Psychic Heat

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Psychic Heat ISBN 9781419921889 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Psychic Heat Copyright © 2009 Madison Blake Edited by Helen Woodall Photography and cover art by Les Byerley and Syneca Electronic book Publication April 2009 The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

PSYCHIC HEAT Madison Blake

Madison Blake

Chapter One

Shuo ’zanil II Galaxy Planet Var’al Than Isle of Wienliad 532 Zon Years After Landing (ZYAL) “Ready to go?” Rhiane blinked and looked up to see her good friend, mentor and boss, Bia, poking her head in around the doorway of her office. Rhiane was a bit disoriented, as she was engrossed in finishing the paperwork of her last transaction. “Go where?” Bia stepped into the room. “The Vehiculum Exhibit.” Bia’s waist-length blonde hair had been freed from its businesslike bun and now flowed down her back like a golden curtain over her dark tunic, which was embroidered along the side in gold thread. Though she was already twenty-five ZYAL or fifty Earth years, she looked like a woman half her age and for such a dainty woman, she had a very masculine hobby. In the past two ZYAL that Rhiane had known her, Bia had been crazy about Terran cars and trucks, Selunian hover vehicles, Akani transport and whatever else they had out there in the universe. If an exhibit was to be held on their island home, Bia was sure to get the tickets to it, by crooked or legal means. Rhiane had decided early on that if she had enough credits to buy one of the nicer contraptions, she would ask Bia’s opinion, since she had purchased at least five different vehicles that she alternated among for transport to work. Now Rhiane made a sound of dismay. “I’m sorry, Bia, I forgot about it—” “Not to worry,” Bia said cheerfully. She glanced at her chrono. “I’m a bit early finishing up today. You still have about an hour before we really have to go. Why don’t I wait for you in my—” “I really hate to do this to you,” Rhiane began helplessly, “but the thing is—” “What’s the matter?” Bia came nearer and Rhiane fidgeted under her close scrutiny. “You look very tired. Are you okay? Late nights?” A wry smile curved Rhiane’s mouth. “Wow, using Earth terms now, are we?” “So are you.” Bia wrinkled her nose. “I’ve never heard you say ‘wow’ before.” “You’re going to hear it quite a lot these days. Once I pick up something, it clings to me.” “Don’t you wish it were a man,” Bia said knowingly. “Would you want a man that clings?” Rhiane asked pointedly. “Now that you mention it…” They grinned companionably. 4

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“Look, why don’t you ask your new man friend to go with you?” Rhiane suggested. “I’m sure he would love to—” “The only thing he knows about vehicles is driving them.” Bia made a face. Rhiane laughed. “That’s about the only thing I know too.” “Yes but you listen to me when I prattle on about them.” “Pretend to go into raptures, you mean.” Rhiane grinned. “Yeah, well…” Bia peered down at her work. “This shouldn’t take long—” Rhiane sighed. “I’m sorry, Bia. I really wasn’t thinking but I have another appointment in two hours that I couldn’t get out of—” “That reminds me, you haven’t answered my question. Are you okay? You seem distracted lately.” Distracted. How mild to describe what I have been going through. Out loud, Rhiane said, “I’m fine. It’s just that I forgot I had promised to go with you to the exhibit when I made this particular appointment.” Bia’s eyes gleamed. “Is it a man?” She had been on Rhiane’s case to have a serious relationship with a man for the past two ZYAL. Rhiane had never had a boss so eager for her staff to leave work on time. Her previous bosses usually wouldn’t let her go until all the work had been done. “Well…” Rhiane hedged. She felt bad keeping things from Bia but she couldn’t tell her about this, not and hope to keep her job, which she loved. “Yes…” “Oooh,” Bia squealed. “Why didn’t you say so? Okay, I forgive you. I’m sure I can enjoy my own company for this one exhibit. Have fun, darling.” For a grown woman of twenty-five ZYAL, Bia sure could squeal like a teenage girl. Rhiane just wasn’t sure that was a good thing. She also didn’t feel good about lying to Bia. Was that guilt prodding at her conscience right now? Yet her secret wasn’t something she could confide in Bia, because the older woman was first and foremost her boss. Rhiane covered her face with her hands and sighed. She was a mess, a total mess. What if her worst fears came to pass? What was she going to do then? Panic fluttered within her, causing her heartbeat to race. Her hands felt clammy and cold. That was why her upcoming appointment was very important. It was crucial to her very existence. Thinking about it calmed her down. She took several deep breaths to reinforce the feigned tranquility and felt the panic subside slowly. Until she knew for sure, going into anxiety attacks wasn’t going to help. If her worst fears were confirmed, all the more reason she needed to be strong in order to think and plan for the drastic changes in her life.

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An hour later, she was packing up her things and striding out of the building into the parking lot where her heap of junk was located. The late afternoon sun around which the planet circled was still blazing brightly. It would be three more hours before it set and the first of the three moons would rise and paint everything a distinct shade of blue. She got into her vintage car and drove away. It rattled and banged as she drove out onto the freeway to the middle of the island where her appointment was located. She pretended not to notice the curious glances that the other drivers were giving her as they drove smoothly and noiselessly in their modern transport. Hovercars from Seluna and Akan zoomed past her, and while she couldn’t identify the make of the other vehicles, it seemed from the signs that hung at the back near the license plates that some were imported from as far away as the Galaxy Meizhous, which was located at the far end of the universe and specialized in vehicles with compact designs. Well, hers was imported too. It came directly from Earth, from that famous automobile company called… She couldn’t remember. Anyway, she loved her little junk of a car. She convinced herself every morning she loved it, because it enabled her to get to her office without having to walk or battle the other commuters as they all rushed for public transport. She couldn’t bear to part with it because it had been her mother’s before she inherited it at her mother’s death two ZYAL ago. By god, the car was older than she was. Soon, she reached a gray stone building, imposing in its height and breadth. After parking the vehicle in a nearby lot, she entered the building, where the ground floor lobby was full of people occupied with their own things. The overhead PA system was kept busy as medics were being paged. Once or twice, the information was about a lost child. Rhiane felt insignificant amid the sea of people. Didn’t they know that by the end of the day, her life was probably going to change, her world was going to come tumbling down? After verifying the information at the lobby, she strode up the flight of stairs to the second level and paused at the top of the staircase. On both sides of her, numerous doors stretched for miles and miles. Checking the sign in front of her, she turned to the right and paused at the third glass-frosted door on her left. This was it. The sign on the door read, “Morgan, Master Telepath, specializing in the Healing Art”. Now that she was here, Rhiane was getting a bad case of nerves. She wanted to go in and yet she also didn’t want to go in. She wanted to find out and yet she was scared to. She trembled, a fine film of sweat covering her brow. After a moment, she deliberately took several deep, calming breaths. She needed to know what was happening to her. Abnormal things had happened to her several times now and they weren’t helping her clients. If she was really unable to perform anymore, she owed it to them and to herself to find out for certain.

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She squared her shoulders and pressed a button located at eye level on the left side. The glass panel slid to the right noiselessly. A smiling female receptionist was seated at the desk. “May I help you?” Rhiane went farther into the room. “I have an appointment at six thirty with—” “You are Rhiane, Journeywoman Telepath, Level 8, specializing in International Commerce?” the receptionist asked, one finger on her schedule book. Her voice was tinged with respect. Rhiane understood. The receptionist probably lived outside the Isle of Wienliad and ferried in for the day or the week for work. As such, she was not a telepath. Like most ordinary people, she probably envied them, even the lowly novices, not knowing the arduous training and great responsibility that came with the gift. “Yes,” she responded. “Here,” the receptionist pushed a piece of paper toward her and a pen, “would you mind filling this in?” After Rhiane had filled out the basic information about herself, the receptionist smiled. “Thank you, have a seat, please. The master will be with you in a moment.” She rummaged in a drawer full of blue folders and took one, then placed the paper inside it and disappeared into the inner room. Rhiane selected a seat on one of the black leather padded benches against the wall and tried to take an interest in her surroundings. The walls of the office were painted a cheery muted yellow and decorated tastefully with large nature paintings. She especially liked the painting of the lush green forest with the blue waters of the river flowing by. A stack of magazines stood in the corner, hemmed in by benches on its two sides. Before she could take one and pretend to read, the receptionist came out and, with a smile, bade her to enter. Rhiane picked up her bag, nodded in acknowledgement and stepped into the inner room. She didn’t notice the receptionist closing the door behind her. She wasn’t aware that she had clutched her bag tighter to her as if it were her lifeline. She only had eyes for the man who was slowly coming to his feet from behind the desk. He was also staring at her as though he couldn’t believe his eyes. A moment later, his face closed into an impassive mask and she couldn’t see anything more in it. She found her voice. “Why did it have to be you?” She hated that her voice came out weak but it might have been for the best, because he appeared not to have heard her. He smiled and she noticed that his eyes were kind. A medic’s bedside-manner eyes. “So your name is,” he consulted the folder the receptionist had taken in to him which he was holding, “Rhiane.” His voice was the same deep, smooth tone that had quieted her fears and ignited her passion. Even now, it skittered down her spine and caused a deep, fine trembling to begin in her.

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He was tall and broad-shouldered. She couldn’t really see anything behind his medic clothing but she remembered hard muscles and a flat abdomen. The good healer must have worked out a lot. Strong thighs and long, powerful legs. Heat curled deep in her belly. Her eyes lifted and glided over thick black hair, hair that she knew was soft, and she felt the urge to bury her hands in it. He finally looked up and she was ensnared by his silver eyes—eyes that were far too knowing, eyes that saw deep into her. She dragged her gaze away and desperately slammed the mental barriers into place. “Please, won’t you sit down?” She didn’t think that would be a good idea. The urge to flee was very strong. “N-no. I-I think I’d…better go—” She half-turned toward the door. His voice stopped her. “You haven’t consulted with me yet.” “This-this is a mistake. I—” Her hand grasped the knob tightly. “You came to seek my services. Obviously, you are ill. How could it be a mistake?” “N-no. I’m fine already—” “Just stepping into my office cured you? Now that would surely make the headlines.” There was a thread of laughter in his voice. A smile touched Rhiane’s lips reluctantly. She hadn’t known he had a sense of humor. Stop thinking about him. One thing for sure though, it would really be a good idea for me to leave. Right now. “Rhiane, you came to me because you need help. Won’t you let me help you?” Rhiane’s emotions warred within her. Finally, she concluded that the damage had been done. Due to her registration, he now knew who she was and where she lived. She couldn’t hide from him anymore. If she had only known that he was the one with whom— But she hadn’t. If she had, she would have made contact with the one other master specializing in the same field. But he was on a recruitment tour and wouldn’t be back for a sennight and she couldn’t afford to wait seven more days. Aside from him, only Morgan was the equal in his field. And she needed the best. Anyway, Morgan hadn’t said or done anything to make her think he remembered that time six months ago. Perhaps he had already forgotten about it. Reluctantly, she turned around. Still without meeting his eyes, she went forward toward his desk and sat herself with elegant dignity on one of the chairs. He sat down as well. When he next spoke, his tone was brisk. “Now, what’s the problem?” She looked up and observed that he was gazing back at her expectantly. He still wore the impassive mask on his face and it helped to calm her and make her remember why she was here. Taking his cue, she turned businesslike and made sure her strongest mental shield was up before she spoke. “I’m a journeywoman telepath and I work at the Federation of Intergalactic Commerce.” 8

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“You’re one of the translators.” It wasn’t a question but she nodded anyway. “You know about our work?” “A little. Why don’t you enlighten me further?” “Intergalactic business transactions are increasing every day, as the transport system advances and becomes more efficient. Yet, because of the hundreds and thousands of galaxies and planets in the universe, not everyone knows the languages of their potential business partners. That’s where we come in. As telepaths, we can communicate from mind to mind, sending pictures, images, thoughts, feelings, without the need for speech or writing. We serve as the medium between the two transacting parties, enabling them to negotiate their business through ‘mind pictures’. If need be, we also record the transactions in the written languages that we know, which is usually requested by those from Earth.” “That’s very important work that you do,” he said gravely. “It is.” Rhiane warmed up, as she always did when talking about work. “The Federation is also fast being recognized as a very reliable third-party witness to intergalactic business contracts even between those who can communicate with each other. We help to accelerate the universe’s economy and everybody’s profiting from it.” “You seem very happy and satisfied with your work. What is the problem then?” “I…” she hesitated. Now that the time for truth had come, she wished she could have gone on talking more about her job instead. He waited, his gaze intent and patient on hers. “Please, this is just between us, right?” She leaned forward and turned earnest eyes on him. “It would ruin me should this get out…” “You have my word on it. I’m bound by the medic oath, which forbids me from revealing confidential information on my patients.” “All right.” She paused, swallowed, then said, “I’ve been having…I don’t know how to describe it…but I suppose it could be called a ‘blackout’.” “You don’t know?” “I don’t know how to describe it,” she started to say, becoming agitated. Panic fluttered in her heart. How could he help her if she couldn’t articulate her condition properly? He came around the desk, sat beside her and placed one hand over hers. “All right, calm down. We’ll identify it together.” His hand was steady and warm over hers, almost dwarfing her small hands. It looked strong and exuded confidence. It should have quieted her but the feel of it stirred up memories of those hands on her breasts…on her thighs…in her— She snatched her hands out of his and slammed the door on her memories. She was trembling, she couldn’t help it. Just one touch and the heat came zinging back, making her very much aware of him as a man. Damn. Her shields must have been affected by her fears and weakened. 9

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“Why deny your memories, Rhiane?” Morgan asked in a low voice, his hand moving to grasp hers. Oh god, he remembered! He held on tightly as she tried to tug her hand away again but heat sliced its way through her when his thumb stroked her wrist with feathery caresses. She shuddered with longing. His gaze delved deep into her soul when he asked, “Do you remember this, Rhiane?” An image flashed in her mind, of a man’s head bending down to kiss the woman’s lips. She was the woman and his lips on hers were warm and firm, sweet and intoxicating. “Or this?” She saw a man’s hand slipping between the woman’s legs. She knew the texture of those hands, those long, skillful fingers. And more hands at her back, caressing her buttocks. Her pussy clenched in reflex, as though his fingers were there on her body… “Or this?” She saw three naked bodies twining and twisting on the bed, the sensation of hard, male bodies enthralling on her naked skin. Tendrils of desire snaked down her spine to pool between her legs. She moaned from deep within her and the sound broke her away from the trance she had been in. “No, no, stop it!” She slammed her mental shields up but she was no match for him as he thrust her into the final picture of him plunging into her, of another man behind her driving into her as well, over and over and propelling her into the heights of mindless, soul-destroying pleasure. Oh god, she had wanted them both and kept wanting them long after it was over. “I wanted you then, Rhiane, I want you now,” he said harshly. “I didn’t intend this but—” He pulled her toward him and his lips came down on hers. It was as she remembered. And more. Silken heat. She struggled to be set free but he clamped his arms around her and pinned her arms at her side. It took all her strength to press her lips into an obstinate line but her defenses were slowly being worn down by the infinite patience of those lips as he traced her stubborn mouth and kissed her again and again. Like that first time. His hands hard on her shoulders, he surrounded her with his heat, his warm body and his scent. He smelled of wood and musk, the forest and the sea. “Open your mouth,” he instructed softly. She pressed her lips tighter and stared past his head. Whatever he did, she wouldn’t—wouldn’t—be tempted into the kiss, no matter how much she wanted to give in. Oh please, please, let him give up. I don’t know if I can hold on any longer… And she remembered and she couldn’t shut out the scream in her head—What about that woman you were expecting, your girlfriend or wife or whatever! She struggled anew and freed her arms to push at his chest with all her might. 10

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A slow rumble of laughter vibrated against her mouth as he licked her lips with his tongue. Finally, he set her away from him and the intense, naked desire in his eyes almost undid her. “Where was the biddable Rhiane who wanted to experience everything?” Obviously, he hadn’t caught the thought in her head, though she had been shouting. “I didn’t come here to be mauled, Master Telepath,” she snapped, although she immediately missed his warmth. A ragged breath tore through her. She couldn’t. She always believed it was better to err on the side of caution. Until she was advised otherwise, she would judge that he was taken, spoken for. If he was unfaithful, she wanted no part in it, now that she knew. His expression immediately became shuttered. “I was kissing, not mauling, you,” Morgan pointed out. “You chose not to respond.” “Nevertheless, I didn’t come here to be kissed—” “Pity.” “And I would thank you to remember that. I thought we’re going to identify what’s wrong with me?” “Yes.” To her dismay, he didn’t return to his seat behind the desk. Instead, he snagged the folder and settled deeper into the chair beside her. “Why don’t you try to describe what happened to you during these ‘blackouts’?” How could he turn businesslike so suddenly, when she was still hot, her body burning up despite her verbal protests? Rhiane struggled to breathe and recall the time of her blackouts. “It usually happens when I’m doing translation work, with clients present. In the middle of the translation, I’m suddenly unable to send anything. Thoughts, feelings, images— nothing. It’s like coming up against a blank wall, a dark blank wall.” She laughed, the sound a scared one. “My clients will look at me in perplexity and I’ll stammer some excuse. Fortunately, everybody’s been understanding and accepting of my excuses— tiredness, pressure, whatever I can think of in my panicked state, I say it.” She finally looked him straight in the eye. “So tell me, is my power fading?” She said it calmly enough but she couldn’t banish the terror in her heart, the same terror that had always come upon her every time she thought of being stripped of her gift. “Why would you think that?” he asked, surprised, yet steady and calm. His bedside manner grounded her. “I’m only half-telepath. My mother is from Earth and she met my father when she came here on tour.” She met his gaze squarely. Half-telepath was the term used for telepaths with mixed heritage. “I’ve heard that the powers of half-telepaths are weaker than those of full telepaths. As it is, my younger sister is almost eight ZYAL and she has yet to show any hint of telepathic powers.” His brows shot up. “That’s unusual. Even with half-telepaths, their powers should show by their fifth ZYAL.” He paused. “Does your sister know that the final year for

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testing is on her eighth ZYAL? That if she was still tested not to possess any powers, she would be officially declared to be without the gifts, with no chance for apprenticeship?” “We know.” Her mouth curved sadly. Even if Khaisie tested positive on her eighth ZYAL, she would be cutting it too close, because she would just be starting out as a novice in the training of her psychic talent, whereas other candidates of her age would already be on the first rung of the journeyman status. “She’s also getting frantic, which was why, after intensive discussions and deliberations, both Khaisie and I decided it would be good for her to go to Earth to learn business with Xentry—my mother’s brother—so that in case she fails the test again, she’ll have something to fall back on.” “That’s good.” To her ears, he sounded really concerned, though absentminded. “There is one way to tell though.” Her heart leaped with excitement and she leaned forward. “How?” “Those half-telepaths whose powers showed when they were about fifth ZYAL?” He waited for her to nod before he continued. “Their eyes turned silver at the manifestation of their psychic abilities and their ears slowly pointed.” “So you’re saying to observe these bodily changes in Khaisie?” “Yes. The transformation may happen before the testing, and I’m sure your sister would be exhilarated to know beforehand. At the very least, it should make her less anxious and more confident during the testing.” “Yes, thank you. Thank you very much. The eyes should be easy, they’re brown at the moment.” Rhiane could hear herself prattling in excitement and she reined herself in with difficulty. “You don’t know how long she has waited for this, how much she yearned to have the ability.” “I have a fair idea,” he murmured, eyes intent on hers. Then his tone turned brisk. “But your suggestion about the psychic abilities of half-telepaths has no grounds whatsoever. I haven’t heard of anyone having their powers fade after being apprenticed, not to mention reaching journeyman status.” “Maybe this is the first,” she said tartly, though she was quaking with fear. She didn’t want to say it but she had to eliminate all possibilities. “I doubt it,” he said it so confidently that Rhiane’s heart filled with hope. “To set your mind at ease, I’ll do a formal evaluation of your powers. Come.” He stood up and led her to an apparatus in one corner of the room. There was a black oblong thing with a chair underneath it. The machine to which it was attached looked very modern and professional, with lots of buttons and levers. “Here, sit. Now close your eyes and just relax. Think of a blank white wall and focus your ‘sight’ on that. Don’t stop until I say so.” He pulled down a black cloth that covered the glare of the light from the windows and set the machine humming. The oblong thing slowly descended until she couldn’t see anything. She closed her eyes and focused on a spot in the middle of a blank white wall that she had conjured up in her mind. When she found her mind wandering, she

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traced the wall along the perimeter and tried to ‘draw’ a straight line from one corner of the wall to its direct opposite. Finally, the machine stopped its noise and the oblong thing was pulled up. Morgan was detaching a report from the machine. “Confirmed.” He glanced up from the paper. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Your powers are also strong for a journeywoman at level eight.” She felt tremendous relief at his words and she wanted to kiss him for joy. All her worries and anguish were for naught. She should have thought of consulting with the master at an earlier time, the first time it had happened in fact, to save herself countless sleepless nights. She laughed and made a face. “Scarcely strong when I’m one level behind. Telepaths of my age have already advanced to level nine.” “People develop at different rates, Rhiane.” He waved her concerns away with a gesture. “One or two levels behind aren’t much. I’m sure it would take you no time at all to catch up.” “So what’s with the blackouts?” She followed him back to the desk. She was unprepared for the disappointment that surged through her when Morgan sat behind his desk. “My diagnosis is that you may be feeling unduly stressed from your work. How many times have the blackouts happened? Since when?” She scrunched up her face as she tried to recall. “Every time since about…two sennights ago, I think, and that’s about three to five transactions in all. Except for the one I did this morning but that was a fairly routine business.” She sighed and shrugged artlessly. “I’m not too sure, because the first few times it happened, I just brushed it off and I didn’t think to take note. The fact that it happened so many times consecutively alerted me that something may be terribly wrong with me.” He frowned. “Have you been feeling stressed about something? Some big business maybe?” “I don’t think so. Work is work. I’ve been doing the same thing since I turned journeywoman, which was about nine ZYAL ago. Why have I been having these problems only recently?” “As I said, maybe it relates to a particular work problem. Any transaction making you particularly stressed?” At the shake of her head, he went on, “Or it could be a personal problem?” An infinitesimal pause. “Men problems?” She flushed. “Uh, no.” Her mind zeroed in on something. Could it be… She said slowly, “Recently, Xentry, that’s my uncle, asked me to be the medium for his business transaction. He was very adamant about using only me as the medium, because the business involved…” She hesitated and looked at him. “You promise not to tell anyone what I’m telling you.” He nodded. “You have my word.” “The business transaction involved highly sensitive information that could be the object of industrial espionage should other companies know about it. That’s why he 13

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insists on me handling this transaction, because I’m family and therefore, he trusts me. Could that be it?” “It could be.” He looked thoughtful. “Knowing its importance to your family could have pressured you to such a point that caused your powers to falter at a crucial time.” “Could have? You mean you don’t know for sure?” He smiled faintly. “The brain is a very complex thing, Rhiane, and there are still a lot of things we don’t know about it. It would probably take hundreds of years before we can finally unravel the mystery that is our brain.” She nodded absently. “Although I don’t think I’m all that pressured just because it’s Xentry’s transaction. I mean, I didn’t feel pressured at all when I was doing the translation. It felt just like any other work. The only difference was the higher level of confidentiality involved.” “When did your uncle’s transaction happen?” “I’m not too sure,” she admitted. “Let me check my day book.” “Do you record what happened during your work? Like if you fainted or whatever? It would help us greatly to pinpoint when all this started.” “I see what you mean but I’m sorry to say I don’t.” She shook her head ruefully. “I only record my appointments, so I can prepare for them. However, the Federation does have a copy of the transactions, as required by law, so I can review those, if you really need to know all the sensations I was feeling at those times.” “It would be good if you can, although I know it may take some time.” He paused, made some notations in her folder, then asked, “When do your powers come back?” “Usually after the clients have gone.” She pursed her lips and thought. “Maybe an hour or so after I get over my feelings of panic and terror.” “All right, I want you to do something for me. Give me a list of the times when you had the blackouts. Write down the date, time, duration, client name—or denote it with a symbol if that’s confidential, like X for Client A, Y for Client B and so on. In the meantime, here are some ways to get you to de-stress.” He handed her a piece of paper. “Do them every morning before you go to the office. When the blank wall comes upon you during the translation, you can try this.” He placed a blue-colored piece of paper on top of the first one. “But-but these are so boring.” She looked aghast at the two sheets of paper. “And I go to the gym every morning, doesn’t that count?” He was shaking his head before she had finished speaking. “These are aimed specifically at getting your mental muscles to loosen up, so you won’t blank out during work. Gym is for your physical body.” His eyes gleamed wickedly. “There is one other thing you can do, if you want. It’s more exciting, definitely.” “What’s that?” “Sex is definitely a good de-stresser. Do you remember how relaxed—” “N-never!” she sputtered and jumped to her feet. 14

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“Jaden and I will even throw ourselves into the bargain and volunteer to be your partners.” He was now laughing at her, though the intensity in his eyes caused her to shiver and burn in places that didn’t see the light of day. “I’ll-I’ll just do these boring exercises.” She stumbled on her way to the door, clutching the papers and her bag. “Thank you and goodbye.” She thought she heard him say “Pity” as the door swung shut behind her.

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Chapter Two Rhiane drove all the way home, fuming mad. How dare he do that to her? Kissing her and showing sexual interest in her? That odious man, that odious—the word she was looking for escaped her—odious…attached man! Six months but she remembered the night as clearly as if it had just happened yesterday. For some time now, she had been dissatisfied with her sexual life. Engrossed first with her telepathic training, then with work all throughout her adult life, with the addition of having the burden of being a half-telepath with a non-telepath for a younger sister, Rhiane had worked hard to prove that she was just as good as the full telepaths. Hence, her relationships had all been halfhearted and the sex, if any, was less than perfect. Which wouldn’t have bothered her, except that her colleagues had been gossiping and giggling about their respective sex lives for some time. And it was grating on her nerves, because she didn’t know what the hell they were talking about. Sex was too overrated, she deduced, because during the most intimate moments of her life, she could still be working in her mind while her man friend of the moment drove himself into her unmoving body. She was always glad when it was over. So that night, as she had just broken up with her man friend over compatibility issues, she decided to visit with an old female friend visiting her from Earth. She was cruising along the perimeters of the hotel in her heap of a car, straining her eyes through the sleeting rain for an available parking space, when her wrist-comm rang. “Yes?” “Rhiane.” It was Charlene. Her comm crackled, as the normally clear reception became white noise with voice delays, exacerbated by the storm that was now raging over the island. “Met…friend…come to room on level three…en…Repeat. I’m on level…en.” “Charlene, wait!” But her friend had already switched off the comm. Damn. Rhiane suddenly spotted a hovercar pulling out of a space about fifteen vehicles down. She zoomed as fast as her car and the wet ground would allow and shot neatly into it. She gathered her things, got out and locked the doors. She ran through the downpour under her flimsy umbrella and managed to preserve her relatively dry state by the time she strode into the building. She stopped in the lobby and wondered for a moment what to do. It seemed Charlene had met a friend and was now in his room. There was no use asking the registration counter, because she

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didn’t have the friend’s name. Only Charlene’s, and Rhiane already knew her room number but she wouldn’t be there. Rhiane stashed her dripping umbrella by the entrance, where a box was provided for just such an occasion, squared her shoulders and proceeded toward the lift, which took her to level three, as Charlene had said, so Rhiane would start searching from there. From the sound of it and the duration of the pause, it sounded like 310. Room 310. Or 307. Or 327. Goodness. She stood in the middle of the red-carpeted hallway with numerous doors down both sides of the corridor and threw up her hands. Which was it? She would try 307 first then, since it was the first door she would come upon. She would ask for Charlene and if she wasn’t there, Rhiane would apologize politely and then go on to the next one and the next. She reached the first room on her mental list and pressed the little button beside the door. Once. Twice. Thrice. She tried to listen to any sound within the room but she couldn’t hear anything even with her ears pressed to the door. Maybe she had the wrong room. Just as she turned to leave, the door opened and a hand shot out. Before she could shriek, the hand latched onto her arm and dragged her inside. The door clicked shut behind her. The room was pitch dark, the only light coming from the blue moon sailing in the sky. “What—” She was going to ask what the hell was happening here and to call for Charlene but she was never given the chance. A warm, hard mouth closed on hers, smothering what she had been about to say. She struggled and tried to push him away with her hands against his chest but he captured them and held them with one hand above her head. She moved her head sideways and tried to dislodge her mouth so she could scream but he followed her movements, somehow knowing instinctively where she would turn so that his mouth remained glued to hers. He pinned her against the wall with his body and his other hand held her chin steady for his kiss. His lips lifted and then kissed her again, lifted and kissed, small gentle kisses along her mouth. His lips were warm and wet, tasting of mint. His body where he pressed against her was hard and warm and wet. Apparently, he had been in the shower when she had rung the bell. She could’ve screamed if she wanted to but her knees had turned weak and she had lost her voice. Her bag thudded to the floor. Her brain was also lost, because she couldn’t focus her mind on work, no matter how she tried. Something niggled at the back of her mind but it was swept away as she was drugged and filled with his clean and fresh scent. His lips were breaking her defenses and causing her to feel languid and yearning.

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She wanted. She wanted to feel his lips pressed more fully on hers, not these butterfly kisses that were barely there. As if he heard her, he pressed his mouth harder on top of hers, flicking his tongue along her lips, urging her to open. When she did, his tongue surged in and stroked hers intimately. Her eyes fluttered closed. He tasted so hot. Heat streaked through her and pooled at the juncture of her thighs. For the first time, aside from the wetness soaking her panties, desire zinged through her and made her hungry. Tentatively, she caressed his rough tongue with her own and was rewarded with a heartfelt groan. She tugged her hands and he released them, sure now of her cooperation. She buried her hands in his thick hair and felt the slick wetness through her fingers. Her hands roved downward and caressed the hard muscles on his back, brushing away the drops of water coating his body. He was naked from his head down to his butt, which she squeezed with wholehearted enthusiasm. A raw moan of need escaped her throat. She didn’t know why she was feeling this way, this burning, this hunger, this yearning. He was now kissing her neck and she shivered as he kissed and sucked one particular pulse point. Meanwhile, his hands were busy tugging at her clothes. Soon she was as naked as he and one particularly hard male part jutted into her abdomen. She went hot, then cold. Fear and excitement shot through her. She brought one hand down and held his cock just as his lips found her breast. She arched into his mouth and cried out. The sensations were so intense she couldn’t help the begging, mewling cries erupting from her throat. He sucked on her nipple, tugging and flicking his tongue over the hard bud. She sensed a movement beside them, then more hands roamed over her body and another mouth tugged her other nipple into its heated furnace. Oh god, two men! Shock, then unbearable pleasure lanced through her. There was something she had to remember about being with two men but her thoughts were scattered and she couldn’t find them to form a single, coherent idea. Her knees buckled and she was held up only because the two men were supporting her. The first man gave up her breast and moved back to claim her lips, while his hand slipped between her legs. Her back pushed off from the wall in surprise, before she slid back with a sigh. For the first time in her life, she felt sexy and wanton as his fingers slid easily in the rich cream that gushed out of her pussy. His groan inflamed her already burning senses. “You’re ready for us.” He stimulated her further, causing her to grow even wetter. Her hunger grew and intensified, especially when he slipped first one, then two, fingers into her pussy and began to thrust shallowly. “Tight,” he said harshly. “Tight and hot…” She felt fuller down there…oh god, what was happening? She began to shake and buck against his fingers and sought to take in more of him, even as her inner walls contracted and gloved him. Pleasure at its most intense swept through her, swamped

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her in sensations and caused her to cry out, though her cries were swallowed by his mouth. Just as she was feeling languid, she felt him take his fingers out and the other man released her breast. She felt bereft and cold, the cool air wafting over her naked chest, and she protested. They chuckled, pleased sounds of male satisfaction. The first man bent to kiss her lips again at the same time that his huge cock surged into her. She drew breath sharply, surprised at his move, but her body was already adjusting to accommodate his width. She was so stretched and so…full. She burned as he pushed deeper into her, not letting up until he was settled fully in her. He was so still she would’ve mistaken him for a statue, if not for his throbbing heat inside her, the burning hands at her buttocks and his harsh breathing as he fought for control. He tickled her ear as he whispered, “Put your legs around my waist.” After she complied, he continued, “Ready for the next step?” Hesitantly, she nodded, though she didn’t know what she was agreeing to. She wanted him to move, in fact, something inside her was telling her she should move but his hands were clamped so tightly at her buttocks she couldn’t. She did squeeze her inner muscles around his cock experimentally and he groaned severely. “Stop, I can’t take—Damn, I didn’t think it would be this difficult, or that you’d be this hot…” The last seemed to be a compliment directed at her and so she obeyed, ridiculously pleased as none of her man friends had praised her before. As her reward, he claimed her lips in a firm, passionate kiss. He turned them around so that his back was against the wall and the shaft of cold air blew across her back only briefly before the other man covered her from behind and heated her with his body. The second man nibbled at her nape and she wallowed in the attention the two men paid her, greedily sucking in what her previous man friends had denied her. His greased finger probed her butt hole, which was opened for him by the first man who clutched one of her butt cheeks in each hand. She consciously relaxed and allowed him in, knowing he was preparing her for the ultimate ride of her life. Two men were going to ride her—a first for her—and a thrill of excitement spiked up her spine. Oh yes, by god, she wanted this. Two men… There was something about that…something important she should remember… The thought flew away when his cock replaced his finger. Oh god, he was so big, she didn’t think she could… She broke away from the kiss and breathed and tried to still the panic fluttering in her breast. “Easy, darling,” the man behind her soothed as his partner played with her clit and tantalized her with the pleasure that was to come. She sobbed. “Just push out…there…good…a few more…” Slowly, inch by inch, he shoved his way in, until he was nestling inside her anus, until two cocks were lying inside her, separated only by a thin membrane. God, that felt

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so good she almost swooned. And that was before they moved, long and deep strokes that caressed her intimately. The strokes soon turned short and fast, swift thrusts that inflamed her and raged out of control. She was close to fainting from the overwhelming pleasure and still they kept driving into her, their labored breathing pushing them on. The man behind had reached out to embrace them all with his arms and pushed the three of them close against each other. The tightening in her belly increased until she snapped and the orgasm was a hundredfold more than she had experienced a short while earlier. Mindless pleasure washed over her in undulating waves and she screamed and screamed as the waves kept crashing down on her as she jerked uncontrollably. They continued to plunge their cocks into her until they too shouted and found their release within her. There was a naughty, erotic thrill at the feel of their cum sliding down her thighs. Some time later, somehow, the men were able to maneuver them all toward the bed where they collapsed into deep sleep, with her sandwiched between them. Throughout the night, they awakened and made love several times more, each time hungrier and wilder than the last. It was incredible how insatiable they all were for each other and the amazing thing was Rhiane never thought about her work at all. Each time she woke from a tired sleep, all she could think about was doing it again with them. In the morning, she was awakened by someone nuzzling her nape, as her face was buried in the other man’s neck. “Good morning.” The voice was thick and gravelly. A hand was already at her breast and tweaked her nipple into prominence. Still half-asleep, she wondered how her man friend had suddenly awakened with an erection when he never had before. And another man… Had she agreed… Oh, how could she have forgotten? She had broken up with her man friend two nights ago. So who was— She opened her eyes and turned her head to see a strange, naked man staring at her. She shrieked and tugged at the blanket to cover her nakedness. On the other side of her, the other man was stirring. “You’re not the woman we were expecting,” the one awake said flatly. “The hell you say,” she snapped. When in doubt, attack. Yet the flood of disappointment that inundated her at his words confounded her for a moment. “What are you doing here?” Memories rushed into her mind. “You were the one who grabbed me,” she threw back at him. Her tone was icy but inside, she was bewildered. What had happened? Where was Charlene? The events of the previous night flooded into her mind. Oh no, I must have gone into the wrong room and gotten sidetracked! And what a marvelous distraction it had been. “We were expecting—” he said tiredly, looking rumpled and sexy with his erection jutting out, now a little limp from the excitement.

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“Yes, I heard,” she retorted, unable to believe the situation. The other man said softly from behind her, “Marissa?” “She’s not Marissa at all.” He groaned and fell back on the bed. Rhiane flushed, knowing the intimacy and the pleasure she had shared with this Marissa’s…men—for want of a better word, as she didn’t know their exact relationship. Marissa could be their wife or girlfriend, or she could just be a body-pleaser that they’d contracted for the night. Men whom Rhiane wanted again, judging by the amount of wetness between her thighs. “Marissa is—” “No,” Rhiane said sharply. “I don’t want to know.” She kept her head down, not even wanting to look at him. Miserably, she kept the tears at bay. “This is obviously a mistake. Let it go no further than the three of us. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll use the bath first and—” She slipped out from under the blanket and fled, not caring if they could see her nakedness. They certainly knew her body as well as she by now. When she came out of the bath, one of the men thrust a piece of paper under her nose. “This is my number. Call me if…” He hesitated. “Call me if…” “There’s no need,” she said curtly. She knew what he was worried about, which proved that he might be a blackguard but at least he was an honorable and responsible one. She wasn’t sure if both men had ejaculated into her womb—they hadn’t switched on the light and she was enjoying the sensory overload too much to monitor who was fucking her pussy—but as she had informed him, she wouldn’t have a reason to call. Ever. “You could be pregnant,” he reminded her grimly. “If both of us had been in your pussy…” Her cheeks burned, as none of her man friends had been this direct with her before in relation to sexual terms. “I’m not,” she snapped. “Like a good little Wienliadan, I pop my pills every morning. That good enough for you?” The pills also contained the necessary multivitamins and minerals that her body needed, which was the reason that she had continued taking them, although her relationship had ended two days ago. She could’ve passed by the apothecary to get the pills that didn’t contain the anti-pregnancy ingredient but she hadn’t had time, with work at the Federation being very hectic at this time of ZYAL. With regard to the diseases brought about by intimate contact, technology had wiped them out ages ago and even the Terrans were disease-free, which resulted in a massive population explosion and the need to migrate to other planets in the galaxy, when Earth had been overrun with people. His silver eyes glittered. “You’re in a relationship?” “I don’t see how it’s any of your business,” she huffed.

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His face became shuttered. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” He slipped the piece of paper into her bag. “Keep it nevertheless. We’re here if you need to talk.” As if! Coming back to the present, Rhiane narrowly missed a ditch as her eyes hazed over with angry tears. Fortunately, hers was the only vehicle on the road leading to her flat. Righting the car, she wiped the tears from her eyes with hands that shook. That odious, odious man! Now she knew the first man had been Morgan and he’d been the one to hand her the paper with his number. He had the gall to look even more attractive than he had before, not that she had anything but a brief glimpse of him previously. But she had been intimately acquainted with his cock. Should she have said, “Take out your thing and let me verify if it’s really you?” She would die of mortification. Even now, a blush stained her cheeks. And who was that other man? She hadn’t even looked at him but she remembered his deep, sexy voice. Obviously, they were mates, out for a night of romping with their woman, who was probably caught in traffic or something. Were they still together? For her peace of mind, she hoped the woman was only a body-pleaser contracted for the night. She parked on the underground parking lot of the building but stayed in the car and leaned her cheek against the window. What was she going to do? She needed him to cure her blackouts but she really, really didn’t want to see him again, if possible. How was she going to deal with this strong attraction that she had for a committed man? Granted, she wasn’t exactly sure he was committed, since he hadn’t verified that the woman was someone significant to them but still, their reactions that night proved that their story wasn’t so simple. And if this woman was really their wife or girlfriend or fiancée, how could Rhiane resist him, knowing he wanted her too? Because resist him she must, or else she wouldn’t be true to the principles and convictions by which she lived her life. Worse, how could she be attracted to a dishonorable man, a man who didn’t hold true to his vows? She paused, recalling an important, telling action. What if he wasn’t dishonorable? She remembered his concern that she might have gotten pregnant by their actions and his willingness to take on the responsibility. She couldn’t believe that such a man would continue expressing sexual interest in a woman when he was attached to another woman. So maybe the woman that night, this Marissa, wasn’t anyone special. Maybe she really was just a body-pleaser. Rhiane groaned. She was speculating, something she didn’t normally do, and it was driving her mad. She also didn’t want to deal with this confounded attraction, not when she was in the worst crisis of her life.

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***** Except for the first time he was intimate with Jaden, that night had been the most wonderful night of his entire life, Morgan reflected after Rhiane had scuttled out of his office. He remembered the sweetness of her response, the tightness and wetness of her body as she had gloved him and held him tight within her. What had amazed him even more was his reaction to her. He had been insatiable, he had wanted her over and over again. At one time, he had wanted her again seconds after releasing into her body. He knew Jaden had felt the same way, because they had discussed it afterward and concluded that had never happened to them before, either singly or when they had shared women. His cock hardened in response. Groaning, he unsnapped his trouse, pulled down the zip and cupped his stirring length in one hand, massaging absently. He really didn’t have an inkling that she was not whom they had been waiting for that fateful night. Nobody knew about their assignation but for the three of them— Marissa, Jaden and him. So there was no reason to suppose that the woman in his arms hadn’t been Marissa. Thus, he had kissed her and she was so tight and so hot and stirred him so much he couldn’t pull away. She was like an addiction in his blood, he wanted more and more. He groaned and his hand unconsciously rubbed harder and faster. He didn’t regret the pleasure that they had found in her arms, or the pleasure she had found in theirs. She was beautiful. He hadn’t had more than a glimpse of her the morning after, since she had turned her face away most of the time and her fiery flame-colored hair had curtained her features. That was why he hadn’t been aware that she was a telepath, which one could usually tell by the silver eyes and pointed ears that were the result of a genetic manipulation. And they had been more occupied with the physical pleasure rather than mental pursuits. Though he and Jaden had remembered the vibrant shade of her hair, it hadn’t been enough to go on when they had thought of hiring a private investigator to find her. They had no name, no information where she lived, where she worked, who her friends were. Nothing. They had clung to the hope that she would call Morgan. They had waited for months but it seemed she would never call. He had thought her beautiful—beautiful in her response, in her warmth and in her generosity. But this afternoon, he had seen her—flame hair down to her chest, silver eyes, pert nose, a small rosebud mouth and a strong, determined chin. She probably wouldn’t even pass the first screening of those beauty contests the humans hold on Earth but physical beauty had ceased to hold too much meaning for him. Not that he didn’t know to appreciate when his eyes beheld beauty but he had since come to realize that what was inside the package counted more.

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The door to his office opened and clicked shut and a wolf whistle penetrated his mind before his eyes registered what he was seeing. His visitor’s gaze lingered on the rigid cock in his hand and asked huskily, “Is that for me? But how did you know I was coming back today?” “Jaden!” Morgan jumped up and rushed forward to embrace his mate, whom he hadn’t seen for the past three sennights. His hands roamed the hard muscles of his lover’s back. “I’ve missed you.” Their lips clung in a passionate yet tender kiss. Jaden tasted of home and a part of Morgan’s soul that had been missing was now complete. Jaden pushed his tongue into his mouth and Morgan sucked on it, desire intensifying in his veins. Jaden slyly reached down and, pushing away Morgan’s hand, he cupped Morgan’s cock and rubbed him the way he liked best. “I missed you too. You were all I thought about the whole time I was on tour.” Morgan groaned and allowed his lover to ease the ache that Rhiane had created. Jaden knelt and took Morgan’s aching cock into his skillful mouth. Morgan was so primed it took Jaden only a few sucks before he was spilling himself into his lover’s mouth, as eager and enthusiastic as a boy’s first time. Languid and boneless, Morgan sank to his knees beside Jaden and breathed hard. “How come you’re back early? Not that I’m not happy about it, you understand.” Jaden riffled his hand through Morgan’s hair and silver eyes gazed back at him with love and hunger. “We’ve found more than enough children with the gifts to reach our quota a few days ago, so we decided to come back early.” He shrugged. “There were more than a few of us who were attached and I think we all missed our mates. Four sennights is a long time to be apart.” “I’ll say.” Morgan leaned toward him and they kissed again, slower this time, more savoring. Their tongues played and teased each other in the heated cavern of Jaden’s mouth. “How did the Mainlanders greet the news of the recruitment?” he asked when they had broken apart. He fiddled with the snap of Jaden’s trouse. “The usual mixed reactions, especially out in the rural areas.” Jaden stretched out on the floor and caressed Morgan’s thigh absently. Despite the fact that Morgan had just had his release, the gesture made him disconcertingly aroused. “But those in the cities were more accepting of it, especially as some of our apprentices had gone back home for the holidays and they’ve seen that their children weren’t mistreated.” “Yeah, until some stupid person misuses his powers and gets all those people terrified again.” Morgan had more to say but he was sidetracked by Jaden’s cock when he had disposed of his lover’s trouse. His cock was thick and long and swollen with blood. Morgan held the throbbing length in the center of his palm and a spear of lust sliced through him. He caressed it with sharp, brisk strokes. He ached to feel Jaden thrusting into him and spilling himself inside him. It had been so long—three full sennights of abstinence.

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Jaden sighed tiredly, which ended in a groan of satisfaction. “There would always be those who give the profession a bad name.” “But if the news people didn’t report—” “Would they be true to their profession if they didn’t?” Jaden asked pointedly, then he sighed again but this sigh was different from the previous one. “I missed your hand on me.” He opened his eyes, hoisted himself into a semi-sitting position and drew Morgan’s head for an intoxicating kiss. His free hand slid inside the sleeve and caressed Morgan’s bare arm. “I want to fuck you.” Morgan trembled. His hand tightened on Jaden’s cock and he drew in a deep breath. “Yes, please.” He remained where he was, following Jaden’s every move as the latter strode to the desk, opened the last drawer and brought out the tube of salve that was kept there for emergencies such as this. Morgan shuddered with lust as Jaden rubbed the salve liberally over his engorged cock. Jaden always knew what Morgan wanted, even if Morgan had shielded himself so strongly he doubted a thought had leaked out to his lover. Maybe it was because they had been mates for over three ZYAL and in that time, they had come to know one another very well. Certainly, Jaden had always been attuned to his wants and needs. A wave of love so deep that he shook welled up in him and he wanted to please his lover. For as much as he loved Jaden’s hard cock in his ass, Jaden loved being there much more. Morgan hastily hopped out of his trouse and went down on his knees, his buttocks turned up in the air. A few moments later, he hissed as the cool liquid of the liquid salve hit his burning ass and he squirmed as Jaden worked the lubricant into his hole with his finger. He sighed with yearning when Jaden withdrew his finger and replaced it with his swollen cock. He helped and in a few seconds, Jaden was buried deep in him. “I love you,” he said hoarsely. “And I, you.” Jaden’s voice quivered with emotion, then he groaned, a guttural sound that pierced straight to Morgan’s groin. “You’re so tight, my love.” He leaned over Morgan and held him tightly as he started moving, withdrawing and thrusting back in a slow rhythm. “I’m happy as we are but I know we both yearn for a wife”—his slow, steady fucking increased in tempo—“a woman to cherish and to love”—if possible, his rhythm intensified even more until his balls slapped against the back of Morgan’s thighs with quick thuds—“to be a family—” Morgan loved the way Jaden pounded into him—hard and fast and desperate, with no control and no finesse. He loved the building pressure Jaden incited, the tension that tightened his balls and hardened his cock. Jaden reached around his waist, grasped his cock and stroked in time to his thrusts. Morgan groaned, the yearning heightened by the sensation of Jaden’s cock in his ass and Jaden’s hand around his cock, a double assault that never failed to overwhelm him. He rolled his hips and pushed back against Jaden, moving where the urge took him. Their mating became wild and frenzied, reckless and out of rhythm, a coming together that was pure lust.

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“I’ve found her,” Morgan gasped just as he stiffened and his ass gripped Jaden’s cock in a merciless grasp. Jaden poured into him and his hand tightened on Morgan’s cock, rubbing vigorously until Morgan orgasmed for the second time that day. “Better and better,” Morgan gasped as he collapsed onto the carpet. He rolled over when Jaden withdrew from him so that he lay with his back against the floor and panted. “What do you mean?” Jaden huffed beside him. Morgan wondered if Jaden’s understanding had been addled by his trip. “I was insinuating that we need to practice more—” Jaden laughed, which trailed off into a wheeze. “I didn’t mean that. You said you’ve found somebody. Who?” “Oh.” Morgan remembered what he had managed to squeeze out before he had bucked and convulsed with his release. “Her,” he said again, with emphasis this time. “Her?” Jaden’s brow furrowed, then his eyes shone as he lifted his head to look at him. “Really? Her? The lady at the hotel? You’ve really found her?” “She came to consult with me this afternoon. In fact, she left just a few minutes before you came.” “Good.” Jaden’s eyes shone with excitement. Morgan knew how he was feeling, for he felt the same way. He couldn’t wait until she came for her next appointment. Or better yet, they could invent a reason and go to her. “What’s her name?” “Rhiane.” “Rhiane,” Jaden repeated, the name almost a caress on his lips. Morgan started to harden once again and he didn’t know if it was because he was aroused by the loverlike tone Jaden had used when saying her name or because Jaden’s hand had found its way to his thigh at that same time. “What a lovely name.” “Lovelier than this?” Morgan plucked Jaden’s hand off his thigh and cupped it around his cock. “Definitely not,” Jaden managed to say before he bent his head in the direction of Morgan’s cock.

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Chapter Three Rhiane was engrossed in her work, her concentration augmented by her happy mood, which was the result of hope. She had a transaction coming up this afternoon and she was eager to test out Morgan’s prognosis that there was nothing wrong with her that relaxation techniques couldn’t cure. Morgan. Her heart gave a tiny leap as she thought of seeing him again after work to give him the list he was asking for. A moment later, she was shaking her head in denial. No, her leap of anticipation was because they were having progress in curing her of her blackouts. And then her life would go back to normal. Her new apprentice knocked on her door. Rhiane went on writing. She really had to finish this paperwork before her case this afternoon. “Journeywoman Rhiane, you’ve got a visitor.” “What did I say about dropping the ‘journeywoman’, Shely?” “Sorry, I forgot.” “No harm done. Just remember next time. Who is it?” “It’s Master Jaden the Hunk! He’s like…way too cool!” Shely was practically shrieking with excitement. Rhiane grimaced. Her apprentice was young, only six ZYAL and impressionable and had obviously picked up the term from her peers. Not that she herself wasn’t immune. In fact, she had picked up the term “wow” from her thus-far short association with Shely. Wait a minute! Did she say Master Jaden? The Healer Master Jaden? The one she would have gone to see had he not been on a tour? “Did he state his business?” she asked slowly. He could be here for translation needs, she supposed. Or was Morgan not confident of his own abilities to cure her and had sent his contemporary down to assess her? A flicker of anger came at the thought. Where was the confidentiality he had assured her? “No.” She could see Shely realizing the full impact of the visitor’s name when she asked, “Rhiane, you aren’t ill, are you?” Rhiane forced a smile to her lips. She felt like killing somebody, preferably somebody whose name starts with “M”. “No,” she managed to say cheerfully. “No doubt Master Jaden is here on business. Maybe he wants to import some medical

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equipment from a supplier whom he cannot communicate with. Why don’t you show him into my office?” For the first time since she entered the room, Shely looked uncertain. “But he said for you to meet him in the consuplateia on the sixth level.” Consuplateia, literally, “the eating place”. “What!” She was really going to kill him. She didn’t know if she meant Morgan or Jaden anymore. Maybe both. “Yes,” Shely chattered happily. “He said that since it’s near to nuncheon, he’d wait for you there.” Then she added slyly, “I guess he wouldn’t want to meet in the consuplateia if he were here on business, would he? So he must be your man friend.” Rhiane stared at her, nonplussed. “You impertinent child. Have you been doing your lessons?” “Yes.” “Good, you have an exam three days hence.” Shely’s face showed dismay. “But you said next week.” “Well, if you have time to speculate on my life, then it must mean you have more time than you needed.” “Please, sorry, Rhiane. Can we do the exam next week? Please?” Shely’s pleading face pricked at her conscience. Anyway, the person she was really angry at wasn’t Shely and it wasn’t right to punish her apprentice for it. “All right but don’t do it again, okay?” “Thank you.” Shely’s smile brightened her entire face. Rhiane stood, opened a side drawer and snatched up the list she’d prepared and dumped it into her purse. “All right, I’m going now. You can take your meal as well and remember to lock up before you go.” “Okay. Enjoy your meal!” Rhiane strode out of the office and into the lift, punching the button for “six” with more force than necessary. Once in the consuplateia, she searched the tables in the dim lighting, zeroing in on any lone man. The first tendril of thought drifted into her consciousness. You cheated me last time. Rhiane stumbled, confused. Morgan? Was he here? But that wasn’t his thoughtvoice. This stranger’s thought-voice was deeper and rougher, sexier. A shocking thought rendered her immobile. Master Jaden? But why would he say such a thing? Unless…unless… She was finding it very hard to breathe. Could she really be that fortunate—or unfortunate—to have two masters as her lovers that night? Cheated me of the chance to see you naked and aroused beneath me. She turned to the left, her gaze fiercely scanning the tables and her body flushing. This was the reason telepathy was only to be used for business and emergency reasons.

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Her physical eyes not seeing the object of her search, she closed her eyes, letting the direction from which the thoughts came to guide her. I think you would have made a beautiful sight… There. Turning slightly to the right, she met his laughing silver eyes, eyes that held something else, something deeper and more primitive. She tried to contain the shiver as she marched toward him, yet she was wildly attracted to him. Her body felt more alive than ever before and underneath the heavy padding, her nipples ached. “Master Jaden?” At his nod, she hissed, “What do you think you’re doing here? And what do you mean by sending me those messages? Anybody could hear!” He stood up when she came near. He was taller than Morgan by an inch or so and the top of her head only came up to his chin. Her eyes certainly found his rugged features attractive, as evidenced by the sudden fast pounding of her heart. But while Morgan was muscled and broad across the chest, Master Jaden was lanky and slim. Not so his cock. The unbidden thought flashed across her mind as she remembered the thick, hard length humping her ass strongly. She willed the thought away and hoped the dim light would cover the warm tide of color that rose up from her chest. “They’re all too busy eating,” he pointed out wryly, then he surveyed her from the top of her head to her feet, his gaze lingering in places that made her tingle and shift uneasily. “Morgan’s right, you’re beautiful.” He smiled at her. “Come, let’s sit.” When she glared at him and mutinously remained standing, he added, “People are beginning to notice.” Damn, he knew just what to say. She sat, though she made it very plain from her body language that she was being coerced to do so. “What would you like to eat?” “Didn’t Morgan tell you I don’t want people to know I have need of a healer?” “He did but I’m not here as your healer.” A frown appeared over his forehead. “I thought I’d made that clear when I didn’t sit in your office?” His lips twisted. “Must be losing my touch for subtlety. Now, what would you like to eat?” He checked the menu in his hands. Rhiane ignored him. “I have another appointment with Morgan this afternoon. You shouldn’t have come.” “I have nothing to do with your appointment and I want to assure you that he told me nothing about your condition other than that you went to see him that day, which was about three days ago, I think. I would’ve come meet you sooner but I needed to complete some paperwork.” He pursed his lips. “Do you recommend the filet mignon? How about the T-bone steak? Is it any good?” “Will you stop this?” She took a furtive look around, then whispered loud enough for only him to hear, “You know I don’t want everyone to know I’m sick. Why did you come? Couldn’t you have called me, if you have something to tell me, or if you don’t trust the comm, tell me to meet you somewhere else?”

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“I don’t see the problem.” She could tell he was near the end of his frayed patience. “You’re not my patient, so I’m not your healer. I’m a man, sweetling, in case it had escaped your notice.” “But people know who you are,” Rhiane said in an agonized whisper. “They see you with me and they’ll guess I’m sick. Don’t look now but they’re all staring at us and wondering what’s wrong with me to merit the attention of the master in the healing arts.” “You, my dear, think way too much,” he drawled. “They look at us and see a man and a woman sitting together, about to enjoy nuncheon.” A wolfish smile curved his lips. “Of course they’re staring, because they see a beautiful woman.” Oooh, that smile was doing weird things to her. “Stop flattering me. You know what I mean.” He gave her an odd look. “So tell them I’m your man friend.” She gasped. “But you’re not!” She wanted to ask about the woman—Marissa—but someone came to take their orders and the topic died away. She finally settled on filet mignon and fruit juice and Jaden ordered the same. In the meantime, the busboy came by with two glasses of ice-cold water for them. When they were alone again, she looked up and discovered he was staring at her intently. He smiled and the intensity lessened but she was still shaken. He had looked at her with a mixture of hunger and hope and lust and she had the feeling that he would devour her should she let him. He played with his glass of water, then when he was about to open his mouth to say something sexy, she was sure, she hastily got out the list she had prepared for Morgan and slapped it on the table in front of him. “Here. You can save me a trip and give this to your friend.” He looked at the piece of paper curiously. “What’s this?” “Morgan asked me to make a list of my blackouts. I reviewed all the transactions I’ve done in the past month and that first entry was the time when it all started, which was way after my Uncle Xentry’s transaction, so Morgan’s theory about my being stressed due to a family transacted deal is shot down.” She caught his quizzical look and remembered the medic oath. “Look, you probably didn’t understand a word but just give the paper to Morgan and tell him it’s the answers to my homework.” She shuddered. “I wish I had thought to see you or Morgan earlier, then I wouldn’t have had to spend those two weeks in needless anxiety.” Jaden’s silver eyes looked at her assessingly. “Don’t think about that now. From your words, I take it Morgan didn’t find anything wrong with you?” “No, although he did ask me to review the discs for the list.” She frowned as a sudden thought occurred to her. She wasn’t going to mention it, afraid that it was a figment of her imagination but it wouldn’t hurt to discuss with an impartial person, would it? She should also wait to talk about it with Morgan, as he knew her medical history but impatience gnawed at her soul. She just hoped Jaden was smart enough to

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make heads and tails of her revelation. She pinned him with her gaze. “You won’t tell anyone?” “Maybe Morgan.” She bit her lip and considered him thoughtfully. “All right. While I was reviewing the discs—and I ran through the entire transaction—there were places where it seemed as though there was a,” she searched her mind for the appropriate word, “jump. You know, where the recording didn’t flow but as though something in between was…taken out.” “Are you sure?” He gazed at her with an impassive face and she didn’t know what he was thinking, whether he agreed with her assessment or not. “Could there be something wrong with the recording?” “Maybe,” she admitted. “Did you notice it only in one transaction?” “Several, including Uncle Xentry’s transaction. Does that increase the likelihood that the discs could have been tampered with?” “Can you think of any reason why they would have been altered, if they were?” “No.” He didn’t believe her and she wished she hadn’t said what she did. Maybe she should have done more investigation before blurting out whatever thought just crossed her mind. They were silent for some time while she fiddled with her own glass of water, then he asked, “I don’t suppose Morgan or I can have a view of those discs, could we?” “I’m afraid not.” He really didn’t believe her, so much so that he had to see it with his own eyes. A little spurt of anger filled her, which died when he said casually, “Morgan tells me you refused to have sex with him.” She had been lifting her glass to her mouth when he spoke and some of the liquid spilled down her shirt. “He-he—” she sputtered. “Why would he tell you such a thing?” He shrugged. “The topic just came up.” His eyes gleamed suddenly. “Could we interest you in the sport if I include myself?” “No and I’m not going to change my mind.” Though she was very, very tempted. They were the only ones ever to bring her to the heights of passion and she wouldn’t mind traveling there again but not at someone else’s expense. “You shouldn’t even have to ask.” “Can’t blame a guy for trying.” His gaze dropped to her breasts and before she could say anything, her nipples stirred and hardened and pushed through the thin cloth. He didn’t move a muscle but she felt as though his fingers were on her, warm and hard and teasing her nipples into further prominence. Her breath hitched and became shallow as she stared into his silver eyes that had grown smoky and smoldering with desire and passion. Her heart raced. “Jaden…” He closed his eyes and groaned.

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Her voice had broken the spell that he had woven around the two of them, until the world contained no one but them. She licked her lips and tried to summon the anger but it seemed to have fled. “Please stop doing that. I tried to put up my shields but you’re too strong for me.” Jaden reached across for her hand, his own warm and steady and enticing as his thumb caressed the thin skin at her wrist and sent tingles throughout her body. “You never have to shield yourself against me, Rhiane, I promise. You have nothing to fear from me.” “Oh yes I do,” she whispered and tugged her hand out of his grasp. “I don’t exactly like all these images you’re sending me and even touching me with your mind and I don’t think it’s right for you to do that because you have a—” Significant other, she was going to say but he interrupted her. “I would think that you hunger for more.” A slow, male smile curved his lips. “Stop!” Rhiane commanded when she thought he was about to send her another erotic image. She shuddered when she thought about his mental touch, not sure if she could survive another demonstration of his power. “Let’s go back to business.” “Not until you admit that you want me, the same way I want you.” His thumb dragged across her wrist, igniting fires on that sensitive skin, fires that licked along her veins. “No…” The image of lips on her breasts… Her nipples hardened, aching painfully. “No…” On her abdomen… “No…” In her pussy…suckling and licking…laving… “Oh dear god, Jaden, what are you doing to me?” She felt hot everywhere. “Tell me you want me.” There was a certain thread of pleading in that commanding voice, a hint of vulnerability that tugged at her heart. “No…please…” The image of his cock at the entrance of her pussy, moving in slowly…inch by inch…the feel of him, full, hot and hard… “Tell me.” She whispered hoarsely, “I want you.” He released her so suddenly she fell back in her chair. “There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” She was stunned. Her body was still burning but he appeared as cool as a cucumber, looking around his environs and awaiting his order. She managed to recover enough to add, “But I won’t go to bed with you.” Her lips twisted in disgust. “You’re sick. What do you hope to gain from that?”

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He looked directly into her eyes, the desire blazing in his. She sucked in a breath. She was wrong. He was as aroused as her. “Knowing you want me too assures me Morgan and I are not alone in this.” But you have a woman! she thought in anguish and would have said it out loud but for someone tapping her shoulder from behind just then. She whirled her head around. “Bia!” “Rhiane, I didn’t expect to see you here.” “Why don’t you have nuncheon with us?” she blurted out. Now he would have to keep those lusty telepathic thoughts to himself, lest Bia caught on to them. Jaden was frowning at Bia. “You mean Rhiane doesn’t usually eat here?” “Eat here?” Bia made a face as she took the empty seat at the circular table. “You must be kidding. She just usually has a sandwich or juice at her desk. She’s a workaholic, not to mention a constant dieter.” Bia eyed her critically. “Not that she has any more weight to lose.” “I regret asking you to join us.” Rhiane grimaced. “Do you have to blurt out my secrets like that?” “Oh, is it a secret? I wasn’t aware of that, since the whole Federation knows about it,” Bia smirked, then held out her hand to Jaden. “I know you’re Master Jaden. Bia, Master Telepath, specializing in International Commerce.” “She’s also my closest friend and mentor.” Rhiane added, “And now traitor.” Jaden laughed. “What are you doing here?” Bia suddenly looked pale, as though a thought had occurred to her. “Rhiane isn’t sick, is she?” Feeling completely vindicated, Rhiane looked pointedly at Jaden and dared him to wiggle out of that one. “No, no,” he assured. “We met…about a quarter of a ZYAL ago. She didn’t want anyone to know but actually, we’re…involved in a relationship.” Rhiane groaned and covered her face with her hands. She supposed she should be grateful that he never mentioned her problem but did he have to give his reason quite like that? Couldn’t he just say he was her friend and leave it at that? A trickle of thought caught her attention. If he could insinuate that they were in a relationship, did that mean he—and Morgan, if they were mates—didn’t have a significant other? Surely, a famous master like Jaden was sometimes in the news and the people in his life would sometimes be featured too, wouldn’t they? If Bia knew of him, then she should know something about him and she should be able to call his bluff. She looked up at her friend, positive that the game was up. But Bia was beaming and a little envious from the predatory way she was looking Jaden over. “Oooh, how exciting.” She gave Rhiane a slight nudge. “You sly vixen. You didn’t even say anything to me all these months. But hey, you’re meeting in public now. Does that mean you’re coming out of the woodwork?”

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Bia didn’t know, she thought dazedly. Did that mean they kept the woman well hidden, away from the limelight, or did they do away with her sometime between that night and now? Or she could be just a contracted body-pleaser, just as Rhiane had initially considered. “You could say that.” She cast about in her mind desperately for a change of subject. If she didn’t say anything soon, she feared what Jaden would invent further. Before she knew it, he would probably have her moving into his house, their house, whatever. She shuddered, not knowing if it was from revulsion or excitement. “Bia, how was the exhibit?” Her friend was immediately distracted. “Oooh, it was so great. All the latest models in the galaxy were on display. They even let us drive them. And there’s this Akani hovercraft that runs not on gas but something like our water on their planet.” “Exhibit?” Jaden asked, confused. “Yes,” Rhiane confirmed. “There was a Vehiculum Exhibit five days ago. I was supposed to go with Bia but had to cancel out because I was meeting Morgan.” As soon as she said it, she cursed herself. She should have substituted Jaden’s name for Morgan. Now Bia would have more questions and Rhiane had just dug herself in deeper. “Morgan?” Bia looked from her to Jaden with a confused frown on her brow. “Master Morgan, the healer?” “Yes,” Rhiane said reluctantly, knowing the question that was coming. But before Bia could even draw a breath, Jaden said, “We’re mates.” “Ah.” Bia’s frown cleared and she settled her glance on Rhiane speculatively. She knew what her friend was thinking. From the one-man appointments she had insisted on with her previous man friends, she had now jumped to two-men appointments, which signified a deeper relationship, usually the stage when they were trying out to be a family. If everything went well, the men might ask the woman to be their wife. She welcomed the timely arrival of the busboy with their food. “Good, I’m hungry,” she exclaimed with feigned enthusiasm. To her surprise, she truly was hungry. The catand-mouse conversation she had been having must have depleted her energy levels more than she realized. Anyway, she also needed to keep up her strength for the translation work this afternoon. From what she deduced as she glanced over the case this morning, it was going to be a fairly easy piece of business but she still needed to be in top form. It would be her first case since she started doing Morgan’s exercises and she wanted to prove that her gifts were still fully under her command. Good thing it was the last work day of the sennight. She was going to have the best time of her life on the morrow since her blackouts happened almost three weeks ago. She tucked into her meal with gusto, something she hadn’t done for a long time now.

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***** Rhiane hummed with excitement as she tried not to bounce her steps along the corridor. This was it—the ultimate test. She was sure she had nothing to worry about. She had done Morgan’s exercises religiously every two hours instead of just in the morning, even if they were very boring and Morgan himself had said there was nothing wrong with her. But after this transaction, she would know it in every fiber of her being and her customers would know it too. She knocked and entered Bia’s office, as was her usual custom, to inform her boss and mentor that she would be out of commission for a few hours with a transaction. Bia was kneeling in front of a low, small cabinet to the side, slotting in something, and at Rhiane’s entry, she quickly shut the doors and locked them, standing up with a smile that looked strained to her. “Yes?” “Just want to tell you that I have a meeting in a few minutes and if you need me for anything—” “Fine, fine.” For the first time since she’d known her, Bia was impatient and waved for her to be gone. “Go.” Trying not feel hurt, Rhiane left her office. Something must have upset Bia between nuncheon and now. Also, Rhiane had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. Perhaps Bia’s mood was passing on to her. Shrugging, she let the matter drop from her mind. A moment later, she entered the small room and greeted her customers, who were being assisted by the technicians into their seats. Neither the Akani supplier nor the Selunian purchaser could speak each other’s language, hence, they applied to the Federation for a translator, through which the buy and sell arrangement would be contracted. However, if the contracting parties were telepaths, they wouldn’t need a translator but they could rent a room from the Federation for the recording of the contract. Rhiane herself didn’t speak any of the planetary languages—as with most of the telepaths—and she didn’t need to learn, as it was her ability to mind-speak that made her a valuable asset in intergalactic commerce. She seated herself in the translator’s designated seat, which was between the two contracting parties and allowed the technician to attach the electrodes to the four sides of her head—forehead, back, left and right sides. She knew that two other technicians were also attaching the conductors to the heads of her customers, as it was through the electrodes that the sending and receiving of the images by the non-telepaths were facilitated, as was the recording of the contract. Whatever images the parties projected, either received or sent, would be faithfully recorded by the machine, with the electrodes also serving as the identifier of the sender and receiver. This way, should a dispute occur later on, the disc would be taken out and reviewed by a committee who, though they weren’t present during the translation, would nevertheless witness exactly how everything had occurred. After an agreement had been reached, two copies of the disc

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would be made—the original to be kept in the vault of the Federation and the copies given to the seller and the purchaser. The machine itself was simply a small black box containing the latest recording and copying technology with a sizeable amount of storage space, out from which the wires to the electrodes protruded and it was situated on top of a table in front of the participants in the transaction. When her customers were ready and the technicians had gone out of the room, Rhiane began. “Welcome to the Federation.” For this, she projected an image of herself bowing, then straightening, smiling and spreading her hands. Behind her projected image was a picture of the Federation building. Then she turned to the Selunian. “What is it you are looking to purchase, sir?” She projected a huge store with lots of products and her own image pointing to first one product then another, all the while glancing at the Selunian with a questioning look. The Selunian shook his head. “I’m seeking to purchase a rare type of stone in the Akan quarries that can be used for a house’s flooring. Wealthy Selunians are clamoring for these.” But it wasn’t as simple as identifying the stone. They went into the nitty-gritty of the different grades, textures and colors and prices. At one point, a dizzying sensation swept through her during the discussion and she immediately excused herself and went through a round of Morgan’s exercises. She felt better and was able to continue working but not two minutes later, she found herself unable to project. She came up against the dark, blank wall that she had told Morgan about. Don’t panic. Breathe. Breathe. Do Morgan’s exercises again. But Morgan’s exercises didn’t help this time. She tried to project anything she could think of but every time, she hit the blank wall. Swamping dread filled her and the slight vertigo returned. The dark wall expanded and expanded until it surrounded her on all sides, until she was suffocating, until the terror rose and welled up in her in ever increasing waves and she blacked out.

***** She burst into Morgan’s inner office in great agitation. “It didn’t work, Morgan. It didn’t work. Help me, please…” The two men in the room broke off their conversation and turned to look at her. She had forgotten to knock but surely, she could be forgiven. Morgan came around from behind his desk and strode toward her. Even in her anxiety, the full magnetism of his person hit her hard and she had to grab hold of the doorframe to steady herself. “What happened?” He led her to one of the visitors’ chairs before going back to his seat. “Calm down and tell us everything.” A quick glance at the person beside her showed her Jaden, his face impassive. Before she could speak, he was preparing to gather himself to stand up. “Unless it’s confidential. I can wait outside—” 36

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“No,” she blurted. “We might need you.” Jaden sent her an enigmatic smile but he settled back in his seat. “Will you?” “It’s becoming worse,” she exclaimed. She made a conscious effort to hold the panic at bay and to help them diagnose her problem. She told them everything that had happened that afternoon, ending with her waking up from her faint less than an hour before. At the end of her recital, both Morgan and Jaden were in deep thoughts. “There’s no help for it,” Morgan finally said. “I’d have to do a probe.” “What’s that and why didn’t you do it earlier?” Logically, she felt cheated and a little angry. Why did he have to wait until now to perform this particular procedure? If he had done it earlier, she might have been able to keep her blackouts a secret from her employers. As it was, Bia now knew about them. “It’s a highly invasive procedure, which is why I don’t subject my patients to it unless there’s no other choice.” In contrast to her furious tone, Morgan’s was quiet and steady. “This means I’ll be scanning your brain manually and while I do that, I have to be extra careful, because one wrong move from me and I might inadvertently change your personality. Another thing is that while such a procedure is thorough and likely to turn up things that the machine might have missed, this also means all your thoughts and memories will be open to me.” She blanched, knowing the risks she was exposing herself to should she agree. There were no heinous crimes or shameful incidents thus far in her life but there were her confidential business transactions and lots of personal, embarrassing moments, private memories she preferred not to share with anyone. In particular, her pathetic love life, the most enjoyable night of her entire life and her strong attraction to the two men sitting in front of her. She was utterly afraid they would discover her resistance was hanging on by a mere thread and any seduction they subjected her to would cause her to throw away her scruples and jump into wild, naked sex with them. “It’s an invasion of privacy that people abhor but when weighed against their mental well-being, most opt to go ahead with the procedure. You need to think carefully before deciding.” Morgan paused and as an afterthought, he said, “Especially in this case, my medic oath assures that my lips are sealed. Unless you’re a serial murderer or worse, then my own personal code wouldn’t allow me to remain silent.” Startled, she released a short burst of laughter. “You’ve no need to fear on that point.” She desperately needed to find out what was wrong with her, so that the healing might start. At the same time, she was in dreadful anxiety, wondering if at the end of the session, she’d discover that her gifts had left her. One way or the other, the impact to her present life would be significant. And it would be better to know now rather than later. In knowing the truth of her condition, she would be better able to plan for the next steps, rather than living in limbo like she had done for the past three weeks, afraid someone would discover her illness and pronounce her unfit for the work that she loved.

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But could she risk letting Morgan know of her innermost secrets? What if in finding her mental health, she lost herself? Was it worth the trade? A germ of an idea excited her. She could compartmentalize her private thoughts and memories and keep them away from his probe. Surely, these recollections were not the cause of her condition. Yes, that was what she would do. “Would…” she swallowed. “Would such a procedure really work? I mean, what is the probability of success?” “Ninety-nine percent.” She squared her shoulders. “All right then, let’s do it.”

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Chapter Four Ten minutes later, all three of them entered the small, well-ventilated room beside Morgan’s inner office. It was devoid of anything but a rectangular mat that almost covered the entire space. All of them had changed out of their clothes and donned a shapeless tent, which was opened at the neck and closed with a zipper at the left side. At Morgan’s instructions, they sat cross-legged in the center of the mat in a triangle, with their hands resting palm up on their knees. “Ready?” “I still don’t understand why Jaden needed to be here.” Rhiane fidgeted with her tent-like clothing and felt naked even though it covered her from the neck down. Soon, she would be naked in the most intimate sense when all her thoughts were bared to Morgan’s gaze. But Jaden needn’t be part of that, right? It was bad enough for one of them to know everything about her but for both! “Surely, your power is enough to do what needs to be done.” A brief slash of pain crossed Jaden’s face. She noticed Morgan’s sharp glance toward him before he answered harshly, “I’ve already explained. We usually work together in probes. Jaden’s healing power is the passive side, the kind that soothes and comforts and he’s needed at the initial stage to bring you to a relaxed state. Only then can I begin my work, which is to prod and search every nerve of your brain until we find the cause of your blackouts. After that, we also work together to heal the patient. Any more questions?” he asked impatiently. Why is he suddenly so short? What did I do? But she kept her bewildered thoughts to herself and shook her head. Just get it over with, the sooner the better. “Ready?” At their nods, Morgan instructed, “Close your eyes, Rhiane. Jaden, if you please.” A moment later, she felt a cool tingle start from the tip of her head and spread in widening circles down toward her neck. It was suggesting peace and quiet, helped by the mental image of the soothing, rhythmic view of the undulating waves of the sea. She could feel her body relaxing and her brain letting go of consciousness, almost like the way people drift off to sleep. Oh but she mustn’t give everything up. There were those memories to guard. She couldn’t let anyone near them, no, she mustn’t. She must keep guard…must guard…guard…guard— “It’s no use, Morgan.” She heard Jaden’s frustrated voice. “She’s resisting.”

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She tried to open her eyes and found she had to exert a lot of effort to lift them. The moment she did, she saw that Morgan had moved close to her and was peering at her with concern. “What is it, Rhiane? You know we need you to relax completely.” “But I was relaxed,” she said in bewilderment. “Jaden’s very good.” Morgan took her hand in his. “Not completely.” He shook his head. “I felt it myself and you were holding something back, something you didn’t want us to know.” She pressed her lips together and tried not to let the tears blur her eyes. What was she going to do? Could she afford to open herself completely as she never had before? “Oh Rhiane,” Morgan breathed. “These recent weeks haven’t been good to you, have they?” When his head bent, she closed her eyes and the tears escaped. His lips followed first one path, then the other. “You needn’t be afraid of us.” His lips lifted and pressed against her nose. “You know we want you and it’s no secret you want us too. Trust us, we can help you.” His mouth covered hers in a sweet, tender kiss, a kiss meant to comfort and to reassure but when she opened her lips and his tongue slipped inside her mouth, passion flared between them. She drowned in his heat, in his male, musky scent. His chest crushed her breasts and his muscles were hard and firm beneath her fingertips. It had been so long. Six months too long. She craved him, craved them both, craved that they could make her feel special and cherished and wanted. She wanted to have this one time again with them before she gave them up completely. But they were not free men, they had commitments— “No,” she choked and tried to push him away with her hands on his chest. “How could you do this to your woman?” “Woman?” Morgan’s desire-filled eyes were mixed with confusion. “We don’t have a woman, not now, not since—” “Don’t lie to me, please. You mentioned her last time at the hotel, when we—after we—” “Ah, Marissa.” Jaden’s sigh filled the entire room. “An unfortunate tragedy. Or is it fortunate? I’m not too sure anymore.” She struggled to be let loose from Morgan’s hold but he wouldn’t release her. In the end, she settled for leaning her head against his chest and her body against his. It was the place where she wanted to be anyway. Unless it was in Jaden’s arms, Jaden who was sitting opposite them, apart from them. “What do you mean?” “Morgan and I had been together for over three ZYAL and in all that time, we searched diligently for the woman who is to be our wife. However, we couldn’t find her.” The naked pain in Jaden’s eyes disarmed her and she reached to pull him over to sit beside them. After he did so, she didn’t relinquish his hand but kept his fingers laced with hers. “We want a family and we want to have children while we’re still young enough to have the energy to play and keep up with them. Finally, we signed up with a matchmaking agency on the Mainland and picked out several candidates through the catalogue.” 40

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Hard to believe that these attractive and hunky men would need the help of a matchmaking agency. “And the contract includes sex?” “Depends.” Jaden took a deep breath. “The contract was for a chance for the parties to meet and if both parties so choose, to test their physical compatibility. If both parties agree on their suitability, then after mutual agreement, they get married. “With Marissa, our contract was for the chance to meet and test our physical compatibility. She was the first of the candidates we had selected and she was coming over from the Mainland directly to the hotel. Our contract stated that should we be incompatible, for whatever reason, we’d help her go back to the Mainland or find a job here in Wienliad. We wanted to skip the usual awkwardness of meetings and introductions and we thought that darkness and instant seduction would be the best way to go about it. After all, making love was going to figure as a big part in our future.” He flushed, then continued, “You came at exactly the right time when we were expecting her and nobody knew about the appointment other than her, so…why should we suspect for a moment that you weren’t her? And,” he swallowed hard, “you felt so right in our arms, your responses so generous and sweet and I suppose we didn’t want to believe that you weren’t her.” “Until the morning after,” she filled in. “Yes.” “After that, we realized the error of our strategy,” Morgan said, “and changed our plan so that we’d get to know the woman first before testing our physical compatibility.” So there had been other women after Marissa, after her—Rhiane. How foolish to hope that there had not been, that they had been so captivated by her that they’d tried to find her and— She pushed the rest of the thought away, as there was nothing to be gained by daydreaming in that direction. “What happened to Marissa that night?” “If you recall, there was a storm—a terrible one—and the ship she was in capsized. There were a few survivors but she wasn’t one of them. From the autopsy, it seemed that she hit her head against some sharp corner on the ship when it was being rolled about and she died.” Jaden passed a hand over his face, haunted and somber. “All the time she was suffering, we were—” He turned away. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she spoke by rote but inwardly, her thoughts were in turmoil. I was a substitute for her, this Marissa. That night and even now, especially as they hadn’t found a suitable woman among the other candidates. They want me, yes, for sex, only for sex, Rhiane, and don’t you believe otherwise. You’re nothing but a warm female body to curl up against during the cold nights. Since Marissa had been designated as the first in the line of women, she must have been very beautiful to captivate both Morgan and Jaden. Even now, Jaden grieves for her. Rhiane suddenly felt very tired and wondered why she had resisted awhile ago. They could read all her thoughts and memories and so what? They could never force her to have sex with them if she didn’t want to. She still had the right to say “no” and

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gentlemen that they were—she was now convinced they weren’t the blackguards she had once thought they were—they would respect her decision. And she didn’t know how she could entertain the thought of making love with them after this, after knowing that she was wanted only for sex, like a body-pleaser, only there wasn’t any contract between them, no exchange of credits but sex for mutual pleasure. She realized then that she didn’t care. Thus far, they had been the only men who were able to arouse her and she had denied the attraction for so long due to ethical and moral considerations that didn’t exist and a liberating feeling filled her as she grasped that there was no need to. Not anymore. She wanted to experience that kind of mindboggling sex again. There was no talk of the future, only now. And didn’t Morgan say that sex could de-stress her and cause her to relax? She dropped Jaden’s hand and pushed away from Morgan, aiming them a seductive yet impish smile as she unzipped her “tent”. Morgan and Jaden shared an uncertain glance. “Rhiane, what are you doing?” Jaden asked, a hint of vulnerability in his face. “What does it look like, Jaden?” She threw off the cloth and stretched, a secret smile denting her lips at the glazed looks on their faces. Naked lust leaped into their eyes, their nostrils flared and their breathing quickened. She felt sexy and wicked and wanton. “Perhaps Morgan would like to share his nuggets of wisdom with you.” “Rhiane, do you know what you’re doing?” This came out as a growl from Morgan but all the same, he was already unzipping his own “tent” and throwing it aside. She brought her hands up to cup her breasts, rubbing her thumbs against the sides. She smiled saucily as she dared a long look at the erection jutting out from between Morgan’s thighs and her juices dripped at the sight of his huge cock pearling at the tip. “I want you, both of you. Is that enough?” “More than enough.” Morgan lunged at her, his mouth latching onto her nipple, licking and laving and biting, making her cry out with his rough passion. They fell onto the mat and she plunged her fingers into his hair to hold his head there at her breast and she arched her body, unconsciously pressing her breast closer to his mouth. She hungered for his touch, his caresses, his kiss and after six long months of waiting, he was feeding her starving body, quenching her ravaging thirst. His hand closed over her other breast, squeezing and pinching her nipple, arousing it to turgidity. Then Jaden was there as well, kissing his way up her legs, paying special attention to the soft flesh of her inner thighs before burying his face in her pussy. She shrieked and jerked while he held her hips steady. “More, please, oh please…” she moaned. His breath was hot and exciting. “You smell terrific,” Jaden groaned, his hands caressing her thighs. His tongue licked her folds delicately, exploring and searching her hidden depths, making her cry out at the double assault on her person. His enjoyment was evident in his increasingly enthusiastic efforts, especially when he caught the juices dripping out of her pussy. He swiped his tongue over her clit, then thrust it into her 42

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channel, mimicking the mating rhythm over and over until the pressure burned in her and tension gripped her low in her belly. By this time, Morgan had claimed her lips again and his tongue drove into her mouth in eerie reproduction of Jaden’s actions and engaged her in a hot exploration that left her weak with desire. Her hands roamed over his back, reveling in the play of muscles underneath her fingertips, but it wasn’t enough. She ached to hold their cocks in her hands and suck them until they drained their seed into her mouth. The moment Morgan lifted his head, she opened her mouth to tell him but the desire blazing on his face stopped her. “Now,” he said in a guttural cry. Jaden sprang up and ran to Morgan’s office for she-knew-not-what but she had no time to speculate, because Morgan moved in between her thighs and surged into her, his cock sliding easily in her wetness and burying himself to the hilt in her. She cried out at the beauty of it. “Morgan…” “Rhiane…oh god, Rhiane…you’re so hot and tight,” he whispered against her throat, “so good…I think I’m going to die…” “Morgan…Morgan…” She wrapped her legs around his waist and dug her heels into the small of his back. Leaning close to her and locking his arms around her, he rolled them so that she was now on top of him, her flame-colored hair flowing down to curtain them both. “Move…move…” Her pussy was pulsing with need and throbbing with desire. “Jaden,” he gasped, “wait for…” Jaden came careening in, a tube of salve—uncapped—in his trembling hand, while the other hand was busy lubricating his rampant cock. He threw the tube away, knelt down behind her and pushed his rigid shaft into her ass. She forced herself to relax, knowing that the heights of pleasure were near her grasp. Soon he was seated snugly in her and at some silent signal, both men moved with a fierce, fast rhythm, moving in counterpoint. Morgan captured her breast in his mouth while Jaden licked and bit the skin at her neck. She was surrounded by their scents, pinned by their hard bodies and she was so primed that the sensations skyrocketed and ricocheted within her, especially when a sensitive spot within her was being rubbed and chafed with such firm strokes that hurled her higher and higher until she screamed and shuddered and jerked into the most explosive orgasm she’d ever experienced. Morgan and Jaden each thrust into her twice more before going rigid and jetting their seed into her, causing her to shake in mini-orgasms. Harsh breathing filled the room, as well as the redolent scent of sex. Finally, sweaty and panting, Jaden withdrew his cock from within her and lay down beside his mate, while Rhiane was all too grateful just to collapse on top of Morgan. She was languid and boneless and at ease, both with her body and her lovers. “I hope you’re still a good little Wienliadan,” Morgan commented drowsily above her head.

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Rhiane remembered her comment six months ago about her pill-popping habit and wanted to laugh but she could only summon a smile. “We’re lucky, yes and you’re right,” she murmured. “Sex makes the greatest relaxer.” Morgan laughed.

***** Rhiane hadn’t wanted to don the tent-like clothing again but Morgan persuaded her, knowing that he and Jaden wouldn’t be able to work properly with her gorgeous body distracting them. A few minutes after Jaden had worked his gift on her, she was completely relaxed, her body slouching, head dropping toward her chest, but conscious. Minimally. Morgan closed his eyes and projected his powers toward her and in a moment, he was zooming along her nervous system as a light blue ball of healing energy. He bypassed her cerebellum and brain stem, since he didn’t think the problems were caused by a malfunction in those areas. He delved into the cerebrum and zoomed straight toward the psi, a peanut-sized part that overlapped portions of the frontal lobe, which controlled the thought processes, and the temporal lobe, which was involved with a person’s memory. The psi, when fully developed, was responsible for a person’s psychic ability. He traced the millions of nerve paths available to him in these three areas, because they were all interconnected. However, he found everything to be in working order. Her nerves glowed healthy and strong and showed every sign of functioning well. He knew she was reluctant for her thoughts and memories to be exposed to them, so he decided to examine their condition without brushing against them, if he could help it. Her thoughts were very orderly and they were manifested as gaily wrapped boxes arranged in a straight line. The boxes were the same size and shape, though the wrappers of each were different. He tried to examine them from the outside by looking at them from all angles but there was always the risk that he would miss something hidden inside the box that he could’ve discovered if he had touched it. Maybe he would just get back to them later, if he couldn’t find the cause elsewhere. However, due to the tight space in which he was traveling, sometimes he would rub against a box accidentally and the memories that were contained inside flowed into his mind. There was the little girl with her fiery hair in a ponytail celebrating her fourth ZYAL with a big cake and presents and friends, a jubilant little Rhiane when she tested positive for telepathy, tears at the death of a beloved pet and more, much more and the images flashed in quick succession and were gone before he could process them. Cursing his slowness to catch a glimpse of her other memories, for he ached to know more about her, he wasn’t careful enough and brushed against the next box and pictures of her failed love lives over the years caused a heart-wrenching stab within him. Her feelings of inadequacy almost felled him. How could she think that the lack was in her? She deserved more, much more than those…those half-males, who didn’t know how to cherish the treasure they held in their hands.

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He had almost traversed the length and width of the three areas and still, he couldn’t find what was wrong with her. He was now back at the psi border, believing without a doubt that the problem lay in this peanut-sized portion more than anywhere else. But what could be wrong? Either he was missing something or it was in those damned memory boxes. Ahead, something flashed, the dark blue of Jaden’s energy colors. Morgan stopped his scanning and contemplated Jaden’s signals. Jaden would usually do his own scanning of the patient’s brain as a sort of check and balance to Morgan’s, and if he saw something worth investigating, he would flash his colors to attract Morgan’s attention. Now, his flashing pattern was saying, Come, you haven’t seen this. But he had been there before, toward the middle part of the psi near the temporal lobe’s border and there was nothing there. He wasn’t going to waste time going there again and— Jaden flashed again, more urgently. What was the fool doing? Hadn’t he seen that Morgan had explored that area awhile ago and— Something clicked in his mind. Ah, why hadn’t he seen or felt it? Because that was what was being suggested to him—that there was nothing there, that he had already explored it and everything there was fine, when in fact, he had traveled there, yes but he just passed by instead of delving deeper to examine the area. It would seem that even masters weren’t immune to a strong suggestion implant. Except for Jaden, whose mind was sharper than his. Could the implants be affecting Rhiane’s telepathic abilities? Struggling hard against the suggestions, he pushed and dragged his virtual feet until he cut through the illusion and his light blue ball was pulsing beside Jaden’s. The remnants of the suggestions flickered and died and revealed what they were hiding. Four small black boxes with a big, metal padlock on each shimmered in front of him. He examined them closely and noted that each box pressed down squarely on a reddened, angry nerve—the nerves responsible for the projections. He had found the reason for Rhiane’s blank walls. Blocked projection neurons would render the telepath unable to project, which was what had happened to Rhiane, though they wouldn’t interfere with the receiving function, since different nerves were responsible for them. The question now was, what the hell were these black boxes? The boxes were metaphysical and he knew they were merely Rhiane’s way of organizing her thoughts and memories, as each person’s method differed greatly. Moreover, he had never come across or heard of memory storages with locks on them in all his years of study and practice. Vicious-looking ones too. On closer look, the padlocks themselves were made out of the feathery stems of the nerves and they were made not only to keep the contents from leaking out but also to keep the box in its place!

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Morgan stared in shock. This was…abnormal. So deviant, this was the first he had seen or heard of something like this. Someone had obviously tampered with Rhiane’s brain and a cold fury filled him. He knew the moment the same thought occurred to Jaden, because the cooling blue energy surrounding Rhiane’s brain began to pulse a dark red. With his physical ears, he heard an agonized cry ripped out from her throat. Jaden! He recognized the great effort Jaden made to set aside his wrath for the meantime and to concentrate on keeping Rhiane in a relaxed state. He would need Jaden’s gifts to surround the reddened nerves and protruding stems with more intensive cooling salve to pacify them, as he tried to unravel the knot the tamperer had made and it wasn’t going to be an easy task. It would take all his skill and energy to do that and he hoped with all his will that it would be enough, that Rhiane would soon be healed. Without Jaden, Rhiane might not be able to take the pain and might even prevent Morgan from working, so Jaden too would need to give and give until Morgan’s work was done. This was going to take a lot from both of them but for Rhiane’s sake, he was willing to make the sacrifice. He knew Jaden would be of the same mind. Several hours later, Morgan’s physical body was covered in sweat and he was drawing on the last of his reserves of strength and skill as he untangled the last knot. Jaden’s energy was also straining around the edges and the shielding blue sometimes wavered with the long hours and great effort involved. As he loosened the last tie and saw Jaden’s energy flow to envelop it in cooling blue, he gave in to extreme fatigue and collapsed to the floor.

***** Rhiane woke up, groggy and with a slight pounding in her head. She groaned and tried to shift, wondering at the cottony taste in her mouth and how she could’ve bought such a hard mattress. She rubbed at her eyes and sat up and blinked as she saw Morgan and Jaden on the floor beside her some distance away. The events of the previous day slammed into her, together with memories that she hadn’t been aware were memories before this moment. But there was a familiar taste to them, so that she knew they had really happened and weren’t part of her dreams. An anguished cry tore from her throat as the scenes paraded through her mind, even as she denied them. Knives stabbed into her heart—not just one but a million of them—and she bled and screamed and broke into tormented tears. In one part of her mind, she knew she was going into hysterics and although her crying increased her headache, she couldn’t stop. No, no, it couldn’t be…it just couldn’t… Someone slapped her on the cheek, not hard but enough to shock her. “Rhiane, stop it, stop it.” Jaden drew her into his arms. “Oh god, sweetling, if we could only take the pain away from you…” Now that he had slapped her awake from the nightmare, the tears had also miraculously stopped but she stayed nestled in his arms, because it felt safe and kept 46

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the monsters at bay, monsters she could ignore as she concentrated on Jaden’s spicy wood scent, the warmth of his chest and the strength in his arms. Something sweet filled her as his lips touched the top of her head in a tender kiss. Morgan’s groan of pain interrupted her peaceful thoughts and they broke apart to assist him to sit against the wall. Now that she could see him closely, she was distressed by the paleness of his face and the tired lines around his eyes. His mouth was taut and his cheeks finely drawn. “Morgan,” she called his name frantically. “What happened to you?” His eyes remained closed and he didn’t respond. “He…” Jaden hesitated, then seemed to make up his mind about something. “Don’t worry, he just hasn’t had enough time to recover properly.” Rhiane sat beside Morgan, a worried frown knotting her brow. “How long does he need?” “A day or two, usually.” “Must be tough to be healer.” “Yes, we give a part of ourselves away every time we heal.” “That’s why you do probes as a last resort,” she said with sudden insight. “That too,” Jaden confirmed and folded his lanky length on Morgan’s other side. “But you don’t seem to be as bad.” “Morgan did more, a lot more than I did.” A slash of pain crossed his face as he looked at the other man. “But he’ll recover.” He took one of Morgan’s hands in his and squeezed tightly. “He will.” Though she knew they were lovers, Rhiane realized with sudden shock the depth of Jaden’s love for Morgan and it was killing him to see his lover in such a situation. “I’m sorry,” she began helplessly. “Don’t be. We undertook your healing of our own free will, Rhiane.” He sent her a fleeting smile. “Now, I need to debrief you on what happened yesterday. Your mind was tampered with and some memories were locked away. The result was that the normal function of some of your projection nerves were blocked, which prevented you from projecting some of the time. Increased agitation resulted in blackouts and even fainting spells. However, you’ll be glad to know that we have unlocked the memories and moved them away from the psi and back to where they belong in the temporal lobe of your brain.” He paused, then said with deliberate care, “You are fully healed, Rhiane, and you should have no problem with your projections from now on.” “Thank you, thank you very much.” Immense gratitude filled her but still, her mind shied away from the pain and anguish the memories had brought. As though he read her mind—and perhaps he did, she was so weak she hadn’t thought to put up her shields—Jaden said softly, “Talk to me.” “No, I-I can’t—” “You have to. This is part of the healing, Rhiane—” 47

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“You won’t tell?” she asked in a desperate rush. She wanted to tell him, to talk it out with someone, because if she didn’t, she would go mad with burying the ugly truth. And she wanted someone to tell her what to do, because she was lost, she didn’t know— Wait! Didn’t Morgan say all her thoughts were open to them? Was he lying? Or was Jaden now lying for whatever reasons he had? “But you know, you already know,” she blurted out. “Yes.” Jaden sighed. “But it would help you to talk about it and there’s something I forgot to tell you. Morgan was very careful, he tried not to brush against your memory boxes as much as he could, because he respected your privacy. But there were occasions when we couldn’t, such as when we unlocked your lost memories— My god! The woman made locks from your nerves themselves!” He exploded in sudden anger. “How anyone could be so evil and wicked—” Rhiane moaned. “She’s my friend, Jaden, my closest friend and mentor…” Tears started to leak out from her eyes again and her heart twisted painfully. “I-I—” “Tell me.” This time, she was not proof against his gentle invitation. She closed her eyes and chose the first time when it all happened. “I did the translation for Uncle Xentry’s highly confidential transaction. It was only toward the end that I realized the industrial espionage he was talking about was happening right there and then. The Akani was blurting out the secrets of the company he worked for and he’d asked for a very high price that Uncle Xentry was willing to pay.” She added bitterly, “Apparently, Uncle Xentry already had a buyer who was eager for the secrets.” She stopped for a while, still unable to believe that her uncle was a villain and that he had involved her in this deliberately. She would’ve been charged as his accomplice and her future and career would be gone, over before she had even attained master status. She swallowed hard. “I ran out of the room in horror—I was so stupid. I should’ve pretended that everything was fine, then reported them to the intergalactic police…” “I don’t think he would’ve allowed you to do that,” Jaden said as she trailed away. “If you hadn’t run away as you did, he would still have found a way to lock your memories, because you wouldn’t have been allowed to retain knowledge of their activities, unless you’re on his payroll or he had something with which to blackmail you.” “My sister,” she whispered in horror, as the pieces of the puzzle came together. “He promised to send her to the best doctor in the universe if I would help in the translation. I suppose if I threatened to expose him, he would use my sister as a bargaining tool.” Though the purpose of sending Khaisie to Xentry was legitimate, it seemed that Rhiane had made a colossal mistake and it would have been far better to keep her sister by her side. “You know he never intended to keep that promise.” “I think I know that now.” Her mother. What would her mother say if she knew her adopted younger brother was a criminal? Thank goodness she was dead. “Khaisie,”

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Rhiane gasped. “I’ve got to talk to her, tell her to get away from Xentry—” He’d lost the privilege of being called “Uncle”. Jaden grasped her shoulders and shook her. “Rhiane! Calm down. Your sister’s safe for the moment. Don’t do anything to alert Xentry to the fact that you’re onto him.” He was right but the frantic anxiety within her didn’t lessen. “But—” “I promise we’ll help you get your sister away from Xentry.” Her eyes filled with tears. Ever since the death of her parents, she had been alone, depending on no one but herself, and it felt good to know that someone was beside her, sharing her burdens. “Thank you.” “So, after you ran out of the room?” Jaden prompted, his silver eyes strangely sympathetic, yet firm that she should continue. “I ran to Bia,” she answered dully as she looked down at her fidgeting hands. “She was my mentor and my boss. She should know of it and she would know what to do. But someone knocked me unconscious from behind. It must have been Xentry or the Akani, I’m not sure but they were following me as I ran. I don’t know what happened after that but when I woke up, everyone was clustering around me and very concerned for my health.” She suddenly looked up and burst out, “Jaden, we have no proof that it’s Bia. How could we be sure she was the one who did it?” Jaden went still. “You were the one who mentioned her name, Rhiane. I never did.”

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Chapter Five And so she did. She tried to grasp at straws. “But you said—you said—” “I said ‘the woman’, because the weaving had a feminine touch.” “You tricked me!” she accused. “Your subconscious is telling you, Rhiane. I know it’s hard to believe—” “You don’t!” Even now, the bitterness of the betrayal was like an acid in her stomach. “But it’s better that you know than to keep on thinking of her as a good friend—” “I’m going to ask her to explain—” “No, you’d give the game away. You don’t have proof, you won’t be able to convict her, you’d just let her get away—” “But she’s my friend—” “Did she consider that when she used your own brain to ensnare you? She could’ve harmed your gifts forever, Rhiane, if you hadn’t come to us, if Morgan hadn’t been able to unlock them.” His eyes drilled into hers and his hard voice kept her captive. “There were four locked boxes, that means four times she did it to you and it probably would’ve gone on for as long as your uncle has transactions. She didn’t give a fig about you or if what she’s doing is harming you. Knowing all that, can you still forgive her?” She steered clear of the question, not sure what her answer was. Her head shouted a resounding “No” but she wasn’t sure about her heart, as it vacillated between hate and friendship. But what kind of a friend was Bia, after one considered everything? She had deliberately done harm to Rhiane, a person she called friend, a person she mentored, smiled with, talked with every work day. Betrayer. Traitor. “But why did she do it? Is she in cahoots with him, you think?” Rhiane closed her eyes and gave a short laugh, her soul in turmoil. She felt as though she was falling through a deep chasm and there was no one to catch her at the bottom. The world as she knew it was shifting, changing, showing its ugly face that it had heretofore kept hidden. “Of course you wouldn’t know. Then how was she able to do what she did to me? I wasn’t aware that telepathy can do something like that.” “She must have some other gifts than just telepathy.” When she looked at him in surprise, he lifted his brows. “But of course. Like Morgan and me. We call ourselves telepaths but we actually also have telekinetic powers. That’s how we are able to heal.” “I see.” She nodded slowly. It would make sense and she also gradually realized something else. “The second, third and fourth of Xentry’s transactions,” she said in a daze. “Bia must have controlled my mind, forced me to do them, then locked them up,

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because those memories felt strange to me, as if I hadn’t lived through them, yet I knew they weren’t images from a dream.” She trembled and shook. She felt dirty and violated. She didn’t understand how Bia could rape the mind of a person she called “friend”. She couldn’t take the violence and the ambivalence of her thoughts and emotions anymore. She surged to her feet and searched for the door. “Rhiane—” “I’m going home. Let me be alone for a while.” Her hand closed around the knob. “I’ll call you.” She didn’t turn around but she remembered Morgan, who had done so much for her and who still hadn’t fully recovered. “Take care—take care of Morgan, please.” Of course he would. He would’ve taken cared of Morgan even without her asking, because Morgan was his lover, but she felt as though she owed them something and saying the words had been a source of solace. Without waiting for his reply, she turned the knob and fled.

***** On the way to her flat, Rhiane resolved to empty her mind and not to think about anything but just to enjoy the warm, fuzzy feeling that she was now fully healed. Though she couldn’t help but worry about Khaisie, she recognized the truth of Jaden’s words—that as long as word didn’t reach Bia or Xentry that Rhiane suspected anything, Khaisie would stay safe. Any sudden move to remove Khaisie from Xentry’s tutelage would only alert Xentry, and Rhiane was terrified that Xentry would harm Khaisie before her sister could be retrieved. So, once Rhiane got home, she settled down to cleaning the flat. Such mundane and routine activity helped calm her mind. After she had swept and mopped the whole flat, she rummaged in the refrigerator to cook herself a light nuncheon meal. Though she wasn’t hungry, she decided to maintain her usual schedule to keep herself busy. Just as she turned off the stove and scooped the fluffy omelette onto the plate, a light, musical female voice sounded in the air. You have one visitor. Bia, Master Telepath, specializing in International Commerce. Fury seized her body at the memory of what Bia had done. How dared she show her face to Rhiane? Didn’t she know the meaning of shame? On the heels of her anger came panic. What was Bia doing here? Was she aware that Rhiane was now cured and that she had all her memories back? Khaisie. How was she going to keep her sister safe? Wait, Rhiane herself had just left Morgan’s office, so of course Bia didn’t know that she was healed. Rhiane also recalled her fainting spell yesterday while doing the translation and she deduced that her mentor had probably come to check on her and maybe even to discuss her condition.

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Profound relief caused her whole body to sag against the stove. She just had to keep the discussion limited to that particular incident. She stiffened again as a thought occurred to her. How was she going to keep Bia out of her mind, when Bia had been able to control her so relentlessly after that first transaction? Shields. Lots and lots of them. She had been unaware before, which had enabled Bia easy access to her mind. But now, Rhiane knew and she would be on guard. Rhiane set down the pan and the plate and grimly set about the task of placing layer upon layer of shields around her mind and emotions, especially the anger, and ignored the bleakness in her heart that this was the first time she had taken such an action against her friend. When she felt herself ready, she moved toward the door and pasted a smile on her face. “Bia, what a nice surprise!” Bia’s silver eyes searched her face. “Are you all right? I was very worried, with you fainting and all that.” She would have been very touched by her concern before the healing, Rhiane realized with certain grimness and wondered if she would be this cynical in all her relationships from now on and if she would find it easy to trust another person again. With another sudden insight, she knew why Jaden was insistent she talk, instead of asking her to confirm what he knew from their brushes with her memories. That way, the information about Bia’s betrayal had come from her, blinders ruthlessly discarded, and she would have to face the truth head on. If he hadn’t, she would probably still be denying the fact and she wouldn’t have been ready to face her mentor at this juncture. The man was diabolical! Suppressing the urge to laugh—and laughter would have been inappropriate at this time—she said, “I’m fine now. Jaden said I’m too stressed out from work and that I’m to take a lighter load for the next few days.” It would have been stupid and strange if she hadn’t gone to see Jaden with her condition. “Good thing it’s the end of the sennight, so I’ll have two days to rest before I need to go back to work.” “Oh good.” Bia blew out a sigh of relief. “I was so afraid it was something much worse.” Though her lips smiled, there was a strain around her eyes that Rhiane couldn’t fail to see. Ordinarily, she would’ve attributed it to the pressures of work but now… “Aren’t you going to invite me in?” “Oh, sorry.” Rhiane released a short laugh as she stepped aside and opened the door wider. “Come in. Have you had nuncheon yet?” “Yes.” “Oh.” She strove to keep her manner the same as before in order not to arouse Bia’s suspicions. “Would you like to share my omelette anyway?” Bia shook her head as she preceded Rhiane into the kitchen, having been here several times. “I’ll keep you company while you eat.”

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After Rhiane had taken her first few bites of the omelette, Bia said, “You know, girl, if you want a second opinion on Master Jaden’s take on your condition, I could give you a few recommendations. I know he’s your man friend and all but precisely because of that, he might not have been able to be as objective as he should be.” Rhiane swallowed the food in her mouth before answering, “Thanks, Bia, I’ll keep that in mind if ever I have another fainting spell.” She managed a realistic shudder. She had no doubt at all that Bia’s “healers” would check if the black boxes had been disturbed and if so, the “healers” would have instructions to repair them. “But I do hope not. The one yesterday scared the hell out of me.” “Me too. I had a hard time pacifying the customers after you fled.” Bia sent her a rueful glance. “But I gave them a ten percent discount and fortunately, they were appeased. Chase will handle it for you on Monday.” She reached across the table and held Rhiane’s hand in hers. “I’m just so glad you’re fine.” “Thanks, Bia.” When her mentor was looking at her with utmost sincerity in her eyes, it was hard not to feel gratitude or to believe her the villain in her entire ordeal. Then Rhiane felt the tendrils of telepathic probing at the boundary of her shields and alert, she held fast to the walls she had erected. She didn’t want to tip Bia off that they were on to her but Rhiane wasn’t going to let her violate her again. “You won’t let me in?” Dismay reeked in Bia’s tone. For a moment, Rhiane had thought Bia would pretend she hadn’t been trying to probe her mind but she had underestimated her and the question had caught her off guard. Her initial plan had been to boot Bia out as soon as she could but as thoughts tumbled through her in lightning-quick succession, she decided on a desperate gamble. “I’m sorry, Bia, I hadn’t wanted to tell you but…” she trailed away, as though hesitant and she could see Bia straightening, becoming alert and taut, like the Terran deer when it sensed a predator coming near. “Jaden didn’t want me to tell anyone but I know I can trust you. The thing is, Jaden found some signs that my brain may have been tampered with—” Bia let out a gasp, horrified. If Rhiane hadn’t been on to her, she would’ve believed in Bia’s innocence. As it was, she could only admire her mentor’s superb acting skills. “Oh Rhiane, how terrible! Was he able to discover who did it?” What an interesting first question. Outwardly, Rhiane shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. Jaden’s skills don’t lie in that area and anyway, he’s just speculating. I believe he mentioned that Morgan could but, well,” she affected a sigh, “Morgan’s busy with his patients and didn’t have time for me. The earliest he could slot me in is the day after tomorrow.” “Did Jaden say that’s the reason for your fainting spell?” Rhiane shrugged. “He’s not sure. We’ll know more when Morgan sees me.” “Oh honey.” Bia squeezed her hand. “I’m not sure that I could be as unconcerned as you if it were me in your shoes. I don’t know how I could stand waiting until Monday. Couldn’t Morgan do his tests on you in the evening? Or tomorrow? After all, he’s also 53

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your man friend and I would think he’d want to ascertain your health as soon as possible.” “I don’t know,” Rhiane said slowly, trying to think where Bia might be heading with her conversation. “Morgan’s a very highly sought-after healer and believe it or not, his day book’s full for the next three sennights. It was only because he had a cancellation on Monday that he’s able to slot me in at that time.” “Rhiane, this is your health and your career on the line here. If I were you, I’d do my best to convince him to test me tonight so that I could receive the proper treatment as soon as possible. You know how some conditions worsen if left untreated for some time,” Bia urged, her beautiful, traitorous silver eyes flashing concern and sincerity. “It’s only because you’re my friend that I’m so anxious for you.” Rhiane decided to go along with the flow, especially when she felt suggestive implants banging against her shields. Damn but desperate measures enabled her to make some darn excellent shields. “I suppose if Jaden talked to him too, Morgan could be persuaded to do the tests after our dinner tonight.” “You have dinner planned?” Bia’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You sure are seeing a lot of them these days.” Time to lay the next layer. “Oh yes,” Rhiane said happily. “I think they may be the ones, Bia. If they don’t ask me in the next two sennights, I’m going to ask them to be my husbands.” “If your relationship is that special, then I don’t see how Morgan could bear to postpone your tests until next sennight,” Bia said slowly, “so I think you’re right. A little push and he’d definitely do them tonight.” Rhiane could see Bia’s mind whirling rapidly, processing thoughts that flashed at lightning speed. Bia then made a show of glancing at her chrono. “Oh my! I’m sorry, Rhiane, I almost forgot I have an appointment with a friend.” She hopped down from the stool. “Now, no need to see me out, you rest and take care. Do call and let me know the results to Morgan’s tests, all right? No matter how late. I won’t be able to sleep until I know you’re all right.” Yeah, I bet you won’t but not because of concern for me. Rhiane watched her friend and mentor walk out of her house, wondering if she would fall into the trap Rhiane had deliberately laid. As soon as the door closed behind Bia, Rhiane was galvanized into action. Her pulse throbbing with urgency, she changed into unobtrusive sable-colored clothes and grabbed her keys. If she hurried, she would be able to trail Bia— She would trail Bia and then what? What was she thinking when she was laying her trap? How could she trail Bia in her heap of junk of a vehicle? All right, Rhiane. Stop panicking. Think! She stood still, closed her eyes and thought back to everything she knew, the basis for her lightning decision on a gamble. If she were right, then the discs recording Xentry’s transactions at the Federation’s library were copies and it stood to reason that 54

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the originals were somewhere else, most likely with the one who had stolen them in the first place. Outsiders didn’t have access to the library. In fact, the whole west wing of the Federation building, where the library was located, was sealed off to visitors, which meant that Xentry and the Akani wouldn’t have been able to steal the discs. By elimination, only Bia would have access to the original discs and she must have kept them someplace safe! Rhiane’s heart thumped loudly as she realized she was getting close. Earlier, Bia had been content to sit and probe for hints to Rhiane’s condition, until Bia had learned that Rhiane could be on the verge of discovering the whole sordid situation should Morgan work on her this night. Then she had hurried off on some flimsy excuse and if Rhiane hadn’t missed her guess, Bia would now be going somewhere to get rid of the evidence. And if Bia was successful, Rhiane would have nothing to back her up but her memories, which wasn’t admissible evidence because someone could so easily have planted them in her brain. She had to recover those discs! Yes, Bia had been her friend and mentor and Rhiane owed her a lot but when Bia had violated her, as far as Rhiane was concerned, Bia had voluntarily given up their friendship. If she could be ruthless, then Rhiane more so, especially as she was only doing her part as a good citizen to see that justice was served. So where could Bia have kept the discs? For some reason, the image of Bia kneeling in front of the low cabinet beside her desk, then slamming the doors shut and locking them flitted into her mind. Again, she had the sensation that something was wrong. She remembered that Bia was feeling grumpy and irritated that day— No, what was wrong was the picture. Bia had never locked that cabinet before! Hoping her hunch was right—it must be!—she strode toward the door, only to stop short as a light, musical female voice sounded in the air for the second time that day. You have two visitors. Morgan, Master Telepath, specializing in the Healing… “Front entrance, open!” The door whooshed, just in time for her to catch Morgan as he staggered in with Jaden supporting him on the other side. “What the hell are you both doing here? I thought I told Jaden to make sure you rest!” Why the hell did they have to come at this time? She fretted but there was nothing she could do but to settle them first. Asking them to go with her had never entered her mind, what with the way Morgan had looked. He was still pale but he had stopped trembling and though he was far from the usual Morgan that she knew, he seemed to be recovering with each second that passed. Not Jaden’s fault. Morgan dropped onto a chair. “He was worried about you the moment he regained consciousness and he berated me through mind-speak about letting you leave in that state.” Jaden stood beside Morgan’s chair and ran a hand through tousled hair, obviously just as frustrated as she with Morgan. “He threatened me with most anything he could think of but when he warned that he’d withhold sex from me, I had no choice but to give in.” 55

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“Because you like sex so much you’d jeopardize your mate’s health?” Rhiane asked sarcastically. “No.” Jaden sent her a hurt look. “When Morgan does that, then you know he’s very, very serious. He knows I love him and he loves me and he’d never use sex to manipulate me otherwise.” Rhiane was shamefaced at the conclusion she’d jumped to. Obviously, she was an absolute novice about this love thing. “I’m sorry, I never meant—” she broke off abruptly, then turned to Morgan and said fiercely, “But I’m not in that category, so if you so much as leave this house before you are fully recovered, I am withholding sex from you.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to take them back, because she was assuming they’d want to have sex with her again. But since she’d already said them, she’d brazen it out. Morgan’s eyes widened, then he sent her a picture of him laughing. She even heard the laughter in her head. He was genuinely amused, as if he didn’t believe that she would be able to do what she had said. “In fact, I’ll only have sex with Jaden and I’ll punish you by letting you watch,” she continued lightly, which seemed to be the wrong thing to say, because a light of interest sparked his eyes, “or not.” The light dimmed. Aha! “I’m serious, Morgan, so take heed.” Still, the realization that he wanted to get hot and intimate with her again sent a thrill through her and there was a very high probability that Jaden was of the same mind. “You’re welcome to rest on my bed but I’ve gotta go now—” Wait, where are you going? “Where are you going?” Both Morgan and Jaden asked the same question almost simultaneously, with equal amount of alarm. She was ready with an explanation. “Oh, my sister’s birthday is coming up and I want to buy her a gift—” Jaden was shaking his head, while Morgan’s thought-voice said wryly, Try again. “But I am,” she insisted. “In fact—” “We saw your mentor leaving your flat just as we pulled into the parking space,” Jaden informed her with a disapproving frown, “you know, the one I met at the consuplateia in your office building.” “She just came over to ask how I am—” “Save it, Rhiane,” Jaden snapped. “We’re not three-year-olds. We know who she is and what she did to you. Tell us what really happened. We don’t want to invade your thoughts again but if you leave us with no choice…”

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Her eyes widened with disbelief. The Morgan and Jaden she knew were honorable men, they’d never do what Jaden was implying. “You’d do that?” Jaden’s “Yes!” resounded in the air, at the same time that Morgan said in her mind, He’s bluffing. “Morgan!” Jaden glared down at his lover. He’s concerned and worried. We both are. Tell us, Rhiane. She leaned against the table, shoulders slumping. “Sorry for lying but I don’t want the two of you to get into trouble. I think Bia’s planning to destroy the evidence of her crime and I want to catch her at it. More, I need to get those discs. Without them, I’ll never prove anything and I want to see her—them—behind bars.” The tone of her voice hardened toward the end, in conjunction with the steely determination that filled her being. The two men didn’t move but she sensed them exchanging a mental glance. “What do you mean?” Rhiane gave them a quick sketch, ending it with, “I really need to leave now if Bia’s doing what I think she’s doing. I just hope I can head her off, or at the very least, arrive at the office only seconds after her.” She hoped they wouldn’t make any fuss or berate her for the chance she’d taken in laying the trap. Anyway, it was done now and the most anyone could do was hope it would pay off. “I’m going with you.” Me too. “Morgan, you can’t even stand on your feet.” Quit arguing. Jaden, hand me another one of those pills. Morgan swallowed the small black capsule before she could snatch it out of their hands. She glared at Jaden. “What does it do?” “Numb his pain, enough for him to stand and walk. It’ll last about four hours. Don’t worry,” he continued, drawing her to him and placing a kiss on the top of her head. “It won’t affect his health or cause him to be addicted to it, as long as he doesn’t go over the maximum allowable each time.” “He’s not taking it anymore after this is over,” she declared, turning her full glare on Morgan instead, trying to deny the warm rush of affection that had filled her at Jaden’s gesture. You’re turning me on, dearling. Even in your condition, you can think of sex? she fumed. It’s the only thing that’s keeping me going. “I thought we had a villain to catch?” Jaden asked dryly. “You can continue that conversation in the vehicle, since I’m driving.” “I know a shortcut—”

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“Sweetling, I grew up in this area. I know these streets better than you,” Jaden interrupted. “Let’s get going or our villain may have flown the coop by the time we get there.” Within minutes, they were seated inside the hovercar—the latest one on the market with all the gadgets, if she wasn’t mistaken—and Jaden maneuvered the vehicle with expert skill as he weaved in and out of the other vehicles on the streets and even turned down some roads that she didn’t know. On the freeway, Jaden was merciless with the other vehicles. Rhiane was pleased with the speed they were going but the negative side to it was that Morgan, who was seated beside her in the backseat, was sweating and shaking uncontrollably. “Morgan, are you okay?” she asked, alarmed. “Do you want us to stop for a while?” His hand, which she grasped in hers, was turning colder every second and she rubbed it quickly with both her hands, hoping to warm him up. “Is there a blanket in here?” “Compartment under the left seat,” Jaden replied, his concerned eyes glancing back at them through the rearview mirror. “He should be all right when the vehicle stops moving.” Oh great. A medicine that caused motion sickness. One of the side effects, probably. With some struggle, Rhiane finally dragged the blanket out and threw it over Morgan, who gasped, breathing heavily. No, don’t stop. We have to make up for lost time. “But you’re in pain. Do you want us to drop you off somewhere to rest?” No, we’ll be there soon. “He’s right,” Jaden confirmed. “Two more turns and we’re there.” Rhiane glanced up in surprise and realized they did indeed know more about the ins and outs of the city than she did. She was also so occupied with Morgan that she hadn’t bothered to note her surroundings. “Great.” Her mind whirred with strategies and plans. “I think it’s best if we park one street away from the office and go on foot.” Good thinking. We don’t want to give the game away before we even start. She glowed at Morgan’s praise. As it was the end of the sennight, there would be nobody at the office and a vehicle parked near the entrance or even in the parking spaces would be suspicious. Do I get to watch then? She immediately knew what he was referring to and drat the man, he was looking at her with a mix of amusement and lust. Did he never think of anything but sex? Maybe, she replied. So what other than sex do you think about? Making love. Making love with Jaden, making love with you, making love with Jaden and you… “Jaden, help!” she moaned. Her body was reacting to the images he was sending into her mind, her nipples puckering, her temperature rising and her pussy clenching with need—and she had a villain to catch! 58

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“He’s just trying to see if he could get it up,” Jaden commented solemnly, his eyes kept firmly on the road. “It’s one of the side effects of the medicine. Why don’t you touch him and see?” Jaden! Pleased at the roar that reverberated in her brain, a sure sign that Morgan was angry at Jaden for tattling about his manhood, Rhiane smirked in revenge. “Don’t worry, Morgan, I’ll see what I can do to help,” she said as she placed a hand over his cock and less than a second later, she yelped and jerked her hand back. “You lied to me.” She aimed an accusing stare at Jaden. Even through Morgan’s trouse, there was no mistaking his hot, heavy arousal. “Gotcha both,” Jaden said cheerfully as he coasted to a stop. “I’ll get you later,” Rhiane vowed darkly as she looked around. Though it was early afternoon, the normally busy and bustling business district was quiet and looked like a ghost town during the end of sennights. Only a few people walked about and in one group of five, there were two aliens with them. Tourists no doubt. She turned to Morgan. “All right, Jaden and I need to go. You stay in the car.” No, I’ll go with you. The gods save her from stubborn men. “You’re still shivering. Likely as not, your chattering teeth would give us away to Bia.” Would not. She understood his frustration but how was she going to arrive at a compromise that would suit them both? “Morgan—” “Someone needs to call the Guardian and lead them to Bia’s office,” Jaden interrupted quietly as the hovercar floated slowly to the ground. He cut the engine and turned toward them, mischief gone from his face. “You can do that, Morgan. You’re a master and the Guardian would respect you and believe you, more than if Rhiane was the one to stay in the vehicle.” She expected Morgan to chafe and complain but he only took a deep breath and nodded at Jaden before turning to her. Send me the map to the office. “Give us some time before barging in on us. We’ll leave the back entrance open for you.” Soon, she and Jaden were on their way. The question of Morgan’s behavior burned on her tongue but she swallowed it. The time wasn’t right. Jaden was silent as she led him across the grounds and up the stairs to the Translators’ Wing, which was on the east side of the compound. She didn’t know why Jaden didn’t feel the need to make conversation but as for her, she was too keyed up about the forthcoming encounter. What if they were too late? What if Bia had already left? Or what if Rhiane was wrong and Bia was innocent? No, her restored memories had pointed clearly to Bia’s guilt. But what if Bia had disposed of the original discs a

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long time ago? What then? How would she be able to convict Bia and Xentry and the Akani? Their feet left no sounds on the thickly carpeted floor that extended even to the main corridors. Devoid of people, there was a certain eerie feel to the place and Rhiane shivered, though the day was warm. Jaden immediately covered her hand with his and squeezed reassuringly. Rhiane suddenly knew why they didn’t speak, not even with their minds. Because if Bia was in her office, she might catch the sounds of their voices or the projections of their minds. And it wouldn’t do for her to have warning. They increased their pace, hurrying, spurred on by the possibility that they’d missed Bia. They rounded the corner into the masters’ row of offices and Rhiane breathed an audible sigh of relief when she caught sight of Bia stepping out of her office, the second door on the left. Bia stood frozen when she saw them, then she slung her large red handbag casually over her shoulder. Rhiane had seen Bia use that particularly bag only once and at that time, Bia had complained that she’d made a mistake in the purchase, because the bag had been too large for her petite frame. Rhiane decided to act, rather than react, to whatever Bia might say. “Hi, Bia, where’s your friend?” Bia looked blank for several seconds but she continued walking toward them, stopping when she was several feet away. It was obvious that she’d forgotten the excuse she’d given Rhiane when she had wanted to leave Rhiane’s house earlier. Her face cleared and a strained smile was pasted on her face. “Oh, that friend. The meeting was delayed, so I thought I’d come to the office and bring home some urgent work. I was so worried about you yesterday that it slipped my mind.” She reached out and clasped Rhiane’s hand. “What are you doing here with Master Jaden?” Rhiane noted that Bia’s hand was cold and trembling. “Oh, Jaden was curious about my place of work, so I thought I’d show him around when he’d make the least nuisance of himself.” “Yes, what Rhiane has shown me so far is very interesting,” Jaden put in as he positioned himself slightly to the side, effectively blocking Bia’s way out. “Well, enjoy yourselves.” Bia tried to retrieve her hand but Rhiane held on fast. “I have to go now and meet my friend.” She tugged on her hand. “Rhiane!” Rhiane wouldn’t release her hand but just stared at her steadily. Her blood rushed through her veins in amazing speed as she considered what to do. The problem here was they hadn’t caught Bia red-handed in the act with the discs, and the masters’ rooms didn’t have any surveillance equipment. No doubt the discs were in Bia’s red bag but being an ordinary citizen, Rhiane wasn’t authorized to demand a bag search, nor did she have any official document to support her request.

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“Rhiane, I realize you’re very happy to see me.” Bia laughed nervously, alternating a glance between her and Jaden. “But surely you don’t need me to hold your hand on a date with your man friend, do you?” Jaden smiled lazily. “I think Rhiane’s adult enough to handle it.” Rhiane would try to get some answers then and hope that Morgan would come soon with the Guardian. “Well, since you don’t need me,” Bia said brightly, still unsuccessful in getting Rhiane to release her hand, “why don’t I leave you to enjoy your outing in private?” “All right,” Rhiane finally said. Bia smiled and relaxed but Rhiane could see her trying to hold in the sigh of relief. She continued, “But not until you tell me why you did it.” Jaden stilled and though he didn’t make any outward movement, Rhiane could feel every line of his body becoming alert. “Did what?” A puzzled frown creased Bia’s forehead. “Why did you use my own nerves to imprison my memories, memories I hadn’t been aware of having until today?” A flare of panic crossed her face before Bia chased it away and forced a laugh. “What do you mean? I can only hear thoughts, I certainly can’t manipulate them, not to mention the brain nerves.” She continued trying to pull her hand free but her renewed efforts held a hint of desperation. “Give it up, Bia,” Rhiane advised quietly, somehow sad for this woman who had been a mentor and confidante. A hard core of anger laced through the sadness, giving her the determination to see that the truth was served. “Morgan and Jaden did a probe on me last night. I know everything, Jaden does too. I want justice, yes but if I can’t have that, the least is the reason for your actions. Why, Bia? I thought we were friends but friends don’t betray one another.” Bia tossed her head, causing wisps of golden hair to fly about her face. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about—” Jaden made an abrupt motion and before Bia could scream, he’d held her tight by the arms and close to his body and he was looking down fiercely into her eyes. “You took certain incriminating memories, placed them in black boxes and set them down directly on Rhiane’s projection nerves. That’s why she had blackouts, that’s why she couldn’t project. I don’t know if you were deliberately sabotaging her as well but I don’t think so,” he said shrewdly. “I think your plan was to use Rhiane for as long as you could and who knew how long it would’ve gone on, who knew how many more espionage crimes you and your partners would’ve committed, except that you placed the boxes in the wrong location and you made the mistake of using her nerves to anchor them. Now, why don’t you tell Rhiane what she wants to know, or I’ll wrench it out from your memories. As a journeywoman, Rhiane doesn’t yet have the knowledge to do it but I can.” He aimed a feral, lethal smile at Bia, who started shaking. “I’ll warn you though, you won’t like it.” 61

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“Fine, fine,” Bia babbled. Rhiane didn’t know if Jaden had given her a taste of what he’d do or not, because Bia was suddenly pouring everything out. “I didn’t want to do it, Rhiane, believe me, please believe me, I didn’t. But my vehicles, they cost so much and the expenses needed to maintain them in top condition is draining my credits. So when your uncle approached me, I grabbed it. Why not?” She pushed back from Jaden in a quick move but Jaden’s reflexes were faster and he held on tightly. She contented herself with thrusting her chin out in belligerence and defiance. “Even if I didn’t accept, Xentry would still have gone ahead with it. At least with me, the damage done to you is minimal—” “Minimal!” While Bia had been speaking, the anger built slowly into rage. Rhiane was exchanged for vehicles—inanimate objects whose value was determined by the forces of the market and international commerce—and their friendship was traded for worthless pieces of junk! “You call the violation of my mind minimal? What about when I was slowly going mad at the thought that my talent was fading? What about the countless sleepless hours, the distress and the panic? How will you compensate me for that!” “I tried to protect you and that’s the best way I could think of!” Bia shouted back. “The first mistake was Xentry’s, when he thought he could tie you to him out of familial duty. But you would have none of it, you even threatened to report the crime to the Guardian, then we knew you would never go along with us. You know what I did? I protected you. I told Xentry we still needed you to do the translation when he wanted to terminate you—” At Rhiane’s shocked sound, Bia confirmed, “Yes, he wanted to do away with you, because you don’t serve any useful purpose for him. That’s the kind of uncle you’ve got. But I convinced him we could continue to use you for the translations, that I would take care of you so that you wouldn’t give us away and as masters aren’t supposed to do the translations and as he also didn’t want to waste time to look for another journeyman translator, he agreed. If it were not for me, you would most probably have suffered more! You would even be dead!” Rhiane shook her head, a heavy feeling weighing her down. She hadn’t realized she was sobbing until she felt the tears plopping down to her hand. She dashed away the tears with the back of her hand and saw Bia’s unrepentant face, the almost maniacal gleam in her eyes. “You still don’t get it, do you? I’d rather a stranger be the reason for my blackouts, for my loss of talent or even death, than you, someone I know and whose friendship I treasured. It would have hurt less, it wouldn’t have destroyed my trust in people—” At her words, Bia looked uncertain. “I…I thought I was doing what was…best for everyone.” Yet Rhiane’s tears were freeing, serving as the outlet for her repressed emotions, and though she stood alone on one side of the tableau, she was buttressed by a warm supportive feeling from Jaden. “Anyway, if you want to blame anyone, it should be Xentry. He’s the real mastermind behind all this.” 62

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“Yeah, loser takes all,” Rhiane said bitterly. “Both friend and uncle used and betrayed me.” Suddenly, she looked straight at her enemy. “Where’s Xentry, Bia? Is he on Earth or out there somewhere busy recruiting spies? Surely you don’t mean to take the fall alone.” Bia’s eyes narrowed. “Do you promise to let me go if I tell you everything, Rhiane?” “Where’s Xentry?” “I don’t know!” “Don’t tell me you still mean to protect him!” “I really don’t know. He’d call me when there’s an upcoming transaction but otherwise, we don’t communicate. Let me go!” She clawed and punched Jaden’s arms. Suddenly weary, Rhiane sagged against the wall. Now she knew but she didn’t have anything to bring the villains to justice. There was no satisfaction, no sense of victory. “Let her go,” she said wearily. “But—” “What can we do, Jaden? We don’t have a warrant!” Jaden’s eyes flashed, then he was gripping Bia’s arms tighter, almost lifting her off the floor. “Where are the original discs, bitch?” “Wouldn’t you love to know?” Bia sneered. “I’ve always fancied you, Master Jaden, so if you’ll fuck me, maybe I’ll tell you. I’m a great one for pillow talk.” He shook her and Bia’s head flopped about on her shoulders. “Where!” “It’s not with me and I’ll never tell, so you can just stop that and let me go!” she yelled shrilly. “Didn’t you hear Rhiane? Let me go!” “It’s not with you?” he asked in a fierce whisper. “What’s in that goddamn bag, if it’s not with you?” Bia looked shocked, then she began to laugh wildly. “What’s in the…bag?” Rhiane flinched at the sound of her laughter as it ricocheted above the normal range for human ears. “So you think I came here today to get the discs? I’m afraid I have to disappoint you, because I was telling the truth awhile ago. I have urgent, pending work for the Federation committee and that’s what I came to get.”

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Chapter Six After Bia’s revelation, Morgan storming in with the Guardian was almost anticlimactic. Apparently, they’d hidden right around the corner and heard every word of Bia’s confession. Rhiane now had five other witnesses, aside from Jaden. With a search warrant, the Guardian would be able to do a search on Bia’s vehicles, house and office for the missing discs, even if she wouldn’t confess to their location. However, one of the Guardian also advised Bia that it was in her interest to cooperate with them in order to get a lighter sentence. In due course, they all traveled to the Guardian outpost, where Rhiane and her two men were questioned and it was two hours later before the Guardian was satisfied. Before they left, the Guardian also informed them that they would take care of informing the Federation committee of the crime and that there was a possibility the case would eventually be transferred to the Intergalactic Intelligence Crime Investigation Unit, due to the nature of the crime, so the three of them should be ready in case anyone from the IICIU contacted them for further questioning. Rhiane watched helplessly as Bia was led away. Incensed tears filled her eyes as she stared at Bia’s retreating back but she acknowledged that she was now sadder at the way their friendship had turned out than she was angry. Somehow, she could also understand, to a certain extent, Bia’s obsession for her vehicles and the lengths to which it had driven her. Obsession was a dangerous matter. “I was too soft on her, right? I probably would’ve let her go too, Jaden, if you weren’t there to stop her.” Jaden rubbed her back soothingly. “She was your friend.” “Even a betrayal couldn’t easily wipe out years of friendship,” Morgan put in from where he stood beside her, leaning against the wall, his voice kind though trembling slightly. It was disconcerting how well they knew her, though they hadn’t been acquainted for long, if she didn’t count the six months of separation. None had known her as well, except maybe for her sister— “Khaisie!” she gasped. “I need to call her, tell her about Xentry.” Fingers trembling, she punched in the numbers in her wrist-comm, cursed when she pressed the wrong button and started again. “The Guardian has promised to get her out, remember?” Jaden said, his hand soothing on her back. “Yes but I have to warn her so she won’t be scared—” He pushed a button on the wrist-comm, cutting the line before it connected. She whirled on him in anger. Just when she had the numbers all right—

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“Then you need to calm down first. You aren’t doing your sister any good in that state,” Jaden said sternly. When her mind cleared of the anger and anxiety, she realized Jaden was right. She blanked everything out of her mind, focusing her thoughts on a clear, white wall, and a moment later, she also felt Jaden sending her soothing healing energy, wrapping her in the comfort that everything would be all right. When she was calmer and could think rationally, she contacted her sister again. “Rhiane!” Khaisie’s cheerful voice came over the wrist-comm. Too bad Rhiane didn’t have a video-comm, as she hadn’t seen Khaisie in two months. “How are you doing, Khaise?” Rhiane deliberately kept her voice light. “I miss you.” These two months were the first time they had been apart since Khaisie was born and although they communicated every sennight, it wasn’t the same. “Me too.” Rhiane had to swallow to ease the tightness in her throat in order to speak further. “Where are you now?” “In my room.” “Listen, don’t show any reaction and just say yes or no, okay?” Though Rhiane tried to make everything seem normal, she knew her sister had caught on to something because her voice turned serious and cautious. “Yes.” Rhiane made a split-second decision. “I want you to come home and I’ll buy a ticket on the first available spaceship out to Earth and fetch you.” She couldn’t wait for the Guardian, or she’d go crazy with the inactivity, with worry. Khaisie sucked in a deep breath and Rhiane knew she was fighting hard not to squeal with joy. After her first sennight on Earth, Khaisie had made it clear that she wanted to leave but Rhiane had talked her out of it, reminding her repeatedly that she had to think of her future until Khaisie had reluctantly agreed to stay for a ZYAL. Now Rhiane wished she hadn’t been so persuasive but that was the curse of hindsight. “There’s something you have to do right now though. This is very important, so listen carefully. I want you to go immediately to the nearest Guardian outpost and stay there until I fetch you. I don’t know when I’ll get there, so you may have to wait awhile. Don’t tell anyone where you’re going. Just leave the house as though you were going shopping. Don’t take anything. Whatever you have, leave it. I’ll replace it when we get home. No, don’t say anything,” she said in a firm voice over what she was sure were Khaisie’s protests regarding her newly bought clothes. Garments Rhiane could replace but if something were to happen to her sister, she didn’t know what she’d do. She thought about asking Khaisie to stay clear of Xentry if he was there, but that might make him suspicious. Better for Khaisie to act as she normally would have around him. “When you reach the outpost, should the Guardian there question you, tell them to contact Guardian Zandros from the Isle of Wienliad on the planet Var’al Than and he

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will tell them what they want to know. When you get there, stay put and wait for me, no matter what anyone says. Remember everything?” “Yes,” Khaisie said, breathing heavily. “Will you do it?” “Yes.” “Wait for me at the outpost, Khaisie. I’ll explain everything when I see you. I love you.” “Yes. Love you too.” Rhiane cancelled the connection and without looking up, she punched in the code for the spaceport. “No, don’t say anything, you two,” she said, her concentration on her wrist-comm. “I can’t wait for Guardian Zandros to decide when the right time to move in on Xentry is. Every second Khaisie is with that blackguard, I run the risk that harm will come upon her should Xentry be calling Bia and getting frantic when she isn’t picking up his calls, or that he might have heard the news of Bia’s arrest somewhere or whatever. I need to get her out now.” When no one said anything, she glanced up and glared at them, expecting arguments. “Well?” “Buy three tickets,” Jaden answered her with a feral smile. “We’re going with you.” She almost wept with relief and the same warm rush of sensation that had filled her earlier when Jaden had kissed the top of her head washed over her once again. They had been serious about accompanying her to retrieve her sister, a mission she had been prepared to conduct alone, but Earth was a strange and unfamiliar place. It would be good to have companions. Upon checking with the spaceport and learning that the next available flight to Earth was still two days hence, Rhiane booked three tickets and chafed at the delay. The adrenaline rush that had pervaded her body drained away, leaving her fatigued and dispirited. “Let’s go, you look all done in.” Jaden eyed her critically, then turned to his longtime mate. “You too.” Soon, they were back in the hovercar heading for home, with Jaden in the driver seat. Tired and confident that Jaden knew the way to her flat, Rhiane gave in to her exhaustion and heartache and snuggled against Morgan’s warm body in the back of the car, the slow motion of the vehicle lulling her almost to sleep. However, she was soon disturbed by his incessant trembling. She pulled back from him a little, to see that his face was pale again, paler than it had been earlier, his head rolled back onto the headrest, his eyes closed and his body was shaking so hard the springs under the seat squeaked. “Morgan, what’s happening to you?” she asked, alarmed. “The medicine’s wearing off,” Jaden replied from the front. “He’ll be all right after an hour, maybe.”

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“An hour! I knew it wasn’t right for you to take those pills,” Rhiane muttered as she picked up the blanket from beside Morgan and settled it over him. “I’m serious. You’re not to take those pills again next time, no matter the reason and I’m not negotiating.” Morgan smiled faintly, though he never opened his eyes. You’re turning me on again. I wish I could see you but hearing your voice go all stern and hard is more than enough. “Men. How come all you think about is sex?” It’s very pleasurable and it distracts from the pain and the cold. “Oh, would sex talk help?” Her ears burned, as she’d never done anything like it before. It might. Morgan’s thought-voice was amused and full of anticipation. Jaden whistled. “I wish I was back there with you both.” “Concentrate on driving,” she ordered, both cheeks heating up. “You’ll hear us anyway.” I’m ready. “Um, imagine me kissing you and uh…” She was getting really warm but from embarrassment, not excitement. “Oh I’m no good at this.” I’m getting aroused, if that helps. Out of reflex, she looked down at his crotch area, only to find it covered with the blanket. Why don’t you snuggle under the blanket with me? She realized then that Morgan’s breathing had quickened and maybe it wasn’t just due to his condition. He did shudder though, a long, terrible quake, and she further realized that the blanket wasn’t enough. She needed to generate heat and share it with Morgan, then trap the heat under the blanket. Yes, perhaps that would work. She pressed a kiss to his neck as she opened the blanket slightly so she could slip inside. Then, after securing it around them both, she straddled him and covered his body with her own. She wrapped her arms around him so that her breasts were pressed tight to his broad chest and her midribs against his. She pressed her face against his throat and concentrated on giving off heat. “Are you warm yet?” I don’t know but you feel very good. There was a deep sigh of satisfaction in his mental voice and she could sense the hum of contentment coming not only from Morgan but also from Jaden. It was a startling thought, that the two men were so connected that what one was feeling was reflected in the other. But it also told her that Jaden was all right with what she was doing to help Morgan, that he wasn’t feeling jealous or left out. Rhiane knew that couples were usually the norm on Earth, or where one-half of the couple was from Earth, like her parents, but among the Var’al Thanians, their genetic make-up required a triad relationship in order to produce the next generation. Hence, relationships were trickier, as there wasn’t only one other person’s physical and emotional well-being to take care of but two. 67

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Being in Morgan’s arms again was bliss. Though clothes separated them, her body hadn’t forgotten the touch of a lover and was responding accordingly. Slowly, her nipples were burgeoning, peaking, becoming as hard as stones, and her pussy dripped with her juices. She breathed in Morgan’s male, musky scent and pressed a kiss to his neck and, unable to help herself, she moaned and licked his throat, tasting the salty tang of his skin and the madly beating pulse at the base. Desire rose in her, swift and punching her hard in the gut. Perhaps the emotional upheaval of the past few hours had taken its toll on her, perhaps she wanted some affirmation that she was loved and wanted after experiencing Bia’s betrayal, perhaps she just wanted to celebrate her ecstasy at confirming that her talent was hale and hearty and functioning properly, or perhaps she was learning that she possessed an insatiable appetite for Morgan and Jaden. Whatever it was, she wanted them. Now. She couldn’t wait until they arrived at her flat, she had to have at least one stiff cock in her, pounding her hard, hurling her into a pool of pleasure once again. And the heat from the sex, the exertion, would keep Morgan warm and help him heal faster. That was, if Jaden didn’t mind. “Go ahead,” Jaden answered from behind her. She gasped and craned her neck, noting that his knuckles were white where he gripped the steering wheel. “You heard me?” “Loud and clear.” He chuckled. “I suspect you’ve let down your shields, tired as you are. I’m only sorry I can’t be back there.” “Later, you’ll get your turn,” she promised. “And we’ll just let Morgan watch.” “I’ll hold you to that,” he murmured, his gaze caressing her in the rearview mirror. “But ditch the blanket. I want to look.” Heat from embarrassment flared within her. “But the windows—” “I’ll shift the tint on the windows into a darker shade.” Jaden pressed a button on the dashboard and she watched in fascination as she saw less and less of the scenery with each second that passed. She really had to upgrade her vehicle to a newer model. With Jaden’s permission, Rhiane disposed of Morgan’s and her clothing in short order. Already, Morgan was shivering less, perhaps because Jaden had also shut off the cooling machine in accordance with the no blanket rule. Although the air was getting stuffy, it was still bearable. Kiss me. She placed her arms around Morgan’s neck as she straddled him, her mouth moving over his slowly, gently, as she kissed him, testing his strength, his desire. His mouth was cool and trembling but warmed up gradually under her ministrations. She pressed light kisses all over his face, not moving on to the next area until the skin beneath her lips had warmed up a bit. At the same time, she rubbed her body against him, using friction to create heat, her hands caressing his shoulders and her pussy

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stroking the long line of Morgan’s cock in between her puffy nether lips. The air filled with the heat of their breath and the redolent scent of sex. The overloading of her senses made her moan with longing. At the same time, she enjoyed the slow build-up and the heightened excitement of anticipation. The thought of Jaden glancing at them, watching them increased the thrill of their coupling. Morgan groaned and placed his arms around her, squeezing her buttocks and encouraging her lower body’s movements on his cock, which was starting to harden. Rhiane could feel his pleasure washing over her. She knew without knowing how she knew that he liked having his cock stroked in this particular way. She kissed her way down his body and lingered at his nipples, drinking in his gasps and cries as she teased the tiny buds, laving and sucking and rasping lightly on them, causing him to plunge his hands in her hair to hold her head steady. She loved his body—golden and sinewy, with a smattering of dark hair over his chest, the muscles underneath firm and rippling and sexy. He must work out at the gym a lot— I need the strength to do my probes. Ah. I hadn’t realized it’s such a taxing job that could render you weak for days. Just two days, he corrected her hastily. That’s why I try to schedule the procedure on Fridays and my strength training consists of carrying Jaden around. She burst out laughing, leaning her head against his chest. Continue please, or I’ll stop the jokes. “Hey, no joking at my expense,” Jaden mock complained. Rhiane straightened and kissed Morgan on the mouth again, making them both groan toward the end at the way the kiss had turned passionate and hard and lusty. Morgan was hot and hard everywhere but most especially down where her pussy had clamped him between her lips. Now, dearling. I don’t think I can bear it any longer. She lifted herself a little and grasped his cock, which was slick with her juices. She couldn’t resist rubbing the thick length a bit, loving the velvety texture mixing in with the rough bumps and ridges, the pulsing core of rigid steel beneath her fingers. She positioned it at the entrance of her pussy, then with a slight hitch of breath, she sank down slowly, down, down the stiff shaft. In the front of the car, Jaden moaned and she heard the slight rustle of clothing. Concentrate on driving! her thought-voice shrieked. I set the course and the car’s now on auto-pilot. Join us. I can’t. The regret was very clear in Jaden’s thought-voice. Someone still needs to be in the driver’s seat, just in case. Later then.

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When Morgan was buried deep in her, they both cried out at the exquisiteness of their joining. His thick cock pulsed in her, filling her with throbbing life. Ride me. She shifted, favoring the forward-backward movement, her breath quickening at the sweet curl of sensation that shot through her every time her clit brushed against Morgan’s lower body. With Morgan’s hands supporting her at the waist, she closed her eyes and threw her head back…and saw her graceful gliding atop Morgan’s body through Jaden’s eyes and knew the way it affected Jaden as well. Both the image and the emotions emanating from Jaden inflamed her and soft mewling cries escaped from her throat. Her pace increased and the pressure in her belly coiled, tightened. Morgan started driving into her, meeting her downward strokes with strong upward thrusts, hammering her clit mercilessly and she opened her eyes and held his just as she disintegrated into the million stars that spanned the universe. She screamed and arched her body, her pussy gripping Morgan’s cock like a vise, milking strongly. Dimly, still in the throes of her orgasm, she heard both Morgan and Jordan cry out simultaneously as they attained their own release, Morgan’s seed jetting into her womb. Coming down from the ecstasy of their joining, Rhiane slumped against Morgan, her damp face burrowing into his sweat-slicked neck, her body sated and boneless. The last thing she knew before she fell into an exhausted sleep was the soft fall of the blanket against her back and shoulders.

***** Rhiane woke up slowly, her senses registering the softness of the mattress and the warmth of the body lying next to her. She opened her eyes into an unfamiliar room with dark, masculine décor, the plain curtains drawn across the windows to block out the sunlight. She turned and saw Morgan still sleeping peacefully, his chest rising and falling with his breathing and her lips curved a little as she noted that he looked kinder, gentler in sleep, with his features relaxed but no less attractive or lacking in vitality. The long sleep appeared to do him good as well, for he had regained his former healthy color. She reached out to smooth his hair back but at the last moment decided not to, for fear of waking him when he needed rest. She would’ve been content to stay there and do nothing but stare her fill of him. However, her stomach rumbled a protest and she took care not to disturb him as she slipped out of bed. Finding a robe hanging in one of the closets, she put it on and went in search of the kitchen. As soon as she stepped out of the bedroom, the fragrant smell of bacon filled her nostrils and the odor became her beacon as she navigated in and out of the rooms in her bare feet until she saw Jaden standing in front of the stove, naked except for the chef’s hat on his head and the apron protecting him from the heat and splashing oil. He looked very comfortable in the kitchen as he cracked the eggs into a small bowl and scooped up the crisply fried bacon—just as she liked it!—from the skillet.

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Rhiane stared at the smooth line of his naked back and her eyes lingered on his sexy butt. She caught herself and closed her mouth just as she was about to drool. Delicious. Also, there was something so seductive about a man who could cook that the image sent tingles throughout Rhiane’s body. Just then, Jaden turned to place a plate piled high with bacon strips on the small kitchen table off to the side, glanced up and spied her. He broke into a wide smile. “Hey, hungry?” His smile did funny things to her insides, made her heart beat faster and a strange, fine trembling started deep within her. “Famished.” She didn’t have to force herself to smile, though she made sure her legs were rigid enough to support her before she let go of the doorway and ventured into the kitchen. Jaden dropped an absentminded kiss on her lips, then ran to save his burning eggs. Rhiane laughed as she seated herself at the table and pinched a strip of bacon. “You laugh,” Jaden scolded her severely. “As punishment, you get all the burned ones.” “My favorite.” She smacked her lips with relish. “Why are we having an Earth-style breakfast?” “I thought you’d like it, as one-half of you is from Earth.” “How’d you know my mother’s from Earth?” She knew she hadn’t mentioned anything of such nature to Jaden. “Oh, so it’s your mother who’s a Terran.” He placed two burned pieces of egg in front of her. “You mentioned about being a half-Terran, on account of your talent, to Morgan and he—” “Shared everything with you.” She concentrated on staring at the hypnotic movement of Jaden’s buttocks, rather than on what she was saying and glanced up, startled into Jaden’s amused eyes when the golden brown flesh of his buttocks was replaced with his colorful apron. “It’s how it is between Morgan and me, Rhiane. I realize some other triads you’ve encountered over the years may have shared only the physical aspect but Morgan and I keep nothing from each other, except where our medic oaths prevented us.” His gaze became increasingly intent. “When we take a wife, we’d expect the same from her.” Wife. Rhiane didn’t care to think about her—this woman who would eventually be mate to her lovers but she had to force herself to remember what she had realized once before—that she, Rhiane, was merely a substitute for Marissa that night at the hotel and until Morgan and Jaden found the woman they wanted to wife, Rhiane was only a substitute vessel for their pleasure. The thought squeezed the air from her lungs and she found it hard to breathe. “Rhiane?” Jaden’s sharp voice eased the tight pain and his fingers bit into her arm. “What’s the matter?”

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His face was full of concern and for a moment, she indulged in the fantasy that he felt something for her. Why else would he cook a Terran breakfast for her if not to please her, if not because he cared for her, even a little bit— No. Wishful thinking never did anyone any good. Better to face reality. The pain in her arm recalled her to the present and she beat at his fingers, which loosened slightly. “Just…just hungry.” “Then eat, eat your fill. I can cook more if those aren’t enough for you.” He released her, looking uncertain. “For a moment there, you looked…” “I looked what?” she asked lightly, biting into the crisp bacon. “Like you’re in…in pain.” “Must be the hunger.” She made a great show of sniffing the air. “What’s that burning smell?” “My eggs!” Jaden yelped, then dashed back to the stove. Rhiane laughed, genuinely amused at Jaden’s reaction. “Two more for me.” Moments later, Jaden came over to deposit the two burned eggs in front of her with a grimace. “Good thing you’re here, or these would’ve gone to waste. Both Morgan and I hate to eat burned things.” “The burned part adds spice to the food,” she protested and waved the bacon in his face. “The bacon, yes but not the eggs.” “Don’t you want to sit down and eat? You must’ve been cooking all morning.” “I’ll do my eggs, then I’ll come and join you. Yikes! I forgot the toast.” About ten minutes later, he was sitting at the table with her and downing coffee as though it was the first time he’d drunk it. “I like this beverage—strong and thick with that oomph kick. Yum. Not to mention that lovely aroma.” “You’ve never had it before?” She remembered how both her parents wouldn’t have made it through the day without at least a cup. “No.” Jaden grinned sheepishly. “I’m suspicious of anything black in my food and drinks.” She thought of dark chocolate and black forest cake. “You’re missing a lot.” “I’m looking forward to discovering them with you.” She eyed him over her own cup of chocolate milk. He’d said the words matter-offactly and without a second’s thought, as he concentrated on pouring himself his fifth cup of coffee. She decided he didn’t mean them and was just being polite. “So I take it you’re the cook in this household?” “Yes, you couldn’t get Morgan near the stove. He only deigns to come into the kitchen because this is where we eat when we don’t entertain.” Mention of Morgan led her mind back to the man sleeping soundly on the bed. “Speaking of Morgan, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

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“What is it?” “Remember yesterday, when he was so adamant about going with us to catch Bia, despite his condition and need for rest, to the point that he took a pill that could potentially harm his body?” Jaden nodded. “Why would he do that?” If she had expected Jaden to confess that love was the motivating force for Morgan’s actions, she was sorely disappointed. “He believed that his help was needed,” Jaden said simply, “and nothing was going to stop him from offering what he could. As you might have noticed, he’s not the type to give up easily and I’m prone to think that he’d admit defeat only when there’s no breath left in his body.” She’d never met anyone so selfless and relentless. “I can see why you love him.” To bring the conversation back to the earlier lighthearted atmosphere, she said with an impish smile, “And that must be why you tolerate his inability to cook.” Jaden laughed. “I think one cook in the family is more than enough and as I love to cook and to experiment with new recipes, though I’m not a gourmet cook, mind you, I’m relieved that he allows me the toque.” “Well, frying stuff is easy. I’d love to try one of the more complicated dishes you know,” she said, then could’ve bitten her lip, because it sounded as though she was angling for an invitation to dinner. “Not that it has to be anytime soon. I just realized I have to prepare for work tomorrow, which is sure to be chaos, what with what has happened with Bia and things.” A momentary sorrow filled her as she remembered yesterday’s events. “Thank you though, for all you and Morgan have done for me. If it was not for you—” He grasped her hand and chafed her wrist, sending her pulse skittering. “Then stay and have dinner with us. I thought we could go to the park later, show you the tree that Morgan and I had planted, then I could cook us dinner, then…” He left the rest unsaid but there was no mistaking his meaning or the way his eyes had darkened or the fact that his hand had tightened on hers. She discovered she wasn’t in any hurry to leave them, despite her earlier urgency and more importantly, she learned that she wanted him as much as she did yesterday, if not more. Her gaze landed on his parted, kissable mouth and she wanted a taste so badly she felt the ache in her pussy and she found herself leaning forward, forward—

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Chapter Seven “Kiss him.” Both she and Jaden jumped apart and she whirled around to see Morgan standing in the doorway, looking very sexy with his hair rumpled, eyes burning with lust, a smile on his face and wearing nothing else. She examined every inch of him leisurely and swallowed hard when she noticed his cock slowly rising and standing at attention. She wrenched her gaze away. “What is it with this house?” she asked, grumbling. “Do both of you go around every day naked?” “Yes, so both you and Jaden are overdressed.” Morgan strolled in and placed his hands on her shoulders, which burned through her robe to her flesh. “Done,” Jaden said and threw the apron over his head. She groaned and covered her eyes at the amount of tempting male flesh he bared. “Not fair, both of you ganging up on me like this.” She felt Morgan’s hot breath on her neck as he kissed her throat. “Morgan, you just woke up. Aren’t you hungry?” “Yes,” he groaned. “For you.” At his confession, a rush of liquid desire dampened her pussy, then her ability to think was taken away as Jaden gently pried her hands away from her face and claimed her mouth, at the same time that Morgan loosened her robe and cupped her breasts. Rhiane gave herself up to her lovers, responding to Jaden’s kiss with abandon, and she turned slightly so that she could grasp a cock in each hand, delighting in their hardness, the thick girth and the erotic pulsing strength. She rubbed and stroked and fondled, her pleasure spiking as their cocks responded, becoming even harder and thicker with her caresses. She squeezed lightly, moaning and enjoying their groans of torment. Jaden lifted his head, his eyes glittering with unabashed lust. “Suck me.” She was about to do as directed when she caught sight of the bottle of chocolate syrup—the one she used in her milk—and a devilish grin covered her lips. It was a wonder she could think, with Morgan’s skilled hands on her breasts teasing her nipples. Jaden caught sight of it. “I distrust that smile.” “What?” Morgan stopped his ministrations and leaned down for a closer look. She reached for the bottle. “Trust me.” She pulled up the stopper and squirted chocolate syrup all over Jaden’s cock. Just looking at the gooey chocolate-covered cock made her mouth water. She beckoned to Morgan. “You too. Here, stand beside Jaden.” Soon, she had two homemade chocolate cock “ice creams”, full of mouth-watering goodness. She caught hold of their cocks gently at the base and her pussy clenched. “Yum.” She dipped her head and licked Jaden’s chocolate-covered cock delicately, tasting the 74

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sweetness of the chocolate and beneath it, the taste that was purely Jaden. She became dizzy at the slight taste. How much more if she had his whole cock in her mouth? She’d be delirious with joy, maybe even about to faint from the ecstasy. She traced the long line of the vein in Jaden’s shaft, from the base of his cock to the tip, then swirled her tongue around the cock head. She did the same for Morgan, who burrowed his fingers into her hair. Soon her hands were full of chocolate as she rubbed along their rigid length and she first sucked one then the other, sucking alternately, deep, strong pulls that had them groaning loudly and pulling on her hair. She laved their cocks with full, heartfelt strokes, licked them clean of chocolate and sucked each steel-hard shaft until Morgan first, then Jaden spilled his seed into her waiting mouth, the salty tang of their cum mixing with the sweet taste of chocolate. She glanced up and was humbled by the looks of deep satisfaction on their faces, that she was able to bring them to such a state. She gave their cocks one final kiss each before regretfully releasing them. “You boys make a good breakfast.” “I’m glad you’re full,” Morgan said as he urged her to stand, then divested her of the robe. “But I’m still hungry.” He snatched the chocolate syrup bottle from the table and squirted some on her breasts, then his mouth latched onto her nipple and sucked hard. He groaned and intensified his efforts, his hands reaching out to cup her buttocks, squeezing and kneading the soft flesh. She moaned at the deep suction and his erotic caresses on her nether regions. Her right leg involuntarily rose up to rub against his thigh. Not a second later, she felt Jaden’s soft hair brushing against her thigh, then his hands were holding her legs apart and his tongue was busy exploring her pussy. Their twin assaults heightened the desire swirling in her, making her cry out and arch her body. She loved having their hands and lips and tongues on her, loved their obvious enjoyment of her body as they caressed and kissed and explored every inch, leaving no patch of skin untouched, slowly, exquisitely, drawing her nerves tight with unreleased tension. Jaden’s tongue stabbed into her channel and her muscles clenched around him, even as she hungered for something bigger, thicker, harder. Her senses deliriously engaged, she didn’t know how the change of location had come about but she was suddenly aware that she was kneeling on the carpeted floor in the living room with her buttocks high in the air. The red carpet was rough beneath her knees and hands and cheek, her body damp with sweat and her hair plastered to her face, then she held her breath as Jaden’s gentle hands caressed her buttocks and his thick hardness nudged the entrance of her pussy, then inched its way inside, at such an unhurried pace that she whimpered his name. He stopped. “What is it, love?” he asked, sounding as though he’d gritted his teeth. Her heart leaped at his choice of endearment but she dismissed it, knowing that people tended to say anything when in the throes of passion. “Faster.” A short laugh burst from his throat. “This is better.” “I want to feel all of you…in me.”

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“Soon,” he groaned above her but she knew he was affected by what she’d said because he jerked involuntarily within her, accidentally brushing against a highly sensitized part inside her channel. She moaned at the exquisite sensation. “Again. Do that…again.” “What? This?” He withdrew slightly then pushed back in. “Yes, yes,” she cried. A curl of pleasure—different from any she’d experienced before—swept through her, enticing, tantalizing, making her want to experience it again. “More, oh please, Jaden, don’t stop.” “For you, anything,” he promised, then withdrew and plunged into her with force, rubbing repeatedly over that small spot that caused utmost pleasure to spin within her, making her dizzy. She was lost in the rhythm of sex, surrounded by the sounds and the fragrances of their urgent physical act and heard strange mewling cries of pleasure that she realized with a jolt came from her lips. Jaden’s thrusts became stronger, more powerful and vigorous and when his hands cracked down on the floor beside her and she heard him grunting above her, she knew—Morgan was making love to Jaden in the same way that Jaden was making love to her. Long, deep strokes soon changed into faster, shallower ones. Their pace intensified, became frenzied and then the men pistoned their cocks with a terrible frantic need as the pressure twisted in her, coiled tight and propelled her into convulsive, jerky movements, screaming out her release as her orgasm slammed into her. Jaden continued driving into her and her muscles clenched around his cock mercilessly. He uttered a hoarse cry when she milked him of his seed. Seconds later, Morgan also shouted his release, slumping over them both, and she welcomed their heavy, smothering weight. Morgan groaned, withdrew from Jaden and flopped down onto the carpet with a heavy thud, as though his legs couldn’t support him anymore. Jaden followed suit and arranged them so that she lay on the carpet with him keeping her backside warm. Sleep stealing through her veins, Rhiane dimly realized she missed having Morgan on her other side but she guessed it was only fair that they take turns and it seemed to be Jaden’s turn now to have two bodies warming him. As though he’d heard her thoughts, Jaden snagged the throw off the sofa and threw it lightly about their cooling bodies. Incongruently, she giggled, remembering how they had started in the kitchen, then ended up in the living room. “What is it?” Jaden nudged her lightly, his hand sweeping lazily up her hips and dipping low in the valley of her waist under the throw. “Just wondering if we’re going to christen every room in this house,” she answered, contented and drowsy. “Morgan and I have already done so.” Jaden chuckled. “I think it’s only fair that we do it with you too.” “Speaking of Morgan, how are you doing?” Belatedly, she remembered he hadn’t eaten since yesterday’s nuncheon. “Hungry yet?” The word reminded her how they

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had come to this situation and her sleepiness faded away as she scrambled to find the right words. “I mean the physical hunger—oh blast. Your-your stomach! Yes, that’s what I meant.” The men were howling with laughter by then. She covered her head with her arm and muttered loudly enough for them to hear, “Oh shut up!” Jaden hauled her close to him and dropped a consoling kiss on her shoulder. “You’re adorable.” Jaden sighed with satisfaction and she knew Morgan must’ve settled against him on Jaden’s other side. There was still a trace of laughter to Morgan’s voice when he said, “To answer your question, Rhiane, yes, I’m hungry but I’m too full to stand up and get my food just now.” She didn’t mistake his deliberately contradictory statement, knowing he was referring to two different things. This lighter side of Morgan wasn’t something she had seen before and she was entranced. Suddenly, she wanted to know everything about them, every small detail that made them the men they were today. But first there was something she needed to clear up. “You were so weak yesterday you couldn’t stand without the help of medicines and you haven’t had breakfast today. Are you sure you’re all right?” “He’s not yet fully recovered, if that’s what you’re asking,” Jaden said, his hand tracing the curve of her hip. Morgan growled at him. “But the rest did him good, so don’t worry too much about him and it’s closer to nuncheon now than breakfast.” Jaden blew into her ear lightly, making her giggle, before he set about teasing her ear, licking and drawing it into his mouth. “I don’t remember having dinner last night,” she confessed abstractedly, her body tingling from Jaden’s ministrations. “You didn’t and neither did I.” Morgan’s satisfied sigh reached her ear and he was making kissing noises, so she supposed he must be showering Jaden’s backside with kisses. Just thinking about it made her shiver. “I did wake up when we reached home but all I could do was stumble my way into bed, while Jaden carried you in. The moment my head hit the pillow, I was off into dreamland, so I daresay Jaden helped us out of our clothes and made us comfortable.” “I should get a trophy for keeping my hands off both of you,” Jaden murmured in her ear. “It was hell lying in bed, hard and aching but not able to do anything about it.” She drew a sharp intake of breath when he hit a particularly sensitive spot in her ear. “We have…the whole of today…to do something…about it,” she gasped. “What a lovely thought.” He sucked her pointed ear one more time but he withdrew reluctantly and said, “Unfortunately, we have to talk.” “What about?” “Bia.”

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The lovely feeling that had suffused her was immediately shadowed, marred by the ugly memory of treachery and betrayal. “Please, can we talk about her later?” She caressed Jaden’s hand where it lay on her hip. “Everything’s been so…beautiful today, perfect. I don’t want to think of anything else for now…except you and Morgan and what we shared.” She had already decided that she would give herself this day in which to indulge her deepest needs and wants, because tomorrow would bring duty and responsibility in the form of her sister. Knowing that the hours were numbered, she wanted her memories—the only memories that she’d probably have with them—to be wonderful and unblemished by any black spots. At the same time, she hoped she wasn’t revealing too much by what she’d said. For Jaden and Morgan to guess that she was beginning to care for them when they couldn’t return her feelings was an embarrassment that she didn’t want to face. It was a good thing then that she wasn’t facing either of them when she made her request, as she was afraid that her feelings may be written all over her face. “All right, sweetling.” Jaden dropped a kiss on her shoulder. “We’ll talk about it later, maybe tonight.” “Thank you.” She dragged in a breath of relief then asked in a cheerfully bright voice, “So, Morgan, what’s your favorite food?” “Why? Are you going to cook for me someday?” Morgan teased. “Maybe.” If I’m here long enough. “My mother’s cooking,” he said wickedly. “Ha, no way can I replicate that.” “Whenever I catch the aroma of food that is similar to the food my mother used to cook, I remember her.” Though Jaden was between them and Morgan’s voice had gone soft, there was no mistaking the wistful quality in it. “Maybe you should go back home more often,” she suggested gently. “My parents are gone now.” “I’m sorry.” She could tell from his voice that he still missed them, a sentimental streak that she didn’t think to see in Morgan. He must have had a happy childhood and family life. “No other relatives? Sisters? Brothers?” “Only one sister,” he confirmed, “who lives with her husband at the farthest end of the galaxy, which is why we don’t see each other more often.” “One husband?” “Yes, that’s the norm in Nericia.” “Not that hard to imagine,” Rhiane said, “for me, that is, as my mother is from Earth.” “My sister did take some time to adjust but she loves the Nerician tremendously, so she learned to live with it.”

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Jaden asked in a plaintive voice, his breath feathering her hair, “Can we talk about me now?” She and Morgan laughed. Obviously, Jaden was kidding around, in tune with the mood that Morgan had established with his teasing. No way would she believe that he was jealous of the interest she’d shown in Morgan. To think so would be disastrous for her calm and equilibrium. “All right,” she said good-humoredly. “What’s your favorite food?” “I don’t have any. I eat anything and everything.” She turned around then, drew off the cloth and surveyed his lean and lanky frame in a slow, deliberate caress, lingering on the part of him that was thick and long. Even as she watched, his cock started to lengthen and to harden, rising from its place between Jaden’s thighs. “It’s a wonder you’re not fat or bulky.” “Excellent constitution,” he answered thickly. “Hmmm…” She stroked his taut belly with her gaze then swept upward to test the solidity of his chest and the breadth of his shoulders. Finally, she met the molten silver of his eyes and saw the hunger she was sure was mirrored in hers. Her thoughts scattered but she tried hard to remember what it was they were talking about, though all she could think about was how good he had felt inside her. “Your parents? Siblings?” “The Mainland.” Jaden shuddered and closed his eyes. She wondered at his reaction, then saw that Morgan had reached out from behind and clasped Jaden’s cock in his large hand. Morgan fondled him with the ease of long familiarity, his strokes slow and loving, and Jaden moaned and his whole body trembled. Rhiane watched, fascinated. She’d never seen them make love before, because in all the time they’d been together, both men had been intent on making love to her. Morgan kissed Jaden’s shoulder and dragged his tongue down Jaden’s arm. With a groan, Jaden turned his head and the two men kissed. From her vantage point, she saw their tongues dart in and out of their mouths until Morgan caught hold of Jaden’s pink tongue and sucked. The action sent a surge of pure lust to her pussy. She’d never thought it would be so erotic to watch two men make love. Morgan broke the kiss, though he never stopped caressing Jaden’s cock. “You haven’t answered Rhiane’s question,” he rasped. Rhiane moaned at the interruption. She’d rather continue watching than have the answer to her question! Which was…which was… What was it, anyway? Jaden also stared up at Morgan uncomprehendingly, who prompted, “Your parents? Siblings?” “My parents…” Jaden trailed away and swallowed hard, then he faced her, reaching out with his hand to touch her face. “They live on the Mainland and my siblings…three of them…are all scattered…elsewhere. I’m the only…” He sucked in a

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deep breath as she pressed her face against his palm. “The only one…with psi talent in the…family.” “Any more questions?” Morgan asked. “Yes…” There was one swirling in the mists of her brain. Now if she could only root it out… She could feel it forming in her consciousness but it slipped away again when Jaden cupped the full weight of her breast in his palm and started playing with her nipple. Gods above, his fingers were magic, drawing an immediate response from her body. Her breasts became heavy and achy and her nipples budded, drawn tight from his teasing. “Rhiane!” Morgan’s sharp voice cut through the sexual haze surrounding her and she resented him for it. She didn’t look away from the beautiful flush on Jaden’s cheek as she pleaded, “Can we not talk, please? I just want to…enjoy…this.” Both men chuckled and Morgan asked, “Are you wet, dearling?” “Yes.” She was so wet she was dripping onto the carpet. “Show me.” “What?” Startled, she glanced at Morgan to see him observing her with half-lidded silver eyes, molten heat flaming in its depths. “Show me,” he repeated. A crazy wildness beat in her breast and she parted her legs slowly, the men’s avid gazes like a drug in her blood, their swift intakes of breath the incentive she needed to go onward. She moved her position so that they were facing her pussy and she widened her legs until they could see the pearls of liquid on her curls and the extreme wetness between her thighs, then she did something she never thought she’d do in a million years. She dipped her fingers into her pussy and coated the two digits liberally with her juices. She released a moan at the contact with her heated flesh, reminding her of something larger than her fingers that she wanted there. The men’s nostrils flared and the sexual tension in the air rose several notches. Sexy. Wanton. She withdrew her fingers and stretched her trembling arm across the air, offering her juice-coated fingers to Morgan. Quivering with boldness, she traced the stern line of his lips, coloring them with the near-transparent liquid, when he opened his mouth and licked and sucked her fingers. The furnace heat of his mouth blasted her senses and she shivered with need, with longing. “Scoot nearer.” Her fingers fell from his mouth as she obeyed, unquestioning. Still, Morgan demanded, “Nearer,” and he wouldn’t let her stop until her front was pressed tight against Jaden’s and her parted pussy lips cupped Jaden’s cock, which Morgan was still caressing. A raw moan escaped her throat from the double assault and Jaden also

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groaned as he buried his face against her hair. Unable to help herself, she stroked Jaden’s naked back and whatever part of Morgan she could reach with her hands. “Lift your leg, dearling,” and Morgan guided Jaden’s cock into her pussy, his thick, hard length filling up her hungry channel, and the contact was so sweet, so satisfying that she cried out. Jaden absorbed her cries with his mouth and he kissed her with urgency and desperation and she had the uncanny feeling that he was feeling more than what he could show with his actions. She knew, because she felt the same way, her emotions welling up from deep within her, rising and swelling until they overflowed into movements, for Jaden had rolled her until she was beneath him and as though driven by some demonic need, he plunged and withdrew in and out of her with frantic haste, with no control or finesse. Like some mindless animal in heat, he rutted in her over and over and gods above help her, she was right there with him. Her feet firmly planted on the carpet, she rolled and bucked her hips, meeting his strokes, inciting him to a more violent fucking as he slammed into her, over and over, their colliding bodies making sharp thwacking sounds, her entire being straining…and she uttered a loud, hoarse cry, writhing and jerking as a soul-numbing orgasm smashed into her, causing her to shudder endlessly, her pussy clamping about Jaden’s cock, gripping him tight, milking him. He drove in and thrust twice more, before he shouted her name and jetted his seed into her channel. He collapsed on top of her, murmuring her name, and she felt a deep contentment. She wanted to sweep his hair back from his damp face but she couldn’t find the energy to even lift her hand. “Awesome, huh?” She opened one eye to see Morgan sitting beside them and smiling down at them indulgently, one hand stroking his cock, which glistened with his cum. “Yes…” “I know.” “You…know?” She wondered if there was something wrong with her hearing. How could Morgan know? Ah, of course, he could see them and hear them but it turned out she was wrong. “Yes. I felt what Jaden experienced and man, that was one wild ride!” Morgan’s smile broadened into a grin. Now she was confused. “But how…” “We’re empaths, dearling, and most especially during lovemaking, our shields are lowered, our projector nerves go wild, our receiver nerves more attuned than ever, enabling us to feel what the other is going through. All the masters know this but we don’t advertise this kind of knowledge because we don’t want the journeymen and apprentices suddenly hooking up with one another just to experience it. But I have to tell you, it’s incredible,” Morgan said softly, his gaze turning inward. His explanation made her more confused and bewildered. “But I don’t… I mean…I didn’t…I didn’t experience it.” 81

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Morgan sobered and turned grave and he was probably the only man she knew who could look solemn while bare naked with one hand stroking his cock. He leaned down and tweaked her nose. “That’s because you’re keeping something from us. Only when you’re fully opened to your partners can you experience the kind of wonder that I was telling you about, but don’t worry about it. Even among masters, only a few empath triads are able to achieve it.” Rhiane closed her eyes, lest he glimpse something in them, because she knew the truth of his words. She was indeed keeping something from them and never—never— would she let them see just how much they were coming to mean to her. At the end of the day, she wanted to leave them with her head held high and her pride intact. No clinging, no tears, no begging for them to love her.

***** Jaden and Rhiane were so exhausted from their exertions that they fell into a short nap. The next thing she knew, Morgan had already satisfied his hungry stomach and he was shaking them awake for a much-needed wash. After a lot of splashing and goofing around and laughter and making love in the washing area, they dressed themselves in clean clothes for the promised outing. Morgan and Jaden led her to see the tree they’d planted in honor of Earth Day. There was once, many years ago, a time when Earth was almost denuded of trees and plants due to the humans’ carelessness and the humans had to import oxygen from other planets in order to survive. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Earth’s governor had made plans to rectify the situation and about five hundred years later, Earth was once again covered with beautiful trees and flowering plants. Resolving not to allow the planet to go the way of Earth, Var’al Than’s governor had immediately declared an Earth day, when volunteers planted a tree in the park and cared for it all throughout their lives, as a symbolic reminder of the tragedy that had happened to Earth and the prayer that it might not befall Var’al Than. Because of the tree-planting exercise, the park was almost covered with trees of every conceivable size and height. Enchanted with the lush greenery, Rhiane ran from tree to tree, laughing, eyes bright and face flushed with exertion, daring her men to catch her. Exhilaration rang in her veins, excitement making her skin glow. Here and there, couples and triads were entwined and making love under the thick shade of the trees. Known also as Lovers’ Nook, this part of the park was barred from children for reasons that became obvious to Rhiane. “Caught you.” Jaden hauled her into his arms, laughing, and stole a hard, passionate kiss. He lifted his head and they stared into each other’s eyes, panting, then he lowered his head and kissed her again, a gentle and soul-destroying kiss that almost made her weep. After he placed a kiss on her temple, he caught her hand in his and led her to a vibrantly growing tree several paces away. “This is the tree Morgan and I planted.”

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Rhiane lifted her head and admired the thick green foliage. “It’s beautiful.” She walked closer to the trunk and saw the carved initials—J&M. She traced the indentations and experienced a bittersweet feeling as she wondered if some day, a woman’s initial would be carved beside Morgan’s. “How sweet.” Morgan came puffing up and placed a hand against the tree. “How…inconsiderate of you…to run so fast.” “I’m so sorry.” Rhiane patted his cheek comfortingly. “But we understand that you’re not naturally weak, Morgan. You just haven’t fully recovered yet from the probe.” His arm was hard around her waist as he drew her to him. “Are you mocking me, woman?” “Never,” she cried out, giggling as his free hand tickled her waist. “Stop, stop!” “You have to do your bit for this tree then.” “Should I go get the watering pail?” Her heart started to beat even faster as his hand caressed the curve of her hip under her tunic, hooked into the waistband of her flimsy undergarment and ripped it off her. “Morgan?” She’d meant to be disapproving but his name had come out as a question…and an entreaty. She was becoming more and more wanton by the minute and she didn’t know if it was a good thing. Before, she’d been shy even to kiss in public but now she didn’t think anything about making love in the park in broad daylight except that the venue gave an added thrill to the experience. She even found Morgan’s forceful action stimulating, the primitive deed striking a raw chord within her, and her pussy became wetter with each second. “Yes,” he answered her unspoken question and he withdrew his hand to push down his trouse and free his burgeoning cock, which sought her heat eagerly. “Water the tree with your essence.” He turned around until her back was against the tree and drove into her in one smooth, swift move. He maintained his long, deep strokes for some time and incited her to thicker and more generous lubrication. The bark of the tree was cool against her back, in contrast to the heat of Morgan’s body and she moaned as the hot, hard length of his cock thrust hard and fierce with deliberate force into the moist warmth of her pussy. Jaden helped by teasing her to distraction, taunting her nipples and exciting them to turgid rosiness after he had discarded her tunic. The men took turns fucking her against the tree, each time propelling her higher and higher until their shouts rang across the park and her juices and their cum mingled and fell onto the soft soil.

***** Her body had been so thoroughly pleasured today in every conceivable position and manner that she was already sore and aching. But it was a pleasurable ache and

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nothing she wanted to complain about, except maybe if it would get Morgan and Jaden to rub and stroke her skin with pain-numbing ointment. After coming home from the park, they had a light dinner with everyone pitching in to prepare and enjoy the simple meal, then they had proceeded to christen the desk in the small library and the sturdy formal dining table. At this moment, Rhiane was sprawled on her stomach across Jaden’s body on the bed, having ridden him to oblivion just a few minutes ago. Morgan, who had ridden her, had rolled off her back and now lay beside Jaden. Morgan’s eyes were closed but he was smiling. “You know, we really ought to go back to the park more often.” “And why is that?” She moved her hand the few necessary inches and caressed the skin above the inside of his elbow. His smile was pure wickedness. “A tree that tall and huge needs more watering.” “Hmmm…I’m sure,” she answered dryly. If only she was still here after this night, she wouldn’t mind visiting the tree with them on a daily basis. “Have you been together long?” “I think…” Morgan frowned. “About three ZYAL but if you want the exact number of days, I’d have to make some calculations.” He nudged Jaden’s leg with his toe. “What do you think?” “About there,” Jaden mumbled sleepily. “You’re no help at all,” Morgan said in mock disgust. “You’re doing very well so far.” She scowled at Morgan. “Oh let the man sleep. He woke up earlier than us to prepare that scrumptious breakfast, if you remember.” “Oh all right.” Morgan sat up to throw the blanket over them. “Are we sleeping now too?” “Don’t tell me you’re up for another round.” “I am.” His silver orbs glinted. “If you are.” Rhiane thrilled to know that she was not the only one who was insatiable for them. But no, she reminded herself ruthlessly, squashing the tiny flame of hope flaring within her, it didn’t mean anything. It was just sex. For a moment, she was tempted but the soreness of her body convinced her otherwise. “I need a rest too.” His eyes laughed up at her. “Spoilsport.” “Since you’re not yet sleepy, why don’t you tell me how you and Jaden got together?” “Basically, you could say that we grew up together, having been apprenticed to the same journeyman and later on the same master.” Morgan smiled in reminiscence. “We were good friends, yes but we never thought we would end up together.”

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“So when did you?” Morgan frowned thoughtfully up at her. “I suppose there was always this undercurrent of attraction between us but we never acknowledged it. Instead, we buried it beneath jokes and pranks and dates with other men and women. Maybe we thought our friendship wouldn’t survive a more intense relationship.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Anyway, when we were studying for our final qualifying examinations for the master level, Jaden’s girlfriend broke up with him and good friend that I was, I tried to comfort him and…” “You ended up in bed together,” she guessed. “Yes.” He smiled at her sheepishly. “We’ve been together ever since.” “No women?” She regretted the question the moment it left her mouth. She hoped Morgan would think it was just a desultory curiosity on her part. “There have been a few and you know about Marissa but none that we feel strongly about enough to ask to be our wife.” His piercing silver gaze caught her own and held her enthralled. She wanted to look away, afraid of the yearning he might see in her soul, but found herself unable to move, immobile for a timeless moment. His gaze changed, becoming serious and she felt a surge of trepidation. “Rhiane…” Oh no, he did see something in my face. When will I learn to keep my feelings to myself? “We need to talk…” “Must we?” she interrupted wildly and closed her eyes. “I’m very sleepy now.” Morgan made a sound of exasperation, placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her lightly. “You can’t keep putting it off, you know…” I don’t see why not. I’ll be leaving tomorrow anyway. “You need to face what happened with Bia or you’ll never get over it—” Her eyes snapped open. “Bia?” “What else? Jaden wanted to talk with you about it this morning but you put him off,” he chided. “How do you feel, after knowing what Bia has done?” Remembered pain lanced through her. “It still hurts, especially when she revealed that she exchanged our friendship for a bunch of nuts and bolts.” “Not everyone places the same value on things,” Morgan reminded her. “I know but machines over people?” Rhiane knew her voice held a tone of incredulity that should tell him she still couldn’t understand fully the workings of Bia’s mind. “Perhaps the vehicles were an addiction with her.” “They were.” She remembered how obsessed Bia had always been with the different transports from the other parts of the universe, how she had always spent all her credits on attending the different vehiculum exhibits and in acquiring vehicles that caught her fancy. “Funny as it may seem, now I feel sad for her, for her inability to control her desires, for letting them overtake her good sense and ruin her life this way.”

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Morgan squeezed her hand. “Let’s hope she’ll get counseling courses in prison.” “You think our testimonies are enough to convict her?” “I’m no lawyer but I do hope so. More than that, I hope the Guardian will find those original discs and convict the other people involved in this scam.” Rhiane shivered. “Not before I get my sister out, I hope.” “You’ve done everything you could. Either your sister will get to the station first or the Guardian will get her out from Xentry’s clutches.” “I hope so.” She knew he wanted to ask her something else but a look of indecision crossed his face just then. “What is it?” “Do you think that, after this incident, you’ll find it hard to trust people again?” he asked, reluctance in every line of his body. Rhiane slid off Jaden’s body and sat up, drawing the blanket about her and staring at the bed. She knew what Morgan meant. Had Bia’s betrayal soured her on friendship forever? Made her afraid to put her trust in people ever again? “I don’t know,” she finally answered, slowly because her brain was still processing her thoughts. “I don’t think I’ll know until I’m in the situation where I have to choose between trusting the person or…not. I know not everyone is like Bia and that I shouldn’t let her color my perceptions of other people or let one failed friendship close myself off to other relationships. But she hurt me very badly, Morgan. She hit me where I’m weakest—my fear that my talent is inferior to you full-blooded telepaths. I don’t think it’ll be easy for me to forget that.” She drew in a deep breath, feeling herself perilously close to tears. She would fight this. She wouldn’t allow Bia to destroy the rest that was good in her life. “Maybe in time…” She glanced up and was struck speechless by the utter bleakness of Morgan’s expression. He was that…sad for her? Before she could say anything else, a muffled insistent ringing pealed through the air. “My comm!” She couldn’t remember where she’d placed her bag— “I’ll get it.” Morgan uncurled his tall, naked frame from the bed and walked unselfconsciously toward the wardrobe. He picked up her bag from the floor and strode back toward the bed and sat facing her as she rummaged inside the spacious bag for her wrist-comm. She snapped on the “talk” button and almost fainted with shock when Xentry’s tiny face appeared on the screen. “Uncle Xentry!” Morgan grabbed her arm. Reflexively, she looked at him, to see him mouth, “Calm down, calm down.” Reminded that she shouldn’t give anything away, she glanced back at the screen, clutched the blanket tighter about her shoulders and forced a laugh. “Sorry, Uncle Xentry, I was…um, not prepared to receive any calls, as you can see.” Xentry’s booming laugh sounded out from the tiny speaker. “Your hair is beautifully tousled, beloved niece, so either way, I believe you have just been rolling in 86

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bed.” His tone left her in no doubt that he believed she had just had sex rather than that he’d awakened her with his call. “I would’ve loved to see you in person.” His leering remark surprised and repulsed her. “You’re a beautiful woman, honey, and naked, I’m sure you’re gorgeous to behold. There, honey. Why don’t you lower that blanket a bit—” “Uncle Xentry!” “You know that I was only adopted by your grandparents, Rhiane, so we’re not really blood relations. I don’t see why—” “Uncle Xentry,” she interrupted sweetly. She wanted to curse him down to the hottest inferno but feared for her sister. “Did you call me for something? Is it Khaisie? Is she not concentrating on her lessons again? Maybe it’s better if she comes back here with me.” “Oh no, Khaisie’s fine. Recently, she’s been very attentive. Yes, I’m quite…satisfied with her.” There was something about his pleased smirk and the way he said “recently” and the pregnant pause before the word “satisfied” that caused alarm to ring inside her. “Where is she?” Her voice came out more sharply than she’d intended. “Can I talk to her?” Xentry shook his head. “Afraid not. She’s very busy right now…learning her lessons.” “Busy?” A sliver of fear raced up her spine. Xentry was playing word games with her and she didn’t have time for that. Not right now. She took a deep breath and asked, “All right, Uncle Xentry…” She stumbled over the word “Uncle”. He didn’t deserve to be called “Uncle” and if she found out that he’d harmed Khaisie in any way, she’d make sure he regretted being adopted by her family. “Why did you call me?” “Just to say goodbye.” He sounded almost sorrowful, the villain. “You know, my Akani friend called me late yesterday afternoon to tell me of the most distressing news and just when everything was going so smoothly. I was very sorry to hear about Bia and I know how much she meant to you, since you’re such good friends with her.” He lifted his shoulders, then let them fall. “But well, that’s life, eh, honey?” She stared at him, dumbfounded but her mind was shrieking, He knows, he knows! And if he’s calling me, it means the Guardian hasn’t caught him. Oh no! Khaisie! “Xentry!” she shouted, shaking the wrist-comm. “Where’s Khaisie? Don’t you dare harm my sister or else you’ll—you’ll—” “I’ll what?” Xentry let loose a maniacal laughter and his shoulders shook. “Lose everything I worked for? Thanks to you, I already did!” he snarled. “You’ll pay for this, Rhiane. Oh no, I have the perfect revenge. Not you but your sister!” “No!” Rhiane yelled. “Please, Xentry, not my sister! I’ll strip naked, I’ll do whatever you want—”

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Xentry shook his head. “Too late, Rhiane. You should have thought of the ramifications before you decided to turn Bia in. So anyway, don’t bother trying to find us. We’re not on Earth anymore and if by any chance you’re tracing this call, by the time the Guardian gets here, we’d be gone as well. Good thing the universe is so huge, isn’t it? And if by any chance, your sister starves to death or gets shot while fleeing a robbery, well, we know who’s really to blame for that, don’t we? Goodbye, Rhiane.” “No…” she screamed, frantic and desperate, but the screen went blank. Her heart sank and her mind blanked out, not wanting to think of the situation her sister could be in. She pressed the button frenziedly to call him back but no matter how long she waited, the comm just rang and rang, no one picking it up. “No…Khaisie…” She sobbed. Jaden must’ve awakened from all the commotion, because she felt his arms around her, hugging her tight, making soothing noises. She turned her face into his chest and cried her heart out, hopeless with despair.

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Chapter Eight

Seven months later Rhiane projected herself bowing, her hands clasped together in front of her chest— “Thank you”—and signed off at the conclusion of the transaction. She took off the electrodes from her head and approached each of the parties with a smile and a handshake before leading them to an adjacent room to await their copies of the transaction, which would serve as the contract for their trade. In her office, she finally gave in to the soreness in her neck by rolling her head and massaging her shoulders, grateful that the end of the workday was drawing near. Ever since Morgan and Jaden had healed her, she hadn’t experienced any blackouts and her talent and career had thrived under the mentorship of Master Gethen, a brilliant, nononsense man who had attained his mastership in Intergalactic Commerce within a relatively short period of time. He worked her harder than Bia had ever done, most of the time pushing her past what she thought were her limits, but she never complained, because the work took her mind off thoughts of her sister, who was still missing somewhere in the universe. After she’d received the call from Xentry, she had hightailed it to Earth the next day with Morgan and Jaden. Though she knew she wouldn’t find anything, she’d rushed to Xentry’s residential compound upon arriving on Earth. A Guardian stood sentinel at the gates but he let them in, after verifying their identities with the Guardian outpost. As expected, the place was deserted and provided no clues to Xentry’s destination. Despair clawing at her throat but determined not to give up, Rhiane visited several places where she thought Xentry would probably try to find refuge but her efforts were in vain. Dispirited, she turned the search over to the Intergalactic Intelligence Crime Investigation Unit, who had taken over the case from the Guardian by this time, professionals who would have a better chance of finding Khaisie than her, due to their wider reach and greater resources and network across the universe. Unable to do anything to help in the search effort, she hired the best private detective she could afford and she worked hard every day so that she could earn enough credits to pay the detective’s exorbitant fees. Morgan and Jaden had offered to relieve a portion of her financial burdens but she wouldn’t accept, as Khaisie was her sister but nothing to them. After their return from Earth, she had made a token suggestion to go back to her own home but Morgan and Jaden had overridden her protests, stating that at this point in her life, she needed someone to be with her and to take care of her. She didn’t accept their reasoning, as she had survived on her own very well for the past few years and

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taken care of Khaisie besides, but she found that she needed their arms around her during the cold nights, she needed their presence to keep the nightmares at bay and at times, when she was near the breaking point from anxiety at having received no news of her sister, she needed someone to talk with, to pour out her worries and apprehension. Sometimes, they didn’t have any words to offer. Instead, they drew her into a lovemaking so slow and sweet and so full of tenderness she wanted to cry. She fitted into the pattern of their lives easily but for a few minor adjustments and the ease with which she was able to do so scared her a little. The insistent beep of her video-comm located on the upper right side of her table snapped her out of her reverie. She brushed her hair back from her face and pushed the blinking red button. Jaden’s smiling face looked out at her. “Hello, love. Tired?” That was another thing. Lately, Morgan and Jaden had taken to using that particular word interchangeably with the other endearments and it unsettled her, made her feel uneasy, because in her vulnerable condition, she knew she could get very easily accustomed to hearing it on their lips, when it was a big no-no, because there was nothing between them, because she was a mere substitute for the woman they really wanted! The worst thing was that the endearment filled her with a bittersweet feeling and made her realize just how much she ached for it to be real. But she wasn’t up to arguing with him about it, so she just smiled back, albeit it was a mere lifting of the corners of her lips. “Yes, it’s been a long day. I only had about ten minutes break between each of the six meetings that I had to attend today.” She grimaced and added, “And only a cup of coffee for nuncheon.” “Oh you poor sweetling.” Despite his sympathetic words, his tone was amused. “Tell you what, I’ll pick you up on my way home and you don’t need to worry about how you’re going to go to the office tomorrow. Either Morgan or I will run you by the Federation before going to the clinic. How’s that?” That was Jaden—sensitive, thoughtful, anticipating her needs. How was she going to be able to walk away when they asked her to leave? “Rhiane, what’s wrong?” Jaden asked, a worried frown on his face. “If you don’t like the idea—” “No, it’s fine,” she said hastily, smoothing her expression into a smile. She should remember that Jaden could see her every expression on the video-comm. “It’s just that I don’t like the thought of taking either you or Morgan out of your way—” “Rhiane, you know we never liked the idea of you in that junk you insist on driving. If you won’t let us replace it with a newer model, at least allow us to drive you once in a while to ease our minds, all right?” “All right,” she started to say, just as she caught sight of Shely, her apprentice, hovering in the open doorway with a folder. She nodded then turned back to Jaden with an apologetic look. “Sorry, Jaden, I have to get back to work.” “I’ll see you later, love.” Rhiane switched off the video-comm and beckoned her apprentice inside. 90

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“Is that Master Jaden? Sorry, I didn’t mean to overhear but he’s so romantic.” Shely sighed theatrically and Rhiane expected to see tiny hearts hovering above Shely’s head. “Maybe you’re in the wrong course,” Rhiane remarked wryly. “What do you mean?” “The way you always have romance on your mind, maybe you should study for mastership in match facilitations instead.” She’d meant it as a joke but Shely’s eyes lit up. “You think?” Shely’s response gave her pause. “It’s not too late to change your mind, Shely, but you do have to consider carefully if it is what you really want.” Rhiane would hate losing an apprentice with such potential but Shely had to be happy with her chosen career or she would just be wasting her life. “I’ll think on it,” Shely promised, then handed her the folder. “This is the material you requested for your transactions tomorrow morning…” Barely an hour later, Rhiane stepped out of the lift and saw Jaden waiting for her in the lobby, staring broodingly into space. As always, whenever she caught sight of him, her pulse raced and her heartbeat quickened. Initially, it had been his masculine good looks that caused these reactions but now, the physical attraction was tempered and deepened by an intimate knowledge of his character and personality, which drew her even more. She walked toward him, smiling and calling out a greeting, “Hey.” In response, he pulled her into his arms and claimed her lips for a slow, hot kiss. Helplessly, she responded, her lips moving beneath his as she kissed him back. She knew she should be embarrassed about kissing in a public place but being with Morgan and Jaden had washed away whatever inhibitions she had. She didn’t know how long they kissed—it could’ve been hours or mere minutes—but she knew she was shaking with desire when he lifted his head and said huskily, “I’ve missed you.” She blinked, recovered her equilibrium and swatted him on the arm. “You just saw me this morning, silly,” she said lightly. He made a face and caught her hand. “It’s nine hours too long. Let’s go.” He led her to the hovercar he normally drove. “We have a surprise for you.” “What is it?” She buckled in her seat belt and turned to him expectantly. He grinned and started the engine and the hovercar rose smoothly into the air. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if I tell you, would it?” “C’mon, tell me,” she needled. “I’ll still act surprised, promise.” Jaden laughed. “Oh no you don’t. Morgan will kill me if I breathe even a hint.” “Speaking of Morgan, where is he?” Deciding she would know soon enough, she stopped pressing Jaden, as he could be very close-mouthed when he wanted to be. “At home.”

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Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh, is that the surprise? Morgan cooking?” Jaden began laughing again. “Morgan, cook? Yeah, he’s going to surprise you into indigestion.” “That would not be a surprise.” “How true.” “So what’s he doing at home?” “Well, if you must know, he volunteered to prepare our dinner tonight, so my guess is that he made several visits to restaurants and is now busy transferring the dishes onto the plates.“ Rhiane laughed at the picture Jaden drew for her. “But why? Why not let you go home and cook and come fetch me himself?” “Maybe he wants us to have some alone time together?” When Rhiane glanced over at him, she saw Jaden waggling his eyebrows suggestively, which made her decide to call his bluff. She lowered her eyelids and stared at him seductively. “Hmmm…so thoughtful of him.” She licked her lips and ran her fingers down the length of his cloth-covered arm. “I’ve always fancied making love in the hovercar, you know…” She slid her hands under the schirte and caressed his smooth, taut belly. “You already did it once.” Jaden wasn’t laughing anymore. Instead, he was staring straight at the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel tight, causing his knuckles to turn white. “But that was in the backseat,” she pouted and shifted closer to him. “I want to do it in the driver’s seat, while we’re moving—” “That’s dangerous,” he barked and a pulse beat wildly in his jaw. “And exciting,” she breathed, her heart pounding with excitement. She realized that she had moved from playing a role into reality but she hadn’t been aware when she had crossed that line. “C’mon, Jaden, you know you want to—” “That’s beside the point—” He broke off when her hand dipped beneath his trouse and brushed against his hot, pulsing length. The hovercar swerved slightly. “You’re hard.” Wonder and awe tinged her voice, as she maneuvered her hand to catch hold of him. What she wouldn’t give to be able to rip his trouse off him and make love to him properly. “It doesn’t take much.” Jaden released a short bark of laughter. “I get hard just by looking at you.” She was startled at his confession and shivered as she realized the extent of her power over him. Based on her physical appearance, that was. Her hand closed around him and he released a raw groan. Her pussy clenched in response. She rubbed him with slow, short strokes as she watched him, watched the passion transfuse his face, watched him grit his teeth and focus all his concentration on the road. “If you want us to get home in one piece, Rhiane, you better stop that,” he said harshly. 92

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She reluctantly withdrew her hand and sat back in her seat, hands clasped on her lap, trembling. She couldn’t help but notice though that the hovercar was moving at a faster speed. “So…” Her voice cracked, so she took a deep breath and tried again, “How was your day?” Though she tried for normalcy, she was very aware of the sexual tension that sizzled between them. She squirmed a little, noting the dampness between her thighs. “Good,” he said tersely. When he didn’t speak further, she asked, “More?” “I’ll give you more later,” he promised in a low voice. She cracked a laugh. “Damn it, Jaden. I’m trying to make conversation here.” “Sorry.” He drew in a deep breath. “My cock’s aching so damn hard it’s difficult to think.” “I guess I should say sorry for that.” “No, never.” He was silent for a moment, then he said, “In the morning, several children came to see me for their head fever, all minor illnesses. In the afternoon, I swung by the academy to teach rudimentary healing techniques to fifth ZYAL apprentices. Then I swung by the novice class to check on the new recruits I helped bring over from the Mainland more than a quarter of a ZYAL ago.” “How are they doing?” “Taking to their lessons very well. There are one or two with very strong psi talent and I have great hopes of their attaining mastership at an advanced pace. I finished early, so I thought I’d pick you up and we could go back home together.” A sudden thought flashed in her mind. “So Morgan didn’t volunteer, did he?” she asked dryly. Jaden glanced at her, startled, then he burst into hearty laughter. “You caught on fast. Yes, you might say I volunteered his dinner services.” “So I have you to blame should I get indigestion.” “How would you punish me?” A naughty tone crept into his voice and somehow, the punishment she thought of was to tie his four limbs to the bedposts so that he lay spread-eagled on the bed and then she and Morgan would torture and torment Jaden with their hands and lips and tongues for hours until he cried for mercy, until he begged for release. Her cheeks flared with heat and she looked out the window, though she saw nothing of the scenery. “I’ll have to think of something,” she mumbled. His low laughter caressed her sensitive skin and stayed with her. A moment later, she rallied and opened up another topic for conversation and though they kept their light banter throughout the rest of the way home, she was conscious of the double meaning behind the words they spoke and of the intent behind the burning glances they gave one another.

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Finally, Jaden parked the hovercar in the garage and shut off the engine. Rhiane opened the door and stumbled to the ground, her body a shivering mass of heightened nerves. After seven months of living together, she couldn’t believe that she still possessed this deep hunger for them, this insatiable need to be filled by them, this— She jumped and screamed a little when Jaden took her elbow to steady her. “Easy, love,” Jaden cautioned in a soft voice. His beautiful eyes were a fiery molten silver and his hand seared her flesh, imprinting itself on her. His eyes called to her and she reached up to caress his face. “Just a few more steps…C’mon…” Morgan opened the door just as they reached it. “I heard your vehicle—” A strange stillness came over him when Rhiane glanced at him, then he continued thickly, “That must be some serious foreplay you had—” The rest of his words were cut off when he claimed her lips in a passionate kiss and he pressed the hard length of his body against hers. Jaden’s body heated her back and he licked and kissed her pointed ear. She had an incredible sense of homecoming, as if this was where she belonged, in Morgan’s and Jaden’s arms, in their house. After what seemed like an eternity, Jaden lifted his head from her throat and she murmured a protest. “Inside,” he said harshly, nudging Morgan, who, dazed, stumbled as he complied. Jaden propelled her inside, his hands on her shoulders. “How’s the food coming along?” “You can think of food at this time?” Morgan asked, incredulous. The door slammed shut behind them. “Damn the food,” Jaden muttered as he disposed of his clothes in short order. Rhiane’s hands fumbled at her own clothing but when she saw Jaden’s beautiful cock, all thoughts flew out of her head. This was the cock that was denied her awhile ago and she meant to have it now. With an inarticulate cry, she dropped to her knees in front of him and held his thick, hard length in her hand. She caressed his throbbing cock with fast, short strokes, her other hand slipping between his thighs to stroke his balls. Jaden groaned harshly and pushed his fingers into her hair, tugging. She knew what he wanted. She bent her head and traced with her tongue the deep, pulsing vein in his cock, which ignited a corresponding response in her pussy. “Yes,” Jaden hissed. “More.” She was lost, lost in the ultimate objective of pleasing Jaden. She knew she held the dark sensual power over him, over Morgan, able to make them cry out with pleasure or sob with torment should she wish to torture them. She reveled in her might and realized that for tonight, she was going to give him—them—ecstasy. She swirled her tongue on his cock head, spearing the drop of pre-cum that had leaked out. She licked and kissed every inch of his cock, down to his balls, enjoying his musky scent and the tightness of his grip on her hair and the raw, heartfelt groans that he dished out. And then Morgan was there, lapping Jaden’s cock with his tongue and

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the erotic thrill of desire swelled in her as their tongues met in passing, stroking, caressing, Jaden’s cock between them and the heat of their breaths mingling. Morgan’s hands were on her breasts, tweaking her nipples, while he sucked Jaden’s cock into his mouth and she rasped her teeth lightly over the skin of Jaden’s balls, her head resting against the firmness of his thighs, their maleness surrounding her, overwhelming her, her hands curled around Jaden’s leg for balance and she kissed the underside of his cock, sucking and licking on his hardened length. “Ah…ah…I’m coming!” Jaden shouted. He exploded into Morgan’s mouth. His face grimacing in a contortion of pain, Jaden pulled out and shot the rest of his cum into her waiting mouth. She wanted him, she wanted everything she could get of him. She swallowed and closed her mouth over him and he thrust into her thrice more before his cock slowly went flaccid. “That was incredible,” he breathed. “You better believe it,” Morgan commented, heaving as he rested his head against Jaden’s thigh. “I want to experience the same thing next time.” The doorbell pealed throughout the house. “Ignore it,” Jaden instructed harshly, which Rhiane was only too happy to obey as Morgan claimed her lips in a hard kiss and the taste of Jaden’s cum in both their mouths fueled her desire. Her fingers fumbled clumsily on the buttons on Morgan’s schirte, when finally, in frustration, she popped them off one by one with a rush of adrenaline. She was lost in a haze of sensual lust and the only things she knew were the hard, satin texture of Morgan’s skin beneath her fingertips, the harsh breathing of her lovers above her head, the fragrance of Morgan’s man scent and the rigid stub of Morgan’s nipple in her mouth as she sucked greedily when Jaden forcibly drew them apart. She protested and clung to Morgan’s arms. “No—Morgan—” Jaden shook her by the shoulders. “Listen.” And though she wanted nothing more than to taste Morgan again, she rocked back on her heels, breathing deeply to slow her loud and quickening heartbeats so that she could hear whatever it was Jaden wanted her to hear. She caught the tail end of a musical female voice, which started again after a few seconds’ pause. You have three visitors. Lieutenant Colonel Skylar, head of Team Six of the Intergalactic Intelligence Crime Investigation Unit, and two others. Puzzled as to why the other two visitors weren’t named, it was some time before the import of the visitors’ occupation struck her. Her heart leaped and she clutched Morgan’s and Jaden’s hands. Eyes shining, she exclaimed, “Khaisie! They may have some news about Khaisie.” She scrambled up and would’ve rushed for the door when Jaden stopped her. “You’re not dressed for visitors,” he said wryly, then reached out to button up her schirte, which Morgan had undone, before arranging his own trouse.

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Morgan muttered something and hurried off, the two sides of his schirte flapping behind him. Barely able to keep her feet from dancing in excitement, she rushed to the door with Jaden at her side, who commanded, “Front entrance, open.” The head of Team Six of the IICIU was a tall, lean man who possessed an imposing figure and a commanding air of authority. That the team head himself had come in person was something that was not lost on Rhiane. His subordinate was standing behind him to his left and if there was another person, Rhiane couldn’t see him. “Lieutenant Colonel Skylar, welcome.” Jaden inclined his head and gestured toward the living area. “Won’t you come in?” “Thank you,” the lieutenant colonel said briefly, before fixing his gaze on Rhiane, who was standing beside Jaden. “You are Journeywoman Rhiane?” “Yes sir.” She knew her eyes were wide and hopeful and she was probably setting herself up for disappointment but she didn’t care. “Is there news of my sister?” The stern visage relented to permit a little smile. “I have something better than that.” He stepped aside and pushed someone who had hitherto been hidden behind his bulk forward. “Here she is.” Her mind blank and uncomprehending, Rhiane merely stared for several seconds at the girl who flinched away reflexively from his touch, before staring back at Rhiane, lips trembling. Joy erupted like a fountain from deep within Rhiane and she laughed and cried at the same time. She rushed forward, her arms outstretched. “Khaisie!” “Rhiane!” She closed her arms around Khaisie’s slight figure, trying to absorb her sister’s incessant trembling with her strength and savoring the pleasure of her sister’s warm body and the tightness of the younger girl’s grip around her body. Rhiane had waited long for this day, she had never given up hope and now she couldn’t think of anything except that she had her sister back. This time, Rhiane was going to keep her safe and nothing would take Khaisie away from her again. In a burst of spontaneous gratitude, Rhiane broke away from her sister to turn toward the lieutenant colonel, put her arms around his neck and planted a heartfelt kiss on his surprised lips. “Oh thank you, thank you very much!” “You’re…uh, welcome,” he replied as he tried to extricate her arms awkwardly. She swore she could feel his neck heat up from her embrace. To save the good man from further embarrassment, Rhiane good-naturedly stepped away from him and wiped her tears with the back of her hands. He continued speaking, “But you should really thank your sister. It was her wit and strength to survive that saved her.” Startled, Rhiane glanced at Khaisie, who ducked her head and seemed to shrink in on herself. “What do you mean?” “Perhaps we should all sit down?” Jaden suggested politely.

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When they were all seated, including Morgan, who had joined them wearing a fresh schirte, Lieutenant Colonel Skylar explained, “Your sister escaped from Xentry, where they were hiding on the planet Murdoon.” Rhiane stared at Khaisie, stricken. Murdoon. From her schooling in the Academy, what little that Rhiane could remember about the planet was that it possessed a bleak landscape with a lot of mountains and little greenery and thus, it was the favorite dumping ground of criminals by all the governments in the entire galaxy of Shuo ’zanil II. Not some place she wished her sister had been staying the past seven months, yet it was the perfect hideout. Khaisie met her stare head-on, though her hand clung to Rhiane’s in a tight grip. “Yes, it was bad but I clung to the hope that one day, I’d escape and see you again, Rhie. I remembered what you told me that day you called me, that I should go to the nearest Guardian outpost and wait for you to pick me up. I was so glad to be out of…of his clutches soon that I was already walking toward the door even before we’d said goodbye. But just as I reached the front entrance, he came back, confiscated my wristcomm and had his men tie me up and drag me to his vehicle.” Rhiane felt her trembling all over and she couldn’t do anything except listen in anguish at the nightmare her sister had gone through. “I…” Khaisie bit her lip and looked away. “To cut a long story short, I was always on the alert for an opportunity to escape and when one presented itself to me a few days ago, I took it. I ran to the Guardian outpost that I remembered seeing and poured out my story.” “Your sister’s courage and bravery is to be commended, Journeywoman,” Skylar said gravely. “She also helped us to capture Xentry and his accomplices and I daresay with her testimony as well as the physical evidence of Xentry’s espionage activities from the discs that we found in Master Telepath Bia’s residence, we can have them locked behind bars for the rest of their lives, even the Akani, whom we had picked up several months back.” “That is very good news indeed, sir!” Rhiane sniffed and wiped away the mist that had gathered to film her eyes. She wasn’t normally given to bouts of weeping but having Khaisie back safe and sound and learning of her harrowing ordeal had somehow triggered the watering pot in her. She hugged Khaisie again, unable to help herself, yet aware of her sister’s thin and fragile bones, she was careful not to embrace her too hard, lest she break. “I’m so glad you’re back. I’ve missed you so.” “Me too,” Khaisie whispered, her arms going about Rhiane. Sadly, it seemed to Rhiane that the cheerful and exuberant little sister that she’d known was gone forever. They stayed that way for several seconds, before Rhiane registered the smiles that were coming to the men’s lips and the indulgent expressions on Morgan’s and Jaden’s faces. She broke away and faced the two representatives from Team Six of the IICIU.

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“Oh thank you, thank you very much, sir. Now we can go about our lives with peace of mind—” Beside her, Khaisie shuddered. Rhiane immediately turned to her, her sharp eyes now noting the haunted eyes, pale cheeks and bone-deep weary expression. “Khaisie, what is it?” Khaisie shook her head and Rhiane could see that she was trying hard to control another deep shudder that wracked her thin frame. “Nothing.” “She’s exhausted, Rhiane,” Morgan commented. “Nothing that sleep can’t cure. Why don’t you show her the washing area and the guest bedroom?” It was only when Rhiane was leading her sister away that she realized not once had she seen Khaisie cry, not one tear.

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Chapter Nine Rhiane lay on the bed beside Khaisie, just watching her sleep. The room was in darkness, except for the faint light of the yellow and blue moons filtering in from the window and the night lamp on the bedside table, which Khaisie had insisted on switching on. Once her head had hit the pillows, Khaisie’s eyes had closed and she’d gone to sleep, yet she held herself tightly, twitching at the slightest sound, her brows furrowed in a frown. Rhiane ached at seeing her sister like this, anguish stealing into her heart as she remembered how old Khaisie’s eyes had become, eyes that should not belong to a youth of eight ZYAL. Sixteen, in Earth terms. Khaisie should be going on dates and learning all about the opposite sex instead of—instead of— Rhiane shuddered as she imagined the nightmare Khaisie must have gone through, the terrible ordeals she must have experienced and Rhiane could only hope that her sister would be willing to talk about it in the days to come, for it would help her heal faster. She didn’t know how long she’d been lying in this position, her hand near Khaisie’s but not touching for fear of waking her up, but as she mused on the things Khaisie must have suffered, other thoughts also crowded into her mind, the first and foremost of which was that it was time to leave. She had originally agreed to stay on at Morgan and Jaden’s place for companionship, afraid that if she were left to her own devices, she would eventually break down out of fear and anxiety for her sister. Then also, she had found that they added to her strength, that she wasn’t as weak as when she was alone. As for them, she was in no illusion as to the reason they wanted her with them—for the sex, which she admitted was very good. Seven months running and they still desired each other as crazily as in those initial days of their union. But they didn’t love her, a small voice cried out from the depths of her being. She had done the unthinkable and had fallen madly in love with them, while they didn’t feel anything deeper for her than the lust that their cocks made them feel. She didn’t know when she had begun to love them. She knew that at first, she had been highly attracted to them and she had been insatiable for their bodies and as she lived with them these seven months, she had grown to know them and had learned to appreciate them as individuals. She rather thought that instead of love striking her like lightning, it had grown slowly, taking root in her heart through each encounter before finally revealing itself to her. Now the pain in her heart was of a different nature, deeper, sharper, as though a knife had plunged into her flesh and twisted and with each twist, it cut through the layers of cells to her bone. She doubled over from the pain and tears came to her eyes.

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What if… What if she didn’t leave them? What if she just stayed on? Surely, as long as they hadn’t found the woman they wanted to wife yet, she would be welcome to stay and be their bedmate— No, she had to think of Khaisie, who had no one else to stay with but her. Rhiane might be willing to continue living with Morgan and Jaden but it wasn’t a proper environment to raise a young girl. She had known from the beginning that there was no future for them. If the end had come sooner that she wished, well, there was nothing to be done about it, because it had coincided with the return of her sister, whom Rhiane loved dearly. Heart breaking, she knew she had to leave, first thing tomorrow, preferably. Rhiane love, come to bed. Jaden. One last night. She would give herself one last night to make memories that would last her a lifetime. She eased herself off the bed, careful not to wake Khaisie. She stepped out of the bedroom and closed the door quietly behind her and made her way two doors down into the room she’d shared with Morgan and Jaden for the past seven months. The men turned to face her when she entered the room. “How’s your sister?” Morgan asked quietly, belting his robe. “Asleep,” she answered, going farther into the room and trying to still the disquiet she felt when she remembered how she’d left Khaisie, “and yet she’s edgy. She jumps at the slightest sound.” “She’s been through a lot,” Jaden commented as he came out of the adjoining washroom, his damp hair slicked back, giving him a rakish look. “Are you hungry? We brought up a tray for you.” Now that he mentioned it, she realized she was. Her stomach rumbled loudly and she smiled ruefully. “I guess that gives you your answer.” She moved toward the small table that they’d set up near the wardrobe, which contained three plates of the food that Morgan must have bought from the restaurant. There were her favorite Earth-style blueberry cheesecake and Jaden’s favorite dish of stewed deer and Morgan’s favorite plate of fish. She seated herself, glancing at Morgan as she said, “Good choices.” “I know.” Morgan grinned, taking a place on the bed that enabled him to face Rhiane. “When in doubt, get everyone’s favorite. You won’t go wrong that way.” “Even if the food doesn’t match,” Jaden grunted, clambering up on the bed to sit beside him. Jaden’s culinary sensibilities must’ve taken a beating when he saw the dishes on the table, Rhiane thought, amused, slicing off a bit of the cheesecake. The cream cheese melted in her mouth. “Hmmm, yummy, or maybe I’m just hungry. The men from IICIU have left?”

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Morgan nodded. “They did share our dinner though, which was why not one morsel of steak pie was left for you. Sorry about that.” Rhiane waved away his apology, her mouth full of food. A sudden thought struck her. “You knew they were coming, weren’t you? That’s why you bought all the food? Is that the surprise?” Morgan and Jaden grinned at her sheepishly. “Yes, you guessed right. However, they were supposed to come an hour later,” Morgan said, “after I had finished heating up all the food. But no, you and Jaden had to come in when you did and distract me, then they arrived and so we were forced to take the steak pie cold. So you didn’t miss much.” Rhiane aimed a speculative glance at him. “Hmmm. If that’s supposed to make me thank the gods that I didn’t have the steak pie, you didn’t do a good job of it.” “Skylar did tell us that Xentry is the worst badass in the galaxy that he’d seen,” Jaden commented. “Did you know that he’s also involved in some of the most heinous robberies in the galaxy?” Rhiane stared at him, dumbfounded. “What?” “Yes.” “But how—” Her mind was awhirl with confusion. “I mean, we’ve not heard a peep that he’s linked to any crime and how was he able to deceive us so well? Before my mother passed away two ZYAL before, she recommended him greatly and during family reunions, he was always talking about some big deal he had ongoing with some major company on different planets, which was why Khaisie and I thought it would be best for her to learn trade from him.” “According to Skylar, Xentry does have a legitimate business—buying and selling furniture, which is where he initially stationed your sister. However, he didn’t seem to be satisfied with the profits he earned from there and he ventured into crime, which got bigger and bigger when he realized it was so lucrative.” “Xentry confessed?” “No.” Jaden shook his head. “It was Khaisie who told the task force. Apparently, Xentry found the need to boast of his real accomplishments to your sister when they were on the run from the law. After you exposed his latest crime, he brought your sister into his real world, where she was forced to participate in some petty robberies. They couldn’t target any of the big organizations, with all the Guardian in the galaxy on the lookout for them.” Rhiane’s utensils clattered onto the desk as she brought her hands up to cover her face, attacked by a huge deluge of guilt. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t decided to send Khaisie to Xentry, she wouldn’t have been there when the crime was exposed and—” “Rhiane, you couldn’t have known.” Morgan pried her hands away from her face, sat down on his haunches and stared down at her with concern deep in his silver eyes. If only that concern was the evidence of something deeper… “You sent your sister to Xentry in good faith and for his part, Xentry also maintained his cover very well. I’m very sure 101

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that if you had even a hint of his villainous persona, you would’ve sent for Khaisie right away, like you did when Bia was caught. You’re a good sister, Rhiane, believe that.” Jaden also came to sit before her and gripped her hand. “If you want to focus on something, be thankful that your sister has escaped and she’s now safe, here with you. The moment she wakes up tomorrow morning, she will have to face up to what has happened in the past seven months and put that all behind her and you have to be there for her, to hold her hand and dry her tears. You have to be strong for her, Rhiane, and you can’t allow misplaced guilt to hinder you both from healing.” Lips trembling, she nodded. It was at times like this that she treasured their presence in her life. Without them, yes, she’d probably come to the same conclusion but at a much later time, perhaps a day or two later, after wallowing in much guilt. By then, she and Khaisie would’ve been days late in the healing process. “Now are you going to eat the rest of your meal or should we start operation cleanup?” Jaden asked lightly. “I’m still hungry,” she confessed. “And I feel much better, thank you.” Each man dropped a kiss on her nose before standing up and going back to their places on the bed. “That’s what we’re here for. Now eat up but don’t eat too much, coz we have much celebration to do later,” Jaden teased. “On account of your sister coming back safe and sound, of course,” Morgan put in, eyes twinkling. Rhiane froze in the act of chewing, then forced herself to continue. Her heart pounded loudly in her ear. Now, something inside her was screaming. She should tell them now, tell them she was leaving. Get it over and done with, then enjoy her last night with them, a powerful celebration that would rock her night with booming thunder and a glorious display of fireworks. Damn it all, she did not want to leave. “Although I believe the days when we could stay in bed for the whole two days at the end of the sennight are over.” Jaden sighed theatrically, then reached over and caressed Morgan’s thigh. Morgan’s lips quirked. “Unless Khaisie stays overnight at a friend’s occasionally.” He closed his eyes and she got the feeling he did that so he could concentrate better on Jaden’s strokes. “Make it more often, like once every two sennights.” “How about…every sennight?” “Good idea,” Jaden said absently, leaning toward Morgan and pressing his lips against his lover’s mouth. They kissed slowly, with heat and passion and love. Yearning clogged her throat as she watched them. Love. That was what she wanted from them, what she wanted to have with them, what she could never have— “Eat faster, Rhiane,” Morgan said hoarsely. “We miss you here.” 102

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Her lips trembled as tears splashed onto her cheeks. “I…” She bit her lips but a sob escaped. She thought they’d be so caught up in each other that they wouldn’t hear the tiny telltale sound and if only Khaisie weren’t sleeping in the other bedroom, she’d get up and leave this house forever right now. “Rhiane?” Through blurry eyes, she saw them break off the kiss and rush to kneel before her and everything happened as though in slow motion. “Why are you crying?” Morgan asked anxiously, his thumbs running a futile race against the tears that kept leaking from her eyes. “Is it anything we said or did?” “Yes, love, what is it? Tell us.” Goaded beyond endurance, she punched Jaden on the shoulder. “Stop calling me that!” “What? Love?” He sounded bewildered and concerned. “You never complained before but if you don’t like it, all right, I’ll stop.” “Thank you.” She wiped off her tears, bit her lip, blinked her eyes so that the misty film wouldn’t morph into more tears and even stared up at the ceiling to prevent them from sliding down her cheeks. Which didn’t do any good. “Are you all right now?” Morgan’s thumbs were on her cheeks again. Gods above, how could she stand not having his hands on her? Such thoughts provoked more tears than she thought she was capable of. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she sniffed and hiccupped. “It’s just everything, I suppose, my sister and Xentry’s capture and…and…” “It’s all right, love, we understand—oof!” Jaden doubled over from where she’d punched him hard in the stomach. “How many times do I have to tell you not to use that word!” “What do you have against it?” Jaden glared at her. “Jaden, calm down. She’s already distraught, don’t add to it—” Morgan began in distress, looking from Jaden to Rhiane with something like panic in his expression. Rhiane ignored him. The way she was feeling right now, she was spoiling for a fight, a good, rousing one with a lot of yelling. “I have nothing against it, except when you use it when you don’t even love me!” “Don’t love you?” Jaden stood up in a fit of anger, threw up his hands and glowered down at her. “Of course I do!” “Jaden, you know we agreed—” “What?” She had expected the argument to go on for some time, at least until she had shouted herself hoarse, but she never expected the fight to go out of her with Jaden’s response. She stared at them, flabbergasted, hand against her chest as she struggled to breathe. She couldn’t have heard right. But what if she had? Hope crept tentatively into her heart. “You…love me?” She swung to face Morgan. “And…you don’t? That’s why you don’t want him to say it?” 103

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“Of course not. I love you too,” Morgan instantly declared. Copying Jaden, he stood up and paced the floor, his brows in a frown. “But we had decided not to tell you, because we think you’re not yet ready to hear it. Plus, you have trust issues to work through. So we thought we’d give you a ZYAL or two, let you accustom to a life with us, before we push for something more permanent.” He aimed an angry look at Jaden. “Until he ruined it all.” A hint of vulnerability crossed Jaden’s face. “Knowing that we love you doesn’t have to change anything. In fact, it should give you a greater sense of security, knowing that there isn’t another woman for us,” he said, before asking anxiously, “You’re not going to leave us, are you?” “Oh, I don’t know,” she replied airily, tossing her hair back. “This certainly changes things.” Deep within her, she was turning somersaults and cartwheels in glee. No, she wasn’t leaving, she would never leave them but she wasn’t going to tell them yet. Let them stew for a while, perfect punishment for…for… She racked her brain for something terrible they’d done to her, then shrugged when she couldn’t think of any. “Nothing has to change,” Jaden said adamantly. “What things?” “For one, I want some answers. When did you realize you love me? It couldn’t have been that first morning at the hotel. You were both pretty shocked when you realized I wasn’t Marissa.” “No, it wasn’t then,” Morgan admitted and Rhiane died a little, though she had been prepared for that. So they must have felt something for Marissa. “Shocked is not the word to describe how we felt when we saw you. Electrified, more like,” Jaden said. He glanced at her once in a while as he paced, as though the topic they were discussing made him off-balance. “We were pretty good that night,” he continued softly, finally standing still and facing her a few feet away from the desk. “So good that Morgan and I were devastated when we learned the next day that you weren’t Marissa. We realized that what we had was something Morgan and I wanted to explore further with you, whether it was just physical or it could be something more but you never contacted us.” “We hired private detectives to look for you,” Morgan continued, “but we didn’t have enough of a lead for them to work on. So imagine my delight when you walked into my office that day—” They searched for her! She must have meant something to them for them to expend that energy and effort and credits. “Marissa was a possibility, no more than that, while you were real,” Jaden said, gazing at her intently. “If, by some stroke of fate, she hadn’t been in that accident, we would’ve forfeited the option and helped her to find work on the island instead. There was no way we could’ve tried to build a relationship with her, with you hovering in the background, taking up our thoughts…” He smiled self-deprecatingly. “Generally making a mess of our lives.”

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“I didn’t mean to do that!” she protested, heart beating in wonder at the power she had over them, at the same time realizing that they held the same power over her, knowing that if she had to leave them, she would only be hanging on to life because of her duty and responsibility to her sister. “No, you didn’t, not at that time. But if you leave now, that’s what you’ll be subjecting Jaden and me to and this time, you’ll have to take full responsibility.” Morgan sounded stern and his body had drawn into an implacable line, as though he was bracing himself for a rejection. “So what is it to be, Rhiane?” She watched them, lovers, mates. Jaden’s hand reached for Morgan’s and she saw their grip clasp and tighten and knew that if she left them, they’d still have each other. But she wanted to be with them, she longed to be part of their family and they were offering her that chance, so what else was she waiting for? Tears streaming down her cheeks, she launched herself from the chair and flew into their arms. “I love you both,” she cried, turning first one way to kiss Morgan and then the other way to kiss Jaden. “I couldn’t…couldn’t imagine living without you.” “Thank the gods,” Morgan said hoarsely, then captured her lips in a kiss of relief that quickly changed into passion. They broke apart long enough to dispense with their clothes, then Jaden was claiming her lips and Morgan pressed his lips against her neck, nibbling and biting. Desire rose up swiftly in her and the unmistakable proof of their lust and love nudged her stomach and the small of her back. She sobbed, hardly daring to believe that she could make love with them all the rest of her life, that tonight was just the start of a lifetime of love and sex. “I love you,” Jaden growled in her ear, “so very much.” “When?” she gasped out. Morgan had cupped her breasts in his large, capable hands and his fingers were wreaking havoc with her senses as he teased her nipples. “When did you know?” “When I saw you again,” he admitted as he rained kisses all over her face, “there at the consuplateia, as I watched you walk over to me, something hit me in the gut. You were the object of our dreams all those months after you walked away from us, Rhiane, and seeing you again made me surer than ever that we were meant to be together, that what I was feeling for you had gone beyond mere lust. You were meant to be our wife.” “How else would you explain what had happened at the hotel?” Morgan chimed in, his breath hot on her ear. “That you would come, instead of Marissa.” “And the other women?” Jaden groaned, his lips against her nipple. “What other women?” He made her thoughts scatter when he sucked on the tiny, yearning bud, her breasts aching and heavy, as was her belly. “The ones you contracted,” she said as soon as she could recover her thoughts, breathless. She rolled her head onto Morgan’s shoulder and arched her back. “The ones you were supposed to meet and test…if Marissa hadn’t worked out.”

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“We cancelled the contracts and forfeited the down payment.” Morgan turned his head and dragged his tongue over the length of her neck. “We couldn’t contemplate not finding you again, Rhiane. We wanted you, not them.” They wanted her but not just for sex. She wasn’t a substitute for the woman they wanted to wife, she never had been for them. She was wanted for herself. They searched for her, because they loved her. All these thoughts whirled around in her head, over and over, making her delirious, but it was a good kind of delirium. Jaden lifted his head and peered down at her anxiously. “Will you marry us, Rhiane?” Even Morgan stopped kissing her and it seemed to her that both men held their breaths, waiting for her response. No words could describe the joy and gladness that welled up within her, the feeling of homecoming and belonging that flowed through her. “Yes.” She smiled through the tears that misted her eyes. “Yes, I will.” They kissed to seal the formalization of their union, all three of them, the kiss at once solemn and heart-wrenching and so full of promise. A desire deeper than the ones she’d experienced before buffeted her and this time, their lovemaking was borne of the knowledge of love and commitment from all three parties. Rhiane whimpered as Jaden ground his lower body against hers. Holding his cock in his hand, he caressed her abdomen with his cock head, leaving trails of pre-cum and making her feel all shivery and excited inside, before he nudged her pussy lips apart. From behind her, Morgan reached out a hand and lifted her leg, hooking her ankle about Jaden’s shoulder and enabling Jaden to slide his cock into her channel. She caught her breath as he filled her with his hard, throbbing length and she felt as she had every time they made love, as though it was the first time he had ever been in her. “Gods above, Jaden, you feel so good,” she moaned as he continued to push inside her pussy with excruciating slowness. “So good.” “And you’re hot and tight,” Jaden rasped, holding her steady by the waist. “Like a furnace, a vise, holding my cock so strongly…ah!” He made a strangled sound, as she had just flexed her pussy muscles experimentally. His face contorted in an expression of pain. “And sweet…so sweet…I love to be in you, in your wet heat, making love to you. Rhiane…Rhiane, our wife, beloved…” His words were arousing her even more and she creamed copiously, the liquid leaking out of her pussy and down her thigh. Then Morgan’s hand was there in her pussy, caressing Jaden’s cock, his balls and stroking her folds, sliding over her clit, making her shudder before scooping up her cream. Jaden claimed her lips once again in a torrid, passionate kiss as he wrapped both her legs around his waist, all the while moving toward the bed, his progress causing her to bounce on his cock and hunger yawned deep in her.

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She wanted. Wanted to feel the fierce, loving movement of his cock within her channel, wanted to know the ecstasy of release in her veins, wanted to be bound heart and soul and mind to them, her husbands and lovers and mates. The next thing she knew, Jaden was lying on his back on the bed and sucking on her tongue, she on top of him, their lower bodies still joined together. His hands moved down to her buttocks, stroking and squeezing her flesh and holding her open for Morgan, who thrust his lubricated cock into her hole. “Ah…tight…” Morgan groaned. “Push out, love, yes, that’s it… Relax…hmmm… You’re doing great.” With each stammered praise, he drove in deeper and deeper into Rhiane’s ass and she could feel him stretching her, experiencing her ass accommodate his girth, until both he and Jaden were sitting squarely in her. “Morgan.” She sobbed again, wondering at the exquisite fullness, at the sensation of being filled so thoroughly and so lovingly she knew she would remember this night forever. “Hold tight, love, for one wild ride.” Morgan’s low, sexy laugh plucked her nerve endings and enhanced her lust. He set the rhythm, withdrawing and thrusting back into her, rubbing both against her inner wall and Jaden’s engorged cock, causing the two men to release simultaneous groans of raw pleasure. They exchanged a passionate kiss while Rhiane buried her face in Jaden’s neck and kissed and bit the strong column of his throat. Soon, the two men engaged in a counterpoint thrust, so that there was always one cock driving into her and she heard nothing but the slap of their flesh as their bodies met, their heavy breathing and occasional whimpers and moans, the creaking of the springs of the bed and the wet slurping sounds of sex as they mated. The musky scent of lovemaking in the air intensified her lust and heightened her senses, so that she was aware of the way Jaden’s and Morgan’s muscles bunched as they maintained the rhythm, the gracefulness of their movements, the way the veins on their necks stood out as they controlled the pace, as they held back their desire, of the love that underlay their every action. She screamed and bit her lip as the most amazing tension in her belly tightened with every plunge of their cocks and her clit rubbed and pressed into Jaden’s lower body. She gave in to the irrepressible urge to move and she bucked and jerked, her hips rolling and gyrating as she reached for the ecstasy that was elusively not quite within reach. The men increased their pace and Morgan’s fierce thrusts forced her harder against Jaden— And she exploded, fragmenting into a million small particles that made up the very fabric of the universe. Incredibly, she was Jaden and she knew the sharp pleasure as his cock was gripped tightly by her pussy and she was also Morgan and agonizing joy flooded his system when the muscles of her ass clamped around his cock. Their shouts rang in her ears as the powerful, violent waves of their orgasms slammed into her, propelling her own release into a higher level and the ecstasy from their joining doubled and trebled and quadrupled until a rushing sound filled her ears and she disintegrated and darkness overwhelmed her. 107

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***** She returned to consciousness to find herself lying in the middle of the bed and two male faces looking down at her with worry and concern. She licked her lips. “What happened?” “You fainted. How do you feel?” Jaden asked anxiously. “Aside from a slightly heavy feeling in my head, I feel fine.” She tried to sit up but the men wouldn’t let her. “Rest for a few more minutes,” Morgan urged from where he lay on her right side. “How long have I been out?” Jaden looked at the small chrono on the bedside table. “Five minutes, more or less. Do you know why you fainted? Lack of air?” Both men glanced toward the window, where the curtain flapped gently in the wind. “Was the position too much for you?” Morgan asked, his brow pleated in a perplexed frown. “But we had done something similar before and you didn’t have this reaction.” “I don’t think it was the position,” Rhiane said slowly as she tried to recall the sensations that had battered her body before she fainted. “I felt your pleasure,” she revealed, her eyes going round as she remembered what Morgan had said before, about how he was able to experience Jaden’s pleasure and vice-versa because they were fully open to each other. “Both yours and Jaden’s and they increased my own until I couldn’t take it anymore. That was when I fainted, I think.” Her lips curved in a wry smile. “I never thought a person could faint from too much pleasure but now I believe.” Morgan gripped her hand in excitement. “Do you know what this means?” “I think I have a fair idea,” she said dryly, though happiness bounded through her. Her gaze caressed their beloved faces, even now hardly daring to believe that they loved her all this while. “We have achieved a rare feat,” Jaden said softly, “even among masters.” “Will I faint again the next time we make love?” Although she loved feeling their pleasure, fainting every time they had sex was going to be inconvenient. The two men glanced at each other thoughtfully and some conversation must have passed in that considering look, because Morgan said, “I believe you just need time to get used to it. The first time in everything tends to overwhelm a person.” Relief coursed through her. “I tried very hard to deny my feelings, because I thought you had feelings for Marissa and that all you wanted from me was sex but when I finally realized I loved you both, I couldn’t tell you,” she admitted, “because I thought you didn’t love me and you were bedding me only until you found a suitable woman to wife. I didn’t want you to pity me and I think that held me back from experiencing this complete union with you, truly a joining of the heart and mind.”

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“But because you now know and believe we love you, you were able to let yourself go and open yourself to us.” “Yes.” She smiled at Morgan. “The brain is so powerful, isn’t it?” Remembering her sister sleeping down the hall, she continued, “I was supposed to tell you that I’m going back to my own flat tomorrow with Khaisie—” “What? Why?” Jaden jerked up in alarm. “No way are we letting you—” Over their protests, she chose to answer one question. “Because living together as we are doing now is not a suitable environment for raising a young, impressionable girl.” Her eyebrow quirked as she continued, “But you proposed, so it’s perfectly acceptable for Khaisie to live with her sister and brothers-in-law.” She bit her lip. “I’m glad that she’s back but I’m very worried about her. Physically, she’s unharmed but I can’t see the wounds that are not so visible and which I believe would leave a more lasting impression on her. She was so withdrawn tonight, which is not at all like her, so I’m not even sure if she’ll confide in me. Though we didn’t have much chance to talk awhile ago but I could feel that she’s…different from the Khaisie that I remembered.” “Her experiences were bound to change her and she’s gone through things you haven’t,” Jaden reminded her. “Just be there for her, Rhiane. Sometimes that’s enough.” “Just as we were here for you these past seven months,” Morgan commented. “Remember how sometimes Jaden and I also had nothing to say but you drew comfort from our presence? Offer her the same security and comfort of your presence. Let her come to you in her own time.” She recognized the wisdom in their words and drew in a deep shaking breath. “It’ll be hard but okay, I’ll do that. I’ll try my damnedest.” “And we’ll be here for you and for Khaisie as well,” Jaden promised. “We’ll get through this, as a family.” She couldn’t help it. Her eyes misted with tears. They were magnificent, both of them and she was so lucky, so very lucky to meet them and love them and be loved by them. She should remember to invite Charlene to her nuptials and to give her a gift worthy of the one she had received, even if it had been more than one ZYAL in coming. “Yes, as a family,” she repeated and slung her arms around both their necks. “I love you both so very much.” She drew them down for a three-way kiss that soon heated into passion and she realized that lust would always be a part of her love for them and theirs for her and she didn’t want it any other way. Tomorrow, she’d tell Khaisie that they were already home.

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About the Author Madison Blake is a firm believer in love and happy endings. That’s why she loves stories wherein the characters go through adversities to emerge victorious in the end. An eternal optimist, she always tries to see the positive side in every negative situation, the silver lining in every dark cloud, so to speak. She has gone through a lot of failures and disappointments in life, but there is one thing she would never give up on—the fulfillment of her dream, which is to be a multi-published and award-winning author. Holding a day job means that she doesn’t get much time to write, so Madison tries to cram her free time with as much writing as she can. Even so, she would make time to read her favorite genre (romance), especially when she’s experiencing writer’s block. She loves to read and write about strong heroines, and she’s on the eternal quest for the powerful, attractive, mysterious, yummy hero, the kind of man who’ll make you sigh and say, “He’s the one.” The author welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and e-mail address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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