by Reagan Woods
“Beautiful,” he breathed in her ear, his big body hovering possessively above her. “You’re so beautiful when you come. I can’t wait to be inside you.”
Like a bucket of cold water, his words brought her abruptly into reality. “Oh no,” she whispered, opening her eyes to stare up at him. The intense expression on his face told her he was deadly serious. “You…I…we just…but no!”
Her reaction surprised him into sitting up. He slid off the mattress onto his knees on the floor but remained firmly between her spread thighs. Quirking a brow, he palmed her quivering flesh through her pants. “You released so hard the material is soaked,” he rasped. “It was good between us, was it not?”
“Y-yes,” she stammered. Surely, this had to be a dream. What had just happened here? What did it mean?
Lyon acted as though he didn’t have a single regret. In fact, his full lips smirked with a decidedly male relish.
He narrowed glittering eyes assessingly. “I will make you feel even better. Now. Take off your pants.”
“W-what?!?” She squeaked, ridiculously uncertain. Everything was escalating so quickly it made her head spin.
“Take off your pants,” he repeated, his face set in unyielding lines. “And your shirt. Please,” he amended. “Now. I’m dying for a taste.”
Nora’s nipples pebbled and she shivered at the look of hunger that crossed his rugged face. What had she gotten herself into? “I-I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Chapter 43
Lyon narrowed his eyes as he studied Nora’s pretty, alien face. Her enchanting dark eyes were wary and full of regret, and her breaths were coming at an alarming rate. He much preferred her frenzied and needy or unfocused and soft as they were once he made her come. Already, he burned to make her come again.
“Alright,” he grunted, pushing away from the tempting heat of her soft body. He’d clearly made her uncomfortable and he bitterly regretted that. For him, what had just happened between them was as natural as breathing; it had been inevitable from the first moment he’d seen her, abused and starved.
When he moved back, he noted her tight nipples obvious even through the thick fabric of her tunic top. She still wanted him, so he’d take that as a victory.
“Are you mad?” Nora asked, sitting up to wrap her arms around her knees. She looked so vulnerable curled up alone on the large sleep surface. Her breaths still came too quickly for his liking.
Lyon cocked his head to study her as he backed away a few more paces. He was always mindful of their size difference. While Nora wasn’t as tiny as Lacy had been, she was still delicate compared to him and he didn’t want her to feel intimidated – especially not after such an intimate moment between them. His cock ached for release, but he would always exercise rigid control over his impulses. It was important to make her understand that.
“Why would I be?”
She shivered and he backed all the way to the cabin wall before sliding to the floor.
“I, um, put you off without finishing-,” she broke off and a lovely flush washed over her cheeks as she averted her gaze and gestured vaguely at his obvious erection.
Lyon allowed his legs to sprawl. Deliberately, he waited for her to meet his gaze before directing her attention to his lap. “This?” He smirked when he glanced up and saw her staring.
Her already rosy skin flushed even darker when she realized she was caught. She bit her lip and gave a shy nod in answer to his question.
His shrug was as easy and undemanding as he could make it. “There will be other opportunities,” he voiced calmly.
“Lyon,” Nora groaned with a husky laugh that seemed to settle her. “We can’t. I’m not built for this kind of thing. I want to make a place for myself and I can’t do it i-i-if I’m…,” she gestured helplessly at herself and then to him.
“If you’re pantomiming?” He ribbed her gently, delighting in the way she sputtered.
“If I’m having sex with the boss!” Her fingers went to her short hair and pulled.
Absently, he chaffed his hands over his thighs as he considered her argument. “Wouldn’t that make for job security?” He asked mischievously, hoping to alleviate some of the emotional storm he saw brewing in her.
“Sure,” she agreed. The tears that welled up in her eyes clawed at him to move to her, to comfort her, but he remained at a distance. “Until it ended. What then?” Her breath hitched and the panicky panting started again. “Suddenly, I’m alone and starting over again. And I’m not built to survive out here. Everything is so foreign, and I can’t even begin to comprehend the rules of survival.”
Lyon wanted to assure her that once she was theirs, they’d protect her and never let her go, but she held up a hand. “I need a minute.” She closed her eyes for a long ten-count. When she opened them again, she seemed more centered.
Finally, she scooted forward to the edge of the sleep surface. Her legs dangled off the side as she leaned forward, hands clasped together earnestly, to explain, “I spent my whole life moving from one location to another, just ahead of government troops or dodging bands of outlaws, and that never bothered me because it was all I’d ever known. Most importantly, I had my family and my, for lack of a better word, my tribe. Now, I just – I’m so unsettled and unsure. I know it sounds ridiculous – and I know nothing is guaranteed – but I really need to find my place, my home.” She lifted her hands helplessly. “So, fucking the boss seems like a bad way to earn my way. I know it’s all some people have, but I’m not made that way.”
Her words made perfect sense. Nora wore her emotions openly. He’d easily read her attraction, and in his joy at finding her in Zocan’s arms – the move he’d been waiting for his mate to make finally made, he’d neglected to delve deeper into what her emotional needs might be.
Physically, he knew exactly how to care for her. Bolstering her hidden vulnerabilities – as was the duty of a good mate – would take some practice and careful discovery. Lyon had no doubt that he and Zocan were as perfect for Nora as she was for them. It seemed she needed more convincing.
He knew Zocan as well as he knew himself and they’d still had a few fumbles along the way. Not only was Nora alien to their culture, she was completely reliant on them for everything from food to safety. If they were different types of males, they’d exploit that, but there was a better way.
“And now I’ve verbally vomited all over you when you were just looking for a good time,” she shook her head before dropping her forehead to her palm and groaning again. “I’m so-.”
“No apologies,” Lyon cut her off, rising smoothly to his feet. “I got up early to train you. Let’s train.” He held out a hand.
“So, we will forget this ever happened?” Hesitantly, she put her cool little fingers in his palm. The dusky brown looked just right against his golden skin and he took a moment to be grateful their trust wasn’t gone before he gently pulled her to her feet.
He snorted. “No. We will revisit this at another, more comfortable, moment.”
“Oh but –”
“I will demonstrate once at full speed,” he changed the subject adroitly, pulling her to her feet. “Then, I will go slowly through the movements of the kata. After that, you will try.”
Gently, he propelled her to stand near the sonishower all the while keeping watch to be sure she was physically comfortable. Her breathing remained shallow but the staccato panting she’d been fighting intermittently was waning. It was interesting that the thought of leaving him and Zocan had such a profound physical effect on her.
Eyes wide and unsure, she nodded. “Alright.”
When Zocan joined them an hour later, Nora was flushed and sweaty. “How goes the lesson?” His tone was mild, but Lyon didn’t miss the unspoken question.
As the higher-ranking male in their trinepact, Zocan had made his interest in Nora known. That left Lyon free to initiate his own romantic relationship with her, so Zocan was understandably puzzled to find the two of them act
ually…working on katas.
“Nora needs time to become accustomed to some of the more complex movements,” Lyon answered cryptically, hoping his meaning was clear.
Panting, Nora stepped between them with outstretched arms. “Woah, I can speak for myself,” she snapped. Turning to Zocan, she declared, “I’m not sleeping with either of you, and also, I’m a klutz. You don’t have to talk around me.”
His subtle message hadn’t been so subtle after all, Lyon realized with a wry laugh.
Zocan bared his teeth in a determined smile. “If you aren’t sleeping with me, where do you intend to sleep?” His tone was reasonable, his voice dangerously smooth as challenge sparked in his eyes. “Because, my lovely little Earther, I have had a very long day and I am ready to sleep.”
“You know what I mean.” Nora wasn’t backing down. “You’re professional pirates. I want to learn, to work, to earn my way. I don’t want any special favors. I just want a chance to make a place for myself.”
The determination on her face made her naive declaration that much more adorable. She had no idea what kind of challenge her words incited for her Lyaran males. And she was theirs as much as they were hers, that much was already fact. Until she formally rejected them – which they wouldn’t allow to happen – they would woo her by fair means or foul.
Lyon almost felt sorry for her. Once he and Zocan set their sights on something, they found a way to get it. She wanted them, too, she was simply too stubborn to see how good the three of them would be together. They would set that right once they had her safely off this ship and away from anything that threatened her.
Zocan smiled his most patronizing smile at her. “I’d suggest you shower before trying to crawl into bed with me. You’re rather sweaty.” He made a dismissive motion with his hand and turned his attention to Lyon. “You’re looking rather…frustrated.” He quirked a brow. “Care for some relief?”
Lyon heard Nora’s gasp as she slapped at the sonishower entrance and he chuckled. He deliberately delayed his response until he saw the privacy glass engage, fuzzing her lovely form into an opaque wall of white.
“I would love it, but I fear we’ll lose her if we push too hard,” he muttered as the door sealed shut behind her. “The good news is she’s probably going to have to sleep naked because she forgot to remove her clothes before going in. If they don’t disintegrate, they’ll need a fiber reinforcement in the refresher.”
“That makes me the lucky one, then, doesn’t it?” Zocan purred with a smirk.
Lyon clasped his mate’s shoulders and waited until Zocan gave him his undivided attention. “She is desperate to remain with us and doesn’t want to jeopardize her chances of belonging – of finding her home, as she put it.”
Zocan frowned. “It’s too early to offer her a spot in our trinepact,” he stated with a frown.
“Is it?” Lyon mused. “It might be. However, there is nothing wrong with letting her know our intentions toward her, is there? She’s not like us. Her world doesn’t have trinepacts and they might not have the biological imperative that allows such a bond in their genetic code, so I propose that we discuss these things with her.”
“You make a fair point,” Zocan agreed. “Let us give some thought to how we might approach her.”
“That’s all I ask,” Lyon agreed, leaning in for a lingering kiss. If he wasn’t getting satisfaction from either of his chosen lovers, then he was going to do his damnedest to make sure they suffered as much as he. “Now, I’m off to take my watch.”
Zocan’s grin was wry as he arched a brow. “I wish you hadn’t stirred my fires if you didn’t intend to use them.”
“Now, we can both suffer,” Lyon said on a low, evil laugh, heading for the cabin door.
Zocan snorted. “I’ll be cuddled up with a warm, naked Nora. Enjoy Natar’s rants and Z’cari’s hand-wringing, won’t you?”
“Ouch,” Lyon grasped a hand over his chest as though the dart hit home before spinning to leave. “Sleep well,” he tossed over his shoulder as the door slid closed behind him.
Chapter 44
Zocan eyed the sonishower warily. Nora still hadn’t emerged. He hoped she wasn’t initiating the cleansing cycle over and over in order to avoid him. That would certainly destroy her clothing. He would give her another few moments before intervening.
Amusement and worry warred within him over her reaction to their earlier kiss – and to her obvious rejection of Lyon’s subsequent approach. For his own part, there was no possibility that he’d misread the lust in her eyes when they’d had their encounter on the flight deck. Zocan was a planner – occasionally an over-planner – and he’d been plotting his approach for several weeks. He’d watched her every move, observed the nuance of each emotion as it moved – openly and without guile - across her face, for far too long to mistake her feelings. She wanted him physically almost as much as she needed his approval – not that she was happy with herself for feeling that way. Her self-recrimination when Lyon interrupted them had been glaringly obvious.
It was also clear that Nora’s connection with Lyon was both physical and emotional. The fact that she’d obviously rebuffed Lyon’s overture was concerning. His first instinct was to force Nora to confront her sexual attraction to them. After that, the rest would fall into place. They would agree to cement their bond by formally taking Nora as the female of their trinepact once the sexual/emotional compatibility was established – or so Lyaran wisdom taught.
But Nora wasn’t Lyaran.
He’d assumed she would be open to a closed, polyandrous relationship. If she wasn’t, it was important they established that. He and Lyon would then set about changing her mind. This was the first time the pair had ever agreed on the merits of the same female.
There was zero chance they would give up. They would persist until Nora was theirs. They’d been one of the most sought-after male pairings on Lyara. Between the two of them, Nora didn’t stand a chance of denying their claim for long.
They simply had to keep her safe while they finessed the Nom’magata out of Xani’s dock and hunted down whomever was tracking them. And, of course, while they decided how to handle the CORANOS assassin. After that – when Nora was appropriately trained in the fine art of smuggling - then their happy, sexually fulfilled trinepact could return to the business of raising funds and collecting information on Hash-Han and his movements. It seemed like everyone could have what they needed – even if Nora didn’t know she needed them yet.
Okay, there was clear room for tweaks in that plan, but he could envision how it all could work out. The path had become very clear in his mind.
“Mierda.” Her exclamation was loud enough to penetrate the tube as the glass flipped to clear and the door opened. “Ijo de puta!”
She spilled out into the cabin clutching the disintegrating fabric of her tunic. “What! What! What is this? What’s happening to my clothes?” Her pitch reached a screech of displeasure.
Zocan smirked – he knew she hated it when he did. “You’re not supposed to wear your clothing into the sonishower,” he reminded her mockingly.
Her eyes wide, she gripped the tunic to her chest. “How do we fix it?” She whispered, a horrified grimace twisting her pretty features.
Wiping all expression from his face, he ordered, “Strip.”
She gasped. “I will not!”
His amusement was difficult to stifle. Raising his hand, he used two fingers to bracket his mouth – and hide his smile. “So, you do not wish my help repairing your garments?”
“Why can’t you fix them while I’m wearing them?” Her big brown eyes seemed to grow impossibly bright as she folded her lips down and huddled into herself as though it would prevent her clothing from further destruction.
“Darling,” he spoke gently as though approaching a cornered wild animal. Confusion clouded her brow at the use of the endearment. That was a weakness, he noted, making a silent promise to give her verbal affection more often. “Stabil
izing solution is part of the refreshing process. I believe the refresher has a setting for reprinting small patches into the material. If we leave your clothing in overnight, the tunic and pants should hold together until we get back to the Nom’magata.”
“But – but – but I don’t have anything else to wear,” she wailed.
“It’s a good thing that it is time for sleep, then, isn’t it, my dear?” He pointed out reasonably. “Otherwise, you’d be stuck inside the cabin for another day cycle.”
Brow thunderous, Nora straightened her shoulders and began the delicate process of removing the fragile garments. “This is all your fault,” she fumed. “If you hadn’t tried to get handsy with Lyon in front of me, I never would have panicked.”
Zocan deliberately kept his eyes on her face as she stripped. “You bring up an interesting topic. Surely you didn’t expect me to refrain from expressing my love for my mate?”
She passed the crumbling fabric into his waiting hands managing not to touch him at all. The flush over her lovely cheekbones told him she was uncomfortable as did the hitch in her breathing. “Of course not,” she answered, looking somewhere over his shoulder rather than meeting his eyes. One leanly muscled arm wrapped around her heavy breasts while the other hand shielded the tuft of black curls between her legs. “You two are always affectionate, but you’ve never done anything more than kiss or flirt in front of me.”
“And the thought of things going further sent you into a panic?” He pressed, knowing he had to tread carefully but anxious to get to the information he really wanted to know. Mainly: could she love him and Lyon separately as well as together?
“Um.” Her teeth sunk into her sexy, full bottom lip as she contemplated his question.
Zocan bit back a tortured groan. He’d had his mouth on those tempting lips not long ago and he wanted more of her sweetness.
