Mated (7 page)

He looked down at the glass he held in both hands, absently rolling it between his

fingers. His face looked a little sad, and it suddenly struck Natalie why. “Did you lose anyone in the epidemic?”

He nodded. “My mother and two sisters. It was a devastating loss. Most especially

to my father. He became a lonely, bitter man, preferring to live alone to the company of me or my brother. He died not long ago.”

Natalie felt a surge of empathy over the loss of his family. Although her parents

had been more absent than anything throughout her childhood, they had still been her

parents and their loss had been deeply traumatizing.

She fought the urge to reach her hands across the table and grab his. “When we

spoke earlier, you said that Spygians gain strength through mating with their true

mate.”

“Yes.”

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“How can several Spygians share the same true mate? I mean, and forgive me for

speaking frankly, but you’re just sharing for necessity, right? Because your women died and there’s no easy way to get a large number of women to replace them?”

Andros shook his heads. “Actually, no. Spygians have always mated in this way.

There have ever been more men than women. I do not know the why of it, but this is

why pods are chosen in the way they are. Our forefathers believed that certain Spygians were destined to come together as brothers, as members of a pod. That we would band

together because we were all destined for the same mate.” He shrugged. “Whatever the

reason, it works. We are brothers of the heart, and I do not begrudge any of my brothers happiness.”

She felt a warm rush of blood flood her cheeks at his last statement. Was he

referring to the scenario back at the greenhouse? Perhaps he was trying to dispel her embarrassment at having been so quickly seduced by Leikos and Zafron.

“Natalie, I know courtships in your world generally last much longer and verily, I

do wish ours could as well. Circumstances being different, I would give you the time

you need to accustom yourself to us. But time is of the essence for us. Have you given more thought to our proposition? Will you mate with us?”

Taking a shaky breath, she replied, “I think the only way I could even consider it

would be if I knew I could return, if things didn’t work out for some reason.”

“That wouldn’t happen. We are meant to be together.”

His words struck her heart. How long had she waited to hear a man say those

words to her? “Still,” she insisted. “Things happen. You could always return, right, if it became necessary for some reason?”

He was silent for a long moment, staring down at the liquid remaining in his glass,

before answering, “Yes.” He threw back the rest of the liquid in one gulp and placed his glass on the table. “Does this mean you will agree to the ritual?”

She hesitated again.

Come on, Natalie. Is there really a tough choice to be made here?

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She looked over at Andros, admiring his impossible beauty. The severe planes of

his amazing body and striking face.

For once, why don’t you take a risk? Why don’t you just live?

After a deep inhale, she said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

He breathed out deeply, a look of immense relief on his face. “You will not regret it, my female. I promise you that,” he said with an intensity that took her breath away.

“When…when do you want to do the ritual?”

“Tonight.” Clearing his throat, he continued, “Once you’ve had an opportunity to

prepare yourself, of course. You may wish to take a leisurely shower. To rest a bit

beforehand.”

Andros rose and requested a glass of wine from the materializer, then gently

grasped Natalie’s elbow and led her back to her chamber. “When you are ready, please

join us in the control room.”

She gave him a shaky nod, feeling a little dizzy—though more from the arousing

scent of him standing so close to her than from the glass of wine she’d consumed.

He looked down her body, a tortured expression coming to his face as he said

softly, “I can smell your desire, Natalie. I want to taste it.”

Natalie blushed at his words, but then he moved his lips down to hers, thrusting his

tongue inside and roughly against hers, and she forgot everything but the amazing feel of his tongue inside her mouth.

Andros finally broke away from her with a tortured groan. “We’ll be waiting for

you, lovely one,” he said roughly. “As we have been for quite some time. Please do not keep us waiting much longer.”

He placed the glass of wine in her hand before he left.

* * * * *

“Thank severn, she said yes,” Zafron exclaimed, slapping Leikos on the back in

congratulations.

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“Patience, brother,” Leikos cautioned. “There is a slim chance that she may not in

fact be our mate. We must be prepared for that possibility. If she is not, we will have to resume our search.”

Though Leikos spoke the truth, Andros’ mind shouted out a denial. He did not

want another female. Natalie was their mate. He felt it in every bone in his body. In his throbbing cock.

As he thought of her earlier question, of her desire to be told that he would return

her to her planet if things did not work between them, he felt shame at telling her yes.

For he would never let her go. His brothers would find his deception despicable, as he himself did. So he did not tell them. But he believed he would have agreed to any

deception at this point, to get her to consent to be theirs. And now, soon, she would be.

In every way.

“By severn, I cannot wait to plunge my cock into her sweet little body,” Zafron

growled.

“She will taste of honey, that one,” Leikos said hoarsely. “I can already imagine her sweet juices on the tip of my tongue.”

“We are almost there, brothers,” Andros replied, as he imagined the taste of her on

his tongue.

“Did you notice her firm, round ass?” Zafron whispered excitedly. “Once I saw it, I

could think of nothing more.”

Andros groaned as he imagined invading her tight little backside. “Soon enough,

my brothers. Soon enough.”

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“Where are my clothes?”

Natalie had hopped into the shower, praying that a long, hot shower would calm

her nerves a bit. But when she’d gotten out, everything that she’d just taken off had been gone. She hadn’t seen anyone come in. Wouldn’t she have noticed if someone had?

She looked around, but her clothes were nowhere to be found. However, lying on

the counter was a short white sleeveless tunic with a deep v-neck front, and next to it a pair of tan suede lace-up boots. An outfit that hadn’t been there before.

“Guess I’m supposed to wear this.”

Natalie slipped on the tunic, then gaped down at herself. The silky tunic was so

low-cut that her breasts threatened to spill out from the top. And the skirt was so short that her ass cheeks were practically hanging out. Her naked ass checks, as there was no underwear.

She tugged down on the tunic so it would cover her ass a little more, but her breasts sprang free. Looking at herself in the mirror, she took a deep breath and tugged the tunic back up to cover her breasts. If she fully extended her arms above her head, she would be baring her entire lower body.

Once again she questioned the wisdom of getting the full Brazilian wax that left her

entire pubic area bare. But that was the one thing she regularly did that wasn’t boring.

Even if no man ever got to appreciate it.

“I guess I’ll just have to make sure I don’t bend over. Or raise my arms.” Or

breathe.

Oh boy. Oh boy, can I do this?

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God, why was she balking? She’d already kissed each of her dream aliens. More

than kissed them, even. And she’d already agreed to be with them. They would soon

see her wearing far less than this. Her heart beat furiously at the thought.

Natalie slipped on the flat thigh-high boots and laced them up carefully. Looking in

the mirror again, she decided that Andros had been right on the mark when he’d

suggested the additional glass of wine.

She walked out of the bathroom and picked up the wineglass up from where she’d

absently left it on top of the dresser. Downing the wine quickly, she took a deep breath and exited the bedroom. Her heart beat a nervous rhythm as she made her way down

the hallway to the control room.

The door began to slide open as she neared and she paused for a moment, her mind

wavering. But no, she’d already made her decision. For just this once, she was going to live.

Well, here goes nothing.

A hush fell as she nervously entered. All eyes turned to her, and she heard a few

muffled groans as the men stood. Three large, thoroughly aroused men took in the

upper globes of her breasts spilling out from the top of her tunic, the hint of her mound peeking out from the bottom, with hungry gazes.

“Natalie,” breathed Andros. “You look amazing.”

“Somehow my clothes disappeared and this was all that was left. I’m sure you

wouldn’t know anything about that, right?”

She was going for flippant, but the shakiness of her voice made her sound more

nervous than anything.

“You’re perfect just as you are,” Andros said. “Utterly perfect.”

The three men stood there in silence for several uncomfortable moments before

Andros seemed to mentally shake himself out of his haze. He stalked toward Natalie.

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She took a step back as she observed the intent expression on his face. “What are you doing?”

Finally he reached her…and walked past her.

“Oh!” With a surprised squeak, she whirled around to follow his movement. Her

spin caused the loose bottom of the tunic to swing up, and by the sound of the guttural groans behind her, revealed a good portion of her ass.

Andros approached a separate door hidden in the corner of the room, one she

hadn’t seen before. As with all the other rooms of this ship, the door slid open upon his approach.

Turning back to face her, he said, “The ritual room. Come.” He held his hand out.

Biting her lip, Natalie stepped forward and took it, feeling for all the world like a lamb being brought to the slaughter.
Relax. Just relax.

He led her into a room that appeared to be about twenty feet deep. There were a

couple of tables placed throughout the space, but the main focus was a chair that sat toward the back of the room, on a raised step.

“What is this?” She climbed the step and walked over to the chair, looking at it but

making sure not to bend over.

The chair appeared to be made of wood with a soft, comfortable cushion and back

that were burgundy in color. The actual seat of the chair was quite narrow, but the back of it curved backward. There were armrests, but the area toward the front of the

armrests had additional wooden grooves cut into it, which were also lined with the

burgundy padded fabric.

“Sit,” Andros said.

Natalie looked over at him, taking in his hungry gaze. She was hit by another

dizzying wave of lust as she spotted the large tent in his loincloth. Hesitantly, she turned.

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The other two men had silently crowded into the room, and stood near the door,

watching her intently.

Nerves and lust made her legs so shaky she was afraid she’d fall. So she sat.

The incline of the seat required her to lean backward, exposing more of her lower

body. She kept her legs pressed together as she looked over at Andros again.

“Place your arms in the armrest.” She silently obeyed, and he finally responded to

her question. “The chair is for the mating ritual. You asked me earlier whether it

bothered Spygians to share the same woman. It most certainly does not. But what I

didn’t explain to you then is that all males of the same pod are interconnected.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“It is a bonding that comes into place when the pod is formed,” Leikos answered

for Andros. Natalie’s gaze shot to him. “Each of us feels the pleasure of a brother who is connected with you in the mating process.”

“This is why we do not mind sharing the same woman,” Andros said. “In fact, we

enjoy it, for we get to feel pleasure in another form. It is exquisite. The pleasure of watching your satisfaction, along with feeling our brother’s satisfaction. And our own.”

They were speaking in riddles. It was confusing her. “What exactly do you mean?”

“It means that each of us can feel the physical pleasure of whoever among us

happens to be fucking you at the moment,” Zafron said bluntly. “On top of actually

getting to watch it.”

Holy hell
, Natalie thought, her eyes widening. Could it be that simple? They were okay with sharing one woman because, as far as sex went, if she slept with one of them, she slept with all of them?

“If that’s the case, why can’t I just have sex with one of you?” Not that she was

suggesting it. She was just curious.

Andros said, “Pleasure is one thing. Strength is another. As a sexual species, our

strength is gained only through the actual act of sex. Plus, the sensation of having sex is 56

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slightly different from feeling another brother having sex. Just that much more

pleasurable.”

“Which makes us want to do all of the above,” Leikos put in gruffly, his eyes

glittering with dark promise.

Natalie bit back a moan as moisture pooled between her thighs. She was so