by Lili Zander
Is that spaghetti? “Hang on, how did you do that? That didn’t happen for me.”
His gaze sharpens. “It didn’t work for you? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“It did work. I pushed buttons at random on the panel on the right, and it produced food. I ate chicken wings last night for dinner, and a burger for breakfast.”
Both Cax and Hurux look abashed. “I’m sorry,” Cax says. “I should have explained how it works. The buttons just produce the default options. It’s calibrated to the most common food eaten in your geographic area.”
“So there’s more?”
“Of course. It doesn’t do very well with raw fruits and vegetables; the texture is never quite right. But apart from that, the syn can replicate most Earth food. What would you like to eat?”
“Cheddar,” I reply promptly. “Or any kind of cheese, really.”
He crooks a finger at me, and even though he doesn’t intend for it to be a sexual gesture, a spiral of heat coils in my belly. Bryce, you are in so much trouble right now. “Let’s give it a go.”
They’re both watching me. Surveying me as if I’m a tasty treat, waiting to be devoured. Even though they’re both fully dressed, sex appeal practically exudes from their pores. They’re looking at me the way the other Draekons look at their mates, hungry and smoldering, and I’m not sure I have the power to resist.
It’s been a long time since I felt a man’s touch on my body. Before crashing to the prison planet. Before Liam’s death.
With shaking knees, I make my way over to Cax. He gives me an inscrutable smile, and shows me how to work the food-syn. Within minutes, I have a plate of assorted cheese in my hands.
“What do you think? Did it get the taste right?”
Who’s thinking of the cheese right now? Not me.
I take an experimental nibble and let the flavor wash over me. The taste is perfect. The texture, less so, but only if I focus on it. If I hadn’t known it was syn-made, I might not have even noticed. “This is impressive.”
Hurux speaks up from the couch. “Adrashian technology,” he says. “Top of the line. And Ashara is even more technologically advanced than the Federation, isn’t it?”
Cax nods. “Not by much. We’re ten years ahead of the Adrashian Federation, a generation ahead of the High Empire. That’s how we earn a living.”
“Through trade? But you’re hidden, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but we also recruit talent from around the galaxy. We have to. If we look inward, in less than ten generations, all our tech will be lost, and we will become hunter-gatherers once again. As much as we prize our secrecy, we have to be practical.”
Fascinating. “So you trade tech and science for supplies?”
“Pretty much. We have intermediaries set up so it can’t be traced back to us.” His fingers brush my cheek. “I’m sorry about the syn. I have been somewhat remiss in my duties as a host. How can I make it up to you?”
“I’m not your guest. I’m your prisoner.”
“Are you?” The corners of his lips tilt up. “Hurux has been outside exploring. My skimmer is unlocked. If you want to leave…” His voice trails off, and he gives me a half smile. “Do you want to leave, Bryce?”
“Screw you.” I want to sound defiant, but that’s not how the words come out. I sound breathless. Needy.
“Should I take you literally?” He cocks his head to the side, and his hair flows over his shoulder. So sexy. That dimple flickers into view. “Is that what you want? To screw me?”
Oops. Walked into that one. A deep chuckle comes from the direction of Hurux’s couch. My head half turns towards the velvety noise, but I can’t take my eyes off Cax. The tall Draekon shifts forward, his dark eyes fixed on mine.
The air is suddenly thick. My stomach flips and plummets, performing a swan dive as I drown in his gaze. “Well, Bryce?” he murmurs. “Are you going to answer my question?”
Umm, Bryce? What the hell?
Their flirtiness is understandable. They’re my mates. Right now, their dragons are probably telling them to get on with it. Sex me up and complete the mating bond. That’s biology.
But that doesn’t give me a free pass to jump them back. No matter how hot they are. There are things in life more important than a killer body and a sexy smile. Things like not being a jerk.
I force myself to swallow. “You know what I want?” I step forward, between Cax’s long legs. His thighs are hard and powerful under the pants’ fabric. He lifts his hands halfway to my hips. They hover there, in the air, so close my skin prickles as if he has touched me.
It takes all the willpower I possess not to trace a finger down his chest. Does his shirt have to be skin tight? Does it have to hug every muscle?
“Tell me.” A muscle jerks in his cheek but his gaze doesn’t leave mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hurux watch me, focused and intent.
“I. Want.” At the last minute, I straighten and turn back to the syn. “Beer.”
Cax laughs softly. “Fair enough,” he says, moving his hands away with a rueful twist of his lips. “I guess I deserve that.”
Got to give him credit; he doesn’t pout. I grin to myself and fiddle with the syn controls, pretending to concentrate on what I’m doing. Both men are still looking at me. Checking me out. I can feel the weight of their gazes as if it were a physical touch.
Whoa. The syn has a lot of beer options, and it’s not all mass-market stuff. I see IPAs. Stouts. Porters. Gotta give props to the Zorahn research team; this is amazing.
I order myself three bottles of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The syn magics it in seconds, complete down to the glass bottle and the familiar green label. Alien technology rocks.
“You guys are gonna love this.” I grab the beer and whirl around. “Forget sarinth liquor. No Earth research is complete without beer.”
Hurux’s fingers brush against mine when he takes the beer. More tingles. More sparks. Cax leans back, lazy and relaxed, but all his attention in on me.
No one has looked at me this way on the prison planet. The attention Cax and Hurux are paying me is more than flattering. It’s going to my head. It’s nice.
I can lie until I’m blue in the face. I can rail that they’re jerks. But there’s no denying the attraction. Sexual tension is thick in the air. My throat is dry. My nipples, hard. The very racy dream from last night runs through my mind on endless repeat. Hurux pulling me down on his lap. Cax running his big hands up my naked thigh.
Bad Bryce. Cut it out.
“There was a bar near my place,” I tell the two guys, drinking nearly half my beer in one gulp. “Sierra Nevada used to be on tap. Half price during happy hour during the summer. It was great. I used to go every Thursday with my friends.”
Cax gives his beer a dubious sniff. Hurux is staring longingly at his glass of sarinth liquor. I start to laugh at their expressions. “Come on,” I urge them. “Drink it. It won’t kill you.”
“Are you sure?” Cax doesn’t sound convinced.
I snicker. “My big brave Draekon warriors. Yes, everyone in the Dsar Cliffs has tried my beer, and they’re all still alive. Now, if you’re afraid...”
Hurux’s lips twitch. “Appealing to our egos. Rather obvious, don’t you think?”
I watch both of them take experimental sips of their beer, and smile smugly. “It worked, didn’t it?”
Cax and Hurux exchange glances, then, on some unspoken signal, they both relax. My spirits rise. If we avoid the minefields all around us, maybe we can have a good time.
I just have to keep myself from doing something stupid. Like grabbing them and ripping their clothes off.
13
Bryce
Two and a half bottles of beer later, some clothes ripping sounds great. Such a good idea. Just what the doctor ordered.
Hurux lounges on the couch beside me, totally at ease. His left leg is inches from mine. He’s pretty good at not man-spreading, giving me plenty of room on the couch, but
I keep hoping he’ll loosen up more and let his leg touch mine. Not that I’m obsessed with wanting to touch him or anything.
I take another sip of my beer, and watch the muscles in Cax’s throat work as he drinks. If I was back on Earth and saw these guys in a bar, I’d call them hot. Too hot to hit on. But here, in the humid gloom behind a waterfall, the air seems alive with possibility. I’m not on Earth anymore. Anything can happen.
Cax raises an eyebrow at me. “More cheese?”
I’m going to get spoiled by all the attention. “Yes, please.” I wriggle on the couch cushion, and ever so subtly lean back into Hurux’s chest. He obligingly wraps his arm around my shoulder, trapping me against him.
See? Not my fault. I can’t escape from the big, bad Draekon.
I’m seeing the world through beer-tinted glasses. “This is nice,” I sigh. Hurux’s finger is tracing circles on my bare arm, sending a shiver of delight through me. “It’s like we’re… friends.”
“Do friends drink together on Earth?” Hurux’s voice is a low, sexy, rumble. “Before strapping sticks to their feet and flying down icy hills?”
I giggle. “Skiing first, then drinking.”
I go to take another swig, and a big hand stops me. Hurux wraps his fingers over mine and redirects the bottle to his lips. He takes a swig, locking eyes with me.
My insides do another flip.
“Hey,” I protest rather half-heartedly, trying to take the bottle back. “That’s my beer.”
“Mine’s empty.” He tightens his grip, and I decide the big strong Draekon can keep it if he wants. It’s either that or get into a wrestling match with him. And that’d be great. No! That would not be great. That’d be bad.
“Bryce?” Cax says, jerking me away from my daydream. He and Hurux look amused. “Cheese?”
Oh right. Cheese.
Hurux moves my bottle to his mouth again, raising a brow in challenge as he drinks deeply. When he’s done, he licks his lips. My inner muscles clench.
“Do friends share like this?” he asks.
Do friends share like what? My cheeks heat. Hurux knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s not talking about the beer. Not anymore.
Both of them. Taking me. At the same time.
I’m not drunk. A voice in the back of my mind tells me this is a bad idea. But the beer has lowered my inhibitions. Given me the courage to flirt back. “Only very close friends,” I whisper. There’s a small drop still clinging to Hurux’s lip. My fingers spasm, and suddenly it’s too much. I raise my free hand and wipe away the liquid.
“Are we close, Bryce?” His lips move against my fingers.
Need blooms in my chest. “Yes.” I smile up at him, warmth filling me. “We’re very close.”
The bottle drops to the floor. Hurux moves and suddenly I’m sitting on his lap, my nipples brushing his hard chest. It feels so good, I sigh with pleasure and shift closer. My fingers slip over his mouth. He catches my wrist and holds my gaze as his tongue licks the pads of my fingers, then sucks the tips into his mouth.
Oh wow. That’s really hot.
My eyes widen. His tongue strokes and dances, and every nerve in my body crackles, lightning arcing straight between my legs. I stop breathing. I can feel the weight of Hurux’s erection against my core, and it makes me dizzy with need.
A huge weight sinks into the couch next to me. Cax.
Hurux exchanges a look with the other man, and then slides me back on the couch. He pulls my hand back, but doesn’t release my wrist, letting his tongue still play over my fingertips. His wicked smile makes flames dance in my lower belly. The temperature jumps a hundred degrees. “It’s hot in here,” I gasp.
“It is,” Cax agrees. He pulls me against him, his firm chest pressing into my back. I lean into him, and he winds a hard muscled arm around my middle, drawing me back until I’m practically in his lap. “What should we do about it?” There’s amusement in his voice, but underneath, there’s the same need that’s driving me. Driving Hurux. We’ve all been overtaken by the same temporary insanity.
My head is all happy-floaty, and it’s not just the beer. “We can always take off our clothes.”
Both men go still. Cax recovers first. “Is that what you want?”
Drinking around super sexy Draekons—my mates—that I’m hugely attracted to but absolutely must not sleep with. Who thought this was a good idea?
I wriggle in my seat until I remember I’m sitting in Cax’s lap and basically grinding my butt into his massive erection. Oops.
Cax’s question hangs in the air. What do I want?
Hurux’s finger trails up my arm. He cups my face in his palm, and he kisses my lips, soft and warm.
My first impression of Hurux was that he was hard. Inflexible. This gentle touch puts rest to that myth. Hurux’s tongue explores me, slowly, leisurely. By the time he’s done, I’m a panting ball of need. I’m burning with heat, feverish with desire.
Common sense has fled the room for the night.
“We could just remove our shirts. That would be enough to—” I break off as both Draekons lean away from me and whip off their shirts, revealing firm muscles leading down to an enticing hollow right above their… “Oh wow,” I breathe.
I can’t stop myself from reaching out and touching their rock-hard bodies. Their skin is smooth. Smooth and bronze as if carved by a master sculptor, and yet warm and alive and imperceptibly trembling under my fingertips. I run my hands over their tight muscles, tracing the dark tattoos on their skin. I move my hand lower, acting purely on instinct, tracing that enticing hollow between their groin and hip bones with my fingertips.
Both of them make strangled groans. Oops.
“Sorry.” My cheeks flush, and I snatch my hands away and tuck them into my lap. “Couldn’t help it. Won’t happen again.”
“What a pity,” Cax murmurs.
Hurux’s green eyes rest on me. “Aren’t you going to take off your shirt?” He gives me a half-smile. “You were hot, you said.”
Right. I grab the edge of my top and shimmy out of it. It’s a bit tight, so I get stuck, and have to do a wriggle-tug dance to get it over my head. So much for sexy seduction. When I finally peel it off and push my hair out of my face, my face is hot with embarrassment.
Except the way they’re staring at me… It’s pure desire.
“Come here.” Cax’s voice is raspy with need. He catches my wrist, just like Hurux did, and tugs me closer, and then he bends his head and captures my mouth in his.
He tastes like hops and sunshine. I lean into him and return the kiss, enthralled by the way he tastes, by the way he feels. His hand cups the back of my neck, pulling me closer, deepening the kiss. Our tongues dance together. He explores me and I explore him back, and when we pull apart, my chest heaves and my head spins.
“Bryce,” he groans. His erection twitches against my leg. I try to scramble from his lap but he doesn’t let me. He pulls me in tight so I end up sprawled all over him. Strong hands pick me up and turn me, my back to Cax’s chest. Hurux’s chiseled face fills my vision.
“Hello again.”
I stare into his green eyes. “Hey.”
His kiss starts slow, the barest brush of lips against mine—how can a man’s lips be so soft?—and ends with both his hands cupping my cheeks as he plunders my mouth. His tongue drives deep, and I squirm with need, pleasure shoots straight into my core.
“Wow,” I gasp when he breaks the kiss. “That was… wow.”
Hurux chuckles softly. He brushes my hair from my face, a tender gesture that’s so unexpected that it makes my heart ache.
I’ve kissed both of them. I’m sitting here in my bra. The guys are shirtless. This is probably a bad idea.
Or not.
I reach for Cax again, greedy for more, hot need raging in my blood. This time my fingers thread through his thick, silky hair. I want to touch him all over, and feel him on every inch of me. I want him to touch me and ease the throbbing ache between m
y legs, deep and insistent and driving me nuts. I want Cax and Hurux, naked, on the couch and on the floor and everywhere. Anywhere. I want more.
As I kiss Cax, I reach for Hurux, trailing my fingers over his chest. I squirm with need, and my leg kicks out…
And my foot hits the platter of cheese. It falls to the floor with a loud crash.
Just like that, the mood shatters. Both men pull away from me. Hurux in particular looks horrified. “I’m sorry,” he says, not looking in my direction. “This isn’t right. You’re going back to Earth. I shouldn’t have touched you.”
I shouldn’t have touched you. Those words are like a cold bucket of water in my face. I look down. My shirt’s off. My boobs are on display. I’m making out with not just one but two guys. Not just guys, Draekons. My mates, in fact.
“Going back to Earth?” I’m aware I sound shrill. I don’t care. Seriously. Are these guys still thinking of sending us home against our will? “Fuck you, Hurux. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.” I whirl to Cax. “And you too. Both of you know what the right thing to do is, but you’re too busy burying your heads in the sand to see it.”
I’m so angry that I’m shaking. Screw them. I have fingers. I can rub one out anytime I want. I don’t need Cax and Hurux.
14
Hurux
I toss and turn all night. Sleep eludes me. Over and over, my brain goes around the fundamental question of my identity.
Who am I? Am I Zorahn, or am I Draekon? Am I a loyal soldier, blindly obedient to his superiors, or do I have a moral code of my own? When it comes down to it, what do I believe in?
When morning comes, I have a way forward. I stop Cax before he leaves for the city. “I want to talk to Raiht’vi.”
I’m bracing for a protest, but he just nods. “I’ve been wondering when you were going to ask.”
I can’t enter the city with Cax; I’ll draw too much attention. Cax sends me off on my own, with instructions to meet someone. “Korum’s Adrashian,” he says. “He’ll fit you with an access bracelet and take you to Raiht’vi’s quarters.”
