He stiffened and rolled to his side as if he felt guilty for touching her. “We were together for over forty of your Earth years. We grew up in the same village, and I knew she was meant to be mine.” Volund sighed and draped one leg over her hips and thighs. He settled his hand on her lower back and rubbed the bare skin there. “On our planet, she was a healer. She helped deliver babies and healed women’s injuries. She would always tell me I needed to relax more, that I was too protective of her, but look what happened. I listened to her and went hunting, leaving her unprotected. Now she’s gone.”
As she listened to his story, the pain in his words still seemed fresh. Venus marveled over how his background and loss seemed to affect her. She twined her fingers with his, bringing them up to kiss his hand. “Volund, how were you to know raiders would destroy your village? Your wife sounds like she was a lovely woman.” She waited until Volund met her gaze and then said, “Tell me something. If the reverse happened and you were killed instead of her, would you want her to withdraw from living life to the fullest and become a mere shell of who she once was?”
He tensed.
“You’re a very handsome man, Volund. What if there’s a mate here on Earth for you? Would you deny her your love?”
He said nothing.
Venus looked back out across the field. “How old are you?”
Volund laughed. “We stopped aging at the human age of twenty five. I’m one hundred and forty Earth years, and you think me handsome?”
“One-hundred-and-forty-years old? Now I know you two are too old for me. As far as handsome goes, I haven’t seen many men for a while, so maybe I need to see a few more before I can really judge.” Venus laughed, trying to lighten his mood.
His grip tightened around her hand. “Why did you lie about your doctor friend?”
Guilt slid over her, heating her skin even more. She’d forgotten about her little white lie. “It was a way to warn you and your brother off when you showed up in my quarters. What did you expect me to do? Jump into your arms? I had no idea who you two were or what you might do to me, so I lied about having a man around.”
Volund nodded, comprehension in his eyes. “I would have done the same if I had been in your position.” With his thumb, he stroked the skin on the top of her hand. Even that gentle touch fired lust through Venus. “You don’t need to see any other men, and being older does have some advantages.”
She turned to laugh at him, but as she did so, Volund captured her head between his hands, bringing his lips down to hers. He slid his tongue into her mouth and wrapped it around hers, stroking it. The taste of him was similar to his brother but with more spice, as if he’d eaten something loaded with ginger and cinnamon, and the residue still lingered upon his tongue.
Venus moaned. Her nipples hardened, and her pussy heated. Not again. I just made love to Jaxxon a few hours ago…but…this seems so natural!
He broke the kiss, pulled her rifle out of her hand and flipped her onto her back. “It seems my brother was right. You are beautiful—and it also seems you might be destined to mate with both of us.” He kissed down her neck to the vee of her shirt and then between her breasts.
“Volund, we’re here to hunt. Besides, I belong to no one unless I choose it.” Venus tried to push him back, but he grabbed her wrists gently with one hand and held them above her head.
“Ino and Ka will alert us when an animal comes close,” he mumbled against her bosom as he used his finger armor to cut her T-shirt in half, exposing her breasts. “And you have the right to deny me, so speak now if you do not want me as a mate.”
She sighed, fighting the intense craving that grew steadily in her loins. “Funny, your brother said the same thing last night.”
***
Volund didn’t know what was coming over him. He had to have Venus, had to make her his. No, he couldn’t do that. She was already Jaxxon’s. Wait, what had he said earlier?
‘Spend time with her, see how you feel about her and let her do the same with you. She is stubborn, but beneath her rock-hard exterior is a woman who wants someone to love.’
Nuzzling her neck, Volund contemplated his brother’s words. Could it be true?
Was it possible Venus was destined to be both his and Jaxxon’s mate? If she accepted him, then could they both love her without fighting over her? As he kissed up her throat and captured her mouth, locking lips with her, her contented sigh spoke volumes to Volund.
She is ours! We belong together, as three!
He deepened the kiss, his tongue delicately entering her mouth. She murmured her approval and smoothed her hands over his shoulders, down his back.
Desire raced through Volund, rendering him momentarily breathless. His sapin hardened and pushed against its thin covering. He shifted so his hips lay half across Venus’s.
“I don’t want you to feel as though Jaxxon and I are taking advantage of you,” he said, once he broke the kiss. “You do have a choice. However, you must know that both my brother and I have this sense about you, and it whispers that something has brought us together to become three—a trinity mating. Jaxxon wants you to be happy, Venus, and that is my true desire as well.” He nuzzled her neck. “This is your last chance. Tell me no, and I will leave you alone.”
“I want you,” Venus gasped. She stared up at him with large, light-brown eyes. Need swirled in them. “I shouldn’t do this, but I can’t help myself. Make love to me, Volund.”
With a low growl, he claimed her lips once more. He stroked her tongue with his, and she moaned into his mouth, arching her hips. The pressure of her pelvis against his member forced his lust to jump several degrees. He groaned and ravaged her mouth. She fell lax under him, her body soft, pliant, willing.
Releasing her, he rolled away and drew her into a sitting position. At her questioning glance, he said, “Take your short garment off and get on your hands and knees.”
Venus complied, her hands trembling as she worked her shorts down over her creamy hips and legs. She turned, kneeling, and presented her round, glorious ass to him.
Gulping, Volund pressed a button on his armor. It vanished, and he quickly released his erection from its bindings, creating a mound beneath his tilk. He drew the garment back and then pressed against Venus’s ass. She sucked in a startled breath and pushed back slightly.
“Slowly, little hellion,” he wheezed. “I do not wish to hurt you.” “Please. I want you.” She bumped against him again.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and brushed her pale hair aside to expose all of her lithe, toned back. Working his fingers down the muscles that ran along either side of her spine, he smiled as she sighed in pleasure. Volund slid his hands back up and then out to her sides where he passed them over her rib cage before gliding back down to her waist. He gripped the muscles there, kneading gently and tugged her backward so his sapin nudged her wet, pink opening.
She gasped again, following it with an anxious whimper.
Volund closed his eyes and willed his sapin to mind him. He focused on the birds chirping in the tree limbs above, the dry, hot wind whispering through the sun-scorched leaves.
He kept his eyes tightly shut. “Deny me, Venus.”
“No!” She shoved hard backward, impaling her sex on him.
“Ungh!” Volund’s eyes shot open. Her sypu felt so hot, tight, silky. He gritted his teeth, the pulsing at his spine quickly permeating his balls to settle in the root of his sapin.
Other than females who cured the need for sex, it had been years since he’d made love to someone who intrigued him, who enticed him like no other had since his first mate died. He could fuck this female until she begged him for mercy.
“More,” Venus gasped.
“Oh, my sweet, you have no idea what you ask.” Volund continued to struggle with himself.
In response, Venus lowered herself on her forearms so her ass rose into the air. It allowed him better access to her, and his cock throbbed and jerked in response.
&
nbsp; “Do it!” she demanded. “Make me yours.”
Volund steadied himself on his knees, the planks of the tree stand rough beneath them. He sank his member deep into Venus. Something warm, soft, and yet restricting butted the head of it. He’d never experienced anything like it.
He pumped into her, his hands firmly on either side of her hips. Each time his sapin slid into Venus, he thought he’d come before he was ready. The upward thrust of her hips each time didn’t help matters. The fire building at the base of his cock leapt into an inferno and steadily spread further along his shaft.
Venus tossed her head back, her long tresses fanning out across her back, draping down her sides. “More!” She let out a cry that grew in crescendo. “Harder, Volund!”
He thrust harder, faster. As he did so, he growled, struggling to keep from coming. He wanted Venus so badly, but to seal their mating, she had to climax first.
The squeal of splintering wood alerted him to trouble. Venus issued a sound that almost matched it. Volund pumped into her, the soft patting sounds of their bodies meeting repeatedly only fueling his desire more. The hunting perch shook with their lovemaking, and another sound of nails pulling free rent the air.
“Venus, we need to—”
The tree stand collapsed, dumping Volund forward. He jerked Venus up against his chest, and twisted his body with her in his arms as they plummeted to the ground. Volund landed on his backside with Venus on top of him. He let out a soft “Oomph!” and cradled her close.
“Damn,” she gasped. “Are you all right, Volund?” “I am fine, little warrior,” he said, chuckling.
“If I had built that tree stand any higher, we might’ve been hurt.” Before she could say anything else, he rolled her to the side, re-joining their bodies, and pinned her to the moss-covered earth surrounding the tree. Lying flat on top of her, he worked his hips so that his sapin moved gently back and forth.
“Oh,” she groaned. “Please, Volund, you’re driving me insane! I want to come….”
“As you wish,” he murmured. He straightened and straddled the backs of her thighs, his large cock still seated deeply within her. Massaging Venus’s back, he began thrusting again. With each thrust, she raised her hips just enough in her position that he felt the opening to her womb bumping against his member.
He wanted to fondle her ample breasts, but right now he had to make sure she reached the stars. He could investigate her body more another time. First, he had to finish claiming her.
She gripped the grass that grew between the patches of moss, her fingers curling and uncurling as she moaned and cried into the earth. At each sound she uttered, Volund’s lust flamed hotter. The way her warm, silky passage wrapped around his cock rendered him helpless. All he could think about was pushing her over the edge and immediately jumping off after her.
“Oh,” she cried. “I’m…I’m going to come!”
Volund pumped into her harder, but when he looked down at her round, firm ass, and saw how he sank into her pliant body, it was his undoing. Fire raced up his shaft.
“Yes!” Venus arched her hips and let him pummel her. “Yes! Yes!”
At her last shout, Venus’s inner walls began throbbing around Volund’s sapin.
The contractions grew more intense. He shouted his release as he came in her. She screamed out her pleasure, her face pressed into the moss, hips rigid and in the air as he pumped into her again and again, his essence coursing out of him, filling her recesses.
“Oh, my…!” she squealed. She lowered her ass and then bucked again. “Ungh!” A smaller climax hit Volund. He grunted and coaxed the last of his
seed into Venus.
Panting, she relaxed against the ground, and Volund collapsed on top of her. “You and your brother,” she gasped, “are going to wear me out.”
“I’ve never had a lover like you.” He withdrew from her and rolled to one side. She raised her head to look at him. “Really?”
Laughing, he flicked a piece of lichen off her cheek and then her chin. “Yes, my sweet. Even in lovemaking you are a little warrior.”
“You must warn Jaxxon not to lord over me. I was brought up to believe a man and woman were equal partners in a relationship.”
He nodded. “I like that idea.”
She stretched out and giggled at the remains of her hunting perch. “Are we safe here?” Volund asked.
“For a while.” She looked around and nodded to Tonto and the two pets in the shade of an evergreen. “Like you said earlier, they’ll warn us if anything comes around.”
Venus grew quiet, her worried gaze wandering over the landscape. A sigh escaped her, one full of trepidation. He frowned. Something bothered his new mate.
“What is wrong, little warrior?”
“I don’t expect you to understand.”
“Try telling me,” he said. “You might be surprised.”
Her gaze moved from the field to the limbs overhead and finally settled on Volund. “It bothers me that Dr. Zeon is dead. He was a good man as well as a good friend, so I suspect he had to have been returning this way to warn me of something.”
“What do you think it was?” “I have no idea.”
They lay quietly together, her hand stroking his upper arm, his hand palming the curve of her hip. Although hot, the wind served to dry the perspiration from their bodies, and Volund enjoyed the notion that he once more had someone to love. Since Zi-Ahda’s death, it had been a long road of misery for him, but somehow he sensed Zi-Ahda would approve of Venus.
“How will you find others to help re-populate the Earth?” Venus asked suddenly as she wiggled backward and pressed her bare ass into Volund’s tilk.
He closed his eyes as his sapin twitched, but it had been sated for the time being. “We are time travelers. We’ll go back in time to bring good stock or extractees back to this period.”
She twisted so she could look up at him. “Isn’t that cruel?”
He raised both eyebrows. What an odd question! “Cruel? How so?”
“I think it’s wrong to bring someone from say 1700 to here, where it’s all desolation, hardship, and littered with dangers such as the Bone Eaters.”
“Ah,” he replied. “We won’t bring anyone back against their will.”
“But should you tell them the truth. No one will want to come here to my time.” “You’d be surprised what hells are worse than this place,” he said.
Venus sucked in a breath, sat up suddenly, and then scooted around to face him. “Can you bring my parents back?” A huge grin spread across her face. “You can, can’t you!” She stood and snatched her frayed garments out from under a broken support beam and quickly donned them. “We can go back and get my parents, then I can be with them again, and they can work on fixing the problems caused by the virus!” Venus tied the remains of her T-shirt between her breasts. “Come on, Volund. What are we waiting for? Let’s go tell Jaxxon.”
“Venus, time travel doesn’t work the way you think it does,” Volund began. He sensed where this discussion was going and it pained him that she would undoubtedly be hurt and extremely angry with him. “We can’t go back to get your parents.”
She retrieved the M-16 and her pack, then faced him, a frown wrinkling her smooth brow. “What? Don’t be silly. You just said you can go back in time to bring people back to this era.”
He nodded. “That is correct, little warrior, but there is a time issue that applies to bringing someone here. We can’t retrieve your parents.”
A hot light appeared in Venus’s eyes. She planted a fist on each of her hips and looked hard at him. “What? Why?”
“It just won’t work. Three full generations have to pass to prevent paradoxes. It deals with….” He searched for the right English word, but he was so desperate to avoid her anger and resulting sadness that the word eluded him. “I can’t find the word, Venus, but it deals with people being reborn.”
“Reincarnation?” she said, her disbelief obvious.
He nodded. “Anyone brought to a future time period from a too soon past will start to age rapidly and then turn to dust.”
“I don’t believe you!” Venus yelled. She spun on her heel. “Let’s go, Tonto!” Without a backward glance, she marched across the open field.
“Venus, wait!” Volund called, dismay clenching his heart.
Chapter Eight
Venus ran toward the outer city. There was no way she could back right now. She needed time alone to think. Both Volund and Jaxxon stirred more than her blood. They were slowly creeping into her heart—which scared the hell out of her.
The city’s old storage shed came into view, its doors still secure, save for more rust that had made its way over the entire expanse instead of just one corner.
Venus checked her surroundings before she opened the shed in search of one of her hidden weapons stashes. Tonto lay down, giving her the signal the area was clear. Ino and Ka watched her back as she opened the big metal door, and waited for her eyesight to adjust to the dark interior.
She hadn’t been out of the city in ages, and if there was any chance of game beyond the corporation limit, Venus knew she couldn’t use her M-16. The sound alone would scare off anything in the area. Well, except for the Bone Eaters.
Nothing ever scared those monsters.
Once inside the building, she headed straight for her crossbow. The steel broad head bolts would go through any animal’s hide without destroying the meat, and the projectiles would also penetrate the Bone Eaters’ skulls if she needed it to kill one or more of them.
After she removed the weapon from its wall hanger, she slowly traced the delicate patterns carved into it. Tonto slipped up next her, his tail pounding the ground as he studied her.
“During Dad’s time away from the lab he loved to work with wood,” she told Tonto. The bow had been fashioned from a piece her father had carved before his death. “At least I have something of his to remember him by.” Venus slung the bow across her back, followed by a heavy polyester quiver containing the crossbow bolts. “Let’s go, boy.”
Invasion of Her Heart Page 6
