Enemy Overnight (23 page)

He should have known Kellen would leave nothing to chance this time.

Impossibly, the animalistic fucking grew more intense, and arousal made it difficult to breathe evenly. When Monica sobbed out her release, Zannen buried his face in her neck and went wild in her, choking with the agony of his need, and Shauss’ scrotum contracted in sympathy. He’d never thought the sight of his brother’s buttocks flexing in a frenzied copulative cadence would turn him on, but seeing Zannen lose all semblance of control pleased him in a host of ways. He had to admit, the brute knew how to claim a female.

Even after the storm of his release abated, Zannen continued to lean into Monica with slow, short thrusts, panting harshly as he licked and sucked at her neck and shoulder.

Monica, meanwhile, hung limply over his shoulder. Shauss thought she’d passed out until she licked a bead of sweat off Zannen’s back, and sighed, “God, you bastards can fuck.”

“I’m just getting warmed up,” Zannen said.

Kellen took a handful of Monica’s hair and tipped her head back. “I’m getting a little warm myself.” Then he kissed her as if Zannen were nowhere in the vicinity.

“That makes three of us,” Jasmine murmured.

Shauss slipped a hand into her hair. “I’m sorry,
aramai
, but your need must go unsatisfied for the moment.”

She looked up at him with a question in her eyes, but he was pleased when she held her tongue.

“Not because you’re being punished, but because you’ve just emerged from your transition and Tiber insists you be given twenty-four hours to recover before any of us may penetrate you.”

She frowned at him for a moment and then her eyes widened. “You set this up, didn’t you? Hastion was never going to claim me and neither was Zannen. You were testing me.”

He leaned down and kissed her lips. “And you passed in a grand style, my beautiful submissive.”

Not that he’d expected anything else. Monica admitted during her punishment that Jasmine had declined to use the replicated nasal spray, deliberately exposing herself to his pheromones, and the knowledge had at once eased him and turned him inside out with desire.

Speaking of which…

“However.” He looked at Tiber. “I’m also feeling the heat.”

Tiber straightened away from the bulkhead, his expression wary.

“It may have escaped your notice, Doctor, but while you were finding your release in Jasmine last week, I was left unsatisfied.” He pasted a stern look on his face as he strolled toward Tiber. “And since you’re being recalcitrant about letting me have her now, I think I’ll have you instead.”

Tiber froze, his heart thumping hard and his mind churning. “But I’m her physician. What would you have me do—harm her by allowing you to take her too soon after her transition?”

Shauss stopped directly in front of him. “If you did that, I’d have to beat you to a bloody pulp and then fuck you without the benefit of lubricant.”

“Then why are you punishing me for keeping her safe?”

His grin was indulgent. “Because I can.”

“You’re not seriously going to fuck another male?” Zannen asked as he let Monica slide down to the floor. Tiber couldn’t help grinning when she rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through the abundant secretions sliding down her legs before wiping her hand on the bulkhead pad.

“Of course I am,” Shauss replied, “and perhaps Hastion after him, if I’m still feeling the need to work off some aggression.”

“Ha! I told you you’d fuck every member in your bond,” Monica crowed, crossing her arms as she straightened.

“Maybe I’ll have some fun with you after I’m done with Hastion.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not my mate anymore.”

“Oh, but I think Kellen will allow me certain privileges with his little playmate if I dangle a carrot.”

Monica gave him a confident smirk. “You don’t have a carrot he wants.”

“No, but he has one you want,” Kellen told her with a rueful grin. “And while my main concern is giving you what you need, I’m certainly pleased to give you what you want when it’s good for you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.” Shauss walked over and stood behind her, looking over her shoulder at the three of them. Tiber’s heartbeat sped up. “Look at my bondmates. Aren’t they gorgeous?”

Monica licked her bottom lip as grudging excitement lit her gaze. “Yes, they are.”

“Which toy would you rather Kellen gave you—an iPod or submissives to play with once in a while?”

She didn’t answer, but Tiber saw her swallow, saw her breathing grow deeper.

“You enjoyed standing over Jasmine, forcing her face into your cunt while she made you come. You’d enjoy doing the same to Tiber and Hastion. Of course, there would be no intercourse between non-mates, but think of the fun you could all have pushing each other’s boundaries.”

She reached up and pulled his head down to say against his ear, “But who’s going to push
your
boundaries, Shauss?”

He turned and brushed his lips over hers. “My boundaries are fine where they are, sweet one, but thank you for your concern.”

Tiber squirmed when her gaze focused on him. “I want to watch you fuck Tiber.”

He returned her look with a penetrating stare of his own. If she thought he was a simple submissive, she would be in for a rude surprise when their play sessions started. He’d done a little research over the last few days and realized he was what Terrans called a switch. He might play sub for her, but first he was going to exact revenge for this moment.

He looked at Shauss.
“You don’t really expect me to just bend over and take it in front of your brother, do you?”

Shauss deliberated before allowing,
“As a rule, I expect you to do what I tell you without question, but just this once I’ll allow you to put up a respectable fight before I take your ass.”

“Thanks so much,”
Tiber said dryly.

“Think nothing of it.”
Then Shauss crossed his arms and said aloud in a tone that brooked no argument, “Tiber, take down your suit and bend over the back of that couch.”

Tiber looked at him for a long moment. Shauss had a few things to learn about him too, but not in front of his brother. Crossing his own arms and bracing his feet apart, he said, “Make me.”

“Two of my very favorite words,” Shauss said, unzipping his suit.

Much to Tiber’s abiding shame, the fight was over before it had really even begun. They circled each other naked for all of five seconds before Shauss went for the kill. Literally.

Unable to speak, hanging upside down over Shauss’ shoulder in a Molbissian death lock, Tiber sent,
“I thought you were going to let me put up a fight!”

“I said a
respectable
fight,”
Shauss replied, turning.
“There was nothing respectable about that.”
At his first step, Tiber’s eyes widened—that he was still alive and could feel his extremities in this position was a testament to Shauss’ lethal skill, but he desperately needed air.

“Can’t breathe!”

“Wait for it…”
When they were in front of the couch, Shauss braced his legs apart and loosened his grip on Tiber’s thigh, supporting it from underneath.

Tiber wasn’t too far gone from lack of oxygen to realize what the younger warrior was about to do. He stiffened in terror, squeezing his eyes shut as Shauss crouched and flipped him over the back of the couch.

The facedown landing nearly burst his spleen and he gasped into the cushion before moaning, “Ouch.” His toes hurt too from crashing into the pad. It was a miracle none of them were broken.

“When are you going to learn not to challenge an Ayeran assassin for physical supremacy?” Kellen asked in a voice dripping with amusement.

Tiber sighed. “Not soon enough, apparently.”

A shock of icy liquid drizzled into the crease between his buttocks and Tiber bit back a gasp as he squirmed. Shauss’ powerful hand landed on his lower back, holding him in place, and then at least four fingers invaded without warning.

He couldn’t stifle a grunt as pain bit his ass. Make that six. Twelve. Hundred. He hissed, grinding his teeth in agony. Holy Powers, how many fingers did the ruthless young pup possess?

“Peserin’s hell! Aren’t you even going to kiss me before you kill me?”
Tiber sent, only half-joking.

“A couple of fingers never killed anyone. Perhaps I should spank you. Monica loves this particular position.”

Monica snorted. “Love isn’t the word I’d use.”

“There’s only so much I’m willing to take in front of other males,”
Tiber growled at Shauss.

“Limitation noted. And the same is true for me. Physical affection will be displayed only in the privacy of quarters.”

“This doesn’t qualify as physical affection?”

“This qualifies as your claiming. In the future, only Jasmine and Hastion may be present when I fuck you.”

Those slick fingers gouged deeper, provoking all sorts of humiliating noises from Tiber’s throat and finally,
finally
, rekindling the fires of arousal in his loins.
“Agreed.”

“Commander, I hope you have no similar plans for me.” Zannen’s tone clearly threatened mayhem if the commander should happen to have such plans.

“You may rest assured, Lieutenant, that your ass is the very last black hole in this universe I’d be interested in exploring.”

Hastion’s bark of laughter drew a smile from Tiber.

“The feeling is mutual,” Zannen replied evenly.

“I’m glad that’s settled.” Shauss withdrew his fingers. “Now be quiet or leave.”

“I’m leaving,” Zannen declared, much to Tiber’s relief. “Hopefully there’s enough ale aboard to make me forget everything I’ve seen today.”

Watching him walk out, Shauss felt a curious lightness of spirit. Zannen’s parting comment had been decidedly arid, but the indulgent look that accompanied it was almost…brotherly.

He was ashamed to admit that the root of their past conflicts might have had less to do with Zannen’s jealousy than with his own. After the Crunus Uprising, Zannen still had a father because Boydon had loved him and chosen protecting him over attempting to seize power. Shauss’ father, however, had chosen revenge and then suicide, leaving him to face the world alone.

It was a sacrifice he’d resented for too long. His father had tried to give him the very life he had now, as master of his own bond—indeed, his own destiny—rather than the slave of some ruthless female. How could he resent that?

He ran his hands over Tiber’s muscular flanks, painfully aroused but uncertain how to resolve it. The few times he’d imagined fucking a male, the particulars had been rather blurry. As far as he could tell, both roles had definite drawbacks. The male suffering the indignity of penetration was rewarded with orgasm, while the male who did the penetrating enjoyed a rush of power but couldn’t orgasm.

It hardly seemed fair that Terran males endured no such dilemma. No matter who fucked whom, both could orgasm.

“Losing your nerve?” Tiber prodded in a breathless rumble.

Shauss abandoned the logistics of the matter and forced his slick cock into the smartass.

“What do you think?”

The only reply was a hiss of pain. Shauss grinned tightly. What did it matter if he came? He was topping Tiber once and for all.

“Who’s claiming your ass?” he asked as he withdrew, just for the enjoyment of hearing Tiber say it.

Tiber groaned before firing back weakly, “Who’s asking?”

Shauss forged inward again, darkly thrilled to hear the breath whistle from the good doctor’s lungs at his incursion. He skimmed a hand up Tiber’s back and rubbed it over his silky blond head. Then he grabbed a handful of hair and turned his head forcibly to the side.

“Your primary bond mate is asking.” Laying all his weight down and wedging his cock deep, Shauss nipped at Tiber’s earlobe before repeating his question. “Now tell me, Dr. Tiber, who’s fucking this nice, tight ass?”

“Shauss!” Tiber wheezed.

“Very good. And why are you letting me fuck you?”

While Tiber mulled it over behind his tightly closed eyes, Shauss sucked on his earlobe and found the texture quite different from Jasmine’s. Tiber’s skin was thicker, rougher, but tasted every bit as fascinating. This whole experience was fascinating in the extreme and he found himself wondering how Garathani males had lived so many centuries without experimenting with one another.

Perhaps they
had
and were simply too ashamed to admit it. The Powers knew he would have been just weeks earlier. Or perhaps they’d have feared for their lives if their indiscretions were discovered. They would definitely have had cause in decades past. If the ruling females had learned of such experimentation, they would have executed the culprits as swiftly as they did males who coupled with inappropriate females.

Whatever the reason for the taboo on male homoerotic activity in Garathani history, he was fiercely glad to see it end.

“Because it feels right,” Tiber finally admitted softly.

Shauss’ heartbeat, already pounding, kicked up a notch. Being buried in Tiber did feel perfectly, exquisitely right—just as being buried deep inside Jasmine did.

Lifting his head, he found her kneeling in the same position he’d left her in. She watched them with dark eyes, her cheeks flushed and her nipples tight with arousal, and even from here he could smell the sweet, heady musk of her pheromones.

Kellen was seated on another couch with Monica cradled on his lap, and both observed with similar interest.

Hastion stood propped against the wall, his face pale and dotted with perspiration.

It was an interesting non-nuclear family he’d managed to acquire in a very short time.

“Shouldn’t you be in the infirmary?” Shauss inquired of Hastion as he ran his hands down the lean musculature stretched over Tiber’s ribs.

“Probably, but the entertainment’s better here.”

In full agreement, Shauss straightened and grasped Tiber’s hips. Before he could move, Tiber held up a probe and Shauss grinned.

“You, my mate, have just earned your orgasm.”

* * * * *

Tiber was dismayed by the heat that scorched his neck and ears when Shauss guided Jasmine into the infirmary the next morning. He’d been dreading and anticipating this moment with equal measure for hours. Despite having dived into busywork immediately upon waking, he’d relived last night’s surrender at least a hundred times over already. His newly stretched waste canal, which zinged in protest with every step he took, made it well nigh impossible to forget just how thoroughly he’d been claimed, and the empty feeling in his balls and gut reminded him all too vividly of just how hard he’d come.

He wouldn’t let himself think about the continuing reminders of just how copiously Shauss had come in the deepest recesses of his rectum.

Tiber cursed silently. Knowing he was blushing made him blush all the harder, and Shauss’ slow, arrogant smile only compounded the problem. Peserin, he was the father of grown children and yet his heartbeat fluttered like an adolescent female’s!

Ignoring him, Tiber poured all that heat into an open-mouthed kiss with Jasmine and thrilled to the sensual stroke of her tongue against his. When Shauss grasped the back of his neck, linking the three of them, he stiffened—in more ways than one—but managed not to react otherwise to the firm touch.

“I hear you managed to snare yet another Sparnite, Lieutenant.”

Ketrok’s voice booming from the bed next to Hastion’s made Jasmine tear away from him with a gasp.

“Fortune has favored me,” Shauss acknowledged with a serene nod, keeping his hand in place. To the casual observer, his touch might appear to be just that, casual and friendly. But Tiber recognized its two-fold purpose—to remind him of Shauss’ dominance and to reassert Shauss’ claim on him.

It was tempting to turn the tables, to try to stake his own claim on Shauss, but the sad, exciting truth was that Shauss would probably tie him in a painful knot and fuck him in front of a hundred witnesses as punishment.

“And I.” Ketrok glanced at his hands, which were still covered by the thick blue regeneration gloves. “Another minute or two in that steripod and I wouldn’t have had any hands to regenerate.”

“Dr. Ketrok, I’m so relieved to see you on the mend,” Jasmine said, leaning over the bed to kiss his cheek.

The grizzled and graying Ketrok actually blushed, which made Tiber feel considerably better about his own hot cheeks. “Thank you, Miss King. I’m glad to be on the mend.”

She sat on the edge of Hastion’s bed and put her palm on his forehead. “And how are you feeling this morning?”

“I’m fine, for now,” he said, setting aside his frustration long enough grab her hand and plant a kiss on the back. “Tiber can find nothing wrong with me. Nothing.”