Chapter Eight
Kristin
I gasped and sat straight up. The room was dark and I had no idea where I was. A dream lingered, but it was forgotten, becoming blurry and slipping away even as I tried to remember. My bedroom had a window to the right of my bed. I rolled over, looking for the shine of the neighbor’s porch light surrounded by a dark silhouette, but the window wasn’t there. The bedding felt different, too. Softer. And the floral scent of my fabric softener was noticeably absent. Instead I smelled musk, and man and sex.
While I wasn’t exactly afraid of the dark, I kept a nightlight on in the bathroom. I’d stubbed my toe one time in the middle of the night stumbling to pee and I’d never wanted to do that again. But no light filled the space. I could feel the walls of the room, the ceiling pressing down on me, but I couldn’t see them. I couldn’t see anything. Not one piece of furniture. No door. And, I was naked, my bare breasts and shoulders slightly chilled because the sheet lay draped over my waist. I usually slept in a t-shirt and panties. But nothing about this was usual.
Shifting my legs, a twinge of soreness pinged my system from my core. I was sore. The pain flooded me with memories and everything came back to me in a rush, as if my brain had just needed a few extra seconds to wake up. Why hadn’t I felt the soreness in my body first? My muscles were tight and achy and my pussy was tender. So was my ass. When I moved, my thighs rubbed and the lingering stickiness of Hunt’s release added friction to the normally smooth glide of skin on skin. My nipples hardened with an unfamiliar ache at the rough sexual play I suddenly couldn’t get out of my mind. I felt well used. Needed. Owned.
My mates had left no doubt about how much they wanted me and I’d never felt so appreciated, nor desired in my entire life. The feeling was heady and I had to work to hold in a giggle at the complete insanity of my new life.
I was on another planet, with not one mate, but two. And I’d let them do whatever they wanted to do to me. Hell, I wanted more now.
Lifting my hand to my collar, I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt the smooth material under my fingertips, the mark of Prillon mates yet another reminder of where I was. I closed my eyes, suddenly feeling bereft. I couldn’t feel Tyran anymore. His intensity earlier had been like a slow-burning lava moving through my system. And my second, Hunt. He was calm, the balm to cool Tyran’s fire. Without him, I wasn’t sure I could deal with his dominant nature, his complete need for control. Logically, I realized he needed my trust, needed me to submit to him. But if I was perfectly honest with myself, I wasn’t sure I could do it without the assurance of Hunt’s calm control. Tyran had made me feel like a wicked, wild, reckless, crazy lover. I’d never been so turned on in my entire life. But I’d been scared, too. Afraid of him. Even more afraid of myself.
Hunt’s cool reserve had been my anchor, and I pondered the wisdom of an alien computer system. Somehow, the Interstellar Brides processing protocols had mated me with two warriors that balanced one another perfectly. Light and dark. Fire and ice. Reckless and reserved. By some miracle, a computer had known I would need them both.
Speaking of mates, where were mine? I had no idea what time it was. Whether it was night or day. All I knew was I was wide awake and starving.
Pulling the sheet up to my chest, I sat up and scooted toward what I thought was the edge of the gigantic bed. I realized it was the biggest I’d ever seen, more than large enough to hold one human woman and two seven-foot Prillon warriors. I found the edge and swung my feet over the side and my toes didn’t reach the floor. Nope. I wasn’t in my bedroom. Hell, I wasn’t even on Earth.
I was about to jump down and take my chances when part of the wall slid silently open, like on Star Trek. There was no door, no doorknob or creaky hinges. A section of the wall slid sideways and disappeared. And there, with light shining behind him like he was some kind of god, was the silhouette of one very big, very broad Prillon warrior. His emotions hit me immediately. Contentment. Curiosity. Concern.
“Hunt.”
He heard his name and his emotions spiked to possessive. Protective. Primal. Maybe he wasn’t so cool and in control after all.
“I felt you wake, Kristin. I feel your hunger.”
Maybe I should have been freaked out by that statement, but the wild bout of fucking had gotten rid of most of my insecurities. The collar made the three of us extremely sensitive to each other. It definitely ratcheted up the pleasure factor. When I was with a new guy, I often couldn’t get out of my head, worried he’d think me a perv or a slut for liking sex a little too much. I got off on a guy taking control. Off spankings. Off toys. Off a little back door action. I liked it rough. I’d discovered that while a lot of guys might like to fantasize about a woman like me, once we were naked together, when the shit got real, I was often too much for them to handle.
But I wasn’t too much for Hunt and Tyran. No way. Tyran pushed me to my limits, limits I hadn’t even known I had. Hunt had been a little stunned, I’d felt it, when Tyran pushed me. It seemed he hadn’t known his own friend’s personal brand of kink. But Hunt had joined in happily enough and I knew they both got off on it. On all of us doing all that wild stuff.
A rumble escaped Hunt’s chest as I became aroused again, just by thinking about riding his cock. Of Tyran giving us both orders, pulling my hair. Hunt stepped into the room as I shivered. “Lights, ten percent.”
The room brightened just enough for me to see him, to notice he wore dark clothing and that his gaze was roving over every inch of me, but not much more.
“Do you know how beautiful you are?” he asked, a burst of need flaring in my collar to accompany his words.
I shouldn’t have been embarrassed by the question, especially since I felt the truth behind it, but I was, and I tugged the sheet up to my neck.
“Don’t,” he said, coming over to sit on the side of the bed, the mattress dipping from his weight. “I know I’m not commanding like Tyran and I never will be, but I hope you will come to care for me as well.”
For such a formidable figure, I heard the uncertainty in his voice.
“I already do.” I leaned over and rested my head on his shoulder. I knew he would hear the truth in my words as I’d felt the truth in his. “I need you, too, Hunt.”
He turned his head to look down on me and I gathered my courage, lifting my lips to offer a slow, gentle kiss. I let the sheet slip, let it fall back to my waist. He kissed me slowly, tenderness and affection in the touch. When he pulled back, he stared at my breasts, then offered me a smile. “You can’t blame a warrior for looking. You truly are lovely and I am still amazed you are mine.”
“And you are mine.” I had to say it out loud. This whole thing still felt like a dream. I was half afraid I was going to wake up in the stupid chair on Earth with Warden Egara blinking down at me like a wise little owl, ready to scold me for fighting – for not wanting to go back.
“I felt your upset, mate.” Hunt lifted his hand and stroked my cheek. “Tell me what bothers you.”
“I woke up in the dark and had no idea where I was. I was confused, but seeing you, it settles me. I feel… safe,” I admitted to him.
“No harm will ever come to you, Kristin of Earth. We will protect you with our lives.”
I knew that. I didn’t have to hear the words or feel the full impact of it through the collar.