Z mirrored her disgust. “Yeah, well, I’m the oldest. My mother and father are constantly on my ass to procreate. And then my baby brother got married. Not Val, the youngest of us.”
“How many are you?”
“Four. I’m the oldest. Roarke is the youngest, the one who just got married. Then there’s Val and Romy. Plenty of other Talsons to have kids for the parents. You’d think the pressure would be off me, but now my mother is all over
me
to step up. Like we have to go in order now that Roarke’s taken care of.” He snorted.
She nodded, empathizing. For a moment, they shared a common space, dwelling deep within each other’s minds. Comfort and ease made her feel almost loved… “Get out of my head!” She nearly fell on the floor in her haste to get some distance.
He blinked and shook his head hard. “Dammit. You get out of
my
head. I don’t need this now. I’m too young for permanence. And stop laughing, Val. This isn’t funny.”
Val continued to chuckle. “It really is. You have the hottest chick I’ve ever seen, barely dressed beside you. You just did her, in public,
twice
. And yeah, I felt the psychic back blast of your orgasms, you asshole. Do you really think you’re going to sit there and pretend she’s not yours? Maybe you are the dumbest one in the family.” Adri felt Z’s anger, and to her shock, his rage sparked her lust anew. Not an answering anger, but a need to soothe the savage Otra brewing for a fight. And she knew of no better way than pleasure.
“Oh man. I don’t want to do this.” Yet she did. The closer she drew to him, on her knees as she crawled between his legs, the more open his mind became.
Val groaned. “Come on, you two. Not again. I almost came in my pants last time.”
A glance behind her showed Val turned back around and slumped down in his seat, the top of his head barely visible to her.
Z’s lids shuttered his eyes, and his gaze lingered on her mouth. “Not a good idea, Adri.” Yet he encouraged her by running his fingers through her hair and cupping her cheek. His thumb caressed her lips. “You are so fucking sexy. I can’t stop imagining coming all over those lips. I want to watch you suck me dry.” Val cursed him.
She blew out a breath. She couldn’t deny her Selection any longer. Not when she experienced such overwhelming desire to claim Z as her own. He’d taken her fire.
Shit.
She knew what that meant. But did he? “I know what you want. You think it, and I see it in my head. It’s like we’ve done this before.”
“In my dreams we have,” he confessed.
“Hell. I-I can’t help it.” She slowly unfastened his pants and pulled apart the enclosure holding the fly together. His gaze felt like a physical touch, so intent it made her burn.
He cupped her chin. “I know, baby. And I’m sorry. Because I can’t help it either.” He helped her scoot his pants down, and then he was right there in front of her. That thick girth begging her to taste.
She placed her hands on his muscular thighs to steady herself and leaned close. The male scent of him was clean, overpowering and addictive. She licked up and down his long shaft, gratified when he groaned and arched his hips, pushing toward her mouth.
“That’s it. Oh Stars. I’m trying like hell to keep a lid on this, Adri. But I can’t.” The admission cost him. She could feel his attempt to rebel, could sense the strain in him to resist her, and she accepted her need to relieve him. In helping him, she’d help herself.
Her
psychei
promised repletion if she’d stop fighting so hard and just believe.
Believe in what, she wasn’t yet sure. But then he pushed her head down, and she could no longer think.
His cockhead slipped between her lips and surged inside her mouth. Slowly, steadily, the whole of him continued to press forward until he hit the back of her throat.
But Adri didn’t gag as she normally would have. Her body seemed to have accepted all of him. They fit together, the rightness of his presence inside her lighting her own need to come.
She experienced his desire. And it stoked her own. They drew closer to climax together, awash in his feelings, in her pleasure in tasting him.
He moaned her name. “I want to come down your throat, and I know you want to swallow me. I’m feeling your needs,
iriu
. Your taste and touch, and my own through your senses. Fuck me, but I’ve never sensed anything like this in my life.” He’d called her
iriu
—his other half, his mate. A man she didn’t know had started to reach out and secure ties between them. Peace, need and arousal mixed, until she couldn’t sense a difference between their feelings, between him and her.
She sucked on his cock, bobbing slowly over his shaft while she played with his sac, the way she could feel he wanted her to. His balls were hard and tight, and she grazed his flesh with the pricks of her nails, captivated when he stiffened and suddenly released in her mouth on a moan. His orgasm slid over him like honey, slow, sure, and thick. No rush of seed, but a milking sensation of bliss that didn’t diminish his urgency to finally cease this torment.
He continued to come, and her vaginal walls clamped down in response. He tasted like
kiwai
, an island treat that never failed to please her. Tart yet with a bite of sweet, the fruit had always filled her with energy and purpose. Like Z.
He tugged her gently by the hair, and she let him fall from her mouth. Before she could move, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Tasting himself on her lips, she imagined. His fingers sought and plunged into her pussy, and he groaned.
“You came hard. But I bet you were empty, weren’t you? You need me. You need us.” He nodded to Val. “I can’t deny it anymore, Adri. I’m in The Testing, and you’re a part of this.”
She groaned. “And I’m in Selection. I can feel it.” He stilled. “You are?”
“Yes,” she said, miserable, because her body still ached for him. “I’ve been dreaming about you and Val for a while, but I’ve been seeing you for months.”
“In your dreams,” he murmured, searching for something in her face.
She sighed. “In my dreams. But I’m not ready for a mate. Not yet.”
“Me neither.” He kissed her again. “But my body doesn’t know that. I need to fuck you again, Adri.”
“And I’m a mess,” Val added from the front seat, sounding disgruntled. “I came in my pants thanks to you two. Now we have to find some way to sneak into the hotel and finish this. Because I’ll be damned if I’m going to shoot inside anything but your
iriu
next time, Z.”
Adri and Z froze in each other’s arms. The reality that they were in fact mates almost certain.
“I’m not really your
iriu
.” She wanted him to agree with her.
He nodded. “Probably not. We haven’t courted. Not even been introduced to each other.” He paused. “But maybe.” His gaze centered on her lips.
“Maybe isn’t a yes.”
“Right.” He lowered his hands to her hips and squeezed. “We really need to get into our room. Damn, but you’re making it hard to think of anything but sex. And if you’re in Selection, you know why.”
She felt herself flush. “I know. I can’t help it. My damn hormones are all over the place.” She sounded defensive, and that embarrassed her.
To her surprise, Z squeezed a hug out of her. “It’s okay. Not your fault.”
“Then why wasn’t I running to the ‘San Fal sent to bring me back? Jace and Rand are strong men. They’d give me powerful progeny.”
He squeezed her, and his eyes darkened. Now black orbs striated with silver, he broadcast his anger as well as his desire. “I’ll give you powerful progeny. Me, Adri ‘San Fal. No one else,” he hissed.
Before he could do more, the vehicle braked hard. They jerked and she would have fallen if Z’s large hands hadn’t been wrapped around her body. Then Val was there, out of the car and dragging them with him to the back entrance of the hotel. The travel to their room on the thirtieth floor took place in seconds. Lost in Z’s gaze, she had a hard time focusing on anything but him.
Images of his family, his homeworld, and her in myriad sexual fantasies swirled in his mind. And then, there. Three laughing children, two boys and one girl, dancing around them as they picnicked with her father on Werfal 5…
She gasped and pulled out of his arms with a strength she hadn’t known she possessed. Not surprised to see her arms ablaze, she held her hands in front of her, defensive and bewildered.
“What the hell was that?” She blinked, not sure when they’d entered this private suite. An expensive room filled with crystal sculptures, plush furniture and a banquet of food available at the touch of a button. She recognized a high-end gourmet transponder that teleported food for those who could afford it.
“That was my gift,” Z explained and took a step closer. “I’m clairvoyant. And if what I saw comes to pass, then you are indeed my
iriu
.”
“But not until I pave the way for your future,” Val said. He removed his shirt with precise movements, affected by their desire. “There can be no surer sign that you’re meant to be together. His Testing, your Selection. If you were truly in heat, you’d have taken the ‘San Fal warriors after you. But you chose my brother. Why is that, do you think?”
He joined Z, both brothers shirtless and exposing too much muscle for a simple woman to see without wanting to touch.
She clenched her hands into balls and the fire burned hotter. “Just…
wait
. I know this is normal for us, but I… My mother died when I was young. My father raised me with several brothers, but none of them knew much about Selection. From what I’ve learned, Selection is a time of extreme imbalance, when my system seeks to provide me with a mate, or when I’m at the optimum readiness to bear a child.” She blew out a harsh breath. “I don’t want a mate or children just now. So how do I get rid of this?”
Z’s gaze fixed to her breasts like beacons of need.
“You’re not helping,” she snapped at him.
“Well, fuck. Your tits are perfect, and I’m a man.” He glared at her, his eyes flashing with energy. “I don’t want a mate any more than you do. I like women. I like dating or fucking whenever and whoever I want to. You’re going to tie me down.”
“Right. So stop this.” She waved at him, and trails of fire lit up the already bright room. She could see too much of the Talsons. Val’s excited stare, his erection tenting his trousers. Z’s incredibly broad chest, the muscles bunched at his biceps. He towered over her and even his brother, huge and imposing. And his cock strained at his pants, thick and filling as she spoke.
She could feel his arousal in the center of her womb, and she ached to feel him inside her once more.
“I can’t stop
this
,” Z bit out. “No matter how much I might want to.” Something inside him seemed to change. “You’re mine,
iriu
. Time to face the truth.” The certainty of his words filled her, a psychic sense of fatality, a surety that she’d found the part of herself missing for so long.
“I feel it.” Val moaned. “You’re coming together. Your bonds are tightening, but there’s still a gap I need to bridge for you. Let me. Come on, you two. This hurts.” Z blinked and turned away from her. “It does?”
Concerned for Val as well, but not sure if she was feeling Z’s overwhelming emotions or her own, she took a step in his direction. The fire on her arms faded. “You hurt, Val?”
He lunged for her, capturing her in his arms.
“Get off me!”
“Yeah, it hurts. My cock is harder than steel. Now time to put out my fires, you little demon. Friggin’ ‘San Fal. Figures you’d find a ballbuster for a mate, Z.” Val shook his head. “Now let’s get this done, shall we?”
Z had to admit, watching her struggle aroused all of his energies. His brother ripped the shirt off her, leaving her good and naked. Then his hands were on her, trying to contain her explosive escape before she reached the door. Val grabbed her and before Z could stop them, the pair fell to the ground.
Adri still struggled, but she was slowing down. And Val… Val’s attention shifted to other, more pleasant things.
“Wh-what—Oh, please. Don’t.” Adri gasped as Val closed his mouth around her nipple and sucked. “Don’t stop.”
Z grinned and took off his clothes. Not that he worried Val would ever force himself on an unwilling woman, but it had looked touch and go for a moment there.
Except he’d known, deep down, that Adri fought herself, not them.
The stubborn blonde had a fool notion he wanted a slave, someone to order around, to serve him. Though the idea of her on her knees, sucking him to bliss, had merit, he had no use for a woman who couldn’t think for herself. Though he didn’t know her, he wanted to know her.
Small details about the woman, her wants and needs, had seeped into his brain while they spent time together. They had more than sexual chemistry in common; he also sensed a core of integrity in her. Their
psychei
allowed him to look deep inside her, and had he more of a mind to linger there, he would have. But his body wouldn’t let him.
He couldn’t fathom how he could still be so hard for her. He’d come three times in just one day, and he wanted more.
Val rolled the woman on top of him and gripped her ass. “Z, take her. I need to get naked, fast.”
Z dropped his trousers, now fully naked, and took Adri in his arms. She didn’t put up a fight this time, and he wanted to feel her body-to-body. Before, in the alley, he’d been wearing clothes. But now nothing separated them.
She blinked at him, in awe, he hoped, and not horror. The woman looked her fill, focusing on his mouth, his chest, and yes, there. On his cock.
But she didn’t limit herself to watching. She took him in her hands and squeezed.
“Oh fuck.” He jerked, arousal burgeoning to new life inside him. “Adri, baby, easy.
I don’t know how you’re doing it, but you’ve got me hard and near to coming with just a touch.”
“Me too.” Her breathy voice earned another groan out of him. “I’ve had sex before, but I’ve never been an exhibitionist. But I let you take me in that alley. And now, with your brother here, I just don’t care.” She kissed his chest and pumped him, stroking with hot hands. “I want to feel you come deep inside me again. And I want your mouth on me. Everywhere.”