Loving Them (Wings of Artemis Book 5)

by Rebecca Royce

  That was a real delicacy on the station. Anything that couldn’t be produced on site had to be brought in. Milk was fine because of the abundance of cows, but at least when I’d lived here, no one had been mass-producing whipped cream. It came from Earth, and it cost a lot of credits.

  “Only the best for my baby on our honeymoon.” He smirked. “That is what this is. Besides, it’s one of my favorite tastes, and I think I’m going to like it even more eating it off you.” He was going to…? “But first open your mouth.”

  He placed a little bit of the cream on the tip of my tongue. It was sweet. I hadn’t tasted it in so long. It was like ice cream… I’d gotten it maybe once a year, if that, growing up. In fact, I usually had the whipped cream on the ice cream. Dairy dreams…

  For now, it was Clay’s dream. He dropped a dollop onto my stomach. It was slightly cool but not freezing. A second later, his tongue was on me, following the trail where it had dripped. We were all figuring out how sharing worked in this relationship. How far down would Clay follow this? My nipples hardened even as I asked the question in my mind…

  Would he…

  Tommy’s tablet went off loudly, like an alarm.

  “Shit.” I heard my oldest husband stomp over across the room.

  Clay raised his eyes just a little. He was so close to my pussy. “Something I need to pay attention to, Tommy?

  “No.” Tommy adjusted his pants. “Something that the rest of us have to go pay attention to. You, lucky bastard, get to stay right here.”

  Quinn shook his head. “I’m not leaving.”

  “Who needs us?” Keith set down whatever dish he was going to use, and then he bent over to kiss me on the lips. “More of this later.”

  Tommy pointed at Quinn. “We will need you. Don’t be a year getting there. They’re trying to find the traitors who gave information about the promenade to Dad. They want our input. You’re the missing piece here, Quinn.”

  “I’ll get there. But not yet.”

  Clay hadn’t moved for a moment. “Well, Quinn, don’t just stand there. With just two of us, I think we can manage to bring back Paloma’s appetite, don’t you?”

  “What did you have in mind?” Quinn didn’t budge. In fact, he’d gotten very still. I wondered if Clay had noticed. He sideways smiled at me.

  My second oldest husband crooked a finger. “Sit up, love. Quinn’s going to get on the table behind you.”

  He didn’t hesitate. Even before I sat up, he was on the table. I hoped it could hold both of us. Neither Quinn nor Keith seemed particularly concerned. “I never thought about doing this with more than one of you.”

  Quinn kissed my cheek, his arms wrapping around me until he caressed my breasts, his chest to my back. Clay answered for him, still in position right above my core. His eyes met mine. “Uncomfortable?”

  “Not exactly.” I met his gaze straight on. “Somewhat out of my depth. I have been living at the Sisterhood.”

  “I’ve never done this either,” Quinn answered, seeming to speak to my shoulder blade before he kissed it.

  Clay stayed remarkably silent regarding his experience department. Finally, he grinned. “Then I guess it’s ‘let’s teach Paloma and Quinn the joys of sharing’ this morning.”

  “If you haven’t figured it out, P, Clay here is a bit of a ladies’ man.”

  I grinned at Clay, but before I could speak, he did. “One lady. From now and always. Whatever was feels like a million years ago. I only ever wanted something that felt like this. A once in a lifetime love. I wish I had waited. Believe it or not, I’m somewhat jealous of you, brother. You’re never going to know what it’s like to settle for less.” He pointed at Quinn. “You’re going to make love to her up there while I do down here. Then we switch. She gets to come twice. Then eat some real breakfast and take a nap.”

  I didn’t currently feel like I needed a nap. But who knew? Maybe after this, I would. “When do you two get to come?”

  Clay grinned. “If we do our jobs right, when you do. Okay, maybe you’re coming three times.”

  Quinn’s breath was warm on the back of my neck. I wondered if he could see the mark Keith had left on me the night before. I didn’t think about it very long. His tongue caressed the space where my shoulder met my neck. I closed my eyes just as Clay touched my clit with his tongue. My eyes flew open, and my breath left my body. Oh. Wow.

  “Think she likes whatever you’re doing down there, bro.” Quinn’s voice was thick, and he scooted closer to me, pressing his hard erection into my bare bottom.

  “It’s both… things.”

  Clay didn’t answer. His mouth was busy doing what he was doing. It was an entirely different sensation than his finger or even how his cock had felt. This was smooth, like a wave that moved over me and through me. I was sensitive. My body had never been used the way it had been since we’d officially gotten married. Clay wasn’t pushing, wasn’t grinding, he was guiding. This was not the Clay I’d had in the shower. I opened my eyes to look at him loving me, because that was all it could be called.

  He moaned against my clit, his hips moving under the table. Quinn’s body pressed deeper into mine, as his hands squeezed and caressed my nipples. He dropped one of my breasts but just to let his hand travel down my back where he caressed my ass.

  Quinn spanked my left cheek lightly. I cried out, falling back against him just as Clay made me come. My body shook, and Quinn held onto me tightly, a feeling of security that told me he would never let me go.

  I heard Clay unzip his pants, which told me I must have closed my eyes. I didn’t even remember doing so. I was languid, fluid, and my muscles had quit working. I wasn’t sure I could hold up my own head if I needed to. It was okay. Quinn seemed in no hurry to let me go.

  “She likes the pain. A little bit,” Clay told Quinn. “That’s so awesome. Our responsive love.” He got up on the table. “Give her to me. Don’t stop the pinching, the little bites. On her back. I’m going to make her come again. Then it’s your turn.”

  If Quinn had any objections to the plan, I didn’t hear them voiced. I, for one, was not going to complain. Clay brought me forward, spreading his legs out so I could get on top of him. Quinn stayed behind me, biting down gently on my back. I shuddered. Clay was right. I liked the pain. A little bit.

  Clay fit himself inside of me, not moving. “Your pace. Your time. I want to see you take pleasure on me, Paloma. When you do, it’s going to make me come so hard.”

  I nodded, even though I was only half able to concentrate. His cock was right there. I wanted it inside of me. He was hard. My eyes darted from it to the tattoo on his leg. I’d not focused on the ink before, but there it was. The Scorpion. Every one of them with the exception of Quinn had the scorpion. A sign of their past…

  “Hey,” Quinn whispered in my ear. “Don’t get lost in your head when we are so with you here, P. Clay’s waiting for you, and so am I.”

  I climbed onto Clay, and I rode him. I rode him as long and hard as I could. My thighs burned. They’d been in a lot of positions over the last twenty-four hours. I was going to have to stretch. It would all be worth it.

  I loved every noise he made. Clay wasn’t being quiet, not like we’d been in the shower. He was full out letting me know that the way I moved really got him off. He gave me his hands so I could balance with them, and I got even bolder. Up and down, practically taking him out of my body before I took him balls deep inside of me again.

  Quinn bit me lightly all over my back, and scraped his nails over my skin gently. It was all I needed. I exploded around Clay. I would have fallen over if Quinn hadn’t been there. Clay came fast, his words true. My orgasm called his.

  And then he was out of me. I was jolted by the absence of him before Quinn turned me around in his arms. He breathed hard. I unzipped his pants, assuming I was going for round two, but instead he leaned me back. When he entered me, my head was on Clay’s lap. He kissed my forehead while Quinn entered me gently.

>   Once again, Quinn moved me with the depth of how he loved me. He’d given me what I needed, the light caresses that pinched more than anything else. When it came down to it, Quinn didn’t want to hurt me. He was tender. I was ready for him. My body hadn’t stopped vibrating from the last encounter.

  He was hard, throbbing. “Watching you come, it was such a turn on. I almost came from that alone. You are so beautiful. My whole world.”

  His words were an aphrodisiac. I decided then and there that I would never underestimate the power of a truly loving spoken word. Tears came to my eyes, and Clay bent over to kiss them away. He breathed hard.

  Quinn pushed my knees back so he could enter me more deeply. Once. Twice. Three times. That’s all it took before I came again. I didn’t think I could, but I did. Quinn whispered my name in my ear before we were all done.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on. All three of us just breathed.

  The next thing I knew, I was snug in a blanket on Clay’s lap. He read his tablet. Quinn was curled up next to me on the couch, snoring. I guessed maybe I did need that nap. I closed my eyes again.

  8

  A Better, Safer Mars Station

  It was the slamming of the door that woke me up. I blinked awake slowly. My brain seemed uninterested in waking up.

  “By the universe, Quinn, I told you not to be a year about this.” Tommy sounded pissed. I forced myself to sit up. “We need them to want to help us against Dad. That means we have to do things we’d rather not be…” He stopped speaking. “What did the two of you do to her?”

  I rubbed my eyes. “Huh?”

  “Your back. What did they do to you?”

  Quinn stretched his arms over his head. “Hi, Tommy. Thanks for the wake up from the best nap ever.” He cracked his neck before he leaned over to kiss my cheek. “You would have needed a nap too, brother.”

  Clay gently rubbed my shoulder. That was when I noticed that the blanket they’d cocooned me in had slipped slightly down my back. Turned on my side, Tommy had a full view of the bite marks on my back. I grinned up at him. “Nothing I didn’t want.”

  He narrowed his eyes at Clay. “I get sent to stand around with Nolan, Wes, and the security council, and you’re in here having a fantastic time to the point that she has bite marks all over her back. I didn’t even get to see it.”

  “She ate.” Clay didn’t look up from the tablet.

  Had I? I wasn’t sure I remembered doing so. I must have been… sex drunk. I did feel full. “Next time, love.”

  Tommy bent over to kiss me. “Next time I’m doing the biting.” He kissed me gently. “We need you, Quinn. And you’d be great, too, Clay.”

  He held up his tablet. “Working.”

  “Fine. Quinn, come on now. As it is, Wes has Keith working on defense systems. We’re never leaving here, ever, if we get any more involved in things. Paloma, are you going to stay here?”

  Tommy needed an accounting of all of our whereabouts. It was how he kept us safe, knowing exactly where everyone he loved was at all times. “I was actually thinking I might like to go see the promenade, how they’re fixing it up.”

  Clay nodded. “I’ll take her.”

  “I thought you were working.” Tommy shook his head. “Oh, I get it. You’re working unless Paloma wants to take a walk.”

  “Pretty much.” Clay stood up and patted Tommy on the shoulder. “You get cranky when you’re tired, brother of mine. See if you can get out of there early enough to take a nap.”

  I actually thought that out of anyone, Clay had the least sleep. He didn’t seem particularly fazed. I stood on wobbly legs. Yeah, my thighs were really not used to the ways they’d been moving over the last day. It would be good to take a walk.

  I needed clothing. I couldn’t go walking around the station in my blanket. All three men were staring at me. I held up my hands. “Much as I love the heated gazes you are all giving me, my body is sore and I’m going to need a little recovery time.”

  Clay was the first to react, pulling me into a hug. “Love you. Sorry but not sorry that you’re sore.”

  Tommy tugged me from Clay. “When you’re recovered, we’re going to play.”

  Quinn leaned over to kiss my cheek. “Best days of my life.”

  “Love you guys, too.” Tommy relaxed when I said that. I had to remember how much they all seemed to need to hear me say that to them. I was naturally effusive in expressing my emotions, but my years away had tempered that. I didn’t blame them. I loved hearing their feelings for me, too. We were five people in this marriage, but they had to be treated individually or we were going to get into trouble.

  I had to be strong enough to keep us all happy.

  I managed to step away without any of them complaining and got back into my bedroom. I wasn’t going anywhere until I’d cleaned up a bit, so I got to it. I wondered how many credits our water bill was going to be from the last two days alone. I was going to have to get moisturizing in a major way, or I was going to end up with dry skin from all the getting wet and drying off again.

  Still, when I was done, I was glad for the quick shower and the chance to fix my hair.

  I put on some of the clothes Quinn had gotten me—a pair of black pants and a green long sleeve t-shirt that went practically to my knees. It wasn’t a look I usually went for, but it wouldn’t cling, and right then I wanted soft and comfortable. The space station always had the same temperature. I didn’t have to worry about being cold.

  When I came out, Quinn and Tommy were gone. Clay had changed too. He was in a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt. I looked between the two of us. “We kind of match.”

  He grinned. “We do. I’m good with that, if you are.”

  I shrugged. “Sure. Why not? It could be a new trend. Match Your Husband Day or something.”

  Clay’s grin grew so wide it was infectious. I couldn’t help but return it. He took my fingers in his and squeezed them. “Paloma, before we go out there, can I bring up something Quinn said earlier?”

  “Ah… sure.” Where was he going with this?

  “Earlier, he acted like I was some kind of Lothario. My own history is—”

  I placed my hands on his chest. “Clay, seriously, whatever your life was before me is really not my business.”

  He shook his head, seemingly ignoring my statement. “I need to say this. I was really unhappy. Angry. And getting worse every day before Tommy said he was going to rescue the twins and I could come along or not but he would never be a Sandler again. I was hurting people in court on behalf of my father. That’s not who I wanted to be inside. One of the ways I managed was a lot of meaningless… sex. I think some of those women even thought I might marry them, not understanding that if I had stayed like that, I’d have had to wed whomever my father told me to.”

  “Clay.” I hugged him to me. “Please stop. Okay? I meant what I said. We didn’t know each other, and to be honest, I’d really rather not think about you with others. There’s a female shortage in the galaxy. If you were… getting a lot of attention, then that makes you sort of unique. I don’t want to start obsessing. You’re mine.”

  He picked me up in his arms, and I put my head on his shoulder. “That’s right. I’m yours. I just… I’m not a good guy. I want to be. I want the chance to be. You make us all think we can be redeemed.”

  “You don’t need to be redeemed for having a lot of sex. And you were paid to keep up your father’s interests. I think you’re working really hard now to undo some of that. So give yourself a big break.” I closed my eyes tighter. “Can we never talk about this again? The sex part anyway?”

  Clay laughed. “Yes. Sure. Fine.”

  “I love you.”

  He shuddered. “Me too. So much.”

  The promenade was busy. I’d expected to find it at least half-empty, but the residents of Mars Station seemed to have made a point of coming back. There was a huge showing of security. Most of the time Nolan kept them hidden, but they were h
ere, there, and everywhere. Either he was making a point, or they hadn’t figured out who the traitors were and how the bombers got on the station. Considering they’d known who my husbands were just minutes after us docking, it wasn’t like they were lax in their security measures.

  The place where the bombers had exploded things, including themselves, had been cleaned up. Workers were building a new wall. There would never be a way to replace the lives lost. I teared up and then sucked them back in. I’d wanted to come out here and see what was happening, not stand in the promenade and weep. My husbands were helping to make this right.

  Clay stroked my cheek with his thumb. “You okay?”

  “Yep.” I nodded, probably more vigorously than I had to. I turned around, catching sight of something I’d not seen before. One of the restaurants that was opening was overrun with customers. I couldn’t remember in all my days of living here ever seeing a line for anything. Businesses were expected to have enough staff or not open. It wasn’t necessarily a fair rule, but for what were now obvious reasons, the station’s administration didn’t want large, unnecessary crowds loitering on the promenade.

  As it was, I knew the owners of that restaurant. We used to eat there. It had a mixture of Earthian and Venusian food. I’d really liked the way they mixed rosemary with their pancakes. I took Clay’s hand in mine and walked over to it, bypassing the front of the line.

  I didn’t want to eat. I just wanted to see. “This was a favorite place.”

  It was past where the bomb had gone off and in my rush to get to the salon, I’d not even thought about it when I’d been here.

  Clay looked around. “Smells good.”

  The restaurant was medium-sized. They were open for breakfast—serving it all day—lunch, and dinner. In fact, if I remembered correctly, they might even be open late-night. I’d never been allowed to be on the promenade past eight, so I didn’t know for sure…

  Pictures of various space stations lined the walls, and a big sign that said This Way to Mars with a downward arrow took up most of the back wall.