She listened as Cassic walked the area and then went to the tree line and back.
“If it rains so hard that we can’t get to the others, it won’t matter if we are here or next door to them. There’s also room to plant some vegetables here.”
“I wish I had seeds for potatoes, tomatoes, and greens.”
“Those are vegetables from your planet?”
“They are. The potatoes are kind of tubular vegetables. You can peel it or eat the skin. The vitamins are in the skin. The tomatoes you don’t peel, just wash and eat or cut and cook. We put them on sandwiches too. I could go for a steak sandwich or a corn beef or no more talk about sandwiches; I’m hungry. The greens are different. They are a large leafy vegetable, and there are several kinds that can be cooked. I never thought I would miss the food, but I do.”
“We can get most Hasian food from other planets, but not nolfalory. You can only get that on Hasian. It’s a type of vegetable that is hard to grow, but when you eat it, it is cold and crisp. It’s refreshing, like jumping into a natural spring. It also helps to keep our organs working well. It’s the one food that we tell all our patients to eat. Not only does it taste good, but it also prolongs life.”
“If you got seeds, could you grow it here?”
“The conditions aren’t right.”
“What about a greenhouse?”
“A what?”
“You know a place you set up, especially for growing plants, and you keep the temperature and everything else tightly controlled.”
“It’s worth a try. I would have never thought of something like that.”
She lifted half her lip in a smile. This felt good, being able to give helpful thoughts that didn’t have to be high and mighty. No, a greenhouse wouldn’t solve a court case, but it might help to grow plants they needed for their bodies.
“I think we could build a house here?”
She flipped over to her stomach, then raised her head to look at him. “You think so?”
“Yeah, I’m betting this would be a great spot for Malic to play with his computers.” They both laughed.
She looked around again, seeing a house and plants and animals. It would be like earth before technology, or maybe just like the earth with technology on a farm. The city girl in her wanted a grocery store for meat, but the adventurer she didn’t know existed before this was ready to take it all on.
“We should get Malic’s opinion. If he agrees, then maybe we can get it up before the rainy season.”
Payton cocked her head, then nodded. It sounded like a plan to her. She stood, and Cassic took her hand. How amazing. When was the last time someone held her hand? Had her ex ever held her hand? She didn’t think so.
“Do I still scare you?” Good going, Payton. Everything was good, and you had to ruin it.
He gave her hand a brief squeeze before leading her back to the village.
“You terrify me, but not because you’re female. You can only fear half the inhabitants in the universe for so long until you need to get over it. The Casillians coming helped. Dealing with Leela as their leader and watching one so young take on the duties of an adult has helped how I think about females.”
“Then why do I scare you?”
“I think this is the kind of stuff you’re supposed to keep to yourself. If I say the wrong thing, try to forget it. Please.”
She glanced over at him. The look on his face made her think he might be scared, or he might need to go to the bathroom. Either way, she now needed to know what was going on behind those eyes.
“I’ll do my best. Tell me.”
“You smell good, and you have this little sigh that comes out when everything is going right. Then you smile, and your eyes light up. Let’s not forget you're beautiful. Until I met you, I thought beauty could only be found in long, lean muscles and an ass that could crack a rock. Then I saw you. You’re soft and round with beautiful pillows up top.” He pointed to her breasts. “Your eyes remind me of the sunset, fierce and passionate. It is no wonder you scare me. I am in awe of you.”
Her stomach dropped. Should she do the secret dance of joy, or run for the hills? When everyone was looking at you, and they were expecting you to mess up, life was easier to live. To know that Cassic saw someone he thought was worthwhile was throwing off her equilibrium. Not because he wanted her to be someone special. No, that would have been too easy. She longed to be the female he saw when he looked at her. The old Payton was buried. True, but the past haunted her more than once. Who was to say that the Payton she now hated didn’t have a little life left in her?
“I.” What could she say?
“I know what I see. I won’t go back on how I feel. Why don’t we find Malic and see if we can entice him to take a break?”
Her stomach growled, lending its support to the plan. They walked back to the encampment in silence. Cassic’s arm would rub against hers, making her feel like she was on an old fashion date. Then she would look at him through her lashes to find him looking back.
The strange part was that it was okay. Before she came here, it never occurred to her that she lived with a group of people that hated aliens. It was so casual, at times she wondered if they understood their own prejudices. If asked, she would have said that’s just how the world was. Now she knew better. Why did it take being stolen from her planet, experimented on, and used as a weapon for her to open her eyes to the world around her? Was it possible to be as out of touch as she was?
The laughter that greeted them caused her lips to curl. She loved her translator. It was one of the best things that ever happened to her. When they came around the corner, Leela was teasing one of the young boys who was chasing her. The adults were laughing as they watched them play together. Watching the scene made her happy.
Leela spent hours pouring over plans with them on the ship. To see her happy and carefree for a moment made her heart want to play.
“Interference,” Payton yelled as another child aimed for Leela’s legs. She dropped her cane and caught the child-like she was a little football. Then she stood in the end zone doing her football dance while the child giggled in her arms.
Malic turned and watched her. The jewels around his eyes were lighting up. The light jumped to his wrist until he looked like a kaleidoscope of color. Cassic moved to stand by him. His jewels were now dancing with color too. Payton’s mouth dropped open as she watched them.
It was official. All her girl parts dropped and were now kneeling in front of them in some pagan worship to entice the hottest two males alive to want her. She wasn’t sure what to do with them once she got them, but she’d figure it out.
“Ride them,” her pussy called out. “Ride them like they were stallions having sex for the first time.”
“Forget the stallions,” another part of herself called out. “They are bucking bulls. Make sure they buck until you come all over yourself several times.”
“I’m willing to be black and blue for part of that action,” a different part said.
“What if they are like the dickless wonder?” She had to ask all her hungry parts.
“Baby girl, you never knew where to train those eyes. Take a good look at the juncture off those legs. That ain’t padding. Padding don’t get hard like that.”
“Shit, hell, and damnation,” she cursed to herself. Her pussy was right. That wasn’t padding, and now she was hot and slick. Did he need a place to store that bat she’d help? Hell, she’d help them both.
Chapter Thirteen
It was a long day. Payton pitched in by playing field hand. She moved whatever she could carry or drag to wherever it needed to go. Now her muscles were sore, and once again, she was afraid to slide into the bed. This time because she knew what she wanted. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she fidgeted until they came from the soni.
“Payton,” Cassic said her name like it was a blessing.
She loved how he said her name as if he were waiting to see her just to say it. Her hand made so
me small wave motion that had her groaning.
“Is something wrong?” Malic asked her.
“Yeah, not really. I just wondered, I mean, why, oh, umm…” She was going to get the most prolific award.
“This is the talk we didn’t have last night.” He nodded, if someone invited him to their bed without an explanation, he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He pulled on Cassic until they were both seated in chairs looking at Payton.
“I’m not going to lie.” She jumped to her feet, pacing the room. “I’m tempted to lie. My old life was filled with them; I refuse to be that person again.” Easier said than done, along with a whole field of ass-backward in it.
“For reasons I don’t understand and aren’t looking at too hard, I find myself attracted to both of you.” A deep sigh came from her. Her shoulders dropped. They might stare or even laugh, but it was off her plate.
“The attraction is mutual,” Malic told her.
She nodded. It wasn’t just her, and that was enough for right now. She dragged herself back to the bed and fell into a slouch.
“Where do we go from here?” What came next? It had been a while since the last time she did anything with her husband. After him, there was no one. There was one thing that always worked. Duh, a blow job. Not stopping to think, she sank onto her knees in front of them.
They both moved back, but she was determined. This is what you did if you wanted a male to like you. She knew the routine. It was her life with her husband. Her fingers went to work until she had their pants undone. ‘What are you doing?’ The words rattled around her head as her hands stopped. She really was a whore. Her head bowed as she waited for Malic and Cassic to pass judgment on her.
Malic stood before pulling Cassic to his feet. They crossed the room to the bed. Once Cassic was lying down, he turned to face Payton, who was still on her knees.
“You can leave.” He told her then turned his back to her.
“Malic.” She lifted her head but controlled her tears.
“No. Do you see that male shivering on the bed? He’s dying.”
She almost fell over she turned so fast.
“That’s right, Cassic is dying. He keeps giving himself shots to keep his strength up. How can I say no? We won’t make it much past the rainy season. When he goes, I won’t be far behind him. Neither of us needs your pity, and we’re not looking for it. If you don’t want to touch us for whatever reason, just say so. I have never forced myself on a male or a female and won’t be starting now.”
“I don’t understand.” She stood, moving a few steps closer to them before stopping.
“You know that there are no females on my planet. The reason no longer matters. It simply is. There is no stigma between two males being together or three males. There are a few males born every generation that must bond with both a male and a female partner. One of those males is Cassic. If he doesn’t find both his mates, he becomes unstable both physically as well as the bond he has. When he dies, that means that I will follow closely behind him.”
“Why aren’t you searching for your other mate?” Her face was red. The more she thought over his words, the angrier she got.
“Where should we look? The first female mate ever found was on your planet. Sassy assured us that our mate wasn’t there. We could have gotten off on any of the stops we made to get here, but we chose not to. Why? Why would we stay and not go hunting the elusive female? You, Payton. You’re here, you may not be our mate, but that doesn’t stop you from calling to us. I thought we thought there was something there. You know where the door is.”
Damn male! She wanted to pull her hair out while kicking and screaming. It’s not fair, but when had she expected her life to be fair? She walked to the door. He had a right to kick her out.
“I met my husband when I was a teenager. It was my last year of high school. My friends were so jealous. He came from this well-to-do family, and he was hot. Just looking at him made me melt.” A small smile tilted her lips as she leaned onto the door.
“What happened next?” Cassic asked.
She turned around, hoping it was the right move. “He told me I was beautiful and treated me like gold. My friends were all in love with him. We dated all through college, and then he got into law school. I planned to go on to school to become a teacher, but he wanted to get married. So, I gave it up to marry him. I thought life was fine. He went on to become a highly sought-after criminal lawyer. Life was perfect.
“Then I woke up in the hospital. The kind nurse said I lost the baby.” Her hand went to her stomach. “The baby I didn’t know I was carrying. My husband explained that I lost my temper, struck out at him. Then I lost my balance and fell down the stairs.” Her breath was ragged, the pain she felt too real to try to hide.
“I hated myself, from that minute on, I was willing to do anything, become anything to make it up to my husband. It took years before I realized that he shoved me down those stairs. By then, I was nothing. I felt lower than the scum on the bottom of my shoes. I’ll leave now.” She walked back to the door before stopping. “Every negative thing I ever felt about myself was there. It had nothing to do with either of you.”
“Perfect,” Cassic’s voice said, coming close to her. “I’ve been waiting for the next shoe to drop. Wondering what they did to you.”
“What?” She turned to face him; her voice as shaky as the hand trying to open the door.
“The Fulyer. I’ve been waiting to see what else they did to you. It seems they went for humiliation combined with some sort of defense mechanism.” Both their eyes went back to her shaking hand that curled in a fist.
“I want to strike out and hurt you for hurting me. I can’t. I won’t. I refuse to be that woman any longer. There is no way I would hurt either of you.”
“For tonight, I think that’s enough. Why don’t we all get some sleep?”
“Sleep sounds good.” She placed her hand on the door the shaking was subsiding.
“Where are you going, Payton?” Cassic’s large, warm hand was on her shoulder.
“I thought I’d bunk with the other females.”
“Or you could sleep in the bed we made for you.”
That invitation hovered in the air. She thought about it in the wake of all she had learned about herself and them. The realization that soon they wouldn’t be here tore her to shreds. It was the fact that it didn’t matter because there wasn’t a thing she’d do differently about tonight that made up her mind. Come hell or high water, she was going to spend every minute she could with them.
“There’s no place I’d rather be.” She stripped to her bra and panties before making her way across the room and onto the bed. Cassic and Malic joined her.
Her back was against the wall with her front wrapped around Cassic. She could hear the beat of his heart under her ear. Malic wrapped around Cassic from behind. How was she going to fall asleep? The beat of his heart calmed her. She was asleep before she could fret about it.
*~*~*~*
Payton woke up, wondering why her pillow was so hard and warm. She couldn’t ignore how warm it was. She snuggled into it while a breath of air come from her mouth against it. A chuckle came, and her pillow moved. A pair of beautiful blue eyes met hers.
“Hi,” her voice was soft. It was hard to be on guard with the way Cassic was holding her.
“Hi.” His finger traced along her chin. “Good morning.”
She flashed him a smile. “It is a good morning.”
“We should have a morning ritual.”
“We should?”
“Definitely.” He moved closer to her until his lips were on her.
“Aww,” she whispered. “Ritual.” She finished the move, placing her lips against his. Her tongue slid over his lips while her fingers caressed him.
His tongue licked against hers, encouraging her mouth to open. When it did, he stroked at her gently. It was such a smooth move that she groaned her defenses were coming down as her body settled on him.
He lapped at her mouth as a slow hum left him, allowing her to feel his pleasure. He rolled her enough to be on her back. His weight was over her, caught on his arms. Her breathing came fast. Cassic stopped. Her mind went wild; it had been long too long since she felt a male hovering over her. The need to scream tugged at the back of her throat. It was his hand on her cheek, his eyes tangling with hers that eased her fears. This wasn’t her ex trying to prove that she was nothing by holding her down.
She reached out, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He allowed a little more of his weight to settle on her. At first, it was strange, and then it was right. She was finding peace in the comfort of his power. It was a strength that called to her. It was building her up, making her whole without taking anything away from her. She never knew anything this great could be felt in the arms of another.
He eased back from her. She looked at him with wide eyes.
“Morning,” he whispered as he moved behind her, allowing her room to watch Malic.
She was watching Malic to see what he wanted to do. “I like having a ritual in the morning.” It came out husky, but she wanted to taste him.
He reached out, placing his hands on her arms before drawing her close to him.
“Morning rituals are important between triads.”
“Are we a triad?” Her breath left her body in a whoosh. Was she part of them? Were they part of her?
“We are if you want to be.”
“I want.” She turned her head to look at Cassic.
“I want to be part of you two.”
She nodded and turned back to Malic. “Yes, and again yes.”
He leaned close and plastered his lips against hers. Payton lost herself in his kiss. If this were the end of the world, it would all be good for her.
Chapter Fourteen
“What’s wrong?” Payton was standing on a hill that allowed her to look over the site they picked to build their community. Leela was by her side.
Payton's Surprise (The Perfect Match Book 2) Page 8
