“Rebecca,” Truth groaned at last. “Can’t…take much more. It’s too much.”
“I’m close too,” Far said, his voice thick with desire. “So close, mi’now.”
“Good.” Becca raised up on her knees and kept stroking, looking both of them in the eyes. “Come, then,” she murmured. Getting closer, she pressed against them. “Come for me, now” she commanded and rubbed both shafts against her bare belly.
“Gods, Rebecca!” Truth moaned. Far gasped and then she felt both thick cocks jerking in her hands as spurt after spurt of hot cum jetted out of their tips, coating her trembling stomach with their seed.
Becca moaned, loving the feeling of freedom and togetherness—the unity that the twins’ release brought with it. It’s time, a little voice whispered inside her. Time to give up your fear and shame forever and bond with them—bond completely. It’s time.
Yes! Becca agreed with that little voice completely. She had never felt so in love with anyone before, not even Kenneth. And nothing had ever felt so right as being with Truth and Far—being between them. She was more than the bridge that brought them together—she was the third part of their triangle—the essential center without which the three of them would fall apart. Becca knew that now—just as she knew it was time to make their bond permanent.
She opened her mouth to tell them…and suddenly, though she had forgotten all about it, the location of the buried Orthanxian cache appeared in her mind like magic.
“Oh!” Far’s eyes flew wide and she sensed he was having the same revelation.
“I know where it is!” he exclaimed. “I can practically see it.”
“I as well,” Truth growled. “Now I know why we couldn’t find it before.”
“We were digging under the wrong root!” all three of them said in unison.
Becca looked at both of them with wide eyes. “Wow, that’s…I can’t believe we just did that.”
“I need to get down the coordinates!” Truth broke apart from them and went scrambling for his handheld device. “I know exactly where it is now.”
“We all do.” Becca grinned at Far who grinned back. “That was some magic orgasm,” she murmured, looking up at the light twin.
“It certainly was. And you appear to still be wearing the results of it.” He nodded down at her belly, where her mocha brown skin was decorated with their white cream.
“Um, I sure am.” Becca looked at herself uncertainly. She was still kind of shocked at what she’d just done. And yet…it had worked. They now knew exactly where to dig. They could get up early in the morning, find the cache, and be on their way to the shuttle and the Mother Ship before most of the hostile natives were even up for breakfast.
“Perhaps we should clean her up, Brother.” Truth was suddenly there, having apparently finished taking down the coordinates. He looked at Becca’s sticky tummy appreciatively. “It looks to me like our lady could use a bath—a tongue bath.”
“Oh, I…” Becca could feel herself starting to blush.
“A very good idea, Brother,” Far agreed, his black eyes going half-lidded again. “And after we finished bathing her belly, I think we should go lower, and bathe her pussy as well.”
“As I recall, you have not yet had the pleasure of tasting her,” Truth murmured. “Would you like to tend to her sweet cunt while I suck her nipples, Brother?”
“More than anything,” Far said softly. “If my lady will permit it.”
“What do you say, Rebecca?” Truth asked. “You’ve given us much pleasure but you have yet to receive any yourself tonight. Will you let Far and I strip off this little fur garment and bathe you with our tongues?”
“I…I want you to do more than that.” Becca lifted her chin and looked them both in the eyes. “I want to bond with you tonight,” she said. “Both of you. Completely.”
Truth raised an eyebrow. “Are you certain about that? I thought you had some doubts.”
“No more.” Becca shook her head firmly. “The three of us were meant to be together. I’ve been so afraid of losing you that I wouldn’t allow myself to have you. Well, no more. From now on I want—”
But she never got to finish. For just at that moment, Garron’s voice was heard outside the door.
“What in the Seven Hells are you doing?” he shouted. “Get out of here! The laws of privacy forbid your entry unless I sanction it and I do NOT invite you into my home.”
“The laws of privacy are superseded by those of decency,” a stranger’s voice shouted. “We know very well what kind of filth and depravity you are harboring beneath your roof, Garron. Step aside and let us at them—they will pay for bringing their alien corruption to our planet!”
“Oh no!” Becca froze, uncertain what to do. Truth and Far were already back in their trousers and on their feet, standing shoulder to shoulder to shield her.
“Can you reach your blaster?” Far asked his twin.
“It’s in the other room. I didn’t think they’d do anything like this.” Truth sounded grim. “It’s just the two of us, Brother, against them all.”
“Let them come,” Far snarled, sounding more menacing than Becca had ever heard him. “They’re of small stature. We can take them all if need be.”
“Only if they stay in their first forms,” Truth said. “Be wary if you see one start to shift. A full grown dr’gin can be deadly. You have to—”
But just then door to the guest room burst open and chaos reigned.
Chapter Thirty-seven
Later, Becca could only recall a nightmarish jumble of images. She was huddled behind Far and Truth, looking through their legs when a hoard of Rai’ku males poured into the little room.
“Look!” one of them shouted. “The three of them are here together, engaging in depravity. Sharing a female!”
“What we do in our host’s home is not your business,” Far snapped.
“And what of the laws of privacy?” Truth demanded. “Are they suddenly worth nothing?”
“Nothing to an outsider like you!” another Rai’ku male spat. “You were never a true Rai'ku, no matter what you tried to pretend." He raised his voice. "Get the wrex! She is corrupted—her very presence taints us all.”
“Get back! Get out!” Garron was insisting, as he pushed his way through the mob. “You have no right!”
“We have every right!”
“I notice it is only Rai’ku of the pack who have come tonight,” Truth snarled. “Is that because the Kindred of this settlement refused to be party to this…or were you afraid to ask them?”
“Kindred, faugh,” one spat. “We never should have let you interlopers into our world in the first place. They didn’t come because they do not dare to oppose us.”
“We dare.” Far stepped forward, still keeping his body angled to block access to Becca. “This female is our mate. You should know by now that threatening a Kindred warrior’s bride is more dangerous than confronting a tragon in his den.”
“My brother is right.” Truth’s voice was a low, menacing growl. “Touch a hair on Rebecca’s head and all of you will die tonight.”
“You dare to threaten us?” one of the Rai’ku scoffed. “You who are nothing but a foreigner—an outcast among us?”
“Truth has always been faithful to the Rai’ku ways—he has kept your laws,” Garron protested. “Even now he has done nothing publicly to cause you anger.”
“Untrue!” A male in a red robe with a long black beard stepped forward. He seemed to be some kind of leader. Or maybe it just seemed like that because he was taller than the rest of them, which wasn’t saying much. As far as Becca could tell none of them was over five foot five. If only there weren’t so many of them she would feel better. After all, Far and Truth and Garron were all well over six foot six. It would be no contest at all if more and more of the angry Rai’ku didn’t keep crowding in.
“He has defiled the elder trees!” someone shouted.
“Not so,” Truth said. “I have made
very certain not to harm the tree I have been working around.”
“My brother speaks the truth. Go and see for yourself if you do not believe him,” Far said.
“We have no more time for your lies.” Suddenly the ringleader rushed at the light twin.
Far stepped to meet him, his big body, clad only in the dark blue sleep trousers, poised for combat.
To Becca, still watching from the floor, it looked like no contest. The Rai’ku male was a full head and shoulders shorter than the massive Kindred. Surely the light twin was going to break him in half.
Then everything changed. The Rai’ku, rushing forward, seemed to transform from one step to the next. One moment he was a diminutive man in a flowing red robe with a long black beard that reached his waist. The next, he was a strange dark red beast with glaring black eyes and a huge leonine head.
The creature reared up above Far, its maw gaping to reveal teeth like steak knives, its talons spread wide. Its head brushed the wooden ceiling and when it roared the sound was something like a lion mixed with the loudest warning claxon Becca had ever heard. The sound made her eardrums bulge, threatening to burst from the noise. She clapped her hands to her ears and tried not to scream.
“’Ware the claws!” Truth shouted at his brother. “The poison can be deadly if you haven’t been inured to it as a child!”
The creature roared again and came at Far who stepped to meet it although it seemed to Becca that he might as well try to fight a full grown grizzly bear. He managed to get a punch in but then the creature evaded his next swing. It seemed to glide through the air in some way—moving with a deadly grace that belied its apparent bulk. Frozen with terror, Becca stared at it, mesmerized. How is it doing that? Moving that way? Its flowing motions seemed to defy the laws of physics.
Truth turned to help his brother but then another of the Rai’ku changed. This one became a yellow and black creature, not quite as big but still just as deadly. It came for Truth, who ran to meet it. He seemed to know something about how to fight it because instead of punching it as Far had done, he grabbed the thing around the middle, tucked his head down, and squeezed as hard as he could.
By this time, Becca was backed up against the far wall of the small room. She wanted to help but she didn’t know what to do. If only Truth hadn’t left his blaster in the living area! She didn’t really know how to use a gun but she was certain she would have learned quickly if she only had a chance.
There was another deafening roar and a searing tug of pain from somewhere inside her. What…? The bond! she realized. It jerked her attention away from Truth’s grappling battle with the black and yellow beast and back towards Far.
To her horror, Becca saw that he was on his knees, one arm hanging useless by his side. Blood covered half his body and dripped from his limp fingers…as well as from the creature’s teeth and claws. Crimson spatters matted his long blond hair and streaked the pale skin of his bare chest and back. Still he tried to fight. Staggering to his feet, he used his unhurt left side to block the thing from getting to her.
But while both her men were busy with the beasts the Rai’ku had become, several others who hadn’t transformed ran around the perimeter of the room and grabbed her by the arms.
“No! Stop—leave me alone!” Becca protested as they dragged her to her feet. She lashed out, catching one of them squarely in the crotch with the heel of her foot. He groaned and crumpled to the ground, proving that the Rai’ku kept their family jewels in the same place as Earth guys. But three more were suddenly there to take his place and she couldn’t kick them all—not that she didn’t try.
Her blood was pumping, a scream of panic rising in her throat. Becca swallowed it grimly. She knew very well that she might be fighting for her life and she had no wish to die tonight. But however much she twisted and turned and fought and kicked, she couldn’t get free.
“No! No, stop! How dare you lay hands on another male’s mate?” Garron shouldered his way through the crowd and grabbed one of the men holding her by the shoulder.
“Get back, O’ahn,” the man spat contemptuously. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“It most certainly does concern me—this is my home and these are my guests. I am sworn to protect this female or die trying.”
Garron tried again to get to her but there were simply too many of the angry Rai’ku men in the way. They swept Becca up and carried her out of the room and then out of the lodge, into the bitterly cold night.
The edge of the wooden platform the lodge was built on was suddenly there, not two feet from her. Becca had a vivid mental image of the angry mob throwing her over to break her neck on the frozen ground below. She reached out, looking for anything to grab onto but though there were many hands holding her, she couldn’t seem to catch hold of any of them.
The world tilted and Becca screamed, her breath coming out in a long white plume. She was going over, going down…
But not falling. It took her a moment to realize that she was flying somehow. One of the men holding her had transformed and she was on his back, clinging for dear life to something that felt like a cross between fur and feathers with scales underneath—scales so hot she barely felt the frigid air as it rushed past her face.
She saw the ground slide under her at a dizzying pace but her stomach barely had time to lurch up to her throat before they were diving downward and landing none too gently in the middle of a cleared spot of land somewhere in the forest.
Becca was clinging as tightly as she could to the creature that had flown her to this spot. But the minute they touched ground, it shook like a dog trying to get water out of its fur and she went flying off. She landed with a bone jarring thump and her head hit something hard and sharp. At once the world went gray and she felt her whole body go limp.
When she next opened her eyes, she had a spitting headache and her left temple throbbed miserably. Touching the spot that hurt very carefully, she felt something wet and sticky in her hair.
Blood? Is that blood? Where am I? What’s going on? Where are Far and Truth?
She tried to sit up but the world spun around her and she had to sink back down to the ground. Her vision doubled, then trebled, showing her flashes of blue and green light. Her stomach heaved and she was certain she was going to puke.
Oh no—no, please. I can’t be sick right now. I have to get out of here—I can’t afford to be sick!
Becca closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath, willing the contents of her stomach to stay down. When at last she opened them again, she was only seeing one of everything, which was a vast improvement.
She forced herself to focus and saw that someone had built a fire in the middle of the little clearing. Its blue and green flames flickered and danced, illuminating the angry faces of the Rai’ku who had invaded Garron’s lodge.
Speaking of Garron, she saw him standing across the fire from her, supporting Far, who looked on the verge of collapse. It was clear from his pale face that the light twin had lost a lot of blood and more was still leaking in a steady flow from his wounded arm. His eyes were closed and his chest seemed to rise and fall irregularly, as though he was having trouble breathing. Garron was tending him, trying to stop the bleeding, but the light twin was just standing there, doing nothing to help.
Instinctively, Becca reached for him through their partial link. Concern spiked through her when she could barely feel his emotions at all.
Fear…regret that he couldn’t save me…concern and love for both Truth and me…
The feelings made her wonder about Truth—where was he?
Becca dared to raise her head again and was grateful when everything didn’t go double. Her stomach seemed more willing to cooperate too, so she carefully lifted herself into a sitting position—a vast improvement from lying on the freezing cold ground—and looked around.
The firelight filled her vision and she wished she was closer to its flames. She was still only wearing the fur bikini and nothing else. Now
that she was awake and alert, the cold suddenly seemed to hit her.
Shivering, she drew her knees up to her chest. Where was Truth and what was wrong with Far? What were the Rai’ku planning to do with them?
She didn’t have long to wonder because suddenly a struggling, swearing Truth was shoved into the small clearing, his face distorted with anger in the flickering blue and green firelight.
“Let me go, you cowards! Where is Rebecca? What have you done to my brother?”
His eyes fell on Far and grew wide.
“Far? Far!” Becca could feel him reaching for his twin through their link but nothing was happening—apparently Far was now beyond reach.
“He’s all right, Truth.” Garron muscled his way through the angry Rai’ku, dragging the half-conscious Far with him. “Or he will be if we get him out of here soon,” Becca heard him say. “But I don’t know if that’s going to be possible—I think you’re here for a judgment.”
“A judgment? As though we were common criminals?” Truth’s gray eyes flashed dangerously but then he shook his head. “Never mind that now—where’s Rebecca?”
“H-here, Tr-Truth.” Becca’s teeth were chattering with cold but she lifted her voice and somehow forced herself to crawl out of the shadows and closer to the fire.
“Rebecca! Thank all the gods that ever were.” Truth held out a hand to her. “Come here! Quickly.”
Becca started to run to where they were holding him, but a hard hand caught her hair from behind and yanked. She stumbled backwards with a cry of pain and landed on the ground again.
“I don’t think so, wrex,” hissed a soft, hateful voice that was vaguely familiar.
“Who…? What…?” Becca tried to move her head only to have her hair yanked again until her scalp throbbed.
“Stay where you are, unclean one,” her attacker demanded. “It sickens me to touch you but I won’t have you near your lovers. They deserve no such comfort.”
“Uncle!” Truth’s eyes were blazing again as he stared at the man who held her. “Get your hands off my bride, now!”