When both Zed and Axon spoke up and made the same vow, I was stuck in place. Stunned. Confused. What the hell was going on here? And why were they asking me to choose one of them? Weren’t they all supposed to be mine? Three mates. That’s what Warden Egara had told me. Three. Not a choice between three. Because, seriously, who could choose? Doing so would be cruel and unusual punishment for any woman. I had three huge, half naked warriors offering themselves to me, each of them sexier than any man I’d ever seen before, and they wanted me to choose?
Not fair.
“What do you mean, if I choose you?” I asked. “Warden Egara told me all three of you were mine.”
They looked at me and I quickly took in their expressions, trying to read the situation.
Zed’s blue eyes held lust. Pure, raw lust.
Axon looked curious, as if I’d surprised him, his black brows arched.
But Calder? His brown eyes narrowed, as if he were angry, and his fair skin flushed slightly. Curse of the ginger, showing every emotion with a blush.
They remained silent.
I put my hands on my hips. “Somebody better start explaining. I was told I had three mates from Viken. If I agree to go with you, and since I was given three mates, I shouldn’t have to choose. I don’t even know you. How am I supposed to choose one of you over the others? I mean, the match was ninety-seven percent, right? I assume I’ve got the same percentage for all three of you big aliens.”
I didn’t need three men, but how could I pick? Asking me to choose when I’d known them for all of five minutes hardly seemed fair. Maybe I didn’t need them—having three mates seemed a bit excessive—but my body wanted them. All of them. Just like in my dream. And now, reality.
Calder cleared his throat. “The custom of taking three mates is new on Viken. None of us went through the process of finding a mate with the intention of following the new custom. We prefer—” His blush deepened.
Axon finished his sentence. “They don’t want to share.”
I focused on him. “But you do?”
He shrugged, the playboy look back in his eyes. “You’re beautiful, Violet.” The inertia that held us all paralyzed broke and he walked toward me slowly, as if afraid I’d bolt. When he got close enough, I had to tilt my head back…way back, to hold his gaze. He lifted his hand to my head and loosened the knot of hair at the base of my skull, using his fingers to comb the long strands forward, over my shoulders. “Hair like black silk.” His fingertips trailed over my jawline. “Skin soft as flower petals.” He leaned down and drew in a slow, deep breath. “You smell sweet and soft and”—his lips settled on the edge of my ear, the heat of his words making me shiver—“and very, very wet, mate. Ready for my cock.”
The other two leapt forward as he spoke the last word, but Axon held out his hand, warding them off. “She’s mine right now. We had an agreement.”
Zed and Calder froze in their tracks, but Zed’s eyes made me burn, tracking every single move Axon made. He was watching, and for some reason that made me hot, made me want to tempt him, tease him. To push him to change his mind about sharing…because I’d changed my mind about not wanting three aliens.
Calder clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides as if he wanted to punch the warrior touching me.
His possessiveness made my nipples harden. I felt…wanted, desired. Beautiful. And none of them were like an Earth guy, willing to pay for dinner and a movie just to get in my pants. They wanted in my pants all right, I had no doubt. But they wanted me. Desperately. They’d come all the way from Viken for me. They wanted me that badly.
I didn’t know what the hell was going on, or what to do, but Axon was right. My body was ready for him. For them. After almost two months of freaking the fuck out about my sister leaving, I’d used up all my self-control. Why should I have any? These three were matched to me. Warden Egara had confirmed it with her text. They weren’t creeps from Earth. They had different customs, different ways, ways that involved me dab smack in the middle of them…hopefully.
I owed it to Earth women everywhere to take exactly what these three were offering. I owed it to myself.
That was why I turned, went up on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck. I buried my fingers in his hair and pulled him down for a kiss.
4
Axon, Violet’s living quarters, Vero Beach, Florida, Earth
Gods, she was sweet. And wild. Over a foot shorter, she was climbing me like a Viken desert monkey. Her legs were about my waist, the ankles hooked at the base of my spine before I got her mouth open and my tongue found hers. Fingers tangled in my hair and tugged, the little bite of pain going straight to my cock, swelling it to painful proportions beneath the odd shorts garment I wore.
She pulled back for a second, looked me in the eyes. Hers were a dark brown, almost black and held heat, desire, but also a hint of surprise and even a little fear. Her face was round with high cheekbones. Pale skin, a pointed chin. But it was her lips that drew me in. I knew how they felt against mine. Full and plump, I ached to have them wrapped around my cock.
Our mate didn’t climb males as a habit. I didn’t know this for fact, but deep down, I knew. She was behaving like a new Viken mate who’d had a strong dose of seed power. Bold, uninhibited and eager.
Worked for me.
“More,” she breathed against my mouth, then kissed me again.
I growled, my hands sliding from her back and down to her ass, cupping the lush globes in my palms. She was so small, yet soft and curvy. Handfuls of perfection I could hold onto and didn’t have to worry about hurting or breaking. She would handle my aggressiveness, my cock. I knew all this just from a kiss.
She tasted like the sweetest Viken wine. Like dessert. When I breathed in, something floral or fruity filled my nostrils. My brain could hardly process thought, my cock taking over, and it wondered how she tasted and what her scent was elsewhere. Turning, I walked to the small couch we’d sat on, lowered myself so she was sitting on it and I was on my knees were before her. The floor was of large smooth stone squares and they were cool beneath my bare knees.