by Rachel Clark
“Are you okay?” Declan asked as he helped Keira back into the booth seat.
Keira looked almost as freaked out as Luke felt. After years of living with and loving Declan, it somehow felt wrong that Luke was developing a mate link with someone else, despite the fact that she was their Taydelaan.
Declan was still waiting for an answer, but now he wore a concerned look on his face as well. “I’m fine,” Luke managed to choke out. “It’s just damn hot in here.” Well, it was almost the truth.
Declan glanced at Keira and smiled. “Keira just said the same thing. Do you want to head home?”
“No,” they both answered in unison. Hell, he needed to explain what was happening to Keira, but he didn’t want to do it in front of Declan. As far as Luke could figure, Declan wasn’t even aware of the mating link between Sesturian mates. In five years he’d never questioned why they didn’t have one. Luke rubbed his forehead, trying to hold back the anguish rolling through him. If he and Declan were never going to develop a mate link between them, was it even fair to try and explain it to him?
Declan had once confided that he’d never felt like he fit in anywhere. How would he feel being the only partner in their threesome not to be able to hear his mates’ thoughts and feelings?
Luke glanced at Keira and caught her wide-eyed stare a moment before she glanced away. Hell, the link was already strengthening.
Once they’d both opened themselves to the possibility, it was building rapidly. Luke could very clearly feel Keira’s emotions and he suspected she could feel his in the same way.
“My turn to dance,” Luke said as he grasped Keira’s hand and practically dragged her from the booth. Declan smiled happily as he watched them go, but if he’d had any idea how Luke and Keira were feeling, he didn’t show it.
Luke practically dragged the poor woman onto the dance floor.
She held herself stiffly in his arms, the relaxation she’d felt in Declan’s embrace clearly absent. But underneath the anxiety he could still feel her desire.
“I…I don’t…think this is a…maybe we should just…”
“Keira,” he said quietly as he dragged her stiff body closer to his and spoke into her ear. “There are things I need to explain to you, but I don’t have time to do it properly, and I don’t want to frighten you with only half a story.”
“What story?” she asked, trying to pull out of his arms.
“Please, Keira,” he pleaded quietly. “Please just listen to what I have to say.”
“Look, I know what you’re going to say, and believe me, I get it. I mean, I really get it. You and Declan are a beautiful couple, and you’re both very much in love. I just…” She let out a shuddering breath before tucking her head against his collarbone and whispering,
“I’m just confused. I know that we’re friends and that’s all it will ever be, but something inside me needs to feel loved, and somehow that feeling is fixating on you and Declan.”
“Keira,” he said, but she cut him off.
“I don’t mean to hurt either of you. I’m just in a strange place in my head right now, and I know I’ll get over it, I just—” He silenced whatever else she was going to say by the most expedient way he could think of—he kissed her. He tried to keep the contact light, gentle, but she sighed into his mouth and he deepened the kiss as her emotions and thoughts exploded through his brain.
“This is what I needed to talk to you about,” he said directly into her mind.
She tried to pull away from him so quickly that she would’ve fallen if he hadn’t held her so tightly. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she stared at him with a mixture of fear and confusion shadowing her face. She shook her head sharply.
“Jesus, I’m losing my mind,” she thought hysterically. “Maybe that fall down the stairs really did knock something loose.”
“No, honey, you’re not losing your mind.” She gave him a frightened look, and he pulled her back against his chest. “There’s a lot I need to explain to you, but I want you to remember that you’re safe with me and Declan. We’ll never hurt you.”
“Can he talk into my mind, too?”
“No, that’s one of the things I need to explain.”
“Oh,” she said quietly. He could feel her arousal spiraling through her mind again, and his cock filled once more. He barely resisted the urge to pull her close and rub up against her.
“Is the attraction real?”
He wasn’t certain if she was asking him telepathically or asking herself, but he chose to answer her anyway. “Yes, it’s real. It’s why the mating link is developing.”
He could feel her urge to giggle hysterically, yet she held it in check. But some of the images she’d obviously read in romance novels flitted through her brain, and he laughed at the idea of humans being able to morph into animals.
“No, we’re not shape-shifters.” He grinned when her eyes widened, relieved for a moment to be thinking about something other than possessing this woman mind, body, and soul. But he swallowed hard as images of exactly how those shape-shifters loved their mates ran through her mind. “We’re aliens.” She looked at him as if she expected him to grow a second head.
Good grief, what sort of books did their shy Keira read? He caught the image of an alien from a popular sci-fi comedy and laughed out loud. Most people would think alien abduction or strange lights in the night sky, but not Keira. Trust his Taydelaan to think of a goofy alien portrayed in a sitcom.
“What’s a Taydelaan?”
She seemed calmer, so he decided to try and explain at least some of what she needed to know. He didn’t miss the lingering thought that she might be suffering a delusion, but he hoped she’d soon realize he was telling her the truth.
“A Taydelaan is our third. The one who completes us. Sesturians mate in trios.”
“Sesturians—as in aliens? But I’m human.” She seemed to reconsider for a moment, and he smiled as she tacked on the whispered question, “Aren’t I?”
“Yes, baby,” he said out loud as he leaned forward to kiss her.
“You’re human, and it’s quite common for humans and Sesturians to mate,” he whispered telepathically as he deepened the kiss. He could feel the link between them strengthening and knew he should pull away. He knew that at some point the link became irreversible, but he wasn’t quite sure when. It was possible it was already an unbreakable tie between them, but he would give Keira a chance to walk away if he could.
He’d never heard of a Taydelaan wanting to walk away from her mates before, but then he’d never known a Sesturian could have a mate without a telepathic link like he and Declan had together.
“Keira, I have to tell you something about Declan and me.” She nodded, waiting for him to continue. He switched to telepathy, not wanting the dancers around them to overhear their unusual conversation. “Declan was raised to believe he was human. I’m not sure if that’s what caused it, but he and I have never developed the telepathic link you and I share already. ” He pressed his lips to hers once more. “The link will only get stronger as we get closer, but it’s likely that Declan will never share in it.”
“Oh.” The simple sound was filled with disappointment, and Luke could feel himself falling even harder for this amazing woman. She wasn’t questioning his sanity. She was grieving for a man who would feel left out if he knew of the link between them.
* * * *
Declan watched them dance. When Luke leaned in to kiss Keira once more all of his blood traveled south and he felt almost lightheaded by the time the couple made their way back to the table.
“Time to go home,” Luke said with a loving smile at both him and Keira. Declan’s gaze bounced between them. Considering how tense they’d both been when they’d first started dancing, he was a little surprised to see how close they seemed now. He hadn’t been able to see them well from his position, but he was fairly certain they hadn’t done much talking.
Keira held her hand out for him to grasp, and h
e suddenly decided it didn’t matter. If things worked out the way they planned, they’d have a lifetime to talk things out. He grasped her warm hand in his own and led them to the exit. Luke helped Keira into the truck and then slid into the driver’s seat. He pressed a quick kiss to Keira’s mouth before whispering something into her ear.
She immediately turned and cuddled into Declan’s arms. “I’ve been told I need to kiss you all the way home. Is that okay with you?” Okay? With him? Huh?
Wow, the old saying was turning out to be true—men really only had enough blood to flow to one head at a time. She smiled and leaned over to press her warm, kiss-swollen lips to his. He licked the plump softness, sucking gently as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed closer. He could feel her nipples, hard and stiff, pressing insistently against his chest, and couldn’t resist touching them.
He smoothed his hand over her soft breast, smiling as her breath caught and her assault on his mouth faltered. He brushed his thumbs over the stiff peaks, her soft groan firing his imagination into the stratosphere. He kissed her over and over, blissfully unaware of the passage of time or the miles they traveled.
The truck braked suddenly, and they were both bounced forward by the abrupt stop. But Luke was there, hurriedly undoing their seat belts and then stripping the clothing from Keira’s gorgeous body.
“Suck him, baby,” he whispered wickedly. Declan barely had the presence of mind to realize they were already parked on the space between the house and the barn of their property before Keira’s warm hands fumbled his jeans open and wrapped around his engorged cock.
She knelt on the seat between them as she leaned over and licked him like ice cream. She ran her tongue over his swollen head again and again as she fisted his length and pumped him hard. Finally she sucked him into her mouth, the warm, moist cavern tempting him to thrust into her, to take control, fuck her face the way he would’ve if she were Luke. But he held back, not wanting to frighten her, willing to let her pleasure him her way.
Chapter Five
Oh wow.
Luke dragged her underwear down to her knees, his fingers making her squirm and moan with needy little sounds.
Keira still hadn’t discarded the idea that she was living some sort of delusion, but if the way she was imagining the feel of Luke’s passion combining with her own to make them both hotter, both needier, both incredibly aroused, then she really didn’t care. If this was insanity, give her more.
She heard a telepathic chuckle in her head, and she smiled around the cock in her mouth as thick fingers drove into her pussy, fucking her hard and fast. She groaned as Luke changed the angle and caressed something inside her that had her gasping for air.
Declan threaded his fingers through her hair, not really controlling her movements but definitely stopping any thought of retreat. She sucked him harder, sliding lower on his cock as she ran her tongue over the soft flesh. He groaned, lifting slightly, obviously controlling the urge to slam into her mouth.
Keira squeaked with surprise when the door behind Luke opened and the cool night air hit her exposed ass. But Luke just grabbed her hips and dragged her closer to the edge of the seat. She suctioned her mouth tighter around Declan, and he shuffled across the seat with her.
Luke stood behind her, caressing her ass, her thighs, the sensitive flesh of her pussy. “So beautiful,” he whispered a moment before his tongue touched her labia. She gasped in surprise, the movement forcing Declan’s cock further down her throat. She tried to pull away, panicked for a moment, but Declan’s hands tangled in her hair, massaging her head but holding her in place.
“Swallow, Keira. Just relax and swallow.” She tried to force herself to relax, but only managed the opposite. Luke touched her with his tongue again, bathing her labia with warmth as he slowly explored her slippery flesh.
“Good girl,” Declan groaned as she finally managed to swallow around his cock. Luke thrust his tongue deep into her pussy, the excitement it created rocketing around her body. She could feel Luke’s reaction to her arousal, and they both groaned in unison as the need to join together was almost irresistible. But even as she thought it, Keira could feel Luke’s worry for Declan. Neither of them wanted to do anything that would leave Declan feeling left out, but for them to make him center of attention may create even more problems.
She felt Luke pull away, his hands gently caressing her ass as she continued to suck on Declan. “Are you okay, baby?” he asked into her mind.
“Of course.”
He patted her thigh gently. “Come on, you two. Let’s take this somewhere more comfortable.”
Declan seemed like he was going to refuse, but a moment later he took a deep breath and eased away. He groaned as Keira released him from her mouth. He pulled her into his embrace and held her close for a few moments before he helped her from the truck cabin and into Luke’s arms.
* * * *
Luke carried her into the house, his connection to her growing stronger with every heartbeat. He stood on the porch, waiting for Declan to catch up before entering. Then the three of them somehow managed to make it down the hallway touching, kissing, caressing each other, without falling over or knocking anything down.
Finally they reached Luke and Declan’s bedroom. Luke could feel Keira’s sense of coming home, of finding where she belonged, even as the woman tried to rationalize it in her head. He leaned over the bed and placed her in the middle. She smiled at him shyly, and he couldn’t help but run his fingertips down the side of her face.
“Declan is going to make love to you.” Her eyes darkened and she nodded as Declan looked at her in surprise.
In fact he’d looked almost frightened enough to bolt from the room. Luke moved quickly to take the man in his arms. Damn the lack of mate link. He had no idea what was going through his lover’s head, and it scared him that he might’ve missed something important.
“Declan?” he asked quietly as the man burrowed into his embrace.
But then Keira was there beside them, her warm hand smoothing over Luke’s spine as she touched Declan’s face. Luke could feel her understanding rippling through his mind, and she confirmed it a moment later.
“You’ve never been with a woman before, have you, Declan?”
* * * *
Declan shook his head and wished that he could somehow erase the last two minutes. He hadn’t expected this. He wanted to make love to Keira, he really did, but it felt too important for him to risk fucking it up. But as his insecurities rose between them Keira stepped closer and wrapped her arms around both men.
“We don’t have to do this now,” she said quietly. “We have a lifetime to work things out to suit all of us. And besides, I don’t suppose you have condoms just lying around anyway.”
“Sesturians aren’t susceptible to the same diseases as humans,” Luke said with a voice that sounded thick and strained. Hell, Declan was fucking this up for Luke. Luke knew exactly who he was and what he wanted. He wasn’t a confused, pathetic alien unsure of his identity and persuasions.
Wait a moment. Sesturian?
“You told her?” he asked, trying to hide the surprise in his voice. “When did you tell her?”
“On the dance floor,” Luke mumbled in a voice that suggested he didn’t want to discuss the matter. Considering the raging hard-on he had pressed up against Declan’s hip, it was rather obvious why. But curiosity, and perhaps the opportunity to avoid making a fool of himself for a little bit longer, won out.
“Wow, it took me weeks to accept the whole alien thing. Hell, I’m still not sure I understand it.” He pressed a kiss to Keira’s lips. “You must be an amazing person to accept it so easily. I guess you really are our Taydelaan.”
She nodded, looking embarrassed, and suddenly he wasn’t as concerned about fucking up as he’d felt earlier. His first time with a woman was going to be with his Taydelaan. That should be a cause for celebration, not a time for worry.
“Can I make love to you now?” h
e asked, his cock pulsing to life, harder and thicker than before.
“What about contraception?”
Luke looked embarrassed, and Declan suddenly realized that he didn’t even understand how Sesturians procreated. He knew that Sesturians mated in trios, but he’d always just assumed that making babies was similar to the human way. Judging by the troubled look on Luke’s face, he was now in the uncomfortable position of explaining where Sesturian babies came from.
A soft laugh escaped him, and Luke’s grip tightened a moment before he laughed as well.
Keira smiled indulgently as they both laughed. She maneuvered the three of them over to the bed and somehow managed to get Luke and Declan lying in each other’s arms. Then she set about stripping their clothes off.
Before Declan could curb the urge to laugh, Keira did it for him.
Her hot, moist mouth engulfed his cock in wet heat, sending streaks of lightning from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. She wrapped her fist around the base of his dick, squeezing and twisting slightly as she sucked him to the back of her throat. She swallowed, just like he’d taught her in the truck, and then every thought blurred in his head.
Luke smoothed a hand over Declan’s chest, a wicked smile gracing his face a moment before he lowered to kiss Declan like he wanted to inhale him. Breathless, Declan vaguely registered Keira’s movement until she straddled his thighs and Luke moved out of her way.
She leaned forward to press a quick kiss to his mouth and whispered, “Do you still want to make love to me?” He nodded enthusiastically, words escaping him as Luke lifted Declan’s cock at the same moment that Keira lowered herself over him. Her pussy felt so different to what he’d been expecting that he couldn’t quite stop the sigh of awe from escaping his lips. She smiled, moaning quietly as her wet heat surrounded him.