Dennox:

I can smell her arousal, and it wakes the dragon inside, driving the beast wild with lust. Take her, it demands. Touch her. Possess her.

I take a step forward, driven by instinct. “We will make you moan with pleasure, diya,” I growl. “All you have to do is ask.”

Vulrux places a cautionary hand on my shoulder. I want to tell him not to worry. I’m a soldier of the Zorahn Empire. I’ve been tortured by rebel armies. I’ve been wounded and broken and maimed, and I have never once betrayed my word.

Harper bites her lower lip. She doesn’t speak, but I don’t think she’s afraid. Though she’s moved her hand from between her legs, she’s made no move to cover her breasts. Her nipples are hard, and I ache to capture her rosy tips between my lips.

The seconds tick by. The shimmering gold threads that connect us seem to strengthen in the silence. For long years, my dragon has lied dormant, waiting for a chance to break free. This woman from a distant and unknown planet holds the key to my salvation.

Finally, she speaks. “I can’t,” she whispers, not meeting our eyes. “It’s too soon.”

I take a deep breath, trying to push aside the disappointment that floods through me. She’s right. Harper Boyd doesn’t feel the call of the mating bond the way Vulrux and I do. She doesn’t feel the constant tug on our souls, the all-consuming need to be one with her.

“Of course,” I reply. I turn around and prepare to leave, but her voice stops me. “Dennox? Vulrux?” she calls out. “Stop for a minute, please? Both of you?”

I wait as she searches for words. Finally, she looks at us. “I’d love to go swimming again tomorrow if the two of you would take me,” she says softly. She swallows. “Not just because Arax demands that we spend time together.” Her face flushes. “But because I want to.”

“Of course,” I reply, my heart beating faster in my chest. She’s not rejecting us outright. She wants our company. She just needs time. And time is the one thing we have plenty of.

Ten days pass. Every morning, the three of us eat together and then descend the stairs to the underground lake. We swim together, Harper insisting on wearing a strange garment called a ‘swimsuit’ that clings to her body but leaves her legs and arms bare. “I don’t understand,” I tell her, puzzled. “Are you afraid that something will bite your insides?”

Her fair cheeks turn pink. “You’re so casual about nudity,” she murmurs. “On Zoraht, does everyone walk around with their bits and bobs dangling out all the time?”

“No, but we do swim naked,” Vulrux replies. “The cool touch of water against warm skin is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Why do you deny yourself?”

Her reply is barely audible. “I’m not sure.”

She’s not talking about her ‘swimsuit’ anymore, and we all know it. The attraction grows harder to resist every day. My dragon grows restless at my refusal to complete the mating bond. Vulrux feels the same tension.

And Harper? Maybe I’m imagining it, but I’m convinced Harper’s attracted to us too. She’s just afraid to take the first step.

* * *

Harper:

I’m about ready to scream with frustration. I’d give anything to go back to that moment when I told Vulrux and Dennox I needed more time. Because the two dragons have taken me at my word, and they’ve backed off. Entirely.

Which totally sucks.

Every day, we go swimming, but there’s no inappropriate flirting. There are no offers to take care of me and meet all my needs. In fact, for almost two weeks, they haven’t touched me at all. Not even casually.

Confession: I want them. I want to feel their touch. I’m like the cat that keeps pawing at the door, and the moment the door is opened, has no interest in going outside. Yes, I kept saying that I didn’t want to be stuck with Vulrux and Dennox, but you know what? Not true.

So now I have to put my big-girl panties on and tell them I want them, and I don’t know how to lead up to that conversation. I guess I could strip off my swimsuit—that’s one heck of a hint—but I have a sneaking suspicion that even that won’t work.

What will work is honesty, but I’m too chicken for that.

I decide to drop another hint. “Tell me about Zoraht,” I say. That’s a lame opening line, but I have a plan.

Vulrux’s lips twitch. “We’ve spent much of the last week talking about Zoraht,” he replies. “You must be quite bored of the homeworld by now.”

“Not really.” To be honest, I’m fascinated by their lives. Palace intrigues and confrontations in the Senate wars waged on distant worlds—Vulrux and Dennox’s lives before exile were very different from my own, and I could listen to them talk about it for days on end.

Right now though, my intentions are decidedly impure. “Tell me about sex,” I say boldly. I’m sitting on a flat rock, dipping my toes in the cool water. Dennox is lying on his back next to me, his hands behind his head.

Vulrux pulls himself out of the lake. Drops of water sluice off his body, and I can’t help but ogle the sight.

Like a lot of people who lived in Los Angeles, Tom had aspirations to be an actor. He used to spend hours in the gym, lifting weights and doing pushups so he could be in Hollywood shape, but he never looked half as good as the two Draekons in front of me. These guys look ready for the cover of a men’s workout magazine. Forget six packs. They’ve got eight packs. Maybe ten.

“What about it?” Dennox turns his head toward me, his eyes amused.

“Tell me about the first time you had sex.” My cheeks heat as soon as I ask the question. Oh God, what if they’re virgins? That’d be seriously awkward.

Vulrux’s eyes darken, and his voice turns silky. “That’s a very intimate question, Harper.”

The air between us stills. This is it, Harper. Now or never.

“Is it?” I whisper. “Are you going to answer?”

Dennox sits up. “Maybe.” His gaze is on me, focused and intense. I feel my nipples harden under his attention. The fabric of my swimsuit has never felt thinner, and I’ve never felt more conscious about my nakedness underneath.

“So curious,” Vulrux says, his expression turning predatory. I shiver as his gaze rakes over my body. “Very well, Harper. I’ll go first. When I hit puberty, a pleasure coach was hired to make sure I learned how to satisfy a woman.”

Whoa. Every once in a while, I forget that Vulrux and Dennox are aliens. Their planet, their culture, their customs are completely different. I’m not sure if I’m horrified or intrigued. “A pleasure coach?” My voice sounds strangled. “Is that typical for Zorahn?”

“Only among the Highborn,” Dennox says, sounding amused. “The rest of us learn our skills the old-fashioned way. Through practice.”

Since the idea of Dennox practicing on numerous women sends an uncomfortable tendril of jealousy through me, I focus on Vulrux. “What did your pleasure coach teach you?”

His fingers caress my jaw. “I could tell you,” he says softly. “Or I could show you.”

My heartbeat accelerates. “Show me…”

With a smile that crinkles the edges of his eyes, Vulrux moves closer. My breathing quickens and I sit up straighter, and he makes a protesting noise in his throat. “Don’t move, diya.”

“Diya?” Oh God, the look of intense need on their faces sets my pulse racing. I’ve waited so long for this moment. For days, I’ve been fantasizing about them, hoping they’d make a move. Now, it’s happening. “What does that mean?”

“Precious one.” Dennox answers.

Precious one. A lump forms in my throat as I stare at them. It’s not just a term of endearment. It’s the way they’ve treated me from the moment I woke up.

Vulrux seats himself behind me, his long, bare legs on either side of mine.

“Vulrux, what... what are you doing?”

“Showing you what I was taught.” His hands skim down my arms, and I tense involuntarily. “Relax,” he soothes, drawing me back against him with an arm around my middle. “Rest your head against me.”

I do as he asks, and he shifts so I’m leaning into the crook of his arm. His big hand brushes my hair from my shoulder and then wraps around the base of my neck and lightly squeezes. Not like he’s choking me, more like a firm, claiming grip.

“Um, I’m not sure—” My voice trails off as he starts to massage my shoulder, his thumb sliding over the tight muscle. All the fight goes out of me as he gives me the best massage of my life, focusing on my neck and shoulders. I used to get massages regularly after swimming, but not like this. Vulrux seems to know just how to soothe the stress right out of me. And man, do I have a lot of stress. Crashing a spaceship on an alien planet will do that to a girl.

Vulrux’s fingers knead me expertly. I let out a moan.

This is way better than my own attempts at self-care. This is perfect. Or it would be if Dennox weren’t watching us with a raised brow.

“Is this how a Highborn fucks?” The dark-haired Draekon’s tone says ‘you’re doing it wrong.’

I stifle back a laugh. Vulrux is unfazed. “This is how we begin,” he says. “A woman’s neck is very sensitive. I hold her life,” his voice lowers, his palm sliding to my front and his fingers encircling my neck, “In my hands.”

My insides quiver, but my pussy is thrilled. Apparently, I like having a guy’s hand around my neck. Vulrux doesn’t leave it there but gently works the tight tendons, working on relaxing me as if he has all the time in the world.

“Touching her this way, without immediately groping her breasts or cunt, gives her time to relax,” Vulrux continues to lecture, his deep voice rumbling. “Takes her thoughts away. Allows her to slip into pleasure.”

It’s working.

Dennox grunts as if he’s not convinced. “It’s okay, Dennox.” I give him a lazy smile. “You’ll get your turn.”

His lips curl into a smile. “And when I do,” he says, looking straight at me, his voice whiskey-smooth, “I’ll show you how a soldier fucks.”

My pussy clenches with a rush of pleasure.

“Not yet,” Vulrux orders. “No fucking today. This is all for you, Harper.”

“Wait, what?” I start, but Vulrux digs in deeper, releasing a knot I didn’t even know was there. I melt into a puddle. I was hoping to feel them inside me, but at this point, I’d take anything. Vulrux’s clever fingers ease down the straps of my bathing suit, baring my chest, but I barely register it.

“He’s right,” Dennox agrees. “This is all for you.” He gets to his feet and moves closer to me, his hard cock jutting from between his legs. I’m pretty sure my mouth is open, and I’m drooling. But when he gets close, he only sits down in front of me, pulls my feet into my lap, and starts massaging them too. “Not just this time. Every time. Our focus is always on you.”

Mini. Orgasm.

My eyes roll back in my head. “Oh God,” I whimper. “This is so good.”

“She’s praying?” Dennox asks Vulrux, looking puzzled.

“Human women sometimes do that, when they feel immense pleasure. I have heard this from Arax and Nyx.”

“More rubbing, less talking,” I try to say, but it comes out a barely intelligible mumble. Dennox’s thumbs work my arches, and Vulrux has taken to massaging my scalp. He moves my hair aside and places a gentle kiss on the curve of my shoulder.

I shiver. He does it again, his lips doing delicious things to my insides. I feel the press of his lips all the way down in my pussy.

“Someone got an A in anatomy,” I murmur, as he continues to light my body up with each kiss at the base of my neck. Fuck, this is so good. I feel like I should be writing a thank-you note to Vulrux’s pleasure coach.

“Shh. Close your eyes,” Vulrux orders. “Surrender to pleasure, Harper.” He pulls me flush against him, so my bottom is cradled in his lap. A comfortable seat, even with the long, hard bar of his cock pressing into me.

I lean back against his chest, and his hands come around to stroke my collarbone, teasing just above my breasts. Under my wet bathing suit, my nipples tingle, and my breath catches in anticipation.

“Once she is relaxed, it is time to touch new places.”

“Breasts?” Dennox asks.

“Not yet.”

I almost laugh at Dennox’s disappointed grunt. He must be a boob man. Boob alien. Boob dragon?

A giggle escapes me. Dennox cocks a brow. “Are you laughing at me?” He lifts my leg and props it on his shoulder. Turning his head, he presses a kiss under my knee.

“Oooh,” I half-whimper, half-squeal. Who’d have thought the back of my knee was an erogenous spot? Not me.

He does it again, and again, turning his head this way and that to scrape his stubble on my sensitive skin.

I jerk. “That tickles—”

“Does it?” He holds my leg tighter as I struggle, his eyes crinkling as he smiles at me. “This is my revenge for you laughing at me.”

“I wasn’t—”

His smile widens. “I like the way you laugh, Harper. I wish to hear it again.” He lifts my other leg on his opposite shoulder and nuzzles it too.

My pussy is dripping. There’s probably a puddle on the rock.

Vulrux, not to be left out, latches onto the tender spot between my neck and shoulder, and sucks hard. I feel the pull of his lips all the way between my legs. “Oh God,” I whimper again.

Dennox bites my calf lightly. Vulrux slides his hand down between my breasts, still avoiding my aching mounds. His palm heats my skin as he pushes my swimsuit even lower. I raise my hips and let him and Dennox ease the garment off.

Both men’s eyes drink me in greedily. Dennox keeps massaging my calves, working slowly up my legs. Vulrux’s fingers trail everywhere, dipping into the hollow in front of my hip bones, stroking back up my side to trace my collarbone. Every so often both men pause to press their lips to my skin.

I’m in Paradise, completely lost to the two mouths and four hands working up and down my body. They touch every part of me. Every part, that is, except my breasts and clit, which they leave alone. Maddening dragons. Enough foreplay. I need more.

“Fuck,” I beg, lifting my hips toward their fingers, “fuck me.”

“Not today Harper,” Vulrux says firmly. His fingers trail around my breasts, the whisper-soft strokes stimulating them without touching.

“Argh,” I open my mouth to curse, and Dennox drops down between my legs, kissing up my thighs. My legs clamp together, but he holds them apart.  Vulrux wraps his hand around my right breast and squeezes just as Dennox stabs his tongue into me.

I almost explode.

Dennox thrusts again and again, and it drives me wild. Vulrux’s slow teasing combined with Dennox’s firm touch? The combination of the two of them is going to kill me. My muscles quiver and tremble under the assault of Dennox’s skillful tongue. My insides tighten and twist, and I throw my head back and plead for more. My orgasm dances just out of reach. I’m close, so close.

“My turn. I wish to taste her.”

I groan with frustration as Dennox takes his mouth off my pussy, and the two men switch places. I’m too dazed to move. Not that I want to escape. I’d have to be made to want to run away from this. Why have I been resisting?

Vulrux settles himself between my legs. His strong hands close around my thighs, holding them open. Bending his head, he nibbles my pussy, and I squirm restlessly as desire overtakes me.

“Stay still,” he growls. He holds my hips so I can’t move, and he laps me up and down. His tongue finds the sweet spot beside my clit and flicks it over and over, a maddening cadence that has my hips dancing.

Just as I’m getting close, he slides his hand under me and probes a finger into my ass.

I explode, screaming and bucking into Vulrux’s face. Dennox’s hands cover my breasts, his thumbs strumming my nipples as I spasm over and over. My cries echo around the lake.

Crap, I hope no one else heard me.

Dennox cradles me against his hard body, holding me as I bask in the afterglow of my orgasm. Vulrux comes close, offering me a drink of water from his cupped palms. I wet my throat, and he pulls me into a hug. As I bury my face in his chest, his hands roam, finding my ass and squeezing my bottom cheeks.

Definitely an ass draekon.

“Holy fuck,” I say as soon as I find my voice. “That was incredible. Your pleasure coach was certainly good at her job.”

Vulrux’s grin stretches from ear to ear.

Smug alien. I’ll show him. Twining my arms around his shoulders, I pull him close and kiss him hard. I want to see them unravel with the same pleasure they gave me. I want to feel their cocks move inside me, and I want to feel the hard press of their bodies against mine.

After a startled pause, he cups the back of my neck, holding me still for his plundering tongue. He’s not patient now. His kiss is deep and possessive, and I close my eyes as another wave of lust washes over me.

The second he lets me go, Dennox tugs my hair lightly and takes his turn to claim my lips.  My hands rest on two muscled chests, one hand on Vulrux, the other on Dennox. My palm vibrates as a deep purr rumbles through their giant, muscled forms.

Somehow, I know the source of the sound.

Dragon.

“You never told me about your first time,” I accuse Dennox lazily as we lie on the rocks. I guess we should head back up, but I’m too sated to move.

He laughs. “We were otherwise distracted,” he replies. “I was taken right after puberty to join the Zoraken. Sex was not permitted during training; it was only a distraction. I didn’t feel the pleasure of a woman’s touch until after my first battle. It was the Liberation of Kraush. The planet was occupied by rogue slavers. The Zoraken got rid of them.” His mouth widens into a grin as he remembers. “The citizens of Kraush were very grateful.”

Vulrux sits up suddenly. “You said the Zoraken are mind-wiped after every battle. How can you remember the Liberation of Kraush?”

Dennox’s face goes white. I look from one man to the other.

Something’s just happened. Something momentous.