Mentally shaking her head, she steadily worked her way through the rest of the night, ignoring feet that hurt and legs that weighed a ton. She was more tired than usual, but she pushed through it. One thing for sure, she was looking forward to her bed tonight.
Another image of the brothers surrounding her in bed, tending to her every need, scorched her mind. They’d wanted to do everything to her and then do something that was so final even death would not undo it, although what that could possibly be, she had no idea. She took a moment to indulge the daydream this time, wiping the table in front of her with half a mind.
It wasn’t a hard press of the imagination to picture what they would be like. Their bodies would be magnificent. Clothing couldn’t hide perfection like that. Each of them was sculpted in similar ways, and yet their bodies were so different.
Kyel with hard abs and a lean waist would be as bossy in bed as he was with his brothers. No, not bossy. More forthright. Assertive. The definition of alpha. He’d place her where he wanted her. On her back. Hands and knees. Bending over the back of a sofa. But he’d always make sure she found her pleasure before he released.
Zaen would be just as assertive, but he’d take his time a little more. Where Kyel was a little rougher, a little less able to rein in his desire—not that she would mind, not at all—Zaen would stroke her desire in ways that would leave her trembling in anticipation.
Juliran would be another thing altogether. He would be a slow burn through and through. Touching her, building the anticipation until she demanded his cock and then he would only give it to her after she’d found her climax—twice.
They looked a little different in her daydream, with an otherworldly blue tinge to their skin that only served to make them sexier. Where she’d plucked that particular idea from, she didn’t know. She also didn’t understand how it just felt… right. Yeah, it was right that they had blue skin. She chuckled to herself. She’d always did have a good imagination. Maybe she had a thing for aliens. Hot, sexy, well-defined, alpha aliens. Hmmm, truly droolworthy.
It was strange how she could see things so clearly in her mind. They would be as intense singularly or altogether. There was no jealousy between them at all. Only there seemed to be one way in which they weren’t all together, hadn’t joined as one.
It was important though, although she didn’t understand why, and she didn’t know how. There was a part of her that called out to do it, a deep part well past conscious understanding, something that went beyond, but the haze descended and she was thrust back into the world of work and tables and sore feet and waitressing.
“Lucie?”
She blinked up into Juliran’s questioning cerulean eyes. She looked about. The restaurant had been cleared, chairs stacked on cleaned tables, the floor recently washed, dishes in their place. The room was quiet and calm and ready for the next shift. All that had happened and she hadn’t even realized. Where had the time gone?
She wiped her hands on her apron. “I’ll get your money and we can call it a night.”
She went to the till and sorted out the notes to pay them.
Luke approached from the kitchen. “You guys told Luce you’re looking for work?”
Kyel nodded. “We did.”
“Well, you did a great job tonight. If you’d like to turn up tomorrow night about four, I’d gladly like the help going forward.”
Zaen nodded, accepting the notes as though he didn’t know what they were. “Will Lucie also be here?”
“I’m here all the time.” Lucie took her apron off and threw it into the laundry basket in a corner of the kitchen. “Honestly, don’t let me stop you from taking shifts or not. I’m not going to stand in the way of anyone wanting work. But for now, I’m beat. I’m heading off home. I guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“You will, Lucie.” Juliran was so serious when he spoke it almost made her laugh.
She looked up at all of them, illogically happy that she would get to see them again. It shouldn’t matter if she saw them or not. It was none of her business, but as she grabbed her bag from her locker and made her way out of the front door her skin prickled as three sets of eyes were laser-focused right on her, sending out an aura of protective bodyguards.
She paused and gave them a small smile. She should have been uncomfortable beneath such scrutiny, or at the least it should have given her pause—it would have coming from anyone else—but, instead, a feeling of surprising calm washed through her as she stepped out into the cold night. Her mind wasn’t as hazy as it had recently been, and yet, she still felt as though she was missing something. Something really important. Something life-and-death important. The feeling flittered though her stomach, leaving a hollow wake. She tried to rub it away, but the hollowness only became bigger and harder and colder. The more she struggled to grasp what it might be, the more elusive it became.
What was it? What was she missing?
Chapter Seven
Lucie
Cool night air closed around her. She glanced at the car park, remembering that Grant had taken their—her—car. She’d owned the car when they’d met, but had nowhere to live. It had only made sense to combine everything they both owned, but lately it seemed that she was stuck with the rent while Grant took everything that was hers and treated it as his own.
She needed that car to get to all three of her jobs. They lived near a train line. Surely he could take public transport occasionally, where she might be able to get home easily.
“Babe. Walking’s good for you,” he would say. “Think of your toned legs when you’re up on stage. That’s what people look at.”
Only now, with the moon high in the sky, shadows everywhere, and muscles that deeply ached from dashing to and from the kitchen all afternoon and night, she could have done with the car. She rotated her head to ease the kinks from her shoulders. She shouldn’t feel ungrateful. Grant was doing everything he could for her career. He was giving up everything to help her. He could quite easily get a good job. He’d told her on numerous occasions, but he’d made the decision that something worth doing on a big a scale as she was worth, needed someone to put the time in. She was better placed to pay the bills while he used his contacts. It would only be for a little time and then they could relax and enjoy the pay-off for their hard work.
She glanced at her feet and the pumps she wore instead of her sneakers. Not exactly the right shoes to wear for a busy Sunday night, but she hadn’t brought her comfy shoes when Grant told her they would be going out for breakfast. The thought of walking the three kilometers back home in them after working all night brought a groan to her lips.
Maybe she could ring Grant to come and pick her up. She tried his number, frowning when it went straight to voicemail. Maybe he was already home, tired after his meetings. He always met his contacts in unusual places. It seemed people in the music industry didn’t keep to business hours or office addresses, so Grant had said. He had to go meet them wherever they were, and not the other way around.
That made sense too. Music was entertainment, and people went out at night after their working day for their entertainment. When she got her break, she’d probably be working those hours as well. She placed a fist into the small of her back. She was already working those hours, just not doing the job she really wanted to do.
That night when Grant had first seen her sing had been purely by chance. She’d wandered off the street and into the restaurant, looking for somewhere warm to stay for a few hours, and had indulged in Luke’s karaoke. What a change one song had brought to her life.
Grant had seen her that night and he’d known she was a star, he said. He told her he’d take her on as her agent, get her more singing gigs. In the meantime, while he used his contacts and worked to get the right ears to hear her, he’d also arranged for her to have more shifts at Flips’n’Burgers. Not in the job she’d first thought, but artists had to do what artists had to do.
She’d been grateful. Without that steady pa
ycheck and someplace to stay, she was out in the cold. At eighteen and newly kicked out of foster home, she had needed all the help she could get.
She’d had state education, but nothing spectacular. She had no money to go to university, so she’d had to work at whatever she could get, but those jobs had fallen through. When she turned eighteen, award wages jumped and her employers didn’t give her shifts, offering them to those younger and cheaper. She’d been out on her own. No savings. Fresh out of school and the foster system and nowhere to go.
However, all this reminiscing wasn’t going to get her home, and bed was the only thing she wanted at the moment.
“May we assist you getting to your place of residence?” a voice asked from behind her.
“Huh?” She spun around, her gaze coming to rest on a wall of three, muscle-bound chests. “Oh. No. That’s all right. I can get home myself.”
Kyel narrowed his eyes and she became entangled in his gaze. He had the uncanny ability to make her feel stripped bare with just a glance. “It is late and you are alone. You should never have to walk by yourself.”
She was suddenly aware of just how alone she actually was. Janie had already left. The car park was empty, as were the streets. Luke was still inside, doing his last minute checks. If she had to, she could possibly run back inside. Then she remembered that the door was locked.
She clutched her handbag to her chest and took a step back. What did she really know about these guys anyway? They’d only turned up tonight, seemingly out of thin air, and helped out during rush hour. They might have worked hard, but that didn’t mean they were trustworthy.
They could overpower her so easily it was laughable. She didn’t think they would, but life had taught her that looks were different to what was on the inside. Expect the worse, and then you weren’t disappointed.
“That’s all right. I’ll be fine. I’ve walked home this time of night a hundred times before,” she said.
Kyel uncrossed his arms, frowning. “This isn’t the first time you’ve walked to your residence alone in the night?”
She swallowed an abrupt laugh that threatened to spill. “I’ve been walking home in the dark since I was a kid. I know how to look after myself.”
Juliran blinked at her, incomprehension evident on his handsome face. “As a child? Where were your parents? That is no way to look after a youngling.”
Youngling? These guys definitely weren’t from around here. “No parents to talk of. I was lucky. Lots of foster parents.” It seemed sarcasm was lost on them going by the confused looks on their faces.
She really needed to get home. Her feet were killing her and the longer it took, the less hours she’d get to sleep, which was what she really needed at the moment. Maybe the best thing to do was just walk away. “Well, nice to meet you and everything. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She turned and resolutely turned from them. It would actually be nice to see them again tomorrow. She couldn’t put her finger exactly on why, but there was just something about them. Even their overbearing attitudes were endearing in a way. They didn’t do it to intimidate, but just to make her feel… safe.
She’d hadn’t had that in a long time. Ever. It was nice, but she didn’t really know what to do with that. Sure as hell, it was something she wasn’t used to.
Even with Grant, she knew she wouldn’t have that. From the beginning, there was an understanding that he needed space with his friends and she’d been taking up so much of his time, what with working on her career and everything. If he could just secure her a well-paying regular gig, things would get better. She’d earn more money and be able to give up her jobs. Then they’d have more time to spend together.
Footfalls behind her had her looking over her shoulder. The three of them were following her. She’d been so wrapped up in her thoughts, she hadn’t even heard them. Her heart stuttered.
“Look. I’m fine,” she called back to them. “I’m sure you have a place to go to.”
Girlfriends to keep warm at night.
Funny how that sounded wrong. And who was she to feel jealous? Even a twinge. She had a boyfriend.
“We will escort you to your residence to make sure you are safe.” Zaen looked more serious than normal. Even collecting dishes, he held an aura of intensity about him. An image of him walking next to her down a hallway made of white marble slipped into her mind. They’d stopped and he’d kissed her so gently, so irreverently, she’d been momentarily stunned.
She shook her head, the white mist helping to dislodge the image. She had no idea where that had come from. Not that she wouldn’t like to dream about something like that happening, but that wasn’t reality. Besides, kissing like that could only happen in her dreams. Her very, very happy dreams. Dreams that would never come true.
“I’m never going to get rid of them,” she muttered to herself, but obviously not quietly enough.
“Not while your safety is not ensured,” Kyel, the bossy one, said.
She pressed her lips together, her cheeks heating. They were being nice. Nicer than rapists usually were. If they wanted to mug her, there were far richer people to target. The twenty in her purse wouldn’t get them very far anyway. So, if they weren’t going to rape or mug her, they probably were just doing the chivalrous thing and wanted to see her safely home. She just didn’t recognize it, because things like that only happened in movies. Or the romance novels she used to ravenously read like manna before she only had time and energy for sleeping.
Kyel stepped close and it took her a frazzled moment to realized he clasped her chin with a knuckle and tilted her head back so that she looked right up into his face. He trailed his thumb along her bottom lip, and a tingle broke over her skin in its wake. “Do you know you always walk with your head down? Look up. You have a beautiful face. Show the world.”
That was not was she was expecting. Her mouth opened and closed, words simply drying up along with her thoughts. He lifted his other hand to smooth a strand of hair that had fallen from the tight bun at her nape and tucked it behind her ear.
“Do I?” She internally winced. She sounded breathless. Needy. All the things she didn’t want to feel.
The straight line of his mouth broke with a smile and her breath caught. He was exceedingly handsome, but when he smiled, he was stunning.
“If I say you do, then you do. Do not question me. I only speak the truth, and as for ensuring your safety, it will be our absolute privilege. We expect no repayment, other than seeing your beautiful face, so please, hold it up high so we can find pleasure in looking at you.”
Juliran stepped towards her, as did Zaen. Familiar emotions washed through her as the three of them came close enough she was wrapped in body heat and mouth-watering, masculine scents. There was an urge to step into their arms just as strong as an urge to run. Something dark and sinister lashed at the edge of her mind, pulling her back. A warning. A note of danger. Not for her, but for them. A line she wasn’t going to cross.
“Well then… thank you. My boyfriend once said I was pleasant to look upon.”
A look passed between them and as a cohesive unit, all three speared their eyes at her with a look of such intense possession that her heart leaped in her chest.
“You have a boyfriend?” Zaen spoke. He slid a gaze to Kyel. “She never said anything about a boyfriend.”
“It is true, but remember this is a construct of her mind. It may or may not be true,” Kyel murmured before turning back to gaze down at her.
“Wait. What? A construct of my mind? Am I somehow imagining all three of you here?” Any warm thoughts she harbored shattered like brittle glass. They were nice—more than nice, actually—but they were also unstable.
It all made sense now. Why else would three virile men such as them be out of work and want to find it in a family diner of all things? Why would they offer to walk her home when Grant hadn’t thought twice about it, and he was meant to care about her the most? Why else would Kyel tell her wa
s beautiful, if not for a mental condition? A possibly severe mental condition.
Why? Why? Why? She could find no other reason because there wasn’t one. She had nothing to give them. Nothing to offer. Why else would men like them even be around a woman like her? Things like that didn’t happen. Men like Grant happened to her. It was her place in the world and she’d long ago given up looking for anything better.
Juliran smiled. It was sad. “We are here. We are real. We are here for you. You have to believe us, Lucie.”
She hugged herself and stepped away from them. Her elbows dug into her palms. Cool, fresh air filled her lungs and made them clench with cold. “I know you’re real. What else could you be? Just… do me a favor and don’t walk me home again. Don’t tell me I’m beautiful. And don’t make me feel…” Her throat clenched and she couldn’t speak.
She looked up, surprised that she was in front of her apartment building. Safety was within reach. She dug out her pass-key and swiped the lock. The door click was welcome.
With trembling hands, she pushed open the door. “Just pretend we didn’t have this conversation. If you’re going to, turn up at work tomorrow and treat me like anyone else. I don’t think… I just can’t…”
She couldn’t finish the words, and instead disappeared into the foyer. She wanted to tell them not to make her feel special. Not to look at her like she was the center of their universe. Not to set her up for disappointment and a fall she might never come back from.
She didn’t look back when she stepped into the lift, trying to ignore the hole that opened on her chest.
Because she didn’t want to feel anything. It was a full-time job protecting her heart and if she let even a slither of hope inside, she didn’t think she would have the energy to want to keep going. It was easy with Grant. She never had to worry about protecting her heart at all. Maybe that was the reason why she was with him, but she didn’t stop to analyze that thought. Basically, she didn’t want to be lonely, and anyone was better than no one.
The Erion Triad: A Negari Sci-Fi Alien Abduction Reverse Harem Romance Page 6