by Juno Wells
“If humans are going to come here, they’re going to live by our customs.”
“It’s Vaherian custom for you to make a woman sleep on the couch? To make her sleep in a bed with someone who isn’t her mate? You should be kissing the ground at her fucking feet.”
Veiko sat bolt upright. “She’s not a Vaherian woman. I don’t have to treat her like a goddess. She’s got nothing to do with the goddesses. She’d never even heard of them before. I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”
His very real point was buried by his petulance and that was made Aavik lunge. Wraxic held him back, grabbing his arm and almost making him fall over as the momentum of his punch was screwed up.
Aavik recovered quickly, breaking free from Wraxic’s hold and going at Veiko.
Veiko rolled out of the way to dodge the punch to the head and retaliated, grappling with Aavik.
Hannah, who Wraxic had almost forgotten about, rushed forward. She barely dodged Aavik’s elbow as he drew back to punch Veiko and managed to get between them both.
She rested hands on both of their bare chests and seethed, “Stop acting like fucking children.”
Aavik clenched his fist tighter, as though he was going to hit Veiko anyway, and then released it.
Veiko looked wholly unimpressed by her interruption, though he didn’t move the hand from his chest.
Wraxic felt only jealousy that she was touching them and not him.
“I don’t want to be treated like a goddess. I just want to be treated like a person. I just wanted to come here and learn about your culture and maybe tell you a bit of mine, okay? I didn’t ask for any of this. You can’t just expect me to adjust to it all immediately.”
Aavik pulled back completely, surprising Wraxic by breaking contact with Hannah. “I don’t expect you to adjust immediately,” he said. His bitterness wasn’t well concealed, and she looked guilty.
Veiko sat up further, pushing his chest into Hannah’s hand. She tensed her fingers, digging into the hard muscle there. Wraxic felt his cock respond, only being able to imagine how good that felt. And Veiko didn’t even want it.
“You don’t have to adjust. You’ll be going home soon enough.”
11 HANNAH
Hannah did as she planned and slept on the couch.
The tension never left the room even as the three men stripped naked and got into bed together and Hannah tried to contain her smile.
Wraxic slept in the middle, and she hoped it would be enough to stop them kicking each other under the covers.
It was only when they finally settled and she was sure the men were asleep that she relaxed enough to realize just how right Aavik had been. She was going to freeze on this couch. The temperature had plummeted like a stone when the sun went down. The Vaherians probably didn’t feel it as much with their thick leathery skin, but it seeped into Hannah until she was shivering.
Her suitcase was in the corner and she stepped gingerly out of bed, trying not to make too much noise. There was bound to be some kind of heating in this futuristic room, but she didn’t know where and how to turn it on. She had a coat in her suitcase, and maybe that would be enough to ward off the chill.
It wasn’t.
She lay shivering for what must have been half an hour, staring at the warm looking bed and the warm looking bodies in it, before giving in.
She walked over and stood at the foot of the bed for another five, trying to decide where her best bet was to crawl under the covers. She was tempted to crawl in at the bottom, but they were so tall their feet came to the very end of the bed.
Aavik was on one edge and Veiko on the other.
Aavik had more room beside him, but Hannah suspected he would take any opportunity he got to wrap himself around her. Veiko was the safer bet.
She tiptoed to the side of the bed and chewed on her lip for another minute before shrugging out of her coat and lifting the side of the blanket. Taking a deep breath, she slid into the bed. She lay like a pencil trying not to touch Veiko, but his heat still seeped into her and the blanket started to warm the side of her that wasn’t next to him.
“Told you you’d freeze,” Veiko said under his breath.
She scowled into the dark. “You could have gone and gotten me a blanket.”
“I wouldn’t have made my point then.”
“I don’t even know what your point was.”
She held back a gasp when he wrapped a solid arm around her waist and pulled her into his chest, spooning her. He melted her icy skin.
His lips were in her ear when he whispered, “Just go to sleep.”
She should protest, she knew she should, but she was so warm and comfy and tired that she didn’t have it in her.
She’d put the barriers between them again in the morning, when she could think straight.
Veiko was obviously sleep deprived to have done something like this when he couldn’t even look at her. He’d wake up, realize what he was doing, and let her go. They could pretend it hadn’t happened at all.
When she closed her eyes she struggled to find sleep though. Her body was buzzing with desire. Veiko’s hot breath fanned against her neck giving her goosebumps, and his hard body pressed into her. She was sure she could feel the tip of his cock hard against her back.
She tried desperately to keep her breathing even as his fingers delved between the wrap dress to find skin. He didn’t do anything other than rest his palm against her stomach, but it made her flush.
Aliens weren’t supposed to be attractive, and she couldn’t possibly be this sex starved.
Her mind was a mess after a hell of day.
She screwed her eyes shut tighter.
Things would be more normal in the morning.
THINGS WEREN’T MORE normal when she woke up. Veiko was still holding her tight, and in the night her body had betrayed her further. Their legs tangled together and her hand rested over his.
She breathed deeply, convincing herself to open her eyes and remember that it didn’t matter how comfy she was, she didn’t actually want to be in bed with Veiko cuddling him like they’d been together for years.
When she finally got her eyes open, she was met by Aavik and Wraxic, stood at the side of the bed staring at her.
She flushed scarlet but tried to play it off as anger. “Have you really just been stood there watching me sleep?” she asked, prying Veiko’s arms off her and standing up. “That’s creepy, you know.”
Wraxic just laughed, but Aavik looked pissed. “Really? You really chose to sleep there, with him?”
She frowned. “I was cold.”
“You could have come to my side.”
Her argument died on her lips. She’d gone to Veiko because she’d thought he wouldn’t touch her. She could hardly tell him that when she’d been laying in his arms all night. “It was dark and I was really tired. I didn’t pick one person over another.”
“Just chill,” Wraxic told him. “It was one night. There are going to be plenty more.”
The tension continued to build as Veiko stood up right behind her. She hurried over to her suitcase to put some space between her and all of them.
Aavik and Veiko squared up against each other for a moment, and then Wraxic said, “We have to go to work soon. The king has scheduled a meeting.”
Hannah ran her hand over her face. “Can I come and see the king?”
“Not yet,” Veiko said. “We’ll ask about getting you an audience.”
Wraxic shifted his weight. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
Aavik raised a brow. “Why?”
“She’s a bit… fiery. I don’t want her to offend his majesty.”
Hannah raised a brow, too. “I’m not going to insult him.”
“Maybe you won’t on purpose, but any amount of disrespect would be… unacceptable,” was the word he settled on.”
The tension grew further, another divide coming between the three of them.
“I just want to ask him about Yvo
nne and about the next women to come to Vaher,” she said.
“Not about going home?” Aavik replied quickly.
She shifted her weight. “I don’t think I can go home until I’m sure that other women coming here will know exactly what they’re getting themselves into.”
She’d had more time to think about what would happen to her when if she did return to Earth, too. The sole person who knew the CIA’s secret. She had a lot of faith in the agency, but this was something else entirely. She’d probably be spied on for the rest of her life, if not locked away.
It was a cynical view, but she’d also been sent to space to be the kind-of wife of three men and Yvonne had known all about it.
She had no idea what the woman was capable of.
She thought all three men looked pleased by her answer, though it was harder to tell with Veiko. He definitely wasn’t giving her the same glare she’d received yesterday. She didn’t know what had changed with him.
“So, how long will you be gone?” she asked.
“We don’t know. It depends what the king’s schedule looks like today,” Aavik replied. “I’ll have someone bring you some breakfast.”
“Then what?”
They looked around. “Some breakfast and some books?” Wraxic suggested.
“Books sounds good,” she replied. “But won’t they be in Vaherian?”
“Hmm.”
All three men looked stumped, and she waved them off. “It’s fine, I have some stuff I can do in my suitcase. I want one of those AI things though. They seem really neat. Then I can read all your books.”
“We’ll ask the king about it when we see him today,” Aavik promised. “Stay here and stay safe.”
“I will.”
“You don’t have anything to fear in the palace,” Wraxic said, “But it’s still best if you stay in the room.”
“Okay.”
There was an awkward pause where both Aavik and Wraxic looked tempted to give her a kiss goodbye. Veiko made the move of opening the door and gesturing for them both to leave.
“Aren’t you going to teleport?” she asked.
“We only teleport long distance,” he replied as they filtered out of the room. “The technology uses a lot of energy.”
“Breakfast will be here soon,” Aavik called.
Then the door was shut and she was alone.
12 VEIKO
The three men walked down the corridors in a tense silence. It was the first time they’d been alone since Hannah’s arrival, and Veiko didn’t know what they could say to each other without making the strain worse.
“I knew you felt it,” Aavik opened with, side eyeing Veiko.
Veiko huffed but didn’t admit it.
He hated that he felt it. He hated that when he looked at Hannah he was fighting a deep-seated urge to wrap her in his arms and hold her close. He wanted to send her back to Earth and for no more humans to ever come back.
“I don’t trust her,” he said.
“How can you not trust your mate?”
“Easily.”
Wraxic shook his head. “You know that it means the goddesses have approved her. That means you should trust her.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Of course it is,” Aavik argued.
“She doesn’t feel it, though, does she? That means she’s outside the sphere of influence of the goddesses. They don’t know everything about her, they don’t know if she’s really the one for us. They’re just guessing because we won the tournament.”
Both men looked scandalized, and Veiko felt a bit scandalized too. He’d never questioned the goddesses—no one did—but now two fundamental things were warring inside him and he didn’t know how to reconcile them.
Neither men spoke, and he thought his explanation had given them pause for thought.
Then they were at the double doors that led to the king’s private quarters and their conversation was cut short anyway.
There was no hesitation as Veiko pushed open the doors and stepped through, Aavik and Wraxic just behind him. They all bowed their heads in respect to the king, who sat at a large table eating his breakfast.
“Come, sit, have something to eat,” the king said.
They did as they were told, sitting further down the table and helping themselves to the wide selection of food in the center as per the king’s insistence.
He was friendly and chatty with them, but none of the interior guard held any doubt that if they stepped out of line, the king would come down hard on them.
“So, how is mated life?” he asked. He looked at Veiko. It had been no secret that Veiko was unimpressed by the whole arrangement.
Veiko spent a long time chewing his food before he answered. “There have been some problems,” he admitted.
“Oh?” The king was baiting him, it was obvious.
“She was unaware of her reason for being sent to Vaher.”
This did make the king frown. “I see.”
A pause. “But she isn’t causing a fuss? She isn’t going to be a problem?”
“Oh no,” Aavik answered hurriedly. “She’s perfect.” He rubbed the back of his neck at the spike of embarrassment. “But she is concerned about more women coming to Vaher without knowing why they’re coming.”
“It’s up to the human ambassador to fully inform women coming to Vaher. She is fully informed of why they’re coming.”
“Then is there a way that Hannah could speak to Yvonne?” Veiko asked. He spoke slowly, going over every single word in his head before saying it to make sure he wasn’t going to irritate or offend the king.
The last thing he wanted was for the king to think Hannah was causing problems.
“Hannah? That’s her name?”
“Yes, your majesty.”
The king waved him off. “Enough with the formalities. You don’t always have to suck up to me when you think you’re saying something that might get on my nerves.”
The king had seen straight through him. “What about Hannah speaking to Yvonne?”
“I’ll think on it,” he said.
All three men obviously wanted to argue, but it wasn’t their place. That would be going too far.
“What are your plans today?” Veiko asked.
“I’ll not be in need of you this morning, but this afternoon I want to go for a walk. I’ll take you with me.”
They nodded.
“I’ll give you a buzz when I’m ready to go walking. You can spend that time with your mate until then.” He tilted his head. “And when you say she’s giving you no trouble, does that mean I can expect new Vaherians sooner rather than later?”
Veiko opened his mouth, realizing that he was about to lie to his king. He’d never lied to his king. “I certainly hope so,” he said eventually. It wasn’t a complete lie.
The thought of seeing Hannah with a swollen stomach that he was responsible for was something he definitely hoped for.
“I hope so, too. Don’t slack,” he said, with a stern look at all.
Veiko struggled not to fidget. He might want to fuck Hannah senseless, but he both didn’t trust her and had no intention of forcing himself on her.
Which left disobeying an order from the king as his only option.
More fundamental splits shattered his identity further. He had no idea how he was going to put these pieces back together.
13 HANNAH
Hannah sat in her room picking at the fruit she’d been brought for breakfast and barely paying attention to the program she had on her laptop.
Warnings kept popping up and letting her know that she only had ten minutes of charge left on the device, and there weren’t any sockets in the walls.
She’d changed back into her normal clothes. A pair of jeans and a sweater. Her hair was damp from where she’d had a shower.
Getting out of the shower had been the hardest thing she’d had to do yet. The jets of warm water beat all the tension from her muscles and left her feeling
energized and ready to go.
She normally had a run in the morning and her legs twitched with inactivity.
The door in front her looked more tempting with every moment that passed.
They’d all agreed that she would be safe within the palace walls. There were probably staff everywhere that would tell her if she was doing something inappropriate.
She just wanted to get moving.
Deciding that going for a walk wouldn’t irritate the men too much, she pulled on some socks and her sneakers.
She was about to open the door when there was a knock on it. Maybe someone was coming back for the tray of food still half-full.
“Jukk!” she said when she opened it. “Hey.”
The Vaherian gave a small smile. “My Lady.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been instructed to take you to get your translator fitted.”
“Oh, great.” She stepped forward to go into the corridor and Jukk took two quick steps away from her. He hadn’t loosened up at all then.
The corridor outside the room was nowhere near as opulent as the room itself. The walls were metal out here, a dark gray that was engraved with an elaborate pattern in white. The floor was covered in a plush carpet. It was completely empty except the two of them.
“How have you been?” he asked, giving her a sideways glance. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you the situation earlier. It wasn’t something I should have said at all.”
“I’m glad you did.” She smiled at him. She liked Jukk. She hoped they could stay in touch. Maybe he’d even stop being so stiff around her after a while. “But it’s okay, I guess. They haven’t done anything I wouldn’t want, haven’t been pushy or anything.”
“We have respect for women on this planet. They would never hurt you.”
“Yeah they told me about the goddesses and stuff.”
“I hope you’ll be happy here.”
She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she doubted it.
She was surprised when they didn’t come across anymore living creatures. Just corridor after corridor that all looked exactly the same. Was it all for show, this big palace? Maybe they held events sometimes and the corridors would be teeming with people.
