Unexpected (9 page)

His
bondmate wrapped his arms around Alisa as he guided her to the kitchen while
Mikel followed to collect cloths and clean up the mess he’d made. Felix pulled
out handfuls of towels and knelt down to daub at the sopping fabric of Alisa’s
gown. The water had soaked her from breasts to knees, and the material clung to
her curves as she pulled at her dress. He was suddenly glad he’d made such a
clumsy mistake as he stared at her round hips and curved belly. Felix’s hands
slowed as he, too, became distracted by how voluptuous she was. Mikel’s breathing
quickened, and his staff, ever aware of her proximity, throbbed with a renewed
sense of purpose.

“Perhaps
you should change and we can dry your garment manually.” Felix’s voice rasped,
and Mikel nodded dumbly. “We wouldn’t want you to become chilled.”

Alisa’s
cheeks flamed red, and she pulled at her dress. It made a wet, sucking sound as
it peeled from her skin, and Mikel swallowed hard, his throat suddenly tight.
She’d be naked in their quarters, perhaps willing to change her clothing while
standing in their bedroom. “I apologize for my clumsiness. I merely wanted to
help and instead I’ve embarrassed you.”

Alisa
cleared her throat as she glanced back and forth between them. “Are you sure
you didn’t do this deliberately? Is this the usual method of getting the women
you invite back here to take off their clothes?”

Her
tone was sharp, and there was a hard gleam in her eye. Mikel shook his head
rapidly as Felix bent to crouch at her feet, still stroking at the wet patch
with the towel. “No, lady, none of this is a concoction on our part. We are
sorry—”

“Terribly
ashamed to have inconvenienced you,” Mikel added, desperate to make peace with
her. “The women we’ve had here have willingly taken off their clothes. In fact
one had her dress off before the door had shut behind her.”

As
soon as the words left his idiot mouth he knew he’d made a fatal error. Her
head snapped back, and she pushed at them with her soft hands. Felix’s mouth
gaped open for a moment as he stared at him, and then his eyes narrowed. All
Mikel had wanted to do was reassure her that they saw her differently, that
they wanted more from her than intercourse, and perhaps vaunt their prowess as
well, but instead he’d insulted her terribly.

“How
many—no, I don’t want to know.” Alisa shifted in the kitchen, hemmed in by the
counters and their bodies. She wanted to flee. It was clear in her fluttering
gaze and shuffling feet. The idea that she’d travel the corridors of the Alphan
residential building, pass through the common rooms crowded with unattached men
as she searched for an exit, all while alluringly damp was unacceptable.
“Excuse me.”

Mikel
held up his hands, and she flinched back. “No, please, don’t go out while
you’re so wet.”

“You
expect me to stay?” Her voice quavered, but she met his gaze, her brows
lowered. He tried not to notice her
dinap
pressing
through her dress. All his hopes that they would engage in soul-satisfying sex
were destroyed by an errant glass of water.

“At
least until
you’re
dry.”

“Please,”
Felix pleaded. Mikel knew his bondmate would chastise him as soon as Alisa left
them, and he deserved it. They fell silent, waiting for her decision and the
room was so quiet he could hear a droplet of water hit the tile floor.

“Fine.
Where can I go
to change?”

“In the other room.
I’ll bring you
some clothing to wear in the meantime.” Felix was quick to lead her from the
kitchen, leaving Mikel to clean up the water. It was the least penance he could
do for ruining their evening and turning Alisa against them. Soon enough
everything was dry, and the damned glass tossed in the washer. All was quiet
from the short hallway that connected their bedroom to the living areas of the
apartment, and he was surprised not to see Felix waiting outside the bedroom.

Cautiously
easing into their bedroom, he saw his bondmate hovering near the door to the
bath. He looked up with a frown. “Could you be any clumsier?”

“I
doubt it.” Mikel was ready to give up. Everything he’d babbled, all the inept
moves he’d made all combined to convince him he wasn’t worthy of a bondmate.
Didn’t the stories say that when they met their mate, the stars would align and
all would be transformed? Alisa didn’t seem to feel any connection to them,
which was no wonder considering how badly he’d fouled things. Could he and
Felix be that far off in feeling this compulsion to be with her above all
others?

“It
was an error.” His bondmate’s tone was more reassuring as Felix laid his hand
on Mikel’s shoulder. “We might have stumbled, but I’m confident we will impress
her at some point.”

“With what?
She knows who
we are, knows our faces and our positions. Despite my mistakes, I don’t believe
we’ve behaved in an untrustworthy way. What more can we do?”

“I’m
not yet ready to concede defeat. Finding our bondmate isn’t supposed to be
easy. We must persevere in order to deserve her.”

“I
thought that meant we defeated challengers and laid gems at her feet, not get
her to
like
us.” Mikel knew he
sounded bitter, but he was too frustrated to calm himself.

There
was a rattle of the door, and Alisa emerged, her wet dress clutched in her
hand. She was wearing an undershirt of Felix’s tucked into a pair of soft pants
belonging to Mikel. The pale blue material clung to her hips and outlined the
creases at the tops of her thighs. His staff swelled as he realized her
quonum
was pressed against material that had recently
cupped his groin.

“Here,”
she said quietly as she handed over the dress to Felix who took it with a nod.
She stood framed in the doorway for a moment and Mikel wondered if she was
going to simply close herself back in the bathroom until they returned with her
dry clothing. She huffed in a breath and stepped out into the bedroom,
studiously avoiding looking at the large, mussed bed. Why hadn’t they neatened
up before going to pick her up earlier?

Without
a word she followed them as they made their way to the utility area, a smallish
room containing storage shelves, the textile cleaning equipment, and the
apartment’s environmental controls. Felix hung her dress in the steam folder
they used to clean their dress uniforms and explained how he was setting it to
dry. Soon, warm air swirled in the chamber. Alisa watched closely, and Mikel
took the opportunity to look at her, his heart clenching in his chest as he
realized he might never see her after tonight. He wanted to stroke her round
cheeks, kiss her luscious mouth,
press
his
tesak
to the soft curve of her neck. He wanted her hands on
him, her body straining
 
against his,
wanted to see her give herself to his bondmate as he waited his turn.

She
must have sensed his regard because she turned to stare at him, her clenched
hands rising. Something white was caught in her fingers, and unthinkingly he
reached out for the small bundle of fabric, perhaps socks or a handkerchief.
She held on to them briefly,
then
let out a small cry
as he pulled it free. Thin, lightweight material clung to his fingers,
confusing him as he stretched it out. It was translucent in parts, covered in
swirled flowers in others, small and delicate and…

Comprehension
dawned. He’d pulled her wet undergarments from her hands. Swallowing hard, his
gut clenched with renewed mortification. Alisa’s cheeks went red. Felix,
unaware of what had just happened, reached for the tangle in his hands, intent
on adding them to the cleaner cycle. She reached up to intercept him, and all
three of them ended up holding her under-things in a clutch of fingers. Felix
prevailed, and after a quick straightening of the clump, added them to the
dress, then turned back to face both of them, a frown on his face.

“I
want us to come to an understanding now. I’ve had enough of your fumbling.” He stared
at Mikel with a stern glint in his eye,
then
frowned
at Alisa.
“And enough of
your
feigned reluctance.”

****

Felix
was done with caution and care. Mikel was so wound in nerves he wouldn’t be of
any use unless directed to take on a platoon of
Xyrans
with only an ironwood club, and Alisa was fluttering and wavering enough to
drive him mad.
Time to assume command of this tiny cohort and
get to the business at hand.
With that decisive thought, he grabbed
Alisa’s fingers and tugged her from the utility room back into the bedroom. She
followed with a squeak and stood where he placed her, right in front of the
bed.

Without
taking his gaze from her, he pulled off his tunic and undershirt,
then
kicked off his boots, which smacked into the wall
opposite. Alisa flinched but didn’t look away, and he knew with a flush of
triumph that she wasn’t going to run no matter how he might provoke her. She
might want to seem meek and shy, but that was a lie put to rest by her bright
eyes and quickened breath. Felix knew Mikel was standing close behind, could
sense his bondmate’s rising excitement, but now what mattered was convincing
Alisa to release herself from whatever fear was holding her back. In that aim,
he stepped close and caught up her hand again, pressing it to the center of his
chest where she could feel his heat, his strength, the way his heart pounded
for her. Her little fingers were soft and cool, quivering against his skin in a
way that made every centimeter of skin on his body long for her touch.

“This
is for you, Alisa, if you care to take it.” He growled out the words in his
most ferocious tone of command. She swallowed hard and jerked her chin up. “We
will never hurt you.”

“You
aren’t going to make me—”

“Never.
Choose us.” He
was too anxious and roused to use more persuasive words, to keep making light
conversation as they circled and circled round the primal question. Her eyes
widened. “Do you deny the attraction between us?”

She
had to feel it even if she didn’t understand how monumental it was to Mikel and
him. She’d come to learn, and from what he’d heard it simply took human women a
bit longer to accept the bonding ties. Human men weren’t equipped to be so
irrevocably bound to another, but
Alphans
treasured
such connections.

“I
find you both very … magnetic. I’ve just never done this before.” Her words
tumbled out in a whispered rush before she tightened her full pink lips like
she’d said a foul word. Felix couldn’t hold back the grin signaling his
happiness. She wanted them, but was just unsure as to proceed.
 

“All
we want to do is please you,” Mikel whispered as he drew closer to her. He
pulled at his own tunic and undershirt, baring
himself
before her, and Alisa glanced back and forth between them before tentatively
reaching out to touch his bondmate’s exposed chest. With a shuddering sigh, she
stroked her hands along their muscles, tracing her fingers into the hair that
covered them, soft palms stroking across their
dinap
.
The physical sensation, combined with the relief that she was finally
responding, threatened to overwhelm him.

Felix
watched his bondmate, virtually thrumming with excitement, lean close and kiss
Alisa chastely on her cheek. She closed her eyes and swayed Felix’s way as he
caught her around the waist and buried his face in her neck. Her hand clenched
at his chest, and Felix took that as an invitation to draw close and press his
mouth to hers. She opened her lips, and he delved in, relishing her sweet taste
and the way her body pressed against his due to the movements of Mikel as he
nibbled at her.

She
gave a low cry deep in her throat as her body arched back, and he knew she’d
given over to them, free of whatever anxiety had been holding her captive. His
tesak
, which had been budding in the roof of his mouth for
what felt like days, erupted with a jolt of adrenaline that left his body
shaking as if he’d slaughtered dozens of the enemy. But it wasn’t the allure of
combat that made his muscles bulge with sudden energy. It was the prospect of
having Alisa, finally.

Without
a word of warning, he pulled at her clothes, easily stripping away the loose,
borrowed garments to reveal her full and sweet body. Her hands clutched at them
even as her legs weakened. Felix let Mikel carry her to the bed and lay her
down in the exact center, the place he’d dreamed she’d be for so long. With
quick movements he freed himself from his trousers. The close-fitting material
had been a torment to his staff for too long. His bondmate stripped quicker,
and Felix watched Alisa’s reaction as she saw his engorged member. She rose up
slightly, her breasts jiggling, and her lips parted as she stared. Mikel was
large, it was true, but Felix knew he was equally impressive.
Or intimidating.
He momentarily considered this issue. Alisa
hadn’t struck him as having much experience with Alphan men, but perhaps human
males were similar enough and he certainly wanted to show her they were in no
way as brutal as
Xyrans
. She didn’t recoil, so he
moved in, pressing as much of himself to her side as he could while Mikel
crowded close.