Yet, he was a fool, because avoiding his wife did nothing to stop his heart from pounding in her presence or the breath from freezing in his chest if he heard her voice.
Giving in to the need, Zadal decided to look for her. It didn’t take much effort since his wife made no secret of her desire to be around him or Baruk if they were home. He found them in the media room wrapped around one another. Zadal started to back away when he interrupted the intimate scene. Lindsey wore her hair in a fussy mess atop her head, strands wisping about her face. She looked cozy nestled in the plump cushions with Baruk’s arm around her shoulders, her feet tucked beneath her hips.
Seeing the two of them together reminded him of how different he was and emphasized the ease with which they spent time together. Baruk and Lindsey worked perfect together and Zadal represented the odd man out except when they came together in sex. He didn’t belong in a Triad with these two.
Lindsey turned as Zadal started to back away from the doorway. Delight crossed her features and held his feet in place.
“Join us,” she invited as the strings of the music on the holo crashed in the background then softened to muted applause.
Zadal studied her expression for sincerity, his gaze drifting to Baruk who stared from his seat at her side. Zadal started to decline, the words on the tip of his tongue until Baruk smirked. The man continued to challenge him at work and home. His smug assurance that Zadal would refuse was written all over his face.
Annoyance replaced his reluctance. “Thank you.”
Zadal approached the curved lounger with caution. Lindsey bounced over on the tan pillows, displacing Baruk’s arm and patted the seat beside her.
“Sit here.” Her legs lay stretched over Baruk’s thighs, the man’s large palm coming to rest on the skirt of her blue dress.
He wanted to. He couldn’t remember wanting anything more.
Zadal sat, ignoring the relief from his tired muscles. Searching for a new first assistant and a second assistant while staying on top of his work exhausted him. Baruk shared Mala and Kimsha when possible but Zadal didn’t want to overburden their already heavy loads.
“This is great,” Lindsey chirped and promptly placed her head in his lap while the concert on the holo screen resumed.
Zadal glanced at Baruk but his senate peer’s gaze had strayed to the tiny woman relaxing over them as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Zadal leaned back on the cushions letting the thunderous music wash over him. His eyes drifted closed and he dozed.
Low, muffled moans woke him. His lids lifted to a different concert than the one on the holo screen with the sound turned off. Another moan came from the vicinity of his lap. Lindsey’s head thrashed about as Baruk’s hand shifted beneath the skirts which were pushed to her waist.
With her legs splayed, it was easy to discern the moisture soaking the front silk panel of her red panties. Two fingers twisted beneath the tiny triangle barely covering her mound as Baruk stroked her to a loud climax. Zadal caught her about the shoulders as she wailed her release, keeping her from tumbling to the floor.
Baruk shot him a grin. “My thanks.”
He pulled his hand free, fingers glistening with Lindsey’s juices. Zadal shifted on the cushions, unsure how to respond but hard as an iron rod after watching.
“Z?” Lindsey’s eyes opened, dazed but satiated. “Sorry we woke you. You looked really tired.”
Baruk muffled a laugh.
Zadal ignored him and trailed his hand through Lindsey’s hair spread about his thighs. “I’ve asked you not to call me Z.”
His heart lurched from her mischievous grin. “But I like it. Reminds me of my favorite romance hero.”
Zadal grunted at the same answer Lindsey always gave and eased her head from his lap to rise to his feet. His next words were to Baruk. “My turn.”
His spouse partner slid Lindsey’s legs across the length of the sofa and went to his knees. “Let me undress her for you.”
Baruk made quick work of the printed gown and the silk trailed to the floor. Zadal removed his clothing and climbed onto the lounger, his body hovering over Lindsey’s. She watched with eyes widened.
He was rough, lacking his usual smooth ease. Try as he might Zadal couldn’t stop his next actions. He grasped Lindsey’s wrists and pinned them to the cushions by her head. “Don’t move.”
She stared, lips parted.
Would she protest? Cry?
Zadal growled. If she cried, he’d leave the room so fast both their heads would spin.
Lindsey licked her bottom lip, sucking the plump flesh between her teeth. “Give me a reason to hold still.”
Zadal’s heart crashed to his knees. Such unreserved giving. He wouldn’t abuse the gift. Sliding over the soft curves beneath him, Zadal forgot Baruk. Forgot there was anyone else in the room but the two of them.
“I’m going to make you scream my correct name, Lindsey.”
Her lips quirked. “Like this…give it to me, Z. Make me hot, Z. I want it bad, Z.”
His balls swelled from her teasing and he ached. Zadal tuned out the erotic whispers and probed her damp entrance. Her swollen lower folds parted, wetness from her recent climax slickening his path. Lindsey’s hands smoothed up his chest as she gasped.
“You will call me Zadal.”
Her cheeky grin warned that his wife had no intention of listening to him. Zadal resisted returning her grin. Lowering his head, he thrust forward. Lindsey gasped, hands trying to break free of his grip. She wrapped her legs around his waist and swiveled her hips, attempting to drag him deeper.
“Slow,” Zadal ordered, nipping her throat. “You don’t get to rush me like you do Baruk.”
Her body quivered but she held his gaze. Zadal released one of her hands to trace his knuckles over her cheek, calming the mild fear he sensed. He wouldn’t hurt her.
In and out he pumped, her core a vice on his throbbing shaft but Zadal kept his climax at bay. A flush warmed her cheeks, the rims of her blue eyes darkened but her whimpers and slight cries reassured him.
“Zadal,” she moaned.
Exactly what he wanted to hear.
Her tiny feet kicked at his back as she twisted beneath him, her body rocking fiercely trying to increase his pace.
“Slow, Lindsey,” he said again as he continued the sensual glide against his own desire to race.
“I need you. Please move faster, I want to come.”
“You’re going to come,” he whispered and raked his teeth down the exposed length of her neck.
Then because she began a rhythmic clenching on him he couldn’t resist, Zadal leaned forward and slammed harder, closer. When her nails sunk into his flesh, Zadal’s tortured groan ripped free and he lost control. Powering forward, he drove them both higher and higher.
She screamed and her lower half locked on him as the orgasm ripped through her delicate body. A harsh growl followed his own release. Shaking in the aftermath, he collapsed on top of Lindsey. To his amazement and deep satisfaction, she held him fiercely against her curves. When Zadal was able to move, Lindsey’s body turned limp on the cushions and her arms went slack.
“Lindsey?”
Her eyes remained closed and fear gripped him. Zadal leaped to his feet, frantic something was wrong. He’d been too rough. An animal.
Baruk came over, glanced at Lindsey and shook his head with a half-chuckle. “Helta, Zadal, you fucked her unconscious.”
“What?”
“I suggest you put her to bed because she’s out.”
Zadal backed away from the sofa as disgust and remorse curled through him. His mother’s blood ran true. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
“Hurt?” Baruk looked at him oddly. “She’s not hurt. Pleasured, yes. And tired. I think all this change is finally catching up to her. Or else.”
The significant pause pulled Zadal from his panic. “Or else?”
Baruk shrugged. “She’s pregnant.”
“Pregnant?�
� Zadal choked.
“I think she might be. A week at the most.” Baruk’s gaze drifted to a slumbering Lindsey. “Her breasts are fuller and she doesn’t know I heard her vomiting in the bathroom right before breakfast this morning.”
Her breasts had seemed more sensitive.
Pregnant. Was he ready for a child?
Chapter 26
Lindsey spent the day playing in the woods with her baby ducks that weren’t quite babies any more. The animals had grown to the size of rowdy puppies and were shedding their feathery down for scaled skin. They even had little teeth coming in, which they used to nip at her skirt. Like kangaroos, they bounced around her on their hind legs.
“No, no Daphne.” She shoved at the friskier one in the group who had latched onto her dress to chew on the material.
The animal gave a rough growl, released her dress then rolled over to play with its siblings. Lindsey laughed and rose to her feet, brushing at the dirt and leaves. “I have to go ladies.”
The mother had never returned and Lindsey assumed some other animal must have gotten to the poor thing. She’d taken it upon herself to name the little creatures and since she couldn’t identify their gender, used all girl names. The feisty one was Daphne, shy Courtney then Jolie and the sweetheart of the group she called little Lindsey.
As soon as she stood up, they danced around her heels, batting at her shoes with their short forearms.
“Settle down. I have to go now. Off to the market to get some things. Hopefully Everly will let me play around in his kitchen.”
Lindsey wanted to make dinner for her husbands. A surprise home cooked meal using Earth recipes she was sure they’d love. Or as close to Earth meals as supplies allowed.
Her pets gave her sad faces but hopped back to allow her room. Lindsey tossed the last of her treats their way, which they snatched out of the air and gobbled up. She hurried back home to the vehicle Mala said she could use. Apparently, her husband owned a fleet of similar rides. Mala swore her to secrecy, since she insisted Baruk didn’t want Lindsey to fear his wealth.
Lindsey snorted and jumped into the driver’s seat. As if living in a palatial estate wasn’t a dead giveaway. Plus, Lindsey understood the account set up in her name and there were plenty of zeros behind the big liko number.
Glancing at the dashboard with three simple buttons, Lindsey pressed the red one. Mala assured her she’d programmed it with directions to the marketplace. The vehicle beeped and zoomed down the driveway, hovering inches above the ground. Lindsey squealed in surprise and held on to the U-shaped wheel.
Thirty minutes later she arrived at the bustling center of city life in Teeve. Sort of. Lindsey climbed out of the electronic car and used her thumb to seal the door lock. She read the sign over a red awning and knew she was at the right place. Mala said this was where Everly ordered the food supplies.
The door beeped on her entrance and the woman behind the glass counter looked up with a welcome smile. “Greetings.”
“Hi.” Lindsey gazed around at the empty place with the exception of holo images of desserts scenes near the window. She’d never seen a store without any actual merchandise.
The woman’s pleasant smile shifted into a frown of concern. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“I wanted to get a few things to make dinner for my husbands.”
“I can gladly help.” Yalene turned her computer toward Lindsey and came from behind the counter. “What account are you charging the items to?”
“Laars. Or well, Laars-Gatar.”
Yalene paused. Her mouth fell open and her green gaze stared. “You’re married to the Senate Leaders.”
Flushing, Lindsey nodded. “Baruk and Zadal.”
“But then…why didn’t Everly order as he usually does? We’ve serviced the Laars account for years.”
“I know but what I want to make we didn’t have and I couldn’t explain to Everly since he’d never heard of the food I mentioned.”
Taking a deep breath, Lindsey explained what she needed and what she wanted. Lindsey planned to make fried chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes for her husbands.
Or course Garulax didn’t have chicken but after going through Yalene’s computerized menu listing the food stores she had in stock, Lindsey found a perfect substitute along with an appropriate vegetable and red dimpled grots, which Yalene believed would replace the potatoes.
“This was highly unusual but I can’t say I didn’t have fun.” Yalene punched in a few buttons and promised the items would be delivered first thing in the morning.
Lindsey left the store full of good cheer and imagined the look on Zadal’s face when he tasted her version of an Earth meal. Baruk would smile and eat every bite. But her stubborn Z might choke half way through.
Lindsey was mid-chuckle when the first blow landed. Pain exploded in the back of her head. She stumbled forward and tried to turn only to feel a sharp pinch in her side followed by something black shoved over her face.
When she parted her lips to scream, a hand slapped over her cloth covered lips to silence her.
“Seems like you’ve outstayed your welcome,” someone whispered hoarsely.
Lindsey struggled and kicked out with her feet. Fear shifted her heart rate to fast forward as she was dragged backward.
“She’s a fighter!”
“Doesn’t matter,” the first voice declared. “The drug will kick in soon.”
She attempted to yell again in hopes of someone hearing but the palm over her mouth clamped tighter and rough hands jerked her from her feet. Black edged her vision and the last clear sound she heard was dark laughter.
Please don’t hurt me, Lindsey prayed before she lost consciousness.
***
Baruk stopped Zadal before he could close himself in his office as he’d been doing more and more lately. “Have you seen Lindsey?”
Tiny, stress lines creased the corners of Zadal’s mouth. His brown gaze held a weariness Baruk sympathized with. His spouse partner was running at a brutal pace since he let his first assistance go.
“I haven’t seen Lindsey after this morning when she came down to eat.”
Baruk frowned. No one knew where she’d gone off. His home boasted over one hundred rooms so if she decided to explore, it was possible for the staff to have missed her. “Very well. Let me know if you see her. I’m used to hearing her unrestrained laughter when one of the servants explains something new to her.”
Zadal’s lips curved up. “Of course.”
Baruk returned to his office, part of his attention on Mala but another part of him remained unsettled and he couldn’t explain why.
The afternoon drifted to evening and Baruk’s concern escalated to fear and worry. He called all of the staff together and questioned them in depth. No one had seen or spoken to Lindsey since early morning.
“What’s wrong?” Zadal came from his office, gaze going to the servants Baruk sent to search the house and the grounds.
“Lindsey’s missing.” Baruk grabbed the back of his neck and paced in the foyer.
Zadal paled. “What do you mean missing? She has to be here.”
Baruk paused mid-stride. “Well, she’s not, so unless you can tell me where she is right this minute, I’m working on the assumption that she’s missing.”
Neither spoke again. Evening turned to night and one by one each servant reported the same results.
No Lindsey.
Not one to waste time, Baruk summoned the authorities. Two uniformed men from Teeve’s armed forces arrived and stationed themselves in Baruk’s office. They questioned him and Zadal first.
“Laars?” Officer Grange lowered his data pad on his lap and crossed his ankle over his thigh.
“Yes.” Baruk remained standing, eyes on Zadal, who’d grown steadily quiet. His spouse partner leaned against one of his large windows, staring at his booted feet.
“The Laars?” Grange repeated.
Baruk sighed. “Yes.”<
br />
“Could this be a crime for money? Do you have any enemies?”
Zadal snorted but stayed silent.
“My spouse partner and I have enemies. Not everyone agrees with the decisions the Senate Leaders make.” Baruk assumed that was obvious.
“Anything specific? Any one person you can think of who may have taken your wife?” Grange’s partner, a dark slender man, asked.
Baruk shook his head. “I don’t know. Zadal?”
“No.”
The one word fell into the quiet. Grange cleared his throat. “We’ll need to call in more men. Do you mind if we question your staff and search the grounds?”
Search the grounds? As if Baruk hadn’t already thought of that. He straightened. “My servants did that before I called you in.”
Grange shifted in his seat and placed his data pad in his uniformed pocket. “My men are trained to see signs they may have missed.”
Hope stirred. “You think she’s still here?”
“This is a large property. Maybe she’s lost track of time,” Grange offered.
“Our wife wouldn’t lose track of time for an entire day and stay out in a wooded area alone unless something happened to her,” Zadal interrupted, glaring at both officers.
Grange’s partner coughed into his hand to disguise a laugh. “You’re right, Senate Leader. Our apologies.”
They both rose to their feet. “We’ll contact the office and have more officers summoned to start clearing your property. If this is…something more, let’s hope the kidnappers reach out to you for a likos demand.”
Baruk waited, every minute increasing his fear. He imagined Lindsey alone and unconscious in the cold night.
More officers arrived and commandeered Baruk’s office. He ended up in the foyer with Zadal, who looked as if he’d storm into the night to search any moment.
“Are you alright, Zadal?”
“I’m fine.”
His voice lacked the sarcastic edge Baruk had become accustomed. Usually Lindsey’s teasing would bring out Zadal’s humor and his spouse partner would loosen up. Although since Zumei’s termination, Zadal looked more and more worn. Tonight, however, he’d shut down completely.
Lindsey's Rescue: A World Beyond Book 3 Page 16
