by Bianca D'Arc
Roshin cried out when a hard, fast climax hit unexpectedly, but there was yet more to be had as Harry continued to stroke within her. His thrusts were powerful and skilled. He touched her in just the right way to set her off again and again, until finally she came with a strangled cry as he groaned above her.
She felt the tension in his body as he froze above her, his face wearing an expression of almost painful bliss. His eyes were tightly shut as the feeling of fulfillment rocked through them both, but she knew he was with her. He was part of her. His essence flowed into her and she wanted it all. She wanted all of him. Everything he would give her. Forever.
Harry’s body relaxed by slow degrees until he slipped from her and moved to the side. He lay down, only then seeming to realize that Cormac was in the room.
“Son of a…”
“You should not have done this.” Cormac sounded angry, and Roshin felt worry for the first time. She needed to speak, to make Cormac understand.
“I wanted it, Cormac. There was no force or coercion.” She wanted that point to be very clear.
She stood on wobbly legs, feeling Harry’s come slide down the insides of her legs, but that couldn’t be helped. She had to defuse Cormac’s anger and she thought she might know just how to do it.
She went over to him, facing him, naked. He seemed distracted by her body, which she took as a compliment. His anger seemed to be redirected into the flare of heat she could see in his eyes. He wanted her.
That was no problem. She wanted him too.
Feeling brazen, she reached out and slid one palm up his chest, moving closer. She invaded his personal space, but he didn’t seem to mind. He dipped his head, following her actions, his gaze riveted to hers as she stepped even closer until the tips of her breasts brushed against his shirt.
The sensation made her shiver and her nipples hardened into excited peaks.
She unfastened the closures of his shirt and slipped her hands under the fabric, shaping his muscular chest. How did she get so lucky? Both her mates were fit and handsome. Both had hard muscles she loved to run her hands over, though she had never felt the desire to do that in the past. Of course, she’d never been with a warrior before…and now she had two. She counted herself blessed.
Roshin let her hands drift down to Cormac’s waistband as his breathing hitched. She knew what she was doing to him. All the physiological signs of arousal were there, but even more importantly, she felt the same. Not only the physical things, but the emotional ones as well. For the first time in her life, the act of sex had an emotional component that she discovered, to her delight, added a whole new dimension to the physical act.
She unfastened his pants and pushed them downward, baring his thick erection. Roshin slid to her knees and took his hard cock in her hands…and then into her mouth. Satisfaction filled her as she heard Cormac groan. He reached out and cupped her head with his big hands, guiding her gently as she sucked him, and she knew her feminine power.
Enjoying her task, Roshin did her best to bring him off, but Cormac refused to let her pleasure him. He pushed her away gently, then brought her to her feet a little less gently, putting her back to the wall. He paused then, looking deep into her eyes as he cupped her head, running his fingers into her hair.
“Do you want me?” he whispered in the hottest voice she had ever heard.
Mutely, she nodded.
“Are you ready for me?” He seemed to want to be absolutely certain of his welcome before taking her, and while the care he displayed for her feelings was touching, she wanted him too much to wait and discuss it.
“Now, Cormac,” she pleaded with him. “Please!”
He growled as his mouth claimed hers and his big body leaned into hers, holding her against the wall. She spread her legs, ready for him, wanting him, needing him.
He obliged, pushing up into her in one slick move that brought him all the way home. She’d never done it standing up before and the sensations were amazing. He was so deep inside her. Gravity was definitely helping him touch places inside her body she’d been unaware of until now.
He kissed her savagely as he began to move. As desperation seemed to speed his ardent attack, the kiss ended, but the intimacy did not. He rested his head next to and a little above hers, his breath coming in hot pants against her neck. Oh yeah, it felt amazing as he began to pound into her, his body and strong arms supporting her against the unyielding surface of the cool wall behind her.
She opened her eyes as Cormac groaned and brought her to a quick, hard climax. She saw Harry sitting up in the bed, watching them. Shock turned to desire as she noticed Harry’s cock hardening again. Silently, she gazed at his cock, mesmerized, hoping he would touch himself for her to see.
And then he did.
Something about his hand wrapped around his cock set her off and she came again, becoming one long rolling ball of orgasm while Cormac pounded into her, groaning with each magnificent thrust.
She looked at Harry, focused on his cock, and then looked up at his face. He was watching them fuck, but he was also watching her. Their eyes met and held and he mouthed a single word.
“Come,” he said in the barest whisper of sound. She didn’t hear it so much as she felt it, and her world exploded.
Roshin came harder than she ever had before, pulling Cormac along with her. He pushed her into the wall, but it was a heady pressure, an amazing imprisonment. His big body felt so good against her, his muscles sliding against her softness, the sweat of their exertions making them slippery.
It felt so damn good. Better than anything she had dreamed of. As good as she’d felt with Harry.
And both times she’d made love with her two men, the other had watched a part of it. She thought that, more than anything else, had pushed her pleasure to an all-time high.
She was barely conscious when Cormac slipped from her body and carried her to the lav. He washed her gently with warm water and the softest cloth while she lazed under his ministrations. It was so nice that he cared enough to clean her and carry her around. What otherwise would have been embarrassing was made loving by all that had gone before, and the lethargy that overtook her.
She was mostly asleep when Cormac finished and carried her into the bedroom to deposit her in the middle of the big bed. Harry was on one side and Cormac took the other. Within seconds, she was sound asleep.
“I’m glad to see things have changed between you three,” Hara commented as they all sat around the table eating breakfast the next day.
Harry, Cormac and Ro hadn’t made it out of bed for the evening meal the night before, though Harry had raided the galley for a midnight snack for all three of them, which was consumed in bed. Mostly, he’d eaten his dinner off of Ro’s body and Cormac had taken great interest in learning that particular skill.
Cormac had been quiet most of the night. Harry hadn’t spoken much either, but he could sense the confusion coming from both of his Alvian companions. That, and the super-charged attraction.
Whenever Ro touched either Cormac or Harry, both of the older Alvians cocked their heads. No doubt they heard the Hum. Harry hoped the compelling Alvian Hum had led his two companions on the sexual adventure they’d all engaged in the night before. That, at least, was a legitimate reason. A reason that had something important behind it.
Without that kind of reason, in the cold light of day, Harry feared they would come to regret what had seemed almost sacred the night before. For his part, Harry didn’t regret a thing. He only worried for the two Alvians who were so new to emotion they didn’t quite know how to handle it.
Theirs had been a mostly silent fuck fest. The need that had overcome all three of them had been too big to put into words. It was also kind of awkward to want someone so much and not know how to go about expressing those feelings.
Harry knew Ro wasn’t emotionally mature enough to hear how confused he still was about all of this. He didn’t want to talk about his feelings. He didn’t know how to explain
the pleasure he’d taken in the purely physical side of things while still being intensely conflicted emotionally.
Last night had been unbridled need. Soul-deep longing and ultimately some of the most satisfying sex he’d ever experienced. His gift of empathy had assured him all three of them were feeling similar things. So in the end, there had been no need for words, though at some point, the human side of his nature would demand satisfaction. He’d have to reconcile what he’d always thought he’d wanted in a relationship with what he might have with Roshin.
“To your knowledge, Hara, is it possible to Hum with more than one person?” Cormac asked out of the blue. Harry nearly choked on his breakfast.
Hara grinned and pretended to give the matter due consideration.
“In the past, it was improbable, but there were special occasions when such a thing happened. From what we have learned of recent matings between humans and Alvians, it is more than likely to occur here. I personally believe this is due to the limited number of females with emotion. Perhaps, as more of our people change, the numbers will equalize. Until then, nature has made allowances and three-partnered relationships might be the norm rather than the exception.” Hara’s gaze pinned Harry in place. “Of course, Harry knows more about such things than we do, having grown up with three father figures. And his sister is in a well-known triad with a human male and Chief Engineer Davin. Isn’t that right?”
Grimly, Harry nodded. “My human fathers were three brothers with the surname O’Hara. All three have strong psychic gifts. The middle brother, Justin, is my biological father. Caleb and Mick O’Hara are technically uncles, but when I was small it didn’t matter which had actually fathered me. They were all ‘daddy’. And from testing done when my sister married Davin, we know that my human mother, Jane, Hums with all three.”
“But your mother is Alvian,” Ro reminded him, a puzzled frown on her face.
“Mara 12 gave birth to me, but without any feelings for me whatsoever she is only technically my mother. Mama Jane gave me love and affection. She raised me. To Mara 12, I was just another experiment.”
Percival reached out and touched Harry’s arm with one strong hand. “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said softly, surprising Harry with his understanding.
As a child, it had been hard to understand why his tall mother didn’t hug him and pick him up and smile at him the way Mama Jane did. He’d needed Mara 12’s love and had never felt it. As he got older, being shuttled between the two women who were so very different, he’d begun to understand. The hurt didn’t go away for a long time, but he’d come to know what to expect from each of the mother figures in his life.
Hara’s expression was grim. “No child should have to question his mother’s love for him.” The frown reached the ancient’s eyes and communicated his displeasure and resolve. “We will put an end to this barbarism.”
“Tell us about your sister, Callie,” Percival prompted. Harry sensed he was trying to lighten the mood and steer the conversation back to happier matters.
“Callie Hums with both Davin and Rick,” Harry confirmed, returning to his breakfast.
“She is true mate to two men?” Ro seemed to want to clarify.
“According to the Alvian tests of Resonance, yes, she is,” Harry confirmed.
“Then it is possible,” Cormac whispered, and his mood seemed to lighten. Harry could feel a burden of doubt lift from Cormac’s shoulders with his empathic sense.
“There are other such triads,” Percival put in helpfully. “A lab tech who disappeared with two male human prisoners mated with them both.” Harry looked at him sharply. That information was a closely held secret. “And a very highly placed Alvian soldier recently formed a triad with a human male and one of your human Zxerah operatives.” He nodded toward Roshin. “A woman named Gina, I believe.”
“How do you know this?” Ro demanded, clearly concerned at Percival’s top-secret knowledge. Harry was concerned too, but he had his suspicions about the ancients’ capabilities to learn things by both mundane and psychic methods.
“It gets boring in stasis,” Percival said with a mischievous wink at Harry. “We’ve been monitoring every living being on this planet for a very long time. Only in the past century or so have things gotten really interesting. Although, watching humans progress from feudal times to a highly technological society was fascinating, of course. We hadn’t quite realized how much potential there was in the indigenous population when we decided on this planet for colonization.”
“It is a regret I will bear for the rest of my days,” Hara added quietly. Harry could feel the weight of his guilt and could only imagine what it must feel like to know his decision to claim this world for displaced Alvians had ended the population of the entire planet’s way of life and killed billions of people.
“I Hum with both Harry and Cormac.” Roshin’s bald statement took everyone by surprise.
“Yes, dear,” Hara replied as if agreeing with a child stating the obvious.
“I find it…upsetting,” she went on. “Exciting too, I believe, but also worrisome.” She seemed to be testing out the words that went with feelings she was only just beginning to understand.
“You wonder if your mates feel the same,” Percival prompted.
“I do,” Cormac replied at once. “After last night, I have little doubt Roshin is my Resonance Mate. I will do all in my power to keep her with me for the rest of my days.”
Harry was impressed with Cormac’s surety. Harry had felt mostly confusion from Cormac over the past days, including last night, but now he felt Cormac’s determination. It brought out Harry’s competitive spirit, though his heart was troubled.
He didn’t want an Alvian mate. Whenever he’d thought about his future, he’d always pictured a human woman with a caring heart—like Mama Jane or his half-sister, Callie. A human woman who understood emotions and didn’t need to be told what he was feeling and how to react. Someone who could comfort him when he needed it and whom he could comfort in return.
This relationship—or whatever it was with Roshin and Cormac—well, it was very lopsided to Harry’s way of thinking. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be the one doing all the giving and teaching and comforting and he’d get very little in return.
Did he want to live like that for the rest of his life? The prospect looked bleak, though Harry couldn’t argue with the fact that the sex romp last night had blown his mind on a galactic scale. He’d never had better and knew last night’s pleasure would be hard to top. But was that enough of a basis for a long-term relationship?
Harry wasn’t ready to commit to that.
Instead of answering, though he felt the pressure of everyone’s gaze bearing down on him, Harry rose and took his plate to the sink. He could feel the smug satisfaction coming off Cormac, along with hurt and dismay from Ro. Hara was more speculative and Percival was downright disappointed.
They could all go to hell as far as Harry was concerned. Especially that bastard, Cormac. Harry might’ve gotten off on being watched as he fucked Ro last night, but this morning he was full of confusion and anger of his own at being manipulated.
These damned Alvians were trying to tell him who he would spend the rest of his days with. They’d already ruined so much of his life. Taken so much from him and his family. Now they had to pick a mate for him too?
Harry needed some space. He stormed out of the galley and headed for the exercise area. If he couldn’t leave this damned ship, he could at least work off a little of his angry energy by hitting things in the gym.
“Ah. Apparently Harry isn’t as sure of his feelings as our friend Cormac here,” Percival said as soon as Harry exited the galley.
Roshin was feeling all sorts of…disagreeable things. She didn’t have names for all of the emotions flooding her heart with a rush of…pain? How could feelings make your heart physically hurt?
Percival reached over and patted the back of her hand. “Don’t take it too hard.
Harry has faced many difficulties in his young life. He’s more like Hara and I than like you modern Alvians. It was not always easy to navigate emotion, as you will no doubt learn for yourself.”
Percival drew his hand back and returned to eating his breakfast. Hara took over the conversation, surprising Roshin. To this point, Hara had been less eager to talk than his friend Percival.
“Harry’s human half is often in conflict with his Alvian side,” Hara observed. “No doubt he never thought of finding his mate in the Alvian way. Resonance—even though he’s seen it at work in his own family—is not something he believes in. It will be up to you to make him understand it, Roshin. And you too, Cormac.” Hara turned his gaze to the other man. “You may want to keep our little Rose here all to yourself, but if she resonates with both you and Harry, she can never be completely happy with only one of you. Keep that in mind. A true mate wants what is best for his mate, not what he perceives is best for himself.”
Cormac looked thoughtful, for which Roshin was grateful. He’d been alternately hostile and chiding to Harry this morning even after the wonderful night they’d all spent together. His behavior puzzled Roshin. She didn’t understand the emotions coursing through her body, much less how Cormac was reacting.
“Ronin Prime calls me Rose,” she said, surprising herself with the observation. Her words seemed to surprise Hara as well. He returned his gaze to her, his eyebrows raised as he regarded her.
“I know, dear one.” Hara’s voice gentled. “I have long monitored what went on with the Brotherhood. I know Ronin thinks of you as a daughter.”
Tears formed inexplicably in her eyes. “He does?”
Hara reached one hand out to cover hers on the table. “Never doubt it. He has a touch more emotion than some others. Probably because the Ronin’s genetic line is of warrior stock. He doesn’t quite understand it himself, but he has written of you in his journal. Each Patriarch keeps a journal they pass down to the next Patriarch when it is time. That is how subsequent generations learn from previous ones. I thought it only fair that since the current Patriarch has read my journal from back when I founded the Brotherhood, that I be entitled to read his. He doesn’t know.” Hara smiled and winked at her. She thought she was coming to understand the nuances of that gesture. It seemed both playful and somewhat intimate—as if they shared a secret.
