“I hope so.” She hugged the upright post next to her.
Ryo’s body hardened. Goddess, how he wished she would hug him like that. He knew it was a lot to ask of her to accept them as her mates so soon, but he’d wanted to do that since he’d first seen her, looking through that ridiculous thing she used to study the stars. She wouldn’t be so reluctant to go if he could only convince her to go aboard the ship. When she saw the equipment, the star charts and the Astronomy lab, she would probably demand a ten-man team to help her pack her things. Yet he hesitated, selfishly perhaps, but he wanted her to go because of them, not because of what they could give her.
He stood and held out his hand. The evening was cool, the sky clear, there was no reason they couldn’t go for a walk and get to know each other. Do you wish to join us, Jered?
I do, but you need to get to know her one on one as I do. You go ahead, when you return, I will take her.
Thank you. I needed this time alone with her. He did. He’d wanted to kiss her for the last several hours and he was sure she wouldn’t let him with Jered near. She knew they came as a package deal, but her human trained mind put limitations on her. Soon she would learn that there were no such limitations on their people. He couldn’t afford to be jealous. A shared mate was certainly better than no mate at all.
She slid down from the railing and took his offered hand. “It sounds like a wonderful idea. We could take this opportunity to get to know each other better.”
* * * *
When Ryo’s hand closed around hers, Harlow felt a warm tingling sensation move through her veins. It was similar to when she’d had her first, and last, shot of tequila. The warmth started in the pit of her stomach and traveled out through her limbs like a living thing. Sudden desire pooled in her middle. It was a strange, unfamiliar heat she didn’t quite know how to deal with.
She led him through the side yard, past the apple trees and down to the stream that ran the length of her property. She loved walking this way. The sound of the bubbling water never failed to bring her a sense of peace. A sense of belonging. When she was here, she felt at home, even more so than when she was up at the house. Glancing at Ryo from the corner of her eye, she felt herself blush when she caught him staring at her. The look in his eyes was so hungry, so intense, she wasn’t quite sure what to do.
It been many years since she’d indulged in her passionate nature and she’d long since given up hope of ever finding someone to settle down with, so she’d tucked that part of herself away. But that didn’t stop her from wondering if the smoldering looks he threw off meant he could live up to them.
Snapping twigs to her right sent her nerves jangling. A rabbit scurried from the underbrush, running from some threat. She squeezed Ryo’s hand, pulled him to a stop, fully aware that he, too, scented danger on the wind. They heard another snap of twigs, this time to their left. A squirrel ran down a nearby tree, scuttled through some brush and disappeared.
A feline roar ripped through the evening air, the only warning of the impending attack. Ryo shoved her to the ground, covered her body with his own as a mountain cat jumped down from a white birch tree. Before the cat could pounce though, Harlow felt jolts of electricity pour through Ryo’s body and into hers, but instead of it burning, it invigorated her. It filled her with power and energy.
Suddenly, her rage knew no bounds. Anger the likes of which she’d never felt before ripped through her body. Crawling out from beneath the heavy weight of Ryo’s convulsing body, Harlow allowed the rage she felt to break free for the first time in her life. It boiled to this surface and erupted and no one—especially her—was prepared for the outcome.
When the big mountain cat came in for an attack, Harlow snapped and something inside her broke free. Something foreign and ferocious. Something equally deadly. Magic and power coalesced around her body, bathing her in white light and heat. She didn’t know how she’d call her beast forth, and right now didn’t care, just embraced the power and became Great Black Bear. Rising up on her hind legs, she let out a mighty roar, then swatted the oncoming cat away before it could do more than claw Harlow’s side.
The mountain cat smashed into the birch tree and lay crumpled on the ground beneath it. Turning, she found Ryo just stirring. Creeping out of the trees with stun guns in hand were Donald Burke and Randal Burns. Their smug smiles turned to wide-eyed stares filled with fear when they saw her approaching them in bear form.
“Wh-wh— She’s not supposed to be able to do that, Randy,” Donny whined as he backpedaled, dropping the stun gun on the ground at his feet. In a blink, Ryo went from a near unconscious man to full-grown panther intent on stalking and taking down his prey.
Calm now after taking down her own prey, Harlow managed to calm her beast enough to think, to try to tuck the magic back inside herself. She wasn’t quite sure how she knew what she knew. Maybe it was ingrained, and her beast knew and was telling her how to control the power. She didn’t know and at this point didn’t care. But Ryo had been injured and so had she. They needed to get their injuries looked at.
The best place to do that was Ryo’s ship…the safest, too. With her rage under control, and now able to think, Harlow ambled over toward Donny and Randy, unwilling to leave Ryo to face the enemy alone. She’d already established that her prey still lay unconscious at the base of the tree, slowly bleeding from a gaping, head wound.
As the males continue to back away, Harlow and Ryo slowly stalked them, herding them where they wanted them, forcing them to circle right back into the small area where they were ambushed earlier.
What they hadn’t counted on and, should have, was that the three attackers hadn’t acted alone. With her senses enhanced by her beast’s sense of smell, the odor of recently fired gunpowder hung heavy if the air, but it wasn’t coming from the two cowering in front of her. No wonder Ryo’s body convulsed on top of hers. Someone had shot at him while he covered his body with hers. He probably had bullet holes riddled throughout his body.
The fact that her mate was injured enraged her beast all over again. Dropping down to all fours, she charged the two men, fully aware that there were others out there waiting to attack, but too angry at the moment to think past her rage. While the men held up their hands, pleading for their lives, Harlow crushed the windpipe on one man and swiped her claws across the other man’s throat, leaving both men dead.
Turning, she found Ryo back in his Human form, fully dressed, but on his knees, deathly pale and bleeding profusely. If he could shift back as injured as he appeared to be, then so could she. Focusing on what she looked like prior to going all bear on their asses, Harlow closed her eyes and pictured her with long, black hair, and the T-shirt, and jeans she’d worn when they left her house earlier that evening. When she felt the magic sweep over her then pull inside her again, she opened her eyes. She winced when she saw the claw marks on her side, thankful fur had protected her somewhat.
Ignoring her own pain, she ran over toward Ryo. Before she could get to him, he shook his head subtlety. Behind me, Harlow. Several men with your Earth weapons are behind me. Don’t come any closer.
“Well, shit,” she muttered. There has to be something I can do. And how the hell am I doing all this weird shit anyway?
We’re mates. It’s the only reason I can come up with for our new show of power. Perhaps if we were closer to my home world, the Goddess would come to us and tell us more, but thus far, she has been conspicuously absent this mission.
So, what do you want me to do?
Just stay where you are, they can’t target you yet I don’t think. They assume I’m about to collapse. Let them keep thinking that. When they move in, we’ll get our chance.
Lovely, where the hell’s your friend, Jered?
I’ve already called him. He should be he momentarily, Harlow.
Harlow swallowed, not used feeling fear for another, especially a virtual stranger, even if he said he did think he was her mate. How did she know that was the truth? Tho
ugh all the weird crap she was able to do all of the sudden seemed to be ample proof of that claim. Who was this Goddess Ryo spoke about earlier? And why the hell were her thoughts wandering now when there were others out there with their guns trained on Ryo and possibly her?
Amoya, I’m here. I’m circling around these bumbling fools. I want you to move to a little to your right and stand behind that big tree you’re close to. You’re in direct line of sight of one of the snipers standing where you are right now.
Not a fool, Harlow quickly stepped to her right and slid behind the white birch tree. She had no desire to be sporting matching bullet holes with Ryo, despite their mating. Amoya?
It mean’s my beauty in my native language.
Oh. I’m sensing a massive amount of enthusiasm and expectation. They’re getting ready to shoot, Ryo. You need to get out of the way now—Too late, Harlow heard the blast of gunshots. Not the single shots she’d expected of sniper fire, but that of semi-automatic handguns. Jered must have gotten to the sniper at least. Whipping around the tree, she was amazed at what she was seeing. No longer on his knees, Ryo stood, his hands raised in front of his face, palms outward. A white glow wrapped around each hand and spread outward, until his whole body was protected. Bullets continued to fly at him, but they just bounced off him as though shielded by something impossible to penetrate.
Can you extend the shield to all of us? Or is that a trick for one?
I don’t know. I threw up my hands when the first bullets came at me, and this happened. Let me see what happens when I try to envision this wrapped around you and Jered.
Within seconds, Harlow could see a thin layer of white power wrap around her body. Not as thick as Ryo’s, but it was still a layer of protection she didn’t have before. So she’d have to be careful not to get shot.
It worked, after a fashion. We’ll have to work on it. Let’s get rid of these people and get out of here.
“Let’s just get out of here. We’ll send someone down to collect them when the forty-eight hours for your people are up to make their decision to come with us or not. They’re just following orders,” disagreed Jered, who’d managed to work his way around the men to her side. “Let’s just get to Ryo and get out of here. I have the coordinates to beam out of here set on my wrist unit. We’ll go directly aboard the ship from here. It’s the safest thing to do. Ryo’s weakening from blood loss and you’ve been injured, too.”
Nodding, Harlow agreed. It was the sensible thing to do. “First though, let’s go check on the cat by that tree over there,” she said, pointing toward the tree she’d left the injured cat at earlier. “I have a suspicion I want to verify.”
“Fine. He can hold them off for a moment. But then we really have to go.”
Harlow nodded, then dodged behind the bush, scurried on her hands and knees until she reached the tree where the mountain cat should be. There, lying amidst the crushed twigs and dead leaves was her great aunt Gertrude’s dead body. Shaking her head, Harlow sighed. “That’s all I needed to know. Let’s get Ryo and get out of here.”
With Jered by her side, they made their way to Ryo. The shield around them grew stronger and brighter the closer they got to him. By the time they reached his side and each placed a hand on his shoulder, the power that went through the triad was almost blinding. The power and magic pulsed with each heartbeat, with each breath they took.
Get us on that ship, Ryo ordered.
She could hear his voice in her mind, in her heart, her soul. Feel him everywhere in her body. It made her quiver from the inside out. So much raw power was traveling through her. Too much power. It became too much, and she passed out. Her last thought being who was going to catch her limp body when they arrived on the ship when Ryo was already bleeding from his wounds—she was nobody important compared to him.
Harlow stared at Ryo. He was so pale, so near death, just two days ago. She’d been afraid he was going to die for a while. His injury had been a shock to her system. He looked different now. His color had returned and he had the energy to smile again. He also had energy for other pursuits if the look on his face was any indication.
Her feelings took a remarkable turn the moment he went down. She still couldn’t believe she’d changed into something…else. She couldn’t restrain her upset. The rage she felt as she watched him fall, almost as if in slow motion. Harlow had no idea she was going to change until it happened and hadn’t even known she could. And she’d never considered herself a violent person either. Yet it had been her who had knocked that big cat into that tree. At least it had been a part of her. A part that suddenly discovered she couldn’t live without this man she’d just met.
Ryo gave her a soft smile and held his hand out in invitation. She chewed her lower lip, knowing this decision could very well be more than it seemed. If she took his hand, it would be a confirmation. She wasn’t sure she was ready for that. Harlow also knew she didn’t want to return to her lonely existence. How could she force herself to go back to her cold, empty bed with nothing to keep her warm but the hard textbooks that she’d so loved before? She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t do it.
Taking a huge leap of faith, she reached out and took his hand. Hers shook, trembled, in his larger one. Ryo’s expression changed, his eyes took on a darker hue. They seemed to warm. The look in his amber eyes told her how much he’d feared her refusal.
Her stomach clenched. The feeling in the pit of her stomach was somewhere between intense arousal and trepidation. Harlow was no virgin, but she’d usually known her past sexual partners for at least a month. She hadn’t known these two men for a week! Licking her lips, she almost moaned with a sudden intense need when his eyes darkened, his gaze following the trail of her tongue.
Goodness, Harlow. How can you possibly think of turning them down? Even with the whole threesome thing. Her face flamed. She’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she found the whole thing intriguing. She inhaled sharply when Ryo pulled her down on top of him. “I’ll hurt you.” She began to pull away.
“Nonsense,” he growled, raising his head to trail his lips over her ear and down her throat. “I healed quickly before. Now the rate of my recovery borders the ridiculous.”
“What?” She stared at him confused. “What do you mean you healed quickly before, but now it’s ridiculous? How is it different?” It had to be different in some way. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made such a strange comment.
Squirming as his lips continued to distract her, she lifted her head away, her hands on his chest. Harlow looked up at Jered who watched them both with an expression not unlike that of a hungry predator. “Tell me what he means.” She demanded an answer this time since asking seemed to get her nowhere.
“We have always healed quickly, Harlow. But he’s healed much quicker since those two goons of your aunt’s used that stun gun on you.” He gave her a half smile. “You heal very quickly, too. You did notice that the scratches in your side have completely healed, haven’t you?”
She had, but she’d attributed it to the whole episode being some strange nightmare from which she’d finally awoke. Ryo continued to nuzzle her neck, despite her questions and squirming. She had half a mind to box his ears, but the sensations he evoked were enough to give her pause as soon as she paid attention to them.
Heat pooled low in her middle, her eyes closed halfway and she threw her head back, making more room for his mouth to wander aimlessly over her flesh. She moaned, the sound coming from deep within her throat. She could feel the telltale hardness pressing against her lower abdomen. She resisted the urge to reach down and grasp the rigid flesh through the sheet. There was no telling what he had on under there. What if he was naked?
Her breath came in short pants as he continued his slow exploration of her ears and neck. His lips covered hers, his tongue gently following the seam of her lips. She opened for him, allowing his tongue to sweep inside her mouth, exploring the hidden depths. Goose bumps covered her skin as his fingers t
railed down her arms, his hands moving over her back to cup her rump.
She stiffened when she felt Jered climb onto the bed beside her. Ryo rolled onto his side, putting her between them as they both kissed and petted her. Closing her eyes, she bit back her protest, deciding to relax into it and see if she could just go with it.
It was strange how close she felt to them already. It was almost like she’d known them forever. Or known of them at least. She felt her face heat when she thought about how quickly she would have fallen in bed with her favorite movie star. But that was lust, plain and simple.
She envisioned the three of them in various sexual positions and smiled in spite of herself. Fear of them wasn’t a factor. She found them both so attractive it was practically all she could do to keep herself from jumping their bones when she first saw them. Her face burned as she thought of them doing all sorts of forbidden things together. Goodness! Why couldn’t she seem to control herself around these two? Control herself? Hell, she couldn’t even control her rampant thoughts.
She couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to sleep with two men. One pressed against her front, the other against her back. She nearly died of mortification when they both moved, pressing their hips against hers.
Her stomach clenched, churning with her desire. She’d never been so aroused in her life. Their hands slowly drew soft patterns over her flesh, stroking her, warming her.
“Do you like this, Aliante?” Jered asked, his lips pressed against her ear, his tongue delving inside, sending little lightning bolts through her body.
Sex Me at Last Page 4
