Olivia:

I make my way to the treehouse where the two injured Draekons spent the night. The others are milling about, so I paste a vacant smile on my face. After my hysterical sobbing yesterday, an acting job worthy of an Oscar, if I say so myself, most of the guys give me a wide berth.

There’s no sign of Liorax and Zunix. The Fox and the Hare are nowhere to be seen either. Probably taking advantage of everyone’s distraction to continue work on their spaceship. I see Felicity and her two guys though; they’re sitting on the small balcony outside their house, deep in conversation, their expressions serious.

Maybe they’re telling her about the spaceship? That is, if we’ve guessed correctly and there is indeed a spaceship. For all I know, they could be having another lover’s spat.

When I reach the mansion, Bolox and Narix are standing guard outside a closed door. A stroke of luck for me. The mated guys are very good at keeping their eyes on my face. Bolox and Narix, on the other hand, can’t stop staring at my cleavage. I lean forward to give them a better look. “Are the prisoners inside?” I ask them in my stupidest tone. “Can I peek?”

It takes another leering glance at the boobs for Nuts to let me in, but unfortunately, the moment I step inside, I realize the prisoners aren’t alone. Liorax and Zunix are there with them. Of course.

God, they’re hot. Memories of yesterday fill my mind, and a shiver of desire runs through me. You’re mad at them, Liv, I remind myself, opening my mouth to say something sarcastic.

Zunix lifts his eyes to the door behind me and shakes his head by a fraction. It’s an unmistakable warning. Bolox and Narix could be listening in.

Got it. I can wait to chew them out. “I heard there were prisoners.” I flutter my eyelashes at the two men. Zunix’s lips twitch, but his expression is warmly appreciative, and it sends tingles through me. Damn it. I’m supposed to be angry with them for not telling me what’s going on, but they’re making it hard for me to stay annoyed. “I thought I’d peek at them.”

“Of course you did.” Zunix rises to his feet and takes me by my elbow. “They’re asleep. You can peek tomorrow. Until then,” he says in my ear, sending a shiver of desire through me, “I believe it’s our turn to court you.”

I glance over his shoulder at the two men, who are lying down, but obviously awake. One of them, the dark-haired one, winks at me. Oh good. If they’re winking, they’re not furious. I think.

Zunix and Liorax lead me outside. When Balls and Nuts see the two men, they open their mouths in protest. “Dariux said no visitors,” Balls says to Liorax, his expression uneasy.

Liorax shrugs. “I keep pointing out,” he says, his voice indifferent, “that Dariux isn’t in charge of the camp. One of these days, someone’s going to realize I mean it. Run along and tell him if it’ll make you happy.”

We walk back to Zunix’s house. When we’re inside, hidden from prying eyes, I look at them. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Yes.” Zunix’s gaze is still warm and admiring. “Two days ago, I promised I’d tell you everything. It’s long past the time for us to have secrets from each other, Olivia. Let me go first. You asked me once how I seemed to know things that I shouldn’t have. Remember?”

I nod. It had been in the first few days. I’d asked him about it, and he’d fobbed me off with a clever non-answer. “I trust you,” I mutter. “I really do. You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.”

“But I want to tell you everything, Olivia.” His expression is intense and heated. “I will have no secrets from my mate. On the homeworld, I was an assistant to the Spymaster. As was Dariux.”

Of course he was. I’m assuming this Spymaster guy is something like Roman. Possibly a few pay grades higher. Like maybe the equivalent of the CIA director. Now that he says it, it’s perfectly obvious. Dariux and Zunix had tech, while the others didn’t. I should have seen it from the start.

I give him a searching look. “You know who I am, don’t you? I was a CIA operative. I was a spy.”

He nods. “I guessed.” His lips curl into a smile. “You kept your cover with everyone else but us,” he says. “Why?”

I feel my cheeks heat. “I liked you more,” I admit. Damn it. Now would be a great time to jump them, but too many things are going on, and we don’t really have time for sex. “Who are the two Draekons, and why are they prisoners? This is one of Dariux’s games, isn’t it?”

Liorax chuckles wryly. “Thank Caeron you like us, Olivia, because I shudder to think of you plotting against us.” He pulls me on his lap, and I feel the hard bar of his cock pressed up against my ass. Damn it again. Dariux has been cock-blocking the three of us from the start, and I’m getting pretty damn sick of it. “One of the two Draekons is Arax. Before his exile, he was the Firstborn of Zoraht. He’s Lenox’s older brother.”

My mouth falls open, and thoughts of sexy times are forgotten for the moment. “Hang on.” I turn around in Liorax’s lap to stare at him. “You guys are still pretty much bound by your rules and your titles and your blood status lunacy. People defer to you because you’re the Firstborn of Laris. And Arax is a bigger deal, right?”

“I love you, Olivia,” Zunix says affectionately. “Yes, you’re absolutely right. By the laws of the High Empire, Arax can demand our deaths. Dariux is playing a very dangerous game, but our hands are tied. For the moment. We promised him support in exchange for the med-kit.”

I love you, Olivia. My heart beats faster in my chest, and then the full weight of Zunix’s words sink in. They’re in this bind because Dariux healed my leg.

“It isn’t your fault,” Liorax says, correctly reading my expression. “This has nothing to do with you. Dariux has been searching for something ever since he was exiled here, and he thinks Arax might be the key to his quest. If not Arax, then Raiht’vi.”

I bite my lower lip. “What’s he looking for?”

“I don’t know,” Zunix replies. “He’s borrowed my copy of the ThoughtVault many times, but I can’t tell what he’s searching for. He’s looking at historical records from more than a thousand years ago. Ship logs, troop movements, citations of merit, that kind of thing. There’s definitely a common purpose to his searches, but I can’t make sense of it. Dariux has always been more of a historian than I have.”

If Zunix can’t solve this puzzle, with all the knowledge he already possesses, then I’m not even going to bother to try. “What happens now?” I ask them.

“I don’t know.” Zunix’s tone is frustrated.

Liorax wraps his hands around my waist. “The other women are safe,” he murmurs. “Arax is the most honorable man I’ve met. You don’t need to worry about that.”

I lean against his chest. “You’re right,” I agree, my voice muffled. “I just have a whole lot of new things to worry about.”

Zunix chuckles unexpectedly. “You really did fool everyone with your act,” he says. “Arax’s mate Viola evidently thinks you’re—what were his words?—not too bright.”

I start to grin. “I’m not surprised. I pretended I couldn’t figure out how to work the translator, and all the guys fell over themselves to help me out.” I glance down at my boobs. “The girls have magic powers. Guys look down my cleavage and do whatever I ask them to.”

“Not anymore,” Liorax growls possessively. His fingers brush against my taut nipples, clearly visible underneath my top. “These are ours, little human, and I don’t like to share.”

Irritation wars with pleasure. “You know, thumping your chest and acting like Tarzan isn’t going to get you very far.” Damn my traitorous body. My nipples are hardening in response to his touch, and my insides clench and twist.

Zunix’s eyes glitter with an amused warning as he gets to his feet and looms over me. “That’s not true, Olivia,” he breathes into my ear. He presses my hand against his cock. “Will you deny us, little human?”

Hell no. I can call them out on their caveman moves later on. Viola, Ryanna, Harper, and Sofia are safe, and there’s no reason to hold off any longer. Whatever cooperation I was hoping for among the exiles is gone, and there’s no need to indulge Dariux’s stupid contest anymore.

Right now, my body is demanding that I stop resisting and take what I want. Them.

“No,” I whisper. “I want you too much.”

A loud banging on the door interrupts us. “Zunix, Liorax,” Dariux calls out. “It’s time for us to confer.”

Fucking Dariux and his cliterference. The guy has the worst timing.