Ways in the Guardian: A Menage Romance Book Collection

by Barbara Downey

  He didn't need to say anything else, she understood. For the first time he looked at her face. Their eyes locked and the little flip at her center became a steady hum. They both belonged to the fraternity of the accident prone and makers of mistakes, and it made her like him more than all the perfect smiles could.

  “How about we try to fix this one together?”

  Talurie spoke up for the first time. “My Lady, it is not appropriate for you to dirty yourself this way.”

  Leah was already beginning to regret her decision to call Talurie a friend. This kind of classless thought was just so backwards for a people who seemed to be so forward. “I don't think that any job that helps a people survive is inappropriate.”

  “What?”

  Leah shrugged. “You need to eat, right?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “Then don't look down on the work that feeds you.”

  Talurie looked as if she had been struck across the face with a pan. It would have been amusing if it wasn't causing the other woman so much emotional pain.

  “You think that the work of service is...” she struggled to find a word, “honorable?”

  “Very,” Leah answered without a hint of regret. She looked over at Erun who was still smiling, but doing his best to hide it.

  Talurie bowed her head. “Then I will leave you to it.”

  Talurie left and Leah found herself very alone with someone who was very nearly a stranger. A very attractive stranger.

  “Shall we?” she asked.

  “Alright.”

  It was awkward at first. She wanted to let him lead her since he knew what everything was and what he wanted to prepare. He wanted to let her lead since she was some supposed goddess. It made for a whole lot of nothing happening those first few minutes. Finally, she just grabbed his shoulders and said, “Do your job and tell me what you need.”

  His eyes had gone wide and she knew that she had broken some other social role. Then he had sagged a little in her grasp and smiled again. “I will show you.”

  Everything fell together after that. She had prepared little rolls out of the dough, sliced up some kind of herb cheese and mashed up herbs to rub all over the fish. It felt good to be useful, to be doing something other than wandering around with people bowing to her.

  He had just set the fish on a large pan when she asked. “What were you thinking of?”

  “What?” He glanced over his shoulder at her.

  “What mistake of mine were you thinking about that had you scaling the fish all wrong?”

  He blushed but he answered her. “The first night you were here and you tried to eat everything all at once.”

  She laughed and after a moment of being embarrassed he joined her. It was a good laugh. “It was very good.”

  “Thank you,” he said. She could see that he meant it. Again she was aware that they were very much alone, but he no longer felt like a stranger. There was an intimacy that came with doing menial jobs together, working as a singular unit to achieve a goal. She had learned that, when he wasn't nervous, Erun was an excellent cook and that he responded better to questions than to orders. “Is something wrong?”

  She blinked, realizing that she had been staring at him. “No, no. I just...I was thinking.”

  “What has a goddess thinking that hard?” He laughed and moved to flip the fish over. A glorious scent of herbs and butter filled the room.

  “Marriage.”

  He nearly dropped the fish. “Marriage?”

  “Are you married, Erun?” She stepped forward, acting far more bold than she felt.

  He blushed again and shook his head. His eyes were on the floor again. “No.”

  “Why?” She continued to be grateful for Artemis' help.

  “I am a cook and gardener,” he said as if that explained everything. When she just continued to stare at him he opened his arms in a very large shrug. “I am surrounded by those dedicated to Arina.”

  She got the sinking feeling that this was another one of those class things. “Let me guess, if another cook were here, that would be an option?”

  “Yes.”

  She found herself wondering if a person could be friends outside their profession, so she asked.

  “I have friends.” It was almost defensive. “There is Heran.”

  “Who?”

  “He was walking with me when I spotted you. He is my friend. He is why I have the job here.”

  She remembered the tall male who had scooped her up. It made her think better of him that he had helped Erun get this job.

  “So you can be friends with a priest, but not get all romantic with one?”

  He shrugged, but didn't answer out loud.

  “Well,” she said placing a hand on his chest. She could feel his heart pounding beneath her fingers. “I guess it's a good thing I'm a cook too.”

  For a moment she thought of kissing him. It would have been the icing on the cake of that shocked and dumbfounded look on his pretty face. Then a shadow darkened the doorway.

  “Erun, I came to see if you would need...”

  A tall black haired male with hair that fell like a wave came to a halt in the kitchen doorway. She recognized him instantly as the man who had carried her from the lake. He paused when he saw her and began to kneel down.

  “Don't,” she said holding up a hand. “Not here, not now. Please. Just...stand up.”

  He hesitated, glancing over her shoulder to the swirling ball of blue that Leah's voice was currently coming out of. He said nothing. His perfectly Elerian face was set in that stoic visage that she had seen on so many.

  “You are...Heran...I presume?”

  He gave the slightest bow of his head. His hand swept around his body until his hand landed over his chest. The movement was dancer-like and elegant; the perfect Elerian gesture. “I am. I did not mean to intrude.”

  “She was helping me cook.”

  If she hadn't been looking for it she would not have seen the flicker of confusion slide across his face. “You assisted in servitude?”

  Leah just barely resisted the urge to sigh. What was it with these people and the idea of service? Her first act as impostor goddess would be to deal with this idea that helping your community was somehow tantamount to dirty work. Every job was important.

  “I helped someone who needed it,” she amended.

  “That is...commendable.”

  He meant it, she realized. Maybe he wasn't the perfect Elerian after all. Maybe he was just better at hiding that than Erun was.

  “So,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest, “What were you offering to help with?”

  There was the smallest flush on his perfect ivory cheeks. “I came to assist.”

  Maybe she wouldn't need Talurie's help picking out a husband after all.

  Chapter 6

  The Choosing, and the ceremony that followed, had been surprisingly straight forward. There was a month long period between the understated pomp and circumstance and what Leah would have called the wedding night. The month wait had the purpose of allowing a period of bonding between the trifecta.

  Leah had to admit that it wasn't a terrible idea.

  For a month Erun, Heran and Leah spent the better parts of their days together. Mornings were often spent walking around as the two of them tried to teach Leah their language without the assistance of Artemis. It was a complicated form of speech because everything relied on the way it was said, the tone and inflection placed on a word. The pointed ears of the Elerian's helped them pick up these little idiosyncrasies and Leah didn't have them.

  The afternoons were spent tending Erun's garden, or helping Heran with his work; which turned out to be silversmithing. It was a pleasure to watch Erun separate herbs into different canisters and to see the fine movements that drew metal over flames as Heran wove jewels and gemstones through the lines he created.

  Leah had expected some kind of awkwardness. Typical relationships had that period of learning what w
as okay to do, what wasn't, and how two people fit together. With the addition of a third person, and the barrier of completely different cultures, Leah had assumed that there was going to be triple the difficulty. She had rarely ever been so wrong.

  A balance formed between the three of them, comfortably and companionable. She had never known a romance to start so simply. It made her acutely aware of the fact that she was lying to them. They thought of her as Arina, a re-embodied goddess who was here to guide them. They believed that she was here to usher them into a new era of enlightenment. It had been the reason for the marriage in the first place.

  She knew that she had to tell them, but she wasn't sure how.

  “My Lady,” Heran said, drawing her out of her thoughts, and back to their picnic lunch. It was cooler today than it had been, it felt like early fall, but the leaves of the trees hadn't begun to change. Maybe they didn't change on this planet. “Are you alright?”

  She blinked, pushing back the heavy thoughts and tried to focus on the lunch that Erun had packed for the three of them. “I'm just thinking.”

  The men exchanged a look. “Is it about tonight?” Erun asked.

  “Tonight?”

  “Tonight is the full moon,” Heran reminded her.

  She felt her stomach do another flop. The full moon, right. Tonight was supposed to be 'the night'. She cleared her throat. “I guess it is.”

  “What is it?”

  Erun flopped unto his side and laid his head in her lap. He was very open with his affection, even by human standards. For an Elerian he was positively taboo. She brushed her fingers through the auburn locks and let them fall over her hip. It helped her think. “I... don’t know.”

  “That is not the truth,” Heran said.

  She looked up and caught his bi-colored gaze. The double iris of silver and orange was so easy to get lost in. “No. I guess it's not.”

  Erun ran his fingers gently down her arm. Her skin seemed to tingle beneath his touch. “Tell us.”

  She had to. She knew she had to. Leah just didn't particularly want to tell them. These daily picnics and long hours spent with one another had become some of her happiest moments. Admittedly there wasn't much to compare them to. The life of a deep space surveyor was not filled with much in the way of...well...anything.

  “I am not who you think I am.” She tried her best to keep her tone inflectionless since the words were already overly dramatic. There was nothing to be done about that. She turned her gaze away from both of the men. “I'm not a goddess, I'm just a person. I come from a different planet. We call it Earth. I'm a deep space surveyor and I crashed on this planet.”

  There, it was all out there in the open. It was not the best speech. Hell, she thought to herself, it kind of sucked but it was honest and left no room for confusion.

  “Why did you claim to be her?” Heran's voice was flat and hard. She should have expected that he would be angry.

  “I didn't, not at first. I tried to tell everyone that they were making a mistake, but it didn't work. Then I decided that I was going to leave, but Artemis said that it would cause war.”

  “It would,” Erun said softly. He had not moved from his spot in her lap. She was grateful. “If the claim was discovered to be false...”

  “Yeah,” Leah said softly, “Artemis explained it all. Other temples would rise up and...” She waved her hand inelegantly.

  “You should not have done this.” Heran stood up.

  “I didn't mean to. It just happened. And by the time I could tell anyone, really explain things it all felt too big and too deep. I was...afraid.” Tears, hot and unwanted, sprang into her eyes and began to carve their way down her cheeks. “I'm so sorry.”

  Erun reached out and touched one of the tears. “It's alright.”

  “No,” Heran's voice cut through the comfort that Erun offered, “it is not.”

  “It was an accident, a mistake.” Erun wiped the tears from her cheeks and shook his head. “I'm not angry.”

  “Heran is,” Leah said softly.

  “I am disappointed. This is not correct.”

  Leah couldn't quite bring herself to meet his gaze. “I am sorry. I didn't mean to make things difficult for you.”

  “No, you merely impersonated my goddess, pretended to be something that you weren't and brought hope to millions of us. You lied.”

  “Yes,” she said, “I did.”

  “What will you do now? Leave?” he demanded.

  “Do you want me to?”

  He shook his head hard enough to turn his obsidian hair into a waving cloak. “I want you to be what you claimed to be, but that is not possible.”

  “Heran, will you tell?”

  He thought about it for a minute. His elegant brow was knitted in frustration. He fisted his hands at his sides. “No. I will not. It is not my place to break the spirit of our people because of the actions of a... human.”

  “You do not need to be rude. I didn't force this on you.” Leah felt her own rage bubbling up. “I didn't-”

  “What is your name?”

  “My name?”

  “It is not Arina, you are not the goddess of peace, who are you?”

  “My name is Leah West. I was captain of the deep space exploration ship, Artemis.”

  “What is Artemis?”

  “That's...complicated. She's a complex computer program meant to emulate logic, with some personality sub-routines. She's a companion program so I don't get lonely during my months wandering around space.”

  “You explore the stars?” Erun asked. He did not sound disappointed.

  “I do.”

  Heran stood up, effectively cutting her off. “I thought myself to be married to a goddess not some alien.”

  “You aren't married yet.” Erun offered. “Not until tonight.”

  “You will still go to her bed?” Heran demanded.

  Erun seemed completely untouched by Heran's rage. His twin green eyes seemed somehow calmer, even content. “She is the same person that she always was. She still likes to help me cook. She might not be a goddess...but she comes from the stars.”

  Heran's hands tightened so much that Leah could see the veins between his knuckles. “If you will excuse me.”

  He turned and stocked off. Leah watched him go. “Damn.”

  “What's that word mean?”

  “Hmm?”

  “That alien word you used, what is it?”

  She looked down at her lap, where Erun still rested. Almost tentatively she ran her fingers through his hair. He snuggled closer, as if sensing her sudden timidness. “It's a curse.”

  “What's a curse?”

  “A word you say when you are angry and can't do much about it.”

  “Ahh.”

  “It really doesn't bother you than I'm an alien?”

  He blinked at her. “Should it?”

  “It bothered him.”

  Erun shrugged. “He's Heran, everything bothers him. He'll be back in time.”

  She looked out across the long flat area between the lake and the temple. She could just see the long line of Heran's back as he stepped over the threshold and disappeared inside. He did not pause and he didn't look back. Leah wished that she felt the same optimism as the man in her lap.

  Chapter 7

  “You know,” Leah said later that night, “I'm not entirely sure I know what to do here.”

  It was late. Dinner hadn't been the same tedious affair that it normally was. It was partly because everyone knew that tonight was an important night, and because everyone noted that Heran was not nearly as attentive as he had been.

  It had been the most uncomfortable meal that Leah had been a part of. When the bell signaling the meal over had been rung, she had nearly run out of the meal hall and towards the large room that the Elerians had gifted her.

  “Leah?” Erun's voice called. She had turned, and there he stood. His bare feet had stood out on the dark marble. “Is it alright if I come in?”

>   She could have told him no, she realized. Erun would have listened. He had a very gentle nature and was not just going to pounce on her and claim her as his like some barbaric intergalactic warrior. Leah found a comfort in that. Sure, there was a time and place for alien barbarians, but today wasn't it.

  She patted the bed next to her and he wandered over. There was a shifting of the mattress with the new weight and she found herself rolling over so that she could pull him close, spooning herself behind the warm curve of his body. It was then that she explained that she didn't know what to do.

  “Oh!” he exclaimed, “Have you never...”

  She snorted. “I've gone to bed with men before. I just...everything that you people do is so...precise.”

  “You don't want to make a mistake?” he asked. His arm settled comfortably over hers.

  “No, I've done enough messing up today, I think.”

  He turned around in her embrace. The simple clothing he wore made it easier for him to maneuver. “Leah, you told the truth. That was the right thing to do. Heran will get over it.”

  “Do you think so?”

  “Yes.”

  It was said with the kind of certainty that Leah had lost many years ago. She smiled at him and shook her head. When she opened her eyes he was closer than he had been.

  “Leah?”

  “Yes.”

  “May I?”

  She didn't need to ask what he was asking for. It was all there in the glory of his eyes. “Oh yes.”

  His kiss was naive, but enthusiastic. The press of his lips started off too much, with a tightness to his mouth that wasn't very pleasing, but after a moment he relaxed and she could taste the satin of his mouth against hers. His arms came around her and he pulled her close. His hips pushed towards hers. She could feel that he was already hard and eager.

  “Erun,” she said after the first kiss, “Is this your first time?”

  His blush was instant and deep. “Is it so obvious?”

  “Only to a goddess,” she promised. He laughed in response. “Here, let me.”

  She rolled him unto his back and mounted his hips. With their clothes still in place she could feel him, hot and firm, between her thighs. She leaned down and placed a nearly chaste kiss on his brow, then on his red cheeks, and then his mouth. She drew her tongue along the fullness of his lower lip, tracing the outline of his mouth. He squirmed beneath her and she liked it.