Cyborg (21 page)

Minutes passed before Amaryllis realized the roaring in her ears wasn’t the rush of blood pounding in her veins. The entire auditorium was in an uproar and rioting seemed imminent.

Unnerved, Amaryllis began trying to work her way toward the exit. She’d almost reached it when a hand clamped around either arm. She looked up to discover Reese and Dante standing on either side of her. Without a word, they plowed through the crowd and through a pair of double doors that led outside, ignoring Amaryllis’ efforts to pull free.

They released her once they were outside.

“You said you weren’t coming,” Reese said tightly.

She glared at him sullenly. “I changed my mind.”

“You should not have come alone. It is not safe, especially not now.”

“And exactly how was I supposed to know they were going to make such an insane announcement?”

Reese and Dante exchanged a look. “No one knew. Nevertheless, it is the law.

The situation has already been debated to exhaustion and no better plan was set forth. No one is completely satisfied, but they could not be, given the situation … and the law has merit.” “It has merit?” Amaryllis echoed, staring at Dante as if he’d lost his mind.

“There will be two to protect you.”

“Three.”

Everyone froze as Cain strolled up to the group.

“She need only choose two,” Reese growled threateningly.

“But I’ve no intention of leaving her at your tender mercies,” Reese retorted coldly. Amaryllis felt a little faint as she stared up at the three men towering over her, all of them scowling at each other. Insanely, she remembered something her mother was prone to say. ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ She’d wavered between them, unable to decide which she cared for the most. She hadn’t wanted to have to make a choice.

Now, she wouldn’t have to, but it would not make things easier, for any of them, and it certainly wouldn’t change the most important reason she had for not wishing to form a contract without anyone. “I can’t,” she said a little weakly.

That effectively claimed their attention and all three looked down at her assessingly. “You heard the proclamation. You do not have a choice,” Dante pointed out. “We will not allow you to choose someone else.”

Amaryllis tried to summon anger, but failed to ignite more than a spark. The truth was, she wasn’t about to choose anyone else and she didn’t particularly like the idea of appearing to be free for the taking. It was far more frightening to imagine what her life might become without them than with them. “This won’t work,” she said a little desperately. “You will do nothing but fight.”

Reese, Dante, and Cain exchanged speculative looks. “We’ll work it out,” Cain said finally. “Right now, I think it’ll be best just to get you away from here. The barracks is out. Neanderthal took that door out like it was made of cloth. Even if we barricaded it, you wouldn’t be safe.”

For several moments, Amaryllis thought a fight would erupt between Cain and Reese again. “You said you’d work it out,” she said accusingly. “Quit calling him that.”

Cain studied her a moment. “Fine. What’s his name?”

She gave him a look. She didn’t believe for a moment that he didn’t know, or had forgotten.

“Reese,” Reese growled. “We’ll take her to our home. She’ll be safe there.”

“But who’ll protect her from you? I’m coming, or she isn’t going there.”

“Nobody asked me!” Amaryllis said indignantly.

“Your vote doesn’t count,” Cain said coolly. “You’d demand to stay at the barracks and there are at least twenty unattached males living there. We can’t protect you if we’re going to have to stand guard over your door every night like we did last night.”

No wonder they’d been so Johnny on the spot this morning, she thought, and lapsed into silence. Arguing with them obviously wasn’t going to change anyone’s mind.

Since that seemed to settle the matter, the four of them left the municipal building and turned north along the main thoroughfare. Gallen boasted very few motorized vehicles, their objective being to minimize pollution of the planet’s atmosphere. Most walked wherever they went--no great hardship since the city wasn’t huge--and Amaryllis wasn’t surprised when they set out on foot. It was further than she’d anticipated however, for the plantation Reese and Dante had established was a goodly distance beyond the city, and she developed a hitch in her side long before they reached it.

She caught Dante assessing her when she massaged the ache, though, and tried thereafter to ignore it, but she was glad when they finally reached the tall gates that surrounded the property.

Despite her weariness and her uneasiness about her situation, the house was such a complete surprise that it dragged her from her abstraction. Reese had said it was small.

She wondered what he’d used to measure it, because it looked enormous to her. She discovered once they were inside that it was certainly no illusion. Just beyond the double front doors was a spacious foyer. A wide winding stair led up from the foyer to the second floor. On the first floor, several doors led off the foyer on either side, but she caught no more than a glimpse of the rooms as Reese led her up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, a wide hallway bisected the house. Five doors opened off of it, two on either side, and one at the end of the hallway opposite the stairs. Dante nudged Cain, pointed to the nearest door and headed down the stairs once more. Reese led her to the room at the end of the hall, opened the wide double doors and gestured for her to enter.

Amaryllis stopped on the threshold, staring around the room in wonder as the artificial lights winked on at Reese’s command. The round bed, easily large enough to sleep a half a dozen people comfortably, dominated the center of the room. The comforter and pillows that covered it were thick, fluffy and of a deep, dusky rose color.

Above the bed, yards of fabric in a like shade were gathered to form a canopy, draped through loops at what would have been the four corners of the bed if it had been rectangular and allowed to fall unhindered from there to pool on the carpeted dais on which the bed was perched.

Amaryllis took a couple of steps inside and looked around. The carpet beneath her feet was so thick she felt as if she were walking through water. It was patterned in a floral design, the dominating color slightly paler than the color of the bed cover and hangings.

Several comfortably padded chairs and tables were grouped to one side of the bed.

On the other was a mirrored dressing table and tall chest with drawers. A wide, arched door stood open between the dressing table and chest. She moved closer and peered inside. Stone covered the floor and the walls of the huge bath. In the center, sunken into the floor, was a tub large enough to be called a pool.

“This must be your room,” she said uncomfortably.

His brows rose, then descended, drawn together in a faint frown. “It is a duplication of one from a magazine. It is supposed to be a room pleasing to a woman.

You do not like it?”

“It’s … a little overwhelming,” Amaryllis managed. “You didn’t do this for yourself, then?”

“I did it for you. If you do not like it, you can change it to suit you.”

Amaryllis’ heart fluttered. Finally, she managed a smile. “It’s beautiful. I don’t know if I can get used to so much room. Our entire family quarters on the colony weren’t this big and I’ve not even had that much room since.”

He studied her doubtfully. “You can be happy here?”

Under other circumstances, she could’ve been deliriously happy here. She managed a tremulous smile, nodding. “Thank you, Reese, for your thoughtfulness.”

He looked uncomfortable and merely nodded. “We share kitchen duties. It is Dante’s night to cook. Tomorrow mine. You and Cain may choose the nights you wish to cook and then we will rotate.”

Amaryllis bit her lip. “I can’t cook.”

“We have programming….” He stopped abruptly, flushing faintly when he suddenly recalled that she couldn’t jack in and download. “We will teach you.”

“That’ll be fun for all,” Amaryllis said dryly. “Is the kitchen fire proof?”

He looked at her questioningly.

“Never mind.”

She remained where she was for some time after he’d left, her mind curiously blank. After a time, though, the shock began to wear off and, like a roaring tide, everything began to flood back with a vengeance.

Theoretically, she supposed the council members were correct and their idea was both practical, given the circumstances, and calculated to produce optimal harmony within the colony. A man sharing his woman might not be terribly happy, but five men alone, watching one man with, was a recipe for war.

How were the women supposed to
deal
with a house full of men though? How could she?

And what was she to do about her personal situation? With three virile males, even if she managed to find a way to terminate her pregnancy, she would be facing the same situation again.

Somehow, under the circumstances, she doubted there had been any interest in procuring birth control.

She might as well have been living in the dark ages.

Cain had been right. They
were
barbarians!

By the time Amaryllis woke the following morning, she’d concluded protest was useless. Reese, Dante, and Cain had made up their minds and it wasn’t likely she was going to change them, given the situation. As scary as the thought was of having to deal with all three, she wasn’t even certain she would’ve wanted to if it hadn’t been for her fears that she could make them happy by giving them the children they wanted and deserved. She was in love with Reese, but she cared very much for all three of them--it was impossible not to when they loved her--and if she’d had to choose, she wouldn’t have been able to, not and be completely happy.

It was still nerve wracking to be escorted to the municipal building by all three.

She might even have been embarrassed except that when they arrived, there were already several other groups waiting. Others arrived behind them.

The signing and ceremony were short once they were allowed to enter the chambers held by the council president.

A sense of unreality descended over Amaryllis as they left the building and paused at the main street to decide what to do next as it began to sink into her that she was contracted--with all of them. After a little discussion, they followed Reese’s suggestion to celebrate their contract by dining at the city’s finest, and only, restaurant. Amaryllis didn’t know whether to be relieved or not that their celebration dragged on through the remainder of the afternoon. On the one hand, it had been a very long, very nerve wracking day.

On the other, it was traditional to seal the family contractual agreement by devoting a full week to sharing their physical affection for one another and she wondered if they knew that. Reese had mentioned before that he wanted to follow her customs.

And did that mean a full week with all three? Or a full week devoted to each one?

And, if each was to have a full week to himself, who was going to decide the order? And how was she going to survive it either way?

The prospect was almost as terrifying as it was exciting.

Twilight had settled over the land by the time they arrived back at the plantation that now, by contract, belonged to the four of them as a family unit.

Amaryllis’ knees felt weak with nerves as they entered the house. She glanced from Reese to Dante, who were standing on either side of her, wondering how they would take a suggestion that they all simply while away the evening with a game of chance because she suddenly felt very shy about having sex with any of them.

She never managed to unglue her tongue from the roof of her mouth long enough to voice it, though. Dante and Reese each took one of her hands and led her up the stairs and down the long corridor to her room at the end.

She didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried when Cain didn’t follow, but she wasn’t given a lot of time to consider that or anything else. As soon as they’d entered the room, Dante and Reese set about removing her garments and then removed their own.

They were almost frighteningly magnificent, their bodies sculpted perfection. Her doubts surfaced and she wavered briefly between a deep sense of her own imperfection and the sense of being feminine and desirable as she saw they way they looked at her.

Reese scooped her into his arms, carrying her to the bed and settling her in the center of it. Without hesitation, as if the two had discussed it and decided before hand, Dante settled beside her, as well. Like mismatched bookends, they rolled on their side, facing her, their heads propped in their hands.

Amaryllis glanced from one to the other, trying to decide whether she was more excited or unnerved by the prospect of making love to both--at the same time--in the same bed. The situation had a bizarre sense of unreality to it, but neither Dante nor Reese seemed the least uncomfortable.

“I love you, Amy,” Reese murmured. Leaning down, he brushed his lips lightly over hers, evoking a tingle of sensation that warmed her to her depths. Her uneasiness vanished and she parted her lips on a sigh of pleasure, opening her mouth to his possession. He covered her mouth with his then, thrusting past her parted lips and possessing the exquisitely sensitive inner surfaces of her mouth with the rough caress of his tongue in a kiss of such hunger that her belly clenched painfully, desire literally exploding throughout her body. She felt the stroke of his large hands along her body.

Sparking jolts of tingling awareness followed his touch, warming her, elevating sensation along her breasts and the flesh of her belly and hips and thighs.

A bolt of surprised pleasure went through her when warm lips that could only belong to Dante were pressed against her belly and nibbled a trail upwards, finally settling on the tender peak of one breast and suckling. She gasped into Reese’s mouth as the flesh of her entire body leapt and prickled in a heated rush of dizzying sensation.