue all over Braden again, Calder moved to the couch. He nudged Braden with his knee, and Braden got the idea even without opening his eyes.
He slid over so Calder could get in next him, sitting Braden almost on his lap, legs spread so Calder’s cock jutted out beside his friend’s.
Calder had to cradle Braden against him, arm around his back, but he was too excited to care. Calder’s skin was roasting and he needed release.
“Take us both. Together.”
Katarina gave Calder a startled look then she bent her head and studied the two cocks, tips together.
Calder couldn’t fault her bravery. She opened her mouth wide and took in as much of the two cocks as she could.
“Shit,” Braden said. He threw his head back on Calder’s shoulder and Calder closed his eyes, feeling the roughness of Braden’s cheek against his.
Katarina’s mouth was a hot, moist, tight place. His cock crushed against Braden’s and the wall of her cheek. Her tongue flicked over him, sharp teeth scraping his skin. Calder’s hips rose of their own accord.
Braden jumped, groaning hard. He yanked up his tunic at the same time he pulled out of Katarina’s mouth and slid away from Calder. Grasping his cock, he came against his abdomen, pumping gobs of white cream onto his sun-darkened skin.
Calder stayed in Katarina’s mouth and she transferred all her attention to him. He let himself come hard into her mouth, hands curling into fists. The only noise he made was a tight grunt, and then he filled her.
Braden lay back and let out a long breath. “You know, when I got up this morning, I never dreamed my day would be this good.”
Calder ignored him. Katarina took his come, sweet lady, and looked almost disappointed when he slowly withdrew from her mouth. She swallowed and wiped her lips with the tips of her fingers.
Calder hauled her onto the couch with him. He shouldn’t do this, no holding, no tenderness, but he couldn’t help himself. He pressed her head to his shoulder, stroking her hair, brushing it with his lips.
He looked up to find Braden watching him. Braden pretended nonchalance when Calder met his gaze.
“Shower time,” Braden said. “You two want to join me?”
Calder thought of his narrow, utilitarian shower jammed into a corner of his bathroom. “Not in here.”
Braden caught on and his grin widened. “Oh now, I’ve always wanted to do that. Seen it. Not had the pleasure.”
Katarina raised her head, her lips smelling of come. “Do what?”
Braden laughed. “You’ll see, darlin’. Calder is a man of great imagination and the credits to go with it.”
Calder’s cock throbbed, already stiffening again in anticipation. “Follow me, Katarina. Time to get wet.”
* * * * *
As soon as Calder led her through a narrow door to his huge pleasure room, Katarina saw how he’d been able to elude her the day before. The door slid seamlessly into the black wall, leaving no crack when closed. A person would have to know exactly where it was to find it.
Calder had dimmed the lights again, rendering the room seductive, its black walls and shadowy ceiling confusing the eye.
Braden shrugged out of his tunic and leather pants, tossing them aside. Naked, he was tall and beautiful, every muscle sculpted and smooth. The black chain on his biceps moved with his arm, made to flex with it perfectly.
Calder kept his clothes on. Katarina bit back disappointment. She wanted to see whether his body was as firm and tight as Braden’s, wanted to rub her fingers over his round biceps and the ridges of his abdomen.
She remembered what Braden had said about Shareem chemistry rendering a woman pliable to their suggestions and wondered if that had happened to her in Calder’s living room. Two men gazing at her with blue eyes, their aroused state plain to see, had given her a strange feeling of power.
Calder’s smell was all over her and she tasted him on her lips. She thought of the beautiful feeling of the two cocks under her tongue, each of them different. Braden’s had been sharp and tangy, Calder’s smooth and mellow.
Two men had bared their cocks for her, had jammed themselves together begging for her. Calder had come straight into her mouth as though he had a right to, and she’d not turned away in disgust. She’d liked tasting him.
“Ready?” Calder asked. He stood a little away from them, a slight smile on his lips. The dim light masked his scars a bit. His face was hard and perfectly shaped, his hair, loose now, hanging like a river of black to his waist.
“Ready,” Braden said. “Go for it.”
Ready for what?
It started to rain. More than rain—a downpour. Water cascaded from hidden jets above, warm like a summer rain in the mountains. Droplets sheeted over Katarina’s face and ran in rivulets down her tunic.
Braden laughed and threw back his head, letting the water flow over him. “This is great!” he shouted over the rain. “You hunt through this?”
“Yes,” Calder said.
That was when Katarina noticed that Calder was not getting wet. He stood in a precise spot where no rain fell. It pattered and drummed in a full circle around him, but where he stood, not one drop struck him.
“Hey,” she said, putting her hands on her wet hips. “That’s not fair.”
Braden glanced over and saw what she meant. His eyes narrowed. “I say we get him.”
Katarina joined Braden as he rushed Calder and pushed him out of his safe spot. Instantly, the rain ceased.
Braden stopped, panting. “He’s got the controls on him, the bastard.”
Calder stepped calmly out of their reach to another precise spot and the rain fell in torrents again. Katarina screamed, startled, and Braden laughed. He pushed his long hair from his face.
“Damn, this feels good,” Braden shouted. “You spiked it.”
“Spiked?” Katarina asked.
“With pheromones.” Braden opened his mouth and licked the rain from his lips. “Tasty.”
Katarina’s hair plastered itself in ringlets to her face. She stuck out her tongue and caught the rain. It tasted of water, but Braden was right. It made her feel vital and excited.
“I want to hunt,” Braden said.
He pinned his gaze on Katarina, his affable look replaced with one of hunger. The rain was turning him on too, she realized, but in a different way.
She glanced at Calder and stopped, her heart fluttering. Braden looked hungry, but Calder gave her the look of a beast sizing up its prey. A beast who wasn’t about to let said prey get away.
“Wait a minute,” she said, brushing water from her eyes. “You brought me out here to hunt me? I thought Shareem couldn’t do things like that.”
Braden grinned, the smile feral. “You signed the forms, sweetheart.”
Katarina thought of the maze of greenery that began on the other side of the vast black room. She’d thought it had been meant to soothe, but now she realized it had been designed to twist and confuse, to be a jungle for the hunter and the hunted.
“Oh gods,” she said.
She looked at the pair of them watching her in the same way, Braden with his hands on his bare hips, Calder with arms folded, head tilted to one side as though trying to catch her scent.
They wouldn’t really hurt her if they caught her. Would they?
Would they?
She suddenly understood the complete appeal of Shareem, why women would pay fortunes for an appointment with Calder.
Shareem would do anything in the name of pleasure. And there was a hint of uncertainty about how far they would go.
Braden took a step toward Katarina, moving like a predator. Calder waited, his eyes intense and blue.
Katarina had signed the consent form in Calder’s room. With her thumbprint, she’d given them permission to do anything they wanted to her.
“Crap,” she said, and started to run.
They didn’t follow. She reached the maze of greenery and plunged into it without
hearing their footsteps behind her.
The rain continued here, coating the plants and giving off a fresh smell, water channeled into troughs on the floor. This was better than a holo room because it was all real, the branches slapping at her face, the flowers bright red and as big as her head, and the inch of water soaking her shoes.
But there seemed to be more plants and vines than yesterday, or else she’d plunged into a part she hadn’t seen before. The branches were thick, the path narrow, and in some places the greenery closed over the path and she had to push her way through.
Her soggy clothes slowed her down. She was tempted to remove them but resisted, realizing that’s what they wanted her to do. Run through this place naked for them.
She shivered. A few moments ago the water felt cleansing and arousing. Now it was distracting and heightened the sense of danger. She only knew that she had to run, to hide before they caught her.
She ran on. Somewhere was a fountain, she remembered. It was alabaster, with a glittering mosaic-tiled bowl. Why she thought she’d be safe there, she had no idea, but she became obsessed with finding it. She kept going, hoping desperately to find the fountain around every tight turn. It was like a dream, pushing through unfamiliar ground in the half-light, the rain making every step precarious.
Katarina shoved aside a branch—and the black form of Calder loomed over her, tall and menacing.
She screamed and swung around. Nearly a step behind her was Braden, naked, water gleaming on every muscle and flattening the curls on his chest.
Braden smiled like a wolf baring its teeth. “Decide who you’ll run to, Katarina. Who will you trust to save you from the other?”
Katarina knew her choice. There was only one. She whirled around and ran straight into Calder’s strong arms.
She felt him start as he gathered her against him, black leather warm through her rain-soaked clothes. He nuzzled her cheek and she started to relax, to feel safe.
“Wrong choice, sweetheart,” he whispered.
Chapter Seven
No, Katarina thought, looking up at Calder’s dark, hard face. I made the right one.
“Braden might have saved you from me,” Calder purred. “I won’t save you from him. Or me.”
“I made my choice.”
Calder gave her an odd look, eyes glittering, then his mouth hardened. He slid his hands down her back to her buttocks and cupped her ass, separating her cheeks through the rain-soaked leggings. She felt the heat of Braden’s body behind her, his hands warm on her waist.
“Braden loves to tongue-fuck,” Calder said. “He’s known for it.”
“Aw, and here I was trying not to get a bad reputation.” Braden’s words burned the nape of her neck.
Katarina knew that Calder was hoping to frighten her, but she felt anything but frightened in the circle of his arms. His words told her one thing—that he’d let his friend hunt her—but his body language told her another. He’d protect her.
Daringly, Katarina rose on tiptoe and brushed a kiss to Calder’s lips.
He jumped as if a spark had sprung from her mouth to his. Before Katarina could draw a breath, he seized the nape of her neck in his big hand and slanted his mouth fully across hers.
Katarina’s world stopped. Even the sensation of Braden’s hands on her body faded to nothing.
Calder plunged his tongue between her lips, forcing her mouth open. Katarina had never kissed a man before. She clumsily fit her mouth to his, trying to let his big tongue take hers, but her teeth bumped his lips, unpracticed.
He broke the kiss and stared down at her, his breath coming fast. Katarina reached for him again. If she practiced kissing him, maybe she’d get better at it.
Calder shoved her away and in a sudden movement, grabbed her tunic and yanked it from her body.
Katarina stood in a thin silk undertunic, which was wet and plastered to her torso. Calder’s gaze moved to her breasts, which must have been almost completely visible through the white fabric.
Braden brought his hands up to cup her breasts. His palms were comforting against her cold skin but she looked up at Calder.
“No, I want you.”
Braden nipped her earlobe. “Aw, sweetie, you break my heart.”
He didn’t sound heartbroken. He sounded amused and delighted.
Calder’s mouth hardened. “What you say you want doesn’t matter, because you will want what I tell you.”
“You’re very sure about that,” Katarina said.
Braden chuckled.
“Because I know what you really want.” Calder touched Katarina’s temple. “In here, I know what you truly crave, what you want deep inside yourself.”
His touch was warm, soothing, melting. She’d love to fall to her knees and tell him she longed to obey him. But somehow she knew he wanted her to do that. He was using his Shareem pheromones on her, or trying to.
“No, I don’t think you do,” she said.
Calder’s brows went up the slightest bit, the only betrayal of his surprise. Otherwise he stood like a rock.
Braden laughed and let Katarina go. “I think you’ve met your match, my friend.”
Calder yanked Katarina to him again, his mouth coming down on hers. She realized their last kiss had been gentle. This one was brutal, demanding, Calder not caring that she didn’t know how to kiss him back.
His unshaved whiskers burned her face, his hand bruised her neck. He stroked his tongue through her mouth, commanding complete surrender. She’d taken his cock into her mouth, swallowed his semen, but that was nothing to this powerful kiss.
Katarina touched his face. The left side was smooth with scars and skin grafts, the right side almost normal.
Calder pulled back, his brows jamming together. Katarina caressed his ruined cheek, wanting to pull his head down and hold him against her.
“Tie her hands,” Calder growled at Braden. “I don’t want her touching me.”
“Nah.” Braden’s voice had receded behind her. “It’s more fun to watch you squirm.”
“Then get out.” The harsh command was directed at Braden.
Katarina didn’t hear Braden leave. She wanted to turn and look at him, but she was too mesmerized by Calder’s eyes. She again ran her fingertips across his face.
“This is my house, Braden.”
“Your lair, you mean. I think I’ll stay and make sure the lady is all right.”
“Why wouldn’t she be?”
“Because you can get a little…exotic. She’s not ready for exotic, and she’s too cute to be broken by you.”
Katarina felt Calder’s fury mount. “Do you think I’d ever hurt her?”
“I know what Judith told me,” Braden said.
Calder’s mouth flattened. “I knew what Judith wanted.”
Dismay lanced through Katarina’s delight. Who is Judith?
“I think I’ll stay as long as Katarina does,” Braden said.
Braden sounded worried, but strangely, Katarina didn’t feel worried in the slightest. Was it because of the soothing Shareem chemicals or because she believed Calder truly wouldn’t hurt her?
She’d believed in him yesterday, even with all he’d done to her. She’d been thoroughly pleasured and not hurt at all. Excited, not afraid.
“It’s all right, Braden,” she said, still caressing Calder’s face. “You don’t have to stay with me.”
She liked the contrast between the warm smoothness of the scarred side, the rough whiskers of the other. Both were strong with muscle, his cheekbones hard and even.
“This is Calder, sweetheart,” Braden said. “One of the best level threes ever made. Means he’s gentle as a kitten one minute, dangerous as a desert tiger the next. You never know what he’s going to do.”
But that made him more exciting. “I don’t mind.”
Calder closed his hands around Katarina’s wrists, his grip like steel manacles. “Take her and go.”
Katarina chilled but her nipples were tight, he
r heart beating hard and fast. “I don’t want to go.”
“We are finished.” Calder moved his hot blue gaze to Braden. “Don’t let her come back.”
“Calder, don’t be a stupid fuck,” Braden growled.
“I don’t want you here, either.” The light that had been trained on Calder went out, and he disappeared into deep shadow.
Katarina ran forward, reaching for him, but found nothing but another seamless black wall. Calder had used the tricks of his lair to elude her yet again.
“Too late, he already is a stupid fuck,” Braden said.
Katarina shivered, suddenly bereft. Calder was gone.
She turned to find Braden next to her, stark-naked. His body was perfectly formed, his black hair flowing over well-muscled shoulders, his eyes intense Shareem blue. She’d touched this man, taken him into her mouth.
And yet she didn’t respond to him like she did to Calder, not even when he put his arm around her.
“My clothes are wet,” Katarina said, biting her lip against the tears that filled her eyes. She couldn’t leave in wet clothes. How stupid that this practical detail made her cry.
“It’s all right. He keeps spares.”
Braden’s voice was comforting but what he said made Katarina’s tears spill out. Foolish Katarina. Of course she was only one of dozens of women who’d fallen under Calder’s spell. What made her think she’d be special to him?
“Poor sweetie.” Braden pulled her against his warm, wet body, stroking her hair. “Forget about him, love. It’s the best way.”
Damn it, why was Braden so nice? He was a Shareem, a being meant to be shunned, a man who lived for only one thing.
Here he was, naked and aroused, comforting her because his friend had rejected her. And all Katarina could do was cry on him.
* * * * *
Katarina tried to take Braden’s advice and forget about Calder. After all, she’d lived twenty-seven years without knowing the man existed. She could return to life before Calder and continue her job.
Calder would likely find a different clinic for his next six-month checkup, and she’d never see him again. Shareem could go to any clinic because information on their scans and inoculations was fed from the medic’s handheld to the centralized Ministry of Non-Human Life Forms computer. It didn’t matter which clinic did the actual checkup.
Calder Page 6