Liorax:

I escort Olivia back to Dariux’s home, my thoughts in turmoil.

When Zunix had kissed her, my stomach had clenched into a knot. I’d wanted to join in, to wind my own hands through her long tresses of red hair, and feel her soft lips on mine.

The silence stretches between us, lengthening and growing until she clears her throat.  “Liorax,” she says, sounding hesitant and unlike herself. “Herrix told me about what happened with your bondmate. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want your pity.”

She gives me a surprised look. “You think I pity you?” Her lips curl into a smile. “Liorax, look at you. You’re totally hot. You’re a super-nice guy. I don’t know what your bondmate’s deal was, but whatever it is, it was her issue, not yours.”

“You think I’m hot?”

Her cheeks fill with color. “I’m not the only one,” she murmurs.

I’d promised Zunix I would fight for Olivia. Today, I’d spent most of the day bitterly reproaching myself for getting so caught up in the past that I’d failed to warn her about Herrix.

Kat’vi left me for my father, and I’ve let the wound fester for sixty-six long years. Maybe it’s time to turn the page on the past and focus on the future. One with Olivia as our mate.

“It’s our turn to court you tomorrow. Zunix and I should help the others with construction in the morning for a few hours, but is there something you’d like to do afterward?”

“Maybe I could practice a bit more with the bow?”

I chuckle. “Well, that depends. Are you going to pretend you can’t shoot straight?”

Her blush deepens. “I’m not very good,” she says, pitching her voice so it’s low and breathy. My cock stirs at the thought of her moaning my name in that same voice, needy and desperate for the pleasure that I can give her.

Focus, Liorax.

“Aren’t you?” I smile at her. “Olivia, I was three when I held a bow in my hand for the first time. I can tell skill when I see it. You can pretend you don’t know what you’re doing, but it won’t work on me.”

“No.” Her voice is rueful. “It didn’t yesterday either, did it?”

“Only for an instant.”

She smiles back at me, a genuine smile this time, one without artifice. “I’d love it if you taught me how to shoot tomorrow. And I promise I’ll behave. If I don’t,” she adds with a wink, “you can punish me.”

She says ‘punish’ but her tone suggests something entirely different, and I know that once again, she’ll be in my dreams all night long.

* * *

Olivia:

The next morning, I accompany the other women to the building site. Most of the camp is there, hard at work. The only people who are missing are my two other suitors. Herrix and Belfox. If I had to guess, I’d say that they’re in a snit because this project is Liorax and Zunix’s baby.

Though the Draekons protest, we pitch in. Even Felicity, who, in all fairness, hasn’t said anything catty in the last twenty-four hours. A new record.

As I work, I ogle Liorax and Zunix out of the corner of my eye. The men are hard at work building a section of the outer wall. Their muscles flex as they lift planks of wood, and a thin sheen of sweat soon coats their naked chests. The guys I’ve been with in the past have been quintessential metrosexual types, the kind that wear flannel as an ironic fashion statement and call a handyman for anything more complicated than hanging a picture on the wall.

Dariux is expected back today. I cross my fingers as I knot the ropes in front of me into thick braids for a rope ladder. Rezzix, who is one of Paige’s guys, shows me how to do it, and watches to make sure I know what I’m doing before he nods approvingly and moves away.

I really, really hope Dariux finds the others. I can’t forget the sight of Janet’s body. My agency training is cold comfort at a time like this, because I can calculate the odds of them surviving in the jungle, alone and unaided, for three days, and it isn’t high.

With everyone working together, the structure goes up fast. The sun is high in the sky when Liorax signals for a stop. “We’ve done well,” he says, his voice clear and strong. “I’m really pleased with our progress. We’ll have the roof up tomorrow, and then, we can build the interior walls. Thank you all for your help and cooperation.”

He’s good at this, I realize. Balls mutters something to Nuts, his face sour, and Felicity’s two mates don’t appear thrilled to get their hands dirty, but everyone else looks pleased to be complimented. “Let’s stop for the day,” he continues. “Thank you again.”

“Nice speech,” I say when he comes up to me.

He smiles wryly. “As the Firstborn of Laris, I had to learn a painful amount of protocol,” he says. “This is the most useful thing I’ve done with it. Ready for your archery lesson?”

“Slave driver,” I accuse him. “I’ve been working all morning. I want a dip in the lake first.”

Zunix finishes up his conversation with one of the Draekons and approaches us. “That sounds like a good idea,” he says. “Do you want to take the boat out? I noticed you looking at it.”

He’s scarily observant. “I used to row back home.” I’m slowly getting used to the translator, to the split-second delay between the guys saying something in Zor, and the translator speaking the English version in my ear, but it strikes me that I should learn how to speak their language as a back-up. I don’t want to become too dependent on a piece of technology that might fail. “Can your synthesizer make a copy of this?” I ask Zunix curiously, tapping my ear to indicate what I’m talking about.

He shakes his head. “It’s limited to basic household items,” he says. “And those that existed before we landed here, of course.”

So it’s not connected to the Zorahn version of the Internet. We’re offline. “But the High Empire knows we crashed here?”

“Oh yes.” His smile is grim. “They definitely know. It must be driving them insane. The perfect prison, and the precious human women on the wrong side of the bars.”

It’s rare to find Zunix in a talkative mood. Even though each passing day makes it more and more obvious that I’m never going back home, I’m still curious enough that I want to know as much as possible about the strange alien empire that made contact with Earth. “Why do the Zorahn want us?”

He fixes me with an amused look, and I realize that once again, I’m in danger of completely ruining my cover. “You know,” he says thoughtfully, “in our world, knowledge is power. Carefully guarded and protected.”

“You’re not going to tell me?” He doesn’t sound angry, and his eyes are twinkling. “No, wait. Let me guess. You want to barter.”

I think I know where this is going. Boob o’clock.

Zunix lowers the boat to the water, and gestures for me to get in. Liorax follows, reaching for the paddles automatically. “We both do,” he says. “For every question we answer, you answer one too.”

Okay, scratch that. I did not expect that response. “What kind of questions?”

Zunix gives me a playful grin. “You’ll find out if you agree, Olivia.”

This feels like a very sexually charged truth-or-dare game, and what the hell, I’m in. “Sure. I’ll play along. Tell me why the Zorahn want us, and I’ll answer one of your questions.”

“The honest answer: I don’t know.” I start to open my mouth to protest that he isn’t keeping his end of the deal, but subside when he continues. “However, I have some theories. I would ask that you don’t reveal these to your fellow humans.”

“Okay.”

“The scientists of Zoraht used human genetic material when they created the Draekons,” he replies. “My best guess is that the scientists are now planning to use human genetic material to either control or exterminate the Draekons entirely.”

My mouth falls open. Holy fucking shit. Roman would give his left testicle for this piece of information, but stranded as I am on this prison planet, I have no way of getting it to him. “What do you mean, control the Draekons? How?”

“That’s a second question, Olivia.” Liorax’s voice has an undertone of laughter. “Before Zunix answers, I have a question of my own.”

My spine prickles with awareness. “Okay,” I say again, my voice low. “What is it?”

“Tell me about your family. Are you close to them?”

That’s more than one question, if I’m getting technical. “I don’t have any,” I reply. “I never knew my father. He left when he found out my mother was pregnant, and he never sought me out. She died five years ago. I have no siblings.”

“Does it make you angry that your father never tried to find you?”

When I’m being logical, I tell myself there’s no point in getting angry, but deep down inside, there’s a hurt and an inadequacy that won’t go away. Maybe that’s why I’m so hyper-focused on my job. I’m trying to please Roman, who has taken some kind of father-figure role in my confused brain.

“That’s a second question, Zunix,” I answer lightly.

He smiles wryly. “For the first hundred-odd years, the scientists controlled everything about the Draekons. We were created sterile. Only they could activate the transformation; we could never shift at will into the dragon. But then something happened. The Draekon gene mutated, affecting both our ability to mate and our ability to transform. The balance of power in the High Empire shifted, and ever since then, the scientists have been trying to restore their lost glory.”

“Herrix called you Midborn. He implied that you were unimportant. How do you know all this?”

Zunix’s lips twitch. “You know how this works, Olivia. An answer for an answer.”

“Yes,” I snap. “It made me angry that my father never tried to find me. That he could walk away from his own flesh and blood, his own child, without a backward glance. But then I realized it didn’t matter. I’m responsible for my happiness. Not anyone else.”

We’ve reached the point in the lake where it bends to the east. The others are nowhere in sight, and the two guys pull the boat up at a bank. I jump out. Thinking of my father is pointless. He made his choices, and that’s all there is to it.

“You’re right, and you’re wrong,” Liorax says, offering me his hand and steadying me as I stumble on a rock and almost faceplant into the lake. “You are responsible for your happiness, but you’re not the only one.” He pulls me close, right up against his chest. “I would barter for a kiss,” he says, his voice rough and raspy, “but…”

Butterflies dance in my stomach at his tone. We’re alone. The air is still, and the water is calm. This is the first time Liorax has expressed any interest in me, and my heart beats as if I’ve run a race. “But what?”

We still all have secrets from each other, but something has shifted. Sometime between yesterday evening and now, it feels like we’re a fledgling team. We’re not quite sure of each other, and we’re still learning who we are, but we’re not pulling away from each other anymore.

Or maybe I’m just really attracted to them.

Liorax’s fingers caress my bare upper arms, and I stop resisting. I run my fingers through his hair and pull him closer. “But what?” I whisper again, very conscious that Zunix is watching us.

“But I would prefer it to be freely offered.”

I laugh breathlessly and tilt my head up. “Please…”

His mouth finds mine, and I surrender, doing exactly what he asks. His tongue slides into me, hot and insistent. His hands run up my back, under my shirt, and his touch against my bare skin sends a tight pulse of arousal straight to my core.

Screw the swim in the lake. I’m too impatient to wait. A voice in my head reminds me about the contest, about my plan to play off one pair of Draekons against the other, but that doesn’t seem important now. Not when waves of desire wash over me, demanding satisfaction.

God, they’re so fucking gorgeous. Liorax’s bronzed muscles flex as he moves, and I shiver as I see the look of raw hunger in his eyes. “Like what you see?”

I can’t stop myself from touching him. “I like it better up close.” The corner of his mouth tugs up as I trace one of the black bands around his arms and lay my hand on his firm chest. No fake tan and gym rat bulk here. These muscles are real, chiseled by years of hard labor and raw, primal living. My body heats up, aware that I’m in the presence of a super predator. One with tattoos and nipple piercings.

I lick my lips.

“When did you get these?” I murmur, running my fingers over one barbell. He shudders at my touch, but steps closer.

“I’ll give you an answer if you give me a kiss.”

“I thought you’d prefer them to be freely offered,” I tease. I push up on tiptoes, and our lips meet. This time, he deepens the kiss, and I savor every minute of it, threading my arms around his shoulders and pressing my breasts into his bare chest. His large hands cradle my waist, holding me against him.

When I break away, we’re both panting.

“The piercings?” I ask again, my chest heaving as I gulp in air. Liorax blinks at me. I get the satisfaction of watching him gather his wits. He liked the kiss. Judging from the part of him pressed against my pelvis, he liked it a lot.

“All males get them when we come of age.” I can’t keep my fingers from reaching for the metal bar, and his gaze darkens. “Do you like them, Olivia?”

“I love them,” I purr, swiping my thumb across him until his breath catches. His cock jumps in his pants. He’s so responsive, it’s flattering. Of course, it helps that I’m the first woman who’s touched him in years.

Time to show them what they’ve been missing.

I duck my head and close my mouth over his nipple, tonguing the metal. His hand fists in my hair, gripping gently to hold me against him, and he groans. I pull back and give him a sultry look.

There’s more where that came from.

Liorax’s hands span my waist. Such a gentleman. I’m rubbing myself all over him, and he still hasn’t copped a feel.

“What do you want?” I ask.

“Take off your clothes, Olivia.” His rough voice sends need surging through me.

I back up a step, peeling off my top and letting it drape over a nearby bush. I study his face as he drinks me in.

His eyes run over me, and, to my surprise, rest back on my face. “Beautiful,” he whispers and repeats my question. “What do you want?”

I toss my head back. “Touch me.”

“With pleasure.” To my delight, he lowers his head and kisses me again, hands resting lightly on my waist before sliding up to cup my breasts. In my line of work, my body is an asset, a weapon. But when Liorax touches me, I don’t feel like an object or a trophy. I feel like a woman, worthy of desire.

“May I touch you, little human?” A gravelly voice at my ear makes me jump. Zunix.

Draekons mate in pairs. Right. In my haze of lust, I almost forgot.

As soon as I nod, a second set of hands comes to my hips and pulls me back. I melt into Zunix’s hard body, grinding my ass against the stiff bar of his cock. He settles me firmly against him, lips falling to my bare shoulder and kissing lightly up my neck. When his tongue strokes against my pulse, his cock jumps against my ass. Liorax drags his tongue over my nipple with a ragged moan.

I love this. I love how I affect them.

Then the pull of their lips on my flesh is too much, and I’m thrown into a sea of sensation. It takes a lot for me to lose my head, but apparently, two gorgeous men intent on worshipping my body will do the trick.

“Have you ever done this before?” I ask raggedly. “Been with one woman at the same time?”

Liorax raises his head and my pussy spasms at the heat in his eyes. “An answer for a kiss.”

I tilt my head up, my gaze on his mouth, but he shakes his head. To my surprise, he drops to his knees. “I wasn’t thinking of your lips, Olivia,” he says with a wicked, toe-curling smile.  

Oh. My. God. Yes. So much yes.

Slowly, he peels off my pants. Zunix cradles me against his strong chest, one large hand splayed over my belly, the other wrapped around me, resting between my breasts, hand at my neck. I swallow hard, my heart about to beat out of my chest, as Liorax’s dark head bows between my legs.

“I am going to kiss you now,” he whispers, barely waiting for my whimper of assent before he lays his hot mouth on my sex. My head rolls back against Zunix, who props me up as Liorax’s strong tongue strokes between my labia.

“Oh, oh,” I pant, all thought lost. Gripping my buttocks, Liorax presses deeper, finding my most sensitive spots and licking lightly, then with more intent. Pleasure stabs through me. I sag against Zunix, unable to stand, as Liorax pushes two fingers into my pussy. Heat radiates through my body at his touch. His tongue circles my clitoris—Draekon physiology must be really similar to human because he knows exactly where to touch me, exactly where to press his tongue—and my thighs quiver as I strain to keep them open. Shivers run through my body as my orgasm builds up inside me, tight and hot and powerful.

“So lovely,” Zunix croons in my ear, caressing my aching breasts, tugging on my taut, throbbing nipples with his fingers. “Beautiful Olivia.”

I lean back against him, my moans coming faster and louder. Liorax hitches my leg over his shoulder, lapping hungrily. My fingers fist in his thick, dark hair.

Then it’s too much to bear, and I can’t hold back anymore. I explode, legs shaking, chest heaving, Zunix alternately nipping my ear, and murmuring encouragement. He holds me close until the world stops spinning.

At my feet, Liorax gives me a final, gentle lick, and lays his head against my thigh. His eyes are so blue, framed by black lashes. “No, Olivia,” he says, answering my question from earlier. “You are our first.”

Swoon.

My legs are still rubber as Zunix sets me down. He turns me carefully, and cups my face with both hands, kissing me thoroughly.  “Want to get that swim now?”  His eyes are hot with desire as he looks down at my naked body.

“Or you could take your clothes off,” I reply, still a little breathless. “And we could fool around some more.”

Liorax props himself up on an elbow but doesn’t make any move to get naked. “There’s something you should know,” he says. “Draekons mate for life. It is not a thing to be hasty about.”

If I sleep with them, I lose every piece of leverage I have.

He’s not stupid, neither of them are. Both Zunix and Liorax note the slight stiffness in my body.

Zunix’s eyes soften. He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses the back of each finger. “I want you to be sure,” he says. “There is no hurry.” He grins roguishly. “I think we should make you come again. To help you decide.”

I laugh out loud. “I like the sound of that,” I admit. A sudden high-pitched blare of noise cuts off my next words. “What’s that?” I ask when it subsides, sitting up in alarm.

“Dariux.” Zunix is already untying the boat. “He’s back. Let’s go see what he discovered.”