“You should have spent more time with me,” she told him, mock-sweetly. “You’d have soon learned I’m no angel.”
“I didn’t need to spend time with you to know that.” He snorted. “You were never an angel. It’s not in your nature.”
“Should I be insulted?” she asked with a pout.
“Nah, no need. Your personality flaws just make you all the more unique.”
When he winked at her glare, she rolled her eyes. “I can see I’ve been blessed with two of the most charming men on Madison. Whatever did I do to be so lucky?”
“I’m sure you were a very good girl to be landed with Knox and me.” He grinned at her huff, then, eyes narrowing, asked, “If you’re not going to let me up, how about you let me at a comm unit? I can start investigating that little scam Knox mentioned last notte.”
She frowned. “Do you really think you’re ready for work?”
“If it weren’t for my legs, Parker, I’d already be back at Headquarters. The new pins take a couple of menses to heal. Especially for battle readiness. The burns are all superficial now.” He waved a hand at the silver wrapping covering his face. “This is just to get me looking pretty for you again.”
Her concern was replaced with amusement. To a human, Knox and Rafer would never be pretty. Yet to her, they were hunks. But then, beauty was in the eye of the beholder. Undoubtedly, she looked as odd to Shuzons as they did to humans.
Cross-mating wasn’t unusual in the Federation. If they’d have tried to outlaw it, it would have been impossible to police such a stricture. Especially on places like Madison, which sure, attracted the family crowd, but was definitely hotter with the singles looking for a fun, fuck-filled vacation. Some of the guys staying in the hotel didn’t care if they were fucking animal, vegetable, or mineral. So long as they got their end away, as her granny used to call it.
That wasn’t to say cross-mating was highly regarded for long-term relationships either. Knox and Rafer’s mothers still didn’t approve of her. One of them outright hated her, the other just looked at Knox whenever she saw Parker, eyes filled with disappointment.
Oh yeah, her mates’ family really loved her.
“Just because you should be working doesn’t mean you have to,” she remarked. “Why not take this time just to relax and get better?”
He reached for her hand, then when she gave him it, he tugged her down onto the side of the bed. He was no longer supported by a hover chair, and he was finally sitting up by himself. The deya she’d put the hover chair into storage had been a deya edged with relief. It was one thing being told he would get better soon, but, in an age where injuries could be healed in any time from an heura to a few deyas, for him to have been bed-ridden for any time at all had been incredibly worrisome.
“Maja,” he murmured soothingly, using the Shuzon word for “honey.” “You have to understand, I’m not made for bed rest.”
“No one’s made for bed rest, Rafer.”
“Well, some people are and some aren’t. The idea of spending any more time staring at these lukcin walls is enough to drive me even more batty.”
Begrudgingly, she nodded. When he raised her hand to his lips again and bussed her fingers, she commented, “I’ll get you a comm unit. But only if you promise to stop when you feel tired.”
He grinned. “I never took you for a mollycoddler.”
Affronted, she drew up her shoulders and rose from the side of the bed. Snootily, she snapped, “If I happen to take ill, God forbid, then I bet you turn into one, too.”
“Touché,” he murmured wryly.
She nodded stoutly. “I’ll get reception to send you a comm unit up.”
“Don’t sulk.”
“I’m not. I’m going to Knox’s to get you the ledgers. They’re outside of the main comm system. We have to jack them into the hardware.”
“Doesn’t that waste time?”
“Yep. But, by keeping the reception ledgers isolated, they can’t be tampered with.”
“Smart thinking.”
“I know, it was my suggestion,” she told him sweetly. “I’m so much more than a pretty face.” Parker left the room, grinning to herself as he chuckled.
It had been a real luxury having him here. In more ways than one. This was the first time he’d actually embraced what they were to each other. All the other times, apart from that one particular occasion when they’d slept together, he’d pushed her away.
Before they’d finally consummated their relationship, Parker had been sure her feelings for Rafer had been unrequited. Unlike Knox, who had immediately jumped into their relationship, tumbling headfirst just as she had, Rafer’s distance had hurt.
Now, to have him here, and to be seeing a side of him that he’d never allowed her to see before, filled her with warmth.
She couldn’t say she loved Rafer as she loved Knox. There were sixty annals separating her relationship with Rafer. She’d seen and learned, experienced and reveled in so much with Knox. He was her rock. It would take Rafer a long time to gain a trust as deep as she had for Knox, but it wasn’t a competition. Her fledgling feelings were very real. And every minute she spent with him, they became stronger.
The Shuzon bond was a peculiar one. It tied heart and soul with the body, making it far more love-filled than even the most happiest of Earthling marriages. But Knox had told her that sometimes they didn’t actually feel love.
She was human enough, and far too much of a romantic, to be terrified at the idea of her body being tied to Rafer’s as it was and without love to cushion it. So her fledgling feelings came as a relief. And if his behavior was any indication, he was on the road to caring as well.
Parker headed to her own office rather than Knox’s. They’d stored the ledgers in her safe, as was their way. All documentation was in hers, anything of value like jewelry went into Knox’s, mostly because they wanted to fuck with any would-be thieves’ minds—it was a given that people would think he had all the important documents.
Her own office screamed of her heritage. She’d scoured planets for original Earth furniture, and because of its exclusivity, it had cost her a small fortune. That obsession meant she had one of the largest collections of Earth-era decorations in the Federation.
She had oak sideboards and a mahogany plantation desk. Above the desk was an Austrian-crystal chandelier. She had a rich Aubusson rug, some Louis XVI carriage clocks…the list was endless. Because of it, her office was cramped, and looked like an auction room’s warehouse with its hodge-podge of styles and eras.
Whenever Knox traveled away, or to celebrate an anniversary or special occasion, he always bought her something from Earth. That was his MO, because he knew she couldn’t resist anything from her planet. Even though her office was starting to look like it belonged on an episode of Extreme Hoarders. The thought made her sniffle—damn, she missed Earth television, even if most of it had been a lot of trash.
Heading to her safe, she went through the routine retina, voice, and fingerprint scan, and brought out the ledgers. It was an old-fashioned word for a very modern item. These were logs but they were holograms. Not physical entities but an image.
About the size of a small ruler in length and width, they were capable of holding up to two million documents and displaying an image the size of a twenty feet wall. These little beauties cost a damn fortune, because there was a helluva lot of technology in one small piece of equipment.
Grabbing the pair of them, the one that showed the sign-in forms and the other the housekeeping sign-off sheets, she was on her way out when Knox walked in.
He had a huge grin on his face and he was sporting wood.
Just how she liked to see him.
Seeing the erection padding his trousers had her body reacting in kind. Okay, without the erection, but still, lust started on a slow, hot burn. With Rafer tucked up in bed, along with the aftermath of the abduction—something they’d thankfully managed to keep away from the Galactic Media—they’
d both been busy. Too busy. Especially if they had to spare her for a few deyas’ post-coital recovery.
“What are you grinning about?” she asked, putting the ledgers on the desk, and perching her ass on the edge.
“Just heard back from Royters.”
Royters were the current leaders of Madison. They were highly conservative. Unlike the previous party, Leighters, which had been liberal to the extreme. Hence the corrupt Garda. Royters had only been in power for six menses and were still making changes to the government.
Knox had had a lot of influence with the previous cabinet leaders. Because the hotel, and the two of them as a couple, had donated heavily to the cause, Leighters had looked the other way a lot of the time when they’d wanted to make changes.
It had been the company who had funded the first domes on the surface of the planet. Therefore, it had been Parker and Knox who had turned Madison into the pleasure hotspot it was known as now.
Knox’s latest plan was to construct one large dome so they could add more facilities to the resort.
At the moment, there were three domes around the hotel. To reach the other domes, guests had to travel through the underground tunnels which had been specially constructed at the time of the domes’ installation.
Technology had advanced since then. The current domes were the size of small cities. The three in total covered a space as large as Texas. Current technology meant that they could install just the one dome, and there would be no need to use the underground tunnels anymore.
It would be a costly procedure, one the hotel would invest heavily in, but it would be worth it. The hotel was currently filling one of the domes to maximum capacity. By enlarging the space, they could keep on expanding, making it the one-stop shop for every species’ vacations.
Parker knew from Knox’s grin what the Royters decision had been, but she played along regardless. “Oh? What did they say?”
“They’ve given us the go ahead.”
She squealed, leaping away from the desk and straight into Knox’s arms. “That’s marvelous news. Well done, honey.”
“That means we can create that water park and the theme park!”
“Good job, considering how much we’ve plowed into the plans.” She grinned. “We sure as hell make a lot of money from Earth inventions. I can’t believe the Federation doesn’t have a water park. Or rollercoasters! Damn!” Not that they’d actually be using water. That would cost a goddamn fortune.
“We’ll be the first and only hotel complex with either. Thanks to you,” he murmured, pressing his mouth to hers.
She immediately opened her lips, letting his tongue slip between them. She moaned as he gently dragged his along her own, instantly shooting the hot burn of need in her body to a fiery conflagration that bordered on desperation.
Her pussy suddenly clamored for his attention. Desperately needing his touch, desperately needing him inside. As deep as he could go, filling her as much as he could. With Rafer here, her body had started to feel more stabilized. Her apathy was shrinking, but her needs were growing. They bubbled under her skin, urging her to take advantage of Knox while he was in this triumphant mood.
The kiss, an innocent touch of lip to lip, lasted all of thirty seconds. It took that long for her to rip at his shirt and to bare his torso to her hands. His rock-hard muscles clenched under her touch, and she tore her mouth from his to drop down and bite, hard, on his pec. At his groan, she felt her pussy flood in reaction, and her hands scrabbled down to his fly to slip inside and grasp his cocks. They both moaned as she touched hot, hard flesh.
Her mouth, lips, and tongue traveled over the length of his torso, caressing the delineated muscles, nibbling on his eight-pack, as her hands tormented and teased by just gripping his cocks together.
When she made it down to his hips, she trailed her tongue along the line above his trousers. Unfastening the button, she gripped the waistband and pulled his pants down. His cocks bobbed in front of her face and she immediately opened her mouth to accept and suck on the primary. She groaned around his shaft when his hands fumbled in her hair, tugging at the roots, sending slight scorches of pain raking down her nerve endings. He gasped and grunted as he moved her head, jerking her up and down the length of his shaft, fucking her mouth in any way he needed.
Sometimes, she liked to take control. Others, like now, she enjoyed him using her mouth. It turned her on something fierce, and she was helpless to do anything but spread her legs, awkwardly ruck up her skirt, and slip her fingers behind her panties.
Her moan vibrated along his shaft as she rubbed her clit, hard at first, jerking it to attention. His low cry told her he wouldn’t be long. That he was close and that he was ready. Whenever he fucked her mouth, he always came quickly. He’d told her once that it took everything he had not to explode between her lips the instant she touched him with her tongue.
The idea always turned her on. She moaned harder around his cock, hearing his corresponding grunt. A few more thrusts as she sucked down hard, repeatedly swallowing as he moved, and he came. Quick, hard darts of cum settled on her tongue, filling her mouth with his taste. She groaned as her throat was suddenly bathed in his secondary cock’s release. The warm liquid was the ubiquitous pearl necklace.
Her favorite kind.
His hips jerked a few more times, almost as though he were riding out the waves of pleasure. Until finally, he came to a halt, gently pulling his cock from her mouth with a deep sigh of satiation. Before she knew what he was doing, he’d bent down in front of her, his mouth connecting to hers, sharing his taste with her in a way that he knew drove her wild.
When his fingers came up to her throat, she moaned as he began to massage his cum into her skin, scenting her with his essence. Labeling her as his.
It was primitive, atavistic. He was treating her like a possession, but every time he did it, it made her need to come that little bit harder than she would have moments before.
Her fingers wiggled faster as she began to frig her clit, needing desperately to share her release with him, needing to feel that explosion of pleasure. When his hands moved to join in, pushing her panties aside with a roughness that had a sound of fabric splitting, she cried out as a finger speared deep into her cunt. He fucked her, hard and fast, sliding two more digits inside. And all the time, his mouth was connected to hers. His lips bit and nibbled, enticed and tormented her own, as his tongue thrust deep, taking her air, keeping it from her until she was breathlessly taking in his own.
Then, he moved away, and she came with a hoarse cry as he finger-fucked her, as her own hand worked furiously on her clit, seeking and seeking that glorious end only to find it with his aid.
Their panting breaths echoed around the suddenly still room. Knox’s breath was suddenly warm and moist against her thigh, and knowing he was inches away from her pussy, that he could scent that most female part of her, kept her arousal at a slow burn. Even as her climax took off the edge, satiated her to a certain degree, it wasn’t enough. Would never be enough until either Rafer or Knox’s seed was released in her warm, willing cunt.
She ran a hand over Knox’s shoulders, felt the tense muscles there, then curled her fingers into the hair that hung loosely about his head. The locks were velvet-soft. Different to human hair in a way that she couldn’t really define. As soft as her hair could be, it was nothing like Knox’s. She could only liken it to water, when it was at that perfect temperature and it felt like satin against your skin.
Feeling the silky strands against her palm made her nerves tingle. Stroking his hair was always mutually satisfying—he took pleasure in receiving, and she always found pleasure in giving.
Who said the two of them weren’t partners?
She sighed as she continued to tousle his hair, and at the sound, Knox asked, “What’s wrong?”
“For the first time in a long while, nothing,” she remarked with a smile. “Oh, I know there’s stuff going on. Things that we don’t have under control yet,
but still….” She paused, then, as she nibbled her lip, murmured, “I know you’re having trouble adapting to Rafer being here, Knox, but it feels good to have him home, doesn’t it?”
His snort of amusement vibrated against her thigh. “I wish, even if it was just for one deya, you could experience the twinling bond.”
She frowned. “I know what the mate bond feels like.”
“No need to get catty,” he retorted, lifting his head to look at her, brow cocked impatiently. “While the mate bond is similar, in many ways, it isn’t. A Shuzon is made up of four parts. Body, heart, soul, and twinling. While you, my love, are a part of my heart and soul, Rafer has a place all of his own in those bits of me that are intrinsically me.
“Living without him was incredibly difficult. I had to get used to it, something that no Shuzon ever has to do. We’re born together, we live, work, love, and die together. Rafer ruptured that, and if I’m honest, if I seem like I’m avoiding him, I guess I’m punishing him.”
A confused scowl puckered his forehead, and with her thumb, she smoothed it away. “That makes sense.”
“How can it? I should be relieved to have him back.”
“And you are, but it’s natural to be angry with him. To feel like you need to, I guess, get some of your own back.” When he shook his head, she smiled. “I think I’ve corrupted you with my Earthling taint. Humans aren’t like Shuzons, you know that. We go our own way as soon as we reach adulthood. We make our mistakes, unaccountable to most. Lots of us didn’t even give a damn what our parents thought. That’s a sort of freedom that I don’t think you understand, but being so ‘free’ generally meant that we were alone.
“For someone like you, who, up until Rafer left, was always a part of a pair, it must have been like learning to walk again. Having to live without him was tough, and now, it might seem petty, but you want to make him suffer like you did.”
Knox studied her, peering at her with a peculiar expression she couldn’t analyze. “You’re right,” he eventually told her.
“Damn, it’s hard being me. Always right.”
A Menage Made On Madison [The Federation 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 9
