by Lina Jubilee
Trey blinked. “Everyone, you’re in control,” he said, clearing his throat. But there wasn’t that sense of relaxation that usually came when he said that following an order.
“Would have been nice if you’d managed to say that before that little zebra bitch turned us to stone, eh?” said Zeke, moving on to start slapping Rio.
“Is that what happened?” Trey rubbed his jaw as Rio came to, Zeke yanking him up by the arm.
“She got me first,” I said. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing,” said Zeke, moving on to Derek. His palm hovered over my best friend’s cheek and he looked to me, as if for permission to smack him. Wincing, I nodded. It’d worked for everyone so far.
I brushed aside a lock of hair that had fallen over Rio’s eyes as Derek came to with a startling gasp, jumping all the way up to his feet.
“Easy, tiger,” said Zeke, but Derek was already pointing his arm ramrod-straight out in front of him, aiming at the wall.
Only nothing happened.
“My abilities aren’t working,” said Derek, staring at his hand.
My blood ran cold.
Derek got a little wobbly on his feet, swaying, and Rio jumped up to catch him, only he moved as slow as anyone else would, not quite managing to grab a hold of Derek until he was halfway to the ground.
Crawling over to them, I placed the back of my hand to Derek’s forehead. It wasn’t hot, but sweat dotted his brow.
“What the hell’s going on?” growled Zeke. His arms out in front of him, it looked like he was testing his abilities, too.
“My aunt,” I said quietly. “She has to be nearby.” I scrambled to the edge of the makeshift cage, grabbing handfuls of vines. “Alanna!” I cried out, the name echoing down the depths of the cave.
But there was no reply. No sight of another cage.
If she’d been nearby, I could have asked her to try to fall asleep, let the guys gain their powers back after an hour or so, and then we could bust out of this place.
But she wasn’t here. Or she was already asleep and it would just be a matter of time before their powers came back, assuming she didn’t wake in the meantime.
Or she was outside of the cave somewhere, fighting Xerxes right now—or a captive of his.
Like I was. Like we all were. Because of me and my big ideas.
“Bry?” Derek slipped an arm around my back.
I explained my theories about my aunt to the guys, unable to keep the sense of despair out of my voice.
“Well, if she’s out there fighting Xerxes, then she’s not alone,” pointed out Derek. “And it’s just a matter of time before our parents and the rest of Veras storm in here and…” He drifted off when he saw my face. I knew it must have fallen.
“I’m a hostage,” I said. “Exactly what that asshole wanted. I played right into his hands!” Turning around, I cried out, “Rajani!” I knew it was hopeless. Surely, she would have responded even to my aunt’s name if she’d heard it. The name echoed off into the darkness.
Letting out a choked sob, I leaned onto Derek’s shoulder as Rio slipped in behind me and started gently rubbing my back.
“It’s not your fault, love,” said Zeke, his tone even. “We all agreed to this.”
“But I insisted,” I said, looking to each in turn. “And look where I got us! What if my parents aren’t even fighting because they know he has me? What if they just let him—” I choked back a sob.
Trey squeezed between Derek and Rio and kissed the top of my forehead. “Don’t torture yourself,” he said. “We can’t change anything in here.”
As if struck by inspiration, Zeke got to his feet, striding over to the nearest cluster of vines and shaking them. They barely gave under his grip. “So let me get this straight,” he said. “To manage all of this, this Xerxes jerkoff is working with other Nelians who can produce vines like the one here that made this cage.”
Sitting up straighter, I wiped a sole tear that had escaped down my cheek. “And at least two Nelians who can produce portals.”
“Two?” Rio asked.
I bit my lip. “They need two on the Nelia side to open a gateway to Earth,” I explained. “Unless they get a boost from my mom. Then they can do it with one.”
Trey cocked his head but didn’t ask. “But we know that’s impossible, your mum helping this criminal out.”
I nodded. “He attacked her—kidnapped her. She almost killed him once. She’d never, unless forced to…” My breath hitched. I could see some criminal Nelian forcing his lips on hers if she didn’t put up a fight, if she was caught and trapped in a cage like I was.
“And your aunt is either fighting the man nearby, a hostage, or helping him,” said Zeke, stroking his stubble.
“She wouldn’t be helping him,” I said.
“She was once his lover,” said Derek unhelpfully.
I shot him a look. “Over two decades ago. No, Daddy Alarik said Xerxes carries a torch for Alanna, not the other way around. Besides, she didn’t even feel the sense for him like she does with her husbands.”
“The sense?” asked Rio.
Right. I supposed most Earthlings didn’t know. I hugged my knees to my chest. “Nelians believe in loving whomever you want—however many people you want.” I couldn’t bear to look to see how they reacted to that. “But they also only consider those to whom they feel the Nelian sense calling them their true mate or mates.”
“A bond,” said Zeke, rapidly blinking.
“Yes,” I said, my face reddening. “I don’t… I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Do you feel this Nelian sense, Bryony?” Trey traced a careful finger over the top of my shoulder, pausing at the exposed skin around my neck. I shivered.
“I don’t… I don’t know. I don’t think so,” I admitted.
“You do not think so?” asked Rio, leaning forward and whispering closer to my ear.
I could have sworn each was trying to trigger a reaction, make the sense jump out of me so I could pick my one true love.
To tell the truth, I couldn’t pick between the four of them if the fate of the world depended on it. And at this rate, I really hoped that didn’t become an actual possibility.
Zeke cleared his throat. “Sounds convenient.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Alanna knew without a second thought that her husbands were all meant for her.”
“But your mom doesn’t have that kind of second sense,” Derek pointed out. “I know Alarik feels that for her, but she didn’t need to have some magical radar tell her she wanted to be with all four of her partners.”
The way he looked at me then, like his eyes were pouring truth directly into my soul, made my heart skip a beat.
“You’re all right,” said Trey, nodding toward Derek, almost like a blessing to let my best friend into their little tightknit group of princely friends.
Derek scratched the back of his neck.
“Have to say I’m a bit jealous, though,” added Zeke. “You’ve known Bryony all her life.”
“All mine,” said Derek. “She’s a few months older than me.”
Chuckling, I clutched his thigh.
Trey tapped his index finger to my nose. “Someone’s robbing the cradle.”
“I am not.” I playfully shoved him. “He’s my rival-slash-best-friend.” I patted Derek’s leg again. “And maybe something more.”
“Rival?” asked Zeke. “I have to hear about that.”
“Bryony,” said Rio, squeezing my shoulder as he stood. “As much as I feel this conversation must be had between us all, have you tried your ability?”
I hadn’t. I knew it would work, though. I alone was immune to Alanna’s nullification power. But what use would it be? “I can keep people out—if I see them approaching.” I muttered the last part slightly under my breath. “I can keep them safe if I need to, if they’re panicking and about to run off into danger.”
“Or flying off a roller coaster,” added Trey, his blue irises tw
inkling.
“Or that.” I stood, extending my arms and summoning the pink glow. “But I can’t move something or break it.”
The bubble expanded, pushing past Rio and Zeke and over to bars of the vine cage. At first, it expanded right past it, protecting the vines inside it, and then I tried to manipulate it back, sliding it just inside the cage, like a dome of its own as the pink butted up against the vines.
Grounding my feet into the dirt, I concentrated so hard, the back of my head began to ache, as if the action caused strain augmented by my overall soreness.
I didn’t know what I hoped for. But they were right. There wasn’t anything we could do stuck in this cage. And who knew when our captors would return? I could protect everyone if I saw them coming, but what would we do for food? For water?
We needed to get out.
But the vines didn’t so much as quiver.
Gasping, I let my arms fall, tumbling forward. Zeke managed to catch me under his arm one-handed as if I were a sack of sand.
Rio, Trey, and Derek scrambled to provide me more support, gently guiding me to the ground, laying me on my back. Rio brushed some hair off my forehead.
“Why is it you can use your ability and we cannot?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said hoarsely. My heartbeat was slowing from the exertion, though a tingling sensation permeated my every fiber at the spots where my body was in contact with any of theirs. Trey held my head in his lap, the back of my head flush against his groin. Derek laid a hand on my thigh, and Zeke was down at my ankles. Rio traced his feather-soft touch over my face.
“Your hair,” he said, his head tilting.
“What about it?” I started to get up.
“The roots are growing in green,” said Derek, his mouth in a thin line.
I laughed. “Well, yeah. I dye it.” I reached up to grab a lock. “Though I guess I’ve been a bit too busy to touch it up—” My mouth clamped shut when I saw half of my long strand of hair was green. And wavy, any straightening conditioner I’d managed to use on it yesterday worked out through all the exertion and the stress.
But that didn’t explain the color coming back so rapidly. The hair wasn’t even any longer.
“Perhaps the strain of the power called out to your Nelian nature?” Trey proposed.
“Or the planet itself,” suggested Rio.
Whatever it meant, it was the least of my problems. But there was something gnawing at the back of my mind that I just couldn’t brush off.
Chapter Twenty-One
“What if it’s our touch?” suggested Derek out of the blue.
All of the heads in the cage turned toward him.
“You might want to elaborate on that one, mate,” said Zeke.
“Hear me out.” Derek pushed up his glasses one-handed. I had to admit I was a little surprised they’d survived Hazel’s petrification, even if I knew her abilities didn’t directly do damage to anything she petrified. “It wasn’t until we had her lying here that her hair started changing.”
I stared at the lock of my hair again. “Well, maybe… Who can say?” I admitted. “I don’t know how this might help us, though.”
Derek gestured around him. “You’re on Nelia most likely. And you’re its heir. Perhaps it’s reacting to you, responding to you feeling loved.”
My heartbeat grew wilder at the suggestion, but when I looked to Zeke, Derek, and Rio in turn, I found nothing but openness and honesty in all of their faces. I shifted slightly to observe Trey, who took a deep, savoring breath.
“May we show you we love you, Bryony?” he asked.
I blinked rapidly. “I… I… But how?” I whispered softly.
The men all glanced at one another and nodded, a silent conversation passing between them.
“Your first time should be special,” said Rio. “Together, we can make it special.”
My voice caught in my throat. My “first time”? Going all the way?
…With all four of them at once?
Zeke ran a hand up my leg, tracing the curve of my calf over the tight workout leggings. “If you’re okay with it.”
“Just let us know,” added Derek, his own finger trailing down to the crack between my knees, teasing up the fabric of my leggings and toward my trembling apex.
“Yes,” I whispered hoarsely. “All of you. I want all of you. Please.”
Zeke peeled off his tank top in two seconds flat, flicking a lock of his long, fiery hair over his shoulder as Derek stood and removed his own T-shirt, kicking off his sneakers and grabbing for the waistband of his pants.
I leaned back, my thighs and pussy already turning to jelly just watching the strip show going on in front of me.
Rio and Trey stood, removing their own clothes piece by tantalizing piece until I was there on the ground of this awful, filthy cage, not minding as much as I ought to have because I was surrounded by love.
And supreme examples of the male physique. Rio was the leanest, followed by Trey, and then Derek, but each had finely sculpted abs that begged for my touch. Zeke was the hairiest, that scorching-hot hair clashing against the smooth tan of his skin all the way down to his thick, elongated member.
Each had a cock far larger than I’d ever imagined I’d encounter—too large to fit inside me, I worried. Grinding one thigh against the other, I squirmed as I took a look, lingering just a tad longer at Trey’s plump member, the only one I’d never had a peek of yet. His faint blond hair continued over his pecs, leading a trail across his navel and down around his awaiting stalk and sack.
“Well?” asked Trey, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. “Are you going to be the only clothed one in the room?”
“I don’t know,” I teased, kicking a leg up. “Why don’t you all give me a hand?”
Derek grabbed the leg and pulled my sneaker off, then bent to grab the other to do the same, this time keeping the leg up in the air, stretching it, sending a slight tease of pain down my leg and to my groin, but in a good, burning way. Zeke bent to take hold of my waistband, reaching in and grabbing the pants along with my panties all at once. Practically yanking it off, he helped me shimmy my ass into the air so they could fold the leggings down each leg and off entirely.
Derek kissed my ankle as Zeke’s hand slid down my crotch and to my folds. My mouth opened to gasp and both Trey and Rio were on either side of me, each taking a side of my workout shirt, peeling it up, slipping their fingers beneath my sports bra to take it all off in one go. I raised my arms and let out a moan as Zeke’s hand went to work on my clit, Derek still massaging my calf, my ankle, peppering it with kisses. I hardly noticed as Rio and Trey gently guided my head and shoulders up off the ground so they could fling the rest of my clothing aside.
The whimper crawling out of my throat was unlike any sound I’d made before as Zeke’s fingers slid down my folds, dipping into my juicing pussy, bringing out the moisture and slicking it all over my labia.
At the same time, Trey’s lips were on my breast, taking careful nibbles of my nipple, making it tighten before I finished taking a breath. Rio’s mouth was on mine between my gasps, his breaths coming heavy across my face, Derek’s hands and lips still working their way up my leg.
I let out a moan.
“Who do you wish to be first?” asked Trey, coming up for air.
There it was. Decisions again. Choosing one.
Zeke chuckled, his hand never stopping, playing with my clit and sending my breathing into jagged, hitching wretches. “Let’s just surprise her, eh? I think we could all claim to be her first.” One of his fingers dove right up inside me.
Yelping, I arched my back, but what little pain there’d been was over, overwhelmed by the sensation of Zeke adding another finger, widening my pussy, prying it open in smooth, massaging movements.
“What about condoms?” asked Rio.
“I’m on birth control,” I said through heaving breaths. “For medical reasons,” I added. As if I needed to justify myself.<
br />
Zeke seemed amused. “Perfect.”
“I don’t exactly sleep around,” said Derek, letting one finger dance across my calf. I shuddered at that, at all the touching all over my body, at Zeke’s fingers being where I wanted—needed—to feel a thick, throbbing cock just then.
“Don’t worry about it, mate,” said Zeke. “Desperate times and everything.”
Without saying a word, Zeke pulled his fingers out and straddled me, Derek lowering my leg to the ground and taking a seat at my feet, his hands massaging the soles.
Trey took a turn kissing my face as Rio moved to my breast, working with his fingers before landing a kiss atop each one.
My groin pushed up against Zeke’s, pulsating with need, burning up with sheer heat.
He reached down to his cock, which already dug harshly into my thigh, thick and juicy and waiting.
Slipping it inside, he readjusted himself, the tip poking in as he clutched either side of my waist. “All right, love?” he asked.
Gasping, I nodded, Trey’s lips under my chin as I threw my head back.
Zeke thrust in farther, harder, with such great force, I trembled beneath him. He pushed and pushed until he could go no more and then, his body grinding against mine for a moment more, he pulled back, slow at first, and then faster.
A scream tore from my burning throat, and Zeke pushed back in, harder, faster, with more urgency. In, then out. In and out and in again, faster and faster, my skin alighting with a tingling sensation everywhere one of these men touched me, my vision growing darker. Then his cock twitched inside me, spilling forth, massaging me from the inside out.
A low gasping grunt escaped from Zeke’s lips as he pulled out once more, the final movement sticking sort of like a suction before he lifted one thigh and then another to shift to the side of me.
I was still breathing harshly, still moaning, as Derek and Zeke switched places, Derek’s palm grazing up against my inner thigh. He didn’t hesitate, moving forward to kiss my mons, his tongue lashing out to my labia, to the clit in particular.
“Oh…” I groaned.
Sucking and sucking for a while, Derek went to work. Trey and Rio were still taking turns massaging my breasts, kissing my swollen lips, Zeke sending shivers up my legs by tickling my feet.
