by Susan Hayes
He did as she asked with a grin, tearing at the clasp of his pants and tugging them off without ever taking his eyes off her. The sight made her clench her thighs together as a flood of liquid heat soaked her panties. They might have been built to be soldiers, but her guys were both incredibly sexy, too. Watching them get naked never failed to kick her libido into overdrive.
“I missed you,” she told him as she started pulling off her clothes.
“Even though Kit was with you?” he asked.
“You’re not interchangeable. You know that, don’t you? I’m fond of you both, but I like it best when all three of us are together. When we’re apart, it’s not the same.” Her explanation surprised her because she hadn’t consciously thought about it, but she knew it was the truth all the same. Her guys might be identical in many ways, but that didn’t mean they were the same person. She cared about both of them equally, but differently. In fact, she was falling hard for them both.
“I’m glad you feel that way, gorgeous. I like it when we’re all together, too. Though right now, I’m damned glad to have you all to myself.”
She crooked her finger at him. “Now who is doing all the talking? Come here, lover, and I’ll show you how much I’ve missed you.”
He prowled over to her slowly, giving her time to admire the hard lines of his body and the thick erection he was sporting. By the time they were close enough to touch, her clit was throbbing in time to her heartbeat, and she was trembling in anticipation of what was to come. His mouth claimed hers in a sizzling kiss that made her entire body hum.
“Next time you leave, I’m coming with you,” he whispered as he pressed her back onto the bed, pinning her beneath him.
“But your job…” she started to protest, but he cut her off with a shake of his head.
“My job is not as important as you are.”
“Damn, you and your brother have some really good lines.”
He nipped her lower lip. “It’s not a line, it’s a fact.”
“I’m in so much trouble,” she murmured, barely aware that she had spoken her thoughts aloud.
“That makes three of us.” Luke sealed her mouth with another kiss, ending any further conversation.
They kissed and stroked each other until the fire blazing inside her grew to an inferno. It didn’t matter that she and Kit had been together only a few hours ago. This was Luke, and she needed him, too.
He broke their last kiss with a groan and lifted his head. “I need more than this.”
“Whatever you need, take it,” she replied.
“Thank you, I will.” He grinned and started kissing his way down her body. She watched the way his muscles flexed and strained as he held himself over her. When he reached her stomach, he pressed a single kiss to her navel before leaving the bed and sinking to his knees on the floor. She didn’t have time to do more than lift her head before his hands found her hips and he slid her body across the bed until her legs were dangling over the edge of the mattress and he was staring at her with a wicked grin that made her heart skip a beat.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Taking what I need,” he said as he gently lifted her legs to his shoulders. Before she could move her legs back, he straightened up, raising her off the bed until only her head and shoulders still were on the mattress.
Her next retort didn’t make it past her lips before he buried his face into her pussy and began devouring her. He lashed and licked at her clit in short, fast swipes that had her seeing stars within seconds. She squirmed, testing the limits of her position, and quickly accepted that there was nothing she could do but hang on for the ride. Her fingers tangled in the bed sheets as her senses were overwhelmed.
“Luke!” she cried out his name as the first tremors of an orgasm started. He let her ride the waves of pleasure to the brink of release, then slowed down, denying her the one thing her body craved.
He changed movements, sweeping his tongue along her inner folds in slow, languid strokes that deliberately avoided her clit. He held her in sway, dictating the pace and keeping total control of her body. Sensation built on sensation until all she could think about was what he was doing, and all she could feel was the touch of his mouth and tongue. Only when she was shaking with the need to come did he give her what she needed.
He slid a finger deep into her channel, then latched onto her clit, sucking hard as he flicked it with the tip of his tongue. She groaned, arching her back as pleasure slammed into her. She was so lost that she barely noticed when he withdrew his finger from her pussy to press the honey-slicked digit against the rosebud of her anus.
When she moaned again, he pressed deeper. “Someday soon, I’m going to take you here while Kit fucks your pussy. Both of us buried deep inside you at the same time. I can’t wait.”
His words triggered a flood of erotic images of the three of them together, and it sent Zura spiraling into orgasm. She came hard, bucking her hips against his lips as she imagined what it would be like to be locked together with both her lovers at once. She wanted that to happen soon.
She was still recovering from her orgasm when Luke rose to his feet. He gently eased her legs from his shoulders, hooking her knees over his forearms as he rubbed his cock against the slick folds of her pussy. “Ready?”
She grinned and nodded. “Very.”
Luke stared at the beauty stretched out beneath him and marveled at how much had changed in such a short time. Day and night, she was always in his thoughts. All it took to make him hard was the sound of her voice or a single touch of her hand. She was under his skin in a way he had never experienced before.
He drove into her sweet body with a groan of pleasure, not stopping until he was buried to the hilt inside her. This was what he had been dreaming of since she had left. Being with her. Watching her enchanting silver eyes gleam with desire as she moaned his name. She might have been the one to go away, but right now, it felt like he was the one coming home. To her.
He pulled out of her almost completely, then plunged into her again. He’d always held back with other women, afraid of hurting them because of his size and strength. He had learned he didn’t have to do that with Zura. She could take him at his wildest. In fact, she liked him that way. Luke closed his arms around her legs, holding her in place as he let himself go. She gripped the sheets beneath her and moaned as he began to power into her. Her inner walls gripped his cock, milking him with every thrust. The air filled with the sounds of sex. Flesh on flesh, soft gasps, and low groans as they both gave in to the pleasure coursing through them.
He started moving faster, his thrusts coming harder as the heat between them built until he felt like he was standing on the surface of a star. Soon they were racing each other to the finish line, instinct overtaking every semblance of control. He came hard, emptying himself into her with a ragged groan that tore the breath from his lungs. She arched and cried out a few seconds later, the look of ecstasy on her face mirroring his feelings exactly. He released her legs and lowered them to the bed before partially collapsing on top of her and kissing her hard.
“I missed this.”
She laughed softly and stroked his hair out of his face. “I missed you.”
He kissed her again, tenderly this time. “I’ll make you a promise. Every time you come back, I’ll greet you like this. Maybe that will help.”
“I’m sure it will. When you come with me, Kit can be in charge of welcoming me home. I think that’s a hell of a plan.”
“Me, too.” He kissed her one last time and then pushed himself off her. “Get comfortable, I’ll be right back.”
He went to the bathroom and grabbed a cleansing cloth for himself and another for Zura. By the time he washed up and returned, she was resting in the middle of his bed. Her hair was fanned out over the pillows, and she was smiling at him with a look of total trust and contentment. It was the first time any woman had looked at him like that, and it made him walk a little taller.
&n
bsp; “What?” she asked as he walked over to her. “Why are you looking at me that way?”
“Because you’re beautiful. Because you are here with me. Do I need any other reason?”
“I suppose not.” She rose to take the cloth from him, but he shook his head and gestured for her to lie down again.
“Let me.”
He cleaned her slowly, and when he was done, he tossed the cloth back to the bathroom and joined her on the bed. She curled up against him, her soft curves filling his arms.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
He pressed a kiss to the crown of her hair. “I wanted to. I like taking care of you, Zura. Not because you need me to, but because I enjoy it. I hope you let us take care of you for a long time.”
“How long are we talking?” she asked, her voice soft.
His answer came from the heart. “I’m thinking forever might be just enough time.”
“That sounds…very permanent. Are you sure?”
He winked at her. “I’m sure. Don’t ask me how, but I am. You have a problem with that?”
She was quiet for a moment, and then she gifted him with another heart-stopping smile. “You’re crazy. Has anyone ever told you that before?”
“Crazy. Yes, it’s been mentioned a time or two before. It’s part of my charm.”
“What if you change your mind someday?” she asked, and for the first time since he had known her, Luke heard real doubt in her voice.
“About you? I don’t see that happening. You’re good for me. For Kit, too. He was smiling when he walked off your ship today. He’s been better in every way since you’ve become part of our lives. You did that. I can see us having a future together. Maybe kids someday. A real family.”
“I never thought about it. You can have kids?”
He nodded. “We can. One of the few things the corporations did right when they released us was to let us know that we could have children if we wanted to. The inhibitor injections they gave us can be reversed.”
“A family,” she murmured softly. “I never thought that would be an option for me.”
“It could be. I know it’s too soon to talk about kids and a family yet, but I wanted you to know that was an option if you wanted it,” he said, then tucked her in beside him and kissed her softly. “Tell me what you learned from that friend of yours while you were gone,”
“You heard it all, already.”
“Tell me again. Maybe talking it through with me will give us another hint what this insurance policy might be.”
Zura nestled in Luke’s arms and told him everything Phyl had told her about her father, and her theories about what he could have left her. When she was done, she realized she had been playing with her dad’s lucky ring as she spoke.
“I still don’t have a clue what this insurance policy could be. Kit thinks it has something to do with this ring, but I don’t see how. There’s not even an inscription on it. It’s just a black stone and a gold band.”
Luke plucked it out of her grasp. “Have you ever had it appraised? Maybe the stone’s worth something.”
“I doubt it. If it were worth anything, Dad would have used it as betting collateral and lost it years ago.”
“Do you mind if I take a closer look at it?” he asked.
“Go ahead.” Zura reached up and undid the clasp on the necklace.
Luke sat up and looked at the ring for a minute, frowned, and muttered, “That’s interesting.”
“What? Did I miss something?” Zura asked as she tried to read the expression on Luke’s face.
“I think this is a data crystal. I haven’t seen one quite like this before, though. Hell, I haven’t seen many of them at all. There aren’t a lot around anymore.”
“Data crystals are ancient tech. No one uses them.”
“Exactly. By any chance is this ring a family heirloom?”
Zura nodded. “It’s been in the family for generations.”
Luke handed it back to her. “If that’s what it is, maybe this fabled insurance policy of your father’s is stored on it. I don’t think we’ve got anything in the club that could read it. Could there be something on the Sun Sprite?”
Zura slipped the necklace back on as she thought about Luke’s question. She had many of the Sun Sprite’s systems upgraded with the bonus money she’d gotten for her run through the storm with the vaccine, but not everything had been replaced. “I’m not sure.”
He sighed. “We’re going to have to get out of bed and go find out, aren’t we?”
“I’m afraid so. I need to know if you’re right and if there’s anything stored on this relic.” She tapped the ring.
Luke left the bed and shot her a disgruntled look. “Of course I’m right. I’m the smart twin.”
She laughed and got out of bed to hunt down her clothes. “How could I have forgotten?”
“I don’t know. You weren’t gone that long. Don’t worry; now that you’re back I’ll be sure to remind you and my brother. After all, Kit was with you all this time and he didn’t figure it out. That clearly shows which one of us has the brains.”
“How did you know what it was, anyway?” she asked.
He grinned at her. “You’d be amazed at the strange things I’ve been offered to pay off a bar tab at the end of the night. Old tech. Star maps. Weird pets from other planets. You name it, someone has probably tried to give it to me instead of paying me in a currency I can actually use. I’ve learned all sorts of things working behind that bar.”
“I’m glad you did. Otherwise, I might never have known what this was. Dad should have told me the damned thing was a data storage device. It would have saved me a lot of grief.”
“He probably thought he had more time. We all think that until suddenly our time is up and we’re left with things we wanted to say and no more time to say them.”
Zura finished dressing and joined Luke by the door. “Regrets?”
He took her hand in his and looked down at her, his dark eyes solemn. “Some, yeah. I’ve lost a lot of people I cared about in my life. There were things I wish I had told some of them, and a few things I wish I could take back. Those are mistakes I don’t intend to make again. When it comes to you, Zura, I don’t want to have any regrets.””
Her cheeks heated as he stared at her. “Me, either.”
For one long moment, he watched her in silence, then nodded once and leaned down to kiss her. “Time to go see what’s on that crystal. I’ll contact Kit on the way and let him know what’s going on.”
“Tell him to meet us in the cockpit of the ship. I have a feeling that’s where we’ll find what we’re looking for.” Zura headed back to the Sun Sprite, one hand in Luke’s and the other wrapped around her father’s lucky ring. If there was something else her father had left her, she wanted to know what it was, and why he had hidden it away.
CHAPTER TEN
Kit was waiting in the small cockpit when the other two arrived. He moved out of the way to let Zura pass, noting the grim set of her lips as she slid past him without a word. She dropped into the pilot’s seat and started looking over the controls, clearly looking for something. While she focused on the console, Kit looked at his brother.
Luke leaned in close and spoke in lowered tones to avoid disturbing Zura. “She’s okay. Just determined to figure out what’s on that crystal.”
“Understandable. Did anyone come looking for her while we were gone?”
Luke shook his head. “No one.”
A half-second later, Luke switched to their internal comm channel. “Our friends were in touch, though. They’ve tracked down the vessel Ganzer and his two friends came in on. It’s still in the Drift.”
“Fraxx. They never left?”
“Doesn’t look that way. They’re keeping an eye on them for us. If we need them, they’re ready to step in.” While all the surviving cyborgs had been freed, not all of them had chosen to leave corporate employment. There were enough cyborgs working as Drift
security and enforcement officers to ensure that he and Kit could always call in a favor when they needed it. In return, they offered their fellow cyborgs cheap booze and permanent VIP status at the Nova.
“Found you!” Zura crowed in triumph.
Kit turned his head to find her on her knees, facing the wall beside the console she was examining.
“What did you find?” Luke asked.
She turned around, looking pleased with herself. “If I’m right, I found an old data crystal reader. If I’m wrong, I found a totally useless gizmo that serves no discernable purpose, which is what I thought it was the last time I noticed it. I was going to have it taken out when I could afford another round of upgrades. Good thing I didn’t get around to that, yet.”
“A very good thing. This way we don’t need to wait to see what’s on it, if anything,” Kit agreed.
She undid the chain from around her throat and slid the ring into her hand before turning to face the wall again. “Here goes nothing.”
They waited in silence while she fiddled with the ring and the reader, cursing under her breath as she tried to work with the unfamiliar technology. Finally, there was a pause, then a yelp of surprise. “Re’veth! That son of a bitch.”
“What?” Luke asked, crowding in closer.
“Remember when I said that if he had left me a bunch of money I was going to be pissed?” she asked.
“I do,” Luke said.
“Well, I’m pissed. In fact, I’m about three levels past that. I could have paid off every outstanding debt he left me if I’d known about this. Why didn’t he tell me?” Her voice raw with emotion barely kept in check, she slapped her hand against the wall in frustration.
Kit hated that she was hurting. He knew she was feeling the grief of her father’s passing all over again, and there was nothing he could do to help except be there for her. “He must have had his reasons for keeping it a secret. Is there anything else, or is it just a cash windfall?”
She squared her shoulders and lifted her head to look at the screen again before answering. “There’s something here with my name on it, too. One second, I’m going to save this to the main system. I’d rather read the rest in comfort instead of sitting on the floor.”
