Kithra

A frustrated spaceship captain, her trusty second-in- command, and a handsome alien prove that three is definitely not a crowd. Spaceship captain Lux Moyans is currently piloting missions for The Company. When her second-in-command, Kol Frega, informs her they’ve been ordered to Kithra, she’s furious. A year on an uninhabitable planet? She’ll only be flying supply missions! But her ship—Kol’s design—is the only one that can withstand the planet’s gases…and Lux is one of the few pilots with the skill to navigate the debris fields resulting from the explosions that killed most of the planet’s Gwinarian race. Kol is the engineer who learned to manipulate the indestructible metal on Kithra, and he and a surviving Gwinarian will be her only company on planet. When they pick up Egan Lothbrun, Lux knows there will be trouble. She’s already attracted to Kol and she doesn’t need another man to arouse her either mentally or physically. Lux doesn’t want or need the complications that emotions bring. Yet, when she learns Kol and Egan share a painful past, she realizes getting Kithra livable won’t be her only challenge. Keeping her heart intact might be harder. Warning: A cranky pilot, a sexy second-in-command and an irresistible alien join…forces in more ways than one. And yes, there are close encounters of the sexy kind.

eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work. This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. Samhain Publishing, Ltd. 11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B Cincinnati OH 45249 Kithra Copyright © 2011 by Dani Worth ISBN: 978-1-60928-807-5 Edited by Heather Osborn Cover by Angela Waters All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: November 2011 www.samhainpublishing.com

Kithra Dani Worth

Dedication

This first one is for my husband who has waited a long time for this. Thanks for the years of support and for your belief in me. I couldn’t love you more.

Chapter One

“Who’d you piss off this time, Lux?” I didn’t look up from the flight logs. Didn’t feel like meeting the gaze of a man who really didn’t deserve the struggles my insolence reaped. I smirked and crunched on the end of a piece of celery. Actual celery—not that shit poor excuse of fake stuff our simulator coughed up. What I wouldn’t give for some kind of cheesy spread to put on it, but the crew had eaten through all the non-healthy stuff. The table shifted as Kol settled his considerable bulk onto the bench across from me. The man was over six feet of heavy muscle and he dwarfed the small break room—our idea of a kitchen with two bolted-down bench tables and two simulators. “Guess I should have asked if there’s anyone you haven’t pissed off.” “Probably not.” I looked up and frowned at my second in command, noting he wore casual clothes, his black hair sliding loose to his chin. I didn’t often see him like this and it startled me at first. Swallowing back the sudden lump in my throat, I gestured at the other piece of celery. “Lex Luthor trying to pull us off this seek mission again?” He grinned and picked up the vegetable. I ignored the twisting in my gut as that intriguing groove along the side of his mouth deepened. Yeah, it was there from a scar, but it sharpened his already decent face. I always got the strangest urge to run my tongue along it. I chomped my last bite of celery. You’re losing it, Lux.

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“I guess Luthor is supposed to be Roover?” He snapped his celery in half and handed part of it to me. “Come on, I know it’s been centuries, but even you have to get that Rex Roover is funny shit. He’s always playing the bad guy, screwing with the cooler missions we get. He’s still pissed about his kryptonite…oops, his kithronite.” Kol leaned forward, crossed his arms on the table. Nearly black eyes met mine and that steady, penetrating gaze did what it always did. Made me think about licking other things of his. He’d been my second for the past two years, but we’d worked alongside each other longer than that. He was brilliant. Not only one of the most intelligent geologists in the known universes, but he’d designed this wicked-ass ship out of the most indestructible metal ever found. You’d think with his design, he’d be captain, but he hadn’t balked when I’d been assigned to this ship. Okay, I’d called in a few favors. And one blackmail. This baby could fly and there was nothing I liked more than flying. “Lux.” Kol laid his hand over the one I had resting on the table. “We’ve been reassigned.” I stared at the hand on mine. He never touched me—went out of his way not to—and I’d always been okay with that. Had a rule about sex with anyone ranked under me. Did that once and the resulting mess had me grounded for most of a year. I’m not talking under restriction from parents type thing, I’m talking not allowed to fly kind of thing. That is never, ever good. “Did you hear me?” “Yeah, I was just waiting for you to elaborate. Figured I’d have time to brew some coffee.” I grinned to take away some of the sting. Every member of this crew got a little annoyed with how long it took words to come out of his mouth. If you didn’t ask questions, he never volunteered answers. Wasn’t secretive, just

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infinitely, infinitely private. I’d spent more than one lonely night with my hand, wondering exactly what he was doing with his inside his own quarters. He was only a few inches taller than me and built like a bull. I’d always gone for the leaner, graceful sort of guys, but those wide planes of muscles made my fingers itch. Kol worked out like a fiend. I had a feeling those battle-field workouts came from inner fights more than out of any sense of vanity. I had issues, too. Who didn’t? And we were all required to stay fit for ground missions, but with Kol, it was like he took the fit requirement as a challenge. Sighing, I jerked my hand from under his and pounded my fist on him. “For fuck’s sake, Kol, are you going to elaborate or not?” “There will be less flying.” My gut knotted instantly, everything else going cold. “Say that again?” “It’s why I asked who you might have pissed off.” Agitation flooded my frozen limbs and I leaned over the table. “Are you trying to tell me I’m being grounded again? And don’t make me prompt every damn word, Kol. Spit it all out. Now.” He grabbed my hand, shocking me even more than before as anger darkened his already swarthy features. “If you could sit still and listen, you’ll get the details. I merely wanted to get some of the bad news out first.” “Some?” Again, he turned his hand, this time threading his fingers with mine. Heat flooded my belly and I noticed that it had been awhile since his last haircut. The wavy, sable strands swept along his chin. Looked soft. I should have pulled my hand back, should have moved away. Instead, I stayed there, intrigue flooding and wetting places that screamed it was time for a layover trip to the nearest populated galaxy.

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Kol had never once showed interest in me that way, so keeping to my rule had been easy. All this touching from him was new and damn if it wasn’t going to make things harder. “There will still be some flying, just more grounding. Roover needs a crew to oversee mining on Kithra.” This time, I did move back as my tightening belly turned to rock. I stood, smoothed my hands down my blue flight suit, paced a few steps then came back to settle on the bench. Reining in the emotions took some doing, but I calmly met his gaze “Since when is Kithra livable? Didn’t the explosions leave dangerous levels of gas in the air, destroy all the life pods? I thought no one could stay down there long enough to install more and with all the Gwinarians dead, who could go into the caves?” “They’re not all dead. Some were off planet when that happened. One of them has agreed to go back.” My shoulders slumped. “And this ship is the only one that can withstand the gases.” He inclined his head. “And you’re the only one I trust to get her through the debris fields around the planet.” Oh, I did like flying through debris fields. Yeah, I was warped, but the challenge got my adrenaline spiking like nothing else. This ship was the best designed craft I’d gotten my hands on. And the nav system Kol had designed? Made me orgasmic. “What about our crew? Are they staying?” He shook his head, pushing hair out of his eyes as it slid forward. “We’re dumping them at the next supply station and picking up the Gwinarian.” “And since you’re a geologist—” “The one who originally discovered how to manipulate kithronite.”

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My eyebrows flew up. “I didn’t know that. Why haven’t you ever talked about that? You lived there?” And like that, his expression closed. It was the same look I’d seen many times over the years and it was usually followed by one of his gym battles. Great. I waited, sighed when more than a couple of minutes passed. “Kol?” It took effort for him to loosen up the tight hold he’d put on himself. I could see it in the releasing of his fists, the lowered shoulders. We had a lot in common, Kol and I. Mainly a temper and a desire to succeed. He was another reason I’d fought so hard to get assigned to this ship. I admired someone who went after what they wanted with the same fire I did. I’d clawed my way up from one of the poorest settlements on Earth 3 and had only gotten into flight school by being better than every other damn wannabe pilot out there. I’d stayed on top in grades because I had to make up a lot of time for fights. Never did play well with others. Except Kol. We got along. We weren’t terribly close—I didn’t know his secrets, or anything like that—but working together for so long with similar personalities had helped. “Lux?” I blinked and realized he’d been talking. “Sorry.” I focused on him to find him staring at my mouth. I’d been chewing on my lower lip. I have a hell of an overbite, so it’s a habit I usually try to avoid sharing. Something in that unwavering stare sent heat flooding into my lower body. Everything down there went on alert and my heartbeat picked up. Could he be interested? In me? Granted, I’m not a prize. I’m tall, skinny with very little feminine curves. My boobs were pretty, but you couldn’t tell in clothes because they didn’t make an impression—didn’t stick out far. I suppose my face is okay—kind of narrow

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featured and my nose is a bit too long. I had a couple of boyfriends in the past tell me the overbite was the sexiest thing they’d ever seen. Had a hard time believing that, but this look on Kol’s face made me rethink that. “The mining?” I prompted, shooting him a grin to let him know I’d caught him. His dark eyes lifted and zeroed in on mine and oh yeah, he was interested and I had no idea where this was coming from. I held my breath, let it out slowly. “Kol, how is one Gwinarian going to do the mining?” “Robotics. Apparently, he survived because he was off planet. He designed androids and is bringing them along with the supplies we’ll need to repair more life pods to get a better crew in. But we’ll be there alone for possibly a year or more. There is only one set of working living quarters and one set for mining. Too many people crammed in there for so long—well, you and I both know that’s a bad idea.” “So, you’re to find the metal, the Gwinarian will mine it and what will I be doing?” “We’ll all be repairing path tunnels first and that will take some time. But you’ll be overseeing the life support and flying the shipments out. They set up a docking station just beyond the debris fields.” “Doesn’t this sound fishy to you? A skeleton crew on a planet that’s been uninhabitable for five years?” “Yes, it’s why I asked who you pissed off.” This time I bit my lip on purpose. “I did call Roover a prick who gets off living through other people’s adventures because he doesn’t have the gonads to do it on his own.” Kol’s laughter got that heat below my waist going again. I was going to have to dump the rule. We couldn’t be on that planet together for so long and not have

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sex. It would be stupid. “What’s the catch?” I asked to take my mind off what he might look like under that blue flight suit. “One year contract to start, possibly longer depending on how long it takes us to repair the pods. We have to be at the docking station in two weeks.” I pushed away from the table and stood. “No way! That’s impossible. We’ve no supplies, no information. Are we off the current seek mission then? We’ve spent months preparing for this!” And we each stood to make a decent bonus. “Our replacements are arriving tomorrow. We fill them in, swing by the base and load up. We’re picking up the Gwinarian. He’s already there gathering what he needs for the actual mining. On the plus side, they’re tripling our pay for the year we’re on planet.” I already made damned good money, but triple would mean I could start sending bigger batches to my parents, maybe get them to move into a decent place on Earth 3. I could save more money for my own ship. I nodded. I didn’t really have a choice, knew the triple funds were to make up for some pretty shitty living conditions. Not to mention the danger of gas. “Guess I’d better go tell our crew.” I stalked to the door, then stopped when something occurred to me. Something that should have when Kol had first opened his mouth. “Why were you told all this information before me?” His grin that time stole my breath. “I’ve been promoted,” he said, that heat refilling his eyes once again.

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Chapter Two

We had a problem. Or, I did. As I watched the Gwinarian walk up the docking ramp, I knew without a doubt that this stretch of Kithra time would be hell. Something was already brewing between Kol and me, but one look at this guy had my mouth watering. I glanced at Kol to see if he’d noticed. He wasn’t taking his eyes off the Gwinarian either. Not that I blamed Kol. The humanoid alien was taller than us, lean like me and he moved with the grace of a dancer. His hair—that Gwinarian rust red that humans paid a fortune to copy—hung loose and long. His grin was friendly, his amber gaze direct. He strolled up the ramp with a bag slung over one shoulder, somehow managing to bring brightness to the air despite the gun metal gray surroundings of the noisy supply station. A hovercraft zoomed past, an old model that spit out oily fumes. I waved a hand at the smoke so it didn’t mar my sight of the alien. I’d only met one Gwinarian in the past and she’d been like this. Bright. Chipper. Gorgeous. She’d gotten on my every damn nerve while we’d been at the academy together. This male picked at altogether different nerves. I didn’t squirm, but I did hold my breath, then let it out when he met my gaze. My first impression, after getting past the pretty, was he possessed a very, very strong will. I’d never seen amber eyes before and I knew I was staring like an idiot, but that direct gaze showed me in no uncertain terms that he considered no one above him in rank.

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And he didn’t run his eyes down my body, though the roguish grin I’d noticed first made me think he’d be one of those types. And oh man, I wouldn’t mind getting wild with this guy. His friendliness took a backseat as his gaze went to Kol, his expression turning serious. “Kol.” He nodded at the other man. Kol hadn’t moved, hadn’t spoken. He drew in a ragged breath, so I whipped my head around to find him leaning against the wall, his normally dark skin kind of pasty-looking. “Egan,” he whispered. I waited, but neither man spoke more than that, just stood and stared at each other. All thoughts of partying fled my mind as worry rushed in. I didn’t know Egan, but I did know Kol and whoever this man was, he wasn’t someone Kol wanted to see. ”You two apparently know each other and it looks like we got a problem.” Egan didn’t look at me, gaze still locked on Kol. “There won’t be a problem, right Kol?” Without warning, Kol flew off the wall to crash into Egan. The taller man’s head slammed onto the edge of the open hatch. He didn’t seem inclined to fight back and instead something gut wrenching passed through his eyes as he grabbed Kol’s arms to keep from falling. Kol looked like he was struggling to find words and I couldn’t breathe, could only stand there, frozen, and watch as years-old, heavy emotions ripped through both men. “You’re alive.” Kol bit the words through clenched teeth. He wrapped one hand around the Gwinarian’s throat and I knew the alien could easily fight Kol off. Why didn’t he? That curiosity kept me standing with my back to the cold metal wall. Waiting. I was used to being captain, to settling disputes, giving

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orders. There would be no captains on this trip. We all held the same rank in the Company. Of course, if they started duking it out, I’d dive in and help. “If you’d pull your hand off my throat and give me a few minutes to explain?” Egan lifted one hand and slid it onto Kol’s neck. It was an obvious caress. Kol’s black hair had come loose and it fell around the Gwinarian’s hand even as Kol closed his eyes. Holy shit. Had they been lovers? Color me shocked. I would have never in a million years, thought Kol swung that way. Or that it could have me flushing hotter than I’d ever thought possible. This was new. But Kol didn’t give Egan a chance to explain. He let the man go and the raw anguish ripping through him had me rushing forward to touch his arm. “Kol?” But he only shrugged me off, his breath harsh as he glared at Egan. He made a noise that sliced into my heart with razor-sharp precision. A soul-deep sound that apparently tore into the other man, too, because the hesitant smile he’d pulled up, fell. Without even a glance at me, Kol turned and smashed his hand on the door panel to slide it open. He didn’t look at Egan again as he stalked through. Stunned, I crossed my arms and turned to the alien. “I don’t know you, but I’ve spent years working alongside that man and have never seen him react that way to someone. I take it you knew each other on Kithra.” The Gwinarian had been staring at the door, but he turned that amber gaze back to me. “I didn’t let the Company tell him my name on purpose. He never would have come—never agreed to the stay on Kithra.” “So, you were…were—” I didn’t know how to phrase the question without sounding too nosy or rude.

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“We weren’t what you were thinking. Kol was married to my best friend, Rula.” I placed a hand on my churning stomach to calm it. I’d known Kol had been married once, it had been on his chart. But I hadn’t known he’d married a Gwinarian. That explained a lot. To have held that kind of brightness against you only to lose it? “She died in the explosions?” I asked, my voice hardly above a whisper. Egan nodded, sadness darkening those incredible glass-like eyes. “But it’s been five years. You couldn’t contact him in all that time?” Egan straightened away from the wall and came close to me, held out his hand. “That’s a story for another time. Let’s do this introduction over, shall we? Egan Lothbrun. I’m looking forward to working with you, Captain. You’re somewhat of a legend on Earth 3.” “You’ve been on Earth 3?” I narrowed my eyes and that’s when I noticed the fine scars that ran along his neck and down to dip under the collar of the brown flight suit he wore. Supposedly, there were no survivors on Kithra. I placed my hand in his, my fingers tightening as I met that golden gaze. My gut told me he hadn’t been off planet. Those looked like shrapnel and burn scars. I carefully kept my gaze from straying back to them, instead holding his. He grinned. “Not only have I been on Earth 3, but I’ve met your parents. They send their blessings.” “Excuse me?” “I told them I planned to sweep you off your feet and carry you with me to my home planet. Your mother thought it was an excellent idea.” I chuckled, couldn’t help it. “Don’t be flattered. She’s easily charmed.”

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“From what I understand, her daughter, Lux Moyans, isn’t.” He let go of my hand and bent to pick up the bag he’d dropped when Kol had flown at him. “Good thing I love a challenge.” I hadn’t imagined the sliding caress of his hand on Kol’s neck. Nor had I imagined that spark of heat between the men. I was feeling some kind of wicked spark myself. This was going to be an interesting time. I for one, was a little more excited about the stay on Kithra now. But then, I remembered the look of raw pain on Kol’s face and decided to seek him out as soon as I showed Egan where to put his things.

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Chapter Three

Kol wasn’t the type to mope in his quarters, so I searched him out first in the gym and then the engine room. If he wasn’t working out, he’d be tweaking something or another. He specialized in geotechnical engineering. Rocks, metal and ships—the man was an all around geek. Gladiator sized anyway. I was right and he’d already had enough time to take something apart. I recognized cylinders, something that looked like a compressor, maybe. Some kind of turbo pump. That was about it. I flew the ships, didn’t build them. “I hope we won’t need that stuff for the trip.” He didn’t look up, just cursed under his breath while viciously twisting something round, black and greasy looking. I came up close to him, took in the faint masculine scent of sweat and found myself going a little weak at the knees. I don’t go for sweaty, dirty men either. But, he smelled healthy and well, manly. Okay, I really, really needed to get laid. I’d wandered out when we arrived last night to see what the place offered and had scurried back out quickly after finding only one bar full of men—no women. Every male body in the place had gone on high alert when I’d strolled inside. I stepped back out. Gang bang wasn’t my thing. Kol abruptly stopped moving, closed his eyes. His voice, when it came, was hoarse. “All these years. Alive the whole time.” “Kol?” I put my hand on his back and his head jerked up as if he’d just realized I was there. His eyes narrowed, his nostrils flared as he sucked in angry

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breaths, one after the other. He dropped whatever was in his hands and put those greasy fingers on me. I drew in my own breath as he slid his hands around my waist and pulled me close—kept pulling until my body pressed hard against his. His pain radiated off him in waves that tugged on every feminine heartstring I had. I opened my mouth to ask him if he was okay and I guess he took that as an invitation because he swooped down and dove in. With that, solid thoughts scattered. His kiss was rough—he was out of practice. But the enthusiasm mixed with the anger rushed to my head like Fagra wine, one that started bitter and turned sweet at the back of my throat. I groaned and met the slide of his tongue, my hands coming up to do what I’d been wanting to since he’d let his hair grow out. I pulled out the string he’d used to tie it back and tangled my fingers in it, tilting my head a little more to the side. This time, he groaned and the rumbling sound vibrated against my breasts. My suddenly aching breasts. Everything had gone tight at the first touch of his mouth, but it all liquefied now and my weak knees gave out. Kol grabbed my ass to hold me up, then hefted me high, turning to press me into the wall while using one hand to lift my leg around his waist. I pulled my mouth off his to lean back and gasp in air. “Fast, you’re going fa—” He didn’t give me time to reply, his tongue spearing deep as if he couldn’t get enough of my taste. His dick was hard against me; I could feel it pressing almost painfully since he’d pulled my legs so wide on the trip up his body. I had a brief worry that Egan might be the nosy wandering sort, then just let it go. It had been so fucking long since I’d felt the solid heat of a man’s body. I

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wanted us naked. Badly. I didn’t care anymore about the difficulties of starting an affair with a coworker. Couldn’t drum up an ounce of caring on that one. Even if a small voice in the back of my mind whispered that wasn’t the only reason I’d avoided starting a relationship with Kol. Something told me I could come to care too much for him…that I could be devastated by him. He pulled his mouth off mine and slid his lips down my chin to my neck. My eyes rolled back in my head. It was one of my favorite places to be kissed. My neck and my spine. Yeah, the regular womanly spots were great, but kiss my neck and I’ll give you the world. All of them. “I’ve wanted you from the beginning,” he muttered into my neck before opening his mouth to suck. A moan, low and long, slithered from my throat. “Every man coming onto the ship is told of your rule, did you know that?” he whispered, pulling up to meet my eyes. Fire raged in his black gaze and I knew this was going all the way. He wrapped one hand firmly around one cheek of my ass to hold me and brought the other one up to the zipper on my flight suit. “Every time I thought of fucking you, I hit that gym. Puffed out like a ridiculous Neanderthal and yet it was either that or get reassigned off my own damn ship because you belong with her. No one flies her the way you do, none other than you and me love her like we do. I wanted you flying her. Made sure you got here.” “I did that myself.” I gasped as cool air hit my breasts. He pressed his body harder into mine to hold me to the wall so he could use both hands to spread apart my suit. “The blackmail?” He grinned and I was so happy to see that raw despair of earlier gone, I grinned back. “Heard about that. You’re such a bitch when you want something.”

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“That isn’t going to change,” I said, noting the serious tone that had crept into my words. His tight lips and narrowed eyes said he picked up on it, too. “I don’t do exclusives either.” “I like you just the way you are.” And with that, he stood me on my feet, made sure I could stand, then turned to cross the room and slam his hand on the door panel. He hit in the lock sequence before turning to stride across the room to me again. His hand went to the zipper on his own flight suit. “We’re finishing this? Here?” I looked around for something…bedlike. It was an engine room with engine stuff. All gray metal, grease and grime. “I’m not letting you out of my sight in case you change your mind.” “I won’t.” “Can’t wait. Besides, don’t feel like running into Egan with this raging hardon, either. You don’t know him.” His touch faltered. That look came back into his eyes. I didn’t say anything because I did want to know Egan. Wanted to know them both. Three of us on that planet? It would have to be that way. Two having sex and one left out? Not cool. And a year with two incredibly fine men to myself? No. Damn. Words. But, I didn’t think Kol was ready to hear that. I reached up and slid my fingers into his hair, put my mouth on his. He growled, pulled back and peeled the suit down his shoulders and arms. I forgot what I was thinking about. Forgot my own name. Mouth watering, I finally put my hands on that skin of his. He had a light dusting of hair on his chest and my fingers went there first, feeling the silky texture, the springiness. Running my palms up, I cupped the smooth skin of his shoulders before exploring the muscles in his arms. “You have all this because you wanted me?”

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He nodded, before dipping his mouth to my neck again. My knees wobbled and he quickly tugged on the suit until it flopped at my waist. His eyes went wide as he stared at my bare breasts. “So pretty,” he murmured, running one finger over my hardened right nipple. “I knew they’d look like this.” When he bent to take it into his mouth, I gasped, threw my head back. He hadn’t shaved since morning, and his afternoon stubble was a little rough on my skin. I didn’t care. I hadn’t realized I’d been starving for the man. I’d thought it was a hunger for sex, but this went so much deeper than that. I couldn’t wait to feel him inside me. With that thought, I scrambled for the zipper hanging at his waist and yanked it all the way down. I pushed on his chest to make him take a step back. “Take off your boots.” I felt the weight of my breasts shift as I bent to pull off my own. They’re not very big, but they still have a nice weight and swing. I expected Kol to stare at them as I worked to get my boots off, but he stared at my face. My eyes. My mouth. I smiled. “Overbite doesn’t bother you?” “Fucking sexiest mouth I’ve ever seen.” His voice was low, gruff. “Played more parts in my fantasies than you can imagine.” I deliberately ran my tongue over my upper lip and blinked when he didn’t wait for me to pull the last leg of my suit off. My bare ass went back up the wall as he lifted me, opened my legs and settled between them. Our mouths locked as he slipped inside me, full, deep and without hesitation. I’d been walking around wet for him for days, so the slide was steady. When he was all the way in, he stopped moving his body, shifted only his head as he pulled back and stared at me with glittering, glazed eyes. I could barely keep mine open, staring back through slits as the pleasure of his body inside

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mine overshadowed everything. He was hot and slick and we were so still, barely breathing… I felt the pulse of the blood pumping through his cock. He held me against the wall easily, keeping me braced as he pulled out and then slid back in, just as sure, just as steady. I gasped as heat flushed across the surface of my skin. I gripped his forearms, though not to keep from falling. No, I was in no danger of falling—not wrapped around this mountain of a man. So, I slid my legs around his waist and locked my ankles. Then I squeezed my inner muscles with his next thrust and still watching him through half open eyes, I took the most incredible pleasure out of seeing his head fall back, his eyes close, his mouth fall open. He moved out and in again and his focus on the pleasure grabbed me by the gut. This time my head went back and when I saw the wide pipe a couple of feet over my head, I let go of his arms and reached up to wrap my fingers around it. I pulled myself up and then lowered myself down. He groaned and ran his free hand down my neck, cupped my shoulders, stroked his palm down my chest and between my breasts. Gasping, I pulled up higher and offered them to him, crying out loudly when his hot mouth latched on to my right nipple. He sucked it into his mouth, swirled his tongue around it until I stopped trying to muffle my noises and another, louder cry escaped my throat. “Your skin is like silk,” he murmured as he let go and moved his lips to the underside of my breast. He nuzzled back and forth, the stubble on his chin rasping lightly. “And these,” he pulled back to cup that breast. “So, so lovely.” I gripped the bar tighter, raised and lowered myself faster. Gasps came from my mouth loud and fast, the pleasure building higher and more powerful. The orgasm that slammed into me made me see stars, made my ears ring. I let loose one, long cry, my head back against the wall and barely realized when I let go of the bar.

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Kol had both his hands on my ass, his body holding me against the wall as he rammed inside me over and over, his breathing harsh and hot on my throat. I tangled my fingers in his loose hair and growled into his ear. “Don’t cut this for a while.” He didn’t answer, lost in the building of his own orgasm. His movements grew faster and faster and as he stiffened, my eyes flew open wide when I came again without a build up this time. I screamed.

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Chapter Four

I was eyeing the telltale red marks from Kol’s beard stubble in my reflection in the simulator in the break room when Egan found me. I should have stopped by my quarters to shower. I still had grease smears on the flight suit and my skin. “Seems the challenge is bigger than I thought.” I’d never been the type to apologize or feel bad for sex. For me, it was a natural part of life—one of the best parts. And sex with Kol had been better than even my fantasies had been. It was going to rock when we did that in bed. I smiled at Egan, feeling a bit of heat creep up my neck still. After all, I didn’t know the man. Then I remembered Kol had been married to his best friend and the red went deeper—a good shame colored Bordeaux, I’m sure. “No need to blush. I don’t blame you. I tried to get the man in bed for years.” I turned fully toward him, my mouth falling open. He leaned against the wall. He’d changed his flight suit; this one was black and left little to the imagination. It lovingly cupped his broad shoulders, slim waist and impossibly long legs. He was lean, yes, but the muscles in his thighs were well defined like a runner’s. Which reminded me, I wanted to pick up a part for the air tread machine while we were here. I’d need the machine on Kithra with so many tunnels down and no place to run. Egan crossed his arms, the black suit pulling taut around nice, solid biceps. We all wore these suits—they were made of regulation fire-retardant material with nothing left loose for catching on things. Obviously he took my wandering

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gaze as permission to return the favor, his own roaming what my own suit revealed. Hope he wasn’t a boob man. “Why the shock?” he murmured. I blinked at him, then remembered his last words about trying to get Kol into bed. I shrugged. “Didn’t you study Gwinarians in school? We weren’t brought up with the same ridiculous male with female only ideals. We find attraction natural and wonderful in all its states.” “Rula didn’t mind?” “She was a Gwinarian, too. She gave up sharing once she married Kol because of his Earth hang-ups. She loved him.” He tilted his head and I suddenly wished he hadn’t tied his hair back. It was so silky looking; I imagined it would make noise as it slithered around, kind of like the noise of skin over Earth satin sheets. I’d just screwed Kol’s brains out and here I was thinking of jumping into bed with another man. I wasn’t usually this much of a slut. I turned away from him and punched something alcoholic into the simulator. Something alcoholic didn’t compute, so I bit my lip. Specifics pissed me off sometimes. I punched in Fagra wine and immediately felt everything below my waist go hot. I’d never be able to drink it without thinking of Kol holding me against the wall, thrusting into my body. The taste of him in my mouth. We couldn’t leave the docking station for another twenty-four hours because a shipment of extra robot parts had been delayed. Might as well celebrate one of the best sessions of sex I’d ever had. Egan leaned over my shoulder. The alien had a good half foot on me. He stuck his nose over my drink tube, inhaled deeply. “Fagra. One of my favorites.”

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“You want me to program one in for you?” “No. I have work yet. Unloading.” Closing my eyes, I took a long whiff, and then set it down. “I’ve got some energy to work off, so I’ll help.” He stepped back, but not far. “Funny how sex gives women energy and affects men in the opposite way. Gwinarian and human males aren’t different in that respect. Not in many ways, in fact. What do you think Kol is doing now?” I turned to face him, smirked. “Sleeping it off.” His grin did something illegal to me—something I shouldn’t be feeling with quite this much intensity so soon after sex. Egan leaned in and this time, smelled my hair. “You smell unique.” “I’m not sure that’s a compliment. I shouldn’t smell at all.” “Trust me, it’s a compliment. You smell of vanilla, sex and Kol.” He smiled. “I’m glad you’ll be working with me. I love the smell of Kol. Always have.” I moved into step with him as we headed toward the cargo deck. “Are you planning to torture him as much as possible?” “Torture? No. What I’d like is for him to acknowledge the connection we share.” “Then why the five years? It wouldn’t have been hard to find him.” I watched him instead of the metal floor. I’d walked these halls so much, I could do it asleep. They all looked the same. Gray. The ship had been built for speed and cargo, not aesthetics. Egan was way more pleasing to look at. He moved with such an easy grace, his long legs seemed to pull the floor to him. I nearly tripped when my gaze got stuck on the ripple of muscle in his thigh. Yeah, he was lean, but not skinny. He had the kind of male body I usually preferred. An image of us in bed with our legs wrapped around each other filled my head and I

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knocked my shoulder on the side of an open doorway. Hard. Tears burned my eyes, stars chasing away the vision of us in bed. His hand fell on my uninjured shoulder as he turned me to face him. “Ouch. You okay?” Warmth spilled from his hand into my skin. Gwinarian males also shared that with human ones. The extra heat. I’d never thought that was fair. Space stations were kept like igloos. “I’m okay. Was lost in thought.” I opened my mouth to ask him again about the five years, but he’d slipped his hand up to my neck to the only patch of skin bared by the flight suit. He cupped the side of my throat and tilted my head. “What thoughts caused the captain of her ship to miss the opening of a doorway she must have passed through hundreds of times?” Staring into those amber eyes, feeling the slide of his thumb over the pulse in my neck, I turned into a complete ninny and all the words just crashed into a jumble in one corner of my mind. “Uh…” That sexy mouth lifted one corner of the naughtiest grin I’d ever seen and bared his white, white teeth. One rust colored brow lifted. “So…were they memories of Kol and wherever he just spread your legs or will you make me a happy Gwinarian by admitting the thoughts could have entertained little old me?” “You’re certainly not little.” “So they were of me.” Hoping the heat flushing my chest didn’t creep over the neckline and reveal itself in my neck, I frowned at him. “I didn’t say that.” “Sweetheart, you didn’t have to. With the way you reveal emotions on your face, this is going to be one very, very interesting year.” He turned and pulled me with him toward the cargo deck again. “Now, I’m going to find it hard to

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keep my mind on work while I’ll be dreaming up all the expressions I can put on that pretty face and gods, the sexiest mouth I’ve ever seen.” I could only gape at the back of his head. Yeah, this was going to be a very interesting year. But I also realized he never answered my question about the five years. I was thinking of the scars on his neck as we stepped into the back of the ship and opened the cargo doors.

Not sure what to expect when it came to this new relationship between Kol and me, I hesitated in the hall outside his quarters. He’d had time to sleep if that’s what he was doing—somehow doubted that. Didn’t think he was moping either. He just wasn’t the type. He hadn’t been in the engine room or the gym. That left his quarters, his bunk. Ironically, Kol hadn’t designed the beds for someone as big as he was or as tall as Egan. The trip out would be hard on the latter man, in fact. Unless like me, he liked to sleep face down with his toes hanging over the end of the bed. Bet that golden skin would look fantastic bared against dark sheets. I wondered if he had hair on his body like Kol. Wondered what his hair would feel like trailing over my body. I put my hands on the cool wall. Here I was outside the door to one man’s room and thinking about another. And then, when I thought about them together, I went weak at the knees. I’d done a lot of things. Had sex with different men over the years, quite a few of them strangers. And okay…one woman back at the academy. Once I let the nerve she struck be a fun one. I regretted it later. Once you’ve been with a Gwinarian, it’s hard to keep from wanting the experience again. They loved so…freely. Enjoyed everything about

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the sexual experience and even when the relationship was prickly out of bed, once in, that all faded away. Something had me hesitating to jump on Egan that fast. A tiny voice whispered it was my heart. “Planning to stay out here all night or are you coming in?” I jumped when Kol spoke next to my ear. I hadn’t realized I was leaning my forehead on the wall. I turned, took in his loose hair, wet from a shower obviously—the lack of shirt on his gorgeous chest. Taut muscles flexed when he reached up and braced his hands high on either side of the doorway. My mouth watered. “Neither. Just wanted to check on you.” He lifted an eyebrow, his casual, pleased expression telling me he knew exactly what his half naked body was doing to me. His eyes dropped to the white T-shirt I’d thrown on after my shower. Didn’t think my nipples could have gotten any tighter, but they did. And it stung. I crossed my arms. “Do you want to talk about Egan? Or… do you want to see if we can get someone else to do the mines?” Kol shook his head, one strand of wet hair clinging to his cheek. He scowled and jerked his head to the side to dislodge it. “There is no one else.” “Surely, he isn’t the only Gwinarian who survived. There must be others.” “There are. But few are willing to go back.” I tried very hard not to watch a bead of water follow a lazy path down his chest. Tried and failed. It caught in his chest hair. I was reaching for it when Egan’s chuckle floated down the hallway. Kol straightened, dropped his hands. “Thought I’d corner you in your quarters, Kol. You can’t imagine how pleased I am to find you both. So…who has the biggest bed?”

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“Knock it off, Egan,” Kol said on a growl. He reached to his left and came back with a T-shirt of his own, this one black. “Please don’t cover yourself, Kol.” Egan strolled to us, coming to a stop about three feet from Kol. His amber eyes flared wide as he eyed the bulkier man. “You have certainly changed. Always did like to work out and hone those gorgeous muscles of yours, but damn. Did you stumble on some alien type of steroid?” “I said knock it off.” Kol shoved the T-shirt over his head and pulled it down. Loose strands of his wet, black hair caught in his long eyelashes. He blinked and pushed them aside. The black shirt suited him—making his dark coloring all the more stark against the gray of the walls around us. My mouth watered. I was almost sure I could hear Egan’s watering, too. I waited for him to bait Kol again and when he didn’t, I pulled—and it took effort—my gaze from Kol’s dark good looks, and looked at the Gwinarian. All hints of humor were gone and unfortunately for him, the one reason most men hated the flight suit was revealed as a very visible ridge formed along his abdomen. I had to dig my short fingernails hard into my palms to keep from reaching out. The alien was all human looking male in this respect. All lucky, human looking male. My nipples were going to pop at this point. Egan’s beautiful eyes turned my way and his humor came back along with that naughty grin. He pulled my crossed arms down and his own eyes went wide as he took in my breasts, much more revealed in this flimsy T-shirt than they had been in the thicker flight suit. “Thought it only fair since my reaction can’t be hidden at all in this stupid outfit. Plus,” he lifted his eyebrow. “I’m curious.” He stared at my breasts, at the

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pebbled nipples threatening to cut through the thin cotton. “Now, those are truly a gift from the gods.” I’d expected Kol to get suddenly possessive—he seemed the type despite our earlier conversation before the sex. I glanced at him over my shoulder only to find anything but the angry male I’d expected. He moved his gaze from Egan to me, his sudden ragged breaths loud in the quiet. Egan tilted his head, lifted his other eyebrow and I knew he asked me permission. He was testing not just me, but Kol as well. I smiled my okay. He cupped my breast and I gasped, both of us looking at Kol. He stared at Egan’s hand on my breast and when the frown I expected never showed, everything below my waist went warm and loose. My underwear grew wet and uncomfortable. Sucking in a deep breath, I had to close my eyes for a moment. This was so fucking intense. Too intense. “She’s trembling, Kol,” Egan whispered. He used his free hand to touch my chin, lifting my face to his. “And because I don’t know if fear or unease is riding along the desire she plainly feels, I’m going to back off for now.” He dropped both his hands. I nearly cried out. Yeah, I trembled. Too many emotions ripped through me and I suddenly wasn’t sure I could do this. Something was scaring the shit out of me. I stepped back, my spine hitting the wall. Both men wore expressions of concern. “I’m sorry.” A gasp made the words a whisper. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s just so, so—” “Powerful?” Kol’s voice had gone deep, gruff. “It’s always like that with Egan. Hard to resist.” “Why do you, then?” Egan asked. Years of bagged emotions laced the question.

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I held my breath, waiting. “I don’t know why, Egan. But you should have come to me. Let me know you were alive. I had thought we were at least friends.” “I couldn’t.” Kol nodded. “Because of that last night.” His lips tightened and the way he looked at Egan made my stomach flutter. “I deserved your anger, your disappointment. Not sure what I did deserved five years of letting me believe you were dead.” His voice broke on that last word. He touched the panel, his door sliding shut. Egan and I stared at the closed door. I couldn’t for the life of me explain the emotions tearing through my body. It felt like I’d absorbed Kol’s grief and coming on the end of such intense desire, the entire experience left me shaky, weak. And I was scared. Scared these two men could break me. And I would be with them a year? Alone on a planet? I had to find a way out of this gig. Egan took a step toward me and I let out the breath I’d been holding. He cupped my chin again. “There is something powerful here. It’s extraordinary, really.” The corner of his mouth twisted. “But like Kol, you have reservations.” “I don’t even know you.” “And yet, I was told by more than one person you favor one-night stands. Why would you have to know me?” I opened my mouth to say something about a year on planet together, but realized that made little sense and I wasn’t ready to share how scared I was of the emotion both Kol and Egan raised in me. I had plans for my life that did not include Family Filing in the Company. He chuckled. “You are more like Kol than I expected.” He rubbed his thumb across my upper lip. “And you have an incredible mouth.”

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He started to walk away. Stopped. His hair swung as he turned those amber eyes on me again. No humor this time. No flirting and no desire. All I saw was determination. “I won’t stay back for long. From either of you.”

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Chapter Five

I let out a blood curdling whoop, skimmed the ship to the right and sailed between two busted up sliders. Cutting left, I sent the ship into a nose dive. “Hang on!” I yelled to the men strapped into seats behind me. We were going too fast and the debris was thicker than the reputed forests on Kithra, so I couldn’t take my eyes from whatever paths I could spot as I squeezed the ship through. Didn’t know how they were handling this. But…I lived for it. When I slammed the ship to the right, I heard Egan grunt. Grinning, I spotted a clear stretch and smoothed out her float. “Okay wimps, we’re coming out of the field—about to hit Kithra’s atmosphere. Flip on the gas gages.” No one spoke. They probably had to deal with nausea first. I was still chuckling when we came upon the landing site. All my humor disappeared. Wreckage. Everywhere. Kithra was the original utopian planet. With a climate temperate enough for life domes and water safe for humans after filtration, the planet had been ideal for a human vacation zone. The humanoid aliens who lived here had welcomed us with open arms and to make it even more perfect, once the metal here was discovered to be priceless; no one had exploited the Gwinarians. It was why I was still with the Company. Other than they paid well and let me fly. The life pods had been built high due to the level of gases near the surface of the planet. Native trees grew tall, as if their leaves also sought out the fresher air above. I was surprised to see so many variegated white and blue leaves since I’d

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seen pictures of Kithra after the explosions and most plant life had died. I knew under the thick, woodlands, the ground was covered mostly in marshlands with huge lakes. Only a few pods still stood, but most of those had visible cracks in the domes. The landing site was over a mile away from the one remaining working life pod. Unpacking was gonna be a bitch. “We should have brought a vehicle on board. Are we supposed to carry what we can through the tunnels?” “We’ll have to make a lot of trips. The only safe tunnel isn’t one wide enough for a vehicle.” Egan’s husky voice came from somewhere behind me. “Our first assignment is to get more passage tunnels repaired, the first one wide enough for vehicles.” “How are we supposed to get all that equipment you brought through a narrow tunnel?” “We won’t. We won’t be mining until we can get it there.” No mining meant no flying for a long time. My stomach clenched. For a second, I wished I could take back the gonads remark to our asshole boss. But only for a second. He was lucky I hadn’t said worse. Staring at the wreckage, I realized we had another issue. A big one. Bodies. Or probably by now, skeletons. “The gas in the atmosphere is still at dangerous levels, but barely. Enough to keep out a new colony.” Kol came forward to stand by my seat. “The three of us will be fine in the working pods.” “How did we get the data? How do we know the pods left are livable?” “They are,” Egan murmured. Kol lifted an eyebrow, but finished answering me. “Another crew came in.”

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“And why aren’t they doing this?” “I told you. My ship. Theirs didn’t hold up.” I bit my lip before I could ask how far they’d made it. Instead, I looked at the gages that showed how atmospheric levels affected our ship. Egan joined us and I glanced up to find his golden skin still pale. At first, I blamed it on the trip in, but then it hit me. This was his home. It had been Kol’s for a time as well. Those skeletons we might see could be their friends, their family. “I’m so sorry,” I murmured to them both, turning to Kol to find him staring at Egan. I didn’t have to look to realize Egan stared back. Could feel their shared grief and tension skittering over the surface of my skin. It stayed, too, the tension, all the way down. It hovered in the air as we latched the ship into the air tubes. The hydraulic system was loud as the tube closed around the ship. We’d have twenty-four hours before the air was fit to breathe outside the ship. Already the pumps worked to push out the gases let in with our ship. “Lot’s to do,” Kol muttered. The door panel clicked softly behind him. Egan took the copilot seat, met my eyes. Old pain shone in that amber gaze and I didn’t hesitate, just reached out to him. He clasped my hand in a grip so tight, it hurt. I didn’t wince, didn’t complain—just offered him steady attention. When he didn’t speak and instead turned his gaze to the clear shield, the devastation that passed through his expression ripped through my heart. Surprisingly, I’d come to feel affection for the Gwinarian already. It was hard not to. He teased and tormented, but deep feelings lurked under that bright surface. I quickly unbuckled myself from the seat and moved closer to offer both hands. Arms, if he needed them. He did.

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I grunted in surprise when Egan tugged me into his lap, wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my neck. His pain burned a path in me, it was so powerful. I’d known it would be hard for them to come back here. There was nothing sexual about this embrace and Kol, when he eventually returned, saw that. I stared at him over Egan’s bright hair and watched Kol’s lips tighten, his onyx eyes narrowing. He walked to us and laid his hands on Egan’s shoulders. The Gwinarian shuddered, lifted that heart-wrenching, beautiful amber gaze to Kol and like that, I saw they’d once loved each other. They shared a bond in the loss of Kol’s wife, Egan’s best friend, but they’d been close themselves. So much shared grief in them. So much pain. This time, I buried my face in Egan’s hair, hoping he wouldn’t feel the couple of tears I couldn’t hold back.

Twenty-nine hours later, I rubbed my sore shoulders and eyed the stacks of supplies we’d piled outside the ship onto the loading dock. The landing pod looked the same as all the others I’d parked in on planets all over the universes. Big, rounded dome ceiling, two runways for small cargo ships and not a damned window in sight. We planned to start hauling everything to the living pod in shifts. Egan and Kol had already taken some food ahead. “We should rig some kind of oldfashioned rolling dolly since the hover one on board is too wide for the tunnel.” Kol nodded and took off toward the supply bay. I grinned at his retreating back. “As always, a man of few words.” “Or no words,” Egan muttered as he eyed the stacks of supplies. My VR screen beeped, so I pulled it from my pocket, flipped it open, then did my best not to snarl at Lex Luthor—or, Rex Roover. He’d shaved his fat head

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again and with the reddish tint to his skin, he looked like an old-fashioned basketball. I bit my lip to keep from sharing the comparison. “The Company wants you to stay onboard the ship instead of moving into the pod for now. We’re anxious to test out the androids to see how they hold up, what sort of production they offer.” “We won’t be testing anything until a wider path is repaired. That could take months.” He scowled. “It won’t take months if the three of you pull double shifts and you can do that if you don’t bother setting up the rest yet. Stay on the ship. You’re getting paid too much as it is. I want the vehicle path tunnel repaired within the month.” “Three people—even pulling double shifts—will take longer than a month to repair it. Send in a bigger crew if you want fast. We can have some on the ship, some in the life pod.” “I can’t spare anyone else. That seek mission you were on is too important and I want the majority of our people on it.” “Then sell some of the mining rights to Kithra, get in another company. You want fast, you’re going to have to pay for it with more people. I can bring them here in shifts until we get some of the debris fields cleaned up.” It pissed me off that he brought up the seek mission. I’d been looking forward to that mission and he knew it. He was rubbing it in, the asshole. The Quoinar Solar System was largely unexplored—it would have been the adventure of a lifetime. I saw he knew some of my thoughts by the faint smirk that twisted one corner of his pudgy lips. I opened my mouth to tell him where he could go, but hesitated. Did I really want to get fired at this point? I needed money for more than helping out my parents. I wanted to save up to purchase my own ship

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someday—wanted to captain my own seek missions and pull in the profits for myself. Watching the muscles rippling in Egan’s thighs as he squatted to heft another box, I smirked. And okay, okay I didn’t want to leave yet for more reasons that just the money. I was still holding back. On both men now. Kol hadn’t even asked and I’d assumed he was too heartbroken over returning here. I would’ve been. I looked back at the screen, caught Roover lifting his eyebrow. “Get the tunnel repaired and we’ll schedule some extra flight hours hauling in the robotics. We only sent two androids for testing this first time out. Didn’t want to waste precious tunnel supply cargo space.” “For the record, I feel a month is ridiculous, but we’ll get on it now.” His thin, lady-like eyebrows met in the center of his shiny forehead. They looked like two slim worms trying to crawl off his thick head. “What’s the catch? Why aren’t you arguing?” “I’m hungry and want to hurry this up so I can stuff my face.” “Just get the tunnel done. Fast.” He flipped off the screen. So did I. With my middle finger. Egan grunted, dropped a box on top of another. Kol came out carrying a foot wide metal wheel. “You can both stop. We won’t be moving into the life pod anytime soon.” I filled them in, quickly noting that both men stood stiff, stayed silent and neither looked at the other. In fact, Egan’s skin was faintly pale, while pain darkened his stunning eyes. “We’ll have to double up. One off while the other two work on the tunnel.” “Have you done this kind of work before?” Egan asked.

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I nodded. “Fortunately—though, I will go on record now and admit I hate the work.” “She hates being grounded,” Kol offered. “Makes me grumpy.” Shrugging, I slipped the VR screen back in the pocket of my casuals. Earth denim tucked into zipped, sturdy work boots. My T-shirt today was a lively, orangy red because I needed the color. Between the men’s tension and the constant gray visual, I needed brightness. Space junkie or not, I did crave my short layovers on planets with actual vegetation and color. I waited for the crack from Egan—something about taking my mind off things. It never came. Instead, he watched Kol for another minute, then hauled up a box and carried it back onto the ship. I sighed and hefted another. It had taken us two hours to stack all this. “We’ll start the repairs tomorrow.” Kol had a box under each arm. “Thought Roover wanted us to start right away.” “Fuck him. By the time we haul all this back inside it’ll be time for food. In fact, the three of us can work on the tunnel tomorrow. We won’t have to unpack and the simulator is still fully stocked.” He nodded and followed me onto the ship. I stayed in my own bunk again that night. Dinner had been excruciating and it was obvious both men were having a hell of a time being here. I couldn’t bear to be with one and leave the other alone. So, I left both alone. I didn’t really want Kol to think we were getting too serious anyway. Felt like I was losing my upper hand.

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Chapter Six

In the morning, I put on a white microsuit, an elastic, fitted suit layer that was lightweight and moved with my body. I clipped the hard torso shell with attached life support system over it and pulled on the boots and gloves, attaching the hoses that connected to each. The system pumped breathable air throughout the suit—even to the gloves. The helmet was the last piece. I jumped when a small computer screen popped up on the right instead of left of the inside screen. The Company had changed it. “Thanks for the warning,” I muttered, hating the tiny echo the helmets sent back no matter what design used. Luckily, my first scout mission didn’t reveal any bodies or remains at all. I did come across patched areas in the still intact narrow tunnel. It had a clear dome that wrapped to the floor. You could look down and see the tree growth below; the blue leaves were spectacularly colorful here. Surprisingly, I spotted a few orange and red birds and something faintly black that skittered too fast along the branches for me to make out. Apparently, some of the wildlife had managed to survive and adapt. Life went on. That always encouraged me. Running my gloved hand over one patch, I frowned. This one was more than a couple of years old. It had already yellowed a bit from the lack of a consistent temperature. Once we got the life support systems up and running twenty-four seven, this wouldn’t happen—but still, the patch had obviously been done before the last ship made it here…and after the blasts.

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I walked further through the tunnel, noting that the offshoot tunnels had all been sealed with the same sort of patches. I touched one, barely noticing the explosion of colorful flowers just beyond my hand. “Beautiful, aren’t they?” I jumped when Egan spoke from right beside me. He leaned against the side of the dome, wearing red, loose drawstring pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt. I knew Gwinarians could breathe more of the gases in the air here, but I used the wrist keypad to type in a request for an air check. Immediately, I noticed the sweat gathered under my boobs. Stupid protective suit was hotter than a sauna. “The patches?” “No, what’s beyond the dome. Sorry I scared you. Focusing hard, are you?” The computer screen inside the top right side of my helmet registered safe air, so I unhooked the helmet and pulled it off, blew my hair out of my eyes. “Something’s not right here. These patches aren’t—” I broke off when my VR screen beeped. Pulling it from the wide side pocket of the suit, I flipped it open. Kol, white-faced and tight lipped stared at me from the screen. “Yeah?” I asked. “Do me a favor. Find Egan and keep him away from the eighth sector.” “Um…” “I’m serious.” He leaned close to the screen. “The last crew to come in here started the wide tunnel and they left a lot of material there. But something must have happened because they didn’t—” he broke off and cursed. “They didn’t get everything out.” I knew exactly what he was talking about. Unfortunately, so did Egan. He turned from me, stalked back the way he’d come. “Shit, Kol. He was right here.” “Stop him! I don’t care what you do. Let me just go in there first. Buy me some time.”

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Buy him some time? For what? Body removal? It could be someone Kol knew, too. I couldn’t worry about that though because Egan’s long legs were making mincemeat of the extended damned tunnel. “Hey, hold up!” “Don’t bother, Lux. Doesn’t make sense.” He muttered the last. “What doesn’t?” I caught up to him, grabbed his arm. He shook me off but I wrapped my gloved fingers hard around his biceps. He stopped, glared down at me with piercing amber eyes. “Kol is pretty tough. You know what he must have seen.” “I know,” I whispered. “Please. Stay.” I stepped closer. His lips tightened, eyes narrowed. “What if it’s someone he knows?” “He obviously thinks it’s someone you do. Damn.” I leaned my head on his chest, unable to watch pain cloud those pretty eyes. “I don’t know how either of you are standing this.” He cupped his palms on either side of my jaw, lifted my face to his. “I prepared for this. I’ve gone through worse so don’t worry about me.” I touched one of the scars on his neck. “Are these a part of the worse?” His muscles tensed. I stepped back. “Sorry. I’m nosy and my discretion is for shit.” Nodding my head toward the patches, I offered him an apologetic smile. “Wanna help me figure out the time sequence on these patches?” He shook his head as something changed in his expression. He pulled me back to him. “No, I don’t.” And with that, he slid his hands around my neck to the back of my head. He pulled out the hair clip I’d used to secure up my black hair. The inside of the helmet was worse than the inside of the suit, so sweat had curled the strand escapees and stuck them to my forehead and cheeks. The wild heat crawling through my gut and up into my chest didn’t help.

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I gulped as he bent close enough to send his sweet smelling breath across my lips. I wet them with my tongue, hoping my breath still held traces of the mint paste I’d brushed with that morning. “Are you ever going to tell me about those scars?” I whispered. “Yeah.” He brushed a kiss over my lips. Light, feathery. Hot. “Not today.” He deepened the kiss, his warm tongue sliding into my mouth. I was supposed to be distracting him, but I was the one whose thoughts took to space. Kissing Egan was a lot like flying—like soaring through the dark with your stomach quivering from the possibility of new adventures. I put my hand on his chest, his heartbeat strong against my palm. His tongue, hot against my own, stroked, his hands moving to my back to pull my body tight to his. The hard torso shell bonked into his ribs. Damn protective suit. I couldn’t feel him, not like I wanted to. I was reaching for the couplings when my VR screen beeped again. Frustration had me growling into the screen, “What?” “Scratch my last request and get back here now. I’m picking up some strange readings. The gas levels suddenly spiked.” “Shit.” This came from Egan, who grabbed my helmet and shoved it back on my head. His hands actually shook as he fumbled with the connections. Threads of fear laced my veins. I’m not a fan of fear. “Um, Egan, I’ve been dressing myself since I was—” “Argue later. Run now.” He grabbed my VR screen and yelled into it. “Kol, are you at the ship? Stay there. The landing pod is reinforced and not over any new gushers.” Gushers? Oh hell. I had no idea what they were but the name alone sent my heart racing.

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“I’m not in the landing pod, but I’ll be there fast.” I sprinted with Egan through the tunnels, the floor shaking under our feet. Terror screamed through my veins. We had to stop twice while Egan typed in codes that opened sliding panels. I kept glancing over my shoulder, hoping to see Kol’s big form coming up behind us and finally I did—at the second door. Another rumbling sounded in the distance and this time, the entire tunnel shook. I lost my balance and slammed into the side. Egan turned as the doors opened, grabbed me and hauled me over his shoulder. “Hey!” My yell was cut short as the world felt like it exploded beneath our feet. The tunnel shook so hard, Egan threw out a hand—to brace on the dome side, I thought, but Kol grabbed it and the two of them curled around me as we dove through the last opening just as my helmet screen beeped an alarm. “The tunnel was breached somewhere!” Kol yelled. “It’s filling with gases.” Egan struggled to his feet and coded in the paneled door. I was climbing to my own when there was another explosion. This one sent me flying back. My shoulder hit a stack of metal beams, my head slammed into a wall, helmet and all, and I saw stars. Nausea slammed into my stomach and I doubled over as my helmet alarm went insane. “Shit! Grab her and get her into the landing pod!” Egan was struggling with something—I could hear shuffling and grunting but the dizziness and nausea had me in a powerful grip. Kol picked me up and staggered through the last door. I did have enough time to see blood leaking through the suit covering his leg before my world went dark.

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Chapter Seven

“How much did she breathe in?” Fuzzy. Everything was so fuzzy. I tried to open my eyes and couldn’t get them past slits. My gut was on fire. I tried to lift my hand, to pat the fire out. “Hey, stay still.” Egan’s voice carried more than a hint of worry. “We’ll have to start her on Lokacil right away.” Kol cursed. I heard another slam and the sound of his heavy boots as he ran off. “You got him so worried, he isn’t thinking straight,” Egan whispered. I could feel his breath on my face and it reminded me of that kiss earlier. “You’re worrying me, too, so sit tight. You’ll feel better with the Lokacil inhaler.” Which I’d be carrying for weeks. After a time on my back. I was all too familiar with the results of gas exposure and the recovery could be intense. Hopefully, I hadn’t inhaled too much gas. It was fatal at certain levels. The fact I was still alive now gave me hope the Lokacil would clear out my lungs in a few weeks. “My stomach,” I whispered. “It’s the gases. You’ll be sick on and off a few days.” “Terrific.” He chuckled and stroked my cheek. “Yeah, you’ll be fine. Good thing you’re such a fighter, Lux.” Kol returned and I managed to get my eyes open enough to see his olive skin was a sickly shade of pale. He had an inhaler in one hand and a gas mask

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attached to a canister of the drug in the other. I smiled, tried to show I would be okay. That first deep breath of Lokacil slammed into me and I had to yank off the mask to throw up. Right there on the landing dock. In front of both men. Luckily, I managed to turn on my side and miss us all. “Pretty,” I muttered, fighting dizziness as Egan used the bottom of his shirt to wipe my face. He readjusted the mask to my face. “Sorry. Should have warned you about that first inhale.” I held my breath, not wanting to share any more of the contents of my stomach. “Don’t worry. Breathe. You had to do that. Bet your stomach is already starting to feel better.” Egan sat and pulled me into his lap. I realized I didn’t have the hard torso part of my suit on anymore. I must have been really out. Kol squatted next to us. “I don’t know what kind of damage the explosions caused but it’s going to set us back.” “We’ll manage,” Egan assured him. I was starting to feel a little nauseous again. He stroked my hair as if he knew. “We need to get her into a bed. Thought I’d be saying that for entirely different reasons, dammit.” Kol didn’t respond to Egan’s attempt at lightening the mood. He cupped my chin and turned my face toward him. Dark, dark eyes full of worry met mine. He leaned over and put his lips on my forehead before stroking his cheek over the top of my head. “You scared the shit out of me when you keeled over like that.” I started to remove the mask so I could speak, but he pushed my hand away and lifted me. Egan placed a hand on his arm. “Give her back once I’m up. You shouldn’t carry her with that leg.”

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My eyebrows lifted when Kol handed me back without protest or hesitation. I wrapped my arm around Egan’s shoulder, closed my eyes. The Lokacil was pulling the gases out of my body, but I could feel them inside. Queasy, short of breath, I suddenly wondered why my people had ever thought this a good planet for vacations. Priceless metal be damned. But then, there were rumors our heavy mining caused the explosions and made the gases unbearable. I grew dizzy from my own thoughts and let them go, focused on how easily Egan carried me. I liked a strong man and here I had two.

I’m not sure how many days passed before I felt halfway coherent. Grimacing at the dry, clammy taste in my mouth, I cracked an eye and found Kol sprawled in the chair next to my bunk. The small chair. His big arms hung over the sides, his long legs stretched nearly to the door panel. I’d have grinned if I hadn’t felt like someone had sent me through the food simulator. The ship hadn’t been designed for comfort or pleasure. The bunk rooms held enough space for a bed, small table and two chairs—everything bolted to the floor or built into a wall. I’d never bothered to decorate my room other than the sinfully soft midnight blue comforter made of Dranellian cotton. The only light in the room now came from the open bathroom panel doorway. The muted stream fell on Kol. Dark circles shadowed his eyes and even asleep, his lips looked tight and pinched at the edges, his brows drawn down in worry. His chin-length black hair covered part of his face and I shifted on the bunk, wanting to get up and brush it out of his way. His eyes opened immediately and he sat up when he saw me watching him. “Hey,” he murmured, voice husky with exhaustion. “How you feel?” “I’ll live.” My voice barely worked so it sounded more like a raspy croak.

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The corner of his mouth turned up. “Yeah, you will. Egan and I weren’t sure about that for a time.” I wrinkled my nose. “Smells bad in here. Like the old crew threw a garbage can booze party.” “Good to see you back to normal.” He sat on the edge of the bunk. I rolled onto my side slowly and closed my eyes to better enjoy the surprising comfort and warmth his body offered. “Nobody else sucked in the gas?” He scowled. “Your helmet cracked. Think the Company used a substandard material on the new batch.” “You should let…Roover know.” It hurt to talk. My lungs felt like I’d put them through a week long exercise marathon. “Egan did.” I opened my eyes to see Kol grin. “Egan ripped into your Lex Luthor. Left him raw. Sore, I bet.” I winced and managed a grin. “Nice image. Be a lot more fun to think of you or Egan that way.” He frowned. “Raw and sore? Really? You can think about sex at a time like this?” The laugh that bubbled up my throat hurt, so I settled for putting my hand on his thigh. The strength of his muscles made me feel safe in a weird way—one I wasn’t used to as the captain of a ship. I chalked up the weak, squishy feelings to the damned gases that were finally leaving my body. “So who put me in a nightgown?” I kept my voice to a whisper. Hurt less. I fingered the filmy, white material. “And where the hell did you find one?” His thigh muscles rippled with his chuckle. “Noticed that, did you? I have no idea where Egan got the thing, but you look—” he broke off.

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I lifted an eyebrow. “I look?” “Soft.” He stroked a hand over my bare shoulder, down my arm. “Feminine. Pretty.” “Pretty is not a word I’d use to describe myself. Ever.” But goose bumps followed the path of his hand and I had that weird feeling in my gut again. Okay, there were hunger pains there, too. “Maybe you don’t see yourself the way I do.” I stared at him. Tried to ignore the feminine response pooling between my legs. And unfortunately, making my heart beat faster. You don’t do exclusives, Lux, remember? Funny that I had to tell myself that. “I’d ask you to lie down with me, but the bed is small and I’m sure I’m causing the smell in here.” “It’s not that bad. We haven’t been able to fit you into the shower stalls with one of us and trust me, I tried. But I did give you a sponge bath.” “Enjoy that?” I fixed him with a wry half-grin. “Immensely. But it would have been more fun if I hadn’t been so worried.” I thought about giving Kol a sponge bath, about running my wet hands over those slopes of hard muscle and smooth skin. My nipples beaded instantly. Kol’s gaze dropped, his eyes going half-mast. “I can bathe you again. Now.” I was trying to decide if I had the energy to do all the things going through his mind—yeah, I could tell by the way his gaze lingered on my body, the way his fingers tightened on my arm. The panel door slid open and Egan came through carrying a mug. “The beauty wakes.”

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Steam rose from the cup in his hand and my stomach grumbled. Loudly. It was only the shelf-life inspired broth all ships carried—we didn’t question its origins—but it would fill the empty ache in my gut and it was full of nutrients. “Stomach’s complaining.” Kol tucked his hands under my arms and helped me sit up. The room swam for a second, so I closed my eyes. Kol propped pillows around me. “She needs to eat.” “Wouldn’t call this eating.” Egan curled his lip at the mug. “Can’t believe this damned expensive ship doesn’t have a kitchen. We’re stuck with this reconstituted shit from the simulator until the tunnel to the life pod is repaired.” “I’m used to the reconstituted shit.” I reached for the mug. “Thought you brought fresh food.” “I did, but you can’t eat it yet. Liquids only for a few more days and I can’t make a decent broth without a kitchen.” Kol reached out to steady my mug. “I could rig something up with a torch.” Egan lifted an eyebrow. “How primitive. Nice to have a real man around.” I frowned at the bite in those words, looked back and forth between the two. Tension thrummed in the air like an electrical current. “So, how bad is it? And please explain why anyone would have lowered these tunnels over something called a gusher?” “They didn’t. The gushers are new—results from the explosions. They’re a little like the volcanoes on earth. Loading dock is the only safe area for now, but Egan and I have been working hard to get the tunnel to the life pod repaired.” Egan nodded. “We want to move you there. Better food and a better bed will help get you back on your feet faster.” I sipped the broth, the first swallow soothing the hungry ache in my gut. “Roover ordered us to stay on the ship until the tunnel to the mining pod is repaired.”

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Kol stood up to pour water into another mug from the silver pitcher on the table. He brought it back to the bed. “We won’t make his deadlines. Any of them. We really do need to work on getting the greenhouse and living pod functional first.” “We do,” Egan agreed. “I’m too big for the chair in here and Kol is ridiculously too big.” They could have left the coms open. They could have heard me call out from anywhere on this planet. I didn’t bring it up because I was touched they’d watched over me like this. “I’m better, so neither of you need to stay in here now.” “Yeah, we do.” Egan crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “I’ve seen people relapse quicker than you can blink. If one of us is close by, we can get to you fast.” “Wait, I remember something from before the explosion.” I balanced the mug on my leg and put my free hand on Kol’s knee. “Blood soaking your pants right before I passed out. What happened? Are you okay?” “Shrapnel—nothing big. It’s okay.” Egan growled and pushed away from the wall. “It was a foot long gash. Bad one.” “How do you know that?” Kol narrowed his eyes. “I turned on the VR in the medical unit. How the fuck do you think I know? You wouldn’t let me see what happened.” Kol stood, fury tightening his features, his black eyebrows coming down low over his dark eyes. “You spied on me, Egan?” His tone was low, the threat laced in the words raised the hair on my arms. “I was concerned.” Egan wore his black flight suit and the smooth material tightened over the muscles in his arms as he closed his hands into fists. “Know

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what, Kol? I’ve had enough of this bullshit.” He spun around and slammed his hand on the door panel and stepped through the doorway. Kol flew into motion and was across the room and through the doorway before I could blink. Hands shaking, I set the mug on the small table beside my bunk and tried to stand right as Egan’s back hit the wall. But Egan could take care of himself. He put his palms on Kol’s chest and shoved hard enough to send Kol across the hall. “So much fury, Kol. Is it toward me or are you ready to own up to what’s really going on, eh? Own up to your fucking resentment.” “You don’t want to piss me off, Egan.” Egan slowly walked across the hall and used one hand to press Kol into the wall. “I’m a lot stronger than you think, human. I’m not afraid.” I lurched into the hall before the door panel shut and leaned on the wall across from them. The level of testosterone in the air threatened to suffocate me, but my damned heart was pounding like I’d run. Their tension had grown while I was out. I leaned on the wall, my chest rising fast and hard with my breathing. I didn’t want them to hurt each other—the pain in Kol’s expression was mirrored in Egan’s and something inside me broke. Egan suddenly stilled. I wondered if he saw the blatant evidence of Kol’s desire as his loose pajama pants did nothing to hide the rigid cock tenting them. Egan’s long, elegant fingers slid around either side of Kol’s throat. “Wanna know something, Kol? My control is low right now, lower than you could possibly imagine and you wanna know why?” He lowered his face until it was merely an inch or so from Kol’s. “I haven’t slept with anyone in five years.” Kol snorted. “Bull. Rula said you were an addict.” Egan let go. “Yeah, I was an addict. Funny thing about addiction is when the person discovers their true drug of choice, nothing else is good enough and the

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person I wanted the most wasn’t anywhere near me and even if he had been, he’s too stubborn to admit he wants me back.” He turned and saw me leaning on the wall, shook his head. “Come on, beautiful, let’s get you back into the bed.” I wanted to beg them to stop torturing each other, but the emotions they were working through were years old and more powerful than I knew how to diffuse. I closed my eyes and let Egan lead me back into my bunk. Behind my eyelids, I still saw the look of pain on Kol’s face.

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Chapter Eight

When I saw the life pod I knew we had a problem. Close quarters was an understatement. There was only one bed. One massive bed that filled the entire bedroom of the life pod. Egan chuckled when he saw my expression. He had carried me through the mile-long tunnel. I pulled off the breathing mask. My voice was scratchy, it hurt to talk, but curiosity had always been my downfall—and the path to my good fortune. “Do Gwinarians sleep in packs?” He leaned against the doorway, his eyes on me and not that bed. “We like to spread out, but more often than not, the bonds formed were up to three, sometimes more.” “Really.” Hmm. Didn’t know what to say to that. I was used to the double pairing and every now and then a triple. We’d had some crew members on our ship who filed for joint Family Status with three members. Have to admit, I’d been curious about the dynamics in those relationships. I put the mask back and tried not to picture three bodies in this bed. Failed. Heat crawled up my neck and I pulled the mask off again. “In what pair offs?” He lifted one rust-colored eyebrow. “Pair offs?” “Did they couple off? Two and two?” Eyeing the red coverlet, I gave up trying not to picture me with Egan and Kol in that bed. “Never mind. From the looks of that bed, you all slept in piles. Like wolves. Was there a dominant couple?”

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“Sometimes.” He walked to the bed and laid me on top of it then sprawled onto his side next to me, propped his head on one hand and grinned. Long copper hair pooled on the bed around his shoulder. One corner of my mouth twitched. “Hate to ruin whatever naughty fantasy caused that expression, but we won’t be breaking this in for awhile.” “But we will. Eventually.” His two simple statements held more than a hint of question. I stared at him as I heard Kol come into the room. I knew Kol waited for my answer, too. I’d done nothing to imply we were exclusive, had told him straight out I didn’t work that way. And besides, we’d be sharing this bed unless someone took the couch. I didn’t want someone to take the couch. I wanted this bed and these men and all the wonderful things we could do in it. Wanted it badly. “We’re going to be here a long time. No one gets left out.” I saw the acceptance in Kol’s expression. “It’s a big bed. I don’t have sharing issues.” He quietly moved out of the room. “Surprise, surprise.” Egan closed his eyes but not before I saw something like relief pass through that amber gaze. “I’m going to get to him yet.” He opened his eyes, narrowed them at me. “Ever shared a bed with two men before?” I shook my head. Felt warmth in my gut despite how awful I still felt from the gases. “No threesomes? What a shame.” I was getting sleepy from the Lokacil, but I managed a somewhat wicked grin. “I didn’t say that. You Gwinarians are hard to resist.” He stood, glanced around the ridiculously bed-filled room and grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed. “You need to sleep but I expect full details on that story at some point.”

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“I should shower. Getting the bed dirty.” But my eyes were closing. He leaned over, brushed a kiss on my forehead. “The bedding can be washed. Sleep.” My lungs hurt and sleep sounded like the perfect remedy. I did.

When I woke up, I was alone. I rolled to my back and winced at the complaint of my sore stomach muscles. I’d had a relapse and was sick throughout the night. Turned out Egan and Kol made excellent nurses but at this moment, I doubted they’d ever find me sexy again. Hell, I doubted I’d ever feel sexy again. The tunnels would not get repaired with me lying in this bed, though, so I slowly swung my legs to the side and got to my feet. The room swam a couple of seconds before settling back to normal. My chest still hurt quite a bit, but I needed food after the night of losing every bit of my broth diet. I carried the canister of Lokacil and mask with me as I slowly made my way into the kitchen part of the life pod. I still wore the white nightgown but my feet were bare. The floors were made of some kind of wood, probably native to the planet. It was smooth, warm. I found the food supplies the men had brought ahead in the cooling, packing crates. Though the cabinets were bare of food, I found a huge supply of life packs in a roomy pantry. Wrinkling my nose at the thought of all those cardboard nutrients, I opened the cabinet with the drinking tubes again. Pulling one down, I ran my fingers over it. It felt like a cross between glass and earth ceramic. It had a gorgeous, iridescent rainbow sheen and was big. Good. I hated small drinking tubes. When I was thirsty, I didn’t want to refill several times. There were pans on the counter.

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“Oh no.” I closed my eyes before opening them to turn slowly all the way around. “Where’s the simulator?” Kol stepped into the room, concern darkening his expression. He’d tied his black hair into a tail at the nape of his neck. “You shouldn’t be up. What do you need?” “Kol, I’ve been your captain for how long now? Telling me what I should or shouldn’t be doing is not going—” “To matter because this has nothing to do with rank and everything to do with the gases still working their way out of your body. I’ve gone through this. I know. Do too much and you’ll be flat longer. And because we’ve worked together so long, I know exactly how much you’ll hate that.” He had a point. “Okay, I just want something to eat, something plain. I’d planned to program a cup of soup but I think the simulator is hiding.” “Gwinarians aren’t fond of simulated foods. You know about the greenhouses attached to every pod built on Kithra. They like everything fresh.” “No simulator?” My horror obviously amused him. “Not even for coffee?” “You won’t want it again after you have Egan’s coffee anyway.” Kol slid open a panel and took out a carafe that matched the drinking tubes. It had been sitting on a warming plate. He poured me a cup. “Why don’t you sit and drink that while I figure out the soup thing.” I moved to comply, sinking onto a cushion. Mostly because my legs had started to feel rubbery. “Can you cook?” Kol nodded. “I learned when I lived here. Trust me, it was hard going back to the simulator. You’ll see once we get the greenhouse up and running. By the way, it’s in decent shape.” He frowned. “In fact, once we pick off old vegetables, fruit and such, the plants should go back to thriving within weeks. This one wasn’t affected by the explosions at all.”

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Even I knew five years was a bit long for the contents of a greenhouse to survive unattended. I ran my hand over the huge royal blue and emerald cushion I sat on. The cushions surrounded the low table and they were so luxurious, a person could easily sleep on them. “This room is positively decadent.” “Gwinarians like all our pleasures,” Egan said as he came into the room. He was wearing another pair of those loose, drawstring pants—these black, like the long-sleeved T-shirt. “From the looks of this seating arrangement, your people cared about food and sex.” “Both in this room.” He winked and squatted to open a cabinet I’d previously thought to be part of the wall. “Did I hear soup was in order?” He pulled out a packet, chuckled when he saw my grimace. “This isn’t like a life pack. Promise. It’s a packet of dried bouillon and spices. I’m going to chop up some vegetables small—think you’re ready for something more solid.” I watched him fill a pan with water, pour in the packet and touch a few buttons. “Egan? If families lived here, where did the kids stay if there’s only one bedroom?” “This is a home version near the mining pod. Most miners worked here before kids started arriving or took shifts here.” He pulled out a chopping pad and started laying out vegetables like celery, carrots and some I didn’t recognize. “That’s right, more than one mommy and daddy.” I sniffed the air. “Broth smells good already.” Kol poured himself a tube of coffee, handed me a tube then sat beside me. I sipped the coffee and closed my eyes. “This, I can live with. Very good.” “We don’t have the equivalent of a coffee bean on Kithra, but your people introduced us to the beverage and it was a huge hit. It was one of our biggest

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imports, but we worked on the production and the changed flavor was the surprise.” Chopping sounds filled the room. He worked fast, the knife speeding up and down. I leaned on Kol and he slid his arm around me to pull me fully against his chest. His heart beat against my cheek and I slipped my drinking tube in the silver holder on the table so I could fully snuggle in. “I need a robe. This nightgown is ridiculous and makes me cold.” Kol put his tube in the holder and wrapped both arms around me. I sighed and started to drift off again. I opened my eyes when I heard Egan set a bowl of soup in front of me. He bent to take a good look at my face. “You look better. You’ll have to rest a few more days.” “I know.” I scowled. “Hate resting.” Kol sighed. “I have to get back to the tunnels.” I sat up and let him prop cushions around me. This weakling thing had to go. Kol offered me a quick smile goodbye and left the room without a word to Egan. Egan sprawled onto the cushions on the other side of the table. “He’s hurting.” “You think?” I dipped my spoon in the soup. It had a beefy, nutty taste and I knew for a fact the only meat Gwinarians ate came from water—fish, mussels, things like that. So, the beef was kind of weird. “Rula wanted children.” Egan’s comment came out of nowhere and I nearly choked. “In fact, she thought she might be pregnant—told me the night before the explosions. She hadn’t told Kol because he was supposed to be gone for two months and she didn’t want him to worry.”

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I felt the blood drain from my face. “I didn’t know. Didn’t know our two species are compatible like that.” “Your Gwinarian lover didn’t talk about that?” “She wasn’t my lover, wasn’t my anything. We fought through flight school until one night we had too much to drink. Besides, why would she? It’s not like I could get her pregnant.” “Some believe that Gwinarians and humans came from the same original model.” “That whoever dropped humans on Earth originally, dropped a few here?” I nodded. I’d read the theory and the extreme, controversial theosophical fights that sprung from it. He nodded, pushed his hair back over his shoulder. “We adapted to Kithra’s atmosphere just as your people did to earth. We all evolved. Gwinarians developed more immunities to some of this planet’s gases and metals.” “Evolved to be prettier than the rest of us.” He scooted closer. “You think I’m pretty?” I nodded. He touched my cheek. “You’re beautiful.” “No.” When he opened his mouth to argue, I touched his lip. “I’ve got my good points, I know that. But even on Earth, I’m not considered a great beauty and you should understand something. I don’t care. I don’t. I know what I’m good at and yeah, one of those things is sex-pretty or not.” “Can’t wait.” “You’ll have to.” I ate more soup, smiled. “This is fantastic. Thanks.” “You’re welcome, but don’t change the subject. You know this won’t be easy with Kol.”

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“He knows how I am. We don’t have any claims on each other. We do care about each other, though, so I want to take this slow. He’s a good friend to me. I don’t want to lose that.” “Yet you are also lovers.” “Just the once.” His mouth dropped open. “That day on the ship? The day I arrived?” I nodded, felt a bit of heat crawling up my neck. “I don’t sleep with anyone under me in rank and up until then, he had been.” Egan found this entirely too amusing. His laughter lasted a full minute or so. “Hey!” “And here I’ve been so cautious about messing with another of Kol’s relationships. This changes things a bit.” “How?” “I’ve had a lot of time to think about what the problem was in the past.” “You mean besides the fact he’s not gay?” I lifted an eyebrow. Egan curled his lip. “I don’t believe in that term. We are attracted to who we want—we love who we do. It’s that simple.” “I like that.” “I know Kol. He’s loyal. When I met him, he was firmly connected in a relationship with Rula. To him, our attraction was the same as cheating. I think that’s why he fought it.” “Maybe he just doesn’t find the idea of sex with a man appealing.” “Do you really believe that?” I thought of the way he’d looked at Egan that first day. Shook my head. “No, I don’t.” “So do you think you and Kol are going into a relationship?” I shook my head. “It’s strictly casual. I have plans for my future.”

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“Kol’s not good at casual. At least that’s what Rula told me.” He reached for the tube of coffee Kol had abandoned. “I lived with Rula before she fell hard for him. I was off planet when they had their whirlwind courtship so when I came home, he was already firmly entrenched in our home. I lived there for months after they married, but it ceased to feel like my home when I realized how uncomfortable I made Kol. We became better friends after I moved out. But something was there.” “Did you ever take it further?” “I tried. He wasn’t willing. But I wanted to be with both of them. I loved Rula, too. She was my friend and lover for years. But Kol…” Something in his voice said so, so much more. He’d loved Kol. Maybe fallen as hard for him as Rula had. Then this had to be killing him. “Did you volunteer for this to be near him again?” His expression grew more serious than I’d ever seen it. And I didn’t imagine the flash of sheer, raw agony that ripped into my own chest. Then, it was like he wiped it off and replaced the serious with that naughty teasing look I was beginning to think he used to cover up a lot. “Flying with the famous Captain Lux Moyans? You think that’s not enticing enough?” I thought of Kol. Of that body of his, the passion. “You aren’t fooling me. And no worries. I’m not the jealous type. Besides, he’s worth it.” He draped an arm over my shoulders. “Yeah, he is.”

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Chapter Nine

With Kol and Egan swapping shifts, I ended up sharing the bed with Egan that night. I had taken a bath in the sinfully huge tub and was already on the edge of sleep when he came into the room but I woke fully when he crawled under the covers. I rolled over to face him, but the room was so dark, I couldn’t see him at all. “Just so you know, I’m not sleeping with the damned mask tonight. I feel better.” His chuckle was so low, it gave me goose bumps. “Come here woman and warm me up.” He pulled me against his body and I noticed right away he wore the loose pants and shirt of earlier, which surprised me. He was so earthy and sensual, I’d have expected him to sleep naked. “Warm you? You’re an oven.” “Okay, I lied.” Exhaustion thickened his voice. “I just wanted to feel you against me.” He and Kol were working long, hard shifts. “I feel so guilty lying around like this.” “Trust me, you need to. But damn you’re tense—like a board against me. Relax already.” He pulled my ass into his groin, wrapped one thick arm around me and snuggled so close, some of his silky hair slid over my neck to pool on the bed. I tried to relax, but restlessness burned in me like a crackling bonfire. And Egan felt so good against my back and his hair…I slid my hand under some and rubbed the satiny texture between my fingers. Oh man, it was so silky and heavy

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and I wanted him to trail it over my entire body. Ill or not, I wasn’t dead and desire suddenly thrummed inside me. I stroked my hand down his arm, loving the texture of skin and hair. “You’re not relaxing.” I smiled and rolled over to press a kiss against his mouth. He tensed in surprise. “I’m just tired of this bed and you feel so good.” “You really should conserve your energy.” But he kissed me back and his arm tightened around me as he pulled me into his body. I gasped when I felt the hard ridge of his dick against me. Instinctively, I spread my thighs so he could get a better fit against me. He groaned, deepened the kiss. Just like before in the tunnel, kissing him made me feel pretty damned close to the way I did when flying. I slid my tongue deep into his mouth and moaned when he skimmed his hand under the hem of my nightgown and up the outside of my thigh to stroke over the indention of my waist. I waited for that hand to continue up to my breasts, ached for it, but he only stroked his palm over my skin—almost like he couldn’t stop himself. I pulled back. “We need some light.” He distracted me then by cupping my breasts. I sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes when he rubbed his fingers over my nipples, traced the shape of my right breast. I forgot all about the light then because he rolled me onto my back and put his mouth on my neck. “Oh yeah,” I breathed. The man had some instincts, zeroing in on my erogenous zone like he’d scented it out. I quivered when he opened his mouth over the pulse in my throat and liquid pooled between my thighs so fast, I needed his fingers there. Now. I knew exactly how to get him to pay attention to my clit. I slowly spread my legs.

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“Gods, Lux,” he said on a groan, his hand sliding down exactly where I wanted it. Hot fingers slid into my folds and he made another low noise in his throat. “You’re so wet. We really shouldn’t be doing this. Not until you’re back in top form.” “I don’t feel top form to you now?” “Oh, you do. But I know better.” “You’ll hurt me worse if you stop now. I want you inside me. We can take it slow.” “You heard me tell Kol how long it’s been, right? There will be no such thing as slow. I’ll come the minute I feel your soft body tighten around mine.” He groaned. “Hell, just talking about it and feeling all this silky, wet readiness has me ready to come now.” He suddenly sat up and stripped the nightgown off me entirely. Again, I wondered about the lack of illumination in here, but before I could open my mouth to insist, he put his mouth on my clit. I nearly jackknifed off the bed. He licked slowly, pressing his tongue on just the right spot, putting pressure exactly where I wanted it. This never happened with oral sex before—in fact, I’d never been a fan. Granted none of my relationships got far enough for them to really learn what I liked, but the ones who’d tried had always left me feeling pretty blah about the whole thing. I preferred cock. Preferred it deep and hard and hot. But this…I gasped again when he reached under to cup my ass, pressing his tongue in a stroking, rhythmic fashion that had me bunching the sheets in my fists and pushing up into his face. His hair spilled over my hips and I clutched handfuls of it, careful not to pull, but loving the feel of silk between my fingers. “Holy shit, Egan!” I managed to gasp right before heat shot from my womb in every direction as my orgasm shuddered through me.

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Without warning, light fell across the bed and I looked up to find Kol, frozen in the doorway. But he wasn’t looking at me, he was staring at Egan like a starving man and I had to gasp when I looked as well. Egan’s hair was in a tangle, sexy and disheveled, but it was his eyes that stole our attention so completely. They glowed and the look of lust and heat on his face stole the air from my lungs. I held my breath, afraid if I moved I’d break the spell and that was the last thing I wanted. The heat between them awed me. Afraid to even swallow the lump stuck in my throat, I gasped out loud when that heat was turned onto me. Kol took a step inside the room, still watching me. Like Egan, I waited. And oh, I wanted him to crawl into this bed with us. Or even stand there and watch. I didn’t care, I just wanted him to do something to release the incredible, blistering heat building between the three of us. Kol’s gaze flew back to Egan and he abruptly turned on his heel. Egan and I both flinched when the outer panel slid shut. I stretched to push the button that would turn the lamp beside the bed on low. Egan had closed his eyes, bent his head. “I really, really hate your Earth sometimes.” I was shaking. Hadn’t even realized it. “Are you sure that’s it? I’ve never heard Kol make one homophobic remark. Never seen him treat the same sex partners on our crews any differently. And besides, there are very few places left on any of the Earths that still vilify such things.” Egan didn’t answer. “He wants you.” Why I felt the need to point out the obvious, I don’t know. “I’ve only seen him look at one other person like that.” “You.” I nodded. “But not until he was promoted. He’s so damned proper.”

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Egan’s smile still held a rough edge, but it warmed my heart. “Then we must work harder to mess him up.” I touched my tongue to a front tooth, grinned. “Yes. We must.” Staring at him, I realized he’d lost the lust I’d felt tearing him up a few minutes before. Kol had done that to him. I reached down and stroked his hair. “Egan?” Amber eyes—and it hadn’t been my imagination—that still glowed faintly, met my own green gaze. The hint of sadness there ripped into my heart. I let go of his hair and opened my arms to invite him back up. He came and tucked me against him. “I need my nightgown.” “Oh no, you certainly don’t.” He cupped a breast, stroked it softly. “We’ll finish this when I can get that look of his out of my head, okay?” “I’m sorry you didn’t get to finish. But just so you know, that was the best oral sex I’ve ever had.” He laughed and wrapped his arms around me. “I have a few more tricks up my sleeves.” He sounded sleepy so I just hugged him and listened as he fell asleep. The whole time, I wondered why he’d left his clothes on and if the scars I’d spotted on his neck were worse underneath. What had this Gwinarian been through?

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Chapter Ten

Two weeks later, I was ready to kick Kol’s ass. I’d managed to corner him long enough to make sure he hadn’t been jealous of what happened and I’d been reassured that he wasn’t. He reminded me that he knew going into this that I didn’t want a relationship. But he hadn’t touched me again either. And he’d moved on to the couch in the living area of the life pod. My guess is he would have moved back to the ship, but he still liked to be close—my reaction to the gases had scared him—I could see it in his expression still. Egan had been working himself into an exhaustion and was usually sleeping during the day. Something in his mannerisms had me hesitating to approach him again. Honestly, I was ready to kick both their asses. We had a year or more together here and this constant tension wasn’t going to fly. Tonight, out of the blue, Egan had insisted we sit down for a special meal together. “What are we celebrating?” I asked as I slid onto the decadent mound of cushions around the dining table. “Damn, this smells fantastic.” My stomach rumbled and both men grinned. I lifted an eyebrow. “What? So? I got my appetite back full force. And tomorrow, I’m going out to work on the tunnels. No arguments.” When neither man did, I had to swallow back a smile. Had to admit, I was glad my captain status was coming back. All the coddling had been nice at first,

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but it had burned my every last nerve over the last week. “So what are we celebrating?” “It’s Kol’s birthday.” My eyebrows went up. “It is?” Dark eyes met mine and he nodded. “Thirty-seven today.” I hadn’t realized he was that much older than me. I’d turned thirty right before we’d been reassigned. Shame sent heat creeping up my neck. Kol had remembered my birthday and had surprised me with a special bottle of Fagra wine. There was another bottle of the exact same year on the table now, too. “Dig in,” Egan said. Nibbling on a garlicky noodle, I eyed the suspicious shapes in my food. I blinked at my plate in disbelief. They could not be real shrimp. Where would we get them and if they weren’t real, why go through the trouble to mold them into that shape? “Are you going to poke at it with your fork or try it?” I glanced up to find Kol staring, amusement easing the angry expression he’d been carrying ever since the explosion. Something in my stomach loosened up. “Why? Is there something else you’d rather be doing?” Heat flared in his eyes and he began to grin, caught Egan’s look and stopped. The frown came back full force, pulling his eyebrows together, thinning his lips. He stabbed at a shrimp thing, chewed forcefully, then washed it down with at least half the Fagra wine in his tube. He closed his eyes, swallowed and his neck flushed red. Narrowing my eyes, I set down the fork. “Kol, this push and pull bullshit isn’t going to work for me. I want you both.”

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He set his fork down, too. Leaned over his plate to meet my eyes. “I told you that first time I like you the way you are. I know you don’t do exclusives.” “So what, I sleep with one or the other while the odd man out waits on the other side of the bed?” “There’s a perfectly decent and insanely comfortable couch.” “You’re being ridiculous. I want you, Kol. You know it. I want you badly.” I aimed a smile at the quiet Gwinarian. “But I want him, too. And frankly, so do you.” “Uh, Lux—” “I said no bullshit,” I snapped before stabbing my fork into the shrimp-like thing. Feeling brave, I popped it into my mouth and nearly slid off the chair in pleasure. “Oh man, what the hell is that?” “A little delicacy I discovered about a year ago on a trip to the outer atmosphere. The crew called them land shrimp because of the resemblance. I brought them in with the supplies,” Egan said, his voice low and tight from the emotion I could feel rolling off him in waves. “It’s like shrimp, but it’s not. It’s more buttery, softer.” I speared another, then another. “Please tell me we have a lot of this back on the ship.” He shook his head. “I’ll have some shipped in with our next supply run. They’re similar to your Earth shrimp, but they dry easily and don’t spoil, so I can pull in a larger order. They also have more nutrients than one of your bananas.” He curled his lip, shuddered. I was going to come just from eating the food. Moaning, I slid another of those buttery things into my mouth, licked the rich sauce off the fork. Spearing the green, leafy vegetable that resembled both broccoli and asparagus, I dipped it into the garlic sauce and bit the end. “What the hell?” My eyes flew open wide. “I’ve never tasted anything like this.”

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“She’s never eaten fresh Kithran food before,” Kol told Egan. Egan’s look of complete dismay had me chuckling. But not for long. I wanted to burrow in this food and settle for winter. I wanted to taste more. “Please tell me we brought more fresh stuff.” I licked the fork again, set it down. “I did. I’ve been growing Kithran vegetables and fruits off planet for two years. And we pick up shipments of it until I can get the greenhouse up and running. Then, you will think you’re in heaven.” “I’m not sure I can handle eating like this all the time.” Kol’s voice had gone deep. I realized I’d been slowly dipping my fingers into the sauce and sucking on them. I popped one finger out of my mouth, bit my lower lip. “Sorry. Haven’t experienced anything like this food before.” “Try the wine,” Egan coaxed. His eyes glittered. “I’ve had Fagra wine, you know that.” “Not with this food.” Lifting the tube, I held it at my mouth and hesitated when the cool glass touched my lip. The air in the pillow-filled room had gone thick. Heat hovered around us, prickled along my skin. I lowered my free hand to the cushion beneath me, running fingers over the sleek surface before digging my fingers into the billowy softness. Under the table, I clenched my legs together, wishing I’d worn something other than my flight suit. At this rate, I was going to roast alive. “Taste it,” Egan coaxed, his voice barely above a whisper. I tilted the tube and let the wine explode in my mouth before the liquid rolled down the back of my tongue and burst into sweetness at the back of my throat. My lungs were so damned tight, I had to close my eyes as the flavors of the food and wine melded. Knowing the fever tearing through my body would

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show bright from my eyes, I slitted them open and speared another one of the shrimp-like things, adding it to the rolling flavors in my mouth. I couldn’t stop the groan that tore from my tight lungs. “Shit,” Kol muttered, voice deep and guttural. “No more bullshit, you say?” He dropped his fork onto the plate with a loud clatter. I didn’t open my eyes when both men moved. More silverware clinked on the table before the shuffle of bodies over the pillows came to me. I don’t know who touched me first and I didn’t care as I was dragged toward the corner where pillows stacked high away from the table. “Shit,” Kol whispered again before his mouth slammed onto mine. I’d know that mouth of his anywhere. I opened mine wide, met his tongue with my own and swallowed the groan that rumbled from him. He had the same flavors in his mouth and I explored each and every single one of them out. He pressed so hard, my head tilted back until my body followed, sinking into the soft cushions. Only one man was touching me. I wrenched my mouth from Kol, eyes flying open to look for Egan. He was sprawled on the pillows, close enough to touch. I started to hold out my hand but hesitated. His gaze was locked on us, his chest moving up and down hard as if he had to fight for breath. But his hesitance felt like a physical barrier between us and I knew what he waited for. Looking up at Kol, I expected I’d have to explain what he needed to do, but he wasn’t looking at me. He’d turned his head toward Egan, too. My belly fluttered when he stretched out one hand toward Egan. Egan’s gaze dropped to that hand, locked there. Come on, I muttered in my head over and over.

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These two had a past more powerful and painful than I could understand, but I knew they’d never been in bed together before. They’d shared Rula’s love, but not her bed. I would be their first. This realization flooded my groin, turned my limbs heavy. When Egan crawled toward us, I sucked in air and could do nothing about the trembling that took over every part of my body. Kol had reached for him first, but Egan came to me. I expected that naughty grin of his to appear, but the tone of his expression was too fierce, too full of intent. My heart beat fast and hard, the flow of blood through my veins raced. I tried to stop the shaking of my limbs, my gaze shooting to Kol for help. But he was overcome by the strength of this, of the three of us together. His mouth was open, his eyes narrowed as he watched Egan reach between us and grasp the zipper on my flight suit. We all held our breath, making the zip the only sound in the room. When it stopped, Egan reached for my shoulder and Kol tugged on my hands to pull my back off the pillows. Egan peeled the suit from my shoulders, my arms. Kol slid his hands under my arms and lifted me again so Egan could slide the suit off my legs. I wore nothing underneath. While I knew my face wasn’t the prettiest and probably didn’t come close the beauty Rula must have had, I knew my body wouldn’t disappoint. Egan had felt me and had seen me naked once in the low lights, but his expression was like he was seeing me for the first time. “Gods, you have the longest, sexiest legs.” Egan ran his hand along my ankle, cupped my calf. Kol still held me off the pillows and before I could figure out our next move, Egan moved my legs to either side of Kol as Kol pulled me onto his lap.

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He still wore his clothes and I grunted with frustration before sliding my fingers in his hair and tugging his mouth back to mine. Egan moved behind me, his heat seeping into my bare back as he ran his hands over my shoulders and down my spine. His mouth latched on that spot where my neck met my right shoulder and I went taut with pleasure. Egan didn’t stop running his palms over my skin. “Like Earth silk,” he breathed on my neck before sucking on the spot right behind my ear. I cried out, the sound muffled from Kol’s mouth. Kol moaned, his hands slipping down to cup my ass and rub me along the hard ridge in his lap—still covered in fucking clothes! I tugged lightly on his hair until his mouth was an inch away from mine. “Clothes off.” I heard a zip behind me and Kol’s eyes left mine to aim over my shoulder. I wanted to look pretty badly, but the expression on Kol’s face caught me. His eyes widened as a slight flush crept up his neck. Then they suddenly narrowed, his mouth falling open. His lips glistened from our kiss and I leaned over and licked them again before turning to look over my shoulder. But Egan flipped off the lights. There were buttons on every wall in the room—buttons that controlled everything from the lights to the temperature of the room, to music if you wanted it. Light from the hallway spilled into the room enough so we could still see each other but here, in the corner, everything was muted. Surprise stiffened my back. I would have expected this Gwinarian to want the lights blazing so he didn’t miss a thing. Hell, I wanted the lights on. I wanted to feast my eyes on both examples of superb manhood. But then I forgot everything when I felt Egan’s hands return to my body. They slid around my sides to cup my breasts. His chest came up against my back, some of his hair trapped between us, some of it spilling over my shoulder. I quickly unzipped Kol’s suit and pulled it apart, heard him suck in air as that

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silky hair touched him. Egan’s mouth was on the back of my neck. I was suddenly fiercely glad I’d pinned my hair up. Egan caressed my breasts as Kol’s mouth came back to mine, his tongue pushing deep. And like that, the trembling came back. Overwhelmed, I opened my mouth wide and returned his kisses, sliding my tongue along his, luxuriating in the different textures of Egan on my skin. Kol’s flight suit was trapped under me, so I slid back on his lap until I could slip my hand inside and wrap my fingers around his cock. Hot, velvety skin met my palm as he pulsed in my hand. I slid my hand up and down and he pulled back from my mouth, sucking in air as a strangled noise escaped his throat. Egan’s hands moved down my stomach, stopping to cup my waist before one hand moved further down, his fingers slipping into my folds to explore. He groaned and I knew why. I was so wet, his fingers glided over the softest part of my body without any restriction. His middle finger skimmed my clit once, twice… This time, I pulled in air, my head going back as liquid fire exploded in my groin and saw stars. “Gods,” Egan bit out. He sat back. “She’s hotter than your earth’s sun.” “I know,” Kol answered before he groaned. I’d tightened my fingers during my orgasm and I quickly loosened them, afraid I’d hurt him. “Don’t stop,” he gasped. His hands dropped to my waist and I expected him to maneuver me over his cock, but his flight suit was still trapped under my legs. Instead, he lifted me and pushed me back onto Egan’s lap. Egan didn’t have on clothes. Kol’s hands helped guide me onto Egan and as I slid onto his dick, a long, low moan ripped from my throat. I clutched at Kol’s arms, not wanting to lose

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my hold on him, wishing the damn lights were on so I could see his face, see his body. Egan wrapped his arms around my waist and came up on his knees. This bent me over and I knew exactly what he’d put me in place for. I started to grin, but instead gasped as he moved deep inside me at this angle, pushing, thrusting. Kol had come up onto his knees, his hands cupping my breasts. I dropped over more and tugged his flight suit before grasping his cock in my hand and sliding down to the base to hold it steady. My mouth watered right before I licked the tip, tasting the salty drop gathered there. Egan thrust into me and I opened my mouth wide on a gasp and took Kol onto my tongue, letting him slide into my throat. Both men groaned, almost in unison. Kol had let go of my breasts with the first lick of my tongue and now he pulled out the clasp I’d used to knot my hair. My loose hair spilled around my head and Kol speared his fingers into it. Egan was running one hand up and down my back, his other holding on to my hip to keep me in place for him. He began to move faster and faster and I worked to keep from swallowing Kol whole, using my throat when I could, sucking hard when I couldn’t. He suddenly shouted, then mumbled something about choking me to death at this angle and pulled out. He grabbed my hand and cupping it around the end of his cock as hot liquid squirted into my palm leaked between my fingers. He lifted me up and Egan made the adjustment behind me as Kol’s mouth slid along mine. I let go of Kol’s dick, dropping my cupped hand to my side. Shock and some other, unfamiliar emotion strangled me when Egan reached for my hand, his fingers slipping and sliding to thread with mine. I groaned again and that was it for him. He cried out, went stiff and started to pull from me. “No,” I gasped. “It’s okay, I’m covered.”

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The moan that came from him lasted as long as he did, pulsing inside me as he came. We fell into a heap on the cushions, Egan still holding my hand—the one Kol had spilled into.

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Chapter Eleven

I awakened to the sounds of one of Kithra’s famous wind storms. Fierce gusts whistled and moaned outside our life pod. I felt the slight sway of the building under my body. Egan had explained they’d built the pods to work with the winds. The first versions had snapped under the pressure. Damn, I was sore. Sore in a good way. Normally, I worked out daily, but the illness had kept me flat too long and now I’d worked out new muscles last night. I smiled when I saw one of the men had covered me up with a blanket. I started to snuggle further into the soft pillows, then frowned, looked at the stream of light coming from the hallway beyond the kitchen. Scrambling from the cushions, I wrapped the blanket around me and followed the light. The wooden floor was now cool under my bare feet and I shivered and tugged the blanket tighter around me as I stopped before entering the tiny room that passed for a living area. It had a couch—or more like a pillow covered bench—that curved along two walls. A big vidscreen hung on one of the opposite walls. Kol sat on the couch, his elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands. He had a blanket wrapped around his waist. Egan stood against the wall by the screen. He wore loose, white drawstring pants and a dark blue high necked, long-sleeved shirt. He wasn’t looking at Kol, was in fact looking anywhere but. “You never liked the lights off,” Kol said half under his breath. “Rula told you that?”

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Kol lifted his face. Nodded. His skin was pale, his mouth pinched. “She wanted you in our family. She spent a lot of time talking about it, telling me about your likes and dislikes. Rula loved you very much. Gods, I’ve felt such guilt over keeping you two apart.” He looked up, swept his messy hair off his face. “I saw. When you first unzipped the suit, I saw them.” Egan said nothing, but he spotted me and came away from the wall slightly. I shook my head; put my finger over my lips. Kol couldn’t see me from his position unless he looked over his shoulder. “I thought it was strange,” Kol muttered. “Thought it was so strange that I’d been told the Gwinarian I was picking up had been off planet. I saw it was you and yet…you weren’t off planet—you’d had dinner with us the night before the explosions. The send off dinner for me.” He stopped, swallowed. “Gods, Rula was so pissed that night. She thought I was ready, had planned to invite you to stay over and I lost my damn nerve.” Bleakness hollowed out his voice. “I thought you’d died. Like Rula. Like everyone. I was on that damn ship and miles away when the news broadcasted the story.” “I’m sorry.” Egan looked at his hands. “Please Kol, understand I didn’t mean to—” “I know we had our issues, but I had thought, no, I’d truly believed we were friends.” Kol stood and the blanket started to slip. He quickly tucked it tight again. “Why? Why let me think you were dead for five years? Five fucking years, Egan!” Egan looked down. “It’s complicated.” “And what? I’m not smart enough to handle the truth?” Egan snarled and stalked toward him. “Don’t be an idiot. Did it occur to you it might be hard for me to talk about?” His voice broke on the last word. Kol opened his mouth, saw me and snapped it shut.

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And I felt a wave of hurt that shocked the hell out of me. He didn’t want me in on this conversation. Knowing they had a past hadn’t bothered me before, but all of the sudden, it did. I felt like the unwanted third wheel. I didn’t let this show. I was a master at keeping my feelings hidden, so I mumbled something about coffee and shuffled backward until I got to the kitchen doorway. I should have known better. Both men followed. Kol came up behind me where I was standing in the middle of the kitchen, helpless without a simulator. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and tugged me close, nuzzling my hair aside to bury his mouth in the crook of my neck and shoulder. I sighed, clutched his arms and squeezed. “I’m not used to the way you two make me feel,” I whispered. “Sorry for intruding.” “You weren’t intruding.” Kol kissed my neck. “You are never intruding.” Egan leaned against the counter, that naughty smile of his firmly back in place. But I could see beyond it now. Could feel the anguish that ached like a living thing inside him. He winked. “Can I just say now that I’m very, very happy to be stuck on this planet with you two? Last night exceeded even my expectations and I’ve had a lot of them over the last few weeks since I walked aboard your ship.” “It’s not mine, it’s Kol’s.” Kol pulled his mouth from my skin, dropped a kiss on my shoulder. “You know it’s yours as much as mine, Captain.” “Oh, I like that. Will you call me Captain in bed later?” His chuckle vibrated against my back. “I’ll call you anything you want if you suck on me like you did last night.” And I went hot. Instantly. “Shit Kol. At least let me get a shower before you get me all worked up again.”

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“I’ll join you.” He turned me and pried loose one of the hands I was using to hold the blanket closed. Lifting an eyebrow, he looked at the Gwinarian. “Egan?” “I already showered.” I nearly pouted. Two wet, naked men in the shower appealed to me. A lot. “We don’t have time to play this morning anyway,” Egan said. “I set a timer on the life support system in the control room and need to get down there to see if it kicked on. If it made the air in the newly repaired tunnel safe.” “Wait,” I said, letting go of Kol’s hand. I walked up to Egan and stood on tiptoe because I was barefoot and he towered over me without my boots. His grin warmed my heart. He bent until our faces were mere centimeters apart. I whispered, “We never did get to kiss last night.” “Then we must remedy that now.” He cupped my chin and slanted his mouth over mine. I smelled mint on his breath, so I kept my mouth closed. Morning breath and all. But I pressed my lips against his, inhaled his scent into my nostrils. He grinned against my mouth. “Not letting me in yet, are you?” I turned my face away. “Not until I get to brush.” “You’ll get more comfortable around me soon enough. I’ll make sure of it.” My mouth dropped open. “More comfortable? Seems I was just fine last night.” “That you were,” he murmured, dropping a hard kiss on my lips. “That you were.” He grinned before turning to leave—not once looking at Kol. Kol sighed behind me. “Go ahead and get a shower. I’ll see if I can scare up something resembling coffee for you.” “I thought you wanted to come with me?”

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His laugh warmed my heart. “I do want to come with you, but Egan will need help.” “Okay, I’ll hurry and get the work out of the way today. Think we’ll have a replay of last night again tonight?” “I hope so.”

We set a sort of pattern. Luckily, cooking and me weren’t a part of it. I was absurdly happy eating the fresh delicacies Egan or Kol cooked up. And they assured me they didn’t want me ruining food until there were more supplies. I took that to mean stuff actually growing in the greenhouse—which would thankfully be a long, long time. But we worked hard on repairing the path tubes in the daylight hours and Kithra did have a number of daytime hours. Her sun wasn’t as close as ours on Earth 3, but we didn’t have the sweltering heat and problems with vegetable farms we’d had there either. Of course, here everything was grown in greenhouse pods. Egan spent a lot of evening hours in the tiny greenhouse and I even found a fondness for burying my fingers in dirt and caring for the baby sprouts that started popping up everywhere. And the three of us shared that bed every night. Egan still insisted on having the lights off, so I had not once looked at his body nude. I’d felt every inch of it. Rigid scars covered a good portion of his back and there were three on his chest, several on each thigh. He didn’t seem to mind me touching them—he just didn’t want me looking. Or Kol. I had a feeling it was especially Kol. Egan had never been able to interest the man when his body had been unscarred, so I had a feeling he felt he had no chance this way.

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But he flirted with Kol unmercifully. And Kol’s temper was reaching a boiling point. I couldn’t understand why he still held out to a certain extent. They shared me in bed, but that was it. They touched occasionally, but mostly by accident. I could feel their desire for more and couldn’t understand why Kol still held back. It was causing a rift that flared bright during the daytime. We were two months into our stay on Kithra and all tempers were simmering already. I was dying to fly, the restlessness a burning hot poker in my chest at all times. Thankfully, my first supply run was coming up—but it was short. Just a quick stop through the debris fields to the supply station the Company had set up. But…as badly as I itched to be in the air, to be out in space, I worried more about leaving Egan and Kol alone together.

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Chapter Twelve

The day before my supply run, I dragged my exhausted body to the life pod. The sound of the panel sliding shut behind me was all I needed to dump the stress of six straight hours of system testing on the ship. I was setting my lunch tote onto the shelf next to the door when the utter stillness of the place hit me. The men should be here by now. Every hair on the back of my neck stood as waves of tension rolled over me. Taut heat rode those waves. My gut clenched and a buzzing warmth settled low in my body. Oh yeah, they were home. Were they fucking? I didn’t want to interfere. It had taken so long to get Kol to the point of even touching Egan, any interruption might stop the flow. But nothing on this godsforsaken planet could keep me from watching. Panting slightly at the thought, I bent and unzipped my boots as quietly as possible. Keeping the sound from reaching Egan would be a miracle with the way he picked up on everything. But the desire rippling through the air was so strong, I was already surprised he hadn’t shown up to peel off my suit and slam me into the wall. With the tension Kol had been causing him lately, he’d cornered me anywhere and everywhere he happened to find me. Neither man had a problem with sharing me. They didn’t have a problem sharing the bed as long as I was in it. They even occasionally touched each other because how could they not with me so close to the both of them.

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This last week the tension had reached unbearable levels. The raw testosterone fueled need building between these two stubborn men had put a brake on things when the three of us were together. We were stuck here one year, possibly more. Knowing Roover, my time would probably be doubled—he knew how much I hated being grounded. Well, how much I had before. Yeah, I wanted to fly, and I would, but having Kol and Egan in my bed made being grounded way more desirable. I’d never had it so good. Boots off, I tiptoed through the living area, the thick rug masking my steps until I got to the wood section of the floor. I held my breath and padded silently down the hall. This need we had for each other was like nothing I’d ever felt. Remembering the three of us the last time over a week ago had my breath picking up. I was starting to like sex in the dark. It was like shutting off one sense made the others come alive. I could focus so very much on how it felt to slide between two warm, naked men. I came to the open door of the room and stopped before peeking around the corner. Then, I quit breathing altogether. Egan stood on one side of the room. Kol the other. Locked in some sort of battle stare, each man stood rigid and tall. Kol looked ready to bolt. Muscles flexed in his arm as he tightened one hand into a fist, his expression a mix of cornered animal and absolute fury. I watched as Egan slowly began to unbutton the long, filmy shirt he’d obviously thrown on after a shower because part of it was wet—as if he’d dried off fast. He hadn’t washed his hair, but had it pulled back in a tail which fully bared his beautiful, sharp-featured face. He never took his eyes off Kol, who had gone slightly pale. The shorter man had stepped back against the wall. He had plenty of room to run but he wasn’t. That alone had me holding my breath.

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Egan’s shoulder muscles flexed as he shrugged out of his shirt. It slid to the floor on a whisper of sound. He didn’t hesitate, just moved to the top button of his pants. I knew he worried about his scars, knew the courage it was taking him to do this. I stared at his bare upper body and felt the world tremble beneath my feet. He had golden skin—impossibly smooth looking in every place that didn’t carry a scar. And the scars were ugly, but not in the way he must see them. They were ugly because he’d suffered so much. They broke my fucking heart. He’d been hurt badly. One in particular made a kind of X pattern right over his heart. A thick X. He would have been completely open with a wound like that. I pulled back, rested my hot forehead against the cool metal wall. My heart hurt. Ached. He still hadn’t talked about what had happened but a part of me had guessed that he’d awakened here, on planet, alone among the dead. I could not figure out how he survived. The burning behind my eyes and the catch in my breathing nearly caused me to walk back the way I’d come. But Kol’s words stopped me. “Egan,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “You know I’m not…gods, what happened to you?” “I survived.” Egan’s voice was hardly above a whisper. “Some of us did. About twenty. In the beginning.” I wanted to slide down the wall, curl up and cry. I didn’t. Instead, I crushed my hands into fists and let my breath out as silently as I could. I didn’t want to interrupt him now that he was finally telling his friend what happened, but I wanted to hold him so badly, I physically ached with the effort to hold back. Kol’s voice was hoarse. “But—”

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Egan broke him off. “Not many know and it wasn’t broadcasted. No one could get here, remember? No one came for two years. When that last ship made it through the debris fields, they found three of us still alive. This place we’re in? We repaired it, made it livable.” “Three?” “Wounds killed most. The gases slowly took out the rest. I was lucky.” Kol shut his eyes. “Gods, Egan, I can’t imagine. I never thought I could come back here, but why would you? Why the hell would you?” Egan didn’t answer. I knew the answer and Kol was apparently unable to see the love this man held for him. I heard movement and peeked again. Egan was loosening the drawstring on his gray pants. “Stop, Egan. Let’s wait for Lux.” Egan grinned and left his pants just open at the top, a bit of silky, rustcolored hair visible. I’d wondered if it was the same color. And oh man, I wanted to touch. He reached up and pulled the tie from his hair and that long, beautiful mass fell around his face. Kol drew in a loud breath. You poor man, I thought. You can’t resist him any more than I can. As if he read my mind, Egan asked, voice low, “Why do you resist?” Kol let out a breath, stared for long intense seconds and I wanted to scream at him to just, for once, open his damn mouth and explain. “You’re just like her—Lux. You two are perfect for each other.” Kol crossed his arms. “Sensuality oozes from your body, just like her. She has those cat eyes, so green, so full of love she doesn’t even know it. You’re both graceful, seductive. I feel like a great brute of a man with my big hands.”

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“I love your hands,” Egan whispered. “I want your hands on me. And not accidentally like the last two months. I want you to touch me on purpose.” Egan’s eyes went suddenly wide. Kol had pushed away from the wall, was moving toward Egan, nearly stalking him. Egan’s throat moved as he swallowed. He took a step back, his spine hitting the wall because there wasn’t a lot of room in the bedroom with that monster bed. Kol pressed his body against Egan’s, slid his hands into that hair and cupped Egan’s head. Kol groaned and kissed him. I watched as everything in my body clenched and went hotter than the sun Egan had compared me to before. I ached, watching the beautiful men together. My beautiful men. For now. Kol deepened the kiss, tearing a moan from Egan’s throat. Then he pulled back and I watched, holding my breath as he stared at Egan. The taller man slowly opened those gorgeous eyes. “We’ll do this, but the first time? It should be with Lux. I don’t want her feeling left out.” The grin that stretched Egan’s mouth let me know he knew exactly where I was. Hot embarrassment sent me into hiding as I silently turned and put my back to the wall. I was so wet, I was sure they’d be able to see it through my flight suit. I ached and throbbed and I wanted in on what they were doing so badly—yet I also wanted to watch. “Lux?” Egan called out. Softly, the ass. I didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure I had any words anyway. “She’s out there,” he told Kol. “I can smell her lust from here.”

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Kol chuckled, the sound rippling down my spine. I gave up. Slid to the floor. My butt conked loudly on the wood, making my presence obvious. “Okay, okay, I’m out here. Shit, just ignore me. Don’t fucking stop. I mean it.” “Lux,” Egan said, voice still low and soft. “I’ve got him exactly where I want him—nothing will stop me.” Kol’s gasp had me scrambling all the way into the doorway. I stood on shaky legs, leaned against one side of the opening. Egan had dropped to his knees, and now, freed Kol’s cock and didn’t give the man time to stop him—taking it deep into his mouth in one slow swallow. He cupped Kol’s naked ass and moved him back until the bed hit the back of Kol’s knees. He fell onto the bed and Egan followed, swallowing him down again and again. My eyes were so wide; I had to forcefully blink to get moisture in them. I watched Egan’s bright head moving over the darker Kol and even though I’d sworn I wouldn’t get involved, I couldn’t stop myself from moving toward that bed. I crawled across the coverlet, my gaze locked on Egan’s lips wrapped around Kol’s cock. Kol’s eyes were closed, sweat had popped up on his forehead. I was so damned happy to see him like that, I leaned over until his eyes opened and his glittering, passion-filled gaze met mine. He sucked in a breath, his head going back as his eyes slitted with pleasure. I dropped down and pulled his lower lip into my mouth, lightly sucking on it. Upside down like this, his mouth felt different, softer somehow, I licked his teeth, kissed his lips over and over before moving down to drop kisses on his chin, his neck. He cried out and I glanced up to find Egan holding him in his hands, glittering, amber eyes locked on me as he ran his tongue up and down that beautiful prick. He smiled and I knew I was wanted here. Completely. I put my lips on Kol’s left nipple, let my hair down so it brushed over his skin along with Egan’s hair. Kol’s cries were guttural, harsh and broken. I sucked

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and nipped and licked, wanting to swallow the man whole. I pulled back, taking in his tousled, black hair against the blood red cover, his flushed, smooth skin. Egan’s hair spilled over his abdomen. I crawled around Kol to put my hands on Egan. To look at my hands against his golden skin. “You should have let me see your beautiful skin before now,” I whispered against his back. He paused, shuddered and went back to pleasuring Kol. My skin was paler than both of theirs, my hand standing out stark against Egan’s back. I could tell he’d been stunning before the explosions and though I was dying to tell him he couldn’t be more beautiful to me than he was right in this instant, I put my tongue to better use. I came up on my knees, pushed aside his hair and kissed his neck. Another shudder rippled through his body. I touched him then. Really touched him. I ran my hands over every inch of skin I could reach. I kissed his back, his sides, ran my tongue into that intriguing groove at the small of his back. His pants were still loose, so I pulled them off his tight, muscled ass, running my hands over bare skin inch by inch as it was revealed. He had a light dusting of reddish hair on his legs and I slid my palm up his inner thigh. Cupped his sac. He gasped and then must have done something wonderful to Kol because the darker man bowed up off the bed, releasing a hoarse cry that echoed off the walls. Then he just lay there, eyes barely open, staring at us as he tried to slow his breathing. “This is the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” I said, my voice low and husky with the passion creating a lump in my throat. Egan growled, grabbed me and tumbled me to the bed. My head landed beside Kol’s and Egan was inside me before I could blink. He pushed deep, hard. My mouth opened, I stretched my neck, eyes rolling back in my head…intense, it

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was so damned intense. Egan rammed into me, hunching to suck on my neck and the scream that peeled from my throat rivaled Kol’s earlier cry. Egan was right behind me. He collapsed, still inside me, but draped to the side so I didn’t get crushed. I turned my head slowly and met Kol’s dark eyes. The corner of his mouth was turned up. The smile I pulled up fluttered with laziness. “Who needs foreplay with you two around? Can I watch that all again in a few minutes?” Kol laughed. Egan’s body shook against me as he joined in. His hand came up to cup my cheek and he lifted enough to drop a light kiss on my lips. “I may need an hour or so.” “Hour hell, I might need days.” Kol turned on his side, settled his hand on my breast. “One of us has to get up and cook. I’m thinking we should take the simulator out of the ship and reassemble it here.” Egan winced. “I’ll cook. No simulator. Besides—” he sighed, pushed up and leaned over so he could kiss Kol. “We’re going to need a lot of vitamins because we have time to make up for. Lots of it.”

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Chapter Thirteen

Despite all the fun of the night before, I still needed to get into the air. My body hummed with the restless need to be flying a ship, zooming free and fast. Though the Company had rules about flying solo—especially in their one of a kind, expensive ship, I had to go alone the next day. It would take both men to repair the next section of tunnel and it was the last needed before we could take Egan’s robotics in to try them out in the mines. Egan’s excitement over his project was starting to really show—he was grinning like crazy today. Of course, that also had a lot to do with the fact that Kol had awakened him with a kiss this morning. Damn, I flushed fiery hot at the memory of waking to see the men devouring each other’s mouths, fingers clenched in long, silky hair. I planned to use my Captain Voice to order them to not cut their hair. Ever. My VR screen beeped and I pulled it up to find a Kol, still wearing that lazy, satisfied look of this morning. “I ran a systems check this morning. You’re good to go. Sure you want to do this alone? Sure you feel up to it?” “Have I felt at all ill to you in the last couple of weeks? Or last night?” I winked. “You felt like heaven.” My belly quivered and I picked up speed, then nearly tripped over my own feet as something occurred to me. “What?” Kol leaned closer to the camera. “What’s wrong?” I shook my head. “Nothing, nothing at all. Promise.” He merely stared.

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I held the VR screen up to my mouth and kissed it, glad to see him smiling when I pulled it back. “Be careful, Lux. Hurry back to us.” My eyes were flying wide as he signed off. Hurry back to us. To us. I did stumble then because that instant realization flooded my limbs again. I’d picked up speed earlier for them. Not because I was excited about the flight—I was excited about that—but I’d picked up the pace so I could hurry up and get back to the men. Hurry back to us. That sounded so much more permanent than the casual relationship I’d planned to have with them while on Kithra. I’d already figured out Kol would be staying here, that he planned to turn the mining operation into a viable one again. I knew Egan would never leave Kol’s side again. The pain I felt in that moment was like nothing I’d experienced before. They’d want me to stay—I knew it. I didn’t think either man was in love with me, not like they were with each other. I knew Kol still had a ways to go before he could freely admit that, but he would. And the passion they’d share would burn bright and long. But was there a place in there for me? And did I even want that? My entire adult life had been about taking one mission after another so I could save up for my own seek ship. I wanted to explore galaxies, find new species, learn everything I could about the worlds out there. I wanted to fly without the stupid Company and Rex Roover dictating my every move. I kept in touch with Kol and Egan as I flew out, but turned the coms off once I hit the debris field. I had to concentrate and for the first time since I’d crawled into the pilot’s seat, I worried my focus was off. Wouldn’t do to blow up the only ship that could get onto Kithra.

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Wouldn’t do to leave my men stranded there. And they were mine. I didn’t leave the supply station the next day as planned. I stayed three more days. I drank whiskey, ignoring the Fagra Wine for my own sanity. Kol and Egan both sent me messages that grew more urgent, so I had Roover let them know I was okay and that I had to get my VR repaired. The next message from Kol only had one line. “Is it true?” I flipped the com off completely—even though it was grounds for firing with the Company and I lay on my bunk in the ship. I stared at the bland, gray ceiling and thought of the beautiful vegetation on Kithra, thought about what my life would be like if I took to the ground instead of the air. Just the thought caused my skin to turn clammy, my heart to pound…but then, I thought about leaving Kol and Egan for good and the nausea that joined the party let me know something integral had changed. I was in love with them. Completely and utterly in love with them. Mind blowing sex aside, I wanted to get deeper under Kol’s skin, to know who he was to his core. I wanted to make sure Egan continued smiling and being outrageous and never woke alone from a nightmare of that time after the explosions. I wanted to watch them fuck each other, love each other…and I wanted to be a part of that. Scrambling up, I grabbed the whiskey I’d set beside the bed and drained the glass. I was actually considering filing for Family Status with the Company. I stared at the ceiling for hours before I finally caved to sleep. Looked like I had some important conversations coming up in my near future.

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For the first time in my life, my tongue was tied when I stepped off the ship on Kithra. Both Kol and Egan were there wearing nearly identical, furious frowns. Kol stalked across the loading dock and grabbed my arms. “Why would you do that? Why didn’t you let us know you were okay? And don’t give us that bullshit about the broken com. I could tell Roover was lying with his fat, smirking face.” I jerked away from him, narrowed my eyes. “I needed some time to think.” I could have spilled all my thoughts right then and I probably should have. They needed me to explain—I could see it on their faces. Egan, silent for a change, just stared at me as if he could see into my heart. But I saw the reservation there, saw that he was forcing himself to pull back from me. Egan couldn’t handle the thought of losing anything or anyone else. But he didn’t want me to know that. It amazed me that I could tell all this merely by watching the fluctuations in his expressions. Kol suddenly cursed and brushed past me to go into the ship. “Glad you made it back safely,” Egan said. “I’ll help him unload the supplies.” I wrapped my arms around myself, hating this feeling of vulnerability, hating that I could jump into sex at any time or any place, but when it came to actual feelings and a possible real relationship, I acted like an unsure schoolgirl. Leaving them to the unloading, I dragged my weary ass through the tunnel and into our life pod. The combination of drinking with the lack of sleep and having to fly through the debris field hit me hard and I barely finished the shower before stumbling naked onto the bed. I passed out before I could get fully under the covers.

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“Maybe she needed some time.” Egan’s whisper woke me up. I groped for the mobile com I’d dropped on the bed after the shower and saw that ten hours had passed. Holy shit! I sat up, my hair falling around my face in a blinding tangle. “It awakes.” “First I was the beauty and now I’m the it. Thanks,” I muttered, scowling and brushing hair off my face to find Egan smiling. He looked a lot better than he had yesterday. I reached out and touched his arm. “I’m sorry about yesterday.” “Apparently, you needed some sleep. What did you do that exhausted you so much while you were gone?” His tone was friendly, but I could see worry clouding those pretty amber eyes. “I wasn’t sleeping around, if that’s what you’re worried about.” “Would it matter if you were? You’ve reminded us you don’t do exclusives, remember?” Kol stepped out of the bathroom. He wore loose pajama pants that rode so low on his narrow hips, I could see every detail of his abdomen muscles. My mouth went dry. I licked my lips and his gaze zeroed in there. “Look,” I whispered, then cleared my throat. “I’m sorry I turned off my com. I needed to think about a few things.” Egan frowned. “What about that reassignment?” “How do you know about that?” Kol came to the bed, his frown full of anger. “Roover. So it’s true? You did ask about one?” I looked down at the comforter, realized I was sitting there naked and raised the blanket up to tuck it under my arms. Both men frowned at the gesture. “Look,” I said on a sigh. “Just hear me out for a second, okay?” I pointed at the blanket. “And I only covered up so I can concentrate. So you both can focus on what I need to say.”

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Kol held up a hand. “Two months. You only made it two months before cracking. I thought—” he broke off and ran his hands through his hair. The strands fell in a messy disarray and I could tell he’d been doing that a lot. “I didn’t fucking crack.” I bit out the words, snapped at him. Then I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, used a nicer tone. “I didn’t crack, okay? I just realized a few things and the truth is…” I looked back and forth at them. “The truth is I got scared.” “You? Scared?” Egan teased, but I saw that he was starting to understand, saw it in the way his eyes suddenly took on the glow they got during sex. I had to close my eyes because I was suddenly hot. Everywhere. My nipples went hard and heat pooled between my legs. “I’m not taking the reassignment. I never planned to take it—I only asked about it so I could know. Do you understand?” Kol, hands in tight fists, crossed his arms over his big chest. “Know what, Lux?” “Had to know if I could leave you two now.” I whispered the words, so low I wasn’t sure they heard me. “And can you?” Egan asked. I shook my head, tears burning the backs of my eyes. Kol walked fast to the bed and like that, plucked me from under the covers and lifted me high to his chest. He wrapped my legs around his waist and buried his face in my neck. “I would have come after you.” He nuzzled my neck, opened his mouth on my skin, tasted me. “I would not have let you leave us. I love you. So damned much.” Egan’s hand was suddenly on the small of my back. “Me too. Though, I have a feeling you’re going to be a complete pain in the butt if we keep you on this planet.”

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I pulled back to look at Kol, then Egan. “I’ve never wanted to be grounded but for the first time in my life I was excited about coming back before I even left.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “It scared the shit out of me. Sorry.” Chuckling, Kol tumbled me onto the bed and came down on top of me. “I don’t want to keep you here. Not permanently. When you do need to fly, we can go with you. In fact, once we get the mining up and running, we can work on building you a ship.” Egan lay next to us. “Building us a ship.”

Eight Months Later “We’re supposed to send in our progress reports tomorrow,” Kol said as he carried his plate to the table. He stopped to kiss Egan before sitting next to where I lazily sprawled on the pillows. Egan and I had already eaten. I bit my lip. Our time here was technically up in two months. We still had to approach the Company about working out a new schedule that included time here and out in space. I couldn’t help it. I wanted both. Hell, I wanted it all. But for the first time since I took out my very first ship, I’d have a home base. Watching Kol close his eyes in pleasure with his first bite, my heart turned over. Dinner tonight had come entirely from our hands. We’d grown every single thing on these plates. I’d discovered I shared a deep love for growing things with Egan. Surprised the hell out of both men. But I still couldn’t cook for shit. They didn’t mind since they both loved the chore so much. Grinning, I held my mouth open as Kol held out a slice of gorvo fruit and slid it onto my tongue. The mix of tart and sweet made me moan and he chuckled. He’d confessed not too long ago that cooking for me was like an

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aphrodisiac for both of them—they competed over who could get me to moan first. I slowly licked my lips. “What naughty thoughts are causing that grin?” Egan reached over and grabbed my hand, tugged me close before wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “I was remembering when you two first tried our new batch of gorvo.” Kol laughed, the sound tugging at me as it always did now. He laughed so much more these days. They both did. “We were covered in sticky sweet juice all day.” Egan snorted. “And mud.” “You liked the mud.” I poked Kol with my foot. “That’s because I have a fixation on your breasts and they look spectacular all slick with wet mud.” He leaned over and cupped my breast. “The after shower dinner that night was even better.” I tugged on his arm until he fell against both Egan and me. “If they make us leave, can we bring these pillows? So many good times on these things.” “The pillows go with us no matter where we go. They can get more.” Kol slid his hand under Egan’s shirt. Egan, always quick to react, moaned, his breaths picking up. He tugged off his shirt and Kol’s smile was bright. Once Egan had gotten past the worry over his scars, he spent most of his home time in nothing but the sexy loose pajama pants I loved. This pair was the same color as our sheets, a dark, chocolate brown. I’d ordered them myself and picked them up on a surprise supply run for birthday supplies. Egan’s ass was so damned fine and these pants were made of a thin material hand-woven on a planet over a solar system away. They’d cost me a small fortune. Especially since I bought pairs for both him and Kol in every color they had.

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Kol, affection shining in his dark eyes, leaned back on the cushions. “They won’t want us to leave. There’s already talk of us signing on for another year assignment. With the newly repaired life pods, Roover said the other surviving Gwinarians want to come home. Plenty of them were off planet during the explosions. The debris fields are still there and they still need good pilots to fly people and supplies in, to fly minerals and metals out.” I nodded. “It’ll be good to have more people here.” Egan sighed. “I don’t know about that. I’ve loved having you two to myself.” “We could talk them into letting us keep this place.” “Maybe for now,” I said. There was still a subject we hadn’t gotten to—the one about kids. “Eventually, I’d like to file as family. We’d need a bigger place then.” Both men went still then Kol growled and tackled me. I fell across Egan who immediately wrapped my head protectively so it didn’t bonk into the table. The back of my head ended up on his groin. He grunted. Kol kissed my nose, my chin then leaned up to kiss Egan’s bare stomach. He settled between my legs so most of his weight wasn’t on top of me and propped his chin on his hands over my stomach. “So…kids, huh?” I nodded. “Not yet, but yeah, I’d like to have one or two.” Kol, fire lighting those dark, dark eyes, reached down to loosen the string on his pants. Since I wore the silly nightgown they both loved so much, all he had to do was free his cock and slide up until it filled me. No foreplay, just Kol filling me to my core. I gasped, opened my legs wide and dug my fingers into his bare ass. Egan’s dick filled beneath my head, his hand sliding between Kol and me to cup my breast. I looked up into glassy, amber eyes that shone with a mix of humor and lust.

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“Guess Kol wanted to get started on that kid right away,” Egan said, that beautiful laugh of his filling the room…and our hearts.

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About the Author

Dani Worth is a writer who loves to explore the boundaries of new worlds, love, desire or anything else that strikes her fancy. Good stories make life fun and she has such a blast writing her own. She’s currently writing sexy stories set in post-apocalyptic, science fiction and contemporary settings. She loves threads of paranormal and urban fantasy. Some of her stories will have pairs and some will have triads–Love is Love. Dani has lived all over the United States, but currently resides in the Midwest with her family. She’s represented by Miriam Kriss of the Irene Goodman Agency. You can keep up with Dani at daniworth.wordpress.com or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DaniWorthWrites.

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