by Mima
That’s when she began to dissolve. Crying out, her light faltered in terror. This wasn’t her doing. She didn’t understand. The man beneath her growled, worrying at her wrist, and Malla sobbed as his teeth sank into her arm, his throat working as he swallowed thickly.
Grady’s moaning rapture behind her stilled her panic. He was with her. He would
watch over her. She believed in him, even when the room around them disappeared. There was skin pressed to her front and back. Her vagina was full and her heart beat, but she couldn’t breathe. The weight of Grady was gone. He was just a presence surrounding her. Vel moved freely beneath her, stroking more smoothly inside her. It was like making love in zero gravity.
Both men set up a rhythm. Completely entwined, Malla was no longer sure who was in whom. They were a circuit, flowing and feeding. The light flickered and spun, dark, clear white, misty gray. They rolled together, bodies pulling and pushing around her. Sensation battered Malla’s body, but she couldn’t breathe. Her energy faltered again. Where were they?
What had happened? Grady slammed her body down onto Vel’s cock. The pressure, the heat, so beautiful. From inside she rippled up and down him, feeling the impact of Grady’s drive into Vel’s body beneath her. Suddenly, it came to her in a flash of understanding. Vel had phazed, and taken them with him. They were somewhere between two physical places.
The shock of it coincided with Vel lifting his mouth away from her arm, licking across the wounds. He grabbed her face and tilted her head up. He stared at her, gray eyes fierce.
Grady drove her down onto Vel, and she saw Vel’s pupils dilate. Still he held her eyes. Then Grady drew away and sank into his ass, and Vel’s lips parted. There was blood in the corner of his mouth, and a rivulet of it down over his jaw and throat.
She stared at this man, his red-gold hair, his silver-gray eyes, the scar on his cheek, his tense mouth. They stared at each other, and when Grady brought them together again, they came, staring into each other’s eyes as the fuzzy nothingness around them exploded in pleasure. Her core clamped and burned, her muscles tightening. Her light exploded into full force again, coursing like a river. Grady gathered them both up in his huge reach.
She'd never feared the hunger before. It had never come close to touching her. But this couple's needs could destroy her. They were both so fragile, so desperate. Incredibly, there was a second tug on her energy, from behind. Grady. Grady was drinking from her, too.
Could they suck her away? But Vel's eyes were holding hers. He was asking for it all, but his belief in her was clear beneath his demand. She'd thought she had the power. Either she did or she didn't. Malla dissolved her well, and gave everything to her Prince. She had no flesh.
She had no breath. There was no pleasure, no will, just light. The world was energy, and she merely a conduit passing it on.
Vel’s head snapped back, his spine arched back, his hands crushed her skull, and he writhed, bucking and twisting in Grady’s grip. She loved seeing him in that moment, flesh enraptured, life reborn. The image of the man faded in an overexposure of light. White took the world.
Abruptly, glaring electric light seared her eyes. It was cold, and the sound of humming fans registered a heartbeat before Grady grunted, impacting on his shoulder. Malla and Vel tumbled all over as they landed in a heap, almost on their heads, in the middle of a corridor.
Gasping, Malla stared at the composite floor, one of her forearms leaving a streak of bright red against the gray metal. She sucked in a breath, relieved to have that ability again.
Her knee throbbed, twisted and scraped under the press of a huge body. The bodies around her shifted, and she moaned as her vagina registered the hard use and sudden wrenching departure the fall had delivered. Grady struggled at her side, sitting up and grabbing Vel. He was laughing, roaring, crying.
“You fucking ass! Never step in front of a hit like that again! You’re back. Ah, Vel, you’re here, and I never let you go.”
Malla turned her head over her shoulder. The two men were so beautiful, hardened, honed bodies straining together as they hugged tight. Vel was on his knees, gripping Grady just as hard.
“Grady! Grady!” Vel was only slightly thinner than Grady, with a chest slightly less deep, and longer, leaner arms and legs.
Malla crawled away from them, pulling her one leg free from their tangle. She’d done it. She hadn’t used much ritual, but the healing had happened anyway. Spirit knew where her heart lay. Flopping onto her side, she lay on the icy floor, stunned, confused, overwhelmed, relieved.
And that’s what the shocked worker saw, when he walked around the corridor staring at a vid plate. He stopped. Stared at the bloody, naked, shivering, panting woman curled in the middle of the floor. Stared at the clinging, naked men to one side. She smiled to see his look, but his questioning shout sounded far away, tinny.
Vel said, “What? You never saw a Luo healing ritual before?”
He could do haughty really well. His words were ridiculous, of course, because the ritual was not at all common, or commonly shared.
The guard exclaimed something again, and Vel responded, “Relax. We’re all a little weak, but we’re going to be fine.” There was a pause. “Lady?”
Distantly, she heard “Shit” from Grady.
Malla lay on her side, listening to her heartbeat grow louder, and louder. Her long hair was trapped and pulled under one shoulder, but she didn’t have the ability to shift enough to free it. Grady’s large, square mug lowered into her vision, his light blue eyes like angry lasers.
His mouth moved but she couldn’t hear him. He looked over her shoulder, speaking urgently. Hot, huge hands settled on her shoulder and gently pulled her over onto her back.
She heard herself cry out from the cold metal. Vel’s sharp-featured face filled her vision, his mouth a flat line as two fingers settled on her neck in a pulse check. He glared at her.
What was there to be angry about? She’d done it. Vel was healed, and the lifemates were alive. And Shon could last another day, and Bea could take care of the worst of him.
Her team was safe. Malla closed her eyes, and let go.
Chapter Four
Shon paced in the living room. Bea watched him, big blue eyes huge, as she curled in one of the chairs. He’d been relieved by Kor almost an hour ago. He hadn’t been terribly surprised that Kor had gone to Malla out of turn. When he’d left, Malla and Grady were moaning like banshees in the bathroom. Kor hadn’t wasted much time. Shon hadn’t teased him about it when Kor stood stiffly by his side, reeking of shame and guilt. And sex. It was good of the man to come and free him off of duty, now that he was powered up again.
He’d stopped to talk about housing Malla’s fighter with the hangar staff. He’d gone to their apartments with the intention of ordering Grady to another session with Malla, knowing Grady would fight him at first but do what was best for Vel in the long run.
He’d discovered a nearly empty apartment. Bea had been sleeping. Standing and staring at Vel’s disconnected machines, he’d asked Kor to link the team up. The pleasure, pain, and desperation they’d got sent both men to their knees. Shon informed Bea they’d gone into the ritual early. Then he began to pace, and hadn’t stopped. Couldn’t stop.
Had something gone wrong, that Grady didn’t wait the required three days to initiate the ritual? Vel had obviously phazed them. If he wasn’t in control, didn’t fully recover from this sloppy ritual attempt, they could all be killed if he failed to bring them out of the phaze properly. They could be trapped in a wall, with pipes through their skulls.
But a few minutes ago, Shon had gotten a call from station staff. They’d been found, nude, in a corridor over in hangar B. They'd stopped at medical and were on their way. He’d undone the security on their inner door and entranceway, and when he heard them at the station door, turned to Bea.
“Are you ready to serve if they need you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Bea…” He gritted
his teeth. How could she still call him “sir” after months of sharing his bed? She just looked at him, pale, drained. They’d really pushed her. “Thank you.”
He turned to face the corridor as they came in. Vel. Upright, that confidence around him like a cloak. The scars on his chest and neck were faded to pink, and his eyes were steady. Shon rushed him, wrapped him in a tight hug, laughing. He pulled back and looked into those silver eyes, shook his shoulders.
“You scared the crap out of all of us, and put a dent in Kor’s bed schedule.”
Vel grinned. “Did pretty boy have a little taste of hunger?”
Grady was over at the couch and Shon turned to him, some quip on his tongue. It died instantly. Malla was laid out, her tousled dark hair trailing over the edge. There was a bandage on her arm, a spot of blood showing through. Like the men, she wore lightweight green med pants. She also wore a med vest that didn’t cover much.
Shon just stood, staring, shocked, at the pale stillness of her.
Vel put his hand on his shoulder. “She’ll be all right. We took her to medical, and her brainwaves are fine. She’s just faded, not crashed.”
Shon shot a look of ire at Grady, who straightened from laying her down. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
“It was her idea. She explained her reasons, and they were sound. I agreed, and it worked.”
Anger bubbled and writhed, dancing with his hunger. “Does that look like it worked?”
He gestured sharply at Malla’s limp body.
Vel stepped up to Grady’s side. Their hands flowed together and folded tight. “Shon, calm down. You know you can’t afford to get angry. Sit, and we’ll eat together. I’m so hungry my stomach is eating itself.”
He knew that placating tone of voice. He usually listened to the regal tone of command in it. “Don’t tell me to calm down,” he snarled at Vel. Turning narrowed eyes to Grady he bit out, “You risked her life, and yours. That was crappy tactics, soldier. I’m pissed off.”
“Well, piss all over if you want. Vel is back, and we’re both at full strength. She didn’t crash, Shon. She just passed out, not even from anything as serious as blood loss. Actually, I think she hyperventilated because she was scared when we were in phaze. It’s freaky when you don’t know you don’t need to breathe. Your brain has to get used to it, and I don’t think she knew about it. She’ll be totally fine. Hold on for another shift, and she’ll give you your turn.”
“My turn! Is that why you think I’m angry? Do you honestly think I’m that self-
centered?”
Vel turned to Bea. “Hey, little one. How are you feeling?”
“It’s so good to see you back, Vel. I’ve been better.”
“Grady, you did not have the right to risk half our team when we’d just managed to score an Elite server and were on the verge of recovery. That was not your solo call to make.”
Shon could feel himself start to vibrate. The hunger leaped and crawled from his thighs to his lungs.
“How do you feel about a little mouth action, Bea? Shon’s running on empty.”
“I’m not crashing our last server! For fuck’s sake, Vel, you just got back. Stop trying to outmaneuver me.” Shon turned on Grady again, who’d come within reach. “I let things slide after the fight, but you’ve made three crappy decisions to the detriment of our team in the past three days and I’m calling you on it. Just because they’ve worked out for you doesn’t make them right. You fell out of formation in a fight we needed you in, you fell out of judgment again when you crashed Anya…and don’t tell me you couldn’t help it…and you fell out of rank when you took Malla up on the ritual. We could have --”
Suddenly, Vel grappled with him from behind. Shocked, Shon turned on him, slipping from the hold by dint of leaving some skin in Vel’s hands, along with a tatter of his shirt. He fought to keep the man from gripping his arm, their forearms blurring with Luo speed. Then Grady joined in on the other side, and the fight broke out in earnest.
This was no training exercise. Shon was pissed, and hurt, and confused. He focused on staying on his feet, as it became clear the men were trying to bear him to the ground. But they were at full strength. They’d been sparring with each other for years and knew all each other’s moves. In only a few moments, when his Fury woke, he got scared and gave up. He could have won, but it wasn’t worth the cost. They threw him down none too gently. He couldn’t stop himself from a final struggle, twisting, as each man got his shoulders down, and pinned his legs with theirs.
He lay, breath shuddering, shivers wracking his body as he fought to keep it together.
No. Not against his team. Not against his team. No matter how fucked up they were. The men knew exactly why they’d won, and precisely what it cost him in energy to fight his gift.
They waited, breathing raggedly, while he kept his eyes closed and focused on the fact that it was Grady’s hands on his left. Vel’s hands on his right. His team. Not against his team.
When he’d stopped shaking, Vel spoke quietly. “I love you, too, Shon. Good job. We got you.”
Shon shivered all over. Vel’s bleeding face in front of him as he came out of Fury. No.
Never again.
Grady’s deep voice rumbled in his other ear. “You’re absolutely right. About all of it. I fucked up, and I was selfish, and I was stupid with fear. You held it all together, and despite my decisions, we’re through the worst. We are, Shon. We’re through the worst, and it’s your turn now.”
“No. Grady, no. I won’t crash her.”
“Bea, come on over, little one. Don’t worry, we’ve got your back,” Vel called.
Bea came up between his legs, kneeling, undoing his pants. Shon bucked and hissed and clawed at them, but they kept him down. She was scared, he could tell. Fuck, his Fury was still close enough he could smell it. He wanted her. He wanted her bent over the chair with his dick deep. He throbbed, getting hard.
“You fucking, bossy, shitty princeling, I’m going to rip your face off.”
“You really know how to accept help gracefully, you know that?”
Vel’s calm pissed him off, but before he could retort, Bea’s little hand took his balls, and her skilled mouth took his cock. “Ahhhhh.” He hardened in a rush that took the last of his strength. He sagged back into the floor. She sucked and licked and sucked and his hips bucked up at her without his thought.
He opened his eyes as she dragged her lips up his length, and watched Vel and Grady kiss above him. They were so disgustingly in love. He could see the relief and lingering fear in Grady’s face, the need on Vel’s. They kissed right over him, the whole time Bea sucked him off. He came, fairly soon, on a moan.
Bea swallowed. It was one of her favorite things, and she’d been working herself with her fingers watching the Grady and Vel show. She came. The energy she sang into his dick burned like ice. It made his stomach clench, and coiled up his spine. He struggled again, desperate to get away, but they broke their kiss and focused on holding him.
He tried, he really did. He tried not to drink, just to accept, passively, what she could give. He tried to be a simple sponge, but he was so goddamn hungry. The Fury had nearly taken him. It had been so long since he’d fed. The attack had been bad, and then the worry afterward, and the tiring days of double shifts, with the burning anger at the Duke, the frustrating delay in a server, and the awful shock of losing and finding Malla. Now this argument.
With a long moan, his back arched, and he drank. Bea cried out around his cock, her forehead dropping to his stomach. He pulled at the energy, feeling it warm him. He swallowed her energy, and felt his heart beat strong, once. Desperate to have his strength back, Bea faded from his consciousness, and the hunger took him. He drank, and drank, and it was like trying to get the last of a cool fruit drink through a too-thin straw. There just wasn’t anything there, and it was frustrating. Then even that tiny trickle of sustenance disappeared.
“Ah, Shon, I’m sorry, man. I’m so
rry. Shhhh. I got you.”
Grady was rocking him. The big oaf was warm, his massive arms holding his torso, as Shon clawed up Grady’s back. Shon abruptly curled his hands into fists when he realized.
After long minutes, Grady pulled back and looked at him. “You back?”
He nodded once, harsh. Grady let go, stood, and pulled him to his feet. The room dipped, settled. Shon locked his knees, feeling his thighs tremble.
Vel came back from the door that led into their rooms. “Bea’s asleep. She’s drained right to the bottom, and won’t be recovering quick.” He held up his hand as Shon opened his mouth. “We took her off you when it got close, but you drank faster than I thought. Or rather, she was way weaker than I remembered. But she didn’t crash, Shon.”
He sagged with relief. He lowered himself into a chair, and then twitched in shock at the big brown eyes staring at him from the opposite chair. “Malla? How are you?”
“Better than you, I think. I feel weak, a little shaky. I’d like to eat, and sleep, and then I think I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, me too.” He hadn’t had more than a few hours sleep snatched here and there over the last few days. “It’s great to see you up.”
She smiled at him, eyes serious.
“Bullshit,” Grady snapped. “You need to drink more, Shon.”
Shon snarled at him. “Oh! I know! Why don’t you force Malla to go down on me, too.
So I can drain her. And then everything will be fine and I’ll thank you for your ‘help.’”
Vel walked up next to Grady, put his arm around his waist. “You’re welcome.”
Shon growled low in his throat and tucked himself back into his pants.
Vel laughed, tugging Grady toward the bedrooms. “Let’s get this team fed, lover. And I find myself craving a shower.”
Shon looked away from Grady’s retreating back to watch Malla’s fascinated gaze on it.
Only when they disappeared into the mess did she look back at him. He let himself drink her with his eyes. He usually hated getting a new server. He had to be so polite, learn what kind of a person they were, how private, how inhibited. There was the whole flirting thing, and the gentle thing, and inevitably, the fear thing as they learned how tenuous his control of the Fury was.
