3013: FATED (13 page)

Her feet hadn’t even touched the ground yet before she started to shiver as the cooler night air hit her overheated skin. Before she could do more than wrap her arms around herself, Vance had her bundled in a large, heated towel. She glanced around, finally spotting the warming racks nestled against the wall. “You guys really do have all the toys.”

“They could be your toys, too. Dane and I would be happy to share.”

She couldn’t help it, she giggled. “So I’ve noticed. You two seem to share very well.”

His eyes gleamed with desire as he gave himself a brisk rubdown with another towel. “We’ve come to realize some things are even better when experienced together. A well-aged brandy. A good meal. And if we’re truly lucky, a beautiful woman will be willing to share herself with us.”

He offered her his hand. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

She took his hand, and when he wove their fingers together, it gave her a sense of warmth far more powerful than the lust he’d ignited in her a short while ago. It was a tender, possessive gesture that made her feel cherished—and slightly terrified. This was all temporary, and she couldn’t afford to let herself get too entangled with these men. When she left—if she left—she wanted to do it with her heart intact, not shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. Still, she couldn’t help but speak her mind. “I think any woman who got to be with you, even for a night, could count herself very lucky.”

“Then you must be hugging a horseshoe because you have us for as long as you want.”

“You don’t know me well enough to make me that offer,” she said as he led her through a glass-paned door and into his bedroom.

“I know you’re a decent, caring woman who takes care of others without expectation of payment. You’re loyal, strong, and beautiful. If we didn’t trust you, Ciara, we wouldn’t have invited you into our home, or let you be near our baby girl. I know you better than you think, and I want to learn more.”

Ciara had a brief impression of warm gold walls highlighted with red and cream furniture and carpets. Any other details escaped her notice as she found herself stepping into the circle of Vance’s arms. His words touched her deeply, and despite everything, she felt a tiny kernel of hope glowing deep in her heart. Maybe this could work, somehow. “If you keep saying such nice things, I’m going to find it impossible to leave.”

“That’s the plan. You’ve figured it out.” He slanted his mouth over hers, powerful arms pulling her in tight to his naked body. “Stars, I want you so badly right now.”

“Then why are we still talking?” she whispered into the warm confines of his mouth.

His arms tightened around her, and he uttered a low, rumbling groan. “I don’t know.”

She reached between them to wrap her fingers around his cock pumping her fist a few times. “I think it’s time you took me to bed.”

He slid his hands down to cup her ass and laughed. “I never mentioned bed, remember?”

He had her spun around in a second, her back to the nearest wall. Her towel tumbled to the floor as he lifted her into his arms and pressed her against the hard surface, letting his cock rub along the seam of her pussy. Need slammed through her, and Ciara wrapped her legs around his hips, opening herself to the thick crown of his cock.

Vance was on fire, inside and out. His skin was fever hot, and his blood felt as if it was boiling in his veins. He was consumed with dark desires and instincts. He wanted to possess Ciara, to brand her with his mark and lay claim to her so no one else would think to look at what belonged to them. When his dick slid into the slick, welcoming heat of her pussy, he knew without a doubt this night wouldn’t be enough. There was something building between the three of them, something powerful. Maybe something permanent.

He lifted her higher, pressing in between her thighs until he was seated at her entrance, his cock already wet with her juices and throbbing with the need to be inside her. He took her mouth in a heated kiss, tongues dancing together, the sweet, subtle flavor of her lips filling his senses. She wriggled her hips, her hands gripping his shoulders as she brought their bodies together. He slid into her channel an inch, then another, and then he was lost, driving himself in deep as he plundered her mouth and took what he’d been craving. Her. Her passion, her fire, wrapped around him and burning him alive.

She moaned, her inner walls pulsing around his cock and gripping him tight. Tasting her had whetted his appetite, and watching her make love to Dane had pushed him to the brink of his control. Now, she was his, and by the stars she was perfect. Nails raked the skin of his shoulders as her control started to shatter, her legs tightening around him until they were moving as one.

“Vance!” she cried out his name as he claimed her, breath mingled, bodies tied together by passion and chemistry and something more than both.

“Tell me you’re staying,” he demanded as he fucked her, the words coming in time to their lovemaking.

She moaned and opened her eyes to look into his. “I can’t.”

“You could. We have something between us. All three of us. This feels right.”

“It does, isn’t it?” Dane agreed, and both Vance and Ciara turned to look at him. He was leaning against the door to the hallway, his cock in his hand as he watched them together.

“Stay,” Vance murmured between kisses.

“Please,” Dane added.

Ciara arched her back and shivered, her pussy milking him hard as she raced toward another orgasm. “For now. I’ll stay for now. I can’t promise more than that.”

Vance drove himself deep into her body and gave up all attempts to stay in control. He needed her, and by the stars, he was going to take her. Her moans were like music, the two of them caught up in the moment, both of them soaring high on pleasure. She started to tremble, and he knew she was close. Her lips found his at the moment of release, her raw passion dragging him over the edge with her as she came.

Her cries filled his mouth as he emptied himself into her body, and when it was over, he found himself holding her tight, unwilling to let the moment go. His thighs ached and his heart was pounding in his ears, and somewhere deep inside, a voice whispered a simple, undeniable truth. Ciara was the one they’d been waiting for. Now, all they had to do was find a way to show her where she truly belonged.

With them.

***

CHAPTER TEN

Ciara woke up early the next morning to find herself nestled between her two lovers. Vance had one hand on her hip while Dane was spooned in tight behind her, his breath a soft caress on the back of her neck.

It was the first time in her life she’d woken up this way. Out in the badlands, her brief flings had been borne of loneliness, not love. After the sex was done, she’d always sent the men on their way and locked the door behind them. It was safer that way, though it always left her with a vague sense of loss. This morning, she felt none of that. In fact, she felt complete and at peace.

As she lay there, she had to admit there was a small part of her wondering if she’d ever woken up from her injuries after the quake. Maybe she was still unconscious, drifting in a dream world as her body lay in a coma at the medical center. It seemed more likely she was dreaming than to believe her new reality. She’d taken two ‘leets as lovers and agreed to stay with them. Not for a night, or a weekend, but for an as of yet undecided length of time. They wanted her. Not only in their bed, but in their lives and the life of their little girl.

“You’re thinking too much, angel. I swear I can hear the gears turning inside your head.” Dane nuzzled a kiss to the nape of her neck. “And good morning.”

She stretched and snuggled into his embrace, feeling several subtle pangs and twinges as her body protested the escapades of the night before. She’d lost track of the number of times they’d come together, three bodies tangled up in more combinations than she had ever dreamed of. “Good morning to you, too. I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m naturally an early riser.”

“You didn’t wake me. Vance and I usually wake up about now to get a few minutes head start on Annie. She’ll be up soon and wanting breakfast.”

She shot up to a sitting position and started wriggling out from between the two men. “I better go back to my room then. You won’t want her wandering in here and finding the three of us naked and uh”—she flapped her hands around them—“all wrapped up in each other.”

“The house sensors would alert us if she was awake, or crying. No need to bolt out of here.”

“Why are people talking in my bed? It’s too early for talking,” Vance grumbled in a voice still thick with sleep.

“Forgive sleeping grumpy over there, he is not a morning person.”

“Not without coffee, I’m not.”

She snickered. “And here I thought all you elites had being a morning person programmed into you as part of your enhancements.”

“He’s defective,” Dane said and reached for her, tugging her back into his arms.

“You can fucking leave any time, Dane. Ciara is welcome to stay here all day. You? Not so much.”

“I hate to point this out, Doc, but we’ve both got work today. Alayna will be by in a few hours. She said something about a girls’ day?”

Ciara groaned as she remembered what she’d been talked into. “Mother of supernovas, I’d forgotten. We’re stopping by the base so she can check on the arrangements for this formal dinner party. Afterward she’s dragging me out to shop for more clothes and a dress for this party. How did I get talked into this again?”

“Because no one says no to Alayna.” Dane chuckled. “Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“That sounds about right. I’m really not fond of fancy parties.”

Vance stirred beside her, stroking his hand down her arm. “I’m guessing this is because of your parents?”

“Yeah. They were always throwing parties. Trying to climb the social ladder, making connections. It was what they lived for, and I never understood. For me, they were dull, awkward affairs. The last gala I went to was for my twenty-first birthday. Not that the party was really about me at all. I wasn’t allowed to invite anyone and my mother made it clear that if I messed up at all, she’d never forgive me.”

“Sounds delightful,” Dane muttered.

“It gets better. One of the guests assaulted me. Will and I had been crossing paths at these functions for years and he’d barely spoken two words to me. That night, he wouldn’t leave me alone. He kept following me around, touching me, rubbing up against me, and making me really uncomfortable. I ducked outside to try and ditch him, but he saw me leaving and followed. That’s when things got surreal. He told me he could take care of me. Then he grabbed me and kissed me. I slapped him.”

“Remind me to make sure we teach Annie self-defense,” Vance said, looking at Dane.”

“Damn right,” Dane agreed.

“I would have loved to know self-defense that night. I didn’t. The slap didn’t deter Will at all. He told me I should be grateful that someone like him was even interested in me. I was infertile after all and he was a wealthy elite. At first I thought he was offering to claim me. I told him I wasn’t interested. He laughed in my face and told me he didn’t want a chosen, he wanted a mistress. He thought I’d agree to sleep with him if he offered me enough credits.” Ciara felt nauseas at the memory of that conversation. Will’s booze-soaked breath. The way he kept groping her with sweaty hands as he explained what he wanted from her. Her choking fear that he’d try and rape her right there in her family’s garden.

“That’s horrible! He assaulted you and then tried to convince you to be his mistress. What kind of assholes did your parents invite to their parties?” Dane demanded, outraged.

“My parents judged others on their influence and their wealth, not their personalities. They had a very skewed value system.”

“That’s an understatement. So, what happened? Did he hurt you?” Vance asked.

“He didn’t get a chance to hurt me, or do anything else, really. When he tried to kiss me again, I kicked him in the balls and finally got away. I ran back inside and found my mom. I was scared and crying, and all she did was look at me like I was something she’d found on the bottom of her shoe. Her first question wasn’t about what happened to me. She wanted to know why I was such a mess and dragged me upstairs before any of the other guests saw me.”

Ciara closed her eyes as more memories came flooding back. “I told her what happened, but instead of being concerned, my mother was furious. The second we were alone she started tearing into me, accusing me of ruining the party and throwing away a perfectly good opportunity. She called me ungrateful and foolish and demanded to know how could I do this to her, to my family. She wanted to know how I thought I was going to get by in the world if I didn’t take what opportunities came my way? Stars, she wanted me to apologize to Will. Me, apologize to him! When I refused, she came unhinged. She started listing every time I’d failed her as a daughter. I was an embarrassment. A failure. The things she said…let’s just say it was a long list.”

“Your mother wanted you to apologize to the asshole that attacked you at your party? In your house?” Dane asked, incredulous now.

“She wanted me to apologize and then accept Will’s offer—if I was lucky enough that he’d still take me. I refused. She slapped me and told me to get out. I thought she meant out of her room, so I went and had a two hour shower trying to get the feel of him off of me. When I went to my bedroom, there was a message from my fathers telling me to meet them downstairs. I thought they were going to tell me they’d dealt with mom, or at least that I wouldn’t have to worry about Will ever again. I was wrong. They told me it was time I moved out.”

“They threw you out because you got attacked? What the fuck?”

“As far as they were concerned, I’d made the wrong choice. It was the final straw for them. I didn’t understand it then. I still don’t, now. But I left the next morning.

I moved in with a friend from school. I was still hoping
they’d forgive me. That it would all blow over. I was wrong. A week later I got a note from my parents saying that they had decided not to continue funding my education. Once I was out of the
house, I guess it was easier for them to cut me out of their lives completely. I had to drop out of school before I graduated. After that, I started moving around, picking up work and the occasional course when I could afford it. Eventually I wound up in the badlands, working as a medic and helping people.”