by Sam Hall
It was just like the first day of my “honeymoon”, with sixty or seventy men sitting or standing around, waiting for their chance. The aircon felt cold against my bare skin, pulling my nipples tight, as I took a step forward, every eye trained on me, no one moving a muscle.
“Jesus fuck, Jules!” Slade snapped, grabbing my arm and trying to pull me back through the doorway. I planted my feet, I wasn’t going anywhere, which probably wasn’t a bad thing right now. Everyone’s gaze fell to where Slade’s hand gripped me, and the closest guys began to move forward.
“Everyone stop where you are,” I said in an echoey growl. It felt like my voice filled the room, reaching every corner. I noted the twitches of muscles, the quiver in limbs as they all obeyed, willingly or not.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Finn hissed. “You’re much stronger now, but there’s more than enough of them here to take you down. We use the receiving room for a reason!”
I shook my head. “I’m not sitting here, waiting for everyone to drop to my feet. You reckon I’m going to ‘just know’ if there’s anyone else I’m compatible with? Well, I’m about to go and find out.” I turned to the group, “Don’t touch me, approach me or do anything regarding me without my permission within this room. Actually, make that anywhere. I’m going to walk around, see if I get anything from any of you. If I do, you can come back to the house and we’ll take it from there. If I don’t, that doesn’t mean the end of this, I’m willing to look at other possible contenders another time, when my head is clearer. But if I say no, that means no until I say otherwise. Don’t hit on me again. If I decide later I’m interested, I’ll chase you. Are we clear?” A round of nods and mumbled or grumbled yeses went around the room. I nodded then moved further in.
Coming closer, I could start to see the trees from the forest, or in this case, the individual guys from the crowd, and it was both an awe-inspiring and slightly intimidating sight. Some were in work clothes, some in casual wear and a whole lot wore only the minimum amount required for polite company. Bare calves and well-muscled chests abounded, framed by bulging biceps. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I drew closer, hit by a wave of heady, smoky, male scent.
Now I wasn’t arguing with Slade, I could see his point. I would never have walked into such a large group of guys before, let alone ones that looked like this. Men seemed to take all the air in the room, fill it with loud voices and big gestures, so that I felt compelled to keep quiet or draw that raucous attention on me. I’d had plenty experience of that in the diner. Apparently approaching a table full of truckers, just doing my job and taking their order, was cause for blunt conversations about my attractiveness, about what they wanted to do to me and how willing they predicted I’d be. You always seemed trapped in a catch-22. If I tossed my order book over my shoulder and spread myself out on the table for their delectation, I was a slut deserving of no respect, but if I asked for the basic courtesy you gave any human being, I was a joke. I wasn’t a joke anymore. I felt the hungry gazes on my skin, the internal thrum inside my body, and realised I was something that was completely alien: a powerful woman.
“You’re all so good looking,” I said to Finn and Slade as they trailed behind me. “This is some kind of peacock thing, isn’t it?”
“That’s Doc Hobbes’s theory, though you’re hardly a drab peahen,” Finn said.
“Perhaps the peacocks feel the same way, enraptured by the shades of brown in their mate’s plumage,” I said. I stopped for a moment, scenting the air. There was something…something familiar there. I wove between bodies, letting my fingers trail across chests as I went, them standing as still as trees, until I came to a stop in front of a group of guys in olive drab. They weren’t toting weapons but the close-cut hair and their alert yet relaxed stances suggested military. Where have they come from? I thought as my nostrils flared, then I saw him, the guy who’d tried to teach me to shoot. I flicked a hand and the group parted for me so I could stalk right up to him, tall with broad shoulders, arms crossed over his chest, hips thrown forward as he looked down at me. The arms dropped to hang loosely by his sides as I drew closer, and he shifted ever so slightly into my space, a small smile on his face.
“Good to see you, Aaron. I was hoping you’d be applying,” Slade said. “We missed you on the hunt.”
His eyes, a strangely amber shade of hazel, didn’t move from mine for a second. “We got caught up subduing the unfriendlies trying to come through. There was a surge of them, feeling her call, I guess. I know I was.” His eyes dropped to my lips, lingering as a murmur from the group made it clear the others had done the same. “Nothing other than Sanctuary security would have kept me away,” he said, answering Slade, but talking to me. Finally, his gaze flicked up again. “We’ve been down to a skeleton crew since then, mostly married guys looking after the gate. The rest of us have been camped out here for days, waiting for a look at her.”
“Looks like you’re taking your fill now,” I said.
His smile widened, his teeth a sharp white against the deep bronze of his skin, his stance shifting as he edged as close as he could before the boys started to growl. “I’m not even close to having my fill.” He leaned down slightly, breathing in deep. “And by the smell of you, neither have you.” He straightened up, falling back into his previous stance, “What do you reckon, sweetheart? You wanna see if it’s good between us?”
Did I? He was big, almost Pete the Mountain big, and I admit a lifetime of chick flicks made something inside me quiver every time a bloke gave me a cocky smile. But did that mean I wanted to sleep with him? Possibly have a relationship with him? Obviously, Slade approved of the match, but would Shaun? Brandon? How did I negotiate this?
“Stop overthinking,” Finn said, whispering into my ear. I leant against him, arching my back slightly so as to fit the hard length of him against my arse. Aaron’s smile dropped at that, his eyes raking over me hungrily. “Touch him,” Finn said, “you’ll soon work out if there’s something there.”
I looked at Aaron with a cocked eyebrow, asking permission, and he just nodded, dropping his hands down to pull up the hem of his tight t-shirt. I watched every inch of the big brown body that appeared, mouth hanging open. It took a little nudge from Slade for me to reach out and place my hand against his skin. I felt a zing, shooting from my nipples to my clit in a split second, forcing a gasp out from between my lips. My hand slipped lower as a result, his abs clenching into a hard wall. “I’m sorry,” I said, “that took me by surprise.”
He placed his hand over mine and gently pushed it down lower, to his waistband. “My control’s rock solid. You can touch me wherever you like,” he said, his voice a low rasp, “and I won’t move unless you tell me to.”
My lips fell open slightly, my breath coming in faster as I considered what he said. “So, nothing I do will make you react?”
“Oh, there’s a whole lot of reacting going on,” he said, jerking his eyes downward, “but if you’re asking am I going to start anything, then no, not until you say so.”
I found myself grinning, unable to stop. His eyes burned into mine as I ran my finger down the fine trail of brown hair that ran from his navel to his waistband, watching his pupils flare, his breathing sped up as I toyed with the button. “What are you going to do with him?” Slade said, in a low growl, running his lips over my ear.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Right now, I’m just enjoying…touching without consequences, without expectations. That’s OK, isn’t it? If I walk away, don’t choose you, that’s no big deal?”
“Not a big deal?” He looked away briefly before glancing at me. He swallowed, then smiled. “Not sure if that’s the word I would use, but sweetheart, I can see the dilemma you’re in. Too many offerings, who do you choose? But, if you walk away leaving me harder than I’ve ever been, aching for you, well, I won’t be in the minority, will I?”
I glanced about and saw guy after guy watching what I was doing. I went to snatch my hand away but a
warm one covered mine and pulled it back against bare skin. When I looked back, he paused, as if asking permission, then pushed it further down his pants. My fingers closed around his hard length automatically, his smile spreading when I realised what he had down there.
I know some women think dicks are pretty ugly. I get it, especially if you’re getting bombarded by unsolicited pics of them on social media, but me, I guess due to positive associations I’ve had with the handling of them, I considered myself a bit of a connoisseur of a nicely formed cock. One of the boyfriends I’d had in my early twenties had quite the package, and actually knew how to use it. Aaron’s breath was coming hard now, his eyes rolling as his head fell back, my palm cupping and then rotating around the bulbous crown of his dick. It turned out the two of them were similar in proportions, and if he knew what he was doing, there would be that same almost punching sensation as he worked that big head up inside me. “He’s in,” I said, pulling my hand free. “I’ll give you a go, and we’ll see how things work between you and me, and between the guys.” Aaron shuddered, coming to and then shifted himself into a more comfortable position, a huge smile on his face.
“I hope you have no reason to regret it.” He nodded to his mates, who looked either pissed or envious. “Let the CO know I’m taking personal leave,” he said as he fell in behind Slade and Finn.
“Got it, mate,” one said, patting his shoulder. “Hope to see you married up and living the good life.”
“Was there anyone else?” Finn asked, looking over the crowd. “Or did you just want to see how things go with Aaron?”
“One at a time,” I said, moving closer to Aaron. His arms went around my waist, and I found that I fitted into his side as if I’d always been there. “Less likely to get overwhelmed that way.”
“Home it is, then,” Slade said. “Now, that rather intriguing suggestion you made before…”
24
Slade and Finn walked out, going around to grab the car. Apparently because I was with another man, it was safe to leave me alone. I stood by the big double doors of the meeting hall, Aaron at my side, watching the men begin to file out. Oddly, I felt a pang as they left. It wasn’t that I wanted any in particular, I already had one I was reasonably sure I liked. I mentally smacked myself upside the head. I was getting selfish, because as they went, they took with them the potential thrill of finding someone else. Until he strolled through the door.
“It’s over already?” he asked as he wove his way through the guys, a shit eating grin on his face. I didn’t answer straight away, my eyes caught on the expanse of exposed male flesh in front of me. He wore a pair of well-worn navy work pants that hung low on his hips, looking like they could be pulled off with ease, and I found my fingers twitched to do just that. His chest was bare, less bulky than Aaron’s well developed one, but there was a curious cat-like elegance to his lean build. He strolled over, green eyes boring into mine, shoving back the ragged fall of blond hair that tumbled over his shoulders. “So who are you, baby? The lucky lady in question?”
“She’s not taking petitions, that’s who,” Aaron snapped, but my hand went out, hanging in the air for a moment in offer before the guy smirked and took it, giving it a firm shake.
“I’m Jules.”
“Jack,” he said, still holding my hand, letting his calloused palm rasp against mine before looking over his shoulder. “This is Hawk.”
Oh, god, I thought. My heart jumped into a gallop from a standing start as Jack’s friend walked up to the step. I watched his eyes widen slightly, but his steps never faltered, until he stopped to one side of Jack. The guy who I’d been watching doing the fencing, the one with the long brown hair, that was Hawk. “You two know each other?” Jack said, eyes flicking between me and his mate.
“No,” Hawk replied, his voice a deep rumble.
“Jules, the car’s pulling up. We better go,” Aaron said, placing a gentle hand on the small of my back.
“Oh, right,” I said, starting a little at the sensation of the unfamiliar hand on my skin. The singlet was brief enough that I could feel the heat of him. It said a lot about me that the sexual mores of this place were more disorientating than the fact I could turn into a wolf made partially of smoke. My Tirian shifted inside me, watching Jack and Hawk with a curious eye. Jack hadn’t dropped the smirk the whole time, something she wanted to see if she could remove, or if that mouth was just as clever when it was full of me. And with Hawk, I felt a shiver, a need to shift, run, something I hadn’t felt since the first night.
“So, this is your final choice?” Jack asked, eyeing Aaron, which drew an answering growl from him. “You’re finished, squared away, ready to move into the married quarters?”
“No, I don’t think so. This is still pretty new to me.” Aaron’s hand slid up the back of my shirt, rubbing circles on the bare skin between my shoulder blades. My eyes fell partially closed for a moment as I felt a rush of heat from that sure, slow caress. “Right now, I guess I’m just enjoying myself, seeing where things take me.” Jack grinned at the breathy tone of my voice, watching the little gasp that came as Aaron’s hand snuck around my waist and skimmed up along my ribcage. Jack’s nostrils flared and he looked away, letting out a low groan, then laughing as he readjusted his dick in his pants.
“Well, alright then. We have to come by, check the bridal suite fence, especially as we have an unfriendly locked up on the premises thanks to the grunts. Kelly doesn’t want to take any chances with you, love.” I nodded, trying to keep my cool as Aaron’s lips began to trail along my neck. I shifted under his touch, the light smattering of touches somehow making me more aware of what he was doing than something harder. “Maybe we’ll see you around?” Aaron’s teeth closed over a chunk of my skin, holding me still, triggering some sort of deep down instinct I didn’t understand, pushing me into a state of submission before releasing me. I shook my head, all of a sudden feeling like I was drowning. There was too much, too much pretty, too much touch, too many hot guys bamboozling me with all this bare flesh. I took a little step away from Aaron, forcing his hand to drop, and Jack’s grin grew sharper.
“Yeah, maybe,” I said in a more even voice.
“Well, you have a…stimulating afternoon, love, if you can, and if you can’t, we’ll be by tomorrow.”
Aaron leapt forward, ready to grab the guy, but I stopped his hand, watching Jack walk away with a wink and a swagger and Hawk looking back at us for much longer, with eyes I couldn’t quite read. I schooled my face into a more pleasant expression, facing Aaron with a smile, and said, “Let’s go.”
“What happened?” Slade asked when we got in the car, turning around to look at us from the front seat. Finn’s eyes took us in via the rear vision mirror, but he kept his mouth shut. That was never going to happen with Slade. “So? You look pissed, and you smell horny,” he said, looking from Aaron to me.
I propped my ankle up on the centre console, knowing that he would get a good view of my pussy up the leg of my shorts as I did so and sure enough, his eyes dropped down. “Default state, remember.”
“Oh no, something’s got you extra creamy, princess. I’d say it was soldier boy here, he sure looks stimulated, but that face. What’d you do? Tell him his dick isn’t as big as mine?”
“It was Jack,” Aaron said. “Hawk was with him, but he’s never been a problem.” I didn’t look at him, but I could hear the clench of his teeth as he said the words.
“Jack? Really, princess? Fucking outsider girls, they always fall for the bad boy schtick…”
“Enough!” Finn said, his tone pure iron. “Right now, we’re bringing Aaron back to the house for a trial, so he is the focus. As for any preferences Jules might or might not have, that’s for her to explore, as is her right.”
That killed all conversation. Finn drove us back to the compound, Slade jumping out when we got to the gate and punching in the combination. He looked calm enough when he climbed into the car, but he did not meet my eyes. We pulled u
p outside the house, Slade was out of the car the moment it stopped, ambling inside without a word. Finn paused with his hand on the door and looked at me through the mirror. “Take a moment, Jules, if you want. Bringing someone into the house, it has some meaning to it. Nothing for you to worry about, nothing that’s permanent, but it’s important to us. Take a minute, and see if this is something you really want to do.”
25
The silence grew inside the car, a living breathing thing that was all of a sudden competing with us for the available oxygen. Say something, I told myself, Something, anything, say something! But I didn’t want to. I was hit with a wave of resentment that made me think of being back home. Pursue who you want, Jules, but not him. Listen to guys plea for me to have sex with them to keep the peace, even when you don’t want to. Stay in this house, behind this fence, don’t go through this gate… It was tempting to view this place as some kind of hippy commune, but ‘love’ certainly wasn’t free of expectations, here or anywhere.
I looked over at Aaron, who sat there with an immovable stillness that almost made him seem inhuman. You would have thought being one of the few females in a tribe full of hot straight guys would be just heaven, but it only was if you didn’t give a shit about their feelings. This had to have been a big deal, getting picked, even if we didn’t work out, and then I turned around and showed interest in someone else. I flopped back against the seat and sighed. His feelings weren’t my responsibility, I reminded myself, but I couldn’t let go of the idea that I was being a bitch. Then I felt his hand cover mine. I looked up, meeting his steady gaze. He didn’t flinch away, but I could see in those golden depths, that he was holding himself somewhere safe, protecting himself from the threat I posed, of rejection.
“I’m sorry,” I said, not knowing why I was apologising, but feeling like I needed to.
