“He…”
“Show Zaen how he kisses you, Lucie. We want to know just how good this boyfriend shows you his affection. Does he compare to our brother? Tell us how different they are.” Kyel’s voice wove through her like magic—fantastical and yet not to be denied.
Zaen’s fingers threaded into her hair, gently massaging her scalp. Her palms found the front of his chest, her fingers splayed out over the massive expanse. Heat infused her skin, his masculine scent surrounding her. He towered over her. The top of her head came to his shoulder, but it only served to make her feel feminine. Safe. Cared for. Emotions she hadn’t felt in such a long time. Awareness rocketed as the world fell away, everything except for Zaen. Kyel, and Juliran.
Her mind should be screaming to her about how wrong it was to be kissing someone other than Grant, but her body reveled in the fact that it seemed so right. She didn’t have the capacity to even want to draw away.
Something nudged her mind. Something familiar. As though Zaen had kissed her before, but that couldn’t have been. Maybe in a dream. One of the nice ones she didn’t want to wake from. Still, she stayed where she was, lacking the motivation to do anything but stare up at him, cling to his body, and draw in a shaky breath.
Zaen’s lids half closed as he leaned down and covered her mouth with his. His lips molded to hers as though they were a matching half. He captured her bottom lip before suckling it into the heat of his mouth.
A fission of shivers erupted throughout her body. Heat uncoiled between her legs as a sigh rippled through her mind. He captured her lips again, more urgently, before sliding his tongue into the well of her mouth.
She accepted him, letting her tongue skim against his. His flavor burst into her mouth, tasting as masculine as his scent. Her hands moved over the curve of his shoulders and she pressed her breasts against the hard plane of his chest.
Her nipples pebbled, sensitivity heightened. Tiny tingles pulsed with each pump of her heart to catch into the quickly building furnace inside her. She leaned more fully into him, needing contact from knee to mouth.
“How does he feel, Lucie? How does our brother taste? Do you like it?’ Kyel whispered into her ear. His fingers skimmed her hair back behind her ear, fueling her desire.
The only answer she could give Kyel was a deep moan from the back of her throat as Zaen increased the intensity of their kiss. His arms tightened around her, locking her against him and keeping the world at bay. Her fingers slid into the soft silk of his hair. His arm braced around her waist, a steady band of steel that could fend off the weight of the world.
A warm, hard body came behind her, hands resting on her shoulders. She knew at once it was Juliran, the gentlest of the three. How she knew this, she couldn’t fathom. How she was kissing one brother amongst all of them she also couldn’t understand except that it felt so right, as though the world had righted from its off-axis.
Juliran nuzzled behind her ear, a just-there nudge of his nose, the hint of his warm breath across the sensitive skin of her neck, the nip of firm lips along her hair line.
She shivered, as bone-deep heat stoked her fast-climbing arousal. She moved her hand from Zaen’s shoulders back to cup the back of Juliran’s neck.
“That’s right, Lucie,” he said, voice husky. “You can touch me. Press back into me. Let me show you what you do to me. What seeing you kiss my brother does to me.”
His palms opened over her hips and he tugged her backside against his hardness. He groaned, nipping her earlobe as he pressed his cock into the crease of her cheeks. She should have been shocked. Outraged even, but she couldn’t muster up those feelings at all.
Zaen pulled back, breaking their kiss. Confused, she stared at his lips that shone with their kiss. A palm turned her head and her half-lidded gaze fell on Kyel.
“I’m going to kiss you now, Lucie. I want to taste you so bad it’s like an itch under my skin. I want to scratch it, but I never want it to go away. I just want to kiss your mouth right now. Can I do that, Lucie? Will you let me kiss your mouth after Zaen?”
A far part if her mind flickered with the thought that it was wrong. That she really shouldn’t want this, but a closer part, the part that was more urgent and louder, made her trace Kyel’s stubbled cheek with her hand before coaxing him close. With a slight flex of her fingers, he swooped down on her.
He kissed as aggressively as he spoke. Commandeering. Severe. Masterful. She leaned against Juliran as Kyel controlled her mouth. His tongue dipped between her lips. His lips nibbled, nudged, and caressed and she let him do any damn thing he wanted to her.
Her nipples were pinched between a gentle, but firm thumb and forefinger before hot palms encased her breasts, massaging the sensitive mounds.
“I want to kiss your breasts just like I kissed your mouth. I want to lave your nipples and nibble them. I want to give you an edge of pain before I soothe it away with my tongue.” Zaen’s voice was as rough and needy as she felt.
She moaned into Kyel’s kiss as Juliran sucked her earlobe into his hot mouth. Zaen worshiped her breasts with both hands and she arched into his touch. Her clothing was too tight. Too restrictive. She needed the feel of hot skin over hard muscle surrounding her. Possessing her. Owning her.
She grew slick between her legs, her body heating with an untold urgency. She wanted. Needed. She groaned, this time with a throaty edge. She wanted them—all of them—with an urgency she couldn’t define.
The world tilted and spun. Black edged her vision. Their hands firmed on her body as she fell into a deep, dark hole. Spinning. Spinning. So dark she was momentarily blind. She reached for them, fingers sliding through empty air.
She tried to open her eyes, tried to scream, but the oxygen was sucked right out of the air. She choked, gasping, suffocating. She smacked into hard ground. It took her a moment to gather her wits enough to open her eyes.
Through bleary tears she saw the front door to the diner from outside on the curb, crumpled on the hard concrete. Grant strode towards her and knelt in front of her. “Lucie? Are you okay? You tripped?”
She came up on her hands, her arms shaking. She peered about, looking for the brothers, but they were nowhere to be seen. “Where are...?”
White fog descended, making thinking akin to walking through thick sludge.
“Who? Lucie, are you all right? You didn’t crack your head, did you?”
She pressed shaking fingers to her forehead. She couldn’t think. Why couldn’t she think? It was all too hard. “I… think so.”
“Come. Let me help you stand.” Grant cupped his hands beneath her elbows and steadied her as she regained her balance.
She’d been doing something tremendously important. Something that felt so right it seemed wrong not to be doing it. Hadn’t she just been speaking with the brothers? And why? She gasped, trying to shake the cobwebs free in her mind, but they stuck fast.
“Are you sure you’re all right, Luce?”
She squinted into Grant’s blurry face. His features lacked definition. His mouth was indistinct, his eyes not quite the right color, but the next time she blinked, her vision was sharper and she saw him frowning down at her.
He still held her elbow, and a chill emanated from his touch. Her gut churned. Something was wrong.
She pulled out of his grasp. “What are you doing here?”
“Luke called me when you were late for your shift. He asked me where you were and I told him I had no idea. Where were you, Lucie? For a moment, I didn’t know.” His voice held a hard edge she’d never heard from him before.
She stepped back, clutching her fists to her chest. Hadn’t other hands been on her body? Large and hot, stoking desire she never knew existed. More fog filtered into her mind, so much she could barely think.
She was so tired. All she wanted to do was sleep. Her hands fell to her sides as her shoulders rounded in exhaustion.
“Well, that doesn’t matter,” Grant said. “All that matters is that you’re here
now. And they’re really busy inside. They need your help, Lucie.”
With his hand on her elbow, he steered her inside. The door opened. Music, voices, and the smell of burgers and fries assaulted her. She didn’t want to be here. All she wanted to do was sleep.
“Can we just go home? Just this once?” Surely they had enough saved by now that she could just sit out one shift.
Janie rushed over to her and tied an apron around her hips. “Thank goodness you’re here. I need you urgently. Tables five, eight, and eleven need to be wiped down and the family at fifteen wants to order.” She shoved the pen and order pad into her hands.
“It’s also your favorite night, Luce,” Grant said, gripping her shoulders from behind. “Karaoke. Remember the night we met? Once you get through the first dinner rush, you can sing. You like that, don’t you?”
She nodded. Singing was in her veins, but why did Grant need to ask if she liked it? She was born to be on stage singing. It was the only time the world fell away and she could go to her happy place. She’d recently found that happy place again. It wasn’t when she sang though. She couldn’t quite place her finger on exactly when, or how, but it was important. The meaning remained elusive, though. Why couldn’t she think?
Grant kissed her cheek. It took all her effort not to reel away. “You’re tired. Why don’t you bring some burgers home with you tonight? You know I don’t like to eat like that, but I’ll do it this time, just for you, so you don’t have to cook when you get home. See how I look after you? Now, they need your help, Luce. Off you go. I’ll see you when you get back home.”
A rock and roll tune blared out from the speakers. Grant shoved her in the small of her back towards a table filled with mess and children. She looked over her shoulder to see the door closing behind him as he strode outside.
All she wanted to do was sleep, but she couldn’t let Luke and Janie down so she forced one foot in front of the other, pasted a smile on her mouth, and jotted down the never-ending order, wondering if those brothers would come back again to help.
There was something about them.
A crash erupted to her right and the table next to her toppled over as a child overbalanced on the side. The patrons jumped from their chairs, the father snatching the child away before the child could be hurt. Food splattered over the floor and all thought fled as she worked to calm everyone down and clean the mess up.
Chapter Ten
Kyel
The world materialized around Kyel, merging into colors from indistinct shadows. In a moment, his brothers stood at his side. They were inside the diner. Music blared and children shouted. The aroma of the cooking food was pungent.
Lucie darted between tables, balancing meals loaded on a large tray to a table. She unloaded full plates then hurried to the next table to load the same tray to clear away dirty dishes from another table. Various customers hailed her for attention and she rushed from one thing to another.
How had she gotten here like this? One moment they’d been kissing her. Their connection had flared. He’d felt it, the familiar, electric thread that bound them. Lucie had been remembering them. Whatever cloud imprisoned her mind had been losing its hold, when darkness had descended in a blanket of chilled air to purge them out here.
“What happened?” Juliran asked.
“I do not know,” Kyel said, glancing about at their new surroundings. His gut lurched with fury.
Lucie, dead on her feet, had come back to this place to work herself to death. This was her reality. Her life. What sort of a world had she lived in, or was it her perspective that they saw? It didn’t matter. Her days were appalling. She’d said she had a boyfriend. Kyel gritted his teeth so hard his head started to throb. No worthy male would allow their female to work like this.
“This is intolerable. We’re taking her away from this right now, even if this is all in her mind.” He strode towards her. The time for standing back was over. He was going to show her just how precious she was until she never doubted it.
The lights above the empty stage flashed, lighting the raised platform up. Patrons cheered as Luke stepped on stage, along with other humans, picking up various instruments discarded on the platform.
“Now it’s time to do what you’ve all come here for, folks,” Luke said to the patrons. “Time to sing and dance and have a good time. Give it up for our very own, Lucie Jackson.”
Kyel peered about as people clapped and cheered, stopping dead in his tracks. Lucie offered a tired smile and rushed to deposit the tray of dirty dishes on a bench. She wiped her hands on her apron and made her way towards the stage. He had no idea what was going on.
Lucie stepped on stage. Her uniform was stained, her hair slightly out of its tight ponytail, her skin pale, her shoulders stooped but she was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. She smiled at Luke and clasped the microphone.
She turned her attention to the patrons. “Thank you for such a warm welcome. I hope everyone is having a nice dinner!”
A hoot rose from the crowd. Some people stood from their seats and walked over to the cleared area of floor in front of the platform.
Kyel looked to his brothers. “You have any idea what’s going on?”
Zaen shook his head while Juliran had a goofy smile and a faraway look in his eyes while he gazed at Lucie. “No idea at all.”
Kyel kept in the sound of frustration at his brother’s response.
“Hey, can I order a Beetle Burger and Can’t Buy Me Love fries?” A man sitting at a table close by asked.
Kyel swung his gaze on the patron. “You would eat food made from insects?”
The man sank into his seat, his mouth going slack. His gaze flittered to his silent girlfriend sitting next to him. “What? No? I just want something to eat.”
Kyel strode over to the man and towered over him, anger heating his gaze. “Contain your stomach or get it yourself.” He went to turn, but stopped himself. “And do not ask our mate to get anything for you ever again. She is busy enough as it is.”
The man squirmed in his spot. “I… uh… okay…”
Kyel let full displeasure color his face before he turned away, satisfied when the man wilted. When their mate had done whatever she was doing, he was going to take her away from here. She would not be serving anyone again, apart from them, but in an entirely mutually beneficial manner.
“You know I usually sing music from the fifties, but I thought I’d start with something a little more modern, if that’s all right with you.” She smiled when people clapped. A few whistled.
Curious. He had no idea what that meant. Something else to add to the list of things they didn’t know about their mate. The hot lash of shame boiled in the pit of his gut. He had failed her, an error he would fix until the end of his days.
She spoke momentarily with the band and offered a shy smile at the crowd as she waited for… something to happen. To his surprise, the people surrounding her played music. They held instruments! They were a far cry from the instruments of their Homeland. They sounded foreign, completely alien, yet no less musical. There was a booming beat of a bass instrument that was coordinated with stringed instruments that emitted a variation of harmonic notes. They combined into a pleasing background noise. People smiled, clapped. or tapped their feet to the beat.
Lucie stepped towards the microphone and started to sing.
He forgot to breathe.
She was heavenly. Her voice wove through him, touching a part of his soul he never knew existed. Her song was pure manna from the Heavens. Filled with light and shade, he was transfixed. Hypnotized.
Kyel managed to flick his attention to his brothers. Zaen’s eyes bulged and his mouth fell open while Juliran’s goofy grin had only intensified. Their entire attention was riveted on Lucie. Even the threat of treading in Drumas turds would not divide their attention. As was right.
Her song wove around him. Through him. Calling to him in primal waves and along with it his greatest shame. S
he no longer looked tired, or harried, or slightly lost and confused. She had stepped into her element and for the first time, Kyel had a glimpse of the true woman she had hidden from them.
She was utterly magnificent.
He’d had no idea she had a voice like this. It was a voice that would stop warring kingdoms as fast as it stopped him in his tracks.
Zaen stepped next to him.
“Did you have any idea she could sing like this?” His voice was hoarse, filled with wonder and regret. Kyel had no doubt Zaen felt as guilt-ridden as he did.
On the raised platform, Lucie had transformed. Gone was the timid female they had come to know. Gone was the exhausted servant that worked herself to the bone. In her place was a confident, beautiful star.
This was the true Lucie, this talented woman who held everyone present in the palm of her hand. She was transformed into something… other. Her talent was undeniable. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from the woman on stage. He didn’t want to.
Her voice rang true and clear. It touched his soul, but now as he stood before her true self, it was as though light poured inside him, illuminating the mating-link that bound them all. Juliran rubbed his chest, right over his heart while Zaen breathed out long and slow.
“Do you feel that, brothers?” Their bond was strong, but now there was an added dimension that wasn’t there before. Something extra that was made from light. It wove around him and through him and as it did, emotions pressed in on him. Not his emotions. Or his familiar brothers.
He looked back to their mate. Her eyes were closed as she sang about freedom and being a young child and that was all it needed. The notes swirled and built around him.
Connecting him to her.
The innate knowledge that she was theirs was an undeniable link that was forged by the strongest of soul connections. It clicked into place in high definition, as though what they had before was filled by white noise. Now it was perfectly clear.
The Erion Triad: A Negari Sci-Fi Alien Abduction Reverse Harem Romance Page 8
