Twin Addiction (Chaetdorian Mates Book 4)

by E. M Reders

  “Well, I better go,” she said when the silence became deafening and the way he was staring at her made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

  As she turned to leave, he grabbed her wrist. “Don’t, at least not yet. You need to know how dangerous these guys are, Hannah, the risk you and your friends are taking if you stay here.”

  “My friends are mated; they are in no danger. And as for me and Jessie? I see no reason to think we are at risk.” At least now that the male that had attacked them before had been dealt with. That was more information they had learnt since Katie had found her mate. She was saddened that his life had ended, that there had been no other option, but she couldn’t help but be a little relieved that they didn’t have to worry about him attacking again should they ever cross his path.

  “But you are.” His grip upon her wrist tightened.

  She really needed to leave, to get away from Joel.

  “They want you, I’ve seen it in their eyes. They watch your every move every time they are in here. And they shouldn’t be in here. They have markings, that means they don’t feed on us. They have no reason to be here, Hannah. You have to stay away from them.”

  “And who are them?” she’d asked even though she already knew the answer.

  “The killer twins. The duel Slayers.”

  That was it. He had gone too far.

  “Seriously, just stay out of it. I can take care of myself.”

  “They are dangerous, Hannah, you need to stay away from them.”

  Screaming in frustration, she had yelled, “No, they are not!” And then they had appeared, her so called dangerous stalkers, with anger burning in their eyes.

  OK, so maybe they were dangerous, but not to her.

  “We came to spend time with you,” Jepa said, moving to stand before her once the door had closed behind Joel.

  “Up close and personal,” Hecto growled in her mind, his body pressing against her back.

  OK, she liked the sound of that.

  Placing her hands on Jepa’s hard, muscled chest, everything that had happened with Joel disappeared. Finally, after days of longing, they were alone. They just needed a better location.

  As if reading her mind, Hecto reached around her and tapped a code into the panel by the door. Placing his hands on her waist, he steered her forward and back down the corridor towards the main section of the deck and her room. Taking her hands in his, Jepa started walking backwards, his gaze never leaving hers. Somehow they made it back to her room without him knocking into anything or anyone.

  As the door closed behind them, Hecto quickly engaging the lock, her eyes moved to the bed and her heart rate picked up. This was really going to happen.

  “Relax, we will not do anything that you do not want us to do, my mate.”

  “Your mate?” So it was true, they were meant to be together. Just like her friends she was destined to be claimed, but not by one Chaetdorian male but two.

  “Yes, you are our mate and we would love nothing more than to claim you right this moment, but not if you are not ready for that.”

  Oh she was ready, more than ready. “I’d love it,” came her breathy reply.

  He smiled but there was worry in his eyes. “Then there is something you should know beforehand. Hecto is... struggling with his control.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He means the madness has almost taken complete control of me. I need you, Hannah, more than you will ever know, but if you do not want this, do not want me to claim you as my mate, you need to tell me now.”

  “Oh.” He had the madness? That was what the one that had attacked them had been suffering from.

  “Hold on, is that what that voice was, the other one I have been hearing other than you two?”

  It had only happened a few times, but at times when she had been communing with him mind to mind another voice had joined the conversation, a dark voice that spoke of violence and sex.

  “You’ve heard it?” Jepa asked, his gaze flying up to Hecto’s over her head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Moving away from her, his distance chilling her skin, he growled. “And what would you have done about it. Nothing, that’s what, as there is nothing you can do.”

  “But there is something I can do, isn’t there? If we mate, if you claim me as the others have claimed my friends, the madness will go away?”

  Shaking his head. “We do not know. This has never happened before, at least not that we know of. There is no guarantee that our mating will end his suffering.”

  Maybe not, but they had to try. And if it did not reverse it, then at least she would have the memory of this night to cherish forever.

  Slowly she made her way over to Hecto and gazed into his dark eyes. They were truly breath-taking. Lifting up on her tiptoes she moved until her lips were only a breath away from his. All she had to do was move that last millimetre and their lips would meet for what she knew deep in her heart would be a life altering kiss. And she wanted it, wanted it with every fibre of her being. This had been what she had been searching for – admittedly the wrong way – but she had finally found it, or more correctly, them.

  As Hecto’s warm, soft lips brushed against hers and Jepa’s hands settled on her waist, his impressively large cock pressing against her lower back, a knock sounded at the door.

  “Tell them to go away,” Hecto growled in her mind.

  “Who is it?” she yelled, never once taking her eyes off him.

  “It’s me,” came Jessie’s voice from the other side. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Can it wait? I was about to go to bed.” A blush covered her cheeks at the thought of close to the truth her lie was. At least she hoped.

  “Oh, we are getting you on that bed, don’t worry about that,” came Jepa’s mental reply to her thought.

  “No it can’t. I need to talk with you… now.”

  Oh hell, she had better go and talk to her. When Jessie got herself worked up like this it was never a good thing, bad things tended to happen as she always did something stupid. If she hadn’t already.

  “I need to go to her,” she whispered, feeling really bad when she saw not just emotional pain but physical pain in Hecto’s eyes. He really was struggling to hold it together now. “But I will be back. I won’t be long, I promise. It’s just that if I don’t do to her she will never give in, never stop trying. Never leave us alone. Will you be OK for a few more minutes?”

  Nodding, Hecto released her and moved away once again but this time to the far corner of the room where he stood rigid, his body a conductor of tension.

  “Will he?” she asked Jepa, turning to face him.

  “He just needs a moment to gather his strength and fight the disease. He’ll be fine, just hurry back.”

  He was lying, she could tell, but still she had to go. “I will. Nothing could keep me away.”

  Chapter 18

  “Jessie, calm down. What’s the matter?” she asked as Jessie dragged her down the deck to an empty corner. She was glancing around as if expecting someone to approach and grab her at any minute.

  “I can’t do this, Hannah, I can’t stay here,” she whispered before rambling on. “I’ve been thinking about how to get out of here for the last few days and I think I may have finally found a way. We’ll wait till everyone is asleep and then we’ll…”

  “Hold on. We? Jessie there is no we in this. I’m not leaving, and don’t think you should either.”

  Her friend had done enough running in her life. What she was afraid of Hannah had no clue, but trying to get off the Chaetdorian ship without their permission and with take-off looming? Jessie was just asking for trouble.

  “You cannot be serious. Have you lost your mind? Why in heavens would you want to stay here? We have already been attacked by insane aliens. This place is not safe.”

  Hannah didn’t even know how to begin trying to explain about her and the twins.

  “It’s complicated. But it’s safe now.
That male that attacked us is gone, we don’t need to worry anymore.”

  Huffing, Jessie flopped down in a chair and glared at her. “Well I’m still going, with or without you. I’m not staying here.”

  There was no point arguing with her, Jessie was as stubborn as they came, but Hannah could not just allow her friend to run off half cocked. Who knew what trouble she could get herself in. She spent the next hour doing her best to convince her friend to at least delay her plans. And for a time she thought that she wasn’t getting through to her, that her words were falling on deaf ears, but eventually Jessie conceded.

  “Fine, I won’t go tonight. But I am leaving, mark my words.”

  With Jessie’s plan halted, at least for now, Hannah made her way back to her room. Upon entering she was shocked to find that they had indeed waited for her. With things taking a little longer than she had thought they would she had half expected for them to have given up waiting for her, but it seemed not.

  Her eyes instantly fell upon the bed where Hecto was laid peacefully, oblivious to the world around him. Gazing at his serene expression she never would have guessed that he was suffering from madness.

  “He fell asleep waiting for you to return,” Jepa whispered, moving away from his position at the foot of the bed where he had been watching over his twin. “Best not to wake him, I don’t think he’s been getting much sleep lately.”

  “I’m sorry I was gone so long; I didn’t think I would be.”

  “I know.” Taking her by the hand, he led her over to the bed. “Come lay down with us. It will be a tight squeeze but I’ll endure any discomfort just to hold you in my arms.”

  After Jepa had climbed over his brother and settled with his back against the wall, Hannah crawled into the space between them. As if sensing her presence, Hecto rolled over, draped is arm around her middle and pulled her back against him.

  “Even in his sleep he is still possessive,” Jepa jested.

  Stroking his arm, her eyes following the red markings running down them, she asked, “Jepa, will he be alright? Our mating is obviously not going to happen tonight, will he be able to hold the madness at bay a little longer?”

  Sadness bled into his eyes and a voice filled with sorrow whispered through her mind. “I hope so, my love. I really hope so.”

  Waking up to find his mate and brother sleeping soundly besides him gave him a blast of hope that things would be alright in the end. They may not have been able to claim her as they had planned to the night before, but he knew that in no time at all she would be theirs. The voice was still there, clambering at him to wake her up and claim her that instant but he could not bring himself to disturb her slumber.

  As he laid there taking in her beauty, Jepa’s waking words whispered in his mind. “She truly is a sight to behold, isn’t she? Our dreams never did her justice.”

  “No, they did not.”

  Hearing a noise outside the door in the main deck, Hecto strained to hear what was going on. It sounded as if people were rushing about, panicked somewhat.

  “What do you think is happening out there?”

  “No idea but we will have to wait for them to leave before we head out.” Checking is wrist unit, Jepa sighed. “And it seems we will have to do so soon. Hex wants to see us.”

  The moment the activity outside seemed to have died down, they each brushed a kiss against Hannah’s brow and left the room. The place was empty, silent.

  “I say we take Hannah back to our cabin the moment we are free to do so. That way the mouthy one cannot interrupt.”

  “And the male, Joel, cannot put his life at risk by upsetting our mate again.”

  If the male valued his life he would keep his distance from her, Hecto wasn’t sure if he could hold back the violence the voice was screaming at him to release upon the male the next time they met. He wasn’t even sure if anyone was safe from him should he lose his temper. His fight with the madness was almost over, and he was worried that it wouldn’t be him that won the battle.

  Chapter 19

  Hannah had woken an hour ago, alone. A moment of panic had followed but Jepa and Hecto quickly put her at ease, whispering words of affection in her mind. They had been called away a few hours earlier but promised that they would see her soon. After showering she had gone in search of Jessie, relieved when she found that her friend had kept her word and not done anything stupid during the night.

  When the door sealed behind her, Jessie jumped up, her eyes wide, breath erratic. “Oh, it’s you,” she sighed, turning back to the mirror before her and fixing her hair.

  Not once since they had been abducted had Hannah seen her friend care about her appearance. Seeing her standing there now before the mirror obsessing about her hair made Hannah smile.

  “No need to look so happy,” Jessie snapped, pulling a face at her reflection in the mirror. “I’m still getting the hell out of here.”

  As they left the room and made their way down the deck to the food consoles for another less than adequate meal, they heard their friends talking.

  “Where are the guys?” came Katie’s voice. Neither of them had seen her since she had been carted off by Hex.

  “Some important meeting,” Alice replied.

  “And as always we cannot be trusted to look after ourselves and have been dumped here,” Nora complained, sighing heavily.

  “Hey, it’s not so bad,” Hannah said with a smile as she came around the corner.

  Flopping down in a chair, Jessie moaned, “Speak for yourself. The beds are uncomfortable. The food is foul. Oh, and the guys are creeps.”

  Standing with his arms around Katie, a mischievous smile spread across Hex’s face. “Well, I can assure you the beds are of the best quality available. The guys, unfortunately, suffer from the same disease as all the other males of your race - idiocy - so I cannot do anything to change that. But what I can do is supply you with these to help improve the taste of the food until I can work my magic on the consoles to have them produce human meals.”

  Turning in her seat to see where he was indicating, Hannah’s heart fluttered in her chest at the sight that met her. Jepa and Hecto had just entered the deck from the other side, their arms filled with bags.

  Standing, they all made their way over to the pair. Hannah could care less what was in those bags, all she was focused on in that moment was the longing in Jepa’s eyes and the near tormented gaze of Hecto. But she couldn’t go to them, not now, no matter how much she wanted to.

  After discovering that the bags were filled with herbs and spices that Hex had procured for them, excitement was high in the air.

  “Does this please you?” Jepa asked.

  “Definitely, but there is something else that would please me more.”

  “And what is that?”

  “To be alone with you both so that we can finish what we were about to start last night.”

  “Claim her. Grab her. Steal her away from these males.”

  Yeah, Hecto was reaching his limit. They needed to get away from her friends and find somewhere to be alone soon.

  Suddenly the door opened and Corr and Torq stepped out with a large group of males behind them. Hannah gazed at her friends to see if they knew what was happening but their worried expressions told her they were just as confused as her, even more so when the males moved to stand protectively before their mates.

  “Take them,” one of the males commanded, one that looked a lot like Katie’s new mate. Obviously some close relation.

  Moving forward as a group, the males grabbed a hold of Jepa and Hecto. She held her breath, waiting for Hecto to snap and attack but thankfully that did not happen.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Jepa asked, gazing at the Hex lookalike.

  The male didn’t answer. Instead he nodded to the males who then moved quickly to press vials of a strange blue liquid against their necks. In an instant their eyes shut and they slumped to the floor.

  “Hannah,” came the panicked
voice of Jepa followed by a mental scream of rage from Hecto.

  She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “What are you doing? Get off them.”

  The males ignored her as they picked up the unconscious bodies of the twins and made to leave. She tried to stop them but Katie grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.

  “Let go of me. They can’t do this.”

  “Just wait a moment. I’m sure everything will be explained.”

  So there she stood, her gaze moving from one of her friends mates to another, none of them giving her any answers. Corr and Torq were staying mute, but she could tell that Hex was as confused as the rest of them.

  “You’re seriously not going to tell us what is going on?” Nora asked, her mouth agape.

  “It’s classified,” was all Corr would say on the matter.

  The hour that followed was a blur. Hannah vaguely remembered her friends arguing with the males but she was more focused on getting in touch with Jepa and Hecto. But no matter how much she tried to connect to them, she could tell that her mind speak was not getting through. Whatever that stuff was that they had been injected with, it was interfering with the mental connection.

  What was she going to do? They needed her. Hecto needed her. The madness was almost complete in its consumption of him, if they didn’t complete their mating soon she knew that there would be nothing she could do to bring him back to her.

  Lost as she was in her own thoughts and despair, she didn’t notice the room slowly emptying. It wasn’t until Hex appeared in front of her, his hand held out to her that she finally snapped out of it.

  “Come with me.”

  A few minutes later she found herself in some sort of engine room with Katie and Hex. The male sat down at some huge computer thing with dozens on screens above it, his fingers working a mile a minute.

  Sat in the male’s lap, Katie asked. “What are you doing?”

  “Hacking into the commander’s personal files. If they won’t tell us what is going on, then we will find the information for ourselves.”

  “But won’t you get into trouble for that?”