Take Me Now

Knocked out, caged and dumped at a bride auction, Raeda was not expecting to meet her wolves, but they were waiting for her. Raeda has lived her adult life traveling from world to world, seeking the men who were designed just for her. Kenvin is the world where she is knocked out and dumped at a bride auction, caged to wait her turn. Her clone set has followed orders and has waited patiently on Kenvin, but when they get the message that their mate is about to go on the block, they are done waiting. Dorn, Taro and Renner take their mate into their custody and rescue her from the hands of lustful colonists. Their hands will soon be the only ones she needs to be concerned about.

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. 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. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Take Me Now Copyright © 2011 Zenina Masters ISBN: 978-1-77111-039-6 Cover art by Martine Jardin All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher. Published by eXtasy Books Look for us online at: www.eXtasybooks.com

Take Me Now Four Ever More Book 6

By Zenina Masters

Chapter One

“P

lay it again.” Dorn was scowling down at the com unit and frowning as he tried to figure out if he knew the voice. Your mate is going to be auctioned off at the Tenyara House at midnight. Taro asked, “When did it come in?” “Ten minutes ago. What do you think?” Renner cocked his head. Dorn grinned, showing his pointed canines. “I think that as good lawmen, we should look into it.” **** Raeda shivered as the sound of the crowd reached her cage. The leer from the guard didn’t help matters. “Your turn is coming, blender.” She snarled and rattled the bars in front of her. Her pointed teeth were readily visible in the dim light. Mentally she snorted, every part of her was 1

Zenina Masters visible in the dim light. The excuse for a wrap that she was wearing was nearly transparent and only highlighted her curves. The cries of women coming from the floor above were enough to give her a sense of unease that was overtaking her fury. This tiny backwater world should have been safe. Raeda had landed, begun to refuel and then blacked out. The lump at the back of her skull when she woke had told her what she needed to know, but her state of undress had freaked her out. “What do you mean, my turn? What the hell is going on here?” The guard went from leering to surprise. “This is the Kenvin colony. The world is wild and we have a helluva time getting women here. So, when unattached females wander by, their friends or family can sell them to the colony. The men of the colony have the right to bid on the women using either labour or money to get a female. They are limited to one female per man, so they had better not choose the wrong one.” Kenvin. She hadn’t even asked the name of the colony, simply requested docking rights and a refuelling pass. Women disappeared onto Kenvin like ships nearing a black hole. Raeda sat back in her cell without wondering how the men went about choosing. That was a 2

Take Me Now place her mind really didn’t want to go. There was a ton of scents flying around in the air. The masculine scents were the strongest. Male arousal, anger, excitement and a heavy dose of alcohol coupled with body odour. The women’s scents were more interesting. There were ten women on the same level as Raeda and they were being removed from their cells one by one. Some started with fear, some excitement, even a bit of confusion, but when they got to the upper level, arousal was their overwhelming attitude. Their scents changed to aroused excitement and Raeda could not shut it out. She stifled a groan as she waited, biting at her nails with her protruding canines. When her senses had gone insane, she had taken her boss’s advice and left Shekhar for travel in the stars. Since most of the space stations had air processing, the scents were more muted than they were on living, breathing worlds. Being a dancer always managed to find her work, even on the smallest station. If not for the sudden drop in fuel, she would never have stopped on Kenvin. As she leaned back and absently braided her hair, she became suspicious that there was someone behind her landing here. Time ticked past and more and more of the other women went up for auction. When it was 3

Zenina Masters just Raeda and the guard, he stood in front of the bars with the leer back on his face. “Time to go, blender.” “Who told you I was a blender?” She kept her tone calm. “It was on your detail sheet. I have to tell you, this is a big deal for us. We have never seen a female blender before.” They were walking to the doorway that contained stairs going up. “Really? Well, I suppose that you are unaware that we can do this.” She slammed him into the wall and used her senses to find the exit. There. A few sharp punches to the torso of the guard with one shot to his head and he was down for the night. She ran along the hall and when she found the door, it was locked from the outside. She grabbed onto the joist of the ceiling above her and kicked at the door with both feet. It moved, but not enough. There was steel involved. Cursing, she quickly ran back the way she had come and froze when two guards came down the stairs, stopping to look at their companion. “What did you do?” One of the men was approaching her and she struck out at him. He snarled and she suddenly felt her muscles jerk in spasms of pain. Her words hissed through her teeth. “I tried to escape. I don’t belong here.” 4

Take Me Now “This could have been easy for you, but now, it will be our pleasure to see your pain.” The guards grabbed her by her arms and dragged her up the stairs. Her earlier victim was sitting upright and looking wounded. Light blazed into her eyes as she was hauled up the steps. At a guess, she would say that she was facing four hundred men. An attractive scent caught her attention and she turned her head, but the guards jerked her along. One of them whispered to the master of ceremonies and his face went flat. “Gentlemen, we have in our possession the first female blender that I have ever seen. She is a fighter, so let’s see if we can’t wear down her resistance a little, shall we?” The nasty laughter coming from the audience warned her that she was not going to like what came next. A table was wheeled from the back and a mechanism that Raeda had heard of in whispers was locked into position above the flat expanse. She was regaining her independent movement, but the guard on her left had a stunner in her ribs. She was either going to get on that table or they would put her there. With a limited amount of dignity, she got on the table and fought the furious tears that pricked her eyes. They locked her wrists down and her 5

Zenina Masters knees were bent so that her thighs parted. Her feet were fastened at the corners of the table and a series of vid cameras swung into place. The master of ceremonies cackled. “One more thing. The unit needs all of your skin accessible to work.” He groped her breasts as he untied the wrap, sneering at her helplessness. He removed the wrap with a flourish and his sneer froze on his face. There was a low growl coming from the audience and as Raeda looked up at the monitor blowing the image of her breasts twenty feet high, she could see the wolf head on the inside of her left breast and it seemed the image was freezing the crowd in a way that few things could. “What are you doing with our mate, Nathan?” The voice was deep and barely audible behind the growl that came with the voice. The lights were focussed on her, so she could not see who spoke. “Unfasten her now, Nathan.” The next voice was calmer but the tone was sharp. “Of course, lawmen. We didn’t know she was yours.” The master of ceremonies’ hands were shaking as he unbuckled her wrists first, allowing her to sit up and see the three silhouettes that had the entire assembly silent. When he released her left ankle, she pressed her thighs together. “I want my wrap back.” 6

Take Me Now The guard that she had beaten grabbed the puddle of fabric and returned it to her, his left eye swollen almost shut. She thanked him quietly and he nodded before backing away. With her legs free, she swung them over the edge of the bed and put the wrap on. It didn’t hide her, but it was better than nothing. One of the shadows reached out a hand. “Come here, mate.” She scented the air nervously. The masculine lust had shifted into fear. The more pleasant scent of pure wild male was coming to her from the three men in front of her. With one last look around the stage and the crowd, she moved cautiously to take the hand of the man standing in the darkest shadow. As she left the pool of light, her males came into focus. Black leather pants and boots covered them from the waist down, but from the waist up, they wore nothing but their clone tattoos. Wolf heads, that matched the one on Raeda’s breast, howled on their chests. When she slid her fingers along his palm, the man with the chestnut hair and eyes so dark she couldn’t see their colour, smiled. He pulled her against him tightly and threaded his hand through her hair, holding her for his kiss. His taste sent her pulse hammering under her skin. Every man she had ever kissed in her life had 7

Zenina Masters been missing something and whoever this man was, he had that something in spades. He growled and she whimpered, arching her neck in supplication. He set his teeth on her neck and she felt the prick of teeth, twins of her own. His low, satisfied growl eased something inside her and when he lifted his head, a peculiar expression was on his face. Without a word, he lifted her in his arms and his two companions guarded their backs. Settled on a skimmer in front of her rescuer as they shot into the night, she knew what the expression had been. She saw it in the mirror every time she dreamed of her set. It was hope.

8

Take Me Now

Chapter Two

R

enner kept his prize in his grip during the one-hour ride to their home. He gave the colonists credit for recognizing the mark that they saw every day. Dorn and Taro were on single skimmers beside them as they accelerated through the darkness. Two years ago, they were offered the position of lawmen on this world and aside from their home, they had requested one thing. When their mate was in the vicinity, she would be theirs. That they had not notified the law office that there was a female clone on their world was a glaring error that would be addressed in the morning. For now, they had her with them and they could keep her safe. She trembled against him and he couldn’t help the hardening of his cock. The image of the pink lips of her sex parting and trembling as she fought the restraints would stay with him for a while. The only thing that would expunge it was to sink his 9

Zenina Masters tongue into those delicate folds and learn her taste. Dorn’s skimmer wavered. Damn it, Renner. Keep those images of her to yourself for now. Not everyone had such a clear view. Sorry, Dorn. She just smells so good. My mind wandered and I projected without intent. Taro glanced back at him over one shoulder. Your projection almost landed me in the ditch. We agreed that you would claim her, but that was only to minimize a public spectacle. She has been through enough tonight without all of us taking a turn to paw her in front of an audience. Renner grinned and hugged his prize a little closer. They were approaching their home and as they skidded into the yard, the lights came on, illuminating the exterior and showing their mate the home that they had built with her in mind. **** Raeda was getting a tremendous amount of heat from the man at her back, but she still trembled in the aftermath of what had almost happened. After years of being on her own and calling her own shots, she had almost been sold to a colonist on a world she should have avoided to begin with. The touch of naturally born males had always made her slightly uneasy, despite the pleasure she got at the time, but the arm wrapped around her 10

Take Me Now on the journey had done nothing but ease something deep inside. She had felt alone since the act of terrorism that had taken her adoptive parents while leaving her intact. Two years from majority, a family friend took her in. Their family had been relieved when she left the moment she turned eighteen. Her body had always enjoyed moving to music, so dancing in taverns around the sector had paid the bills. Eighteen months ago, in addition to her enhanced senses, a restlessness had set in and her employer had helped her use part of her considerable savings to buy a small ship to seek out what she felt was missing. In the arms of the man on the skimmer, she felt an almost-physical click that she was in the right place and that the hole in her soul would be filled. It was ridiculous, of course, and in the morning, she would ask them to return her to her ship, but for now, everything in her vicinity felt right. The house was a longhouse. The yard immaculately kept but bordering on enough wilderness to make her uneasy. Her companion allowed her to dismount from the skimmer, but the gravel under her feet made her wince. She didn’t think she had made a sound, but she was swept up in the arms of one of the other males in less than two seconds. They moved in eerie silence, one opening doors 11

Zenina Masters and the other setting the skimmers to charge. She didn’t make a sound. It seemed wrong to intrude on the silence of the surroundings. The door opened to a biometric scan, a peculiar function on such a rustic-looking abode. Once they were all inside, the man carrying her put her down and she took a few steps back to look at her new friends in the motion-sensitive light of their home. Huge. That was one word. Feral was another. One blonde with eyes so pale blue, they were almost white. The brunette that she had first seen with eyes a brown so dark, they seemed black and the third had silky black hair caressing his shoulders and eyes a deep forest green. Their features were as perfect as the gene techs could make them. Their skin tones were all in the medium to deep brown range, showing plenty of exposure to the sunlight of Kenvin. She deliberately kept her gaze above their hips. That view was dangerous enough to send her pulse hammering. Looking lower might make her faint. “Hello, miss. Do you have a name?” The man with the chestnut hair smiled gently. “I am Raeda Deiner. And you are?” She raised her eyebrow politely. The man with the dark brown eyes smiled, “I am Renner.” 12

Take Me Now The blonde nodded, “I am Taro.” And the man with the eyes so green she could see the forest in them said, “I am Dorn.” She shivered at Dorn’s tone. He had done the first speaking at the auction. “Thank you for saving me from the auction. I don’t even know how I ended up there.” She rubbed at her head and found the lump once again. “Someone near you sold you to the auction. It is the only legal way on Kenvin to get women imported against their will.” Dorn’s voice rumbled through her. “That doesn’t make sense. I don’t travel with anyone. No one is authorized as my guardian.” She looked around and found a table with four chairs situated around it. “Do you mind if I sit down?” Renner nodded. “Of course not. I will get you some water.” She moved toward the table, but Taro was ahead of her, pulling the chair out for her. Bemused, she took her seat and when Renner slid the water in front of her, she took it with a grateful sigh. As she drank, she kept one hand in her hair, rubbing at the lump. Taro’s soft voice asked, “What is wrong with your head?” 13

Zenina Masters Raeda grimaced. “I don’t know. I was refuelling and then I was in the cages with this lump on my head.” Taro pulled her hand away and slid his fingers through her hair, seeking out the spot. “You were struck.” “Oh. Good. Because it felt like it.” She jumped as she felt him nuzzle her scalp. “What are you doing?” Renner and Dorn held her hands down. Dorn informed her, “He is going to heal you. We can do it via licking.” “Why are you holding me down?” Renner was grim. “When we have administered first aid to colonists who need it, they feel a burn.” She braced herself for the back of her head to explode and instead, the wet heat being laved on the back of her skull had a different effect. Her breathing increased in pitch and Taro stopped. “Are you all right?” She trembled in their grip and tried to calm her breathing. “Yes. I am fine. How much more?” “It is almost finished.” He resumed the slow, delicate licks that started on her neck and worked into her hairline. Her skin went from cool to hot in a matter of seconds. When he ran his fingers through her hair, the spot that had been swollen and aching was gone. 14

Take Me Now “All done.” She let her breath out on a rapid exhalation. “Thank you.” Her body was aroused and she was hoping that the men next to her didn’t notice. Grinning, Dorn and Renner let her go. Damn. They noticed. Her neck had always been the most sensitive part of her body. Each minute touch on it sent a ripple of response through her system. It had gotten her into trouble during puberty when it started, but few men bothered to do an in-depth study of her triggers, so it had remained a fairly well-kept secret. Until now. Taro got his own glass of water and sat across from her. “Feel better?” “Yes. Thank you again.” She swallowed the water as if it would cool her down. Silence fell between them. The men were looking at her with hunger in their eyes and all she could do in response was to flick her gaze toward her lap and she saw the gauzy and almostopaque wrap. Her water guzzling had dampened the front and her right breast, complete with taut nipple was completely visible. She quickly wrapped her arms across her breasts. “So, how long have you been on Kenvin?” Smirking, Dorn leaned back, “Two years. We keep the population from killing each other and get this house and several hundred acres of land 15

Zenina Masters in return. It is enough to hunt on and that is what we need.” She cleared her throat. “Do you hunt often?” Her dreams were filled with running, chasing and bringing down her prey. It was never her body that she was in when she took down the animals, but something quadruped and fluffy. The prey was terrifying, other predators with gnashing teeth and obscene snarls. Dorn shrugged. “As often as we need to.” Taro ran his hand over his blonde hair. “Which is pretty frequent of late.” Renner chuckled. “It is a bit of frustration. The women here are off limits. Each of them belongs to one or more men on this world. So, it is the right hand or nothing.” Taro smirked. “Unless you switch it up to the left hand. That works, too.” Raeda felt a blush under her skin. “Oh, that kind of frustration.” She had had her share of that, too. It was one of the reasons she travelled. When you were staring into the blackness of space, the demands of your body took a back seat. “But, now you are here, on our world and I can’t help but think that this could be the answer to our wishes.” Taro lifted his glass to her. She broke out her voice. “Why would you want a stranger?” She couldn’t squelch a plaintive tone. Renner leaned forward and took her hand. 16

Take Me Now “You are not a stranger. You are ours, designed for us, to match us.” He turned her hand over and ran his thumb over her palm in slow circles. She tugged, but he didn’t release her. He kept the slow caress going and as she watched his eyes, they flashed with gold. “I don’t belong to anyone. I belong to myself.” Her words were a whisper. “You don’t belong to us, you belong with us. It is a very different thing.” Dorn got to his feet and lifted her to hers. “With us.” His kiss was gentle, coaxing and he tasted ohso good. When he threaded his hand through her hair, she sighed softly into his mouth and the answering growl made her smile. She leaned up to increase the pressure of his lips on hers, but she was spun away as Taro leaned her over his arm and ravaged her mouth with an intensity that both frightened and thrilled her. He held her tightly, his hands stroking up and down her spine as his tongue fenced with hers, drawing her into a careful examination of his teeth with her lips and tongue. It never occurred to her that her males would have the same fangs she did, but here Taro was tugging at her lower lip carefully and the stinging prick made her moan. “Taro! Enough.” Renner’s voice was strangled. 17

Zenina Masters With a sigh of regret, Taro kissed her upper lip gently and set her back on her feet. “You smell like peaches, Raeda.” She blushed. It was not the first time that she had heard that, but usually it was from the close quarters with other women. Public baths in most colonies had male and female segregation, so her peculiar scent drew comments before and after she bathed from the women nearby. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “I am a little chilled. Is there something else that I can wear?” Dorn nodded. “Of course. Would you care for a shower?” With relief, she smiled. “Please.” He held out his hand and she slid her fingers against his. Relief rippled through her when she realized that they were not going to insist that she take them on immediately. A bit of privacy in the shower was going to be enough for her to recoup her self-control. Raeda looked at the tempting bit of male in front of her and thought about the two behind her. Self-control was going to be in very short supply.

18

Take Me Now

Chapter Three

T

he water rinsed the last of the traces of the cage from her. Her hair was tangled from the skimmer ride, but her skin heated quickly under the spray. When she was younger, with her adoptive parents Sirn and Masha Deiner, she had been told what she was and how having a family would happen. No normal male could help her start a family. She needed her set for her life to even resemble normal. A blushing Masha had laid out the basics to her. Raeda would find her set one day and in that set would be a male designated as first, another as second and the last as third. The first would enable her body to be receptive, the second would be able to get her pregnant and the third had been equipped to take the position of either of the other two if one should die or be incapacitated. The images in Raeda’s mind had been confusing and it wasn’t until years later that she understood the 19

Zenina Masters nuances of the situation. Now that those nuances were in the other room, she suddenly lacked the nerve to live out the fantasies that had romped through her mind for over a year. **** Dorn poured a glass of water and glanced down the hall. “What do you think she is doing in there?” “Something female, no doubt. So, which bed shall we use?” Taro rubbed his hands together, his pale eyes lighting with anticipation. Renner shook his head. “None of them. She will sleep here tonight unmolested. We will have plenty of time to pounce on her tomorrow. She needs rest.” Dorn leaned back in his chair. “I believe we should let her decide.” They looked at each other and nodded, an agreement born of years in service together. She would decide their fate, tonight was in her hands. **** The clothing that she had been given to wear consisted of a man’s dark blue shirt that hung down to her knees. The traces of scent on it said it 20

Take Me Now belonged to Dorn. The cuffs draped well over her fingertips, so she rolled them up before digging for a hairbrush. Her hair was untangled and flat to her skull before she got the nerve to start looking at the door and considering going out to face her wolves. Funny, why did she think of them as wolves? The marks were only a notation of their nonhuman origins. Fourteen or more races had contributed their genes to create warriors and peacekeepers. The treaties had not outlasted the project, but instead of scrapping them, they had been put to use as cannon fodder in the multitude of wars around the sector. The shocking thing was that they refused to die. The matching females were a secret held by one woman. Dr. Argent Deveraux. She had crafted one woman for every three males in the experiment, refusing to acknowledge that the financial contributors wanted the clones simply to die out. If they could breed, they could flourish and if they could flourish, a new strain of species could be introduced. Stronger, faster and more resilient to everything. The clone sets were a desperate attempt to make something better. So, why was Raeda hiding in the bathroom? She snorted to herself. She was scared. They were intense and intent on her. She could feel their eyes on her when she made the slightest move. She was 21

Zenina Masters their prey and she was fighting her reflexes to run for the safety of the woods. Her hands shook as she opened the door and emerged wearing nothing but the shirt. She still had no idea what she was going to do until she reached the dining room. She reached up and bit her nail as she watched her set take her in. Renner laughed and got to his feet. “Don’t look so serious, Raeda. This isn’t life and death.” He reached out and removed her index fingernail from between her teeth. “Don’t chew your nails, we can find far better uses for your mouth.” Just when his expression told her he was joking, she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and one thigh over his hips. She may as well have stripped off her clothing, because in the time it took her to take Renner’s lower lip between her teeth, she heard the chairs hit the floor. Three men snarled and growled as hands ran over her. Two mouths caressed the sides of her neck and Renner parted her lips to claim the inside of her mouth with his tongue. Raeda sighed into his mouth and let the waves of pleasure take her under. Hands cupped her ass and she was lifted and carried down the hall and through a doorway. Inside, she blinked as they separated from her and air cooled her body the moment that the tunic was whisked over her head. She shivered as they looked her over. The room 22

Take Me Now was huge, three beds were lined up against the wall, each fastidiously made and she let out a giggle as images from a storybook that her adoptive mother read to her when she was younger. Instead of her three wolves, the story was about three bears, but the mental image still made her laugh. She stopped laughing when Dorn approached her. His pants were still in place, but his boots were off. Taro came at her from the side and Renner hung back. She whispered softly, “First, second and third.” A flicker of relief went through Dorn’s eyes. “So you know how this will go.” “Yes. You are first?” “Yes.” “Taro is the second?” Taro shook his head. “I am the third, but Renner is hanging back so that your pregnancy will not be assured.” She cocked her head. “In that case, shouldn’t he be first? That way there would be no chance of conception.” They paused. Renner grinned and came up behind her, sliding one hand up to cup her breast and the other to the minute thatch of hair between her thighs. “Thank you for thinking of me, Raeda. If not for your comments, I would have waited 23

Zenina Masters until tomorrow.” She swallowed at the implication. She could have gotten away with simple sex with two of them tonight. Now that was not going to happen. Each move of his hands set off tremors in her body. While his hands explored, Taro knelt in front of her and used his mouth on her breasts, laving the nipples and nibbling the underside. Renner’s fingers parted her sex and rubbed themselves in the copious moisture before delving inside. The moment he thrust two fingers into her, she came. It wasn’t because of the stimuli in her channel. It was because he bit her neck at the same time. A holding bite, but a dentine grip all the same. Her breath whooshed out of her lungs as her body shook in his grip. Taro quickly moved and before she knew it, she was kneeling on the edge of the bed, her thighs wide and her pussy dripping wet. “Lovely, Raeda, simply lovely. Like you were made for us.” Renner was behind her, so it had to be his cock that started to forge its way within. A spear of heat and steel worked its way into her as he gripped her hips for stability and she groaned when his rocking motions brought him completely inside. Her mind blanked as he started a surging thrust that pulled him almost completely out and then 24

Take Me Now the long slide home. She rocked back against him, meeting him halfway with every pulse of his hips. A movement in front of her got her attention and a hopeful Taro stood there, his erect cock inches from her face. In acquiescence, she licked her lips and he closed the distance with an eagerness that made her smile. She suckled at him, tasting musky male, salt and sweet all in one. He didn’t grab her hair to force himself inside and for that, she was grateful. She concentrated on sucking on both the back and forward strokes, using her tongue on the underside of the sensitive head. Impishly, she used the edge of her teeth and Taro bucked in her mouth, spewing his cum into her with short pulses. He fell back and she was able to concentrate on the scraping of Renner’s cock against her g-spot. She felt the tightening of her body around him an instant before Renner bucked against her in fast, hard slams, groaning as he came. Raeda was going to scream. She was so close to a mind-bending orgasm and Renner was leaving her. Hands lifted her, turned her and she was on her back with Dorn over her. He pressed kisses to her neck and murmured, “Pardon their enthusiasm. It has been a while.” She laughed, but it was a strained sound. Every 25

Zenina Masters nerve was awake and humming and Dorn was simply leaning over her with his mouth on her…oh no. She squeaked as he took her neck in his teeth and held her. She arched her neck in supplication and his growl of approval washed over her. With his teeth still holding her, his cock slid against her centre in a slow stroke that took him inside. He released her neck, but she kept her position passive. The slow, strong thrusts he was delivering were satisfying on a completely different level than the frantic pounding she had recently been treated to. Dorn reached between them and stroked her clit with one thumb, each stroke bringing her back to the precipice of release. He rocked against her, seemingly surrounding her on all sides and she felt completely safe. It was the kind of safety that let her relax and let the orgasm rip through her without caring about the howls of satisfaction she was emitting. Her cries rattled the walls as her muscles gripped Dorn tightly until he snarled his own release. His teeth bit the join between neck and shoulder as his hips held tightly to hers. Raeda gasped, her body coated with a sheen of sweat, hers and his. He rolled to one side and pulled out of her, tucking her against him and stroking her spine. He pressed a soft kiss to her 26

Take Me Now forehead. “The next time will be better.” She nodded. “I hope so. You guys have a lascivious reputation to live up to. All over the planets, I have heard tales of the clone sets and exotic practices. Today was exceptionally tame.” she nestled against him and yawned. Her other two mates were standing nearby, fidgeting with indecision. “Why are they standing there?” Dorn chuckled. “Renner is standing there because this is his bed and Taro hasn’t properly held you yet, so he wants to cuddle with you.” She struggled, trying to sit up. “I should take the couch. You fellas all have a day job.” “We are on call. Don’t worry about us.” Dorn sat up and got to his feet, taking her with him. The bed that he sat down on smelled like him. Taro had disappeared and when he returned, he had a bowl with a collection of cloths. He stood next to Raeda and blushed. “Can I…would you mind if I…” She caught on to his thoughts and blushed herself. She sat silently and spread her thighs for him, waiting. He was thorough, she had to give him that. She doubted that she had been that clean on the day she was decanted. When Taro finished, there was no trace of semen, her honey or anything else she had been exposed to, like lint. 27

Zenina Masters He knelt in front of her and checked his work, using his tongue in long, slow strokes that she could see from her vantage point. He was industrious and persistent, spreading her lips and calling forth more honey from her. She tried to hold his hair, but it tipped her off balance, so Renner moved to sit behind her for support while Taro kept up his tireless work. His fingers dipped into her before they were replaced by the long wiggle of his tongue and those slippery fingers stroked across the tight bud of her anus. They worked into her with little difficulty and when his fingers started a hard rhythm in contrast to his deliberate mouth, she came again, clutching at Renner’s arms while harsh cries repeated endlessly from her throat. Exhausted, she felt the warm cloth again before Dorn tucked her into his bed and held her in his arms. She muttered in a daze as another set of arms came around her from the other side, but she was far too sated to complain. It seemed that her little snark about clone sets had hit a nerve. She looked forward to all the perversions in her future.

28

Take Me Now

Chapter Four

T

o Raeda’s surprise, she woke up alone in the middle of a huge bed. A clean tunic was folded over the edge of the footboard and she took the hint. The smell of food was in the air, but when she entered the kitchen, she was alone. There was a note on the table next to a dome. We had to answer a call, but your breakfast is under the dome. We will be home as soon as we can. Dorn, Taro, Renner. The three individual scrawls indicated that they had all signed the note. They must have had faith in her urge to remain with them or they would never have left her alone. Shrugging and planning to borrow one of the skimmers after she ate, she sat down and lifted the cover. “Holy crap. Do they expect me to eat all of it?” Fried and baked meats, a mountain of eggs and several biscuits were taking up the entire plate. It 29

Zenina Masters had been piled within millimetres of the cover and the warming base under it explained why the food was still hot. Methodically, she started to eat her way through the heap of breakfast. She wondered how she managed to sleep through all of them getting dressed in the dark and leaving her. The sun outside was bright, but it was still fairly early in the morning. She had moved past the bacon and was digging in to the eggs when there was a knock at the door. Fairly sure that her set would not knock, she cautiously went to answer it. Seeing the guard from the cages of the night before surprised her, but his greeting made her blink in shock. “Good morning, miss. I have your clothing and the personal effects from your ship. May I bring them in?” She blinked. “Why are you being polite when last night you were…well, crass is the word I would use?” He blushed, his blackened eye making him look a little unfocussed. “We are not allowed to engage in any behaviour that would be misconstrued as courtship by the women up for auction. They can’t bond to us or the men vying for their attention would be very unhappy.” Shockingly enough, Raeda saw the wisdom in that. Treat the women harshly and they would be 30

Take Me Now more likely to cleave to the first man who treated them well. It was a little twisted, but it had a certain logic to it. “Fine. Bring my stuff in. I will figure out where to put it afterward.” She ran a hand through her hair and winced as she realized it looked like she had been rolling around with her three companions all night. “I wouldn’t normally do it while the lawmen are away, but you seemed fairly able to take care of yourself last night.” He nodded and disappeared into the larger skimmer that he had been driving. Her four duffels were brought in and she directed them to be dropped to one side of the door. “Where is my ship?” “In the repair and storage facility. No harm will come to it, but if you want to sell it, just let me know. There is a lineup of buyers for a ship that well put together. Several folks have admired it.” “Thanks for bringing my stuff.” “All part of the service, miss. We really are just trying to create a foothold colony here. With the weather systems in this area, it is rather difficult.” He blushed as he stood in the doorway. “Thanks again. I would give you a tip for delivery, but this outfit doesn’t have pockets.” She smiled. “Um. Could you not mention to your men that 31

Zenina Masters it was me that brought the items? They were a little irritated that you were up on the block last night and I can only imagine the ruckus if you had been sold to another male.” Raeda winced. “That would not have been a good thing. Fortunately, the master of ceremonies stopped the shenanigans when he recognized the mark.” Her courier nodded. “May I ask, why are you marked?” She thought about it and then nodded. “Sure. Why not? When the men were decanted, they were marked as part of a genetic set. The tattoo patterns were crafted to identify them to their grouping and to others of their kind, because each one was specific to the genetic pattern of the set. The inks contained rare minerals from the donor planets and could not be replicated.” “What about your mark?” “The girls were created in a separate area and the tattoo artist was heavily bribed or threatened, but he matched our marks to those of our set. I bear compatible genes to the wolf set and therefore, I am theirs. Does that answer the question?” “Yes. It also explains why they were so…determined to get you off the auction block.” She grinned and started to shut the door. “Of course. I am one of a kind.” She winked as he 32

Take Me Now backed away and returned to his skimmer. There were no locks on the door, but she leaned against it while she looked at her duffels. Her muscles were rather tense and she had only one remedy if she was on her own. It was time to dance. She dug through her bags and found her headset and music selection. She remained in the tunic and walked out into the backyard, facing the wildness of the woods. Raeda queued up a good selection and started to dance. Her mind cleared, energy rolled through her muscles as she twisted, rocked and whirled to the beat. Her sound system didn’t contaminate the environment, so she got the feeling of being apart from the wilds of Kenvin while she danced for the trees. She wasn’t quite sure when eyes started watching her from the shadows. A fine sheen of sweat coated her and she stopped in her tracks. The moment that she pulled the ear buds from her ears, they came toward her. Three huge beasts, each back coming even with her shoulder. She saw the wolves and noticed the intensity of their eyes as they focussed on her. Wearing nothing but Taro’s shirt, she had no defence as they scented her. Fear should have been her response, but with one looking at her with ice blue eyes, the others 33

Zenina Masters green and black, she knew she was facing the other forms of her set. “It is considered rude to leave a woman alone in a strange bed. I almost thought you were not coming back.” she stripped off her music system and smiled at them. In front of her, they rippled and shifted forms, coming toward her with intense looks. “Um, guys. A hello is usually appropriate.” Her words disappeared as Taro knelt in front of her, tore her tunic down the centre and began licking his way down from her neck to breasts and across her abdomen. He skimmed his hands down her waist and hips to the backs of her thighs, parting them. Raeda wavered and would have fallen if Dorn and Renner hadn’t lifted her from her feet and held her with her thighs apart for Taro’s investigation. Something was different about his tongue as he lapped at her and demanded entrance. It curled upward and stroked the upper wall of her channel with each lap. Each stroke was a torture of pleasure and over sensitization. She twisted and when she heard growls from them, she froze. “Really, is that the way it is going to be?” Dorn laughed and his voice was low and husky in her ear, “Taro’s favourite pastime with his favourite female. Why would we want to interrupt 34

Take Me Now that?” She took a breath to give him a piece of her mind but arched with a cry as the tension building inside her snapped into a hailstorm of light in her mind. When she stopped twitching, her body was still humming with the result of her orgasm. Taro met her gaze and gave her a kiss that carried her taste and his. She could feel his satisfaction at her pleasure and her eyes widened as he winked. Dorn lay on his back in the middle of the yard and Renner tugged her to join him. The erection beckoning her was tempting and as she wrapped her hand almost all the way around the hot length, giving a few experimental tugs, she heard that growling groan she was growing to love. Smiling, she ran her thumb around the flared head, smoothing the precum that was dripping evenly over the silky skin. As she stroked over the length of his shaft, she noticed something that was a little unusual. The base had a thickening under the skin that was not normal for the bipeds she had encountered. Before she could ask, Dorn gripped her by the waist and swung her over him until her knees were on either side of his hips. Taking her cue from him, she lifted herself and fitted the slick, flared head to her sex. Meeting her gaze, he put his hands on her hips and pulled her 35

Zenina Masters down, forging space for himself within her. Taro’s careful arousal had ensured that there was plenty of lubrication to ease the way, but it was still slow going. She jumped when she felt two fingers and something slick against her anus, but a quick look behind her showed her an intent Taro with his cock lubed and a focused expression as he concentrated on loosening her for him. When Dorn was fully inside her and Taro made his way through the tense muscle of her backside, she was completely full. As Dorn arched into her, Taro slid back and all she could do was hold on for the ride. As long minutes of rocking, sliding, panting and a high-pitched begging whine that she couldn’t control passed, she leaned down and rested her head against Dorn’s neck. The first orgasm caught her by surprise, but they kept going, drawing the spasms inside her into an endless rhythm that matched their relentless beat. Taro finished first, plunging into her with a howl that echoed through the woods, frightening birds into flight. Dorn was six thrusts behind him and as he arched into her, she felt a distinct swelling at the base of his cock. It locked them together and when she looked down in surprise, he gave her a cheeky grin. 36

Take Me Now His voice was hoarse. “All sets are different.” Renner walked over and offered her a glass of water. “You may be stuck there for a while. We haven’t used our mating knots before so have never timed how long they will take to fade.” She chuckled at the bizarre feeling of being the female filling in a sandwich and sat up as much as she could with Taro still inside her. He wasn’t stuck like Dorn was, he just seemed to like it. When she spilled some of the water on Dorn, he flinched and it jerked his cock inside her. Taro sighed and pulled out of her, bringing another jerk to the cock wedged in her pussy. It was a relief to be a little less like a pinned bug at an exhibit. “Why didn’t you warn me?” She braced herself up on her elbows now that Taro was no longer weighing her down. Dorn’s cheeks became a darker bronze and Renner laughed. “Because he thought you would be unreceptive to being locked to us by your pussy. Can you feel him yet?” The embarrassment she felt in her mind had a peculiar twinge. Taro’s satisfaction had been easy to read, but this was different. She was embarrassed by being out in the yard with the others of her set and it blurred into Dorn’s insecurity about his body’s mating reaction. Her laughter started deep inside her as a twitch of amusement that men who could snap her like a 37

Zenina Masters twig had insecurities about the very things that made them hers. She remained attached to him for eight minutes before the swelling went down and Renner helped her to her feet, massaging her legs to assist with the stiffness. Dorn groaned as he stood, his back covered by blades of grass and smudges of dirt. Raeda was reaching out to brush the grass off his back when Renner growled and set her on the edge of the stone table in the centre of the backyard. His teeth on her skin triggered the arching of her neck and she leaned back on her hands while he stepped between her thighs. As he slid into her, she reached up and cupped his neck with one hand. “How long are you going to be inside me?” Renner grinned as he sank home, “My darling mate, I am going for a record.” Laughter ran through her mind and as she realized that it was not only hers, she enjoyed the peculiar freedom that belonging to her set could bring. And when the pleasure came, and it came hard, she was bound to Renner, Dorn and Taro for the rest of her life.

38

Take Me Now

Chapter Five

“W

here were you when I woke?” Raeda was rummaging through her bags and extracting some underwear to go with the sundress she had picked out. She was naked and kneeling on the floor, but now that they had bonded minds, there seemed little to hide. “We were called out on a farm defence. Who brought the clothing?” Dorn was a little suspicious. Raeda remembered the concern in the man’s eyes and shrugged. “Some man from the auction house.” They knew she was hiding the information, but they didn’t press her on it. “This is all you own?” Taro was helping her sort. Well, helping was a bit of a stretch. He was putting all of her sexy underwear in its own pile with a sense of anticipation. “It is everything I own beyond my ship.” “Why do you carry so many books?” Renner 39

Zenina Masters was helping by opening two of the bags and putting the contents on a shelf in the main room. “I like them. When I was first brought to my parents, they gave me a book to help calm me and when it worked, they gave me books all the time.” She smiled as she remembered those first few days with the ex-military family who had agreed to hide her. The Deiners had been loving, supportive and understanding of her peculiar circumstances. They taught her to hide her tattoo when she needed to with a combination of easily available cosmetics and a light spray of plastic. Sirn and Masha had helped her gain control of her rapidly increasing strength and that was where the dance lessons came in. When Raeda danced, she was aware of every inch of her body, where it was and what it could do. Every twist and shimmy was deliberate. She controlled herself and her body followed her commands. The sensual aspects developed when her parents had been killed and she had been left to fend for herself. She sold her parents’ property and forged into space, seeking the men that would give her a family again. After a short span, she found her funds running out and she had to sell her talent to fuel her ship. Sensuality sold and so she altered her normal patterns to play to the larger audience. With three 40

Take Me Now to six months at each world, she was able to hop from one to the other, looking for her set and never finding them, until now. “Did you ever think to look for me?” She raised an eyebrow and they all froze as her gaze went from male to male. Dorn went to the kitchen and opened a bottle of wine. He poured four glasses and placed them on the table. There was a tension in his mind, but he remained calm. Shrugging, she put on her underwear and got to her feet, slipping the sundress over her head before she made it to the kitchen. They sat around the table and each took a sip of the wine before Dorn began the story. “When we were decanted, we were marked and sent into battle as advance scouts. War after war for races who held us in contempt passed and when the fighting ground to a halt, we were offered placement on a dozen worlds. Lawmen are always in demand and with our skill set, we are more capable than most. “We agreed to look at each world and as we went for the initial orientation, we looked for any traces of you. There were none. We kept up our search on every world we visited, becoming more and more frustrated with every empty trail. We could not find you. “When we reached Kenvin, they were glad to 41

Zenina Masters have us and we received a message. If we waited, you would come to us.” Dorn sipped at his wine. Raeda sensed something in his tone. “Who sent the message? Don’t tell me that you didn’t look into it after you received it.” Renner cleared his throat. “We investigated, but the trail went cold almost immediately.” Taro nodded. “But, if you could have a look at something?” She blinked. “Um. Okay.” He brought a tablet to her and keyed in a few codes before a surveillance camera shot was displayed. “What is this?” “This is you being sold to the auction house the day you arrived. Do you know those women?” Taro stopped the recording and enhanced the image. Shocked, she stared into the image. “I know her.” It was bizarre to see herself held easily in the arms of another female, but it was the woman with her who triggered the memory. “That’s Doctor Argent Deveraux, our designer.” “Who is the woman carrying you?” The images flickered through her mind. The girls together on a shuttle, going from world to world. Thirteen girls and the doctor delivering them to their new families. “Prime. She is the 42

Take Me Now prime.” The men looked at each other. “What do you mean?” Taro asked the question. With her lips twitching, she sipped at her wine, letting the warmth run through her. “Do you think that with all of those governments together, donating genes to the project, that they didn’t demand a proof of concept?” Dorn tilted his head, “I never thought about it. What do you mean?” “I mean, that we were not the first clones. The twelve sets were not the first to be created. First, Dr. Deveraux had to prove that her techniques would work. She crafted the male primes and in honour of her daughter, the female. These were the beings offered to the governments as proof that her research was viable. No one knows what kind of samples were in that first mix, but it had to be pretty impressive to get donors from worlds that considered their purity paramount. Like the Horcross.” The Horcross genes were instilled in each of them. A singular planet of shapeshifters who had considered donating genes to the project an amusement. As concerned aunts and uncles, they offered clothing that shifted with the four sets of clones and that was the final contact that they had with the fruits of their donations. She let her mind drift. “Sylvain! That was it. 43

Zenina Masters That is the name of the prime.” Sylvain was older than the others. While they all shared the same decanting day, Sylvain had been there when they arrived, acting as a big sister for them and a companion to the good doctor. Raeda shook her head. It was funny that she hadn’t remembered Sylvain until she saw her on the screen. “She carried you easily. How strong is she?” Renner was watching the women on the screen. “I don’t know. I remember a game that we played once on the ship before we were all separated. We all piled on her, but she managed to walk fairly normal for a woman wearing twelve little girls.” Taro’s mind showed that he was impressed. “They sold you to the auction house, deposited the money into trust for you and then the good doctor made a call.” That was weird. “Who did she call?” Dorn grimaced. “Us. Listen.” He picked up a small handset and played the message. Your mate is going to be auctioned off at the Tenyara House at midnight. It was definitely a woman on the message and it irritated the hell out of Raeda. “Where is she now?” Taro lifted the tablet and scowled. “Gone. She and her companion left Kenvin right after they left 44

Take Me Now the message.” Raeda sighed and finished her wine. “It figures. She is on a crusade to make sure that we all match up.” Renner asked, “Why?” “Because if we don’t have little blenders of our own, her work comes to an end and she wants her legacy, just as all mothers do.” She sighed and stretched, giggling when their gazes all dropped to her breasts. She had to remember that. “Now, my dear mates, tell me about why the women of Kenvin have to be turned into prisoners before the auction. This is something I have strong feelings about.” They swallowed and began to stutter out the explanations while she sat back and drummed her fingers. They may be her alphas in bed, but this was her world and she was the alpha female. Organizing her new home was her concern and she was going to start with the auctions.

45

Zenina Masters

Chapter Six

O

ne month later… Raeda swallowed and glanced at her men in the back of the room. The cells were not in use and today was the first day of a new experiment in polite introduction. “Ladies, you are now the property of the world of Kenvin.” “Slavery is illegal!” One woman shouted from near the back of the nine assembled. “This isn’t slavery, it is forced immigration. That loophole allows the men here to bid on one wife and one wife only.” “That is slavery!” The woman had tears in her eyes and her black hair was wild and twisted. She hadn’t come easily. “No. It is forced colonization. Have a seat, ladies. This is your one chance to do this with dignity.” She took her seat at the conference table she had had set up. The women slowly filled in the empty chairs while her men remained back against the 46

Take Me Now wall. “Now, let’s go around the table and share names. I am Raeda, and you are…” The angry and frustrated brunette crossed her arms. “Geera.” “Annha.” “Nadir.” “Felani.” “Vina.” “Marcusa.” “Deirlin.” “Shev.” “Tikki.” “Thank you. Now, to tell you about Kenvin. It is a minerally and agriculturally rich world. The men who live here work hard but have no opportunity to find women of their own. So, the Enforced Colonization Act was created. The money that the men pay for you is a deposit for the expansion of the colony and a trust for the education of the children.” Nadir, a shy woman with golden red hair looked up, “What if we don’t like them?” Raeda sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “All the men who come here today have clean psychological profiles and enough money to provide for you and any offspring you might have. You will like them and love might grow from that. If there is one in particular that you are 47

Zenina Masters attracted to, let me know. I will see what I can do to check compatibility.” One of the women, Felani, asked. “Why are the blenders here? They are sterile.” Raeda giggled at the offended look that Taro shot her. “They are here to guard me. They would not let me into the auction house without them.” “You were bought?” She bit one of her nails while smirking. “No, not exactly. I was simply handed over.” The women gasped. As horrible as their circumstances were, apparently being simply given to a blender was beyond revolting. “Handed to a blender? That’s horrible.” Oh, her men’s egos were taking a beating. Deliberately, Raeda unlaced her leather tunic and opened it to show the mark that she had been given as a child. She turned from side to side, letting the group see her mark. “I know all about being given little to no choice in the matter of mates.” The women went silent while she laced up her tunic. “Now. On to your matters. You will be led out, announced and I want you to put everything down on this document pad about yourself that you can. Right down to your sexual preferences.” That got the women muttering to themselves. In explanation, she raised her hands. “It will narrow down the men who have similar sexual 48

Take Me Now interests. Be specific and honest. There is no means of divorce on Kenvin, so a lie in what you do and don’t like could tie you in an unsatisfactory situation for a very long time.” The women swallowed and started to fill out the questionnaires. Raeda sat back and waited. She had no idea if this would work, but it was worth a try. The men of Kenvin did, in fact, have a method of relieving themselves of an unwanted wife— they could return her to the auction and she would be resold. Their original expense was never refunded, so this was a serious financial matter for most. Telling the women that they could change hands was not going to calm them about living on Kenvin, so Raeda left that part out. She chewed her nail while the women worked and thought about what Felani had said. She had been hiding her pregnancy from the men, but she wasn’t sure that they didn’t suspect. Three weeks along, she shouldn’t have been able to tell, but her body felt different to her. If she could get away from her men long enough to get to the medical centre, she could have it confirmed, but they didn’t like her to wander off on her own. The ladies had all come through their exams with clean bills of health. A few had fought the docs, but all in all, they were fine. Raeda sighed and sent patience to the guys. It 49

Zenina Masters would be a journey of several hours, but hopefully, these women could enter Kenvin as citizens in a more dignified manner than she had. The auction took only two hours. Without the promise of nudity or exposure, only men who actually wanted a wife attended. It was still over sixty men, but with the information that the women had given, men who saw them as people and not just a physical vessel took them. Geera was an excellent cook and the man who bid on her owned a commercial orchard. She stared up at him in surprise and he looked down at her, besotted. Nadir made more of a meeting of the minds. Her love of reading and education put her in line to be one of the teachers in the growing town and her purchaser owned the bookshop. The others made good pairings with men who had complementary lifestyles. It was a good night. Sighing, Raeda leaned back against Dorn. “I hope that it goes well. It was a better start anyway.” The rest of their set gathered and Renner ran his hand along her jaw. He tilted her face up to his and pressed a soft kiss on her lips. “Now, let’s all go over to the med centre. We have an appointment to find out if we are going to be fathers.” 50

Take Me Now “You know?” Taro grinned and lifted one of her hands, pressing a soft kiss to the palm. “Raeda, your whole mind is screaming I have a secret every moment of every day for the last week.” Dorn chuckled behind her and wrapped an arm around her, covering her belly with his hand. “Even I picked up on it, dear heart, and I am thick as a brick.” “Aw. Not that thick. I can just get my hand around you.” She reached up and patted his cheek with her free hand. After their group moment, they walked in an orderly fashion to the med centre. The doctor was off his regular shift but had come at the request of the lawmen. “Now, Miss Wolf, could you sit here while I run the scans?” Her men growled in unison and the doctor looked alarmed. Raeda laughed. “It is Mrs. Wolf. They are most specific about that.” “Uh. I see. Mrs. Wolf then.” “Call me Raeda.” “Raeda then. This won’t hurt.” He used a hightech scanner that she wasn’t used to seeing on any but the most elevated of worlds. A pleasant chirp out of the scanner put her men on alert and she could almost see their ears perked toward her. 51

Zenina Masters “Raeda, you definitely are pregnant. Your body is reacting in a peculiar manner, but you are definitely going to have a child.” The howls of triumph from the exam room must have carried, because security rushed into the room and found Raeda in the careful grip of her three mates and the doctor up against the wall. To Raeda’s amusement, the doctor waved the security guards out and explained prenatal diet and care to them and her men soaked it up as if they were receiving words from a deity. When the appointment was over and the follow up arranged, Dorn lifted her in his arms and she blasted out a sigh. “What are you doing, Dorn?” “Carrying you.” “My legs work perfectly fine.” “But you might knock it loose.” She couldn’t help it. Laughter spilled out of her until her sides ached. “If walking was going to knock it loose, what do you think last night’s fucking would have done?” His look of horror stilled her laughter, but she was still smiling when she kissed his face. “Babies have been growing in women far more active than me for eons. Doc Deveraux designed us to survive and I am pretty sure that it includes her defacto grandchildren. I am fine and I will remain fine.” Renner nodded and crossed his arms, “We will make sure of it. From now on, one of us will be 52

Take Me Now with you at all times.” “You could just leave me with a communicator.” “And yet we won’t. Any assignment we go on is at least an hour away from you. That is too far for your safety.” She was still in Dorn’s arms, but Taro helped her out of them and to her feet. “Gentlemen, let’s go home. I have some negotiating to do and I believe that it is best we be naked before I start the proceedings.” They bundled her onto the family skimmer and together, they flew through the night, planning a baby’s addition to the longhouse. With the autumn air around them, Raeda relaxed. One way or another, everything was going to work itself out. She had three wolves to guard her and a planet to make her own.

53

Zenina Masters

Chapter Seven

R

aeda snuck away in the early hours. The skimmer took her into the village and she relaxed once she passed the security beacon on the outskirts. Seeing her goal, she smiled and dismounted from her personal transport. “Geera, Nadir, how nice to see you again.” The two women looked up from their craft booth at the spring market and smiled broadly. “Raeda! How is it that they let you out of their sight?” She chuckled and approached her friends. “It took some doing, but they don’t have heads for peach wine, especially not when you mix it with fruit juice and a sedative.” Her friends laughed and together, they took a seat at the outdoor café and enjoyed a leisurely girls’ breakfast, the last one she would have as a woman and not a mother. Her belly was so huge that she waddled when she walked and fear 54

Take Me Now flickered in her mates’ eyes whenever they got a good look at her. “I am tired of them looking at me like I was about to explode.” Geera leaned back and gestured at her from head to toe. “Well, you do look enormous, pet.” Nadir nodded. “It is a little startling. Here we don’t see you for a few months and you build a whole person in there. It looks like he will be in secondary education before he arrives.” Raeda laughed and ignored the rhythmic twinge that ran from her back in a band around her belly. She let the pain drift through her thoughts and felt a wave of anger and irritation. The boys were awake and they were not impressed that she had left. Dying in a skimmer wreck because Dorn was watching her and not their surroundings was not high on her list of things to do today. She felt the shift from two to four legs and winced at the knowledge that they would be chewing her out while they were butt naked. Their special trousers were in the baby’s room where they had tangled on the floor the night before. She tried to rise, but another pain wrapped her body tightly and she breathed until it passed. Geera paled. “Raeda, are you all right?” Nadir grimaced. “Of course not, dummy. She is in labour. Do you think she normally breaks a 55

Zenina Masters sweat eating a scone?” “I just want to wait here until they arrive. Then, I will calmly go to the med centre and have my baby. You might want to get some wraps for the boys. They will be coming into town on all fours.” Geera widened her eyes but left her chair and headed for the clothing stall for the early morning farmers’ market. She returned with three lengths of cloth that would suit the wolf set and folded them carefully. “There, they will be decent within moments. Not that any of the local ladies are complaining. They are very appreciative of the view when your set comes out on protection duties improperly attired.” Nadir grinned. They tried to carry on polite conversation, but the pains started to pile one after the other, Raeda breathed through each one, wincing when her water broke. The café server realized that something was going on and brought out a glass of chipped ice for the woman in labour, as well as sent one of the bussers to notify the midwife at the med centre. As the three huge wolves sprinted toward her, she had to admit that it was an impressive sight. The monstrous beasts skidded to a halt, throwing dust everywhere. Raeda calmly covered her hot chocolate. The low growls of displeasure that they treated 56

Take Me Now her to made her laugh. “Knock it off, fellas. I am in labour. So, either I have this kid here next to the pastries or someone helps me to the med centre.” They shifted so fast that she barked another laugh as pain gripped her. A blushing Geera handed them the wraps and once they were all wearing the fabric snugly around their hips, Raeda started to struggle to her feet. Dorn snarled, “You are the most stubborn woman,” as he scooped her up. She poked him in the chest with two fingers. “And don’t you forget it.” Taro asked quietly as they strode to the med centre. “Why did you leave?” She sighed. “It’s complicated. But since I have been here, I have been doing what you wanted me to do, not what I wanted to do. I wanted one morning of making my own decisions. One morning before I became a mom.” Renner looked like he was blushing. “We just wanted you safe…” “And in the best of health for the baby. I know. I just wanted to have a morning breakfast meeting with friends. I need friends you know. It’s important.” The last was said through gritted teeth. “We will try and keep that in mind, but for now, you have to have a baby.” 57

Zenina Masters She grunted. “Why? Why do I have to do this?” Dorn looked down at her with a smile. “Because we have already decorated the baby’s room?” Laughter came again. “Good answer.” The midwife took one look at their grouping and started to shake her head at the peculiar collection. “I have booked one of the larger rooms. Something tells me you need the space.” The next two hours went by quickly. Raeda groaned and grunted, her men growled and took turns holding her hands. She bit both Taro and Renner in turn when they got too close to her face. Dorn had the sense to keep away from her head while he rubbed her back and fed her ice chips. When the time came for her to push, Dorn held her shoulders, Taro and Renner each took a leg and with seven groaning pushes, her daughter slid into the world. The relief of the intense pressure brought tears to her eyes and when her tiny little girl was placed on her chest all wet and naked, she sobbed. The rest of her set joined her in her tears. The midwife smiled benignly until something started happening between Raeda’s thighs. The second child arrived without the fanfare of the first. A little boy that confused his fathers but was held in huge muscular arms with the same 58

Take Me Now reverence that his sister had experienced. After all the fanfare and the midwife had helped Raeda clean up, she leaned back and watched her men carefully holding and comparing the two little ones, one in royal blue and the other in bright red. The little girl had Taro’s colouring with Dorn’s eyes and the little boy had Renner’s hair with Taro’s eyes. “Sirn and Masha, after my parents. I only had them for a few years, but they meant the world to me and wherever they are now, I want them to know they had an impact.” Her words were meant to be thoughts, but her men smiled. Sirn and Masha started to fuss and with a laugh, Raeda held out her arms. “I know you want to hold them forever, but they are hungry and you are not equipped to take care of it.” The little ones latched on with ferocity and Raeda could only thank her lucky stars that they were not born with teeth. She leaned back and gave her men a weary smile. “I have no idea how we are going to get home, but I do know that we need more baby supplies. Kenvin has two more citizens, so perhaps you can use your clout to work out a deal.” She listened to them making a list that included a crib, extra diapers and tiny baby clothing for 59

Zenina Masters both genders. They fought each other for the first diaper change and she concluded that three dads might just be the right amount. Raeda let her mind fade into sleep and felt arms come around her to hold her and the babies. It didn’t matter which one it was, they were in her mind, all around her, all hers and she was theirs.

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About the Author Zenina Masters was born in Canada and lives in Canada. She has a regular job and does nothing particularly exciting with her life. She enjoys fishing, silence and the ability to pick and choose friends she can trust. Life is too short to watch your back all the time. Her writing life is a teeny bit of escapism, she would probably chicken out if confronted by three naked men and looks forward to one day finding out.