by Rena Marks
“They’ve really perfected it,” Everly said. “When it was created for me, it floated about two inches from my skin. I was terrified I was going to catch it on something. Yours looks skin tight.”
“A little too form-fitting for us,” Impatience growled.
“We hear that all the time with our swimsuits,” Angela winked. “Speaking of which, our mates are going to be first in the ring. Zealish and Thane. But we’ll be heading out later to visit with Heather and her twins.” Just then a small cry sounded from one of the strollers.
“I’ll get it,” Happy said, moving down the bleachers.
Serena felt her heart melt when he spoke to the baby softly, soothing it so it wouldn’t wake its siblings. He bounded back up the bleachers, the small baby girl in his arms. “This one is Annie,” he said, sitting on the bleachers in front of Serena so she could see the small baby. “Her sister is Alyssa. Both girls have a name beginning with A, like Angela. All the boys start with Z, like Zealish.”
“Really?” Serena laughed. “What are the boys’ names?”
“Zayne, Zevian, Zeke, and Zachary,” Impatience said.
The aspects were all quiet. No one expected that Impatience would be the one to know the names.
“Alrighty, then,” Envy snickered.
Everly broke the quiet. “Um…my Thane teases Zealish that he named baby Zayne after him. That he knows he’s Zee’s best friend, even if Zee won’t admit it.”
“He knows he is. He suggested the name,” Angela said, rolling her eyes. “He just hates to admit it.”
“She’s beautiful,” Serena said, lifting the umbrella and ejecting its petals. She held it over her head to cover the baby also, and Happy scooted between her knees so Annie could bask in the shade.
“I’m so glad you finally know about all the aspects,” Everly said. “It must have been hard for everyone to pretend.”
“I thought Pax was the super moodiest man ever,” Serena laughed and casually squeezed his thigh with the hand that rested on his leg.
“Having all these guys around does make me moody,” Pax said, sounding more like Happy.
Of course. Happy’s back was butted up against Pax’s leg, touch him, spreading his mood.
“If you’re out in a bubble on Saturday,” Angela said. “Everly and I are heading over to the main park, which is by the hub. You should stop by. We’ll introduce you to Ava. She’ll be there with her little purple pumpkin, Baby.”
“I’d love it.”
“Great. We’d best get back to our seats before the first match starts. Or another baby wakes up.”
There was already commotion as people started heading toward the area of the pits. Both ladies headed back down to the bottom bleacher, uncaring that Happy still cradled Annie. They were obviously used to all the help.
“Do they need to stare so intently?” Envy growled, glaring across the way. Several men were curious and looked their way.
“I’m sure a newcomer is an oddity,” Serena said.
“You’re not a newcomer,” Pax growled. “You’ve been here a year.”
“No one has seen me,” she reminded him gently. “To them, this is my first day here. And they’re probably wondering why I’m half naked.”
Next to her, Lust squeezed in closer, as if blocking her from view. Pax did the same. Neither one seemed to care that they bumped into Envy and Impatience’s legs, which touched her also. It seemed like everyone had to stake their claim to her. She didn’t mind. This seemed normal. Natural. They were all hers, and as soon as everyone—including Pax—knew it, the better.
After the first spar, a sweaty Zealish and his friend Thane came to sit on the bottom bleacher with their mates. Another of the babies woke and Thane picked him up out of the stroller. It was like one big, happy family with the twin women.
“I wonder if Angela will have another six babies if she gets pregnant again?” Serena asked.
“Probably,” Pax said. “Zealish seems to produce litters.”
“She’s fortunate to have her sister.”
“There’s lots of help,” Pax agreed. A few of the Xeno Sapien males who had their eyes glued to Serena earlier came down to the bottom bleacher to sit with the two families and their babies.
“Great. They’re starting to attract attention,” Envy muttered.
“We should get ready to leave,” Pax growled.
“So soon?” Serena blinked her eyes at him. “But I’ve just begun to enjoy myself.”
“Maybe just a few more minutes,” Pax conceded, making Impatience groan as if he thought Pax was weak.
From behind her, she felt Envy elbow him.
A couple of the males moved further up the bleachers. A particularly handsome one came right at her.
“You must be Serena,” he said. “I’m Trance.”
“Hello, Trance.” Ack. She hadn’t meant for her voice to come out all warm and husky—so inviting. It had changed somewhat with her damaged vocal cords. But hell, she used the tone a lot. It wasn’t her fault Pax never took her up on the sexiness of it.
“I’m glad to see you’re finally getting out of the stuffy labs,” he grinned, a shock of thick hair falling over his forehead.
“Me, too,” she said, sitting up straighter and watching his eyes fall to her fully-outlined chest. So this was flirting. “It’s so nice to be out and about.”
The aspects were silent, probably aware what she was doing. Pax’s thigh muscle tensed under her hand…so she brought her hand to her own thigh. Because apparently, the flirting was working.
“I can take you around more often,” Trance said. “Show you the rest of the sights in our city.”
Perfect. That was Pax’s biggest fear. “Would you?” she squealed. “I’d love that.”
Pax growled next to her. “Absolutely not.” He glared at Trance. “We are here testing her suit. What would you do if something went wrong?”
“I’d bring her in to medical, of course,” the Xeno Sapien countered, staring him straight in the eye.
Happy sighed. “I’d better get Annie back. It’s obviously time to go.” He stood, holding the baby next to him, as he strode down the few bleachers to get to the other crowd of people.
But not having Happy here to block her view gave Trance an opportunity to caress her body with his eyes. It was blatant appreciation—probably because she’d practically accepted his invitation.
“She is not dating the likes of you,” Pax snarled, taking her hand. “She’s already got more men than she can handle. Come on, guys,” he said, standing. They flanked her again, trying to block the view of her as they helped her down over the bleachers. She was aware when Happy also stepped in, his hands gripping her about the waist to swing her from the last bleacher.
She looked over her shoulder at Everly. “Your parasol?” she called out.
“Keep it,” the laughing voice yelled back.
She was dragged along at breakneck speed. They seemed to forget she was barefoot inside the bubblesuit.
“Pax,” she said, yanking his hand. “Slow down.”
“No people,” he muttered as if to himself. “You can’t be around people. Too many fucking eyes and fucking egos…”
“Wait a minute,” she said, stopping abruptly. Forcing them all to stop in the dense grove of trees they’d suddenly arrived in. She planted herself in front of Pax, pulling her hand from his grasp so she could poke him in that broad, distracting, sexy chest.
So sexy.
“You decided I needed to meet other men. You decided I needed to figure out if this was hero worship or not.”
“And obviously you did,” he snarled back. “Or you wouldn’t have been egging him on. Allowing him to study your half-naked body like you prance about for me.”
Her jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me? Like I have a choice in my wardrobe?”
“Guys,” Lust said. “I think it’s time for these two to figure some things out.”
“Yeah, ‘cause the rest of us know what the
hell we want.” Happy glared at Pax before stepping into him and melding with his body.
Lust followed, then Impatience, and finally Envy.
Then she stood alone with Pax.
“Did you find him attractive?” Pax growled.
“Yes.” She snapped. “And I’m not going to apologize for that.”
He didn’t say a word, just continued to stare at her, his chest rising and falling with his indignant breaths.
“You wanted this, Pax,” she reminded in a softer voice.
“I didn’t think—I hoped—”
“That I wouldn’t find anyone attractive?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
She stepped in closer to him. “Does it help to know that I find you the most attractive of all?” she said softly.
“How can you? I look exactly like my aspects.”
“Do you realize they refer to themselves—and you—as brothers? As more than brothers?” she said. “But when you refer to them, it’s aspects. As if they’re separate from you. You keep them at a distance. But they’re not separate, Pax. They are you. And yes, they look exactly like you. But that doesn’t mean I don’t find you the most attractive. It doesn’t mean I don’t want you despite the fact I’ve never had you.”
“I’m afraid I won’t be enough for you. I’m afraid you’ll prefer the asp—my brothers—over me.”
“Can we start over?” she asked. “Just you and me. Show me your city, Pax. Through your eyes. Not with Happy here to be outgoing. Not with Impatience here to cut things short. Not with Lust here to stare unabashedly and show me he wants me. With Pax. With Pax learning how to do all those things on his own.”
She closed the parasol since the trees gave them a lot of shade. And then she held out her hand.
Chapter Twelve
SHE LOVED BEING alone with Pax.
They walked through the forest, arm in arm. He showed her the den that belonged to Heather, Brax, and Jett, the infamous artists. Explained that they had twin toddlers. Showed her all the magnificent pieces created from wood.
“I’m sorry,” he said, as they sat on a bench to rest her feet. “Sorry I was jealous after pushing you away.”
“You can’t push me away, Pax,” she said. “I won’t let you. Not now that I know how you feel about me.”
His dark-winged brows shot up. “How do I feel about you?”
“I’ve been with every one of your aspects. I know your aspects are part of you—the same basic instincts and needs. You can’t hide your lust from me. You can’t hide the happiness. You can’t hide the envy.”
“I can’t hide the jealousy,” he said flatly.
“Let’s just take it one step at a time, okay? I’ll be me, you’ll be you, and we’ll do whatever pleases us. Life’s too short to worry about if I really want you or someone else, or if I’ll ever want to be a mated human, or anything but this moment.”
“And what do you want in this moment?” he asked her.
She studied him. His full lower lip. His orange-amber eyes, lined with thick, dark lashes. His aquamarine skin. The bulky muscles that he thought a white lab coat covered.
The vulnerability strewn across his face.
“I already have what I want. I want time with you. Just you. But tell me what you want. One thing. Most of all in this world.”
“I want you to kiss me. The way I’ve seen you kiss each one of the others. Like it’s natural. Like it’s comfortable. Like it’s…love.”
“Oh, Pax,” she sighed. “I’ve wanted that since the day you stepped out of the gates when I had a bomb strapped to my chest.”
He reached out and cupped the base of her head, his thumb reaching out to stroke her jaw. He seemed mesmerized with her lips, which made her nervous enough to wet them with the tip of her tongue.
He groaned. “Don’t do that. I don’t have a lot of control.”
“I can’t help it. I’ve wanted to kiss you for so very long.”
His thumb left her jaw to trace her lower lip. “I love that I can finally feel you. My skin against yours.”
“Even if it’s only from the neck up?”
“One step at a time, remember?”
His thumb caressed her swollen lip as blistering desire seared straight through her. This was Pax—not anyone else. Pax—making his move. Sultry, sexy, magnetic Pax.
His mouth came crashing down on hers and her arms wrapped around his neck as if she’d never let him go. His lips were soft, yet firm as they pressed onto hers, and then they both opened at the same time.
His tongue wickedly stroked hers. His taste made her melt a little inside. Calm, nerdy Pax was anything but. Pax was more of a volcano—hot, molten, explosive.
And he was kissing her.
It was stunned surprise—at first. The instant need. The long-forgotten sensation of another’s mouth on hers stunned her into a numbed immobility, because this was Pax. Much as she loved the aspects, this was who she’d been waiting for. He took advantage of said surprise to slide in, tasting her lips, swiping against her tongue, hot and wet. Strong fingers clasped her nape, supporting her neck, angling her for a deeper taste.
Pax’s kisses were beyond what she could ever have hoped for.
With a soft moan, she threaded her fingers through his thick, dark hair. It was soft and full. He lifted her onto his lap and her thighs clamped against his sides, the back of her ankles crossed behind him on the bench.
He was hard and swollen and his bulge was angled at just the right spot for her to rub where she needed it.
Pax’s tortured groan filled her mouth. His big hand slid down to grip her ass, holding her firmly against him as he ground his cock against her. His tongue thrust past her lips, devouring, searching, burning with every penetrating lick.
Finally he pulled away, leaving her confused. His face was buried in her neck, his arms wrapped around her, holding her close even though her legs were locked tight around his hips. Their chests were in a race, heaving together to an unseen finish line.
“Fuck,” he gritted. “I had no fucking idea kissing you would be so good.”
“Now, we know,” she panted. “Let’s not wait this long again, hmm?”
His grin was everything she could have hoped for. “Still, I can’t see that this is taking is slow.”
“It wasn’t bad for the first step.”
“Second step,” Pax said, standing easily with her still wrapped around his waist, “would be to get you back before the bubble wears off the bottom of your feet from all this walking around.”
He kissed her nose.
“I didn’t think of that,” she admitted.
“Good thing you have me,” he said, carrying her back down the pathway.
“Pax, you can’t carry me. I’m heavy.”
“Heavy?” One of his dark eyebrows jumped up. “You haven’t seen heavy until you carry full grown aspects inside your body.”
Unfortunately, he couldn’t carry her all the way. They both realized at the same time that her body bouncing—naked beneath the thin layer of breathable plastic—aroused them beyond belief.
“I’m trying hard not to be Mrs. Lust right now,” she mumbled, her face pressed into his neck. She couldn’t resist pressing her lips to his neck as she spoke. “I’m sorry. But…this is so sexy. I can feel you’re hard for me. Every step bounces me a little—and then I felt your dick hard underneath me and I was trying so hard to ignore it but it kept growing until it reached me and why do you have to be so sexy?” Then, she licked his skin—lightly, as if hoping he wouldn’t notice.
“Fuck,” he said and nearly stumbled. Oh, oops. He noticed.
“You don’t want to be Mrs. Lust?” he asked. “I feel like Lust’s brother.” His dry wit surprised her for a moment and then she started laughing.
He groaned. “No, don’t wriggle. Please, god, don’t wriggle.”
It made her laugh harder, which made him grow harder, and then it was right there. The tip of his cock bulged a
gainst her clit.
Unfortunately, they were at the edge of the trees and she could hear the voices and laughter of people just up ahead.
“Keep your arms around my neck and no one will notice,” Pax said.
Notice what? That she bounced on his erection? That she could easily find fulfillment like this? The thought of climaxing on him made her shiver.
“You’d have to release your pants,” she whispered.
He fumbled a bit between them and then she felt the unmistakable warmth of his skin butted up against the thin film of plastic.
Holy shit. Pax’s naked dick was out in the open. Out in the air. Out in the sunshine.
“Oh, god, that feels good,” she breathed.
His hands tightened on her ass as he moved her against him, pulling her in for slow, twisting circles.
“We can’t possibly,” she said, trying to look over her shoulder to see how close the voices were.
“Hush, sexy,” he said, nipping at her earlobe. “Relax.”
He reached down between them and gripped his cock, lining himself up along her slit. God, it was almost as if the bubble was non-existent. She could feel him. Then both large palms came around to grip her ass.
She was eager—way too eager. Her thighs squeezed around him as she arched her back, exposing her long neck. The smallest rocking motion of their hips made her bounce against his cock.
“Damn,” she breathed into his ear, because it was good, so good. His strokes became quicker; small bounces, his hands pulled her down as each surge of his hips pumped forward.
Neither of them could last long. She clung to his neck as they moved together and suddenly she cried out, frantically crushing his cock against her humming clit. He groaned and came, ejecting fluid over her mound, a splash of instant wet.
Panting, she lowered her forehead to his. “I wish I could feel it,” she confessed. “Better yet, feel you. Deep inside me.”
“I know,” he whispered. “Modifications for the suit are already being processed for sexual activity.” He smiled at her.
Her legs felt shaky when he let her down, taking off his shirt to wipe the cum from her belly and his. Then she watched as he casually tucked his ridged, bumpy alien cock back into his pants, tucked the dirtied shirt into his waistband and gripped her hand.
