“You all fucked me out of duty alone,” I said, my voice quiet. “None of you wanted a mate.” I was quickly turning into a hot mess. My emotions were shifting so quickly that I was roiling inside. Confused, hurt, needy all at once. So much had happened to me in only a few hours—and I didn’t mean just being fucked by three strangers—that I was overwhelmed. If I were on Earth, I’d say I was hormonal. Here, perhaps it was that odd seed power. Either way, some enemy I didn’t even know was trying to take me, for a dark purpose I could only imagine. For my mates, I was just a baby machine, and that was all.
Lev’s gaze shifted in all directions, probably watching for any possible danger. He didn’t look at me as he answered. “Viken is a complicated place, Leah. There have been decades of war and a very tenuous peace. My brothers and I, we are the true leaders of Viken. Separated as infants, we were used to maintain this peace, but at the cost of a divided planet. It is you, and our child, who will bring all Vikens together once more.”
I was lying in a wooden canoe—a simple canoe—and I held that much power in my womb? Right. How could I, simple Leah from Earth, hold such power? And I noticed that he hadn’t answered my question.
“You did not want me, Lev. Not one of you wanted me. You simply wish to save your world by breeding me.” Surely he could hear the disdain in my voice at that word.
I’d wanted children, someday, but not because a child was needed for planetary harmony. I wanted to have a child with a man—not three—who longed for the sleepless nights, the first steps, the milestones of watching a person grow from a helpless infant into a full grown adult, as much as I did. I wanted my child to be a creation of love, not political gain.
His gaze met and held mine. “No, I did not want a mate.” While he didn’t deny it, it didn’t lessen the sharp pain of his words. “All three of us were summoned to Viken United today under false pretenses. You were dangled in front of us like a special sweet. The last time my brothers and I were in the same room together was when we were four months old.”
“And you were separated, sent to grow up in the various sectors?” I asked, remembering bits and pieces of their words from earlier.
I couldn’t imagine that, being separated from siblings like that, and for political reasons. I’d heard of identical twins being able to read each other’s thoughts. I’d heard they couldn’t be apart, that it hurt them somehow. I’d even heard they knew the moment their twin died. But triplets separated so young? I ached for them. Perhaps I wasn’t the only one sacrificing.
Lev nodded. “When our parents were murdered.” He switched the oar to the other side and the boat turned slightly. “Our separation has kept the peace, saved many lives. But not enough. It is not enough. Now we focus on killing each other instead of protecting the planet. Our warriors have grown complacent and forgotten the true danger to our people. You will remind them. Our child will unite them.”
“How can you believe that? You three came together for me just a few hours ago and already the fighting has started.”
He tilted his head and looked at me. “There was always strife, but the power you will hold is enormous. And there are those among us who do not wish for peace.”
“How am I powerful?” I asked, asking what I’d previously thought. “I’m just a woman from Earth who left because—” I bit my lip, not wanting to share with him how weak I really was. If I was the woman, the link that joined these men together to make a baby, the mother of a new life destined to be the leader of an entire planet, he didn’t need to know I was such a loser for being engaged to such a dangerous and evil man, for believing his lies.
“You hold great power because we chose to give it to you,” he replied.
I frowned. “I… I don’t understand.”
“I’m coming to see now that our mating was never truly a choice. The connection between mates is too strong. You felt it when you came upon Drogan in the line of men.”
I couldn’t deny that.
“But it is the seed power now connecting us that makes the four of us dangerous to those with less than scrupulous plans.”
“I heard you saying that before. Seed power?”
“The seed from a Viken’s cock, when it touches his mate, when it fills her pussy, it unites him with his mate in elemental ways. It changes our bodies on a cellular level, as it will change yours. I know you feel the pull between us, the aching need, the addictive force.”
I shook my head, refusing the truth. Changed me on a cellular level?
“How do you feel?” His gaze raked over me and I flushed, glad he could not see my nipples hardening, my pussy clenching. When I remained silent, he stared at me, his eyes dark but tranquil pools of authority. I could drown in his eyes, forget myself and get lost there.
“Leah, I am the brother who will tie you up and take what I want from you. I will be the one to toss you over my knee and spank your ass for being naughty.”
My mouth fell open and I felt fear roar to life. So, I’d done it again? Trusted an asshole who would hit me, who would—I couldn’t even think about it. “You… you will beat me?”
“Beat you? Never.” He shook his head slowly. “I will demand obedience. I will also give you pleasure. Exquisite pleasure. I will watch your pulse and your breath. I will know when you lie, when you try to hide, when you truly need to come and when you would simply let your body rule you.”
It was my turn to shake my head. “No.”
“You wouldn’t be matched to me if you didn’t want me to own you, Leah. Imagine me tying your wrists to the headboard so I can have my way with you. Imagine me sliding my cock into your ass instead of my finger. Imagine me withholding your release until you scream, until you lose control. Until I command you to come all over my cock or my tongue.”
So Lev had been the one to take me from behind, to twist his finger in my virgin bottom hole, to fuck me hard, to the brink of pain before making me explode? Oh, God, I was equally mortified and aroused.
“The seed power doesn’t just affect you. It affects me as well. Tor and Drogan, too. They are feeling it more keenly now, surely, for they are not near you. Tell me. How. Do. You. Feel?”
Each word was clipped and intense, the sharp edge of it making me reply without thought.
“I don’t know what I feel exactly. Longing, need, arousal. Ache.”