Alien Fascination (The Shadow Zone Brotherhood Book 3)

by Elise Jae

  “No one’s going to be bursting in on us.”

  I’d wondered if there was something like a lockdown procedure…. But he’s back before I can ask, and his lips, tongue, teeth and hands make me forget everything else.

  He works the lube over me, into me, his fingers exploring me with familiarity he shouldn’t have after so few days.

  I want him inside me.

  I flick the vibrator on and press it against my leg, letting my skin—my nerves—get used to the sensation.

  And as he works his hands over me, I place the vibe where it will do the most good, and wiggle back so I can bear down on it.

  I hook my feet around the legs of the stool, and hold myself there, ready to clench those muscles if my brain decides to try to rise up on him.

  “I’m going to fuck you now, Jess. Do you remember the rules?”

  I nod, dropping my head back to look over my shoulder. “I’ll tell you if anything is wrong. And you promise to fuck me like you mean it.”

  He bites my shoulder. Immediately soothing it with a kiss before licking my neck, to bite it too.

  He holds me there, one hand on the back of my neck, the other at my waist, and I use the back of the barstool to hold me in place so I can hold myself open for him. The vibrator is humming away against my clit.

  Cock sliding up my cheeks, the ridges playing across the bottom of my pussy, and then up, over my ass… I shiver and say his name on a warning breath.

  But he doesn’t press into me.

  Not with his cock.

  Not yet.

  His lips trace dotted lines over my back as he kisses me. A faint delight that’s no distraction as he presses a finger into me, then two.

  I focus on his lips. On breathing. On the buzzing little helper.

  The pressure is still intense, but I crave it.

  Crave more.

  The moan that slips from my lips is almost otherworldly.

  His lips ghost across my shoulder. “Arc is right about one thing. I’d do anything for you.”

  He presses in, one long, slow slide. There’s nowhere for me to run, and he gives me no reprieve.

  It’s glorious. When his hips hit my ass, when he’s fully sheathed inside of me, I finally inhale again.

  He waits and I know it’s not because he’d rather be kissing my neck right now. He can feel my heartbeat, hear my ragged breathing. Almost as if he feels when I’m ready, he moves.

  Air brushing across my pussy as he strokes into me. Each press a little faster than the last until he’s truly fucking me. “Keep going.”

  Hand at my ass, holding myself open….

  The pressure.

  The pleasure.

  The sound he’s making.

  Glance over my shoulder, I see he’s gritting his teeth.

  “Don’t hold back, Trench. Come in me.”

  I don’t recognize the words he uses next, but he leans into me, slipping his hands up my stomach. His palms skim over my nipples and I arch back into him.

  Only one hand stays at my breasts, the other…

  Leaned back into him, that humming vibrator was left to itself. Trench puts it back to good use.

  “Oh my God!” I come apart as the vibrator sends hard pleasure through me, and his cock pumps it deeper inside of me.

  I lose track of who I am, and in a blinding moment of clarity, I realize… I’m his.

  It’s dangerous and it’s everything I’ve wanted.

  TRENCH

  The sounds she makes are driving me crazy. A moan to match every thrust. A sharp inhale each time I pull back. My name a whisper somewhere in between.

  She’s heaven around me, squeezing each time I pull back.

  She shakes her head the hair that was once in a bun falls in strands over her shoulders. “Don’t stop.”

  I fuck her ass the way I want to fuck her pussy. Long, slow strokes, just to feel myself inside of her. To be a literal part of her.

  But I can’t stay still for long. I have to take her. Have to make her take my cock.

  Seeing myself disappearing into her, is the most amazing thing in the world.

  I pull back to watch myself enter her again and see the puddle where she’s dripped on the floor. I tip my head back, looking at the ceiling to stop thinking about how divine it would be to coat myself in the hot lube dripping from her pussy.

  It’s an odd angle, but I don’t let that stop me as I reach around and press my fingers into her pussy, stroking her as I fuck her.

  I don’t want to ask.

  I want to take.

  But won’t do anything that might hurt her.

  Ever.

  “Are you sure you want me to come in your ass again?”

  “Please, Trench. It feels so good.”

  She says my name, again and again, each time it gets a little more ragged. Each time a little more desperate, and finally, she comes apart on my fingers, her pussy clenching around my fingers as her ass clamps down on my cock.

  She squeezes my come from me, and I shake as I pour every last ounce of myself into her.

  Breathing through the lightheadedness, I realize, I’ve come more since she’s arrived than I have in my entire life.

  She leans back against me, reaching up to wrap her arms around my neck and I sweep my hands up to caress her breasts. I’m still buried inside of her, the last of my come oozing into her.

  “The things I want to do to you….”

  “Do them, Jess.” I press my fingers to her clit one more time, and swirl, “I want to take everything you’ll give me, and I’m happy to give you everything in return.”

  I coax another small, shimmering cry from her mouth, not quite an orgasm, but something in the same vein.

  Dragging my teeth along her neck, I consider my options. One way or another, things are going to get messy.

  I pull out of her and a little of my come falls to the floor that was already wet from her dripping pussy. When she sighs, a regretful sound, I scoop her into my arms and carry her up to our room, turning the shower on and gently setting her on her feet… though I don’t let her go.

  I can’t.

  Hands clutching her face, I have to clench my teeth to keep from saying too much… but it doesn’t stop me from saying everything.

  “I want you, Jess. I want to take you in every conceivable way and pour myself into you. I want to bind you to me until you can’t imagine ever leaving me.”

  She bites my shoulder and kisses the spot, nodding. “I want that too.”

  Her eyes are hooded with lust, and I thank all the Saints that I’ve already spent both of my loads. Because she’s drunk on her orgasm, and I’m selfish enough, I might just use that to my advantage.

  FIFTEEN

  JESSICA

  When we get to Kimba’s, Trench mutters something under his breath and then nods to the door. “You’d better go in. Richter needs to talk and who knows how long that’s going to take.”

  He answers the call in their language, and drops back against the headrest, eyes closed.

  It’s fine. I wouldn’t mind more one-on-one time with Kimba, and it is nice to not feel like I’m being babysat.

  But when I get inside, I know that Trench would probably have asked me to stay in the car if he’d known....

  I close the door quietly behind me and get to hear another shouting match.

  Arc is here.

  “What woman in their right mind would want to be with Trench? Of course, I thought she’d ask him to do something like that.”

  Kimba’s sigh is tired, her voice calm. “I know you haven’t spent any time around her, and now, it’s safe to say that you won’t have a chance. So, let me tell you something about human scientists.”

  I hear them moving toward the garage and I have to slip into the stairwell beside it, so they don’t find me.

  “In my limited experience scientists usually do what they do to help.”

  “Forgive me if my experience with scientists was the ex
act opposite.” His jaw clenches. “I may have overreacted.”

  He shifts, and I see the moment I enter his periphery. His whole body tenses, and he swings to me. There’s that fraction of a second when his brain catalogs whether I’m a threat or not… and then he relaxes.

  The moment when I thought he might lash out at me isn’t half as terrifying as when I see the shift in his face… when he takes a step toward me with concern on his face.

  Arc doesn’t get within ten feet of me before Trench is between us.

  Neither of the brothers says anything to each other, and I slip my hand into Trench’s, squeezing it. Hoping it’s enough of a “don’t start something” warning.

  It works.

  Trench looks past his brother. “We’ll be in there.”

  He jerks his head to the side and leads the way into the space where everyone gathers for their meetings.

  “Did he say anything I need to make him regret?”

  Shaking my head, I look back to where they were. “He mentioned to Kimba that his experience with scientists is what led him to think what he did about me.”

  Trench shifted, looking uncomfortable in his skin.

  “Drift refers to him as ‘The Maker’. I don’t know if he had a name he used with people who weren’t the subjects of his tests.

  “He… made you?”

  “In a way. All of us, the members of the brotherhood, we were orphans he ‘adopted’ to experiment on. Those of us who guard the caldera are the ones who survived.”

  I don’t like the way he says “survived.”

  “There was an orphanage for boys who lost their parents to the monsters’ final campaign. And a group of those boys were taken from said orphanage and entrusted to the care of a man who had a singular goal: make us monster killing machines.”

  “And he did.”

  “He hooked us up to all sorts of devices and pumped us full of chemicals. There were twenty-three of us to start. He lost nearly half in the first year. I don’t think he understood how far he could push a child’s body before it broke.”

  “But you didn’t break.”

  “I did, but he was able to put some of us he’d broken back together. We wound up with…. What he called gifts that ‘normal people’ don’t have.”

  “And what was your gift?”

  “My body uses air differently.”

  It makes sense now. “So, you can run faster, and further. That’s why your territory is larger than some of the others.”

  He dips his head in nod. “Richter is the strongest among us, and he heals fast enough I don’t think I’ve ever seen him stitched up. Drift’s eyes are a biological marvel…. I can ask if he’d let you examine him if you’d like.”

  “Maybe.” He said it as an afterthought—a genuine offer, but I’m still getting used to the idea of studying anyone who isn’t him.

  “He altered our DNA. It’s why Richter heals so quickly—bastard doesn’t have a scar on him—and why Drift can see forever.”

  I want to ask about his brother. But I can’t yet.

  He looks at me, and a sad smile twitches one corner of his mouth. “He runs hot. Arc, Shock and Risk, can all withstand temperatures none of us could consider. It’s part of the reason they live together. Their compound is the only one that doesn't have geothermal heating. It’s an icebox.”

  “Ric still thinks that made us into monsters. I think Laurel has helped with it, but….”

  I don’t like the way he says monsters. Don’t like the idea that comes to mind….

  But I have to be sure before I can give that suspicion life.

  He must have seen something in my eyes. “I’m never going to hurt you. Not if I can help it.”

  “I won’t either.

  “You won’t be able to help it.” He brushes my hair back and kisses my forehead. “When you leave, I may shatter into a thousand pieces.”

  Swallowing against the agreement in my throat, I snuggle closer into his chest.

  Trench tenses, just a fraction, and moves me away from him as Kimba joins us. “Sorry to interrupt. Drift needs you to deal with something.”

  “I’ll upload this, and we’ll be out of your hair in no time.”

  “You’re never a bother.” She leads Trench out of the room, asking him about the one that was caught in the cable

  Plugging the data in, I start the download and check each file as it comes through to be sure nothing got corrupted in the transfer.

  When I hear someone, it’s Drift this time.

  “Good morning, Jessica.”

  “Hey.”

  “How are your objectives progressing?”

  “Pretty well, I’m behind on some, ahead on others.”

  Drift pauses. “Trench is a distraction from your work.”

  “I know.”

  Raising a brow, he chuckles and continues across the room.

  “Then why haven’t you asked to be moved?” He doesn’t wait for an answer.

  The door closes, and I stare at it a moment too long, the reason clicking into place with the latch.

  “Because I love him.”

  TRENCH

  “Are you okay?” Kimba’s watching me as though I’m likely to snap at any moment.

  “Not even a little bit. But It’s nothing to concern yourself with.”

  “Your brother—”

  “Whatever he used to be, he’s not anymore. And I’m not in a mood to talk to you about it, or anyone else.”

  “Fine, we won’t talk about that. Let’s talk about what happens when Jess leaves.”

  “We go back to how it was. There’s nothing to discuss.”

  The look she gives me… “At some point, you need to stop lying to yourself. The woman who didn’t want you hit you hard. Rejection isn’t… easy.”

  “It didn’t affect my work. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “Don’t I?”

  I can’t lie to her outright, so I don’t say anything at all.

  “Use the time you have left to figure it out.”

  SIXTEEN

  JESSICA

  Trench dropped me off at home and continued on to deal with whatever Richter had called him about.

  It was probably for the best after that soul sucking revelation. Because there was no way in hell I could ever say it aloud again.

  I distract myself in the lab for almost an hour before giving into the cold and heading inside.

  My computer pings with a request for call almost as soon as I get my coat off. And I hurry over, making sure it’s not my mother—who hopefully still thinks I’m on Earth.

  It’s the university.

  “Good afternoon, Dr. Dale.” I say as my department chair’s face materializes on the screen. “Or whatever time it is for you.”

  He doesn’t smile. He doesn’t even say hello.

  “It’s time for you to come home, Jessica. The university isn’t willing to humor your whims anymore.”

  What he meant—most likely—was that my mother had figured out where my field work brought me and had gone apeshit on them.

  “I need more time. There’s no way I can extrapolate reliable information from such a short study duration.”

  “Maybe you can go back in a year or so, once things calm down here.”

  A year was an eternity when it came to research. And I knew there was no way I’d be coming back… no matter what they said now.

  But a lost year of research was just an excuse...to pretend there wasn’t another—better—reason I wasn’t ready to leave.

  “I can’t just leave.”

  “You have two days. Wrap up whatever you’ve got going and get back on that ship. The Dean hasn’t said what disciplinary actions might come down, but if you don’t do as you're told, I don’t know if you’ll have a job when you finally do get back.

  He disconnects, and I have to grip the table a little tighter. Have to look down to make sure my feet actually are touching the ground.

  That pr
overbial rug is gone.

  TRENCH

  When I get back, I don’t see her at first.

  Jessica is sitting on the floor in front of the window, staring out into the white tundra… but I don’t think she really sees anything.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She flinches as she turns to look up at me, and then she swallows, blinking, too fast. “The university has decided to cut short my stay.”

  The chill that washes over me is ten times worse than what I’ve just come in from. “They can do that?”

  “Apparently.”

  Dropping my things, I cross the space to her and sit, pulling her into my lap.

  Hell. I don’t want her to go.

  “I didn’t think I’d lose you this soon.”

  She wrestles free of her tangled sweater sleeves and turns. She kisses me, holding my face in both hands, and I have to pull back, or risk one of us suffocating.

  “There is a way.” Her gaze drops from my eyes, to my lips.

  A different chill rushes through me, but I stop myself from saying no outright.

  Getting what I want—that way—isn’t actually what I want.

  “What I offered isn’t an out.” I’m not sure I could handle bonding with her and feeling her relief… and nothing more. “I need to know you’re doing this for us. Not for your research, not for your sister, not for anything else. When I said you were choosing me, I meant it.”

  SEVENTEEN

  JESSICA

  We stay there, silent, for hours. Just holding each other, and I keep replaying what I said to the closed door at Kimba’s home.

  I love him.

  It’s not the research I don’t want to leave behind. It’s him.

  Trench is so much a part of my life, at this point… I can’t imagine him not being there. I don’t know how it happened. I certainly don’t know how it happened so fast.

  But it’s true.

  The sun is low, and the rays bouncing off the icy surface have created a fog below us. Bright and blinding.

  And maybe that’s what this has always been. Finding my way out of a fog so bright I thought I could see clearly.

  I can’t escape it alone. And there’s only one person in the universe I trust to help me get through.