by Ann Mayburn
Leaping up from the grass where she’d been playing with Jillian and a couple of her daughter’s new friends, Lacey gave her mom a beaming smile, joy radiating from the inside out. All around them, their guards began to also smile at her, no doubt responding to her emotions spreading out from her on an invisible psychic wave. She unconsciously worked on strengthening her shields, something that was now becoming as automatic as blinking, and brushed the soft pink petals of the flowers Jillian had picked for her from her shimmering teal dress that matched the teal streaks in her hair. Jillian insisted that whatever her hair color was that day, Lacey had to have some matching streaks of it.
Not that she minded. Kadothian cosmetic technology was eons ahead of Earth’s, and Jillian could change her hair color every day—a hundred times a day—and her hair would still be healthy and shiny. Lacey was also happy to discover that she no longer had to figure out how to put on the layers of makeup that had become the norm on Earth. All she had to do was close her eyes and instruct the computer in her bathroom to apply any of a billion looks she had to choose from. Poof, a second later her face was as artfully decorated as any makeup guru on Earth.
She’d have to make sure she had one of those intelligent bathrooms in her new home on Madre Tierra.
Her mom’s Territory was amazing, with its forests of mammoth trees and hidden cities, but Lacey couldn’t wait to get to her land on Madre Tierra. From what she’d learned so far, she owned a chunk of land bigger than Australia on Earth, in a climate that was being engineered to resemble the North American continent. Though geographically vastly different, the climate would be roughly the same as living in Canada. It was a little colder than she was used to, with her warm southern blood, but she really enjoyed the idea of having four seasons and wondered what Kadothian snow would look like.
The tingling awareness in her soul of her bondmates being close had her throwing her side of the bond wide open, but the feelings that met her were not what she expected.
Yes, from Chel there was love and longing, but also a great amount of fear and anxiety.
From Gwarnon…there wasn’t anything.
Her feelings must have shown on her face because her mom and Phin rushed to her side with looks of concern.
“Honey,” her mom said, taking her hand, “are you all right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think Gwarnon is.” She had a soul deep shudder as her spirit searched for Gwarnon’s finding only darkness on his side of the link. “I can’t…I can’t sense him.”
Phin went still, his pupils dilating before he said, “We have a situation. Lacey, come with me. I am afraid something unexpected has happened.”
“What?” she nearly yelled, trying to restrain her growing panic as Jillian watched her with wide eyes. “What happened? What’s going on? Why can’t I feel him!”
Phin took one arm, her mom the other, and they hustled her out of the garden as her mom said, “Shield yourself, Lacey. You are projecting your fear.”
It took a great deal of effort, but she managed to close down her mental barriers. Though she hated to admit it, being cut off from Gwarnon’s dark mind was a relief. She had to close Chel partially off as well because his growing panic made her twitchy. Running through the halls of the manor, she reached one of the swift drops that acted like an automatic elevator. After they’d piled in the elaborate room, her stomach tickled as the elevator dropped down the length of the tree, plunging over one hundred stories in less than five seconds.
When the door binged and opened, revealing a large foyer made of the carved pale wood of the living tree, she veered right away to the left, following her heart.
Her bond between her men was a living, pulsing thing, and the darkness she felt from Gwarnon’s link had her close to hyperventilating with panic. Picking up her skirts, she raced down the hallway, screaming in her mind to both men that she was there.
Chel met her as soon as she got close, bursting out of a room and sprinting toward her. He swept her into his arms, covering her face with frantic kisses. Inside of her head, he chastised Lacey over and over for leaving them like she had, even if it had been to their eventual benefit. Hugging him back, she let her love for Chel fill their bond, and an odd-muted roar came from the room Chel had just been in.
Fear filled her once again, and she whispered, “Gwarnon?”
At Chel’s solemn nod she dropped her arms and ran into the room, her heart almost stopping at the sight of her big, healthy male looking so empty on the medical bed. A cinnamon brown sheet had been pulled to his waist, revealing his sculpted body and barely moving chest. Lacey quickly crossed the room to his side, ignoring the other Healers standing in the corner of the room.
Her hand shook as she lay it on Gwarnon’s still cheek. Chel’s voice in her mind told her about Gwarnon’s Matriarch being poisoned and dying, and Gwarnon’s reaction to losing his bond.
Her mother joined her, rubbing Lacey’s back gently as she said to the Master Healer, “Is he all right?”
The Master Healer, a man with kind, pale blue eyes and long creamy gold hair bowed in their direction. “We will not know until he wakes.”
“Unfortunately,” added another healer, this one with deep auburn and silver streaked hair, “he has shown no signs of waking from whatever deep sleep he is in. We have tried several times to rouse him, with no success.”
Guilt came from Chel’s side of the bond as he said, “I swear to you, I used the proper amount of tranquilizer.”
“You did nothing wrong,” the red and silver haired healer assured Chel as he gave him a fatherly pat on the shoulder. “We believe that the shock of the abrupt breaking of his shield, already strained by the physical distance from his true mate, sent his mind into a panic. We can only wait until he feels safe enough to return.”
The Master Healer gave Lacey and Chel both a meaningful look. “If he were to be somewhere safe, with his alyah and his blood brother, if you can make him believe that he is not in danger, I believe he will return to us.”
Chel blindly reached out and took Lacey’s hand in his own as he said, “And there are no signs of the madness?”
“No signs,” the Master Healer quickly shook his head. “He bears none of the chemicals in his blood.”
Lacey suddenly found herself holding Chel as he wrapped his arms around her and shuddered hard with relief.
“I thought he was lost to us,” Chel whispered in her mind.
“We’ll get him back,” she promised.
Clearing her throat, Lacey tried not to blush as she said, “I have an idea of how to reassure him that the real world is worth returning to. But it will require some—ah, privacy.”
“Privacy?” her mom said as her brow crinkled with a frown. “For what?”
Phin must have said something to her via the psychic link, because her mother blushed hard as Phin said, “Of course. Now that we know Gwarnon is in no physical danger, you can take him to your rooms and…nurse him back to health.”
Ignoring the twinkle of laughter in Phin’s eyes, Lacey nodded. “Thank you, I appreciate that.”
Chel and Lacey stayed by Gwarnon’s side the entire time they moved him from the medical quarters to Lacey’s room located on a branch extending over the canopy below. The room was lovely, done in Lacey’s favorite colors of silver and purple and the bed was set near a pair of massive windows draped with silver curtains. They gently placed a still unresponsive Gwarnon in her big bed, then ushered everyone out of the room.
Once they were gone, Lacey went to Chel and wrapped her arms around him, needing to sooth him as much as herself. She ordered the lights to lower, and the opalescent glowing balls hovering near the tall ceiling dimmed. Outside, a windstorm was blowing through, the branches swinging wildly and creating fantastical patterns of blue, purple, and green as the leaves shook and trembled.
“Please, alyah, forgive me—” Chel began, but she put her fingertip to his lips.
“Shhh, this is not the time for neg
ative thoughts. If we can sense Gwarnon, I believe he can sense us. We want to lure him back to wakefulness, to convince him that being awake would be a very good idea, and that will not happen if we are wallowing in guilt. We need to seduce him back to life.”
Bowing his head, Chel huffed out a breath and shook his head. “I am afraid that at the moment I am not feeling very amorous. More like sick with fear.”
A sensation of feminine empowerment came over her as she took a step back, very aware of the way Chel’s gaze followed her every move. “Let me worry about that. Did you know we had a dog when I was growing up? A mean as shit mongrel that barked like a hound from hell, but was scared to death of the world. I found him hiding under a broke down old barn when I was nine, starving and near death. We lived out in the country, an agricultural area similar to your, umm…I guess Plains of Caroo. Not a lot of people, mostly farmland and a small town.”
Her mind wandered to her sweet little hometown, and she had a pang of homesickness that drew a responding growl of distress from Gwarnon.
Moving over to his side, she crawled up onto the bed next to him, then looked over at Chel and patted the other side. “I told my mom about it, and she tried to help me lure him out, but the dog would not budge. I wanted to go in there after him, but my mom said we just had to be patient, and let him know that he could trust us, and that life outside of his den would better than the temporary safety he’d found. We have to convince Gwarnon that the outside world is safe, and a much better place to be than locked in his head.”
While Chel stripped down, she looked down at Gwarnon, pushing back the fear and worry, focusing only on her love for him. The bed dipped behind her and she turned to appreciate the sight of Chel—powerful, sensual Chel—crawling across the blankets to her. His long brown hair was unbound, falling over his shoulder as he positioned himself across from her. She felt so tiny next to them on the bed, and she reached out, marveling that her hand did indeed look petite and feminine against Chel’s large face. She stared at her hand, at her pretty painted nails and the sparkly lotion she’d used that gave her skin a pearlescent shimmer against Chel’s smooth, yet still rough skin. Memories of being teased for having ‘man hands’ in high school and even in the military stirred in the muck at the bottom of her mind.
This time, she could feel Gwarnon’s growl, and tried to force her mind back to happy thoughts.
Focusing only on Chel, she leaned forward and slid her fingers into his hair.
When he went to move, she shook her head and whispered, “We have to lure the dog out with some really good bait.”
Chel groaned as she nipped at his lips and whispered back, “All you have to do to be tempting is breathe, my alyah. I am so hard for you, my cock aches.”
“Good,” she whispered against his mouth, then took a long, slow lick of his softened lips. “I want you so hard you think your dick is going explode. I want to feel your relief when you finally slide inside of me, feel you stroking me, making me clench down on you and massage your shaft.”
Gwarnon shifted restlessly between them, and a little spark of triumph fired through Lacey’s blood.
Her nipples hardened beneath the silken feel of her gown, and she purposely brushed them over Gwarnon’s bare chest as she slowly kissed and explored Chel’s body. He was thoroughly enjoying the attention, his eyes half closed as he watched her, stroking both her and Gwarnon’s body where they touched. Keeping her bond with Gwarnon wide open, she began to lick circles around Chel’s nipple, curious if he was sensitive there. The rush of lust from his side quickly confirmed it, so she lavished attention on his nipples, nipping and licking them until Chel made soft, absolutely pornographic groans that had her wet pussy clenching.
She allowed him to fist her hair, to pull her head back and give her a drugging kiss that seemed to never end. Kissing her mates was perfect, their minds and bodies moving together as if they’d made love a million times. The taste of Chel, the feeling of his hands in her hair and his lust had her wanting to just throw him on his back and find her relief, but she managed to restrain herself. She could feel glimmers of Gwarnon through their bond and let her love and lust for Chel empty into that dark abyss, hoping one drop reached him.
“Chel,” she said via her implant, “what can we do that would drive Gwarnon crazy with lust?”
The mental image he sent her was so erotic she broke their kiss on a gasp, her eyes no doubt as round as her mouth.
Chel laughed hard as he gathered her into his arms, mentally teasing her for being such an innocent.
She nipped his throat, earning a growl of approval. “I’m not that innocent.”
“Mmmhmm,” Chel nipped her back, making her arch and offer her neck to his talented lips.
“Really,” she all but panted. “I’m not.”
“Prove it. Make my vision come true.”
The hint of challenge in his voice, in his spirit, made her own overly competitive side spark to life. “You got it.”
Laying down next to a slightly shifting Gwarnon, she traced her fingers over his chest and watched as Chel slowly lowered the sheet hiding Gwarnon’s erection.
Relief filled her as she figured, if he could get hard, he wasn’t that bad off.
Raking her nails through the smattering of blue and black hair at his pelvis, she slowly raised her dress, revealing to Chel the fact that she wore no panties.
“Too bad you’re sleeping right now,” Lacey said in a voice husky with passion, “because Chel is about to watch me cum while he jerks off onto your cock. After he cums on it, he’s going to lick every bit of his seed off your shaft, and I will help him. Can you picture it? How good it would feel to have both of our mouths on you?”
The flicker of life from Gwarnon’s bond grew stronger, and Lacey inwardly giggled that a man’s libido could bring him back from the dead.
Leaning her head against Gwarnon’s, she continued to play with his body while Chel began to stroke himself. She told Gwarnon how hot Chel looked, how his tip was already wet with precum, and how much Chel wanted to fuck her. While she talked she began to slowly rub her clit, the little nub so sensitive that she had to slow down or she’d climax too soon.
Then again, by the way Chel was breathing, and how tight his sac was getting, he was near release as well. She closed her eyes, stroking herself and at the same time focusing on Chel and how turned on he was. Amazing, she could just lie here and orgasm along with Chel without having to do a single thing. Flowing deeper into Chel’s side of the bond, she could almost feel the sensation of what it was like to have a dick, and how good it felt to milk the cum to the tip.
The bed shifted a moment before Gwarnon’s rough voice said, “Did you put her to sleep?”
It took a second of effort to pull herself from Chel’s thoughts, but when she opened her eyes she found a smiling Gwarnon staring down at her.
“You’re back!”
His arm trembled slightly, but he managed to capture her lips in an intense kiss that left her gasping for breath. “I missed you so much, Lacey. So much. I cannot even begin to describe how I hurt. Please, please do not do that to us again.”
“I didn’t have much say in the matter considering Lord Rell basically kidnapped me,” she muttered, still too happy that he was awake to stop smiling.
Chel knelt next to them, his throbbing erection bobbing against his stomach as he leaned over and gave Gwarnon a rough kiss that left Lacey tingling. “Welcome back, my mate.”
Gwarnon reached up, his hand much steadier now, and gripped the back of Chel’s head. They must have been having some kind of silent conversation, so Lacey let them have their moment, content to just admire their bodies so close together. A soft, melodic tune began to play from some hidden speakers, and she startled and glanced at the men.
To her shock, Chel and Gwarnon both got out bed, leaving her sitting there in her now rumpled shimmering teal dress, her curls a silky mess, and her body still craving an orgasm. “Where are you
going?”
Chel gave her an arch look and said, “We thought you might prefer it if we attended our bonding ceremony clothed.”
“Bonding ceremony? But…. but we were going to…” She leaned forward, resting her hand on the smooth, cool sheet as the men put on their dress uniforms hidden behind a panel. “How did your clothes get here?”
Gwarnon smiled at her, a gleam in his eye that made her weary. “Chel and I both swore that, if the Lord of Life returned you to us, I would no longer doubt his presence, and we would get bonded as quickly as possible. I do not want to go back on my word to the Creator, and I cannot wait to make you our wife. Is that agreeable with you? I am sorry you are being deprived of the elaborate ceremony your mother was planning. I hope she is not too disappointed.”
“I’m not disappointed at all!” came her mother’s cheerful voice as she stood in the now open doorway, holding something long and covered in pink cloth. “If you gentlemen will excuse us, I will have my daughter ready in just a few minutes. I know you want this done as quickly as possible—Gwarnon you made that clear with your mental shouting—but you and the Lord of Life will have to be patient. I need a moment with my baby girl first.”
Karwin stood in the doorway, a bemused smile on his face. “Remember, my alyah, no crying. You said it makes you puffy, and you want to look good in the wedding photos.”
“Oh, please,” her mom responded with a wry grin. “Your super computers can have me looking fresh as a daisy. You just hate it when I cry.”
“I do,” Karwin responded with the utmost seriousness. “It breaks my heart.”
“Come on,” Phin yelled from somewhere behind Karwin, “Our Lady has put us to work readying the ceremonial sight. We have much to do to prepare for the bonding of the daughter of our heart.”
With a lot of good natured yelling and ribbing, the men left and Lacey stared at her mother, both women tearing up instantly.
“No, no tears,” Lacey said and bit her lip. “This is a happy time.”
“And these are happy tears,” her mom snapped, her southern drawl strong. “Good Lord, my baby girl is getting married. I’m allowed some tears.”