by Aubrey Cara
My beautiful mate, I carry great affection for you, too. Clear as day, I hear Jual reply, but his mouth is against mine.
Did you hear me? I ask, without saying a word.
His eyes pop open. He stares at my mouth before his gaze jerks back to mine. “Ja, I heard that.”
“Heard what?” Situs asks from my other side.
“Do to him what you just did to me.” Jual nudges me in Situs’s direction.
Baffled, I roll over to face Situs. Placing my lips on his, I automatically think, I love your lips on mine. He sits straight up, staring down at me. Obviously, he, too, could hear me.
“Did she mind speak?” he asks Jual, then down to me, “Did you just mind speak?”
I nod with a nervous giggle.
Can I mind speak back to you?
Ja.
He sits back, stunned. “What does this mean?”
My two husbands share a befuddled look before Situs asks, “Have you ever telepathically communicated with anyone before?”
I shake my head. “Never. Have you ever heard my thoughts before?”
Situs shrugs. “Possibly. A few nights ago, after”—he motions between Jual and I—“you rutted, when I left, I could hear and feel things, like you were projecting,” he says to me. “I thought it was all in my head.”
Jual runs a hand through his hair, blowing out a breath. “I could hear you—feel when you were with Situs.” He peers down at his hands, opening and closing his fist like he’s gathering his words. “I heard you tell him of your love.” He glances up at me, uncomfortable with his confession.
It was the reason he reacted so badly when I accidentally called him by Situs’s name. He was already jealous. Having two husbands is not easy. I take his hand kissing his knuckles, and he strokes my cheek.
“I’m sorry, my geliebte. For taking my frustrations out on you.”
“I’m sorry you were hurt.”
“I was not hurt,” he argues in the typical way of a male with his pride wounded, his face pulled down in a frown.
“I momentarily wondered how you heard what I had said to Situs,” I say to distract him. “Maybe it’s this planet or something the Zapex did to me.” Worry grabs me the instant the thought enters my mind. “What if they put something in my head and can track me?”
“You had a translator and tracking chip, like all the other females,” Situs says, crossing his arm. “But, we took it out, along with our collaring chips that could track us, long before we reached Kadeema.”
Jual cuts his eyes to Situs. “I do not like this.”
“Nor I,” he replies. The men share another indecipherable moment before Situs grabs the furs and bundles me up.
“What are you doing?” I ask when he lifts me in his arms. When he heads for the hatch, I tuck the furs around me.
“We’re going to see Cal and Kein.”
“But why?”
Jual answers. “We need to call a meeting. Everyone with a female needs to be aware of this.”
“But we’re all naked!” I screech.
They both shrug, as if this is an inconsequential thing, and maybe to them it is, but I feel myself blushing from the roots of my hair all the way down to my toes as they march with me over hill and glen, past wandering Monrok who look twice at the spectacle we’re making, all the way to Allyson and her mates’ shuttle.
Jual bangs on their closed hatch, and I cringe, knowing the only reason their door would be closed is if they’re sleeping or having an intimate moment.
Allyson opens the door, also with a blanket wrapped around her body, and gasps, her big blue eyes going wide. “Umm, Cal,” she says over her shoulder. “I think it’s for you.”
“I told you I would open the door.” Her burly mate yanks her behind him, tucking his member into his pants as he pulls them shut.
A new wave of heat creeps up my neck and over my cheeks. Seems we did indeed interrupt something. He takes in the sight of my naked mates, their faces and bodies still bruised, and me bundled in furs. He crosses his arms over his chest, notching his chin at us. “What has happened? Is your mate injured?”
“We are not sure…” Situs says.
“She’s started telepathically speaking to us,” Jual explains. “And we can mind speak back.”
Cal nods, not seeming nearly as alarmed by this as my mates. “Did she mind speak your faces being smashed in?” My mates growl in frustration, and appearing to be fighting a grin he waves a hand to calm them down. “Is mind speaking normal for you?” he asks me.
I shake my head, still intimidated and uncomfortable around other men, even from the vantage point of my mate’s arms.
He motions between Situs and Jual. “Can you two mind speak with each other, or only your female?”
“Just her,” Jual tells him.
Cal nods again. “And I assume she is impregnated.”
“She carries my lifeforce,” Situs says.
Cal glances between my mates. “But you can both communicate with her?”
At my men’s nods of affirmation Cal looks back as Allyson comes up behind him, fully dressed in her makeshift leather clothes. “Did you hear that, zepka?” Cal asks Allyson. “I was right, and Kein was wrong.”
Allyson rolls her eyes. She places a hand on his back, and he pulls her into his side. Pointedly not looking at my naked husbands, who seem to be oblivious to their state, she fixes her gaze on my face. “Is everything all right?”
“I’m so sorry for us barging over,” I begin, and scowl at my mates in displeasure. “We discovered something strange, and Situs and Jual got spooked.”
“Spooked?” Jual asks, offended.
“We are not this,” Situs states to everyone.
Cal nods. “We are Monrok. We do not spook.”
Allyson rolls her eyes, and I second her sentiments. “So, what exactly happened?” she asks, avoiding the delicate swollen male egos around us.
“Their mate is mind linking,” Cal says, then wiggles his eyebrows. “With both of them.”
Allyson’s eyebrows go up in surprised as she turns to us. “Really? Both?” We all nod, and she giggles. “Oh, you are never going to let Kein hear the end of this, are you?”
“Explain yourselves.” Jual takes an aggressive step forward, glowering.
With a menacing expression, Cal pushes Allyson behind him and confronts Jual. Situs clutches me tighter to his chest, also readying for action, but Allyson darts between Jual and Cal
“Cal, stand down.” Allyson pushes at her mate’s chest.
He raises an eyebrow at her, not moving.
She smacks his arm, and turns to face us with a huff. “We’re not sure, but we believe telepathic links are normal between Monrok blood relations, and/or Earth gals carrying Monrok babies.”
“What?” I ask. I can tell from my husband’s puzzled expressions they’re thinking the same thing.
Allyson shrugs. “It’s a theory.”
“Based on?” Situs asks, only incrementally relaxing his hold on me.
Allyson gazes up at Cal expectantly and as they stare at each other, I remember all the times it seemed like she was having a wordless discussion with her mates…
“You can mind link, too,” I blurt.
A pink blush steals over Allyson’s cheeks. “Yes. Sorry. I guess it’s rude to do in front of others.” She smacks her mate’s stomach then points to us. “You should tell them.”
I can feel the tension of impatience beginning to radiate off Situs and Jual, but thankfully they are keeping cool.
Cal looks speculatively down at Allyson, his jaw clenching in clear annoyance. He shrugs, and I think he says something to her over mind link because she has a whole-body shiver before looking back at us with flushed cheeks and a glazed expression.
Cal turns a smug grin on us. “Our mate can also, as you say, mind speak with both Kein and I. She has been able to since our essence took root. We noticed it with me first then Kein.” He hesitates before continui
ng, but Allyson gives him a nudge, and he caves. “My brother and I have shared a mind link from our earliest memories. We always assumed it was because we are twins.” He shrugs.
“Do the Zapex know? Is this something they did?” Situs asks.
Cal shakes his head. “As far as we know, the Zapex are unaware of our ability to communicate this way. We’ve kept it secret and rarely used it. We assumed we were the only ones with the capability until Allyson mind linked to us. We speculated the babe carries both our DNA.” He frowns at us, his brow furrowed. “Can your mate truly telepathically communicate with you both?”
Situs and Jual nod.
“Has it happened more than once? Can she control it?”
“I didn’t realize what was happening,” Jual says.
“I think it has been happening for a while,” Situs admits.
“I don’t understand,” I say, pushing at Situs who finally puts me down. “Situs and Jual aren’t brothers.” I wrap the blanket more snugly around me as he pulls me against his chest. “They can’t mind link.” I glance up at the men, and they shake their heads. “So, it can’t be DNA.”
Cal shrugs, arrogantly. “Or can it?”
Allyson rolls her eyes again. “Cal and I could mind link shortly after I became pregnant. With Kein it took a little longer…so Cal has a theory that the baby—”
“Superior Monrok-hybrid baby,” Cal interjects.
Allyson gives a long-suffering sigh. “The superior Monrok-hybrid baby,” she says in a monotone, staring pointedly at Cal before turning back to us, “is genetically both Kein and Cal’s. And that’s just how strong and capable Monrok ‘essence’ is.” She rolls her eyes and makes a face, and Cal yanks a strand of her hair.
Only days ago, their interactions would have made me envious. Then I’d feel guilty for feeling jealous, but standing here in Situs’s arms after the day we’ve had, a glow fills me to see my friend happy and loved. I finally understand it, now that I’m experiencing it myself.
“Kein thought we could all mind link because we’re brothers,” Cal interjects.
“Or because I might be carrying twins.” She runs a loving hand over her rounded belly. She is already showing quite a bit more than me, but she’s also much shorter than I am, and even if she is having twins, that doesn’t necessarily mean I am.
“You are implying the embryo is made up of both Situs and my essence?” Jual asks, his shoulders tense.
“Yep.” Allyson nods but puts out her hands as if to slow things down. “But we won’t know until the babies are born.”
Cal reaches out and claps Jual on the shoulder. “I know my theory will hold true. Just wait until the babes are born.”
Jual looks at my midsection, his expression disbelieving but hopeful, and I remember the devastation on his face when he asked me if I had told Situs about the baby.
“Situs, you say your essence took root first?” Cal asks.
Situs nods, and gazes down at me. I’m sorry, my beloved, I hear in my mind.
My heart pings over him calling me his beloved, even as it aches. I squeeze his hand, knowing he’s thinking about when and how I got pregnant. I know you would have never hurt me. And I won’t ever be sorry he gave me a baby.
Distracted, I hear Cal ask the men how long I’ve been “mind linking” to each of them. I’m shocked when Situs admits he thinks I’ve been projecting thoughts at him for weeks. I had no idea. Jual has only had me mistakenly mind link with him once.
Very recently.
I put my hand to my stomach, still in disbelief that a child grows there.
A child with possible telepathic abilities.
Telepathic abilities that extend to me.
A child who very well may biologically belong to both my mates.
Allyson comes over and puts her hand on my shoulder. “Are you doing all right? You seem a little shell shocked.”
For some reason her question makes my gaze stray to Jual. I’m not sure what I expected to see, but not him possessively staring back at me.
He must believe what Cal says about the baby carrying both men’s genetics. How will he handle it if after the baby is born we discover that he or she was only fathered by Situs? My gut clenches thinking of the absolute devastation that could cause Jual.
Worry not, geliebte. You and the babe are mine to care for and protect. No matter whose lifeforce pumps through his veins.
I’m comforted and disconcerted by Jual’s reply. Did you read my thoughts, or am I projecting?
You’re projecting.
I need to learn how to control that.
He chuckles out loud, and the deep rumble of his laugh sends tingles through me. My eyes go wide seeing his cock growing hard.
You’re going to have to be careful of what you project, my little geliebte.
“Earth to Hannah.” Allyson waves a hand in my face.
I jerk my gaze to her, hoping she hasn’t noticed Jual’s state. “Sorry!”
Jual chuckles in my mind, and heat spreads across my cheeks.
Stop that. I say in my mind. Then, to Allyson, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you.”
She snorts. “It’s okay. I kind of figured you two were ‘talking’ it out.”
I make a face. I’m not sure how I feel about the men being able to hear my every thought. “Have you learned how to control it?” I glance over at the men, who are in what appears to be a serious discussion with Cal, even though they are still very naked.
She shrugs, and gazes to the sky the way the men often do when outside. “I’ve been working on it, but sometimes a stray thought or two will go out without me realizing it, which can be annoying.” She glances back at Cal and whispers, “Especially since it’s usually not something I want him to hear.”
“We are Monrok, little one. We may not hear all your thoughts, but we can hear when you whisper,” Cal says from where he stands talking to the men.
Allyson sticks out her tongue.
Cal gets a predatory gleam in his eye that even makes me squirm as he comes over to stand in front of Allyson. “I have told you what you can do with that tongue of yours, mate.”
The blush that steals over me likely reaches my hairline. I startle when Jual sweeps me into his arms and heads back in the direction of our shuttle, Situs right beside us. “Bye!” I call out behind me, and see from the corner of my eye Allyson wave as Cal swoops down and tosses over her shoulder like a sack of grains. “It’s rude not to say good bye before leaving someone,” I tell Jual and Situs. They look at me as if this is a foreign concept.
Situs shrugs. “We were done talking.”
“Kein and Cal will tell the others about the females’ ability to mind link when they are breeding.”
“Well, I’d hope they tell the females, too.” I’m not sure if it would have changed anything if I had known, but a little warning would have been nice.
“It is Monrok who need to be informed,” Situs says. “It is more imperative than ever we protect the females on Kadeema.”
I don’t get it. “Because we can mind speak with the fathers of our babies?”
“The Zapex and the Ko’sars are the only two races who can mind read,” Jual explains. “The Zapex through touch. The Ko’sars rip into your mind, if you’re not capable of shielding.” His expression says he’s seen it done, and it wasn’t pretty. “The two breeds believe they are superior because of their ability to mentally infiltrate. Prince Kaihan, the one who created us and wanted to breed humans as slaves, would have wanted to gather as many human females as possible for experiments.”
“But he’s dead,” I reason.
“Yes, he is,” Situs says, grim faced. “And his brother Keel has taken his place.”
From the men’s expressions, the brother is no better than Kaihan. “What do you think Keel will do?”
Stone-faced, they remain silent.
“You can tell me. I won’t be upset.”
Situs raises a brow, and Jual shakes his head.
“Come on, the not knowing will upset me just as much.”
“He’ll exterminate the human race,” Jual says, and with a scowl Situs’s gaze jerks to him, appearing none too happy he told me.
“The whole human race?” I ask, dumbfounded by the impossibility of it, but they nod like it’s the most logical conclusion in the galaxy. “But we’re not a threat!”
“It will matter not,” Situs explains. “The Zapex already have one powerful enemy in the Ko’sars. Keel will not want the possibility of the Ko’sars somehow using the humans against them.”
“And Keel has always seen us Monrok as a threat,” Jual says. “He’s wanted to destroy us since our inception. Kaihan thought he could control us, but Keel knew better.”
Something in Jual’s voice catches me off guard. “You admire him.”
Jual nods. “He is a warrior and a fundamentalist. He believes in the old ways, and one of the ancient traditions was every family had to present at least one warrior. He thought his brother and father’s desire to create a race of cybernetic guards for their planet would weaken their people, and he was right.”
“They have grown complacent,” Situs chimes in.
“They used to have one of the largest armies of warriors in the galaxy, but no longer. After the war with the Ko’sars, their army was depleted. The Zapex obtained allies throughout the Jun’pn galaxy. They declared peace, and new Zapex chira—mothers—declared there was no reason any of their precious sons to be raised for war.”
“So, we were created,” Situs finishes. He strokes my cheek lovingly as we get to the shuttle, as if we weren’t just talking of how the Zapex would relish killing us all.
“Will they come here?” I protectively palm my stomach. I’m starting to understand why the men and Allyson always look to the sky.
No sooner have I asked the question than a loud blast ripples the air.
CHAPTER TWELVE
HANNAH
“What was that?” I ask, my heart beating triple time. Visions of the Zapex invading and taking me away grip me.
The men rush me into the shuttle, securing the hatch. What has been more like a cave for the few months we’ve been here, comes to life all around us. The hum of the engine purrs under my feet, and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the artificial lighting.
