Eria's Menage

Eria’s Ménage Alice Gaines All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2008 Alice Gaines

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Eria’s Ménage Alice Gaines On the distant planet Heriad, Her Excellency Queen Eria, Ruler of the Lands and Seas, Commander of Suns and Moons, Supreme Being of the Fourth Nebula, needs an heir. A daughter conceived in the royal manner -- with the donation of sperm from two mates. Suitors from around the galaxy have assembled in pairs for her consideration. None appeal to her until she spies Tad and Brath in the rear of the council chamber. Tad’s the intellectual while Brath is a magnificent beast of a man. Little does she realize that both of them have tricks to keep her guessing.

Chapter One “I swear, you’d marry me to a pair of fish if it would win you anything.” Eria glanced around the council room at the collection of potential mates. None had gills, at least none that were visible. None held any appeal either. “Is this the best you could do?” Her Lord Chancellor leaned toward her, putting his face close enough to her ear for the cloying perfume he wore to invade her nostrils. “You’ll find someone here, Excellency,” Kapt said. “There are so many to choose from.” “No doubt you’ll sample some of these before they leave.” He placed his hand on his chest and bowed, smiling. Eria couldn’t suppress a sigh. At least Kapt would enjoy himself with this latest lot. Several of the pairs of males were his type -- big boned and well padded. Her Lord Chancellor liked flesh, and plenty of it. He’d even made a few advances toward her. Discreet ones, of course, as he could never serve as her mate. She needed a pair of outworlders for that. Hence, this assembly of suitors. She looked out over the crowd of hopeful male faces and sighed. Why could she take no pleasure in the prospect of mating? She hadn’t had a man since she’d accepted the crown after her mother’s death. After she conceived, she never would again. She ought to enjoy her last encounter with a hard cock -- two of them, in fact -- before she spent the rest of her days alone. A difficult life to face, but she’d do her duty. Oh, hell, she might as well select the best of this lot and give them a good fucking. If only one of the many pairs of males here tempted her. She straightened in her throne. “All right. Have them present themselves.”

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Kapt crooked a finger, and the first pair approached. Short and slight of build, they’d probably disappear in her bed, but at least they wouldn’t take up much room. Silken robes rustled around their legs as they walked, almost gliding to the foot of the dais that held her throne. Once there, they knelt and bowed until their foreheads touched the bottom stair. “Your Excellency,” one of them said. “Your beauty blinds us.” “The men on your world must like their women large,” she said. “We like whatever pleases you for us to like,” the other one said. What an ass. A perfectly matched set of twin asses. “I could eat the two of you at one sitting and have nothing left over.” They sat bolt upright at that and looked at each other, eyes wide. They’d probably taken her meaning literally. Good. “Excellency,” Kapt said. “And, I don’t need you to scold me.” “They’ve come a very great distance to please you,” Kapt said. They could go back again for all she cared. Still, courtesy demanded some show of hospitality on her part. “Please rise and ignore my twisted sense of humor.” They scrambled to their feet and smiled, although one’s gaze darted around the room as if looking for a quick escape from Eria and her appetite for men as food. She had appetites, all right, and some did involve taking male flesh deep into her mouth. Neither of these two promised enough to make the effort worthwhile, although the robes might contain surprises. With any luck, she might find more promising candidates. A murmur went up in the room as the door at the rear whooshed open. A single figure entered. Another man. Alone. He wore armor of a primitive sort. Above mid-calf boots, leather leggings stretched over broad expanses of muscle. Above that, a metal breastplate and matching codpiece. An impressively shaped piece of forge work, that last. Her breath caught as

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she forced her gaze upward past finely corded arms to a rugged face framed by long black hair. Eyes the color of the deepest ice blue stared back at her. Damn, why couldn’t she mate with a man like him instead of the others who now stared at him in disapproval? Because there was only one of him, and she required two. Damn, damn, and damn. “…Your Excellency.” She turned her attention back to the men standing at the foot of the dais. One of them had been saying something, but it hardly mattered what. “Your emissary said we were to come in pairs,” the man said. “I wouldn’t have brought my brother if I thought I could offer for you alone.” His brother glared at him. “If you have me, you don’t need him.” “Now, gentlemen,” Kapt said, holding out his hands to placate them. “We need you both or not at all.” Right now, she’d vote for not at all. She only needed that man in the back for an hour or two in her bedchamber. Or all night. Maybe several nights. Instead, she had to entertain a room full of eager suitors, all of whom looked identical right now. And horribly uninteresting. If only that glorious specimen had brought a twin. Impossible. The entire universe couldn’t hold two of him. The door whooshed open again, and the most remarkable thing happened. Another man entered. Entirely different from the first one yet exactly the same. This one had the same physical characteristics -- the same broad chest and muscular limbs. He stood equally tall and broad-shouldered. He had the same strong chin and high cheekbones. His gaze even burned in the same fierce blue. But while the other had looked like a throwback to an earlier, more warlike time, this one resembled a scholar. Rather than boots, he wore sandals with leather straps that ascended his legs to below the knees. Instead of a breastplate, fine fabric fell from his shoulders to where a sash circled his waist and then over lean hips to mid-thigh. Although the first man wore

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metal bracelets on his upper arms, this one’s skin was naked and sleek. He’d even tamed his hair into a long braid. Neither twin moved from where they stood in the rear. They didn’t acknowledge each other’s existence in any way. Each stared at her, sending the same message with the intensity of his blue gaze. I want you, they said without speaking. Yes, these two would do nicely. She rose and walked down the steps to the floor of the council room, almost knocking over her first pair of suitors. She smiled as she strolled along the carpet toward where the latest arrivals still stood like statues. As she made her way through the crowd, her other suitors had the good sense to part rather than interfering with her. They made their displeasure known, though, with shuffling of feet and mumbled words. She caught a few as she passed. “…not done this way…” “That one’s a brute.” “What would she see in them?” What, indeed? The closer she got, the more impressive they seemed. Both stood still, watching her approach. The scholar held his hands behind his back, while the warrior clenched his fists by his sides. Finally, she left the throng behind and faced the two newcomers directly. “This way.”

*** Her Excellency Eria, Queen of Heriad, Ruler of the Lands and Seas, Commander of Suns and Moons, Supreme Being of the Fourth Nebula, was an imposing figure. A statuesque beauty, endowed with ample flesh, every inch of it firm and yet soft to the touch by the looks of it. Exactly the way Tad liked his women, and his cock had hardened under his tunic the moment she’d walked across the long carpet toward him. Now, he sat and watched her where she stood by a tall window staring out over the castle complex. Nearby, Brath, his counterpart from Noor, prowled like the predator he was. A glint of lust shone in his eyes. He’d be erect beneath his codpiece too. He’d

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take Her Excellency with all the finesse of a rutting beast if he got the chance. Tad would make sure he used a gentler touch. Eria turned toward them, the light of two setting suns silhouetting her figure beneath the filmy gown she wore. “And you two are…” “Tad of Cyra. This is Brath of my brother planet, Noor.” Brath stopped his pacing and gave her a curt bow. “Does he speak?” she asked. “When he has something important to say,” Tad answered. “Mostly, he communicates in grunts.” Brath did it then. A low, crude sound. “I see.” “He makes his needs and wants known.” “Are you two members of the same species?” “There are two schools of thought on that score,” Tad answered. He’d wondered about that point himself. Their twin planets complemented each other on everything. Still, he’d been astonished to find so close a match to himself as Brath. He couldn’t really say he’d gotten to know his counterpart in the time they’d spent together before this mission, but he’d seen glimpses of intellect that matched his own. The man was definitely an asset. “Explain.” “His kind and mine share genetic material from a common ancestor. Our kinds can interbreed with each other. Some think that makes us the same.” She put her hands behind her, and the action pushed her breasts upward against the nearly translucent fabric of her gown. How he’d love to pillow his head there while his fingers went exploring. “And the other school of thought?” He pulled his gaze away from all that tempting flesh and glanced at Brath, now standing in a corner of the room, studying them with a gleam of cunning in his eyes. “Well, look at him,” Tad said.

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She did, with an open feminine interest. He should have left Brath on his ghastly planet, fighting whatever enemy he’d managed to find that day. He’d told the Elders that Brath would only spoil their plans for an alliance with Eria and her empire. They’d insisted. He’d get nowhere without another male to woo her. Now, he’d have to fight to win her attention. Damn Noorians and their wild appeal to women. “I must have a matched pair of men,” Eria said. “We understand that’s your custom, and we hope to comply.” “There are dozens of other pairs who wish to mate with me. If you two don’t suit, I’ll have to accept another set.” “We’ll suit.” “You come from so far away. How can you know how we do things?” “We’ll suit because we’ll make ourselves suit.” Although, how could he speak for Brath? Lord knew what went on inside a mind like that. At least Brath wanted her, and she was clearly attracted to him. “Adventurous women of my planet favor his type for bed partners,” Tad said. “Before they come to their senses and settle down.” Brath chose that moment to walk into the light at the center of the room. Eria took a step backward but then recovered and straightened her spine. Most likely, she’d never encountered anyone like Brath. Few people outside their twin planet system had. Tad almost had to pity her other suitors. Once a woman got a taste for these savages, every other male looked dull by comparison. Even Tad. If he didn’t have a few surprises for Her Excellency, he might feel jealous. But he’d planned well, and Brath furthered those plans. Yes, the others might as well pack up and head home. “Will he share me with you?” she asked. “He will if it serves his purposes.” “He has purposes?”

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“Never doubt it.” Tad stretched his legs out in front of him. A casual move. Far more casual than he actually felt. “Don’t think Brath stupid. More than one outworlder has lost his life to that mistake.” Eria walked to Brath and made a slow circle around him, sizing him up from the top of his head to his toes. Brath withstood her inspection well enough, staring straight ahead. After several long moments, she stepped away again. “I’d like to watch him in action.” “You want to watch him fuck?” “You say he’s so good. I’d like to see if that’s true,” she said. He shrugged. “I should think you’d want to try him yourself.” “I will. First, would he perform for my guests?” Brath made another one of his noises. In the affirmative. He’d agreed. “Good,” Eria said. “At dinner tonight, he can choose his own moment and his partner.” “He will.” “You two will sit with me,” she said. “I’ll see you then.” She gave Brath one more appraising look and swept from the room, as regal as she was plush. Tad waited a moment and then rose and walked to Brath. He stared into eyes the exact color of his own. He clapped a hand on Brath’s shoulder. “Well done.”

*** Eria sat between the two of them and basked in the disapproval of the others. Normally, the queen would at least try to make all her suitors believe they had a chance to mate with her. But how many monarchs found a pair like these gems among the grains of sand? Tad made conversation with Kapt on his other side. Treaties, trade, technological advances -- the sorts of things men found important. Brath sat and watched the jugglers with their ever-shifting light orbs giving off multiple colors. The simple trick didn’t hold his attention for long. Instead, he scanned the room, nostrils flaring from time to

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time as if he’d sensed a female in heat. He’d select a woman soon, and if Eria read him well, the lucky one would get the ride of her life. Tad’s hand touched hers. “My people have a custom. When a man chooses the woman he wants to pass the rest of his life with, he presents her with a riddle.” “A riddle?” He stroked her fingers with his own. “If she solves it, she can refuse him. If she doesn’t puzzle it out, she’s his.” “We have no such practice here.” “Allow me to offer a teaser, anyway.” How intriguing. She nodded. “What burns and freezes at the same time? What can kill while it gives life? What do you see everywhere but find only once?” “All that has only one answer?” He leaned toward her. “Not only one answer, but the answer is only one word.” “Burns and freezes. Kills and gives life. Everywhere and found only once,” she said. On her other side, Brath made a sound. A deep thrum in the back of his throat. “Does he know the answer?” she asked. “He does,” Tad answered. She huffed. “Neither of you make any sense.” “I hope we aren’t putting you off your food,” Tad said. “Skinny women are no fun.” She glanced down at her plate. The tiny bird in its rich sauce lay there almost untouched. She hadn’t even bothered to push the roasted vegetables around. No appetite for food tonight. “I’m not hungry.” She switched dishes with Brath, as he’d done everything but licked his clean. She’d half expected him to eat the bones. He gave her a gratified sound from the back of his throat and picked up the meat in his fingers. With what seemed like no more than a few bites, he stripped those bones

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of meat too. A droplet of sauce clung to the corner of his mouth. Eria lifted her napkin toward his mouth, but before she could touch him, his tongue snaked out and licked his lips in a way that made her pussy tingle in anticipation. He didn’t miss the effect he had on her. He smiled, showing perfect teeth, and a low note of appreciation rumbled through his chest. On her other side, Tad chuckled softly. “Don’t give away too much to him. He’ll corner you like prey.” “I think I’d like that.” Brath’s smile broadened until icy blue sparks seemed to dance from his eyes. The jugglers finished and left, polite applause following them. The lights dimmed, and the sounds of ancient flutes filled the hall, broadcast from speakers near the ceiling. The notes bounced off the naked walls, creating an eerie feeling that the music came from inside the spectators’ heads. Two burly men entered, each carrying a huge drum. They set them at the sides of the room and began playing. Soon, a driving rhythm joined the music, making the floorboards vibrate with it. After the rich food, the music promised a feast for the senses. Only Eria and the two men on either side of her knew just which senses. A dozen dancers -- all young women -- streamed into the hall and moved seductively between the tables. They wore gowns that fell over breasts, hips, and legs all the way to the floor. The fabric hid nothing, though. Every inch of flesh showed through. Every plump breast, every erect nipple, every rounded buttock. Brath’s eyes widened, and his fist closed so tightly on his wineglass it shattered in his hand. As though he did that all the time, he dropped the pieces onto his plate and shook the fragments free. A drop of blood appeared on his palm, but he simply licked it away and continued to stare at all the feminine flesh in the center of the room. The women moved forward and back -- now clustered together and now stretching out to the diners. Some men reached for them, only to find their hands empty when the dancers scooted away again.

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Brath snorted at the faint attempts then ducked under the table. In an instant, he appeared on the other side and launched himself into the group. Several of the women squealed and scattered. Some made it out of the hall completely, while Brath kept the rest trapped in the semi-circle of tables. He moved like a cat, light on his feet, his eyes full of determination and enjoyment. He loved the chase, and soon, he’d have one or more of his prey at his mercy. “He’s magnificent,” she couldn’t help but whisper. Tad squeezed her fingers. “I’m glad he pleases you.” “He does.” In fact, she couldn’t have looked away if her life depended on it. Brath moved with a fluid grace that would serve him well in the bedroom. She could picture him, hips moving, buttocks clenching as he guided his cock in and out of her depths. Eria’s pussy grew damp just watching him. All that strength, all that agility, all that ferocity. She’d have it soon. The other guests looked on too, some with their mouths hanging open. No one moved, though, except for the dancers and Brath. He settled on one finally -- the one with the large figure closest to Eria’s. Had he chosen that one deliberately to make Eria imagine that he’d cornered her and was circling in to slake his lust inside her? She moaned softly, not even knowing she had until the sound had come from her mouth. Her breasts felt heavy, the nipples tingling. Breathing became difficult, as though the air had turned liquid and hot. Tad’s hand left hers and ducked beneath the tablecloth. In a moment, his fingers found her thigh and rubbed the cloth of her gown slowly over her flesh. His touch felt gentle, as opposed to the display of aggression in the center of the room, but it moved her right to her core. Growing ever more damp, her pussy now throbbed in time to the beating of the drums. She parted her legs to invite Tad to stroke her more intimately. In response, he bunched up her gown to bare her leg and caressed the skin of her inner thigh. He had to know she needed more than that -- much more -- but he seemed

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in no hurry. Fine. She’d let the pressure in her lower belly build while she watched Brath and his quarry. Brath caught the young woman in his arms, causing her to yelp. She didn’t fight him hard, though. Instead, she clasped her arms around his shoulders, even though they barely reached around their width. He wrapped her legs around his torso, walking her to the closest table and deposited her there. Dishes and glasses flew as he pushed them aside to make space for the woman. The diners nearest scattered, and in a moment, Brath had his intended flat on her back with her legs dangling over the side. He reached for the neckline of her gown, grabbed the fabric in powerful fists, and tore it apart with a loud ripping sound. Not settling for baring her from the neck to the belly, he continued tearing at the cloth all the way to the hem so that he could part the halves to expose all of her. This was a primitive display, the male taking complete possession of his female. It resonated deep inside Eria. When Tad’s fingers finally found the lips of her sex and grazed them, she almost melted into her chair. No one else would notice what went on beneath the table, even if they looked in her direction. None of them did, not with Brath’s possession of the dancing girl claiming all attention. As wet as she’d become, Tad couldn’t miss her state of arousal. He had to know what his touch did to her. Had to know she’d climax if he used the right pressure. Had to intend to do exactly that. Yes, she was going to come. She’d hold out until she could watch Brath fuck the woman who looked like her. She’d imagine his cock entering her while Tad’s fingers drove her higher. And no one else would realize what went on between her legs. How delicious. Growling, Brath lowered himself to his captive and took her mouth with his. He didn’t caress her gently, but ravished her lips with his. She still clung to his shoulders as she spread her legs around him. Soon, the two of them were moving, thrusting their hips until their pelvises ground against each other. As Tad’s fingers worked magic on her pussy, the other couple’s hands roamed freely, Brath’s dimpling her soft flesh, the woman’s stroking his

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back. Their ragged breathing floated over the crowd as their passion mounted. When Brath finally finished with his partner’s mouth and moved to her neck, the woman moaned. Tad’s finger found Eria’s clit, and she bit her lip to stifle her own cry of pleasure. She could almost feel Brath’s hands on her body as they now traveled over his partner, callused thumbs on her breasts, abrading the nipples roughly. Tad rubbed her harder and faster, his hand now wet with her juices. She sat back against her chair and let her eyes drift half-shut. Her head felt too heavy to lift. In fact, all her muscles had gone limp except for the ones in her pussy. Those clenched, a dim imitation of the spasms that would soon wrack her. Each movement brought her clit firmer against Tad’s fingers. Across the room, Brath grunted as he pulled his partner’s legs from behind him and set her feet flat on the tabletop. By spreading them, he exposed her pussy. She didn’t fight but closed her eyes and tipped her head back, giving him silent permission to use her any way he wished. Still making animal noises in the back of his throat, he set about devouring her. His mouth moved over her chest and then sucked one nipple into his mouth. His hand worked the other breast, squeezing and rolling the peak under his palm. The room fell utterly silent except for the recorded flutes and the noises the pair made. His guttural sounds of claiming and her soft cries of surrender. He moved lower, running his tongue along her ribs and over her belly. At last, he draped her legs over his shoulders and brought his mouth down on the woman’s mound. The woman let loose a loud “ah!” Pleasure, yes, and surprise too. Eria whimpered softly. That such a man -- little more than a beast -- should give his partner the ultimate caress with such abandon. He did it with every bit as much energy as he did everything else. His head moved as he feasted on her, and her cries floated up to blend with the notes of the flute. Eria felt that pressure on her body as well. Suddenly, Tad’s fingers took on the rasp of a lover’s tongue as he stroked her. He traced circles of fire over her most sensitive spot, until the urge to surrender became unbearable. She had to climax. Now.

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Couldn’t hold it off. And yet, she needed to see Brath’s cock before she did. Needed to know its length and girth so that she could imagine it between her pussy lips, demanding entrance. By the deities, let him take it out now. Still, Tad tormented her. Rubbing, pressing, squeezing. With an expert touch, damn him, just as Brath used his mouth until the other woman’s cries grew louder and her body went tense. At last, Brath straightened. He fumbled with some straps that held his codpiece and moved it aside. Then, he reached into a slit in his leggings and pulled his cock free. It was a mammoth thing, thick and livid with arousal. He held it by the base for several seconds, looking down at his writhing partner with utter triumph in his expression. He knew what he’d done, how he’d driven the woman to the point where she’d sell her soul to have him inside her. And, he knew that every other gaze was on him now. He wanted them all to see his power, his magnificence, before he took his reward. Toward the back of the room, a man grunted, softly, but unmistakable. Whoever he was, he’d climaxed watching them. Eria clung to her last scrap of sanity. Tad showed her no mercy as he slid one finger inside her and then rubbed her own wetness over her clit. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Finally, Brath placed his huge tool at the entrance of his partner’s pussy and plunged into her. She screamed as he did, signaling the release of her lust. He squeezed his eyes shut in total concentration as he moved savagely in and out of her. Still, he managed to guide the woman’s leg outward so Eria could watch his member disappearing between the folds of her sex and emerging again, glistening with moisture. She would have that magnificent cock inside her, and soon. She’d take it all, as many times as she wanted, until he’d split her in two. Oh, yes, she would have him. She held that thought as Tad pushed her to the brink and beyond. The orgasm washed through her with the force of a towering wave. She gritted her teeth for silence

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as the spasms started, each building on the last until the room disappeared and she could only lean back while her body flew out of control into a universe of white-hot fire. When she finally had strength to open her eyes again, Brath stiffened and thrust a few more times, howling to the ceiling as he came. As though her climax had caused his. Amazing. Tad gave her pussy one soft pat before withdrawing his hand and bringing his fingers to his nose to inhale her scent. He gave her a knowing smile. What a clever, skillful lover. Between the two of them, she’d reach the pinnacle of sexual fulfillment. What a shame she’d have to lose them once they’d impregnated her.

Chapter Two By the time Eria came fully awake, one of her wrists was already bound and a strong hand held the other. “By everything sacred, what…” She tried to sit up, but with her arm stretched taut behind her, the motion only wrenched at her shoulder, so she lay back down. “Who dares to do this?” Someone moved behind her, fastening the other wrist to the post at the head of the bed. Whoever had invaded her bedroom made as little noise as a cat did when it stalked its prey. “Brath, is that you?” she said.

No answer. Just silence.

“I command you to release me.”

Laughter greeted that. A wicked, dark sound.

“Damn you, do as I say.”

He moved into her field of vision and stood at the foot of the bed. Hands on his

hips, he dominated the entire room -- a towering silhouette in the dim light that came from her antechamber. “How did you get in here?” she said. “Where are my guards?” He didn’t answer that either, but grasped one of her ankles and pulled her leg straight out. As she watched, he touched his finger to the metal band around his upper arm. Light crackled to life and spun out in a thread that went around her. Amazing. He’d distracted her, and she hadn’t thought to fight back. She would fight back. She’d have him on her terms, not the other way around. No matter how impressive he might be, she ruled here, and he would follow her orders or pay the price for disobedience.

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When he reached for her other foot, she kicked out, aiming for his crotch. Her position gave her no leverage, though, and he caught that ankle easily. With a chuckle, he tugged until he’d stretched her out as far as she’d go. He bent to take her large toe into his mouth and bit. Not enough to break the skin, but plenty to show her who had the upper hand. She clearly didn’t. “You’ll pay for this,” she said. He ignored that and quickly repeated his magic with the light. He used that to strap her foot to the post at the end of the bed. She could hardly move an inch now. He’d fastened the light ties tightly enough that they held her fast without hurting. With all her normal means of communicating with her staff out of her reach, she could only shout for help. But, if he’d done something to the guards who usually patrolled the corridor outside her rooms, no one would hear her cries, anyway. She’d have to submit to whatever he had planned for her and take her revenge later. He couldn’t mean to kill her if he’d come here to mate with her. She lay there, her arms and legs spread wide, and watched him. Slowly, he reached between his legs to unfasten his codpiece and then moved his hands behind him. Undoing the fastenings that held his breastplate on, no doubt. When he had them loose, he worked more ties at his shoulder. Finally, all the armor came off in one piece, and he tossed it aside. Now he wore nothing but his leggings. In the dimness, she had to squint to get a better view of his chest, but even with what illumination she had, the sleek muscles and flat nipples showed a man in his prime. Oddly, he was smooth and hairless. As though he’d feel like satin under her palms. Maybe when he freed her, she’d explore every inch of him with her hands. Yes, that would make a good punishment. Bind him and have her way with his body, tasting wherever she wanted. Making him mad with lust and then leaving him wanting, not even able to give himself relief. Then, she’d make him beg. With words. Yes. He bent, reaching to his calf. When he straightened again, he had a knife in his hand. He raised it and ran his thumb along the blade, then turned his hand toward her.

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A tiny drop of blood showed on his skin, and he stuck it into his mouth to suck, much as he’d done when he’d cut his palm at dinner. Deities. Did the man favor blood sport? Who knew with strangers from that far out in the galaxy? What did he plan to do with that knife? “I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” she said. “But, if you harm me, you’ll never leave this room alive.” He inclined his head so the light caught one side of his face. He smiled at her as though she amused him, and delight shone from his eyes. “That’s no empty threat,” she said. “Let me go now, and we’ll pretend none of this ever happened.” He laughed softly. Unimpressed with her threat, was he? He couldn’t intimidate her, and he couldn’t keep her here for long either. Someone would come looking for her, and he’d never manage to fight off her entire Imperial Guard. He might feel safe now, but that would change, and then he’d discover what a serious mistake he’d made. Only, what did he plan to do with that knife right now? He leaned over her and grasped the neckline of her gown. Grinning, he pressed the blade under the fabric and sliced through it in one powerful stroke all the way to the hem. After tossing the knife to the floor, he pushed aside the cloth covering her, exposing her body to cool air and his gaze. He’d done much the same at dinner with the dancer he’d fucked while she lay on the table. She’d watched him do that -- how he devoured the woman’s pussy and then thrust his enormous cock inside her. The display had heated her blood, independent of Tad’s fingers on her clit. She’d imagined all his hardness inside her. Craved it. And now, she’d have it. Tied to her own bed. Stretched out almost to the point of pain. Helpless to fight him off. She didn’t even have to take responsibility for what would happen. She could take whatever he offered her and then turn around and punish him for his arrogance. His large hands settled on her then as he cupped her breasts. He handled her roughly, but with an expert touch that elevated the rubbing of his skin over hers to a

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caress. She arched her back, pressing herself up against his palms, and her nipples turned to hard peaks. So sensitive. A deep sigh rushed from her before she could stop it. Damn, he had her purring now as her body went limp. It had surrendered, and even if she’d wanted to fight, her flesh wouldn’t cooperate. He smoothed his hands over her to her sides, massaging and lifting her body against its bonds. No man had ever touched her this way. A primitive claiming, as if he knew her needs better than she did herself. She lay and watched him, and the gleam of determination in his eyes. He stared at his hands, dark and hard against the softness of her curves, studying her the way a predator studied its quarry. Oh, yes… he’d won this encounter. He’d take her any way he wanted, and her inner folds released wetness in preparation to accept him. When her gaze wandered to the front of his leggings, she found the outline of his erection. The size shouldn’t have surprised her. She’d seen it hours before. He’d posed his lover specifically in a way that Eria could watch him thrust in and out. Still, it stood closer to her own sex now. It would plunge into her, not some other woman. It seemed larger, thicker, a battering ram of solid flesh. When she glanced up, he smiled at her. He’d caught her staring at his dimensions, and he knew his cock had impressed her. He was probably used to that reaction, curse him. Slowly, he straightened, put his hands on his hips, and thrust his pelvis forward. He watched as her gaze wandered over his chest, his abdomen, and then to where his tool strained against the cloth that covered it. Her clit hardened and ached for contact while the most glorious example of male sexuality in the galaxy stood there promising the fucking of a lifetime and not giving it to her. If she could move her hand or even her foot, she could punish him the way he did her right now. Then, they’d see who wanted whom. Finally, he bent to remove one boot and then the other. After rising again, he reached to the hooks holding his leggings at his waist and unfastened them. Those

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- 23 -

undone, he pushed the fabric over his hips and thighs, releasing his cock. The monster stood out from the curling hairs at the base. Now she could really study him. His cock was impossibly thick at the base, and tapered only slightly along the shaft all the way to the head. A vein traveled the length of the underside. His whole cock twitched upward as if it had a life of its own. “Do you only plan to show that off?” she asked. His grin widened, and he wrapped his fist around his shaft and stroked it. It appeared to grow longer and thicker. Liquid heat raced through her veins, all the way to her crotch and the tangle of nerve endings between her outstretched thighs. “Want?” he said. The first word he’d spoken since he’d arrived. “Of course, I want it. You’re going to give it to me. You came here to mate with me, didn’t you?” He shucked off his leggings and walked to the bed. Not to the space between her legs. Not to fill the void inside her, damn him. No, he went to the side, climbed onto the bed, and scooted on his knees until his cock fairly slapped her in the face. With ruthless fingers, he grasped her hair and tilted her head back. The huge head of his cock grazed her lips. “Take,” he growled. She opened her mouth and swallowed as much of him as she could manage. Hardly a fraction fit, but she sucked it, working her cheeks for maximum friction. He thought he could torture her with unsatisfied lust, did he? She had a few tricks of her own. If the stupid man hadn’t tied her hands, she could pump him while she gorged on his sensitive shaft. She could reach between his legs to stroke his balls with the other hand and stimulate every part of his sex. For now, she’d settle for the tip and what she could do with lips and tongue and teeth. He growled as his whole body trembled. Still grasping her hair, he held her head still while she increased the pressure of her lips and the fluttering of her tongue around the head of his cock. A tang of salt told her he’d released the drop of liquid that would precede his climax. He didn’t have the tight control of the situation he thought he did. Good.

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Eria’s Ménage

- 24 -

His breath went out of him in a long hiss, and he held himself perfectly still for a moment before releasing her hair and pulling his cock from her mouth. If her hands had been free, she would have grasped his shaft and kept pumping. She would have coaxed another droplet from him and spread it over his flesh until he lost the battle with his lust and came into her hand. Instead, she could only lie and watch the ragged rise and fall of his chest as he struggled to rein himself in. He gripped the base of his shaft, but not to stimulate it. He was mastering it, instead, fighting off his orgasm. She smiled. He might have tied her up, but she’d won this round. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her nipples still tingled from the heat of his fingers. Her pussy had soaked the fabric beneath her, but she still had more control than he did. Finally, he gave his head a vicious shake, sending dark curls around his face and shoulders. When he opened his eyes, the light of reason had returned. This time, his smile held admiration in it. He’d found a worthy opponent, it seemed. Maybe he’d show her more respect now. He climbed from the bed and walked around to the foot. Bending again, he ran his hands along the insides of her thighs from her crotch downward. Up his fingers went again, this time grazing the lips there. Now when his touch went toward her knees, moisture trailed behind, her own juices making her skin wet. He repeated the strokes over and over, each time staying longer on her pussy and touching her more firmly. She moaned and closed her eyes while heat built inside her. This was heaven, and yet it was hell. It promised ecstasy but didn’t deliver. It made her ache for more. She didn’t know this brute of a man. Would he take her to the brink and then leave her there in agony? A weight settled on the bed. Before her foggy brain could wonder about that, his mouth came down between her thighs. Not tender now, he nibbled at one lip and then the other. She gasped, and her hips jerked upward. The movement pulled her limbs against their restraints, but she couldn’t have stopped it if she tried. Lust took control of her, her clit demanding friction and her pussy begging for his cock to fill her.

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Eria’s Ménage

- 25 -

She bit her lip to keep from whimpering with need. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he could command her sex. She ruled here, not he. And yet… oh!… if she could only feel him plunge that cock into her depths, she’d climax with a force she’d never imagined. When his tongue pressed into her entrance, a lusty cry escaped anyway. Damn, but she needed him. Not gently, not slowly, but hard and fast. He sucked her clit into his mouth and growled around it. The deep vibrations sent her into another universe. A place where nothing existed except the roughness of his tongue and the orgasm it would give her. Still unable to move, she lay with her legs spread as he lapped at her and sucked and made harsh noises in the back of his throat. She couldn’t help but answer with her own noises. Animal cries. A female in heat. He’d made her into a beast in his own image. Truly his mate. “Please.” Damn, he’d won, and she could only beg for release. “Please more. Please. I need…” He rose and moved upward, planting his fists on either side of her. The tip of his cock slid between her folds, and with one lunge, he entered her, impaling her on the rock-hard flesh. All the breath rushed out of her lungs. His body had possessed hers, and even as wet as she’d become, he stretched her almost savagely. A man this large would have hurt if she hadn’t needed him so badly. He didn’t wait for her to adjust either, but immediately moved inside her. In and out, and so deep, she felt him in her core. She wouldn’t have stopped him if she could. No one had ever fucked her like this. She wouldn’t have believed it possible. And yet, he continued. His face twisted into a grimace of pleasure as he rocked forward and back. The bed protested, and the headboard crashed against the wall with the violence of his thrusts. An animal showed his mate more gentleness, and yet Brath’s ferocity didn’t frighten her. It freed her to answer with her own lustful nature. She didn’t need to please him. She could take and take and take.

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Eria’s Ménage

- 26 -

And, oh, how he gave. His cock plundered her with every surge, and his pelvis rubbed her clit as their bodies slammed together. He sent her soaring to the limit of existence. Any more and she’d pass out from pure pleasure. Her body made itself ready to explode around him. The pressure welled up in her belly, sending tongues of fire through her. Inevitable. She was going to come. Now. Now! Her body took control -- her throat opening to scream as powerful spasms coursed through her pussy. Gasping, screaming again, she let him take her into a new reality. Sin. Lust. Perfection. It seemed to last forever, while he kept moving, now even harder and faster. A rumble started in his chest and built until it burst from his lungs in a roar. He thrust once more, and spilled his seed inside her in powerful waves, so hot they warmed the entrance to her womb. After several long seconds, he collapsed on top of her, making it hard to breathe. His dead weight pressed his roughness against her everywhere, while her pussy still contracted in soft echoes of her orgasm. Damn, she’d never had anything like that, not even in her most erotic dreams. But the feel of him made it all real. If only she could lift a hand and stroke his face in thanks. “Your Excellency?” a voice called from the other side of the threshold. Shit, Kapt. The door wasn’t even fully shut. “Go away,” she said. “We heard you scream,” he answered. “Excellency, may I come in?” “I’ll have your head if you try.” Brath groaned in her ear. His body came to life, and he lifted his weight from her but didn’t remove his cock from inside her. It might be getting soft, but it still had enough bulk to stay right where it was. “Are you quite all right, Excellency?” Kapt said. “Fine.” If he’d wanted to be of service, he might have shown up when the great oaf had let himself in to tie her to her own bed. If he had, though, she would have missed the greatest sex of her life. Damn, would her brain ever form another rational thought?

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Eria’s Ménage

- 27 -

“Go away, Kapt,” she said.

Kapt didn’t though. The shuffling of his feet still sounded on the other side of the

open door. “Now!” she shouted. “Yes, Excellency.” Finally, footsteps moved away, and the door to her hallway opened and closed. He was gone, and she still lay tethered to her bed with a man on top of her and his member still inside her. “Amazing,” the man in question said. “You really know how to suck a cock, Excellency.” She stared up at him. “What did you say?” “I almost came in your mouth, and that would have disappointed us both.” “Brath?” “Tad.” He lifted his hand and ran his finger over her cheek. “Surprised?” “But, you’re exactly like him.” “You knew that.” “The way you look, yes.” He laughed. “You thought me tame, didn’t you? You thought I didn’t have my own beast inside me.” She had thought all that. She’d judged Tad safe and, well, boring because he’d seemed so civilized. She ought to have known better. “Don’t underestimate me,” Tad said. “I can be even more deadly than Brath.” “I believe you, but tell me…” She bit her lip and looked up into the blue fire in his eyes. “Can he be gentle?” He sighed. “Still more interested in my twin, are you?” “Would you be unhappy if I am?” He shrugged and sat up, and finally his sex slid from hers. “I think I’d better release you.” “Tad?”

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He made a show of searching among his things by the side of the bed and didn’t meet her gaze. When he found the metal band he’d worn around his arm, he hit a hidden switch and the bands of light disappeared from her ankles and wrists. She rubbed one arm and sat up beside him. “You didn’t answer my question.” “Yes, Brath can be gentle. His kind deals softly with their mates and children, or so I hear. He was performing at dinner.” “That isn’t the question I meant.” “You ask too many questions for me to keep up with them all.” “Would it bother you if I preferred Brath?” He turned and studied her. Both men had a way of staring straight into her. Sizing her up. In Brath, the expression made her think of an animal sense. In Tad, it seemed more calculating. Both caused a fluttering around her heart. “It doesn’t matter,” he said finally. “It doesn’t? You don’t care what I think?” That shouldn’t have hurt. She’d only met them a few hours ago. What they thought shouldn’t matter. Damn, but it did. “It doesn’t matter, Excellency.” He leaned toward her, took her chin, and brought her mouth for a brief kiss. Too brief. “Because you’ll never know for sure which one of us is touching you.”

*** He let himself in again in the morning. Or, one of them did. The light of two suns spilled through the filmy curtains as she watched him moving silently to close the door behind him. Tad or Brath -- whichever -- wore a robe that looked soft and warm. Some kind of bushy cloth in a deep blue. The color echoed the hue of his eyes. When he took a step, the sides of the garment opened enough to show the flesh of a leg. The man was naked underneath just as she was under the fresh gown she’d put on after he’d left the night before. If he was Tad. Brath hadn’t visited her the night before. Damn, she really couldn’t tell them apart.

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Eria’s Ménage

- 29 -

She sat up and scooted backward in the bed. “Which one are you?” He didn’t answer, but reached into a pocket of his robe and produced a small jar and held it out to her. “Just because you won’t talk doesn’t mean you’re not Tad. I won’t be fooled like that again.” But, could she feel sure of that? For all she knew, Brath could string together language every bit as flowery as Tad’s. Because he didn’t usually do it didn’t mean he couldn’t. She crossed her arms over her chest. “All right, I’m supposed to think you’re Brath. Are you?” He made a sound in his throat. Yesterday, she would have called it a growl or grunt. In reality, it was subtler than that. He’d answered yes, and he’d done it in a way that confirmed he told the truth. Something in the inflection -- in the slight downward pitch at the end. She had underestimated them both. What a puzzle they made. Yes, the riddle. What burns and freezes, kills and gives life, is common and yet unique? The two of them burned her with their touch and froze her with the icy stare of their eyes. They had only to look at her to make her shiver in anticipation. The rest of it made no sense. Maybe if she refused to solve the enigma, she could keep them with her. Surely, the deities wouldn’t send her such bliss as this and then expect her to live without it. No one should have to suffer that. “All right, you’ve convinced me,” she said. “Are you here to have your turn in my pussy?” He frowned. Disapproval? From him? After his performance with the dancer? “Well, then, what are you here for?” she said. He held out the jar again. Maybe the women on his planet would understand what it meant. “That won’t hurt me, will it?”

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Eria’s Ménage

- 30 -

This time, he gave her a look fit for a foolish child. He set the jar on the table by the bed and sat next to her. When he reached out a huge hand toward her wrist, she pulled it back. “Oh, no. I had enough of that last night.” He didn’t move, but sat there with his hand extended, the way you did to coax a shy animal to you. His expression remained calm, as if he had all the time and patience in the world. And to think, she’d imagined this man a brute. Slowly, she stretched her hand toward him, but he didn’t make a move. He let her come to him in her own time. The whole interaction was ridiculous, really. She didn’t fear him. No one frightened her. She could have him whipped or worse at the snap of her fingers. So why did she hesitate? After a moment, he took her hand. Pulling gently, he brought her arm closer and studied the redness at her wrist. The light hadn’t hurt her on its own, but she had pulled hard against it. Both wrists and ankles had similar marks, and her pussy felt sore from the ravages of Tad’s cock. He held her hand close to his face as he looked at the discolored skin. His expression was grave. Concern, but not surprise or anger. As if a woman always came away bruised from sex and required a man to help ease the residual pain. What kind of creatures were these men? He pressed his lips to the place where her pulse beat below her skin. He closed his eyes in what looked like reverence. His mouth felt soft against her skin -- very different from the strength of his fingers. Her heart sped up, and she couldn’t stop staring at his face, at the strong jaw and high cheekbones, even the dark lashes that rested against his cheeks. She couldn’t help herself but reached up with her other hand and drew her fingers over his brow and then down along the side of his face. His eyes shot open, and he pulled back, but he didn’t release her wrist. After a moment, he relaxed, lowering his shoulders, then leaned toward her, bringing his face to hers. So close her own reflection stared back at her from his eyes.

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Eria’s Ménage

- 31 -

Hell, he was going to kiss her. Over the last day, she’d watched this man fuck another woman, and later she’d taken a pounding from the other man’s cock, but the idea of his mouth on hers made her tremble. He smiled. He’d caught her tremor, and he knew what effect he had on her. And, oh, what an effect. A sigh worked its way between her lips just before his mouth touched hers. Despite the gentleness, the kiss held no innocence. It was about testing and gaining knowledge. His lips traveled over hers from one corner to the other and then lingered on the lower one. He seemed to memorize every curve and angle while she could only try to keep up and make her own explorations. She’d thought him clever before, and the caress proved it. By the time he’d finished sampling her and raised his head, she had to struggle to get air into her lungs. Her breasts tingled, even though he hadn’t touched them. His eyes had a lazy, seductive look to them, slightly out of focus with arousal. He gave her an insolent smile that spoke without words. I can make you want me. No surprise there. She’d wanted him the moment she’d seen him enter the council chamber. She could make him want her too, and that would wipe the selfsatisfaction from his face. She took his face between her hands and raised herself to him. If he could kiss her, she could return the favor. Then, they’d see who controlled whom. She parted her lips and kissed him that way, sucking his lower one into her mouth. She nibbled on it and then soothed it with her tongue. His breath came hard, and his tongue touched hers. The contact sent a current through her. Her pussy contracted, and the soreness became a pleasant ache, instead. Was he preparing her to accept him inside her now? A moment ago, she’d have begged for rest first, but now… She continued kissing him, still holding his head while she probed deeper into his mouth with her tongue. That won her a reaction as he moaned and shivered. Yes. She could reach him, make him hot and eager. The power went in both directions.

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Eria’s Ménage

- 32 -

Pushing against his chest, she guided him back against the bed and ran her hand along his body. The fabric of the robe was plush, and her fingers burrowed through it. After a bit, she found the gap and parted it so she could reach inside and curl her fingers around his cock. Identical to the one she’d stretched to accommodate the night before, his cock was far too big to take its measure with one hand. When she circled the base, her fingers scarcely met around the thickness. She stroked upward, over the solid flesh to the ridge around the head. When she palmed the tip and squeezed, he let out a low growl -- an order to stop -- and if she’d missed the meaning, he placed his own large hand over hers to hold it still. He pushed her fingers away and lay there, his chest rising and falling as if he’d just run a race. Finally, he pulled her palm to his lips and kissed it, then shook his head. He wouldn’t make love with her now. He’d made that clear. So why had he come? He sat up and arranged his robe around him, deliberately, to make the message clear. She was not to touch his organ again. Very well. She lay back and watched to see what he’d do. He picked up the jar, removed the top, and dipped his fingers inside. They came out coated with something that looked like salve. The look of concern returned to his face and he picked up her arm and smoothed some of the gel over her wrist. It warmed her skin. Not hot, just gently warm. The stinging of her bruises flared for an instant and then subsided. He’d come with medicine to heal her from the harm she’d done by straining against her bonds. Did the men of his world do this for their women as a matter of course? Maybe tying their mates up and possessing them on the first encounter was their custom, followed by tender touches and balm for what they’d hurt. An odd way of doing things, but the combination of a rough tumble and then atonement would endear the man to any woman.

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Eria’s Ménage

- 33 -

She couldn’t help but sigh her pleasure as he reached across her for the other wrist and gave it the same tender treatment. More warmth, more healing, another sigh. He rose, took the jar, and rubbed balm over her ankles too. Soon, her limbs felt as if they weighed nothing, as if she floated in water the exact temperature of her own body. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift free. Back to her childhood, lying on the bank of the lake as the light of the twin suns dried her after a swim. His weight settled beside her again, and the jar clunked softly onto the table. He moved, and something pressed against the flesh of her inner thigh, high up near the crotch. Then, it was on her sex as he spread more salve over the lips there. She opened her eyes. “What…” He pressed his lips to her ear. “Shhh.” “What are you…” she breathed. “Oh!” Warmth spread there too, and it soothed the soreness. It did more than that, though. Her whole pussy grew warm and tingly. He kept moving his fingers, pressing the lips apart to cover all of her with the gel. Soon, her entire sex responded to his fingers as they rubbed the balm over every sensitive surface. She lay there while he worked magic on her flesh, every bit as powerless to move as she had been the night before. After another voyage to the jar, he went back to stroking her pussy. Then, he slipped a finger inside her and ministered to the inner walls too. She let out a groan of pleasure. If he wanted to take her now, she wouldn’t resist. It all felt so damned good. His finger kept moving until he’d touched every sore spot and replaced the stinging with sweetness. Next, he’d part her legs farther, place himself between them, and drive himself home. He would even feel the effects of the salve on his cock. He didn’t, though. He lay down next to her, pulling her body snug against his. Deep inside her, the heat built. The walls of her pussy were no simple skin like that of her ankles and wrists. The moist flesh absorbed the medicine, her natural

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wetness amplifying its effects. In a few heartbeats, the heat within her blossomed and grew. A sensation like none she’d ever experienced or could even have imagined. The man beside her continued to make soft noises in her ear -- halfway between a hushing sound and a purr. Her heart swelled at the tenderness as he held her against his hard body. Gently, as if she might break. Still, the sensations in her pussy grew stronger, signaling what would soon happen. She’d climax with nothing more but the tingle of the salve, his arm around her, and the sounds of his voice in her ear. Impossible and inevitable. Even now the fever rose, climbing, climbing to a crest. Her heart hammered in her chest, and her sighs grew ragged. He kept right on crooning to her as she approached the peak, as though he felt what her body felt and he approved. The orgasm burst over her. She shuddered as it took her, and a ragged cry tore from her throat. The contractions raced through her pussy, squeezing at her clit. She rode the wave through to the end with nothing to anchor her to reality except his body next to hers and his voice urging her on. When it finally ended, she rested back again. Eyes still closed, her heart fluttering in her chest. No trace of soreness remained. Just warmth and peace and the certain knowledge that whatever pain life could send her way, this man could heal it. Then, sleep closed in around her. She tried to fight it off, but suddenly she felt tired, so tired. He rose just enough to kiss one of her eyelids and then the other. She sighed one more time and surrendered.

Chapter Three A warm morning. The armory’s windows let in the sun. It gleamed off weapons, new and ancient. A fine collection. Some, Brath knew. Others, he’d learn. His twin prowled the room. The man was jealous. Fool. Tad had fucked Eria, Brath hadn’t. He’d had the dancer. Not good enough. Tad stopped. Stared at him. “I know what you’re thinking. What is he complaining about? He’s had her.” Brath crossed his arms over his chest and sat. “She thought I was you,” Tad said. “She wants you, not me.” Stupid man. He’d let Brath use the honey balm on her. More important for bonding than the first fuck. She was his now. “I don’t suppose it matters.” Tad sat. “We achieve our purpose whether she loves you or me.” Love. It shouldn’t matter. She wasn’t his kind. One thing to want an outworld female. Different to love one. Eria reached him. Her softness. Her sighs. Her scent. He was still hard. Wanting her. “Whether you or I, we’ve unseated the others,” Tad said. “None of them stand a chance.” Yes. They’d connected at the first sight. Her curves fit him. Plush and large. The soft lips between her legs. She would have let him fuck her. His cock was ready. He’d done his duty, instead. Soothed her. It had cost him. “Now, I only have to figure out how to keep her from sending us away,” Tad said. Brath stared. His twin loved her too?

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Eria’s Ménage

- 36 -

“Don’t look so surprised,” Tad said. “That body. All that lust. I want her every minute now. She’s a poison in my system.” Poison, but sweet. His mate. His. “Did you know she plans to be celibate after we give her a child?” Tad said. “What a waste. I could fuck her for the rest of my life and never get enough.” Yes. He had to have her. Even if he had to share. Love. Yes, love. “Besides, she needs us.” Tad got up and paced again. “This planet isn’t defended properly. Her chancellor’s an idiot. She needs you to protect her and me to do her negotiating.” He grunted. Agreed. “We have to convince her to keep us here,” Tad said. Brath growled a question. “I don’t know how.” Tad stopped, put his hands behind his back. “Somehow, we need to convince her we’re an asset, not a threat.” Two outworlders. Bigger and more powerful than she. That was why she’d send them away. If they let her. They wouldn’t. “Dozens of planets have sent mates to the women here. All made powerful alliances, and all went home. How can we be different?” Tad stopped, looked into space. “Our advantages. One, the riddle. Two, your kind’s fascination with females everywhere.” Yes, his twin was a fool. Didn’t realize his own power. He’d fucked her well. When Brath had found her this morning, she’d had a mated look. Soft eyes. Glowing skin. She’d reacted to the honey balm. Climaxed hard after a moment or two. Tad had left his stamp on her. If he was too stupid to realize that, Brath wouldn’t tell him. “So, we have your sex appeal and my brains,” Tad said. “And she can’t tell us apart. That intrigued her. I’m glad I thought of it.” Brath snorted. “All right, all right, it was your idea for me to disguise myself as you,” Tad said.

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Eria’s Ménage

- 37 -

He’d lost the chance at first claiming. Worth the loss. She had to want them both. Together, they might stay. A team could win her. Neither could alone. Tad walked to him, bent, and stared into his face. “What goes on inside that head?” Brath looked back. “I know you can talk. Why don’t you?” Tad said. Only children babbled. Words were important. He wouldn’t use them now. “Damn you, I need your cooperation,” Tad said. “There’s a brain inside your skull. Use it.” Instead, he used his hand. He made a gesture. Like stroking a hard cock. Tad groaned and straightened. “All right. You want to plow her. Who wouldn’t?” Want? He was past wanting. His body throbbed. Her smell clung to him. It surged in his brain. In his blood. His twin had had her. His turn. Tad walked to his chair. Slumped into it. “Very well. Let me figure out how to get the maximum benefit out of the coupling, and you’ll have her.”

*** Both men appeared in Eria’s office in the late afternoon. They entered without so much as knocking. Kapt’s brows flew halfway to his hairline at the rudeness. “How dare you,” he said. “Do we need an appointment to see our mate?” Tad answered. He wore his own clothes this time. She’d be able to tell them apart, at least for now. “I haven’t said I’d mate with you yet,” she said. “You entertained me well enough last night,” Tad answered. Kapt’s mouth flew open. “Such insolence. Shall I have them removed, Excellency?” Brath stiffened, and his hand went to the metal ornament around his arm. Tad had used that to make bonds of energy the night before. It might also serve as a weapon. She raised a hand in his direction to warn him off. “They can stay,” she said. “For now.”

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Eria’s Ménage

- 38 -

Kapt huffed. They’d breached protocol, and he lived for such niceties. He made quite a picture, nearly quivering with offense. Very amusing. She should have offended him long ago. “I think we’re through now, Kapt,” she said. “You may leave us.” He stiffened, but did as she’d ordered. The door closed. She leaned back in her chair. “So, what was so important you had to come in here uninvited?” “We have unfinished business,” Tad said. “Or rather, you and Brath do.” “I would think he could speak for himself.” “He could, but he won’t.” Tad approached the desk and rested his hands on it. “If I hadn’t stopped him, he would have barged in here on his own and taken you however he wanted. Your chancellor could have looked on for all Brath cares.” She glanced at Brath. He stood, tall and proud. Yes, he might have come to claim her, but after this morning, she knew him better. He’d played gently with her. His voice had murmured encouragement as his salve had teased her flesh to orgasm. He was no brute, no matter how much the two of them wanted her to think he was. “He made a great sacrifice to let me know you first,” Tad said. “That isn’t his kind’s way.” “Don’t lecture me on his way. I’ve experienced it.” Tad straightened. “The honey balm. A man does that for his woman after hurting her on their first time. He didn’t get to enjoy your first time.” “Neither did you,” she said. “I wasn’t a virgin.” He smiled. “No, but I did hurt you.” She could only stare at him. “You’re proud of that?” He got that look in his eyes -- the maddening expression that said he could read her. “As long as I didn’t bore you.” She ought to slap him. He had hurt her the night before. He’d fooled her. And now, he presumed she’d take him and his companion as mates even though she hadn’t

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announced her choice yet. Even the expression on his face spoke of how he thought he could dominate her. Instead of showing anger or any other kind of vulnerability, she smiled. “You must have thought you’d bore me, or you wouldn’t have dressed up as him.” The remark hit its target. The smug curl to his lips disappeared. “I fucked you well enough to fool you.” “Ah, but I haven’t tried Brath. If I had, I might be able to tell the difference.” Brath chuckled. He’d stood in silence and watched the two of them spar. Now that the conversation had gotten around to the subject of the two of them having sex, his eyes sparkled with interest. “Precisely the reason for this visit, Excellency.” Tad made a little bow. “My twin here would very much like to make your acquaintance.” Her clit hardened at the thought. Her pussy still felt extra sensitive from the friction of the night before and the effect of that salve only hours earlier. She shifted in her chair. Instead of finding a more comfortable position, she only rubbed against the tender flesh. Moisture seeped between her thighs. She ought to feel sated now, but the two of them had only primed her to want more. Brath’s expression hardened. His eyes grew wide as his jaw clenched. In another situation he might have signaled anger, but the raw lust in his eyes promised pleasure, instead. “Yes,” she said. “It’s about time we dealt with each other, he and I.” A hiss escaped from between Brath’s lips. A deep breath held too long before it forced its way free, as if he’d doubted she’d agree. No, more likely as if he’d only held himself in check through force of his will, and now had no more need for control. She nodded to Tad. “You may leave us.” “I’d rather stay,” he said. “You want to watch?” “I’d like to see your expression when he enters you. I’d like to learn your sighs. I couldn’t concentrate on you alone last night. Not with my cock deep inside you.”

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“Fine. Stay.” Having a witness might be fun. If she chose them as her mates, she’d have both of them at once. If? Why lie to herself? The moment she’d spotted them in the council chamber, she’d selected them. Still, she could let them work for the privilege. Brath walked to her desk, rested one fist on the top, and used the other hand to cup the back of her head to pull her toward him. He’d kissed her tenderly this morning. Now, he took, rather than gave. His lips moved over hers with an urgency that stole the breath out of her lungs. A low moan floated through the room. Her own voice. She’d finally have the man who’d fired her imagination all the way across a crowd of suitors. He made a satisfied sound in the back of his throat and leaned back to study her face. A softness entered his eyes, pulling her into their blue depths. The expression didn’t fit with a warrior like Brath, but by now, he’d shown himself to be a man of contradictions. Tad sighed, so quietly she almost missed it. She glanced toward him. He’d lowered his gaze. As though he’d seen something he wished he hadn’t. Talk about contradictions. The man made no sense at all. He’d wanted to watch, and now he acted as if he couldn’t bear to. “Tad?” she said. “Don’t mind me,” he said. “Get on with it.” A callused finger touched her cheek. Brath turned her back to him. A smile curled his lips. He’d waited, and now, he’d have his reward. She rose and walked around the desk to him. He stood back to give her room then put his arms around her and pulled her hard against him. She’d felt him beside her as he held her while she came. She’d felt his twin’s body on hers as he thrust in and out of her. But, she’d never stood this close to one of them before, never felt dwarfed by their size. She stood taller than most women, and her ample body gave her even more stature. Next to Brath, she was small, even delicate. Her breasts pressed against his armor, the metal warm from his body.

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He bent and took her mouth again, and this time his tongue slipped between her lips to search for hers. She clung to him as the room spun around her. His hand moved over her back, fitting his hardness to her curves. So different, and yet they fit as if they belonged together. He shifted and placed a palm over her breast. While his fingers squeezed, his thumb played with the nipple through the cloth of her bodice. What a set of sensations. Currents of heat went through her from where his fingers touched her all the way to her sex. She rested her head against his shoulder so she could savor the feel of his fingers. He went lower, skimming his hand over her abdomen to her belly and below. Her nether lips seemed to swell, waiting for his touch. Her knees went weak, and she leaned back against the desk, parting her legs to encourage him. As his hand got closer and closer, he bent and covered her other breast with his mouth, sucking the peak deep, fabric and all. She held his head for balance and closed her eyes, tipping her own head back. Her muscles softened with pleasure, and her bones went pliant. Such sensation, such anticipation. When he finally reached her pussy and stroked it, she whimpered. Her body existed for this. To let him build the fire inside her and let it consume her. He rubbed faster, and her clit responded, getting harder and hypersensitive. “Touch me,” she whispered. “Please.” He bunched the skirt of her dress in his fists and pushed it up around her hips. When his fingers found the cloth of her underthings, he growled. Frustration. He’d expected her to be naked beneath her dress. At their next encounter, she would be. A thick finger went under the crotch of the panties and tugged. Before she could stand to let him push them down her legs, he ripped the fabric with a flick of his wrist. Such strength. She had no time to wonder at his power, though. As soon as he had her pussy naked, he slipped that finger inside her and pumped. She almost came off the desk with

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pleasure as it moved in and out. Her juices ran over her thighs, and she shifted, straining for contact against her hot spot. A perceptive lover, he pulled his finger from her pussy and smoothed her own wetness over her clit. Her universe constricted to that one spot. He used an expert touch, just rough enough to draw out her response, to make her want more, and then he plunged inside her again. He kept alternating -- first her depths and then the nub at the apex -- until her body picked up the rhythm, her heart thundering at the same tempo. So much, and yet, not nearly enough. Her body craved his tool. No matter how clever, his finger couldn’t fill her the way his cock would. As large as he was, he’d made her ready for him. She only needed to let him know she was ready, and he’d fuck her. She’d watched Tad remove the armor and codpiece the night before. Breathing hard, she found the strength of will to push his hand away. His brow furrowed, but when she reached between his legs to the ties that held his codpiece in place, he smiled with understanding. A haze of arousal lowered over his eyes as she undid the fastenings. Her knuckles brushed against his sac, and he let out a low note of pleasure. She finally freed the codpiece and could push it aside. As massive as it was, it could hardly contain his erect cock. She reached inside the opening of his leggings and pulled the rigid flesh out. Every bit as large and hard as the one that had pummeled her the night before, it stood straight out from his body now that she’d freed it. She had to use both hands to measure its length from the base all the way to the tip. He moaned as she petted him, and the sound reverberated in her ears, vibrating all the way down to where she throbbed for him. She squeezed and stroked him, and he seemed to grow even harder. So rigid the skin hardly moved over the firmness beneath. He closed his hands over hers and growled, a clear order for her to stop. A signal that she’d taken him to the edge of his control. She couldn’t help but smile. He stepped back, reached to his shoulders, and fumbled with the straps that held his armor there. When he had them opened, he pulled the whole thing over his head and let it drop beside him.

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In a corner of the room, Tad looked on, his expression unreadable. In her lust, his presence had dimmed to a mere detail. His own erection had pushed his clothing away from his body, but his face showed no enjoyment of it. With his jaw in a grim line, he reached under the fabric and showed her his swollen rod, gripping it at the base as if he’d like to strangle it. A snort from Brath brought her back to him. He’d stripped completely while she’d studied Tad, and now, for the first time, she could take in every glorious inch of him. A gleam of pride shone from his eyes as he stood for her inspection. His strong jaw gave way to a long neck and broad shoulders. Dark nipples graced a chest without a hint of hair. So sleek, the expanse of skin would make a solid bed for a woman sated by his loving. She’d try it herself, and soon. Well-defined abdominal muscles led to his stomach and tapering hips. Below that, powerful thighs and graceful calves continued to his feet. Even they were sexy. What a picture of male perfection, especially the huge tool that jutted from his groin. Smiling, he walked to her and lifted her dress over her shoulders. Her nipples peaked under the silk of her camisole, and he palmed them before removing that garment too. Now, she wore nothing but the scraps of her panties. He grabbed the waistband in his fists and tore it until the pieces came apart in his hands. He tossed them onto the pile with her other clothes, and she stood there, as nude as he was. He let his gaze roam over her and crooned his approval. His hand came up and stroked the side of her breast. Gently, as if he touched something precious. The tenderness made her heart clench in her chest. He could worship her, could he? She could do the same for him. She dropped to her knees, grasped the base of his cock in her fist, and brought the head to her lips. She’d sucked on Tad the night before, and she’d do the same for his twin now. He groaned and dug his fingers into her hair as his hips moved to force more of him inside her. She clutched at the shaft, both to stroke it and to keep from taking too

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much of him. He didn’t press her for more, but continued moving slowly. In and out while his hand rested on her head. Like his twin, he tasted of clean flesh. A warrior, yes, but not a beast. Like his twin, he moved carefully -- taking his own enjoyment but mindful of her. And, like his twin, he trembled as a moan escaped him. After a few moments, he pushed her away from him. When she looked up, she found his eyes tightly closed, his head tipped back. His chest rose and fell. Fully aroused, he would have climaxed soon, and he held himself back with some effort. She got to her feet and reached up to touch his face. His eyes opened, and he stared at her. He searched her face, an expression of wonder on his features. They’d connected in a way she couldn’t have imagined the first time she’d seen him. Smiling, he took her hand and pressed a kiss against her palm. Then, he turned her around and bent her over until her hands rested on the top of her desk. Ah, yes. He’d take her now. From behind, a position that would emphasize the feeling of his cock entering her. She turned liquid inside, and hot moisture coated her inner thighs. When he spread her legs and placed himself between them, she bent to give him better access to her pussy. Resting her head against the desktop, she glanced over to where Tad stood by the doorway. He still held his own cock, and now he stroked it. The flesh had turned livid, almost crimson. He was bringing himself to orgasm and might well come when she and Brath did. Not sharing as they would at their mating, but erotic in its own way. She could watch one cock send its stream of semen while another one did the same inside her. The tip of Brath’s member pressed against her folds now, giving her a taste of the joy waiting for her. She wiggled against it and managed to take an inch into her aching pussy. “More, please,” she whispered. “I need it. More.” He gave her another inch and stopped. How could he? He’d made her so hot, and his counterpart continued showing her what she could have inside her this minute. If only Brath would give it to her.

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“I’ll beg if I have to,” she said. “Please!” He went deeper. Better than any lover -- except Tad -- ever had. But, she hadn’t taken all of him yet. She slapped her hand against the desk in frustration. “Damn it. Why do you hold back? What do I have to do to have you all the way inside me?” “Take us as your mates,” Tad said. “Promise right now.” “Yes, of course,” she cried. “You knew I would. Fuck me, please!” Brath curled his arms around her, lifted her rear until she left her feet, and thrust into her all the way. His huge cock impaled her, all the way to her core. Yes! Such bliss. Her entire being came alive with sensation. Pleasure so intense, it wiped out all reality except the hard length inside her and the equally sinful display of male need across the room. She could watch Tad as pre-come fluid coated the head of his tool and imagine the same happening to Brath inside her pussy. He moved hard and fast now, slapping against her ass with the force of his thrusts. Her inner muscles grasped him, tensing for their own explosion. To have two such lovers. Each so well favored in size and each so expert in technique. How had she managed to be so fortunate? Tad stroked himself faster and harder now, and his features twisted into the mask of a man pushed to the edge. He kept his eyes open -- barely -- as he watched Brath slamming into her, preparing for his own orgasm. She’d neared the breaking point when Brath bent lower and parted the lips of her sex to stroke her clit. Fire raged through her. “Oh, God!” she gasped. “I’m going to come. Now. Now. Oh, yessss!” Brath kept stroking her while havoc broke free inside her. She erupted into spasms so intense they stole her reason. Across the room, Tad’s shouts joined hers as his essence shot from him. Brath grunted as he thrust a few more times, and then, he joined them with a growl of completion.

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The joy lasted only seconds but seemed to go on forever until, finally, she could only close her eyes and collapse against the desk. Brath lowered her to her feet and bent to gently bite the back of her neck. Marking her as his. She sighed her approval. When she opened her eyes again, Tad was gone.

*** Eria went looking for Tad. He’d resisted understanding long enough. He either impersonated Brath or stood and watched his twin fuck her without saying a word, hiding his thoughts and feelings. Who would have thought the man who didn’t speak would be easier to understand than the one so glib in his speech? She’d mate with the pair of them, and she’d know them both before she did. Then, she’d have to send them away. She stopped walking as that thought registered. Maybe she’d become too attached to them already. Brath’s strength and gentleness would do that for any woman. But, Tad… Tad was a puzzle. A riddle. She brought her fingers to her mouth and tapped her lip. Kapt claimed she did that whenever something upset her. She’d never imagined that any man could hold her attention for anything more than a tumble in bed. Two outworlders couldn’t have captured her heart, could they? She had to send them away. All the rulers of her line had done that. Few maledominated planets in the galaxy took a dynasty ruled by a woman seriously. Given a choice, they’d always deal with the male in charge. If she had to compete for authority with two men, she’d lose her power here before the birth of her heir. Brath and Tad would have to go. As soon as she knew she carried a girl child. If the mating went the way they always did, she’d conceive a daughter. Her stomach sank, but no amount of unhappiness could change the inevitable. She had her duty, and she’d do it, no matter how it hurt. An arm came out of nowhere and whipped around her neck. It pulled her against a male body and squeezed until she could hardly breathe. This man didn’t give off her mates’ clean scent but instead had the smell of old sweat. She clutched at the muscles. Pale skin and soft, but strong enough to hold her.

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She dragged in a breath. “Let me go.” “We don’t want to, Excellency.” “We?” She could scarcely squeeze the word out past the pressure against her throat. “We,” another male voice said. “You’re supposed to give us all an honest chance at mating.” Two of them. How could she have missed two men lurking in this corridor? Especially with the odor. She must have been completely lost in her thoughts of Tad and Brath. “Guards!” she called, but her voice came out as a croak. Nothing anyone could hear from more than a few feet away. The man’s hand went over her mouth, and he pressed his lips to her ear. “Don’t make any noise. We wouldn’t want to gag you.” Gag her, would they? She’d have them killed -- painfully -- if they even tried such a thing. She hooked her foot behind his and yanked his ankle out from under him. He toppled backward, pulling her with him. They landed hard, and all the air went out of her lungs, leaving her gasping. Before she could catch her breath, the other man was on her. He wrestled her to the floor and shoved his hand over her mouth. Now she could see him. The narrow eyes of a pair she’d received in the council chamber. They’d stood in the back, sulking. Aside from the general unpleasantness of their nature, not much had stood out about them. “We would have mated with you the normal way,” he said. “Not an option now, but we will mate with you.” She stared at him in astonishment. “A bed would be easier, but this floor in the corridor will get you pregnant just as well.” She struggled beneath him, but he weighed too much to flip him off. The other man -- the one who had grabbed her first -- yanked her head backward by her hair and placed his palm over her mouth while the one on top of her sat up. He still had her legs

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pinned. He reached to the fastening of his pants, fumbled for a bit, and pulled out a limp cock. “I’ll get it hard soon enough,” he said as he pumped the shaft. “Then, after I’ve had you, my brother will follow.” They meant to force themselves on her. Both of them in rapid succession. Only that would get her with child. Once they’d impregnated her, she couldn’t reverse the process. By raping her, they took the choice away from her. She fought back. They could overpower her. They already had. But they couldn’t make her submit. When he did get that puny cock hard, it’d have a moving target. He did manage to get it erect. While the other one held her hair and her mouth, he pulled her dress up to her hips. Suddenly, his head jerked backward, and he grunted as an arm pulled him up and off her. Tad jerked the man to his feet and slammed him against the wall. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Tad shouted. “This is none of your business,” the man answered. Before Tad could shove him again, the second man was on him, sliding his arm around Tad’s throat and pulling tight against his windpipe. Eria scrambled to her feet and launched herself against the man. She pounded against him with her fists, and when that accomplished nothing, she gouged at his face with her fingernails. Parallel lines of red appeared -- droplets of blood against his cheek. “Bitch!” He released Tad, turned, and slammed his fist into her face. Her vision swam, darkness clouding the edges. Before she could clear her head, the man had pressed her against the far wall. His fingers went around her throat, and he squeezed. “Like it rough, do you?” he snarled. His other hand went under her dress to her crotch, and he thrust a finger up inside her. “I can do that.” She twisted in his grasp and brought her knee up hard, aiming for his groin. He sidestepped, though, and she missed. His fingers closed tighter around her throat, and she had to struggle to breathe. Another few moments of this, and she’d black out. He might really take her then, and if his brother followed right after, they could force her to

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have their child. Tad couldn’t overcome two of them. Right now, the other one might be holding him off while she could only stare into the fury in this one’s eyes. Those eyes narrowed as he stared back, and a vicious gleam entered them. A light of triumph. He’d won, and he knew it. She struggled, but she couldn’t get free. Her lungs burned for lack of air. Finally, the strength oozed from her limbs, leaving her weak. No, not this way. Deities, don’t give me a child this way. A howl sounded, bouncing off the walls. In an instant, the pressure eased around her throat. She steadied herself and swallowed air in huge gulps. Tad had pulled the man off her and now fought them both. His eyes filled his face, wide with anger so livid it might have been madness. “Guards,” she called, but the word came out not much stronger than a whisper. She took a breath and tried again. “Guards.” Not much better that time. She’d have to find a way to help Tad, because she would not leave him to the mercy of these two. She threw herself into the fight again, swinging her fists. With no way of knowing where her punches landed, she kept on. Someone let out a loud “oof.” Not Tad, thank heaven. A cry of pain almost deafened her, and something warm shot over her side. Blood. The man beside her slumped, and soon, the reason came into view. Brath stood behind him, his knife red. He’d opened a gash in the man’s side. The other man backed away from Tad, who fell to the floor, clutching his stomach. She dropped down beside him and pressed her hand to the side of his face. “Did he hurt you?” He shook his head in answer. After wiping his knife on his leggings, Brath slid it back into the top of his boot, then dropped that man to the floor and turned on the other one. The man’s face went white, and he backed up. Before he could escape, Brath growled and lunged at him. He caught the bastard around the throat and shoved him against the wall with enough

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force to make his skull crack. His neck twisted in an unnatural angle. Snapped. His eyes went vacant in death as he collapsed in a heap. Brath turned and crouched beside Eria. He took her face in his hands and searched her eyes, questioning. “I’m all right,” she whispered. “You two saved me.” They had. Two men she’d only met days before, but they’d loved her with their bodies and protected her from the unthinkable. They’d become a part of her, and the connection would only grow when they mated. How would she ever tell them good­ bye? Brath nodded and looked to his twin, clapping him on the shoulder. “I’m fine too,” Tad said. She looked around at all the blood and the vacant stare in the dead man’s eyes. “Deities, what a sight. I could be sick.” “Take those two away, Brath,” Tad said. Brath grunted and rose. He grabbed each of the others by their collars and dragged them away, lifeless, from all appearances. The first might not have bled to death yet, but he would. The other would have a brain full of bone fragments. Both bodies left a trail of gore as they disappeared down the hallway. “Are you really all right?” Eria pulled at Tad’s arm. “Tell me. Did they hurt you?” “Nothing serious.” “Let me see, damn it.” She managed to pull his hand away. No blood. Thank heaven. “I think they bruised a couple of ribs.” “What were you thinking? They could have killed you.” “I couldn’t let them force themselves on you.” No, of course not. If those men had raped her, Tad and Brath would have no reason for staying here. The alliance would fall apart, and they’d go back to their planets without having fulfilled their mission. For a while, she’d thought he came to her

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rescue out of some tender feelings. Maybe even love. The two of them had stirred up her hormones to the point where she’d mistaken her own feelings for theirs. She sighed. He took her face in his hands and gazed into her eyes. “What about you? They handled you roughly.” “I’ll recover.” “I’m glad they’re dead.” His jaw tightened with anger. “I wish I’d killed them.” “Brath’s taken care of that.” He scooted back against the wall and hung his head between his knees. “Yes. Brath.” She studied him. “What’s wrong?” He shrugged. “Nothing.” “All I did was mention Brath, and you…” She’d said his twin’s name, and all the air had gone out of him. What the devil? “You’re jealous.” He didn’t say anything but looked at his fingers as if they were the most fascinating things he’d ever seen. “You are,” she said. “You’re jealous of Brath.” “So what if I am?” Something inside her did a little jump step and skittered to the side. He did care about her. Enough to envy her admiration of another man. Even his twin. How sweet. She sat beside him and pushed his hair from his face. “I don’t prefer him over you.” “It would be only natural if you did.” “How could I? How could I possibly choose one of you over the other?” He glanced up, and his crystal eyes went wide. “Do you mean that? You care about me as much as you do about him?” She put her hand on the side of his face. “I love you.” “Oh, my darling.” He curled his fingers around hers and kissed the tips. “Does this mean we’ve won your heart as well as your body?” “Can you doubt it?”

Chapter Four The ceremonial bedchamber stood open to the warm breezes on three sides. In a secluded part of the royal gardens, the pavilion lay out of reach to everyone but the queen and her mates. No one would dare encroach here even on an ordinary day. On the day their monarch would conceive the next generation’s ruler, an intruder would face execution. After the deaths of the two who’d tried to rape Eria, no one had the stomach for more of the same. So, when she joined Tad and Brath, her feet bare against the smooth tiles, she had complete privacy to enjoy the encounter to the fullest. Two glorious male specimens -more virile, more desirable than she’d ever imagined -- and she’d have them both until they gave her the ultimate gift. They stood apart, one near the bed and the other turned away, looking out over the lawns and flowerbeds. The scent of hundreds of blossoms filled the air. Traditional, as were the gowns all three of them wore. Hanging loose from the shoulders to the floor, the garments allowed freedom of movement. With only one clasp at the neckline and one more at the waist, they would come away easily. They’d all be naked soon. “Which one of you is which?” she asked. The man who’d been looking away turned at the sound of her voice. He smiled, but neither of them said anything. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?” Neither moved. They could have been statues. “I could command you to tell me,” she said. One eyebrow on the man near the bed went up. Amusement, bordering on insolence. Once, she would have assumed only Brath would dare. Now, she knew

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better. Both of them knew very well she couldn’t command them to do anything. She’d lost the ability to command this pair a long time back. “All right, we’ll do it your way,” she said. The moment she agreed, the right of it settled in her chest. She could never choose her favorite between them. Not Brath with his raw power or Tad with his intellect. She brought her hands together in front of her chest and bowed in the traditional greeting for mates. Well-coached, the men did the same. The one who’d contemplated the grounds earlier walked to her, his hand extended. She took it and gazed up into his face. His expression held her there. The tenderness in his eyes softened his entire face. Surely, this must be Tad, the one who cared enough to feel jealousy. But when the other one joined them and took her other hand, he showed the same tender regard. Could they both have arrived at the same feelings for her? What of her own emotions? This was supposed to be an alliance of planets. Political convenience, nothing more. Once they’d gotten her with child, they’d return home. They had to. Her people would never accept the authority of outworlders. A finger slid under her chin and tilted her head up. Ice blue eyes searched hers. She answered without words. I love you. She’d come to cherish them both. For the pleasure they could give her in bed and the affection in their touch at all times. She closed her eyes and parted her lips, inviting his kiss. He obliged and pressed his mouth to hers. Birdsong floated to her as she sampled him, and the perfume of the flowers grew more intense. All her senses came alive, and she stepped into his warmth. After a moment, he pulled away to let the breeze dance on her skin. Before she could protest, the other man took her into his arms and nestled her against him while his lips moved over hers. Both of them so sweet, as their breath mingled with hers. Her breasts pressed against the muscles of his chest, the tips growing sensitive. She whimpered and swayed

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into him. This was just the beginning, only the smallest sample of what lay before her. Once they’d shown her all the pleasures of their bodies, how would she bear losing them? How did you settle for ordinary experience once you’ve tasted the sublime? He broke off the kiss finally, and she opened her eyes. Smiling, he reached to the clasp at her throat. When he had that done, he unfastened the other one. With one push, he had the gown over her shoulders, and it fell like a whisper over her body to the floor. He bent and pressed a kiss at the base of her throat, just over the pulse. Behind her, the other man brushed her hair over one shoulder and nibbled at the spot where her skull met her neck. Their breath caressed her skin in front and in back. They’d enveloped her in body heat. What would it feel like to sleep like this every night for the rest of her life? A hard, male body on each side. Her hands free to explore each of them, teasing first one cock to hardness and then the other. Fucking each of them before falling back to sleep surrounded by the scent of them. Once she’d known that, how could she bear to lose it? Not now. She wouldn’t think of that now, while she had them both with her. Later, she’d find some way to face the loss. Now, she’d take what they offered. They moved lower as if they’d orchestrated the encounter. One man traced the furrow between her breasts with his tongue while the other did the same along her spine. A pair of hands toyed with her nipples and kneaded the flesh around them while another pair massaged her shoulder blades. Damn, he’d made a touch on her back erotic. She moaned her pleasure and stretched her arms out from her sides to give them access to her ribs. As her heartbeat sped up, lips closed over one rigid peak and drew it deep into his mouth and sucked. His eyes drifted closed, the lashes black against his skin, while his cheeks worked for suction. Behind her, the other placed his palms over her buttocks and kneaded them. The action pressed her legs together and then apart, creating friction at the folds between her thighs. Already, she was getting wet there. Her body knew what was coming, and the greedy thing wouldn’t wait.

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Both men dropped to their knees. The one in front slid his arms around her while he pressed little caresses over her belly. The other man reached up to cup her breasts. Her head lolled to the side. She’d expected her mating to set her body on fire. More than a simple fuck, this meeting of bodies created new life. She hadn’t anticipated her men to capture her heart with their tenderness. Such attention to her pleasure, such care with every inch of her, could only come from men dedicated to her happiness. She’d find some way to reward them. As soon as the haze of arousal lifted and she could claim her mind again, she’d give them their hearts’ desire. Right now, she could only take the joy they offered and revel in it. The man at her front parted her legs and placed his mouth over her mound. He ran his tongue over the lips and then teased between them to find her clit. Already distended, it caught fire immediately. She gasped and swayed. A strong arm held her from behind, or she would have fallen. The graze of the tongue on her most sensitive flesh, the heat of the body behind her. Every nerve throbbed, craving more. She’d have more soon. She only needed some patience to prolong the joy as long as possible. The man behind her bent her forward and ran his hand over her buttocks and between her legs. While the other continued teasing her clit, he slid a thick finger between her folds and up into her pussy. Now her whole body sang with delight. One man still held her up while the other licked at her clit and reached up to cup her breasts. Tad and Brath. Brath and Tad. Her lovers. Each so perfect. She could spend a lifetime getting to know them until she could tell one from the other. If only they had that much time together. The finger continued probing while the tongue kept pushing her higher. She could climax like this and be the most fortunate woman who ever lived, but she needed their cocks inside her. First one shooting his seed inside her as she came, followed by the second one. Their combined sperm would bless her with a child. She stood, supported by the man behind her, as they both played her body like an instrument -- as if they’d spent their lives studying how to pull the maximum

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response from her. She moaned, her voice rising on the last note in a song that told of a woman near her limit. Her clit ached with unspent need while her pussy muscles grasped at the finger inside her. Moisture spread over her thighs as the orgasm drew closer. She had to stop them if she wanted a cock inside her when the madness came. She would stop them, but her throat would only form little cries as her control slipped away. Stop! Oh no, don’t stop. Don’t. Her pussy contracted around the pressure inside it, and he withdrew his hand from her sex. She rested back against him -- in truth, her legs wouldn’t have supported her -- while the other man rose. For a moment, they stood in silence with Eria between her two lovers, while her heart hammered in her chest. She’d come so close to losing herself. She could climax forever with these two, but this time, more mattered than her pleasure. When she went into that other reality, she needed to take them with her. Only their skill had let her forget that -- if only for a moment -- and only their understanding of her body had let them know when to hold her back from the brink. She leaned against the man in front of her and took several shallow breaths. “Thank you.” He kissed her temple and then bent to scoop her up into his arms. She couldn’t have walked, and he’d known that too. He carried her to the bed and held her while the other one removed his gown. She’d seen them both naked before. She shouldn’t have been surprised at his beauty -- the sleek muscles and smooth skin. The huge erection that jutted away from his body. Still, the sight of him stole her breath away. Were there ever two more perfect men in the universe? He stretched out on the bed -- his head resting at the near end. When he stretched his arms outward, her other lover lowered her to her feet and guided her onto the first man. He, in turn, burrowed his nose between her legs and took to lapping at her sex again. His arms went around her hips to hold her against his face, and his tongue found her clit to continue making her wild.

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Eria’s Ménage

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Surely, she would go mad this time. Already pushed past endurance, the bundle of nerve endings went into hyperdrive. “Please,” she gasped. “Inside me. A cock. Now.” Hands grasped her hips and pulled her back against powerful thighs, also naked. He must have shed his own robe while his twin feasted on her pussy. Her labia tingled, craving penetration. He parted them, and soon the tip of his erection pressed against her entrance. “Yes!” she cried. “Now. I… can’t… wait.” He pressed forward, burying himself so deep, her ass met his body. He withdrew and surged forward again, and her pussy throbbed all around him. She didn’t have to hold back now. With his rod inside her and the other man sucking her clit, she could surrender. The man behind her would come when she did. His moans and the frenzy of his thrusts testified to that. Tad or Brath would spill his seed inside her at the right moment. And then, Brath or Tad would follow with his. Another powerful movement of the cock, another slide of the tongue on her clit, and they’d climb to the peak together. Already, he was pounding into her. Faster. Harder. Trembling violently. The force of destiny hit her as her body coiled in on itself and then exploded into a climax so powerful it tore away all reason. Her vision went to black as her whole being centered on the spasms inside her. Her pussy grabbed at his hardness over and over. He shouted and stiffened on one last thrust. His seed spilled into her, drawing out her own response, and she came and came and came. The orgasm didn’t end. Even when he’d finished, she still hung suspended in a supernova of need. More! her mind shrieked. There had to be more. Hands moved her. Not gentle now, but urgent. They shoved her forward, guided her off the firm male flesh still inside her. Other hands pushed her upward until she somehow sat upright.

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Then another cock slammed up into her, stretching her, almost splitting her in two. The convulsions continued, even her womb pulsating. She would have screamed, if her lungs had held any air. All she could do was let it take her while her pussy milked the cock in her depths. Then he roared, and his semen flew from him in hot waves, giving her every bit of bliss she’d imagined and more. Every scrap of heaven she could have hoped for and much, much more. The three of them had united in perfection, and her existence would never be the same again. Finally spent, she slumped forward as her breathing returned. Hands reached for her again, guiding her onto the sheets between her mates. More hands found blankets and pulled them up to cover their bodies. She lay between her mates as her heartbeat slowed to normal. Each touched her now as one sighed and the other made his purring sound. Something fluttered below her heart, sending a signal to her belly. Another tremor there, and her egg released. In an hour or two she’d carry her heir. The second part of the riddle. They’d created life, but part of her would die when they left.

*** On the day her mates would leave her forever, Eria had to approve a dozen or more marriages. Grim irony, that. She had to sit between the two men who’d shown her a combination of ecstasy and tenderness sweet enough to make a stone weep -- men she would now lose -- and she had to look at young faces fresh with hope for the future. What fiend had thought up this cruel trick? An influx of new suitors always ended in multiple marriages. The same had happened when her mother had mated. The former queen had instructed her daughter, Eria, in how to endure the ordeal and then the long years of celibacy after her mating. Think of your duty, your people, your world. Think of the benefits of so many intermarriages with other civilizations. Concentrate on that and take pride.

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Her mother hadn’t loved her fathers, though. Never mentioned them, as if they had no identity beyond the contribution of their sperm. Her mother couldn’t have had lovers like Tad and Brath. Brath and Tad. Identical and uniquely precious. Deities, how could she survive the loss of them?

The next couple approached. Their hands clasped together, they bowed low

before the dais. “You want to marry this outworlder?” Eria asked. The young woman lifted her head and smiled shyly. “With all my heart, Excellency.” “And will you take good care of her?” “I will.” The man glanced at his intended with eyes full of adoration. “Mine is an old and noble house. We have grand estates on my planet.” “You’d take her from her family here?” He grasped his intended’s hand in both of his and squeezed. “She’ll live wherever she wants. Anything to make her happy.” Brath stiffened beside Eria. No one else would have noticed, but she knew his body so well now. He gazed over the crowd with eyes that registered nothing. On her other side, Tad merely looked away. They hurt as much as she did. “Excellency?” the young woman said.

“Yes, yes.” Eria waved her hand. “You have my permission.”

The happy couple rose and walked away, the man’s arm circled around his

fiancée’s waist. The next pair approached. Enough. She didn’t have to take any more of this. Besides, this wasted the precious minutes she still had to spend with her mates. She stood. “You all have my permission. Now, get out of my sight.” A murmur of surprise went up, but they’d seen her anger often enough to find urgent business elsewhere. Only Kapt hesitated, but she glared at him until he left too. The strength went out of her legs, and she sat between Tad and Brath again. None of them spoke for a moment. What did you say in this situation? “Have a nice trip

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back?” “I’ll invite you to our daughter’s wedding?” The sooner they forgot about each other, the better. Finally, Tad cleared his throat. “You’re sure you’re with child?” “As sure as the last time you asked.” “You haven’t seen a doctor,” he said. “How can you know?” She covered his hand with her own. “I know.” Brath didn’t say anything or even move. He might have been carved from the mountains surrounding the castle. His silence fairly screamed of emotion to someone who knew him. “I don’t like leaving you,” Tad said. She pressed her fingertips to her forehead and massaged at the pain just over her eye. “What we like doesn’t matter.” “Damn it.” Tad rose and paced in front of her. “You’re going to have our child. What sort of lout would leave you to face the birthing yourself?” “That’s what you agreed to when you came here,” she said. “Impossible.” “You agreed!” she repeated. “You know our customs.” “I don’t give a fuck for your customs. You’re carrying my child, and I won’t leave you.” “By the deities. Brath, make him see the sense of it.” A disapproving rumble came from Brath’s chest. “Not you too,” she said. “We killed two of your suitors.” Tad stopped and glared at her. “A devious and violent pair. A government that would send two bastards like them will retaliate.” “I can defend myself.” This time, Brath growled. More disagreement. What was wrong with these two? Oh, hell. They cared what happened to her. They’d shown that in dozens of ways. If she were an ordinary woman, she’d accept that concern -- even hope it developed into

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more. She’d keep them with her, let them see the birth of their daughter and share in her life. The queen couldn’t share anything with them. “No,” she said. “You have to go.” Tad recoiled as if she’d punched him in the stomach. Brath let out a sound full of pain. “Don’t do this!” she cried. “I don’t have any choice. It’s custom.” “We have customs too,” Tad said. “You haven’t solved my riddle, so I don’t have to release you.” “But, I have.” She’d thought she’d only solved the first two parts, but the third came to her in a flash. “The solution is you. By that, I mean both of you. You two burn me with your touch, and yet, my heart freezes because I have to let you go.” Something like hope entered Tad’s eyes. “Go on.” “You’ve given me a new life inside me, and now, you’re killing me.” Damn, she wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t. Brath took her chin in his hand and turned her to him. His own eyes held a sheen of moisture. She couldn’t hold back the tears, and her vision blurred. “I found you two only once, but I’ll see you everywhere. For the rest of my life.” “Wrong.” Tad’s voice came out unsteady.

She turned to glare at him. “What do you mean I’m wrong?”

“You are,” Tad said. “You’ve failed.”

Her breath caught on a sob. “How can I have failed? That’s how I feel.”

“That’s not the right answer, is it, Brath?”

“And he knows what it is?” she said.

“It’s love,” Brath said. His voice was rusty with disuse, but the words came out

clearly enough. “You love me?” “I do.” She turned to Tad. “And you?” “With every part of me.”

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She moaned and dissolved into a pool of utter misery. Arms went around her. Body heat surrounded her as Brath embraced her. Tad crouched in front of her and gazed into her eyes. “Let us stay with you and help you. Let us protect and advise you.” “I want to, but…” “No but. Just do it.” “How can I?” “Order them. You’re the queen. Tell them you need a warrior. Tell them you need an adviser wiser than that fool of a chancellor.” “Kapt won’t like that.” “To hell with Kapt.” Tad stared into her face. “Do it, my love. We won’t usurp your authority. We only want to stay with you.” Brath pressed his lips to her ear. “Let us stay.” How could she? Yet, how could she not? Sending them away would make all three of them miserable, and she needed her strength to grow the child inside her and bring her into the world. Maybe other queens could manage without their mates, but they hadn’t had men like these two. They hadn’t loved as deeply as she did. The mere possibility set her heart free. The spark of life inside her burned more brightly, warming her heart. She would do this. Nothing else would feel right. “We’ll have new customs, starting today,” she said. “And, I’ll need a larger bed.” Two pairs of arms held her now, creating that hallowed space between the men she loved. As long as they held her like this, she’d find happiness, and the two of them would hold her for the rest of their lives.

Alice Gaines Award winning author Alice Gaines has published several sensuous and erotic works. She prefers stories that stretch the imagination, highlighting the power of love and sex. Alice has a Ph.D. in psychology from U. C. Berkeley and lives in Oakland, California, with her collection of orchids and two pet corn snakes, Casper and Sheikh Yerbouti. Visit her website at http://home.pacbell.net/halice/.