by Biance D'Arc
“You’re nice and tight back here, love,” Davin praised her. “You make me want to come. Are you ready, Callie? Are you ready to come for us?” Davin’s gaze met Rick’s in an uncommon moment of communion. They were in this together—for her. In that moment they were united in their purpose, to show Callie as much pleasure as they could.
Callie hummed agreement in her throat and the vibrations blew the head off Rick’s cock. He exploded in her mouth, and she surprised him yet again, swallowing his come as if it were the finest liqueur. She licked him and stroked him until he was completely wrung out, looking up at him with the eyes of love between every few pulses.
She came a second later as Davin rammed one last time into her. Rick was too far gone to see much, but he did feel the riot of emotion coming from Callie. His empathic sense told him how much she was enjoying all this male attention. If not for that, he thought later, he would’ve immediately regretted his actions. But feeling her acceptance—no, her craving—settled his mind about what they’d done, more than anything else could have.
The next morning, Callie served them breakfast on Mick’s big desk, cleared and set with a tablecloth for the occasion. She’d fetched the food from the kitchen in the big house and brought it down to the office as a special treat. Rick appreciated the extra effort, tucking into the big breakfast as she ate daintily, seated between the two men.
“You know, Harry’s mom has always been a factor in my life,” Callie said as she finished eating, “but I begin to wonder if she can be trusted in a situation like this. I’m sorry to say that she never really does anything unless it furthers her own objectives. Poor Harry has said as much to me many times.”
“Mara 12 is your brother’s mom?” Rick was surprised by the relationship, though he’d known there was something different about the infamous Harry who didn’t always live on the ranch.
Callie nodded as she sipped her coffee. “Mara 12 made a deal with my biological father a few days before I was conceived. Mara 12 wanted to be impregnated and in return, Papa Justin got her guarantee she’d put this ranch off limits for the roundups they were doing at the time.”
“He bargained his son for the safety of the rest of his family.” Rick couldn’t quite grasp the enormity of such a decision.
“Yeah.” Callie looked sad for a moment but then brightened. “But when Harry was a few months old, he let Mara 12 know that he wanted to live here, with us. He was a strong telepath, even then.”
“He’s a remarkable person,” Davin agreed. “Did I tell you he was able to speak in my mind, even though I have no telepathic ability? Only one other person has ever been able to do that.”
“Papa Mick, right?” Callie asked with a teasing smile. “He’s a really strong telepath too. Taught Harry everything he knows.”
Davin nodded. “Both of them are forces to be reckoned with. Especially where you’re concerned.”
Rick started to feel a little left out, realizing once again how far back the relationship between Callie and Davin went. Davin had known her and her family for years, They’d shared a lot and knew a great deal about each other. By contrast, Rick was a loner, unused to forming any kind of lasting friendships. He’d kept himself apart, even as he led the prisoners in standing up to the Alvians and brokering deals to help some of those who were in poor health or who needed other kinds of assistance.
“You’ve got that right. But the problem still remains, can we trust Mara 12?” Callie brought the conversation back to her original point.
“More importantly, can we trust Grady Prime?” Davin countered. “Grady’s the one who’d be arranging our passage and performing the investigation. We’ll have to double-check any evidence he comes up with. The last thing I want to do is put myself before the Council with incorrect data.”
“You’d be a sitting duck, for sure,” Callie agreed.
Rick finished his coffee and stood. “Look, you two have plans to discuss. I’ll leave you to it.” Rick would have walked away from the table, but Callie’s words stopped him in his tracks.
“You can’t leave, Rick,” Callie said. “We need your help. Don’t run out on me now. Not when the future is so uncertain.”
She had him there. He couldn’t leave until he knew for sure she’d be safe. That meant he had to stick around and see what happened with Davin’s little assassination problem.
If the Chief Engineer couldn’t get the price off his head, the situation could get even more complicated than it was already. If that were even possible. Still, he owed Davin a lot and he had a visceral need to be sure Callie was safe, well cared for and happy.
“I’ll stay until this is sorted. I suppose you could use an extra hand on this.” Rick nodded toward Davin.
“That we could,” Davin agreed with a grim smile, but whether his expression reflected the dire circumstances or his displeasure at having Rick stay near Callie, he couldn’t be certain. The alien had seemed to want to share Callie with Rick on a long-term basis, but after the scandalous night they’d all shared, Rick wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
Their time together had shaken his belief that being together that way would be wrong for Callie. Once had been sublime, but Rick didn’t think he could engage in a ménage relationship for any length of time. After a while, it had to be bad for the woman. He believed that deep in his heart. Once was a lark. Twice was fun, but as a lifestyle, Rick would need convincing it wouldn’t be to Callie’s detriment. Still, he cared for her deeply. He needed to know she was safe from the threat hounding Davin. Rick was resigned to stay until that problem was dealt with.
“All right then.” Rick sat back down. “Where do we start?”
“Well—” Davin gestured with half of a buttered biscuit, “—we still need to decide whether or not we can trust Grady Prime and Mara 12. What do you both think?”
“Harry seems to think his mother is working this to her advantage and having Davin back is definitely her goal,” Callie said. “She can be trusted to work toward that end, as far as it goes, but we’ll all need to keep our eyes open.”
“Always wise when dealing with a Mara, especially this one.”
They talked over the pros and cons for an hour or more, running through various scenarios for the way this situation could be resolved. Ultimately, they decided to risk it and take Mara and Grady’s offer of assistance.
Decision made, Davin used the secure crystal to place a call to Grady Prime. In short order, they discovered their options were better than before. Grady had managed to uncover comm records linking Councilor Troyan to the communications that had activated the retired assassin.
With that kind of evidence, they could confront the Council. Davin also had documented instances from the past where Councilor Troyan had made very negative remarks about Davin and his proposals. In fact, there was a strong record of Troyan’s disapproval of almost everything Davin had ever reported to the Council.
If Alvians could feel, Davin would have said that Troyan hated him. But as things stood, all Davin could prove was an uncommon ratio of disapprovals and negative lines of questioning. Coupled with the comm records, perhaps it would be enough.
“How did you come by the comm records, Grady? Are they reliable?” Davin had to ask, though he would check them himself before approaching the Council. Everything had to be just so in order to pass the Council’s scrutiny.
“As a warrior Prime, I have access to all military networks. I had one of my comm experts search through all of Sinclair Prime’s recent communications on the pretext of discovering what had happened to him. His disappearance has not gone unnoticed.” Grady paused while that information sunk in. “My tech noted the encoded signal and I asked her to trace it backward. It was tricky, but this tech is the best I’ve ever known. She was able to crack the encryption and trace the code signal directly to Troyan’s personal-comm console and his personal access code. There is little doubt the communication originated with him.”
“This is excell
ent news, Grady Prime. We’re in your debt.” Davin’s tone was buoyant, but likely lost on the soldier.
“Just doing my job, Chief Engineer. I will transmit the information to your crystal. It should have sufficient capacity to store this data. You should familiarize yourself with the proof before you go before the Council to present it.”
“I agree. Thanks.” A slight elevation in the tone of the crystal he held indicated receipt of additional data. Davin would plug it into the reader in his ship later to verify its contents. “Now, as for travel arrangements, what do you have planned?”
They talked specifics of times and locations for the next few minutes, eventually agreeing that they’d meet Grady in the home pasture the next morning, just before noon. The Council was scheduled for open session all day tomorrow, so the vid feeds would be live and active and the gallery open to spectators. It was a perfect time to confront them.
Davin ended the call and went to his ship to verify the data, pleased with what he found. Grady hadn’t been wrong. This evidence was the strongest they had against Troyan. Davin just hoped it would be enough.
Chapter Twelve
Callie felt Davin’s triumph as he strode toward her. It was late, but she couldn’t go in until he’d come back from the ship, so she’d talked Rick into sitting outside and looking at the stars. She stood from the comfortable, old, carved wooden bench that sat in front Papa Mick’s office and met Davin as he approached. She went right into his arms, loving the feeling of being loved that always met her when he held her.
Davin felt so good to her empathic senses. He felt like home, happiness and love all wrapped up in one. His feelings were so strong, so sure, they left her in no doubt whatsoever. Rick, on the other hand, was still clouded and mostly hard to read, but little by little she was overcoming his barriers.
Rick was a hard case, but she’d felt his powerful desire, his depthless love. She knew he needed her as much as she needed him and the struggle going on inside him had more to do with his belief that somehow getting involved with her—and Davin, by association—would be wrong for her. He still rejected the idea of a future together because he loved her. It was convoluted reasoning, but it was sweet, in a way, if frustrating.
“Grady Prime is as good as his word,” Davin said as he hugged her close.
“Then the evidence is good?” Rick stood and moved closer.
“Better than good. It’ll do the trick.” Davin spoke to Rick over her head. “Now what are you two doing out here in the cold? I thought you’d take better care of our girl, Rick.” Davin’s tone teased, including Rick naturally in a way that warmed her heart. She knew very well even such a casual comment could set Rick off, but she only felt amusement through the small cracks in his natural shield.
“She wouldn’t go in until you came back.” Rick reached over and ruffled her hair, even as she stood in Davin’s embrace. She turned to face him, keeping Davin’s arms around her middle.
“I never said that.” She liked this easy camaraderie between them. It was a glimpse of how it could be.
Rick nodded, conceding her point. “No, darlin’, you never said it. But you forget you’re not the only one with a little empathy around here. The minute I touched your hand, I knew you were anxious. Didn’t take much to figure out why.”
She stepped out of Davin’s arms and into Rick’s, surprising him with a gentle hug. “You’re a good man, Rick St. John.”
Callie felt the armor around his feelings crack a little more as she hugged him. He gave her such warmth and tenderness in return for her care. Their empathic abilities met and reflected back, bathing them both in a sweet kind of euphoria.
“We should all go inside.” Davin stepped up behind her, reminding them of his presence. “It’s getting cold out here.”
For a brief moment, Callie regretted that Davin could never be part of the empathic sharing she’d discovered with Rick, but Davin had no real extrasensory abilities. No Alvians did, as far as they knew, though the mixture of Alvian DNA with human DNA produced psychic wonders like Harry and all those humans left alive after the cataclysm. It was something for the scientists to figure out, but what it meant to them right now, was that Davin couldn’t share in the telepathy or empathy she shared with Rick.
“I’ll go,” Rick said in her mind, using the telepathy he rarely instigated with her. It felt even more intimate than making love, in some ways, to be able to share thoughts and feelings so quickly and privately. “I feel your regret and pain. I see his confusion. I don’t want to be the cause of any of it.”
She clutched his shoulders. “My regret is that Davin will never know the intimacy of sharing thoughts or feelings, Rick. You read me wrong. I love him, but he can’t share this connection. I felt sad for him. Still, I guess what he never knew, he can’t miss, but I’ll miss it if you leave. I want you to stay, Rick.”
Rick stepped back, turning toward the doorway. “For now, sweetheart. I’ll stay until this mess with the Alvians is straightened out. After that, we’ll see.”
She’d expected as much, but to know he was still so uncertain was tough. He hadn’t been definite about his future plans. Maybe they were starting to convince him there could be some kind of a future for the three of them. That thought gave her hope, though she felt him pulling away. She stilled him, with a hand on his arm as they neared the bedroom. She felt his intention to keep walking, toward the other room, probably intending to bed down there.
She dug her fingers into his arm as she spoke aloud so Davin could hear. “Don’t go. Rick, I need you to make love to me tonight. With Davin. Like we did before. You can’t understand how amazing it was to have you both with me, loving me. I want that again, especially if tonight is the last night we’ll ever have together.” They all knew tomorrow they’d face the Council.
“Callie—”
She could feel he was going to refuse, but she’d have none of that. She cut him off. “Please don’t say no. I love you, Rick, as much as I love Davin. I want to experience something I’ve only dreamed about. I want you both to love me at the same time.”
She pulled both men through the open bedroom door with her, holding onto their hands as they stopped in front of the wide bed.
“We did that last night, love,” Davin reminded her.
She faced him, trying to repress a flush of embarrassment. She’d gained a lot of courage and knowledge about sex since meeting Davin, but she was still relatively new to it and embarrassed to speak of certain things.
“What we did last night was unforgettable, but what I want now isn’t exactly like that, Davin.” She dropped her gaze momentarily, trying to find the words to spell out exactly what she wanted. “I’ve heard things and dreamed of things…especially since you, uh, came in my bottom that first time. Davin, I want to be filled completely. By both of you at the same time.” She looked from Davin to Rick, finding the same expression of awe and fire on each of their faces. She felt the passion rise in both of them. They liked the idea—almost as much as she did. She let go their hands and started slipping the buttons on her shirt free. “So, are you game?”
Davin moved first, taking over the task of releasing buttons on her shirt while Rick moved to her pants. Within moments, she was naked, facing them.
She put one hand on her hip. “You two are overdressed.”
Rick stepped up, taking the hand that was propped on her hip and bringing it to cover his thick erection. “If you want it, you need to undress it.”
“Just your cock? Or can I have the rest of you too?” She looked up into his eyes, pleased by the teasing, hot sparkle there.
“You can have any part of me you want, baby. But I want to feel your hands on me, undressing me. Can you handle it?”
She rose to his challenge, unbuttoning his pants and pushing them and his simple boxers downward with agonizing slowness. She took extra time lifting his heavy cock free of the fabric, touching him as much as possible and cupping and rubbing his balls with a light
touch that made him groan. She smiled as his lips descended to claim hers. He shrugged out of the pants and underwear, stepping free as he kissed her. He still wore his shirt, but she sent her fingers on a quest for buttons, sliding them free as he explored her mouth with drugging slowness. He was a thorough kisser. She loved that about him. That, and so much more. He was such a great guy. She’d never dreamed she’d find a man like him—or like Davin, for that matter. They were so different from what she’d envisioned for her life, but each was perfect for her in their own way.
She pushed the shirt off over his shoulders and brushed her breasts against his lightly furred chest. The slight abrasion felt fantastic against her beading nipples. Rick stepped close, rubbing his entire length against her, making her moan softly.
A second later, she felt warmth at her back as Davin began rubbing her bottom with his long-fingered hands. He moved closer, enveloping her back with his hot body as he dipped his head to nuzzle her neck and shoulder. The feeling of being cocooned in male heat and strength was like nothing she could have anticipated. They were moving slow enough that she could savor these moments. Last night had been fast, but this time, she would revel in every little touch, every small caress. This was heaven, and they hadn’t even started yet!
Rick raised his head, his lips leaving hers tingling for more. Davin’s head lifted from her shoulder and she could sense they were looking at each other.
“You up for this, man?” Rick asked Davin.
“Oh, yeah.” Davin’s rumbling reply made her stomach clench. “Anything she wants.”
“It’s bound to get a little…close,” Rick warned.
“You’ve done this before!” Callie accused him, a little jealous of whoever the other woman had been, but she felt Rick’s sincere denial even before he spoke.
“No, sweetheart. I’ve never done it, but I’ve seen it done, and I’ll admit, I wondered about it.” He stroked her cheek with one big hand.
