I closed my eyes tight, trying to push away the images swimming in my brain.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, leaning up on my chest.
“I desire your tight hole,” I admitted. “It must be because you denied my claiming bite. It has torn my mind apart.”
“No, it’s not, Konko. It’s because it’s what is supposed to happen. I was matched with you and your brother. You’ve both told me, it is the Zimbre way with a Zimbre female and twin mates. It only makes sense that it would be natural to desire it with me too.”
I sighed. She was beginning to make more and more sense. I had to admit it to myself. Perhaps there was something to the ancient myths. Tomorrow, when I brought her back to the hunting treehouse, I would bring it up with Vock.
As the embers sparked in the fire pit, I held Kimmy close under the furs. My beliefs and understanding of the way of things were shifting as fast as the clouds in a storm.
16
Kimmy
We took the rest of the Metag beast meat with us, packed on Konko’s mount. Konko had salted and cooked the rest of it that morning in order to preserve it. Now we would have plenty of food for at least a couple of days. The trip back to the first treehouse took longer than I’d expected. By the time we made it to the base of the tree, it was already dusk.
Vock peaked his head out of the door and looked down at us with an unreadable expression on his face. He jumped on strong legs from the ledge and landed in front of Konko’s mount, making the Kong beast rear and growl.
“What took you so long?” Vock growled.
“I had the same amount of time with her as you did,” Konko insisted.
“You’ve had an extra half a day. I should get another half a day with her now.”
Vock grasped my arm and helped me down from Konko’s mount. When I was on the ground, he pulled me into an embrace. The feeling of Vock’s hard body against mine reminded me of our time together. It reminded me of why I’d denied Konko the claiming bite. I couldn’t choose just one of them.
“No,” I said. “There will be no need for that.”
“What do you mean, Kimmy?” Vock asked, his eyes not leaving his brother.
“I mean I refuse to choose one of you. I choose you both. You’re going to have to get over your overprotectiveness and do what needs to be done.”
“What is she talking about?” Vock insisted, glaring at Konko.
“She seems to believe we can change her into a Zimbre,” Konko said, sliding from his mount.
He tied the beast to a tree and pulled the meat from his mount’s back.
“How does she know about the myth?” Vock asked. “Have you been filling her head with these things?”
“I simply told her about the legend. Believe me, I warned her not to get her hopes up. I too believe it to be a myth.”
“Myth or not, I’m not going to mate with either of you until you at least try. And when you do change me, there won’t be an excuse left to not share me. Equally.”
Vock looked down at me and then at Konko.
“She does have a point,” Vock said.
“I’m glad someone agrees with me.”
“Now you are supporting this insanity?” Konko said, jumping up to the ladder with a sharp sigh, the meat packs over his shoulder.
Vock lifted me in his arms and followed his brother into the treehouse. Konko set the meat on the table and Vock set me gently on the bed. The brothers faced each other, both of their muscles coiled with barely disguised rage. I couldn’t stand to see them like this, at each other’s throats. It was exactly the reason I needed them to at least try to change me. I needed them both. I couldn’t live like this forever.
It was bad enough that I’d been taken to a strange planet, but having to choose between equally wonderful brothers hurt my heart until it was ready to break in two. Konko finally sighed and looked back at me.
“Tomorrow we will go to the ancient temple and read the markings. Perhaps we can come to understand the intricacies of turning. It is worth a try. Kimmy is intent on this, and honestly, I am beginning to believe she is right,” Konko said.
“What makes you say that?” Vock asked.
“Because I have desire to claim her in the way of twins. It must be natural and correct if I want it,” said Konko.
“I admit, I have felt the same,” Vock said.
“Then we agree?” I said, looking from one to the other.
“Yes,” Vock said. “We will try. That is all we can promise. If it doesn’t work, Kimmy. You must choose one of us. We cannot wait a moment longer. The sky devils are moving closer to our territory each day. We must take you back to the clan and complete our mission. Each day we spend fighting over you, is a day we aren’t working on activating the ancient weapon against the sky devils.”
“Well, personally, I think that all of us having our true mating is more important than anything,” I said, standing up to pull out a chair at the table.
I sat down and opened one of the meat sacks, thrusting a piece of cooked Metag beast meat into my mouth.
Vock put his hand on my shoulder and sighed.
“You are right, Kimmy. If there is a chance that we could do this according to Zimbre custom and law, it would be much better for all of us. But if your body doesn’t change; if you do not become a Zimbre, I still refuse to participate in a double claiming.”
“So do I,” Konko said. “I will not harm your body. It is more important that you carry young for one of us. And if we hurt you, it could make it impossible to do that. Our future generations are what is important. It is a sacrifice I am willing to make for the future of our race.”
“Okay guys. If the changing doesn’t work. I’ll choose one of you. But first we have to at least try.”
The brothers sat down at the table with me and we feasted on sweet Metag beast meat until we were full to overflowing. When my stomach was stuffed full, I climbed into bed and was asleep as soon as my head hit the furs.
When I woke to the first rays of morning sunlight, Vock and Konko were both nestled in on either side of me, keeping me warm in the cool morning air, even as the embers of the fire had died down to coals. I took a deep breath and let it out, enjoying the feeling of their strong arms around me.
In the days I’d spent with each one of them alone, I had missed this more than I even realized. Back in my old life on Earth, I never would've imagined that I would desire having two mates as much as I did now.
My new life was with Vock and Konko. And I grew more content and sure of myself with each passing moment with them.
As I stirred in bed, the twins sat up beside me, smiling as they stretched and blinked sleep from their eyes.
“Today we are going to the ruins?” I asked, challenging them to keep their word from the day before.
I wasn't going to let them try to back out of it now. Not when I was so sure of what I wanted. They had to follow through. I knew that it had to work, otherwise why would I feel the way that I did? I had always believed that if you wanted something enough, that it meant something. And I knew that my desire for my two mates meant something too.
The twins climbed out of bed and Vock stoked the fire while Konko took a long drink of water from the clay cup on the table. He brought it to me and offered me a drink. I took the cup and drew a long sip.
I missed coffee like crazy, but having my two men would make up for coffee any day. Maybe the rest of the clan had something like coffee. The longer it took to be taken back to the treehouse city, the more curious I was becoming about their culture.
All I’d seen of the Zimbre was Vock and Konko. They’d told me about their treehouse city, and I’d seen it in distant glimpses when I’d first arrived. But I still hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. I couldn’t wait to meet the other Zimbre and to find out everything about their lives here on this jungle planet.
First things first, though: I was going to see the ancient ruins today, and I wasn’t going to take no for an answ
er. These guys could fight over me all they wanted, but they’d made it clear it was my choice. My choice was both of them, no matter what they said. I wouldn’t settle for one until all avenues were exhausted.
“We leave after breakfast,” Vock said, standing from the fire pit. He had a strong fire burning now, and it was nice to have the radiant heat even in the growing warmth of the morning.
Being with both of them again, watching them move about the treehouse in their morning routine, grumbling and moving things around, it filled me with a giddy kind of contentment.
I imagined what it would be like once we finally got to go back to the city and be together, all three of us, out in the open. I hadn’t seen a fraction of the world yet. There was still so much to explore, so much to learn.
What was up with these sky devils? The curiosity was killing me, and all I wanted was to get on with it and make the next step toward our happily ever after.
When we’d all eaten and drunk our fill, we climbed down the rope ladder to where the Kong beasts were tethered. They fed the beasts some Metag meat and a few handfuls of berries before we mounted up and started through the jungle.
I recognized some of the landmarks vaguely from the first day on the planet. I’d been so surprised and caught off guard by everything. I’d been in a haze the entire time they’d carried me away from the cave. But now that we approached the area, I was beginning to get my bearings.
In the distance, in a grove of very tall trees that seemed to reach toward the sky like a skyscraper from Earth, the network of treehouses crisscrossed throughout the canopy.
It was an extraordinary sight and feat of engineering. It amazed me that these seemingly primitive men had built such a place. It almost reminded me of how out of place the monoliths on Earth were. Primitive humans had supposedly built the pyramids, which really didn’t make a lot of sense. But I was struck by the same sense of cognitive dissonance when I looked at the treehouses.
“How did you guys build that without electricity?” I asked under my breath, almost to myself.
I was riding on the mount with Vock, his arm wrapped around my waist as he held the reins.
“The knowledge was handed down from the ancients.”
“It seems like you got a lot of stuff from these ancients,” I said. “Who were they anyway?”
“Our ancestors,” Konko said. “The ruins have been here as long as anyone can remember, but we don’t know how they got there.”
“The old myths said there were two factions. The devils and the angels. The story goes that the sky devils destroyed the old civilization that the Angels of Love had helped us build,” Vock said.
“When the cupids returned, and offered us the ancient codes, we weren’t sure if we could trust them,” Konko said.
“What do you think now?” I asked Konko. He’d been so skeptical about the changing myth I wanted to know where he was coming from.
“There are many ancient myths about the sky beings, it is hard to trust any of it. But they did bring us you. That was the sign Vock and I were waiting for.”
A few minutes later, we stepped through a clearing. The jungle separated and a massive stone structure rose in front of me. It reminded me of a Mayan monolith. The stair step pyramid was so similar to the Mayan structures it was hard to tell the difference. I was stunned.
“I…I recognize the architecture. From Earth. It can’t be. Can it?” I asked, amazed and staring at the vine covered structure in front of me.
“The cupids brought you here. They can go anywhere. If they helped built our ancient ruins, maybe they built yours too.”
“Mind blown,” I muttered.
The brothers looked at me questioningly but didn’t ask. I followed them through a patch of low grass until we came to the first giant stair step.
The laser precision-cut stone was covered in lichen and vegetation. The brothers climbed the first step easily and lifted me up after them. We continued like that until we came to the top of the pyramid. There was an open temple type area at the top. There was a stone slab in the center and the walls where covered in hieroglyphic markings.
They didn’t look exactly like Mayan or Egyptian art but they had aspects that seemed familiar to my human eyes. The whole thing was making my heart bang in my chest with anxiety.
So many questions filled my mind. I couldn’t reconcile anything anymore. When I’d first come here and fallen for the twins, I’d decided it was okay that I would never return to Earth.
But now, this new mystery was making my brain throb with questions. What the hell was going on here? Why did this look like a human monolith? Could the cupids really have been the builders of the monoliths on Earth? And if they were, then who were the sky devils?
Vock showed me a panel of etched images. There was a small woman between two huge Zimbre males. They both had her hands in their mouths, their teeth on her wrists.
“Is that how it’s done?” I asked, pointing at the image.
“That is what we believe. It is said that this image corresponds to the legend of changing a non-Zimbre into a Zimbre.”
“You just bite my wrists?” I asked.
“I told you, Kimmy,” Konko said. “We must bleed you. Suck your blood into our own flesh. When you are nearly at the entrance of death, we slit our own veins and fill you with Zimbre blood.”
“Oh…” I said, finally letting that sink in.
This changing thing might actually be pretty fucking dangerous. Was I really willing to be bled dry for my men? I took a deep breath and lifted my arms to my mates, palms up, offering my wrists to them.
“Let’s do it,” I said, pressing my eyes closed.
I felt them take my arms and lift them to their lips. I opened my eyes to see the guys staring at each other, their lips pressed against the pulse points on my wrists.
“What’s taking so long?” I asked.
“What if it doesn’t work, Kimmy?” Vock asked. “What if we can’t bring you back?”
“This is too dangerous. I insist you choose between us now,” Konko said.
“No!” I demanded. “We had an agreement. Now… just do it!”
I stamped my foot. If I lost this battle, I would be done for. If I didn’t die I would be a pushover for the rest of my life, and I wouldn’t have one of the men I loved. It wasn’t acceptable. I wanted, no, I needed them both.
“We can’t refuse her,” Vock said.
“I can’t hurt her,” Konko insisted.
“It will work,” I said.
The brothers lifted my wrists toward their mouths. I saw the light in their yellow eyes, burning with a kind of desire I’d never seen before. It scared and enticed me.
They opened their mouths, the sharp canine teeth in their upper jaws suddenly descending, becoming sharper, more pronounced. The light in their eyes burned with an animal lust that made me recoil instinctively.
What was I doing? I asked myself that question as their teeth brushed against my veins. The sharp tips punctured my skin, and I wanted to pull back as they sliced through me. It was beyond anything I’d ever felt before. The pain gripped my heart with fear.
My knees buckled, and I fell to the stone floor. The brothers didn’t let go. They fell with me, their mouths now sucking the blood flowing from my punctured veins. I felt the lifeblood leaving me; their strong mouths, sucking, pulling the blood from my veins.
“Wait…” I finally managed.
I was having second thoughts. I wanted to go home. Back to my own bed. My couch in front of my TV. I wanted the comfort of my social media feed. I just wanted my familiar boring life back. My eyes started to edge with black and gray haze.
What had I done? Why had I agreed to this? Every moment since I’d first seen that quiz on my social media feed had been the result of the biggest mistake of my life. Now I was going to die in this place.
Who were these men, sucking my blood from my body? I’d wanted this? What was wrong with me? Did I have such low self-este
em that I would rather die than live my normal human life alone? So what if I never found a man? So what if I never had children? So what if I lived the rest of my life as a spinster? It wasn’t worth dying over.
As the light faded from my eyes and my heart fluttered in my chest. A giant silver flying saucer flew fast and silent toward the temple where I was sprawled on the floor under these two giant barbarians, sucking out the last drops of my blood.
“Sky devils…” I muttered through weak, dry lips, just before bright red lasers cut through the sky and sliced just inches across the floor from Konko’s feet.
The animal light in their eyes disappeared and they let me go. I collapsed limp on the cold stone floor. Vock lifted me in his arms as Konko hopped back from the second laser blast.
“Go!” Konko screamed. “I will draw them away.”
Vock lifted me in his arms and began to run. I saw Konko waving his arms and jumping through the window of the temple toward the ship.
“No,” I mouthed.
I’d been so afraid I’d forgotten how much these men meant to me. Konko was going to get himself killed so that Vock could get me away from the danger. To save me.
Tears slipped from my eyes, my body still able to muster the strength to weep. But I was fading fast. Darkness grew deeper around the edges my of vision, slowly overtaking my weak sight. The last thing I remember was Vock leaping onto the back of his Kong beast, me in his arms, and kicking the animal’s flanks.
Motion. A blur. Pain. Fear. A man’s breath. Panting. Hands on my face.
“Kimmy. Kimmy come back,” a hazy voice demanded.
Water on my brow. The metallic tang of blood on my tongue. A clay bowl on my lips, tipping thick fluid into my mouth. It pooled under my tongue and I gagged, spitting it out.
“You must drink, heart mate. You are fading fast. It is the only way. Drink.”
“Vock,” I croaked.