Riley's Paradox, page 17
part #9 of Hearts of ICARUS Series
He closed his eyes for a moment and thought about security reports until his passion receded, then he stood up again. Placing himself at Riley’s entrance, he supported her hips and pushed slowly into her tight, slippery heat. He barely heard the groans of pleasure he made as he focused intently on not coming as he worked himself deeper into her, inch by excruciatingly slow inch.
He paused when he felt her barrier against the tip of his cock, and opened eyes he hadn’t realized he’d closed. Suddenly Riley’s walls clenched tightly around him, squeezing hard. His hips automatically jerked forward without his permission. His cock burst through her hymen and kept going until every last inch of him was buried as deeply inside of her as he could get.
He managed, barely, to remain still, giving her time to get used to his intrusion. When he looked up and saw that she had a couple of inches of West’s cock in her throat, he pulled back and began thrusting without thought. One part of his mind knew he was going too fast, and pounding too hard for her first time, but he simply couldn’t stop himself.
His eyes were glued to Riley’s mouth and throat as West thrust gently in and out of her until he groaned loudly and pushed himself deep, causing her throat to bulge. The bulge jerked repeatedly as West came, causing Riley to come at the same time. Her walls squeezed Win so hard he couldn’t help but join her, coming so hard he saw stars.
After Win caught his breath he gently slid out of Riley, careful to continue supporting her while he and Wilder traded places. She turned her head and smiled up at him while still trying to catch her breath. Then her attention turned to Wilder who was pushing his cock into her tight embrace as quickly as he could without hurting her.
Her back arched and she growled in pleasure, the sound making Win hard again in an instant. He leaned down to kiss her and she nipped his lips, sending an arc of electricity straight through him. He growled in response, then thrust his tongue into her mouth, his kiss forceful and dominant. When she tore her mouth away from his in order to breathe, he smiled.
“You are so beautiful,” he said, his voice rough with his own passion.
She returned his smile, reached for his cock, and rubbed her thumb over the head before tugging lightly to urge him closer. He growled again as she licked the head, swirled her tongue around it, then took it into her mouth and sucked hard. Win’s head went back as his hips thrust forward, pushing himself a little bit deeper into her mouth.
“Come on, Qalbi,” Wilder said, his voice a rumbling growl, “swallow him down nice and deep. You know how to do it. Just like I told you.”
Win looked down just as she hummed, causing a vibration that had him pressing forward again. He started to pull back, but her hand on his hip stopped him, then pulled him closer. Letting her guide his movements with her hand, he slid further in. When he felt the head of his cock touch the back of her throat she hummed again, then swallowed.
The muscles in her throat pulled him into their hot, tight embrace, forcing a shout of pure pleasure to escape him. To his surprise she pulled him deeper still, her tongue stroking him the entire time.
“Good girl,” Wilder growled, his thrusts between her thighs speeding up. He turned to Win with a grin. “She’s got your entire cock in her mouth.”
Win glanced at his brother and rolled his eyes. As if he didn’t know that. “Our little berezi likes her cocks hard and deep,” he said, pulling back out of her throat so she could breathe when she tapped his hip lightly. A moment later she tapped him again and he slid back in, groaning loudly. “I’m not going to last long,” he gasped.
“That’s good because neither am I,” Wilder said as his thrusts became harder and deeper.
Win pulled out of Riley’s throat again, then plunged back in when she tugged his hip sharply. She tried to scream around his cock as she came, which caused her throat to tighten nearly to the point of pain, forcing Win to climax along with her. Wilder came at the same time, his roars echoing off the bathroom walls, though none of them really noticed.
Win withdrew slowly and gently from Riley’s mouth. He sat on the bench behind him and slumped over slightly to catch his breath while still supporting her so that she didn’t slip under the water.
When he could speak again he lifted his head to find her eyes half closed. He looked up to see that West was standing between her thighs, and Wilder stood at her shoulder, both of them looking uncertain.
“Jamila,” he said softly.
“Hmmm?”
“Can you go one more round?”
She turned her head toward him. “Maybe. Why?”
“We can stop now and have a good emotional bond,” he said. “But if you can handle one more round with West and Wilder, then we’ll have a claiming bond.”
She frowned and he smiled indulgently. “We will explain it later if you like. For now, just know that it’s the strongest bond we can have short of linking. We’d like to have that with you.”
“I’d like that too,” she said, smiling. “I need a little boost though, okay?”
“My pleasure, Jamila.”
“What does that mean? Jamila?”
“Beautiful,” he replied, then leaned down to run his tongue lightly over her swollen lips while releasing a careful burst of pheromones. “How’s that?” he whispered, lifting his head.
Riley breathed in deeply, then shivered as a new burst of arousal raced through her. “Perfect,” she purred before turning her head toward Wilder.
Chapter 8
Riley dressed quickly, leaving her hair hanging down her back in damp waves after finger combing the knots out. She hung her towel on a rack to dry and left the bathroom.
“Why are you in such a hurry Qalbi?” Wilder wondered.
“What does that mean?” she asked, picking up her shoes from where she’d left them near the door.
“My heart,” he replied, his voice taking on a warm, husky tone that her body was already familiar with. She sat down in a chair at the table and bent over to pull her socks on, taking her time while waiting for the heat in her cheeks fade.
“It’s not that I’m in a hurry so much as I feel uncomfortable dressing in the same clothes from yesterday,” she said. “I also need a hairbrush. And I need to talk to Percy.”
“Do you think he’ll be upset?” Win asked.
“Not at all,” Riley replied, reaching for a shoe. “Just the opposite in fact.”
West’s eyebrows shot up at that, causing Riley to blush again. This time she just ignored it. “I promised Percy that I would tell him my secrets one day, that I didn’t know when that would be, but that I would tell him before I told anyone else. So yesterday afternoon, after I woke up, I did just that. In his opinion, my previous plans needed to be clawed out of existence. His words, not mine. He was also very much in favor of me spending the night with you, and also linking with you.”
“He wants you to link with us?” West asked in surprise.
“Yes, he does,” Riley replied, tying the laces on her shoe before reaching for the other one. “He doesn’t know what that entails, but he does know that it could heal me. For him, it comes down to my life or my death. He doesn’t want me to die.”
“I never thought I’d say this, but the more I get to know about that Lonyx, the more I like him,” Win said.
“I know what you mean,” Riley said, smiling. “His sarcasm is sharp enough to draw blood at times, he’s especially grumpy in the morning, and he can be more stubborn than anyone I’ve ever met. He’s also smart, easy to talk to, honest, and he’s made me laugh more these last three months than I have for the past three years.”
“That alone earns him my eternal gratitude,” Wilder said.
Riley nodded, unable to speak around the sudden lump in her throat. After giving her a minute to calm herself while she finished putting her shoes on, Wilder said, “Would you like us to talk to Percy?” Riley looked at him in surprise. “We can feel your reluctance to discuss this subject with him, and we don’t mind at all.”
Riley smiled. “My mother told my sisters and I about soul-linking, having sex with a male-set, and the dynamics of a relationship with three men. As you may know, my mother isn’t the least bit shy, so I don’t think she left too much out.
“That’s why I wasn’t surprised when I felt the three of you yesterday morning before I got to the cafeteria. I sort of expected it, actually. But what I feel now is much stronger than anything she told us about. Other than linking, of course. I know Win said we’d have a stronger bond, but I’m not sure I understand what that means exactly.”
“The bond we forged last night is stronger, deeper, and more durable than the usual emotional bond,” Wilder said. “We thought it would be best for all of us to have the strongest bond possible. Do you mind?”
“Absolutely not,” she said emphatically, then blushed. “I like it very much. I’m just surprised by it.”
“Surprised how?” Win asked.
“Yesterday I could sense your presence, and last night, after you stopped blocking me, I could pick up on your emotions. Today, I feel like I’m connected to each of you separately, and all of you together at the same time.” She shrugged. “I’m not explaining this very well. It’s just a lot more intense than I expected, but I like it.”
“We like it too,” West said, smiling.
“Is this what being linked feels like?” she asked.
“Being linked is much stronger than this,” Wilder said. “But, this is the strongest bond possible short of linking, so it will have to do until we reach Jasan.”
Riley smiled for a moment, then turned toward West with a little frown. “Why are you nervous?”
“You didn’t answer Wilder’s question regarding Percy,” he said. “We don’t want to intrude on your relationship with him, but we can feel that you’d rather not have this particular conversation with him.”
“I wasn’t avoiding the question, West, I just got sidetracked,” Riley explained. “I don’t feel like your intruding, and I definitely don’t mind you talking to Percy about this.”
“Great,” he said with a grin.
A couple of minutes later, when they were all dressed, they left the master suite and walked the short distance to her room. Riley placed her hand on the sensor panel, then entered the room with the Katre-Laus behind her. She glanced at Percy who was sitting on the end of the bed eating while watching vids. He looked up at her in surprise, but she spoke before he had a chance to ask questions.
“Good morning Percy,” she said, then gestured at the Katre-Laus entering the room behind her. “They’d like to talk to you.”
“All right,” Percy agreed, tapping the remote with one paw to stop the vid. Riley went straight into the bathroom and closed the door behind herself before they began talking.
Though it wasn’t deliberate, she was a little embarrassed that she could hear their conversation. She flipped on the exhaust fan which helped drown out their voices, then reached for her carryall and pulled out some clean clothes. She changed quickly, then grabbed her hairbrush.
When she glanced into the mirror she froze. She was stunned by how bright her eyes were, and how much color there was in her cheeks. She looked happy. She felt happy. She wondered just how long it had been since she’d felt real happiness, then decided she really didn’t want to know. It was enough to feel it now.
After brushing and braiding her hair, Riley washed her hands and picked up her makeup bag just as the ship jolted sharply, causing her to stumble backward a step. The ship jerked again in the opposite direction, knocking her to her hands and knees. The makeup bag hit the floor, spilling its contents everywhere, but she hardly noticed.
Gamó, she thought, her heart racing. She’d spent enough time on ships over the years to have experienced a large number of various shudders and shakes. But she’d never felt anything like this before and it scared her.
Suddenly, she wanted to be with her men. Badly. Desperately, even. She’d barely finished the thought when her transport disruption bracelet suddenly became uncomfortably hot. She immediately reached for the clasp but before she got it opened the heat doubled, then tripled until the silver bracelet glowed cherry red.
The fingertips of her right hand burned as she fumbled frantically with the release catch, the pain so intense that she didn’t even hear herself screaming. Just as the bracelet fell to the floor, the bathroom door flew open with a crash, freezing the screams in her throat. She looked up in time to see Wilder’s shocked expression before the disorienting sensation of transportation engulfed her.
Wilder threw his head back and roared so loudly that the walls vibrated. Then he locked every muscle in his body and fought against the blood rage that had already begun to take over his mind. It took a couple of very long minutes, during which both Win and West stood behind him, shaking with effort as they fought their own battles.
Sensing the Katre-Laus’ struggle, Percy refrained from asking them questions or otherwise distracting them. Instead, he slipped through and around their legs in order to enter the bathroom himself. Riley’s screams, followed by Wilder’s roar had been enough for him to know something terrible had happened to his only friend. That she was actually gone shocked him so severely that he couldn’t seem to get enough air into his lungs.
He spotted a round black object lying on the scorched tile floor and crouched down a few inches away from it. The air smelled of burning flesh, pain, and fear. That particular combination of scents brought back memories that he could not allow himself to get lost in at the moment. Like the Katre-Laus, he stiffened every muscle in his body and fought past the flashbacks, determined to stay in the here and now.
After a couple of minutes Wilder managed to force his fisted hands to relax. He turned to check on Win, then West. Satisfied that they’d both pulled themselves back from their own blood rages, he stepped into the bathroom. With his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the blackened circle of metal lying on the floor, he moved to the other side of it so that Win and West could enter the room as well.
“What is that?” West asked, staring down at the scorched object.
“It’s Riley’s transport disrupter bracelet,” Wilder replied as he knelt down beside Percy.
“That’s what was burning?” Win asked hesitantly, already knowing the answer before Wilder nodded his head. “But…how?”
“I don’t know,” Wilder replied. “I got the door open in time to see it hit the floor. It was red hot, which is why she was screaming. Before she was transported away I saw burns on her left wrist, and the fingers of her right hand. They were severe.”
“I don’t understand,” Win said, shaking his head slowly. “What would make her bracelet burn up like that? And how could she possibly have been transported away?”
“I don’t know the answers any better than you do,” Wilder said with an edge of frustration. He took a few long breaths to calm himself. Snapping at his brothers wasn’t going to do any of them any good.
“The drug,” West said. Wilder and Win both looked up at him. “The drug in that dart they hit her with. Maybe it had something in it.”
Win followed Wilder’s example and took several deep, calming breaths, then forced himself to think. “Nano bots?”
West nodded grimly. “Don’t forget who the Nomen work for.”
Win frowned as he quickly worked through the idea. “I suppose the nano-bots could’ve emitted a magnetic or electronic field that caused something inside the bracelet, the micro battery most likely, to burn up.”
“They?” Percy asked quietly.
“The Doftles themselves, or Nomen acting on the Doftles’ orders,” West replied.
“That might explain what happened to the bracelet,” Win said. “But how in the seven hells did they get through the ship’s transport disrupter?”
Wilder sent a thread of Earth magic into the bracelet, finding nothing but burnt out circuits and charred metal. He picked the blackened object up and slipped it into his pants pocket. “Those lurches we felt before Riley started screaming may hold the answer to that question.”
He stood up, already reaching for his hand terminal when the ship jolted again, triggering a loud, clanging alarm. Wilder’s hand terminal buzzed almost immediately. He wasn’t surprised to see Captain Marnet’s face on his screen. He hit the button to accept the call. “Status report please, Captain.”
“Internal sensors are reporting a severe explosion in main engineering, rupturing at least two bulkheads, Commander,” he said calmly. “Cause and casualties unknown at this time, we’re working to determine both.”
“We felt two explosions. Where was the first one?”
“Unknown at this time. Trying to locate. Just before the first explosion, most of our internal sensors suddenly became inoperative, including those that detect chemicals in the onboard air, as well as those that sense onboard explosions and combustion, so I’ve got crew members searching the ship for the site of the first blast.”
Wilder’s eyes narrowed, as did Win’s and West’s. That kind of sensor failure could result only from sabotage carried out from inside the ship.
“Try checking the transport disrupter system, including the automatic malfunction logs and especially all of the relevant security vids,” Wilder said, watching the captain on the screen as his hands flew over the instrument panels in front of him, apparently trying to restore function to the damaged systems and stabilize the ship.
“Aye, Sir.” On the tiny screen, Wilder saw the captain turn to another officer on the bridge and give a few terse orders. “We’re checking right now.”
Wilder couldn’t help but notice that the captain’s voice was calm and professional, notwithstanding the obvious tension in the man’s expression and the shock in his eyes. The ship lurched again, much more sharply than before.
“Captain?” Wilder asked calmly after giving him a few seconds to check his instruments.
