But then, this was only an in-the-moment relationship. Once she returned to her duties in Fourth Quadrant, she’d certainly never cross paths with the two scientists again. If her aptitude for undercover work was as good as the Major said, then she should be able to keep both sides of this scale in balance.
“Are you familiar with any of their other grievances?” she asked, starting her search for intel.
Both men looked over their shoulders at the occupied tables near them, as if checking for eavesdroppers.
Then Henri leaned toward her. “We’ll have all night to talk, Starlight,” he said, using the intimate nickname he’d given her.
She swayed slightly in her seat while her body heated as she recalled the delicious dynamics of their relationship. “Tell me how to find you.”
Henri gave her directions to the pod he shared with Stepho. Though it wasn’t uncommon for military men to engage in intimate contact because of the lack of available females on the planet, it apparently was rare for intelligentsia men to co-habitate. From the sound of it, Henri and Stepho existed in a fringe group of their society that the Council disapproved of, but hadn’t yet made illegal. Maybe that was why the men weren’t so concerned with their peers’ censorship of their relationship with her. They were already living outside the norms of intelligentsia behavior.
When the men left the cafeteria, Crystal returned to the kitchen to start dinner preparations, her cheeks hurting from the grin she couldn’t erase.
“Nice of you to join me after I cleaned all the pots,” Fisher grumbled.
“You know you could have sent them next door to the dishwashers,” she retorted, refusing to let his moodiness affect her.
“I know how you like to keep your pots in your own kitchen.” Fisher yanked out the utensil drawer and dropped the clean serving spoons in it. “So, who were the intelligentsia goobers?”
“I never realized how immature you were, Fishy. For your information, those were my OAS sympathizer contacts,” she boasted.
“When’d you meet them? Because it’d be damn obvious even to a blind man you had a previous relationship.”
Her cheeks heated, and she cursed her fair coloring. Could everyone in the cafeteria tell she’d been involved with Henri and Stepho? Regardless of their claim to not care about class differences, she knew other members of the intelligentsia certainly did. Word could reach Henri and Stepho’s superiors, and they could lose their reputations, possibly their life’s work.
“So, it was that kind of a relationship,” Fisher taunted, and she realized he’d just tricked her into revealing more than he knew.
“They were refugees in Fourth Quadrant after the OAS attacks. I served them in the mess hall, and we talked sometimes. We share a common interest in food science.” And that was all she would tell him. It was all he needed to know.
His dark eyes narrowed as he studied her. “You’re going to reestablish your relationship with them tonight, aren’t you?” He waved a hand in the air. “Don’t bother answering. I can see the flush from the beginnings of your arousal.”
Stars, did he know her that well? Considering they had been going at it every night since they arrived in First Quadrant, it was definitely possible. It was good she was turning her attention to Henri and Stepho. Maybe by focusing so much energy on each other, she and Fisher were missing opportunities to connect with other members of the intelligentsia. But she found it difficult to accept the chafing thought of Fisher getting intimate with some female scientist.
“I hope you get some good intel along with your orgasms tonight,” Fisher snarked, and with that, he made it a little easier for her to walk away. “Major Jeffers wants to see some results, or he’s going to pull us out of here by the end of next week.”
“What about the food service?”
“He’ll find a new kitchen pair.” Fisher shrugged. “The poor intelligentsia will just have to make do with an inferior food preparer.”
And she’d have to say goodbye to Henri and Stepho again, much too soon. Tonight, she would get some information of value, so she and Fisher could stay in First Quadrant a little longer. But her gut churned at the thought of betraying Henri and Stepho’s trust, and if she didn’t keep her contacts confidential, she would be risking their lives. The Council sentenced those who committed treason to the death penalty, enforced as soon as the defendants left the courtroom.
Chapter Four
Crystal raised her fist to knock on the pod door after checking the number designation several times. Her heart fluttered in her chest like the wings of an ancient hummingbird. She couldn’t tell which made her more nervous—resuming her relationship with Henri and Stepho or covertly gathering intel to pass on to the Council.
Finally, she sucked down her anxiety and knocked.
The door slid open, and Henri reached across the threshold for her. She stepped into his arms while tears pricked her eyes. Stepho wrapped his longer arms around her and Henri as the door slid shut, blocking out the rest of the world.
For the longest time, they simply embraced each other, and she greedily inhaled their unique scents—Henri, slightly spicy, and Stepho, more green-smelling, as if the plants he worked with had instilled him with their fragrance.
Henri kissed the top of her head. “Let’s do this with less clothing.”
Immediately, Stepho dropped his arms from around her, and Henri and quickly stripped off his beige intelligentsia uniform as Henri worked on removing his own clothes, drawing a chuckle from her. At least she knew where she stood with both of them. There was no denying their need for her when she caught sight of their fully erect cocks.
She dropped to her knees and pulled them to her mouth with a hand on each of them. Stroking and sucking and licking, she felt such joy swelling inside her she thought she might burst like a supernova. She pushed their tips together and greedily sucked them both into her mouth, stretching her lips wide to accommodate their moderate widths.
Glancing up, Crystal watched Henri and Stepho kissing with their arms wrapped around each other. Oh hellitude, it always sparked her fire when she saw them embracing like that.
She sucked them into her mouth deeper, and used her fingertips to tease their butt holes, waiting to see who would get off first. Usually, Henri protested her finger up his ass, but Stepho was wild about it.
Neither of them seemed to notice her pushing in, as they were too occupied with clashing teeth and nipping at each other’s lips. It made her think they’d been abstaining since they left her. They looked as hungry for each other as she was for them.
Stepho’s hips jerked erratically as she stroked his prostrate and sucked his cock alongside Henri’s. Stepho tended to come first, but then he had remarkable staying power for round two. And round two was Crystal’s favorite.
Her wet heat soaked through the seam her uniform trousers as she relived the sensual memories of Henri in her pussy and Stepho in her ass.
After a few more jerks, Stepho came in her mouth with a loud grunt. She tightened her lips around both men’s tips, trying to swallow Stepho’s cum without losing her suction around Henri’s cock. The extra pressure tossed Henri over the top. He shot into her mouth as he shouted, “Fuck!”
She drank him down, which was easier since Stepho had slipped out of her mouth after his climax when he’d grown too sensitive.
Finally, Henri stopped pulsing in her mouth, and he clutched her head between his palms to hold her still. “Oh, fuck. I missed that,” he groaned, breathing heavily.
She sat back on her heels and grinned up at the blissed expressions on Henri and Stepho’s faces. She relished making these men lose control like that.
“Stepho, I think our little Miss Starlight is feeling a bit smug.” Henri flicked his finger down the tip of her nose.
“It was a good blow job, Henri,” Stepho expressed his approval.
Crystal’s grin stretched wider.
“Now, look what you’ve done,” Henri mock-protested. “You
know how hard it was the first time to train her to be submissive.”
Stars, she adored playing these games with Henri and Stepho. She tried to wipe the grin from her face, in preparation for their role-playing, but she was just too damn happy.
Henri slowly shook his head. “She’s not going to be very submissive until we show her we mean business.”
Crystal caught a wink from Stepho before he said, “How many swats do you think it will take, Henri?”
“It’s been a long time. Who knows what kind of misbehaving she’s been up to since we’ve last seen her?”
Stepho looked down at her with a touch of hurt in his eyes. “You think she’s been with someone else?”
Oh blasters, she couldn’t stand seeing him upset like that. Damn Fisher, why had he teased her into having sex with him? And why had she continued even after arriving in First Quadrant when she knew there was a high probability of running into Henri and Stepho again?
The answer was simple. She hadn’t thought she had a shred of a chance at reestablishing her connection with the two intelligentsias on their home turf. She’d been satisfying herself—binging was more accurate—on the one man who had been available in her peer class, however unsuitable he was. Talk about a defense mechanism to keep her heart from cracking apart a second time.
Now, there was only one thing she could do.
“I’ve only dreamt of you and Henri,” she said to Stepho, which was the truth, while omitting the piece about Fisher.
Stepho’s brown eyes lit with pleasure, rewarding her for her little fib.
“Stand up, Starlight,” Henri instructed. “Take off that uniform.”
Stepho sat on the edge of the doublewide berth, waiting for her to lie face down across his lap. His cock twitched as it started to come back to life.
After stripping, she pitched her uniform into a corner of the room, and Henri laughed.
“Glad to see some things haven’t changed.” He’d always razzed her about her lack of housekeeping skills. Her pod in Fourth Quadrant was a mess of semi-clean uniforms tossed between pots of her favorite fruit-bearing plants growing under special lights.
“Now, go where you belong,” Henri ordered, and she didn’t hesitate to drape herself over Stepho’s dark, thick thighs.
She wiggled slightly, enjoying the feel of his short, bristly leg hair against her mound, and earned herself the first swat of Henri’s hand.
“No squirming, Miss Starlight,” he commanded.
“Yes, Sir!” she said enthusiastically, which earned her another slap. Henri wanted her meek and submissive, but she liked making him work for it.
Stepho reached under her and tweaked her right nipple. “You really know how to stir him up.”
She moaned as his pinch grew harder, sending shocks shooting down to her core. Henri spanked her again, three times in succession. Her moans grew louder as she thrust her ass higher into the air. Stepho reached around her other side to pinch both her nipples at the same time.
Oh hellitude, she was going to come just from their rough play, and it would piss Henri off if she didn’t ask for it first. She considered which way she wanted to play it and decided not to push the rough play too far. She’d save that for another night.
Henri smacked her ass, and she gasped as her climax rushed at her.
“Please may I come, Sir?” she begged.
“So soon, Starlight?”
“Yes, Sir.”
He gave her three quick swats as she gritted her teeth to keep herself together, knowing he was pushing her on purpose, and she’d be rewarded with an even greater orgasm for waiting.
“Now, you may come, Starlight.”
Stepho squeezed harder on her nipples as Henri aimed his next slap at her engorged clit.
“Oh, fuck!” she screamed Henri’s favorite curse word, as she exploded over Stepho’s legs. Her body trembled as her muscles clenched tightly, and she grew lightheaded hanging upside down, her fingertips pressed hard into the floor.
She rode the high as long as possible, but it never lasted long enough. Fortunately, she knew her men would send her off the cliff many more times tonight.
Finally, her breathing grew quieter, more regular, and she grew aware of Henri’s hand stroking her sore butt cheeks.
“We missed you, Starlight.” His voice sounded thick with emotion.
She turned her head to look up at him. “I missed you and Stepho more than I have words for.”
Stepho helped her upright to her feet and caught her around the middle when she wobbled as the blood rushed out of her head. He guided her to sit on the edge of the bed next to him. Then he wrapped his large hands on either side of her head and leaned down to her. She stretched toward his delicious lips, feeling their soft firmness for the first time again in too long. Reaching her hands up to his coarse black hair, she savored the friction on her palms as she tilted his head to gain deeper access to his mouth.
Sitting on the bed behind her, Henri straddled her, wrapping his arms around her chest to play with her breasts, sandwiching her between the men’s two hard bodies. Tears gathered in her eyes as she surrendered to the warmth flowing through her—a warmth that was different from the sexual heat they usually generated. She wondered if this was the sensation of love the ancient Romantics spoke of. Then, all thoughts of esoteric emotions fled when Henri reached between her legs and stroked her clit.
She melted back against his chest, rejoicing in this opportunity to be back with these two amazing men, who challenged her physically, mentally, and emotionally.
And for the time being, she chose to block out the reality that her job would force her to be unfaithful to this closeness they shared.
Henri absorbed Crystal’s weight as her soft body filled his arms, relieving the empty ache in his gut. He and Stepho had felt incomplete without her, and they’d agreed to abstain until they could be with her again.
Henri had nearly given up on the conviction they would see her again. Though, he hadn’t shared his pessimism with Stepho, who firmly believed they would find a way to get Crystal transferred to First Quadrant. They hadn’t told her of their plans, afraid to get her hopes up. Now, they’d been given this unexpected gift, and Henri would not accept another separation from Crystal.
He intended to use every one of her free moments to tighten the bond between the three of them, as he further investigated how to get her reassigned permanently to First Quadrant. His involvement with the Pro-Freedom Movement gave him unprecedented access to some high-ranking military officers, who were secretly working against the Council, and Henri would use those connections to secure a place for Crystal in First Quadrant.
She moaned as Henri circled her clit with his finger.
“I need to taste her,” Stepho implored of Henri.
He nodded and leaned against the pillows at the head of the bed, pulling Crystal back with him.
Stepho sprawled on his stomach between Crystal’s open legs, his round ass rising in the air tempting Henri.
Crystal dug her fingers into Henri’s thighs as Stepho thoroughly licked her pussy. Her body tensed as Henri felt her building to another climax.
Would she remember to ask for permission before she came? Or would she intentionally forget so he would have to discipline her again?
He grinned at the mental image of her pale cheeks taking on a ruddy color as he administered her next spanking. She and Stepho had choice asses, and Henri enjoyed playing with both of them.
“Oh, yes,” she panted as her fingernails cut into Henri’s skin when Stepho began thrusting a finger in and out of her channel.
Henri twisted her nipples, and she shot over the edge with an unrestrained cry, drawing a low chuckle out of him. Yeah, he was looking forward to her next bit of training.
* * * *
“Major Jeffers was pleased with your intel,” Fisher announced to Crystal, as he sautéed mushrooms for the midday meal.
Crystal swallowed the nausea that seemed p
ermanently lodged in her throat ever since she’d begun reporting intel she’d acquired from Henri and Stepho these past few weeks. “I’m glad my work has been satisfactory.”
“You don’t sound very happy about it.”
She turned her back on him and washed a head of lettuce in the sink. “I’m starting to wonder who the good guys are in this conflict,” she said quietly, mostly to herself.
“You sound like you believe the Pro-Freedom Movement’s propaganda,” Fisher accused.
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “No, I’m just weighing the opinions of both sides. Did you know about the Council’s hypocrisy concerning mates?”
Fisher shrugged. “So? Why all the fuss if the big guys decide to increase their chances of producing offspring by assigning themselves a few extra women? It’s important to the continuation of our government that the Council procreate.” The Council seats were hereditary on Profortuna as were almost all occupations, but on the Council, only male heirs were eligible.
“The fuss is because it’s contrary to the standard the Council holds the rest of the Profortuna population to. One woman for three men was established because of the shortage of females. The Council is taking a larger portion of the female population for their own benefit. How is that fair?”
“Why do you think it should be fair? That’s kind of an immature view of the world, don’t you think? Haven’t you ever heard life’s not fair?”
“Whose side are you on?” she challenged Fisher.
“Neither. I’m military. I merely follow the orders given to me.”
Crystal snorted derisively. “You’ve never merely followed orders. You always manage to do what you’re told while making it look like it was your idea.”
Fisher shook his head as he resumed his concentration on the mushrooms in the frying pan. “You sleep with a guy a few times, and you think you’ve got him all figured out. Don’t waste your time on me, darling. Don’t you know I’m a lost cause?”
Crystals Three Chosen Mates Page 4
