by Ivy Barrett
That had been at least ten minutes ago and Bron still hadn’t given her access to Nunez.
Bron moved to her side and wrapped his arm around her waist. “You don’t need to be afraid. I’ll be right beside you the entire time.”
“No way.” She looked up at him so he’d understand this was non-negotiable. “I go in alone. She needs to know I’m not afraid of her, which I’m not.”
Bron smiled, the expression almost patronizing. “The only way you’re going into the same room as that sociopath is if there’s a force field in between you.”
“Fine, but you and LeAuntiez stay here. I have to do this alone.” She had been sweet and submissive continually for the past few days. It gave her the confidence and the will to put her foot down now. If Bron punished her for her stubbornness, so be it. She trusted her mates to never give her more than she could bear. Nunez was in custody, which meant she would be punished, but former Minister Zapt was still on the loose.
Neither Bron nor LeAuntiez looked pleased by her insistence, but Bron nodded then turned to one of the security team members monitoring the multiple displays. “Lorton, take Nunez to interrogation room one. Secure her and activate the divider.”
“Yes, sir.” With crisp, purposeful movements the crewmember left the security hub.
A few minutes later, Bron took Kyla down the hall to the interrogation room. “We’ll be watching from the hub, but you’re perfectly safe. She can’t harm you.”
She smiled at him. “Stop fussing. Do you sense any fear?” She raised her eyebrows expectantly and he shook his head. “That’s because I’m really not afraid.”
He scanned the door open for her, but stayed in the hall as she entered the room.
Despite all of her assurances, Kyla’s heart began to pound as soon as she saw Dr. Nunez. Rather than a white lab coat, she wore a fluorescent yellow and green uniform designed to draw attention if a prisoner attempted escape. Her dark hair was pulled back into a severe ponytail and dark smudges shadowed her eyes, but her eyes themselves remained unchanged. They were still sharply assessing and cold. She’d been secured, both wrists and ankles restrained to an alloy chair. The precaution seemed like overkill with the energy barrier softly buzzing between them.
A chair had been provided for Kyla as well, but she stood behind it and rested her hands on the top edge of the sculpted back.
“I remember you,” Nunez began with a smirk, clearly meaning to control the conversation. “You’re the virgin’s friend. I was ready to kill you, but Zapt insisted we test your blood. Imagine my surprise when we discovered another potential mate. Free bonus, gotta love that.”
Kyla absorbed the information without allowing herself to react. She’d heard this sort of thing her entire life. Everywhere she went she was introduced as Erin’s friend. “What a coincidence. Bron is ready to end you, but I insisted on speaking with you first.”
Nunez cocked one eyebrow, making Kyla want to slap her. “‘Bron’? Guess I don’t have to ask who you fucked to get access to me.”
“What did you do to Erin? She’s in a coma right now and they can’t figure out why. If you help us save her, Chancellor Savator has agreed to spare your life. If you’ll tell us where Zapt is hiding, he agreed to turn you loose.” It was utter nonsense, but Kyla didn’t care. This creature had rounded up human females and sold them to the highest bidder. The worst part was, Nunez was human. She was the lowest sort of traitor.
Nunez narrowed her gaze, searching Kyla’s face. Kyla stared back, unblinking and calm.
“What assurance do I have that they’ll follow through?” Nunez asked. “If I tell you what you want to know, they’ll no longer have a reason to keep me alive.”
Exactly right. Kyla was only telling Nunez what she wanted to hear. The trick was convincing her that Kyla had sufficient influence over the situation to make it happen. Which she probably did. Kyla just had no interest in saving this bitch’s life. “Bron knows how important Erin is to me. And I’ve become important to Bron. And LeAuntiez,” she added with a mysterious smile.
Slowly, Nunez’s eyes widened and her jaw began to drop. Then she snapped it close and straightened her back. “It didn’t take you long to turn whore. You seemed almost as innocent as Erin. I thought you’d hold out at least a month.”
“Erin is dying,” Kyla sneered. “She’s like a sister to me. I will do anything to save her.” There was no need to act concerned. She was misrepresenting the specifics, but the danger was real. “Tell me where Zapt is hiding. That will buy you enough time to fully explain what you did to Erin and the others.”
Nunez grinned, pleased by something Kyla had said. “You didn’t say anything about the others before. If you want details on everyone, I require a car and sufficient funds to relocate.”
If Nunez was stating conditions, she clearly thought this was an honest negotiation. Good. That was exactly what Kyla needed her to believe. “Let’s take this one step at a time. Start with Zapt. Prove to us that you’re going to cooperate.”
Nunez just stared back at her in contemplative silence.
“Why are you protecting him?” Kyla let challenge creep into her tone. “He deserted you, left you to take the fall for all of this.”
Slowly, Nunez’s chin rose and her gaze iced over. “He had no choice. I would have done the same to him.”
“Then you have a very different relationship than me and my mates. Either one of them would take a bullet for me. I’m the only reason you’re still alive.”
Ignoring the insult, Nunez latched on to one word. “‘Mates?’” She shuddered. “You let those savages claim you?”
“Best decision I ever made. Now, would you like me to help you or not?”
“Can I think about it?”
Kyla started to push, then changed her mind. Maybe a night alone with her thoughts was exactly what Nunez needed to see reason. “Your execution is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Once it begins, even I won’t be able to save you.” Without another word, Kyla turned her back on Nunez and walked out of the interrogation room.
* * *
Bron piloted his shuttle back to the house he shared with LeAuntiez, and hopefully their soon-to-be mate. Hearing Kyla brag that allowing them to claim her was the best decision she’d ever made sent a spike of joy through Bron’s soul. His pulse raced and energy sizzled through his bloodstream, until he realized she was only playing a part, convincing their enemy that she was in control. There was more truth to that ‘role’ than he cared to admit. Until Kyla allowed them to claim her, she controlled their future, their only shot at true happiness. Still, the claim had sprung readily to her lips. Was it possible she had begun to think of them as her mates, or at least entertain the idea of accepting their claim?
“Do you think Nunez will buckle?” Kyla asked as they neared the area of Texas that had once been Ft. Hood. She’d hardly spoken since they left the Elizian. They’d allowed her silence, knowing she needed time to reflect.
“She’ll buckle,” LeAuntiez predicted from the middle-facing seats behind them. “I could see it in her eyes. You were brilliant. I had no idea you’d be such a shrewd interrogator.”
Kyla made a face, clearly embarrassed by the praise. “I just told her what she wanted to hear and mixed enough truth with my lies to make them believable.”
“Solid strategy.” Bron glanced away from the holo-controls and smiled at her. “But it’s surprisingly hard to pull off.”
“I’m not sure I did.” She sighed. “I guess we’ll know tomorrow.”
They didn’t speak again until he’d landed the shuttle in the back yard of their borrowed house. The original owners were either dead or had long since abandoned the property. Without some sort of aircraft, it was impossible to navigate the area, so humans had given up and moved on. Over half of the US was the same. The Skarilians had done so much damage to infrastructure that human cities had been consolidated, and government assistance was only offered in the fully functioning sectors
of the once thriving country. Other countries had been hit even harder. Most of Europe had been leveled by Skarilian bombs.
Kyla immediately released her safety restraints and headed for the hatchway. LeAuntiez paused by a compartment inset in the fuselage. Bron shot him a quizzical look and LeAuntiez grinned as he retrieved the small bottle of lubricant they kept stashed on the shuttle in case of unexpected eruptions of passion. They both wanted Kyla so badly, such a scene seemed inevitable.
“We spend too much time indoors,” LeAuntiez said meaningfully.
Bron moved past him and opened one of the compartments near the back of the shuttle. Withdrawing a rolled-up blanket, which was part of the emergency landing kit, Bron preceded LeAuntiez off the shuttle.
Their house was isolated enough that it was highly unlikely anyone would see them if they shared pleasure in the back yard. Still, Kyla’s deep-seated modesty would make such play uncomfortable. She’d feel vulnerable and exposed. It would test her trust and willingness to surrender.
The night was calm and temperate, but Kyla was too distracted to notice the twinkling stars or the warm breeze. They were about to fix that.
“Kyla,” Bron called as she put her hand on the railing, meaning to climb onto the redwood deck.
She pivoted toward him without letting go of the handrail. “Yes?”
“Come here.” LeAuntiez motioned her toward a large park-style bench near the back corner of the yard. Though overgrown now, the multi-tiered garden must have been beautiful once. A few of the plants still bloomed among the tangle of indigenous weeds, stubborn like their lovely female. LeAuntiez sat on the bench and encouraged Bron to sit beside him. Bron quickly spread the blanket in the space between the bench and the garden then joined his podmate on the bench. LeAuntiez positioned Kyla on the blanket, directly in front of them, garden at her back. “Undress,” LeAuntiez said. “We want to see your body bathed in moonlight.”
She looked around, clearly alarmed by the directive. “I can’t get naked right here in front of God and everyone. Someone could see me.”
“There is no one here but me and Bron, and you just told Nunez that loving us was the smartest thing you’d ever done.”
“Why would I love either one of you? You’re both insufferable.” Despite her claim, her gaze shone with the very emotion she denied.
LeAuntiez’s only response was a chuckle.
“You’re stalling,” Bron pointed out. “We want you naked. You get naked.”
A mischievous half-smile hinted at the purpose for her hesitation. “I’m not comfortable out here. I’d rather go inside.”
“Did we ask what you prefer?” Again LeAuntiez took the lead. “I gave you an order and I’m still waiting for your compliance.”
Bron sat back and watched. LeAuntiez often allowed him to lead and Kyla seemed to expect him to be more hard-edged. Tonight LeAuntiez would fuck her virgin ass, so it made more sense for him to guide the events. Tonight Kyla would learn that LeAuntiez could be just as demanding, perhaps even more so than Bron. Bron tended to stick with straight-on aggression. LeAuntiez, on the other hand, liked to be creative with his punishments.
“I’ll comply with anything you ask as soon as we go inside.”
LeAuntiez stood and reached her with one long stride, then ripped her top open and dragged it off her body. The urgent motions made her breasts jiggle and sway. Excitement shone in her gaze until he gave each generous mound a firm slap. She gasped and her eyes widened. Clearly, she hadn’t expected such treatment from her rescuer. Still, her nipples immediately gathered into tight little beads, responding despite her uncertainty. Without saying a word, LeAuntiez caught both tips between his thumbs and forefingers and squeezed until she cried out sharply.
“Let go! Please, I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” She tugged on his wrists, but he just kept on pinching.
Suddenly she realized what he wanted, and franticly took off her pants and shoes. When she stood there naked, he finally released her abused nipples. Her lips trembled and mutinous anger flashed in her expressive eyes. LeAuntiez bent and caressed her breasts, adoring the tender nipples with his lips and tongue. Gradually her agitation eased and she relaxed, but there was still a wildness in her eyes.
“Turn around,” LeAuntiez ordered, his voice cold and harsh.
“Why are you so angry?” She reached out for him, but his look warned her away. “I told you I was sorry.”
“I do not repeat orders,” he reminded.
With a frustrated sigh, she turned around.
Fascinated by the unusual dynamic, Bron scooted to the edge of the bench and watched the scene play out. LeAuntiez seldom unleashed this side of his personality. He’d confessed to Bron that the darkness would control him if he allowed it to surface too often. This hunger for cruelty had been born of pain and then nurtured by decades of violence and loneliness. Such feelings were all too familiar to Bron. They were a mirror image of his own.
“Move your feet apart.” She did. “Wider.” She separated her feet until her thighs parted. “Now get on your hands and knees. Do not bend your arms. I want access to your breasts.”
She glanced over her shoulder, pleading with her eyes, but it did no good.
“Now.” He swatted her ass, but not hard. It was another warning.
Slowly, she lowered herself to the blanket, positioning her body as he’d directed, hands and knees, arms extended so her breasts hung down. Her hair slid forward, hiding her face. LeAuntiez immediately reacted, tucking her hair behind her ears on both sides.
“You will not hide behind your hair,” he told her sternly. “If it slides forward again, you will immediately fix it.”
“Yes, Sir.” She stared at the blanket, features tense, yet expressionless.
Worried that LeAuntiez was pushing too hard, Bron concentrated on their link. LeAuntiez’s emotions churned in the distance like a raging wildfire threatening to consume everything in its path. Kyla’s mind was harder to reach. She was still hesitant to share, so she internalized her emotions, tried her best to lock them away. Even so, Bron sensed uncertainty and frustration, but also anticipation and desire. As with everything they’d expected from her, she was willingly submitting to this. No, she wasn’t just reluctantly allowing it. She wanted it, needed it with an intensity that scared her.
LeAuntiez knelt beside her hip and rested his hand on her nicely rounded ass. “You do not have permission to come. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“You expected us to wait, even though you belong to us. Now you will wait for your pleasure no matter what I do to you. Does that sound like a fair consequence for your disobedience?”
“I thought you’d spank me,” she confessed. “If I’d known this is how you’d react, I wouldn’t have argued with the directive.”
He slid his hand lower, teasing her folds with his fingertips. “Now you know.”
“Yes, Sir.” She sounded utterly miserable, and Bron fought back his need to defend her, to talk LeAuntiez out of this punishment. That wouldn’t be fair to LeAuntiez. The Celestian clearly needed the emotional release as badly as Kyla would need physical release by the time LeAuntiez was finished with her.
LeAuntiez pushed his middle two fingers into her core, then withdrew and lightly slapped her clit. She sucked in a breath, but didn’t quite gasp. He slid his hand forward and back, lightly fucking her with his fingers. His other hand reached beneath her and slapped her clit again, harder this time.
She gasped, then moaned and hunger rippled across their link. Their mate would never admit it out loud, likely hadn’t accepted it yet, but her body responded strongly to pain.
“Don’t you come,” LeAuntiez snapped then delivered several more slaps.
“Yes, Sir. I won’t, Sir.” Then in an agonized whisper, “Even if it kills me.”
LeAuntiez watched her closely and his presence grew stronger in Bron’s mind. LeAuntiez was using their link, assessing her reactions to everything he did.
“If I want to see these breasts, you open your top.” He slapped her breasts lightly, making them sway.
“I will, Sir. I’m sorry.”
“If I want to see this pussy, you show me.” He rammed his fingers into her core with short, lightning-fast thrusts. “Your body is not yours to withhold. You will never do so again.”
“I’m sorry, Sir.” Her voice sounded constrained and breathless.
LeAuntiez fucked her harder, plunging two long fingers into her with each stroke. “To whom do you belong?”
“You and Bron.”
He slapped her breast, then pinched her nipple without interrupting the demanding rhythm of his hand.
Kneel on her other side, LeAuntiez urged. She denied you too.
Thrilled by the invitation, Bron moved to Kyla’s other side and sank to the blanket on his knees. He reached beneath her and squeezed the weighty mound hard enough to make her moan. She tossed back her hair and turned her head, meeting his gaze. He expected a silent plea for mercy. What he saw was wild abandon. She was loving this!
“You’ll know better next time,” he reinforced LeAuntiez’s position as he pinched her nipple, twisting it just hard enough to make her cry out.
She tore her gaze away from his and stared at the blanket. Her hair swished forward, so Bron tucked it back behind her ear, his fingers lingering against her soft skin.
Suddenly her head came up and she tried to twist around.
“Eyes forward,” LeAuntiez snapped.
With obvious reluctance she complied.
Curious, Bron looked back to see what had caused her reaction. LeAuntiez had drizzled lube into the crevice between her cheeks and now he was stroking her anus. She always wiggled and protested when they played with her ass, and then she’d come harder than ever.
Finger-fuck her pussy, LeAuntiez suggested. Let’s give her a taste of what it will be like.
Bron nodded and crawled closer to her upturned ass. LeAuntiez carefully breached her with the tip of his long middle finger, but he didn’t stop there. After applying more lube, he eased two more fingers in beside the first. Her delicate tissues stretched around him and Kyla whimpered.
