by Abby Blake
She rolled her eyes, certain that even affected by some unknown chemical, her husbands would cut off their favorite body parts before ever hurting her. Mischief gripped her and she couldn’t help but ask the obvious question. “And what if that husband is you?”
Lachlan assessed her for a moment and then said confidently, “It won’t be.”
He left the room before she could come up with a smart-ass answer. Unfortunately, even though she knew it was meant as a reassurance, she couldn’t quite shake off the thought that he’d managed to resist her for a couple of months, so chemical or no, he’d had plenty of practice.
She decided to make dessert as well, anything to keep her hands busy and hold the tears at bay. Damn.
Chapter Seven
“We can’t go back to the lab in this state.” Ryan rolled his eyes at his brother, the master of the understatement. They’d left Mikayla behind in the hopes of getting their libidos under control, and things just seemed to have gotten worse. They’d only been away from the base for one night, yet he’d had more wet dreams than he could remember even from his teenage years. He was almost convinced that if he masturbated one more time he was going to rub the top layer of skin off his cock.
“So what do we do?” he asked Ty. He felt completely exasperated, but heading back to the lab and Mikayla just didn’t sound like a very good idea. Ty shook his head, obviously having no answer to his question.
“Do you think the others are affected as well?” Ryan felt his blood run hot and cold at Ty’s softly spoken question. What if the others were walking penises as well? Ryan sure felt like his cock was doing the thinking for him.
“I don’t know,” he said, trying to hold the fear for Mikayla in check. At the moment he and Ty probably presented more of a problem than any of the others. He couldn’t imagine Lachlan or Brock or even Matt not contacting them if they had such a serious problem. “But maybe we should call in. Explain to Matt. See if he can find a reason for what’s happening.”
Ty nodded and reached for the communication equipment.
* * * *
John looked as relieved as Peter felt. It was childish and pathetic, but he was really glad he wasn’t the only one affected by whatever was going on. Matt led them both into the lab, gathered the stuff he would need to take blood samples, and set to work.
Once he’d collected and labeled their samples, he grabbed a new needle and turned it on himself. He cursed a blue streak as he tried to collect his own blood. It took Peter a few moments to realize that Matt’s hands were now shaking. He’d been fine when they wandered into the lab.
“It’s in the lab?” Peter asked Matt. John made a noise of surprise, but Matt seemed to be gritting his teeth as he nodded.
“Buzz Lachlan. Tell him to keep everyone out of the lab. Until we know what’s affecting us, no one else comes in. Are we clear?” Peter nodded and headed over to the intercom system. He hesitated when John asked, “If whatever is affecting us is in here, wouldn’t it be better to leave?”
“Maybe,” Matt said slowly. “When was the last time you were in the lab?”
“Yesterday,” John answered quickly.
“And do you feel like its effect lessened over time?”
Peter glanced at John and then shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe a little.”
“Did you feel it spike when we walked in earlier?”
“Yes,” John answered, “but I was thinking of Mikayla.” Peter nodded in agreement. He, too, had been thinking of their lovely wife, a subject he’d had on his mind a lot the last day or so.
“Okay, whatever is doing this is A, in the room, B, has lasting effects that maybe reduce slowly over time, and C, seems to reinfect with additional exposure. My best chance is to stay here in the lab, test everything, and try to match it back to whatever contaminants we find in our blood work.” Matt ran his hands down his face, clearly feeling overwhelmed. “Assuming of course that it actually shows up in our blood work,” he added.
“We should stay here as well, help however we can. It might be enough to distract us so that we’re not tempted to seek out Mikayla,” John said quietly. Peter heartily agreed. There was no way to tell how Mikayla would cope if all eight of her husbands suddenly became animals only interested in sex.
“Shit,” Matt said as he undid the top button of his jeans. “You’ve coped with this for how long? I’m ready to go insane, and it’s only been a few minutes.”
“It wasn’t this bad before. It’s like it multiplied tenfold. Tell us what to do,” Peter demanded as he tried to ignore the throbbing in his own groin. “What are we looking for? What are the most likely sources?”
Matt shook his head as if trying to clear it. “On an alien planet it could be practically anything.”
“What would it be on Earth? It’s a type of aphrodisiac, right?”
“Seems to be,” Matt agreed in a strangled voice. “Something airborne, maybe an animal pheromone or scent? We’re certainly reacting like dogs to a female in heat.”
The intercom buzzed before Peter actually got around to calling Lachlan. Fortunately, it was Lachlan.
“I’ve just heard from Ryan and Ty,” he said without preamble. “They’re both affected, even more so outside the compound. Have you been able to get the blood tests started?”
“Not exactly,” Matt said, still sounding like he was clenching his teeth, “but I’m fairly certain that something in the lab is causing the problem. It’s affecting me now as well. Almost the moment I walked in the room my heart rate and blood pressure shot up, and well, I seem to be suffering the same symptoms.” He dropped his hand over his hard cock but seemed to realize what he was doing and deliberately pulled back.
Peter glanced down to realize he was doing the same thing. He ripped his hand away and tried to think clearly.
“Do Ryan and Ty have any theories?”
“Only that it seems to be worse outside the compound,” Lachlan replied.
“What about you, Matt?” Lachlan asked, but before Matt could answer, a memory popped into Peter’s mind, and he moved quickly to interrupt the conversation.
“Lachlan, I remember reading something about a study on mouse tears back on Earth. There was research that suggested that the male’s tears were an aphrodisiac to the female. When I was in here the other day, the gray mouse-like critter we’ve got in the lab had some sort of fluid leaking from its eyes and was rubbing it all over its body. Could it be mating season for these things? Would another animal’s mating musk affect humans?”
They moved closer to the little critter’s cage and watched as the little ball of fluff groomed itself and smoothed its tears all over its body. The damn thing was practically shining with so much fluid covering its fur.
“Hell, it’s a solid theory,” Matt said with an awkward shrug as he once again adjusted his cock.
“I’ll get onto Ryan and Ty. See if they have any objections to dropping our furry visitor back into the wild.”
Matt, John and Peter waited in tense silence until Lachlan’s voice came through the intercom. “Okay, Ryan says releasing the creature will at least give as an idea if the effect is lessened over time—assuming that the critter is causing the problem. If nothing else it will eliminate one possible cause and we can go onto the next. Make sure you release it outside the compound. The last thing we need is one of these things crawling back into our quarters,”
Matt nodded at his brothers then moved to grab the cage containing the mouse-like creature. Peter moved closer to the intercom. “Lachlan, keep Mikayla safe. Don’t let any of us near her.”
“Understood.”
* * * *
Matt tried to walk a straight line with his eyes damn near crossed and his cock so hard it practically had a personality of its own. He walked out the gate and several hundred yards into the brush land before opening the cage door and letting their former guest leave.
What happened next was a little disconcerting. Several gray furry bodies came run
ning from different directions, all landing near what Matt was beginning to suspect was a female. Some of the newcomers fought amongst themselves, others tried to mount the tiny creature. They were wild and aggressive, and the female seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.
She made a loud purring sound as she rubbed her eyes and then smoothed her paws all over her furry body. The noise and mating musk seemed to drive the males into a frenzy. And damn it all to hell, Matt could feel his own erection getting harder. How was that even possible?
But it did lend credence to Peter’s theory.
Spinning on his heel, Matt practically sprinted back to the compound and locked himself back in the lab with Peter and John. He headed straight for the intercom.
“Lachlan, I think we have a fairly solid theory. It looks like it is mating season for those creatures. Maybe Ryan and Ty should head back to the compound, avoiding every critter on this damn planet, and we’ll see if we can lessen the effect with medication or vitamins or something.” He glanced at his brothers, relieved to see their faces less strained. He realized then that, even though he still felt incredibly horny, and his cock still had a mind of its own, he wasn’t quite as frantic as he’d been around the furry creature. “We need to contact a couple of medical researchers and see if they can find a permanent solution. Hopefully it’s only a seasonal thing, but this is going to affect mining operations rather severely. I don’t even want to think about what could happen in a mining colony affected by mating musk. Hell, we thought the last planet was fucked up.”
“I’ll get onto it right now,” Lachlan assured him. “Good job, guys.”
Matt looked over at Peter to see the man smiling. “What’s so funny?” he asked, feeling his irritation spike unreasonably. Thank god Mikayla wasn’t here because he had an awful feeling he’d be fighting his brothers for the right to mount their wife. Shit.
“I was just thinking,” Peter said, his voice sounding like he held back laughter, “that we’ve just discovered the first women’s perfume that can overcome erectile dysfunction.”
Matt started to laugh, Peter and John joining him a moment later. Hell, the medical possibilities were enormous, and there was a really good chance that they would far outweigh the possible profits from mining. Maybe their contract on this planet would be done early.
* * * *
Mikayla sat on the sofa flanked by Bryce and Brock. It felt a little over the top, but considering that her musk-affected husbands now outnumbered the not-musk-affected husbands, she could understand the inclination. She just hoped this didn’t convince them all to tiptoe around her again.
“How much longer?” she asked, trying to sound like she wasn’t whining. She’d been sitting around for two whole days. Having nothing to do was starting to piss her off. At least in the lab she would have computer work and filing to do. She hadn’t even been allowed to cook the evening meals.
“Baby girl,” Brock said in his warning voice that usually preceded an O-ring gag, “you need to be patient.”
“Fuck patient,” she said very deliberately. Hell, if he made her wear the gag, at least it might lead to something more interesting than sitting around and staring at the ceiling. Brock grinned, obviously well aware of her intentions, and then went back to reading his book. Damn, he was a really good Dom.
She growled in annoyance. Bryce chuckled at her pathetic tantrum but pulled her onto his lap and held her tight. He didn’t, however, let her wriggle against his cock. Damn. Maybe the mating musk had affected her, too. She certainly felt ready to mate with all her men.
“I just got a communication from the medical research labs,” Lachlan said as he walked through the door. “They’re sending three scientists to continue the work Matt has begun. All of them are women which I think is a damn good idea considering what the musk does to men. They should be here in a couple of days.”
Mikayla was on her feet as anger surged through her.
“Did you just say that three women are coming to the same facility that is not only my home,” she growled as she started pacing back and forth, “but also happens to contain five of my husbands affected by the need to mate?”
Lachlan’s smile was so not helping her temper.
“Baby girl,” Brock said again, this time more forcefully. She’d just about had it. Dom or not, husband or not, trying to protect her or not, she wasn’t putting up with anymore condescending bullshit. If she wanted to be angry about other women moving in on her men, then she had the right to be fucking angry.
Bryce seemed to be holding back a laugh, but Lachlan’s next comment had her rounding on him in anger.
“It would seem, little one, that the men are not the only ones to be affected by the mating musk.” She really, really wanted to hit him about now, but the fact that she’d have to jump just to reach his smug face and that she’d probably break a bone in her hand against his chiseled jaw, held her back.
Oh, yeah, and the fact that violence was wrong.
And he was her husband, and she loved him.
What the fuck was wrong with her?
Chapter Eight
Ty looked up as Lachlan entered the room with Mikayla draped over his shoulder. His cock immediately leapt to life at the proximity of his mate. Great. So much for getting over the musk’s effects. He’d begun to think that the worst was over, but one glimpse at his wife as she hung ass up, facedown over Lachlan’s shoulder had his libido screaming back to life.
“Where’s Matt?”
“Here,” Matt said as he entered the room. He took a step toward Mikayla but then changed his mind and took a step away. Ryan entered the room behind him, and Matt held his arm out to hold him back. Ryan looked pissed at his brother’s heavy handedness, but when he saw Mikayla, he too took a step away.
“Matt, it would seem that men aren’t the only ones affected by the mating musk. Can I suggest you take a sample of blood before she recovers from the orgasms Brock and Bryce just gave her?”
Ty’s cock throbbed painfully as images of Mikayla in the throes of climax rolled through his head. Matt must’ve been imagining them too because he seemed to shake himself before he nodded and moved quickly to grab the equipment. Lachlan lowered Mikayla to a sitting position, and that’s when Ty noticed the ball gag. “Tried to bite me,” Lachlan explained. Mikayla hummed as she tried to reach for Lachlan’s cock. He moved out of the way and gave her a warning growl. She simply tried again.
“She’s been edgy and impatient for the last few days, but it wasn’t until she learned that three female medical researchers are on their way to the planet that she went completely berserk.” Lachlan held her arms by her side even as he explained her behavior. “If Brock and Bryce hadn’t been there to help me, I’ve would’ve had to tie her to the spanking bench.” Mikayla made a noise so full of longing that Ty figured she really liked that idea.
A theory was working its way through Ty’s brain, but he wasn’t sure if it was based in fact or his own needs, but he voiced it anyway, looking to his twin for either confirmation or a smack upside the head.
“In the wild, mating musk is usually followed by frenzied mating.” Lachlan raised an eyebrow daring him to finish that sentence. “I mean,” Ty said carefully, “once the mating is done the musk’s effects seem to dissipate quite rapidly.”
“So you think that by all of you mating our wife, you’ll all recover faster from the musk’s effects?” Lachlan sounded skeptical, but he was smiling slightly.
“It’s a fairly sound theory,” Ryan added. “And I know that I feel in control enough that I’m no longer a danger to her. What about you, Ty?” Ty nodded, trying to discourage the erection tenting his pants. If they wanted to convince Lachlan that they were in control enough to keep Mikayla safe, it was probably best done without a cock hard enough to drive nails.
John and Peter walked into the lab, saw Mikayla, and both immediately turned around to leave.
“John, Peter,” Lachlan called them back. “We have another issue.
”
Concern covering both their faces, they walked into the room, careful to stay as far away from Mikayla as possible.
“Mikayla wants to mate with all of you.” The woman in question nodded her head enthusiastically. “Ryan and Ty think it’s probably a way to lessen the musk’s effect. We’re expecting visitors, so I’m pretty sure our wife would be much happier if you were all back to normal.”
Peter looked skeptical, but John looked willing to try just about anything to get over the mind-numbing effects of the musk’s chemicals. Lachlan must’ve seen Peter’s concern because he spoke as he removed the gag from Mikayla’s mouth and touched her face lovingly.
“I’ll stay as well, just in case anyone gets out of hand. Although,” he said as he finally released Mikayla from his gentle hold, “I’m beginning to think it’s not Mikayla who needs my protection.”
She smiled at Lachlan, the type of smile that suggested evil intent, and then slid off the table and stalked toward Ty as she discarded her clothes. Naked, she moved into his arms, and he held her close, kissing her gently. She practically purred as Ryan moved up behind her and started kissing her neck and shoulders.
Determined to take it slowly, Ty kissed Mikayla’s jaw, then her neck and then left a wet trail with his tongue as he lowered to worship her puckered nipples. She held his head to her breast as he sucked, licked, and nibbled on her hardened nubs. She grabbed at his shirt, dragging it over his head, but he latched back on to her breast the moment the material was clear. She pushed her hands behind her back and by Ryan’s low groan Ty figured she was undoing the zipper on his pants.
Ty’s cock throbbed in answer to his woman’s need and he lowered his hands to release it from the confining denim. Mikayla lifted his head away from her breasts, her fingers insistent and demanding in his hair and pushed him lower to her mound. Pleased by her demand and more than eager to oblige, Ty thrust his tongue into her wet folds, separating the flesh and seeking the bundle of nerves that would send her excitement into overdrive.
