“I’m not, all right? That isn’t it at all!” Kat put her hands on her hips, fully prepared to give as well as she was getting.
“Then why haven’t you introduced us to your relatives? Why haven’t you planned our Joining Ceremony?” Deep thundered. “Lauren and Xairn had the most elaborate joining imaginable with both Scourge and Human customs planned by you and yet you won’t even talk about a ceremony for the three of us.”
“My lady Kat,” Lock murmured, coming forward at last and taking her hand. “Forgive Deep for being so loud.” He gave his brother a glare. “But it hurts us that you don’t want to acknowledge our relationship.”
“Lock’s right. We want to—damn it, what’s the Earth word?”
“Marry,” Lock supplied quietly.
“Yes, we want to marry you in the presence of the Goddess and all our families. Our mother has been asking lately when the ceremony will be held.”
“She’s very excited to give us her blessing and it worries her that we haven’t even set a date yet.” Lock looked at her appealingly. “We never told her but I think she has an idea of how close we came to losing you and she likes you, Kat.”
“She wants you for her daughter under-the-law, or whatever the hell you call it,” Deep growled.
“It’s daughter-in-law.” Kat looked at the two of them and shook her head. “You know this is the opposite of how things are supposed to be, right? I mean, it’s supposed to be the girl nagging about setting a date and the guy or guys in your case, are supposed to be trying to put her off and delay.”
Deep frowned. “Is that the human way? How stupid.”
“It’s called fear of commitment,” Kat snapped. “And right now I wish the two of you would have a little of it.”
“But why should we fear to commit to you, my lady?” Lock looked genuinely confused and hurt. “We are bound together by ties stronger than death—why should we not wish to have a ceremony celebrating those ties?”
“No, the question is why doesn’t Kat want to have a ceremony,” Deep snarled. “And I say it’s because she’s ashamed of us.”
“For the last time I am not ashamed of you!” Kat threw her hands in the air. “You want to meet my grandma? My deeply religious, Southern Baptist grandma and tell her we’re about to be married—all three of us? You want to give an old lady a heart attack? Well then fine, we’ll go. Hell, let’s go right now.” She turned to march out of the kitchen but Lock caught her by the arm.
“My lady,” he murmured softly. “We do want to meet her but not like this. Not in anger.”
“You said you wanted to see her. You s-said you wanted to g-go.” To Kat’s horror, she was beginning to tear up. “Crap,” she muttered, rubbing her arm quickly over her eyes.
“Little Kat…” Deep’s voice was oddly gentle, considering how angry he’d been earlier. “We don’t want to hurt you, we just want to love you.”
“And part of loving you is knowing your family,” Lock said. “You can’t keep your mother’s mother in the dark forever. She knows you’re living aboard the Mother Ship now and everyone on Earth knows there’s only one reason an Earth female comes aboard and stays.”
Kat knew it was true. In her heart, she was certain her grandmother already knew she was bound to a Kindred. She just wondered how Grandma would take it when she realized Kat was actually bound to two of them.
She let out a little sound that was half sob/half laugh. “I guess you’re right. And I know my grandma will love both of you—I just don’t know how she’ll react to knowing you’re both with me. I can see her now giving me that disapproving look of hers and saying, “Kat, sweetie, two of them? At the same time?”
Deep frowned. “After all this time, are you really still ashamed of what we do together when we love each other?”
“Well, no…” Kat bit her lip. “But you have to understand. On Earth there aren’t many stable, long term Male/Female/Male relationships going on. Mostly when you hear about a girl who gets with two guys you’re talking about the plot of a new porno. And when you add the fact that the two guys are brothers, well, then you’re taking it to a whole new level of kinky.”
“Lock and I don’t touch each other that way.” Deep sounded indignant. “The most we do is fuse our shafts together when we enter you as one.”
“And what we do together isn’t pornography—it’s making love,” Lock added.
Kat sighed. “I’m just telling you how most people on Earth see it—how my grandma is probably going to see it. She raised me pretty strict—this is going to be a blow for her.”
Deep frowned. “If you’re that worried about her, maybe only one of us should go. You should take Lock—he’s less offensive than I am. You can pretend he’s the only male you’re with. That should make the mother of your mother happy.”
“No!” Kat’s heart was suddenly in her throat. This was how she had nearly lost Deep last time. He had been determined that he was no good for her or Lock and had tried to cut himself completely out of their three-way relationship. They had a bond now—one that she was fairly sure couldn’t be broken. But it still made her nervous to see the dark twin trying to bow out.
“No,” she repeated. “I love both of you. I want both of you to be there. Just…” She ran a hand through her hair. “Just let me call my grandma and be sure she’ll be home. We can go tomorrow afternoon. That should give me time to think of how to explain.”
She started to leave again, to go to the viewing room where she could place a call to Earth. Of course, she could have used the Think-me but she didn’t like startling her elderly grandma by making her think she was hearing voices in her head. Besides, some things needed to be said face to face.
“Wait, Kat.” This time it was Deep who caught and held her.
“Yes?” She looked up into his dark eyes, trying to see if he was still mad. But there was nothing but tenderness in his face as he spoke.
“Thank you,” the dark twin said simply. “This means a lot to me—to both of us. Meeting your family, planning our ceremony.”
“We haven’t gotten to the ceremony part yet,” Kat pointed out. “Let’s be sure we can tell Grandma without putting her into ICU before we start hearing wedding bells.”
“But I’m sure when we do have a ceremony, it will be spectacular.” Lock came up from behind her and pressed close, sandwiching her between himself and his brother. “Weren’t you planning on having a cake with bonding fruit cream in the center?”
Being caught between their two large, muscular male bodies was a position that used to make Kat feel helpless and frightened. Now it made her feel loved and secure. And hot…very, very hot. She could smell Lock’s bonding scent—the warm, comforting aroma of the light twin’s desire for her. But even stronger was Deep’s scent—that delicious dark chocolate and sex smell that made her mouth water and her pussy wet at the same time.
“Yes,” she murmured, wishing her voice didn’t sound quite so breathless. “I…actually, I was planning on a cake with one special layer that had bonding fruit puree. Lauren was going to make it for me.”
Bonding fruit—the sweet, triangular fruit that was native to Twin Moons—was the thing that made her relationship with Deep and Lock possible. Without its almost magical stretching properties, which allowed her to accommodate their larger-than-average Kindred sized shafts, she never could have managed to make love to even one of them, let alone both at the same time.
As she thought about it, Kat suddenly realized she’d had more than her fair share of the delicious fruit lately. She usually tried to limit herself to just one a day but there had been several that were on the verge of being too ripe to eat and she hated to let them go to waste. So she had eaten three or four of them earlier that day with hardly a thought as she read her way through the latest bodice ripper romance she’d gotten from Earth.
Kat had just been trying to escape her worries for a while by drowning them in fantasy, but now a few scenes from the racy book ca
me back, making her shift from foot to foot uncomfortably. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t just the book that was bothering her—bonding fruit had an aphrodisiac quality that she had never grown an immunity to, no matter how often she ate it. And it had been a long time since she and her men had made love—too long, really.
Kat had been putting them off because of her inner turmoil, not wanting to let them into her body while she was trying to keep them out of her mind. Now the bonding fruit built up in her system was beginning to really make itself known in the form of throbbing nipples and a pussy that was suddenly damp with desire.
“Little Kat…” Deep’s voice rumbled through her, making her squirm some more. “It’s been while since we took you, hasn’t it?”
“Has it?” Kat tried to sound unaffected and knew that she failed. “We’ve all been so busy, I didn’t even notice.”
“We noticed.” Lock kissed the back of her neck in a leisurely way that made her pulse jump. “We’ve been missing you, my lady. Missing your luscious curves.”
“Not to mention your soft, wet pussy,” Deep growled softly.
Kat shifted uncomfortably. She needed this but at the same time, she was reluctant to give in. She loved the three-way bond she shared with Deep and Lock but sometimes she just wanted to be alone in her own skin. Reluctantly, she decided to put off her need a little longer. She had to have time to get her head on straight before she let her two men into it again.
“Look guys, I really should make that call to my grandma,” she said, sliding out from between them. “So now really isn’t the best time for this.”
“No, now is the perfect time.” Deep’s voice was suddenly hard again. He looked at Lock. “Hold her, Brother.”
To Kat’s absolute shock, Lock grabbed her as his twin directed. She tried to struggle but he held her arms gently but firmly behind her back. “Relax, my lady,” he murmured in her ear. “Don’t fight us.”
“Don’t fight you? What the hell do the two of you intend to do?” Kat demanded.
“Tell me, little Kat, have you heard of the Law of Conduct?” Deep asked, answering her question with a question.
“No, I…wait a minute.” Kat’s eyes widened. “Liv told me about that. Isn’t that the one that says something about a Kindred being responsible for his female’s conduct?”
“Exactly.” Deep nodded. “And you haven’t been behaving very well lately, have you, sweetheart?”
“I…I don’t know what you mean,” Kat stammered. She was still too much in shock to fully comprehend what was going on. Her men had never acted like this before—never.
“Yes, you damn well do know what I mean,” Deep growled. “You’ve been shutting everyone out—even your closest friends. And you’ve closed your mind and your heart to Lock and me—the two people you should be able to trust with anything.”
“Can I help it if I sometimes want a little mental privacy?” Kat snapped.
“We understand your need to keep some things to yourself, my lady,” Lock said from behind her. “If you want us not to pry into a certain area, all you have to do is ask us.”
“Put up a mental ‘keep out’ sign in your mind if you have to,” Deep said, frowning. “But don’t shut us out completely. That’s wrong.”
“And it hurts,” Lock added quietly. “It reminds us of how things were between the three of us before we finally sealed our bond. That’s…not a place we want to return to.”
Kat slumped a little, relaxing in the light twin’s grip. “All right, you’ve got me. I know I haven’t been very, uh, open lately. I just…didn’t want to worry the two of you.”
Deep glared at her. “I’m glad to hear you admit your sins but it’s too late for apologies, sweetheart. You’ve done wrong and now you have to be punished.”
“Punished? Punished?” Kat stared at him in disbelief. “I can’t believe you! Where do you get the nerve to mmph!”
Her last word ended abruptly because Deep leaned down and cut her off with a kiss. Not a soft, tender lover’s kiss but a hard, demanding exploration of her mouth. A sign of possession—a mark of ownership.
At first Kat was so angry she wanted to bite him. But then, against her will, she found herself responding. The dark twin’s bonding scent filled her senses and his mouth on hers, so hot and possessive, made her legs feel like rubber. By the time he finished his ruthless assault of her mouth, her lips felt bruised and her breath was coming fast and hard.
“Now, little Kat,” he growled softly, looking into her eyes. “You’re going to take your punishment like a good girl. Do you understand?”
“But what…what are you going to do to me?” Kat felt like she was drowning in the bottomless black pools of his eyes.
Deep gave her an evil grin. “Why, anything we want to, sweetheart. Anything at all.”
“Don’t worry,” Lock added in her ear. “We won’t hurt you, my lady—we would never do that. We’re just going to give you what your body is craving.”
“I’m not craving anything except for you two bastards to let me go,” Kat said but her voice wavered alarmingly and her knees still felt like rubber.
“Is that right?” Deep cocked an eyebrow at her. “So you’re saying you’re not feeling any kind of sexual need right now? You’re telling me your body isn’t crying out to be touched…tasted…fucked?”
Kat’s breath caught in her throat as his eyes blazed into hers. “No,” she lied defiantly, lifting her chin. “I’m just fine.”
“Is that right? Let’s just see about that, shall we?”
Kat was wearing a dark green wrap dress that tied at the side. Before she could protest, Deep had loosened the tie so that the dress suddenly gaped wide. The open fabric panels framed her black lace bra and panties perfectly. In the past Kat would have felt self-conscious about her state of near undress—but that was before she learned that Twin Moons Kindred really did love full figured women with curves. Now the gesture just made her mad.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, though she could hardly get the words out.
“Proving you wrong.” Deep traced the edge of her bra, trailing one teasing finger across the lace. “So you don’t want us right now… Don’t need us…” he mused.
“N-no,” Kat said but her voice was less certain now. The dark twin’s touch was setting a fire across her skin. A fire she knew she couldn’t put out alone.
“Then it wouldn’t have any effect on you if I did this?” Deep found the fastening to her front hook bra and peeled the lacy black fabric away, leaving her breasts suddenly bare.
Behind her, Lock sucked in his breath. “Your breasts are so beautiful, my lady,” he murmured in Kat’s ears. “So full and luscious."
“Not to mention how hard your nipples are.” Without warning, Deep pinched one of her tight buds between his thumb and finger.
Kat gasped and bucked back against Lock but the light twin still held her firmly. “Relax, my lady,” he murmured in her ear. “Deep only wants to teach you a lesson.”
“Why, you…” Kat was torn between anger at their arrogance and desire to feel more.
“Lock is right—you should just relax and take your punishment.” Deep gave her a lazy smile. “If you don’t behave, we’ll be here all night. Not that I would mind.” He pinched her other nipple, sending sparks of pleasure-pain from the tight little nub straight to Kat’s pussy.
“You…you…” Kat couldn’t find the words.
“Did I hurt you, sweetheart?” Deep murmured. “Want me to kiss it better?”
Without waiting for an answer, he leaned down and sucked one of the nipples he’d been tormenting into his mouth. Kat moaned at the hot suction and thrust her chest forward, wanting more—needing more—despite herself.
“That’s right, my lady,” Lock breathed in her ear as Deep turned his attention to her other nipple. “Give yourself to the pleasure. Deep and I love you so much. We just want to show you.”
Deep pulled back at last,
leaving her nipples aching and tender. “And teach you not to ignore your needs. Don’t you know it’s dangerous to let the bonding fruit essence build up in your system without some release?”
“It is?” Kat shook her head. “I…no one ever told me that.”
“Well, it’s true.” Deep looked almost angry now. “It’s another reason you deserve to be punished. Lock and I know you eat some every day and yet it’s been days since you let us fill you.”
“We waited for you, my lady,” Lock told her, sounding sad. “We hoped you would come to us.”
Kat raised her eyebrows. “Well, maybe you should have waited a little longer, boys.”
Deep frowned. “That doesn’t sound like the words of a female who’s learned her lesson.”
Kat’s heart started pounding even harder but now that he was no longer touching her, she felt more in control of herself. “And what lesson is that?”
“That you need us every bit as much as we need you, damn it.” Deep’s eyes flashed. He leaned closer and looked Kat in the eyes. “You feel empty inside—admit it, Kat. You need to be filled.”
“I’m fine.” Kat didn’t know why she was being so stubborn, so defiant. She knew what Deep was saying was true—she felt a deep ache that went to her core. It was a hunger only her men could satiate. But though she loved him, there was still something in Deep that sparked her irritation and rebelliousness.
“If you’re fine, why are your panties soaked?” Deep demanded.
“They’re not,” Kat insisted although she knew it wasn’t true.
“Then you won’t mind me sliding my hand inside to check and see if you’re telling the truth, will you?” Deep raised an eyebrow at her.
Against her will, Kat felt a slow, hot tendril of desire uncurl inside her belly. This twisted little game they were playing was really beginning to get to her! And she still wasn’t ready to admit defeat.
“Do your worst,” she told Deep defiantly. “I’m not afraid.”
“But you should be, sweetheart,” Deep growled softly. “Because if I find out you’re lying, your punishment will be that much worse.”