by Octavia Kore
Eina wasn’t going to wait around for that, though. She kicked her little legs and screeched until Esme rolled out of the bed with a soft groan, grabbing one of the clean diapers before carrying the baby into the empty room next door. Esme’s shoulders sagged in relief as the tightness in her chest eased some and Eina settled down, filling her belly.
“All better,” Esme said as she pressed tiny kisses to her daughter’s cheeks. “Full belly, clean diaper, happy baby!”
Her lower belly twisted suddenly, and Esme gasped at the heat that pooled between her legs. Something was happening. She needed to check on Ky and Xuvri, but taking Eina back into the room didn’t seem like such a good idea. Leaving her alone in one of the empty rooms certainly wasn’t an option, but as she stepped out into the hall, her eyes landed on Trakseer’s open door.
The male looked up at them as Esme walked in, his eyes going wide as his nostrils flared, presumably catching the scent of whatever was making her feel this way.
“You should not be in here,” Trakseer hissed, jumping up from the bed.
“I think something’s happening. I’m feeling… stuff, and I think Ky might wake up––”
“So you came in here?! Do you want me to be killed, because that is what will happen if Xuvri finds you in here—if he even smells you in here.”
“I’m sorry,” Esme said, looking over her shoulder as if saying his name was going to bring her male in. “I don’t want to have Eina in there when it happens. Can I trust you to keep her? Just for a little bit?”
Trakseer growled, stomping toward her, but lifting Eina carefully from her arms. “Go!” He hissed. “Don’t come back until it is finished.”
Esme stopped in the doorway, glancing over her shoulder. “Trakseer? Ky trusts you… please don’t make me regret doing the same.”
“There will be no regrets. You have my word.”
With the way the heat was building, Esme didn’t have much time to waste. She rushed back down the hall and slipped back into their room, closing the door quietly as she tugged at the tie on her pants. The suit, which had never bothered her before, felt hot and itchy against her skin, and she nearly moaned when it rolled down her body after she gave the command.
Ky’s face was pinched as if she were in pain or uncomfortable, and beside her, Xuvri lay still, his chest rising and falling steadily. Was she really going to do this? Was she actually ready to let Xuvri take her the way she knew he wanted to?
No. Her heart pounded at the thought. Maybe she wasn’t ready to take him all the way, but her body yearned for him, for his touch, to be close to him. Esme climbed into the bed, carefully slipping between her mates as they slept. A shudder of pure delight moved through her, and she bit back a moan the moment her back pressed against the plating on Xuvri’s chest.
Goosebumps raced up her arms as the sound of the rattle filled the room and his breath fanned against her skin, blowing the loose strands of her hair over her shoulders. Her male was awake, and from the way his entire body trembled, Esme knew he was struggling to hold back just as much as she was.
Chapter 17
Esme
Esme lay there against Xuvri, her stomach in knots as she glanced over her shoulder and met his eyes. There was so much need, so much yearning in them, and Esme knew he must see the same thing in her gaze. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been warned about this part, but in no way had Esme thought Ky’s heat was going to affect her like this. Their female wasn’t even awake yet. What would happen then? Would this hunger, this need to touch, taste, and feel them only get worse?
Just breathe, she told herself when Xuvri’s hand cupped her cheek. You know who this is. You care about him, you want him. He promised not to touch you until you asked, and Xuvri won’t break his promise. God, she felt fractured, wanting nothing more than to have his hands on her, and yet feeling terrified that if he did what she wanted, it would destroy everything she’d managed to rebuild.
Esme knew there were plenty of people who went on to have wonderful, healthy sex lives after the trauma of rape, but she felt so lost. How had others handled this? How had they known when to take this step? Should she just climb on and get this over with, or was she supposed to ease into intimacy? After her time with the Kaia, the mere thought of ever letting another man—human or alien—touch her had made Esme physically ill.
What had changed that? Was it just the pheromones Ky told her about making her feel like this, or was it the fact that she’d gotten to know and care for Ky and Xuvri, that she’d formed some strange and unlikely bond with them? If it weren’t her mates lying here beside her, would she even be considering this?
“I can hear your mind buzzing,” Xuvri murmured as his thumb brushed over her cheek. “I will not ask for anything you are not ready to give. I will not take anything from you.”
Esme closed her eyes at his words, letting them settle into her mind as she fought to calm her racing heart. She wasn’t sure what she was ready to give, but she was done letting her past steal her joy. What she felt for these two was so much stronger than the hold the monster had on her.
“What if it’s too much?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper. “What if I can’t… what if we start and I can’t do it?”
“Then it stops.” Ky’s raspy voice startled Esme, and she jerked her head around to see that the female was watching them. There was an intensity to her bright aqua gaze that Esme hadn’t ever seen before, and the heat that radiated from the female made Esme’s muscles quiver. Ky slid her hand over Esme’s stomach, her fingers dancing over the bare skin there as the female’s fushori raced along her slender form. “Where’s Eina?”
“With Trakseer,” Esme answered breathlessly. Xuvri’s low growl told her he wasn’t exactly pleased about that, but he must have known it was necessary because he didn’t make any attempt to move.
Ky leaned in close, skimming her lips over Esme’s cheeks and nose before placing a feather soft kiss on her mouth. Xuvri’s rattle intensified as Ky’s tongue slid over the seam of Esme’s lips, parting them before delving inside. There was such gentleness in the way the female handled her, in the way Ky’s fingers danced like feathers over Esme’s body. From the very beginning, this alien female had known just the right thing to do or say to reassure Esme, to let her know her feelings were valid and that she was safe, and the way she touched her was no different.
Pleasure thrummed through her body, bringing a flush to her skin as heat gathered between her legs. She throbbed, her pulse keeping time with the swipe of Ky’s tongue. It was hypnotizing, pulling her from her thoughts and into a space where nothing but the pleasure she could have with her mates existed. Esme wanted to stay there forever, to pull them in and give them everything she had to offer, but the shadow of her fear crept in.
Before Esme had time to react to her own thoughts, Ky cupped her jaw, pulling back to gaze down into her face. “Nothing will be done that you do not want. This is not about the pleasure of one individual, it is about our collective pleasure.” The tips of Xuvri’s claws trailed across the outside of her hip, leaving goosebumps in their wake. “If we go too far, if we push your boundary, you will tell us so that we can stop. Do you understand?”
They would be there with her, helping her through this. Her mates would support her no matter what. “Yes,” Esme breathed, her hips rising off the bed as Xuvri’s claws skimmed over her ribs, circling just beneath her breast. Slick dampened her thighs, and Esme gasped when she felt the smooth, rounded tip of Ky’s tail slide up her leg. “Please…”
“Tell us what you want, female,” Xuvri said, his voice making his chest vibrate against her back.
“I… I want you to keep touching me like that.” Her cheeks burned as the words tumbled from her mouth. “I want Ky to… umm…”
God, she wasn’t used to this. No one had ever really cared enough to actually ask her what she wanted from sex. Telling them what she wanted felt awkward, but it also gave her a heady sense of control. Ky’s
tail moved higher, stroking the damp curls that covered Esme’s mound a moment before the female pressed forward, sending a jolt of pleasure through her body.
“Like that?” Ky asked, a wicked grin spreading across her face.
“More… I need more.” Esme circled her hips, gritting her teeth in frustration as she chased the sensation. “Please, Ky. I want more.”
Esme moaned as Ky dipped her head, running her pointed white tongue over the heated skin on her chest just as the female’s tail pressed between her folds. It moved in and out, slowly twisting and turning, pressing against a spot deep within Esme that stole the breath from her lungs. The wet slap of Ky’s tail against her thighs might have embarrassed her if she wasn’t so painfully turned on by the knowledge that her body was responding so eagerly to them.
Xuvri dipped his head, nudging Ky until she tilted her face up to accept his kiss. Esme watched them as they explored one another, her pulse pounding in her ears as Ky’s tail worked her body faster and faster. But Esme didn’t want to just experience this moment; she wanted to participate.
Her hand shook as she moved her hand over Ky’s ribs, feeling the female’s breath quicken as she slid the tips of her fingers beneath the makeshift bra, teasing the flesh beneath it as she pushed the material up. Esme palmed the swollen tissue, marveling at the way Ky’s breast fit almost perfectly into her hand.
Unable to resist the temptation, Esme lowered her head and trailed her tongue over the fushori that curled close to the peak before sucking Ky’s puckered nipple into her mouth. The low, keening noise the female made sent shivers up her spine, and Esme grinned as she flicked the tip of her tongue over the tight bud.
The strokes between her legs came faster, and Esme pulled away from Ky’s chest as her mouth fell open. She felt Xuvri’s hand trail over her calf, gripping her behind the knee, opening her up as he turned to watch Ky fuck her. Esme didn’t want this to stop, didn’t want the pleasure to end.
She wanted them, and she wanted this.
Xuvri
He was captivated by the sight of Ky’s tail moving in and out of Esme’s body. His brain seemed unable to process anything other than the way the slick glistened against the pearly white skin on the appendage, how it coated Esme’s thighs. It took every shred of his will not to lean down and lick them clean, to taste his little human mate’s desire.
Ky’s hand wrapped around his xines, and he allowed her to pull him close, relishing the feel of her mouth against his as she opened up for him, begging him to taste her as she tasted Esme moments before. Her fangs brushed over his tongue, nipping at his lower lip as she moaned softly.
A growl rumbled through him as he bucked against Esme, pulling her leg higher. Their human mate threw her head back, gasping as she clutched at his arm as her hips rose and fell, taking all that Ky offered.
“Oh, God,” Esme whimpered as she turned her face into Ky’s body.
The scent of his Ky’s heat swirled around, clouding his mind, driving him mad with need. He wanted her. Xuvri growled low in his throat, his eyes locked on his hybrid mate’s face as her lips pulled back over her teeth. She wasn’t going to roll over and present herself to be mounted, wasn’t going to just give him what he wanted. Oh, no, not this one. Ky was going to make him work for every single moment of this mating, and it was thrilling.
Xuvri made to grab her, but Ky ducked away, rolling off of the bed and withdrawing her tail from Esme as she danced away. Excitement lit up her face and her teeth scraped over her lips as his eyes narrowed on her. She was issuing a challenge, tempting the darkness within him that urged Xuvri to take, to hunt, to breed. He wanted to tell her this was a dangerous game she played, but some other part of him insisted he let her have this one win. It wanted to see what she planned to do.
Ky smiled as she loosened the ties on the top she’d created, her hands moving down to cup her breasts as it fell to the floor. The pants quickly joined them, and when she stood before them completely naked, it was Esme whose growl filled the room.
“Ky…” she huffed, her legs pressed together as she ran her hand over her chest. “Please.”
“Sweet little Esme,” their female practically purred, Ky’s hips swaying as she approached. When she reached the foot of the bed, Ky ran her hands over Esme’s legs, spreading them apart with her shoulders as she leaned down to press her lips to the inside of their mate’s thighs. “So beautiful.” With her eyes on Xuvri’s face, Ky dipped her head and ran the tip of her tongue between the folds of Esme’s sex.
As he watched, Ky slid her hand down her body, touching herself as she lapped at Esme, drawing soft groans of pleasure from their human female. Xuvri stood, ridding himself of the uniform pants he wore and tossing them across the room. His inkei had already extruded from behind his plating, and the hard length jerked eagerly as he stepped around the bed, admiring the scene.
Xuvri moved behind Ky, running the palm of his hand down the center of her back, following the gentle curve of her body. Even that slight contact with her made the heat within him roar up into a blazing inferno, stealing his breath from his lungs. Ky’s tail curled around his legs as he kneeled, nipping at her hip and the rounded swell of her ass where it met the back of her leg.
With little persuasion, Ky widened her stance, leaving her most intimate areas open to his gaze. Like Esme, Ky’s sex glistened with her arousal. It painted her inner thighs, and when he leaned in to taste her, Xuvri felt the female tremble as she moaned into Esme. His nostrils flared as he drew her in, his lungs filling with the scent of his mates and the pleasure they took from one another. What little control he was exhibiting nearly broke as their pheromones perfumed the air.
Thin tendrils of Ky’s fushori swirled along six delicate petal-like ridges between her legs at the entrance to her sex, their light pulsing softly. He needed to feel her, needed to take the edge off the madness that was demanding she be bred. Xuvri’s inkei throbbed in his hand as he gripped the base, gliding his hand up and down the shaft as he stood and positioned the head so that it slid along Ky’s wet folds.
The rounded tip of Ky’s tail moved over his, carefully avoiding the spines as it slithered up to curl close to the base, urging him closer. He was so close to losing control, so close to giving into the madness. He watched Ky nip at Esme’s belly before kissing her way over their female’s thighs until her mouth was teasing the tiny bud above their human’s slit once more.
Esme cried out, her hands fisting in the tangled sheet beneath her as her eyes locked onto his face. Xuvri pressed into Ky, the head of his inkei disappearing inside of her as the ridges on the outer part of her cunt lifted and began to vibrate against him.
“My mates,” he snarled as he buried himself within Ky, grunting when her walls bore down on him. “My females.” Goddess above, she felt better than anything he’d allowed himself to imagine. There was a need within him, a voice within his mind that urged him to take control, to show his defiant, independent female that she was his.
“Yes,” Ky gasped, circling her hips as her hands caressed Esme.
Xuvri fisted his hands in the female’s long hair, yanking her up so that her back was arched against his chest. Loose white strands spilled through his fingers and he growled as he thrust against her, turning her head so his mouth slanted over hers in a desperate kiss.
“You taste like our mate,” he whispered against her cheek, easing in and out of Ky’s cunt as they watched Esme writhe on the bed in front of them. There was something so beautiful in the way his females looked at one another, the way they reached out both mentally and physically. He could feel them in his mind, feel the pleasure they shared.
Ky fell forward with a gasp when he released his hold on her, and the moment her hands hit the bed, Esme’s hand was on the back of the female’s head, urging her face back between her thighs. Ky’s laughter drifted over him a second before she hooked her arms around Esme’s legs, pulling her closer to the end of the bed so she could renew her efforts.
“Oh, God, Ky,” Esme breathed, her body trembling. “Fuck her, Xuvri. I… I want to watch you.”
How could he ignore such a sweet request? Knowing his little human wanted to watch, hearing her say the words, it nearly pushed him over the edge. He thrust into Ky, hissing at the way she tightened around him, as if her body were struggling to keep him inside. The stem just above his inkei brushed against her ass, teasing the puckered entrance with every forward motion. Xuvri wanted this too, wanted to claim every part of them that he could.
Unlike the Venium, the Grutex weren’t capable of retracting their claws. This made what he desired to do more complicated. He brought one hand to his mouth and bit down on the long claw growing from his thumb. It would come back within a day or so, but that would give him plenty of time.
Xuvri ran his tongue over what was left, making sure to nip any jagged pieces that might cause his mate pain. When he was satisfied with the result, Xuvri coated himself in Ky’s slick and pressed his thumb against the tight bud. The sound she made when he filled her and the way her cunt fluttered around his inkei almost undid him.
Ky’s fingers gripped Esme’s thighs, and Xuvri couldn’t help but smile as both females moaned. Esme threw her head back again as she lifted her hips, grinding herself against Ky’s mouth with abandon.
“More,” Esme keened. “Harder, Xuvri.”
“Harder,” Ky agreed as her tail fell away from his to probe the entrance of Esme’s cunt. “I need you… please.”
Xuvri thrust into Ky, slamming his hips forward so that he rocked Ky’s body between Esme’s legs. Ky gasped when he removed his thumb and replaced it with his stem, pressing slowly until he was fully seated. His xines writhed around his shoulders as he threw his head back, fighting the release that threatened to consume him as he picked up his pace. Like the ridges that lined Ky’s entrance, Xuvri’s stem began to vibrate, drawing a groan from his hybrid mate as she pushed against him, impaling herself on his inkei.
