One Four All (8 page)

“That was lust you saw, pure and simple,” Tanner commented, his voice dry as toast.

“Well, if lust binds you to me and you help me escape, lust will have to be enough. There is always a beginning, Tanner Kepp. Once you begin with the heir to the throne of Zhinshu, you cannot turn back. I’ll answer any questions you may have, and then, if we have time, I’d like to bathe. I’m a bit, um, sticky.” A corner of her mouth turned up.

“You’d like to bathe with us?” asked Red. He sounded curious.

“Yes.”

“Why?” Tanner asked. Lira heard the distrust in his voice, and it stung.

“I can’t bathe in my own quarters at this time of night. The guards would become suspicious, and in truth, it would be a relief to bathe without prying eyes. And there is another reason.”

Wat leaned over and took her nipple into his mouth. His tongue was gentle but persistent. When he finished, he leaned back and touched her wet skin. Red scooted close and watched with interest. Lira noticed that Tanner tried not to.

“Nice,” Wat commented, his thumb rolling over the puckered, wet tip. Lira caught her breath. “What’s the other reason?” he asked.

“I think I know this.” Red spoke for her as his fingers slid into the soft wetness between her legs. “You need to,” Lira heard the man swallow hard, “bond with all three of us at once, don’t you? And I’m guessing you think it would be easier in that sunken tub in there. Am I right?”

Lira inclined her head. That seemed to be about all she could do. As his fingers worked magic, her voice refused to work at all.

Wat climbed over everyone and headed into the bathroom.

“Wait,” ordered Tanner, “we have questions.”

“Sorry, captain, bath first, questions later.” Lira heard Wat flip on the water as the captain cursed under his breath.

“Look, Kepp,” began Red, “we’re already in this up to our necks, and I say we might as well come clean, so to speak.” Lira could just barely make out his grin in the dark. “You want to sit here on the sidelines? She needs all three of us right now. We can sort everything out later after we get her back to her own people.”

“Be honest, Red.” Tanner’s voice sounded harsh to Lira’s ears. His hand reached for her arm, and he held her on the bed. “You just want to fuck her again.”

“Doesn’t take a genius to figure that out, Kepp, but you gotta give me some credit here. I want more than that. She’s right, you know. If the three of us rescue her, we can stop this war before it begins. Maybe prevent hostilities in the future. Maybe I was the only one, but I knew what I was getting into when she offered herself.”

“There’s a lot to consider,” replied Tanner, talking over Lira’s head. “Depends on how deep this goes. If Battarq is involved…”

Lira turned her eyes on Tanner, her voice indignant, “If your general is not involved, I’ll eat my veil. Regnan has told me over and over again that Battarq,” she spat the name, “holds my little sister, and he will beat her if I don’t comply with his wishes. I’m desperate to secure her freedom.”

“Your sister?” asked Tanner.

“Yes, my sister, the Lady Meme.”

“Fuck.”

“Double fuck,” Red added.

“What?” she demanded. “What about my sister? Has she been harmed?” Lira grabbed Tanner by his broad shoulders. “Tell me. You must tell me.”

Tanner held her hands and pulled her against his chest.

“They didn’t take your sister,” he whispered, brushing the hair from her face with a gentle hand. “They took you and only you.”

Tears filled Lira’s eyes. “Then Meme is safe? She’s safe at home?”

“Yes.”

“Praise the Gods. Praise the Gods, Tanner Kepp. My little sister is safe.”

Wat sat down on the bed. “The water’s ready.”

Lira heard his words, but she was too choked up to move a muscle.

“Give us a minute,” said Red. All three men wrapped their arms and even their legs around her, cocooning her in a warm, tender, full body embrace. Lira had held back two months worth of tears., Curled against Tanner’s chest, with Wat and Red on each side, she let them flow. Violent sobs shook her. It wasn’t until she felt herself lifted in careful arms and lowered into a pool of steaming water that she became aware of her surroundings.

Tanner supported her, soothing her heart with the sweet words he spoke in his deep, husky voice, while Wat and Red soothed her body. Their gentle hands lathered every inch of her with scented soap as if rinsing away the foul stench of captivity. The strained muscles in her body began to relax. Lira rested her head on Tanner’s shoulder, her breathing slow and even. The men’s voices faded, becoming indistinct murmurs. She gave herself over to their tender, loving care.

* * * *

All three men stood waist deep in the steaming hot pool, an emergency pack light switched on and dimmed by towels in a corner, their eyes fixed on the woman dozing in Kepp’s strong arms.

“If we begin,” Red spoke, keeping his voice soft, “there’s no going back.”

Wat ran a dripping hand through his equally wet hair. “If we commit to her, will we be traitors to our own country?”

“Regnan’s the traitor,” growled Kepp, “not us, and I’m pretty sure General Battarq knows it. The one thing we can’t do is leave her here at the mercy of Regnan and his merry band of sadists. Why else did Battarq send us? I’m just not sure about the rest of it.”

“The consort part, you mean?” asked Wat.

“Yeah,” said Kepp, “the consort part. For one thing, I’ve never been into sharing.”

Red snorted. “First time for me, too. This is the first time I’ve done anything like this. Not that I haven’t fantasized…”

Kepp rolled his eyes. “You put your mouth on me, Red, you’re dead meat.”

“I don’t know,” Wat flashed a toothy grin at both his friends, “I might give it some consideration. I mean, this is a first for me too.”

“Yeah, well, you’ll consider just about anything if it gets you off,” commented Kepp.

Wat crossed his arms. “That’s not entirely true,” he replied, his tone good-natured. “Ya’ll might think I slept through every lecture on the royals of Zhinshu, but I was wide-awake when they showed the vids on the subject of the three consorts. I know what we’d be getting ourselves into. That’s why I’m asking if we’d be considered traitors.”

Kepp looked down at the woman in his arms. He repositioned her, shifting her just enough so that she was cradled against his chest. He knew in his heart he wanted to possess her, but possessing her meant sharing her body and her life with Red and Wat. Kepp wondered if he could do that. He reminded himself that actions spoke louder than words. He’d already shared her. He’d taken her without hesitation the first time, knowing full well that he was taking a Royal Princess of Zhinshu, and he didn’t regret it. Quite the opposite, he’d never been so fucking turned on in his entire life.

Red’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Captain, it’s your call.”

“She took a big risk in coming to us. For all she knew, we’d treat her the same as that bastard, Speth, or worse.”

“Maybe she figures this is the only way we’ll help her escape,” said Red.

Wat spoke up. “I would have helped her anyway.”

“We all would have helped her,” said Kepp. “No, she wanted to bind us to her, and I’d say she succeeded. If memory serves, it’s the duty of the three consorts to protect every child born to the heir as their own. It occur to anyone to grab a condom?”

Both men shook their heads.

“Then I guess we’re in this balls deep,” sighed Kepp. “I won’t order either of you, but I recommend we go all the way or we go home. Any objections?”

“None,” said Red, without hesitation.

“I’m in,” said Wat.

Kepp handed Lira over to his two friends. “Then we let this play out unless she says otherwise. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

* * * *

Lira realized she must have fallen asleep because she opened her eyes to find Red and Wat holding her upright while Tanner, wet and steaming, knelt on a cushion at the side of the pool. As she watched, he turned to reach for a pile of towels. His erection jutted towards her, tempting her. Before she could stop herself, she leaned over and licked him, running her tongue over his length from root to tip. His resulting groan set her alight. The man was silk over steel, and she wanted to take all of him into her mouth, but he was too big. She circled the sensitive, swollen head with her tongue, running her dripping fingers up and down his hard shaft. The man tasted of the sea, salty, tangy, pure, and clean. Lira wrapped her lips around him and took him in. She sucked, and Tanner responded by twisting his hands in her wet hair, holding her in place, moving his hips forward and back, careful to push his cock only as far into her mouth as she could manage.

Someone’s fingers threaded their way through her pussy, seeking her clit, while another finger thrust inside her. A mouth tugged on each nipple, one man rolling the swollen tip with his tongue, the other biting just hard enough to make her squeak.

As Lira’s arousal increased, she found she could take Tanner deeper. She wanted him as far as she could get him. She relished the press of her lips around him, the hard feel of him on her tongue, the man-taste of him. Wat and Red continued to stroke her inside and out, playing with her clit and her nipples until she came, her muscles contracting around their fingers. Tanner’s cock filled her mouth so that she could barely make a sound.

Before her orgasm even ended, he lifted her from the pool and tugged her towards his lap. The man impaled her upon his body, inch by glorious inch. Lira wriggled against him in ecstasy as he rode her through the last of her climax.

“We’ve discussed it, sweetheart,” he said, his voice languid, as if he’d been drugged by the powerful aroma of sex in the warm, wet air. “We accept your offer. All three at once. Your pussy is mine.” And as if to make his point, he slid a fingertip inside her along with his thick cock. “Wat gets your luscious mouth and Red, your sweet ass. Do you have any objections?”

Straddling him, Lira could only nod her head. What was there to object to? It was as if they’d read her mind. She’d imagined them taking possession of her in the exact positions they had agreed upon. But she was afraid. The three men were so big, so virile. A trained male courtesan had prepared her for this act of joining so she would feel pleasure and not pain, but, by law, he had been allowed access to only one part of her body, the place Tanner now occupied. The thought of all three men at once intimidated her. Lira began to tremble.

Before she could protest, Wat had tossed Red a bottle of sweet almond oil. Tanner seemed to sense the tension flowing through her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

“Shhhhh,” he murmured in her ear, “everything will be all right. Nobody is going to hurt you or make you do anything you don’t want to do. We’ll take it easy, sweetheart. Slow and easy.”

Lira took comfort in his words and the warmth of his broad chest. Hands caressed her bottom and lifted while Tanner kept himself seated within her. Holding her breath in anticipation and not a little anxiety, Lira felt oiled fingers circle her tight aperture. A gentle finger entered her, spreading the light oil inside and out. A whimper escaped her as Tanner rocked her body up and down his cock and that seeking finger. She heard Red’s voice. “I’ll grease myself up too, darlin’, so don’t worry. It’s gonna feel sweet, I can promise you that.”

Lira couldn’t see what was happening behind her, but the image of Red preparing himself for her was almost too much. Tanner’s hands slid up over her rib cage to cup her breasts, and he pinched her nipples at the exact moment Red pressed the head of his cock against her. Tanner lifted her chin, and his lips claimed hers, his tongue seeking her own, distracting her.