by Kali Argent
“Hey,” Isla whispered, rising up on her toes to brush her fingertips across his right temple. “What’s going on in there? You got really angry all of the sudden.”
He and his brothers had never told anyone about what had happened with Ursa, not even their crew, but Bastian didn’t want to keep secrets from Isla. So, he briefly explained about how they’d met the Krytos female, and how she’d stomped all over Slade’s heart. As he told the story, it was like living it all over again, and he still couldn’t believe anyone could be that cold and heartless.
“Wow,” Isla breathed when he’d finished. “What a bitch.”
Stars above, he fucking adored her. “Come here, female.” Winding his arm around her waist, he bent until his lips hovered just a breath from Isla’s. “I knew you were special from the moment I met you. We’ve been waiting a long damn time for you, Isla Blevins.”
“You know Slade isn’t nearly as hard as he pretends to be.”
Bastian grinned. “I know.”
“He’s hurting a lot,” Isla continued. “He’s lonely, and with this connection between all of us now, he’s scared he’s going to look weak if we realize he actually has feelings.”
Bastian continued to smile. “I know.”
“He’s determined to shut me out, Bas. I think you might be setting yourself up for more letdown.”
“Trust me, baby, I know what I’m doing. You didn’t see the look on his face when you fainted. I seriously thought we were going to have to restrain him when the medics couldn’t get you awake.”
She also didn’t know that Slade had sat by her bed for hours, just watching over her, making sure no one hurt her. He’d never seen his brother so protective of anyone, not even Ursa, and it had been what had finally made him realize that Isla was the one. Now, he just had to get her to see it, too.
“Slade is jaded, but he’s not completely made of stone. Just be patient with him.”
“So, that’s your plan?” Leaning away, Isla arched both eyebrows at him. “You’re going to claim me and just hope your brothers decide that’s a good idea?”
Oh, the female had teeth, and she wasn’t afraid to use them. Bastian liked that about her.
“My plan is to claim you, because I honestly don’t think I can leave this planet without you.”
A smile bloomed across Isla’s lips, and she finally arched against him, closing the distance to slant their mouths together in a slow, tender kiss. “Good answer, but I’m still hoping for the package deal. We’re connected now, all of us, and I can’t possibly choose between you guys. It wouldn’t be fair to any of us.”
In response, Bastian captured her mouth again, kissing the breath from her before panting her own words against her lips. “Good answer.”
If someone had asked her, Isla wouldn’t have been able to explain it. She felt as if she’d known the Cadell brothers for years rather than mere days. The more time they spent together, the deeper their connection grew. Sometimes, it was almost like she could sense what they were thinking in addition to their emotions.
Bastian had made an excellent point. So what if she hadn’t known him for very long? She wasn’t a child, and despite her sheltered upbringing, she wasn’t naïve. She knew her heart, and more importantly, she trusted her instincts.
Her instincts had told her to run, too seek out sanctuary, and that had been the right move. Her instincts had told her she could trust the Xenon with her secret, and because she’d followed her heart, she’d helped to save a lot of people from a horrible fate. When she’d almost bypassed the toy train and written it off as just a lost token from a random child, she’d listened to her instincts when they’d pushed her to examine the toy more closely.
Right then, molded against Bastian’s muscular chest, with his tongue tangled around her own, she trusted that small, clear voice in the back of her mind that told her not to be afraid. At no point in her life had she wanted for anything, and so, there had never been anything she’d wanted.
She wanted Bastian.
During the past few days, she’d struggled with how to broach the subject. She didn’t want to assume that the brothers subscribed to the traditional mating unit of the Krytos. If they each wanted a female for themselves, she’d look like a fool, but she could no longer deny that she harbored feelings for all three of the Cadell brothers. If she chose only one, the feelings she had for the other two wouldn’t simply disappear, and the guilt would tear her apart.
Bastian clearly cared for her, and she believed Knox did as well. She still worried about Slade. Of the three of them, he was the hardest to read, and more than once, she’d sensed him blocking his emotions from her. On one hand, she trusted Bastian, and she knew he spoke the truth when he’d said she’d need to be patient with their alpha. She’d do whatever was necessary to break through Slade’s hardened veneer, to reach the kind and gentle male she knew lurked beneath.
She just hoped she wasn’t setting herself up for disappointment.
“Isla?” Lifting his head, Bastian held her jaw lightly and tilted her face up. “Where’d you go, baby?”
“I’m sorry.” Stars, this was so embarrassing. “I was thinking about Slade.” Damn, it sounded even worse when she said it out loud. “Bas, I’m so sorry. Please don’t be mad.”
He studied her for several seconds before he spoke. “I guess that depends on what you were thinking.”
“I was thinking that I want to be with you, all of you, but if Slade doesn’t feel the same way…” Groaning, she dropped her forehead to Bastian’s chest. “I can’t do that, Bas. I won’t choose, and I won’t come between you and your brothers.”
She’d been prepared for his anger, but she didn’t understand the rush of warm that suddenly enveloped her. It started in her chest and radiated out through her extremities, filling her with a deep and profound sense of belonging.
“Isla, look at me.”
Reluctantly, she lifted her head and stared into Bastian’s dark gaze. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” She didn’t even have to think about it.
“Then trust me when I tell you that I know my brothers better than anyone in all the galaxies. I know what they’re going to do before they do it, what they’ll say before they even know it.” Slowly, he lowered his head to brush a chaste kiss over her lips. “Trust me when I say that they already love you, whether they know it yet or not.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because there is no way they can’t.” He claimed her lips again. “I’ve always been the decisive one. When I see something I want, I go after it. All in. No doubts. No second thoughts. Once my mind is made up, that’s it for me.”
Her pulse sped at his words, but sadly, it wasn’t that easy. “You can’t decide for them.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. They’ve already decided, but they’re not like me. My brothers will run through all of the what-ifs and could’ve-should’ve-would’ves before they finally admit it to themselves, but believe me, deep down, they already know.”
Isla had finally identified the emotion emanating from the male before her, but selfishly, she wanted to hear him say it. “Know what, exactly?”
“What I’ve known from the moment I saw you.” He threaded his fingers through her hair and kissed her hard and fast. “I love you, Isla Blevins. My brothers do, too. They just need a little more time.”
His declaration didn’t seem strange or misplaced to her at all. She’d always believed in love at first sight and fairytale endings. For years, she’d dodged the advances of brutish elites, holding out for her happily-ever-after. She’d never wanted to bond with someone because of obligation or financial alliance.
She wanted to be swept off her feet. She wanted an epic love story to tell her grandchildren one day.
Just maybe, she’d found it.
For all of his talk about patience, Bastian had little. With his fingers still tangled in
her hair, he walked her backward until her back pressed firmly against the wall. Their lips crashed together in another searing kiss, and he released her locks, his hands wandering down to her shoulders, along the curve of her torso, then over the swell of her hips. His longer fingers splayed across her backside, gripping her firmly and lifting her up the wall to accommodate for their height difference.
Without words, he urged her legs around his waist and sank into the cradle of her hips, rocking against her so that his leather-clad erection pressed against her core with every shallow thrust. His hands were everywhere, touching, teasing, stroking, fanning the embers of desire that burned in her belly. Over and over, his lips skimmed down the side of her throat, only to return for a blistering kiss that made her legs weak and her head spin.
One, sharp fang scraped against her bottom lip, the stinging heightening her pleasure as Bastian plunged his tongue between her panting lips to taste and explore. He was gentle yet demanding, taking what he wanted while giving her pleasure in return.
Isla could barely breathe, and each struggle to draw air into her lungs ended in a gasp that burned her throat. She wasn’t some blushing virgin, but he clearly had more experience than she did, by evidence of the way he strummed her body like a finely tuned instrument. Every touch burned hotter. Every kiss melted away the last remnants of her inhibitions. Every whispered word stoked the fire that burned within her.
He consumed and dominated, driving away all other thoughts and pushing her higher until her desire could no longer be contained.
“Bas, please,” she begged, uncaring of how desperate she sounded.
Holding her up with one hand, he arched his hips back to fumble with the button fly on his leather pants, while his lips continued to devastate the sensitive skin along the column of her neck. The sound of ripping fabric barely registered, but she felt the cool breeze against her thigh where her dress had been torn.
Bastian groaned in relief as he undid the last button, freeing his throbbing length from his confinements. Stars, he loved how responsive his girl was, how she moaned and gasped, the way her pert breasts heaved with every breath.
He wanted her.
He needed her.
Insinuating his free hand between them, he pressed his palm against her core, cupping her in his shaking hand, and nearly came right then and there. He found no fabric to impede his pursuit, only soft, warm skin that beckoned for further exploration. Sliding his middle finger between her folds to test her readiness, he paused abruptly and lowered his forehead to Isla’s with a strangled groan.
So hot.
So wet.
His digit slipped easily through the moisture that slicked her pussy, making him lightheaded as he struggled to breathe. Electrical currents travelled the length of his spine, and his cock jerked and pulsed with every thunderous beat of his heart.
He circled her quivering entrance, teasing, testing, before slowly inserting his finger through the tight muscles. “Fuck,” he growled as he savagely leashed his slipping control. “You’re so tight. I don’t want to hurt you, baby.”
“You won’t,” she argued. “Please. Hurry.”
Despite her insistence, Bastion hesitated. He’d never do anything to bring her harm, not even inadvertently. She wasn’t just tight in the way that would feel good for them both. She was tight in a way that had him questioning if maybe he should cool his jets and wait for another time.
When she arched up from the wall with a needy moan, he knew he could no more walk away than he could cut off his own arm. He just had to be careful.
“Okay, shh, easy, baby. I’ve got you.” He inserted a second finger into her slick channel, pumping slowly as he scissored his fingers, stretching and preparing her. “Just a little more.”
He kissed her hard, mostly because he wanted to, but also to distract her as he added a third finger and plunged deep. Jerking away from his mouth, Isla cried out, her eyes flew open, and she bowed up from the wall as a gush of moisture spilled into Bastian’s palm.
Teetering on the edge, battling back his baser instincts, his muscles so tight he didn’t know if they’d ever unknot, he dropped his head to her shoulder and growled, the sounded echoing down the corridor. Carefully, he inched his fingers from her clenching core, gripped his aching length, and positioned the crown against her opening.
“Tell me when,” he managed through gritted teeth. “Or never. Whatever you want, baby.”
In response, Isla gripped his shoulders, her fingernails digging into the bare flesh, and jerked him forward as she rocked her hips up to meet him. Sinking into her tight, drenched pussy was the single most amazing experience of his life. Her inner walls surrounded him, massaging him in rhythmic waves, milking, pulling him in deeper.
He started slow, arching back, then sliding into her in measured strokes, but as her cries grew in volume, he could no longer deny either of them the release they sought. His tempo increased, his thrusts hard and demanding, but Isla met him push for pull, spurring him on with her erotic moans and questing hands. When her inner walls clamped around him and the breath caught in her throat, he finally unleashed the grasp on his control and plunged into her depths, sending them both careening headlong into orgasm.
Instinct took over and reasoning abandoned him when Isla tilted her head to the side in surrender, baring the delicate curve of her throat. The gums around his canines ached, his mouth pooled with saliva, and only one word chased itself in an endless loop through his thoughts.
“Mine.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Knox was in hell.
The moment he’d seen Isla after breakfast, he’d known that everything had changed. He’d seen the glow in her cheeks, the radiance of her skin, and the love in her eyes when she looked at Bastian. Mostly, he hadn’t been able to look away from the still-healing bite mark on her neck.
Damn, his brother hadn’t even tried to be subtle about it.
He was happy for Bastian, but that didn’t change how he felt about Isla. The love and desire that filled them both was overwhelming, battering against him like that waves of a storm, and he was drowning. Knox had no idea how he was supposed to endure being in confined quarters with them for the weeks-long trek back to Earth.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Slade demanded while they waited for Isla to say her goodbyes to her new friends. “What were you thinking?”
Bastian just shrugged. “I was thinking I love her. Luckily, she feels the same way. So…I win.”
It wasn’t like Bastian to be so selfish, but then again, he’d never professed to love another female. Besides, Slade had been pretty adamant about keeping his distance from the female since she’d awoken from her semi-comatose state, ensuring that there could be no future for the four of them.
After the disaster that was Ursa Kristos, followed by the subsequent failed relationships with other females, they’d finally agreed to mate separately. Knox had been a huge proponent of the pact at the time, but that had been before they’d met Isla. He knew he shouldn’t begrudge Bastian’s happiness, but he’d also never thought they’d fall for the same girl.
“You’re an asshole,” Slade groused before turning and stomping onto the ship, cursing under his breath the entire way.
“Ignore him. I’m happy for you, brother.”
“I know you are.” Satisfaction rolled off him in waves, and he smirked as he clapped Knox on the shoulder. “Your time is coming, and when it happens, don’t try to fight it.”
Whatever the hell that meant. “Uh, thanks. I’ll remember that.”
Stars, love made his brother weird. Well, weirder than usual.
“Are you sure?” Tears streamed down Isla’s cheeks as she hugged Cord tight to her chest. “You’re his family, Tira. This is his home. I don’t know.”
“Yes, and I will always be his family.” A suspicious sheen glazed the captain’s eyes as she bent to kiss the top of Cord’s head. “I’m not his mother, though.”
�
��I’m not—”
“You are, in every way that matters.”
Knox couldn’t have agreed more. Isla may not have given birth to Cord, but she’d been his mother in all the important ways, and he couldn’t imagine separating the two of them.
“This will always be his home,” Tira continued, “and you’ll visit often, yes?” She looked into Isla’s eyes, her expression serious. “This is what’s best for Cord, Isla Blevins. Xenon live for a long time, and as such, we have very long memories. I’m afraid the people of Xenthian won’t soon forget the devastation his father has caused.”
While no one at the castle treated the boy unkindly, the staff members were still wary of him. It showed in the way they wouldn’t quite make eye contact, or how they hurried out of the room, eager to put distance between them and the child. It was sad and unfair, but Knox would be lying if he said he wasn’t happy that Cord would be accompany them to Earth. He’d grown damn fond of the rug rat.
As if Cord had heard Knox’s thoughts, he squirmed out of Isla’s arms and darted across the distance to stand between him and Bastian. With a heartwarming smile, he took them each by the hand and jumped up and down in the purple sand.
“I go wif you?”
“Absolutely, kiddo.” Releasing his hand, Knox crouched down so he could look into Cord’s eyes. “I’m going to tell you a secret, okay?”
“Kay.” Cord leaned in closer, cupping his tiny hand around his ear.
The kid was too damn cute for his own good. “You go where I go. Always. Got it?”
“Got it. You go. I go.”
Knox laughed as he tapped Cord on the tip of his nose. “That’s right.”
Maybe Isla would never be his, and in essence, neither would Cord, but he’d be the best uncle and brother-in-law in the galaxies.
“Isla,” Bastian called as he lifted Cord into the air and slung him over one shoulder, making him giggle. “We really have to go, baby.”
Isla held her hand up and wiggled her fingers, but she didn’t look back at them. “One more minute.”
