Except that Rio had picked up his parcel and was coming on to the house.
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Maia suddenly felt vulnerable, leaning here with her butt sticking out. She didn’t move, wanting to play the game. It was important, for some reason. But she hoped Rylan would return before Rio could come in.
That didn’t happen.
The door opened. She sensed Rio’s pheromones, different from Rylan’s. Rio’s were sharp and harsh, like a predator’s.
She heard the creak of leather as he slid clothes from his body.
She could run away. But maybe this was part of the game. Maybe Rylan had told Rio to come here, to tempt her into moving, while he watched.
Rylan, she begged silently. Hurry.
The air grew hotter as Rio approached. When his hand landed on her back, it scalded like a brand.
She gave a soft cry.
“Maia,” Rio purred. “I would never fuck a lady who belonged to another Shareem—unless he gave me his permission.” He lifted her braid and traced her back lightly with its end. “Of course, I’m not going to tell you whether he gave me permission.”
She shuddered. To be fucked by Rio would be wild and hard and wonderful.
But her heart did not want him. She wanted Rylan. She wanted Rylan to be the first to put his cock inside her.
“No,” she whispered.
“I’m a level three Shareem,” he said quietly. “I do not like a lady to speak unless I allow it.”
She bit her lip.
He laid the braid down again and placed his palm on her back.
The warmth of it made her nearly miss the next feeling, that of a thin leather strap.
Oh, dear.
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The strap moved across her back, then down to her buttocks, tracing the same path Rylan’s tongue had.
“I’ll be sweet to you now, because I know you’re healing,” Rio said. “But when you’re all better…”
Her legs shook and her hands were slick with sweat. The strap moved along her opening, teasing her. She shifted.
“I believe Rylan told you not to move.”
“No,” she whispered. “I mean yes.”
“And I did not give you permission to speak.”
She gulped, clamping her mouth shut.
Rio chuckled, a sound warm and heady and dangerous. “You aren’t very good at this, are you?”
“No.”
He brought the lash up between her buttocks. “Because it isn’t me you want giving you orders. It isn’t me you want telling you you’ll be whipped if you don’t obey.” He brushed the strap over her back. “You want Rylan.”
“Yes.” She knew in her heart that Rio spoke the truth. It had always been Rylan. She could not remember, but something inside her did.
“Mmm, thought so. And for that, Maia, you’ll pay.”
She felt a brush of air as he raised the lash.
Oh, gods. Rylan! Where are you?
As if in answer, the door opened.
She knew Rylan came in, although from her position, she could not see him. Rio lowered the lash, resting it against his brawny leg. “Just keeping her warm for you,” he said.
She heard Rylan setting things on a table. “Level threes have no patience.”
“Oh, we have infinite patience, my friend.”
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“Hold onto it a little longer.”
Rio’s hand moved on Maia’s back, his skin growing hotter. “Are you inviting me to stay?”
Rylan hesitated a long moment. Then he said, “Yes. I wouldn’t mind your help.”
“Hey, I always enjoy a level two game now and then. What did you have in mind?”
He was silent a minute, then said, “Oh, man, you have a great imagination.”
Maia could not look without moving, so she had no idea what Rylan was preparing.
“First things first,” Rylan said.
She sensed him approach, her whole body aching for him. When he dipped his hand between her legs, she nearly cried out.
“Hmm,” he said, stroking her. “Won’t need much lube.”
Something about him had changed. Earlier, he’d been tight, controlled, even worried. He’d relaxed a little since kissing her, and now his tone was warm, teasing.
Games and wicked fun, Dr. Laas told her. That was a level two Shareem.
And, oh, what games.
Rylan drew his finger, loaded with Maia’s cream, to her asshole. Very gently, he slid the tip of his finger inside.
She moaned.
He slid in a tiny bit farther. Her muscles contracted and her flesh prickled.
“I think she likes it,” Rio said.
“Can you take that?” Rylan asked her.
“Yes,” she gasped.
“Good.”
She bit back a cry of disappointment when he took his finger away.
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She grew delighted again when cool lube touched her hole. His finger slid inside again, slick now. It went farther. She squeezed.
“Not too much,” he murmured.
“More,” she pleaded.
“No.” He slid out again.
More lube. Then something thin and rigid touched her ass. She flinched.
“Relax,” Rylan said. He laid his hand on her back, his Shareem magic loosening her limbs.
She drew a shaking breath, growing warm and open.
Rylan slid a plug in to her. It was fairly short, but, this being Maia’s first time— or was it? —it filled her and made her happier than she’d been since she woke up.
“Give me that,” Rylan said.
He must have been talking to Rio, because she heard something slap into Rylan’s palm.
“Only if I get to use it later,” Rio said.
“Not yet,” Rylan said, his voice too damn calm. “Not level three yet.”
She felt the thin lash stroke across her back, this time held by Rylan. She made a noise of frustration.
“Hush,” he said, then he slapped it across her hip.
She yelped.
“Don’t move,” he said.
The strap came down again.
“Rio,” he said. His breathing had quickened, his voice deepening with excitement.
“Have Maia take your cock.”
Rio laughed. “Now, that’s more like it.” He moved readily to Maia’s side.
“Take it, Maia,” Rylan ordered.
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Maia turned her head. Rio’s cock, enormous and dark, pointed to her face. The brown-red flange touched her lips.
It was Rylan she wanted inside her, but Rylan ordering her to take Rio excited her to crazed levels. The butt plug filled her ass, and Rylan was behind her, aroused and erect and holding the lash. Maia opened her mouth and let Rio in.
“Gods,” Rio groaned. “Now I know why I came out here.”
Mistake, Rylan thought. Watching her mouth form around Rio’s cock heightened his excitement until he thought he’d come right there, all over her ass, before he was ready.
Rio dropped his head back, his dark hair falling to his hips. His jaw clenched, and he let out a feral growl.
Rylan’s cock throbbed in pain. He tried to relieve the pressure by spanking Maia with the strap.
Rio closed his eyes, hands balled into fists, and rocked his hips toward Maia.
Rylan’s heart compressed. Watching Rio’s cock slide between her lips turned him on, but it also made him possessive as hell.
He’d asked Rio to come to the house and to stay for the games, in case Rio could stimulate Maia’s memories. Or, if nothing else, help him pleasure her. Rio also would protect Maia. Rio might be wild and dangerous in the bedroom, but he knew how to take care of a lady. Maia needed to learn to trust again, and Rio was the master of trust.
But Rio would not be master of this ménage. Maia belonged to
Rylan. His need for her had not diminished, no matter how much time had passed.
Rylan, he thought, slapping her lightly with the strap. Not Rio.
Maia’s mouth stretched wide, the dark saltiness of Rio’s cock filling her. The lash stung and smarted on her ass, and the plug made her feel complete.
Rylan, the word echoed in Maia’s head. Not Rio.
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Suddenly, the glass wall, the cool matting, the view over the canyon, the men with her, melted. White light filled her brain, and she seemed to see a tiny, cramped room containing a narrow bed.
She felt herself bent over the bed, her heart throbbing with happiness because Rylan was with her. Rylan smacked a lash against her buttocks and thighs, his breathing ragged, his pheromones spilling over her.
“Rylan,” he growled. Slap. “Not Rio.” Slap, slap.
The tiny bedroom splintered, pieces flying around her and resolving into this beautiful room filled with light. She screamed.
Her legs gave way as shards of memories poured over her, good and bad, ugly and beautiful. They hit her all at once, cutting her. She found herself on the floor, pressed against the matting, sobbing.
Then she felt Rylan’s hands, his touch strong, banishing the fear. He gathered her in his arms, lifting her from the floor. “It’s all right,” he said.
She clung to him, burying her face in his chest, her disorientation making her dizzy.
“It’s all right,” Rylan said again. “I’m here. I’m not letting you go, ever again.”
She shook, but she quieted, cradled by his strong arms.
Rio put his hands on his hips, staring at them.
“Huh,” he said. “I’ve never gotten that reaction before.”
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Chapter Five
Rylan eased the butt plug out of her. Rio took it away somewhere, while Rylan scooped Maia into his arms and walked with her to the backless reclining couch.
He sat down on it, holding her on his lap. He brushed her hair from her wet face, fingers shaking.
Rio discreetly departed the room. Rylan admired that about him—Rio always knew when to play and when the games were over.
“You remembered,” Rylan murmured into her hair.
She nodded. His heart tightened. It couldn’t have been easy, and he could do nothing to make it better.
“You left me there,” she said brokenly. “I waited for you to come for me, but I was all alone in that horrible box. I don’t remember it, but I feel it around me, trapping me inside.”
He pressed a long kiss to her forehead. “I searched for you. Every single day of my life has been hell, because I couldn’t find you. I’ve missed you so fucking much.”
His voice penetrated her irrational panic. She was here, on his lap. He was solid flesh, not a dream, holding her close.
“Can you tell me what happened?” he asked softly. “Take it slow.”
“Dr. Flinders.” She winced, remembering the white-haired man who’d burst into her room the day DNAmo had fallen. He’d gazed at her with wild eyes and told her he would never let anyone destroy her, would never let the Bor Nargan government get their hands on his work. “He had a hypo.” She remembered the gleam of the needle and the panic pounding through her. “I tried to get away from him. He stuck the hypo in me, and I—” She gulped. “Everything stopped.”
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Maia and Rylan
Clinically, she knew that the man had put her in a comatose state to prepare her for the suspended animation unit. But feeling her breathing stop and her heart slow and her blood grow cold in her veins, had terrified her.
She’d tried to call out for Rylan, and could not make a sound.
She shuddered. She wrapped her arms around his strong body, so happy to feel him real and warm and here. “You once told me that when we got away from DNAmo, we’d always be together.”
He stroked her hair, his touch warm, soothing, so unlike the fevered heat when he’d whipped her with the strap. “Now that I’ve found you, Maia, I’m not letting you go.
Never again.”
She tightened her hold on him. “Promise?”
“Promise.” His voice was gruff. “You belong to me.”
“I’ve always belonged to you,” she murmured.
“I remember when I brought you the jelly buttons when we were little,” he said. “I would have done anything to meet the pretty, black-haired girl I’d seen across the compound.” He cupped her chin, and drew her face to his. “I knew you were mine, even then.”
He kissed her. It was a gentle kiss, the storm and excitement over. It was a kiss of love, a kiss that sealed them together. The ache in her heart eased.
“I love you,” she whispered.
He growled into the kiss. He slid his hands over her naked body, then he scooped her up and deposited her on the couch, on her back.
“Spread your legs.”
Delight squeezed her, and she promptly opened her thighs. “Are you going to fuck me now?”
At last.
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He smiled the wonderful smile she remembered, and his eyes gleamed with wicked light.
“You sound eager,” he said.
“Please, I want you inside me.”
He chuckled. “Give me a chance to get down there.”
He dropped to his knees beside the couch, not on top of her, as she wanted. She reached for him. He slapped her hands away.
“Just a damned minute. I’m going to enjoy this all the way, and so are you.”
She made a sound of disappointment. He stroked her mound with a strong hand, fingers swirling her hair. She lifted her hips to the movement.
Rylan leaned forward, his long tail of hair brushing her abdomen. He dipped his mouth to her clit and gently sucked.
She clutched his shoulder. “Please, Rylan, do it now.”
She felt a frantic urge, as though if he did not take her right now she’d never be his.
He answered by swirling his tongue over her clit. She arched up to meet him. He continued to lick her, oblivious to her pleas.
While his tongue tortured her opening, he stroked his thumb over her swollen clit.
“Rylan, gods, I’m going to come.”
“Good,” he murmured, then went back to what he was doing.
Madness built up inside her. She remembered now what an expert he was at tormenting her. First he’d rubbed against her while she stood against the window, arousing her long-dormant Shareem needs.
Then he’d fucked her with his mouth, just like he did now, only now was the added dark pleasure of him rubbing his thumb on her clit.
Then he’d sent Rio in to play with her and make her shiver in fear and excitement.
Then he’d slid the butt plug into her. She could still feel the imprint of it inside her—it had opened her that much.
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Then he’d ordered her to suck Rio’s cock. She felt that too, huge and hot against her tongue and lips.
Then he’d spanked her with the whip, like he was punishing her for taking Rio.
He’d worked her up and up and up into arousal and excitement, and now he took her to the highest point.
He moved his mouth, and he bit down on her clit.
She screamed, and then she came.
Writhing and bumping against the couch, she came and came, calling his name.
“That’s it,” he said. He gently pressed her hands aside. “That’s it, Maia, open for me.”
She raised her hips as though in response.
Swiftly, he lifted her. He straddled the couch, planting his feet on either side, his cock sticking straight up. He moved her shuddering body to fit over him and eased her down onto him.
She drew a long breath, opening her eyes wide. Rylan slowed. She felt his stiff length inside her, where it belonged, for the first time.
A slight pain bit he
r as her unused sheath widened, and the small bit of skin that meant she was a virgin broke.
Then he was fully inside her, and she was wrapping her legs around his waist. He held her close, rocking a little.
She still throbbed inside from her climax. She ground her hips into his, squeezing his length, loving it. Loving him.
“I love you, Rylan,” she babbled.
“Maia,” he said. “Oh, gods, I love you.” And then he came.
Scalding hot seed shot inside her, his seed, made for her. He kissed her, hard, his mouth ravishing hers. He kissed her bruised lips, her neck and her face, and growled those wonderful words over and over again.
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I love you.
* * * * *
Rio lounged, naked, in the hall waiting for them to finish. He laughed softly when he heard Maia screaming, and Rylan saying he loved her again and again.
Those two so needed each other.
Rio was more of a free spirit.
Liar, said a voice inside him.
Well…
Did he believe there was a lady out there for him? Not really. He’d fallen in love once, and that had taught him a damned hard lesson.
Maia was cute, but she was for Rylan.
But I don’t mind being the boy-toy.
All had gone quiet. Rio rose and hit the control to open the door.
The pair of lovebirds reclined on the couch, touching each other and kissing.
He sensed calm and contentment pouring from them, and the bond that sealed them.
There would be difficulty in their future, as Maia learned to adjust and trust again, but he was sure they’d work it out. They had enough love to get through anything.
He was glad. Rio had a soft heart, but gods, he’d never tell anyone.
“Hey,” he said. “I’m getting bored out here. Are we playing, or what?”
The smile Rylan gave him was exhilarated. For the first time since DNAmo, the man looked happy.
“Come on in,” Rylan said, a wicked light in his eyes. “Hope you’re hungry.”
* * * * *
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Maia couldn’t believe her luck. She reclined on the couch, the same one she’d just made love to Rylan on, only now, silk tethers bound her to it.
Maia and Rylan Page 4
