by Reagan Woods
Chapter 47
“Just breathe,” Nora chanted to herself. She kept her head down so she didn’t have to look at Lyon or Zocan as they left. They were the two most handsome, virile males she’d ever spent time with. It never seriously occurred to her that they might find her desirable before yesterday. Not after they’d lived platonically together for so long.
Frankly, the last day had been a bit too emotionally fraught. Attracting their attention seemed too good to be true – a lot like hitting the jackpot in the lottery of life when you didn’t even remember buying a ticket. She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was pranking her. If it were true, if they really wanted her, well… the idea was totally overwhelming.
Zocan, with his pretty face, silky hair and leanly muscled body was great to look at. His cunning mind and suspicious nature definitely made him interesting but didn’t exactly scream ‘approachable.’ Lyon, on the other hand, was more blunt and tough with his broad, muscled body and wide face, but he was much softer where she was concerned. He always made a point to try and make her feel comfortable – even when he thought she might be rejecting him.
She needed to get her thoughts together and come up with a coherent position on all this. Lyon would be back soon, and he would want answers. He would probably ask why she’d pulled back yesterday as well as what her plans were going forward. The thought of verbally committing herself to any course of action set butterflies to doing the cha-cha in her stomach. However, if she were going to hold them at arm’s length, she needed to propose an alternate plan because in the short time she’d known them they’d become her home. She couldn’t lose that now.
While she was surprised – stunned and flattered by – their alleged feelings for her, she didn’t know how to do this. Having a relationship with one man – a man from Earth – would have been fraught with land mines. How was she supposed to make a life with two alien males? There was so much room for error and misunderstanding. So. She either had to learn to live with the fear of rejection on the most intimate of levels – mainly from Zocan - or she had to tell them that a relationship between them wasn’t an option.
They might be upset, but she knew deep down that they wouldn’t let any harm come to her if she rejected them. A pair of pirates that had kept a young alien female as crew rather than see her punished for sneaking on to their ship like they had Lara wouldn’t leave someone they claimed to love vulnerable.
“This is just the weirdest day,” she muttered. It seemed like a good idea to lie down before she toppled over with sheer dizziness from the whirling carousel of her thoughts, but she didn’t want to be caught naked when Lyon returned. It was his designated rest/babysit Nora time, but beyond that, she’d seen what her tears had done to him. He wouldn’t be capable of leaving her alone for long. Lyon probably really did have feelings for her. Zocan…that was a little harder to buy.
She was just sliding into her soft boots when the door to the cabin slid open. Lyon stood uncertainly just over the threshold. His wide, earnest face was creased with concern. Her heart stuttered at the sight of his yellow eyes. They were completely focused on her.
The intensity of his feelings came through loud and clear. How many times had she fantasized that someone would look at her like that? She never imagined it would be a fierce alien pirate with a thick nose that looked like it had been broken more than once. He was huge and intimidating, but he was so easy to be with. Yes, she could easily love Lyon.
Nora straightened and ran a hand over her tunic, smoothing the thinning fabric into place. “Don’t just stand there,” she advised neutrally. “Come in. I won’t bite you.”
One corner of his wide mouth kicked up as he did as she asked. “I’m sure your bite is fierce.”
She rolled a shoulder to indicate he should take a seat. He lowered his bulk to the sizable bed, his big hands resting on his thick thighs. Nora sat next to him with one leg folded beneath her so she could angle toward him.
“Lyon…,” she began only to trail off. She fidgeted, pleating the fabric of her baggy pants between her fingers and smoothing them out. What could she say? I think you’re wonderful but I’m never going to believe that Zocan has feelings for me?
His big hand engulfed hers, stopping the restless action of her fingers. “You are hesitant, unsure,” he noted. “Talk to me, Nora, so that I might allay your fears. I want to address your concerns.” His eyes lit with a possessive fire. “And then I would very much like to make you come again. More than once. Preferably on my face and then my cock.”
Heat flashed through her body pulling her nipples taut and making her squirm as a flood of arousal pooled between her legs. Her unruly hormones were on board with his plan, but her head was resisting his earnest words.
She held up a hand and gave herself a beat to gather her scattered thoughts. “Woah. Let’s just stick with talking right now, alright?”
He grinned that wide, lopsided grin that made her want to kiss his full lips. “Communication is important. I don’t want you to be surprised when I shove your pants to your ankles and put my mouth on you.”
Nora rolled her eyes at his blatant attempt to rile her up even as she fanned her face. “Maybe we should narrow the scope of this discussion,” she suggested dryly. He was trying to tease her into letting down her guard and damned if it wasn’t working.
“What prevents you from loving us, Nora?” He asked baldly, his grip on her fingers tightening as she moved to put some distance between them. Lyon had a way of disarming her and cutting straight into her soft underbelly.
She blew out a ‘here goes nothing’ breath. “I could easily see myself falling in love with you and Zocan,” she answered honestly. “But Zocan isn’t ever going to love me back, Lyon, and you know it. I don’t know how your relationship works exactly, but I do recognize love when I see it. Zocan loves you and if he thinks you want me, he will play along until he can convince you to find someone more suitable.”
Lyon’s smile faded. “Nora, trinepacts are not temporary alliances. They cannot be dissolved or nullified. Once three are mated, they are of one purpose.”
“I’m sure there are legal loopholes or traditions that allow for divorcing an alien,” she scoffed. “He’s far too willing to take me on not to have some ace up his sleeve.”
He tilted his head to the side as he watched her intently. “I do not follow.”
“Zocan either loves you enough to saddle himself with someone he finds less worthy or he has a way out.”
Lyon’s head shook back and forth slowly, his expression intense. “No, Nora, you don’t understand. Zocan and I, we will be bonded to you irrevocably. This is a hormonal reaction, but since you don’t want to speak of mating…” He teased.
“I don’t understand,” she agreed, refusing to be drawn down that fraught path. “Because he just doesn’t like me. Even when he’s talking about his feelings, he’s distant. He is always calculating, and he acts uninvested in the outcome.” She sighed, realizing how hearing these things must make Lyon feel. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be discussing this with you. I should have the presence of mind to say these things to Zocan. It’s just that he’s so intimidating…”
“And he is very attractive for all his detachment.” Lyon smirked knowingly.
“He is,” she acknowledged with a nod. There was no point in denying it.
He sobered suddenly, his hand tightening on hers. “Zocan is careful – the need for caution was instilled in him from a young age. There are things he has not shared with you that would no doubt help you glean insight into his behavior.”
Now that was interesting. Could there be something that would excuse the callous way Zocan had treated her or the detached way he often dealt with her? Despite the inner voice telling her to slow down, to not get her hopes up, she felt a lightness bubbling up from within her.
“What reason could he have for treating me so indifferently?” That was putting it kindly. Some days – admittedly it was most
ly in the beginning - he’d actively sneered at her. Why would she want the handsome prick again? Oh, yeah. Because she was an absolute softy. She wanted to believe her affection could change the way Zocan treated her, but she had to be realistic. Lyon was a total sweetheart and his love hadn’t softened Zocan to her eye.
“It would be better coming from him,” Lyon hedged, his broad shoulders stiffening. Loyalty ran deep between the two frustrating alien men. Nora couldn’t decide if she appreciated that or not.
She sighed. Every step forward with these two felt like trudging through quicksand with a fire-breathing dragon at her back. “Fine.”
She took a moment to really look at Lyon. His eyes were sunken and red rimmed. “You need to rest. It’s clear you’ve been working hard. Maybe we should pick this conversation up on the Nom’magata? Declare a moratorium on this subject, you know?”
That would buy her some time and –
“I can’t agree to that,” Lyon dashed her hopes with a devilish smirk. “If you think we’re going to give you a chance to reinforce your shields, you’re mistaken.” He yawned, stretching his heavily muscled arms wide and giving her an unimpeded view of his thick chest.
When he caught her staring, she didn’t even blush. Much.
His smirk was back, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he cut her a break, “However, I do need sleep. Do not neglect your studies simply because you are communicating better.”
Nora huffed and crossed her arms under breasts. Apparently, today would be the same as any other day; workout, study, workout. Great. “I can take a hint,” she said, rising. “Sleep well.”
Chapter 48
“It’s time,” Zocan declared when he arrived back in the cabin that evening.
Nora looked up from the Lyaran tutorial on the tablet-type device she used to study. It took her a moment to register Zocan’s announcement. “Already? What’s changed?”
Lyon had just exited the sonishower and was pulling on his boots. He seemed just as surprised as she was. “Is something amiss?”
Zocan stood, hands on hips and faced them. “I have a bad feeling about remaining here. The longer we’re within sight of Xani, the worse Natar’s behavior becomes. I haven’t seen any evidence that the new hierarchy of Ashwemaic priests even know the Nom’magata is at the dock. There is no sense in continuing to put Natar through this.”
Nora scrambled to her feet. She’d been lounging on the sleep surface since Lyon had vacated it. Now, she headed for her boots, a tight feeling in her throat. This was the moment they’d been waiting for.
More than that, this was the moment of truth, she realized. She hadn’t incentivized Lyon or Zocan. Would they still take her with them? She shook her head to clear it. What was she thinking? Of course, they would. Look how far they’d already stuck with her.
The real question was: When they weren’t confined to this cabin with her, would they still want her? These thoughts tumbled through her head in a jumble. She was so distracted by the doubts raging through her that she almost missed the rest of Zocan’s words.
“He’s very unstable. Instead of docking and taking a few days to check things out, I think it’s best if we head for the public space docks and then have Z’cari pilot us close enough to board through the emergency evac in the Nom’magata’s cargo hold.”
A shiver of unease skated over Nora’s skin. “That doesn’t sound like any of the plans we discussed.”
Lyon crossed to stand next to Zocan so they faced her as a single unit. It was Lyon who spoke this time, “It’s too dangerous to disembark via the usual channels with you. We won’t be able to hide you effectively without someone running interference from the inside.” He held up a hand to forestall any interruption. “And we can’t send Z’cari or Natar out into that to pave the way. This is the safest way all around.”
“We’ve been watching the Nom’magata for several days and haven’t seen any movement. That doesn’t mean the ship is clear,” Zocan cautioned. “Ideally, there is no one aboard her; however, she does posses the kind of tech that would shield against most non-CGA scans.”
Lyon’s brow turned thunderous. “Whatever the assassin used to scan the ship, he certainly got life readings at the very least.”
“Ssszit was convinced he had our individual signatures,” Zocan put in. “We will have to hunt him down before he comes for us again.”
They turned expectant gazes on Nora once more.
She shrugged, not wanting to say the wrong thing but strangely thrilled that they wanted her input. “If you want to go hunt down an assassin, I guess I’m in.”
Zocan’s smile wasn’t particularly nice, but he sounded almost happy when he said, “Without a doubt, we will make him regret ever accepting the bounty on the King of Lyara and his mate.”
Nora was reminded of an old phonograph she had played with as a child. The needle would sometimes slide unexpectedly off the record and create a dissonance that stopped her in her tracks.
“I’m sorry – the who-what?” She asked, bringing a hand to her forehead as she tried to understand what he’d said.
“Um.” Lyon rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and shot an unsure glance at Zocan. “Zocan is the last of his line. His father was the Lyaran King.”
“Madre de Dios!” She’d always believed that Lyon simply deferred to Zocan because Zocan had the stronger personality, but she was starting to see that probably wasn’t the whole story.
Zocan’s emotional distance suddenly made a lot more sense. He weighed every move and countermove carefully before he spoke or acted not because he was cold and calculating – or not just because he was – but because his actions affected every remaining Lyaran.
“I had hoped these revelations would come about more organically, but we’re out of time,” Zocan said stiffly. “If you come with us – and I’m not advocating you stay behind, please understand – we won’t always be able to simply do as we like. I am the last of my line. I must do what I can to restore my people.”
Lyon placed his hand on Zocan’s shoulder, further uniting them. “We will always work to restore our people,” he corrected firmly.
Sensitive to the heavy atmosphere, Nora smiled tightly, determined to lighten things up. “It sounds like we will have a lot to talk about once we’ve escaped with the Nom’magata.”
Zocan’s posture didn’t change but his face seemed to soften as he looked at her. “Indeed, we shall.”
“Let’s get out there and make things happen, then,” Lyon said firmly, an expression sliding over his face that Nora had only glimpsed before. The grim set of his mouth and the hard glint in his eye said he was ready for trouble.
As Nora trailed them out the door, she idly wondered if the citizens of Xani even knew what was about to hit them.
Chapter 49
Nora tried to be inconspicuous as Zocan chatted with Z’cari and Natar about their upcoming sabbatical. Lyon piloted the tetraglide through the docking protocols for the public space docks that orbited the skull-shaped metal sphere around Xani.
Flying into the maw of that silvery nightmare made Nora want to run and hide. Clearly the priests and their followers were sick, demented fucks – in case she needed the reminder.
When the traffic controller asked their purpose, Lyon claimed they were a merchant trade vessel. It seemed luck was on their side when they were directed into a spot that would take them right past the Nom’magata.
Each of the four males worked a different station. The easy way they rotated through status reports told her this situation was status quo. For her part, she huddled near Zocan and watched him use the perimeter scanners to feed Lyon information.
The whole process of maneuvering and plotting went off without a hitch. Then, they were in place, the Tetraglide hovering just below and behind the much larger Nom’magata. Her first glance told her that the Nom’magata could easily carry ten or more of the little tetraglide.
“Initiating boarding tunnel,” Lyon intone
d as his fingers flew over and through the projected screen hitting the icons – which she could now easily read, thank you very much – to link the two ships together via a flexible tube that would be temporarily pressurized.
They all watched, holding their breath, as the screen displayed the tube’s progress. So far, the dock master hadn’t demanded to know what the hold-up was, but it was only a matter of time before they attracted attention. Zocan had, of course, factored that into his plans.
Z’cari and Natar wouldn’t have the weaponry to take on security in the tetraglide. However, the tetraglide was very fast. The Nom’magata was more than equipped to blast out of the docking facility according to Lyon, so Nora wasn’t too worried about that.
She could only think of the next step; the run across space in the flimsy tube – the one without shields that left them vulnerable to the harsh conditions of space but for a latex-like skin - to the other ship. The idea made her nervous. What if someone started shooting off weapons in their direction?
She couldn’t think about that. She trusted Zocan and Lyon. They said this plan would work. So, it would. It had to.
Finally, the screen flashed go. Nora let out the breath she’d been holding.
“The tube is connected and pressurized,” Lyon reported, spinning quickly around and gripping her arm tightly. “Time to go.”
All five of them hustled down the stairs from the flight deck and raced for the exit hatch. They clambered down the ladder that would lead to a platform beneath the tetraglide.
Lyon was first to the bottom. He helped Nora get her footing. The weirdly transparent platform looked like a bubble that extendded about four feet in each direction from the base of the ladder. Stepping down to the floor gave her the feeling of falling straight into some dark, underwater world.
“We can see out but anyone out there can’t see in,” Lyon informed her as she gawked.