by Dawn Ryder
They were gone a second later and Thorn closed the door with a little too much force. The windows in the front room rattled as Thorn drew in a deep breath.
Horror stole Noel’s breath as she stared at Thorn. Last night’s memory battled against the surge of emotion as the fragile trust that had taken root in her brain threatened to die under the harsh reality of just how military the men in this time were. Instead, Thorn might be on his best behavior right now, soothing her like a new kitten fresh from the pet store. On the other hand, there was a naughty little whisper taunting her with the idea of what it must be like to be balanced on the point of a knife waiting, just waiting for a man to order you to climax. Thorn had the authority to do that to a woman, she felt it radiating from him.
“Don’t let it get to you, Noel. Gutir is a warrior with hard views on everything.”
“Does she have to stay with him?”
Thorn’s eyebrows dipped, and he crossed his arms over his chest, making her frown deeper. She recognized the closed-off stance now as Thorn’s way of keeping his true feelings hidden. “Legally, Thorn? Do selected women have anywhere to go if they don’t like their rescuers?”
“The subject has never come up.”
“Well, that’s mighty damn convenient for the men around here.” The idea of bondage play might be enticing but the key element in that sort of relationship that made it so tempting was the fact that she had the choice to submit. Noel bit her lower lip as she tried not to envision the harsh reality of deciding she didn’t like Thorn.
Well, you do like him, missy.
Her body had really lousy timing. Sure, the sex was beyond amazing but that did not build a home that would last. There were one or two boyfriends back in her own time who had dropped by the wayside when the initial spark of lust went cold.
“You have nothing to worry about, Noel.”
“That is so not the point.” And it really worried her that he didn’t see that. Thorn’s eyebrows dipped as his eyes flashed with temper.
“You’re looking for trouble, Noel. You admitted that you have never tried bondage. That makes your opinion on it invalid until you gain personal experience.” His eyes flared slightly as he slid them down her body. “If that’s what you want, I’d be happy to assist you.”
Oh, hell. Her heart accelerated in response. Noel had no idea why she found the topic so appealing, unless it was the fact that she trusted Thorn to respect her will. Her memory exploded with the moments in the shower when he had demanded she tell him what to do.
No, Thorn wouldn’t sit her on her knees permanently. He had enjoyed her telling him to take his clothes off too. His eyes cut across the morning air and into hers as he took one long step towards her. Her breath froze in her throat and her nipples tingled as he stroked the surface of her cheek with just the tips of his fingers.
“I have trained every day of my life, Noel. It could take hours for you to meet my standards of compliance.” His fingers moved down the column of her throat and over her collarbone and then on to her chest. He stopped before touching her puckered nipple. His eyes moved over the raised outline of it showing through her top and then back to her eyes. “Waiting can be very stimulating.”
Her lungs gasped for breath as her nipple tightened even further and throbbed for attention. Noel jumped away from his body as her emotions twisted and stopped making any sense. She wanted to get away from him, but craved more of his teasing at the same time. “You sidestepped the issue, Thorn. I might want to stay here with you, but do I have the choice?”
Her question tore at him. His pride sure as hell wanted to know that Noel chose his bed of her own free will. But there was a darker emotion winding through his brain that said the reason didn’t matter just as long as her sweet body was within his reach. His ego won as he watched her bite her lower lip with fear. Noel didn’t let that look cross her eyes in response to pain, but she was afraid of being a possession.
That was something that Thorn understood as well. That need to strive towards your own achievements. Otherwise, you might as well be a Dekonian, a drone among millions of others. Each one expendable, without concern to the leader. They would just be replaced, never remembered or granted any form of concern for their own personal desires. Their lives were possessions, and they were used as such. But he was human, and deep in his genes was a will to be unique. Noel was an example of that idea that he craved to live. She had been raised in a time when extinction didn’t loom over the population, forcing them to cast aside their personalities. Her will frustrated him because he longed to ensure that his children had her for a mother and no other! Even the idea of sharing sex with women he’d fucked a week ago repulsed him. They were cold where Noel was a flickering flame. He didn’t want to just fuck…Thorn wanted to mate.
“I will always respect your will, Noel.”
He meant it but it fell far short of what truly terrified her. “But what about your society, Thorn? Do I belong to you?”
“I don’t think it has ever come up before.”
It was a horrifying answer. Noel felt her brain struggle to grasp the implications of those words as Thorn watched her with curious eyes. He really hadn’t ever considered the topic.
Well, Gutir certainly had and he was planning on making sure that selected women like her never gained any rights in his society. Noel felt her stomach twist with nausea as she thought about the world outside the front door turning its back on any cry from her.
Thorn frowned at her silence. “Selection is rather new, Noel. We have been a little more concerned with fighting for our rights as a race. Everyone strived for survival—personal comfort wasn’t a priority.”
Well, that made sense, in a weird sort of way. How did you rebuild an entire society?
The answer sprang to mind as she looked at the way Thorn’s gaze dropped to her breasts momentarily. You rebuilt with breeding couples.
Maybe that wasn’t the fairest way but it was the most scientific. Noel looked at Thorn with his harsh features and rough body. He was a man who had been reared from birth to fight a struggle that would end in either life or death. He didn’t even have a family, just comrades and now her.
“We didn’t use any birth control!” She could be pregnant, in the early stages of conception right then. Noel covered her belly with her hands as she pictured thousands of sperm making their way up her fallopian tubes. Was she ovulating? She didn’t know. It had been ages since her last boyfriend.
Thorn’s face erupted with fury. “Why do you begrudge me children?”
“I just met you yesterday!” Noel waved her hands in the air as she tried to balance her concern over pregnancy with the rather unexpected fact that her concern was ticking Thorn off. “That’s not begrudging, it’s just common sense not to rush headfirst into something like a baby when we just met.”
He grunted at her but his face lost a measure of its fury. “How long did a couple wait before having children in your time?”
The idea that she could already be beyond controlling turning up pregnant was really terrifying. Fiery death last Tuesday and doctor appointments before the next calendar month—there was an emotional mess if ever she saw one. But Thorn was glaring at her and she tried to find some way to appease his temper—the guy was taking her attitude as a personal slight against his qualifications as a dominant male. “That’s a really big gray area.”
Thorn took a deep breath and closed his eyes momentarily. Noel got the impression that he was struggling to keep his temper in check. Frustration shimmered in his eyes as he lifted one finger up in front of her. “What is a gray area, Noel?”
Guilt crept up on her as she recognized that she was driving him as insane as he was her. They were both human, but from drastically different lives. Right then they were like a pair of bumper cars trying to drive around in the dark.
“Every couple is different. Some never have children but most get married first.”
Triumph lit his face as he grabbed her
wrist and turned towards the door in one lightning-fast motion.
“Done! We’ll go get married. That will settle this debate.”
Hunter was on the other side of the door as Thorn opened it. The man jumped into deadly form as the door suddenly moved and Blade had his rifle off his shoulder in two seconds flat.
Thorn pushed her against the wall as he reacted on a pure instinctive level. Noel listened to the three men softly cuss before they shook off the surprise and grinned smugly at one another. Thorn reached for her again as his buddies stepped out of his path.
“Noel wants to get married first.”
Blade shot her a curious look as he shrugged his huge shoulders. “I read about that—do you want some flowers?”
“No,” Noel snapped.
Hunter and Blade stared at her frustrated face as they looked at Thorn for an explanation. Thorn turned around and tossed his open hands into the morning air. “Noel…I could use a little help here on getting you what you want.” His voice hissed through his clenched teeth as frustration lit his eyes.
Boy, that was one thing that they sure did have in common!
“Coffee! I want coffee!”
And one dark hole to crawl into until the world resumed normalcy!
* * * * *
Instead she got a protein shake… All right, it was coffee-flavored and Thorn beamed at her as he recalled which restaurant had it on the menu.
But that wasn’t the kick-in-your-shorts jolt of caffeine she was craving. Noel read the menu from cover to cover as a horrible possibility dawned on her. There wasn’t any—not even a little—comfort food here in 2231. There wasn’t even something that classified as junk food. Everything was nutritionally balanced and low fat and rich in vitamins.
She was going to die a slow, lingering death filled with the torments of an addict cut off from her supply. Lack of caffeine really was going to be the cause of her death. Who would have thought that?
“Better?” Blade was watching her like a science experiment. Their eyes met and he offered her an overly bright grin. But the expression didn’t last as his eyes moved to her mouth and lingered over her lips. Hunger flashed through his eyes and he didn’t try to hide it. Noel shot a look at Thorn and found him watching with those intense eyes and it didn’t appear to bother him a bit that his buddy was looking at her like…well, like he wanted to get into her pants.
Noel lifted the glass but kept her eyes roaming around the table. She was the complete center of attention. Heat blazed across her cheeks as she caught Hunter looking at her breasts. Something Gutir said tried to surface from her memory as she attempted to grasp the idea that she and Thorn had drastically different ideas about just what a relationship was.
Hell, he was the first man she’d ever met who had promptly wanted to drag her to the altar. Not even a hint of a drop in temperature on his feet, no ma’am.
“What did Gutir mean about you letting him join us?”
Hunter and Blade instantly transformed. Their faces went hard as they shot a questioning look at Thorn. The muscles on their throats clenched as their fingers curled into fists. Blade looked completely furious.
“I knew that bastard was going to try and jump rank on me.”
Thorn shot a hard look back at Blade. “Like I’d give a damn about his rank.” The look that passed between them was one that spoke volumes. It was clear that these men had shared a lot of years with Thorn and it bound them together as close as any blood could have.
“Still figured he’d try it. That asshole is a union partner to five selections.”
Thorn’s eyes flashed a warning and Blade snapped his mouth shut as he looked at her. A warning bell rang loud and clear in her head as Noel looked at Thorn and got a blank stare in return.
“All right, boys, spill it.”
“Your drink?”
“No.” Noel laced her fingers around her protein shake to protect the only hint of coffee on the planet. Hey, she’d take what she could get. “I mean, one of you start talking about this union partner thing. It’s a new idea for me.” She got the impression that she was going to like it just about as much as not having her morning coffee.
Thorn leveled a serious look at her. “Birth control is the responsibility of males here, Noel.”
“But you didn’t wear a condom last night…” A little groan finished her thought as Noel caught herself freely admitting last night’s lapse of self-control to Thorn’s friends. Suspicions were one thing but letting her big mouth remove all doubt was another. Smirks appeared on Hunter’s and Blade’s faces to confirm her lapse of foresight.
Clearly a result of caffeine withdrawal.
“Males are sterilized with laser-implanted blocks in the scrotal sac. That way if we are promoted, it can be removed and allow us to reproduce naturally. But we are more concerned with fertility in a female than preventing conception.”
“Oh.” That made sense in a society that harvested eggs from females. You wouldn’t want those donors to become pregnant because ovulation would stop for nine months, sometimes longer, depending on the woman.
Thorn stood up and offered her his hand. Noel had placed hers in his grasp before she really thought about it. He smiled slightly as he closed his fingers around hers. His eyes aimed warm approval into hers as he turned and led her out of the restaurant.
But he hadn’t really answered her question. Hunter and Blade moved along with them, and their pace was just fast enough to keep her hurrying to keep up. Her suspicions grew as she added the fact that they wanted to get her back to Thorn’s house before she got the chance to hit them with her question again.
A little wave of desolation hit her as she climbed into a transport. On one hand, there was a whole lot to enjoy in 2231, but it was moments like these that she couldn’t fend off the lost feelings.
She was just going to have to find a computer terminal where she could catch up. Thorn had mentioned a job so at least she wouldn’t be sitting around waiting.
In his bed floated right onto the end of her thought and her cheeks burned. Man, oh man, she had it really bad this time! Infatuation sounded a little too meek to cover the fact that sex was on her mind constantly now.
Well, considering last night, her body did have a point. If she was going to wait around in anyone’s bed, Thorn’s won.
Blade and Hunter followed them right through the front door. In fact, she was getting the idea that the two were a permanent fixture in Thorn’s life and now hers. There didn’t appear to be any subject that Thorn felt any reservation about discussing in front of the two.
Guilt bumped into her frustration as she recognized that when it came to battle, your buddies were kind of important if you wanted to stay alive. The odds of survival in Thorn’s life hit her again as she noticed that these men were the only family they had.
Well, that was one thing they had in common.
* * * * *
Ten minutes later
She was insane. The reality was, the fire had left her in a coma where her little brain cells were firing off odd fantasies. It was a fact that all humans thought about sex a lot and she was no exception. While in this coma she was having deluded dreams of sex, more sex, and now wild sex.
Death was sounding better.
Hunter was watching her like a science experiment again, and her temper ignited because that was exactly what she felt like at that moment. A specimen brought into their world to study and do experiments on.
“It’s a proven fact, Noel. Multiple orgasms increase fertility quite significantly.” Thorn was being extremely careful with his words but there was also a firm note of authority edging them. He expected her to swallow his explanation. The thing that sort of scared her was the fact that it made logical sense. Orgasm did influence egg production in the ovaries. It was really strange to face a society where that bit of scientific data was the one they highlighted.
“Where I come from a man doesn’t share his girlfriend with his buddies!” And ce
rtainly not two of them at the same time. A foursome went too far. All right, maybe she had dreamed of a threesome a few lonely nights, but three guys and her?
According to Thorn, all selected females had union partners. They were chosen by the newly promoted man to help ensure protection in a world populated by male soldiers. She could call on either Hunter or Blade to take her shopping or wherever she needed to go if Thorn was on duty. That way, she didn’t go out alone into a civilization overflowing with men who were both in their prime and had very low prospects of getting a female. It also sort of ensured that she wouldn’t find any opportunities to mess around outside her relationship with Thorn because one of their union partners would always be present. She shrugged as that idea hit her with its logic—cheating could end up causing a real problem among a population that all carried guns everywhere they went.
That part worked well enough, but it was the bedroom help that shocked her. All right, there was a tingle of excitement racing through her veins too but she was still trying to break her mind away from the mental picture of three guys all touching her at once.
She’d be a slobbering idiot before sunrise.
Noel groaned as she shook her head. “Look, guys, I’m just not that wild. Sorry, I’m sure some girls go for it but count me out.”
Hunter looked shocked now. “You haven’t even given us a chance to live up to your standards.” He flattened his hands on the table. “I won’t quit until you’re satisfied.”
Oh hell!
Her clit burned as her mouth went dry and all Noel could think about was testing Hunter’s resolve. Her pussy was already getting wet at the ideas the flare of determination in his eyes was sparking in her overactive imagination.
