by Lexa Lumos
She grew hot everywhere. Even between her legs. Her nether lips felt suddenly swollen and full. Her clit throbbed. Moisture pooled.
Taryk lifted his head and inhaled deeply. His pupils dilated, and the swell of his cock under his snug, shimmering trousers was impossible to ignore.
“You are aroused,” he said bluntly.
She crossed her arms and gave the tent in his pants a pointed look. “So are you.”
Color flushed his cheeks, and he shifted awkwardly. He licked his lips again, and she wanted nothing more than to jump his bones, which was stupid. He’d kidnapped her.
But the throbbing between her legs didn’t lie. Neither did the peaking of her nipples as cool air and his heated gaze washed over her, arousing her further.
Jesus, what was wrong with her? She’d never wanted anyone this much, and it made no sense.
“It’s the mating call.” His voice was rough. Clearly, he was struggling too.
“The what?” Her brain felt fogged over.
“When Kiyrians meet their mates, it triggers a chemical reaction. Extreme arousal is meant to enhance the bonding experience.”
She wanted to say something snappy. Instead she blurted, “I’m not Kiyrian.”
“No, but we share much of the same DNA. We are compatible. Our arousal triggers yours.”
“Our?” she squeaked.
“Me and my brothers.”
“Fen and Erys.” They were feeling this, too? Would she feel the same way around them as she did with Taryk right now? She hadn’t really paid attention. Freaking hell.
“I should go.” He turned.
“Wait.”
His back was ramrod stiff. Just like his front. She held in a snicker. “Why are you going?”
He cast a look over his shoulder. “I will not take you until you truly want me.” He stalked out, leaving her wet and wanting.
Well, damn. She couldn’t help feeling a stab of disappointment, which was nuts since she shouldn’t want the man who kidnapped her. Obviously her libido disagreed. She hoped the shower had lots of hot water and plenty of pressure.
Chapter 8
Erys almost collided with Taryk as he stormed out of Anya’s chamber. He grabbed his brother’s arm. “You all right?”
“Fine,” Taryk bit out.
He didn’t look fine, but that was Taryk for you. Always had to put on a brave front. Pretend he wasn’t hurting so no one would worry about him. But both Erys and Fen worried. Taryk was wound so tight these days, they were concerned he might snap.
“Let’s get a drink. You can tell me about it. What’s she done now?”
Taryk grimaced. “She’s naked.”
Erys’s brain fogged over as images flashed through his mind. Incredibly erotic images. “She’s that ugly, huh?” he joked, knowing the exact opposite to be true.
“No,” Taryk snapped. “She’s beautiful.”
“And that’s a problem because?” To Erys’s mind, a beautiful mate was a good thing.
Taryk swallowed. “I wanted nothing more than to throw her on the bed and frell her senseless until she stopped wanting to leave us.”
Erys tried hard to keep a straight face. While Taryk might appear the strongest, fiercest, and least civilized of the three of them, he was actually the gentlest. He was the one with the most memories of their world with women. Of the joy and beauty of the female bond with her mates. He would be the last one to ever force himself on a woman who didn’t want him. And right now, All-Mother save them, she didn’t want them.
He really hoped she’d change her mind.
He squeezed Taryk’s arm. “You’ve got more control over yourself than that.” They weren’t animals. They were civilized, for frell’s sake.
Taryk snorted. “If you say so.” He turned wounded eyes on Erys. “Why doesn’t she want us?”
“We did sort of kidnap her,” Erys said dryly. He didn’t point out that it had been Taryk who’d done the kidnapping.
“It couldn’t be helped.”
“We know that, but she doesn’t. And even if she did, I doubt she’d appreciate the truth.” That her own government had sold her and the other women to the Kiyrians, like they were so much useless meat. The irony was the human government had no idea just how valuable these women were, that they were the key to saving the entire Kiyrian race. They would be cherished.
“Why don’t I go talk to her?” he suggested.
Taryk looked hopeful. “You are better at words than I am. It seems human females need words. Lots and lots of words.”
“My understanding is that Kiyrian females did as well. Don’t forget, they can’t hear our thoughts until we’re fully bonded.”
Taryk ran a hand through his tangled locks. “It’s damned annoying.”
Erys grinned. “Sure is.”
Taryk went off to the bridge, and Erys continued to Anya’s chamber. Naked, huh? He hesitated a moment before knocking. Not a typical practice among his people, but apparently humans liked it.
When there was no answer, he let himself in. Had she run away again? Not that she had anywhere to run, but it didn’t bode well if she took off every chance she got.
The main chamber was empty, but he heard the shower running in the bathing pod. Without thinking about it, he crossed the room, then came to a dead halt in the doorway.
Anya stood under the stream of recycled water. One hand was braced against the wall. The other was buried between her legs.
He stood frozen, unable to move, unable to breathe, his cock suddenly hard as a rock.
She played with her pussy, her soft cries still audible beneath the sound of the shower. Her eyes closed, her head thrown back, she let out a moan, bucking with the strength of her orgasm.
Her eyes opened, and she stared straight at him.
“ENJOY THE SHOW?”
It was the first thing that came into her head. Stupid. But snark was better than the embarrassment that burned through her like fire. She realized her fingers were still inside her and let her hand drop.
Her pussy throbbed as images of his cock buried to the hilt inside her assailed her mind. She could smell her arousal and his.
Erys stared, his cock hard underneath the loose fit of his pants. “I—” He licked his lips and tried again. “I—”
“What? Never seen a naked woman before?”
Heat simmered between them. “Actually no. Not until you.”
She shut off the shower and stepped out. He handed her a towel. “You’ve seen me naked before this.”
He nodded. “During rejuvenation, but that was clinical. I was your vedic. Your, uh, medical person.”
She wrapped the towel around herself slowly, letting him get a good long look. “So you saw me before the rejuvenation thing.” He’d seen the crepe-y skin and the droopy boobs. Great. Not that she cared.
Liar.
“You were beautiful then, and you are beautiful now.” It sounded like he meant it. His nostrils flared. Could he smell her arousal? She should probably be embarrassed, but she wasn’t.
“What you saw, uh....”
“You pleasuring yourself?” He gave her a lopsided grin. His golden eyes burned bright.
This time her face did flame. “Uh, yeah.”
“Was it Taryk?”
She stared at him in surprise. “How did you know?”
“I saw him in the corridor. He said he’d seen you naked. It clearly had an effect on him.” He glanced down. “As it does on me. I hope you are not insulted by our interest.”
She was surprised he’d care about her feelings. These Kiyrians were not at all what she expected. She found herself blurting the truth. “Oddly, no, though I probably should be.”
He seemed flabbergasted. “Why?”
“You kidnapped me.”
“Well, yes, that was unfortunate. But you don’t mind that we wish to mate with you?”
“All three of you?” The thought aroused her more than ever, which was a shock. Her pussy was w
et, aching to be filled. Masturbation hadn’t been nearly enough. She wanted him.
“We come as a package deal, so yes.”
Images assailed her mind. All three of the Taul men and her, on her bed, their bodies naked, writhing—
She shook her head. “Um, that’s not how it works, you know.”
“How what works?”
“On Earth, we typically only mate with one person at a time.”
He said, “On Kiyria, we’re a matriarchy.”
She couldn’t believe she was standing here in a towel, having this conversation while wanting to rip his clothes off and ride him into the sunset. What was wrong with her? “What’s being a matriarchy have to with anything?” She stepped toward him, and he moved back to allow her to pass.
“Every woman has three husbands. Mates—whatever you want to call them. Listen, can we discuss Kiyrian mating practices later?”
“Why?”
“Because I either need to leave so I can masturbate like you did, or I need to frell you senseless. Your choice.”
Wetness slid down her inner thigh. She knew he sensed it, because his pupils dilated. If frelling was what she thought it was, she definitely wanted that. “I—I thought you were a package deal.”
“We are, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have us one at a time. Your choice.” He repeated it like it was a mantra.
She was going to say no. She really was. She didn’t know him. He’d probably helped kidnap her. Instead she said, “Yes, fuck me.”
For once in her life, she was going to throw caution to the wind and do exactly what she wanted. She’d deal with any fallout later.
His eyes widened, and before she could blink, her towel hit the floor, and she was on her back on the bed. She let out a startled laugh as he reared up and shed his clothes. She caught her breath, seeing him naked at last.
Every inch of him was well-muscled, not an ounce of fat, and his skin was a smooth golden-brown. His erection was... impressive. Thick and long enough to get the job done. A bead of pre-cum glistened on the tip.
He leaned over her, bracing his arms on either side of her as his lips found hers. She sank into the kiss, overwhelmed by a riot of emotions she couldn’t begin to name, so she simply let them flow. She focused on the velvety feel of his tongue against hers, the sharp nip of his teeth, the taste of him, spicy and sweet.
His cockhead probed her entrance. No foreplay, but she didn’t need it. She was so wet and wanting, she might spontaneously combust. She wrapped her legs around his hips and whispered, “Fuck me.”
He sank into her in one long stroke. She cried out at the sensation, arching her back to take him deep. The friction set off zings along her nerve endings. He stretched her fully, deliciously.
She hadn’t been with anyone in the year since her husband had left her, and they hadn’t had much of a sex life for quite a while before that. But it had never been like this. She’d never been so aroused, so in need. No one had ever fit her so perfectly, filled her so completely, or slid over just the right spot.
She wanted it hard and fast. She wanted that pressure to burst through her. She wanted him to come inside her.
A tiny, niggling part of her worried he’d think she was easy, but she told it to shut up. This wasn’t forever. This was just sex. It was supposed to be fun.
She dug her fingers into Erys’s butt cheeks, urging him to pump faster, thrust harder and deeper. He did, and the tension built, winding tighter and tighter inside her. She could feel it, just there, just....
She ground up against him, digging her fingernails into his back. The orgasm burst through her, sending off sparks behind her eyelids. Her pussy pulsed, milking his cock. He went still, his eyes rolling back, and then with a low almost animal groan, he spilled his seed inside her.
For a moment they hovered together in that space between ecstasy and agony. Then, with a little gasp, he lowered himself to lie beside her, pulling her into his arms. She snuggled in, burying her nose in the crook of his neck, loving the spicy smell of him. Her ex had never wanted to cuddle. He’d been more of a wham bam, thank you ma’am type.
She’d slept with a virtual stranger. What must he think of her? What did she think of herself? The sex had been excellent, but she knew she’d be cussing herself out for her stupidity later.
She wasn’t using birth control. At her age, she’d not had to worry about it, but with this rejuvenation thing...
Stop it, she ordered herself firmly. In that moment she didn’t care, not about any of it. She drifted on a wave of bliss, Erys’s cock already hardening again against her thigh. His hands wandered over her, cupping her breasts, arousing her all over again. His lips sought hers as he slipped back inside her, bringing her to orgasm over and over.
As he came inside her again, she heard his voice in her mind.
My mate.
Chapter 9
Anya lay there, stunned. Erys was still half on top her, face buried in the crook of her neck. What the actual fuck had happened?
She’d never in her life been into casual sex. Never had a one-night stand or fucked a guy she barely knew. She had too many hang-ups. Yet here she was, naked and basking in the afterglow of the best orgasms she’d ever had, and imagining herself banging two other guys.
Because she’d definitely been thinking about that, about Taryk and Fen here with her and Erys.
Jesus, she was fucked up six ways to Sunday.
And what was with that voice in her head?
We are bonded now, it rumbled, a chuckle gracing its edges.
She turned her head to stare at Erys. “What the hell?”
His eyes glowed more golden than usual, flecks of silver and blue dancing through the irises like stars. He wrapped his tattooed arm around her and snugged her up against him. He grinned and said aloud, “We’re bonded.”
“What does that mean?”
“We have a connection. That’s why you can hear me in your head.”
“You can read my mind?” She wriggled away, outraged but also turned on. Had he seen how much she wanted to fuck his brothers? Her cheeks heated.
He laughed. “Of course not. I can send you my thoughts, just as I will be able to send them to my brothers once you’ve bonded with them, and you can send yours to me but only if you like.”
She licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. “Do they know that we, ah, that we—.”
“Mated?”
“Yeah.” It was a better word than fucked, although her word was a better description of what they’d done. It hadn’t been anything more than lust. Had it?
He skimmed a gentle hand over her waist as if he wanted her there, and not just as a screw toy.
“They know.” His voice was a rumble in her ear.
“What!”
He winced at her shriek.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “But are you serious? Were they watching in your mind or something?”
He nuzzled her. “Doesn’t work that way, but they know because I’m bonded with you now, which means your bond with them is starting to form. They can feel it.”
“We bonded by... mating? You mean any woman you do this with will form this bond?” That sounded unpleasant. A surprising spurt of jealousy rose in her. It was unfamiliar, and she didn’t like it. She reminded herself sternly that this was just casual sex, nothing more.
Liar.
“No,” he assured her. “Only the one fated for us. It’s a one-shot deal.”
“But I’m human. How can I be fated for you?”
“The All-Mother works in mysterious ways. Only she can answer that question. All I know is that once you mate with my brothers, the bond will be complete, and our triad will become a true mated unit, as it should be.”
This whole thing was beyond baffling. She couldn’t begin to wrap her head around it, so she latched on to the sex part. “You expect me to sleep with Taryk and Fen?”
He opened one eye. “Of course. Is that a problem? Don’t you want t
hem?”
Her pussy throbbed at the thought, and she swallowed hard. “It’s just unusual for humans. This kind of thing.”
“What kind of thing?”
“Men sharing a woman. Being okay with it. You’re okay with it?”
He opened both eyes. “Of course.”
“And they’re okay with it?”
“Yes. We are a triad. You know this.”
She huffed out a breath, equal parts confused and annoyed. “But I don’t really know what that means.”
He rolled onto his back, pulling her with him so she was on top, his stiffening cock pressed between them, an intimate distraction. Thoughts of casualness ran right out of her head.
“As I told you, our species is a matriarchy, although there was a time in the distant past when we were not. For a while, men ruled, but we nearly destroyed the planet. So we turned our authority over to the women. They saved us.”
This didn’t surprise her. After all, the patriarchy had ruled Earth for millennia and look what was happening there. “What does that have to do with triads?”
“Scholars discovered that, before the patriarchy asserted itself, our people had always been matriarchal. According to ancient texts, each woman should have three of what you call husbands. When one female bonded with three males, it created a unit of extraordinary strength. The woman could, in a way, control her men, reduce their rage and aggression when necessary, and bolster their positive traits. So the High Queen ordered that, from that day forward, this is how things would be done. And so they have been until—”
“Until the Krull killed all your females,” she said.
“Yes. Since then we have become increasingly aggressive in nature. Increasingly hopeless. Then we discovered that not only are your people genetically compatible with ours—a miracle in itself—but that your brain structure indicated an ability to form the mating bond. It was a chance to save our people. We didn’t mean....” He sighed. “We didn’t mean to upset anyone.”
She left that alone for the moment. “And will it work? Can we form a complete bonded unit with you?” It was obvious that they could bond one on one.
