The Power of Three (14 page)

She marched ahead of him, but it made no
difference. She was still intensely aware of every vibrant sexy
inch of him. He was nothing like Esca at all. If Esca had touched
her like that, he’d be fucking her now, and damn the limo. Not that
Ash had said he wanted to fuck her… Had he simply wanted to show
her that he was more in control than his mate? That she would never
be allowed to get close to him as Esca had?

Old hurt churned in her stomach and she
fought back a sudden desire to cry. Right after the experiment,
she’d been so certain she’d found something special with Esca and
Ash, but now she wasn’t so sure. Mating with someone was obviously
a hell of a lot more of a commitment than finding someone you
wanted to have sex with. Perhaps Ash was right to be cautious.
Wanting to fuck her wasn’t the same as wanting to be her lifelong
mate.

He followed her into the limo and she got an
eyeful of his hard-on before he sat down opposite her. Dammit, he
did want her. Did he think he was too smart to give into his baser
urges? Was he waiting to get home to Esca?

As soon as they moved off, Soreya fell to her
knees and crawled toward Ash. His hands fisted at his sides as she
approached him, but he didn’t speak. She reached up and undid the
top button of his pants, unzipped him and ran her tongue along the
already-wet silk of his underwear. Damn him and his control.

She sucked him into her mouth and he
shuddered, one hand gripping her shoulder, the other buried in her
hair. She licked and circled the crown of his cock and then pulled
his boxers away to reveal the thick, hot thrust of his shaft.

“
Mmm…” Without waiting for permission,
she took him deep, using the techniques she’d learned before she
met Esca to drive Ash toward a hard, fast, unstoppable climax. His
hips bucked and he started to rock into her. She kept her mind
blank, giving him nothing except the physical pleasure even as she
foolishly yearned for more.

He came in thick, pulsing waves down her
throat and she swallowed every drop. When he’d finished, she sat
back on her seat and deftly wiped her mouth with a handkerchief
from her purse.

“
You didn’t have to do
that.”

She gave him her best flippant smile.
“Neither did you. I was just reciprocating. It’s only fair,
right?”

He zipped up his pants. “You make it sound
like nothing.”

“
What else was it supposed to be?” She
shrugged. “You were right. We don’t have to
complicate
it with all this mating crap if we
don’t want to.”

He studied her for a long moment. “I’ve hurt
your feelings.”

“
Not at all. “She met his gaze head on.
“A good straightforward fuck never hurt anyone. Thanks for
reminding me.”

“
That’s not what I
intended—I—”

“
Oh look, we’re here.” Soreya bounced
out of her seat and flung open the door before either the chauffeur
or Ash could reach it. “Night, Ash, thanks for a great
evening.”

She rushed ahead of him before he saw her cry
and reached the door of the apartment a good few seconds ahead of
him. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the correct access code. With a
defeated sound she leaned her head against the door and breathed
deeply. It seemed she was shut out of everything tonight.

“
Soreya, will you just—”

“
Open the damn door, will
you?”

He complied, but he caught her elbow.
“
Wait
.”

“
Why? You’ve proven you can shut me out
far more effectively than I can you, so congratulations, you win at
something. Now why don’t you go and find Esca and fuck his brains
out?”

His grip tightened, and he swung her around
to face him.

“
I wasn’t trying to prove a
point.”

“
You damn well were.” She glared at
him. “Let go of me, Ash.”

“
You don’t understand.”

“
Let
go
of me.”

He yanked her so close that his nose was an
inch from hers and snarled. “I’ll let go when you stop walking away
from me as if I’m some sort of saint who doesn’t have any feelings,
who—” He swallowed hard and abruptly released her.

“
That’s why you don’t like me.” Soreya
smiled bitterly at him. “Because I get under your skin and you
don’t know what to do about that.” She kissed him on the mouth. “I
much prefer to see you lose your temper than hide behind your
shields and shut me out. What the hell are you afraid of anyway?
I’m the one with everything to lose. Goodnight, Senator. Sleep
well.”

She left him standing in the kitchen and made
sure to lock her door before she put herself to bed. At this point,
she didn’t even care if he liked her or not, or whether she liked
him. She just couldn’t stand for him to win. A reluctant smile
curled her lips as she surveyed the wreck of her bathroom after the
party preparations. Whatever Ash did with his anger and his fake
indifference hopefully he’d learned not to lay them on her.

* * *

“
Why are you standing there staring
into space?” Esca halted, and studied Ash who appeared to be rooted
to the spot, his gaze fixed on Soreya’s door. “Are you
contemplating breaking her door down?”

Ash turned toward him. “I’m just trying to
make sense of female logic.”

“
Ha! Did you have a good
evening?”

“
It depends how you define
‘good’.”

“
Well you didn’t end up in Soreya’s
bed.”

Ash let out his breath. “Are you sure you
want that to happen?”

“
You and her? Gods, yes—as long as I’m
invited along.”

“
She thinks I’m using her.”

“
And how did she come to that
conclusion?”

“
Because I kept her out of my thoughts
when I…”

“
When you what?”

Ash lowered his voice. “When I kissed her and
finger-fucked her in my office.”

Esca’s cock kicked up. “How was it?”

“
Don’t.” Ash walked toward his suite.
“Didn’t you hear me? I tried to keep her out, I tried to control
her with just the physical, and she didn’t like it.”

“
The sex?”

The look Ash cast him was eloquently
dismissive. “I shut her out. She retaliated by doing the same to
me, and I lost my temper.”

Esca paused at the door to gape at his First
Male. “Wow, and I missed it.”

Ash started to undress, his motions
uncharacteristically jerky. “She kept walking away from me.”

“
She does have an annoying habit of
doing that.”

Ash pulled down his pants and Esca inhaled
the unmistakable scent of sex and Soreya. “She touched you though,
didn’t she?” He advanced on his mate.

“
Does that make you angry?”

“
You’re kidding, right?” He stroked
Ash’s cock. “The thought of my mouth on you after hers is so
freking hot I might come in my pants.” With a sigh he fell to his
knees. “And while I’m sucking you off, you’re going to tell me
exactly what happened between you and Private Lang so that I can
compare her version of events with yours in the
morning.”

* * * * *

Soreya ate another mouthful of eggs and
stared glumly over the city. She’d grown to love the view and
everything about the apartment.

“
Morning, Lang.”

She looked up and found Esca helping himself
from the pans on the stove to Chase’s idea of a quick breakfast,
which was her idea of a feast. He wore a pair of running shorts low
on his hips, his military tags and nothing else.

“
What’s up? You look like it’s your
birthday and no one remembered.”

She put down her fork. “I think I should find
somewhere else to live.”

“
Why?” He set his plate on the
countertop beside hers and sat down.

“
Because Ash…” She couldn’t even finish
the sentence.

“
Ash is an idiot.”

“
That’s what Bev says.” Soreya took a
gulp of juice. “But he isn’t, is he? He knows exactly what he
wants, and that’s you. I’m just in the way.”

“
That’s not true. He’s just not used
to—”

“
Being challenged?”

He shrugged. “I challenge him all the time. I
drive him freking nuts, so it’s not that.”

“
Then he just doesn’t like
me.”

Esca chuckled. “Yeah, he finger-fucks
you at
work,
and he doesn’t
like you. He’s never touched me in his office. He’s all about the
firm line between his public and private lives.” He grinned.
“Wanting you that much must have shocked the hell out of him. No
wonder he freaked out and frecked up. I just wish I’d been there.”
His smile faded. “Do you want him?”

“
Would it be okay if I did?” He nodded
and she nodded right back at him. “It’s kind of
frightening.”

“
I get that. I felt the same way about
both of you.”

“
It’s hard for me to ask for what I
want,” she confessed.

“
Hard for Ash, too. Sometimes I think I
should get you both naked and lock you in a room together until you
sort it out.” His expression turned dreamy. “As long as I could
watch what happened, of course.”

“
So you’re saying I’ll need to be brave
if I want him.”

“
Yeah, you’ll have to make him declare
himself. He’s mortified by how he behaved last night and thinks
you’ll never speak to him again.”

“
I was glad he lost his temper. At
least he wasn’t hiding from me.” Soreya squeezed Esca’s fingers.
“So you think there’s hope?”

“
Darlin’ you just have to find a way to
break down his barriers, and you’ll never regret it.” He leaned in
and kissed her. “I’ve got to go back to base for a day or two, so
have at him.”

Soreya went to get dressed and called Bev to
let her know she’d be late.

Her research partner’s face appeared on the
screen. “No worries, I haven’t been to bed yet. I was thinking of
taking the day off to sleep, so you can stay home if you like.”

“
Why were you up all night?”

Bev grinned. “Because I think I’ve finally
isolated the telepathic signature you use to interfere with power
systems.”

“
That’s great!” She sighed. “Oh Goody.
I can go back to Etrusca now.”

“
You’re kidding, right?”

“
Duh, but I can’t live in this
apartment anymore.”

“
What happened?”

Soreya put her head in her hands. “It’s
Ash.”

“
I bet he’s running scared, isn’t
he?”

“
That’s what Esca thinks,
too.”

“
I’ve tested Ash, and he’s one of the
most powerful telepaths on Pavlovan. But you have abilities he
doesn’t have. Maybe he’s feeling inadequate.”

“
That’s stupid. He’s…amazing. His mind
is
beautiful
.”

Bev made a kissy face. “So speaks his mate
who isn’t biased at all.”

“
Would it work if I stayed here and
just had a physical relationship with Esca?”

“
You don’t want Ash?”

“
It’s the other way round. He said we
didn’t have to have sex if I didn’t want to.”

“
A threesome is strongest when all
three members are functioning as a physical, emotional and psychic
unit. By denying he wants you, he’s denying himself the opportunity
to take on your abilities.” Bev shook her head. “The three of you
could become the most powerful triad on the planet.”

“
Does he know that?”

“
He should.”

Soreya smiled. “Perhaps someone needs to
remind him.”

* * *

Ash stayed out as late as he could, but
eventually even the Senate building shut down for the night. Unless
he wanted to crash at a friend’s or rent a hotel room, he had to go
home. Even worse, Esca had checked in earlier to tell him he’d be
away for a couple of nights. Perfect timing. If he didn’t know his
mate better he’d think Esca had planned it. Hopefully he’d left
work late enough that Soreya had gone to bed.

The apartment was in darkness and he let out
his breath. Why would she want to talk to him anyway? He’d behaved
like a fool.

Her door cracked out, spilling light over
him, and he froze.

“
Oh, it’s you.” She was wearing a tiny
T-shirt that hugged her braless breasts and panties that barely
covered her mound. “Don’t mind me. I’m just getting a glass of
water.”

She was giving him the perfect out, but he
found himself unable to walk away. She went past him to the
refrigerator and filled her glass, giving him a fine view of her
rounded ass.

“
Soreya, I’m sorry.”

She turned around to stare at him, one
eyebrow raised, her shields keeping him out. “For what?”

“
For manhandling you
yesterday.”

“
Is that what you call oral sex on this
planet now?”

He went over and took the glass of water out
of her hand, setting it down on the counter. “I liked my mouth on
you.”

“
So did I.”

He picked her up and sat her on the counter,
placed his hands on either side of her caging her in and watched
her nipples tighten. Her mouth drew his gaze and he leaned in and
kissed her very gently.