Laurel

 

 

 

I WASN’T SURE what was going on, but I did know the two huge ultra male warriors. Dex and Jedrek. I shouldn’t have been at all surprised they’d located me. Still, I didn’t appreciate them standing there, hulking, fully armed while I remained naked and wet. I’d only headed to the lake after the feast because skinny-dipping was my guilty pleasure.

I thought the sole purpose of the two Valkrane males was to ensure I remained pure forever. Cozmo, a close friend, wasn’t much better. Between the three of them, they’d managed to scare off every single male who’d shown the slightest sexual interest in me.

But not once had Dex or Jedrek ever propositioned me. Hell, they’d barely spoken a handful of sentences to me in the five years I’d been on Zenithia. The first time I’d encountered them was straight from a bloody skirmish on the planet Skeer.

I’d been seventeen years old when the lizard species had herded me, along with ten other women and girls, from the doss house we’d squatted in in Milwaukee. The aliens big black bug eyes huge, their toothless mouths spread wide in macabre grins, they’d spoken their creepy clicky-language, binding us together then blinding us with some kind of laser.

Upon regaining our vision, we were no longer in America. We sure as hell weren’t on Earth. Thus began our lives in captivity, and trust me, the Skeerites weren’t one nth as welcoming as the Zenithians.

Homeless people were so easy to abduct. No one would miss us. No one came to our rescue.

No one would save us.

Twelve long months, I’d endured the reptilians’ imprisonment, working from dusk to dawn in a land that could only be described as hostile, from the lethal lashings meted out as punishment for any indiscretion to the toxic vegetation that could cloud the immediate area in poisonous gas.

Until one day, Jedrek and Dex opened the cage where I was kept. I remember rushing headlong into both their arms, sobbing uncontrollably. I knew they weren’t human, but they emanated strength and kindness and—yes—humanity nonetheless. And they’d brought me to this new home.

I might’ve been called a chattelian here, but life on Zenithia was pleasant. I adapted easily after the year of torture on Skeer. I made friends, whereas I’d had none before.

Since that fateful day when the king’s men had saved me, they’d kept an enforced distance all the while making it clear I was:

1.    constantly in their sights, and

2.    completely under their protection

Meanwhile, I wouldn’t have minded if they’d pursued me. One or both of them.

Mmmm. Both of them.

That fantasy had crossed my mind on more than one occasion.

Dex and Jedrek were both smoking hot. Each broad-shouldered, extraordinarily tall, bodies packed with muscle upon muscle. Dex had long blond hair and a long blond beard and a wicked sense of humor, while Jedrek was darker, his face harder, his disposition more serious. They both bore similar skin markings on their arms up to their shoulders, the rune-like designs and patterns I’d come to learn grew spontaneously whenever something important in their lives transpired.

I stared at their bare chests and broad shoulders now, aware they were at least wearing kilts while I was one hundred percent nude and almost completely on show after rising from the lake.

“Laurel? You okay?” I heard Cozmo call out from the edge of the woods.

And now Cozmo was here too.

Ugh.

“I’d be perfectly fine if these two would give me a shred of privacy,” I snapped.

The corner of Dex’s mouth lifted in a slight smile, and the warriors finally, reluctantly turned their backs.

“Cozmo, you can go back to your quarters. We’ll look after her,” Jedrek ordered.

I glared at the male’s back, a back laddered with muscles.

How dare he make decisions on my behalf?

Yet, standing naked and dripping, I shivered not from cold but from tantalizing awareness, wondering what they had in mind for me. Certain I’d agree to their desires if they asked first.

Neither one of them seemed inclined to talk while I dressed in the sheer light gown I’d shrugged off earlier. The pair stood stiffly, continuously scanning the moon-glowing clearing.

Dressed but damp, I marched around the men, who were as large as monoliths. The gown clung to my body, hiding very little. Dex and Jedrek scanned me from head to toe, making me painfully aware of just how much was on display, but I shook my hair back, planted a hand on one hip, and let them have their fill.

My puckered nipples—dark shadows through thin cloth—weren’t the only things on the rise.

The two males glanced away, the smooth black leather of their kilts lifting at the front from their groins.

“Well? Seen enough?” I stamped a foot on the ground. “I’m waiting for some sort of explanation.”

“We will take you to your quarters so you can gather some belongings.” Jedrek’s dark gaze roamed over me again.

“Why?”

“You, of all people, should understand why!” Dex bellowed, frustration evident. “Gods, woman. Do you not remember what it was like to be enslaved by an evil race?”

I shrank back from him, inwardly quailing from his wrath.

Jedrek laid a hand on his shoulder, but Dex only shrugged him off.

“You’re out here on your own at night, gallivanting around with no fucking caution, Laurel!” Blue eyes burning like fiery coals, Dex frowned. “You’ll come with us. You’ll stay with us in the palace for the interim, for your own safekeeping and our peace of mind.”

Indignation sparkled inside me at being ordered around. “Cozmo can look after me.”

“Is he your mate?” Jedrek’s voice held an edge.

“No.”

“Then you come with us.” He began leading the way from the clearing.

“It may have escaped your notice, but I’m a free woman, no longer a slave.” I stomped after him, incensed even more by the sound of Dex’s low chuckle behind me. “And I don’t take orders from either one of you.”

Dex came up beside me, prodding me to follow his friend with a large palm on my back.

“She’s a feisty one, Jedrek.” His anger had turned to mirth, no doubt because he thought they had the upper hand.

“She?” I squealed. “She is standing right here.”

“So she is.” He chuckled low in his throat. “I admire your spirit, Laurel.”

“I’m sure that’s not all you admire.” I huffed.

He leaned so close his warm breath raised goose bumps on my neck. “You’d be right.”

A sudden sensual thrill rippled from my breasts to my belly, and I trudged along more willingly.

At my residence, Jedrek opened the door, motioning me inside. He and Dex needed to duck, one at a time, to fit inside the doorway, and I stifled a giggle at the sight of the two massive men. My quarters consisted of a simple two-room hut, perfectly adequate to suit my needs, absolutely inadequate for the size and stature of the mighty warriors.

They watched closely while I gathered a few necessities into a satchel. I fully expected to return to my own abode in the morning whether they tried to stop me or not. They’d soon learn I wasn’t one of the docile females.

Dex reached out and took the satchel from my hands. “Is that all?”

“Mm hmm.”

“Let’s go.”

“So you’re taking me to the palace?”

“Yes.” Dex headed to the door.

I dashed in front of him, blocking the entryway. “To your rooms?”

“Yes,” Jedrek said.

“Can you please answer with more than one damn word?” I glared up the great lengths of their bodies.

A dimple pitted one of Dex’s cheeks as he let loose a rumble of laughter. “Yes.”

“You’re infuriating.”

“He is,” Jedrek agreed, but he too was smiling.

The smile transformed his tough face, making him not just attractive but devastatingly handsome.

Even Dex stared at his friend, seemingly silenced by the sight of such an infrequent smile.

Hot tingles fluttered in my tummy and floated up to the tips of my breasts as I watched them. “And you share quarters together?”

My question spurred the two men to find and lock gazes. The air between them instantly charged with a sudden sexual intensity I hadn’t witnessed before. And their heat rippled outward to me, a smoldering awareness that felt combustible in the tiny room.

Jedrek’s beautiful gray eyes—dilated and near black—dropped to Dex’s mouth, and he licked his own lips. “Yes. We share together.”

An entirely lustful half smile curving Dex’s mouth, he swung his heated gaze to include me.

“Oh.” I gasped, the fluttering intensifying and settling lower, between my legs.

I forgot to put up any more of a fight, letting them guide me along the paths toward the palace. As Valkrane, they had access to parts of the castle I’d never been privy to, but I was too distracted to pay much attention to the surroundings during our short journey.

I’d seen the pair of warriors wrapped around each other, grinding and groping more than dancing during the feast. I’d always thought they hungered after me—if only from afar—but now the entire dynamic had changed with barely a single word uttered.

Inside their room, I stopped while they carefully discarded their weapons. I surveyed the chambers, at once opulent and stark.

Luxe because of the immensity of the room, the floors polished to a reflective surface, the walls alight with a subdued glow. Spartan because the only furnishings consisted of two huge bed platforms, two tremendous chairs, and row upon row of neatly lined weapons against one wall.

I heard the gurgle and babble of water in the bathing grotto, the steamy pool a source of heat and warmth. And while one side of the room was tidy down to the tazek furs tucked carefully around the bed, the other was a mess of discarded clothing with a hastily strewn sharpening stone and a pair of gauntlets lying on top.

 A small smile spread across my lips. If I had to guess, the neat freak side was Jedrek’s, the cluttered part Dex’s.

Dex watched me, looking hesitant, his fingers opening and closing over the handles of my satchel.

I was uncertain too.

Until Jedrek walked to Dex’s bed and began straightening the luxurious tazek furs. “You can have my bed, Laurel. I’ll sleep with Dex.”

Dex made a choked sound, eyes colliding with Jedrek’s.

I retrieved my bundle from Dex, offering him a sweet smile. To my amazement, his cheeks flushed above the thick beard. And the air felt dense, rife with expectation.

I lay my bundle on the tidier bed, both men again turning their attention on me.

“Ahem.” I made a circular motion with my index finger. “Turn your backs please.”

They followed the order quickly, Jedrek moving to Dex’s side. Their arms brushed, and Dex almost jumped a foot to the side.

The laugh that bubbled up from inside me sounded smokier than usual. Taking off my gown, I let the fabric swish to the floor, the rustle of material whispery soft but loud enough in the quiet room to be noticeable . . . almost sensual.

Jedrek jerked his head like he wanted to watch me.

Settling on the bed, I retrieved my brush then pulled the soft-furred blanket up over my breasts. The pelt spread a tantalizing sensation across my naked flesh.

“You may look now,” I said, feeling like a temptress.

They spun in a flash. But all they could see were the very top mounds of my breasts. I pulled the brush through my damp hair, gently untangling the tresses, gaze pinned on the men. I waited for Jedrek to take the lead again.

He faced Dex, his fingers going to the waist of his own kilt.

Voice low, he asked the blond male, “Going to undress for me?”

I watched, turned on, as Dex swallowed rapidly.

I stared, blatantly, while they disrobed.

I’d always thought Dex would be the more sexually assertive male. Clearly Jedrek made him hot . . . and nervous.

His fingers fumbled at the belt of his kilt. His chest pumped with uneven breaths. The blush on his cheeks hadn’t died down.

A low moan left my throat when finally the two stood completely bare. Their muscled forms were nothing short of magnificent.

I licked my lips, imagining the feel of the hard, flexing globes of their asses.

I set my brush down, gaze wandering over the carved terrain of their torsos.

I held my breath, looking at their groins, in awe of their thick jutting flesh.

Dex and Jedrek stared at one another, paces apart. Their cocks were equally large, incredibly erect, and I knew their staggering arousal had little to do with me, everything to do with each other.

That knowledge only made the whole situation even hotter.

Tension ran high, and they were clearly trying to keep their hands off one another.

That wouldn’t do.

With a sultry smile, I reclined on my side. “Don’t let me stop you.”

Lord no.