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   ―Of course.‖

   ―We wanted you—at least I did,‖ Kamal clarified, ―from the moment we viewed Tante's

invitation.‖

   Kaliq flushed. ―I took a little longer to convince, but your cooking convinced me.‖

   ―So! The way to a man's heart truly is through his belly. As for you, Kamal,
want
and
love
aren't the same thing.‖

   Kamal stroked her cheek. ―You made us laugh with you. You made us aware of things we'd never noticed before.‖

   ―Like what?‖ When he didn't answer, she shoved his hand away. ―I thought so. You can't come up with a single thing.‖

   ―For one thing you taught us that food is almost as sensual as making love.‖

   She glared.

   ―For a man…it's difficult to talk about the
why
of emotions.‖

   ―It—they just are,‖ Kaliq added.

   ―Like…why do women cry over someone else's babies? Or receiving flowers?‖

   ―Or seeing vids with happy endings?‖

   ―Can you say why you love us?‖ Kamal challenged.

   ―Just looking at you makes me horny?‖

   Laughing, her men hugged her.

   She struggled to free herself
, t
hen stood.

   ―What?‖ they said together, sounding and looking fierce.

   ―I need a moment to think.‖ She paced away, trying to ignore them and their compelling looks.

   
Love? A courtesan… I never thought about love.

Her parents had loved each other. Completely. Unquestioningly. Eternally. And Eden knew they had loved her. Tante… Goddess bless her, Tante was fond of Eden, but in the end, Eden was just another courtesan. Perhaps more talented than others, but ultimately her sex organs—her pleasure holes—were no different.

   She'd hoped her first lover would treat her with respect. Take her with tenderness. Pay the highest price for my virginity, she thought now.
Pride…is
such a poor companion.

   Lust had caught her unawares. True, she'd hoped to feel more than duty when joining with her first lover—and those who would follow. She'd not expected desire.
Desire?
What an insipid word for what she felt when these two men touched her. But was lust truly love? What would happen when they grew old? Or when they discovered they had nothing in common except sex?

   They'd said she was their soul mate. Did that mean they would love her for eternity? She had no example by which to judge. Her parents had been married a mere ten years and had died young. But… She'd read the fairy tales with their
happy
ever after
endings. As an orphan she'd yearned for that happiness.

   Was it possible? Could she find it with Kaliq and Kamal? Or was she—with no other choice available—settling?

   She glanced at them. They smiled, looking as if their very lives depended on her saying yes. She smiled back. And just like snapping her fingers, she decided. Love—complete, unquestioning and eternal—shone in their eyes. She'd never expected to find it. But it had found her. Kamal and Kaliq had found her, Goddess bless them.

   She might not love them now, but she was the consummate student. She could learn. And what pleasure the process could bring them all!

   ―There is something I practiced for hours and hours. Something you have yet to see.‖ She motioned them off the bed
, t
hen took a position in the middle of the spacious cabin. ―You'll have to imagine me on a slowly revolving stage. Or you can simply walk around me.‖

   With that she spread her feet
,
then eased her hands over her head until they touched the floor.

   ―I can lick your cunt, Eden.‖

   ―I can suck your breasts.‖

   ―Then I have executed the perfect backbend!‖

   They circled around her. For several seconds she tried to follow them with her eyes, but soon realized her back was beginning to ache.

   ―I can't hold this position forever.‖

   Kaliq picked her up. ―Just a little longer.‖ Her back soon arched over a stack of pillows. They supported her firmly while allowing her to display herself as she'd wanted. But with her head suspended over the pillows, she couldn't see her men at all.

   But… ―Oh my.‖ Could she feel them!

   Like the feathers on her peacock fans, their fingers trailed up and down her body. Tiny flames ignited along her skin. They merged when one of her men plunged his tongue into her dripping pussy and the other bit one nipple
, t
hen the other. Neither was gentle. She didn't care. She loved the sensations. Their fingers now gripping her like they wanted to rip open her skin and crawl into her body. Or devour her inch-by-inch.

   ―Goddess!‖ she cried. Every muscle quivered, tensed and then exploded.

   ―How many times in a row can we make her come?‖ Kaliq asked, giving her an upside-down kiss that made her eyes cross.

   ―I…can't,‖ she panted as Kamal pulled on the pillows and her back hit the bed.

   ―Wanna bet?‖ they said together
,
then started making love to her all over again.

   A chocolate-covered strawberry teased her lips open. She bit into it. She and Kamal licked the juices from each other's chins and lips. Kaliq smeared banana over her breasts and crowned her rigid nipples with juicy cherries. She could smell vanilla and yelped when they spread whipped cream over her torso and mons.

   ―All we need is ice…‖

   ―Cream and hot fudge,‖ Kaliq said, rubbing chocolate all over his shaft.

   ―Well, cool hot fudge,‖ Kamal amended, pressing his fudge-covered spear along her lips.

   She licked its tip
,
then down its length.

Moaning, she opened her mouth and sucked him inside. She ate her fill until, at last, she could taste only Kamal. His groans grew louder and he sucked her aching nipples into his mouth, licking, nipping, and biting. Her pussy spasmed.

   ―That's one more time.‖

   Kaliq used his tongue to lap whipped cream and chocolate from her nether curls. Soft grunts and shifting muscular bodies made her open her eyes. Kaliq pushed Kamal out of his way. With his cock against her lips, he chuckled
,
then said, ―Anything chocolate-covered.‖

   ―Oh yes.‖ And she swallowed him just as Kamal plunged his cock deep inside her pussy. Her climax ripped through her.

   ―That's two more,‖ he panted. Smiling into her glazed eyes, he lifted her. Kaliq slid under her and spread her buttocks. Anticipation shuddered through her.

   As Kamal withdrew, Kaliq surged into her ring. Then Kamal thrust forward again. Eden thought she'd die and rise to heaven, they felt so good.

   ―Goddess! I remem-ber thisss.‖ The delicious filling and emptying. The tension building and building and build—

   ―Oooooh!‖ she shouted.

   ―That's three,‖ her men panted, their thrusts matching her spasms. Spasms that shook her entire body. And theirs as their cocks erupted.

   With one voice they all said, ―Oh…my.‖

   ―Shall we try for four?‖ she purred, knowing

When Eden and her men stepped into Al Sufi's bright sun, a cheer went up. It sounded as if thousands had assembled to greet them. Shading her eyes, Eden looked down into a sea of eager faces. Children's faces seemed to predominate although she noticed some adults among them. The adults reminded her of the teaching cousins at Rising Moons. Tante insisted that every student of hers received an education so that they could make informed decisions as to their future.

   ―I don't understand,‖ she murmured as Kamal and Kaliq led her down the gangway into the now quiet crowd. ―Why are all these people here?‖

   ―To greet you, Eden,‖ Kaliq said with a cheeky grin.

   ―Now you've done it,‖ Kamal growled, seizing Eden's arm before she bolted back into the ship.

   With no other choice, but to continue, Eden squared her shoulders, stiffened her spine and forced a smile. As she passed the children, her smile became more genuine, more natural.

―They're wonderful.‖

   ―I told you we collect the rare and beautiful,‖ Kaliq bragged.

   ―We'll explain when we get home,‖ Kamal said. Slanting her a look she could not define, he added, ―After we show you around you can decide what you want to do.‖

   ―
Now
you give me choices,‖ she huffed, grinning at her men. ―I know, I know. The decision to come with you was mine, so you needn't remind me.‖

   As they walked, Eden noticed that many of the children seemed wary of her. She wanted to ask her men about it, but held her tongue. At last they reached a large house set back from the street. A wide path flanked by shade trees led to the front door. As they neared the entrance, Eden wondered if this was the house with fifty bedrooms they wanted to make love in.

   Her men rushed her through the foyer into a large room filled with books and several library tables.

   ―Sit,‖ Kamal said.

   ―You said you'd show me around.‖

   ―We lied,‖ Kaliq confessed. ―I'll get some tea.‖

   ―Coward,‖ Kamal muttered. ―He'll stay gone until I've explained everything and have taken the brunt of your anger.‖

   Sitting in a chair that quickly adjusted to her body, she said, ―Is there a reason I should be

angry?‖

   ―I…we don't think so.‖ As if saying
With
women, one never knows
he shrugged. Raking his hair with one hand, he said, ―You may have noticed that some of the children looked…apprehensive.‖

   ―I did.‖

   When she said nothing more, Kamal sent her a wry grin. ―This silence is a new trait, Eden. Normally you barrage us with questions.‖

   Quirking one brow, she remained silent.

   ―The apprehensive ones are children we've collected throughout the Andromeda Galaxy. They're mostly orphans too old to be adopted or…‖

   ―Their parents abused them,‖ Eden whispered.

   ―Yes.‖

   Although Eden had never suffered abuse of any kind—except for Azura's—tears burned her eyes. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she asked, ―What do you want me to do with them, Kamal? I'm not a psychologist. And the Goddess knows I've never trained to be a teacher.‖

   ―Haven't you? Hasn't your entire life been focused on learning new skills? Wasn't one of your goals to replace Tante? And if she isn't a teacher, what is she?‖

   A bordello madam, Eden thought, knowing she lied. Many societies would name Tante just that. But Eden knew Rising Moons was so much more than a whorehouse.

   ―What do you want me to do with them?‖ she repeated.

   ―Teach them,‖ Kaliq said, returning with a tea tray he put on a nearby table. ―Teach them your determination and dedication.‖

   ―Imbue them with your love of learning and help them find their own self-worth,‖ Kamal continued. ―As you found yours.‖

   ―You gave it to me,‖ she protested, remembering how she'd felt when Azura's
prix
exceeded her own.

   ―We did not,‖ Kaliq said, scowling fiercely.

   ―You realized you needed to move on. That's why you agreed to come with us.‖ Looking smug, Kamal folded his arms over his chest.

   ―I…I guess I did.‖ A thought popped into her mind and out her mouth. ―You…you came to Venus looking for a teacher, didn't you?‖

   ―A principal,‖ Kaliq provided.

   ―A headmistress.‖

   ―And the auction…the lust we felt—‖

   ―Was an unexpected benefit,‖ Kamal said, no longer looking smug. Concern shone in his emerald eyes.

   ―We didn't lie about our being your soul mates, Eden.‖

   As if to prove the point, they knelt at her knees and took her hands.

   Desire shot through her like lifeblood in her veins. She suspected they would always feel that connection even when they grew too old to do anything about it. But over the lust lay love and acceptance and friendship. All the emotions that would last all their lives.

   She kissed each in turn
, t
hen whispered, ―I love you.‖ And meant it with all her heart.

Dee believes she was born with a pen in one hand and a writing pad in the other. Determined not to work in an office, this wannabe actress never learned to type well. She still composes with pen and pad, then transcribes her manuscripts onto her computer. Sometimes Dee and her dictation program are best friends; more often they are mortal enemies