Captain Gareth's Mates (8 page)

“Are you telling the truth?”

“I promise.”

Izbal crossed her arms. Gareth saw a flash of her father in her sudden determination, not to mention her imperious tone of voice. His innocent bride had become a different woman in the space of a few hours. “Bring him here. I wish to question him myself.”

“All right. If you insist.”

Brennar entered fully dressed again, no doubt expecting to be sent on his way. He shifted uncomfortably from one slippered foot to the other. “I should go,” he said. “I have done enough harm here.”

Izbal held up a hand to stop him. “If your company pleases my husband, it pleases me as well.”

Brennar stared in obvious confusion. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She indicated the stone table in the corner, which she had cleared and set for three. “I was just about to prepare the morning meal. You will join us.”

Without another word on the matter, she set out preparing slices of bread and edible leaves. They took their places on the curved bench beside the table, Gareth and Brennar next to one another and Izbal across from both of them. She watched without expression as they ate. To his relief, Gareth found that she had set out a jug of wine to go with the food. After everything that had happened in such a short span of time, he certainly needed a drink.

Izbal initiated the conversation, but the topic veered far from the neutral banter Gareth had hoped for.

“I should like for you to explain yourself, Ambassador,” she demanded, every inch the daughter of a king. “I wish to understand your way of mating.”

Brennar swallowed and looked at Gareth, who shrugged. “I confess I have always been more attracted to other males,” the ambassador explained, “though I have on occasion coupled with females.”

“I see. Is this sort of union common on your world?”

“Shibans have no concept of marriage as a legally binding arrangement. Though most choose a partner, our society exerts no pressure to do so, and the partner can be of either gender, so I am not considered an anomaly.”

“Most intriguing,” she said. “Your people are quite unique.”

Gareth took a hasty gulp of wine. “Who knows? Maybe their way is more sensible than ours.”

“Perhaps. So far, I have seen nothing to indicate that the ambassador is anything less than honorable.”

“True enough,” Gareth agreed. “After all, I was the one who snuck out on you.”

“That in itself is not especially troubling to me. My mother long ago became accustomed to watching my father slip away to one of his other wives or concubines. Absolute fidelity does not guarantee happiness, especially in a royal household. Power breeds a taste for variety, at least in men.” She paused to scrutinize Brennar. “It is obvious that my husband loves you, so it would benefit me to discover why. Meanwhile, I would be happy to call you friend.”

“And I you,” said Brennar.

“I will now turn my earlier question around. What makes you love my husband?”

Brennar folded his hands on the edge of the table. “Perhaps because he is so different from the men of my world. We are an even-tempered race, not given to impulse or rash behavior. Captain Gareth is passionate about all he does. Therefore, I find him exciting.”

Izbal nodded. “I sensed his virility from the moment I first saw him in the council chamber with my father. Even then, I had no doubt that he would easily find a method of repelling General Xaal.”

“The less said about Xaal, the better.” Gareth finished off his wine and set the cup down in front of him.

“I have no desire to discuss battle strategies and diplomatic maneuvers,” his wife informed him. “I want to understand your connection with Brennar. Why don’t you try to explain it now?”

Gareth shifted. Discussing emotion, or even sex for that matter, didn’t come naturally to him. In fact, he didn’t think anyone had ever asked him such a question in his life.

“First, I want you to know that what Brennar and I share has nothing to do with you or with anything that might happen between us. Perhaps the analogy of your father’s additional wives is an apt one. Did your mother feel any less loved because he sometimes visited another bed?”

“No. But his inconstancy caused her pain over the years.”

“I’m sorry,” Gareth said. “I wish I could fix things so no one has to be disappointed or hurt. Unfortunately, I can’t think of any way. Human emotions and desires are just too damn complex.”

He poured himself another glass of wine.

“I can think of a way,” Izbal announced after a few tense, silent moments.

Gareth looked up. “Oh? Tell us, then, by all means.”

“I want to watch you kiss Brennar.”

Chapter 7

Her request, expressed so casually, stunned Gareth. “Izbal...I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not? I want to see the two of you together again. I want to get a sense of the emotions involved. As we all know, the things we fear most are those we do not understand. This will help me understand.” She gave a rueful laugh. “Trust me. I am well beyond jealousy, which is not a quality cultivated in Anubian women to begin with.”

The determined glint in her eyes never wavered. Sighing, Gareth turned to Brennar, who looked as baffled as he did shocked. Before he could lose his nerve, he leaned over and pressed his lips against the other man’s.

Brennar responded with an admirable show of zeal. Gareth did his best to emulate a genuine kiss, assuming Izbal would notice any subterfuge and make them start over. He didn’t use his tongue at all, and his hands remained innocent at his sides until they broke apart. Izbal stared at them with the detachment of a scientist inspecting a previously unknown specimen.

“Brennar’s mouth looks quite soft,” she said after a pause. “Does it feel so to you?”

“Yes,” Brennar answered on his behalf. “Shibans are possessed of hypersensitive skin. The tips, fingers, and...ah...more private areas tend to be especially sensitive.”

“May I try?” Izbal asked Brennar.

“As I am in your house, at your table, and have already been discovered taking intimate liberties with your husband, I can hardly refuse,” he responded.

Gareth had to admit, his answer made sense.

Izbal got up, came around to the other side of the table, and seated herself beside Brennar. Perfectly emulating Gareth’s movements, she bent forward from the waist up, keeping her arms at her sides, and opened her mouth against Brennar’s.

She kissed him with the same systematic objectivity, as if mentally noting every aspect of the experiment. Brennar kissed her back, and Gareth saw no sign of discomfort.

Suddenly, he knew what to do. The solution to the entire dilemma was, literally, right in front of his face.

The three of them would learn to enjoy each other.

Tilting his body forward, he encircled Brennar’s waist with one arm and extended his other hand to stroke Izbal’s rich, brown hair. While Izbal kissed Brennar’s lips Gareth began to lick and nibble the back of the other man’s neck. He couldn’t be sure how either of them would react.

Then, his wife’s slender fingers crept along his thigh and slipped under the hem of his robe. At the same time, Brennar reached backward and hooked one hand around Gareth’s waist, pulling him closer.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, kissing and touching. Finally Gareth extracted himself from the tangle of limbs and stood. The two of them followed him to his feet, and then to the bed.

Gareth lay down first, shedding his robe and stretching out in the middle. Without hesitation, Izbal dropped her garment, too, and crawled on beside him. Only Brennar seemed uncertain, standing with both hands on his shirt and an obvious bulge in his tight hose.

Gareth curled one arm around Izbal’s shoulders and pulled her close to his body. She immediately reached for his hard cock, stroking the length in her fingers until his pulse thundered in his ears.

With his other hand, he reached out toward Brennar.

“Join us, Brennar,” he urged. “Trust me. This can work.”

“It seems a somewhat irregular solution,” Brennar confessed. “However, I see a certain wisdom in the arrangement you suggest.” Slowly, he raised the top of his tunic and peeled it off over his head.

Waiting for Brennar to join them, Gareth and Izbal continued pleasuring each other. Bolder than she had been the night before, she reached down to knead his shaft, teasing him with long, languid strokes until his cockhead grew moist and purplish, the veins pulsing against his taut skin.

When he thought he couldn’t go another moment without exploding, Izbal released him and turned onto her back. She opened her thighs to him, revealing the swollen, ripe fruit inside. Gareth eased his solid frame on top of her, planted his arms on either side of her body, and burrowed into her.

She moaned, accepting him fully, her inner muscles pulling him into her core. He knew his own climax was too near to drag things out for very long. Rather than stroking in and out, Gareth kept himself buried while he began a side-to-side rocking motion with his hips.

Meanwhile, Brennar stood beside their heaving bodies, watching them with an intense expression. His clothes were off, and his hand stroked his own cock until it stood perpendicular to his groin. The skin around it was turning dark blue, and the spasmodic jerks of his fingers suggested he would not be able to ignore his own needs much longer.

The bed sagged as Brennar knelt beside them. Gareth heard him begin to breathe rapidly as waves of excitement coursed through his trim body. The alien inched closer until the smooth skin of his abdomen pressed against Gareth’s buttocks. Eagerly Gareth tilted his hips upward without dislodging himself from Izbal’s clenching center.

Gareth tilted his head back and moaned, delighted to be trapped between their sweating bodies. Brennar, now fully aroused, positioned himself to take possession of Gareth from behind, yet he still seemed hesitant, his fingers dancing over Gareth’s hips instead of taking a firm hold.

“Do it, man,” Gareth urged. At last, Brennar reared back and rammed into him in one powerful stroke. His upper body flattened against Gareth’s back, his knees clamping down on the other man’s muscular legs, his cock nestled inside his hungry crevice. Their hips worked together, Brennar’s pushing against Gareth’s and Gareth’s against Izbal.

To Gareth’s surprise, feeling Brennar inside didn’t detract from his enjoyment of Izbal one bit. If anything, the dual stimulation from both of his partners made him even more aware of every movement and every sensation. Izbal, too, was clearly responding to the added momentum of his thrusts. The power of their union was unlike anything he’d ever felt. It even seemed to set off a buzz in his head. If they could harness and replicate the energy they generated, no one would ever need to mine phytronium again.

He steeled his muscles against the roaring orgasm already starting to wash through him, but he couldn’t hold back for long. As he and Brennar began to come at the same time, Gareth eased out of Izbal until only the tip of his cock remained inside her. When he sensed that she, too, had toppled over the edge of ecstasy, he drove himself back in even deeper than before, letting his orgasm drain him to his last reserves. At the same time, Izbal crashed over the precipice, her body shuddering involuntarily around his.

The three of them writhed and groaned for what seemed like a delightful eternity. Then, all too soon, the moment passed, and they slumped together on the mattress.

His idea had worked to perfection, Gareth thought as he closed his eyes and basked in the lingering heat of the most unique sexual experience of his life. Instead of choosing between them, he could choose both of them. And they, in turn, could choose not only him but each other. It was the ideal compromise...for the next week, at least.

His eyes opened again, dread stirring in his chest. Five more nights would come and go quickly. Then he would return to the
Wayfarer
, and Ambassador Brennar would board with him,
en route
to his next diplomatic assignment. He knew too little of Izbal’s culture to guess at her future, save that it most likely would not include him in any meaningful way.

As a military officer, Gareth had learned to accept that no situation, and especially no relationship, could last, let alone forever. Until now, that had never bothered him. He was accustomed to living in the moment and moving on without regret or a specific plan for his next escapade. For the first time, he wondered if a better way might in fact exist.

* * * *

A few hours later, Brennar returned to the palace to avoid speculation as to his whereabouts. He promised to come back in the evening, when he was less likely to be missed by the grand potentate and his various attendants and wives. Gareth suspected he wasn’t unhappy to go, probably needing time alone to process all that had happened and to consider what might or should happen next.

On their own again, Gareth and Izbal passed the day walking through the forest, cooling themselves in the waterfall, and comparing the various features of Anubis and Earth.

“How unfortunate Brennar is not here to share his perspective as well,” Izbal mused, stretching out on the blanket they had carried outdoors and had spread on a patch of bright red vegetation. Its short blades resembled grass, only softer. “I would enjoy hearing more about his planet. It seems unlike anything I’ve ever imagined. Have you visited there?”