The Ozar Triad

by Charmaine Ross

  It was usually much, much worse.

  She huffed a laugh. If this was their idea of calming, what would they be like if they actually put their minds to seriously loving her?

  Where had that word come from? Loving. She’d never experienced that word, but if she had to guess, that was what she’d just encountered, because that was definitely what it’d felt like. Their touch was gentle, almost reverent, their intense attention solely focused on bringing her pleasure.

  She’d never known anything like it, but then again, she still might be having a mental breakdown. A very real mental breakdown.

  “How do you feel, Little One?” Dreads asked.

  She wasn’t comfortable being the sole focus of such a penetrating stare.

  The answer? She didn’t really know; her brain was still mush. “Pretty good. I think you can take this numbing thing away from me now.”

  His deep chuckle made her shiver all over again on the inside. “If I wasn’t so sure you wouldn’t fight, I might after your incredible response.”

  He was right. Even after that incredible response, she would try and escape. Her trust filter was set very low these days, and she still hadn’t worked out what their ulterior motive would be—because people always had ulterior motives.

  “I don’t usually provide incredible responses to, uh, men I don’t even know.” She mentally cringed. She’d orgasmed and she didn’t even know their names. Her body had come alive at their clever tongues and hands and she’d climaxed like she’d never climaxed before.

  She wasn’t going to think about the fact that she actually hadn’t. Ever. She didn’t even think it could be that way. If this was the first time with these... men, then what would the next time be like? She stopped herself from that train of crazy thoughts. There wasn’t going to be a next time. As soon as they took this paralyzing thing off her, she would be gone. There would be no more tongues or fingers, or anything else for that matter, on her again. Her core twinged, as though protesting, but she didn’t have the mental capacity to think about what that meant. She didn’t have the brain space for anything much more. The tank was definitely on the empty side.

  “Then we will remedy that. I am Rujali Ozar and these are my brothers, Klaej and Setzan.” He indicated himself and then pointed out the other hovering, muscle mountains. “And what is your name, Little One?”

  “Riley. Riley Sharp.”

  “Riley. Such a beautiful name.” Rujali said her name as though testing it out. She watched his full lips almost tasting her name and a shiver stole through her. She had no idea her name could sound so sexy.

  Now that she had more of an opportunity, she studied each of them in turn. Dreads was Rujali. Up this close, his skin had a golden sheen to it, like a healthy tan with a mix of gold dust. It highlighted his bulging muscles and various hard ridges as he moved, making the light look as though it danced across his skin.

  A slight scuffed beard coated his strong, squarish jaw. His lips were generous and sensuous. His intelligent dark eyes gleamed at her from beneath strong, thick brows. He could pass as human, except for his black, matte horns that began at his temples and threaded seamlessly into his dreads.

  Her gaze slid to Kisser. No, Klaej. If she wasn’t mistaken, his skin rippled with the most beautiful emerald green. Magnificent golden swirls threaded through crimson patches. His eyes were also as deep a color. His face was less angular than Rujali’s, and he had no body hair to speak of. His horns were tinted with a deep green, also sweeping back from his temples, but the tips were pointed upwards near the back of his head.

  Beard was Setzan. She swapped names in her head. He was the most rugged looking even though they were a trio of scary mothers. His hair was fine, raven-black with a tint of blue. A thick beard coated his face, but not dense enough to hide his sumptuous lips that curved into a smile. His swirling violet eyes regarded her. There was humor in those eyes, intelligence and perceptiveness. His horns spiraled at the ends, lending them a debonair twist. They suited him, as much as horns could suit anyone.

  They were all incredibly attractive, but what was more, she was surprised at her intense reaction to them. Not only had she enjoyed the unexpected orgasm they had provided, her body thrummed with a need to have their hands on her again. Somehow, it just seemed… right.

  She’d never experienced anything quite like it. Then again, she’d never been the sole attention of three men before. She had nothing to base her reaction on, except to say as much as it felt natural, there was a trueness to it.

  Stupid to think that, she knew.

  “What are you?” she asked.

  “You do not know?” Rujali’s brows met in the middle.

  Her gaze slid around the trio again, and then back to him. Her throat tightened when she tried to swallow. “I’ve never seen anyone like any of you before. Ever.”

  Rujali darted his gaze to his brothers. He seemed a little… unsettled. “We are Negari.”

  “Is that from a town?”

  “Negari is our Homeplanet,” Setzan said.

  “What species are you?” Klaej asked.

  The feel-good endorphins started to disappear. Planet? Species?

  “I... I’m…” Her mind was a sluggish pool of confusion. She struggled to grasp meaning, but her reasoning power slipped away as though coated with oil. Her breath came in choppy little beats.

  There should be no such question about species. There was only one. Or should be, in any case. But that didn’t explain the creatures she’d seen in that busy street, or those reptilian monsters that had injured her, or the fact she’d woken up somewhere so steeped out of her realm of normal it wasn’t funny. Maybe, just maybe, this was true, and maybe, just maybe, she was quite sane and she was on some other planet, and these were in fact… aliens. Or maybe she was the alien. It all depended on perspective.

  She swallowed, and when her mouth remained dry, tried again before she forced the words out. “I’m Riley Sharp and I’m from Earth.”

  Her mouth felt heavy as she said the words, as though saying them made it all that more real.

  The table felt real beneath her. The air felt real as she breathed it. Her body wasn’t responding as she wanted, so the numbing agent they’d given her was real. They looked solid. Their touch had been tangible. She’d had the most earth-shattering orgasm of her life.

  And she was at the complete mercy of these men. Shit. Crap. Fuck. Her stomach dropped as reality set in, forming a heavy stone of dread right below her lungs.

  This is real, this is real, this is real.

  She was going to lose it and she was going to lose it good. No amount of high-intensity training had prepared her for this. Heat licked her skin and hot sticky sweat coated her body.

  “I don’t cry either, damnit!” she screamed, but tears fell nonetheless. Again. She hadn’t cried so hard since she was a kid and some fucker on base had thought it was funny to use her dog on the firing range as practice.

  She wanted to kick. To lash out. To punch. But she couldn’t do any of that, because she was a fucking quadriplegic.

  “Maybe we should calm her again,” Klaej said.

  “Don’t you fucking touch me!” she screamed.

  Their hands retreated.

  “She needs to be bathed and she needs to rest. She is too distressed,” Rujali said.

  “What I need is for you to release me and then what I need is to get back home.” That was what she wanted. Home. She wanted to ride her bike on the open road and put this down to a bad dream. A very bad dream. If she could form a fist, she would drive it into his perfect face just to prove her point. “Fucking release me!”

  “You’re never going home,” Setzan said.

  “Don’t fucking tell me I’m never going home. I’ll go home if I want to go home,”

  she screeched like a banshee, but she was beyond caring. She could hear her father in the back of her mind, telling her she should be ashamed of her outburst, to control herself. She was too e
motional. She wouldn’t get anywhere in the world if she wore her emotions for all to see.

  And fuck you too, Dad.

  “But you’re our mate, Riley. Your place is now with us,” Klaej said.

  Shock kept a fresh load of tears at bay as she blinked at him. “I’m what? What am I?”

  “Our mate. Can’t you feel it? Here?” Setzan clenched his fist over his heart.

  It didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense since she’d seen those bright lights deep in the Nullarbor. “What I feel is pissed off. Give. Me. Back. My. Body!”

  Rujali cupped her cheek. She threw him off with a flick of her head, the only part of her body she could move.

  “We will care for you and you will learn your new life,” he said. “You will be happy.”

  “I’ll be happy when I step foot on my home soil and go about my business,” she said.

  Rujali sighed. “Once you are on our Homeland, you will be settled. It’s the way it will be because it’s the way it always has been. You will soon see.”

  She swallowed despite her dry throat, on the verge of hyperventilating. “You can’t do this to me. I’m an adult. You don’t own me. I choose my future and I choose to go home.”

  “And you will go home. Our home will be your new home.” Before she could answer, he went on, “Setzan. Klaej. Bathe our mate, then bring her to our quarters where she will rest. I will prepare the jet and we will recover the crystal. After that, we’ll head back to Negari without delay.”

  He stalked from the room.

  “Wait! You can’t say all that and then just leave,” she yelled.

  The wall miraculously opened to let him through before closing again.

  “He left! He damn well just left without a word.” She stared at the blank wall.

  Klaej collected the instruments and together they worked on her shoulder with deft skills she had to admire. Soon her shoulder was cleaned, the wound closed, and a bandage sealed. All without pain.

  Setzan slipped his arms beneath her shoulders and knees and pressed her into his impressive chest before she remembered she’d been naked the entire time they’d spoken. He picked her up as though she weighed nothing at all. She might have enjoyed that if she wasn’t roiling with rage.

  “Put me down and give me back my clothes,” she said between clenched teeth.

  “Do you bathe wearing clothes?’ Klaej asked, matching pace with Setzan.

  “What? No! Give me back my clothes because I’m not going to bathe and I’m getting the hell out of here.” Maybe with Rujali gone, she might be able to talk them round. He seemed to be the clear leader in their little group. Without him messing with their heads, they might see sense.

  “No, Little One,” Klaej said. “You heard Rujali.”

  She pinned her best puppy-dog stare on him, even though it pained her to do it. He seemed like the easier target. “Surely you know this isn’t right. If I’m your mate, then aren’t we all equals? And if we’re equals, we all get a say. If you want to make the best of this relationship, everyone should be listened to.”

  Klaej paused, his head tilted to the side. Her heart skipped. Maybe she was finally getting through to someone. She always excelled at hostage negotiations, albeit she was never the hostage, but the principles were surely the same.

  “Are you saying we should not listen to Rujali?” he asked.

  She licked her lips, “I’m saying we need to think for ourselves. One person can’t be right about another person.”

  Not when that person is confused as all fuck and needs space to get her shit together.

  Klaej moved so close, the heat from his skin sank into her body like sunshine on a cold day. She kept her gaze locked with his. She wouldn’t chance any sort of distraction.

  “Just get the device, Klaej. Give me the red light. We’ll all be on equal terms. Then we can talk, and you can tell me all about this mate thing. I’m more likely to be accepting about the whole situation if I had my body back.”

  Seztan merely cradled her closer to his chest that acted like an electric heater. She did her best not to close her eyes and bask in his warmth. “I like holding you, Riley. It’s my new favorite thing to do.”

  She glared up at Setzan while Klaej trailed a fingertip along the line of her jaw. His touch was so gentle compared to the brute size of him. Her eyelids fluttered shut as arousal washed through her – a soft wave, but there none-the-less. Her core throbbed and blossomed in awareness. What the hell was happening to her? She cracked open her eyes to see his vibrant gaze looking down at her.

  “Our mate is very intelligent. You will be an asset for our Quad. I could not have hoped for a better female to protect, cherish, and love. You will never have need to worry. We will take care of your body, mind, and soul. Once the mate-sync is established, we will know your needs and you will know ours. There will be no discord. There will be no need not to trust us, but before that happens, it is our job to make sure you are safe and cared for. We will bathe you and let you rest. It has been a big day for you and you must be exhausted. You need sleep to repair your body. Trust in your mates to take the best care of you.”

  An internal moan brushed through her. What he suggested sounded so good. Half of her balked at the idea, but the other half, the half her body was listening to perked up in interest. How good would it actually be, just for once in her life, to allow someone to care for her. To give in to kindness when it was offered. And this was kindness. They were bold, but they weren’t taking advantage of her. Not in the basic way she’d come to expect from all men.

  The wall opened, and Setzan carried her into a bathroom. A huge shower was in one side of the room. There were a few differences but it was still recognizable. As was the toilet and washbasin. It seemed bathrooms were the same the universe over.

  Universe over. I am going insane if I’m not already.

  Klaej turned the water on in the cubicle big enough to fit five of her, but if these guys were anything to go by, they needed space. Steam came off the warm water. When he was happy with the temperature, he undid the tie at his trousers and stripped off his pants.

  She now knew that aliens didn’t wear underwear.

  If she was insane, she never knew she had such a terrific imagination. And detailed. His semi-erect cock was long and thick and just as green as the rest of him. It tapped his thigh with a fleshy slap as it thickened. She jerked her gaze to his face. Why had she even been ogling him? She needed to get it together.

  Setzan handed her over to Klaej so gently she hardly felt herself being passed between them.

  “A man doesn’t take advantage of a helpless woman.” Her voice was breathy. She didn’t seem to have the energy for anything more forceful. It was nice, feeling skin on skin. Her nipples pebbled as awareness washed through her. It was against all logic, but them handling her like this shouldn’t feel so good either.

  “Mate. We don’t take advantage of females. We make love to them and when we finally make love to you, you will beg us to do it.” Setzan also stripped, kicking his leather to the side. He was just as tall and proud as his brother. She vaguely wondered how on earth they would even manage to make love to her. Surely something as big as those didn’t fit in anything she might have.

  Klaej stepped under the stream of water with her. It felt so wonderful, she lost her train of thought.

  Setzan moved behind her and then massaged her skin with a sweet-smelling soap. She swallowed a groan as he worked out some kinks she hadn’t known were there.

  “Tell me you want me to stop and we will.”

  His hands were like ambrosia on her skin. His careful touch was a tonic to her soul. By all rights, she should be fighting them tooth and nail. At least objecting more than she was, but his fingers were magic and his mindful attention was a soothe balm to her battered soul.

  “My brother will stop if he is doing something you really don’t want him to do,” Klaej murmured. His brow lowered as he stared at her intently, waiting.
>
  “Do you want him to stop?” Klaej said.

  Setzan stopped lathering her arms and was watching her with the same potent longing. As though she would do them a disservice if she told them no. “Would you stop if I asked?”

  Seztan nodded. “We will take you out and dry you and make sure you are safe, as would be your wish. Shall we continue, or shall we stop. It is up to you.”

  She should tell them to stop washing her, to put her down and let her take care of herself, but the warm water relieved the aches of her body, the lethargy tugged her limbs and a lulling tranquility simply eased her soul. There were no words to fully describe what was happening, only that she wasn’t worried. In fact, she liked Setzan’s large hands moving over her skin. She felt…precious. There wasn’t a time in her life when she’d been treated this way. The temptation to cave in was too much to fight. Not when she’d been through so much.

  She let out a deep breath, giving herself up to them.

  She didn’t feel unsafe, just – disconcerted. It was just so much of a temptation to let them care for her. To give in, just this once. Just to know how it might feel to be the centre of such focused tenderness. Besides, she was gritty and it would be heaven to wash the stink of the dumpster away. “Then, it is okay to wash me.”

  The corner of Setzan’s mouth quirked and his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “As you mate.” His fingers massaged in the sweet-smelling soap and she drifted for a moment, caught in the simple enjoyment of being washed.

  She should be wary. She should be on guard. But she was none of those things, as though something greater than herself was at work. Great, losing my bloody mind as well as the use of my limbs. Even as she thought those things, she couldn’t bring herself to worry.

  “Tell us who put you in with the refuse and we will seek retribution,” Setzan spoke.

  She hadn’t realized she’d closed her eyes and had rested her head against Klaej’s chest. Hopefully she also hadn’t been drooling. “Huh? Oh, I put myself in there.”