UNWRAPPED

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED

BOOK 31

EVANGELINE ANDERSON

Unwrapped, 1st Edition,

A Brides of the Kindred Novel

Copyright © 2023 by Evangeline Anderson

All rights reserved.

Cover Art Design © 2023 by Reese Dante

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writers’ imagination or have been used factiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Cover content is for illustrative purposes only.

Any person depicted on the cover is a model.

CONTENTS

Unwrapped

1. Celia

2. Celia

3. Celia

4. Fierce

5. Hold

6. Celia

7. Celia

8. Fierce

9. Celia

10. Hold

11. Celia

12. Celia

13. Celia

14. Celia

15. Fierce

16. Hold

17. Celia

18. Hold

19. Fierce

20. Celia

21. Celia

22. Celia

23. Hold

24. Celia

25. Fierce

26. Celia

27. Celia

28. Celia

29. Fierce

30. Hold

31. Celia

32. Celia

33. Celia

34. Celia

35. Celia

36. Celia

37. Celia

38. Celia

39. Celia

40. Celia

41. Celia

42. Celia

43. Celia

44. Celia

45. Celia

46. Ceila

47. Celia

48. Hold

49. Fierce

50. Celia

51. Fierce

52. Celia

53. Celia

54. Celia

55. Celia

56. Celia

57. Celia

Epilogue

The End?

Brides of the Kindred Glossary

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About the Author

UNWRAPPED

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED, BOOK 31

Celia’s supposed to get married to her fiancé on Christmas Eve…that is until two huge Kindred warriors come knocking on her door to Claim her as their own. Now she’s on a dangerous adventure she might never return from. Can Celia, Hold and Fierce get home in time for the Holidays and will she go ahead with the wedding? Or will the two muscular warriors turn out to be the best gift Celia has ever Unwrapped?

Celia Alvarez is engaged to one of the wealthiest men in the country—so why is she slaving away in the kitchen, making Thanksgiving Dinner for his entire family all by herself? Her future in-laws seem to think she’s either the cook or the maid and none of them has offered to lift a finger to help. Just as Celia is wishing for a change, Fate provides one. The doorbell rings and two huge Kindred warriors are standing there, claiming the she is their mate.

Certain that there must be some mistake, Celia agrees to go with Holds Tightly and Fights Fiercely to the Mother Ship until the situation can be cleared up. She likes Hold at once, but she and Fierce are instant enemies. How could she possibly be with these guys for life? She’s certain a relationship between the three of them is impossible and promises herself to keep her distance and to not cheat on her fiancé, Peter.

However, when the three of them are sent on a mission to collect a special glowing moss to decorate the Mother Ship for the holidays, everything changes. A destabilized wormhole damages their ship and dumps them out into a galaxy light years from home. In order to get the ship fixed, they have to agree to join a sex cult and shortly after that, Celia’s plans to keep herself off the Naughty List this Holiday Season go right out the window.

Can Celia, Hold, and Fierce escape the cult and get home in time for the Holidays? Will Celia’s wedding go ahead as scheduled…or will the time she spent with the two huge Kindred warriors change her life forever? You’ll have to read this Enemies-to-Lovers, Touch her and Die, Only one Bed, MFM, Hot Holiday romp to find out.

After all, Hold and Fierce just might turn out to be the best Christmas gift Celia has ever…Unwrapped.

DEDICATED TO:

Sue Voris,

who gave me the idea for this novel in the first place

Also to:

Everyone who suggested naming the book “Unwrapped”

(Sorry, ladies, there are a lot of you! Lol)

Also to:

Julia Maguire,

who suggested the name “Fights Fiercely” for my Dark Twin Kindred

AND

Demetria Ebert,

who suggested the name Holds Tightly for my Light Twin Kindred warrior

Thanks to all of you for the helping hand you gave to my Muse which made this book possible!

Hugs, Evangeline

1

CELIA

“Cece dear, how is that turkey coming on? Please don’t forget to baste it—nobody likes a dry turkey! And don’t forget to glaze the ham.”

Celia Alvarez counted silently to ten and fixed a smile on her face before turning to look at her Mother-in-Law-to-be.

“The turkey is doing just fine, Mother Frances,” she said brightly. “But you can check it yourself if you’d like to be sure. Or you could peel the potatoes while I check it instead. Or make the cranberry sauce. Or start on the piecrust or the green bean casserole. Or—”

“Oh, no-no—I’m sure you’ve got everything in hand, Cece. I wouldn’t want to interrupt your flow,” her Mother-in-Law-to-be said, waving a hand to dismiss Celia’s indirect plea for help.

Celia gritted her teeth. It was her Mother-in-Law-to-be—“Mother Frances” as she had asked Celia call her—that had insisted on this enormous Thanksgiving spread in the first place. She wanted to have the entire family over to talk about the wedding, which was happening in just over a month on Christmas Eve. But though there were no less than twenty-five people talking and laughing and mingling in the large mansion on Bayshore Boulevard—which was her fiancé, Peter’s current main residence—not a single one of them had offered to help in any way.

It was probably because they’d all been raised rich, Celia speculated to herself as she began on the gourmet cranberry relish that Mother Frances insisted on since canned cranberry sauce wasn’t good enough. Peter came from the upper crust—high society and generational wealth that had been passed down since the days of the Robber Barons. His great-great-grandfather had owned a bunch of railroads or something like that, though now his family was more into aeronautics and shipping.

Such people usually had a private chef and a hoard of servants to take care of them, but Peter had just bought the mansion on Bayshore a few months before and hadn’t gotten around to hiring staff for it yet. So it was up to Celia to prepare this enormous meal all by herself.

People wandered in from time to time to help themselves to more wine and cheese from the charcuterie board that Celia had set up on the kitchen island, but none of them said, “Hey, you look busy—is there anything I can do to help?” Mostly they just ignored her—except for Mother Frances, of course—who came in periodically to order her around—or “supervise” as she called it—and tell Celia what she was doing wrong.

“Have you started the dough for the yeast rolls yet?” her future Mother-in-Law asked, raising one critical and perfectly plucked blonde eyebrow. She was wearing an immaculate white silk lounging suit which made her look both elegant and unapproachable. “It has to rise at least twice to be any good. That’s what my chef, Armand, told me anyway, when I got the recipe from him.”

Dios! Celia wished that Armand was there now instead of back at Mother Frances’s penthouse in New York. Maybe he would actually be some help instead of just standing there criticizing without lifting a finger!

“It’s on its second rise right now,” she told her future Mother-in-Law. “I’ll work with it some more when I get a chance. But right now I’ve really got my hands full!”

“Oh—of course you do! And we all can’t wait to see what you produce! I’m sure it will be so interesting,” Mother Frances exclaimed—which was her version of a compliment. “By the way dear—I got you a job,” she added, smiling at Celia.

“You did?” Celia swallowed her resentment and looked up hopefully.

“Yes! My dear friend Penelope Penobscot of the Boston Penobscots—she just bought a second condo in Palm Beach and she needs someone to decorate for her. So of course I thought of you right away!”

Celia’s heart jumped in her chest. This kind of client was what her little Interior Design firm, Elegant Interiors, needed to really start taking off!

“Well thank you, Mother Frances,” she said, giving her future Mother-in-Law a genuine smile. “If you’ll give me her email address, I’ll send her a contract and a list of prices.”

“Oh, no-no-no!” Mother Frances put a fluttering hand to the pearls at her throat, as though Celia had suggested some kind of sacrilege. “No, Penelope is a dear friend—you can’t charge her anything!”

“But…I’m running a business,” Celia protested. “I can’t afford to just give away my work for free!”

“Give what away for free?” Peter, her fiancé asked, coming into the vast kitchen. He was wearing a casual outfit—an Egyptian linen shirt with the cuffs rolled up, a pair of hand-tailored slacks, and Italian driving loafers that cost more than the car Celia was currently driving.

He was only about an inch taller than her but the loafers had built up heels that turned his 5’8 to 5’9 and 1/2 at least. He plucked a grape from the fruit salad Celia had begun assembling and popped it into his mouth before coming up to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Your mother was kind enough to find me a client—” Celia began.

“Yes, Penelope Penobscot—you remember her, darling—don’t you?” Mother Frances cut in. “Of the Boston Penobscots? But Cece here wants to charge her to decorate her condo!”

Peter frowned and raked a hand through his thinning blond hair.

“Cece darling, really? You should know you can’t charge a friend—especially one of Mummy’s dear friends. Why always this obsession with money?”

Dios! Because I don’t have any! Celia wanted to shout. Because I didn’t grow up obscenely wealthy like you and your snobby family!

But she held her tongue, as she always did. She didn’t want to drive a wedge between Peter and his mother—she’d already heard them fighting over the fact that he was “Marrying the Help” on at least one occasion. Now that Mother Frances was finally beginning to accept her and the fact that she and Peter were actually getting married, Celia didn’t want to ruin it.

“I know you grew up in a, er, disadvantaged situation,” Peter went on, not waiting for Celia to answer. “But you won’t ever have to worry about money again once we get married. Can you believe the wedding is just over a month from now? An elegant Christmas Eve wedding—it’s going to be just perfect!”

“I’m excited about the wedding too,” Celia began. “But the point is—”

“The point is to be happy together on this wonderful day,” Peter interrupted smoothly. “I mean food, fun and family—what more could one ask for?” He looked at the bag of marshmallows that Celia had out for the candied yams and shook his head. “But speaking of food…Darling, I really hope you’re not eating any of those—you know how sweets go straight to your hips. You want to fit into that gorgeous wedding dress we picked out—right?”

“They’re for the candied yams—I haven’t touched them!” Celia said quickly, her cheeks getting hot. All of Peter’s family seemed to be naturally skinny—his sisters didn’t ever have to exercise—and they all had the anatomy of toothpicks. Even her Mother-in-Law-to-be was thinner than she was—though she’d been dieting for months.

Unfortunately, Celia wasn’t sure that would ever change. She had always been big in the hips and ass department. It was probably part of her heritage—though she couldn’t be sure since she’d been raised in the Foster Care system and didn’t actually have contact with any of her family.

“Now speaking of the wedding, I really have to go over the guest list with you again, sweetums,” Mother Frances said, hooking her arm through her son’s. “I’ve had to add a few more people to fill out the church, since there’s almost no one on the bride’s side…”

And she towed him into the other room, still talking rapidly.

Madre de Dios… Celia watched them go and then turned back to the task at hand with a sigh. She was peeling potatoes in the sink and she looked out the window at the cars whizzing by on the winding road some distance away.

Bayshore Boulevard was a long, curving road which boasted the longest unbroken stretch of sidewalk in the US. It was featured in all kinds of articles and Instagram posts about moving to Tampa (though these same articles neglected to mention that it was hot, humid, and sticky 3/4ths of the year and that hurricane season was no joke.) The main thing was, it was expensive. If the Tampa Bay area was a Monopoly board, Bayshore would have been Boardwalk. And the mansion Peter had bought—and Celia had decorated—was one of the most expensive properties in the area.

It still amazed Celia that she was living in such luxury. It seemed only yesterday that she’d been trapped in a one-bedroom apartment, struggling to make ends meet and hoping her business wouldn’t fold. But then Peter had come into her life and hired her to decorate one of his properties—an office building in downtown Tampa that he had recently acquired.

Celia had only put in a bid on a whim—and she’d priced it as low as possible, thinking that if she got it, she could use the fact that she’d decorated for Peter Thielgood as a selling point on her resume. But she’d never expected to actually get picked—or for Peter to sweep her off her feet as he had done.

He claimed to have fallen in love with her “Latin looks”—her long dark hair and large brown eyes. They were the exact opposite of his own colorless blond hair and pale blue eyes. He also claimed to love her “fiery spirit” though to be honest, he often got annoyed when she disagreed with him about anything.

But that was to be expected, Celia told herself, since he’d been raised rich and his mother pretty much agreed with everything he said or did. It was natural to be a bit arrogant considering his upbringing.

Still, despite being somewhat spoiled, her fiancé was charming and spontaneous. He’d simply announced that they were going to get married and had presented her with an obscenely large, square-cut diamond ring on their third date. Feeling overwhelmed and flattered, Celia had said yes.

She loved his spontaneity—though at times it could go too far. For instance, just a month ago, he had come into their bedroom and announced that he’d flushed all her birth control down the toilet.

“Madre de Dios—you what?” Celia had demanded, staring at him. “What are you talking about? Why would you do that, Peter?”

“Well, you know Mummy has been complaining that she wants more grandchildren,” he’d pointed out, settling in bed beside her. “And the wedding is so close. I just thought—wouldn’t it be lovely if you were already pregnant by the time we tied the knot? That way we can have babies right away!”

“But I don’t know if I’m ready for kids yet!” Celia had protested. “Dios, Peter—we haven’t even talked about this!”

He’d shrugged.

“Well, we’re talking about it now.”

“What about my career?” she’d protested. “It’s going to be damn hard to run a business while I’m dealing with a baby!”

“We’ll get it a nanny,” Peter told her, brushing off her fears. “And you won’t have to work anyway, if you don’t want to!”

As it turned out, Celia did want to work and she wasn’t ready to stop birth control yet. They’d had a huge fight about it and Peter had finally apologized. Celia had booked an appointment to get some more pills, but then Peter had flown her out to Aspen to get her to decorate another one of his friend’s homes and she’d had to put it off.

Luckily, she hadn’t missed a period yet, though they’d had unprotected sex just the night before after Peter had whined and begged for a solid hour. She really had to get back on the Pill, Celia told herself. Peter wasn’t willing to wear a condom and she wasn’t ready to be a mom yet!

Though to be honest, sex with Peter was so quick, it hardly counted. He wasn’t a very creative lover, which had been kind of disappointing, but Celia told herself that he made up for his lack of performance in the bedroom with other good personality traits. He was generous to a fault. He had offered to buy her a new car almost as soon as they started dating, but Celia had held out so far and hung on to her old Honda Civic.

She wasn’t sure why, exactly—maybe she just didn’t want to be completely sucked into Peter’s world quite yet. She wanted to retain her autonomy—which was another reason she wanted to keep working. She loved her job and her tiny little design firm. Elegant Interiors wasn’t much, but it was hers and she wasn’t quite ready to give it up yet, even if she was soon going to be a wife to one of the richest men in the country.

Besides, she needed something to fall back on if they ever split up. As generous as Peter was, he had insisted on a Prenuptial agreement—which Celia supposed made sense, considering he was worth millions and she was barely worth thousands…well, more like hundreds on most months, to be honest.

But she was no gold digger and never had been, so she had signed the agreement, which stipulated that she got practically nothing in case of a divorce. It was only after she signed that her Mother-in-Law-to-be started treating her with any kind of kindness and calling her “Cece.” Celia didn’t like the nickname much, but it was better than “that woman who’s sunk her claws into you,” which was how Mother Frances had been referring to her when she talked to Peter, prior to the Prenup.

“After all,” Celia had heard her saying to Peter. “Once you get tired of being married to a ‘fiery Latina’ you can get rid of her without a fuss and settle down with one of our kind of people.”

Her words had hurt Celia deeply, but she had never shown it or discussed it with either Peter or his Mother. Growing up in Foster Care had toughened her up and taught her that you have to win people over gradually. You can’t beg them to like you—you can only show that you’re a trustworthy individual who is deserving of respect and affection and hope they understand.

Or so Celia told herself.

But Dios—sometimes her fiancé’s family really got on her nerves. The way his sisters were constantly on juice cleanses and talked about nothing but the latest fashions or what the Kardashians—who they apparently knew personally—were doing. They were vapid and silly and didn’t seem to have anything in their heads but gossip about celebrities and their own social circle of which Celia definitely wasn’t a part. Whenever she tried to make small talk, they just stared at her blankly. She didn’t fit in with them at all, no matter how hard she tried.

Their husbands weren’t much better. They all just talked stocks and bonds and sports and whether it was more prestigious to go to Harvard or Yale. Celia had attended USF—a state school—on a scholarship for students in extreme poverty. So she had nothing to add to these conversations.

The kids her skinny sister-in-laws had produced were little terrors—every one of them had a nanny who couldn’t seem to keep them in hand. They tore through the house yelling and screaming at each other while the adults ignored them and the aforementioned nannies ran after them, begging them to behave.

All in all, the Thielgoods were a pretty unpleasant and unrelatable family and it was Celia’s Mother-in-Law-to-be who was the head of them all. Since Peter’s father was dead, she ruled the family with an iron fist hidden inside a velvet glove. It was a well-known fact that she could and would change her will at any time, which meant that all of them had to do whatever she said. The minute she cried or pouted they all jumped to attention, afraid of getting cut off.

Which is probably the only reason they all came down here to spend Thanksgiving in the first place, Celia thought to herself as she peeled yet another potato. Wish they would have stayed home!

She loved Peter—he could be so kind and spontaneous and generous. But she was getting sick of his family.

Celia glanced at the window again, but this time she looked at her reflection instead of the road outside. A tired-looking woman with big brown eyes and long, dark brown hair, wearing a simple red wrap dress stared back at her. She’d been up since five that morning, working on the “Thanksgiving Feast” that Mother Frances demanded and she was beginning to wonder if she was going to get it done in time.

She’d assumed that at least one of Peter’s sisters would offer to help but that had turned out to be a mistake. Could she make dinner for 25 people all by herself in time to sit down by six? Celia was betting she would be completely exhausted no matter what the answer turned out to be.

Come on now, Celia—getting up early to make Thanksgiving dinner isn’t the only reason you’re tired, whispered a little voice in her head. What about all those weird dreams you’ve been having? Haven’t you been waking up half a dozen times a night and having trouble getting back to sleep? Admit it—you have!

Celia tried her best to push the thought away…only it wouldn’t quite go. It was true that in the past couple of months her dreams had gotten extremely strange. She had read once that you could never dream of anyone you hadn’t seen at least once in your life. But the faces that kept popping up in her dreams were definitely not of people she’d ever met. Faces she couldn’t fully remember once she woke, but they filled her with a strange emotion she’d never felt before—a kind of dread mixed with longing, which made no sense at all. They—

Suddenly there was a loud knocking at the front door—so loud that Celia could hear it even all the way back in the mansion’s kitchen.

“Dickie—go see who that is, won’t you?” she heard Mother Frances call to one of her daughter’s husbands. “Honestly—who bothers people in their home on Thanksgiving?”

There was more mumbling and grumbling that Celia couldn’t quite make out. She became aware that she had stopped peeling potatoes and was listening intently to what was going on in the other room, though why it should interest her so deeply, she didn’t know.

She heard the creak of one of the solid oak front doors swinging open and then her soon to be brother in law’s voice saying,

“What can we do for you? I’m afraid I need to let you know right now that we donate to charities of our own choosing and we don’t have any cash on hand.”

“Don’t want your fucking money,” a deep, somehow familiar voice growled. “We came for our mate.”

“What my brother means to say is that we’re here for Celia Alvarez,” another voice—still deep but not quite as growly—said more politely. “Can you get her, please? We’re here to Claim her.”

2

CELIA

At the sound of her name, the knife in Celia’s hand slipped and she gave a little gasp as she felt a sharp pain.

“Dios!” she muttered, looking down to see blood welling from her index finger. Who were the men at the door and why were they looking for her?

Before she could answer the question, she heard her brother-in-law-to-be say,

“Who? What are you talking about? There’s nobody named that here.”

“Yes, there is!” a female voice said—Peter’s oldest sister, Celia thought. “She’s that chubby Mexican woman in the kitchen. The one Peter swears he’s going to marry for some reason.”

“Oh—the one with the big ass?” Dickie, her brother-in-law-to-be asked. “He’s going to marry her—really? I thought she was the cook or the maid or something.”

“Well, you’re not far off,” the bitchy sister-in-law-to-be said snidely. “She was his decorator—can you believe it? Of course Mummy insisted they sign a Prenup.”

Madre de Dios! That little puta!

Celia clenched her jaw as she grabbed for a paper towel to wrap around her bleeding finger. She was a Latina, but she was not Mexican. Her parents had come from Cuba—which her future in-laws would know if any of them had bothered to try to get to know her!

As for their remarks about her being “chubby” and having a “big ass,” not to mention the way they were disparaging what she did for a living…well, it almost seemed like her brother and sister-in-law were having a contest to see how many hurtful and insensitive things they could fit into one conversation!

“Don’t insult Celia!” the second deep voice said, sounding angry.

“And she’s not fucking marrying anyone—not if we have anything to say about it,” the deeper voice growled. “Now where is she? If you don’t bring her out, we’ll come in and get her!”

“Dickie, who are these men?” It was Mother Frances’ voice this time. “And why haven’t you sent them away?”

“Don’t know who they are—they’re insisting on talking to the Mexican girl in the kitchen.” Clearly her brother-in-law-to-be still couldn’t remember her name, Celia thought with irritation as she finished wrapping her finger.

“Oh, you mean Celia? They must be here about her little design business,” Mother Frances said. “Celia, my dear?” she called, raising her voice. “Do come out here for a moment, won’t you? You’re wanted.”

Celia marched out of the vast kitchen, giving her brother-in-law and sister-in-law-to-be both a cold look as she went. She’d had just about enough of them and their rudeness. They—

But the thought died before she could finish it as she saw who was standing in the doorway.

Two huge Kindred warriors—they had to be Kindred, since they were both seven feet tall and extremely muscular—were staring at her.

One of them was a bit taller with black hair and dark eyes. He had a neatly trimmed beard and mustache and his thick hair was pulled back at the top showing a high forehead. His nose looked like it had been broken at least once and his eyes were wary, which gave him a foreboding look.

The other warrior was maybe an inch shorter with silvery gray hair—not salt and pepper like aging people get though—he looked to be only a few years older than Celia herself. It was more like his hair was a variation of blond that leaned towards silver instead of gold. His eyes were a warm hazel-green and his hair was worn loose and shaggy around his handsome face. He had no beard but there was stubble on his face, as though he might have forgotten to shave.

Both warriors were dressed in the standard Kindred uniform—tight black trousers, tall black boots, and long-sleeved, button-down uniform shirts. The buttons were gold and the thick, satiny fabric of the shirts was emerald green that somehow complimented both their eyes.

The two of them looked related, she thought—it was something about the way their eyes had such long lashes and tilted down, giving them a sensuous, bedroom look, or maybe the way their mouths were shaped. Were they brothers? Cousins? What?

Celia stared at them both, her heart pounding like crazy in her chest. She had never seen either of them in her life…and yet, she knew them. Somehow she recognized them—but how?

“Hello, Celia,” the one with silver hair said, smiling at her. “We’ve come to take you home.”

“Take me home?” Celia stared up at the huge Kindred warriors uncertainly. Where had she seen them before? Why were they so familiar? “Dios—what are you talking about?”

“Back to the Mother Ship,” the dark warrior growled.

“Your name finally came up in the Bride Draft,” the lighter one explained. “It’s time for our Claiming Period.”

Celia felt all the breath leave her lungs at once. She’d been called in the Bride Draft? But that was impossible—wasn’t it?

Almost fifteen years earlier, the Earth had been under siege by a malicious group of aliens called The Scourge. They had threatened to overrun the planet and take all the humans as slaves…that was until the Kindred showed up.

The huge, seven-foot-tall warriors fought and defeated the Scourge and they continued to protect the Earth now. They had only asked for one form of payment—brides. Because their race was 95% male, the Kindred were always looking for new compatible species to mate with. And it turned out that humans were very compatible. So a Bride Draft had been created, which every woman was required to join when she turned eighteen.

Celia’s name had gone into the Draft like everyone else’s, but she’d never thought anything of it. That was because you had about the same chance of being called as a Kindred bride as you had of winning the lottery. It was like voting—a civic duty you didn’t think twice about.

But you were supposed to take your name out of the Draft when you got engaged or married. And so Celia had assumed that her name had been removed—Peter had sworn he would take care of it the same night he’d presented her with the massive square-cut diamond ring.

So she stared up at the two huge warriors and shook her head.

“I don’t understand—there must be some mistake. I’m engaged to be married in a month,” she told them. “My name shouldn’t even be in the Draft Registry anymore. You must have the wrong woman.”

The dark one gave her an intense look.

“You know damn well we don’t have the wrong woman, Celia,” he growled. “You know because the three of us have been Dream-Sharing for fucking months.”

Dream-Sharing? Celia stared up at him, not sure what to say. Could it be that all the strange dreams she’d been having of the people she couldn’t remember when she woke were about these two?

“What’s this? Is there a problem?” Peter suddenly appeared by her side and then Mother Frances took the other side.

“Oh Peter, thank goodness you’re here!” she exclaimed. “I’m not quite sure but I think these two are claiming that Cece is supposed to go with them?”

“What for? Is she being arrested for something?” Peter asked blankly.

“First of all, don’t call her ‘Cece,’” the silver-haired Kindred said, frowning. “It’s disrespectful and Celia doesn’t like it. Second, we’re not here to arrest anyone—we’re here to Claim our bride.”

“Your bride?” Mother Frances’s hands fluttered to her pearls. “But Cece belongs to my Peter! He’s going to marry her on Christmas Eve. We’re all here to plan the ceremony!”

The two Kindred frowned briefly at each other in apparent consternation.

“I think there must be some mistake,” Celia told them. “My fiancé, Peter, had my name taken off the Draft Registry the day after he proposed to me. Didn’t you, Peter?” she added, looking at him. She had to admit that next to the Kindred warriors, he looked kind of puny. But she hastily pushed the disloyal thought away. “Peter? Didn’t you have them take my name off the Draft?” she asked again, since he hadn’t answered immediately.

“Er…well…” He cleared his throat. “I most certainly did! Or rather, I had my assistant do it. If she forgot then it’s not my fault.” He lifted his chin and scowled at the warriors. “But either way, we’re engaged to be married. So as my darling Cece told you—there must be some mistake.”

“There’s no fucking mistake,” the dark warrior growled. “Her name was called in the Draft and we’ve been Dream-Sharing with her for months. She’s ours!”

“Well you can’t have her, so that’s that!” Peter declared. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re trying to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner here. You’ll need to leave or else I’ll call the police on you!”

“Call them if you want—they’ll back us up.” The silver-haired Kindred produced an official looking document and showed it to Peter. “This is Celia’s Draft Notice. It’s all signed, sealed, and official. It gives my brother and me the right to take her with us for a full solar month to undergo the Claiming Period aboard the Kindred Mother Ship.”

“But…but this can’t be right!” Peter blustered. “I’ll sue you—both of you!”

“Sue if you want, buddy,” the dark warrior growled. “No court on this tiny little planet will side with you—the Earth still needs Kindred protection from extra-terrestrial threats, which means we still get to call brides and Celia is our bride.”

“Well, you simply cannot have Cece! Not now!” Mother Frances exclaimed. “We have all this wedding planning business to get through! And besides, who will finish the Thanksgiving dinner? She hasn’t even gotten the yeast rolls in the oven yet!”

All this time, Celia had been standing there, feeling like she was lost in a trance. Her eyes kept tracing the strangely familiar features of the two Kindred warriors, as though she was trying to find where they fit—like two random extra jigsaw pieces left over after the puzzle is completed. Now she opened her mouth, unsure what was going to come out and heard herself say,

“I’ll go with them.”

“What?” Mother Frances gasped.

“What?” Peter demanded. “But darling, what about all the wedding preparations?”

“Your mother is taking care of all that,” Celia reminded him. Indeed, once she’d signed the Prenup, Mother Frances had swooped in and basically taken over the entire wedding, right down to choosing the cake, the venue, and the dress. Celia had been irritated at first—this was supposed to be her special day—but eventually she had given in, just to keep the peace.

“But…but I’ve heard they make you do things!” Mother Frances breathed, looking up at both of the huge warriors in horror. “Sexual things!” she added in a scandalized whisper.

“I won’t do anything I shouldn’t,” Celia said firmly. “I’m just going to go with them to keep the peace until Peter can get this all straightened out. I, er, don’t want things to come to blows,” she added, thinking that her fiancé was no match for even one of the enormous warriors—let alone both of them.

She wasn’t quite sure why she was doing this—it wasn’t because she actually wanted to go with the two big warriors who were trying to Claim her. But she wasn’t afraid to go, either—she’d heard all about how the Kindred were feminists who would never hurt a woman. And she was certain that Peter would call his lawyer and get things cleared up quickly.

In the meantime, she got out of kitchen duty, she told herself. Let Peter’s family make their own Thanksgiving Dinner—maybe they’d appreciate her more when they had to baste the damn turkey themselves!

Also, she’d always wanted to see the Kindred Mother Ship, which was very difficult to get a tour of. She would probably only be up there for a day or two tops, but it would be a nice break from all her snooty future in-laws and their bratty kids. She was always up for an adventure—that was one reason she’d said yes when Peter had proposed to her out of the blue.

And now she was saying yes again, though she didn’t expect anything to come of it.

“My darling, really—you don’t have to do this!” Peter exclaimed, looking at her with wide eyes.

“Yes, she does, actually. Draftees are legally required to report to the Mother Ship and undergo their Claiming period once they get called,” the silver-haired warrior said firmly.

“But don’t worry—if she wants to come back, we’ll bring her back,” the dark one added, with a smirk, which clearly indicated he didn’t believe Celia would want to come back after spending some time with them aboard the Mother Ship.

“I will come back,” she said firmly, shooting the dark warrior a look of her own. “I’m just going with you two in order to keep the peace. I want that understood.”

“Well…” Peter dithered. He still didn’t look happy about the situation. “Look, I’ll pay you each half a million just to turn around and go right now,” he said to the warriors. “That’s a pretty good deal, right? Quite a sum of money just to put this all behind us?”

The silver-haired warrior looked offended and the dark one’s face grew grim.

“Did you just offer to fucking bribe us?” he demanded. “Do you know what the penalty for getting between a Kindred warrior and his Bride is?”

“There’s jail time involved,” the silver-haired warrior said blandly. “And it’s not something you can bribe your way out of.”

Peter looked white. He had clearly never met a situation that couldn’t be solved by throwing money at it before.

“Er, well…that is to say…I only meant—”

“Never mind, Peter,” Mother Frances said, tugging at her son’s arm. “Just let them go for now and we’ll call Bircher immediately.” Bircher was the Thielgood family lawyer who handled all their legal matters.

“Yes, well…” Peter looked at Celia uncertainly. “My darling, are you sure about this?”

Celia nodded.

“I don’t want trouble,” she told him. “I’m sure you can get this all straightened out. In the meantime, I’ll just go with them.”

“Be careful, my darling.” Peter gave her a peck on the cheek and another anxious look. “I’ll get you out of there as soon as I can—this is all one big misunderstanding.”

“I’m sure it is,” Celia said calmly. But inside her stomach was turning flip-flops. Was she really doing this? Was she really going with two huge warriors she didn’t even know, of her own volition?

Except you do know them, whispered a little voice in her head. You’ve been dreaming about them for months.

Which Celia was beginning to think was true. The more she looked at them, the more familiar they were. It was a weird sensation—looking at two strangers she’d never met before and feeling like she already knew them. But it also helped her not be afraid of them. Somehow she knew—though she didn’t know how she knew it—that either of these warriors would kill or die to protect her. Which made absolutely no sense, but it felt right.

She nodded goodbye to her fiancé and his family and stepped out of the Bayshore mansion to go with the two Kindred warriors.

She had no idea that she had just changed her life forever.

3

CELIA

“Come, lelka,” the dark Kindred growled, holding out a hand to her. “Let’s get you out of here and back to the Mother Ship where you belong.”

Celia didn’t know what the strange nickname meant, but it, too, felt familiar. She looked up at the two huge warriors.

“All right,” she said calmly. “I’ll come with you as long as you know I won’t be staying—I’ll be coming back here as soon as Peter’s lawyer can clear this mess up.”

“You say that now, lelka. Let’s see how you feel after the three of us have spent some time together.” The dark Kindred gave her a smirk, his huge, warm hand swallowing her up as the three of them started down the front steps.

“Don’t be too arrogant, brother,” the silver-haired one murmured. “We must win our lady’s heart, which at present is given to another.”

He tried to take Celia’s other hand but she gave a little gasp of pain when he touched her cut finger and drew away.

“Oh—what’s this?” he murmured and turned her hand over pulling off the blood-stained paper towel. “You’re wounded, my lady!”

“I…I was peeling potatoes for Thanksgiving Dinner,” Celia said. She threw a glance over her shoulder, but the front door of the Bayshore mansion was now closed, though she could see several faces staring at her from the broad bay windows at the front.

“Ah yes—Thanksgiving Dinner. We have friends who have brides from Earth that celebrate that holiday,” the silver-haired warrior remarked. “We’ve been invited to eat Last Meal with them tonight—I think we should go.”

“I’d rather start the Claiming Period.” The dark warrior gave Celia a half-lidded look. “Now that we finally have our gorgeous little Elite, I can’t wait to hold her between us!”

“Madre de Dios—stop right there!” Celia put up her free hand and glared up at him. They had been headed to the shiny silver spaceship parked in the mansion’s circular driveway, but stopped where she was. “I’m not going a step further until we clear something up,” she told the two warriors. “I am engaged. Which means I will not be doing any kind of, er, sexual activities with the two of you! I don’t even know your names!” she added, almost as an afterthought.

“Oh, didn’t you catch them when we were Dream-Sharing?” the silver-haired warrior asked, raising his eyebrows. “I’m Holds Tightly and this is my twin brother, Fights Fiercely. But you can just call us ‘Hold and Fierce.’”

“Hold and Fierce?” She looked between them. “Those are strange names.”

Fierce shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling under the emerald green shirt he wore.

“They’re Twin Moons names.”

“That’s the Twin Kindred home world,” Hold said. “My brother and I were stationed there until a few solar months ago. When we started Dream-Sharing with you, we knew it was time to move to the Mother Ship.”

“You moved from your home world to the Mother Ship for me?” Celia asked, looking up at both of them. Honestly, they were so tall she was going to get a crick in her neck!

Fierce shrugged again.

“We heard Earth females like to live near their home world,” he rumbled.

“Dios! Well, that’s kind of you but I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed,” Celia told them. “Since I’m coming back here to marry Peter on Christmas Eve. Or even earlier, once his lawyer straightens things out.”

“There’s nothing to straighten out,” Hold said. “Your human fiancé never took your name out of the Draft—which means we have an entire month to change your mind and make you fall in love with us.”

“What?” Celia stared up at him. Dios—what had she gotten herself into here?

“You heard my brother—we want you for our bride—our mate,” Fierce growled softly. “Which means we’re going to do everything in our fucking power to win you over.”

“But nothing sexual—not unless you want it,” Hold said quickly.

Fierce frowned.

“Getting sexual is the whole point of the Claiming Period,” he pointed out. “How are we going to win her over if we can’t touch her?”

“You’ll just have to learn to be more charming, Brother,” Hold said dryly. He looked down at Celia. “You have my promise as a Kindred warrior, my brother and I won’t touch you unless you want us to.”

Celia felt a little shiver go through her. She’d heard rumors about the Claiming Period—who hadn’t? And she couldn’t help wondering what it might be like to be between two such huge, muscular men…

But then she pushed the disloyal thought away. She wasn’t a cheater anymore than she was a gold digger. She had principles that were very important to her! And no matter how attractive the two Kindred were, she wasn’t going to break them.

“Thank you,” she said to Hold. “That makes me feel better.”

“Then will you come with us to our ship now, my lady?” he asked courteously. “And let me bind your wound?”

He nodded down to her finger and Celia realized it was dripping blood on the gravel of the circular driveway.

“Oh, sure…I guess.” She shrugged, trying to look unconcerned and the three of them started walking again, heading for the shiny silver ship.

4

FIERCE

Fierce frowned to himself as he boosted their new bride into the ship’s open door—being careful to just hold her by the waist and not touch her luscious hips or ass. How were they supposed to win her over if she didn’t sleep between them every night and they couldn’t fucking touch each other?

The Claiming Period had been a Kindred tradition for time out of mind—a chance for a prospective bride to get to know her groom—or grooms in this case—and a time for them to woo her. And a big part of that wooing was the different ways a Kindred warrior was allowed to touch his bride as the month-long period progressed. Without that physical contact, how could he and his brother hope to lure her away from that little pipsqueak of a human who was claiming her as his bride and acting like she belonged to him, when she clearly did not?

He didn’t think that Hold should have promised not to touch Celia without at least talking to him first. They needed to make some kind of plan to win her over—and that did not include being completely hands-off.

Besides, his fingers were itching to caress her luscious body! Celia was an Elite—a female the Goddess had blessed with extra full curves. Fierce had been looking forward to stroking and pleasuring her as he and Hold cradled her between them.

As a Twin Kindred he had to share her with his brother—to touch her alone would cause a low-level shock of discomfort and pain. But he’d been hoping they could touch her sooner rather than later, and now look—Hold had gone and made a promise that was going to keep them from putting their hands anywhere near Celia’s luscious curves!

His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Hold shot him a look and murmured,

“Easy, Brother. We’ll win her over—you’ll see. But we need to take things slowly.”

“We can’t go too slow—we’ve only got one solar month!” Fierce pointed out, scowling. “You shouldn’t have made that promise, Hold!”

“There was no other way to win her trust,” his brother protested. “And we must win her trust if we’re ever going to have a hope of winning her love.”

“Well…maybe you’re right. But I still don’t like it!” Fierce snapped. “You should have talked to me first before giving our word on the matter.”

Hold frowned.

“Right now she believes she belongs to that human male back there—can’t you smell him on her?” Hold’s nose wrinkled as though smelling a bad odor. “He got to her first—we have to win her over and convince her she’d rather be with us than him. We’re not going to do that by manhandling her right away!”

“We’re not going to do it by keeping our fucking distance all the time, either!” Fierce growled. “Admit it, Brother—you want her as badly as I do!”

“Of course I do!” Hold sounded exasperated. “But we can’t just—”

“Hey—are you guys coming in or am I supposed to learn to fly this thing myself?” Celia’s light, musical voice drifted out the open door of the shuttle.

“Coming, my lady,” Hold called and gave Fierce one last warning look. “Don’t scare her.”

“I won’t be doing anything but piloting the ship—how would that scare her?” Fierce grumbled. He followed his brother into the shuttle and went to take his place in the pilot’s seat where he began warming up the engines.

He still didn’t like this. How could they win Celia’s heart if they couldn’t even touch her body?

5

HOLD

Hold was certain he’d done the right thing, promising they wouldn’t touch Celia unless she wanted them to. He could feel some resentment coming from the bond he shared with his brother, however—Fights Fiercely certainly did not agree with him.

His brother was the Dark Twin of the two, which meant he had an intense personality with a heavy dark side. You didn’t want to get him angry at you if you could help it. Hold was the Light Twin—he was more easy going and laid back.

Not that Fierce was angry so much as annoyed, he thought. His brother had clearly been envisioning their Claiming Period together and looking forward to caressing Celia’s beautiful, curvy body. Hold had to admit, he’d had similar fantasies. But you had to walk before you could run. They had to give Celia a better reason to stay with them than just the Draft notice—they had to prove they were the better males—better than the wormy little fiancé she was leaving back on Earth.

Still can’t believe he tried to bribe us! Hold thought contemptuously. He’d seen the size and magnificence of the dwelling Celia had come out of—clearly the human male who claimed her was rich. He and Fierce couldn’t offer her extreme wealth, but they could offer patience, devotion, and undying love. None of which he bet she was getting from the human male. At least, if the visions they’d seen while Dream-Sharing with her were any indication.

The human male she called “Peter” seemed to take her for granted, as far as Hold could tell. He was always brushing her off and ignoring her clear desires. He made decisions without asking her first and put his mother’s feelings over hers.

The rest of his family treated her badly too, at least as far as Hold could see in the dreams he’d had of her. They barely even knew her name and they had made no effort at all to get to know her or welcome her into their midst.

We have to show her a clear contrast—-a reason she’d rather be with us than him, Hold thought as he climbed into the ship and settled into the passenger side seat.

There was another seat which pulled out to be between the passenger and the pilot—a Bride’s seat—it was called, and it was a special feature of a long range shuttle made just for Twin Kindred. He pulled it out and indicated that Celia should sit between him and his brother.

“There you are, my lady,” he said courteously. “Would you like some help with the harness?”

“Oh, er, thank you. Yes, I guess so. It might be hard to buckle with this.” She indicated her wounded finger, which she had rewrapped in the bloody tissue.

Hold frowned.

“Let me strap you in first, then I’ll get the Med Aid kit and bind your wound.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that!” she protested—rather breathlessly, he thought—as he strapped her into the five-point harness.

“Yes, I do.” Hold met her eyes and gave her a smile. “You’re our bride—I have to take care of you.”

Her cheeks went pink but she lifted her chin defiantly and said,

“I’m not your bride. I’m going to be marrying Peter on Christmas Eve!”

“We’ll see about that, lelka,” Fierce growled softly, looking down at her. “Ready for lift off?” he asked, switching his attention to Hold.

“Ready,” Hold acknowledged, as he rummaged in the side compartment for the Med Aid kit. He found it at last and held it in his lap. He would wait until they had a clean lift off and had cleared the Earth’s atmosphere before he tended Celia’s finger.

“Then here we go!”

Fierce punched the fuel pedal and pulled back on the steering yoke. Beside him, Hold heard their new bride give a gasp and a muffled,

“Madre de Dios!”

Instinctively, he put his arm around her shoulders. There was nothing sexual in the touch—he just wanted to reassure her.

“It’s all right,” he murmured as the long range shuttle lifted straight into the clear blue Earth sky. “The ride gets smoother once we clear the atmosphere.”

“I…I’ve never been out of Earth’s atmosphere before,” she admitted in a slightly shaky voice. “I’ve only ever been in a plane twice before—both times with Peter,” she added.

“Well, flying with us is perfectly safe,” Hold assured her, ignoring her mention of the human male. “Fierce is an excellent pilot—in fact, that’s his job aboard the Mother Ship—he’s a pilot and he leads a squadron of ships.”

“Oh…I see.” She glanced briefly up at Fierce, who was concentrating intently on the ship’s controls and then back to Hold. “And…what do you do? For a job, I mean?”

“I’m a doctor. Speaking of which, will you let me tend your wound?” Hold held out his free hand to her—he still had his left arm around her shoulders.

“Um…I guess so.” Hesitantly, she extended her finger.

“Thank you.” Hold withdrew his arm and opened the kit. He got out the wound cleaner and some skin glue—the slice in her finger wasn’t deep, so the glue should close it nicely. “This might sting a little,” he warned her as he applied the cleaner.

Celia didn’t flinch, though she did mutter, “Dios,” under her breath.

Hold tended her gently, taking his time and enjoying the touch of her skin. Again, nothing he did was sexual, but at this point, it didn’t need to be.

They needed to take some time to get to know their new bride outside of the dreams they’d all been sharing, he told himself. No matter how impatient Fierce might be, he knew a slower strategy would work.

They would bring Celia to them a little at a time until she realized that they were the males who were right for her—the ones she needed to Bond with and be with forever.

6

CELIA

Celia bit her lip as she watched Hold tend her wounded finger. She had to admit that Peter had never done anything like this for her before. Her fiancé was extremely squeamish when it came to blood. In fact, the last time Celia had pricked her finger with a needle, he had nearly fainted when he saw a single drop of it.

Hold, on the other hand, seemed to have no problem with blood—which made sense, since he was a doctor. The big warrior was gentle and thorough in treating her small wound. And not only that—he smelled really good. She tried not to, but Celia couldn’t help comparing him to her fiancé yet again.

Peter always smelled strongly of an ultra expensive Burberry cologne that could only be purchased at a special perfumery in New York. It had a sharp, acerbic scent which stung Celia’s nose if he wore too much—which he often did. But the big Kindred warrior sitting next to her smelled completely different.

Hold had a warm, clean, fresh scent that seemed to have several layers. Fresh laundry was one, maybe from his clothes. And under that was a crisp, salty note like the sea and then under that was a warm, masculine spice like cedar shavings. All of that mixed together smelled wonderful, Celia couldn’t help thinking. Was it some kind of cologne or just his natural scent?

She didn’t know, since she’d never been up close to a Kindred before, though she’d seen them in downtown Tampa from time to time.

“Why did you come with us?” Hold’s quiet question pulled her out of her musings and caught her off guard.

“Why did I…I mean, I didn’t have a choice, did I?” Celia demanded, flustered. “You two were going to take me, no matter what I said.”

“We were going to try and persuade you to come with us,” Hold corrected her. “But you decided to come even before we tried—why?” He gave her an intense look as he asked, and Celia found it was hard to meet his hazel-green eyes.

“Oh, well…I mean, I didn’t want to see you guys get into a fight with Peter,” she said rather lamely.

“A fight? With that pipsqueak?” Fierce let out a snort of laughter from her other side.

“Hey—Peter can fight!” Celia said, glaring up at him, though she had no idea if what she was saying was true. “You’re so arrogant, just because you’re so tall and muscular!”

“Yes, I am, lelka.” Fierce gave her a challenging stare. “I know my worth. You should too—and you would, if you weren’t with that weak little human!”

“Why, you—” Celia began, her temper rising.

“What my brother is trying to say is that it would shame us to fight an opponent who is so much physically weaker,” Hold said, clearly trying to lower the tension level. “We would have found a way to bring you with us without resorting to violence.”

Celia frowned at him too.

“Peter is fine. Just because he’s not a seven-foot-tall alien warrior, doesn’t mean he’s weak. Besides, it’s not like he fights for a living or anything—he doesn’t need to be all big and muscular.” She hated that she felt like she had to defend her fiancé, especially since she couldn’t really pretend that Peter’s slight physique was anything but what it was—kind of skinny and weak.

“What does he do for a living?” Fierce asked, looking down at her. “Besides sit around in that big domicile of his all day?”

“Peter’s family owns several businesses,” Celia said defensively. To be honest, she didn’t really know what her fiancé did. His mother still controlled most of the family’s wealth, so Peter seemed to have endless time to fly around the country going on vacations. “They have generational wealth,” she added, because it sounded important.

“Translation—they’re rich bastards, out of touch with working people,” Fierce growled. “How can you respect a male who’s never held down a job in his life?”

“Hey—I never said that!” Celia protested, though it was pretty much true.

“Yeah, well we picked it up from the dreams we shared with you,” Fierce told her. “That human you’re with is lazy and rich and he doesn’t treat you right or recognize your worth.”

Celia was really getting hot under the collar now!

“You can’t claim to know everything about me just from a few dreams!” she exclaimed, glaring up at the big Kindred. “You don’t know anything about me and Peter. If he was out of touch with working people, would he be marrying me? I was just his decorator until we started dating!”

“Exactly—you have a job,” Fierce pointed out. “You know what it’s like to work for a living—not just have everything handed to you.”

“That doesn’t necessarily make him a bad person!” Celia protested, even though she’d had the same thought about Peter more than once.

“It doesn’t make him a good one either—just a rich one,” Fierce remarked. “And a fucking boring one. Does he ever do anything but go around and buy things he doesn’t need? I mean, get a fucking hobby.”

“Your finger should be healed now,” Hold said, interrupting what was turning into a fight. Clearly he wanted to change the subject. “How does it feel?”

Still fuming, Celia looked down at her finger and blinked.

“Oh…it looks completely better! I can’t even see the cut anymore. How did you do that?”

He shrugged, a charming grin tugging at one corner of his mouth.

“Kindred medical technology. Excuse me—I need to put this back.”

He reached to the side of the ship to put back the first aid kit he’d been using, which pushed Celia against his brother, much to her discomfort.

She stiffened and tried not to lean against the rude Kindred—so far she much preferred Hold to Fierce.

But while she was close to the dark warrior, she couldn’t help noticing that he smelled really good too. His scent was wilder than Hold’s—she caught notes of a pine forest at night and sun warmed fur and bonfire smoke—but put all together, it still smelled amazingly attractive. Which was ridiculous—she was not in any way attracted to either one of them—especially not the arrogant Fierce, she told herself firmly. She was in love with Peter and she was only going to be aboard the Mother Ship a little while before she went back to him.

Hold shifted again and she was able to sit more comfortably back in her seat. She felt tiny between the two huge warriors. The top of her head barely came halfway up their muscular arms—it was like being a child sitting at the grownup’s table. This thought led to the rumors she’d heard that the Twin Kindred always shared their women sexually—which seemed blatantly impossible. How would they actually fit?

“What are you thinking?” Hold asked, looking down at her. “You look like you have a question on your mind and you know, you can ask us anything you want.”

“Okay, well…” Celia took a deep breath. “I was wondering, how can both of you be with a girl at the same time? I mean, you’re too big. It seems impossible!”

“Most women enjoy being with Twin Kindred,” Hold said mildly. “One of us can focus on pleasuring her breasts while the other concentrates his efforts on tasting her.”

“Oh, uh…” Celia tried really hard not to imagine what he was describing. “Tasting her?” she asked. “Do you mean…”

“Lapping her sweet little pussy,” Fierce growled.

“Actually, we prefer to take turns at that—since all Kindred have a biological need to taste their mates,” Hold said.

Celia could feel her cheeks getting hot as she tried again not to imagine this scenario. But her traitorous brain insisted on showing her anyway—she got a flash of an image—lying naked between the two huge warriors with one of them leaning over to suck and tease her tight nipples while the other split her thighs wide and licked her between her legs…which was something Peter was completely unwilling to do.

Stop it! she scolded herself. Why would you even think such a thing?

She pushed the sensuous image away but she wasn’t quite ready to completely drop the subject—Hold still hadn’t answered her real question.

“That’s, uh, interesting,” she said. “But what I meant was, I’ve heard all kind of rumors that you…you know, make love to a woman at the same time. But I just don’t see how both of you could, um, fit.”

Fierce looked down at her, his dark eyes lazy with lust.

“Do you really want to know the details of how we share a female, lelka?” he rumbled. “Of how we fit our shafts inside her? Because I can tell you, if you want.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean, uh…” Celia stumbled, feeling her cheeks get even hotter. Dios—what had possessed her to ask such a question? “No, I just meant that it doesn’t seem like you’d be compatible with a human woman. I mean, maybe one of you but both of you? There’s just no way.”

“There’s a way, my lady,” Hold murmured and when she looked up at him, Celia saw that his lovely hazel-green eyes had gone sleepy with lust. “But maybe it’s better not to speak of it now,” he added. “I believe we’re almost to the Mother Ship.”

“Already?” Celia looked through the front viewscreen and saw a huge, pearly white ship getting larger and larger. “Oh…it’s beautiful,” she whispered in surprise. “I didn’t realize how big it was.”

“It’s a fourth the size of your moon,” Hold told her. “Enough room for all the mated Warriors and their families as well as the Unmated Warriors and the females they call as brides.”

And now I’m one of them, Celia thought. She wondered if she’d made a big mistake, agreeing to come with them up here. She’d never been so far from home in her life before—not that the idea of “home” meant much to her. Being raised in the Foster Care system, as she had been, home was anywhere she laid down at night. Still, it felt strange to know she was actually off of Earth—away from the planet where she’d been born and had lived her entire life.

“Docking now,” Fierce rumbled and Celia saw that they were flying into what looked like an enormous hole in the side of the Mother Ship.

“There’s an atmosphere bubble to keep the oxygen in and the freezing temperatures of space out,” Hold said, answering her unspoken question. “Don’t worry—you’ll be safe and warm inside.”

Celia liked that he tried to reassure her—instead of baiting her like his brother did. How strange that the two of them insisted on sharing a woman. She wondered why they even wanted to do that…and decided it would be better not to ask.

As long as they know they’re never going to share me, she told herself firmly. I’m going to be out of here in less than twenty-four-hours so they can just forget that idea!

She had no idea how wrong she was.

7

CELIA

“So, doll—how are you liking the Mother Ship?” The woman sitting beside Celia had a curvy figure, auburn hair, and a friendly smile. “I’m Kat, by the way—I planned all this,” she added, indicating the long table filled with succulent food that had been set up in the parkland in the middle of the vast ship.

Some of it was traditional US Thanksgiving fare—like the enormous roasted turkey and the green bean casserole. But some of it was clearly alien—like the bowl of writhing worms that was closer to Celia’s plate than she liked.

“Those are grieza worms, by the way,” Kat said, following her gaze. “You pour that blue oil on them there to kill them. They taste just like dark chocolate but they’re pure protein.”

“Oh, really?” Celia still wasn’t sure she wanted to try some. “That’s, uh, interesting.”

“There are a lot of interesting things here—never a dull moment with the Kindred,” Kat said helpfully. “By the way, I heard you got brought up to the Mother Ship suddenly and you didn’t pack anything—do you need any clothes?” she asked.

“Oh, I don’t expect to stay here long,” Celia told her. “My fiancé, Peter Thielgood, is getting his lawyer involved. See, my name was supposed to be removed from the Draft list, but it wasn’t by accident. But we’re engaged to be married on Christmas Eve so I really shouldn’t be here.”

“A Christmas Eve wedding—how romantic!” Kat smiled at her.

“Yes, it’s kind of a weird family tradition with my fiancé’s people,” Celia explained. “All of them get married on Christmas Eve—all three of Peter’s sisters have, anyway. And we’ll be carrying on the tradition ourselves this Christmas Eve. It’s all planned out,” she added.

“Well then, I guess Hold and Fierce are going to have an uphill battle trying to convince you to stay here with us instead,” Kat remarked.

“Oh, they can’t convince me,” Celia said firmly. “I mean, I’m engaged and my wedding is barely more than a month away!”

“A month can be a long time up here—especially during your Claiming Period,” Kat remarked, grinning at her. “I mean, between the Holding Week and the Bathing week…not to mention the Tasting Week! But did I hear Hold say that you’re an interior decorator?” she asked, clearly changing the subject.

Celia was rather relieved to have it changed, though she was intrigued by the different weeks Kat had mentioned. Holding and Bathing and Tasting? What was that all about? But she decided to let it drop and pursue the new topic of conversation.

“Oh yes—yes, I am a decorator,” she said, smiling. “Why—do you need something decorated?”

“Only the whole damn Mother Ship!” Kat laughed. “Not really, but I have been given the job of trying to spruce up some of the common areas like the tram stations,” she said. “So many of the Kindred warriors still have no clue what Christmas is all about—we’d like to do some decorations to get everyone in the holiday mood, you know?”

“Oh, I love holiday decorating!” Celia exclaimed, getting excited. “Christmas is my favorite time of the year!”

“Well, if you hang around maybe you can help,” Kat told her. “I mean, if you’re not allowed to go straight back down to Earth, come find me and maybe we can work together. I’ll be sure you get paid, of course,” she added, sounding businesslike. “We can’t expect you to work for free.”

“Well…thank you.” Celia smiled at her. She couldn’t help remembering that only that morning Mother Frances had been insisting that she decorate her friend’s condo for free. But here aboard the Mother Ship, they clearly realized that someone ought to be paid for their work—that was nice.

“Have you met everyone at the table?” Kat asked her.

“Er, well…I had few introductions from Hold and Fierce. But I still don’t really know anyone,” Celia admitted.

The long table was filled with strange faces—mostly Kindred warriors and their wives. There was another, shorter table for the kids—the sons that were half Kindred and half human seemed to take after their Kindred fathers while the daughters seemed to take after their human mothers, Celia thought.

“Okay, well I’ll take you around afterwards,” Kat promised her. “But for now, those are my two guys—Deep and Lock,” she added, pointing out two other Twin Kindred who were talking together. “We have three children together—all sons, of course,” she added and laughed.

“Oh, so you’re, er, married to Twin Kindred?” Celia threw her a glance. “Uh, how is that exactly?”

“Well, they can drive you nuts sometimes—I mean, the Kindred are amazing and sweet and kind and protective but they’re still men if you know what I mean.” Kat laughed. “But I wouldn’t trade them for anything. They’re such good fathers to our three boys—Deep is more of the disciplinarian while Lock is more of the teacher of the two.”

“That’s wonderful,” Celia said politely. “But, well, how is the sex? I mean how does it work? If that’s not too personal a question—I’m sorry, I know we just met,” she added, hoping she hadn’t offended her new friend.

But Kat only laughed again.

“That was my first question when I got with my guys too. I was at a complete loss to understand how they could possibly both fit at the same time!”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to know!” Celia said, feeling relieved. Maybe now she could finally get some answers to the question that had been nagging at her.

“Well, it has to do with Bonding Fruit—” Kat began.

But just then the Kindred warrior at the head of the table—he had short, spiky blond hair and pale blue eyes and fangs, which Celia knew meant he was a Blood Kindred—rose and tapped his wine glass with his knife.

“Oh, that’s Sylvan—the Head of the High Council,” Kat whispered to Celia. “He’s the guy to see if you’re trying to get out of your Claiming Period.”

Celia whispered a “thank you!” and the table grew quiet as Sylvan began to speak.

“Hello and Happy Thanksgiving,” he said, smiling at everyone around the table. “I’m so glad all of you could be here today as we partake in this feast and celebrate the Earth holiday we all love so much. I’d like to thank my lovely wife Sophia and her sister Olivia and their kin, Lauren for cooking all this delicious food.”

He nodded at three women sitting around the table—two of them looked like twins, though they had different colored hair and eyes, Celia thought. The third had lovely brown skin and striking amber eyes. She was sitting beside a warrior who looked to be Scourge—he had gray skin and red-on-black eyes. The sight gave Celia a start—she’d thought that all the Scourge were dead now! But this one seemed perfectly civilized.

“Hey—I helped too!” a burly Beast Kindred with black hair and golden eyes protested.

“That’s right,” the blonde-haired woman who looked like a twin said. “Baird did the turkey. He’s come a long way since he made me fruit cocktail and tuna fish pizza during our Claiming Period!”

Everyone around the table laughed, Kat included.

“It’s traditional for a Kindred warrior to cook for his woman during their Claiming Period,” she murmured to Celia. “Only Baird didn’t know much about ‘Earth food’ so he dumped all kinds of disgusting things on a pizza and tried to feed it to Liv.”

Celia laughed and made a face at the thought of tuna and fruit cocktail pizza. But mainly she thought it was nice that all the people sitting at the table seemed to know and support each other. It was also nice that the men were willing to help with the cooking. As far as she knew, Peter didn’t even know how to turn on the stove—but of course he didn’t have to, since he’d had private chefs his whole life.

“I’d also like to thank Kat for organizing all of this and for decorating,” Sylvan said, nodding at Kat, who nodded back with a smile. “I know she’s going to do an amazing job of decorating the Mother Ship for another upcoming Earth holiday—Christmas,” he went on. “And speaking of that, I’m going to need some warriors to volunteer to dress up as the Earth semi-deity, ‘Santa Clause’ and take turns sitting by the Christmas tree we’re going to be decorating near the Sacred Grove.”

“What does the job entail?” one of the other Kindred warriors asked.

“Just wearing a red suit trimmed with fur and letting children and brides sit on your lap for pictures,” Sylvan said. “They will tell you what they wish as a present for Christmas and you will agree that they can have it if they’ve been ‘nice’ and not ‘naughty’ this past solar year.”

“I don’t like the idea of my bride sitting on another male’s lap and asking him for presents!” another warrior growled. “She ought to sit on my lap and ask! I’ll give her anything she wants, but I don’t want her asking other males.”

“No, no—asking for presents isn’t really the point of this ritual,” Sylvan said, frowning. “Many Earth brides like the opportunity to take a picture with Santa—it’s a memory they can save and cherish. Whoever plays Santa will not molest your bride in any way—I promise.”

“Well, I still don’t like it,” the warrior muttered. “You’d better not let any Unmated warriors play the part.”

“Mated warriors will be considered first,” Sylvan said. “But if you’re interested, please come see me after we finish our feast.”

“Wow, they really don’t know much about Christmas, do they?” Celia whispered to Kat, who shook her head and smiled.

“Or Hanukah or Kwanza for that matter. We’d like to bring the spirit of the season to the whole Mother Ship if we can.”

“For now, I’d like to say that on this day of giving thanks, I am thankful for all of you.” Sylvan went on, raising his wine glass. “Years ago, before we Kindred came to Earth, I had my brother Baird and my two second brothers Deep and Lock, but we were all lonely.” He nodded at various warriors sitting around the table. “Then we instituted the Bride Draft and began to Dream-Share with the lovely females of Earth. When we found our brides, the loneliness left us forever and I’m so thankful for that.” He smiled down at a brown-haired woman with green eyes who looked back at him with love. “I’m especially thankful for my lovely mate, Sophia,” he murmured. “And I thank the Goddess for bringing us together.”

There were tears in Celia’s eyes when the big Blood Kindred sat back down. He seemed to really love and care about his family and friends and they clearly felt the same for him and each other. She couldn’t help comparing it with Peter’s family and the way they were always sniping at each other and talking about silly, vapid things like how much their latest Channel handbag cost.

Are you sure you’re in such a hurry to get back to the Thielgoods? whispered a little voice in her head. After all—if you were still down on Earth, you’d probably be slaving away in the kitchen, hoping to get everything to the table on time while nobody helped you at all. And I bet they wouldn’t thank you or acknowledge your hard work either.

She pushed the disloyal thought away and looked across the table to where Fierce and Hold were sitting side-by-side. When Fierce saw her looking at them, he caught her eyes with his own dark ones. Were they black or just really dark blue? Celia couldn’t quite tell…but she found she couldn’t look away once the dark warrior had captured her gaze with his. Fierce didn’t say a word, but his eyes were so intense Celia felt positively naked.

Lifting her chin, she stared back, determined not to be intimidated. But the longer she looked, the hotter her cheeks felt and the harder her heart pounded.

“Uh, doll—you okay?” Kat murmured in her ear, which finally made her look away so she could talk to her new friend.

“I…I think so,” Celia muttered. She was almost panting. Dios! No man had ever looked at her like that—like he could see into her soul. Peter talked about how pretty she was, but he never really looked into her eyes. She wondered if the big warrior was still staring but she was afraid she’d be caught in his dark eyes again if she looked across the table to see.

“That was quite an intense little staring contest you were having with Fights Fiercely,” Kat remarked in a low voice. “Are he and Holds Tightly your guys?”

“They’re the ones who came to ‘Claim’ me at my fiancé’s house,” Celia said, nodding. “They said we’d been, uh, Dream-Sharing for months and that I belonged with them, even though I’m engaged to Peter.”

“And have you been? Dream-Sharing, I mean?” Kat raised her eyebrows.

Hesitantly, Celia nodded.

“Yes, but it doesn’t mean anything. I’m still engaged to someone else.”

“Hmmm,” was all Kat said. Then she added, “Ready to try those grieza worms yet?” And the conversation moved on to other topics.

All in all, Celia had to admit it was a lovely Thanksgiving dinner—much nicer than the one she’d been expecting to have with Peter’s family. And afterwards, Kat took her around and introduced her.

It was lucky that Celia was an extrovert, or meeting so many new people would have been terrifying. But she had to meet new people and explain her ideas all the time when she was talking to prospective clients, so she didn’t find it difficult or intimidating.

It helped that everyone Kat introduced her to was extremely nice. The twin looking women turned out to be actual twins—Sophie and Liv. They were best friends with Kat and Lauren was their cousin. All of them were friendly and Sophie said,

“Oh, I know who you are! You’re the fiancée of Peter Thielgood, right?”

“Uh, yes—how did you know?” Celia asked uncertainly.

“Oh, because your fiancé and his lawyer have been talking to my husband, Sylvan,” she explained. “They’ve been trying to get you out of your Claiming Period, but I don’t think it’s going to work.”

“What? But why not?” Celia asked, frowning.

“Well because—if they let you out on a technicality, they’d have to let out everyone who doesn’t want to be here,” Liv said practically. “Believe me, I tried to get out of my Claiming Period, too,” she added, smiling. “But I’m really glad I couldn’t.” She looked at the big Beast Kindred who had cooked the turkey. “Sometimes you just have to give your Kindred a chance.”

“That’s really nice but I’m already engaged. I’m getting married on Christmas Eve!” Celia protested.

“Well, if you’re that madly in love with your fiancé, a month apart shouldn’t make a difference, doll,” Kat pointed out. “And you don’t have to worry about your guys hurting you—Kindred are extremely protective of women. They won’t do anything you don’t want them to.”

“Yes…Hold already promised me that,” Celia said. But she couldn’t help thinking of the staring contest she’d had with Fierce and the intense desire she’d seen in the dark warrior’s eyes before she dropped her own.

“Look, here’s Sylvan now. I’ll ask him for you, if you want,” Sophie offered.

“Oh, would you? Thank you.” Celia smiled gratefully.

But her smile didn’t last for long.

“I’m truly very sorry,” Sylvan told her, frowning after Sophie asked about Celia’s situation. “But I’m afraid our Law of the Claiming Period is airtight for a reason. We cannot start making exceptions for the rich and famous down on Earth—it will seem as though we have a different standard for those with wealth and those without. Here on the Mother Ship, we believe that everyone is equal.”

“Oh. Did…did Peter try to buy my way out of the Claiming Period?” Celia asked, feeling embarrassed. Her fiancé thought there was no problem on Earth that couldn’t be solved with money.

“I’m afraid so.” Sylvan nodded. “He offered quite a large sum, but I had to turn him down. I do understand that you’re trying to get ready for your wedding though, so if you’d like to go back to Earth for dress fittings and cake tasting and that kind of thing, we can arrange some day trips as long as the two warriors who called you, Holds Tightly and Fights Fiercely, go along with you.”

Celia could just imagine how well that would go over—trying on her wedding dress while Mother Frances looked on disapprovingly and Hold and Fierce stared daggers at Peter, who would no doubt try to bribe them to go away. It wasn’t going to be much fun.

“Thank you,” she said, nodding her head. “Most of the wedding preparations are being taken care of by Peter’s mother, but I’ll keep that in mind in case I have to go get something done on Earth.”

“In the meantime, we hope you’ll enjoy the hospitality of the Mother Ship,” Sylvan said politely. “We’re very happy to have you. In fact, Kat has already told me she wants to hire you to help decorate the Mother Ship for Christmas,” he added, nodding to Kat.

Wow—Kat worked fast! But Celia couldn’t help brightening up.

“That’s right. I have my own design firm—Elegant Interiors—and I love Holiday decorating. So I’d be happy to help.”

“Wonderful! Let Kat know what you need and she’ll get you all set up.” Sylvan nodded at her and then moved on to talk to someone else.

“Well, I guess that’s it, hon. I’m sorry you couldn’t get out of it,” Sophie remarked.

Celia sighed and then lifted her head with determination.

“That’s all right. I’m not going to let it get me down. At least I have a fun project to do while I’m up here.”

“And you have two Kindred warriors who want to get to know you,” Liv pointed out, nudging her gently with an elbow. “Maybe give them a chance. They might surprise you.”

“Even if I wasn’t engaged, I don’t think that would be the case,” Celia said. “I mean, Hold is very nice and of course I like that he’s a doctor. But Fierce is just so…I mean, we haven’t gotten along right from the start.”

“I had the same trouble with my Dark Twin,” Kat remarked. “Deep and I butted heads from the get-go. But we found our way to each other eventually.”

Celia couldn’t imagine “finding her way” to Fierce, but she nodded politely.

“That’s nice.”

“Speaking of Dark Twins, here comes Fierce now,” Sophie murmured.

Looking up, Celia saw the dark warrior striding over to them. Somehow he looked even bigger when they were all standing around the open parkland at the center of the Mother Ship.

“Yes, Fierce? What is it?” she asked, looking up at the enormous warrior defiantly.

“Hold sent me to get you,” he growled. “Seems you have a call from your fiancé on the viewscreen. Our suite isn’t far from here—do you want to come take it?”

“Oh, Peter’s calling me? I’d better go!” Celia exclaimed. She looked at the other women. “I can come back later and help clean up,” she offered. “I hate to leave you all with the mess.”

“Are you kidding? We did most of the cooking—the guys are going to clean!” Liv laughed.

“We believe in a fair division of labor here aboard the Mother Ship,” Lauren, who had been mostly silent, added with a smile. “My man, Zairn, helps out around the house on a regular basis.”

Celia couldn’t imagine the huge Scourge warrior with his burning red-on-black eyes helping with the dishes or the vacuuming, but Lauren didn’t seem to be kidding. Maybe the Kindred really did help around the house—which would make them considerably different from just about every other man she’d ever met.

“Have a good night, doll.” Kat gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Come see me around nine tomorrow. We can have breakfast and discuss how we’re going to decorate.”

Celia promised she would, and then followed Fierce over the rolling parklands toward the tram station so she could take the call from her fiancé.

She just hoped that Peter wouldn’t be too upset, since there was clearly no way around it—she was going to have to go through the Claiming Period with Hold and Fierce. There was just no getting out of it.

8

FIERCE

“I hope you know how upsetting this has all been for Mummy!” The puny human male was glaring from the viewscreen as though the fact that she couldn’t get out of the Claiming Period was all Celia’s fault. “I mean, you absolutely ruined her Thanksgiving. Ruined it!” he added for emphasis.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know—” Celia began.

“Look, I’ll let her tell you. Mummy?” Peter Thielgood called to someone off screen—presumably the snooty human female who had argued with them at the door when he and Hold came to pick up Celia in the first place, Fierce thought.

“Why does she let him disrespect her like that?” he muttered to Hold, feeling frustrated. The two of them were standing in the hallway between the bedroom and the living area, where the viewscreen was mounted over the glassed-in firewall which danced with blue and gold flames. Technically Celia hadn’t asked them to leave, but they had retreated some to give their prospective bride a bit of privacy. Still, Fierce couldn’t help commenting on what they were seeing.

“That’s her business,” Hold reminded him in a low voice. “Not ours.”

Fierce just shook his head as the older human woman came into view. She had elegant blonde hair done up in an elaborate swirl on top of her head and she was wearing expensive looking clothing. The look on her face was angry and disapproving as she, too, glared at Celia from the viewscreen.

“Cece—there you are!” she exclaimed. “How could you abandon us like that? Do you know the turkey burned to a crisp? And the ham got all dried out—not to mention you didn’t finish any of the sides before you left! Dinner was a complete disaster!”

Celia frowned.

“I’m sorry, Mother Frances, but it’s not like I chose to leave—I was legally obligated to go with Hold and Fierce because of the Claiming Laws and the Bride Draft. Of course I wouldn’t have gotten called up if Peter had taken my name out, like he said he was going to—”

“How dare you try to make excuses and blame all this on poor little Petey?” the woman demanded, putting an arm around her son protectively. “You wanted to go with those two big brutes, you shameless hussy!”

Celia’s eyes flashed.

“Did you just call me a ‘shameless hussy’? Really?”

Mother Frances put a hand on her skinny hip.

“What else should I call a girl who runs off with not one but two other men just a month before her wedding?”

“Look, Hold and Fierce have promised not to do anything like…like that!” Celia assured her. “I’m just going to stay up here for the month and hang around the Mother Ship. In fact, I got a temporary job decorating it for the Holidays,” she added, clearly trying to get back in her fiancé’s mother’s good graces.

But Mother Frances’s scowl only deepened.

“So you’re going to be cavorting around up there decorating some alien spaceship. Meanwhile, what about my dear friend, Penelope Penobscot? I promised her you’d drive down to start on her new condo tomorrow. Now what am I going to tell her?”

“Tell her that I’m actually getting paid for this job,” Celia snapped, clearly having had enough. “Tell her nobody is expecting me to decorate for them for free just because they’re a ‘dear friend’ and they value my time and work up here!”

At first Fierce thought the older woman was going to explode with fury. Her face went red and little white dents appeared on either side of her nose as her nostrils flared. But instead of shouting, she simply whirled on her heel and left, her blond hair flying behind her.

“Oh dear!” Peter, who had been standing by and not doing a thing to defend Celia from his mother’s rage remarked. “Now you’ve done it! How could you be so rude to Mummy, Celia? And after she’s been so kind to you and taken you into our family, too?”

Celia didn’t say anything to that. Fierce expected her to explode but she only clenched her hands into fists and stared at her fiancé on the viewscreen with a white face.

“Why doesn’t she say something? Why doesn’t she put him in his place?” he growled to Hold.

But his brother only shook his head.

“Her business, not ours,” he reminded Fierce.

At last Celia spoke.

“Peter, I think it’s better if we don’t call each other for a while,” she said. “I’m sorry if I upset your mother, but it’s not my fault that I’m up here. Also, she shouldn’t have promised her friend I’d be there to decorate her condo tomorrow without asking me first. I’m not one of her servants who she can just order around!”

“Nobody said you were a servant!” Peter Thielgood sighed and ran a hand through his thinning blond hair.

“Well, that’s how you treat me!” Celia burst out. “Do you know not a single person offered to help me make that huge Thanksgiving dinner your mother decided we should have? I had to do all of it—from the shopping to the prep work to the cooking!”

“Well, you didn’t do a very good job of it, considering you burned the turkey,” he snapped nastily.

Celia’s face went red with anger.

“Madre de Dios! The turkey wouldn’t have burned if any of you had any idea how to cook and had watched it!” she exclaimed. “It’s not my fault that you apparently just left it in the oven without checking it after I had to leave!”

Peter Thielgood threw up his hands—(soft, feminine hands that had never seen a day’s hard labor or held the hilt of a sword or the grip of a blaster, Fierce thought contemptuously.)

“I can’t talk to you right now,” he told Celia. “I’ve never seen you like this. So rude…so common.”

“Well if it’s ‘common’ to know how to cook and to point out that at least one person in your family ought to know how too, then yes, I guess I’m ‘common’,” Celia snapped. “Dios, Peter—what do you expect from me? I wasn’t raised with a silver spoon in my mouth! I grew up in Foster Care—I was in twelve different homes in twelve different years. So pardon me if I never learned any fancy manners or how to act spoiled and order everyone around like your mother does all the time!”

Peter Thielgood’s face went white.

“How dare you speak about Mummy in that way? She is the matriarch of the Thielgood family—the rock upon which our dynasty is built!”

“She’s also a pain in the ass,” Fierce heard Celia mutter.

“What? What was that you said?” Peter demanded. Clearly human hearing wasn’t very good because her voice hadn’t been that low, Fierce thought.

“Nothing.” Celia took a deep breath, clearly trying to calm herself. “Look, I think we need to stop now before we say things we’ll both regret,” she told her fiancé. “Tell your mother I said I’m sorry I can’t decorate her friend’s condo right now. Maybe…maybe we can work something out when I come back to Earth.”

“What about the turkey? Are you going to apologize for burning it to a crisp and ruining our Thanksgiving dinner?” Peter demanded.

But though Celia had clearly been trying to make peace, this was apparently too much for her.

“No!” she exclaimed. “No, I won’t apologize for something that’s not my fault! You know what—I think we ought to take a break.”

“A break? You mean from our relationship? A month before the wedding?” he demanded.

“Yes.” Celia raised her left hand where she wore a large, square-cut diamond. She pulled the sparkling ring off and brandished it in front of the viewscreen. “A break.”

“You’re only doing this because you want to fuck those two brutes that came to take you away!” Peter exclaimed, pointing at her accusingly.

“No, Peter—I’m doing this because I’ve had enough of you and enough of your family,” Celia snapped. “I’m not going to fuck anyone, but I need some breathing space.”

Peter’s face changed from angry to worried.

“But Cece, darling—”

“Call me back when you can be civil. Until then, we’re on a break!” Celia said shortly. She turned to where Fierce and Hold were standing and gestured at them. “How do you turn this thing off? How?”

“Like this!” Hold came forward quickly to flip off the viewscreen.

The last thing it showed was Peter Thielgood, getting red in the face and opening his mouth to shout some more.

“Thank you!” Celia was breathing hard, as though she’d just run a race and her scent was angry and irritated. She was clenching the diamond ring tightly in one hand—so tightly her knuckles had gone white, Fierce saw.

“I’m sorry your call didn’t go well,” Hold offered politely.

“Oh, that’s just Peter. He and his mother, when they get together…” She waved a hand vaguely.

“At least you stood up for yourself,” Fierce growled. “Instead of letting them order you around, like you do in all the dreams we’ve had of you.”

But this seemed to be the wrong thing to say.

Celia whirled on him, her fists clenched at her sides and her lovely, dark eyes flashing.

“What? Have you been using those crazy dreams to spy on me?”

“No, no—of course not, my lady,” Hold said quickly, trying to make peace. “We have no control over the dreams. During Dream-Sharing, each person involved sees the other one going about their daily activities. Surely you saw Fierce and me doing things as well?”

Celia shook her head.

“I can’t really remember the dreams. I only know they kept waking me up and I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep.” She sighed and ran a hand through her long, dark hair. “Dios, I’m tired! Is there a place to get a shower around here? And where am I going to sleep?”

Between us! Fierce wanted to say. Despite the little Elite’s fiery temper—or maybe because of it—he found himself more attracted to her every moment. But he knew Hold wouldn’t allow them to all sleep together—his brother had a crazy idea about “taking things slowly.”

“We have a bathing chamber where you can shower or take a dip in our bathing pool,” Hold said courteously. “And our suite has a guest room where you can sleep when you’re finished bathing. Also, I believe Kat sent over some clothing for you,” he added.

“She did?” A grateful smile spread over Celia’s lovely face. “Dios, that woman works fast! I really like her.”

“I think she likes you too.” Hold smiled. “She’s very friendly—she and her mates have made Fierce and I feel extremely welcome since we moved to the Mother Ship.”

Fierce had to agree with this. He liked Deep and Lock a lot—they had a lot of good tips on how to deal with a human bride. (Though if Hold didn’t let them have a normal Claiming Period, Fierce didn’t see how he and his brother would ever get Celia as their bride.)

“Let me show you the bathing chamber,” he said to her now, trying to make peace. “Can you swim? If not, you might want to stay out of the bathing pool. It gets deep in the middle and you’re tiny.”

She lifted her chin.

“I can swim…a little. Anyway, show me. I’m dead on my feet—I’ve been up since five this morning and I just want to rest.”

“Of course, my lady. Please let us know if you need anything,” Hold said courteously. “I’ll put the clothing Kat sent you in your room while Fierce shows you the bathing chamber.”

“Thank you.” Celia gave the Light Twin a dazzling smile that nearly took Fierce’s breath away. By the Goddess—did she realize how beautiful she was? Somehow he doubted it. That ass of a fiancé certainly never told her!

Then Celia looked up at Fierce and the smile left her face.

“All right—show me the bathroom,” she said shortly. “I’m exhausted.”

“Sure.” Fierce nodded, trying not to show that her attitude nettled him. “This way.”

And with a jerk of his head, he headed for the bathing chamber—or the “fresher” as most Kindred called it.

If their new bride wanted to keep her distance from him and save her smiles for Hold, that was fine with him, he told himself. He’d never been jealous of his brother and he wasn’t going to start now.

9

CELIA

Can’t believe Peter acted like that! What is wrong with those people? Who doesn’t know how to check on a turkey and take it out of the oven on time?

Celia looked at the diamond ring in her hand and then placed it carefully on the wooden bench beside the stack of towels. She would be careful not to lose it, but she didn’t feel like wearing it right now.

She’d had fights with her fiancé before—most notably when he’d flushed her birth control down the toilet—but none quite like this. Why was that?

Maybe because in the past, you always backed down and apologized, whispered a little voice in her head. Tonight you refused to back down and Peter showed his true colors.

Celia tried to push the little voice away but couldn’t quite manage it, maybe because she knew it spoke the truth. She’d never felt quite good enough for Peter—possibly because of her background and lack of upbringing. She’d always had to struggle with feelings of low self-worth because growing up, it seemed that nobody wanted her.

Well, they certainly want you now! whispered the little voice. But the image that filled her head wasn’t of Peter and his family—it was Hold and Fierce that hovered in her mind’s eye. It occurred to her that she’d never found out from Kat how exactly two such huge warriors could fit with a human woman sexually. She saw another image—the three of them together with Celia in the middle as they touched and teased her…

She shook her head. What was wrong with her tonight? Fighting with Peter and his mother and telling him they were taking a break. And then fantasizing about the two huge warriors who had erroneously come to Claim her as their bride…

Have to stop thinking this way, she told herself. Probably she’d just been comparing the Thanksgiving dinner on the Mother Ship and the people she had met here with Peter and his family and that’s why they’d had a fight. There was no denying that Kat and her friends were more relatable and much nicer than her prospective in-laws. Plus, she was exhausted from having such an eventful day. What she needed was just to get clean and then get right to bed.

Celia eyed the bathing pool longingly. It was a vast oval filled with steaming water, set directly into the floor. In fact, she wondered how in the world nobody stumbled into it on their way to use the bathroom at night. It was way bigger than a hot tub—big enough to swim in, if you could swim.

Despite growing up in Florida, Celia wasn’t a very good swimmer. It wasn’t like she’d had a normal childhood where she got to go to the pool and the beach like other kids. Once or twice one of her foster parents had taken her and a big group of the other foster kids to the YMCA to splash around in the pool, but Celia had always been stuck in the shallow end.

Learning to swim as an adult was one of her goals, but she hadn’t quite gotten around to it yet. Before she’d met Peter, she was hustling day and night just to make a living. And after meeting him, she’d been too busy decorating his various properties and then shortly after, planning their wedding, to make time for swimming lessons.

Still, the bathing pool looked extremely tempting. Maybe if she just hung on to the side of the pool she could get in, Celia told herself. It seemed like every muscle in her body was aching from the long day she’d just been through—a long soak in the huge hot tub would be so refreshing.

As she slipped out of the red wrap dress and black flats she’d been wearing since five that morning, she couldn’t help remembering Fierce’s deep, growling voice as he pointed it out to her.

“That’s where we’d all be bathing together during our Bathing Week—if we were having a normal Claiming Period,” he’d said.

“Er, Bathing Week?” Celia had asked. She remembered Kat saying something about different weeks in the Claiming Period too.

But he’d only shaken his head.

“Never mind. Just be careful—like I said, it gets deep in the middle.”

Then he’d showed her the stack of fluffy white “drying sheets” and left her to herself.

Celia decided to try the pool. She could hang on to the edge and just float, she told herself. After all, how deep could it be? It was just an oversized hot tub—right?

After wrapping her long hair into a bun at the top of her head, she carefully, descended the steps into the steaming water. She began to feel better almost at once as the warm water lapped at her limbs and soothed away her aches. It was so relaxing.

So relaxing, in fact, that she felt herself beginning to doze off.

“No—wake up,” she told herself sternly. “Hold on to the side—you can’t fall asleep in here!”

But the next moment, she felt her eyelids drifting closed again. She really was exhausted!

“That’s it—I’ve got to get out of here. This isn’t safe,” Celia muttered. She began making her way back to the steps, holding on carefully to the slippery side of the bathing pool.

She was almost to the steps when she lost her handhold. One moment she was clinging carefully to the edge, and the next she was slipping away and heading towards the center of the pool.

Celia put her feet down at once, thinking that if she could stand on the bottom she would stop and be able to walk back to the steps. But to her horror, she found that she could barely reach the bottom with her tiptoes. Even worse, there seemed to be a current in the pool that was sweeping her towards the center, where her feet couldn’t touch at all.

“Help!” Celia gasped and began to splash around as she tried to keep her head above the steaming water. “Help!”

Just as her head went under the water, the door burst open. Before she knew it, she was being dragged out of the pool, choking and sputtering, by four long arms.

“Are you all right, my lady?” Hold was looking at her anxiously.

“Told you to be fucking careful in that damn pool!” Fierce growled.

Celia coughed and choked and wiped the water out of her eyes. Her hair, which she’d meant to keep dry, had come down from its bun and was dripping down her back. Also, she realized belatedly, she was stark naked.

“Dios!” she exclaimed, trying to cover herself with her hands.

“Here.” Suddenly Fierce was wrapping one of the big, fluffy drying sheets around her. “Not like we haven’t seen you before in our dreams,” he muttered as he secured the sheet with a knot.

“What?” Celia asked, swiping the dripping hair out of her eyes. But before she could get too upset, Hold was handing her a smaller drying sheet.

“Here you are—this one is for your hair,” he said and helped Celia wrap it around her head where it seemed to suck the moisture away from her sopping locks almost immediately.

“Thank you.” She fixed the towel into a turban on top of her head and looked up at both of them. Hold looked concerned and Fierce was scowling.

“I told you to be careful!” he growled again. “What were you thinking, lelka?”

“I just wanted a dip in the pool, okay? I was thinking that I was tired and all my muscles were aching!” she snapped.

“If we were having a proper Claiming Period, my brother and I could help you with that,” Fierce said, still looking pissed off. “But since we’re not, from now on you’re not allowed in the bathing pool by yourself!”

Celia put a hand to her hip and poked a finger in his broad chest.

“Hey, you big hijo de puta! Where do you think you get off, telling me what I can and can’t do?”

“You do know Kindred are good with languages, right? I’m as fluent in Spanish as I am in English, so I know exactly what you just called me,” Fierce snarled.

“Okay now, hold on—let’s all calm down.” Hold was suddenly between them, with one hand on his brother’s chest and the other on Celia’s shoulder. “Fierce,” he said, “I think you’re just upset because you were frightened for our bride.”

“Damn right I was fucking frightened!” the dark warrior growled. “I told her to be careful in the fucking pool!”

“I was being careful!” Celia flared. “I was holding on to the side of the pool with both hands. I just lost my grip, that’s all.”

“The sides of the bathing pool can be very slippery,” Hold acknowledged. “And it’s made for seven-foot-tall warriors—not tiny Earth females.”

“I’m not tiny!” Celia insisted. “I’m five-seven—that’s a little taller than the average height for a woman.”

“Well, you seem tiny to us, my lady,” Hold said softly. “Please forgive my brother. He was frightened for you—when he gets scared, he gets angry.”

Celia took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

“All right, fine. I don’t want to fight about this. I’ve had enough fighting today—just let me go to bed please.” She looked at Hold. “And thank you for saving me.”

“I heard you first,” Fierce said, frowning down at her.

“Why? Were you sneaking around outside the bathroom door, hoping to perv on me some more like you did when you were dreaming about me?” Celia shot back, losing her temper again.

“Okay, all right…I think we’d better say goodnight for now,” Hold said, before Fierce could answer her. “No, Brother—don’t say another word,” he added, pointing a finger at the dark warrior, whose face was like a thundercloud. “Celia, I’ll show you to your room if you’d like,” he added. “Please be sure you have all your things.”

Celia gathered her clothes and shoes and the diamond engagement ring she’d removed and held them in her arms. With a final frosty look at Fierce, she followed Hold out of the bathing chamber to the room where she would be staying.

She’d had enough drama to last her a lifetime, she thought. Now she just wanted to get some rest. Though how she could ever get to sleep when she was so irritated and aggravated with both her fiancé and the Dark Twin, she had no idea!

10

HOLD

“By the Goddess that little Elite drives me fucking crazy!” Fierce growled as he paced in front of the massive bed he and Hold shared. As big as both of them were, the bed still felt empty—it was meant to be shared with a female between them.

Hold sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Keep it down, can’t you? I don’t need to break up another fight if Celia hears you and comes in to confront you.”

“She started it!” Fierce growled. “I told her to be careful in the pool if she couldn’t swim. I even told her it got deep in the middle? So what does she do? She gets in anyway and nearly drowns! We could have lost her tonight, Hold! Do you realize that?”

Hold sighed again.

“I know that—I know. I was frightened too,” he assured his brother. “Celia is precious to me as well, you know. I’ve been Dream-Sharing with her, the same way you have.”

Fierce shook his head.

“All those dreams and I never realized what a temper she has! She never shouts at that stupid fiancé of hers the way she shouted at me. And she certainly never called him an hijo de puta!”

“You shouted at her first. And she got pretty upset with him tonight,” Hold pointed out. “I think maybe she’s beginning to realize he’s not the right male for her. Or she would if you would stop provoking her,” he added, frowning at his brother. He loved him dearly but Fierce could be so aggravating at times!

“I’m not provoking her—she’s provoking me!” Fierce protested. “Damn it—why does she have to be so fucking gorgeous and curvy and tempting at the same time? She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen…and the most irritating.”

“She’s a beautiful Elite who could have her pick of any male she wants. And right now she thinks she wants that human—her fiancé,” Hold pointed out. “We need to be wooing her away from him—not driving her into his arms by fighting and shouting. You need to go apologize, Fierce.”

“The Seven Hells I will,” his brother growled. “I stand by what I said—she shouldn’t be allowed in the bathing pool alone anymore!”

“She’s a strong, intelligent woman—I’m sure she won’t go in alone again,” Hold said, frowning.

“If we were having a proper Claiming Period, we’d be able to go in with her during the Bathing Week,” Fierce snapped, still pacing. “But thanks to you, she’s not even sleeping between us for the Holding Week. She’s in a whole other room instead of in our bed where she belongs!”

“You can’t rush these things,” Hold told him. “Please, Brother—have patience. You can’t force her to love us.”

“No, but we’ve only got a month,” Fierce told him. “One solar month. It feels like we’re wasting it by not doing things the right way.”

“If we give Celia some time and a little space, I believe she’ll come to us,” Hold said firmly. “The Goddess wouldn’t have let us Dream-Share with her if she wasn’t meant to be ours. But you can’t rush things and you can’t force her feelings.”

Fierce only gave him a dark look and shook his head.

“If we lose her, it will be your fault,” he said.

“No, Brother…” Hold had suddenly had enough. He took a step forward and got into Fierce’s face. “If we lose her it will be your fault for driving her away!”

Fierce blinked, clearly surprised. Hold was always the peacemaker—he often had to smooth the way between his fiery-tempered brother and others. But sometimes he got sick of the role—especially when it seemed to him that Fierce was pushing away the woman they both wanted because he was too damn impatient to play the long game.

“Well…” Fierce began, clearly uncertain of what to say.

“Now let’s get ready for bed and try to do better in the morning,” Hold said in a calmer tone. “We got off to a shaky start with Celia but we’ll try again tomorrow and hope she forgives us.”

“All right.” Fierce nodded grudgingly. “I’ll apologize to her at First Meal if you think it’s important.”

“I do,” Hold said firmly. “What woman wants to be with a male who won’t apologize after a fight?”

“That fucking Peter of hers didn’t apologize,” Fierce pointed out, scowling.

“Which is one way we can show her that we’re different—that she needs to be with us instead of him,” Hold emphasized.

“All right, all right,” Fierce grumbled. He sighed. “It’s been a long day—let’s get some sleep.”

“Agreed.” Hold nodded. He just hoped that Fierce and Celia would stop ‘butting heads’ as he’d heard the humans call it. Or was it ‘heading butts?’ Either way, it needed to stop if they were ever going to win over the lovely little Elite and persuade her to be their bride.

With a sigh, he started getting ready for bed, as Fierce did the same.

Neither brother had any idea that their entire conversation had been overheard.

11

CELIA

“So Fierce saved you from the bathing pool, and then he shouted at you?” Kat asked, leaning over the little table to stare at Celia with wide eyes. The two women were having lunch together at a little café on the edge of the parklands in the center of the Mother Ship.

“He basically scolded me like a child for nearly drowning.” Celia said. “But he did apologize this morning at breakfast—mostly because Hold made him, though,” she added. “I know because I went back to the bathroom for a minute last night and heard them talking through their door,” she added. “I mean, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but they were talking about me so…” She shrugged expressively.

“So of course, you had to listen,” Kat confirmed, nodding.

“Of course,” Celia agreed.

She couldn’t help thinking about the other things she’d heard as well. It had surprised her to hear both of the big Kindred saying how gorgeous she was and praising her curves. Peter was always trying to get her to lose some weight. He claimed it was for her health, but Celia knew he was probably comparing her to the other women he’d dated in the past—most of them stick-thin models and influencers. Sometimes she wondered why he liked her at all…

“So then what happened? I mean, what else did you hear?” Kat asked, breaking into her train of thought.

“Oh, well…mostly it sounds like Fierce is mad at Hold because he says we’re not having a ‘normal Claiming Period’,” Celia said. “But Hold told him that they have to be patient and prove to me they’re a better choice than my fiancé, Peter.”

“Hmm…” Kat nodded. “I’m guessing that Hold is doing the right thing. He seems a lot more patient than his brother.”

“But what is a ‘normal’ Claiming Period?” Celia asked. “I mean, you said something about the different weeks last night but I never got to ask you what they meant.”

“Oh, you mean like the Holding Week and the Bathing Week?” Kat asked and took a sip of her coffee.

“I guess so.” Celia shrugged. “Are you supposed to do something we’re not doing during those times?”

“Well, yes you are, doll,” Kat told her. “You see, during the Holding Week, your guys are supposed to be able to hold you between them at night. They can touch you too, but only over your clothes,” she added.

“Oh…they can?” Celia couldn’t help picturing herself lying between the huge warriors while both of them stroked her through her nightgown… Then she pushed the thought away. She wasn’t supposed to be fantasizing about things like that!

“Mmm-hmm.” Kat nodded. “Then the next week—the Bathing Week—everybody gets naked and they get to take a bath with you and wash you all over. After that, they give you a really elaborate full body massage with all of these special exotic oils.”

“Dios,” Celia murmured. “I have to admit…that sounds kind of nice.”

“Oh, it’s amazing,” Kat told her. “They have an oil for your back…another one for your feet…another for your shoulders. They even have a special oil for your coochie, if you know what I mean.” She gave Celia a naughty little grin.

“Wow…it sounds like the Kindred are really into pampering their women.” Celia was trying hard not to imagine herself being massaged by Hold and Fierce…and not succeeding very well. “What happens next?” she asked Kat.

“Oh, the Tasting Week is next. I think you can guess what happens then.”

“I can, but…they have a whole week devoted just to that?” Celia asked with wide eyes.

Kat nodded.

“The Kindred love going down on their women. They actually have a biological need to do it—it helps strengthen the Bond between a warrior and his mate.”

“Dios,” Celia murmured again. “Do I dare ask about the last week of the Claiming Period?”

“Oh, that’s the Bonding Week,” Kat told her. “That’s when you either decide to go home…or stay here and Bond with your guys permanently.”

“Well, I already know I’ll be going home,” Celia said. “Only…”

“Only what?” Kat asked.

“Only, I had a fight with my fiancé last night,” Celia confessed. “He was really upset that I left with Hold and Fierce without putting up more of a fight, I think,” she added. “But what was I supposed to do—make them drag me out to their ship? I mean, I know the law—when you get called up in the Bride Draft, you have to go.”

“You did the right thing,” Kat told her, nodding. “So did you two make up before the call ended?”

Celia shook her head.

“No. In fact, I told him I wanted to take a break—just a little breathing space, you know?”

Kat looked at her speculatively.

“That sounds serious, doll. So tell me…does taking a break mean you’ll do more of the traditional Claiming Period activities?”

“Oh, I never said that!” Celia protested. “I mean, I am still engaged.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Kat nodded. “I understand. So did he call you to make up this morning?”

“Nope.” Celia shook her head. Actually, the fact that Peter hadn’t called back was troubling her. They hadn’t been engaged for that long—hell, they’d only known each other for around six months—and this was the biggest fight they’d ever had. Was it normal for him to not call? Should she call him? But no—she was going to stick to her guns and wait it out, she told herself firmly. She was not in the wrong here.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll come around later,” Kat said comfortingly, reaching across the table to pat her hand.

“Thanks.” Celia smiled at her. “And thank you for explaining about the different weeks,” she added gratefully. She wanted to ask more—about how two Kindred could fit inside one human woman at the same time. But it was kind of crowded at the little café and she didn’t really want Kat to launch into a graphic description in public.

“You’re welcome, doll—you can always ask me anything about dealing with Twin Kindred. Believe me, you name it, I’ve been through it with them.” Kat rolled her eyes expressively. “Now how about we talk decorations for a little while?”

“Oh yes—of course.” Celia nodded eagerly. “Tell me, what are you thinking?”

“Well, I wanted to bring some Christmas spirit without importing a bunch of plastic junk up from Earth, you know?” Kat said. “I was thinking it would be nice if we could find natural elements to decorate with. But not just mistletoe and holly wreaths and poinsettias from Earth. I mean, I want some of that, of course. But what about getting different little things from other planets—the other Kindred home worlds, you know, and incorporating them into the decorations?”

Celia was instantly intrigued.

“Oh, like what?” she asked, leaning forward and resting her chin on her hand.

“Well, I’ve heard they have this special kind of glowing moss that grows on the cavern walls of some of the grottos and caves on Tranq Prime—that’s the Blood Kindred home world,” Kat added. “And get this—it glows red and green and gold! Very Christmassy, right?”

“Yes, very!” Celia agreed. “But how much would you need to bring to decorate the entire Mother Ship?” she added.

“That’s the beauty of it—I can just put it in my replicator and make copies of it. So you wouldn’t have to bring very much at all—just a sample, really,” Kat told her. “You could bring it back in a portable stasis chamber to keep it fresh.”

“Oh…you want me to go get it?” Celia asked, surprised.

“Well, you and your guys. I don’t expect you to fly off and fold space all on your own. Speaking of which, can you fold space?” Kat asked. “I mean, I’m trying to be delicate about it but…could you be pregnant? Because if you are, you can’t fold space—it’s bad for the baby.”

“Oh…” Celia frowned. “I mean, I don’t think I am but I did run out of birth control recently and I haven’t had a chance to get more.” She didn’t want to tell her new friend about how Peter had flushed her pills—it made him sound awful. And really he wasn’t that bad—was he?

“Hmm. You’d better tell your guys to take wormholes on the way there and back again, then,” Kat told her. “Just to be on the safe side, you know?”

“Oh…okay.” Celia nodded. “So you just want us to go to Twin Moons and get a sample of this glowing moss and bring it back?”

“And then we’ll replicate it and decorate the whole Mother Ship with it! Oh, and it’s called ‘jewel moss’ by the way,” Kat said. “I hope you don’t mind—I’d go myself, but I try not to do overnight trips on school nights. Things can get pretty chaotic with three boys to take care of.” She rolled her eyes again and laughed.

“I understand.” Celia nodded. “And I don’t mind as long as Hold and Fierce will take me. Actually, it sounds like an amazing adventure!”

“It’s going to be a cold adventure,” Kat told her seriously. “I’ll have to replicate you a warm suit so you don’t freeze over there.”

“I actually love cold weather,” Celia told her. “I’ve often wished I could move away from Florida and go someplace colder.”

“Yeah, the sunshine state is not the place to live if you like cold weather,” Kat agreed. “As a native Floridian, I can definitely confirm that. But you’ll get as much cold weather as you want on Tranq Prime.”

Celia clapped her hands eagerly.

“I can’t wait!”

She just hoped that Hold and Fierce wouldn’t mind going with her on this little decoration-finding mission. But if they really wanted to spend time with her, they were going to have to be okay with it.

It was time to put their interest in her to the test.

12

CELIA

“What do you mean we need to take wormholes because you can’t fold space?” Fierce asked, looking up from the instrument panel of the sleek silver ship to frown at her. “Are you fucking pregnant?” His nose wrinkled. “I can still smell that fucking human’s stink on you so I guess you might be,” he added with a disgusted look.

“That’s a rude question!” Celia snapped, glaring up at him. Despite his apology that morning, the Dark Twin still rubbed her the wrong way.

“Yes, it is,” Hold agreed, frowning over her head at his brother. “It’s also none of our business.”

“Also, I took a shower this morning, so I know I don’t stink,” Celia added, still offended.

“Nobody said you smelled!” Fierce protested. “It’s that human you’re with—he stinks. I don’t know what kind of artificial scent he wears, but it stings my Goddess-damned nose! And under that he just smells weak—like a male who’s never worked a day in his life.”

“But…how could you possibly still smell Peter on me when I’ve had a shower? Not to mention the bath last night when I nearly drowned,” Celia added dryly.

“It’s a scent you acquire when you’re…intimate with another male that we smell,” Hold explained delicately. “Kindred have a much keener sense of smell than you humans do—I believe we’ve been compared to the Earth animal called a ‘bloodhound’ in that department.”

“Really?” Celia looked at him, wide-eyed. “But why? I mean, why would you need to be able to smell if a woman has, er, been with another man?”

“It lets us know which females are already taken so we can avoid them when we’re looking for a mate,” Fierce growled. “Less fighting between unmated males that way.”

“Fierce is right,” Hold confirmed. “Women are always in short supply for us, since our species is 95% male. If we didn’t have a way to identify the fact that a particular woman already belonged to another male, we’d constantly be getting into conflicts with each other.”

“But if you two can smell Peter on me and that means I’m already taken, then why come get me at all?” Celia asked, feeling bewildered.

“My lady, we couldn’t not come for you,” Hold told her gently. He held her eyes with his own as he went on. “We’ve been Dream-Sharing with you for months. I know you don’t remember much of what we shared, but Fierce and I do. When a warrior Dream-Shares with a female, it’s a clear sign that the Goddess means for them to be together.”

“So…you believe in the Kindred Goddess?” Celia asked, trying not to think of how the way Hold was looking into her eyes was making her heart pound faster. Why did he and Fierce both have to be so handsome?

“Don’t you believe in a deity?” Hold countered. “I’ve heard you call on him—you say, ‘Dios’ often. That’s Spanish for ‘God’—right?”

“Yes, but it’s just a saying.” Celia shrugged and looked away. “I’ve been disappointed too many times in my life to really believe there’s a God or a Goddess. Or that they give a damn about me, if there is one.”

“The Goddess cares about all her children,” Hold said quietly. “She put the three of us together—she let us share each other’s dreams. That’s why Fierce and I came for you, even though we knew you were already spoken for.”

“Oh, um…” Celia wasn’t sure what to say to that. The Light Twin was staring at her again, his hazel-green eyes intense with longing. It made her heart pound and her pulse race even though she knew she ought to be thinking about Peter—not the Kindred warrior in front of her. “I, uh, guess we’d better get going,” she said lamely, looking away at last.

“Plotting a course to Tranq Prime using wormholes,” Fierce said dryly.

“Thank you.” Celia crossed her arms over her breasts. “I’m sorry if it’s inconvenient. All I know is that Kat told me we should take wormholes, just in case. If that’s going to be a problem, I can probably find some other Kindred to take me to Tranq Prime to hunt for the jewel moss,” she added, looking at Fierce.

“No, no,” Hold said quickly. “Not a problem, my lady. The grottos where the jewel moss grows are remote and I’ve heard they can be dangerous. Fierce and I want to be with you to protect you.”

“Dangerous? Really?” Celia frowned.

“Mainly just too fucking cold,” Fierce growled, as he punched coordinates into the control panel.

“But if Kat made you a warm suit, you should be all right,” Hold added.

“She did.” Celia nodded.

“Then why aren’t you wearing it?” Fierce demanded.

“Because I thought I’d wait and change when we got there. I don’t want to get overheated,” Celia snapped. Ugh—why was it that everything the Dark Twin said annoyed her?

“That makes sense,” Hold remarked. “Fierce and I aren’t going to put on our extra furs until we land near the grotto either.”

“Which, uh, grotto are we headed for?” Celia asked. She’d heard that Tranq Prime was a planet where everyone lived underground in huge caves called “grottos” and she wondered which one they were going to see.

“Commander Sylvan gave us the coordinates of an abandoned grotto he said has lots of jewel moss,” Hold told her.

“Oh—so we don’t get to meet any of the people?” Celia was rather disappointed.

“Believe me, you’re not missing anything—Tranq Prime isn’t exactly the most welcoming place.” Fierce finished punching in the coordinates and grasped the steering yoke. “The grotto we’re going to is pretty far from the more populated part of Twin Moons, so Commander Sylvan advised us to take weapons and emergency supplies, just in case.”

“I’ve got everything we should need for an overnight stay,” Hold confirmed.

“Wait—an overnight stay?” Celia frowned. “Why overnight?”

“Because we’ll be hiking into the back caverns of the grotto to find the moss—it only grows deep underground,” Fierce growled. “That’s going to take some time and we don’t want to go back to the ship when it’s dark—we have to wait for daylight. Otherwise we’ll all be fucking V’ranna chow.”

“What’s that?” Celia demanded.

“A V’ranna is a large carnivore that lives on Tranq Prime,” Hold explained. “But they mainly roam the tundra—we should be safe from them inside the grotto we’re going to.”

“Oh…okay.” Celia nodded. “Er…thank you for taking me,” she added, speaking to both of them, though she looked more at Hold. “I hope it’s not an imposition.”

“Spending time with you is never an imposition, my lady,” the Light Twin murmured and gave her a smile that nearly melted her. Why couldn’t Fierce be as charming as his brother, she wondered?

“We’ll take you anywhere you want—as long as it’s not back down to Earth to that stupid fiancé of yours,” the Dark Twin remarked, as he pulled back on the yoke.

Celia shot him an angry look.

“That ‘stupid fiancé’ is the man I’m going to marry,” she informed him.

“What? After the way he treated you yesterday?” Fierce looked down at her with a frown and then back at the viewscreen, where the stars were zipping by.

“We had a fight—that’s all,” Celia said defensively. “All couples fight—it’s not a big deal.”

“Well, I didn’t see him calling this morning to apologize,” Fierce pointed out.

“He just needs some time to cool off—that’s all. Plus, he’s probably busy—he helps his mother run the family business, since he’s the only son,” Celia said defensively. “He—oh! What’s that?”

She was pointing to the viewscreen where an enormous, swirling thing had appeared. It looked to Celia like what you saw when you looked in a kaleidoscope—a mass of swirling colors bigger than the ship—blue and gold and purple and green.

“That is a wormhole, just as you requested, lelka,” Fierce growled. “How about if we all be fucking quiet now so I can navigate it?”

“Is…is it safe, though?” Celia didn’t like the idea of flying straight into the swirling vortex.

“Perfectly safe—Fierce only uses stable wormholes when we fly,” Hold assured her.

“Well…all right.”

“You can hold my hand if you’re nervous,” the Light Twin offered, holding out one catcher’s mitt-sized hand to her.

Fierce shot her a look.

“I’d offer mine too, but I need both hands for flying,” he remarked. “Not that you’d accept.”

“After that remark you made about me being pregnant? I don’t think so,” Celia said coolly, and she took Hold’s hand, letting him entwine their fingers—his were long and tapered and artistic looking, she noticed, which seemed right for a doctor.

“Fucking great,” Fierce muttered. And then he pushed the steering yoke forward and they plunged into the swirling mass of kaleidoscope colors.

13

CELIA

“Okay—I’m ready. Dios, this is tight,” Celia muttered, tugging at her warm suit as she came out of the small bathroom at the back of the ship.

Despite her anxiety about the wormhole, they had landed safely on Tranq Prime. None of them had been outside yet but the viewscreen showed a frozen wasteland where nothing grew. Celia wondered how anything could live on such a barren planet, but Hold assured her that most of the living went on underground, in the grottos.

They were docked right beside the entrance to the abandoned grotto where the jewel moss was, so all of them were getting ready to go. Celia had gone to the back of the ship to change into her warm suit but now she couldn’t help feeling exposed.

The warm suit looked more like a wet suit—the kind you scuba dive in—than any kind of parka or cold weather clothing she had ever seen. It was form- fitting and made of a thin material that hugged her curves. At least it was black, though—the color was slenderizing and went well with her long dark hair.

There were furry boots that looked like Uggs, fuzzy mittens, and a long, scarf made of special insulating material to wrap around her face to go with the form-fitting warm suit. All of these items were red, which went nicely with the black, Celia thought. Kat had let her choose the colors of all her garments and had whipped them up quickly on her Replicator—a kind of 3-D printer that made or copied anything you wanted.

“Now keep this on the whole time you’re on Tranq Prime,” she had instructed, as she handed the warm suit to Celia. “As long as you keep it dry, it will hold in your body heat and insulate you even from the most extreme cold.” She held up a finger. “But whatever you do, don’t get it wet!”

“Why?” Celia asked and laughed. “Will it turn into a cold suit then?”

“You laugh, but yes it will,” Kat said seriously. “This material is just as effective at holding in the cold as it is at holding in the heat. If you get it wet in those temperatures you’ll be in real danger of freezing solid—I mean it. So if you don’t want to be a human popsicle, stay dry.”

Celia had promised that she would be careful and stay dry, but she didn’t think it would be a problem. Despite the extreme cold, there didn’t seem to be much snow or ice on the ground. She’d read once that a tundra was basically a frozen desert with hardly any precipitation. So how could she possibly get wet?

“Hello, lelka. Don’t you look fucking gorgeous in that warm suit,” Fierce growled as she came back to the front of the ship. He was sitting in the pilot’s seat but he turned around to see her, his dark eyes raking her curves in the form-fitting outfit.

“It’s to keep me warm—not to make you drool,” Celia snapped. “Besides, it’s too tight—it makes me look fat!” She pulled at the stretchy black fabric in vain, wishing it was a little looser.

“It makes you look like an Elite—a female the Goddess has blessed with extra-full curves, that’s all,” Fierce remarked, completely unrepentant. “Twin Kindred love Elites,” he added. “I mean, all Kindred do but they’re definitely our ideal female.”

Celia had no idea what to say to that—it still seemed strange to her that the Kindred actually liked full-figured women. But she supposed each culture had their own particular favorite body types. She tried not to blush when she considered the fact that she was apparently the Twin Kindreds’ idea of a super model. It was odd—especially since her whole life she’d been trying, not always successfully, to lose weight.

“What does ‘lelka’ mean?” she asked, pretending not to notice the way the Dark Twin was still looking at her. “You keep calling me that—is it a word in your own language?”

“Yes, it is,” he growled. “But I’m not telling you what it means—it would only piss you off.”

Celia put a hand on her hip.

“What—is it derogatory? You better not be calling me something nasty in your own language, you big pendejo!”

“Oh, you mean like a name that means ‘stupid’ or ‘son of a bitch’ like you were calling me last night?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Exactly.” Celia stood her ground, crossing her arms over her breasts.

“Lelka doesn’t mean anything derogatory,” Hold said, coming up behind her. He was wearing a long coat made of shaggy black fur that made his silver hair and hazel-green eyes look amazing. His shoulders looked even broader too—if that was possible, since both brothers were already so muscular and broad, Celia thought.

“Well, what does it mean, then?” she asked, trying not to stare at Hold…or notice the way his eyes kept darting over to catch discreet glances at her body in the form-fitting warm suit. Fierce, on the other hand, was still just staring at her blatantly and not even trying to hide the fact that he liked the way she looked. His dark eyes were lazy with lust as he perused her body at his leisure.

Strangely, Celia found that she liked their eyes on her. If it had been any other man—well, other than Peter, of course—ogling her so openly, she would have been offended and felt violated. But the way Fierce and Hold were looking at her body made her feel beautiful and desired in a way she never had before. They were staring at her like she was some kind of goddess—a being almost too beautiful to behold and impossible not to lust after.

She had to admit that she never got this feeling from her fiancé. Even when she dressed up nicely for Peter to go to a fancy restaurant or a party with his important, rich friends, he always seemed to find fault with her somehow.

“Is that what you’re wearing?” he would ask, wrinkling his nose at whatever outfit she’d put on. Or, “Do you really think those earrings go with that dress? Why don’t you run upstairs and change, darling. Maybe put your hair up too—it looks so much more elegant that way.”

Inevitably, Celia wound up trying on three to five different ensembles and changing her hair a dozen times before her fiancé finally approved of how she looked. It was hard on her self-esteem—being an interior decorator and designer, she’d always trusted her own innate fashion sense. Until she started dating Peter, that was. Now she wasn’t sure what looked good on her anymore.

But standing there with both of the huge, muscular warriors looking at her with half-lidded eyes, she definitely knew she looked good in the sleek, black warm suit and it boosted her confidence immeasurably. She didn’t even mind when Hold shook his head and said,

“I’ll tell you what lelka means later—I’m not in the mood to break up another fight between you two.” He nodded meaningfully at Fierce as he said it. “Right now we need to get going before we lose the daylight.”

“Agreed.” Fierce rose and put on a long fur coat of his own—his was a rusty red. The color suited him and made his dark, bearded face look cruel and handsome at the same time, Celia thought.

“Is that real fur?” she asked, nodding at their coats, as Hold donned a backpack filled with supplies for their overnight stay.

“Yes, it fucking is,” Fierce growled, as though daring her to start a fight about it. “But it’s not made of a bunch of pelts of cute little animals like the fur coats on your planet.”

“What is it made of, then?” Celia demanded. She loved all kinds of animals and didn’t believe in skinning any of them for their fur, cute or not.

“Both our coats are made of the hide of a trenka-veerm,” Hold answered for his brother. “It’s a large, carnivorous predator that lives on our home world—Twin Moons. It looks a lot like your great white shark, but it’s a land animal and it has two sides.”

“Two sides? What do you mean?” Celia asked.

“Two faces—two heads and two bodies—joined at the hip,” Fierce said. As he spoke, he was strapping a lethal-looking blaster to his own hip.

“Many creatures on Twin Moons are two-sided or two-faced,” Hold said, strapping a blaster on as well. “Just as it takes us two males to mate one female—doubles and twins are a feature of our planet.”

“I see…” Celia nodded. “So this, uh shark thing—this…”

“Trenka-veerm,” Hold supplied helpfully.

“Yeah—this trenka-veerm must be pretty big, huh? I mean, if there was enough fur to make two coats out of it?”

“Around ten feet tall on its hind legs,” Fierce said casually. “It was threatening a remote village where we were staying—eating their heard of Take-mes—that’s a kind of animal that looks a little like an Earth horse but with two front ends put together in the middle,” he added for clarification.

“I’ve heard some Earth females say that Take-mes look like a ‘push-me pull-you,’ from an old Earth movie,” Hold said helpfully.

“Oh right—Doctor Dolittle! I remember seeing that when I was a kid.” Celia nodded. One of the foster families she’d stayed with had an ancient VCR and a collection of really old children’s movies and Doctor Dolittle had been one of her favorites.

“Right. Anyway, half their herd was gone and they didn’t have any warriors in the village—so they asked Hold and me to hunt the fucking thing down,” Fierce said.

“And did you?” Celia tried to imagine the two of them hunting down a ten-foot-tall double sided, furry land-shark and shivered.

“You see our coats, right?” Fierce held out his arms, displaying the long, shaggy coat of rusty-red fur.

“We only wear the furs of an animal we’ve killed ourselves on Twin Moons,” Hold explained. “Once we killed the trenka-veerm, the villagers thanked us by skinning it and making us coats from the hide.” He shifted his shoulders. “I don’t think we’ve been anyplace cold enough to wear them until now, though.”

“Yeah, it’s plenty fucking cold out there,” Fierce growled. “We’re going to need to get into the grotto as soon as possible.”

“Well, no time like the present.” Hold hitched up the backpack he wore and looked at Celia. “Ready, my lady?”

“I am.” Celia adjusted the red scarf so that it covered her head and ears and mouth and nose, leaving only her eyes peeking out. “Let’s go.”

“All right—I’ll open the door and we’ll run to the grotto entrance,” Fierce said. He pressed the door mechanism, causing the hatch to open. “Go!”

They went.

14

CELIA

Celia had lived in Florida all her life, but she’d visited New England for a special client in the dead of winter once. That was as far north as she’d ever been and it had been a chilling experience.

But the temperatures on Tranq Prime blew anything in New England away. The air was so cold, it felt like knives going down her throat and the moisture in her nose and around her eyelashes immediately froze into hard little crystals.

“Madre de Dios!” she gasped, staggering as she tried to step down from the shuttle.

Fierce turned and caught her or she would have fallen.

“Be careful, lelka! You all right?” he shouted, over the whipping of the wind.

“Don’t…don’t know,” Celia gasped. She still felt like she was being stabbed from the inside with a thousand ice cold knives and the tips of her ears and nose were rapidly going numb.

“We have to get her inside before she gets frostbite or worse,” Hold shouted. He held out his arms to his brother. “Give her to me and get that door open!”

Fierce handed her over—both brothers lifted her as though she weighed no more than a pillow, Celia noted faintly. She was beginning to shiver despite the warm suit—the wind felt like blades assaulting her body.

Hold wrapped the folds of his shaggy fur coat around her and cradled her close to his big body as Fierce ran on ahead to the entrance of the grotto.

It looked like a frozen white hillside to Celia but there was indeed a large metal door in the center of it—a door that Fierce was currently fighting with. Either it was locked or frozen closed.

Finally he pulled out his blaster and aimed at the door’s hinges. Several blasts of deadly, brilliant blue light later and he was finally able to pull it open.

“Get her inside! Hurry!” he shouted, gesturing to Hold.

“I’m going!” the Light Twin shouted back. He hurried into the grotto with Celia held in his arms and Fierce followed behind him, pulling the door shut behind them.

Inside and out of the wind, Celia could finally breathe without feeling like knives were stabbing her lungs. It was still freezing cold, but the absence of the whipping gale made a huge difference.

“I…I think I can stand now,” she said, looking up at Hold, who was staring down at her with concern.

“Let me hold you a little while longer to share my body heat,” he said, frowning. “Kindred run hotter than humans and you’re even more delicate than we thought—you need to be warmed thoroughly, my lady.”

“Well…all right.” Celia wasn’t going to fight with him. She couldn’t deny it—she liked being held in the Light Twin’s arms. He was so big and warm and his delicious scent of clean laundry and cedar wood and masculine spice filled her senses and made her want to breathe him in and stay close to him.

In fact, if she was really being honest, she hadn’t minded being held in Fierce’s arms either—or so she thought until he came and said,

“You need to look at the hinges, Brother—they may be fucking broken beyond repair but tell me what you think. I don’t like leaving the door unlocked behind us.”

“All right—here, you warm our lady for me then.” And Hold handed her off to Fierce, who cradled her in his arms as gently as his brother had a moment ago, despite the fight they’d had on the way over.

“Um…I can stand on my own,” Celia said, feeling uncomfortable.

“Not until you’re warm through,” Fierce growled. “How are your ears? They look bright red to me.”

“Oh…did my hat slip?” Celia reached up and pulled down the hat as well as she could with her mittened hands.

“Mmm-hmm—red,” Fierce confirmed, frowning. “Are they cold too?”

“They’re numb,” Celia admitted, frowning. “But I’m sure they’ll warm up in a moment.”

“Not without some help. Here.” The Dark Twin put her on her feet, but kept his hands on her shoulders. Then he leaned down and breathed a long, slow steady breath against her right ear.

“Oh!” Celia gasped and writhed in his grip. Her ears and the sides of her neck had always been very sensitive areas for her. Fierce was so close she could feel his beard and mustache tickling her skin and his warm breath seemed to start a fire inside her. It didn’t help that his spicy, wild scent was invading her senses the way Hold’s had a moment ago, either. Why did both of them have to smell so damn good, she wondered?

“You all right, lelka?” Fierce rumbled softly in her ear. “Did that help?”

“I, uh, think so,” Celia said, trying not to pant. Honestly, the Dark Twin got on her nerves but he also made her heart pound and her pulse race. What was that about?

“Good—then I’ll do the other one,” Fierce turned her to the other side and breathed on her left ear, sending more chills down her spine.

To try and distract herself from his closeness and the way his hot breath was sending shivers through her body, Celia looked around the grotto where they found themselves.

It was a vast, underground space that had the air of a place that was long abandoned. There were smooth walls with paintings and decorations on them, but Celia couldn’t quite make them out. A faint, silvery glow came from somewhere above, casting just enough light to make everything seem shadowy and dream-like.

Or haunted, Celia thought, and shivered again.

“There—you should be good now,” Fierce straightened up to his massive height and looked down at her critically. “Unless you need me to warm up something else? Should I breathe on your fingers?”

“Uh, no. No thank you,” Celia said stiffly. “I’m fine now.”

“You only have to ask, lelka,” he rumbled. “Don’t be embarrassed or ashamed—keeping warm is a matter of life and death on a planet like Tranq Prime. We have to take care of each other.”

The intense way he was looking at her, made Celia feel uncomfortable. Suddenly her nipples felt tight and she had to squeeze her thighs together because of the tension she was feeling from being so near the Dark Twin.

But being uncomfortable made her short-tempered.

“After you told me I stink like Peter, I’m surprised you want to be near me and warm me up at all,” she said, frowning.

“Yeah, I can still smell him on you,” Fierce growled, clearly not taking the bait. “But I can smell your scent too, Celia. And it’s fucking delicious.”

Celia didn’t know what to say to that—things were getting much too intense with the Dark Twin as far as she was concerned. Luckily, Hold chose that moment to come back over to where she and Fierce were standing.

“You’re right—the hinges aren’t fixable,” he said to his brother. “I wedged the door shut as well as I could. Hopefully it will still look secure from the outside and nothing will try to get in.”

“Is that going to be a problem, do you think?” Celia asked, putting a hand to her throat. She still remembered Fierce mentioning that there was a huge, carnivorous predator around here. What was it called? A V’ranna? Yes—that was it. She certainly didn’t want to run into one of those!

“We’ll be fine,” Fierce said dismissively. “We just need to get moving and find that moss.” He shook his head. “I hope that Kat knows what a pain in the ass this mission is! This fucking moss better be the seventh wonder of the universe for all the trouble we’re going to in order to get the fucking stuff.”

“Lighten up, Brother—it’s an adventure. And we get to spend time with our lady,” Hold told him. He looked at Celia. “Are you all right? Your ears look a little red.”

“I’m fine. Fierce, uh, warmed me up,” she said shortly. “Can we go now?”

Without waiting for an answer, she turned…and nearly stumbled directly into a deep ditch running through the middle of the grotto.

“Whoa, sweetheart!” Fierce grabbed for her arm and pulled her back before she fell.

“Oh!” Celia clutched at his arm as she stumbled back and away from the edge. She hadn’t even seen the ditch—possibly because of the dim lighting and all the shadows. “What’s that doing there in the middle of the floor?” she demanded, looking down into it with a frown. On closer inspection, she saw that it wasn’t just a ditch—it was a kind of mini river that was flowing sluggishly through the deep groove. “Why did they have a river in the middle of their living area?”

“That was their heating system, back when this was a working grotto where people lived,” Hold explained. “Most of the residents of Tranq Prime are able to live here because they are sustained by geothermal heat—there’s a lot of volcanic activity underground and it heats the water, which they channel to run through their grottos and keep them warm.”

“Really? That’s fascinating,” Celia exclaimed. She frowned. “But this river doesn’t look very warm, though. I mean, it’s not steaming or anything.”

“No, it’s not.” Hold knelt by the side of the river and dipped his fingers in. He drew them out with a hiss and dried them quickly on his coat. “It’s barely above freezing. That must be why this grotto is abandoned—their source of heat went cold.”

“Well, let’s not stay in this fucking place any longer than we have to,” Fierce growled. “It’s fucking weird in here with all the shadows.”

For once Celia agreed with the Dark Twin.

“I know, right? It feels haunted.” She rubbed her arms and shivered.

“We’ll have to at least stay overnight unless we can find the jewel moss in under an hour,” Hold warned. “The sun will be setting soon and we can’t risk going back outside during the night—the temperature drops too sharply.”

Celia couldn’t imagine it getting any colder outside than it was. The tip of her nose and her fingertips were just now beginning to thaw—though her ears were warm, thanks to Fierce and his hot breath.

“Let’s go then,” she said. “Er…which way is it? Do we have any kind of a map?”

“We do—thanks to Commander Sylvan.” Hold nodded and dug something that looked like a kind of clear iPad out of the backpack he’d brought. He tapped it and it came to life, showing a schematic of the underground space with several lighted dots on it.

“Is that us?” Celia asked, pointing to the blue dot at the bottom of the map.

“Yes—that’s us,” Hold confirmed.

“Then what are the red dots, way up there?” Fierce demanded, looking over his brother’s shoulder to point at the top of the map.

“Those are the areas where Commander Sylvan thought it was most likely the jewel moss could be found,” Hold told him.

“I don’t know the scale of this map, but they look pretty far away,” Celia said doubtfully.

“Unfortunately, they are. I doubt we’ll get there and back again in an hour—but we can try.” Hold shouldered the backpack again and nodded at them. “Come on—let’s get going.”

“All right—you lead the way with the map and I’ll take the rear,” Fierce growled. “We’ll keep Celia between us for safety.”

Celia thought about protesting that she could take care of herself, but then she remembered that they were on an alien planet in an abandoned, possibly haunted cave and decided to keep her mouth shut. She fell into line behind Hold with Fierce bringing up the rear and they began their trek.

15

FIERCE

Fierce didn’t like the fucking grotto—not one Goddess-damned bit. Celia was right, he decided—it felt haunted.

They stuck mostly to the main corridor but Hold wanted to try a few of the domiciles, which branched off of it, just to be sure they weren’t missing the moss. Those were the places that really gave Fierce what he’d heard humans call “the creeps.”

Everywhere they went, they saw evidence of the people who used to live here. There were empty bowls and cups gathering dust on the tables, discarded clothes and toys in the corners, and blankets of dust on the couches and beds.

If that wasn’t bad enough, he kept thinking he heard something creeping up behind them. He lost count of the times he turned his head and scanned the passageway to be sure the three of them weren’t being followed. It was always the same though—nothing. Just dust and shadows.

Fierce hoped they could find the damn moss and get out quickly. He had a bad feeling about this mission and it was only getting stronger with every step he took.

16

HOLD

After the fifth domicile they’d checked without finding any moss, Hold decided to stick to the map and walk along the main corridor until they found the areas Commander Sylvan had marked for them. It felt too eerie to walk into places where long-dead families had lived and examine the abandoned spaces they had left behind.

Also, he could tell that Celia didn’t like it. Her scent was sharp with fear and she was jumpy, looking all around her and glancing over her shoulder constantly—as was Fierce.

We need to find the moss and get out of here soon, Hold thought.

He was beginning to have a bad feeling about this grotto—a sense of danger. And it was growing stronger with every step they took…

17

CELIA

Just as Celia was beginning to wonder if they would ever find the damn jewel moss, she saw a faint glow coming from a corridor up ahead, which branched off from the main hallway.

They’d been exploring different apartments—or “domiciles” as the guys called them. They were spaced at regular intervals along the corridor—some of their doors still open, as though the people who had left were in too much of a hurry to even shut the door behind them.

Hold was in one of the domiciles now but Celia had decided not to go in—it was too spooky for her. Fierce had stayed outside with her—it seemed they had decided that one of them always had to be with her to protect her. Which was silly, Celia thought. So far they’d seen nothing worse than shadows and dust.

But now she was seeing what she thought might be the moss!

“Look—over there!” She pointed and then hurried forward, jumping carefully over the channel in the middle of the corridor where the river ran.

“You think you see something?” Fierce asked, following her. “Wait a minute—be careful, lelka!”

Celia kept going. She was sure that the glow she saw must be the moss—it was a soft flickering light that changed from gold to green to scarlet and then back to gold again. That had to be it!

As she entered the narrow passageway, she registered a strange, musky odor that made her nose wrinkle. What was that? It smelled like the big cat enclosure at the zoo—a wild, overripe mixture of a big predator and the prey it had been eating.

But the next minute, she forgot about the unpleasant smell because there, twinkling on the walls and looking for all the world like Christmas lights, were huge patches of jewel moss!

“Oh, look—there it is! I knew it was in here!” Celia ran forward just as Fierce shouted,

“Celia, wait!”

“Why? This is it—can’t you tell?”

She half turned her head to look at him but she was still in motion. Not looking where she was going cost her and just before she got to the wall, she tripped over an enormous pile of laundry that someone had left and went sprawling on the floor.

“Oof!” she gasped as the wind was knocked out of her. Honestly, had the people who lived here been in such a hurry that they couldn’t even take their dirty laundry? That must be where the unpleasant smell was coming from! It really stunk.

Celia got to her knees but when she looked up, she saw the mound of dirty laundry stir and twitch—almost like there was something inside it trying to get out. Was there an animal burrowing inside it?

She looked closer—the mountain of laundry seemed to be covered by some kind of blanket or tarp—a dark turquoise one that was furry. What a strange blanket! It—

Suddenly two large, glowing eyes opened and the enormous pile of laundry stirred again…only, Celia finally realized, it wasn’t laundry. And the furry turquoise blanket covering it wasn’t a blanket.

The thing she had tripped over was a wild animal and it was huge!

“Celia, sweetheart—don’t move.” Fierce’s deep voice was hoarse with fear. “You don’t want to make yourself its target.”

“What…what is it?” she whispered in a quivering voice. She felt like she couldn’t look away from the glowing eyes and her legs were horribly weak. Inside her mittens, the palms of her hands were sweating.

“I think you’ve woken a sleeping V’ranna,” Fierce murmured. “It might go back to sleep if you just—”

At that point, the V’ranna opened a hideously large mouth filled with sharp white fangs and roared!

Celia had read once on some website about wild animals that a male lion’s roar can travel for miles over a savanna. She could well believe it now. The sound coming out of that horrible, fanged maw sounded like a mixture of a lion’s roar and a bull’s bellow with a note of alarm klaxon thrown in. It was deafening, even when she clamped her hands desperately over her ears.

When it at last died away, her ears were still ringing. And then the enormous creature began stalking towards her.

“No—no! Here—over here!” she heard Fierce shout. “Hey—over here, you big bastard!”

From the corner of her eye, she saw movement—it was the Dark Twin, waving his arms in the air and shouting to try and draw the V’ranna’s attention.

The tactic worked…but not in a good way. The enormous beast shook itself and suddenly rose from its crouch to tower over both of them.

It must be twelve feet tall! Celia thought, feeling sick. She felt like a tiny kitten next to the huge creature—a tiny, helpless kitten.

The V’ranna spread its shaggy arms wide, revealing paws bigger than Celia’s head, tipped with razor-sharp claws. Standing on its hind legs, it looked like a cross between a tiger and a grizzly bear, she thought faintly.

Oh God, I’m going to die, whispered a little voice in her head. This is it—it’s going to kill me and eat me—probably eat the guys too. We’re all going to be V’ranna chow, just like Fierce said!

But the Dark Twin apparently wasn’t ready to be eaten just yet—or to let Celia get eaten either.

“Stay still,” he told her in a hoarse whisper. “Don’t move—I’ll try to draw it outside.” Then he began waving his arms again and shouting. “Hey, you big bastard! I’m the one you want—come here!”

The V’ranna seemed to take the bait because it took two lumbering steps forward, towards the big warrior. It was still so close that the long, turquoise fur on its legs brushed Celia’s face…which, she now realized, was wet with tears. Was she crying from sheer terror? It seemed that she must be, because now everything was blurry.

“Come on, you big bastard,” she heard Fierce saying. “Just a little more—just get away from my female so I can blow a hole in your hairy hide…”

And then everything happened at once.

The V’ranna rushed at him suddenly, just as Fierce was drawing his blaster. There was a hissing, zipping sound of the blaster being fired and brilliant blue light lit up the narrow passage.

“Fuck you!” she heard Fierce shouting as he shot. “I’ll send you to the Seven Hells, you fucker—threatening my female!”

The V’ranna started roaring again, though there was a pained note in the deafening sound now. It staggered forward and wrapped its long arms around the Dark Twin, as though it would squeeze him to death.

“No!” Celia gasped, but she felt frozen to the spot. She wanted to make the enormous animal let Fierce go, but she had no weapon and her legs still felt as weak as water. She forced herself to get up anyway. If nothing else, she guessed she could kick its furry hide and try to distract it.

Fierce was writhing in the massive beast’s grip, his feet kicking in the air and his bearded face going dark red as he struggled to breathe. But when he saw Celia approaching on shaking legs, he shook his head violently.

“No—get back…Get away!” he wheezed.

“I can’t!” Celia was crying harder now. She took aim with one of her furry red boots and kicked the V’ranna in its shaggy back leg as hard as she could. It might be stupid and ineffectual, but she couldn’t just let it kill Fierce, could she?

The V’ranna didn’t even look in her direction. She might have been a gnat buzzing around its ear—that was how much attention it gave her.

“You asshole!” Celia sobbed. “Hijo de puta—let him go!”

She was about to kick the huge beast again but suddenly Hold was in the narrow passage beside her.

“Name of the Goddess!” he breathed, when he saw what was happening. “Celia, get away from here! Get out and let me handle this!”

Celia did as he said. But she couldn’t make herself stop watching—her eyes were glued to Fierce in the grip of the beast and Hold drawing his blaster as she stumbled backwards, into the main corridor again.

“Hurry, Brother!” Fierce gasped. “Can’t…breathe!”

“Hang on—going to get you free,” Hold promised. Then he took careful aim and shot directly at the V’ranna’s face.

Celia saw one of the glowing yellow eyes go out and the beast howled so loudly it felt like the entire grotto shook.

“Let go of him, you bastard!” she heard Hold shouting. Then more shots of brilliant blue light and finally the enormous creature went limp and collapsed, bearing Fierce to the ground with it as it went.

“Get…it…off!” Fierce was panting, his face barely visible under the furry blue hide. “Fucking…crushing…me!”

“I’ll get it off you, Brother! Hang on!” Hold holstered his blaster and gripped the shaggy turquoise pelt. With an enormous heave, he rolled the dead V’ranna off the Dark Twin.

Celia watched all of this happen, feeling like she was in a dream and everything was getting further and further away. After a moment, she realized that was because she was still backing up, backing away from the passageway where she and Fierce had nearly died.

Just as she realized this, she took another step back and her foot met only empty air.

With a gasp, she felt herself falling backwards. Pinwheeling her arms madly did no good—her center of gravity was lost and she was going over.

But what did I trip on? she thought wildly.

And then there was a splash and icy water was closing over her head.

18

HOLD

Hold heard the splash but didn’t register, at first, what it was. Then Fierce, who was lying on the floor panting but still looking in the direction of the main corridor, gave a hoarse cry and raised a hand to point.

“Celia!”

Hold turned his head so fast it felt like he might give himself whiplash. He couldn’t see down into the river’s channel but he could hear splashing and a weak cry for help.

Fear gave his feet wings and he fairly flew to the river. What he saw when he looked down made his blood run cold.

Celia was struggling weakly in the icy water and her face had already turned blue.

Hold wasn’t usually a cursing kind of male, but he cursed now. The river wasn’t fast but it was deep and she couldn’t swim. He had to get her out and quickly—before she either drowned or literally froze to death before his eyes!

Throwing himself down on the floor, he reached down into the trench and grabbed for her. He missed at first, his fingertips skating off her tight-fitting warm suit and he could feel his fingers going numb at once. He knew he had to get her on the next try or they would be too cold to grip her!

“Goddess, help me!” he muttered desperately and tried again.

He reached further, bending recklessly far over the swirling river. Plunging his hands to the elbow into the icy water, he finally succeeded in gripping Celia’s arm. But as he started to pull her up and out of the river’s channel, he felt himself beginning to slip forward over the icy side and towards the water.

Hold cursed again. If they both fell in—

But then two strong hands grabbed him and began pulling.

“Fierce?” Hold turned his head, surprised to see that his brother was up and gripping him by the ankles. After getting a death hug from a V’ranna, all his ribs should be broken! “Your ribs—” he began.

“You got her?” Fierce demanded, his eyes blazing. Hold could see pain twisting his face, but he wasn’t letting go.

“I’ve got her.” Hold nodded.

“Then fuck my ribs. Hold her tight—I’ll pull you both up.”

And Fierce did it somehow, hauling both Hold and Celia up and out of the river’s channel.

When they were clear of the water’s edge, the Dark Twin collapsed, panting and clutching his sides. Hold was afraid that if he had internal injuries, he might have made them worse.

But he had no time to examine his brother at the moment. Celia was lying on the floor, cold and blue and soaking wet.

If they didn’t get her warm—and quickly—they were going to lose her.

19

FIERCE

Fierce felt like all the Seven Hells put together. His ribs ached fiercely, both from the V’ranna’s death hug and from hauling his brother and their bride out of the fucking river. But he couldn’t relax.

Before he knew it, Hold was shaking him by the shoulder and demanding that he help.

“Strip her!” he was saying, his eyes wide and serious. “Now, Fierce—help me! We have to get this suit off her before she freezes solid!”

Struggling to sit up again, Fierce grabbed for the warm suit—which had now become as cold as ice—and began pulling and tugging on it. But despite his efforts, he couldn’t peel it away from Celia’s chilled body.

“How the fuck does this fucking thing come off?” he growled, frustration boiling inside him and about to blow.

“There must be a way it opens—look! I found it!” Hold was fumbling with something near her neck. “My fingers are numb—you do it. It’s one of those human clothing closures that go up and down!” he exclaimed.

Fierce felt where his brother was pointing and found a small metal tab just under Celia’s chin. Gripping it, he pulled downward. There was a soft purring sound like zzzzzip and finally the warm suit parted.

They worked together to peel it off her arms and legs—no easy task since the stretchy material seemed to want to cling to her. At last they had her down to her bra and panties—a lacy black set that looked gorgeous against her warm brown skin, Fierce noted distractedly. But Hold was already tugging at the bra.

“Off—get it all off!” he demanded. “She can’t have any wet fabric on her body—it will freeze to her skin! Here—you strip her while I set up a warming tent!”

He pulled off his backpack and began digging through it madly, leaving Fierce to wrestle with their bride’s undergarments. He just hoped she didn’t wake up while he was doing this—she already disliked him and if she thought he was stripping her for his own personal enjoyment…

But Celia didn’t wake up. She made no protest at all, just a soft moan as he finally got her bra unhooked and slipped it off, baring her full breasts. As he pulled her panties down her generous, full hips, Fierce was getting more and more worried. Her skin was cold as ice—what if they had been too late getting that damn warm suit off her?

“Hold—she’s freezing!” he shouted to his brother, who was still digging in the pack. “And she’s not moving—I’m fucking worried!”

“Take off your coat and shirt and put her against your chest!” Hold ordered, without looking up. He seemed to find what he was looking for, because he pulled a cube the size of his hand out of the pack and paced forward to place it on the floor.

“What?” Fierce demanded, but he was already doing as his brother said. Hold was a healer—what the humans called a doctor—and he knew his business.

“Give her your body heat!” Hold pressed a button on the cube and the warming tent began to unfold itself. Not fast enough though, because Fierce could hear the Light Twin cursing it, which was very unlike Hold.

The fact that his brother was cursing, which he almost never did, let Fierce know how urgent the situation was. Laying Celia’s limp, naked body carefully across his knees, he pulled off his long fur coat, wincing as the motions hurt his ribs. He didn’t know if they were broken or not, but they certainly ached like all Seven Hells put together!

Stripping off the long-sleeved thermal shirt he had on under the coat, he slipped his arms under Celia’s body and pulled her close to his bare chest. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her as close as he could but it was like holding a block of ice against his body—she was so cold.

“Celia?” He looked down at her and shook her a little, trying to get another moan or really any kind of sound out of her. “Celia? Lelka? Come on, baby—please!”

But no matter what he said or did, there was no response. She just lay there, limp in his arms.

Fierce felt a surge of panic.

“Hurry the fuck up with that fucking tent!” he bellowed at his brother. “She’s not moving—I don’t even know if she’s fucking breathing!”

“She’s probably going into hypothermia. Hold her tight—it’s almost done. There!”

Hold dashed back over. He was stripping off his own fur coat and shirt as he came. Behind him, Fierce could see the shiny silver dome of the warming tent. It was a fairly big structure and it filled the broad main corridor from the wall almost to the edge of the river canal.

“Come on, we have to get her inside,” Hold ordered.

“Coming.” Fierce held Celia tighter and started to stand—but the strain on his ribs made him groan.

Seeing his trouble, Hold reached down to take her limp body.

“Here—let me.”

“No—your hands are probably still cold as ice.” Fierce cradled the little female protectively to his chest. “I’ve got her—just give me a minute.”

He struggled to his feet and staggered to the tent. Hold followed anxiously, and flipped up the silver flap of fabric to reveal the interior—a kind of round, padded nest big enough for two Twin Kindred and their female to sleep between them.

As soon as the fabric lifted, a gust of blessedly warm air rushed out.

Thank the Goddess—warmth! Fierce thought and ducked his head to clear the low entrance.

“Put her down in the middle,” Hold directed, coming in after him and shutting the tent. Inside a current of warm, dry air was circulating and the soft, padded floor also seemed to be radiating heat.

Fierce knelt painfully, his ribs twinging in protest, and reluctantly released the small, limp form onto the floor in the center of the tent.

“Now what?” he asked, looking up at Hold.

“Now we hold her between us and warm her—the tent’s not enough. She needs body heat—the heat of her mates,” Hold instructed.

“She’s not going to like it if she wakes up naked between us,” Fierce pointed out. Nevertheless, he did as his brother said, laying down beside Celia and gathering her naked body to his chest again.

“Better for her to wake up naked between us and be upset than not wake up at all.” Hold was already lying down on her other side. He pressed close to her, putting his bare chest against her back and draped his arm over her and Fierce both. He looked over the top of Celia’s head, his eyes wide and worried. “Hold her with me, Brother—it’s our only chance to save her.”

His brother’s words and the worry in his eyes convinced Fierce and sent a bolt of fear through him. He nestled closer to the small, cold body and sent a prayer upwards as he draped his own arm over Celia’s hips and his brother’s side.

“Please, Goddess—help us save her! Help us save our mate!”

Then there was nothing to do but lie still and try to warm her up as his brother lay on her other side and did the same.

20

CELIA

Celia woke up cocooned in warmth. Not just any warmth though—it seemed familiar. Or rather, it smelled familiar.

There was a scent like fur and a pine forest and bonfire smoke mingling with another scent like clean linen and cedar shavings. And under all of it was a wild, masculine note that seemed to make her whole body come alive with desire.

Mmm…what is that? What smells so good?

She stretched and felt something puffy and warm under her right side, which she was lying on. There was a warm, heavy bar over her left side—two of them actually—they were firmer than the puffy floor she was laying on and much more unyielding. The bars were holding her in place so she couldn’t sit up.

Celia blinked and turned her head, trying to see what was holding her down. It was so dark she could barely see anything, though. What was going on here? Where was she?

She stretched some more and realized she was naked. Her bare breasts were rubbing against something hard and warm. It made her nipples tingle when she took a deep breath.

There was something equally hard and warm at her back. Even stranger, the two somethings seemed to be moving—they were expanding and contracting in a regular rhythm—almost like…

Like breathing, Celia thought. What in the world…?

She wiggled again and the warm, firm thing in front of her stirred with a low rumble.

“Lelka?”

Celia knew that deep voice—it was Fierce, she realized suddenly. The Dark Twin was bare and he was pressed against her naked body! Which meant that Hold must be the warm, firm thing pressed against her back!

Panic rushed through her and Celia began to struggle. She pushed against Fierce’s broad, bare chest, forcing a choked groan from his throat.

“Hey—take it easy on the fucking ribs!” he protested hoarsely.

“Celia?” It was Hold’s voice coming from behind her. The Light Twin stirred, his broad chest rubbing against her back. “Are you feeling better?” he asked.

Celia only fought harder to be free of them.

“What are you doing with me? Why am I naked? Let me go!” she demanded breathlessly. Bad memories filled her head—close escapes she’d had during her years in foster care. She had to get up—had to get away!

“Be still!” Hold’s usually mild voice cracked like a whip in her ear.

Celia was so surprised at the Light Twin’s tone of command that she instantly froze in place. Her head cleared a little, the bad memories of her past fading somewhat.

“Hold?” she asked uncertainly. “What…what’s going on?”

“You nearly fucking drowned and froze to death at the same time—that’s what’s going on,” Fierce growled, answering for his brother. “And that was after you woke a hibernating V’ranna. You don’t do things halfway, do you, sweetheart?”

Suddenly everything rushed back to Celia—the huge, roaring beast crushing Fierce in its grip as she cried and kicked it to make it let him go…Hold pushing her aside and telling her to get away…stumbling backwards into the freezing cold water…

And then, nothing until she had woken in the twins’ warm embrace.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “But I’m still confused—why am I naked?”

“Because letting you stay in that soaking wet warm suit would have killed you.” Hold, speaking from behind her, still sounded stern. Celia wondered if maybe this was his “doctor voice”—the one he used on recalcitrant patients. “I don’t want you moving until I examine you,” he went on. “Fierce and I aren’t trying to molest you or take advantage—you needed our body heat to warm up.”

“We nearly fucking lost you, lelka,” Fierce added. There was a depth of emotion in the normally sarcastic Dark Twin’s tone that Celia had never heard before. He cleared his throat. “Also, it would be nice if you didn’t punch me in the fucking ribs anymore. They might be broken,” he said, sounding more like himself.

“Oh…I’m so sorry!” Celia exclaimed. Looking up at the Dark Twin, whom she was facing, she could see he was looking down at her and his eyes were glowing faintly in the dimness.

“’S all right,” Fierce told her. “We’re just glad to have you back with us in the Land of the Living. For a minute there, Hold thought your heart had stopped.”

“Did it?” Celia turned her head as well as she could to try and look over her shoulder at the Light Twin.

“If it did, it was only a momentary pause.” His eyes were glowing too—it must be a Kindred trait, she decided.

“Well…I feel better now,” she offered uncertainly. “Can we all get up now?” Now that she was fully awake, she felt awkward about being naked between the two of them. It was like she was the soft, squishy filling in the middle of a muscular man sandwich.

“Let me see…” Hold murmured. One of the arms draped over her side moved and Celia felt his big hand stroking up and down her arm. “Hmm…your skin still isn’t as warm as I would like,” he said. “No, I think we need to lie here together a little longer.”

“But…I’m naked,” Celia protested. In fact, her bare breasts were pressed against Fierce’s broad chest and her ass was being cupped in the curve of Hold’s big body as he curled around her.

“Yes, but we’re not—we only have our shirts off,” Fierce growled. “Don’t worry, lelka—we won’t do anything you don’t want us to.”

“Try to go back to sleep. Or we can talk if you want, to pass the time,” Hold murmured in her ear.

“Um…well…”

There was no way she was getting back to sleep, Celia thought. If she even had been asleep before—she thought it was more likely she’d been unconscious.

“I’m sorry about your ribs,” she said at last, looking up at Fierce. “I didn’t mean to make them worse. And, well…thank you for saving me.”

“Of course, baby,” Fierce’s glowing eyes seemed to gentle some. “I should have recognized the threat before you ran into it—I knew it smelled strange in that hallway but I didn’t know it was the scent of a V’ranna. Never saw one before.” He shifted slightly and groaned. “Ugh! And I hope I never see one again!” he added.

“I’ll examine your ribs once I’m sure Celia is warm enough not to relapse into hypothermia,” Hold told him. “I wish we had a warm tub of water to dunk her in to raise her core temperature. But since we don’t, we’ll need to keep her between us until she’s out of danger.”

Celia didn’t feel like she was in any danger now, but Hold was a doctor—she decided to defer to his judgment. And speaking of judgment, she felt like she hadn’t displayed it very much lately.

“Guys, I’m really sorry about all of this,” she said, speaking to both of them. “I shouldn’t have rushed into that hallway. And as for backing into the river, well…I feel like a real idiota.”

“You were in shock, that’s all, my lady,” Hold said, his voice gentle again. “I thought you displayed great courage by not running away at once.” He looked over her head to Fierce. “You know she was actually kicking the V’ranna in its hind leg to try and make it drop you when I got to you?”

“What?” Fierce looked down at her. “You have a death wish, lelka?”

“I just wanted it to let you go!” Timidly, she reached up to brush his muscular side with her fingertips. “Are your ribs really broken?”

“More like bruised, I think,” Fierce rumbled. He caught her hand in his and brought it to his mouth to kiss her fingertips.

Celia shivered as she felt the bristles of his beard and the softness of his lips against her fingers.

“Fierce…” she protested softly but didn’t draw her hand away.

“I shot the fucking thing in the foreleg two or three times,” he went on, letting her fingers go. “I think that weakened its grip when it grabbed me.”

“You’re lucky you did—otherwise it might have squeezed you in half,” Hold said seriously. “I don’t know many warriors who have escaped the death hug of a V’ranna. I’ll wrap your ribs for you in a little while—I think I have some healing wraps in my kit.”

“Thanks. Just laying here not moving helps too,” Fierce growled. He sounded more vulnerable than Celia had ever heard him and she couldn’t help remembering how he had rushed in to save her, calling the V’ranna’s attention away from her and making himself its target. The Dark Twin had quite literally risked his life to save hers—and they didn’t even like each other.

Or did they? Celia couldn’t help feeling confused.

“Why did you save me?” she blurted out, looking up at him again.

“What?” He peered down at her, frowning. “What are you talking about? What choice did I have?”

“You could have just run away,” Celia pointed out. “We have this joke back on Earth about two campers hiking in the woods. They stir up a grizzly bear—that’s an animal that’s kind of a V’ranna,” she added and shivered. “Anyway, as the bear is charging towards them, one of them stops and starts putting on some running shoes. The other one says, ‘Are you crazy? You think those shoes are going to help you outrun a bear?’ And the first camper says, “I don’t have to outrun the bear—I only have to outrun you!’”

“Meaning he would leave his companion to be eaten by the bear?” Fierce growled. “I hope I have more honor than that!”

“It would be a shame and a stain on a Kindred warrior’s soul to leave a female in a dangerous situation without trying to save her,” Hold added.

“But you didn’t have to risk your life for me,” Celia pointed out to Fierce. “I mean, we’ve been fighting from the minute we met—you don’t even like me. Why would you almost die saving me?”

“Who says I don’t like you, lelka?” he murmured. Reaching down, he cupped her cheek gently in one big, warm hand. “I do like you—even though you drive me fucking crazy.”

“I…um…” Celia became aware all over again that she was pressed naked against the big warrior. She could feel her nipples getting tight and for some reason her pussy was feeling hot and swollen. She pressed her thighs together tightly, trying to ease the ache. “Well…thank you,” she managed at last.

“Brother, you’re making her nervous—I can tell by her scent,” Hold remarked.

“Sorry.” Fierce withdrew his hand from her cheek but kept looking down into her eyes. “I’ll always save you, lelka,” he told her. “If you’re in danger, I’ll come for you—both of us will.”

“That’s what it means to be mated to Kindred warriors,” Hold said. “We put the safety and happiness of our mates above all else. But since you seem so certain that you’re going to marry Peter instead of us, I hope he’ll do the same,” he added.

A sudden image rose to Celia’s mind. It was during their second date—Peter had taken her out to a fancy restaurant and afterwards to see yet another investment property that he had bought and wanted her to decorate. While they were there a huge palmetto bug—an enormous flying roach native to Florida— had suddenly appeared, crawling on the wall.

Peter had shrieked like a little girl and run out of the room so fast Celia almost expected to see little cartoon puffs of dust coming from under his expensive Italian driving loafers.

“Peter, come back!” she’d called to him. “It’s just a bug!”

But her fiancé had refused to go back in the room.

“Roaches—ugh! Such filthy things!” he’d exclaimed, shivering. “If I had known this building was infested, I never would have bought it! No wonder the price was so good!”

“It’s not infested—palmetto bugs get everywhere in Florida,” Celia told him patiently. “You just can’t keep them out, no matter how clean you keep things.”

But despite her reassurances, Peter had still refused to go back into the room. A week later, he sold the property at a loss.

Celia hadn’t thought much about the incident up until now. But she had to wonder how Peter would have reacted in the same situation she’d found herself in with Fierce. Would her fiancé have called the V’ranna’s attention to himself to give her time to escape like the Dark Twin had? Or would he be putting on running shoes like the camper in the joke?

You don’t really want to know the answer to that question…do you? whispered a little voice in her head.

Celia decided it was right—she didn’t want to know. Some things just wouldn’t bear scrutiny and Peter’s courage—or lack thereof—was one of them.

“What are you thinking, my lady?” Hold murmured. “Are you still uncomfortable being between us?”

“Well, I mean, it is kind of awkward,” Celia admitted. “Maybe…maybe we should keep talking. To keep our minds off it,” she added. “We could play a game.”

“A game? What kind of game?” Fierce’s voice was low and interested.

“Truth or Dare.” The words popped out of Celia’s mouth before she could stop them.

“Truth or Dare? What kind of game is that?” Hold sounded interested as well.

“Oh, it…it’s a way of getting to know new people,” Celia explained. “When it’s your turn you get to pick one other person and ask them if they want Truth or Dare. If they pick Truth, you can ask them any question you want and they have to answer truthfully.”

“What about if they pick ‘Dare’?” Fierce rumbled.

“Oh, well…then you dare them to do something. Like…kiss the person beside them or run around the block naked or something silly like that.” Celia shrugged. “I really haven’t played it since college—that’s when you do a lot of stupid things,” she added.

“Well, I don’t think any of us ought to be running around naked in these temperatures,” Hold said thoughtfully. “But I like the idea of the game—we’ve shared dreams about our present lives but we don’t know much about each others’ pasts.”

“All right, since you think it’s such a good idea, you go first, Brother,” Fierce challenged him.

“All right, I will.” Hold looked down at Celia. “Truth or Dare, my lady?” he asked.

“Truth,” Celia said at once. She couldn’t believe she’d suggested this game, but at least she could try to keep things from getting out of hand by picking the least dangerous option.

Or so she thought, anyway. But Hold’s question surprised her.

“Were you really in twelve different homes in as many years?” he asked, his eyes glowing softly in the darkness. “I heard you tell your fiancé that. Is it true?”

“Oh…well, yes,” Celia said, nodding. “I, um, was raised in the Foster Care system—that’s when the government takes a child away from his or her parents and puts them with someone else—another adult who gets paid to raise them,” she added, as an explanation.

“That sounds fucking horrible,” Fierce growled. “How did you end up there?”

“Not fair! You have to ask Truth or Dare, first,” Celia reminded him. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk about her childhood and she thought that keeping their questions confined to the game might keep things from getting too personal.

“All right, Truth or Dare, Celia?” the Dark Twin rumbled, looking down at her.

“Um…” Celia bit her lip. If she said “Truth,” he might ask more about her painful past. But if she said “Dare” he might try to steal a kiss. She never should have mentioned that as one of the dares—what had she been thinking?

“Truth,” she said at last.

“Okay—how did you end up in the Foster Care system?” Fierce rumbled. “Why did your government feel they had the right to take you away from your parents? Something like that would never happen on Twin Moons,” he added.

“Oh, well…my parents were Immigrants—they came to the US from Cuba,” Celia explained. “They were good parents—as far as I can remember—but they were in the US illegally. They didn’t have permission to be there. So anyway, my mom got sick, but she was too afraid to go to the doctor—afraid the authorities might deport her, you know?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Fierce nodded and she heard an assenting rumble from Hold as well. Both of them really seemed interested, which surprised her. Peter had never asked much about her past—he seemed to think it was distasteful that she’d been raised in “disadvantaged circumstances” as he put it.

“Go on,” the Dark Twin urged. “So what happened to your mother?”

“Well…it turned out that the sickness she had was…was cancer.” Celia was surprised to find she was choking up a little. She made an effort to steady her voice. “So she died. And then my father got caught and deported,” she added, trying to keep her voice dry and unemotional.

“That’s terrible, my lady,” Hold murmured sympathetically. “How old were you when all this happened?”

Celia swallowed hard.

“Six,” she whispered. She closed her eyes briefly, trying not to remember that first night in foster care. How small and frightened and lonely she’d felt…how she cried for her mother and father but they never came… “I…I used to think that maybe my father would come back for me or that he would send for me,” she said softly. “But, well…he never did. Later, I found out he’d been killed in an accident at his work after he got back to Cuba. Dios! I haven’t thought of that in ages.” She sniffed and lifted a hand to swipe at her eyes.

“I’m so sorry, lelka,” Fierce murmured and she felt his big hand cup her cheek again. “I didn’t mean to ask something that made you cry.”

“It’s all right.” Celia took a deep breath. “You didn’t know.”

“It must have been hard, being raised by strangers,” Hold said softly. “But you never told us why you went to so many different homes? Was that just how the system worked?”

Celia choked out a sound that was half laugh/half sob. The Light Twin had inadvertently asked her something almost as painful as the question about her parents.

“No, not exactly,” she said and took a deep breath. “Some of the homes were just temporary—I knew that going in. But in some of them, I…well, I got into trouble for defending myself.”

“Defending yourself?” Fierce asked, and she could hear the frown in his voice.

“You know—against…unwanted advances.” Celia couldn’t think of a better way to put it. “Unfortunately, the, uh Foster Care system lends itself to a lot of abuses,” she went on, trying to keep her tone dry. “But I wasn’t going to just take it, you know? So I fought—I fought a lot.”

“Wait…you don’t mean…” Hold began, sounding horrified.

“I mean I went around with a knife in my pocket,” Celia said shortly. “And I used it several times. Mostly on foster brothers—other kids that were in the same house as me who tried to take advantage, the pendejos. But once I had to use it on one of my foster fathers. I got moved out of that house in a hurry—not that anyone did anything to him for what he tried,” she added bitterly.

“You mean you were sexually assaulted?” Fierce sounded angry now—his deep voice dropping to a growl.

“I was groped a lot—I had several near misses,” Celia said, keeping her tone even and matter of fact. “But I was never actually raped. I was lucky.”

“That’s horrible that you had to live with that fear!” Hold sounded as upset as Fierce was. “How could the humans put a child into such an abusive environment?”

“What—you’re telling me that Kindred men never rape anyone?” Celia demanded. “Why do you think I freaked out when I woke up and found myself naked between the two of you? I was having flashbacks to several near misses I had back…back when I was a kid,” she finished in a low voice.

“No, we don’t force ourselves on women,” Fierce growled. “But now I don’t blame you for hitting me in the ribs,” he added. “Of course you were frightened, having been through all that!”

“To take a woman against her will is anathema to us,” Hold explained. “The Kindred worship the Goddess and we believe that every woman has a bit of her inside—an innate spark of divinity that makes her worthy of worship. To defile a female by taking her by force would be a damning act—the worst thing a male could do, and he would be shunned and punished severely for it. Possibly killed.”

“Well…that’s certainly a different way of looking at things,” Celia said. She tried to imagine a world in which she never had to look over her shoulder or be scared that a man who was bigger and stronger than her might take advantage…and found it very hard to do.

To be honest, one of the reasons she’d been attracted to Peter was because he was so small and weak-looking. She’d taken one look at him and thought, I could take him—no problem. And so when he had asked her out, she’d said yes without hesitation.

“I just can’t believe that the human males are such fucking degenerates that they’re constantly forcing themselves on women,” Fierce growled. “I’m so fucking sorry you had to grow up that way, lelka.”

Celia lifted her chin.

“It was rough for a while, but it’s over now. I’m an adult with a good life and I’ve put my past behind me.”

It was a line she told herself often, when the pain and loneliness of her childhood tried to creep into her memory and poison her peace. But now, even in her own ears, it sounded false. It surprised her that she’d talked about the awful old memories to the two big warriors. She’d never shared that part of herself with anyone—not even Peter. Not that he’d asked, of course…

“I don’t think we ever get completely over some pain,” Hold said softly and Celia felt him stroking her hair. “Fierce and I lost our parents too,” he added.

“You did? How?” She twisted her head to look up at him.

“No—you have to say ‘Truth or Dare’—remember?” Fierce pointed out.

“Oh, right…still playing the game, I guess. Okay, Truth or Dare?” Celia asked the Light Twin.

“Truth,” Hold answered at once.

“Okay…but first, can I turn over so I can look at both of you?” Celia asked.

“I think that would be all right, as long as you stay between us so we can keep you warm,” Hold murmured.

“Good. Scoot a little then.”

The two of them made some room and Celia was able to turn on her back. This way she could look up and see both of the big warriors without craning her neck. However, it also made her aware that her bare breasts were now on display. Not only that, her nipples were poking straight out.

She had large breasts and they normally would have fallen to the sides, but Kat had given her some “float dots” to wear. They were tiny, anti-gravity devices that worked to keep her breasts looking perfectly perky no matter what position she was in. But right now they were making her feel extremely exposed.

Stop worrying—it’s dark, she comforted herself. There’s no way they can see you. She certainly couldn’t see them—the two warrior’s faces were just shadows with softly glowing eyes above her.

“All right now,” she said, looking up at Hold, who was propped on one elbow looking down at her, as was Fierce on the other side. “What happened to your parents?”

“Our fathers died in a shuttle crash,” Hold answered. “Our mother followed soon after.”

“What? But how?” Celia shook her head.

“The Soul Bond she had with our fathers was very strong,” Hold answered simply. “She couldn’t withstand their death.”

“To be fucking honest, I don’t think she wanted to,” Fierce added moodily. “They loved each other so much, she just couldn’t live without them.”

“So…she died of a broken heart?” Celia asked, raising her eyebrows.

“More like a broken Bond. But yes, something like that.” Hold nodded.

“How old were you?” Celia asked him.

“We were sixteen,” Fierce answered again. “We were sent to live with relatives but our lives were never quite the same afterwards.”

“Though I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as your experience, my lady,” Hold added. “At least we were with family and no one tried to assault us.”

“It’s still tough to lose your parents, no matter what age you are,” Celia said. She felt suddenly closer to both of the big warriors, knowing the three of them had the shared experience of being orphans. “That’s why you have to go out and find a new family to love and care for.”

“The way you found Peter’s family?” Fierce asked flatly.

“We’re not talking about that!” Celia snapped, feeling immediately put on the defensive. “And you didn’t even say ‘Truth or Dare’,” she added.

“Fine,” he growled “Truth or Dare, lelka?”

“Truth!” Celia shot back.

“All right—why do you put up with that bunch of spoiled idiots that Peter calls his family?” Fierce demanded.

“Brother…” There was a note of warning in Hold’s voice.

“What? We’ve seen the way they treat her!” the Dark Twin protested. “Like she’s their fucking servant or something.”

Celia glared up at him.

“That’s enough! And just when I was starting to like you!”

“I’m just telling the truth of what Hold and I have seen in our dreams,” Fierce growled. “The game is ‘Truth or Dare’—not ‘Truth and Pretty Lies.’ And you never answered my question—you’re supposed to, you know. Those are the rules of the game as stated by you.”

“Maybe I don’t want to play anymore,” Celia snapped. “And anyway, you can’t know everything about Peter’s family just from a few dreams! I’m still just trying to find a way to fit in with them, that’s all. I’m sure I’ll manage it eventually.”

“You’re never going to fit in with them because you have nothing in common with them,” Fierce predicted. “None of them have ever worked a day in their lives—they just sit around being served without any idea of how hard it is to do the serving.”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Celia said stiffly.

“Fine—should I ask you something else?” Fierce said. “Since you didn’t really answer my question about Peter’s family?”

“Fine,” Celia muttered through a clenched jaw. And to think, she’d been feeling so close to both of them! Now she wanted to elbow the Dark Twin in his hurt ribs again! But somehow, she held herself back.

“All right—here’s another ‘Truth’ question,” Fierce said. He leaned closer to her, his eyes glowing. “Have you ever been with two males at once before?”

“What?” The question threw her, Celia had to admit. She never would have expected it.

“You heard me,” Fierce growled. “Answer the question.”

“No—of course not!” Celia exclaimed. “What do you think I am, anyway?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Fierce demanded. “You’re acting like I asked you something offensive.”

“It is! Or at least, it’s not really common among humans,” Celia protested.

“Human males don’t have the biological need to share mates the way we do, Brother,” Hold remarked. “I believe that many of them see a relationship with two males and one female as perverted in some way—simply because it isn’t natural to them.”

“Perverted? Why would it be perverted?” Fierce growled.

“Because being with two guys at once is kind of…I don’t know, slutty. At least it used to be considered slutty—people are doing all kinds of things, these days,” Celia tried to explain. “But still, if I met someone and she was in a relationship with two guys at the same time—two human guys, anyway—I still wouldn’t think it was normal. I mean, good for her if that’s what she likes, but it’s definitely not for everyone, you know?”

“No, I don’t know,” Fierce growled. “How can humans judge people for having a loving three-way relationship but justify putting children in dangerous situations with sexual predators?”

Celia sighed.

“You know, that’s a really good question. I don’t know.”

“I think this game has gotten a little off track,” Hold said, looking down at her. “It’s been a while since Celia got to ask a question. Why don’t you ask us something, my lady?” he added courteously.

“All right, Hold,” she said, feeling relieved. “Truth or Dare?”

“Truth,” he replied. “Ask me anything, my lady. Surely you must have questions about us.”

“Oh well…actually, I do have a question but it’s kind of personal.” Celia bit her lip. Should she ask what she was thinking?

“Ask then. Anything I can answer, I will,” Hold promised. “No matter how personal.”

“Well…” Celia squirmed a little, aware all over again that she was naked between them. “I…I still don’t understand how you two can, er, fit with a human woman,” she said at last. “I mean, you’re both so big and I’m assuming your, er, equipment matches your size, so…” She trailed off, leaving her question hanging.

To her surprise, both brothers began to laugh—low, rumbling chuckles that were impossible not to like, even if they did seem to be laughing at her.

“What? What’s so funny?” Celia asked.

“Forgive me, my lady,” Hold said at last. “But it’s actually a very simple matter and you don’t have to be embarrassed to ask us.”

“Who says I’m embarrassed?” Celia demanded, frowning up at them.

“Your scent does,” Fierce said. “You’re almost as embarrassed as you were a minute again when I asked if you’d ever been with two males at once.”

“Well…it’s kind of an intimate question,” Celia said defensively. “And you still haven’t answered it,” she added, looking up at Hold pointedly.

“Oh yes, forgive me. We use Bonding Fruit,” the Light Twin told her. “It’s a special kind of fruit that we’ve cultivated on Twin Moons for centuries—ever since the Twin Kindred started sharing mates. It allows a woman who eats it to, er, stretch and to take both her mate’s shafts without pain—no matter how big they are.”

“Oh…okay, that makes sense.” Celia nodded. “But…well…” She hesitated.

“Ask, lelka—we can tell you have another question,” Fierce rumbled.

“Okay. How do you do it?” Celia asked. “I mean, do you each go in, er, separate holes? Or do you both try to go in one? Because that sounds painful no matter what kind of fruit you eat!”

“It’s not though—not if a bride has been properly prepared,” Hold murmured, his glowing eyes going half-lidded as he looked down at her. “The mate of Twin Kindred will need lots of tasting and touching to make her ready to receive both of her males—especially during her first time with them.”

“But to answer your question—we both slide into your pussy,” Fierce growled softly. “For Bonding Sex, at least—our shafts merge together so we can fill our bride at the same time.”

“Dios,” Celia breathed. “That’s kind of hard to picture.”

“Well, I guess you won’t have to worry, since you’re going to marry Peter,” Fierce remarked. “I’m sure his equipment isn’t too big to handle.”

As a matter of fact, it wasn’t—Peter was definitely on the small side, but Celia wasn’t about to admit that.

“Enough about Peter,” she snapped. “Why do you always bring it back to him?”

“Because I’m trying to fucking understand the appeal—trying to understand why you’d want to be with such a weak little male who doesn’t even treat you right,” Fierce growled. “Besides, it’s my turn to ask a question. Truth or Dare, lelka?”

“Fine.” Celia blew out a breath. “Truth.” There was no way she was giving the Dark Twin an opportunity to “Dare” her anything.

“All right, tell me something…” Fierce leaned over her, so close she was looking directly into his glowing eyes. “Does he make you hot at all? Does he arouse you? Make you want him? Because it doesn’t look like it from the dreams we’ve shared with you.”

Those damn dreams again! Celia wished she knew exactly what they’d seen when they were dreaming of her.

“I mean…sure he does,” she began but Fierce shook his head.

“Uh-uh, sweetheart. You’re supposed to answer truthfully,” he reminded her. “I can smell that you’re lying.”

“You can not!” Celia exclaimed.

“Actually, your scent does change when you tell an untruth. It’s impossible not to notice when we’re this close to you,” Hold murmured. “You can tell us the truth, my lady—we won’t be upset.”

“All right, no—Peter doesn’t turn me on very much, all right?” she snapped. “But that doesn’t matter to me. Because sex isn’t very important to me.”

“In that case, you haven’t been doing it right,” Fierce said flatly. “So why are you with him, then? It’s not for the money, is it? You don’t seem like the type.”

“If you’re asking if I’m a gold digger, no I’m not,” Celia said stiffly. “I even signed a Prenuptial agreement stating that if we divorce, I don’t get anything from him. It’s not about the money.”

“Then why? Why are you with him if it’s not for sex or for money and he and his family treat you so badly?” Fierce demanded and she had the idea he was genuinely frustrated. “Make it make sense for me, lelka. Why?”

“It’s because he wanted me—all right?” Celia burst out. “I grew up getting passed from family to family and nobody wanted me! Then Peter came along and swept me off my feet. He asked me to marry him on our third date—he wanted me!”

And then she burst into tears.

“Now look what you’ve done,” she heard Hold say to Fierce. “You made our lady cry!”

“I was just trying to understand why she’d want to be with that sniveling little male!” the Dark Twin protested.

“I want to sit up now!” Celia swiped at her eyes, her breath hitching in her chest as she tried and failed to stop crying. “I…I’m sure I’m w-warm enough!”

“Wait a minute, my lady—let me just check,” Hold murmured. He leaned over Celia but instead of touching her arm as he had before, he put his arms around her and drew her close to his chest.

At first she resisted, but then his warm, spicy scent filled her nose and Celia felt something break inside her at his gentle embrace. With a little sob, she pressed her face to his broad chest and put her arms around him as far as they would go.

“It’s all right, my lady,” she heard Hold murmuring as he stroked her hair and her trembling shoulders. “It’s not wrong to want to be wanted. Fierce and I have known that feeling too—we were never really wanted at our relative’s house after our parents died.”

“We slept in the fucking loft where they kept the feed for their animals and weren’t even allowed to take meals with the family,” Fierce growled behind her and Celia felt him put a tentative hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, lelka. I didn’t mean to make you cry again.”

“I…I just…” Celia shook her head and couldn’t go on.

How could she say that they’d made her admit something out loud what she hadn’t even admitted to herself up until now? That she was with Peter because he wanted her for herself—he wanted to marry her, not just use her for sex as other men would be happy to do if she’d let them. His proposal had meant the world to her for that fact alone and she was willing to put up with everything else because of it. Because he wanted her.

But why does he want you? whispered a little voice in her head. Why, when all he ever does is criticize and tell you to lose weight or change your outfit or change your hair? What is your true value to Peter?

Celia honestly couldn’t answer that—which only made her cry harder.

Hold never said anything, he just cradled her close to his chest and after a little while, she felt Fierce join in the embrace, hugging her from behind and pressing his broad chest to her trembling back.

Being naked between them had become almost normal now and Celia found herself comforted by the way the twins held her. It was like she was something special and infinitely precious—a person to be cherished and cared for and treated with respect.

Or maybe she was reading too much into it, but it felt good. She was surrounded by their warmth and their caring and their big, muscular bodies felt wonderful against her own. It occurred to her that she had never felt little and protected this way when Peter hugged her. And he’d never let her cry on his shoulder either. Whenever she got sad—which wasn’t very often—he got restless and handed her a tissue.

“Darling, do try to dry it up,” he’d say to her. “No one likes a mopey woman. Try to put on a cheerful face—will you?”

But Hold and Fierce didn’t ask her to “put on a cheerful face” and neither of them got restless or irritated with her. They just let Celia cry until at last the tears had run their course and she was able to swipe at her eyes and take a long, trembling breath without sobbing.

“Thank you,” she said to both of them. “I…I’m sorry I cried all over you but thank you for being nice about it.”

“Your pain is our pain, my lady. That is what it means to be mated to a Kindred warrior—or warriors,” Hold told her. He cupped her cheek in one hand and swiped at her tears with his thumb. “I think you’re warm enough now—maybe we should all get up and have something to eat? It’s probably about time for Last Meal now.”

Surprisingly, Celia did feel hungry. She nodded at once.

“All right—I could eat.”

“I could too,” Fierce growled. “What did you pack us?”

“Just some protein bars and some fruit, I’m afraid,” Hold said apologetically. “I couldn’t fit a rehydrator in the pack.”

“That’s all right—I’m so fucking hungry I’ll eat anything right now,” Fierce growled. “Come on—get out the pack and let’s eat!”

21

CELIA

The three of them sat up—they couldn’t stand in the low, silver dome of the tent but they could sit quite easily, even the tall twins.

“I’ll turn up the lights so we can see what we’re eating,” Hold said, but Celia stopped him.

“Wait—can I please put on my clothes first?” she pleaded. “I don’t feel shy when we’re in the dark and I know you two can’t see me but—”

“Can’t see you? Of course we can see you!” Fierce interrupted.

“What?” Celia crossed her arms over her breasts. “All this time you could see me? Even though it’s so dark in here?”

“Kindred have excellent night vision, my lady,” Hold said apologetically. “I’m afraid all of your own clothing is still wet—I’ll go out and put a dryer on it in a moment. In the meantime, maybe you’d like to wear some of our clothes? Fierce—give her your thermal shirt.”

“Sure.” The Dark Twin fumbled around in the darkness and then handed Celia the long-sleeved shirt he’d been wearing earlier. It was made of what felt like extremely thin and delicate silk.

“I don’t see how anything this thin could keep you warm,” Celia remarked, even as she turned her back to them to slip it over her head.

“It’s made of a special silk that holds in body heat,” Hold told her. “Just put it on—you’ll see. It’s not as insulating as a warm suit, but it works quite well.”

Celia finished pulling it over her head and looked down at herself. The Dark Twin’s shirt was so big on her she could wear it like a dress—the hem fell to her mid-thighs and she had to roll up the sleeves several times to use her hands. But at least she was covered…well, sort of.

Because when Hold turned up the portable glow light at the top of the tent’s silver dome, she looked down and realized that the thin, pale green silk was clinging obscenely to every curve. It showed not just the points of her nipples but the rings of her areolas as well.

“Madre de Dios!” Celia muttered to herself, tugging at the shirt to try and keep it from molding to her body so blatantly. But there seemed to be a static cling type situation happening because no matter how much she tugged, it always stuck to her again like glue the minute she let go of it.

“Stop trying to hide your gorgeous body, lelka,” Fierce growled, his dark eyes sleepy with lust as he looked at her. “We just spent a whole solar hour pressed together with you naked between us—you shouldn’t feel any shame now.”

“It’s just embarrassing,” Celia protested, tugging at the hem again. “Oh, forget it!” she sighed, giving up. “Just don’t stare at me, all right?

“We’ll try not to,” Fierce said, though he didn’t appear to be trying at all. “But it’s fucking hard not to stare when you’ve got a curvy goddess right in front of you wearing next to nothing.”

“Fierce, you’re making our lady uncomfortable!” Hold gave his brother a warning look. “Come on—let’s all eat Last Meal. Then we can figure out the sleeping situation.”

“The sleeping situation is that Celia is going to be right between us where she belongs,” Fierce said, frowning as he took the protein bar the Light Twin was offering him.

“Hey!” Forgetting to cover herself, Celia put a hand on her hip which had the effect of thrusting her breasts out more. “Nobody said I would sleep between you! Just because you had to warm me up—”

“Actually, my lady, it would be better if you did sleep between us,” Hold said quietly, passing her a protein bar. “Not just for warmth but for safety too.”

Celia felt her mouth go dry and she could barely swallow the bite she’d just taken of the bar.

“You don’t…don’t think there’s another V’ranna around, do you?” she got out at last.

“It’s not probable but it is possible,” Hold told her. “Just in case, we’d like to have you between us so we can keep you safe.” He held up his hands. “But I promise, we won’t touch you if you don’t want us to.”

“And of course, you’ll be wearing my thermal shirt,” Fierce pointed out. “So it’s not like you’ll be naked again, lelka.”

Celia looked down at herself again and made a face—her nipples seemed to be trying to poke holes in the thin fabric of the shirt. Not naked…right.

Might as well be, though, she thought. But there wasn’t much she could do about it since all the other available clothes were wet. And besides, she had been between the two of them naked for a long time and they hadn’t tried anything inappropriate, so she knew she could trust them to keep their hands to themselves.

Are you sure you want them to keep their hands to themselves? whispered a naughty little voice in her head. Remember how good it felt to be held between them? I wonder what it would be like if both of them were touching you at the same time…making you feel good? And it wouldn’t really be cheating—after all, you’re on a break with Peter, right?

Celia pushed the thought aside hurriedly. She didn’t care about sex—she never had, she reminded herself. But then again, she’d never had any good sex either.

Part of that was due to her past. For most of her childhood and her entire adolescence she’d had to be constantly on her guard to avoid getting raped or groped or violated.

Then, when she went to college, she had taken several psychology classes and promised herself that she would reclaim her sexuality and have sex for her own pleasure. But after years of being on her guard and fighting to defend herself, it was incredibly hard to lower her barriers. And when she did manage to do it, she found that the boys she let into her bed were selfish and crude and only interested in their own pleasure—not hers.

Sadly, her experiences as an adult hadn’t been that different. It seemed like men only wanted one thing and when you finally gave in and gave it to them, they took without giving and left her feeling hollow inside.

That was one reason she’d accepted Peter’s proposal—he didn’t just want sex—he wanted marriage. Something permanent together. That felt important to Celia and she held on to it even when she felt devalued by him in other ways.

But all that was beside the point, she told herself. She wanted to be safe from any more attacks, so it made sense to sleep between her guys. She didn’t stop to consider that she’d thought of Hold and Fierce as “her” guys—it just seemed the natural way to think about them.

After they ate, Hold spent some time treating his brother’s ribs. After some testing he determined that none were broken, though he was fairly sure a few were cracked.

“You’ll have to be careful for a while, Brother,” he remarked as he wrapped the Dark Twin’s ribs in the long, white healing bandages which adhered to his skin. “Don’t go hugging anymore V’rannas, all right?”

“As if I’d want to,” Fierce grunted, looking down at himself. The bandages didn’t quite cover all his injuries—there were dark bruises blooming on his tan skin.

Celia felt bad all over again as she looked at the Dark Twin’s bruises.

“Dios, Fierce—I’m really sorry you got hurt,” she said penitently. “I never should have gone rushing into that corridor like that! I never meant for that awful thing to attack you.”

“Better me than you, lelka,” he said shortly, for once not making a joke or a sarcastic remark. “You’re too delicate to take a death hug from a V’ranna.”

For once Celia agreed with him, though she certainly wasn’t used to thinking of herself as “delicate.” She’d been curvy all her life and being with the two big warriors was the first time she’d ever felt petite. It was kind of a nice feeling, she decided—now that she knew the two of them just wanted to protect her.

They spent some time getting ready for bed—Hold went out and put some tiny portable dryers inside the wet clothes which he said would circulate warm, dry air through them all night so they would be ready to wear in the morning. He also gathered some of the jewel moss and put it in the small, transparent stasis unit that Kat had sent with them. Then both he and Fierce changed out of their black trousers and boots into long sleep bottoms made of the same thin, thermal silk as the shirt Celia was wearing.

It was Celia’s turn to try not to stare—though it was difficult. The thin silk showed that what she had suspected was true—both brothers were hung like horses. She tried not to gape when she saw that Fierce’s shaft hung down almost to his knee—and it wasn’t even erect! Hold wasn’t much smaller either.

Celia wondered exactly how effective the “Bonding Fruit” they’d told her about was. She couldn’t imagine being able to take even one of their huge cocks inside her—let alone both at once!

At last everything was done for the night and the three of them had settled down in their previous positions, all lying side-by-side with Celia between Fierce and Hold. But even after Hold turned down the light, there was a lot of shifting around—it seemed no one was sleepy yet.

“I can’t fucking sleep,” Fierce complained after a few minutes.

“We need to try, though,” Hold told him. “We have to get back to the Mother Ship with the moss tomorrow.”

“Yeah, but I’m not tired. I’m bored.” Fierce reached up and turned the lamp on low so it shed a dim golden glow throughout the tent. Then he turned on his side and propped himself up on one elbow to look down at Celia.

“What do you want?” she demanded, frowning up at him. She liked the Dark Twin more than she had previously, but he could still irritate her like a sand burr at times too.

“I want to play Truth or Dare again,” Fierce announced.

“Why—you want to make me cry again?” Celia arched an eyebrow at him.

“No.” Fierce shook his head unrepentantly. “But it occurs to me that the game is called ‘Truth or Dare’ but all any of us did was the Truth part. I want to try some Dares.”

Celia’s heart immediately started beating faster. She’d been trying to relax and not think about the two big, muscular male bodies on either side of her. But she couldn’t ignore the way Fierce was leaning over her and looking down into her eyes in that challenging way.

“What kind of ‘Dares’ are you wanting to do?” she demanded, wishing her voice didn’t sound so breathless.

“Why don’t you ask me and find out?” Fierce growled softly. “Come on, lelka—or are you afraid?”

Celia lifted her chin and glared up at him.

“I am not afraid of you or anything you might dare me.”

“Fine. Then ask me ‘Truth or Dare,’” Fierce challenged her.

“All right then…Truth or Dare, Fierce?” she asked.

“Dare,” he said at once, as she had known he would. “I dare you to kiss my brother—on the mouth,” he added, as though making sure she wouldn’t cheat.

“What?” Celia was confused. She was sure the Dark Twin would dare her to kiss him—not his brother. “I don’t understand—won’t you be jealous if I kiss Hold and not you?” she asked, frowning.

“Of course not. My brother’s pleasure is my pleasure,” Fierce told her. “Besides, I know he wants to kiss you.” He arched an eyebrow at her. “Why—are you afraid to take the Dare?”

Celia sat up and frowned at him. She knew the Dark Twin was goading her into doing something she wouldn’t normally have done. But at the same time, she kind of wanted an excuse to do it.

“I’m not afraid,” she told him. Then she turned to look at Hold. The Light Twin was still lying on his back, completely at ease. Celia thought he was a mouthwatering sight, with his thick silver hair and gorgeous hazel-green eyes that tilted down at the corners, giving him that bedroom look. Not to mention his broad, muscular chest on display.

“My lady?” he murmured, looking up at her. “Do you wish to take your pleasure with me?”

Celia felt a shiver of desire go through her. She liked the way Hold was just lying there, open to her—letting her know she could be in charge if she wanted to. And suddenly, she wanted to—very much.

“Yes,” she said and leaned over him to kiss him.

His lips were soft and yielding and he parted them as soon as she licked gently at the seam. Celia slipped her tongue into his mouth and found that he tasted warm and sweet, like some exotic candy she’d never tried before but found instantly addictive.

The Light Twin moaned softly as she explored him and Celia felt him stroking her hair with one big, gentle hand, as though urging her on. But he didn’t grab her or try to pull her down—he let her control the situation, which Celia found incredibly sexy for some reason.

She’d only meant to give him a brief kiss, but somehow it went on and on until she heard Fierce clear his throat behind her.

Reluctantly, she pulled away. Looking down at Hold, she saw that the Light Twin’s eyes were half-lidded and there was a definite tent in the thin silk of his sleep bottoms where his cock was standing at attention.

“Thank you, my lady,” he murmured, looking up at her. “I have wanted to kiss you for a long time—your mouth is so sweet.”

“Yours is too,” Celia murmured. “Um…sorry if I gave you a, uh, problem,” she added, nodding down at the bulge in his trousers.

“Mmm…it’s a good problem to have,” Hold murmured. “I don’t mind, my lady.” He reached down with one big hand and stroked himself casually through the thin silk. The gesture and the resulting pleasure she saw on his face made Celia feel hot and cold all over. God, she’d never cared about seeing men touch themselves before—why did this turn her on so much?

She didn’t have an answer. And then Hold caught her off guard by saying,

“Truth or Dare, my lady?”

“Oh, uh…Dare.” She felt safe picking the more risky option with the Light Twin. But then Hold surprised her by saying,

“I dare you to kiss my brother.”

Celia narrowed her eyes.

“Hey—are you two in on this? Did you agree to have me kiss each of you or something?”

Hold shook his head.

“No, I swear we’re not. It’s just that I know my brother hungers for you as much as I do. Are you afraid to kiss him?”

Celia looked up at the Dark Twin, who was still sitting on her other side. He’d been watching as she kissed Hold and hadn’t said a thing, though she could tell by the considerable bulge in his sleep trousers that what he had seen had affected him. Clearly the two of them actually liked watching, even if they weren’t participating.

“I’m not afraid,” she said—even though Fierce’s dark eyes were burning into hers and she could almost taste his hunger in the air. Dios—no man had ever looked at her like this before—with such naked and unbridled lust! It made her nipples tight and her pussy felt hot and swollen.

“Good, then come to me, lelka,” the Dark Twin growled. “But first—let Hold put his hand on your back.”

“What? Why?” Celia frowned.

“We’re Twin Kindred—it hurts us if we touch you alone,” Fierce explained.

“It’s kind of like a low-level shock—only mildly painful,” Hold said.

“What? But why didn’t you tell me I was hurting you when I kissed you?” Celia demanded.

“Because Hold is a little bit of what you humans call a ‘masochist’ and we call a ‘pain eater,’” Fierce answered for his brother. “He doesn’t mind a little pain with his pleasure. But me—I like to be able to concentrate on what I’m doing. So let him touch you while you kiss me—all right, lelka?”

“All right.” Celia reached for Hold’s hand and placed it on the small of her back. “There—all right?”

But Fierce shook his head.

“No—he has to be touching bare skin.” His eyes went half-lidded. “I would say that you should let him cup your breasts and tug your sweet nipples while we kiss, but since this is only our Holding Week, we’re not supposed to touch you there without clothing in the way.”

“It’s all right, my lady. How about this?” Hold sat up and slid his hand under her the thin silk shirt to rest on her hip, just above her ass.

Celia shivered at the sensuous feeling of his big, warm hand and fingers sliding over her body. Even though he wasn’t touching any “naughty parts” just having his hands on her felt good.

“All right,” she said, and turned to Fierce. “Come down here—you’re too tall to reach.”

The big warrior ducked down obligingly and before she knew it, Celia was wrapped in his arms as he kissed her passionately. He didn’t wait for her to come to him, as Hold had. Instead, he plundered her mouth, demanding entrance and—when she granted it—exploring her with his tongue as though he owned her.

The Dark Twin’s mouth was spicy and hot—his kisses almost seemed to burn her and yet Celia couldn’t make herself stop kissing him. His big hands roved restlessly up and down her sides, almost but not quite finding her breasts. And all the while she could feel Hold behind them, watching and getting pleasure from the sight of her kissing his brother.

At last the kiss broke and Fierce pulled away, panting.

“Have to stop while I still can,” he growled, looking down at her with burning eyes. “You’re so fucking gorgeous, baby! And you make me so fucking hard.”

He rubbed his cock through the thin silk of his trousers and Celia saw that it was completely erect—and so long that the broad head of it was poking out of the waistband.

Again she felt a little shiver of pleasure—why did it make her so hot to watch Fierce touch himself this way?

“You like what you see, lelka?” he murmured, clearly seeing where she was looking.

“Maybe…” Celia bit her lip. “It’s my turn to give the two of you a Dare,” she pointed out.

“Tell us what you want us to do then,” Fierce challenged.

“Yes, we are completely at your service, my lady,” Hold murmured.

“All right…”

Celia took a breath—should she really do this? Would it be considered cheating? But she and Peter were on a break and anyway, she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

“Lay down—both of you,” she ordered. “And I dare you to…to touch yourselves. Stroke yourselves.”

“Mmm…do you want to watch us jerk off, baby?” Fierce growled, lying on his back as Hold did the same thing. “Would that turn you on?”

“Maybe,” Celia admitted. She remained upright herself, kneeling between the two long, muscular bodies so she could watch them.

“Should we touch ourselves through our sleep trousers…or do you want us to push them down?” Hold’s eyes were heavy with lust as his hand hovered over the waistband of his trousers.

“Push them down,” Celia ordered. She found that she liked being in charge—it was kind of hot! “I want to watch you stroke yourselves bare,” she added.

“Mmm…anything you want, lelka.” Fierce was already pushing his black silk trousers down to bare the most enormous shaft Celia had ever seen. He put any porn star she’d ever watched to shame and Hold wasn’t far behind.

Celia watched as they took themselves in hand, but then she began to feel like she was the one on display. Both the Light Twin and the Dark Twin had their bare shafts in their big hands, stroking slowly up and down as they watched her while she knelt between them. She became aware all over again that her nipples were poking against the thin green silk of the thermal shirt, casually displaying her body for both of them.

“Do you like this, lelka?” Fierce murmured, his eyes lazy with lust. “Do you want to watch us come?”

“Yes, I…I do,” Celia admitted. “I want to see you both shoot.”

“Mmm…then you’ve got to give us something to stroke and shoot to,” Fierce told her. “I dare you to touch yourself while we touch ourselves.”

“What?” Celia put a hand to her throat. “Touch myself…how exactly?”

“Start with just stroking your breasts. You don’t have to lift the shirt, if you don’t want to,” Hold told her.

“Pinch your nipples—let us see how tight they are,” Fierce added.

Feeling like she was in a dream, Celia did as they said. Lifting her hands, she cupped her own heavy breasts and began to tease the tight peaks of her nipples through the thin, slippery silk.

The sensations that ran through her body were electrical and hot and the feeling of their eyes on her, watching as she touched herself, made Celia even hotter.

“Gods, baby—look at how tight your nipples are,” Fierce growled. “Does it feel good when you play with them?”

“Yes…yes it does.” Celia was panting now. She’d never done anything like this before—never put on a show for any man or watched as he put on a show for her. She found it incredibly sexy to be on display like this, though she didn’t know why.

“I dare you to lift the shirt,” Hold said, surprising her. “I dare you to let us watch you touch yourself, my lady.”

Celia bit her lip—should she do this? It felt naughty but it still wasn’t really cheating—they weren’t even touching each other—just watching.

“Are you afraid to take my brother’s dare?” Fierce asked, lifting an eyebrow at her.

Celia lifted her chin.

“Of course not! I’m not afraid of anything,” she told him.

Feeling very aware of their eyes on her body, she reached down and lifted the hem of the thin silky shirt and pulled it to one side, baring her pussy. She was glad that she’d waxed not long ago—there was nothing but a small, tidy patch of curls on the top of her mound. The rest of her was smooth and bare.

“Gods!” she heard Fierce groan and looked up to see that he was stroking his shaft faster as he looked at her. “Spread your legs wider, baby,” he urged her hoarsely. “Let us see that sweet, wet little pussy.”

Celia bit her lip.

“I’m not that wet,” she protested. This was one of Peter’s main complaints about her—that her pussy got too wet. It was “messy” according to him and he clearly found it off-putting.

But Fierce and Hold seemed to like how wet she got.

“Yes you are, my lady—your soft little pussy is all shiny with your juices,” the Light Twin murmured.

“And it’s fucking beautiful,” Fierce added in a low growl. “Spread your pussy wider for us—let me see that sweet little clit.”

“You…you really want to see that?” Celia protested, but she was already slipping her fingers down to spread her outer pussy lips for them.

“Fuck yes, we want to see it!” the Dark Twin assured her.

“And we want to see how you touch it,” Hold added. “Show us how to pleasure you, my lady—please.”

Maybe it was the “please” that did it—or maybe it was just that Celia had never felt so hot in her life before. But she didn’t hesitate to slip her middle finger into her slippery folds and begin to stroke her clit. She rubbed lightly, just barely touching herself because she was extremely sensitive. But even the lightest touch produced incredible sensations.

“Oh…ohhh, Dios!” she couldn’t help moaning as electrical sparks of pleasure spread through her, making her pussy even wetter and her nipples even tighter.

“Gods, look at how hot and wet she is,” Hold groaned. He was talking to Fierce but his eyes were glued to Celia’s bare pussy. “How I’d love to taste all that sweet honey she’s gushing.”

“Gods, yes!” Fierce growled hungrily. “Want to shove my head between her thighs and lick all night! Suck that sweet little clit into my mouth and tease it with my tongue until she gushes even more of her honey!”

Celia couldn’t help picturing what the Dark Twin was describing and it made her so hot she could hardly stand it. She’d always thought that she might enjoy getting her pussy eaten—if she could find a man who actually wanted to do it and knew how to do it right. Peter didn’t fit either of those categories, unfortunately. But then, her fiancé’s idea of sex was to roll on top of her, pump for less than a minute, then roll back off again and go to sleep seconds after he had come.

She pushed the thought of Peter out of her mind and continued to touch herself, sliding her finger lightly and swiftly along the side of her sensitive clit. She could feel her orgasm building and since she didn’t touch herself often, it was going to be an intense one.

“Gods yes, baby—pet that hot little pussy,” Fierce growled, his eyes still pinned to the place between her legs. “Make yourself come for us. I’m getting so fucking close!”

“Me too,” Hold groaned. “Are you close as well, my lady? Can you come with us?”

“I…I’m not sure. I think so,” Celia panted. She was rubbing faster now, nearly moaning with need. She wanted to touch her nipples but the damn shirt was in the way. Reaching up with her left hand, she tugged the top of it up and over her head, which bared her breasts completely.

The result was audible groans from both of her guys.

“Gods, love your breasts, my lady!” Hold murmured, watching her.

“Touch them for us—tug your tight little nipples!” Fierce commanded. “Let us see you make yourself feel good, baby!”

Celia found that she was doing it—tugging and teasing her sensitive nipples with her left hand while her right was still busy between her spread thighs, sliding over her aching clit. She had never felt so hot—so desired—in her life. And suddenly she knew she was going to come, which was something she had never done in front of anyone before. If she wanted an orgasm she usually waited until Peter went to sleep and finished herself off quietly. But this time, there was no being quiet.

“Oh…Madre de Dios! I’m coming!” she moaned as the pleasure flared through her in sweet, hot rush. “Coming so hard!”

“I’m fucking coming too!” Fierce groaned. Through hazy eyes, Celia watched as his long, thick cock jerked in his hand spurting rope after rope of white cream over his flat, muscular belly.

Hold gave a low groan at the same time and arched his back, pumping up into his fist. His cock twitched and then jerked, also spurting across his belly.

For some reason watching the two big warriors as they were watching her, with all of them touching themselves together made Celia hotter than anything she’d ever done before. She felt a second, mini-orgasm rush through her as she watched them spurt and wondered at the amount of cream they made…and what it would feel like if they were spurting inside her.

Stop it, she scolded herself, as she panted, trying to catch her breath. You shouldn’t be thinking that way—you’re engaged, remember?

Yes, how could she forget? But Peter had never made her feel this way, even when they actually had sex. And Hold and Fierce hadn’t even touched her.

With a little moan of pure satisfaction, she finally finished and found that she was too weak to stay upright. She sank to her side on the puffy floor of the tent, panting, with the shirt still raised and her body still on display.

Both twins were instantly concerned.

“Gods, lelka—are you all right?” Suddenly Fierce was kneeling over her and Hold was as well.

“Do you feel lightheaded, my lady?” he asked, clearly going into doctor mode.

Celia shook her head.

“No, I…I’m all right,” she assured them. “That was just…really intense, you know? I don’t usually, uh, do anything like that and it kind of surprised me how good it felt.”

“Felt good for us, too,” Fierce assured her.

“Very good,” Hold agreed. From somewhere in the backpack, he produced several small absorbent towels. He began wiping away his own cream with one and handed the other to Fierce to do the same.

“Do you two always make this much, uh, cum?” Celia asked, watching them.

Fierce gave her a sly grin.

“I don’t know…do you always make so much honey?”

Celia looked down at herself and grimaced. Her inner thighs were shiny and her pussy was practically dripping wet. She started to close her legs, but Hold stopped her with a hand on her knee.

“Wait, my lady—allow me,” he murmured. Pulling another soft towel out of the pack, he bent over Celia and began wiping her thighs dry gently.

At first she tensed up, but the Light Twin obviously just wanted to serve her so at last Celia relaxed and let her thighs fall open completely.

“That’s a waste of good honey,” Fierce growled, frowning as his brother tended her. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather let us lap it up instead, lelka? I’d be happy to give your soft little pussy a tongue bath to get you all nice and clean.”

“Fierce!” Hold said, shooting his brother a warning look. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Even if Celia was free and we were having a normal Claiming Period, you still wouldn’t be allowed to bathe her pussy with your tongue until the Tasting Week.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s just, her soft little pussy looks so hot and swollen and tender. Like it needs to be licked,” the Dark Twin protested.

“Nevertheless, keep your comments to yourself,” Hold told him. “If Celia decides to let us taste her pussy, she’ll let us know. Until then, it’s forbidden.”

“I can’t believe we just did…what we did,” Celia said in a shaky voice. “I’ve, uh, never let anyone watch me, you know, come before,” she added in a half whisper.

“Then we’re honored you trusted us with your pleasure, my lady,” Hold said gently. He finished with the towel. “There—you should be dry and comfortable now.”

“I prefer her wet and hot,” Fierce protested. But when both Hold and Celia shot him a warning look, he subsided. “Fine. Sorry, sorry,” he muttered. But Celia noticed that he was still looking at her bare breasts and pussy…and that despite the large volume of cream he had pumped onto his flat stomach, his monster of a cock was still hard. Actually, Hold was still hard as well. It wasn’t difficult to see, since the thin sleep trousers hid absolutely nothing.

“Don’t the two of you ever go soft?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. She had a thought that she ought to pull her shirt down now and cover herself…but somehow she didn’t want to. She liked the way their eyes felt on her, roving over her mostly bare body. She had never felt very sexy or desirable when she was naked before, but having the two big warriors look at her so longingly and with such desire and lust was certainly a boost to her self-confidence.

“Go soft? You mean like a fucking human?” Fierce demanded.

“Kindred males are multi-orgasmic,” Hold explained to her. “We don’t have a refractory period between erections—we can stay hard as long as we need to in order to satisfy our mates.”

“You can? But then…sex must last for hours with you guys!” Celia said, awed. As opposed to less than five minutes with her fiancé.

“It can. Especially Bonding Sex,” Fierce agreed, nodding. “Gods, speaking of being multi-orgasmic, I’m gonna need to stroke it again if you don’t cover yourself soon, baby.”

“Why don’t you then?” Celia surprised herself by saying. “And this time, I want you to come on me,” she added. Dios, what had gotten into her? But laying there, bare for them, she felt incredibly sexy and free in a way she never had before.

“You really want us to come on you, my lady?” Hold asked, sounding surprised, though he was already reaching into his sleep trousers to take out his shaft again.

“Where do you want us to shoot?” Fierce added. He was already stroking himself again, pumping his thick monster of a cock with one big fist.

“On my breasts,” Celia told them. “And my pussy—but not in me,” she added. “I’m, uh, not on birth control.”

“Your wish is our pleasure,” Hold told her, beginning to stroke himself as well.

Celia lay back and watched them both—kneeling on either side of her, fisting their thick cocks as they caressed her body with their eyes. Part of her couldn’t believe she was doing this, but another part felt incredibly hot—like a goddess who was being worshipped in the most primal and primitive way possible.

When at last they came, splattering her bare breasts and pussy mound with their hot cream, she moaned softly and arched her back, putting on a show for them as they groaned her name.

Celia thought she had never felt so hot or so free in her life. Later she would worry about why she had done this—it was certainly far outside her sexual bounds. But for tonight she just wanted to be worshipped and adored and knowing that the two huge, hot alien warriors found her incredibly hot and desirable was an intoxicating sensation.

Afterwards she let them clean her up, wiping her body with more of the soft, absorbent towels Hold had thoughtfully brought along. Then she finally pulled the thermal shirt down and lay between them.

This time, everyone was able to get to sleep.

22

CELIA

Celia was woken later in the middle of the night by a slight noise outside the tent. Her eyes popped open at once and she felt her body tense, already on high alert.

“Hold? Fierce?” she breathed, wondering if the two of them were awake.

“Yeah, we hear it, lelka,” the Dark Twin muttered.

“It started just a moment ago,” Hold confirmed from her other side.

“You stay here with Celia—I’m going to go check it out,” Fierce told him.

“But you’re wounded, Brother! Your ribs—”

“Feel a lot better since you put the healing wraps on them,” the Dark Twin finished for him. “Stay here and keep Celia safe—I’ll be back in a minute.”

He pulled on his boots and reached for his blaster.

“Wait!” Celia put up a hand to him. “Your shirt—won’t you be cold?”

“I’ll be fine, lelka.” His dark eyes raked over her body. “Besides, it looks a hell of a lot better on you.”

Then he slipped out of the flap in the tent and went silently into the darkness.

Celia sat there, her heart pumping double-time as she waited to hear another hungry V’ranna roar.

“It’s all right, my lady,” Hold said reassuringly. Reaching for her hand in the darkness, he entwined their fingers and gave her a comforting squeeze. “Fierce is a consummate hunter—if there’s anything out there, he’ll kill it or drive it away.”

“What if it’s another V’ranna, though?” Celia demanded in a low voice. “Or something even worse? What if it hurts him—or even kills him? Dios, I can’t stand this!”

“I thought you didn’t like my brother,” Hold said dryly. “Would you really care so much if he was injured?”

“Of course I’d care! I mean, he’s irritating and he can be a real pendejo sometimes but, well…that doesn’t mean I don’t like him,” Celia protested. In fact she was beginning to feel a lot more for the Dark Twin—for both of the twins—than she had just a day ago. It seemed this little adventure had brought them together in a way that any number of regular dinner and a movie dates never could have.

“Mmm-hmm,” was the Light Twin’s response, but she thought she heard humor in his voice. “It takes Fierce some time to ‘grow’ on people, as you humans say,” he told her. “But I can tell you that you’ll never find a male as loyal and trustworthy as my brother.”

“The two of you are pretty much inseparable, huh?” Celia asked.

“Completely inseparable,” Hold said firmly. “Twin Kindred are together from womb to tomb—we share everything. We even father children together.”

“Really? You mean you can’t get a girl pregnant…”

“Unless our shafts are joined during Bonding Sex,” Hold finished for her. “Exactly. We have a Bond stronger than any other—besides the Soul Bond that a warrior forms with his mate, of course,” he added.

“It must be nice to always have someone with you, to get your back,” Celia said wistfully. “I used to wish I had a sister—or any family, really.”

“It must have been incredibly hard for you, growing up without a family,” Hold murmured. “And I can imagine that feeling abandoned by your father at such an early age has made it difficult for you to trust any male who comes into your life.”

“Hey—what kind of doctor are you, anyway?” Celia demanded with half a laugh. “An MD or a psychiatrist?”

“In the House of Healing I attended, we were trained to treat the entire patient,” Hold explained. “It’s not only the physical body that can cause pain, you know. Sometimes pain comes from unhealed emotional trauma. But forgive me if it sounded like I was, uh, psychoanalyzing you.”

“No, it’s okay.” Celia squeezed his hand. “And you’re right—I didn’t know until I was an adult that my dad died in an accident once he got back to Cuba. I thought the whole time I was growing up that he’d left me and didn’t love me enough to come back for me or send for me. It was…tough.”

“Of course it was.” Hold rubbed her lightly between the shoulder blades. “I’m so sorry, my lady.”

“Why do you call me that?” Celia asked, looking up at him. In the darkness, she could see his eyes glowing faintly. “I mean, it sounds like something from the Renaissance Fair.”

“It’s a term of respect,” Hold said gravely. “Do you dislike it?”

“No, I think it’s sweet.” Celia smiled up at him, knowing he could see her even in the dark. “But I still want to know what ‘lelka’ means.”

“That will be for Fierce to tell you, since he chose it as your second name,” Hold said.

At that moment there was a rustling at the front of the tent and then the flap was thrown back and Fierce crawled in, shivering.

“Goddess damned cold out there!” he growled as he shut the flap. “Did I hear the two of you taking my name in vain?”

“Celia was asking again what ‘lelka’ means,” Hold explained. “Do you want to tell her?”

“Oh, what the hell…” Fierce shrugged. “A ‘lelk’ is actually an animal on Twin Moons—one of the rare single animals with no double nature or second face or twin.”

“It’s very independent but also sweet and cuddly, when it chooses you as its person,” Hold went on, continuing the explanation. “In fact, it’s rather like your Earth animal, the cat, if I’m not mistaken.”

“And when a lelk is small, we call it a lelka—the ‘ah’ sound on the end just means ‘sweet’ or ‘tiny’ or ‘adorable,’” Fierce said, picking up the narrative again. “So in a way, it’s a little like calling you ‘my sweet little kitten.’”

Celia stared at him.

“That’s the nickname you chose for me? Cute, cuddly kitten?”

Fierce shrugged again.

“You just seemed so tiny and delicate in my dreams. Besides, kittens have claws, don’t they? I knew you had some sharp points—I was just hoping I’d get to see the cuddly side of you, too.”

Celia didn’t know whether to be offended or charmed by the Dark Twin’s assessment of her.

“I don’t know how I feel about that,” she said at last. “I’ll have to think about it.”

“What was the noise outside, anyway?” Hold asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, one of the little portable dryers you put on the wet clothes was clanking against a pebble. I moved it and checked the perimeter—as far as I can tell we’re the only living things in this grotto.” Fierce shivered. “Also, it’s damn cold out there. I need to lie down again and get warm.”

“Come back to bed, Brother,” Hold told him. “We all should try to get some sleep—we have an early start to get back to the Mother Ship during the few daylight hours tomorrow.”

“Well now that I know we’re not being stalked by some horrible monster, I think I can sleep.” Celia sighed and lay back down beside Hold, who was already getting comfortable on her left side.

“Wouldn’t mind some more sleep myself.” Fierce lay on her right but Celia gasped and jumped away when his muscular arm came into contact with her side.

“Madre de Dios—you’re freezing!”

“Sorry about that, sweetheart,” he growled sarcastically. “Hunting around in the dark to make sure another V’ranna isn’t sneaking up on your luscious ass is chilly work. Don’t worry—I’ll stick to my own side.”

“No, wait…” Celia suddenly felt guilty. “Come here,” she said and motioned to Fierce.

“Why?” The Dark Kindred hung back, though he was turned towards her.

“Dios!” Celia blew out an impatient breath. “So I can help you get warm, of course!” Determined to do as she said, she scooted over and pressed herself against him, making sure they were chest-to-chest. His skin was extremely cold and her nipples went tight immediately, but she hung on grimly, pressing her body firmly against the big Kindred’s.

“Mmm…You know, you don’t have to do this, lelka,” Fierce murmured, but he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer as he spoke.

“Yes…yes I do,” Celia said, trying not to let her teeth chatter—he really was freezing. “You two warmed me up when I was nearly frozen to death and I’m sure that couldn’t have been fun because you did it without your shirts on.”

“That’s because body heat travels best when it’s spread by skin-to-skin contact,” Hold murmured. “Without anything in the way.”

“Oh, really?” Celia frowned. “That makes sense I guess.” She was still pressed against Fierce, but she could feel a shiver running through his big body. He really needed to get warm and since he and Hold had warmed her earlier, she wanted to repay the favor. In fact, she was determined to repay it, by any means necessary.

“Here—let me go for just a minute,” she said to Fierce. She wiggled free of the Dark Kindred’s embrace for a moment and pulled the thermal shirt over her head. Then she came back to him again and pressed her naked body against his broad chest, trying to make as much skin-to-skin contact as possible.

“Mmmm, that’s nice,” Fierce rumbled, dipping his head to nuzzle her neck. “But I’m afraid I’ll make you too cold, baby.”

“Hold can warm me from behind,” Celia said. “Come on, Hold,” she added, looking over her shoulder.

“With pleasure, my lady.” A moment later she felt the Light Twin press his broad, bare chest to her shivering back. He radiated heat which eased her shivering and helped her press even more fully against Fierce to warm him up.

For a long moment the three of them just lay there, wrapped in each others’ arms. Celia tried to tell herself it was no big deal to be naked between them—after all, she’d been bare with the two big warriors for hours earlier that day.

But somehow it felt different this time. It felt sexual in a way it hadn’t before they’d had their long conversation and their games of Truth or Dare. Also, she couldn’t help remembering how hot it had been earlier when the three of them had all touched themselves at the same time, watching as the others came.

And there was another factor too—previously when the twins had been holding her between them, they’d had on their thick uniform trousers. Now both of them were wearing nothing but the incredibly thin silk sleep bottoms. Which meant that Celia could plainly feel both of their long, hard shafts pressing against her.

Fierce’s thick cock was branding her naked belly while Hold’s long shaft was pressing right against the cleft of her ass. Both of them were extremely hard—as though they hadn’t just come several hours ago…but Celia tried her best to ignore that.

“Mmm, you feel so good between us like this,” Fierce rumbled, nuzzling her again. “Sorry I’m so fucking cold, but it’s nice of you to warm me up, lelka.”

“It…it’s the least I can do,” Celia said breathlessly. “I mean…you two did the same for me.”

“Yes, but you’re so little and sweet—you were easy to warm up,” Fierce pointed out. “I’m afraid I’m a lot bigger than you—it might take you a while to warm me up. You might have to press your sweet, curvy, naked body against me all night.”

“I can do that. I’ll do anything I have to in order to warm you up—just like the two of you warmed me.”

To prove it, Celia threw one leg over his hip, pressing herself even closer. Unfortunately, this resulted in her pussy—which was still wet and sensitive from earlier—opening and pressing against the Dark Twin’s thick shaft. But again, she pretended not to notice.

Fierce groaned softly and put one big hand on her hip.

“Mmm, you’re a determined little female, aren’t you?”

“I don’t make commitments I don’t intend to keep,” Celia said firmly—if a little breathlessly. “I…I promised I’d warm you up and I will—no matter how long it takes or…or how close I have to get to do it.”

“That’s very kind of you, my lady,” Hold murmured in her ear from behind.

“Yes, extremely fucking kind,” Fierce agreed, shifting his hips to get a bit closer. “But tell me—do you mind if I rub against you some, lelka? Just to get some friction going? That could build some heat.”

“No, I…I don’t mind,” Celia nearly panted. “Do…do what you need to do to get warm, Fierce.”

“Thank you, baby. So you don’t mind if I do this?”

The Dark Twin began to rub against her and it felt like maybe the top of his shaft had come out of waistband of his sleep trousers. This resulted in the broad head of his cock pressing against her open pussy lips. Well—more like inside actually, she admitted to herself. At any rate, she could feel the wide crown rubbing against her swollen clit which was suddenly feeling extremely sensitive and tender.

“This is okay?” Fierce asked again, still rubbing.

Celia bit her lip and tried not to falter.

“It…it’s fine,” she panted. “Do…do what you have to in order to get warm.”

“Mmm, I’m feeling warmer already, lelka,” he murmured in her ear. And then he dipped his head and took her mouth in a hot, possessive kiss.

Celia moaned and kissed the Dark Twin back. At the same time, she could feel Hold nuzzling the side of her neck and kissing and licking her there. Someone’s hands had found her breasts and cupped them before beginning to tug her tight nipples lightly, sending showers of pleasure sparks down through her entire body.

She began to feel like she was going to come but she wasn’t sure that she should. What they were doing felt like cheating—though she was trying not to think of Peter.

She pulled back from the kiss.

“Fierce…I don’t know if…if we should do this,” she panted, looking up at him.

“Do what, baby?” he growled softly. “There’s nothing but a little warming going on here—just a little friction.”

“But, well…” Celia tried to catch her breath but her heart was pounding. “But I think I might…might come in a minute,” she protested.

“That’s just from the friction—got to have friction to make heat,” Fierce pointed out.

“But…but if I come, you might come,” Celia said desperately. “And I told you, I’m not on birth control! Besides, I’m engaged to Peter—I shouldn’t be cheating on him!”

“Is my cock inside your pussy?” Fierce rumbled, looking down at her.

“Well…no. Not exactly…”

“Then I’m not fucking you and it’s not cheating,” the Dark Twin assured her. “And I couldn’t get you pregnant alone if I tried—even if I was balls-deep in your tight little pussy, flooding your womb with my cum, I couldn’t get you pregnant unless my brother was joined to me, doing the same thing.”

“We did talk about that,” Hold murmured from behind her. “Remember?”

“Oh yes…I…I remember.” Her head felt fuzzy with pleasure.

“But if it will make you feel any better, I’ll promise not to come,” Fierce went on. “Just let me rub against you a little while longer to get warm, lelka. I swear I won’t shoot anywhere near your tight little pussy.”

“But…but what if I come?” Celia protested.

“Hmm…then I guess you’ll have to come all over my cock, baby,” Fierce growled softly. “Actually, I think feeling you coming against me would help warm me up a lot.”

“Oh…well…” Celia knew she shouldn’t listen to him. She knew she was crossing a line she hadn’t meant to cross. Earlier when they’d all touched themselves it was different. They had only been watching each other. Now Fierce was rubbing his hard cock against her naked, open pussy—right against her sensitive clit—and Hold had her breasts cupped in his big hands and was rolling her nipples in a slow, delicious way that was driving her crazy! They really shouldn’t be doing this, but somehow it felt like they had gone too far to stop. She was right on the brink, tipping over the edge into pleasure…

“What do you say, sweetheart? Do you want to come on my cock?” Fierce growled softly and kissed her again.

“I…I can’t help it!” Celia moaned and then her orgasm rushed through her, making her back arch as waves of pleasure overwhelmed her. “You’re making me come, Fierce,” She cried. “Dios! Coming so hard!”

“Mmm…does it feel good, lelka?” he growled in her ear. “Does it feel good to let your tight little pussy come on my cock? I can feel your sweet little cunt creaming all over me—giving up all your honey. Gods, it feels so fucking good!”

Celia wasn’t sure how it could feel so good to him when she was the one coming and somehow he was holding back, but she couldn’t help writhing against the Dark Twin and moaning helplessly as the orgasm rushed through her.

At last she went limp in the big warrior’s arms and just rested there, panting. Hold stopped touching her breasts and Fierce loosened his grip so she could close her legs.

“We…we probably shouldn’t have done that,” Celia panted. Feeling around, she found the thermal shirt and dragged it over her head again. “I hope you’re warm enough now,” she added.

“Very warm—thank you, lelka,” Fierce murmured.

“My lady, are you upset?” Hold asked from her other side.

“I…I don’t know.” Now that the pleasure was over, Celia was beginning to feel extremely guilty. She was barely a month away from her wedding and what was she doing? Writhing naked between two huge muscular Kindred warriors as though her fiancé didn’t even exist! What was wrong with her, acting like this?

She turned on her side, away from Fierce and put her face in her hands. She didn’t know how to feel about what had just happened between the three of them…but she knew she wasn’t happy.

23

HOLD

The next morning, Celia was noticeably subdued and Hold knew they had gone too far.

“You shouldn’t have rubbed against her like that,” he told Fierce as the two of them were packing away the tent. “You broke the rules of the Claiming Period! You know we’re not supposed to have intimate contact like that during the Holding Week!”

“Well what was I supposed to do when she was pressing her soft, curvy, naked body against me?” his brother growled back. “She was fucking begging for it, Hold! Besides, you were playing with her breasts and nipples—I know you were—I could feel your pleasure in touching her, the same way you felt mine.”

“Yes I was and I shouldn’t have.” Hold sighed. “You realize she has the right to go back to Earth now if she wants?” he pointed out. “We broke the rules—if she wants to, she can end the Claiming Period early.”

“Is that true?” Celia was suddenly between them, looking up at both of them. “Can we end the Claiming Period early if we want, because you two broke the rules?”

Fierce cursed and glared at Hold.

“Now look what you did!”

Hold felt his heart sink, but he lifted his chin.

“No—it’s only right that she should know,” he told his brother. He turned to Celia. “Yes, my lady—we broke the rules that state we may only touch you with some kind of fabric or barrier between us during our Holding Week,” he told her. “I cupped your bare breasts in my hands and Fierce rubbed his shaft against your bare pussy with nothing to separate us. You may, if you wish, end the Claiming Period right now.”

“Then I think…think maybe we should end it.” Celia looked down, her lovely dark eyes troubled. “I never thought of myself as a cheater before last night,” she told them. “And believe me—I don’t blame either one of you—I’m just as much at fault. But I’m afraid if we stay together for an entire month, I’ll ruin everything with Peter. I’ve already gone a lot further than I ever meant to with the two of you. We have to stop now, before it’s too late.”

“What?” Fierce demanded. “You want to go back to that sniveling, weak little human who’s never worked a day in his life and treats you like you’re his fucking servant?”

Celia lifted her chin and a dangerous glint came into her eyes.

“Yes—I want to go back to Peter. He loves me for myself—he wants me.”

“We love you! We want you!” Fierce nearly shouted, gesturing between himself at Hold. “And you know we’ll treat you right—we won’t act like you’re a servant sent to wait on us hand and foot! Or tell you that you look fat and you need to lose some weight—because you fucking don’t need to lose any weight! Or ask you to ‘put on a happy face’ when you feel sad or any of that bullshit!”

But his brother appeared to have gone too far, Hold thought. Celia’s face went from red to white and her tiny hands squeezed into fists at her sides.

“You two have been spying on me through those damn dreams!” she stormed at Fierce. “What else did you see? Did you watch the last time we had sex and it lasted less than a minute?”

“So what if we did?” Fierce demanded. “We can’t help what the dreams show us!”

“You and your dreams can both fuck off!” she snapped. “Besa mi culo you big pendejo!”

Then she stormed off in the general direction of the grotto’s entrance. Fierce started to go after her, but Hold caught his brother by the arm.

“No, Brother—let her go. Give her some time to cool off,” he told him.

“But she’s being fucking unreasonable!” Fierce growled, his eyes flashing.

“And you think she’s in the mood to listen to your ‘reason’ now?” Hold demanded, arching an eyebrow at him. “You shouldn’t have brought up all the bad things we saw about her fiancé in our dreams. I think you really offended her.”

“I was just pointing out what an asshole he is!” Fierce raked a hand through his hair in a gesture of pure frustration. “Why can’t she see he’s no good for her? Why can’t she see that she’s supposed to be with us?”

“She’s not going to ‘see’ anything with you yelling at her,” Hold snapped, losing his patience. Why was his brother so bull-headed? Why couldn’t he ever see when it was time to back away from a situation and give someone time and space?

“Fine.” Fierce glared at him. “I’ll leave her alone…for now. But she’s being unreasonable and you fucking know it. That asshole fiancé of hers isn’t good for her and we are.”

“I doubt anyone hearing you shout at her would have gotten that impression,” Hold snapped. “Now help me finish packing so we can get out of here while it’s still daylight outside!”

Fierce gave him a look and he could feel his twin’s anger and frustration through the Twin Bond they shared. But this time he was too tired and too upset to try and make peace between them. His twin might have ruined the only chance they had at securing the one female in the universe the Goddess had set aside just for them—their Fated Mate.

And at the moment, Hold was in no mood to forgive him.

24

CELIA

The liftoff into space was a silent one. It seemed that everyone was angry at everyone else, Celia thought. She knew she was pissed off at Fierce, who in turn was angry at Hold for telling her they could end the Claiming Period because they had broken the rules. Hold also seemed angry with Fierce—at least, he wasn’t talking to his twin and would barely even look at him. They must have had a disagreement after she left them at their campsite, she thought.

Fierce was clearly angry with her as well. And though Hold was calm and courteous towards her, he hadn’t called her “my lady” once since their fight. He had helped her from the grotto to the ship however and then buckled her harness before liftoff. But he acted like they were just friendly acquaintances—as though she hadn’t cried in his arms and admitted some of the most painful truths of her childhood to him the night before.

But even Hold’s distant behavior was better than the way Fierce was acting. The Dark Twin had clammed up entirely and seemed to be pretending Celia didn’t exist. He wouldn’t even look in her direction, though she was seated right between him and Hold in the front of the ship. It was like she was invisible to him.

Celia had the urge to give the Dark Twin a vicious dig in the ribs with her elbow—let him try and ignore her then! But she decided not to do it and just ignore him too. If this was how he wanted to end things, then fine—let him. They could pretend like they’d never even known each other—never held each other in the night to keep warm…never opened up in a way she never had to anyone else…

Stop it Celia! she scolded herself. Don’t be ridiculous—you haven’t even known Fierce and Hold a whole week. It’s not like they’re the love of your life—Peter is. He wanted you—asked to marry you—long before those two showed up. So stop acting like a baby and get over it. You’ll be home soon and you can just forget the last few days ever happened.

So she said nothing and kept to herself until they were up in space and headed for the giant multicolored wormhole that would take them home.

“There’s the wormhole,” Fierce said, staring straight ahead at the whirling vortex of colors and not even looking at her as he talked. “As soon as we come out the other side, I’ll take you directly back to Earth, if that’s what you want.”

“Yes, that’s what I want,” Celia said stiffly. “Thank you,” she added as coldly as possible.

“Your wish is my fucking command, sweetheart,” Fierce growled. “Preparing to enter the wormhole.”

Celia looked at the mass of swirling colors on the viewscreen and frowned. Was it…different somehow? The colors she saw looked muted, as though someone had added a dab of gray to every one. Before, the wormhole’s brilliance had startled her. Now it just looked drab.

“Hey,” she said. “Does the wormhole look off to you?”

“What are you talking about?” Fierce growled. “A wormhole is a wormhole.” He shot her an angry look. “And we wouldn’t have to use one to get home if you weren’t afraid you might be pregnant with some other male’s brat.”

Celia sucked in a breath.

“You hijo de puta!”

At the same time Hold shouted,

“Fierce! That was completely out of line!”

“Well, what the fuck do you want me to say?” Fierce growled, glaring at his brother over Celia’s head. “It’s true, isn’t it? If she wants to go back to that stupid weak human and have his fucking human baby, that’s her choice!”

“I’m sitting right here!” Celia snapped. “Stop talking about me like I’m not right beside you! And I never said I was pregnant—Kat just told me to take wormholes instead of folding space!”

“Fine. So let me navigate this wormhole now and take you back where you came from!” Fierce snarled.

“Fine!” Celia crossed her arms over her breasts, fuming. The big hijo de puta! How could she have ever thought that she liked him? He was the most selfish, insensitive—

And they then flew into the wormhole and everything went wrong.

25

FIERCE

Fierce knew something was wrong the moment they entered the wormhole’s mouth. All the instruments on the panel started going crazy, varying wildly and flashing alarms.

If that wasn’t a big enough indication, the long range shuttle also began rocking violently, as though it was being battered from every direction. He nearly lost control of the steering yoke as some strange force tried to rip it from his hands.

“What in the Seven Hells is going on?” Hold shouted and Fierce could feel his urgent fear through their Twin Bond. Celia, meanwhile, had gone silent but her eyes were huge and dark and she was clutching the straps of her harness with both hands.

In fact, it was a good thing that all of them were strapped in—otherwise they would have been flying all over the cockpit together!

“Warning…warning…warning…” a mechanical voice began speaking over the Com-link. “Hull breach imminent…life support systems failing…Nav-com off-line…”

Grimly, Fierce held on to the steering yoke and tried to keep the ship in alignment. Somehow the perfectly stable wormhole they had used to get to Tranq Prime must have destabilized itself. If he didn’t get them through it, the ship was going to be torn apart!

Taking a breath, he punched the fuel—they had to get out fast or they were going to disintegrate right here in the guts of the wormhole!

For a minute, it seemed he had made everything worse. The shaking became so violent it was all he could do to hold on to the yoke. He could hear the furniture in the living area behind them being thrown around and the forces being exerted on his body were almost too great to bear.

He felt Hold reaching out to him through their Twin Bond—sending a feeling of regret and goodbye. Clearly his twin thought they were about to die and he could very well be right!

But just as he was certain the ship was about to shake itself apart into tiny pieces and leave the three of them floating in space, they finally came out the other side.

The shaking stopped as abruptly as it had started and the ship was still. Somewhere an alarm klaxon was going off and the ship’s mechanical voice was still listing all the systems that were damaged or failing but at least everything was still.

“Madre de Dios,” Celia whispered. “Is…is it over?”

“I think so.” Hold’s voice was hushed and uncertain. “Brother?” he asked, looking at Fierce.

“Yeah, give me a fucking minute.” Fierce didn’t like how shaky his own voice sounded. He’d never had such a close call while flying before and he needed a moment to collect himself.

But he didn’t have a moment.

“Warning,” the ship’s mechanical voice announced. “Life support systems compromised. Oxygen leak detected. Fuel leak detected.”

“Fuck!” Fierce muttered. “Estimated life support time remaining?” he bellowed at the ship to be heard above the alarm klaxon and the ominous hissing that was probably the oxygen leak.

“Thirty solar minutes life support remaining,” the ship informed him calmly.

Fierce cursed again.

“All right, that’s not good,” he told Hold and Celia, who were both looking at him anxiously. “But it should be enough to get us back to the Mother Ship at least.”

He began working with the controls, punching coordinates into the Nav Com…but then the ship spoke up again.

“Warning—nonviable route entered. At current coordinates, the destination you have programmed with take three hundred thousand solar light years to reach. All life forms aboard will be deceased at that time.”

“Three hundred thousand light years? The fuck are you talking about?” Fierce demanded. He wanted to pound the control panel in irritation, but he knew it wouldn’t help anything. “How could we be so far from the Mother Ship? Where are we, anyway?” he muttered.

He was mostly talking to himself, but the ship’s emergency actions had all been turned on so it heard him and answered.

“Currently in the Delta Quadrant of the Spinning Glass Galaxy, approximately three hundred thousand light years from the Kindred Mother Ship,” it informed him helpfully.

“What? Fuck!” Fierce roared and this time he did pound his fist on the instrument panel.

“How could this have happened? How could we have gone so off course?” Hold asked.

“Are…are we going to survive?” Celia’s voice was low and trembling. Despite being angry with her and both upset and frightened at their predicament, Fierce felt himself wanting to comfort the curvy little female. But there was no time for comfort—not if they wanted to live.

“I don’t fucking know. The wormhole must have destabilized in the time we were on Tranq Prime,” he said, answering his twin’s question first. “And we’re not going to die if I can help it,” he added, answering Celia’s.

He raised his voice again to address the ship’s emergency system.

“Ship—first, turn off the damn alarm!” he ordered.

The wailing klaxon in the background abruptly shut off, leaving only the ominous hissing of the oxygen leak. Well good—at least now he could hear himself think.

“Ship,” he said again. “Send long-distance call to the Kindred Mother Ship. Request immediate assistance!”

“Negative,” came the calm reply. “Regret to inform you that long range communications system is completely non-functional at this time.”

“Fuck!” Fierce raked a hand through his hair. “All right then…are there any inhabited planets nearby? Someplace within range of our life support capabilities where we can get repairs done?” he asked.

He held his breath as he waited to hear what the ship’s emergency voice would say. If the destabilized wormhole had thrown them so far from their destination, it might have just dumped them into an uninhabited quadrant of space. And if they only had thirty minutes of life support left, that meant they were most likely going to die.

But after a moment of computation and scanning, the voice answered,

“One inhabited planet detected in range of life support capabilities,” it announced. JoCosta Twelve is twenty-six solar minutes away.”

“Twenty-six? That’s cutting it close!” There was an edge of fear in Hold’s voice.

“Yeah, we might have to hold our breath for a few minutes but we’ll make it.” Fierce spoke with a confidence he didn’t feel. “Plot shortest course available to JoCosta Twelve,” he told the ship. “And hurry!”

“Course plotted,” the voice responded. “Proceed to JoCosta Twelve.”

Which was easier said than done, since every damn system on the ship was damaged in some way. It was like the long range shuttle had been dumped into an enormous, industrial sized food grinder and nearly mashed to pieces, Fierce thought as he coaxed it to start moving in the right direction. How the fuck had the wormhole destabilized so quickly?

Maybe you should have listened to Celia when she said it looked wrong, whispered a little voice in his head. The colors were off—you thought so too, but you were so angry you didn’t want to hear her! This is your fault, Fierce—if everyone dies trying to get to JoCosta Twelve, you’ll have to stand before the Goddess and admit your guilt!

But he didn’t have time for guilt at the moment—he had to get them to the nearest inhabited planet and pray they had the resources to fix the ship…or else a way to call home.

Otherwise they were all going to be dead or stuck here at the ass end of a strange galaxy for the rest of their lives.

26

CELIA

The short ride to JoCosta Twelve was one of the most terrifying trips of Celia’s life. Any minute she expected to start running out of air. Hold had gotten up to try and fix the oxygen leak, but he seemed to be having trouble finding it because the scary hissing sound could still be heard coming from the back somewhere.

Celia didn’t say anything to Fierce—he was clearly completely absorbed in trying to get the badly damaged ship to their destination. Also she knew, from dealing with a succession of foster fathers, that men don’t like to be questioned when they’re absorbed in a complicated task. At least, none of the men in her life had. So she left the Dark Twin to his devices. She wouldn’t bother Hold either, unless he asked for her help, but she did need to pee.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Fierce growled as she unfastened her harness with trembling fingers.

“To use the restroom.” Celia said shortly. She stood up but her legs were suddenly so weak and trembly that she almost fell.

“Watch it!” Fierce reached out with his right arm and caught her around the waist before she collapsed.

“Let me go!” She twisted in his grip. “You big pendejo!”

“Call me all the names you want—I’m not going to let you fall,” he growled.

Celia wanted to demand that he let her go again, but she couldn’t make her mouth form the words. When she spoke she heard herself say,

“I thought…thought we were going to die!” And then, to her horror, she started to cry.

Fierce didn’t say a word and his eyes were still glued to the viewscreen and instrument panel but he pulled her close to his right side and wrapped his muscular arm around her shoulders tightly.

Celia didn’t know if this was his way of saying “I’m sorry” for his insensitive remarks earlier or if he was just comforting her to keep her from getting “hysterical” but either way, she appreciated the weight of his arm and the way he just held her.

Tears leaked from her eyes as she pressed her face to his chest and breathed him in, taking comfort in the warm, spicy scent of his skin. She was still angry with the Dark Twin, she told herself—his comment about her having “some other male’s brat” had been extremely hurtful. But for the moment, she was willing to put aside her grievance and be comforted.

A moment later, Hold came back. He stared silently at the two of them for a moment until Fierce said,

“What the fuck are you staring at? Did you fix the leak?”

“I think I got the leak fixed, but our oxygen reserve is still very low,” Hold answered.

“We only need fifteen standard minutes and we’ll be to JoCosta Twelve,” Fierce answered. “Sit down and buckle in, Brother.”

“Is Celia all right?” Hold asked and Celia felt him settle beside her in the passenger seat.

“I think so. Just shaken up. You’ll have to take her in a minute—I’ll need both hands to steer when we land.”

“All right. Come on—let’s get you buckled in again.” Hold reached for her but Fierce’s arm around her shoulders tightened protectively.

“I said you’ll need to take her in a minute. Not yet,” he said tersely. “She’s fine like she is for now.”

“All right.” From the corner of her eye, Celia could see the Light Twin giving her and his brother a speculative look. But he said nothing more. He did, however, reach over and put a hand on her hip, adding his calm and comforting presence to his brother’s energy.

Between the two of them, Celia felt safe and her tears tapered off. Dios, what was wrong with her? She’d been so emotional lately and that really wasn’t like her.

But then again, she didn’t usually go through two or three life threatening experiences in as many days, she reminded herself. Just in the past three days she’d nearly drowned in the bathing pool, had been attacked by an enormous V’ranna, had nearly drowned a second time and frozen to death in the icy indoor river of the grotto, and had been in a near-death experience in a spaceship. So finding herself a little more tearful than usual wasn’t really that surprising. It was a wonder she wasn’t a nervous wreck at this point!

At last Fierce stirred beside her.

“All right, sweetheart,” he rumbled. “Time to get your harness back on—we’re about to start our descent.”

Celia straightened up and Hold helped her with the harness.

“All right, my lady?” he murmured in her ear.

“Yes, thank you.” Celia swiped at her eyes and looked up at him gratefully. She was surprised at how happy she was to hear him use his sweet nickname for her again. She only wished that the grumpy Dark Twin would call her “lelka” as well. Or did she?

She cast a sidelong glance at Fierce. Was she still mad at him? She honestly couldn’t tell. He could be so infuriating. And yet, the way he had held her and comforted her without saying a word had been sweet beyond words—especially when he hadn’t wanted to give her up to Hold until the last minute.

She decided to reserve judgment about Fierce for later. In the meantime, she just hoped he could land the crippled ship safely without any more life-threatening incidents.

It seemed she wasn’t destined to go home just yet.

27

CELIA

The landing was surprisingly smooth, but halfway through it a strange voice came through the ship’s short range communications array.

“Unidentified ship, you are entering JoCosta Twelve territory,” it informed them and added, “Long live the Goddess—she of the Shining Heart who shall be venerated forever!”

“Uh, yes—we’re aware. Our ship has been badly damaged by a destabilized wormhole—our life support is compromised,” Hold answered, since Fierce was busy flying the ship. “Please grant us permission to land and seek repairs.”

“Very well. You may land but I cannot promise our repair facility will deal with you. That will depend on your affiliations and if your hearts shine with the light of the Goddess,” the strange voice told them.

It had an odd accent—it almost sounded Russian or maybe German to Celia. She was glad that Kat had gotten her a shot of Translation Bacteria before she had left the Mother Ship—otherwise she wouldn’t understand it at all.

“What the fuck does that mean—‘if our hearts shine with the light of the Goddess?’” Fierce muttered as he guided the ship in towards the small brown planet below them.

Hold shrugged.

“I don’t know, Brother. It sounds like we’re going to have to play along with whatever they’ve got going on if we want them to do the repairs.” He raised his voice and spoke to the ship. “Analysis of JoCosta Twelve—specifically inhabitants and customs,” he said.

There was a moment of silence and then the ship said,

“JoCosta Twelve is completely owned and exclusively inhabited by the religious order The Sisterhood of Peace. They worship the Goddess of the Shining Heart. No other information available.”

“Well, great—guess we’re going in blind,” Fierce muttered. “Just our luck.”

“Our luck has been exceptionally bad lately—or good, if you consider that we’re all still alive despite the dangerous situations we’ve been through recently,” Hold remarked. “The fact that this brotherhood worships a goddess, like we do, seems like a good sign to me.”

“I just hope they’ll do the fucking repairs,” was Fierce’s reply. “Hang on—we’re about to touch down and I don’t know how functional the landing equipment is.”

They landed with a muted crunch that sounded ominous to Celia, but at least they were on the ground, all in one piece.

“Before we go out there, we ought to have a plan,” Hold remarked. “We should—”

“Warning—only one minute of oxygen remaining,” the ship’s voice informed them.

“Sorry, Brother—looks like we’ll have to make it up as we go along.” Fierce was up and out of his seat in a flash, heading for the hatch at the side of the ship. He threw it open and a sweet, fresh breeze blew in, ruffling all of their hair and making Celia inhale deeply with delight.

“Oh—it smells amazing!” she exclaimed as she unfastened her harness.

Hold had his head lifted, sniffing the air.

“It’s very fresh—no pollutants at all,” he remarked. “The natives must take care of their environment.”

“You two—come see,” they heard Fierce call to them.

Hold stood back courteously so Celia could go first and they filed out to stand by the hatch where Fierce was.

The Dark Twin was surveying the landscape which appeared to be rolling hills covered in tall purple grass, dotted with pink and white wildflowers. In the distance was a forest of tall purple and white trees and rising above it all was a single mountain—or maybe just a really big hill, Celia thought. It seemed to have some kind of plateau at the top, though it was difficult to be sure at this distance. The sky was a clear, pale pink filled with enormous, puffy white clouds.

“It’s beautiful but I don’t see any sign of habitation,” Hold said, frowning.

“I do—look.” Fierce pointed.

Coming up to them from the far side of the ship were three of the strangest looking people Celia had ever seen in her life. Two of them were carrying the third on their shoulders and they were headed right for the open hatch.

“What are those—satyrs?” she asked, shielding her eyes to see better.

“What’s a ‘satyr’?” Fierce asked, frowning as he put one hand to the blaster on his hip.

“Oh, it’s from Greek mythology—a satyr was supposed to have the bottom half of a goat and the top half of a man,” Celia explained. “That’s kind of what they look like—the two that are on either side,” she added. “The one in the middle that they’re carrying…I don’t know.”

“Quiet now—they can probably hear us,” Hold murmured. He had also strapped on a blaster and he and Fierce both took a step forward, closing ranks in front of Celia.

“Dios, you two—I can’t see!” she complained.

“Just keeping you safe,” Fierce growled. “Stay where you are until we’re sure they don’t want a fight.”

Celia sighed but stayed where she was. She was able to see only by looking between their arms, but she watched as well as she could as the three strange people approached.

The two on either side did, indeed look like satyrs. They had muscular legs with backwards bending knees covered in shaggy brown fur. The legs ended in shiny black cloven hooves that looked as though they had been polished to a high shine. From the waist up they had the bare, muscular torsos of men. Their faces were also humanoid—well, mostly. Because though they had human-looking features, their pupils were slotted like a goat’s. They also had curling ram’s horns on either side of their heads and their long, shaggy hair matched the fur on their legs.

There was one final detail that Celia was able to see as they came forward—but at first she wasn’t sure what she was seeing. The two goat people both had long, thick, dark red things dangling from their groins which swayed when they walked.

Are those…no, they can’t be! she thought as she watched them walk. But as they got closer, she became more and more sure. The long, dark red things were the goat men’s cocks and they were absolutely enormous!

Riding on the shoulders of the two goat men was a third person—this was the one Celia wasn’t sure about. It appeared to be a woman wearing a long white, gauzy silk gown with two slits in the front which showed her large breasts. The breasts had bright blue nipples and they jiggled with every step the goat men carriers took. But the woman was wearing a kind of mask—it looked to Celia like a golden sun with rays shooting out in all directions—so it was impossible to see her face. She also had hooves instead of feet—tiny dainty cloven ones that had been painted a shiny gold.

At last the strange trio reached the hatch of the ship.

“Stop!” the woman called, her voice slightly muffled by the golden mask.

The two goat men halted immediately.

Now that the three of them were close enough, Celia could see a few details she’d missed earlier. For instance, it was clear the masked woman wasn’t just riding on the two male’s bare shoulders—they had a kind of wicker harness which strapped to their backs and shoulders and formed a seat for her to sit on.

It was a very strange looking contraption but the woman seemed perfectly at ease as she sat on her makeshift throne and looked down at them. She lifted her mask at last, showing a slightly elongated face with a long nose that looked almost like a horse’s. On her forehead was the tiniest stub of a spiraling white horn and her eyes were huge and golden with extremely long lashes.

Celia stared up at her and thought, If a unicorn was a person—that’s what she looks like.

“Visitors to JoCosta Twelve, I am La’ver’na, Priestess to the Goddess of the Shining Heart,” she informed them in a voice that had a slight neigh in it. “Please state your business here on our lovely world. We do not usually allow outsiders to stay here unless they are seeking to join our order.”

“We just want to get our ship repaired,” Fierce told her. “We went through a destabilized wormhole and got thrown out here, far from our destination.”

“We’re hundreds of thousands of light years from home and we’re hoping you can help us get back,” Hold said. “We have plenty of credit to pay for repairs,” he added.

The unicorn woman waved a hand at him.

“We do not accept credit here—though we do have a top-of-the-line repair facility. Many ships are sent here by the wormhole, which opens on to hundreds of galaxies and destabilizes itself every two hours on the hour.”

“Are you serious? You’re saying it stabilizes and destabilizes itself all the time?” Fierce demanded.

La’ver’na nodded her head in a queenly manner.

“That it does, stranger. The cycles of the wormhole have brought us many visitors…and many new members of our order—the Sisterhood of Peace.”

“Well if you won’t accept credit, how can we pay for repairs?” Hold asked. “Maybe you’d like us to work to pay off the debt?” he offered. “My brother and I are strong. And I’m also a healer—if you have anyone who is sick and needs to be tended—”

“We have our own healers,” the priestess interrupted. “And my horn has healing powers, of course.” She touched the tiny white spiral horn in the center of her forehead lightly. “Your services will not be required. But I am afraid we cannot fix your ship—our facilities are only for the use of those who join us and become members of the Sisterhood of Peace.”

“What? That’s fucking ridiculous!” Fierce growled.

“We really just need to get home to the Kindred Mothership,” Hold said, shooting his brother a warning glance. “If you can’t fix our ship, maybe you can allow us to use your long-distance communicator? I mean, if you have one?” he added hopefully.

La’ver’na shook her head.

“I fear we possess no such capabilities. Our communications array does not extend past our own planet. We have no need to speak to anyone outside our own community.”

“Then what in the Seven Hells are we supposed to do?” Fierce demanded. “We’re stranded here!”

“I fear I cannot help you.” The priestess shrugged, clearly unconcerned. “Come, my steeds—we must away,” she remarked and reached out to tap her two goat men on the tops of their heads.

Celia couldn’t believe the unicorn woman was just going to leave them stranded—they needed to get home! She’d been standing silently all this time, but now she felt she had to speak up.

“Wait!” she exclaimed, and pushed her way out from between Fierce and Hold. “Wait, please!”

The priestess tapped her men on the tops of their horned heads again and they swung back around so that she was facing them.

“Yes?” she said, lifting an eyebrow at Celia. “What is it you wish, little goddess?”

“Oh, uh…” Celia cleared her throat. “I wanted to ask, what if we joined you? I mean, what if we became members of the Sisterhood of Peace? Would you fix our ship then?”

“Of course we would.” The Priestess gave her a radiant smile. “We would fix your ship so that you could spread the light of the Goddess of the Shining Heart to all the universe!”

“Then we’d like to join,” Celia said quickly. “As long as we’re allowed to leave as soon as our ship is repaired so we can, uh, spread the Goddess’s light.”

La’ver’na gave them all a critical look.

“Well, you come in the correct numbers, at least—a goddess must have at least two worshippers—though of course, more is better.”

“Um…worshippers?” Celia asked, looking up to catch Hold and Fierce’s eyes. Hold looked intrigued and Fierce was frowning, but neither of them had said anything against the plan of joining the religious order yet.

“Why yes, little goddess.” La’ver’na smiled benevolently. “I myself have twelve males who worship me. These two steeds, C’lavine and L’orngin are only two of them. Tell me…” She leaned forward and looked at Celia intently. “Do these males give you pleasure? Sexual pleasure?”

“Well, uh…yes. Yes, they do,” Celia admitted. She could feel her cheeks getting hot as she remembered the things she and Hold and Fierce had done together the night before.

“I see.” The priestess nodded and turned her attention to Hold and Fierce. “And you two—do you worship your goddess often and well?”

“Worship her in what way?” Hold asked carefully.

“With your bodies, of course—with your fingers and your tongues and your cocks! What other way is there to worship a goddess?” La’ver’na demanded.

“They do—they do all of that,” Celia lied recklessly, before either of the big warriors could answer. “They keep me very happy and they’re uh, extremely skilled. That’s why I only need two of them—not twelve,” she added, improvising some.

“I see…I see…” The unicorn priestess nodded thoughtfully, her tiny spiral horn winking like a star on her forehead. “Very well,” she said at last. “We shall accept you for a trial period, during which time we will fix your ship. If at the end of the trial when your ship is fixed, you wish to join the Sisterhood of Peace, we will make you full members and you can go back to your home world and spread the light of the Goddess to all who will listen.”

“That sounds wonderful!” Celia said gratefully. She clasped her hands together at her heart. “I promise, we’ll do our very best to learn your ways so we can spread the Goddess’s light.”

“In that case, you’d best get started. As these two are your only worshippers, they must also be your steeds…er, what is your name, little goddess? I fear I did not catch it earlier,” La’ver’na said.

“I’m Celia and this is Hold and this is Fierce,” Celia said, making introductions for all of them.

“A pleasure to meet you all. Now Hold and Fierce, step down onto the ground and offer your little goddess your shoulders to ride upon.”

Hold and Fierce shared a glance over Celia’s head, but neither one said a word. Instead, they stepped down from the shuttle to the grassy ground and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Fierce on the left and Hold on the right.

“Very good. Now, little goddess, be so good as to seat yourself on the shoulders of your steeds,” the priestess instructed. “Later we can have a harness and a goddess seat made for them so they can carry you properly, but for now you must ride upon them as they are.”

“I, uh, don’t mind walking,” Celia offered. “If you want me to wait to ride on them until we have a, uh goddess seat made.” It seemed to her that riding on both the guys’ shoulders was going to be a precarious business. They were both so tall, her head was going to be almost nine feet up in the air if she sat on them.

But the unicorn priestess was shaking her head angrily at the idea.

“Most certainly not! As a divine representation of the Goddess of the Shining Heart, you must be treated like a goddess—which means that your feet must never touch the ground! Now mount yourself upon their shoulders and let us see how they function as your steeds.”

So there was no choice but for Celia to seat herself—very carefully and very awkwardly—upon Hold’s and Fierce’s shoulders. Luckily they were almost the same height—Fierce was just a little bit taller—so it wasn’t too uneven.

Without asking, Fierce wrapped his arm around her left leg and Hold wrapped his arm around her right. Celia liked that—she didn’t feel quite so wobbly with them holding her firmly. She didn’t quite know what to do with her hands, though. Eventually she reached around and placed her fingertips lightly on their broad shoulders, the better to keep her balance.

“Very good,” La’ver’na, who had been watching the whole operation, pronounced. “Now follow me.”

“What about the ship?” Fierce growled, holding his ground. “Are we just supposed to leave it here in the middle of this field?”

He pointed at the long range shuttle and Celia saw that it’s formerly sleek silver hull was covered in dents—it looked like an angry giant with a hammer had gone after it!

“It will be taken to our repair shop,” the priestess assured him. “I promise our mechanics will make it their top priority. In the meantime, the three of you must come with me. You must be properly dressed if you are to be inducted into the Sisterhood. Now come.”

She tapped her two “steeds” on the tops of their heads and they began moving off together, the wicker seat with La’ver’na mounted on their shoulders swaying slightly with each step.

“Okay, easy Brother—we have to stay in perfect sync with each other,” Hold murmured. “So don’t get ahead of me.”

“I’ll be fine,” Fierce growled. “Come on—they’re leaving us!”

He started out and Hold had to hurry to keep up. For just a moment, Celia felt like she was either going to be torn in two or fall off—she was so high up in the air it would have been a nasty tumble.

“Whoa!” she exclaimed, swaying as she looked for something to hold on to.

“Sorry, my lady,” Hold said. “Come on—try again, Brother.”

“All right,” Fierce muttered and added, “Sorry, Celia.”

“It’s okay—just don’t dump me off—it’s a long way to fall!” Celia told them.

They started off again and this time the two of them finally got their pacing together and got moving, following La’ver’na down the rolling purple hill towards the forest in the distance.

It occurred to Celia that the repairs to the ship might take some time—she wasn’t going to get home to reunite with Peter any time soon. Well, he would just have to wait for her and hopefully she would get home in time for the wedding.

She had no idea what she was going to go through before she finally got back to Earth.

28

CELIA

“Welcome to our compound,” La’ver’na said, as they left the rolling grasslands and entered the shade of the forest. The trees were huge—much bigger than oak trees, Celia thought. In fact, many of them were as big as the giant sequoia trees that grew in California.

That was where the resemblance ended, though. They didn’t grow straight up—they had knotted, twisty trunks that grew in all different directions with branches that spread in a wide circumference. Their barks were papery and white, like a birch tree but the leaves were a dark, rich purple with hints of royal blue and scarlet, depending on how they caught the light.

But there was more than the trees to look at. As they got deeper into the forest, they met other men and their “goddesses” going back and forth. Most of the women rode on a wicker goddess seat on their mens’ shoulders, like La’ver’na was. But some rode in woven sedan chairs with long poles attached, and some were simply being carried in a man’s arms.

Celia thought most of the women being carried around this way looked happy and serene—as did the men who were carrying them. Many of them greeted La’ver’na, who had put her golden sun mask back on, with a bow of the head and a reverent, “Good day to you, Priestess.”

La’ver’na acknowledged them regally with a nod of her head but said not a word until they reached the largest tree Celia had ever seen. Its massive trunk was as big around as an office building and its enormous branches rose so high they got lost in the pale pink of the sky. Its deep purple leaves looked to be the size of blankets to Celia, who was craning her neck to try and see the whole thing.

“This is the Mother Tree.” La’ver’na’s voice was hushed and reverent. “This is where we live and where many of us work. You will be staying here on First Branch, which is where the dormitory for our new recruits is located. Some of your work may be located on Second or Third Branch and our communal dining area is located on Fourth Branch, but above that level, you must not go until you have become full members of the Sisterhood of Peace.”

“Don’t go above the fourth branch—got it.” Celia nodded gravely. “That, uh, shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Very good—obedience and adherence to our laws is very important for new recruits.” La’ver’na nodded. “Well, let us ascend to First Branch so I can get you properly dressed and show you to your dormitory. I will also explain our way of living, so that you may begin to school yourselves in the lore of the Goddess of the Shining Heart.”

“Um, okay but…how do we get up there?” Celia asked doubtfully. Even the distance up to the first massive branch—which was itself thicker than a good sized tree trunk—was at least fifty feet off the ground. She wasn’t one to be afraid of heights, but she didn’t think she would be able to get a good enough grip on the papery white bark to climb all that way. Back home at the gym, she never did well on the rock-climbing wall and there they had a harness to keep you safe. Celia didn’t see any safety harnesses here.

But La’ver’na seemed to have an answer that didn’t involve climbing.

“We have sky-lifters of course. Follow me,” she said.

The priestess led them a little way around the trunk where there were long, narrow wooden platforms which had ropes on either end. La’ver’na tapped her goat men’s heads and they knelt smoothly as one in front of one of the platforms, enabling her to step directly onto the narrow length of wood. Then they removed the goddess seat harness and one of them tucked it away in a bag which he slung over his shoulder. Taking their positions on either side of the priestess, each of them seized a rope and began to pull, which caused the narrow rectangular platform to begin rising up the side of the tree trunk.

“Hurry and come up,” La’ver’na called down to Celia. “And mind you two—don’t let your goddess’s feet touch the ground,” she added, giving Fierce and Hold a stern look.

“I don’t think we’re up to that kneeling trick—we’d need to practice before we can do it without dumping Celia on the ground,” Hold said uncertainly.

“Here—I’ve got her.” Keeping one arm around her thigh, Fierce reached up with his other hand and caught Celia by the waist.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, as he swung her down into his arms and then placed her feet on the nearest wooden platform.

“Are you all right, my lady?” Hold asked, coming to stand on her right.

“I’m fine—I’m just not used to riding around on people’s shoulders, that’s all,” Celia said.

“Well, it looks like you’re going to have to get used to it since your dainty feet can’t touch the ground as long as we’re here, goddess,” Fierce said, smirking at her.

Celia smiled back tentatively. It seemed they were going to forget about the fight they’d had earlier and just go back to normal—which honestly, was a relief. She hated arguing with the Dark Twin and much preferred getting along with him—even if he did get her temper up sometimes.

“I hope you don’t mind that I told La’ver’na we would join them and, er, become part of the “Sisterhood,” she said in a low voice as the twins each grabbed a rope and began to pull. The platform rose with surprising smoothness, so that even though it was narrow, she didn’t feel in any danger of falling.

“Not a problem, my lady. It seems to be working out well so far. And it’s not like we had much of a choice if we wanted to get the ship fixed,” Hold remarked. Celia couldn’t help admiring the way his biceps bulged and his back muscles worked as he pulled the rope.

“I’m waiting to see what exactly they want us to do before I decide how I feel about it,” Fierce remarked. “But I agree that we didn’t have much choice in the matter.” He also looked amazing pulling on the rope, Celia decided. She could definitely get used to watching this display every time they went up and down the massive Mother Tree.

Then she felt guilty—she shouldn’t be enjoying the sight of the two huge, muscular Kindred when she was engaged to Peter. But she tried to put her fiancé out of her mind—it wasn’t like she could get back to him any time soon.

“Well, I couldn’t think of anything else to do and I didn’t want her to just leave us stranded,” she murmured. “I’m sorry you guys ended up being my, uh, worshippers though.”

“We don’t mind,” Hold said and gave her a smile. “Didn’t I tell you that we Kindred believe that every woman has a divine spark in her—a little part of the Goddess that is worthy to be worshipped and cherished? I believe these people may have many of the same beliefs.”

“Possibly.” Fierce shot the platform with the unicorn priestess and her two goat men a guarded look. “Though I have a feeling there’s more to their beliefs than just worshipping women.”

“I guess we’ll find out,” Hold said with a shrug that did amazing things to his shoulder muscles. “Oh look—here we are at First Branch. I wonder how we get off without the platform falling back down?”

“Look—there’s a place to tie off the ropes. See?” Fierce said. Indeed, there were two wooden poles with hooks attached to them where the ropes could be wound to temporarily stabilize the platform so they could all step off.

Celia wondered apprehensively if she was going to have to ride on their shoulders again. She hadn’t minded it down on the ground, but they were fifty feet up in the air now and the pathway that wound around the trunk of the tree was rather narrow.

However, when she looked over, she saw that La’ver’na and her two goat men were all walking.

“Good—I see you navigated the sky-lifter very well,” the priestess said as she came up to them. “When you reach the branch which is your destination and disembark, please send the lifter back down to the bottom of the Mother Tree’s trunk so that others may use it,” she added, speaking to Hold and Fierce.

“Of course, Priestess,” Hold said, nodding his head respectfully. Fierce nodded as well and the two of them set about untwisting the ropes from the hooks and lowering the narrow wooden platform back down to the forest floor.

“So we’re allowed to walk here instead of being carried?” Celia asked while they waited for the guys to finish.

“Yes, for here our feet are not touching the earth—they are touching the Mother Tree, which is blessed by the Goddess of the Shining Heart. It is good and right to walk along her beautiful branches and feel her life flowing through you,” La’ver’na answered. “Do you feel it?”

“Well, actually…yes, I do.” Celia nodded, looking down at her feet. She felt a soft thrumming coming up from the soles of the soft black flats Kat had sent her to wear along with the outfits she’d provided.

“You will feel it even more when you remove your shoes and are properly dressed in the silk of the holy spiders,” the priestess told her. “In fact, may I ask you to remove them now? The Mother Tree should be experienced barefoot in order for her power to flow through you properly.”

“Oh, of course,” Celia said, though she was wondering if she had heard the unicorn woman correctly—holy spiders?

She slipped off her shoes and picked them up. Tucking them under one arm, she took several steps barefoot and was surprised to find that the papery white bark of the tree was smooth and warm under her feet. It almost felt alive—like she was standing on a living creature.

“Oh—I do feel it!” she exclaimed as the muted tingling became more pronounced. It seemed to travel from the soles of her feet up her legs and thighs and find its way straight to her pussy, where it acted almost like a vibrator set on its lowest setting.

“It feels good, right?” La’ver’na gave her a knowing smile. “It affects males as well, but its strongest effect is on women. It is most effective in bringing a goddess into her full sexual powers.”

“I…I guess I can see that.” Celia nodded. Dios, just standing on the tree was making her feel alive all over…not to mention aroused. The vibration had reached her nipples now and she could feel them going tight under the thin blouse she was wearing.

And since she wasn’t wearing a bra, because of the float dots Kat had given her, that meant that the points of her nipples were becoming extremely visible through the cotton fabric.

“I see that the Mother Tree is already working on you,” La’ver’na said, nodding at Celia’s breasts. “As she does on me as well,” she added, nodding down at her own bright blue nipples. Celia wondered if that was some kind of dye or if the priestess really did have blue nipples. She had noticed that the other women they had seen down on the ground also had blue nipples—maybe it was something they all ate or drank here that turned their nipples blue?

Hold and Fierce finished lowering the sky-lifter they had used and came to stand on either side of Celia.

“Ah, I see your worshippers are back,” La’ver’na remarked. “They must also remove their shoes and clothing—as well as their weapons. But I will take you to the Mistress of Silks first.”

As she spoke, the two goat men came up to her and looked at her silently, as though waiting for directions. Celia couldn’t help noticing that both of them had large, throbbing erections that rose almost to their navels—apparently the Mother Tree’s vibrations affected them too.

“Ah yes, my darlings,” La’ver’na said affectionately, turning to them. “This journey is at an end and I do not require your help to lead these three to their destination. So I will bid you goodbye for now, until we meet again.”

The two goat men bowed silently and then did something which surprised Celia. Both of them bent down at the same time and each sucked one of the unicorn priestess’s bright blue nipples into his mouth.

“Mmm…yes! Suck hard, my darlings!” La’ver’na moaned, stroking their shaggy heads. “Take your reward.” And then she reached down and grasped their thick cocks—one in each hand—and began to slowly stroke them as they sucked her.

The goat men continued sucking her nipples for quite some time as she caressed their thick red shafts. Celia tried not to stare, but she couldn’t help feeling her own nipples getting tighter and tighter from the tree’s vibrations. Her pussy was feeling extremely hot and swollen too.

Was this some kind of power display the unicorn priestess was putting on? Or was it a custom here in the Sisterhood of Peace? She didn’t know but it was extremely awkward watching the unicorn priestess and the goat men pleasuring each other—like watching some weird fantasy porn come to life.

Finally the goat men appeared to have had enough. They rose, licking their lips, and La’ver’na released their still-erect cocks. Then both of them bowed and trotted away, their hooves making tap-tap-tapping sounds on the wood of the enormous tree branch.

“What the fuck was that all about?” Fierce asked bluntly. He and Hold had been standing there watching too, but neither of them had said anything until now.

“That was our custom here in the Sisterhood of Peace,” La’ver’na told him. “Whenever a journey starts or ends, a goddess and her worshippers take pleasure in each other. The goddess must offer her nipples to be sucked so that her worshippers can taste her pleasure drops and in turn, she strokes their shafts to show them that she appreciates their service to her. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement,” she added. “Since it gives pleasure to all and brings a goddess and her worshippers closer together.”

“I can, uh, see that,” Celia said and cleared her throat. “But are…are we supposed to do that too?”

“Why of course not,” La’ver’na said. “Not dressed like that anyway,” she added and the relief Celia had only begun to feel was immediately crushed. “I must get you into some of our holy silks—as befits a goddess,” she told Celia. “As for your males, they may go naked or wear a loin-cloth—whichever you choose for them.”

“Oh, uh, I think we’ll take the loin cloth,” Celia said quickly, casting a glance at Hold and Fierce, who had bemused expressions on their faces.

“Very good. Then let’s get you all dressed. Come with me.” And the priestess led them further along the twisting tree branch, which was so wide it was like a road.

Large structures had been carved from the wood at intervals and La’ver’na led them into one of them.

“This is where we house our silks that the holy spiders spin for us,” she said. “Enter that you may be arrayed as befits those who worship the Goddess of the Shining Heart.”

“Er, thank you.” Celia nodded awkwardly and they all went into the wooden structure which looked like it had been carved out of a giant knot in the tree branch.

Inside, it was a bit like being in a log cabin, since all the walls were warm, exposed wood. It was lit by glowing golden moss on the walls which reminded Celia a little of the jewel moss they had collected for Kat—which was still in its stasis chamber back in the ship.

There was a wooden counter and behind it, a small doorway that led deeper into the little shop—if that was what it was, she thought.

“Hello! Mistress of Silks?” La’ver’na called.

At once another unicorn woman swept through the door and came to stand behind the counter. She looked a lot like La’ver’na except her eyes were a gorgeous sky blue instead of gold. Also, her hair was a flowing, curly mane that hung down to the small of her back instead of being up in a bun.

“Yes, Priestess? How may I help you?” she asked respectfully.

“These three are new converts,” La’ver’na said, sweeping out one arm gracefully to indicate Celia and Hold and Fierce. “They must be dressed accordingly.”

“But of course—all of you come with me.” The Mistress of Silks nodded briskly and went back through the doorway.

Shrugging at each other, Fierce and Hold and Celia followed, with the two Kindred keeping her between them for safety. La’ver’na brought up the rear and soon all of them were in the back room.

It was a much larger space than Celia had expected and hooks studded the wooden walls. Hanging from each hook was a light, gauzy piece of silk big enough to be a dress like the one La’ver’na was wearing. The silk came in many different colors—white, black, green, gray, blue, yellow, red, and orange. But there was no purple—maybe because it would make it too easy to blend in with the enormous leaves of the Mother Tree, Celia speculated.

“Now choose your color—I think a lovely red would look good on you,” the Mistress of Silks said to her. She lifted a gauzy piece of silk off a hook that had been dyed a deep scarlet and held it up under Celia’s chin. “Yes—just perfect!” she exclaimed.

Celia smiled.

“Thank you—red is my favorite color!”

“Because it looks so good on you, of course! Try it on, my dear! Do try it!” The Mistress of Silks clapped her hands excitedly.

“Oh, uh—here? Is there a dressing room?” Celia looked around uncertainly.

“Oh—are you modest? I’m afraid you’ll need to get over that,” La’ver’na told her. “Here in the Sisterhood of Peace, we display the bodies the Goddess gave us with pride.”

“Oh, uh…of course.” Since there was nothing else she could do, Celia started stripping as quickly as she could. She just wanted to get the silk dress thing on as fast as possible so she wouldn’t be naked for long.

She got down to her panties and was going to leave them on, but La’ver’na stopped her with a frown.

“Wait—you cannot have anything between yourself and the holy silk!” she commanded. “Besides, how can your worshippers pleasure you with a barrier in the way?”

“Oh, um…I guess you’re right.” Feeling more nervous than ever, Celia pushed down her panties and stepped out of them. She could feel Hold and Fierce looking at her and she knew that they had seen her naked before, but that had been in the dim privacy of the tent. Here she just felt exposed. But at last, the Mistress of Silks dropped the scarlet piece of silk over her head.

It wasn’t really made like a regular dress, Celia thought as she put it on. It was more like a rectangular tablecloth with a hole in the middle for her head. Her arms stuck out the sides and the Mistress of Silks wrapped a golden sash with long silky tassels around her waist to secure it.

“Now then—let me just arrange the worship slits,” she murmured to herself and began fussing with the front of the dress. Celia bit her lip as she saw that there were indeed slits in the red gauze gown—two in the front for her breasts and one that went right up the front of the dress, from the bottom hem all the way to her waist. The Mistress of Silks opened all of them so that Celia’s breasts and pussy were completely on display.

“There now! Perfect!” The Mistress of Silks stepped back, smiling at the result.

“Um…” Celia fought the urge to cover herself. It felt so unnatural and wrong to be so exposed like this! Especially in front of strangers she didn’t even know! “Do…do I need to wear it like this all the time?” she asked La’ver’na and the Mistress of Silks, both of whom were admiring her in the new gown. Hold and Fierce were clearly admiring her too—the looks on their faces made Celia’s cheeks get hot with a blush.

“Well, not all of the time, but it’s best to give your worshippers free and easy access to your body,” La’ver’na told her. “That way they can pleasure you and also suck the pleasure drops from your nipples when you begin or end a journey with them.”

“Uh, pleasure drops?” Celia shook her head.

“Yes—pleasure drops. They are tiny drops of sweetness which a goddess’s breasts produce,” La’ver’na explained, rather impatiently—as though she already ought to know this.

“But…my breasts don’t produce anything like that!” Celia protested.

“They will my dear—they should be producing them even now,” the priestess informed her. She frowned and looked closer at Celia’s breasts. “Hmm, I don’t understand why your nipples haven’t turned blue yet. But they should in time, once you start producing regularly.”

“Really?” Celia looked down at her breasts apprehensively but her nipples were still just the same warm pinkish brown color they had always been.

“Indeed. The energy from the Mother Tree causes all females who walk in her branches to make pleasure drops,” La’ver’na said. “In fact—why not let your worshippers suck your nipples now, to see if you are making them yet?”

“Oh, I…” Celia felt frozen to the spot. “You mean…right now?” she asked weakly.

“Well, as soon as they get dressed in their loin cloths, anyway. Both of you, please remove your clothing and your boots,” La’ver’na said to Hold and Fierce. “And your weapons as well. We do not use such things in the Mother Tree. They will be locked away until your ship is repaired and you are ready to leave and spread the light of the Goddess of the Shining Heart to all.”

Fierce clearly didn’t like this a bit. He shot the unicorn priestess a dark look but said nothing as he and Hold stripped down to the skin.

It was the first time Celia had seen them naked, and she couldn’t help staring. They were both completely mouthwatering—tall and muscular with narrow hips and broad shoulders. As for their cocks…well, she tried not to look, but it was difficult not to stare at such large equipment.

La’ver’na had no such compunction, however.

“See how large their cocks are!” she exclaimed to the Mistress of Silks. “I can see now why you only need two worshippers, little goddess,” she added to Celia. “Such fine shafts are not often seen on males without the blood of Capricornis—the Great Father He-Goat in them.”

“Oh, um, I guess not,” Celia remarked. She wondered if, now that they were barefoot, her guys would be affected by the vibrations from the Mother Tree. Would they get hard, like the two goat men who had been serving La’ver’na would? She didn’t dare to look and find out.

“Now let us dress them in scarlet too, to compliment their goddess.” The Mistress of Silks fluttered about the room and found two much smaller pieces of red silk to give to Hold and Fierce.

If Celia’s gown was the size of a tablecloth, the guys only got table napkins. The skimpy pieces of scarlet silk tied around their waists and hung down in the front, barely covering their large cocks. But Celia supposed it was better than being naked like the goat men—which was their only other option.

“Now then—don’t you all look lovely!” The Mistress of Silks clapped her hands excitedly. “Only see, Priestess—they match so perfectly!”

“They are indeed a gratifying sight,” La’ver’na agreed coolly. “And now that all of you are dressed correctly, you may begin to act in a manner which honors the Goddess,” she went on. “Celia, my little goddess, bare your breasts that your worshippers may taste you.”

“Oh, uh, what?” Celia had surreptitiously closed the slits in the front of her gown—not that it did much good, since the gauzy silk was basically see-through. But it was better than having her bare breasts poke through.

“You heard me!” La’ver’na snapped. “You have been here in the Mother Tree for quite long enough to begin producing the pleasure drops that all goddesses must make. You two,” she added, gesturing to Hold and Fierce. “Suck your goddess’s breasts and draw the pleasure drops from her nipples.”

Fierce took a step towards Celia and Hold raised his eyebrows at her in a silent question, Is this all right with you, my lady? he seemed to be saying.

Hesitantly, Celia nodded. Fumbling a little with the slippery silk, she opened the slits, baring her breasts and nipples for both of them. Really, what else could she do?

Fierce and Hold bent down to reach her, and she heard the Dark Twin breathe in her ear,

“I don’t want to hear a damn thing about you cheating on your stupid fiancé, lelka—you’re the one who got us into this!”

And then he sucked her right nipple deep into his hot mouth, just as Hold was doing the same to her left.

Celia tried not to moan, but the sensation of having both nipples sucked at the same time was intense. It seemed to be multiplied by the energy from the Mother Tree, which was sending muted but strong vibrations through her body which made her pussy feel so wet and hot and swollen she didn’t know what to do!

“Oh…ohhhh,” she sighed softly, and found that she was running her fingers through their hair. She could feel Hold circling her left nipple with his tongue while Fierce seemed intent on sucking the right one as hard and as deep as he could. “Oh, Hold…Fierce…” she moaned. “Feels so good!”

She was just beginning to wonder if she could come, just from having her nipples sucked, when La’ver’na said,

“Stop!” in a sharp voice.

The two big warriors stopped—rather reluctantly, Celia thought, and rose to stand on either side of her. This time she couldn’t stop herself from looking down at their cocks and it was clear they had enjoyed the nipple sucking as much as she had, since both of them were standing at attention.

“Very good,” the unicorn priestess said. “Now tell me—did either of you taste the pleasure drops? They should be faintly sweet and leave a tingling sensation on the tongue.”

Both Hold and Fierce shook their heads.

“Sorry, no,” Hold said apologetically. “Maybe our lady just needs a little more time to, uh, produce the drops,” he added.

La’ver’na frowned.

“And her nipples are still not blue. This is most irregular! Most females begin producing the drops at once, as soon as they step foot in the Mother Tree.” She scowled at Celia, as though this was her fault. “You must make the pleasure drops in order to join the Sisterhood!”

“Uh, I’m sorry…” Celia held out her hands. It seemed like a strange thing to apologize for, but her inability to produce the sweet pleasure drops was clearly troubling to the unicorn priestess.

“Never mind—sometimes, very rarely—they take time to come,” La’ver’na said. “You’ll need to have your worshippers sucking your breasts and stimulating your pussy constantly until they do—it’s very important!”

“Oh, well…of course.” Celia nodded her head meekly, though the idea of having both her guys constantly sucking on her nipples and “stimulating” her all the time made her cheeks feel hot.

And what about Peter? whispered a little voice in her head. I thought you weren’t going to cheat on him anymore!

Celia pushed the little voice away. They couldn’t help what they had to do in order to survive! So she was going to at least try not to feel guilty for something she couldn’t control, she told herself.

“Very good. Let me take you to the dormitory where you will be spending your nights until you are inducted as a full member of the Sisterhood,” La’ver’na said. She looked at the Mistress of Silks. “Thank you for your help, as always.”

“Oh, anytime, Priestess!” The Mistress of Silks made a deep bow. “I’m always happy to dress new followers of the Goddess!”

“And you do a lovely job of it, too.” The unicorn priestess nodded her head regally and then gestured to Celia and her guys. “Come—let us go to the dormitory now.”

And she let them out of the small silk hut and back onto the broad road of First Branch.

29

FIERCE

Fierce couldn’t help thinking they’d landed in a damned awkward position—especially considering that Celia had announced her intentions to end their Claiming Period not three hours before. And all because she’d felt like she was cheating on that stupid, weak human fiancé of hers. How was she going to feel now that he and Hold were supposed to be sucking her tight nipples every chance they got?

Well, she was going to have to deal with it, he thought to himself with an inward growl. After all, she was the one who had volunteered the three of them to join this religious sect in the first place. So whatever happened, it wasn’t his and Hold’s fault.

Celia hadn’t protested any when they sucked her nipples, though. Fierce licked his lips—he could still taste her on his tongue! Her skin was smooth and slightly salty and the feeling of her slender fingers carding through his hair while he sucked her ripe nipple made him so fucking hard…

Speaking of that, he looked down and realized he was making a tent in the ridiculous scrap of red silk they’d given him to wear. Goddess damn it—that was fucking awkward!

Might as well go naked—it would draw less attention to the fact that I have a hard-on! he thought in disgust. Right now it was like he was literally waving a red flag to draw attention to his arousal.

Stop thinking about sucking Celia’s nipples—think about something else! Do flight coordinates and trajectories in your head, he ordered himself.

But no matter how difficult or complicated the coordinates and trajectories he dreamed up were, he could still feel his whole body thrumming with desire. Fuck—when was the last time he’d been so horny? Fierce didn’t know! And what could he do about it? Nothing. At least until he could find a place to be alone and jerk off…

“Hey, do you feel that?” Hold murmured, breaking his frustrated train of thought.

“Huh? Feel what” Fierce demanded.

“That. That kind of humming—it’s coming from the tree, I think.” Hold nodded down to the smooth, wooden road they were traveling on as the priestess lead them to the dormitory. “I didn’t notice it before I took off my boots, but now it’s really driving me crazy,” Hold admitted. “I think it’s some kind of special frequency that arouses desire.”

“Is that why I’m so fucking horny?” Fierce demanded. “Damn—it’s really working on me, too!”

“I wonder if it’s working on Celia?” Hold murmured. “We’ll have to ask her when we get a chance.”

Fierce was about to reply, but just then they reached a large opening in the tree trunk itself.

“This is the dormitory for new recruits to the Sisterhood,” La’ver’na told them. “Please…enter and be at home.”

So their conversation had to be cut short, but Fierce promised himself he would pick it up later. Hold might be onto something with his idea about a special horny frequency and he wanted to know more.

30

HOLD

The dormitory for new recruits seemed to be carved out of the trunk of the Mother Tree itself. It was a large, airy space with smooth wooden walls and luminescent golden moss hanging from the ceiling that illuminated the area with a soft glow.

Hold liked the smell of wood—it was a warm, growing scent and the tree’s vibrations seemed to awaken his whole body to the pleasure around him. He also loved the sounds of the enormous leaves whispering together in the wind. But he couldn’t help thinking there was something strange about the Sisterhood of Peace. Something was off, somehow, that he couldn’t quite put his finger on, as the humans said.

For now, though, they appeared to be stuck here—at least until their ship was fixed. And in the meantime, it seemed that they weren’t going to be immediately parted from Celia after all—which was good. Hold would rather be hundreds of thousands of light years from home and still have the curvy little Elite by his side, than be safely back in the Mother Ship without her. She was everything he wanted in a mate—maybe this time together in the Sisterhood of Peace would give her time to reconsider her decision to go back to Peter back on Earth.

That was what he hoped, anyway. He firmly believed that he and Fierce were a much better choice for her as mates. He just hoped that Celia would see it that way too, when they spent a little more time together.

31

CELIA

“This is the Dormitory and this is Ger’tha—the Guardian of Recruits,” La’ver’na announced, gesturing to another unicorn woman coming towards them.

This one seemed older to Celia—her mane had streaks of gray in it and she walked rather stiffly, her cloven hooves tap-tapping on the wooden floor. She also had a stern expression on her equine face as she looked them up and down.

“Hmm, new recruits are they? Only three of them? The little goddess has no other worshippers?” she asked, turning to the priestess.

“She has only the two but they have very large shafts, as you see.” La’ver’na gestured to Hold and Fierce, who both still had hard-ons, which were very visible under their scarlet silk loincloths. “Also, they seem eager to please her,” she added. “At least from what I have observed so far. You must tell me what you think, Ger’tha—after they’ve been with you for a while.”

“Very well—I’ve a place for them right over here,” the Guardian of Recruits said, nodding. “It’s a smaller alcove, but it should do.”

The entire large room was partitioned off into many private areas by long strips of dark cloth that hung from the ceiling. The effect was that of an ER where there were separate patient areas divided by curtains, Celia thought. But there was nothing sterile or cold about the dormitory—on the contrary, the fact that it was carved out of the living tree and lit by the golden, glowing moss made it seem warm and full of life.

As they passed several of the curtained off areas, Celia could hear noises that sounded like moans and groans coming from inside. At one of them, Ger’tha stopped and pulled back the end curtain, revealing an extremely large, round bed with four people on it.

But it wasn’t the strange bed Celia was looking at—it was the people and what they were doing.

One of them was a unicorn woman—more like a unicorn girl since she looked younger than either La’ver’na or Ger’tha. She was maybe around eighteen or nineteen, Celia guessed. She had pale skin and a long, straight platinum blonde mane. She had tiny breasts and large hips and thighs and the spiral horn in the center of her forehead was pearly white.

The unicorn girl was surrounded by three different goat men and she was servicing all of them at once.

“Dios!” Celia whispered, as she took in the details. One of the goat men was under the girl and she was sitting astride him with his thick cock thrusting up into her pussy. The second goat man was taking her from behind, clearly thrusting into her ass. The third was kneeling near the unicorn girl’s head and she was sucking his long, red shaft vigorously. In fact, he seemed to be coming because it looked like she was swallowing his seed.

“Now this is a success story,” La’ver’na announced. “This is little Sess’ely—she and her three worshippers came to us from JoCosta Prime, which is the home world of our species. Because Sess’ely was an innocent virgin, she was reluctant at first to let her worshippers pleasure her and stimulate her with their tongues and their cocks. As a result, it took some time for her breasts to begin making pleasure drops.”

“It…it did?” Celia asked. Her throat was almost too dry to talk. She couldn’t believe she was watching this—again, it was like a live action porno taking place right in front of them!

“Indeed—she had some silly notion that it was wrong to let her worshippers take her and fill her with their cocks and their seed. Didn’t you, Sess’ely, my love?” La’ver’na asked, addressing the unicorn girl.

The girl, whose name was apparently Sess’ely, finished swallowing and slipped the third goat man’s cock out of her mouth.

“Yes, Priestess,” she said shyly. “Oh…ah!” she added in a moan, since the other two goat men were still thrusting inside her.

“But once she got over that, her nipples turned blue and her breasts started producing the pleasure drops, as they ought to,” the unicorn priestess said.

She pointed and Celia could clearly see that the girl’s nipples were indeed the same bright blue as La’ver’na’s and the other unicorn women they had seen as well.

“Sometimes the Mother Tree’s vibrations are not enough—sometimes you must let your worshippers stimulate you in order to help your pleasure drops come in,” La’ver’na said. She smiled at Sess’ely. “Go on, my dear—keep worshipping the Goddess. Are you enjoying yourself now that you’ve finally allowed your worshippers to service you properly and fill you with their seed?”

“Yes, Priestess.” The girl nodded shyly. “Oh…oh! They…they hardly ever stop servicing me,” she panted as the two goat men still fucking her appeared to speed up their rhythm. “I was…was afraid to let them at first. But it feels so…so good! Ohhhhheeeeeiiiigh!”

The last exclamation had a definite neigh in it and she tossed back her head, making Celia think she might be coming. She saw Hold and Fierce exchange a knowing look—they must be thinking the same thing.

“Well, well—let us leave them to their business, Ger’tha.” La’ver’na remarked and the Guardian of the Recruits drew the curtain closed, leaving the four in semi-privacy.

“Now you know what we like to see—and what it takes to join the Sisterhood of Peace,” La’ver’na remarked. “Allowing your worshippers to service and pleasure you is pleasing to the Goddess. Ger’tha, do show us where our new recruits will be staying.”

Feeling shaken and unsure of what was going to happen next, Celia and Hold and Fierce followed the Guardian of Recruits as she led them to the far corner of the room, which was actually more of a rounded area than a corner. It was surrounded on three sides by curtains—the fourth side being the wall of the tree. Throwing back the end curtain, she revealed a cozy-looking alcove with a big round bed large enough for all three of them to share.

The bed itself seemed to be growing out of the Mother Tree, Celia saw. It looked like someone had carved the bed frame at the same time they hollowed out the room. The mattress looked somewhat lumpy, but when she sat on it, she found it was extremely comfortable. It seemed to be filled with soft, spongy things as big as her hand that were surprisingly firm and supportive under her.

“Do you like the living bed?” La’ver’na asked her as Celia shifted around on it.

“Yes, actually—it’s very nice,” she admitted.

“It is still part of the Mother Tree—as are all our furnishings,” the priestess informed her. “In that way, you can still feel her energy running through you, even as you sleep or pleasure each other.”

“Um, that’s really nice.” Celia wasn’t sure what else to say. Now that La’ver’na had mentioned it, she realized that she did still feel the warm, sexy vibration running through her body as she sat on the bed. It seemed like there was no way to get away from the indirect but intense stimulation. She wished she could find someplace private to get herself off, but she didn’t know if that was possible. Privacy, along with modesty, seemed to be in short supply here in the Sisterhood of Peace.

“Yes, it’s really nice,” Hold said politely, sitting beside Celia on her right. Fierce, sat down on her left but said nothing. The Dark Twin’s shaft was really standing at attention, she couldn’t help noticing. The Mother Tree’s vibrations must be affecting him and Hold too.

“I’m glad you’re happy with your space,” La’ver’na said. “Tomorrow you will be given your work assignments but it’s too late tonight—there isn’t much time until our communal evening meal. Ger’tha will guide you to our meeting area. But until then, may I suggest that you try again to get your pleasure drops flowing. I really cannot overstate their importance—you must be producing them before you can join the Sisterhood.”

“Oh, er, all right.” Celia nodded.

Ger’tha’s wiry gray eyebrows shot up.

“This little goddess isn’t producing drops?”

“I’m afraid not.” La’ver’na shook her head. “She seems to have the same problem that poor dear Sess’ely had. Which means she needs to be stimulated constantly until she begins producing and her nipples turn a proper blue.”

“Indeed, I quite agree.” Ger’tha nodded.

“Which further means I’ll expect you to make frequent checks on these three,” La’ver’na said sternly. “Her two worshippers need to be servicing her with their mouths, fingers, and cocks at all times. If you catch them not worshipping their goddess, please correct the situation at once.”

Celia felt like her stomach had just dropped. Was the unicorn priestess serious? She wanted Hold and Fierce to be touching and tasting her at all times?

And fucking—don’t forget the fucking part! whispered a little voice in her head and she remembered the scene with Sess’ely the unicorn girl being skewered by two goat men at once. Would they seriously expect her to let Hold and Fierce do that as well? They couldn’t, could they?

For the first time, Celia began to have real doubts about their current situation. What had she gotten them into, agreeing to join the Sisterhood of Peace, which was beginning to look less like a benevolent religious order and more and more like a sex cult every minute?

And it was clear that La’ver’na wasn’t kidding because Ger’tha nodded gravely.

“Yes, Priestess. I’ll keep an eye on these three,” she promised. “We’ll have the new little goddess’s nipples a nice bright blue before you know it. Well, what are you waiting for?” she demanded, staring at the three of them, since they were just sitting there. “Get to business! None of you are going to be admitted to the Sisterhood of Peace if your goddess cannot start producing the pleasure drops!”

“Yeah, we’ll get right on that,” Fierce growled. Wrapping an arm around Celia’s waist, he pulled her backwards onto the bed and covered her body with his own much larger one.

“Oh, Fierce!” she gasped, looking up at him. “What in the world—?”

“Open for me, my goddess,” he growled, looking down at her. “Let me pleasure your sweet, sacred pussy so that your breasts can produce drops for Hold and I to suck.”

This seemed to please both La’ver’na and Ger’tha because they nodded at each other and closed the curtain, leaving the three of them in relative privacy.

“Pleasure your goddess well and I will see the three of you later,” they heard the priestess call through the curtain and then the tap-tap-tapping of two sets of hooves let them know that the two unicorn women were at last leaving them alone.

32

CELIA

“Fierce, what are you doing? Get off me!” Celia hissed, bucking her hips to try and get the heavy weight of the huge warrior off her body. She could feel his thick cock branding her belly through the thin silk of her gown and it was dangerously close to her pussy.

“Shhhh, lelka—keep it down,” he murmured, his breath hot in her ear and against the side of her neck. “Let’s make sure they’re really gone first.”

All three of them listened as the tapping of the two sets of hooves retreated. When at last all they could hear was muted moans and groans coming from the other enclosures, the Dark Twin at last rolled off her and sat up.

Celia sat up as well, feeling slightly dizzy with desire. The thrumming from the Mother Tree seemed even more concentrated here on the large, round bed—maybe because she was feeling it with her whole body, not just her feet, as she did when she was up and walking.

Fierce seemed to be feeling it too because he threw back his head and growled,

“Fuck, I’m horny!” He fisted his shaft through the thin red silk loincloth and Celia thought it looked positively huge. Even bigger than it had felt between her legs the night before.

“I think we’re all aroused,” Hold remarked, looking down at his own raging erection. He had more self-restraint than Fierce so he didn’t start rubbing his shaft, but Celia could tell he must be in need.

“I don’t know—are we?” Fierce stopped stroking himself for a moment to raise an eyebrow at Celia. “Well, lelka? Are you turned on?”

Celia could feel her cheeks starting to get hot, but she lifted her chin.

“I mean…it depends on what you mean by turned on,” she said at last, not wanting to admit how aroused she was.

“In this case, I mean is your pussy wet and hot and are your nipples aching to be sucked again?” the Dark Twin demanded. “And don’t bother lying to us, lelka,” he added. “Because we can smell your heat.”

Celia glared at him. Damn their acute Kindred senses!

“It doesn’t matter if I am or not, because we are not going to be doing all those things we just saw ‘poor dear Sess’ely’ doing,” she snapped. “Besides, we’re all just, uh, aroused because of the energy of the Mother Tree—La’ver’na told me al about it while you two were dealing with the sky-lifter thingy.”

“I thought there was some kind of vibrational frequency that might be causing extreme arousal.” Hold looked thoughtful. “It makes sense that the members of the Sisterhood of Peace would think worshipping their Goddess must entail sexual contact, considering they live in a place that’s constantly stimulating them.”

“Translation—everyone here is apparently fucking horny all the damn time,” Fierce growled. “And we’re stuck here until they fix the ship. So what are we going to do about it?”

“You can just keep on doing exactly what you’re doing right now,” Celia said primly, nodding at the way his big hand was clasped loosely around his erect shaft. “Because I am not cheating on Peter any more than I already have.”

“You may not have a choice, my lady,” Hold said softly. “It sounds like we’ll need to at least stimulate your breasts to enable you to start producing the pleasure drops.”

“I don’t want my breasts making some kind of weird drops!” Celia protested. “Can’t we just pretend I’m making them?”

“We can try, I guess.” Hold sounded doubtful. “But since your nipples aren’t blue and that seems to be the visual sign that your breasts are producing the drops…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

“You’re going to have to let us suck your nipples, lelka,” Fierce said bluntly. “We have to look like we’re at least trying to follow their ways, at least until we get the ship fixed.”

Celia bit her lip.

“But…how long do you think it will take?”

“As banged up as it was?” Fierce shook his head. “It’s not going to be an easy fix. That destabilized wormhole did a fucking number on it. We were lucky to get out of it alive.”

“I know.” Celia shivered, remembering her absolute certainty that they were going to be torn apart and die during their terrifying ride. “I never want to go through another wormhole again!” she said with feeling.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to if we’re ever going to get home,” Hold told her. “Wormholes are usually very safe,” he added. “And it sounds like the one we went through is usually safe too. Except for every two hours when it destabilizes itself.”

“Usually safe?” Celia shook her head. “Madre de Dios—that thing nearly killed us!”

“Well, it’s not going to matter what way we choose to get home if we don’t have a ship to go home in,” Fierce pointed out. “We’ve got to fucking play along with these people until we can get it fixed and get out of here.”

“Well…all right,” Celia said at last. “I guess we can’t help it—you two will have to, uh, suck my nipples—at least when Ger’tha comes to check on us,” she added.

“Luckily, we should be able to hear her coming,” Hold remarked. “Since her hooves make sounds on the wood when she walks.”

“So the minute we hear her coming, the two of you start sucking my nipples,” Celia said. She shook her head. “Peter will just have to understand—this is a matter of life or death!”

“It truly is,” Hold agreed. “We must do whatever we have to in order to survive and get our ship fixed.”

“Well, I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m only doing it to save our skins,” Fierce growled. “I fucking loved sucking your ripe nipples, sweetheart, and I can’t wait to do it again!”

“Fierce!” Celia exclaimed, her cheeks getting hot with a blush.

“And don’t act like you don’t want us to suck your nipples either,” the Dark Twin went on remorselessly. “We can smell how hot you are, little girl. You want us to suck you as much as we want to do the sucking.”

“Fierce, could you try not speaking your mind for once?” Hold demanded, looking irritated. “It’s clear that Celia feels conflicted about having to do this with us—do you have to make things worse?”

“Just telling it like it is.” Fierce shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling. “And if you weren’t so damn proper you’d agree with me.”

“What I am trying to be is considerate of Celia’s feelings,” Hold snapped. “And since we’re trying to convince her that we’re a better choice than Peter, I would think you’d try to do the same. You—”

“Shhh!” Celia held up a hand for silence and put her finger to her lips.

As soon as they stopped talking a tap-tap-tapping sound could be heard approaching them.

“Quick! Come here—hurry!” she hissed at the two of them. Lying back on the bed, she thrust out her breasts and motioned for Hold to come on her left side while Fierce lay on her right.

They barely made it into position and started sucking her nipples before the curtain at the end of the bed was thrown back and Ger’tha was revealed, staring at them in obvious disapproval.

“I heard noises of disharmony coming from this area,” she said, glaring at Celia. “Were you and your worshippers fighting?”

“Oh, no. Not…not at all!” Celia exclaimed breathlessly. She was trying not to get overheated, but it was difficult because the feeling of two hot mouths sucking her nipples was almost overwhelming. It felt like they were sending showers of pleasure sparks straight down to her pussy, which was getting extremely hot and swollen.

“Then what was that I heard? I know it wasn’t sounds of pleasure!” Ger’tha demanded, looking unconvinced.

“Oh, um, my guys were just deciding which one of them was going to…to taste me first,” Celia said quickly, trying to improvise. “They’re both so…so eager to please, you know,” she added, and reached up to stroke her fingers through Hold’s and Fierce’s hair. Dios, they were making her so hot with their sucking! If only the Guardian of Recruits would go away and leave them alone so the guys could stop!

But Ger’tha remained where she was, her hooves planted solidly and her hands on her generous hips.

“It’s not allowed for worshippers to fight over their goddess, either,” she lectured sternly. “You must give them each a turn in your pussy—and don’t favor one over the other, either. All worshippers must have equal time and opportunity to worship their goddess—those are the rules here in the Sisterhood of Peace!”

“Okay, well…I…I’ll remember that,” Celia panted. “Right now they’re both, you know, trying to help me make the…the pleasure drops.”

“It’s not only breast stimulation you need,” the unicorn woman lectured. “It also helps to suck their shafts and drink their seed—and to take their shafts deep inside you. Any orifice will do—as long as they fill you with their seed.”

“Oh…oh really?” Celia panted. “I…I didn’t know that.”

“And of course, you need to let them sip of your goddess honey as well—manual and oral clit stimulation is good for pleasure drops production too,” the goat woman went on. “In fact, I don’t know why the two of them are only sucking your breasts when they could be stimulating your pussy at the same time!”

“But they—-oh!” Celia’s last words ended in a little gasp because Fierce had reached between her legs to cup her bare pussy through the slit in her silk gown. He didn’t try to spread her open—for which she was grateful—but he did start rubbing, exerting pressure with his fingers in a way that stimulated her swollen clit even though he wasn’t directly touching it.

“There you are—that’s more like it.” Ger’tha nodded her head approvingly. “But it’s better if you spread her open—fill her with your fingers and worship her properly!”

Celia bit her lip, trying not to gasp as Fierce did as he was ordered. Two long fingers parted her pussy lips and then slipped deep inside her, making her moan and buck her hips. God, his fingers were so thick! Much thicker than Peter’s tiny cock. She could feel herself stretching to take him and yet it felt good in a way she didn’t want to admit.

“Good—that’s very good,” the unicorn woman said as Fierce started pumping slowly in and out of Celia’s pussy. “Fingerfuck your goddess good and proper. More of that and soon she’ll be producing the drops. Hurry up and come though—it’s dinner time in just a few minutes.”

Then she closed the curtain again and they heard her hooves tap-tap-tapping as she left them.

“Oh, Fierce!” Celia gasped, bucking up against his big hand, but he refused to move it.

“Be still, lelka,” he growled in her ear. “She might come back.”

“But…but your fingers are inside me!” she protested.

“I fucking know it—never felt such a tight, hot little pussy,” he murmured. “You’re fucking wet too,” he added.

At least he had stopped pumping in and out of her, Celia thought. But she was still spread out with her pussy filled with his thick fingers and her throbbing clit exposed.

“I…I can’t help getting wet,” she panted defensively. “It’s the vibrations this damn Mother Tree gives off. It’s been making me crazy since we came up here!”

“Join the club, sweetheart,” he said sarcastically. “My balls feel as blue as your nipples are supposed to be.”

Hold let her nipple slip from his lips and looked up.

“We’re all in a bad way. But we’ve got to at least try to respect Celia’s boundaries,” he reminded the Dark Twin.

“Easier said than done when that one-horned woman was demanding one of us finger her—what was I supposed to do?” Fierce demanded. “She—”

“Do I hear sounds of disharmony?” demanded the voice of Ger’tha, from across the room.

“No!” Celia called quickly. “No, just…just finishing up in here.” She bucked her hips, making the bed squeak and moaned loudly, “Oh Fierce, yes—worship me!”

“Your wish is my command, my goddess,” he growled, instantly picking up on what she was doing. He also started pumping his fingers deep in her pussy again, but at this point, Celia didn’t feel like she could make him stop. After all, what if Ger’tha came to check on them again and found them faking it?

Deciding there was nothing else she could do, she spread her legs wider and began to buck her hips even harder in rhythm to the Dark Twin’s fingers thrusting inside her.

“My lady, your nipples are so sweet,” Hold added his voice to the chorus and leaned down to suck one of her nipples again. Fierce started sucking the other one as well.

Celia began to feel like she was going to be in danger of coming if they didn’t stop soon! Fierce’s fingers inside her were so thick and the heel of his hand was rubbing against her swollen clit as he thrust into her. Plus they were both sucking her nipples hard again, making her feel stimulated everywhere.

She was right on the edge but it seemed an unforgivable act of cheating to actually come while the guys stimulated her. What could she do?

Fake it, whispered a little voice in her head. Go on—do it! You do it with Peter all the time. You’re good at it.

Which unfortunately was true, since her fiancé liked to think that he got her off when they had sex…but he really didn’t. So Celia had gotten quite good at faking orgasms during their time together.

“Oh!” she moaned as loudly as she could. “Oh, Fierce—yes! Oh, Hold! Oh my God—give it to me! Oh, you’re so good! Oh yes! YESYESYES!” she finished with a flourish and then tapped both of them on the head and whispered, “That’s it—enough!”

Fierce let her nipple slip from his mouth but he was frowning when he looked at her.

“What do you mean, it’s enough? You didn’t come yet.”

“Yes, I did! Didn’t you hear me?” Celia demanded breathlessly. “So get your fingers out of me now!”

“No, you didn’t, lelka.” He glared at her. “I’ve heard you and held you in my arms when you had a real orgasm and that wasn’t anywhere close to real.”

“What? Are you saying I’m faking it?” Celia demanded, trying to sound offended though that was exactly what she was doing.

“Hell yes, I know you’re faking,” the Dark Twin growled. “The real question is, why do you want me to stop when you’re so close to actually coming? Is it because you think coming will make the cheating real?”

His analysis of the situation was uncomfortably on point—and the way he was staring at her in such a challenging way made it hard for Celia to meet his eyes. In fact, she found she had to drop her gaze after a moment.

“Fierce, if she wants you to stop then stop,” Hold said, frowning at his twin. “You don’t need any other reason than that.”

“But she’s just about to come…and her little pussy needs to come,” Fierce protested in a low voice. “I can feel her quivering—and I can smell her need. It’s like she’s going into fucking heat over here, Brother!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hold said. “If Celia says stop, we stop.”

“Fine,” Fierce growled, finally withdrawing his fingers. But instead of wiping them off, he put them in his mouth. Still holding Celia’s gaze with his own, he sucked them clean.

“Madre de Dios,” she whispered, unable to look away.

“Fucking delicious,” he growled, pulling his fingers out of his mouth at last. “Can’t wait to taste your sweet honey from the source, lelka.”

“Don’t hold your breath because…because you never will!” Celia panted.

“Wouldn’t be too sure about that,” the Dark Twin growled. He held her eyes for one more minute and then rolled over to sit up on the side of the bed.

Celia wanted to think of a cutting reply, but her brains felt too scrambled by pleasure. Also, her entire body was throbbing for release—a real one this time. She wondered if maybe she could just sneak into the bathroom and finish herself off. She was sure that it wouldn’t take her a minute to come after Hold and Fierce had gotten her right to the edge…

“All right now, it’s time for dinner!” The curtain at the end of the bed was swept back and Ger’tha was standing there.

“I hope you had a good time together but now it is time to eat,” she announced. “Come—I will tell you how to reach the dining area.”

33

CELIA

Celia’s body still felt hot with desire as they made their way to the sky-lifters again. Ger’tha had been very specific in her directions.

“You will take the lifts to Fourth Branch,” she directed them. “Whatever you do, do not stop on Second Branch—that branch is forbidden to men! Once you reach the Fourth Branch, just follow everyone else along the path and you will find the communal dining area carved out from a section of the Mother Tree’s trunk. Now go—and have a good dinner. You can pleasure each other and worship your goddess some more on your return.”

“Well, here we go—up to Fourth Branch,” Hold remarked as the three of them climbed on the narrow wooden plank of the sky-lifter and the guys began to haul on the ropes to lift it upwards.

Fierce didn’t say anything—his shaft was still hard and he seemed to be in a bad mood. Celia wondered if being horny made the Dark Twin grumpy—it wouldn’t surprise her. To be honest, she was feeling kind of grumpy herself—and needy. If only she’d had time to find a bathroom and take care of herself!

They got a little relief from the intense desire caused by the Mother Tree’s energy while they were all on the sky-lifter. But the moment they stepped off onto Fourth Branch, Celia felt it again. In fact, if anything it seemed to be stronger here on the higher branch.

“I wonder what’s on Second Branch that makes it forbidden to males,” Hold remarked. “I thought La’ver’na said some kind of work was going on there.”

“Maybe we’ll find out tomorrow when we get our work assignments,” Celia said, shrugging.

“It didn’t look any fucking different from the other branches,” Fierce said, joining the conversation at last. “Not that I really care. Being in this fucking tree is driving me crazy—doesn’t matter what branch we’re on!”

“Maybe we’ll all feel better once we get something to eat,” Hold suggested. “Come on—I think the dining area must be this way.” He pointed to where several other goddesses, surrounded by their worshippers were headed.

Celia saw Sess’ely and her three goat men and several other groups like them. But she also saw other species—there were a few other humanoids like herself and the guys and one group of blob-like people that seemed to be made of round, moving lumps of colorful Play-Doh. They must have come from a far distant galaxy across the universe, she thought, remembering that La’ver’na had told them the wormhole opened onto many different galaxies but apparently dumped everyone out here, when it became destabilized.

They followed the crowd to a vast area carved out of the Mother Tree’s trunk. It was at least four times the size of the dormitory they were staying in and Celia marveled as she looked around—it was like an enormous cave but carved out of wood instead of stone, she thought.

Everyone filed in and Celia saw that there was a huge wooden caldron in the center of the large room, which seemed to serve as a kind of focal point. But there were also smaller areas scattered all around the room which each had smaller wooden caldrons and a number of cushions to sit on.

The rest of the crowd was forming a line at the central cauldron, so the three of them did as well. Celia was interested to see how in the world the huge wooden cauldron was being heated without it bursting into flames. But when they got up close, she saw that instead of a fire, there were heaps of what looked like bright red flowers at the cauldron’s base. These weren’t exactly burning, but they were giving off heat and the contents of the wooden cauldron seemed to be bubbling. A sweet, slightly cloying scent wafted up from the steaming liquid which was thin and brown, like watery coffee, Celia thought.

La’ver’na herself was serving the liquid to everyone in thin cups that were made of the papery white bark of the Mother Tree.

“The Blood of the Mother, the Heart of the Goddess,” she said formally as she ladled some into a bark cup and handed it to Celia. “I see your nipples are not yet blue,” she added, disapprovingly.

“Oh, er…” Celia looked down at her exposed breasts. She didn’t like going around with her boobs on display, but since everyone else was doing it, she felt like it would be almost more awkward to try and cover up.

“It’s not for lack of trying,” Fierce growled, as he also accepted a cup of the thin brown liquid. “We’ve been sucking our goddess’s nipples and fingering her tight little pussy as much as possible, Priestess.”

Celia felt her cheeks getting red, but she didn’t dare to contradict the Dark Twin. She shot him a furious look and he gave back a smirking smile that seemed designed to irritate her.

“Well keep up your efforts,” the unicorn priestess said, handing a cup of the liquid to Hold who was in line behind Fierce. “And don’t forget to stimulate her pussy with your mouths and tongues as well.”

“We’ll take your advice to heart, Priestess,” Hold said formally, nodding his thanks.

“Very well. I know this is your first meal with us,” La’ver’na said. “Just find a Mother pot with three cushions and be seated. The Mother Tree will produce the Goddess’s bounty as soon as everyone is settled.”

A Mother pot? Celia wondered if that was what the smaller wooden cauldrons were called. And how was the Mother Tree supposed to “produce” anything for them?

They were soon to find out because Hold pointed and said,

“There’s a pot with three cushions.”

Celia and Fierce followed the Light Twin over and each of them settled on a round, puffy cushion that felt like it was filled with the same squishy yet supportive material that was in their mattress back at the dormitory. Celia looked into the wooden pot, but it was empty.

“Wonder what we’re supposed to eat? I’m fucking starving,” Fierce growled. “It’s been a long time since the protein bars we ate for First Meal back on Tranq Prime.”

“La’ver’na said the Mother Tree would provide us with something once everyone was seated,” Hold reminded his brother. “Right now, I’m wondering about this.” He raised his bark cup and sniffed it before taking a small sip. “Hmm…it’s sweet. Almost nutty.”

Fierce tried a sip as well and frowned.

“What is this stuff, anyway?” he growled. “Tastes like some kind of human food I tried, but I can’t remember what it was.”

Celia tried it as well, taking a sip and letting the thin liquid slide over her tongue.

“Oh—it tastes like pancakes with maple syrup!” she exclaimed and took a bigger sip this time. “Mmm, I love it!”

“You might want to be careful, my lady,” Hold remarked, frowning. “We’re not sure what effect this drink might have on us.”

“Oh, you’re right.” Celia put down the cup apprehensively. “Do you think it might be some kind of drug to loosen our inhibitions or something? I mean, just look.”

She nodded at the other communal areas where each “goddess” sat, surrounded by her worshippers. Many of them were engaged in some kind of foreplay and in one case, the goddess was actually sitting on a worshipper’s lap, clearly getting fucked as two other worshippers fondled and sucked her breasts.

“You really think they need a drug to make people want to fuck around here when we’re all sitting inside a living aphrodisiac?” Fierce demanded. “Whatever this stuff is, it tastes pretty good and I’m thirsty.” And he drained his cup.

Celia took another sip of hers but as she did, she noticed from the corner of her eye that something was happening with the pot they were sitting around.

“Oh, look!” She pointed and they all leaned over to see. The small wooden cauldron was beginning to fill with what looked like a thick, chunky brown stew. How in the world was that happening? Did the wooden cauldron have a false bottom or something? She couldn’t tell, but somehow the pot continued to fill until it was brimming over with the savory smelling stew.

“What’s that?” Fierce sniffed the steam rising from the pot. “Smells pretty good,” he remarked.

“But how do we eat it?” Hold asked. “I don’t see any bowls or utensils.”

However just at that moment, a pair of goat men came around to them. One had a stack of broad, flat wooden bowls and the other was carrying a bucket filled with wooden spoons. They handed Celia and the guys each a bowl and a spoon and one of them said,

“Enjoy the Goddess’s bounty which the Mother Tree provides.”

“Er, thank you.” Celia accepted the bowl and spoon and then looked at the guys. “Well…should we try it?”

“I’m going to,” Fierce said.

“I will too. Can I get you some, my lady?” Hold asked courteously.

“Oh, thank you.” Celia handed him her bowl and spoon and he dipped out a good portion of the chunky brown stew and handed it back to her. It had chunks of what looked like root vegetables floating in it though they were different colors than she was used to. They were dark blue, bright purple, and vivid green as well as some smaller red things that she might have thought were pieces of corn if she was back on Earth.

Celia took a sip of the thick brown gravy and found it was savory and delicious. She tried a piece of the blue potato—if that was what it was—and found it had a smooth texture and seemed to melt in her mouth. Some of the other vegetables were crunchy and chewy but they all went well with the brown gravy-broth.

“Mmm, fucking delicious!” Fierce declared, finishing his bowl. “Is there enough for seconds?”

Hold looked in the pot and frowned.

“Actually, it doesn’t look like we’ve eaten anything at all,” he remarked.

Celia looked and saw that it was true—the pot was still almost brimming over with stew.

“That’s weird,” she remarked. “How is it staying full when we all had some? And how did the stew get into the pot in the first place?”

“The Mother pots are filled by the Mother Tree herself.”

The voice came from someone at the communal space beside theirs. Celia looked up and saw that it was Sess’ely, the unicorn girl they’d seen servicing all three of her goat man worshippers in the dormitory earlier.

“Oh, really?” she asked, giving the girl a friendly smile. “How does it, er, she do that?”

Sess’ely shrugged.

“No one knows, except maybe the Priestess,” she said, nodding at La’ver’na, who was still standing by the cauldron filled with the sweet, pancake-tasting drink. “But every night the Mother gives us new things to eat—the variety is endless and it’s all so good.”

“Well this is our first night but we’re really enjoying it,” Celia said politely.

“We’ve been here for over a week…or maybe it’s a month? I can’t remember, really,” Sess’ely said dreamily. “I only know that I’ve never been so happy and fulfilled.”

“Fulfilled or just filled—with three cocks at once?” Fierce muttered in Celia’s ear and she had to fight to keep a straight face.

“Well, thank you for telling us where the stew comes from,” she said, smiling at Sess’ely. “Er, I guess we’ll see you back at the dormitory.”

“Oh, not before we have the evening story and the Choosing!” the unicorn girl said. “I do hope that I and my worshippers may be chosen for the story! If you get chosen for the story, you’re almost always also chosen to join the Mother Tree on Branch Five.”

“What happens on Branch Five?” Celia asked curiously.

Sess’ely shook her head.

“The details aren’t for us to know but those who are chosen will live as one with the Mother Tree and shine with the Goddess’s light forever! Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

“It sounds amazing,” Celia said with a straight face. Dios, this girl was really far gone into the cult—if that was what the Sisterhood of Peace was. Celia was reserving judgment, though they did seem to be very into sexual worship of their Goddess.

As if on cue, La’ver’na cleared her throat and called for everyone’s attention.

“My friends—fellow goddesses and worshippers, it is time for tonight’s Choosing,” she announced. “Tonight the Goddess calls for…” She looked around the room, eyeing each group of people and finally pointed at Sess’ely and her three goat men. “You! Goddess Sess’ely, come forward and bring your worshippers with you!”

“Oh my goodness! I can’t believe we were finally chosen!” Sess’ely hopped up at once, her hooves tapping excitedly on the floor and her eyes shining with excitement. She and her worshippers went up to where La’ver’na was standing in front of the large wooden cauldron.

“Good, my child—it’s excellent to see the four of you so eager to act out a scene from one of the Goddess’s adventures as a mortal being,” La’ver’na said, nodding approvingly. “Now then…take your positions and we will begin.”

Sess’ely and her three goat men stood in a line in front of the cauldron and everyone stopped what they were doing and watched as La’ver’na started speaking in a low, hypnotic voice.

“Back in the Beginning Days, the Goddess often took a mortal form and walked amongst us,” she began. “For she wanted to see which of us were worthy to be her worshippers and follow in her ways. And thus she wandered to and fro.”

At this prompt, Sess’ely began walking up and down the room, shading her eyes with her hand as though she was looking for something.

“And so one day the Goddess took mortal form and went looking for those worthy to worship her,” the priestess went on. “She came upon a male and said, ‘Excuse me sir, but I am thirsty. Will you give me water to drink?’”

As La’ver’na spoke, Sess’ely came up to her first worshipper and mimed asking him a question, tilting an invisible cup to her lips and raising her eyebrows.

“But the male had no water,” La’ver’na went on. “He said, ‘I have no water to for you to drink, for we have had a drought in my town. I have nothing to offer you to drink but the seed of my shaft.’”

“Wait—what?” Celia whispered to Hold and Fierce. The three of them exchanged a look and Fierce muttered,

“They’re not really going to—”

But before he got the words out, Sess’ely was kneeling before her first worshipper and sucking his cock.

“The Goddess drank of his seed and her thirst was quenched,” La’ver’na said with a perfectly straight face.

Luckily, they didn’t have to wait for the goat man to actually come. After sucking his long, thick shaft as deeply as she could—(which was surprisingly deep, Celia thought)—he pulled away and they nodded at each other as he helped her to her feet.

“The Goddess went on, but soon she became tired,” La’ver’na went on. “She came to another male and said to him—‘I have traveled far and am weary. Pray, do you have a place for me to sit and rest myself?”

Again, Sess’ely mimed asking her second goat man for a seat.

“But the man said, ‘Forgive me, weary traveler, but we had a cold winter and had to burn all our furniture for fuel. I can only offer you my shaft to sit on.’”

“What?” Fierce muttered so loudly that several people glared at him and someone said,

“Shhhh!”

“Hush, Brother,” Hold murmured. “This is obviously a holy rite to them—be respectful.”

“But…but it’s so ridiculous!” Fierce protested, but at least he kept his voice down so only Hold and Celia heard him. Celia secretly agreed with him—this was like a badly plotted porno! But everyone involved went on with a straight face as though the situations they were acting out were perfectly plausible.

Up in the center of the room, the second goat man had seated himself on a cushion. His erect cock rose up from between his thighs like a big red exclamation point, Celia thought, trying not to giggle at the absurdity of it.

“And so the Goddess took a seat upon the kind male’s shaft,” La’ver’na went on, shooting Fierce a hard look as she spoke.

Sess’ely did as the unicorn priestess said at once, lowering herself to sit, reverse cow-girl style on her second worshipper, so that his enormous, long shaft slid all the way into her pussy.

“Wow, how can she take all that?” Celia whispered.

It didn’t seem possible that such a big, thick cock could fit all the way into the unicorn girl’s tiny slit, but when she settled down they could see a distinct bulge in her lower abdomen and it was clear she had taken her worshipper’s cock inside her pussy to the root.

“I wonder if maybe something in the food or drink here acts in the same way that Bonding Fruit does?” Hold murmured.

“I guess it’s possible,” Fierce muttered. “Or else maybe the females of their species are just really stretchy inside.”

Celia thought it could be either one, but it was certainly an eye-opening sight. Of course, they had seen Sess’ely servicing all three of her worshippers earlier, but somehow now, seeing the cock-shaped bulge in her lower abdomen that rose almost to her belly button, it was really apparent that she was taking more than anyone her size ought to be able to handle.

That, of course, made Celia think of Hold and Fierce, who also had massive male equipment. What would she do if the Priestess or some other authority figure decided she had to let her guys fuck her?

That’s not going to happen, she told herself uncomfortably. That would be cheating on Peter and I wouldn’t do it! But somehow the image of herself sinking down onto one of their thick cocks and taking it deep inside her pussy wouldn’t quite leave her head…

“The kind worshipper allowed the Goddess to sit upon his shaft until she was well rested,” La’ver’na went on.

Fierce snorted.

“I just bet he did,” he muttered.

“Keep it down!” Hold elbowed him in the ribs.

Celia bit her lip to keep a straight face, but though the premise of the story seemed silly, the actual act was erotic. Because the second goat man worshipper was pulling out and then fucking back up into Sess’ely’s tightly stretched pussy with long, slow strokes and she was moaning as he did so.

“The Goddess enjoyed her seat so much that she allowed the kindly male to shoot his seed into her womb,” the unicorn priestess went on. “And so he came in her and filled her with his cream.”

This time Sess’ely and her worshipper did actually go all the way and after a moment, it was clear they were both coming.

“Oh…oh Goddess!” the unicorn girl was moaning and her worshipper was groaning loudly as he tightened his hold on her hips and thrust deep inside her.

“After receiving a goodly load of the male’s seed inside her womb, the Goddess felt refreshed and rose to go on her way,” La’ver’na remarked.

On cue, Sess’ely rose and from the way her pussy was dripping, it was clear that worshipper number two really had come inside her.

“The Goddess wandered very far,” La’ver’na continued.

Sess’ely began walking up and down again.

“But her mortal form became sleepy and she knew she needed rest,” the priestess continued. “Soon she came to a third male and said to him, ‘Kind sir, the night is falling and I am cold and tired. Do you have a bed I can rest myself upon?’”

“Here it comes,” Fierce muttered. “Watch—he’s going to offer to let her rest on his shaft or some fucking nonsense like that.”

“Shhh, Brother!” Hold murmured.

Celia said nothing but she was pretty sure the Dark Twin was right—everything seemed to come back to sex with the Sisterhood of Peace.

La’ver’na shot them a look but continued.

“But the male said to the Goddess, ‘Forgive me but I am poor and have no bed to offer you. However, if you wish to lie with me tonight, I will keep you warm and comfortable—I will even heat your belly with my seed, if you wish it.’”

“That’s very kind of him,” Fierce muttered sarcastically and Celia had to fight to keep from laughing. She elbowed him in the ribs.

“You’re going to get us in trouble!” she whispered.

Hold just gave both of them a warning look and put a finger to his lips.

“And so, the Goddess took the third male up on his kind offer,” La’ver’na went on, shooting Fierce another dark look. “She lay beside him on the ground and he slipped his shaft deep inside her to warm her belly with his seed.”

On cue, Sess’ely lay on her side with her head on a cushion and her third goat man worshipper lay on his side behind her. He lifted her leg and fit the head of his massive cock to her pussy before thrusting deeply into her.

“The Goddess took great pleasure in the way the third male warmed her,” La’ver’na went on.

“Ohhhh!” Sess’ely moaned on cue, rocking her hips to meet her third worshipper’s rhythm. “Oh yes, fuck me—breed me! Come inside me!” she gasped. She was so convincing that Celia was pretty sure she wasn’t really acting—she seemed to really enjoy breeding with her worshippers in front of everyone.

“And in the morning she awoke refreshed,” La’ver’na said.

But it was clear that Sess’ely and her worshippers weren’t quite done yet. They went on thrusting and moaning until at last, the unicorn girl came again and her worshipper shoved his huge cock to the hilt inside her and began pumping her full of his cum.

When he finally pulled out, a gush of white cream followed, making it obvious he had done his best to breed Sess’ely, just as she had begged him to.

“And in the morning, she awoke refreshed,” La’ver’na repeated pointedly, since the unicorn her and her goat man were still laying on the floor panting.

“Oh…oh, right!” Sess’ely hopped up and her third worshipper scrambled to his feet as well.

“And so the Goddess found three new males who were worthy to worship her,” La’ver’na said, winding up the tale. “And she decreed that all goddesses should have many worshippers to warm their bellies with their seed and breed them often, for that is the best way to be worshipped. The End,” she added pointedly.

At once, all the recruits around them began making soft hooting sounds.

“Hoo-hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo-hoo!”

At first Celia was startled but after a moment she realized this must be the JoCosta Twelve way of applauding. So, feeling slightly ridiculous, she started hooting too.

“Hoo-hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo-hoo!”

Hold took it up as well but Fierce just sat there, a sardonic grin tugging at one corner of his mouth.

“Fucking ridiculous,” Celia heard him mutter.

“Sess’ely, my dear, thank you so much for doing such a lovely job enacting the role of the Goddess,” La’ver’na said, ending the hooting applause. “And now, it’s time for everyone to get back to the dormitory. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, as always.”

Everyone rose from their cushions on the floor and started to file towards the door of the dining area. But before Celia and Hold and Fierce could get into line, La’ver’na was there, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

“We do not appreciate it when new recruits make fun of our beliefs!” she snapped, glaring up at Fierce, who frowned back.

“Look, I’m sorry but your beliefs are kind of fucking ridiculous,” he growled. “I mean, who ever heard of offering a female your cock to sit on when she asks for a chair? That kind of talk will get you slapped on most planets!”

“We are not on ‘most planets’—we are on JoCosta Twelve and you are still only guests of the Sisterhood of Peace!” the unicorn priestess snapped. “The Goddess laid with many of her worshippers—which is why we females who follow in her footsteps do our best to lay with as many of our own worshippers as we can. We offer our bodies in reverence to the Goddess—not to be the butt of your jokes!”

“Forgive my Brother,” Hold said smoothly, stepping in front of Fierce before the Dark Twin could answer. “He has no manners and has yet to grasp an understanding of your ways.”

“Well, he’d better find some if the three of you want to get your ship fixed!” La’ver’na snarled. “I’m beginning to regret offering the three of you even a trial membership with the Sisterhood!”

“We promise it won’t happen again,” Hold said earnestly. “Please—what can we do to make amends?”

“Maybe we could help with the dishes?” Celia asked quickly. As they filed out, the other recruits had left their wooden bowls and spoons in two large wooden tubs by the door and they were still just sitting there, waiting to be washed.

“Well…we do take kindly to acts of service,” La’ver’na said grudgingly. “I suppose the three of you may do the wash for tonight. I’ll inform the usual washers that they won’t be needed.”

“Thank you, Priestess,” Hold said, nodding. “If you’ll just tell us where to take them?”

“The sink for washing is around through there.” La’ver’na pointed to a small door in the rounded corner of the room that Celia hadn’t seen earlier. “Once you wash them, stack them in the drying racks and go directly back to your dormitory—do you understand?”

“We understand completely.” Hold nodded.

“Good. And once you get back, do something for those nipples,” she added, looking down her long equine nose at Celia’s bare breasts. “I want to see them turning blue as soon as possible!”

Then she turned and flounced out of the large communal dining room without another word.

34

CELIA

“I don’t see how any of this is my fault,” Fierce growled as the three of them stood at the long, narrow wooden sink and washed the dirty bowls and spoons. “I was only saying what all of us were thinking—who offers to let a female suck his cock when she asks for a drink of water? It would be fucking insulting!”

Hold blew out a breath of apparent frustration.

“That’s not the point, Brother! The point is, they’re telling a story that’s sacred to them.”

“You can’t go making fun of someone’s religious beliefs,” Celia said, agreeing with the Light Twin. “I know everything they were saying was silly, but Dios, we’re trying to get the ship fixed—try not to get us kicked out before that happens, okay?”

“Yeah, all right.” Fierce sighed and ran a wet hand through his hair, which made it stick up in spikes and whorls. “Sorry. It’s just so fucking silly.”

“Well, silly or not, we have to respect their beliefs—at least until we get out of here,” Celia remarked. She wiped her forehead with the back of her arm. “Dios, this is a lot of bowls.”

“Oh, are you getting tired, goddess?” Fierce asked, making an elaborate bow that dripped cold water on the floor from the bowl he was holding. “Can I offer you my cock to sit on? I promise it’s extremely comfortable once it slides up inside your tight little pussy and pumps you full of my cum.”

Celia couldn’t help laughing as she slapped him on the arm, though she could feel her cheeks getting hot too. The image of sitting on the Dark Twin’s lap, as Sess’ely had sat on her worshipper, and letting his hard cock slide deep inside her wouldn’t quite leave her mind’s eye.

It’s just the Mother Tree’s crazy energy making you hot and horny, she told herself. Stop thinking about it, Celia—it’s not going to happen! Remember Peter—you’re going to marry him as soon as you get home.

If they ever did manage to get home, that was.

They finished the dishes at last, leaving all the wooden bowls in the drying racks. It occurred to Celia that none of the wood that came in contact with the water was warped or ruined in any way. They must coat it with some kind of waterproof resin or something, she thought. Or maybe it was the Mother Tree protecting itself? She didn’t know and since they were hoping to leave here soon, she didn’t plan to find out.

“There—that’s done.” Hold sighed and shook his head. “Try to hold your tongue next time, Brother—I’d rather not do this particular chore again.”

“Me either!” Celia said emphatically. “Come on—let’s get back to the dorm.”

“Why, so Hold and I can have another try at turning your nipples blue?” Fierce gave her a half-lidded look. “I wouldn’t mind sucking them some more…or maybe tasting your sweet little pussy.”

His words combined with the relentless energy of the Mother Tree made Celia so hot she could hardly stand it. But of course she wasn’t going to let the Dark Twin know that he was affecting her.

She gave him an exasperated look.

“Fierce, do you always have to—”

“Shhh!” Hold put a finger to his lips, his eyes growing wide.

“What? What is it?” Celia whispered. Fierce seemed to be hearing something too, because he had his head cocked to one side and was frowning with intense concentration.

Remembering their sharp Kindred senses, Celia realized they must be hearing something she couldn’t—like a dog hearing a dog whistle. But after a moment of heavy silence, she heard it too—it was a familiar voice—several familiar voices in fact.

“…wish you hadn’t marked Sess’ely as the next to be Chosen to be one with the Mother Tree,” the first voice said. It was the Mistress of Silks, Celia realized.

“You always were ridiculously fond of that girl,” the second voice, which was immediately identifiable as La’ver’na, answered.

“Yes, but she was so innocent and sweet when she came to us,” the Mistress of Silks protested. “And she’s still very sweet, even though she can’t strictly be called innocent anymore.”

“She may be sweet but she’s useless as an emissary of the Goddess,” the priestess replied. “You know we can’t send her back to JoCosta Prime to try and bring us new converts—not with her, er, situation. Think of the outcry we’d get!”

“Yes, I know…I know,” the Mistress of Silks sighed. “It just seems a shame that she must feed the Mother Tree when she’s still so young.”

“But the Mother Tree must be fed so that she will nourish all of us and we may spread the light of the Goddess,” La’ver’na pointed out. “I’ll tell you what-we’ll give her a little more time before we take her and her worshippers up to Branch Five. But sooner or later, they must go—the Mother Tree grows hungry, even with all the sexual energy of the new recruits.”

“Speaking of new recruits, I heard you had some trouble with the ones you accepted today,” the Mistress of Silks remarked.

“Oh yes—they couldn’t understand the beauty of the Goddess laying with many different males and letting them breed her. One of them actually laughed—can you imagine?” La’ver’na sounded irritated and offended—at least to Celia. “I made them wash the dishes from tonight’s supper—they should be back at the dorm by now, though,” she added.

“Do you think they will make good emissaries for the Goddess?” the Mistress of Silks asked.

“They will if the little female’s nipples ever turn blue and she starts producing the pleasure drops. She can’t hope to control those two huge males without the power of the drops,” the priestess answered.

Control them? Celia exchanged a look with Hold and Fierce. What was that supposed to mean?

“Her nipples had better turn blue soon, or we’re just going to confiscate their ship and send them to Branch Five,” La’ver’na went on. “Those two males of hers are too dangerous to be left to their own devices.”

“But will the Mother Tree accept them as a sacrifice if they’re not true members of the Sisterhood?” the Mistress of Silks asked.

“Oh, certainly—she only wants to be fed, she doesn’t really care who she feeds on as long as she gets her nourishment,” La’ver’na answered. “Look, I must go now—several of my worshippers are starting to waken. I must feed them some of my pleasure drops to keep them quiescent.”

“Of course. Well, have a good night.”

The voices faded out and after a moment it seemed clear the Priestess and the Mistress of Silks had left the dining room.

For a long moment, Celia and Hold and Fierce just stared at each other in silence. And then Fierce said,

“What does she mean you need to make the pleasure drops to control us?”

“Maybe a female’s body makes a kind of sedative that affects males after being subjected to the Mother Tree’s energy,” Hold said speculatively.

“I don’t want my breasts making mind control drops!” Celia exclaimed.

“Yeah, but you heard La’ver’na—if they don’t and your nipples don’t turn blue soon, they’re going to feed us to the Mother Tree—whatever the hell that means,” Fierce growled.

“What does it mean?” Celia asked. “Do you think this tree actually eats people?” She shivered at the awful thought.

“I don’t know, but I think we need to find out,” Hold murmured. He looked at Fierce. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Brother?”

Fierce nodded.

“I think it’s time for a little trip to Branch Five to find out what the fuck is going on around here.”

35

CELIA

Celia bit her lip as Hold and Fierce pulled on the ropes to bring the sky-lifter up to Branch Five. She had a bad feeling about this little field trip they were taking, but she also agreed that they had to know what was going on here. The Sisterhood of Peace was beginning to sound more and more like a sex cult with nefarious plans and they were stuck in its sticky web.

Luckily, the sky-lifter was a silent mode of transportation and they were able to reach Branch Five with a minimum of noise. It seemed that most everyone who lived in the giant Mother Tree had already gone to bed, so they didn’t meet anyone as they stepped onto the forbidden Fifth Branch.

At first, it looked like the other branches of the Mother Tree they had seen, with a broad pathway carved on the surface of the giant branch and plenty of the huge, blanket-sized purple leaves rustling softly in the light breeze. Hold led the way with Celia in the middle and Fierce taking up the rear. They stayed in the shadows of the leaves but they didn’t see anyone as they made their way along the branch.

But they weren’t going out onto the part of the branch that grew away from the tree—rather, they were walking the width of the branch and keeping the massive trunk to their right. After a while, Celia wondered if they ought to make their way down the length of the branch instead because they weren’t seeing anything of interest. She was about to suggest that they take a left and explore further out, when she heard Hold give a low exclamation.

“Here! I knew it—come on!” The Light Twin motioned for them and Celia and Fierce followed him through a doorway cut into the massive trunk.

The room they entered resembled both the dormitory and the dining hall, but it was much, much vaster—almost the size of a football stadium, Celia thought, looking up and around in awe. It was lit, like the others, with the golden moss hanging from the ceiling high above, but there was also a reddish glow coming from within.

The huge room was empty, so Celia made her way towards the red glow, which seemed to be coming from one of the enormous rounded walls. When she got a little closer, she saw it was being caused by the same red flowers that had been heaped at the bottom of the large wooden cauldron in the dining hall. They gave off heat as well as a dim red glow that illuminated a section of the wall.

“Fire flowers,” Hold murmured, nodding down at them. But what Celia was looking at wasn’t the flowers themselves but the wall they were heaped again.

“Madre de Dios,” she whispered, taking a step forward. “Are those…faces carved into the wall?”

That was what it looked like—and not just faces, there were whole bodies which looked like they had been carved into the enormous wooden wall. Some of them seemed to be yelling or reaching out, as though begging for help. What it reminded Celia of was that scene in Star Wars where Han Solo gets put into a Carbonite mold—that was the look of the carvings. But instead of just one figure, it was a whole row of them.

“There are rows and rows of them!” Hold remarked, walking further down the line and voicing her thought out loud. “This whole room is filled with them!”

“What in the Seven Hells?” Fierce muttered. “What the hell kind of carvings are these? They’re fucking creepy!”

Celia thought so too. Tentatively, she reached out to touch the wall beside one of the carvings. She didn’t want to touch the carving itself—it just looked too real.

But the moment she put her hand flat on the Mother Tree’s surface, it began to sink in—it was as though the wall was made of some kind of soft clay instead of wood.

“Hey!” Celia yanked her hand away—or tried to anyway. The wall didn’t want to let her go. “Guys? Help!” she exclaimed, yanking harder. “Hurry, please—it’s eating me!”

“What the fuck?” Fierce was suddenly at her side. He wrapped both big hands around her wrist and forearm and started pulling backwards. But even though Celia felt her hand give a little, it wouldn’t completely come free of the tree.

“It won’t let me go!” she gasped. “Dios—get it off me!”

“Brother, come grab her around the waist!” Fierce ordered as Hold hurried over. “And then pull for fuck’s sake!”

“We don’t want to break our lady’s arm—be careful, Fierce!” Hold exclaimed, even as he put both arms around Celia’s waist and began to pull along with his brother.

“I’d rather have a broken arm than be eaten by a tree!” Celia exclaimed. Panic was climbing up her throat and choking her with fear. “Hurry! Get me loose—please!”

It took the strength of both big warriors but at last her hand came free with a sharp, tearing pain and all three of them tumbled backwards.

“Ow! Madre de Dios!” Ceila looked down at her palm, which was stippled with tiny droplets of blood. “That really hurts.”

She was trying not to cry but the close call of almost being eaten by the Mother Tree, plus the sharp pain in her hand meant tears were pricking at her eyelids despite her best efforts to keep them back.

“Let me see.” Hold examined her hand, making sure the wrist and elbow joints were intact and then looked over her palm. “It looks like you put your hand down on a bundle of thorn canes,” he remarked at last. “I imagine it stings, but I don’t think there’s any permanent damage done. I still have my smallest medical kit with me—I managed to save it when they took our clothes and weapons. So I can treat this for you once we get back to the dormitory.”

“No permanent damage except to Celia’s nerves, you mean!” Fierce growled. “Look at her, Brother—she’s trembling.” He put one long arm around her shoulders and squeezed comfortingly. “It’s all right, lelka—you’re safe now.”

“It…it almost ate me!” Celia wished her voice wouldn’t shake so much. “I barely touched it and it started to suck me in!”

“This must be what La’ver’na means when she talks about “feeding” the Mother Tree,” Hold said grimly. He put an arm around Celia’s waist from the other side and gave her a comforting squeeze. With Fierce on the other side, she felt surrounded by the two big warriors. “Which means that all these carvings…” he gestured to the wall.

“Aren’t carvings at all,” Celia whispered. “They’re actual people. Madre de Dios—these are people that the Mother Tree ate.”

“And it looks like it’s still fucking digesting them,” Fierce said. “Shit, this is fucking bad!”

“We have to get out of here!” Celia tried to blink back the tears of fear and pain that wanted to fall but a few slipped down her cheeks despite her best efforts. “This isn’t just some harmless sex cult—they’re fucking monsters here, feeding people to this…this horrible tree!” she said in a choked voice.

“We can’t leave yet—not until the ship is fixed,” Fierce said grimly. “Without it we’re stuck on JoCosta Twelve and the Sisterhood of Peace owns the whole damn planet. So as much as I fucking hate it, we’re going to have to wait it out.”

“And in the meantime, we’re going to have to play along with them and do what they want, I’m afraid,” Hold murmured. “Which means doing our best to turn your nipples blue, my lady,” he said to Celia.

Celia choked on a laugh that was more than half sob.

“Dios, that sounds so bizarre!”

“Not any more bizarre than getting eaten by a tree if we don’t succeed,” Fierce muttered.

“For now what we need to do is get back down to the dormitory without anyone suspecting where we’ve been and what we’ve seen,” Hold pointed out. “We can worry about turning Celia’s nipples blue later.”

The two of them helped her to her feet and though she was a bit wobbly, she found that she could walk.

“Come on,” she said. “I just want to get out of this horrible, creepy room!”

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Fierce agreed.

“But quietly,” Hold added. “Nobody can know what we’ve seen or they’ll feed us to the Mother Tree immediately.”

Just the thought of that made Celia break out into a cold sweat. More than anything she wanted to get out of here—away from the bizarre sex/death cult and back to where she belonged.

The Mother Ship, she thought with longing. I wish I was back there with Kat, helping to decorate and planning the big Christmas party!

It didn’t occur to her until later that she hadn’t even thought of Peter or his family once when she was longing for home and the feeling of love and belonging…

36

CELIA

“Where have the three of you been? Everyone else has already had their nightly shower and are already in bed pleasuring each other!” Ger’tha demanded, glaring at them as they finally walked in the door of the dormitory.

“We’re very sorry—we stayed behind to wash everyone’s dishes,” Hold said smoothly, taking the lead. He was certainly the best of them at sweet-talking people so Celia and Fierce hung back and let him. Celia was also careful to keep her injured hand behind her back—she didn’t want to have to explain her wounded palm.

“You did, eh?” The unicorn woman seemed skeptical of their explanation.

“You can ask Priestess La’ver’na if you want to verify it with her,” Hold suggested. “It was on her orders that we stayed.”

“Well…” Ger’tha stamped one hoof indecisively. “All right,” she said at last. “But hurry and take your showers—lights out is very soon.”

“Yes, of course we will.” Hold nodded. “Er, if you could point us in the direction of the shower room?”

“In there.” The Guardian of Recruits pointed to a small door at the far end of the large dormitory. “Hurry yourselves up,” she added. “And be certain to stimulate your goddess’s breasts when you wash her. I see that her nipples still have not turned blue.” And she gave Celia’s breasts a disapproving look.

“We will,” Hold promised and then the three of them quickly retreated to the shower room.

Past the small doorway was a long, communal shower which felt more like a sauna to Celia—mainly because it was all carved out of the living wood and it had a warm, polished glow. Even the shower nozzles were wooden instead of metal. The glowing moss on the ceiling cast a golden luminescence over everything, giving it an almost cozy look.

But no matter how cozy it looked, Celia was not charmed. Now she knew how the Mother Tree worked and what it fed on, she felt less like she was in a charming log cabin in the woods and more like she had rented an Airbnb in the bowels of a monster—a monster that would be more than happy to eat and digest her if it got the chance.

Still, they were stuck here for now, she reminded herself. At least as long as she was with Hold and Fierce she felt mostly safe. She knew the two big warriors would kill or die to protect her and that thought comforted her greatly.

There were rows of wooden pegs on the far wall where Celia could hang her red silk gown and the guys could hang their ridiculously small red silk loincloths.

“Fucking sick of wearing that thing,” Fierce remarked as he hung his on a wooden peg. “There’s no fucking use in wearing it—it doesn’t cover a damn thing!”

“It’s better than being naked like the goat men,” Celia pointed out, trying not to look at his enormous shaft.

“Is that what you call them?” Hold asked.

Celia shrugged.

“I mean, sure—they look like goat men—or satyrs, I guess. What else would you call them?”

“Well, I’ve heard some of them calling themselves JoCostians,” Hold said. “Though they call their females ‘JoCostillians,” he added.

“So they’re the natives of JoCosta Prime and then they came over here to form a colony on JoCosta Twelve?” Celia asked. “I wonder if their women look like goats too?” she murmured.

“Oh no—their females are the ones you see here. La’ver’na and the Mistress of Silk and all the rest of the one-horned ones.”

“What, you mean the unicorn women?” Celia exclaimed. “They’re the female of the goat man species?”

“Unicorn women?” Fierce frowned. “What the fuck is a unicorn?”

“Oh, it’s an animal from Earth legends,” Celia explained. “It looks kind of like a white horse only it’s got a single, spiral horn in the center of its forehead. It’s supposed to have magical powers, like healing and neutralizing poison with the tip of its horn.”

“I never saw any fucking unicorns when I went down to Earth,” Fierce remarked.

“Because it’s a mythical animal,” Celia explained. “People made it up.”

The Dark Twin Frowned.

“Why would you make up animals when you have so many real ones already?”

“Are the three of you showering in there or just talking?” came Ger’tha’s voice from the doorway. “I told you, it’s almost time for lights out!”

“We’re showering!” Celia called back.

She’d been holding the gauzy red gown in front of her in an attempt at modesty but now she hastily hung it on a peg and hurried to the shower nozzles lined up along the wooden wall. She tried to turn the wooden knob to make water come out, but forgot that her right hand was hurt.

“Ow! Hijo de puta!” she swore, yanking her wounded fingers away from the knob.

“Here, my lady—let me,” Hold murmured. He stepped in front of her and turned the knob, adjusting the spray until it was warm but not too hot and wide enough to encompass all three of them.

“Oh, thank you, Hold,” Celia murmured, smiling up at the Light Twin.

“Happy to help,” he told her.

“Maybe you’d better let us help you with other things too,” Fierce growled, coming up behind her. “Like washing your beautiful body—since your hand is hurt, I mean,” he added quickly, seeing Celia’s skeptical frown.

“We’ll be very gentle with you, my lady,” Hold murmured. He took her wounded hand and let the warm water flow over it, then turned it over and kissed her knuckles gently, his hazel-green eyes never leaving hers.

“Well, I…I guess so.” Suddenly Celia felt breathless. The reality of the situation hit her—she was wet and naked and standing between two equally naked, extremely muscular warriors—both of which were looking at her with half-lidded eyes. Also, the crazy sexual energy of the Mother Tree was buzzing through all three of them, making her feel as though her nipples and pussy were tingling, even though nothing was actually touching them.

“Good. You honor us with your trust.” Hold was already getting a handful of sweet smelling lather from the wooden dispenser beside the shower nozzle. It was pale pink and smelled like crushed leaves in the fall. Celia thought that it was definitely not a scent she’d smelled before as a body wash, but the fragrance was actually really nice.

Fierce got a handful of the pale pink foam too and began using it to wash her back. Celia could feel his big, strong hands caressing her and then massaging her shoulders, which were incredibly tight—probably because she was still stressed about the awful things they’d seen on Fifth Branch.

“Oh…mi Dios,” she moaned as Fierce massaged her. “That feels so good.”

“Glad you like it, lelka,” he murmured in her ear, his strong fingers moving down her back. “Thought you looked a little tense.”

Meanwhile, Hold was on one knee in front of her, spreading the sweet smelling foam up and down her calves and thighs and feet.

“My lady,” he murmured, looking up at Celia. “Would you lean back against Fierce and put your foot on my thigh?”

“Oh, um…okay.” Celia did as he asked, leaning back against the Dark Twin’s broad chest and placing her right foot on the Light Twin’s thigh.

Hold immediately started massaging her, starting at her foot and moving up her calf and thigh, his long fingers digging into her tired muscles.

Celia moaned again, and relaxed even more against Fierce, who had considerately wrapped one long arm around her waist to help her stay upright.

“Does it feel good, my lady?” Hold asked, looking up at her. “Do you like it when Fierce and I pamper you?”

“Yes…yes, I do,” Celia admitted. The Light Twin finished with her right leg and then placed it gently on the floor and did her left leg as well.

Celia relaxed and let him do it—and she couldn’t help contrasting her current situation with the last time she’d taken a shower with Peter. She had scrubbed her fiancé’s back and chest but he had not returned the favor. Plus, he’d hogged most of the shower spray, leaving her feeling wet and cold the whole time.

Well, it was a different kind of shower—the spray wasn’t as wide, she tried to tell herself. But then she decided to just stop thinking of Peter—after all, the guys weren’t touching her anywhere sexual so it wasn’t like she was really cheating…

“Mmm, lelka, would you like me to wash your front as well?” Fierce growled in her ear as Hold finished with her other leg and placed her foot back on the floor.

Celia bit her lip. Should she? Really, she shouldn’t. But then, what if Ger’tha walked in and caught the two big warriors not touching her? And what about her nipples? They had to turn blue and apparently sexual contact was the only way to make that happen.

You’re justifying all this and you’re going to feel guilty later, whispered a little voice in her head. But Celia pushed it away. As long as it was just touching and not anything else, it couldn’t really be counted as cheating, she told herself.

“Yes, Fierce,” she told the Dark Twin. “Go ahead and…and wash my front.”

“Mmmm…with pleasure, lelka.” Reaching around her, he got another handful of foam and rubbed it between his palms. Then he cupped her breasts in his big hands and began “washing” her—though it was really more of a massaging, squeezing motion that ended with him tugging lightly at her nipples and sending sparks of pleasure through her whole body.

“Ohhhh…Dios!” Celia moaned as the Dark Twin continued to knead her bare breasts and tug at her nipples

“You like that, lelka?” he growled softly in her ear and she could feel his long shaft branding her ass and the small of her back. “Does it feel good when I wash you like this?”

“Yes!” Celia moaned. Looking down, she saw that Hold was massaging some of the pale pink foam into her inner thighs and then washing the little thatch of curls on her pussy mound. She had never felt so surrounded by masculine energy before—never felt so cared for and pampered. Both big warriors had raging hard-ons but they were wholly concentrated on making her feel good.

But just as she felt like she was about to melt into a puddle of lust butter right between them, Ger’tha stuck her horned head in the shower room.

“Hurry up, you three!” she exclaimed. “Shower time is over! It’s time for bed.”

“Oh, um—sorry!” Celia straightened up, reflexively covering her breasts with one arm and her pussy with the other. Her hurt hand was a lot less painful now, she noted, though it was still pretty tender.

Hold saw her flexing her hand carefully and rose to murmur in her ear,

“Don’t worry, my lady—I’ll see to your wounds as soon as we get back to our sleeping area. I have some wound-heal spray that should fix you right up.”

“Thank you.” Celia smiled at him as the three of them rinsed themselves off.

There was a stack of purple towels on a wooden bench that were the same color as the Mother Tree’s huge leaves. After picking one up, Celia realized it must be one of the leaves, cut down to towel size. It had one furry side and one smooth side. The furry side seemed more absorbent so she used it to wipe herself down and then wrapped the leaf-towel around herself securely.

The guys dried themselves as well and then all of them took their clothes and filed back into the dormitory, under the watchful eye of Ger’tha.

“All right—get settled and then mind you try again to turn your goddess’s nipples blue,” she reminded them sternly. “I’ll be checking on you three to make sure you’re doing as you should.”

It was clear from the moans and groans and squeaking sounds coming from the many curtained off areas that the other recruits were certainly doing as they should, Celia thought. Through a gap in the curtains, she caught sight of Sess’ely and her three goat men again.

The unicorn girl was kneeling on the bed, sucking two of her worshippers at the same time and the third was fucking her from behind. Celia thought she looked blissfully happy…then she remembered La’ver’na’s plan for the little quartet and shivered.

If possible, she would have to try and find a way to warn Sess’ely. Maybe she and her goat men worshippers could go back to JoCosta Prime and live happily ever after together. Of course, JoCostan society might not approve of their polyamorous relationship, but that was better than being eaten by a tree!

She tried to put that out of her mind as they finally got back to their own sleeping area and sat on the bed together.

The minute they got settled with the curtains drawn, Hold pulled a small medical kit out from beneath the mattress and opened it.

“All right, my lady—let me see your hurt hand,” he instructed, suddenly all business.

Celia held it out to him, palm up, and he took a tiny bottle from the small kit and sprayed it over the many tiny pin-prick wounds that covered her palm and fingers.

“There.” He nodded and recapped the bottle before putting it away. “That will seal your wounds and keep out any infection. Your hand will still be tender for a while but it will heal much more quickly than it would have without treatment.”

“Thank you, Hold.” Celia flexed her fingers, noting that she was now able to close her hand in a loose fist without too much pain. “It feels so much be—” she began, but just then the three of them heard the tap-tap-tapping sound of hooves approaching their sleeping area.

“Quick!” Celia hissed. “If she catches us not doing anything…”

Hold and Fierce were in action before she even finished her sentence. The Dark Twin settled against the living headboard and pulled her back so that she was resting against his broad chest. At the same time, he opened her leaf towel and pulled it apart to bare her body completely. Then he reached around her and cupped both of her breasts in his big hands, just as he had in the shower.

As the Dark Twin was getting her into position, Hold also sprang into action. He shoved the tiny medical kit back under the mattress and spread Celia’s thighs.

“Oh, what—?”Celia barely had time to gasp before the Light Twin was kneeling over her pussy, so close that she could feel his hot breath stirring the curls on her mound.

The curtain was yanked back and Ger’tha stood there, frowning at the three of them. When she saw the position they were in, her gaze softened slightly.

“Well, I must say I’m glad to see you worshipping your goddess correctly,” she remarked.

“We’re doing our best to bring her pleasure,” Hold assured her. Dipping his head, he kissed the top of Celia’s slit and then rubbed his cheek against her mound, making her groan and buck her hips.

“Yes, we want our goddess to be well satisfied,” Fierce added, tugging her tender nipples again.

“Oh…ohhhh!” Celia moaned and arched her back for effect. Actually, she didn’t have to fake much—it felt amazing to be between the two big Kindred with both of them touching and teasing her.

“Very well, keep it up! I’ll check back again later.” And Ger’tha finally closed the curtain again, giving them their nominal privacy.

Celia expected the guys to stop what they were doing…only they didn’t. Fierce kept massaging her breasts and tugging her nipples and Hold continued to kiss her pussy—though he was at least, only kissing the outside, she noted.

“Guys…” she murmured, feeling breathless. “She…she’s gone. You don’t have to…to keep doing what you’re doing.”

“Better not stop now,” Fierce rumbled in her ear. “After all, she might come back.”

“Fierce is right.” Hold looked up at her and Celia saw that his eyes were half-lidded with pleasure. “Besides, my lady, I’ve been wanting to kiss you here from the moment we started Dream-sharing with you. Won’t you let me continue? I’m only kissing the outside of your pussy,” he added.

“Well…” Celia bit her lip. “I guess as long as you’re just kissing me on the outside and not…not anything else.”

“Just kissing,” Hold promised and bent his head to lay a gentle kiss on her pussy slit. For just a moment, Celia thought she felt the tip of his tongue slip inside to flick briefly over her swollen clit, but it was so quick she couldn’t tell if she’d imagined it or not.

“Mmm, love to watch you getting your pussy kissed,” Fierce rumbled in her ear as he continued to tease her tight nipples. “Does it feel good, lelka? Do you like being between us like this?”

“I…I guess so,” Celia panted, not knowing what else to say. The slow, delicious torture went on and on, with Fierce tugging and twisting her nipples and Hold kissing just the outside of her pussy and rubbing his cheek against her mound until Celia thought she might snap from the tension. She moaned restlessly and writhed between them.

She needed badly to come, but she felt strongly that letting herself come was cheating, so she was holding back. Luckily, except for a few more kisses on her slit where the tip of Hold’s tongue flicked briefly inside to tease her, she wasn’t getting direct stimulation to her clit, so she was able to keep from orgasming.

But then Fierce shifted behind her and growled.

“Enough, Brother—you’ve had your turn. I should get to kiss Celia’s pussy now.”

“Very well—I want to massage her breasts,” Hold answered.

“Oh, er…” Celia felt uncertain about this. Should she let them do this?

But before she could protest, they were switching positions so that Hold was cradling her against his broad chest and Fierce was suddenly between her thighs.

“Mmmm…lelka,” he murmured, framing her mound with his big, warm hands. “Been wanting to do this from the first minute I saw you in my dreams!”

“Do what? You’re only supposed to be kissing me!” Celia reminded him, feeling both slightly panicked and extremely aroused at the same time.

“All right—I know you feel like you’re cheating on that stupid human of yours if we go too far. So I’ll just kiss you,” Fierce growled, looking up at her. But then he placed his thumbs on her outer pussy lips and parted them, opening her to show her inner folds.

“Oh!” Celia gasped and tried to shut her legs. But the Dark Twin’s broad shoulders had her spread wide and he wasn’t moving. He looked up at her, his dark eyes lazy with lust.

“Don’t worry, lelka—didn’t I promise I’d only kiss you?” he rumbled.

“Yes, but…but you spread me open!” Celia protested.

“Yes, I did. Because my brother got to kiss the outside of your pussy—but now that it’s my turn, I want to kiss the inside,” Fierce growled. “And look at how hot and wet you are, baby—I think you need to be kissed.”

Celia bit her lip, looking down to see that he was right—she was incredibly wet and shiny and her swollen clit was like a throbbing pearl, begging for attention. Peter had always hated how wet she got, but Fierce seemed to think it was a good thing.

“It’s just a kiss—a kiss isn’t cheating,” Fierce murmured temptingly. “After all, it’s not like I’m putting my cock inside your soft little cunt—I just want to kiss the inside of your pussy.”

“Well…all right,” Celia panted, giving in at last.

“That’s right, my lady,” Hold murmured in her ear as he began lightly teasing her sensitive nipples. “Just relax and let Fierce kiss and worship your pussy.”

“I…I don’t know if I should!” Celia moaned. But just at that moment, Fierce lowered his head and placed a hot, open-mouthed kiss on her spread pussy.

This time she was sure she felt a hot tongue pressed against her aching clit. Fierce wasn’t nearly as subtle as his brother. He kissed her long and deeply, the same way he had kissed her mouth in the past and Celia felt his hot tongue stroking over her sensitive little pearl again and again.

“Oh…Ohhh!” she moaned, writhing between them. She couldn’t believe she was in this position—leaning back against one huge Kindred warrior with another between her thighs, intent on kissing her pussy.

“That’s right, my lady—open to Fierce,” Hold murmured in her ear. “Take pleasure from his kiss. Let your body go where it needs to go…”

His deep voice was soothing and erotic at the same time and the way he was teasing just the tips of her nipples was sending Celia closer and closer to the edge. But just as she thought she was going to come, Fierce looked up.

The Dark Twin’s mouth and chin were shiny with her juices and his eyes were blazing with lust.

“Love kissing you, lelka,” he growled, looking up at Celia. “But I need to kiss you deeper—need to put my tongue inside your sweet little pussy and taste your honey from the source. Can you open up and let me do it?”

“I…I don’t know.” Celia bit her lip. Dios, she was so close! “Is…is it still just a kiss?”

“Just a sweet little pussy kiss,” the Dark Twin assured her. “Just spread your legs for me like a good girl so I can get my tongue inside you.”

His hot words and the way he was looking at her melted Celia’s will entirely.

“All right.” Spreading her legs even wider, she tilted her hips for him, offering her pussy. “You can…can kiss me deeper, Fierce.”

“Good girl,” he growled again and then he was ducking his head to find the mouth of her pussy with the tip of his tongue.

Celia moaned as he slid inside her. But the moan turned into a surprised gasp as she felt it begin to swell inside her.

“Oh…what?” She looked up at Hold uncertainly. “I…I think it’s growing inside me. His tongue, I mean!”

“We have some unique DNA in our heritage that allows us to do that,” Hold agreed, completely unsurprised. “It’s to help stretch our mate so she can take our cocks after she takes our tongues,” he added.

“Oh but you’re not going to…to do that to me, are you?” Celia asked, her eyes wide.

“No, my lady—we’re not going to fuck you or Bond you to us tonight,” the Light Twin murmured, stroking her cheek as he looked into her eyes. “But you can’t blame Fierce for wanting to stretch your sweet pussy with his tongue a little bit. And it’s good, after all, to let you know what you can expect if you change your mind and decide to stay with us instead of going back to Earth.”

Celia didn’t know if that was logical or not—she only knew that her pussy had never felt so full before as Fierce tongue-fucked her slow and deep, tasting her juices right from the source. She felt stretched to the limit and yet it was a good feeling and she wanted more of it.

At last, however, the Dark Twin seemed to have finally had enough. He withdrew his tongue and looked up at her.

“All right, lelka,” he growled, his voice a deep rumble of lust. “I can tell by all the honey your sweet pussy is making for me that you need to come—come nice and hard all over my face.”

“Yes…yes!” Celia moaned, not even trying to protest. “Please, Fierce—please make me come!”

His eyes went half-lidded as he growled in approval.

“That’s my good girl—admitting you need to come. Just keep your pussy spread nice and wide for me so I can get you where you need to go, lelka. Brother, step up the tit-torture—I think our little female needs more stimulation to come for us.”

“I think you’re right, Brother,” Hold murmured. And as Fierce bent and began circling her throbbing clit with his tongue, he began pinching Celia’s nipples and pulling harder on her tender tips.

At this point, Celia felt like she’d been on the sexual edge for hours. As soon as Fierce started giving her clit direct stimulation, she felt herself tilting over the side as her orgasm rushed towards her like a powerful wave in the ocean.

And then it hit her, washing over her in waves as the pleasure seemed to explode outwards, making her gasp and moan and writhe between them.

“Oh! Oh, yes! Madre de Dios!” she cried, bucking her hips helplessly. Fierce gripped them in his big hands and held her still, ruthlessly lapping the tender bud of her clit, sending her higher and higher as the pleasure filled her to overflowing.

“That’s right, my lady,” she heard Hold murmuring in her ear as he tugged her nipples. “That’s right—give it up for us. Let yourself come nice and hard on my brother’s tongue. Gush your honey for him…the same way you will for me when he’s done.”

“When he…when he’s done?” Celia moaned, tilting her head back to look at him.

The Light Twin nodded, his eyes burning into hers.

“It’s only fair that I should get a turn kissing the inside of your sweet pussy too, don’t you think?”

At that point, Celia couldn’t think anymore. Fierce kept lapping her clit, sending her higher and higher in an orgasm that seemed like it would never end.

At last, however, Hold seemed to get concerned. He put a hand over her heart and frowned before shaking his head and saying,

“Brother, you need to stop. Our lady’s heart is pounding!”

The Dark Twin looked up and licked his lips.

“Sorry, lelka,” he growled. “It’s just that your honey is so sweet and I’ve been waiting so long to taste you.” He nodded at Hold. “I know my brother wants a turn between your thighs too.”

“She needs to rest first,” Hold said firmly. “Come up and help me keep our lady warm, Brother.”

“Mmm, with pleasure.” Fierce slid out from between her thighs and came up to lie on Celia’s left side, while Hold shifted to be on her right.

After a moment of panting to catch her breath, Celia was able to turn on her side, facing the Dark Twin. The moment she did, Fierce cupped her cheek in one big hand and kissed her, claiming her mouth and parting her lips to feed her own secret flavor to her.

Celia moaned breathlessly and kissed him back. Why did she taste so good on his lips? And why couldn’t she seem to stop kissing him?

Maybe because you don’t want to stop, whispered a little voice in her head. Maybe because it feels too good to stop.

She snuggled between them, kissing Fierce and then turning to kiss Hold, for a good long time. Both big warriors caressed her, running their big, warm hands all over her naked body, making her feel incredibly hot…as well as loved and cared for.

Shouldn’t be doing this, whispered a guilty little voice in her head, but Celia pushed it away. The feeling of being between them with their hard cocks branding her belly and back and their hot mouths and warm hands on her body was too pleasurable to ask them to stop.

And then Hold murmured,

“I think it’s my turn now, my lady.”

Celia bit her lip. Once more she felt guilty. Should she let the Light Twin continue what the Dark Twin had started? She couldn’t help wondering if Hold would have a different oral technique if she let him taste her, but should she?

Just then the curtain was thrown back again, startling them all. They had been so involved in each other, none of them had even heard the tapping of Ger’tha’s hooves.

“What are you all doing just lying there?” she demanded, frowning. “Why does not one of you at least have his tongue in your goddess? Or why aren’t the both of you fucking her? A goddess needs to be bred, well and often to retain her divinity,” she added in a lecturing tone.

“Never fear, I was about to taste our goddess.” Hold slid down between her legs and parted her pussy with his thumbs. As he leaned down to lap her open pussy and drag his hot tongue slowly over Celia’s sensitive clit, she threw back her head and moaned loudly.

She was only half aware of it when Ger’tha shut the curtains again because another round of tasting had begun and she knew it wouldn’t end until she came for the Light Twin, just as she had come for his brother.

37

CELIA

Celia didn’t know how many times they passed her between them that night. Neither one of them could seem to get enough of tasting her, lapping her pussy and putting their tongues deep inside her to stretch her open. She lost count of her orgasms but when she tried to return the favor, they wouldn’t let her.

“No, lelka—tonight is about you,” Fierce growled.

“You give us enough pleasure allowing us to finally taste you,” Hold told her. “Just relax, my lady and let us make you come again.”

And Celia found herself doing just that—giving herself over to both of them and letting them do what they wanted with her for hours.

When they finally had enough, they tucked her between them with Fierce on her left side and Hold on her right. The three of them lay on their sides like spoons in a drawer and as she drifted off to sleep, Celia thought she had never felt so loved and protected in her life.

Waking up, however, was a different story. At first, when she opened her eyes, she couldn’t understand why she was naked between the two huge warriors. Then memories came rushing back and she felt her cheeks getting hot as she remembered all the times they’d tasted her and how willingly she’d spread her legs for the two of them.

I have to stop this! She told herself firmly. What would Peter say if he ever found out what I let them do to me?

You mean the same Peter who won’t even go down on you a little—let alone feast on you like Hold and Fierce did last night? A dry little voice in her head demanded. Why are you so determined to stay with Peter anyway? Just because you met him first?

Because he wants me—he asked me to marry him! Celia argued with the voice. He came along and wanted me when no one else did. Doesn’t that deserve some loyalty?

Before she could answer that question, the sound of a bell ringing loudly cut through the early morning stillness. On either side of her, Hold and Fierce began to stir.

“What the fuck is that noise?” The Dark Twin complained sleepily, stretching like a cat. Celia could feel his big body moving against hers, his broad chest pressing against her back.

“Some kind of wake-up call, I guess,” Hold murmured. He stretched as well and sat up, scratching his chest. “Guess it’s time to get up.”

“Mmm, I’m still sleepy from staying up half the night, but it was fucking worth it,” Fierce remarked. He propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at Celia, who was still lying on her side. “You were delicious, last night, lelka. Wonder if we have time to taste you again before we have to get up?”

“No!” Celia sat up and frowned at the Dark Twin. “No more of that. We went too far last night and you know it!”

“Too far and yet somehow not far enough,” Hold remarked, looking at her breasts. “It seems your nipples are still not blue, my lady.”

Celia looked down at her chest in dismay. Sure enough, her nipples didn’t even have a hint of the bright blue tinge that every other woman in the compound had. And she couldn’t help remembering La’ver’na saying that if her nipples didn’t eventually turn blue, the three of them were going to get fed to the Mother Tree.

“Damn it—there must be something we can do,” she said, frowning down at her bare breasts.

“Short of fucking your sweet little pussy and filling you with our cream, I don’t think there’s anything else to try,” Fierce growled. “We’ve done everything else—massaged your breasts, sucked your nipples, fingerered you, gone down on your hot little pussy for hours last night—”

“That’s enough!” Celia’s cheeks were burning at his recitation of all the forbidden acts she’d committed with the two huge warriors. She looked down at her breasts again in despair. “Why won’t they turn blue?”

“It’s possible that the Mother Tree’s energy affects you differently than it does the JoCastians,” Hold said thoughtfully. “After all, even though we’re all bipedal, we’re also all vastly different species.”

“I think we should try fucking her,” Fierce remarked.

“Fierce!” Celia slapped him on his broad chest angrily. “Look, pendejo—nobody is doing that to me! That’s—”

“Cheating?” the Dark Twin finished for her, his eyes flashing. “Got news for you, sweetheart—just because I didn’t fill you with my cock and my cum last night doesn’t mean what we were doing wasn’t way over the line. I doubt your fiancé would want to know that I tongue-fucked your pussy for hours and that you came in my mouth. Especially since he refuses to go down on you himself.”

“How did you know that about Peter?” Celia demanded. “Was that in your damned dreams too?”

Fierce smirked at her.

“Nope. He just doesn’t seem the type to enjoy eating pussy. He’s too fucking dainty.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “But seriously? He refuses to go down?”

“None of your business, you hijo de puta!” Celia’s cheeks were flaming as she glared up at him. Why was it that every time she felt like she was getting to like the Dark Twin, he said something to irritate, offend, or infuriate her?

“Celia is right—it’s none of our business what she does or doesn’t do with her fiancé,” Hold said, frowning.

“Okay, sorry.” Fierce shrugged. “Just trying to understand how he could resist such a sweet, soft little pussy. Especially with all the moaning and begging and hair pulling when you tongue her Goddess pearl just right…”

“Fierce, will you stop? Can’t you see our lady doesn’t want to talk about that?” Hold sounded almost as exasperated as Celia felt.

“All right, all right…” The Dark Kindred held up both hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture. “Just trying to understand it, that’s all.”

“Humans don’t have the same biological need to taste their females that we Kindred do,” Hold reminded him. “Besides which, we really enjoy it and I don’t know if they do or not.”

“Uh, that would be a ‘not’ as far as I can tell,” Celia said dryly. “But can we please stop talking about this now? Shouldn’t we be getting dressed? Aren’t we supposed to get our work assignments this morning?”

“Not until after breakfast,” the familiar voice of Ger’tha said and the front curtain was pulled to one side. “Hurry and get ready,” she told them. “Most of the other new recruits have already left for the dining area!”

It didn’t Celia take long to pull on her red silk tablecloth dress and even less time for the guys to put on their napkin-sized loincloths. Soon the three of them were sitting in the same spot they’d been in the night before in the large dining hall carved out of the trunk of the Mother Tree.

“No smart remarks this morning,” Celia said to Fierce as they all waited for their Mother pot to fill with whatever it was they would be eating that morning. Each of them had a bark cup of the thin, pancakes-and-syrup-tasting liquid from the large wooden caldron in the center of the room, though Celia found herself reluctant to drink hers. She still didn’t know what effect it might have on her.

La’ver’na was walking around the room, talking to the new recruits, many of whom were “worshipping their goddesses” before the meal officially began. When she got to their spot, she frowned down at the three of them.

“Nipples still aren’t blue, I see?” she asked, arching her eyebrows disapprovingly.

“Believe me, we tried everything,” Fierce said and would have gone into details, if Hold hadn’t given him a dig in the ribs with his elbow.

“Well, you clearly aren’t trying hard enough,” the unicorn priestess snapped, glaring down at them. “If you’re not producing the pleasure drops by tonight, we may have to do something drastic my dear,” she added, speaking to Celia.

Celia felt like someone had just dumped a whole bucketful of ice cubes into the pit of her stomach. Something drastic? Like what—feeding the three of them to the Mother Tree?

Somehow she managed to keep this question to herself but she saw Hold and Fierce both shooting her worried looks.

“We can talk about it later. For now, just hurry up and eat,” La’ver’na snapped and moved on to the next group.

“Eat what?” Fierce growled.

But when they looked at the small wooden Mother pot again, it was filling itself with a pale blue substance that had the texture of very thick oatmeal.

“Hmmm…tastes like scrupled eggs,” Fierce said, after taking a bite.

“What kind of eggs, did you say?” Hold asked, frowning.

“You know—when they take the chicken embryos and they mix them all up before frying them? Scrupled eggs,” the Dark Twin repeated.

Celia tried not to laugh.

“I think you mean scrambled eggs,” she corrected him and took a bite herself. “Oh, they do taste like scrambled eggs. With cheese in them,” she added.

Once she got past the strange texture, she found the flavor wasn’t too bad. Though it was difficult not to wonder how exactly the Mother Tree produced the nourishing substance. Celia really hoped it was some kind of byproduct of photosynthesis—not something derived from the slowly digesting bodies they’d seen on Branch Five.

Once that thought popped into her head, she found it impossible to eat another bite. She pushed her bowl away only half eaten and reluctantly sipped the pancake drink because she was thirsty.

“All right now, I know most of you know where you’re going but we have a few new recruits who need work assignments,” La’ver’na called, when most people had finished eating. “Listen up and be sure you stick with the other recruits from your assignment—they’ll show you where to go and what to do.”

She read off a list of names and people began leaving their individual groups and forming new ones, according to their work detail.

Hold was going to be working with the Harvesting Team, gathering “the Blood of the Mother” which was what they called the pancakes-and-syrup liquid everyone was drinking. Celia was surprised to learn that it was harvested and didn’t just appear in the large wooden cauldron the way the food appeared in the smaller Mother pots.

Fierce was being sent to the Repair Shop, which was good news. He would be able to help out with the repairs to their ship and estimate how long it would take to be ready to fly.

Celia’s assignment came last and it was rather mysterious—the unicorn priestess simply read her name along with a list of others and added, “Branch Two,” without saying what they would be doing there.

“Wait—that’s the branch where no males are allowed, right?” Fierce said.

“That’s the one.” Hold nodded. “Do you feel all right about going there, my lady?” he asked Celia anxiously.

“I don’t like it,” Fierce declared before she could answer. “Anything could be going on there—I don’t think it’s safe for Celia to go on her own, without one of us to guard her.”

“But we have different job assignments and even if we didn’t, males aren’t allowed on Branch Two,” Hold pointed out.

The argument was settled when Sess’ely came up to Celia and gave her a shy smile.

“You’re with me today,” she told her. “We get to work in Silk Production together.”

“Oh, is that what we’ll be doing?” Celia asked. “Is it, er, dangerous?”

“Not a bit! As long as you’re not male.” The unicorn girl gave a lighthearted laugh. “You’re going to love it. Sometimes I can’t believe it’s my job because honestly, I would pay to do it!”

Fierce still looked suspicious but Celia felt somewhat better about her mysterious assignment.

“All right. Thank you for letting me know we’re working together,” she said, smiling at the unicorn girl.

“Of course! You seem like such a nice person—I hope we’ll be friends. Come on!”

Sess’ely motioned for her and Celia went to stand beside her. She turned to look at her guys for a moment.

“Well, I guess I’ll see the two of you later,” she told them.

“Wait! Before you go…” Fierce grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her close to his broad chest in a tight hug. “If you have any problems, shout for us, lelka,” he murmured in her ear. “I swear I don’t care where I am in this fucked-up place, I’ll come running.”

Hold hugged her next, saying pretty much the same thing.

“We’re attuned to you now,” he murmured, stroking her back. “We’ll hear you so just shout if there’s trouble.”

Celia was touched by their protectiveness.

“Well…thank you, guys.” She smiled up at the two of them. “But I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“Not if we don’t hurry!” Sess’ely stamped one cloven hoof impatiently. “Come on, or all the good-tempered spiders will already be taken and we’ll get stuck with the cranky ones!”

“Excuse me? The good-tempered what?” Celia exclaimed.

But the unicorn girl didn’t answer—she only grabbed Celia by the arm and dragged her out of the dining area.

38

CELIA

Celia got to find out firsthand exactly how hard it was to pull one of the sky-lifters upwards. There must be some kind of pulley system, she thought, but if so, it wasn’t a very efficient one. Her arms were sore by the time she and Sess’ely finally got to Branch Two.

“Ugh—it’s always such a pain to go up and down without some of your worshippers to do the pulling,” the unicorn girl said, shaking out her arms. “Anyway, it looks like we got here first after all, so come with me and I’ll show you around.”

“Thank you,” Celia said, smiling. “Er, where are we going?”

“To the Holy Web, of course. Come on—it’s this way.” Sess’ely started walking along the branch and as soon as they curved a little way around the trunk, Celia saw what must be the “Holy Web.” It was an enormous flat spider web with strands as thick as her fingers, laid out like a giant trampoline.

“Wow…it’s huge!” Celia breathed. It looked to be as big as an Olympic sized swimming pool, if not bigger.

“Yes, the holy spiders need lots of room,” Sess’ely said, nodding so that her pearly little horn winked in the pink morning light which filtered down through the enormous leaves.

“What’s that thing there?” Celia asked, pointing. At the far end of the web was a massive cocoon, as big as a house.

“Oh, that’s where the holy spiders sleep. We’ll wake them in a moment, but first let me show you around the other parts of the Silk Production because you might have to take a turn in one of them eventually,” Sess’ely said.

“Sure, show me.” Celia nodded. She wasn’t in any hurry to “wake up” any spiders—especially if they were as big as the web indicated.

“This way.” Sess’ely led her further around the trunk until they came to an area filled with giant steaming vats of colored liquid. There was red and green a blue and yellow—every color but purple.

“These are the dying vats,” Sess’ely explained. “But usually the only girls who work here are the ones the holy spiders don’t like. You dump the silk threads in there and swish them around with a paddle…” She pointed to a number of wooden paddles—each with a distinctive color that had been dyed into the wood. “And then you fish it out again when the silk is saturated enough.”

“Hey, this color here…” Celia went to stand near a vat of blue dye. The vat was waist-high to her and looked like it would hold hundreds of gallons.

“Oh—that’s Pleasure Blue. But we all call it ‘nipple blue’.” Sess’ely giggled. “Because it’s the exact color our nipples turn when the Mother Tree’s energy works on us and we start producing pleasure drops for our worshippers.”

“Yes, I can see that,” Celia murmured, casting an eye on the unicorn girl’s nipples, which were indeed a bright blue like the dye in the vat. “Er…how long did it take for your nipples to turn?” she asked, remembering that La’ver’na had said that it took some time for Sess’ely’s nipples to change color.

“Oh, well…it took a few days, actually.” Sess’ely blushed. “It didn’t really happen for me until I started letting my worshippers, er, worship me properly. I mean, with their cocks inside my pussy. You know?” She giggled and blushed a bright pink.

“Right—you must have been inexperienced and it made you uncomfortable,” Celia said, remembering what the priestess had said about Sess’ely being a virgin.

But the unicorn girl surprised her.

“Oh, it wasn’t that!” she said, shaking her head. “I mean, I was a virgin—emphasis on was.” She laughed self-deprecatingly. “But the reason I didn’t want to let my worshippers, er, worship me properly was because, well…they’re my brothers.”

“Excuse me?” Celia stared at her. “What did you say? Because I think I misunderstood you.”

“I said, they’re my brothers. My three older brothers, actually,” Sess’ely clarified. “We were on a trip to another galaxy together to buy a big load of F’olshon wine—it’s very expensive, you know. Anyway, we made the mistake of coming back through the wormhole. We thought it was safe but it destabilized right when we entered it.”

“That happened to our ship too,” Celia said. “It was scary!”

“So scary,” Sess’ely agreed. Her eyes went wide. “We nearly died! Our ship was so damaged it could barely fly. We just barely made it here to JoCosta Twelve and that’s when we found the Sisterhood of Peace and they allowed us to join them as long as my brothers agreed to act as my worshippers.”

“So…Priestess La’ver’na knew you were all related when she welcomed you into the Sisterhood?” Celia asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, yes, of course. She said it didn’t matter as long as we all were true believers in the Goddess of the Shining Heart. And as long as we would donate our load of F’olshon wine—which we did so they could sell it and use the money to fix our ship,” Sess’ely explained. “Of course, once our ship was fixed, we were supposed to go home and spread the light of the Goddess. But, well…we like it here. And we’re not sure the people back home on JoCosta Prime would understand our new relationship.”

By “new relationship”, Celia was pretty sure she meant the people on her home world wouldn’t understand why she was fucking her three big brothers. Which was still hard to wrap her head around.

“I mean…didn’t you feel like…wasn’t it hard to, uh, do that with…with your own brothers?” she asked at last.

“I mean sure—it was a little scary at first. But Priestess La’ver’na told us we wouldn’t be allowed to stay and couldn’t get our ship fixed if we didn’t join the Sisterhood—and you can’t join unless you have worshippers,” Sess’ely said, shrugging. “And then, of course, she said we couldn’t be proper members of the cult until my nipples turned blue and I started producing the pleasure drops for my brothers—I mean, my worshippers,” she corrected herself. “And since the Mother Tree’s energy wasn’t working on me fast enough, I had to let them, you know, worship me properly in order to turn my nipples blue.”

“I see,” Celia murmured. And she did see—that La’ver’na and the other authority figures here at the Sisterhood of Peace had basically stolen their shipment of expensive wine and kept them hostage in the Mother Tree, while encouraging Sess’ely and her brothers into an unconventional and unacceptable relationship…and now they were going to get killed for it—fed to the Mother Tree at some unspecified time in the future!

She remembered La’ver’na saying they wouldn’t make good emissaries for the Goddess because of their “situation”—by which she no doubt meant their incestuous relationship—a relationship that she had encouraged but she knew would be frowned on if Sess’ely and her brothers went home to JoCosta Prime. So the four of them were going to be fed to the damn tree instead.

“But don’t you miss your parents and your home world?” she asked Sess’ely. “Don’t you want to go home?”

“Oh but we are home,” the unicorn girl protested. “And now we’re going to become one with the Mother Tree up on Branch Five—the ceremony might even be tonight!”

“But what if someone told you that was a bad idea?” Celia asked, desperately trying to think of a way to warn her. “What if they told you they had seen terrible things on Branch Five? Stuff that would give you nightmares? Then would you leave?”

“Whoever says anything like that doesn’t really know the Sisterhood or the Mother Tree.” Sess’ely got a dreamy look on her face. “It’s wonderful here. Some of my brothers wanted to leave you know—they objected to, you know, worshipping me the way I need to be worshipped. But once I started giving them my pleasure drops, they all calmed down and decided it would be better to stay. We never want to leave.”

“But what if I told you it was dangerous here?” Celia asked. “What if—”

But just then they heard the voices of other women floating through the air towards them.

“Oh look—we’re first!” someone said. “I’ll get to pick my favorite one.”

Sess’ely’s eyes widened.

“Oh, that Oo’loo—hurry, she’s going to wake the holy spiders!”

She grabbed Celia by the hand and tugged her away from the dye vats and back in the direction of the enormous web.

They ran together until they reached the edge of the web, where several other women—most of them JoCostillians—were gathered. One of them was already reaching out towards the vast, white web which quivered in the breeze.

“Watch her,” Sess’ely whispered. “Only a single touch of the web will wake the holy spiders—but they only allow women to touch the web.”

“Why, though?” Celia asked, fascinated despite herself.

“Dunno.” Sess’ely shrugged. “Maybe because the holy spiders are all female. They eat the males of their own species, you know,” she added. “After they mate with them. I think maybe they consider anything male to be prey.”

The girl beside Sess’ely had clearly heard her talking because she nodded at Celia.

“She’s right—anything male is prey. Why, do you know they say that if a male so much as lays a finger on the web, it will send all the holy spiders climbing through the entire Mother Tree, looking for him so they can eat him! That’s why our worshippers aren’t allowed here,” she added. “The holy spiders would eat them and cause chaos through the whole tree.”

“That sounds like a bad time for everyone,” Celia remarked. “They—”

But the words she had been about to say died in her mouth. For the girl reaching for the web touched the sticky surface with a single finger…and everything happened at once.

39

CELIA

The enormous, house-sized cocoon, which looked like a mass of white cotton candy at the far end of the vast web, suddenly erupted into a frenzy of activity. Celia watched in horror as a mass of spiders—each one the size of a large dog, came swarming out of the huge white structure and rushed to the girls at the edge of the web.

“Madre de Dios!” she gasped and jumped back as one of them came at her. It had a huge, swollen abdomen covered in fine, silky white fur and long, chitinous, many jointed legs that were longer than her arms.

None of the other girls looked upset though—some even laughed at Celia’s reaction.

“Oh look—the new girl’s afraid!” one remarked in a taunting voice.

Sess’ely, however, didn’t laugh.

“Don’t be scared,” she said to Celia. “They won’t hurt you. Come on, see—they’re really sweet!”

She was actually petting one of the huge spiders as she talked and it seemed to enjoy the attention.

As she scrambled to her feet and took a tentative step closer to the web, Celia saw something she hadn’t noticed before. The spider’s head didn’t look like the head of an insect at all. In fact, it looked kind of like a cross between a cat and a fox, with pointed ears and big, jewel-like eyes that whirled with pleasure as Sess’ely scratched its swollen, furry abdomen.

“Aww, that’s my good girl!” Celia heard her saying as she stroked and scratched the spider. “Look at you—are you all ready to make lots of silk for me today?”

The spider with the cat/fox head made a purring/hissing noise and a long, thin line of white silk began to unspool from the bottom of its abdomen.

“There you go—good girl! Quick—give me a basket,” Sess’ely exclaimed.

Celia looked around and saw a stack of large wooden baskets behind them. Grabbing one, she handed it to Sess’ely, who placed it on the web, directly beneath the spider-cat’s abdomen. Then she continued scratching and stroking the purring/hissing creature as the white silk piled up in the basket.

“Thanks—you’d better get one yourself before they’re all taken,” she said to Celia. “Look—there’s a holy spider with no one to scratch her.” She nodded to a larger than usual spider who had apparently come out of the house-sized cocoon later than the others.

Celia had never liked bugs, but living in a sub-tropical climate, she had gotten used to dealing with them. Though to be honest, she had never dealt with one this big before. Still, this was her job here and she was trying to stay in La’ver’na’s good graces, so she and her guys weren’t fed to the Mother Tree. Taking a deep breath, she called to the wandering spider.

“Here! Over here, girl. Come here—do you want scritches?” Which was what she’d always called to her cat, Mr. Bigglesworth to get him to come out from behind the couch.

It had worked with Mr. Bigglesworth and it worked with the enormous spider-cat too. It came skittering over to her, it’s long, hairy legs working and its mouth open in a hissing-purr.

Celia tried not to shudder as she reached for it.

Just concentrate on the face—don’t look at the legs, she ordered herself. The face is cute—look at the face.

But she couldn’t seem to take her own advice. As she began stroking the long, silky white fur on the creature’s abdomen, her eyes kept wandering to the many-jointed, chitinous legs which all ended in horrible claw-like feet. Also, the silky-looking fur felt greasy under her fingertips. She didn’t enjoy petting the enormous spider-cat as she used to enjoy petting her own cat before he went over to the rainbow bridge. The swollen abdomen was nothing like Mr. Bigglesworth’s sleek back and sides and the hissing-purr just sounded weird.

The spider-cat didn’t seem to like the way she was stroking it, either. After a moment, it turned its head and glared at Celia, giving her a deep, angry hiss that had no purr in it at all and showing long, lethal looking fangs. Also, it hadn’t produced even an inch of silk from its quivering, bulbous abdomen.

Meanwhile, Sess’ely’s spider-cat had already produced two whole baskets of silk and was working on a third.

“Hey—what am I doing wrong?” Celia asked her friend. “She, uh, doesn’t seem to like me,” she added, nodding at her hissing spider-cat.

“Oh, some of them can be so cranky.” Sess’ely shook her head. “Look—here comes the Mistress of Silks now. Maybe she can help.” She raised her voice and called, “Excuse me? Mistress? Can you help us?”

“Yes, girls—what is it?” The Mistress of Silks swept over, wearing an elaborate gold silk dress that prominently displayed her bright blue nipples.

“Oh, Mistress—Celia’s holy spider isn’t making any silk.” Sess’ely nodded at the hissing spider-cat which Celia was still petting—though extremely warily since it seemed pissed-off.

“Oh dear.” The Mistress of Silks shook her head and looked at Celia. “Do you not have an affinity for animals, my dear?”

“I think she just got a cranky one,” Sess’ely said helpfully. “We got here first, but I took her to see the dying vats and when we came back she was frightened and didn’t get to pick her spider.”

“That’s a great shame.” The Mistress of Silks shook her head. “But as this holy spider doesn’t seem to like you and there are no others available at the moment, I’m afraid you’ll have to come along and work in the vats today.”

“Oh, does she have to? We were just getting to be friends—I was hoping we could work together today.” Sess’ely looked heartbroken but Celia was perfectly okay with the new assignment. She had no interest in petting any more of the huge, hairy spider-cats.

“That’s okay,” she said quickly. “I’m just not as good at, uh, petting holy spiders as you are. I don’t mind working at the dye vats. And we can always sit together at lunch,” she added.

“Well…okay.” Sess’ely sighed, then brightened. “I heard from someone we get tinga fruit for lunch—you’re going to love it!”

“I’m sure I will.” Celia smiled at her. But then again, her new friend had been sure she would love petting the spider-cats too and look how that had turned out. She was reserving judgment on the tinga fruit until she actually tried it. “Well, I’d better get going,” she said.

“Come right this way, my dear,” said the Mistress of Silks, nodding at her. “I’ll show you what to do and leave you to it. I must go back to mind the silk shop on Branch One.”

She took Celia back to the huge vats and showed her how to dump a basketful of fresh white holy spider silk into a dye vat, stir it around with the paddle for a while, and then fish it out and leave it on one of the broad, purple leaves to dry. There was a leaf for each of the colored dyes and it was important not to mix them up.

“Be certain you keep the colors separate,” the Mistress of Silks cautioned her. “And there’s really not much else to it. I’m afraid you’ll be working alone today, though,” she added, looking around. “All the other girls are petting the holy spiders.”

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Celia assured her. “I’ll manage just fine on my own.”

“Oh good, thank you my dear.” The Mistress of Silks glanced at her breasts and shook her head. “It’s such a shame your nipples haven’t turned blue yet! You’d be such an asset to our Silk Production—I’m sure of it.”

Meaning that unless her nipples turned blue pretty quickly, she was going to get fed to the Mother Tree, Celia thought, feeling that icy cold fear in the pit of her stomach again. She really had to do something about that! But what?

The answer presented itself when she went to dump a fresh basket of silk into the “Pleasure Blue” dye. The silk landed with a splat and a droplet of the dye flew up and landed on the back of Celia’s hand.

It wasn’t hot, despite the way the liquid was steaming, but it did leave a little blue freckle on her skin, no matter how she tried to wipe it off.

Celia frowned.

“Well, apparently this stuff dyes skin too,” she muttered to herself. “Guess I’ll have to be more careful from now on.” And then a light bulb went off in her head. “Wait a minute, if it dyes skin…”

Looking around to make sure no one was looking, she opened the slits in the front of her red silk dress as wide as possible. Then, holding her right breast in both hands, she bent over the vat of Pleasure Blue dye and dipped her right nipple directly into it.

She was careful not to let the dye go past her areola and also careful not to let it drip down the underside of her breast. When she came up from the warm dye vat, she blotted her nipple on a bundle of undyed silk and made sure it was completely dry before she stood upright again.

“Hmm…not bad,” she muttered to herself, looking down. Her formerly pinkish brown nipple was now brilliant blue—the same color as the other women’s nipples in the Sisterhood.

She repeated the process with her left nipple and when she was done, she felt a lot more confident in her ability to survive in the sex/death cult for at least as long as it took to get the ship fixed.

At least, she hoped.

40

CELIA

“What the fuck happened to your nipples?” Fierce asked bluntly, when they all met again for the evening meal at the end of the day.

“Did they turn blue on their own?” Hold wanted to know. “I thought you had to have some kind of stimulation?”

“Shhh! I’ll tell you later,” Celia put a finger to her lips, since La’ver’na was walking around the dining area, observing everyone. When she finally got to the three of them, she took a look at Celia’s nipples and her face broke into an approving smile.

“Well, at last! I’m so pleased to see that the Mother Tree’s energy finally worked on you, my dear,” she said to Celia.

Celia let out a relieved breath she’d been holding and smiled back—even though she absolutely detested the unicorn priestess by now.

“Yes, thank you. I guess it just took a little time and, er, stimulation by my worshippers,” she said, nodding at Fierce and Hold.

“Indeed! And you can finally be considered full members of the Sisterhood. I also think you’ll find your worshippers easier to control, now that you have pleasure drops to give them,” La’ver’na added, winking at Celia and nodding at the two big Kindred. “Males can be such trouble if they’re not kept quiescent.”

“Oh, er—yes. You’re certainly right about that!” Celia nodded. “From now on they’ll behave much better, I’m sure,” she added.

“Well, they could hardly behave worse,” La’ver’na remarked, shooting Fierce a scathing look. “However, now that you’re all full members of the Sisterhood, we’ll let bygones be bygones.”

She nodded at Celia and walked away, her hooves tapping on the wooden floor.

“So I guess the pleasure drops do act as a mind-control substance,” Hold murmured. “That would explain all the blank stares I got today when I tried to talk to the other males on my work crew as we were tapping the leaf stems for the ‘Blood of the Mother.’ They’re like mindless machines, just doing what they’re told.”

“Speaking of which, we still don’t know exactly what this stuff does to a person,” Celia remarked, nodding down at her bark cup filled with the thin brown liquid.

“Oh, actually yes, we do—or I do. I found out from the foreman on my work crew who was the only one who was capable of carrying on a conversation,” Hold told her. “It actually does act a lot like the Bonding Fruit we grow on Twin Moons—it allows a female to become more, er, accommodating inside for a male’s shaft. Or shafts,” he added pointedly, looking over at Sess’ely, who was servicing two of her worshippers at once while the third one watched and jerked off.

The sight reminded Celia of what she’d found out about the unicorn girl and she felt slightly ill.

“Those aren’t just her worshippers, you know,” she murmured, leaning forward to make sure her voice only carried to her guys.

“They’re not? What the fuck are they then?” Fierce frowned.

“Her brothers!” Celia hissed. “They’re her three older brothers.”

“What the fuck?” Fierce demanded. “You’re kidding, right? Please say you’re kidding. That’s fucking incest.”

“I know what it is—keep your voice down!” Celia hissed at him.

“You know, some people might classify what we do as incest,” Hold remarked, looking thoughtful. “I mean, sharing a female and joining our shafts together to Bond her to us.”

“What? But we don’t touch each other like that!” Fierce protested, nodding at the foursome beside them.

“No, we don’t,” Hold admitted. “I like our way better—concentrating all our attention on our one chosen female,” he added, giving Celia an intense look.

Celia bit her lip and tried to look away. All day long the Mother Tree’s energy had been pulsing through her, making her feel half-crazy with sexual need. It had been getting really hard to concentrate on dying the spider silk towards the end and she’d been looking forward to getting some relief by letting her guys touch her when she saw them.

But now I don’t have any excuse to let them touch me, she realized, looking down at her bright blue nipples in dismay. Before I had to let them try to turn my nipples blue. But now anything we do together is just flat out cheating on Peter!

She didn’t want to think about that, so she turned the conversation to other topics.

“What about you, Fierce—did you find out anything about the ship?” she asked the Dark Twin.

“I got to help fixing it—and let me tell you, those fucking “goat men,” as you call them, are fucking machines when it comes to fixing ships,” Fierce reported. “Our ship is going to be ready to fly in no time.”

“What, really? But it was so banged up!” Celia exclaimed, remembering all the dents in the silver hull.

“And nearly every system was failing,” Hold added. “How could they fix it so fast?”

Fierce shrugged.

“They’re just that good. I think it helps that they’re completely focused on whatever the fuck it is the foreman tells them to do. Also, they’ve got a state-of-the-art repair facility here—it rivals what we’ve got on the Mother Ship.”

“So we should be able to leave here soon?” Celia asked hopefully.

“Yes—as far as the ship’s functions and flying systems are concerned,” Fierce said, frowning. “The only part they don’t seem to be able to fix is the long range communications array. They don’t even seem to have the parts for it—though they’ve got parts for every other kind of ship in the known fucking universe,” he added.

“I bet they don’t have communications parts because they don’t want people contacting anyone to come get them,” Celia murmured. “Sess’ely told me that she and her brothers wanted to leave at one point but they couldn’t. And then, once her breasts started making the, uh, pleasure drops, they decided they would all rather just stay.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s in those pleasure drops, but they seem to make the males here do whatever anyone tells them. Why else would those three consent to fucking their little sister?” Fierce shot Sess’ely and her brothers a hard look.

“I don’t think it’s their fault though,” Celia protested, trying to defend her new friend. “La’ver’na is the one who encouraged them all to, uh, get together that way. I think she told them the same thing she told us—that if they didn’t join the Sisterhood, they wouldn’t fix their ship.”

“And now, because they won’t be accepted if they go back home, she wants to feed all four of them to the Mother Tree,” Hold murmured and shook his head.

“I know! I’ve been trying to talk her out of going up to Fifth Branch if they call for her, but so far nothing I say is sinking in,” Celia remarked. “Poor Sess’ely!”

“Yeah, poor Sess’ely,” Fierce echoed sarcastically, looking over to where the unicorn girl was currently taking on two of her big brothers at once.

“Stop it—I know it’s weird, but she didn’t choose this. None of them did!” Celia insisted. “Oh look—here’s supper,” she added, since the pot was currently filling up—this time with some kind of vegetable stir-fry looking mixture that had long pink and blue veggie sticks in it as well as red and brown chunks, all mixed together in a thick yellow sauce.

Celia was glad there was no meat in it, but she still couldn’t help wondering how the Mother Tree made the food it fed to the people who lived among its branches. The thought put her off, so that she could only finish half a bowl of the stir-fry mixture, even though it was quite tasty.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Fierce demanded, as she pushed the half-finished bowl away. “You’re not trying to lose weight for that stupid wedding, are you?”

“It’s none of your business,” Celia snapped. “Though my wedding dress is a little snug,” she added, more to herself than to him.

“If you were Joining with me and Hold, we wouldn’t ask you to lose your gorgeous curves, you know,” Fierce growled, raking her body with his eyes. “Because you’re already fucking perfect, lelka.”

“It would be a pity if you lost your curves,” Hold agreed, also looking at her with desire in his hazel-green eyes. “We find you beautiful just as you are, my lady.”

The way they were looking at her made Celia think of the night before…of how they had both kissed and tasted her, making her come over and over again…

“Oh, well…” she began, blushing.

But at that moment, La’ver’na stood up in the center of the room and started talking.

“And now it is time for tonight’s Choosing,” she announced. “I need a goddess and her worshippers to come and enact a tale from the Goddess’s life when she took mortal form and came among us.”

Celia kept her mouth closed and her eyes averted. She really hoped that the unicorn priestess would choose someone else. Maybe Sess’ely and her worshippers again. Although now that she knew her worshippers were also her brothers, it was a lot more difficult to watch them all having sex together…

“You three,” La’ver’na suddenly announced. And from the corner of her eye, Celia saw that the priestess was pointing a finger at her and Hold and Fierce.

“Oh, no,” she said with a nervous laugh, trying to refuse gracefully. “I mean, thank you so much for thinking of us, but I get stage fright—I just can’t, uh, perform in front of strangers.”

“But you are not among strangers now, but among fellow members of the Sisterhood of Peace,” La’ver’na said. “And it is a great honor to be chosen to enact a story from the Goddess of the Shining Heart’s time as a mortal.”

“I’m sure it is, but I’m just so…so shy.” Celia gave a self-deprecating laugh and shrugged in a ‘what can you do’ kind of way. “I just can’t!”

The priestess gave her a look that was bordering on a glare.

“You cannot refuse unless you wish to renounce your membership in the Sisterhood this minute!” she said in a warning tone. “Now will you and your worshippers come forward or not?”

“I think we’re going to have to do it, my lady,” Hold murmured.

“Yeah—I don’t like performing for them but I don’t think we have a choice,” Fierce agreed, frowning at the priestess.

“Well…all right.” Celia nodded reluctantly. They all walked forward and she looked at La’ver’na. “Uh, what do you want us to do?”

“Be silent for now—you must enact the story as I tell it,” the priestess ordered. Then she lifted her voice and began to speak…

41

CELIA

“Long ago, the Goddess decided to take mortal form and walk among us for a season, looking for those that would worship her,” La’ver’na began.

Feeling extremely silly, Celia began to walk up and down in front of the large caldron. She put a hand up as though to shade her eyes, pretending to stare off into the horizon as she searched for worshippers.

“Soon she came upon two men…but they were too busy arguing with each other to notice the Goddess and worship her,” the unicorn priestess continued.

At once, Hold and Fierce began frowning at each other and Fierce shook his fist and growled.

“So the Goddess came up to them and put a hand on each of their arms. She said, ‘Why do you fight so? Pray, tell me your argument so I can help you settle it.”

At this point, Celia came up and placed her hands on their muscular arms, acting out the part. Her stomach was jumping with nerves and it was all she could do to hold back the nervous giggle that rose to her throat.

“As it turned out, the two were arguing about which should be the next chief of their tribe,” La’ver’na went on. “And so the Goddess proposed to help them settle the issue.”

“Here we go,” Fierce muttered sardonically and Celia shot him a look and had to bite back another nervous giggle. Dios—this was ridiculous!

Luckily, it seemed the priestess hadn’t heard the Dark Twin or seen the look that passed between them.

“She told the two of them to pull out their shafts,” she went on, still in story-telling mode. “And whichever she judged to be the best, that man should be the next ruler and chieftain of their tribe.”

Hold and Fierce exchanged a glance and Fierce shrugged. Then each of them pulled their red silk loincloths to the side, exposing their huge cocks to everyone in the room.

There were murmurs of appreciation from the audience—even in a room full of the well-hung goat men, Hold and Fierce stood out.

“So the Goddess came to take their shafts in her hands, the better to compare them,” La’ver’na went on.

Biting her lip, Celia stepped up to stand in front of her two guys. She had promised herself after last night that she wasn’t going to do a single other thing with them—that she was going to keep everything non-sexual between herself and Hold and Fierce because she was going home to Peter.

Well, it looked like she would be breaking that particular promise tonight.

“The Goddess took their shafts in her hands to compare them,” La’ver’na said again, frowning.

Celia realized she’d just been standing there. Taking a deep breath, she reached for her guys and wrapped her fingers as far as she could around their thick shafts, taking one in each hand.

Hold shifted and Fierce made a low, guttural sound of pure need in the back of his throat but neither of them tried to get away from her. Their eyes were half-lidded as they looked at her taking their naked cocks in her hands. Not sure what else to do, Celia started stroking them—and she couldn’t help admiring them as she did so.

Both shafts were longer and thicker than anything she’d ever seen in porn back on Earth. And if Fierce’s was thicker, then Hold’s was slightly longer, but both of them were huge and extremely hard. It felt like she was holding two warm iron bars in her hands, Celia thought—iron bars covered in the softest silk.

“Gods, my lady…your hand is so soft,” Hold murmured.

“Fucking warm too,” Fierce growled.

“But the Goddess could not decide which of them had the best shaft,” La’ver’na went on. “And so, she proposed to taste them and take each in her mouth to try and see which she liked the most.”

Celia could feel her cheeks getting hot. Was she really supposed to just kneel down and give each of them blowjobs right here in the middle of the room? Well, apparently so because the priestess was glaring at her with an air of expectation.

Hesitantly, Celia sank to her knees.

“Wait, my lady—loose me for a moment,” Hold murmured. She did and he quickly went to get the cushions the three of them had been sitting on during supper. He put one down for Celia to kneel on, which was certainly easier on her than the hard wood floor.

“Thank you.” Celia looked up at him gratefully. Then, since he was right there, she took his long cock in her hand again and guided it to her mouth.

She couldn’t take very much of it, since he was so long, but she managed to suck the head deep in her mouth and twirled her tongue around it. The broad tip was already leaking precum and Celia was surprised to see that it was both salty and sweet—with a hint of vanilla in it.

Like melted vanilla ice cream, she thought and swirled her tongue around again to get more of it.

Hold groaned softly and reached down to stroke her hair.

“My lady, your mouth is so soft and hot,” he murmured. “Love to feel you tasting me.”

Despite the awkwardness of doing this in front of a crowd, Celia felt herself melting at his words and the look of love and adoration in his eyes. She had never much liked giving blowjobs before—mainly because most guys grabbed you by the hair and tried to ram their cocks down your throat. Peter had the bad habit of trying to make her actually choke on his cock—which wasn’t really possible, since it was so small—but he certainly tried. Celia thought it was probably something he’d seen in porn which he thought was hot.

But the Light Twin didn’t do any of that. He simply stroked her hair and pumped very gently into her mouth, groaning in appreciation as she sucked him.

“And after the Goddess finished sucking one of the men, she decided to try the other,” La’ver’na said pointedly and Celia realized the priestess wanted her to switch.

Pulling away from Hold’s shaft, she wiped her mouth and looked up at Fierce. The Dark Twin had been standing there, his big hand loosely fisted around his huge cock, watching with half-lidded eyes as she sucked his brother. Now he stepped forward and looked down at her.

“Take it easy, lelka,” he rumbled softly. “Don’t choke yourself.”

Celia could see why he’d given her a warning. The head of his cock was broader than Hold’s—in fact, he was thicker all the way down. This was going to be a challenge.

Looking up to hold his dark eyes with her own, she brought his cock to her mouth and licked the head, deliberately swirling her tongue around the broad crown as though it was an ice ceam cone she was trying to eat before it melted.

“Gods, lelka!” Fierce groaned, looking down at her. “So fucking hot! Love to watch you suck my cock!”

Celia was hot too, she had to admit to herself. Maybe she was a closet exhibitionist, but this was really turning her on. Kneeling before the two big warriors and taking them in her mouth, one-by-one as everyone watched made her feel hot and cold all over. Her exposed nipples were so tight they ached and her pussy was getting so wet and hot she could hardly stand it.

She licked Fierce again, lapping away the droplet of precum at the tip of his cock and noticing that it tasted a little like melted chocolate ice cream, which was delicious.

Fierce reached down to tangle his long fingers in her hair and pulled her closer gently but firmly.

“Suck it, baby,” he growled guiding the head of his cock into her mouth. “I know you can’t take much, but suck on the head for me like a good girl.”

Celia didn’t know why, but when he called her that—“good girl”—she felt her whole body tighten with need. She opened wider and eagerly took the broad head inside, sucking it as deeply as she could while Fierce gently fucked her mouth.

“Feels so good,” he rumbled, holding her eyes with his own. “Look at you, on your knees for me, sucking me so deep. Love your hot little mouth wrapped around my cock, baby. Love to feel you sucking me.”

Celia felt like her whole body was throbbing with need. Why was it that his words of praise were making her so turned on? She didn’t have an answer, she just knew that her pussy had never felt so wet and ready in her life before!

And then La’ver’na started talking again.

“But after she had taken both shafts in her mouth, the Goddess still could not decide which of them was better,” the unicorn priestess intoned. “And so, she decided that in order to choose, she must take them in her pussy instead.”

What? Celia’s eyes flew wide and she pulled away from Fierce’s cock. Had La’ver’na really said what she’d just thought that she said?

Apparently so, because the priestess continued.

“And so, she laid back and allowed the first male to enter her pussy, thrusting his shaft deep within her so that she could feel it filling her,” she went on.

Celia bit her lip. She was still kneeling but above her head, Hold and Fierce were having a whispered conversation.

“You’d better go first,” she heard the Dark Twin murmuring. “You’re not as thick as I am.”

“True,” Hold agreed. “I am longer though—I hope the Blood of the Mother that we’ve all been drinking really will allow her to stretch—you could barely get two fingers inside her before, Brother.”

“I fucking know it,” Fierce growled grimly. “But she’s going to have to take a hell of a lot more than our fingers in her now.”

“Come down here!” Celia told them. “Don’t leave me down here by myself!”

“Forgive us, my lady.” Hold knelt beside her at once and Fierce did as well.

“We just don’t want to hurt you,” the Dark Twin murmured.

“I know you don’t but I think…I think I can take you,” Celia whispered. She was aware that La’ver’na was standing to one side, frowning at all of them critically, as though she wondered why they were hesitating. “Look, she’s starting to get suspicious—we have to do this,” she whispered.

“We’ll take things slowly, then,” Hold told her. He looked at Fierce. “Hold her for me, Brother. Cradle our lady in your arms as I enter her.”

“Come here, lelka.” Fierce pulled her back into his arms so that she was lying against him with her back to his broad chest. “Now spread your legs,” he directed. “And let Hold in.”

The Light Twin was already kneeling between her legs with his cock in one hand. Celia bit her lip, seeing how big he was all over again. She had barely gotten them in her mouth—were the two big warriors really going to be able to fit their cocks inside her pussy?

It looked like she was going to find out.

Hold fit the head of his cock to her pussy but instead of sliding in right away, he rubbed himself up and down against her.

Celia moaned as he spread his precum over the aching button of her clit. Dios, that felt so good! And she had never been so hot and wet in her life before.

The Light Twin seemed to take his time, stimulating her and making sure she was ready. Then he slid down to find the mouth of her pussy and slowly began to push inside her.

“Slowly, my lady,” he murmured as he entered her. “Gods, I can feel you stretching around me!”

“Oh…Ohhhh…” Celia moaned as he thrust into her. She’d never had anything so big inside her before—not even the toys she played with on occasion were anywhere near as long and thick.

“That’s right, lelka,” Fierce murmured in her ear. “Just open up and let Hold fill you. Open your soft little pussy and let him in.”

“I…I’m trying,” she panted.

She wanted to ask why neither of them was jealous of the other. They both seemed to like watching her with each other almost as much as touching or tasting or filling her themselves. Maybe it was just a Twin Kindred thing.

At the moment though, she couldn’t ask anything—she was consumed with the feeling of being filled. It seemed impossible that all of the Light Twin’s long, thick cock could fit inside her, but to her surprise no matter how much he thrust into her, she seemed able to take it.

It must be the pancakes-and-syrup tasting mixture they’d been drinking the whole time they were here, she thought. There was no other explanation for why Hold was able to shove his entire long shaft inside her.

At last he bottomed out inside her and she could feel the head of his cock kissing the mouth of her womb.

“Dios, Hold!” she moaned. “In me so deep!”

“I know, my lady, but you’re taking me beautifully.” His eyes held hers as he began to pump inside her. “Pinch her nipples for me, Brother,” he told Fierce. “Make our lady feel good as I fuck her.”

“Oh but…but nobody said anything about…about fucking me!” Celia moaned, even as she spread her thighs to let him get deeper into her. “I…I thought you just had to slide inside me!”

“And so the Goddess decided to let each male fuck her in turn and fill her womb with his seed,” La’ver’na’s voice rang out, as though on cue. “In order to know which of their shafts was the best.”

“Sorry, my lady—it seems I’ll have to seed your womb after all,” Hold said.

“But…but I’m not on birth control!” Celia reminded them, panting as the Light Twin thrust inside her. Dios, it felt good to let him fill her this way! She knew it was cheating but at the moment, she couldn’t seem to care!

“We can’t get you pregnant by ourselves, remember?” Fierce growled in her ear. “It’s all right, lelka—it’s safe for you to let Hold fuck your tight little pussy and come deep inside you.”

His hot, dirty words made Celia even hotter. Moaning, she bucked her hips up, trying to get even more of Hold’s long cock inside her.

“God, that looks so fucking hot!” Fierce rumbled. “Look at you taking Hold so deep like a good girl!” As he spoke, he massaged her breasts and tugged at her nipples, sending sparks of pleasure straight down to her throbbing clit.

Celia moaned and bucked back against the Dark Twin. She couldn’t believe she was in this position—spread out for everyone to see with Fierce teasing her tits and Hold thrusting deep inside her, filling her pussy with his long, thick cock as she writhed between the two of them.

In the back of her mind, a little voice whispered that this was the worst kind of cheating and she would regret it but she pushed it away. There was nothing she could do but surrender—nothing she could do but spread her legs and let the Light Twin fuck her and fill her with his seed.

“Going to come soon, my lady,” Hold groaned, stroking faster inside her. “Do you want to come first?”

Did she want to come? Celia’s whole body was crying out for release—every muscle as tight as a wire with the need to let go. But she couldn’t, she told herself. Maybe as long as she didn’t come while this was happening, it wouldn’t be so bad—maybe it wouldn’t really be cheating if she didn’t enjoy it, since they were being forced by an outsider to do this.

Biting her lip, she shook her head.

“N-no, Hold. You come. I…I don’t want to,” she panted.

“Gods, my lady—can’t hold back anymore!” he groaned. And then he sank his shaft to the hilt inside her and Celia felt the first hot spurt of his cum bathing the mouth of her womb.

“That’s right, baby,” she heard Fierce murmuring as he continued to tug her nipples. “Open wide and take it like a good girl—let Hold fill you with his cum and give you a creamy pussy.”

Celia could only moan in reply. She’d never felt anything like this. With Peter, sex was two pumps, a squirt, and a tickle before he rolled off and went to sleep. But with Hold and Fierce, she felt completely surrounded—completely filled by their big bodies and their male energy. She couldn’t take herself away from the situation as she often did with Peter because Hold was looking into her eyes and murmuring her name while Fierce whispered in her ear what a good girl she was to let his brother come so deep inside her.

But at least I didn’t come, Celia told herself. It can’t be cheating as long as I don’t come. Can it?

She hoped not, anyway.

“And so it came to pass that the first male left his seed deep in the Goddess’s pussy,” La’ver’na’s voice interrupted her guilty thoughts. “And then it was the second male’s turn to fuck her.”

“You heard the priestess, Brother,” Fierce growled. “It’s my turn in our sweet lelka’s pussy.”

“I heard,” Hold agreed. Leaning down, he kissed Celia softly on the lips. “Thank you, my lady. Your pussy is the hottest and tightest I’ve ever felt.” Then he pulled out of her carefully.

Celia bit her lip as she saw the gush of white cream that followed when the Light Twin pulled out of her. She’d never seen so much before! Kindred must come more than human men, she decided as she surveyed the mess Hold had made of her pussy.

“Oh,” she whispered. “I…I think I need to clean up! I’m so messy.”

“Don’t worry about your little pussy being all creamy with my brother’s cum,” Fierce growled in her ear. “It’s a good thing—the wetter you are, the easier I can slide my cock inside you, baby.”

Celia remembered how thick the Dark Twin was and a shiver went through her. She’d barely been able to fit the head of his monstrous cock in her mouth—how was all of that thick length going to fit inside her pussy?

“The Goddess got upon her hands and knees,” La’ver’na instructed, breaking her train of thought. “The better to feel the shaft of the second man as he entered her.”

“You heard her, lelka.” Gently but firmly, Fierce raised her and put her on her hands and knees, making sure that her knees were on the cushions.

Celia held the position but swayed dizzily—she was still overwhelmed by the deep fucking Hold had given her.

“Brother, let her lean against you,” Fierce ordered. “She’s not steady.”

“Come here, my lady.” Hold sat in front of her and pulled Celia close to his broad chest. He stroked her hair soothingly. “Everything is going to be all right,” he told her. Just open your pussy and let Fierce in.”

Celia bit her lip and tried to do as he said. Leaning against the Light Twin’s chest, she parted her thighs wide and tilted her hips back, offering the Dark Twin her pussy submissively.

“Good girl, lelka,” Fierce murmured and she felt his big, warm hands caressing her back and sides and reaching down to cup her breasts briefly. “Such a good girl to open yourself for me. This might be tough without Bonding Fruit but I’ll go slow. Just try to be open for me while I stretch your tight little pussy out on my cock.”

Celia moaned in agreement as his dirty words made her even hotter. Then she felt the impossibly broad head find its way to her entrance and start to nudge its way inside.

“Gods, so creamy and hot and wet!” Fierce growled. “Tug on her nipples while I enter her, Brother,” he told the Light Twin. “Give her pleasure while I fill her.”

“Mmm, I’d love to.” Reaching beneath her, Hold cupped her bare breasts, which were hanging down like ripe fruit, and began to tug her nipples. “Does it feel good, my lady?” he murmured in Celia’s ear. “Do you like to feel my brother’s cock inside you?”

“I…I don’t know,” Celia panted. “He…he’s not very far in yet.”

But as she spoke, she felt the broad head breaching her entrance and then Fierce was thrusting slowly but inevitably inside her.

Had she thought Hold was thick? Well he was nothing compared to his brother! Celia bit back a gasp as she felt her inner walls being stretched to the limit as the thick invader shoved deeper and deeper inside her.

“Fuck she’s tight!” she heard Fierce say, his big hands tightening on her hips as he slowly worked his way into her. “It’s a damn good thing you went first and filled her pussy with your cream, Brother, or I’d never get inside her.”

“Just be careful with her—don’t injure our lady,” Hold warned sternly. “She is delicate and so much smaller than we are—be gentle with her, Fierce.”

“Doing…my…best,” the Dark Twin grunted. “Gods…almost all the way in her now. There!”

As he spoke, Celia felt the enormous cock finally bottoming out inside her. Fierce was so big she was sure if she looked down, she would see a bulge in her lower belly now that he was seated all the way inside her. She felt some pain—but it was a good, stretching kind of pain. Somehow—maybe thanks to the special drink they’d all been drinking—the Dark Twin had managed to fit his entire massive cock inside her without hurting her.

Now that he was in, Fierce didn’t appear to be in any hurry. He spent some time stroking Celia’s trembling back and shoulders.

“Good girl,” she heard him murmur as he petted her. “Gonna ride you nice and deep tonight, but not until you’re ready, baby. Gonna fill your sweet little pussy to overflowing with my cum.”

“Oh…oh, Fierce!” she moaned and twitched her hips a little, trying to get used to being so widely stretched open. “Madre de Dios, you’re so big inside me!”

“Yeah, baby, but you’re taking me so good,” he growled. “Wish you could see how hot it is—your tight little pussy stretched out on my cock! Can’t wait to fuck you and cream deep in your tight little cunt!”

“Do it then!” Celia moaned, bucking back against him. The feeling of being so completely filled and owned by the Dark Twin as the Light Twin tugged and twisted her tender nipples was almost more than she could stand. Her clit was throbbing and she was sure if she got any stimulation there at all, she was going to come.

But I can’t come, she told herself. Coming will make it cheating! As long as I don’t come, I only did this because I had to—not because I wanted to.

And then Fierce drew almost all the way out of her and thrust in again, driving all the guilty thoughts out of her head.

“Oh…oh! Dios!” she gasped as he did it again…and then again. The Dark Twin’s powerful thrusts would have knocked her forward on her face if Hold hadn’t been there to steady her.

“Hold her, Brother!” she heard Fierce growl. “Need to fuck our sweet little lelka deep tonight—hold her steady while I fill her!”

“I’ve got her—get your cock deep in her pussy,” Hold told him. He held Celia against him, still stroking her nipples. “That’s right, my lady,” he murmured. “Open yourself and let Fierce fuck you. Give him your pussy and let him fill you with his seed.”

“I…I’m trying to be open enough!” Celia panted. She had never been fucked so deeply with such a huge cock in her life and she was nearly overwhelmed. Also, with every deep thrust of his shaft inside her, Fierce’s heavy balls were swinging up to slap her open pussy. Celia wouldn’t have minded this, except it was stimulating her clit almost more than she could bear. She could feel an orgasm building inside her, but she didn’t want to let it happen.

“You’re doing such a good job, lelka,” she heard Fierce growl above her. “Taking my cock so deep in your tight little cunt. I’m going to shoot my cream deep inside you, but first I want to feel you coming on my cock.”

“No, I…I can’t!” Celia protested, panting as every hard thrust of his huge cock rocked her body forward. “I…I don’t want to! Coming will make it… will make it…”

“Cheating?” There was an angry growl in the Dark Twin’s voice. “Are you seriously telling me you’re still thinking about that stupid human?” he demanded.

“I…I can’t help it!” Celia moaned. “He…he’s my fiancé!”

“Not anymore, because I’m Claiming you tonight,” Fierce growled. His hands tightened on her hips and he began to fuck her even harder, if that was possible. “Going to fuck you and make you come on my cock, lelka,” he told her. “Going to make you mine tonight! Mine and Hold’s!”

Celia gasped and moaned as she backed to meet him. He was getting rough with her now, but she couldn’t seem to want him to stop. She’d never been fucked so hard and so deep in her life and his heavy balls were slapping against her clit, making her moan as they pushed her higher and higher.

“Fierce!” she cried as he fucked into her. “Please…you’re going to…going to make me come!”

“That’s exactly what I want to do, lelka!” he growled. And then one of his big hands left her hip and found its way down between her legs.

Celia gave a little cry as she felt the Dark Twin begin an expert massage of her clit. How did he know exactly how to touch her? Even in the heat of fucking, his touch was light and perfect as he drove her relentlessly over the edge.

And then, though she tried to hold it back, Celia felt her orgasm coming—rushing at her like a semi truck on the highway barreling down the wrong lane on a collision course. It hit her hard and she arched her back helplessly as the pleasure overtook her, shooting through her like lightning as the Dark Twin thrust his cock all the way into her pussy and began flooding the mouth of her womb with his seed.

“That’s right—take it!” she heard Fierce growling. “Come for me, lelka—come on my cock and milk the cum out of me. Let me feel your tight little pussy milking every last drop into your womb!”

“I…I can’t help it!” Celia moaned. Hanging her head, she leaned against Hold, who supported her as her whole body shivered and shook with the intensity of her orgasm. “Dios, Fierce—you’re making me come so hard!”

The pleasure seemed to go on and on and she could feel her whole body tensing with the waves of deep sensation that washed through her. At the same time her inner muscles were milking the thick cock inside her, urging the Dark Twin to spurt every drop of his hot cum deep in her pussy.

At last he finished—almost at the same time Celia began to feel the relentless waves of pleasure lessen.

“Oh…ohhhh,” she moaned, collapsing against Hold, who wrapped his arms around her and supported her gently.

“It’s all right, my lady,” he murmured soothingly. “I know you came hard, but it’s all right—I’ve got you.”

“No, it’s not fucking all right,” Fierce growled. Despite the fact that he had finished coming inside her, he kept his shaft jammed to the root, deep in her pussy. It felt to Celia like he was trying to make a point.

“What do you mean, Brother?” Hold frowned, looking up at him.

“I mean that this is it—Celia is ours,” Fierce growled. “Do you hear that, lelka?” He demanded, tightening his grip on her hips. “You belong to me and my brother now. And you’re never going back to that fucking idiot of a human fiancé. You’re ours now and we’re never letting you go! Understand?”

At his words, Celia felt something break inside her. This was where she belonged, she finally understood. Between the Light Twin and the Dark Twin, taking both of them, loving both of them forever. As infuriating as Fierce could be, he loved her—and so did Hold. And the love they felt was like a roaring fire beside the pale, flickering candle flame of Peter’s affection for her.

“Say it!” Fierce demanded, gripping her hips harder. “Or do I have to fuck you into submission? I can, you know—Kindred don’t get soft until we want to. I can fuck you all night if I have to.”

Celia didn’t know if she could take anymore.

“No!” she moaned softly. Looking over her shoulder, she met the Dark Twin’s eyes. “No, you…you don’t have to do that,” she told him, her voice shaking. “I’m yours, Fierce—yours and Hold’s. I’ll leave Peter and stay with the two of you—I swear it.”

A look of triumph mixed with tenderness came over the Dark Twin’s face.

“Are you sure you’re not just saying that because you’re afraid I’ll fuck you again?” he asked.

“Yes, my lady—if you’re speaking out of fear—” Hold began. “Because if you wish to be free of us, Fierce can’t stop you—not really.”

“I’m not afraid of you.” Celia lifted her chin and frowned back at the Dark Twin. “But you’re right. I…I’m yours. Both of you. I see it now—we belong together, the three of us.”

“Good. Then I’ll pull out of you—for now, anyway, baby. But I warn you, now that I’ve stretched your tight little pussy out on my cock, I’m definitely going to want to fuck you again soon,” Fierce told her.

“And as soon as we get back to the Mother Ship, we’ll want to use some Bonding Fruit so you can take both of us at once and we can Bond you to us,” Hold told her.

“Dios! Yes…all right.” Celia nodded in agreement. She felt lighter than she had in a long time. It was as though the idea of Peter and the guilt of cheating on her fiancé had been weighing on her mind like a boulder. But now that she had finally given in and admitted she belonged with Hold and Fierce, she felt at peace.

“Good girl,” Fierce murmured. “Hold her, Brother—I’m pulling out now,” he added.

Celia moaned as she felt the enormous cock leave her pussy—and with it a fresh gush of white cream that coated her inner thighs and dripped all over the wooden floor.

She heard La’ver’na’s muted gasp, which reminded her that the three of them were not the only ones in the room.

Actually, the priestess had shown remarkable restraint, letting them fuck the way they needed to and not interrupting, she thought tiredly. But maybe she’d just been watching as they put on a show that had caused everyone in the audience to go quiet.

At that point La’ver’na seemed to remember her role because she quickly began talking again.

“And so, the Goddess tried both the male’s cocks, and she decided that both were worthy to be her worshippers. She instructed them to rule their tribe together and to keep the peace between them, she came often to allow them both to use her pussy and fill her with their seed,” she said. Then she added, in a lower voice, “That was quite a performance, my dear!”

“Thank you,” Celia said tiredly. Hold helped her to her feet but she felt herself wobbling. She was exhausted from all the drama…and from being so deeply fucked and coming so hard on the Dark Twin’s cock. She took a step to go back to her place by the Mother Pot they’d been using, but stumbled and nearly fell.

“Careful, lelka!” Fierce caught her and swung her up in his arms. “Think we need to take you back down to the dorm so you can rest,” he growled, looking down at her anxiously. “Was I too hard on you, baby?”

“No…” Celia shook her head. “No, you were just…just hard enough to make me know I belong with you and Hold.”

“We love you, my lady.” Hold was suddenly at his brother’s side, stroking her hair and leaning over to kiss her forehead tenderly. “So much.”

“Love you guys too,” Celia whispered. Her eyes were already closing. “But so…so tired now.”

“Take her back to the dorms and bathe her,” she heard La’ver’na say. “She has given much of herself tonight. Care for your goddess.”

“We will,” she heard Fierce say. “Come on, lelka—let’s go.” And he carried her out of the dining area, into the night.

42

CELIA

Celia revived slightly in the cool night air. She clung to Hold’s waist while he and Fierce lowered the sky-lifter down to First Branch. Then Fierce swung her up in his arms again and carried her back to the dorm.

The two of them took her to the showers and washed her thoroughly, soaping her everywhere—well, almost everywhere. Because Fierce wouldn’t let Hold wash their cum completely out of her pussy.

“It marks her with our scent—lets other males know not to come anywhere near her,” he pointed out. “You can rinse her with water, but don’t use soap—I don’t want any other scent getting in the way of our own Claiming scent on her.”

Celia didn’t protest as she felt Hold’s long fingers slip inside her, rinsing her but not cleaning her out completely. They dried her off afterwards and this time it was the Light Twin’s turn to carry her and lay her gently in the bed they all shared.

She moaned in sleepy protest as he parted her thighs, but Hold stroked her knee gently.

“It’s all right, my lady—I just want to be sure you’re all right,” he murmured. “Spread your thighs and let me see you—your little pussy took much more than it’s used to tonight and I couldn’t really get a good look in the shower.”

“It’s all right, lelka—Hold just wants to examine you,” Fierce reassured her. He lifted her head and pillowed it on his thigh. “Just relax and let him have a look.”

Now that she had acknowledged their Claim on her, Celia felt like she could deny them nothing. Sighing, she left her thighs drift apart as the Light Twin looked down at her open pussy.

“So beautiful,” she heard him murmur as he stroked her lightly and slipped his fingers inside once more for an internal exam. “She’s all right, Brother,” he added, looking up at Fierce. “I was worried, but the Blood of the Mother we’ve all been drinking seems to have worked almost as well as Bonding Fruit would have to let her stretch for us.”

“It’s a damn good thing it did, thought I’d never get my cock in her—she’s so fucking tight,” Fierce growled. He stroked Celia’s hair. “Such a sweet, tight little pussy. Can’t wait to feel you wrapped around both of us at once when our shafts are joined, lelka. Can’t wait to Bond you to us.”

“I can’t…wait either,” Celia whispered and then yawned deeply. “Oh, I’m so tired!”

“Because you came so hard,” Hold told her. “A really intense orgasm takes a lot out of you. Why don’t you rest between us, my lady and let us guard your sleep?”

“Yes…rest,” Celia murmured. And then they were tucking her between them again, the two big male bodies bracketing her own. She sighed and relaxed, feeling utterly Claimed…utterly loved and owned. She was sure she would be with Fierce and Hold for the rest of all three of their lives and everything was going to be wonderful. They would leave this awful place and start their life together on the Mother Ship and she would never feel lonely again.

Such idyllic thoughts followed her down and Celia drifted off into a dreamless sleep…

which was shattered only a few hours later with the feeling that something horrible was happening woke her.

43

CELIA

At first Celia wasn’t sure what was going on. A feeling that something terrible was happening had woken her, but she couldn’t immediately identify what that was. She only knew that she woke in a cold sweat with her heart pounding.

Hold and Fierce were still deeply asleep on either side of her and the night was still.

A nightmare, she told herself. I must have had a nightmare. I should just go back to sleep—everything’s fine.

She was in the act of lowering herself back down to snuggle between the two big, warm male bodies again when she heard low voices speaking from the other side of the dormitory.

“It is time,” one murmured. “You have been chosen to become one with the Mother Tree.”

“Oh my Goddess, have we really?” a second voice replied in an excited, breathy whisper.

“Yes, my child, but you and your worshippers must come quietly,” the voice answered. “We must not rouse the whole dormitory.”

By this time Celia was awake enough to identify the voices. The first one belonged to La’ver’na and the second was most definitely Sess’ely.

There were shuffling sounds like people getting out of bed and then the muted tap-tap-tapping of many hooves on the wooden floor.

Going to be one with the Mother Tree? Celia frowned and shook her head, trying to clear the sleep-cobwebs from her mind. This seemed like a bad thing for some reason but at first she didn’t know why.

“Come quietly now,” she heard La’ver’na murmuring. “We must not wake anyone on our way to Fifth Branch.”

Fifth Branch?

Suddenly Celia was completely awake. She remembered their own trip to Fifth Branch and the horrible huge room they had seen there—the walls filled with people entombed inside the Mother Tree, being slowly digested forever.

“Madre de Dios!” she whispered to herself in horror. Then she leaned over Fierce and began to shake him by the shoulder.

“Huh? Wha—?” he muttered sleepily.

“Shhh!” Celia clapped a hand over his mouth and leaned down to whisper in his ear. “Wake up! Something bad is happening—but be quiet!” she added.

The Dark Twin sat bolt upright, his eyes glowing in the dark.

“What the fuck?” he growled softly.

But Celia was already leaning over Hold and waking him the same way.

“Wake up but be quiet,” she whispered in his ear. “Hurry, Hold!”

The Light Twin sat up as well, blinking owlishly.

“What’s wrong, my lady?” he murmured, his eyes also glowing.

“It’s Sess’ely and her brothers, er—her worshippers,” Celia whispered to them. “La’ver’na has just taken them all up to Fifth Branch to become ‘one with the Mother Tree!’”

“Fifth Branch? Fuck!” Fierce’s eyes grew wide.

“Goddess help them all.” Hold sounded grim. “We know what happens up there.”

“Yes, we do and we’ve got to stop it!” Celia exclaimed.

“Stop it? How?” Fierce demanded in a low voice. “They took our weapons and they outnumber us. Plus, Sess’ely and her ‘worshippers’ are all committing incest on the regular. I say they’re fucked.”

“That’s not fair!” Celia argued. “La’ver’na forced them into that twisted relationship they’re in! And now she’s going to kill them because of it!”

“It does seem unfair,” Hold agreed. “We should try and help them, Brother.”

Fierce threw up his hands.

“All right—I still say it’s a fucking bad idea but guess I’m outnumbered.”

“Yes, you are,” Celia said firmly. “You two Claimed me tonight which means we’re in a relationship now. Which further means we need to all be on the same page.”

“Fine—we’ll go see if we can keep them from being eaten by the fucking tree,” the Dark Twin growled. “Though how we’re going to manage without our weapons, I don’t fucking know.”

“We’re trained warriors, Brother,” Hold pointed out. “I’m sure we can think of something.”

“Hurry up!” Celia was nearly dancing with impatience. “We have to get to them before La’ver’na feeds them to the Mother Tree!”

But sneaking out of the dormitory was easier said than done. Because at that moment, they heard the tap-tap-tap of hooves approaching.

“That must be Ger’tha!” Celia hissed. “Quick—both of you suck my nipples!”

They laid back down in the bed in a hurry and Hold started licking her left nipple while Fierce sucked her right deep into his hot mouth.

“Oh….ohhhh!” Celia moaned. Looping her arms around their necks, she ran her fingers through their hair. “Oh yes, suck me!” she moaned even louder. “Take my pleasure drops!”

The curtain at the front of their bed was twitched to one side and she saw Ger’tha standing there, wearing what looked like a long, woolly bathrobe.

“Whatever is going on?” the unicorn woman demanded.

“Oh, uh—just giving…giving my worshippers my pleasure drops,” Celia panted. She didn’t have to fake her sexual excitement—both the Light and Dark Twin were sucking her tender peaks into their hot mouths, making her writhe between them.

“Well, I’m glad your pleasure drops finally came in, but you need to be a little quieter about it,” Ger’tha lectured. “You woke me from a sound sleep and you’ll wake the rest of the dormitory too if you’re not quieter.”

“Sorry,” Celia whispered. “I…I’ll try to keep it down.”

“See that you do—I’m going back to bed.” And with a final disapproving look, the Guardian of Recruits shut the curtain and tap-tapped away.

As soon as the sound of her hooves on the wooden floor faded, Hold stopped, releasing the nipple he’d been sucking and sat up in bed again. Fierce, however, seemed extremely into what he was doing. Not only was he still sucking Celia’s nipple deep and hard, his big, warm hand was moving over her thigh to cup her suddenly wet pussy. Before she could stop him, he was pressing two thick fingers deep inside her, making her gasp and arch her back.

“Oh…Madre de Dios!” Celia moaned as quietly as she could. As Fierce continued to finger-fuck her pussy while rubbing her aching clit with his broad thumb, she was torn between exasperation and lust. She knew it was just the Mother Tree’s sexual energy flowing through all of them that made the Dark Twin so single-minded about touching and tasting her, but they needed to get going!

“Fierce!” she hissed, tapping him on the head and trying unsuccessfully to push his hand away. “Fierce, come on—stop now!”

At last the Dark Twin reluctantly released her nipple, though he kept his fingers deep in her pussy.

“What?” he grunted, when she gave him an exasperated look. “Not like we could go right away—we have to wait for her to go back to sleep!”

“We can’t wait too long or it will be too late!” Celia whispered.

“We don’t have hooves—we ought to be able to sneak out quietly,” Hold pointed out.

“Yeah, all right,” Fierce growled. “Let’s go, then.”

“Not until you take your fingers out of my pussy,” Celia nodding pointedly down to where the Dark Twin was still touching her intimately. “We don’t have time for this right now!”

“All right—sorry.” Again reluctantly, Fierce withdrew his fingers and sucked them clean. “Mmm—love your pussy honey, lelka,” he growled softly.

“Shhh!” she shushed him. “Come on!”

They were sleeping naked but Celia took a moment to throw on her red silk dress and the guys grabbed their loincloths, tying them on as they slipped out of bed.

Celia was afraid that the wooden floor might creak under their weight. But since it was carved out of the living Mother Tree and was all one piece instead of being boards like a hardwood floor, it was perfectly silent. They finally managed to get out of the dormitory at least fifteen or twenty minutes after she had first woken in a cold sweat.

“Come on!” she whispered to Hold and Fierce. “They’ve got a big head start on us—we have to get going!”

They snuck along First Branch, keeping to the shadows of the enormous leaves though luckily, they didn’t see anyone. But when they finally came to the area where the sky-lifters were always “parked” there was a new problem.

“Where are the elevator thingies?” Celia asked, looking around anxiously. “They’re usually all here—where are they?”

“They’ve all been drawn up,” Hold reported, after searching up and down the branch. “It must be some kind of precaution they use when they feed the Mother Tree—so no one else can come up to Fifth Branch and see what’s happening.”

“Wait—I found one. Down here!” Fierce called.

They hurried down the branch to find him standing by a single sky-lifter hidden under one of the enormous leaves.

“They must have forgotten this one—come on!” Fierce beckoned for them.

The three of them climbed onto the narrow wooden plank and the guys started hauling them upwards as quickly as possible.

“Hurry, hurry!” Celia urged them. “I’m afraid we’ll be too late!”

She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as they finally stepped off onto Fifth Branch. There was no one in sight, but they kept to the shadows of the leaves anyway, as they made their way quietly around the enormous trunk.

Just as they were nearing the area of the huge sacrificial room, they heard talking. Fierce held up a hand and they all froze listening to the voices just around the curve of the trunk.

“How many are getting fed to the Mother Tree tonight?” a deep male voice asked.

“Four, so I’ve heard. She’s getting hungrier,” another male voice answered. “How many have to die so we can keep living here—fucking and feeding from the Mother pots? I mean, sure it’s nice to be horny all the time and never have to work for your food but don’t you ever feel guilty?”

“Ah, you’re just sour since you stopped taking La’ver’na’s pleasure drops,” the first voice said. “If she finds out, she’ll have you fed to the Mother Tree, you know. She can’t stand to have any male near her that’s not under her control.”

“You’re lucky the Mistress of Silks doesn’t make hardly any drops,” the second voice said. “You lot at least get to stay in your right minds most of the time. I have to pretend with La’ver’na that I’m sucking her nipples as hard as I can. And then spit out the drops when she’s not looking.”

“Well, this is the last time we’ll have to deal with either of them,” the first voice said. “Didn’t you say that Kindred long range shuttle was ready to fly?”

“Yeah—I had the boys work like demons on it all day and into the night—nothing wrong with it now but the long range communications system,” the second voice said. “As soon as this is over and the females have gone to sleep, you and I are out of here! We’ll go back to JoCosta Prime where we belong and never set foot on this benighted planet ever again!”

“You know the recruits that came in that Kindred shuttle are going to be useless to La’ver’na if we take their ship,” the first voice pointed out. “Three more for the Mother Tree, I guess.”

“La’ver’na was never going to let them go ‘spread the word of the Goddess’ anyway,” the second one scoffed. “They look too strange—don’t even have any hooves or horns!”

“They fuck really well, though.” The first one sounded thoughtful. “Put on quite a show tonight in the dining area. I wouldn’t mind fucking that hot little goddess of theirs myself. She might not have hooves or a horn but her pussy is hot and wet and it looks really tight.”

“All right, I’ve heard enough!” Fierce growled softly. “These two will talk all night if we don’t bash their heads together and move on.”

Celia was feeling indignant about the way the two goat-men guards were talking about her, so she tended to agree. Hold nodded as well and he and Fierce slipped silently forward.

She had thought that the Dark Twin was speaking metaphorically when he talked about “bashing their heads together” so she was surprised when he actually did exactly that.

Reaching out he gripped both goat men—who were standing side by side at the entrance of the sacrificial room—by the horns. Then, before they could react, he pushed them into each other, their foreheads knocking together with an audible thunk!

The pair of them dropped, crumpling into a heap at their feet and Hold and Fierce dragged them quickly out of the way.

“Look at this—the fucker had my blaster on his hip,” Fierce muttered, taking the weapon from the unconscious goat man.

“This one has nothing but a spear.” Hold took it anyway, frowning.

“Hurry!” Celia hissed. “I hear them doing something in there!”

But just as they were rounding the trunk again to where light was spilling out of the open doorway, the screaming began.

44

CELIA

It was a terrible sound, Celia thought later. One she would hear in her nightmares for years to come.

The sound wasn’t just one of fear—it held pain as well. She couldn’t help remembering the agonizing feeling of trying to pull away from the walls of the Mother Tree as it attempted to consume her hand. Something similar—and much worse—must be happening to Sess’ely and her brothers, because she could hear all of them screaming and shrieking in agony.

“Oh, hurry—hurry!” she whispered urgently.

The three of them rushed to the door of the enormous sacrificial room and saw a terrible sight. There were at least thirty goat-men in the vast chamber and La’ver’na and the Mistress of Silks were standing there as well—all of them with their backs to the door. But what they were watching was what drew Celia’s attention.

Sess’ely and her three older brothers were all naked with their backs against the wall of the Mother Tree. Their limbs were already encased in the living wood and the hungry tree was beginning to grow over their straining torsos and screaming faces as well.

“It’s eating them alive! Oh Madre de Dios, no!” Celia whispered, horrified.

“Fuck—I think we’re too late,” Fierce growled. “Don’t see how we can get them out when they’re that far gone.”

“It was extremely difficult to get Celia away and the Mother Tree only had her hand,” Hold agreed. He looked at Celia. “I am sorry, my lady—I fear there is nothing we can do for them.”

“Oh, no!” Celia was starting to cry. She had liked Sess’ely. Despite the weirdness between her and her brothers, she was a kind-hearted friend who only saw the good in others. It seemed heartless and cruel to leave her to be tortured to death by the hungry tree!

“Look, we’d better go before those two I knocked out wake up,” Fierce muttered.

“Especially since they were planning to steal our ship and leave us to this fate,” Hold agreed.

“No, wait—we can’t just leave them here to suffer!” Celia protested. “Who knows how long this horrible tree takes to…to digest people? Please—we have to help them!”

“My lady, there are thirty of them and only two of us,” Hold pointed out. “Though Fierce has a blaster, the rest of them are armed as well. If we tried to fight them all—”

“We can’t get them out but we can put them out of their misery,” Fierce growled. He sighted down the barrel of the blaster, taking careful aim, and began squeezing the trigger.

Four blasts of bright blue energy shot over the heads of the assembled goat men and four identical burning holes suddenly appeared in the foreheads of Sess’ely and her brothers. The screaming stopped abruptly as they slumped, no longer fighting the hungry embrace of the Mother Tree.

“By the Goddess, what just happened?” La’ver’na exclaimed. “How has the Mother Tree been cheated of the life force she craves?” She whirled around and saw Fierce still standing there with the blaster in his hand with Hold and Celia right beside him. “There—look! They have desecrated the ritual of feeding the Mother Tree!” she exclaimed, pointing. “Get them!”

“Holy fuck, I think we’d better run!” Fierce growled. He squeezed off a few more deadly shots, dropping several of the goat men guards in their tracks, but he didn’t have time to kill everyone. A whole hoard of the hairy guards rushed towards them and then Hold was grabbing Celia’s wrist and the three of them were running for their lives.

“Back to the sky-lifters!” Hold shouted as they ran. “Brother do you have enough charge to shoot through the ropes that hold the others so they can’t follow us?”

“There’s no time—they’re right behind us!” Fierce bellowed back. “And you know what will happen if they catch us!”

Celia knew—they’d be entombed in the Mother Tree, right beside Sess’ely and her brothers and there would be no one to give them a mercy killing as Fierce had done for the hapless unicorn girl and her kin.

We can’t let them catch us! she thought. We can’t! But even as she thought it, she heard the clattering of many hooves. Risking a glance over her shoulder, she saw the goat men were galloping towards them and there seemed to be a lot more of them than they had seen earlier. Had more joined the group? Where were they all coming from?

“Come on—onto the lifter!” Hold was shouting, grabbing for her and Fierce both. The Dark Twin was shooting as fast as he could but no matter how many of the guards he dropped, there always seemed to be more. The Mother Tree was crawling with them!

Crawling with them? Wait a minute… A plan began to form in Celia’s brain. As Hold and Fierce began lowering them as quickly as they could, she tried to think it through.

“We’ve got a head start but I’m afraid they’ll catch us at the bottom,” Fierce was saying grimly. “They’ve got legs like a fucking Take-me—they can gallop and we can only run!”

“Then let’s not go to the bottom,” Celia told him. “At least, not right away.”

“What?” Hold frowned at her. “My lady, are you suggesting that we ought to stay here and try to hide in the Mother Tree? Because I’m afraid they would find us pretty quickly.”

“No—I’m talking about a way to slow them down,” Celia said. “Here—what branch are we passing?”

“That was Third Branch and we’ll be to Second Branch shortly,” Hold told her.

“Good—stop at Second Branch—just for a minute,” Celia ordered.

The two of them exchanged a look over her head and she could see them debating whether they would do as she asked or not.

“Look—you have to trust me!” she said earnestly. “I know a way to slow them down—and to distract the whole damn Mother Tree from trying to follow us! But you have to stop on Second Branch or it won’t work!”

The twins exchanged another look.

“All right, we’ll do it,” Fierce growled. “But you’d better not get us eaten by the fucking Mother Tree, lelka!”

“I promise I won’t. Look—here we are now! No—don’t tie the ropes off,” she added. “Hold, stay here and hold the ropes so we can jump back on in a minute. Fierce, you come with me.”

“Where are we going?” the Dark Twin demanded, even as he jumped off the sky-lifter with Celia and followed her down the broad tree branch.

“Here!” They were suddenly standing in front of the vast, Olympic swimming pool-sized spider web. The white strands of silk glimmered in the moonlight filtering down from the trees and the web itself stirred, rippling slightly in the nighttime breeze.

“What the everloving fuck?” Fierce stared at it in amazement.

“Grab it and shake it,” Celia ordered him.

“You want me to what?” He frowned at her.

Celia could have cursed herself—why had she brought the Dark Twin instead of the Light Twin? Hold would have done what she asked without question.

“No time to explain,” she told Fierce. “Grab it and give it a good shake and then we’re going to run back to Hold as fast as we can!”

At first she was afraid that Fierce would demand an explanation, but the Dark Twin appeared to decide to go along with her for once. He reached out and grabbed a handful of the sticky silk web and shook it as hard as he could.

The motion made huge ripples in the fabric of the web—ripples that reached all the way to the house-sized cocoon at the edge of it.

“Hey, wake up!” Celia shouted for good measure. “Come out here—there’s a male touching your web! A male!”

Nothing happened for a split second…and then the enormous cocoon erupted with huge, furry white spiders, boiling out of it like bubbles from a pot.

“Holy fuck!” Fierce breathed, his eyes going wide. “What the—”

“Go! Run!” Celia grabbed his muscular arm and tugged on it urgently.

She didn’t have to urge him again. Fierce grabbed her by the hand and practically dragged her back to the sky-lifter where Hold was standing, holding both ropes and watching for them anxiously.

“They’re right above us,” he informed them as Fierce and Celia jumped back onto the narrow blank. “Here, Brother—take a rope. They’re going to be on us at any minute!”

As he spoke, they began lowering the sky-lifter down as fast as they could. Celia looked upwards and saw that many more sky-lifters, all filled with goat-men guards, were also descending. However, once they came level with Second Branch, things started to happen.

The holy spiders had reached the edge of the branch and, seeing sky-lifters filled with males—apparently decided to attack. They skittered forward, flinging themselves onto the goat-men, chittering and hissing angrily as they clamped their jaws and sank their claws into anything they could find—which happened to be the goat-men guards.

Many of the guards appeared to be taken completely by surprise. Several of them let go of one or both of the ropes of their sky-lifters, and subsequently went crashing to the forest floor below. The ones that did manage to keep hold of their ropes were also now fighting off the enormous spiders. There was screaming and shouting and Celia heard the Mistress of Silks crying,

“Oh, my babies! No, don’t hurt my babies!”

And then they were past the chaos and finally touching down on the forest floor.

The leaves around them were littered with bodies of goat men and some of the spiders too, which started to run at them. Fierce shot the two huge arachnids and they died, hissing and curling in on themselves.

“This way!” he shouted. “The ship’s not far from here!”

And then the three of them were running as fast as they could, finally getting away from the Mother Tree.

45

CELIA

“Hurry—there’s still a few of them behind us,” Hold panted, as the three of them piled into the long range shuttle and Fierce slid into the pilot’s chair.

“It’s okay—they’ve only got short range ships here. Probably why those two fuckers were planning on stealing ours,” the Dark Twin growled as he cycled quickly through the pre-flight sequence. “They can’t get us as long as we reach the wormhole before they do.”

“The wormhole?” Celia gasped, pausing for a moment in the act of buckling her harness. “Surely we’re not going in there again!”

“You got a better way to get home, sweetheart?” Fierce growled, grabbing the steering yoke and yanking upwards. “Maybe you’ve got a fucking dimensional portal hidden in your pocket? Oh, wait—I forgot—that dress doesn’t have pockets.”

“Stop being a sarcastic shithead and listen to me!” Celia insisted. “That thing isn’t safe you big pendejo!”

“It only destabilizes once every two hours, on the even hours” Fierce growled. “I learned all about it from working with the guys in the Repair Shop.”

“Every two hours on the hour, Brother.” Hold pointed to the chronometer on the instrument panel. “We’ve only got five minutes until two in the morning. Do you think we can make it?”

At that moment, the ship was rocked so violently that Celia thought they must have hit something. She was glad she’d gotten her harness buckled, because otherwise she would have been thrown out of her seat and directly into the viewscreen!

“I think we have to make it,” Fierce said grimly. “They’re firing on us. Everybody hang the fuck on—I’m taking evasive maneuvers!”

He yanked on the steering yoke, swerving hard to the left, then dipping down, then shooting straight up into space in a move so extreme Celia was pinned to her seat by the force of gravity. She felt like she had left her stomach behind her somewhere, back on JoCosta Twelve but she couldn’t complain—couldn’t do anything but stare in horror as the numbers on the chronometer registered that they were only two minutes away from two AM when the wormhole would destabilize again.

Abruptly, the ship leveled out.

“Think I lost them,” Fierce growled, glaring at the instruments.

“No you haven’t, Brother.” Hold pointed at the rearview of the viewscreen. “There they are—right behind us.”

“Fuck! Hold on—I’m punching it!” the Dark Twin snapped.

The ship shot forward, pinning Celia to her seat again. Ahead, looming in the viewscreen, she could see the whirling colors of the wormhole shining like a beacon in the blackness of space.

“Dios!” she gasped. “How did we get to it so fast when it took us half an hour to get from the wormhole to the planet last time?”

“The propulsion system was damaged and we had a fuel leak last time.” Fierce spoke without looking at her, his eyes fixed on the wormhole growing in the viewscreen. “Lucky for us, the goat-men did a fucking good job fixing everything.”

“It’s almost two o’clock!” Celia moaned, her eyes flicking to the chronometer and its blinking red numbers again. “Madre de Dios—the wormhole—look at the wormhole!”

The wormhole was flickering. It was blinking back and forth, from its usual brilliant, vibrant colors to the grayed-out look it had when it was destabilized.

“We can’t go in there!” Celia moaned. “We’ll get torn to pieces!”

“Look, I trusted you about the fucking spider web, lelka—now you have to trust me about this,” Fierce growled, still looking straight ahead. “It’s not fully destabilized yet—we just have to hit it when it’s bright!”

“But…but…” Celia began. Then Hold took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly.

“Trust, my lady,” he said earnestly. “Fierce is the best pilot I’ve ever known. And I believe the Goddess has her hand on us. Trust!”

Celia opened her mouth to say she couldn’t trust but just then the ship dove nose-first into the blinking, flickering wormhole and was swallowed up completely.

46

CEILA

The ride through the wormhole wasn’t as rough as it had been during their last trip—but it wasn’t smooth sailing either. The three of them were thrown around and Celia could see the muscles on Fierce’s long arms bunching up as he fought to keep control of the ship.

But sooner than she would have believed possible, they were shooting out the other side. And then they were whizzing past familiar landmarks—Mars appeared in the side of the viewscreen and was gone almost before she could register it.

“We’re home! We made it!” Hold exclaimed.

“Yeah, we fucking made it.” Fierce gave an audible sigh of relief and loosened his death grip on the steering yoke. “Well, lelka?” He said, looking over at Celia who was sitting between him and Hold. “What do you say to that?”

“I say I think I’m going to be sick!”

Fumbling with her harness, Celia finally freed herself and rushed to the back of the ship. She barely made it into the bathroom—or fresher, as the Kindred called it—before she was violently ill.

Luckily, she made it to the toilet in time and didn’t make a big mess. But her stomach felt tender and bloated afterwards as she hung over the bowl, breathing hard.

“My Lady? Are you all right?”

Celia looked up to see Hold standing in the doorway. The Light Twin was holding a cup of water and a towel out to her and he had an anxious look on his face.

“I…I’m fine, I think. Thank you.” Celia closed the lid and flushed, then accepted the glass of water and the towel gratefully. “Excuse me—I’m just going to wash out my mouth,” she said to Hold.

“I’ll wait.” The Light Twin nodded. When Celia finished and came out of the fresher, he put an arm around her waist. “Are you well, my lady?” He asked frowning. Leaning forward he sniffed the side of her neck. “Your scent smells…off somehow.”

“I think I’m okay—all those ‘evasive maneuvers’ back there just made me sick to my stomach,” Celia said. She patted her belly, which still felt extremely tender. What was wrong with her? She was beginning to feel a little like the way she felt on her period, but it wasn’t time for her period yet—not for another few weeks at least.

“Let’s go have a seat,” Hold told her. “I’m sure you’ll feel better once we get back to the Mother Ship.”

“I hope you’re right.” Celia made a face. “I’m really not feeling like myself at all.”

They buckled back in beside Fierce, who cast her a sidelong glance.

“Okay, lelka?”

“I’m fine,” Celia told him. “I think your fancy flying back before the wormhole made me sick.”

“Sorry about that,” he growled. “But better an upset stomach than the three of us digesting in the Mother Tree’s stomach—or whatever that big fucking room is where they take her victims.”

“Please, don’t talk about it!” Celia put a hand to her head. She was still sad for Sess’ely and her brothers. If only they had gotten to them a few minutes sooner!

But then, she wasn’t sure they could have saved the unicorn girl and her kin even if they had gotten there sooner. They had been extremely outnumbered—the odds were they would have just wound up right beside them being swallowed alive by the murderous, hungry tree.

Her thoughts were cut off when she looked up at the viewscreen. Glimmering in the darkness of space like an enormous pearl was the huge shape of the Mother Ship.

“Mother Ship, please come in!” Hold said, pressing a button. “Damn it—it’s not working!” he added.

“That’s because you’re trying the long range communications. Try the short range,” Fierce said.

Hold pressed another button and tried again.

“Mother Ship, this is long range shuttle registered to Twin Kindred Holds Tightly and Fights Fiercely. Please come in, we are returning from an interstellar mission.”

There was silence for a moment and then a male voice said,

“Heard and understood. Wait just a moment—I have standing orders to inform Commander Sylvan the minute you get back.”

There was another long moment of silence, during which Celia had time to register that her harness felt uncomfortably tight. She loosened it some and shifted around, trying to get comfortable. She really felt off for some reason, though she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what was wrong.

Then a new voice came over the Com-link—a voice that Celia recognized at once.

“Oh my goodness—Celia, doll, is that really you? Are the three of you okay?” Kat demanded. “We were so afraid you were lost for good!”

“Lost for good?” Celia frowned. “What are you talking about? We’ve only been gone three days.”

“Three days? Try more than three weeks!” Kat exclaimed.

“What? What are you talking about?” Celia demanded. “What’s the date?”

“What’s the date? Doll, you of all people ought to know that,” Kat answered. “It’s almost eleven o’clock at night of December twenty-third—the night before your wedding!”

47

CELIA

“So we think, from piecing together what you’ve told us, that the three of you experienced what is known as a ‘time dilation,’” Commander Sylvan explained as they sat together in his consultation office at the Med Center. “Which means that you actually traveled in time—specifically, you came forward in time more than three weeks—during your last trip through the wormhole.”

“That would make sense—it was in the act of starting to destabilize when we entered it,” Hold said thoughtfully.

“It’s a well-known fact that the time-space continuum can get rather wrinkled—bunched up almost like a piece of fabric under such circumstances.”

Commander Sylvan nodded at the dark red hospital gowns the three of them were wearing as an illustration. (Celia had refused to leave the ship until they got something to cover up with—she wasn’t about to go parading around the Mother Ship wearing the see-through silk gown with the slits in its front!)

“I guess we’re fucking lucky it didn’t wrinkle even more,” Fierce rumbled. “We might have been thrown forward even further.”

“I’ve heard of rare cases where people jumped centuries forward or backwards in time,” Sylvan remarked. “You’re very lucky you only came forward a matter of weeks. May I ask why you chose to use such a dangerous method of transportation instead of just calling for the Mother Ship to fold space for you?”

“Well for one thing, our long range communications array was out so we couldn’t call,” Fierce answered. “And for another, Celia there was worried for a while that she might be pregnant with another male’s baby. Which would have been a fucking mess—so we’ve been taking wormholes this whole damn time.”

“Hey!” Celia exclaimed, feeling her cheeks heat with an embarrassed blush. “That’s private, Fierce!”

“You could have just left it at mentioning the communications array,” Hold remarked, frowning at his brother.

“Sorry.” Fierce threw up his hands. “Just telling it like it is. Anyway, we’re not worried about it anymore—Celia’s with us now,” he added, speaking to Commander Sylvan. “So that idiot of a human fiancé of hers is out of luck.”

“I see,” Commander Sylvan said neutrally. “Well, just so you know, Peter Thielgood was notified when the three of you returned, just as he was notified when you went missing. So you’re going to have to deal with him eventually.”

“What? Why?” Fierce demanded, frowning. “Why would you tell that idiot human anything at all, Commander?”

“Because we were legally required to,” Sylvan replied, frowning. “He and Celia have signed some sort of agreement which he showed as proof that he needed to be kept abreast of where she was. Our Legal Department decided it was best to comply.”

“You did the right thing,” Hold assured him. “He has the right to know that Celia is home and safe—he loves her too. It’s just that she’s with us now,” he added, putting an arm around Celia’s shoulders.

Celia tried to smile at him, but she couldn’t help feeling guilty. She’d left Peter with the promise that nothing would happen between herself and the two big Kindred and now she had to tell her fiancé that she was leaving him for them. It was going to be an extremely awkward conversation.

“Well, you all seem to be fine despite your ‘wormhole adventures,’ but we’d still like to get you checked out—just to be sure you’re healthy,” Commander Sylvan said, clearly trying to change the subject. He looked at Hold. “I know you’re a doctor, Commander Hold, but I’d prefer to check the three of you myself, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” Hold nodded. “I agree—it’s better to have someone impartial do the exam.”

“Er…excuse me.” Celia cleared her throat. “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d prefer to have a female doctor,” she said to Commander Sylvan.

“Oh, of course—let me call someone for you.” He nodded professionally. “Just one moment.”

In short order Celia found herself sitting on the exam table in another room at the Med Center with Kat, who had come to meet them in the Docking Bay.

“You feeling all right, doll?” Kat asked, giving her an anxious look. “I swear I never meant for so many crazy things to happen to you when I asked you and your guys to go get that jewel moss!”

“I’m okay,” Celia assured her. “At least, I think I am. It’s kind of a shock coming back and realizing that I have to tell Peter I’m not going to marry him on the actual day of our wedding.” The consultation with Commander Sylvan had taken awhile—it was now 1 AM in the morning on Christmas Eve and she was supposed to be getting married at noon.

“You look kind of pale,” Kat observed, frowning. “Is it just that you’re worried about Peter?”

“Well, no,” Celia admitted. “I feel strange—off somehow. It’s hard to explain, but it started as soon as we exited the wormhole for the last time.”

“What started?” a new voice said. Looking up, Celia saw Kat’s friend Liv coming into the exam room. She was wearing a white lab jacket and she looked sleepy but professional.

“Oh—are you a doctor?” she exclaimed. “I had no idea!”

“Guilty as charged.” Liv gave her a friendly smile. “Now start again please—it sounded like you were telling Kat about a problem?”

“Oh, right. Well…”

Celia went over the details briefly—how they had gone through the wormhole as it was in the act of destabilization and how she had felt strange immediately afterwards.

“I threw up and now I feel bloated and weird,” she admitted. “Almost like I do when I’m having my period—except I’m not on my period and I shouldn’t be for another couple of weeks.”

“But didn’t you just skip more then three weeks forward in time?” Liv asked, frowning. “In which case, you actually skipped your period. Or else you missed it.”

“Madre de Dios, you’re right!” Celia bit her lip. “Does that mean…no. No, it couldn’t mean that,” she muttered to herself.

“Couldn’t mean what, doll?” Kat asked anxiously.

“Well, it’s just that the reason we were traveling through wormholes instead of folding space in the first place was because Peter and I had unprotected sex—remember? You’re the one who told me to take them,” Celia reminded her.

“Unprotected sex? With who again?” Liv asked, leaning forward.

“Er, with my fiancé,” Celia said. “But also with…with Hold and Fierce,” she admitted. “I didn’t mean to do that though—it just happened. I mean, we were put in a situation where we had to, uh, do it,” she tried to explain.

“Don’t worry, doll—there’s no judgment here,” Kat assured her.

“None at all,” Liv agreed. “So when did you have unprotected sex with your fiancé?”

“I want to say a week ago but I guess it’s more like a month ago now,” Celia said. She shook her head. “This time jumping thing is so weird!”

“And what about with Fierce and Hold?” Liv asked.

Celia bit her lip.

“Last night. So…three weeks ago, I guess.”

“Okay. And did you have sex with both of them at once? I mean, did you Bond with them?” Liv asked her.

Celia shook her head.

“No—we were supposed to do that when we got back here and had access to some Bonding Fruit.”

“Oh, I can get you some of that!” Kat opened her purse and pulled out a little vial of something that looked like apricot juice. “Here you go—Bonding Fruit extract. I always carry some with me, in case my guys and I want to go someplace exotic on the fly. I’d hate to be caught without the means to have fun with them.” She giggled.

“Thanks Kat, but I’m still working on the other problem,” Liv remarked. She looked at Celia. “I think maybe we’d better give you a pregnancy test.”

“A pregnancy test?” Celia felt shaken. “I…I guess that makes sense,” she said at last. “I mean, all the time in the back of my head I’ve been thinking…wondering…”

“Here—just pull up your sleeve.” Liv was already getting her equipment ready. Quickly and skillfully she pierced Celia’s vein and drew two vials of blood which she popped into a small machine about the size of a coffee maker.

The machine hummed and buzzed to itself for a few minutes as they all watched in tense silence. Then a single flower slid out of the silver slot and into Liv’s palm.

“A flower? Your pregnancy test gives you flowers?” Celia asked, frowning.

“Yes—isn’t it neat?” Kat smiled. “And look—you got a pink one! You know what that means!”

“No, I don’t.” Celia felt nearly faint with worry. “Dios—please, hurry up and tell me!”

“A pink flower means you’re having a girl,” Liv explained, smiling.

“A…a girl?” Celia bit her lip. “But I thought Kindred almost always had boy babies.”

“They do,” Liv admitted. “Though there are rare exceptions. If you’re worried about being able to Bond with your guys while you’re pregnant, don’t be,” she added. “It’s perfectly safe at this stage in the pregnancy. And Bonding Fruit has actually been found to be good for the unborn baby.”

“I’m not worried about Bonding. Can…can you tell who the baby’s father is…or fathers?” Celia asked, hoping against hope.

“That’s why I drew a second vial of blood.” Liv pressed another button on the machine and a tiny strip of paper unspooled from it. She glanced at it for a moment and then passed it to Celia. On it was her name and a few printed words.

“Celia Alvarez. Pregnant with one female fetus, 100% human DNA,” it read.

“Madre de Dios,” Celia whispered, looking down at the paper through eyes that were suddenly blurry with tears. “This means the baby is Peter’s, doesn’t it? I mean, there’s no way at all it could be Hold’s and Fierce’s.”

“I’m afraid that’s exactly what it means,” Liv said gently. “Is that a problem?”

“A problem?” Celia nearly laughed, but it turned into a sob. She couldn’t forget all the remarks Fierce had made about her “having another male’s stupid human baby.” There was no way the Dark Twin would want to raise Peter’s baby as his own. Hold might be willing to, but she knew Fierce would hate it.

She supposed she could terminate the pregnancy, but that just didn’t sit right with her. She’d felt unwanted and unloved her whole childhood and she’d promised herself if she ever got pregnant she would love and cherish the baby, no matter what.

But how could she break the news to Fierce and Hold?

I can’t do it—I can’t face them, she thought as she began crying in earnest. She was aware that Kat and Liv were trying to comfort her, but she was crying too hard to speak. Over—her life with the two big warriors was over. She would have to go her own way and raise this baby on her own. But the thought that her daughter wouldn’t have a father hurt terribly—especially when she remembered how she’d felt abandoned by her own father.

Just then there was a buzzing sound from the speaker in the corner and a voice said,

“Excuse me, Doctor Olivia? Are you in there?”

Liv, who had been rubbing Celia’s back, looked up.

“Yes? What is it? I’m in the middle of a patient consultation.”

“Sorry to bother you, Doctor,” the voice said apologetically. “But this is Commander Gerrin from Communications. We have the fiancé of your patient on a call from Earth and he wants to talk to her. You are seeing Celia Alvarez, right?”

“Yes, but—” Liv began.

“Is…is it Peter?” Celia interrupted her. “Is he the one calling?”

“Er, yes—Peter Thielgood calling for Celia Alvarez and I was told she was in the Med Station with Dr. Olivia,” the voice confirmed.

“Can I talk to him?” Celia sniffed and blotted her eyes on the voluminous sleeve of the exam gown.

“Well, yes—we have a viewscreen here in the exam room,” Liv said. She nodded at something that looked like a flat screen TV monitor in the corner of the room. “It’s right up there.”

“Can you put him on then?” Celia asked hopefully. “Please?”

“Of course.” Liv nodded and said, “Commander Gerrin, please patch the vid-call through to the main Med Center, exam room two.”

“Will do, Doctor.” The voice cut out and after a moment, the viewscreen came to life showing an extremely worried looking Peter.

“Darling!” He exclaimed the moment he saw Celia. “Oh, it’s true—you’re back! And you’re all right! Er—are you all right?” He added, looking her over anxiously. “What’s that strange garment you’re wearing?”

“It’s a hospital gown, but I’m all right,” Celia told him quickly. “They were just checking us out because we went through a wormhole that was starting to destabilize and—”

“Darling, none of that is important now.” Peter interrupted her. “I’m just so thankful you’re alive and back in one piece. And just in time for our wedding!”

Celia bit her lip. Here was the part where she told Peter she had to call the wedding off because Hold and Fierce had Claimed her…or she would have, if it wasn’t for the baby. There was no way she could go back to the twins and admit she was having another man’s child…things were going to have to be over between them. But she also didn’t want her baby to be raised without a father. And since Peter was the baby’s biological father, it made sense to go back to him.

“Yes,” she said at last. “Just…just in time for our wedding.”

“How soon can you get here?” Peter demanded. “I know it’s late but you’ll have time for a few hours sleep before you have to get ready. Mummy has everything all set up—she always believed you’d come back in time!”

“That’s…so kind of her.” Celia tried to smile. “I’ll come down to you right away.” She looked at Liv. “Can you arrange for someone to fly me down to Earth? Right now—tonight?” she asked.

Liv frowned but nodded.

“Well, yes. There are always warriors waiting in the Docking Bay to bring people back and forth to Earth—in case of emergencies, you know.”

“Good. Thank you.” Celia nodded and looked back up at the viewscreen with Peter on it. “I’ll be there soon.”

“I can’t wait to see you and hold you in my arms again, my darling!” Peter blew her a kiss. “And tomorrow we’ll have the perfect fairytale Christmas Eve wedding! You should see how beautiful the chapel at St. Paul’s is! Mummy has it all decorated for Christmas!”

Celia bit her lip. She had been going to do the decorations herself, but she guessed she ought to be grateful that her Mother-in-Law-to-be had handled it instead, considering that she’d been missing for so long.

“I can’t wait to see it,” she said, trying to smile.

“Hurry and come back to me!” Peter exclaimed. “I love you, darling Cece!”

“I…I love you too.” The words wanted to stick in her throat, but somehow Celia got them out. And then the connection was cut and the vidscreen went black again.

“Celia…are you sure you want to do this?” Kat asked. She had been sitting quietly this whole time but now the look on her usually laughing face was deadly serious. “Are you sure you want to leave your guys and go back to Peter?”

“I have to.” Celia lifted her chin. “Peter is the father of my baby—my daughter.” She put a hand over her lower belly protectively. “I have to go back to him. Besides, this is what we always planned—that I would do the Claiming Period and then go back down to Earth and marry Peter.” She looked at Liv. “Can I go right now? Back to Earth, I mean?”

“Don’t you even want to talk to Hold or Fierce?” Kat exclaimed.

Celia shook her head.

“No—and I don’t want either one of you talking to them either. The Kindred have patient confidentiality, right?” she demanded.

“Yes, we honor patient/doctor confidentiality,” Liv said quietly. “And we can’t tell you what to do, of course. But I really think you should at least talk to your Twin Kindred before you leave to go back to Earth.”

Celia shook her head again.

“No, I can’t…I can’t face them.” She could just imagine the look of disgust on Fierce’s face when she admitted she was pregnant with another man’s baby. No, she couldn’t go through that—wouldn’t put herself through it.

“But to just leave after all you’ve been through with them—” Kat began.

“I tell you what—I’ll write them a note,” Celia offered. She looked at Kat’s voluminous purse. “You must have a pen and paper in there, don’t you?”

“Well…yes.” Kat dug in her purse and pulled out a notepad and a pen. “Here you go.” She handed them to Celia. “But I really think if you just talked to them—”

“I can’t, Kat. I’m sorry.” Celia balanced the notepad on her knee and began to scribble a hasty note. It only took a minute because there was no way she was going to let them know the real reason she was leaving—she didn’t want to go through that. After re-reading it once, she signed it and handed it to Liv. “Please give them this—but only after I’m gone. And I don’t want them following me, either,” she added. “I’m going to marry Peter and that is final.”

“Well…all right.” Liv took the note from her. “There’s a back way out of here that leads right to the Docking Bay,” she added. “We use it sometimes when we have an emergency patient come up from Earth who needs to be seen immediately.”

“Thank you.” Celia got off the exam table and straightened her hospital gown. “Er, I’ll get this back to you later.”

“It’s fine—you can keep it.” Liv waved a hand. Then she leaned over and gave Celia a hug. “I hope you find happiness,” she murmured, before releasing her.

Kat hugged her too.

“Are you sure you won’t reconsider and at least talk to your guys?” she asked when she pulled back to look at Celia.

Celia shook her head.

“They’re not my guys—not anymore,” she said firmly. “I’m having Peter’s baby—he’s the one I belong with.”

And trying to make herself believe it was true, she followed Liv out of the exam room towards the Docking Bay.

The last thing she did before leaving was to drop the little pink flower and the crumpled piece of paper that told the DNA results of her baby in the trash can on her way out the door.

48

HOLD

“What do you mean she’s gone? Where did she go? Who let her go? Where is she?” Fierce demanded, glowering at Doctor Olivia.

Hold watched as his brother raged. Inside, he felt cold and distant—the loss of the woman they both loved hadn’t really sunk in yet.

“That’s not for me to say.” Doctor Olivia crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. “In fact, Celia specifically wanted me not to tell you two anything. Though she did leave you this note,” she added, handing it to Hold.

Hold took it and glanced at it. Shaking his head, he passed it to Fierce who snatched it and read it as well.

“But this doesn’t tell us anything!” he exclaimed, shaking the note at Doctor Olivia.

In fact, the note Celia had left them said very little.

“Dear Hold and Fierce,” it read.

“I’m so sorry to do this to you, but I’m afraid we have to part ways. Thank you for all the wonderful adventures we had but I have realized that we can’t be together. I am going back to marry Peter and I am asking you not to follow me. I hope that in time you two will find the right girl for you, but that girl can never be me.

Much love,

Celia. “

“That’s it? That’s all she has to say? After everything we went through together?” Fierce demanded. He raked a hand through his hair. “How can she talk about ‘all the adventures we had together’? Adventures my ass! We were nearly fucking killed—several times! We love each other!”

“Apparently not enough,” Hold heard himself say. He still felt cold inside—as though a thin layer of ice was slowly covering his heart.

Celia was gone and she hadn’t even stopped to say goodbye. Instead, she’d left them a note—a cool, calm little note that gave no reason for her departure and wished them well, as though they were all work colleagues that had been to a team building exercise together instead of three people who were desperately in love. It said nothing of the nights they’d held her between them, the pleasure they’d given each other, the way she had given herself so freely to him and Fierce just the night before when they had Claimed her sexually…

“Something’s wrong! Something happened during that last wormhole ride!” Fierce exclaimed. “She changed—something got broken to her brain. And you just let her run off, back down to Earth while she was all messed up!” he shouted, poking a finger at Doctor Olivia.

Doctor Olivia drew herself up and glared at him.

“I understand that you’re upset right now, so I won’t call security—or my husband, Commander Baird,” she said. “I will tell you that Celia seemed to be perfectly sound cognitively when I examined her. I wouldn’t let a patient who was impaired in any way leave the Med Center.”

Hold realized that it was time to step in before his hot-headed brother caused a serious problem. Kindred warriors were extremely protective of their mates—even when it came to other Kindred. If Doctor Olivia felt the need to call her Beast Kindred husband to deal with Fierce, there was going to be bloodshed.

“Of course you wouldn’t, Doctor Olivia,” he said, stepping between her and Fierce. “We know what a consummate professional you are. Celia must have had a reason to leave us, and that reason lies with us—not with you.”

“Thank you for understanding.” Her face went from stern to sympathetic as she looked up at Hold. “I can only imagine how hard this must be for the two of you. I’m so sorry she left but she was determined to go.”

“Well, I’m determined to find her!” Fierce exclaimed.

“She asked us not to come after her,” Hold reminded him. “She chose Peter—not us, Brother.”

“Fuck that!” Fierce growled. “Come on—we’re going down to that big, ridiculous domicile where we first picked her up. I’m going to get to the bottom of this if it fucking kills me!”

49

FIERCE

But to Fierce’s dismay, there was no one at the huge, showy mansion on Bayshore Boulevard. He pounded on the door and looked in every window but the place was dark and deserted. There weren’t even any of the stinking Earth vehicles that ran on fossil fuels parked in the circular driveway. It was as though Peter Thielgood—that fucking human rat—had packed up and left the place for good.

“Where else can they be? Where did he take her?”

Fierce paced in front of their long range shuttle, running his hands through his hair. He felt half crazy with worry and anger. How could Celia leave them like this, after they had Claimed her? And she had consented to being Claimed, he reminded himself. How could she give up on their love? Or had she never really loved them at all?

No, that’s not true! The way she gave herself to us last night…she couldn’t fake something like that. The emotions we saw on her face…those were real! I know they were!

“There must be a reason she did this,” Hold said, breaking the agonized silence. “Something we did—something we said.”

“Maybe it’s just because the little human fucker is rich,” Fierce growled, looking up at the huge, ostentatious domicile.

“No, I don’t think that’s it.” Hold shook his head. “It goes back to what Celia told us back on Tranq Prime—that he wanted her when no one else did. Maybe she feels loyalty to him. He was there before us, Brother.”

“But he treats her like shit! And so does his family!” Fierce growled. “We saw it in the dreams we shared with her!”

“It must be our fault somehow.” Hold sighed. “There must be a reason she left us.”

“You are correct, Warrior.”

The powerful feminine voice surprised both of them. Fierce looked around and saw that Hold was doing the same. But there was no one to see—just the feeling of an all-powerful presence surrounding them and the presence was most definitely female.

“The two of you are very close to losing the female I set aside for you,” the voice continued.

“Goddess?” Hold fell to his knees and Fierce followed his brother’s lead. It could be no other, he realized—it must be The Mother of All Life speaking to them.

“Yes, Warrior—it is I, the Mother of All Life,” she answered. “You must go back to the last place you saw your female. There you will find the reason she left you. After that, you must make your own decisions about what to do. But do not wait too long—by tomorrow noon, she will belong to another.”

Then the Goddess’s voice stopped talking and her overwhelming presence faded. But her visit had given Fierce hope.

“You heard the Goddess!” he exclaimed to his brother. “Come on—where was the last place we saw Celia?”

“The Mother Ship—the Med Center.” Hold got to his feet, looking stunned. “Celia is meant to be with us,” he murmured, almost to himself.

“Which means there must be hope!” Fierce grabbed him by the arm. Come on—let’s go find out what in the Seven Hells is going on so we can get her back!”

50

CELIA

“Suck it in, Cece dear. Come on—do try a little harder! I can’t believe you gained so much weight in a single month!”

Celia’s Mother-in-Law-to-be frowned at her in the mirror as she did her best to zip up the wedding gown. The problem was, she had ordered the gown a little too small in the first place—to give Celia incentive to “lose a little for the big day.” So the gown was tight to begin with and now that she’d put on a few pounds from the pregnancy, it was barely fitting at all.

Dios, I look like a sausage in a too-tight casing, Celia thought unhappily as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. The face that stared back was unhappy and there were dark circles under her eyes. The professional make-up artist Mother Frances had hired had tried his best, but he couldn’t completely hide her lack of sleep.

Part of it was trying to sleep in a strange bed, Celia thought. Peter had prudently whisked them all off to the Downtown Tampa Club, which had private rooms for members. Peter had rented the entire penthouse suite for the wedding party so everyone could stay together.

“This way those two thugs can’t come after you,” he’d said, when Celia asked why they weren’t staying the night at the mansion on Bayshore. “If they don’t know where to find you, we won’t have any problems with them.”

In a way, Celia had agreed with him—it was better that Hold and Fierce couldn’t find her. She was afraid if she saw them she might break down—she was already missing them desperately even though she’d seen them just last night.

After a night of fitful rest, Celia’s Mother-in-Law-to-be had driven her to an exclusive South Tampa salon to have her hair, nails, and makeup done and now they were at their final destination—St. Paul’s cathedral in Downtown Tampa. It was a beautiful old building with soaring spires and an enormous stained-glass window that shed rainbow light over the entire chapel. It would be a beautiful place to get married…if you are marrying the right person. Or people.

Stop it! You have to put Hold and Fierce out of your head, Celia told herself firmly, as she sucked in her stomach and tried to hold still while Mother Frances zipped her into the frothy white gown. You’re never going to see them again. And even if you did, they wouldn’t want you. You’re carrying another man’s baby—of course they wouldn’t want you.

She had yet to tell Peter about the baby. It felt awkward and wrong somehow and she was afraid that he would sense that the daughter they shared was the only reason she’d come back to him.

Actually, though, Peter seemed extremely preoccupied. He and Mother Frances kept going off to discuss things together and Celia had no idea what they were talking about.

“There! Finally!” At last Mother Frances had gotten the gown zipped. She fastened the tiny pearl button at the nape of Celia’s neck and stood back with her hands on her non-existent hips. “There you are. Don’t you look just lovely?” she exclaimed, smiling.

“Er…thank you.” Celia smiled back weakly. She couldn’t believe that in barely an hour she would walk out the door of the little side room at the back of St. Paul’s and go down the aisle of the big, beautiful chapel and say “I do,” and then Mother Frances really would be her Mother-in-Law.

And Peter will really be your husband. Don’t forget that part! whispered a little voice in her head. Celia tried to push it away. She would think about it later, she told herself. Right now she just had to get through the ceremony.

51

FIERCE

“Fierce, I think we need to get some stimulant brew if we’re going to keep this up—we’ve been at it for hours.” Hold swiped a hand over his forehead and sank down in a nearby chair looking exhausted.

“It has to be here somewhere—the Goddess told us we would find the reason Celia left us!”

Fierce wasn’t ready to stop yet—wasn’t ready to give up. The Med Station was practically deserted except for a single nurse at the front who was nodding off. Everyone else was with their families for the human holiday of Christmas Eve—which wasn’t as big as the next day, Christmas—but was still important, from what Fierce could understand. Everywhere there were green trees with brightly colored ornaments on them and most of them had wrapped boxes under them as well.

They didn’t know which exam room Celia had been taken to when she’d asked for a female doctor, so he and Hold had been searching all of them methodically. This was the last one and he was certain there had to be some clue in it somewhere about why their female had bolted.

Suddenly, something pink in the waste disposal unit caught his eye.

“Hey—what’s this?” he demanded, reaching down to pick it out of the trash. It was a crumpled pink flower and wrapped around it was a thin strip of paper.

Unrolling it, Fierce read aloud,

“Celia Alvarez. Pregnant with one female fetus. DNA 100% human.”

“What? What did you say?” Hold was suddenly on his feet. He came across the room in one stride and snatched the paper from Fierce’s hand. He read it for himself and then looked up.

“Gods,” he whispered faintly. “She’s…”

“She’s fucking pregnant,” Fierce finished for him. The news hit him all at once and he stumbled and nearly fell. Hold caught him by the arm and held him up.

“Now we know,” he said grimly. “We know why she left us.”

“We do?” Fierce looked at his brother stupidly.

“Yes, we do. How many digs did you give her about ‘being pregnant with another male’s brat’? Or ‘being pregnant with a stupid human baby’?” Hold demanded, glaring at him.

“Fuck, I didn’t say that—did I?” Fierce put a hand to his head. Had he really been that stupid?

“Yes, you did!” Hold had a furious look on his face which was completely unlike him. “You two fought about it several times. So when Celia found out she was pregnant with Peter’s baby, she decided to go back to him because she thought we wouldn’t want to help her raise it!”

Fierce had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“But…but I didn’t fucking mean it!” he protested. “I mean look—a daughter!” He shook the wilted pink flower in Hold’s face. “How many Twin Kindred ever get to raise a daughter—fucking none of us. We always have twin boys! We would love to have a daughter—she’d be our little princess!”

“You know that and I know that but thanks to you, Celia doesn’t know that!” Hold exclaimed. “She left us because she thinks we won’t want her if she’s pregnant with another male’s baby!”

“Fuck, you’re right!” Fierce wanted to punch himself in the face. “What an idiot I was!” he groaned, raking a hand through his hair. “No fucking wonder she left us!”

“We have to get her back,” Hold said. “Now that we know what the problem is, we have to find her and tell her how we really feel. How you really feel. You’d better get ready to grovel, Brother,” he added grimly.

“I’ll do it. I’ll go down on my knees to her,” Fierce swore. “Fucking anything to get her back! But where is she? We don’t even know where the Joining Ceremony is being held.”

“It’s going to be at St. Paul’s Cathedral in downtown Tampa,” a voice said from the door.

Both their heads jerked around and Fierce saw Kat standing in the doorway of the exam room.

“Hello, boys,” she said, smiling. “I just came by to find something I left here last night but I see you found something too.” She nodded at the wilted pink flower and the crumpled piece of paper which Fierce still had in his hand.

“We found it in the trash,” Hold told her. “And it seemed logical to conclude that Celia left us because of it—because she found out she was pregnant with Peter’s baby.”

“That’s exactly what happened,” Kat confirmed. “I know Liv couldn’t tell you anything because of doctor/patient confidentiality. Luckily, I am not a medical professional myself and I think a big mistake is being made here. You two need to go find Celia and tell her how you really feel.” She raised her eyebrows at them. “As long as how you really feel is that you’d be happy to help her raise the baby she’s carrying, even though it’s not yours.”

“We’d be more than happy,” Fierce assured her hoarsely. “This is all my fault—Celia thinks I can’t love her with another male’s baby in her belly.”

“Then you’d better go make sure she knows you can love her no matter what,” Kat told them. “Like I said—the ceremony is at St. Paul’s cathedral at noon. Which means…” She looked at the chronometer on her arm and shook her head. “You don’t have much time before she walks down the aisle and says ‘I do’ to Peter.”

“Fuck! Thank you, Kat!” Fierce exclaimed. He gave her a brief hug and Hold did the same.

“Wish us luck!” he said. “We’re going to do our best to win her back.”

Kat said something but Fierce didn’t hear what it was. He and Hold were already rushing out of the Med Center and down the corridor towards the Docking Bay.

They had to get to Celia before she tied her life to another male and left them forever!

52

CELIA

There was a discrete rapping on the door of the little ready room and Peter’s voice called,

“Mummy dear, are you in there? Bircher needs to see us for a moment before the ceremony.”

“Oh right—Mummy’s coming!” Mother Frances called. “But no peeking at the bride when I come out—you know it’s bad luck!” She patted Celia on the cheek and smiled. “You’ll be fine on your own for a moment, won’t you dear? Just don’t sit down—there’s a good girl. I’m afraid you’ll pop the zipper on that gown if you do.”

Then she hurried off, slipping through the door in her long, silver gown that looked much more elegant than the frothy wedding dress she’d picked for Celia to wear.

Celia frowned as she watched her go. Why in the world would she and Peter need to talk to the Thielgood family lawyer not even an hour before the ceremony? Shouldn’t he be getting into his tux and getting ready to walk down the aisle with her?

“Do you really wish to know what the human you are about to Join yourself to for life is talking about?”

“Huh? What?” Celia looked wildly around. Where had that voice come from? There was no one in the room with her, but she had heard it—plain as day! She looked at the full-length mirror at the end of the room, but saw only her own reflection.

“It is I, the Mother of All Life,” the voice informed her.

“Dios! You mean the Kindred Goddess?” Celia asked in a quavering voice. Was this really happening to her right now?

“The same,” the voice confirmed.

“But…but I don’t believe in any God or Goddess,” Celia protested.

“Do not trouble yourself about believing in me, daughter, for I believe in you,” the voice told her. Now look into the mirror and I will show you what you are about to commit yourself to.”

Celia stared at the mirror. For a moment she saw only her own reflection. Then the image of the unhappy woman in the too-tight wedding dress disappeared and another image took its place.

Suddenly she could see Peter, (already dressed in his tux,) his mother, and an older, balding man who she recognized as Bircher, the Thielgood family lawyer.

“So as soon as the ceremony is over and we’re legally married, I’ll get my part of the inheritance?” Peter was asking the older man anxiously.

“Exactly. As long as you get married by one o’clock on Christmas Eve of the year that you turn thirty-five, as your father’s will stipulated,” Bircher said.

Mother Frances shook her head.

“Oh, your father was always such a sentimentalist when it came to Christmas! He told me once that he wanted all his children married at Christmas time, so they could enjoy the season even more.”

“Daddy was rather silly about things like that,” Peter agreed. “But I don’t begrudge him, since I’ll finally be getting my money as soon as I say ‘I do.’”

“I should also note that your father’s will stipulates not only that you marry on Christmas Eve, but also that you stay married to the same woman for at least one year before you divorce her,” Bircher said.

“That won’t be a problem,” Peter declared. “Cece’s quite gone on me—why, she even signed that draconian Prenup you drew up saying she gets absolutely nothing if we divorce.”

“I know—it took you long enough to find a woman gullible enough to sign that thing,” Mother Frances remarked. “You’ve been really running out the clock on this one, Peter darling. But are you certain Celia will stay with you for at least a year?”

“I’m positive.” Peter nodded confidently. “But just to be sure, I threw away her birth control pills. Once she gets pregnant, she’ll stay with me for sure—after the awful childhood she had, she won’t want to raise a baby by herself.”

“Well, just be sure you keep her dependent on you for at least a year,” Bircher told him. “After that, you can divorce her whenever you want to.”

“And find someone more appropriate for your station,” his mother added.

“I don’t know—I rather like Cece,” Peter said musingly. “I know she’s rather plump and she’s not up to our standards, but she’s so sweet and trusting. She never suspects a thing when I go off on a ‘business trip.’” He laughed nastily and his mother slapped him lightly on the arm.

“Peter! Be good—it’s your wedding day, after all.”

“Sorry, Mummy—you’re right. I shall straighten up and fly right. At least for today,” Peter promised.

“Speaking of that, whatever happened to what’s her name? That girl you were stringing along in case Celia didn’t come back?” his mother asked.

“Oh, Madison, you mean? I cut her loose last night, after I spoke to Cece and knew she was coming back. She was quite heartbroken, I’m afraid—she thought we were having a whirlwind romance.”

“Just as well you didn’t have to marry her instead,” Mother Frances remarked. “Since she was holding out on signing the prenuptial agreement.”

“Yes, she was a bit of a gold digger, was our Madison—though she was excellent in bed. Sorry, Mummy,” Peter said quickly when his mother made a disapproving face. “She kept saying I was rich and I could afford to at least give her something if I ‘deserted her.’ Anyway, I used her refusal to sign as the reason we were ‘breaking up.’”

“As well you should! Greedy girl.” Mother Frances made that sour face again.

“Yes, well, she was sobbing and promising to sign by the end, but I finally got rid of her.” Peter dusted his hands together, as though brushing off some unmentionable substance. “And now I’m free—just in time for the wedding.” He smiled charmingly, as though he hadn’t just been talking about using some poor girl as a backup for Celia and then tossing her aside the minute he didn’t need her anymore.

“I’m just glad you’re finally getting this done,” Mother Frances remarked. “Just imagine if all that money your father left you went to that homeless charity instead of into the family bank accounts where it belongs! Honestly, your father went too far when he drew up his last will and testament.”

“Well, it’s all worked out in the end,” Peter remarked. He looked at the expensive Swiss timepiece on his arm. “By one o’clock today, I’ll officially be the richest member of the Thielgood family. Merry Christmas to me!”

Then scene in the mirror winked out as abruptly as it had started and Celia was left standing there, staring at her own reflection again, her eyes wide with horror and her stomach in knots.

She felt sick—physically ill.

“Madre de Dios, this can’t be true,” she muttered to herself. “I must have imagined all that. I…I’m sleep deprived. I’m not thinking right. There’s no way the Kindred Goddess just showed me my future husband and Mother-in-Law plotting together in a magic mirror. This is crazy!”

“Think what you like, daughter,” the strong, feminine voice spoke again. “I have shown you the true hearts of those you would enter into a contract with. You will be given one more chance to choose your fate. When you are…choose wisely.”

Then the voice went abruptly silent and the feeling that someone else was in the room with her was gone. Celia was all by herself again…but now she had no idea what to believe or what to do. Was she going crazy? Was this some kind of a nightmare and she was about to wake up? Was—

There was a brief tapping on the door and Mother Frances came back in.

“Cece, darling—are you ready to go?” she asked and began fussing with Celia’s veil. “The ceremony’s about to begin!”

“What…what did Bircher want?” Celia asked. The words seemed to stick in her throat but she forced them out anyway.

“Oh, he was just asking if you wanted him to walk you down the aisle,” Mother Frances said quickly. “He heard that you didn’t have a father or an uncle to do it, so he volunteered—wasn’t that sweet of him? I always say that he’s not just the Thielgood family’s lawyer—he’s actually part of the family.”

“Oh, he…he did?” Celia wanted to feel relieved. It was a plausible explanation—certainly more plausible than the idea that the Kindred Goddess herself had paid her a visit and showed her the nefarious schemes of her husband and Mother-in-Law to be in the mirror.

I must have imagined the whole thing, she thought. I’m so tired and stressed. Probably the hormones from the pregnancy are making me hallucinate!

That must be the explanation, she told herself. Nothing else made sense.

“So do you? Want him to walk you down the aisle?” Mother Frances raised her eyebrows. “After all, it’s rather sad, you walking yourself down the aisle with no one to give you away.”

Celia lifted her chin. This was an argument they’d had before and she wasn’t prepared to change her answer.

“Thank you so much, Mother Frances and please thank Bircher for me too, but I’ll be fine walking myself down the aisle.”

“All right, well…suit yourself, dear.” Mother Frances sighed and then perked up. “Oh my—do you hear that?” she whispered, squeezing Celia’s arm in excitement. “It’s the first strains of the Wedding March. Come on—it’s time to go!”

And she hustled Celia out the door, towards the entrance of the chapel.

53

CELIA

The chapel had been decorated within an inch of its life in elegant silver garlands and white satin ribbons. There were four silver and white Christmas trees in the four corners of the church as well, all of them with long, glittering fake icicles hanging from them and silver angels at their tops.

It definitely wasn’t the way Celia would have decorated if she’d been able to do it herself—it was ostentatious and showy and had Mother Frances’s taste written all over it. Still, she supposed she was lucky to be having a wedding at all, considering everything she’d gone through and everything she’d done in the past few days—or the past month if you counted the weeks she’d lost in the wormhole.

It was a long, elaborate ceremony with a lot of kneeling and vowing and standing and praying and she went through the whole thing on autopilot. All the time, she kept thinking of the awful things the Goddess had showed her in the mirror…and then trying to assure herself that it had all been a hallucination…just a fever dream brought on by stress and pregnancy hormones and not enough sleep…

And then somehow they were coming to the end of the ceremony. Peter was standing beside her in his tux, looking charming and polished and the pews were filled on both sides with the Thielgood friends and relations since Celia had no one but a few friends to come to her big day. The priest had on a long, flowing robe and he raised his hands and said,

“If any man here knows any reason why these two shall not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

“I told him to leave that part out!” Peter hissed, looking peeved. “It’s really so unnecessary! It—”

“We do!” a voice shouted from the back of the church.

Celia turned, feeling like she was in a dream. Running down the aisle were Hold and Fierce. There was a desperate look on their faces as they rushed past the pews filled with shocked and disapproving wedding guests.

“We have a reason why Celia shouldn’t get married!” Fierce growled as they finally reached her. “Because we’re fucking in love with her! And we think—we hope—Celia loves us too.”

54

CELIA

“What are you two doing here?” Celia stared at them in amazement. She’d been so sure they wouldn’t follow her—that her note had driven them away. She’d made it as cool and impersonal as she could, not wanting to leave them any hope at all. Yet here the two of them were, interrupting the wedding, and she didn’t know what to say.

“Yes, what are they doing here? Mummy—these two oafs are ruining my wedding!” Peter exclaimed.

“Hang on, darling—Mummy’s coming!” Mother Frances hurried up to where Hold and Fierce were standing.

The twins had changed back into their Kindred uniforms with tall black boots and tight black trousers and the long-sleeved emerald green shirts that looked so good on both of them. Celia couldn’t help comparing the two tall, muscular warriors with Peter—her fiancé looked wimpy and weak in comparison.

“We’re here because we love you,” Hold said to her, ignoring both Peter and his mother.

“And to say we’re sorry,” Fierce added. “I know what an ass I’ve been, lelka. I drove you away and I’m fucking sorry for it.”

“Stop this nonsense and leave at once!” Peter’s mother exclaimed, before Celia could answer either one of them. She was looking at the large, elaborate clock hanging high on the wall at the back of the chapel. “It’s nearly one o’clock!” she exclaimed. “We must finish the ceremony!”

Her words sent a wave of distrust through Celia as she remembered once again everything she’d seen in the mirror.

“Tell me something,” she said to Mother Frances. “Is the reason Peter has to marry me before one o’clock because if he doesn’t, he loses his inheritance?”

“What?” Mother Frances looked shocked. “How did you find that out? Who told you?” she demanded.

“So it’s true?” Celia turned to Peter, who was just standing there, gaping. “Is it also true you were seeing some other girl named Madison while I was gone with Hold and Fierce, so you could marry her instead, if I didn’t come back?”

Peter turned positively pale.

“Now Cece, darling—I don’t know what that lying little bitch has been telling you, but I can promise that I’ve always been faithful to you.”

“What about on your ‘business trips’?” Celia demanded. “Are you telling me you weren’t sleeping with other women then?”

“I…I…” Peter stammered, shaking his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” He got out at last.

“This is all ridiculous!” Mother Frances insisted. She looked at the clock and then looked at the priest. “Father, quickly—continue with the ceremony! We don’t have much time!”

“Er…” The elderly priest looked befuddled. “Do you, Peter Frederick Thielgood the Third take this woman, Celia Marie Alvarez as your lawfully wedded wife?” He finally went on. “To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“I do! I do!” Now Peter was watching the clock as well. It was only a few minutes until one, Celia saw, glancing up at it herself.

“Very good.” The priest nodded. “And do you, Celia Marie Alvarez take this man, Peter Frederick Thielgood the Third to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do not!” Celia exclaimed, before he could go on. She turned to Peter again. “It all makes sense now—the whirlwind courtship, your rush to get married. It was all for the money!”

“Cece, please! Be reasonable!” Peter exclaimed.

“I am being reasonable—for the first time since you ‘swept me off my feet,’” Celia exclaimed. “The minute you met me all you saw was a gullible, stupid woman who was willing to sign that draconian Prenup saying I wouldn’t get a single cent when you divorced me—which I know you’re planning to do in exactly a year!”

“I never said that! That was Mother’s idea!” Peter denied. “Cece, please—just say ‘I do’ and we can work all this out. We’ll draw up a whole new contract—you can have whatever you want!”

“What I want, you can’t give me.” Celia took a step away from him. “And don’t call me ‘Cece’—I’ve always hated that nickname!” she snapped.

She turned and marched down the aisle with Hold and Fierce behind her, ignoring all the shocked faces in the pews on either side.

“Where is she going?” Mother Frances shrieked. “She mustn’t get away! It’s nearly one—we don’t have time to find another bride. Get her! Bring her back!”

All of Peter’s groomsmen—mainly his brothers-in-law—came running down the aisle. But they stopped short when Hold and Fierce turned to face them.

“The lady won’t be getting married today,” Hold said politely but firmly.

Fierce was more direct.

“Fuck off!” he growled. “You lay a finger on Celia and I’ll fucking break it for you!”

The sight of two seven-foot-tall, muscular alien warriors seemed to put off Peter’s groomsmen. They all worked out and were in reasonable shape, but none of them was anywhere near as big and strong as the Twin Kindred.

“Get her! What are you waiting for! Don’t let her go!” Peter’s mother kept shrieking but the groomsmen fell back, eyeing Fierce and Hold warily.

“Come on, my lady,” Hold said to Celia. “Let’s leave this place.”

“Yes—let’s get the fuck out of here,” Fierce growled.

“Coming,” Celia told them and the three of them hurried down the aisle amid shocked gasps as the guests watched them go.

As the chapel door banged shut behind them, Celia could hear her former-future-Mother-in-Law wailing,

“It’s past one now—it’s too late! Too late!”

Good, Celia thought to herself. I hope whatever homeless charity the money goes to gets everything!

Peter and his horrible family didn’t deserve a cent as far as she was concerned and she was glad to leave them behind forever.

55

CELIA

They made it outside the chapel and down onto the sidewalk outside the church when Celia stopped short. In the excitement and confusion of leaving Peter at the altar, she’d forgotten something important.

“The ship is this way, my lady. My lady?” Hold stopped, turning to see what was wrong.

Fierce stopped too.

“Lelka—what is it?” he asked, his dark brows drawn low in a worried expression.

“I…I can’t be with you—either of you,” Celia told them. The words hurt coming out, but she knew they were true. “I’m sorry but there’s something you should know. I should have told you in my note, but—”

“Celia, we know,” Hold said gently.

“We know,” Fierce echoed. He shoved a hand in his pocket and brought out a limp, wilted pink flower.

“You’re pregnant and it’s a girl,” Hold said.

“And before you ask, yes we know it’s not our baby,” Fierce went on. “And we don’t fucking care!”

“You don’t?” Celia stared at him distrustfully. “After everything you said about me having another man’s baby and—”

“I know what I said was stupid and wrong.” Fierce dropped suddenly to his knees before her, right there on the sidewalk. “Please, Celia—I was an idiot.” His voice was low and earnest—hoarse with emotion. “Please forgive me and come back to the Mother Ship with us. We can’t fucking lose you again!”

Celia stared at them uncertainly.

“I’m not giving this baby up,” she said, putting a hand over her lower belly protectively. “I don’t care who the father is, she’s mine and I’m going to raise her with love and caring.”

“And all we ask is to be allowed to raise her with you.” Hold took a step towards her and put out a hand pleadingly. “Please, my lady—you have my word we’ll treat her like our own.”

“We’ll love her like our own!” Fierce swore. “Twin Kindred almost never get to have daughters—more than any other branch of the Kindred family tree, we almost always produce sons.”

“You know what reverence we have for females,” Hold went on, taking up his brother’s narrative. “Having a daughter to raise is considered a great blessing on a Twin Kindred household. A gift from the Goddess herself!”

Slowly, Celia began to thaw. She wanted to believe what they were saying. She loved them—both of them. Cool, calm, collected Hold and fiery, intense, exasperating Fierce—they were both so completely different and yet she loved them both with all her heart.

“I…I want to believe you,” she said to them. “I want to believe you love me and that you’ll love my daughter too.”

“We will,” Hold said earnestly. He came back to take her hand. “Please, my lady—do us the honor of Joining with us and allowing us to raise your daughter as her fathers.”

“Yes, please lelka,” Fierce begged hoarsely. “Neither of you will ever want for anything. Hold and I aren’t rich like that idiot Peter, but we’ll work hard to give you everything you need—everything you could ever want.”

“It’s not about the money,” Celia told them. “If it was, I would have said ‘I do’ to Peter. Though I don’t know how rich he is now,” she added. “Apparently if he doesn’t get married by one o’clock on Christmas Eve of the year he turns thirty-five, his inheritance all goes to charity.”

“Really? How did you find that out?” Hold asked, looking shocked.

“The…the Kindred Goddess—she came and showed me,” Celia admitted, hoping they wouldn’t think she was crazy. “I was trying to convince myself it was just a dream or a hallucination, but it turned out to all be true—everything she showed me was true.”

“The Goddess came to us too!” Fierce exclaimed.

“She did?” Celia asked.

“She told us where to find the flower—it helped us understand why you left,” Hold said. He squeezed Celia’s hand. “My lady, please come back with us. It’s clear the Goddess intends for us to be together—I know she’ll bless our union.”

Celia felt almost dazed.

“Dios, not long ago I would have said I didn’t believe in any God or Goddess,” she said, shaking her head. “But now…I guess there is a Goddess and she wants the three of us together.”

“The four of us.” Fierce was still on his knees. Reaching up, he placed one big, warm hand on Celia’s lower belly. “This little girl is going to be our princess,” he promised, looking up at her. “She’s going to have everything she wants or needs and Hold and I are going to be the two best fucking fathers in the whole known universe, lelka—I swear it!”

Celia covered his hand with her own and smiled.

“Well, to start with, you have to stop saying ‘fuck’ all the time,” she told him. “I don’t want our daughter having a potty mouth.”

“Did you say ‘our daughter’?” Fierce’s dark eyes were suddenly shining with tears. “Did…did you hear that, Brother?” he asked, looking up at Hold. “She said our daughter!”

“Yes, she did.” Hold’s eyes were bright as well and he swiped a hand across his face.

It touched Celia to see both of her guys actually crying with joy—she was feeling pretty weepy herself.

“Oh, Fierce…Hold…” She whispered. “I’m so glad you two came back for me.”

“We are too!” Still on his knees, Fierce pulled her forward and buried his face between her breasts and Hold encircled her with his long arms, hugging her from behind. And right there, in the middle of the sidewalk, Celia felt completely surrounded by their love.

“Come on,” she said at last. “People are starting to stare—let’s get out of here.”

“Let’s go home,” Hold agreed. He helped Fierce to his feet and the three of them left together.

56

CELIA

“Just give me a minute to get out of this awful gown—here, unzip me, please.” Celia turned to Hold and the Light Twin obligingly unbuttoned and unzipped the tight white wedding dress.

Celia let out a sigh of relief as the tight fabric parted. It felt so good to be able to get a deep breath again…and to be back in Hold and Fierce’s suite in the Mother Ship. She walked into the bathroom with the long gown trailing behind her but Fierce followed her anxiously.

“Just be careful in there, lelka—don’t fall in the bathing pool!” he told her.

Celia shot him a look.

“I’ll be fine—I just want to get out of this gown and freshen up a minute. I promise not to go near the pool alone.”

“Good, because as soon as you’re ready, we want to resume our Claiming Period,” Fierce told her. He gave her a hungry grin. “If you’re up for it, that is.”

Surprisingly, Celia found she was. She had missed her guys—missed the feeling of their big hands and hot mouths on her body and their hard muscles surrounding her.

“That sounds good,” she said, smiling up at the Dark Twin. “But what do you mean, resume our Claiming Period? Aren’t we past that now?”

“Not quite,” Hold said, also coming into the bathroom. “Fierce and I would like to pamper you, my lady. We never did get to do our Bathing Week, you know.”

“But you did wash me in the shower,” Celia pointed out. “I mean, back at the Mother Tree.” Which seemed a million years ago now.

“It’s not the same as bathing you in the bathing pool,” Hold said. “And don’t worry—I’m turning the temperature on the water down so it will be safe for the baby,” he added.

Celia smiled. She knew that the Light Twin, being a doctor, was going to be extra careful of her unborn daughter.

“Thank you, Hold,” she said. “If you two will just give me a minute…”

“Of course. Sorry, lelka,” Fierce said.

The two of them left, shutting the door behind them, and Celia was finally able to pull off the huge, frothy wedding gown.

“Ugh—I never liked that thing!” she muttered, kicking it into a corner and breathing a sigh of relief.

She had on a lacy white bra and panty set under it that she also wanted to remove. She kicked the panties off first, but when she unclasped the bra, something that had been stuck down the front of it, between her breasts, fell out.

Celia bent down to retrieve it and smiled. It was the tiny vial of Bonding Fruit concentrate that Kat had given her. For some reason, even when things seemed hopeless, she had held onto it. And since she’d had no place to put it earlier—the wedding dress having no pockets of course—she’d shoved it down the front of her bra.

I guess I was hoping the guys would come for me all along, she thought, examining the tiny glass vial. It was warm from being close to her skin and the liquid inside was a light, peachy color. Suddenly, Celia wanted to taste it.

Unsealing the vial with her fingernail, she popped it open and inhaled the delicious fragrance that drifted out.

“Mmm…Dios, that smells good!” she murmured to herself. “Like peaches and strawberries and mangos and something else…what is it?”

Putting the vial to her mouth, she took a tiny sip. The Bonding Fruit juice tasted even better than it smelled! The note she hadn’t been able to identify turned out to be buttered popcorn which, oddly, worked extremely well with the sweet, fruity flavors.

Celia had only meant to take a tiny taste, but before she knew it, she was tilting the vial to get more and then more. A moment later she pulled it away from her lips and saw that it was completely empty—somehow she had taken the whole vial.

“Madre de Dios—I wonder if I should have done that?” she murmured to herself. Then she remembered Liv telling her that Bonding Fruit was actually good for the unborn baby and felt a little better about it. It would probably just work like the Blood of the Mother juice that tasted like pancakes and syrup they’d all had at the Mother Tree, she thought. It would make her a little more stretchy down below so if the three of them decided to get busy, they could. That was no big deal, right?

That was what she thought, anyway. But a little later on, she had reason to believe that the Bonding Fruit was different from the breakfast-flavored drink she’d gotten used to.

It started with a tingling between her thighs and at the tips of her nipples as Hold and Fierce were bathing her. The three of them were naked in the bathing pool and the two big warriors were taking turns holding her as the other one scrubbed her.

Hold was scrubbing her top half, including her full breasts and tender nipples, which were almost back to their normal color.

“You never told us how you got your nipples to turn blue you know, my lady,” he murmured as he teased and tugged them. “And now the color seems to be fading.”

“Oh, I…I dyed them,” Celia explained, her voice coming out breathless.

“Dyed them? What the fuck?” Fierce asked, frowning.

Celia explained about the huge vats where they dyed the spider silk.

“So I just dipped my nipples in and it did the trick,” she told them. “It lasted pretty well, too.”

“Long enough for us to get away, anyway,” Fierce growled, rubbing his big hands up and down her thighs. “Smart thinking, lelka.”

His thumbs were getting closer and closer to her aching pussy as he scrubbed higher every time. Clearly he was teasing her, getting her ready for more to come.

Suddenly, Celia realized she was feeling extremely horny. Even more than she had been when they were all being subjected to the relentless sexual energy of the Mother Tree.

“Dios, Fierce, stop teasing me!” she protested breathlessly. “If you’re going to touch me, do it already!”

“Hmm, sounds like someone is feeling feisty tonight, Brother,” Fierce rumbled, shooting Hold a knowing look. “Are you ready to get out of the bathing pool and let us massage you, lelka?”

“I guess so—are you going to touch me more if you do? Are…are you going to make me come?” Celia demanded. Her cheeks were hot with embarrassment but she couldn’t help herself—suddenly she was just so turned on!

“Oh yes, my lady—we have special oils for both your nipples and your pussy,” Hold purred. “But why the sudden eagerness to come? Don’t you want us to take our time?”

“I thought I did but now I’m feeling really, uh, overheated,” Celia admitted.

“Let’s take her out of the pool and massage her now,” Fierce said. “We can make her come more easily when we have her sweet body all spread out between us, Brother.”

“True.” Hold’s eyes were suddenly heavy-lidded. “Come, my lady,” he murmured, carrying Celia out of the pool. Let’s get you dried off so Fierce and I can pleasure you properly.”

57

CELIA

Celia had rarely had a massage by one person—let alone two. The twins dried her off and laid her on the huge bed after covering it first with a white sheet. Then they brought in a number of bottles of oil.

They positioned her between them, with the Dark Twin sitting at the head of the bed and the Light twin at the foot of it. Celia found herself with her head pillowed on Fierce’s muscular thighs while Hold sat right between her spread legs. It was a sensuous feeling, being spread out, naked between the two huge warriors. The glows in the bedroom had been turned on low, giving off a golden, romantic, indirect light that came from the walls, rather than the ceiling.

In the past, Celia would have been reluctant to let them both see her naked and vulnerable, but now she didn’t mind. She knew they loved her body just the way it was—curves and all. It made her feel like a sexual goddess to have the two big, muscular warriors looking at her with half-lidded eyes and cradling her between them.

This time Fierce took charge of her top half, rubbing warming oil that had a light, sweet scent into her shoulders and back and her bare breasts. He tugged at her nipples lightly, watching her writhe on the bed between himself and his brother, as he murmured what a good girl she was to open herself to both of them so completely.

“Does it feel good, baby?” he murmured, tugging her aching tips some more. “Do you like it when I tease your sweet nipples?”

“Y-yes!” Celia moaned, arching her back. “But I need more!”

“You’ll have more, my lady,” Hold promised her. “In time, you’ll have all you can handle.”

While Fierce had been massaging her neck and shoulders, the Light Twin had been rubbing and massaging her feet, calves and thighs. But now that Fierce was concentrating on her breasts, he had turned his attention to her pussy. He was gently rubbing her outer lips, but the indirect attention made Celia crazy.

“Please, Hold!” she begged the Light Twin. “Stop teasing me!”

“Not teasing you, my lady—just getting you ready. “Look—I have a special massage oil, just for your sweet pussy.” He pulled out a tiny, purple glass bottle and opened it. “Now, hold still for me, Celia.” He gave her a stern look when she twitched her hips. “I need you to spread wide for me and let me pour this oil where it needs to go.”

“Be a good girl and spread your pussy for Hold,” Fierce murmured as he tugged her nipples again. “This oil will make your sweet little clit even more sensitive—you’re going to be coming all night long, lelka.”

Celia was still waiting to come for the first time that night—the need inside her kept growing and growing! But she spread her thighs wider obediently and tried to be open for the Light Twin.

“That’s good, my lady.” Hold nodded approvingly.

With the fingers and thumb of his left hand, he reached down and spread her pussy lips wide, exposing the aching pearl of her clit. Then he carefully poured a thin stream of the special oil over her tender little button.

“Perfect—and now I just need to rub it in and give your Goddess Pearl a proper massage,” the Light Twin murmured. And with one fingertip, he began to rub the oil in, sliding around and around her aching clit without ever quite touching it.

“Oh…oh!” Celia moaned, bucking her hips involuntarily.

“Does it feel good, lelka?” Fierce growled softly in her ear. “Do you like it when Hold spreads your sweet pussy open and massages your little clit?”

“Y-yes!” Celia panted.

“I’m glad you like it.” Hold gave her a half-lidded smile. “Just relax and let Fierce and I massage you. Let us give you pleasure.”

Celia felt like she was melting as the Light Twin kept on caressing her clit, sliding one long finger, slick with oil, around and around her aching center. She could feel herself getting closer and closer to coming and she was sure that once she did, the insistent horniness would be taken care of.

I just need to come, she told herself. If I can just come, I won’t feel so needy anymore. I won’t—

But at that moment the pleasure grew too intense and she found herself falling over the edge as the first orgasm of the night hit her.

“Oh…oh, Dios!” she moaned as Hold slid two long fingers into her pussy to feel her throb around him.

“That’s right, baby,” Fierce murmured in her ear. “Come for us—come nice and hard while Hold fingers your pussy.”

“Can’t…can’t help coming!” Celia panted. But even as she came, she realized that the need inside her hadn’t been abated. In fact, she felt it even more. “Hold…Fierce,” she moaned. “It feels so good but I think…I think I need more.”

“How so, my lady?” Hold asked, fucking deeply into her with his fingers. “Gods, your sweet little pussy is so tight!” he added, his eyes filled with lust.

“Tell us what you need, lelka and we’ll give it to you,” Fierce promised, his eyes going dark with hunger.

“I need…I need you to fuck me. Not one at a time—both of you at once!” Celia moaned.

“What?” Hold frowned. “But we’ve barely started pleasuring you—you’ve only just had your first orgasm of the night! And I don’t know if you’re ready for both our shafts at once,” he added.

“But I need more than just your fingers!” Celia protested, bucking her hips.

The Light Twin’s fingers inside her felt wonderful, but she had a feeling like her inner walls needed to be stretched. She couldn’t shake the idea that she wanted both of them inside her at once.

Hold frowned at her sternly.

“Why this sudden need to be filled, Celia?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “What happened to cause this?”

“I…I took some Bonding Fruit concentrate that Kat gave me,” Celia admitted, biting her lip. “I only meant to taste a tiny sip but it tasted so good, I wound up drinking the whole vial.”

“The whole vial?” Hold’s eyes went wide. “Tell me, how big was this vial, my lady?”

“About this big.” Celia held her fingers several inches apart. “There wasn’t much of it, but it tasted really good. And strong,” she added.

“Gods!” Hold shook his head. “It would be one thing if you just ate a piece of Bonding Fruit or drank some Bonding Fruit juice. But to drink a whole vial of the concentrate…”

“What? Is it bad? Dios, please tell me I didn’t hurt the baby!” Celia exclaimed.

“No, no—don’t worry about that,” Hold reassured her quickly. “It’s not the baby I’m worried about, my lady.”

“It’s you we’re worried about, lelka,” Fierce finished for his brother. “You’re going to be fucking horny out of your mind pretty soon!” He squeezed Celia’s breasts and tugged lightly on her nipples. “We’re going to have to breed you all night long to help you get it out of your system.”

“Breed me then!” Celia moaned, writhing between them. She was getting hotter and wetter by the minute as the need the Bonding Fruit concentrate had caused in her grew and grew. “Please—I need you—both of you!” she begged.

“I know you’re in need, my lady, but we have to take things slowly and work up to breeding,” Hold told her.

“Maybe what she needs is a tongue inside her,” Fierce growled, his eyes flashing. “Trade me places, Brother—it’s my turn with her soft little pussy.”

“All right.” Reluctantly, Hold withdrew his fingers and sucked them clean. Then he and Fierce switched places, with the Light Twin coming to support Celia’s head and shoulders while the Dark Twin knelt between her spread thighs.

“Mmm, such a sweet, soft little pussy,” he growled, rubbing his hands up and down Celia’s legs and sending shivers all through her. “Remember how I promised just to kiss you that first time I tasted your pussy, lelka?” he added, giving Celia a lascivious grin.

“I…I remember,” she panted.

“So do I—and I think you need more ‘kisses’ now,” he growled.

Bending his head, he spread Celia’s pussy open and gave her a hot, open-mouthed kiss right on her throbbing clit.

“Dios!” Celia gasped, bucking her hips up to meet him. “More, Fierce—I need more.”

The Dark Twin didn’t answer with words. Instead he began lapping her clit in earnest, sucking it into his mouth and swirling his tongue around and around the aching little button.

At the same time, he thrust two long fingers deep inside her, just as Hold had done and began to pump deep in her pussy.

“Oh…oh!” Celia cried as Hold bent over her to suck her nipples at the same time. She had never felt so open and so desired…and yet she still needed more.

“Mmm, my lady—love sucking your tight nipples,” Hold murmured, looking up at her. “Do you like it when Fierce and I taste you together? Does it feel good to have my mouth on your breasts and my brother’s tongue between your thighs?”

“Yes!” Celia moaned shamelessly. “Yes…oh Dios, Hold—think…think I’m going to come again!”

“That’s the special clit oil working on you,” Hold told her. “It increases your ability to orgasm and to have multiple orgasms. You’re going to be coming a lot tonight, my lady. Which is a good thing—it will help you get the Bonding Fruit out of your system.”

Celia tried to answer but she couldn’t—once more the pleasure was rushing through her as she came hard on Fierce’s tongue. The Dark Twin lapped her pussy eagerly, licking up her juices as she moaned and writhed between him and his brother. She cried her pleasure, her back arching as Hold and Fierce feasted on her as though she was a rare delicacy. But still, when Fierce at last withdrew his fingers, she felt empty inside.

“Hold, Fierce, please!” She moaned, shifting restlessly between them. “I need you in me—I need to feel you stretching me out! I think…think it’s the only thing that will make me feel better.”

“Mmm, that will be our pleasure, my lady,” Hold murmured. “But again, we should work up to it. Why don’t you ride my cock for a little while and Fierce can get our Bonding Chair set up.”

“B-bonding chair?” Celia panted. “What’s that?”

“A special kind of chair created just for Twin Kindred to use while holding their female between them and Bonding,” Hold told her. “Now come here and sit on my cock,” he added, his eyes growing suddenly dark with desire.

Celia wasn’t used to such directness from the Light Twin—but she found Hold’s commanding tone incredibly sexy. Flipping over, she crawled up his long, muscular body and straddled his lean hips as instructed.

She had his long shaft in one hand and was rubbing it against her slippery pussy when a thought occurred to her.

“Hold, won’t it hurt you if we’re, uh, intimate when Fierce isn’t touching me too?” she asked, giving the Light Twin a worried look.

Hold shrugged.

“It’s mildly painful, but I don’t mind.” He stroked her cheek and looked into her eyes. “I would gladly endure any pain to be with you, Celia.”

Celia felt like her heart was melting. Gripping his cock more firmly, she fed it into the mouth of her pussy and—moaning softly—sank down on it.

“Mmm, looks like you’re already stretching Celia’s sweet pussy out for us, Brother,” Fierce remarked as he came back into the room. He was carrying a kind of wooden device which he proceeded to set up at the foot of the bed.

“Yes, I’m just getting her ready for both of us together.” Hold looked down between her legs as he fucked slowly into her. “How does it feel, my lady?”

“Good…wonderful,” Celia admitted. She bit her lip. “But still…not quite enough. Not that you’re not big—you and Fierce are bigger than any guy I’ve ever been with. It’s just…”

“Just that you feel the need to have your inner walls spread and stretched to the limit. It’s all right, my lady—I understand,” Hold assured her. “That’s simply the Bonding Fruit working on you. There—I think Fierce has the Bonding Chair all set up now. Would you like to dismount and watch us get ready for you?”

“Oh…yes please.” Celia pulled off of the Light Twin and got off the bed to go inspect the strange new piece of furniture.

It looked a little like a double-backed rocking chair from what she could see, with the seats facing each other. The two seats were joined together in the middle and there was a kind of arm under each one that worked to tilt each seat up at an angle when the chair was set in motion.

“Oh…how does it work?” she asked, frowning at it.

“Like this…” Fierce made the Bonding Chair work, causing both of the chairs to tilt up and then go back down in unison. They didn’t actually rock—they just glided up and back, Celia saw.

“Once our shafts are joined together, you’ll sit between us and take us deep inside your soft little pussy,” Hold explained. “The Bonding Chair ensures that we’ll be thrusting inside you in unison. It helps the Bonding to last longer too,” he added.

By this time, Celia was aching inside, she felt so empty.

“Can we please hurry up and do it, then?” She asked eagerly. “I mean, can we all get in the chair together so I can feel both of you in me at the same time?”

“Such an eager little lelka,” Fierce growled. “Your little pussy is really hungry tonight, isn’t she?”

“It’s the Bonding Fruit concentrate,” Hold remarked as he straddled the chair and sat down in one of the seats. “That’s why our lady feels the need to be stretched open by both our cocks tonight.”

“Well, let’s give her what she needs then,” Fierce growled. Straddling the other seat, he scooted forward. “Come here, Brother—join with me,” he said.

“With pleasure.”

Hold scooted forward as well until both their long, thick shafts were pressed together. Once they were, Fierce wrapped one big hand around them both, fisting both cocks at once.

Celia bit her lip at the erotic sight of the two big warriors pressed together so intimately. And then, something began to happen—the two long, thick shafts began to grow together.

After a moment, Fierce removed his hand and she saw that their cocks had melded into one enormously thick shaft. The broad head at the end was as big as her fist and the shaft below it was even thicker.

“Madre de Dios!” she murmured in awe. “How is all that ever going to fit inside me?”

“It will fit, my lady,” Hold assured her. “The Bonding Fruit makes all things possible. Just come straddle us and slide down on our shaft. You’ll see—it will fit.”

“Yes, come here, baby,” Fierce growled. “Let us feel you taking us both at once. I want to share you with my brother—want to fuck you and breed you and Bond you to us tonight.”

That was exactly what Celia wanted too. With a little moan of anticipation, she straddled the two of them, facing Fierce with Hold right behind her.

“That’s right, lelka. Come down and take us.” The Dark twin held her by the waist, helping Celia lower herself down onto the massive shaft. At the same time, Hold reached around from behind and began to twist and tug her nipples again.

“Come down on us, my lady,” he murmured in her ear. “Spread your pussy wide and take us both inside your hot, wet depths.”

“I…I’m trying,” Celia panted. At first she wasn’t sure how the enormous cock would fit inside her. But to her surprise, the fist-sized head slid into her easily. And then Fierce helped her lower herself down slowly onto the huge shaft.

Celia moaned softly as she felt the impossibly thick cock spreading her open, as she had never been spread before. Her inner walls felt stretched to the limit, but that was a good thing—it was exactly what she needed. And when Hold and Fierce finally bottomed out inside her, she knew they were giving her exactly what she needed—what the Bonding Fruit demanded.

“Ohhhh!” She moaned softly as she felt the massive head of their single cock kiss the mouth of her womb. “Oh, that feels so good—so right.”

“Of course it does—your little pussy needs to be filled and fucked right now,” Fierce growled, looking into her eyes. “Mmm, baby—do you feel ready to fuck?”

“Yes,” Celia wiggled a little, trying to get used to being so full. “I…I think so.”

“We’ll take it slowly to start with,” Hold murmured. “Come on, Brother, let’s start the chair.”

They began to move in unison, the seats tilting downward and upward which caused the massive cock to slide slowly out of Celia’s tightly stretched pussy and then back in again, deep and hard. At the same time, Fierce began massaging her breasts and Hold reached around to slide one big hand between her legs to where they were joined.

“Would you like a clit massage while we fuck you, Celia?” He murmured in her ear. “Would you like me to rub your Goddess pearl while we thrust deep in your tight pussy?”

“Madre de Dios, yes!” Celia moaned. Despite already having had two intense orgasms, she found she was ready for another.

“Good Girl…” Fierce leaned down to kiss her deeply for a moment. When the kiss broke, he looked her in the eyes and murmured. “Such a good girl to spread your soft little pussy open for us, Celia. Such a good girl to let my brother and me fuck you so deep.”

“Dios, yes—fuck me! Fuck me deep” Celia moaned. She could feel the Light Twin massaging her aching clit and sending sparks of pleasure all through her while at the same time, the Dark Twin’s big hands were still on her breasts. And both of them were moving as one, filling her pussy to the limit with their huge shaft.

Suddenly, she felt like she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Oh Hold…Fierce…” she moaned. “Think…think I’m going to…to come again!”

“Come and we’ll come with you,” Hold murmured in her ear.

“Going to shoot our seed deep in your pussy, lelka,” Fierce growled hoarsely. “Want to feel you coming around us when we do!”

And then Celia couldn’t hold back anymore—she didn’t even try. With a low moan, she let her orgasm take her—rushing through her like a tidal wave, knocking her off her feet and sweeping her out to sea with its pure intensity. She could feel her inner muscles squeezing and milking the huge cock inside her, almost begging her guys to fill her with their cum.

Hold and Fierce must have felt it too, because they both groaned and she felt their big bodies tense on either side of her. And then a hard spurt of something hot shot deep inside her. Celia moaned and tried to open herself even more—tried to squeeze her inner muscles even harder, massaging the long, thick shaft, urging both the Light Twin and the Dark Twin to give her everything they had.

“More!” she panted. “Give it to me—fill me up! I love you—love you both so much!”

“We love you too, my lady.”

“Love you more than anything, lelka!”

Celia blinked. Had their voices come from inside her head?

“Yes, they did,” Hold assured her.

“Because we’re Bonded now,” Fierce said. His mental voice was every bit as deep and growly as his physical one, Celia decided.

“Can I talk to you guys that way too? Oh—I can!” she exclaimed, using their new link for the first time.

“We hear you loud and clear, lelka,” Fierce sent back.

“Love the sound of your voice inside our heads,” Hold added.

The intense orgasm was over at last for the three of them, though Celia noticed that the huge shaft inside her remained hard.

“That’s because we’re not done Bonding yet,” Fierce sent to her. “We’re going to be at this a long, long time tonight, baby.”

“We need to fill you with our cream several more times at least,” Hold told her. “We need to seal the Bond between us, my lady. But if you’re tired, just lean back against me—we can go slow and gentle for this next time.”

Celia did as he said, leaning against the Light Twin’s broad chest as he and Fierce pulled almost all the way out and began to pump into her tightly stretched pussy again. This time it was slower and she felt warm waves of pleasure lapping over her as her men filled her. And now there was as new and special intimacy, since they were all in each other’s heads. She could feel their pleasure in filling her tight pussy, just as they could feel her pleasure in being filled.

As the three of them rocked together, Celia knew her life would never be the same. Finally she was with two men who loved her for her—and wanted her just the way she was. They would raise a family together and love each other and grow old together and love and support each other all the days of their lives.

Though she had never believed before, Celia sent a tentative prayer of thanks skyward to the Goddess. The Kindred deity had meant for the three of them to be together all along—she understood that now.

Having Hold and Fierce as her mates was the best Christmas present she could possibly have Unwrapped and for that, she was forever grateful.

EPILOGUE

CELIA

“So, it was a Christmas Eve miracle, hmm?” Kat gave her a sharp look and a knowing smile as they sat together at the little café. It was the day after Christmas and Celia was still riding high on the holiday buzz and the joy of being newly mated to her guys.

“You could say that.” She smiled at Kat. “Though I heard that you were the one who told them how to find me.”

“Yeah, well Liv couldn’t say anything because of doctor/patient confidentiality. But as you may have noticed, I am not a doctor.” Kat grinned at her. “So I felt free to tell them where the wedding was being held. I’m just glad they got to you in time.”

“It was a close call,” Celia admitted. “But they made it just as the priest was asking if anyone knew any reason why Peter and I ‘should not be joined in holy matrimony—speak now or forever hold your piece.’ So, they spoke up.” She laughed.

“Oh my God, that’s perfect timing!” Kat exclaimed, laughing as well.

“Well, not for Peter, unfortunately,” Celia said. “See, it turned out that he was only marrying me because his father’s will stated that all his children have to get married on Christmas Eve by one o’clock by the year they turn thirty-five or they lose their inheritance and it goes straight to charity. And by the time Hold and Fierce came and stopped the ceremony, it was too late to find anyone else willing to wed Peter’s skinny ass.”

Kat’s eyes widened.

“Oh my God, doll—that explains the news I just saw today.”

“News? What news?” Celia frowned.

“Oh, it’s been all over the place—on every news station,” Kat said. “It seems that Peter’s family just donated one billion dollars to several dozen homeless shelters around the world. It’s one of the biggest charitable donations that’s ever been made! And rumor is, that the family fortune is less than a quarter of what it was now.”

A billion dollars?” Celia shook her head in disbelief. “I knew they were rich but I didn’t know they were that rich!” She shook her head again. “So much money but Peter had me sign a Prenup saying if he divorced me, I wouldn’t get a single cent.”

“He did? What a selfish asshole!” Kat exclaimed.

“Yeah, apparently I was the only girl he could find that was gullible enough to sign it,” Celia said dryly. “I thought I was showing that I didn’t just want him for his money. When all the while, he only wanted me so he could get his inheritance.”

“Well, he got what he deserved,” Kat said, patting her hand comfortingly. “And all that money his family was hoarding is going to go to help people in need—that’s a good thing.”

“Yes, it is.” Celia nodded. “You know, I don’t see how I ever convinced myself I’d be happy with him,” she said. “I’m so glad the Goddess sent Hold and Fierce to me instead.”

“Being mated and married to a Kindred warrior—or warriors—is amazing,” Kat agreed, smiling. “Speaking of being married, is that a brand-new engagement ring I see on your finger?” She nodded at Celia’s left hand.

Celia smiled and lifted her hand so her friend could see the ring better.

“As a matter of fact, it is. It has three bands—see? The gold one in the middle is me and the emerald one is for Fierce and the ruby one is for Hold. The guys found a jeweler who was open on Christmas somehow and they wanted the colors to reflect the season.” Celia smiled as she remembered the two of them getting on one knee and presenting her with the little box wrapped in gold paper.

“I love it,” Kat said, smiling. “So when’s the wedding? Do you want me to help plan it?”

“We were thinking around New Years,” Celia said. “I want to be married before I start showing,” she added, patting her lower belly.

“We can definitely make that happen,” Kat said. “We can start planning it right away if you want.”

“Oh, yes! I—”

Suddenly Celia got a feeling like someone wanted to talk to her and she opened her mind.

“Lelka, where are you?” Fierce’s mental voice growled. “We need you!”

“We miss you, my lady,” Hold added. “But we don’t want to rush your time with your friend.”

“I’ll be home soon,” Celia promised them, “Get the Bonding Chair ready.”

“We will,” Fierce promised.

“Your wish is our pleasure,” Hold added.

Delicious feelings of lust and tenderness came to her through the mental link with her guys and then their mental voices faded from her mind.

“Uh-oh—I know that look.” Kat grinned at her. “You just got a booty call from your boys, didn’t you?”

Celia blushed.

“I’m er, still under the effects of that Bonding Fruit concentrate you gave me,” she admitted. “I sort of took the whole bottle at once and it’s been slowly working its way out of my system.”

Kat’s eyes widened.

“The whole bottle at once? Oh my goodness, doll—you’re only supposed to take a tiny sip at a time.” She shook her head. “That’s my fault—I should have told you.”

“No, it’s all right—I don’t mind. In fact, I’m really enjoying myself” Celia giggled and blushed.

Kat laughed.

“Well, I’m glad it all worked out all right. But before you go just tell me—what about the baby? I’m assuming Hold and Fierce are going to be her fathers?”

“Oh, absolutely—they’re already helping me think of names and Fierce wants to build her a cradle himself.” Celia sighed happily. “I think they’re going to make wonderful fathers.”

Kat patted her hand.

“Kindred always do. That little girl is going to be spoiled rotten by those two—just wait and see!”

“I know.” Celia smiled and patted her belly. “But right now, I’m kind of enjoying being spoiled myself. Speaking of which, I think I might ask Hold and Fierce to give me another massage before we…you know, get down to business.”

“Go for it.” Kat rose from the table and Celia did as well. “I’m so happy everything worked out for you, hon,” Kat said and gave her a hug.

Celia hugged her back.

“I am too. I’m happier up here with my guys on the Mother Ship than I ever would have been down on Earth with Peter.”

“Of course you are,” Kat told her. “A girl is never happier than when she becomes one of the Brides of the Kindred. Now go on, doll—don’t keep your guys waiting. We’ll plan your Joining ceremony later.”

Celia smiled at her friend and left to go join her men. Her life was completely different than what she’d thought it would be…and so much better than she’d ever dreamed or imagined.

She felt truly blessed.

THE END?

OF COURSE NOT!

There are always more Brides of the Kindred and Kindred Tales books coming. But I also hope to write another book in my Forbidden Omegaverse series soon. Also, I’ve been mulling over a whole new series, about a little town in New England called Hidden Hollow which no one can find unless he or she has paranormal powers of some kind. All the heroes in these books will be monsters and the heroines will be human women with powers some of them don’t even know they have. If my muse decides to run with it, you can expect to see the first book in the Hidden Hollow series in the New Year.

In the meantime, I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas (Happy Hanukah and Happy Kwanza too, if either of those are what you celebrate.) With love from me to you, may the light of the Goddess shine on all your lives.

Hugs,

Evangeline

November 2023

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED GLOSSARY

AllFather—the evil head of the Scourge, a race that are the byproduct of a failed genetic trade. The AllFather is one of the Old Ones and has the power to reach into a person’s mind to harvest emotional pain and trauma. He lives for the fulfillment of the Scourge Prophesy.

Ancient Ones—beings which live in the Deep Blue—the darkest and most inaccessible part of the Rageron jungles. They are sentient but not related in any way to the Kindred. Each Ancient One has two forms—a bipedal form which resembles a human or Kindred and a beast form which can be deadly and they can change between forms at will. The Ancient Ones predate even the First Kindred and revere the skrillix plant, which they guard jealously.

Bespeak—to contact someone mentally using a Think-me device. It is considered rude to bespeak someone you don’t know intimately.

Beast / Rager Kindred—come from Rageron—a jungle planet full of beautiful but deadly flora and fauna. They have dark hair, golden eyes, and hot tempers but their most defining characteristic is the mating fist. The mating fist is an area at the base of the Beast Kindred’s shaft which engages fully only during bonding sex with his chosen mate. When engorged it swells to keep the Beast Kindred and his bride locked together until she is completely bonded to him. This ensures sex that is both extremely long lasting and multiorgasmic for both partners.

Blackness which Eats the Stars—another name for the Hoard or Grimlax, an ancient enemy of the Kindred. These beings have no souls and so are considered demonic by the Kindred.

Blood Fever—a condition suffered by unmated females on Tranq Prime, the home world of the Blood Kindred. Blood Fever or Burning Blood, as it is often called, is caused by a parasite living on the icy world that affects only women. The parasite—found in the fleeta or blood beetle—reacts with a compound in the Tranq Prime water supply to cause the fever. Symptoms include chills, the feeling of the blood heating in the veins, and increased coloration of the nipples and inner sex. If the fever is not treated in forty-eight hours, it will result in death.

Once a Kindred male has had a female’s blood, he forms a natural antidote to Blood Fever which he can pass on by sharing body fluids with her. The most effective way to get the antidote into the female’s system is for a Blood Kindred to bite her, thereby injecting it along with his essence. However, it is also possible to pass along the healing fluid through sex.

Blood Fever used to be very common on Tranq Prime which is what prompted the cold, proud natives to initiate a genetic exchange with the Kindred in the first place. A recent vaccine has nearly eradicated the disease, however, and the original inhabitants of the ice bound planet have little reason to continue the trade. A faction calling themselves Purists are against any further trade with the Kindred.

Blood/Tranq Kindred—are blond with pale blue eyes and come from Tranq Prime where ice, snow, and arctic-like temperatures are the norm. To combat the severe weather conditions, the Blood Kindred have higher than normal body heat with double the human amount of red blood cells. They have developed specific biting rituals to share their supercharged blood and take the blood of their mates during their own version of bonding sex. They have a set of double fangs located where a human’s canine teeth would be. These fangs do not develop fully or become sharp enough to pierce flesh until a Blood Kindred is with a woman he wishes to mate and bond with.

Bonding Ceremony—a wedding-type ritual which takes place after the Claiming Period if the bride chosen by a Kindred warrior has allowed him to have bonding sex with her and joined her mind to his.

Bonding Sex—the extra step a Kindred warrior takes to bind his bride to him permanently during intercourse. For the Beast Kindred, it is the use of the mating fist. For the Blood Kindred, bonding sex means sex during penetration. Twin Kindred bind a bride to themselves by entering her and coming in her at the same time.

Claiming Ceremony—a sort of engagement service that takes place when a bride is first claimed by a Kindred warrior. He declares his intentions toward her and she vows to obey the laws of the Claiming Period.

Claiming Period—women who are drafted are required to go up to the Kindred Mothership and spend a thirty day “claiming period” with the warrior who has chosen them. If, at the end of that time, they have managed to resist the charms of their Kindred mate, they are allowed to go back down to Earth and resume their normal life. However, if they succumb to their Kindred male’s seduction, they are mated for life and must move to the Kindred ship to live, leaving everything else behind and seeing their family and friends on Earth only infrequently. Of course, many women are unwilling to give everything up at the drop of a hat, draft or no draft. But the Kindred have a secret weapon—devotion to their female’s pleasure and attention to detail during incredibly hot sex.

Claming Period Rules—The Claiming Period lasts for four weeks during which the Kindred warrior attempts to seduce his chosen bride and she tries to resist him:

The Holding Week: the Kindred warrior may hold his bride.

The Bathing Week: the warrior and his bride bathe together and he is allowed to massage her with scented oils and make her come.

The Tasting Week: the warrior is allowed to perform oral sex on his bride.

The Bonding Week: sex is allowed but it is completely up to the bride whether she will take things a step further and allow bonding sex which is a special and specific process to the three different types of Kindred males. (Most women have given in well before this point but a few do resist.)

The only way out before the claiming period is up is a breach of contract. This can happen if the Kindred warrior does not strictly follow the rules and tries to skip forward in the order of allowed events or by breaking one of the rules laid down by the Kindred High Council. These rules—mostly to do with restrictions on communication with Earth—are for the safety of everyone aboard the Mothership and are nonnegotiable. Ignorance is no excuse for breaking them and will result in immediate termination of the claiming period.

Convo-pillar—A half inch long insect which resembles a brightly colored caterpillar. Convo-pillars were genetically engineered by traders on the fringe colonies around Rageron to translate alien languages by communicating via thought waves to their wearer’s brain. They have been outlawed by the Kindred High Council because their notoriously unreliable translations cause more conflicts than they solve.

Dark Kindred –also known as Enhanced Ones—this faction of the Kindred race broke off centuries ago when there was a shortage of viable females to call for brides. Vowing to overcome their sexual urges, the Dark Kindred made a genetic trade with the cyborg-like residents of Zeaga Four who are ruled by a group of sentient machines called the Collective. Since all emotion is prohibited on Zeaga Four, the organic inhabitants get emotion damper implants to keep them from committing Feel-crime. Anyone found guilty of Feel-crime without a special dispensation from the Collective may be summarily purged.

Deep Blue—the darkest and most inaccessible part of the Rageron jungles

Dream Sharing—occurs when a Kindred warrior’s mind aligns with that of his bride and they begin to see each other’s day to day activities and memories in their sleep. However, the alignment of the two (or three in the case of the Twin Kindred) minds can take several forms and is not limited to sleep.

Fireflower Juice—an alcoholic beverage made from the Fireflower plant native to Rageron. It resembles milk in appearance but has the flavor of honey, vanilla, lavender and blueberries.

High Councilor—the rightful ruler and defender of the Kindred home planet, First World. Only the High Councilor may sit upon the throne of wisdom and see with the eye of foreknowledge. Without a High Councilor in place, First World and the rest of the Kindred race cannot be adequately protected against the evil machinations of the Hoard.

Hoard—an ancient enemy of the First Kindred also known as the Grimlax or the Blackness between the Stars, they are evil, demonic beings with ravenous appetites and a desire to conquer, devour, and destroy every living thing in the universe. They are divided into tribes with the lowest echelon being the most numerous and primitive. The elite or upper echelon tribes are more sophisticated and intelligent but also much more dangerous. They are notoriously manipulative and able to change their appearances using a technique called “shadowing” to look like anyone or anything they choose.

The Kindred—a race of genetic traders who have traveled the universe for centuries looking for viable matches to expand their gene pool. Since a genetic anomaly ensures that their population is ninety-five percent male, they are specifically looking for women.

The three genetic trades the Kindred have already made have resulted in three very specific types of men. But though they take on some of the physical characteristics of the race they are trading with, the Kindred gene always ensures three things: physical prowess, extremely large and muscular body structure, and undying loyalty to the female of their choice.

Krik-ka-re—a Scourge tradition in which the mind life of one being may be traded for or ransomed by another.

Kusax—a special knife made from the tainted metal at the core of the Scourge home planet. One scratch can be deadly as it infects the wounded person with a soul poison which ensures a slow, agonizing death.

Law of Conduct—the Kindred law which says every warrior is responsible for the good behavior of his bride and gives him the right to punish her—within reason. Often the “punishment” is sexual in nature and some brides become serial offenders simply to experience their Kindred warrior’s particular form of discipline. ; )

Luck Kiss—a kiss performed by the best man and maid of honor at a Kindred Bonding Ceremony in order to bring the happy couple good luck.

Mate of my kin—the way Kindred warriors refer to the brides chosen by their brothers. It is analogous to the English term sister-in-law.

Marks of Possession—the Scourge way of marking a female as their mate. The Marks of Possession include a close-fitting collar, piercings in the nipples and clitoral hood, and a brand on the inner hip or the top of the buttocks. Scourge with Kindred blood also desire to scent-mark their mates but they require the traditional marks of their kind to really feel bonded to the female of their choice.

Mother of All Life—the main Kindred Deity, a kind and benevolent goddess whose teachings include respect and reverence for all things female.

Numala—a Blood Kindred name which means “liquid pussy.” It refers to a female who produces more than the regular amount of lubrication when aroused. Numalas are much prized by the Blood Kindred and sought after as mates because they are more likely to be able to accommodate a Blood Kindred warrior’s larger than average cock.

Psychic-Knife—a torture device developed by the Scourge that is able to break the mental and emotional bond between a Kindred and his bride.

Rage—also Protective Rage or Berserker Rage—a state of altered consciousness that comes over a Kindred warrior when his bride is threatened. It floods the bloodstream with endorphins and causes such intense anger and aggression that a Kindred in this state becomes a killing machine who will die to protect the woman he has claimed.

Sacred Grove—an area of green and purple trees that houses the temple of the Mother of All Life. The Kindred Mother ship has been equipped with an artificial green sun like the one on their home world in order to allow these holy trees to grow and flourish.

Scourge—a genetic trade gone wrong, these menacing outsiders have twisted desires and sexual needs fierce enough to frighten away even the most adventurous. Their need to dominate and possess their women completely has led to a strange prophesy that they must fulfill…or die trying.

Scourge Prophesy—“One of two, alike and yet different—the double fruit of a single womb from the third planet of a yellow sun. She shall be marked with a white star between her breasts.” These words were spoken by Mee’ah—the last living female of the Scourge race who was believed to be a great seer. The Scourge are a dying race, forced to create new members in test tubes and artificial wombs because they have no females. Yet, because they have some of the same genetic characteristics as the Kindred they are able to create only male children and each new generation is weaker than the last. The prophesy refers to the woman the Scourge believe will be able to mate with the AllFather and bear only daughters to rejuvenate their race.

Skrillix Plant—also known as the Pain Vine. This plant is found only in the heart of the Rageron jungles called the Deep Blue. The brilliant crimson berries of the skrillix are said to cure many illnesses, including stasis sickness and can also dissolve an improperly placed or artificial soul bond. The thorns are said to be as poisonous as the berries are helpful. One prick from a skrillix thorn can give waking nightmares, forcing the victim to relive painful memories. When minds are linked by the juice of the berries, these visions can be shared with others who can witness them via a chemically induced neural link.

Take-me—an animal native to Twin Moons that has been domesticated by the Kindred for transportation aboard their ship. The Take-me has green fur and two heads, one on either end. Each head has three purple eyes. The Take-me has the unique features of being to expand and compress its mass which makes it ideal for storage. Because they originally lived in caves, most Take-mes stay very contentedly in small dark areas in the Kindred food prep areas where they live off the scraps and leavings of their master’s meals. They can eat almost anything except banana peels which they are allergic to.

Tharp—an animal that looks very much like a thin fur blanket which can be worn as a garment. Tharps are cultivated on Tranq Prime and prized for their ability to multiply their host’s body heat and keep them warm in even the most frigid conditions. A tharp can be worn by only one person— as a neophyte or youngster it imprints upon a host and will slowly starve if parted from them. Tharps are intelligent and capable of limited movement. They live as long as their host and subsist only on body heat, needing no other form of sustenance to survive.

Think-Me—a thin silver wire worn around the temples which facilitates mental communication between people who already have an intimate connection.

Touch-U—a flat black mat-like animal native to Tranq Prime which the Kindred have adapted to be a home health appliance. The Touch-U is capable of giving a gentle massage or an all-out erotic experience depending on which button is pushed.

Twin Kindred—come from Twin Moons—a world of vast, stormy oceans dotted with craggy but beautiful islands. True to their namesake, Twin Kindred always come in pairs. The brothers are not identical, however. There is always a light twin and a dark twin. These labels refer not just to skin, hair, and eye coloring but to the twin’s moods and perceptions of the world. The dark twin in the pair is usually more moody and withdrawn while the light twin takes a substantially brighter view of life. The twins are closely linked and able to sense each other’s emotions. They cannot be separated by long distances or for long periods of time without severe pain. They must also share a woman, linking her into their mental and emotional exchange for very intense ménage sex.

Urlich—a type of dog bred by the Scourge. At maturity they are modified with machinery to heighten their sense of smell and intelligence which results in a cyborg-type animal. Once in pursuit of whatever scent has been programmed into their brains, the urlich are utterly single minded and incapable of stopping until their prey has been cornered and captured.

Wave—a Kindred cooking appliance which emits thousands of finely collimated beams of heat to cook food in under a minute.

Zichther—an animal native to the jungles of Rageron, the zichther resembles a small bright blue teddy bear in appearance until it opens its mouth and reveals three rows of incredibly sharp, shark-like teeth.

GIVE A HOT KINDRED WARRIOR TO A FRIEND!

Do you love the Kindred? Do you want to talk about wishing you could go live on the Mother Ship without your friends thinking you're crazy? Well, now it's super easy to get them into the Kindred universe.

Just share this link, https://bookhip.com/HLNPTP, with them to download Claimed, the first book in my Brides of the Kindred series for FREE.

No strings attached—I don't even want to collect their email for my newsletter. I just want you to be able to share the Kindred world with your besties and have fun doing it.

Hugs and Happy Reading!

Evangeline

Sign up for my newsletter and you'll be the first to know when a new book comes out or I have some cool stuff to give away. Don't worry—I won't share your email with anyone else, I'll never spam you (way too busy writing books) and you can unsubscribe at any time.

As a thank-you gift you'll get a free copy of BONDING WITH THE BEAST delivered to your inbox right away. In the next days I'll also send you free copies of CLAIMED, book 1 in the Brides of Kindred series, and ABDUCTED, the first book in my Alien Mate Index series.

You've read the book, now listen to the audiobook.

My Kindred series is coming to audio one book at a time. Sign up for my audiobook newsletter. Besides notifications about new audio releases you may also get an email if I'm running a contest with an audio-book prize. Otherwise I will leave you alone. : ).

ALSO BY EVANGELINE ANDERSON

Below you'll find a list of available and upcoming titles. But depending on when you read this list, new books will have come out by then that are not listed here. Make sure to check my website for the latest releases and better yet, sign up for my newsletter to never miss a new book again.

* * *

Brides of the Kindred series

(Sci-Fi / Action-Adventure Romance)

CLAIMED (Also Available in Audio)

HUNTED (Also Available in Audio)

SOUGHT (Also Available in Audio)

FOUND (Also Available in Audio)

REVEALED (Also Available in Audio)

PURSUED (Also Available in Audio)

EXILED (Also Available in Audio)

SHADOWED (Also Available in Audio)

CHAINED (Also Available in Audio)

DIVIDED (Also Available in Audio)

DEVOURED (Also Available in Audio)

ENHANCED (Also Available in Audio)

CURSED (Also Available in Audio)

ENSLAVED (Also Available in Audio)

TARGETED (Also Available in Audio)

FORGOTTEN (Also Available in Audio)

SWITCHED (Also Available in Audio)

UNCHARTED (Also Available in Audio)

UNBOUND (Also Available in Audio)

SURRENDERED (Also Available in Audio)

VANISHED (Also Available in Audio)

IMPRISONED (Also Available in Audio)

TWISTED (Also Available in Audio)

DECEIVED (Also Available in Audio)

STOLEN (Also Available in Audio)

COMMITTED (Also Available in Audio)

PUNISHED (Also Available in Audio)

PIERCED (Also Available in Audio)

TRAPPED (Also Available in Audio)

RESCUED

UNWRAPPED

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME ONE

Contains Claimed, Hunted, Sought and Found

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME TWO

Contains Revealed, Pursued and Exiled

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME THREE

Contains Shadowed, Chained and Divided

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME FOUR

Contains Devoured, Enhanced and Cursed

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME FIVE

Contains Enslaved, Targeted and Forgotten

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME SIX

Contains Switched, Uncharted and Unbound

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME SEVEN

Contains Surrendered, Vanished, and Imprisoned

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME EIGHT

Contains Twisted, Deceived, and Stolen

All Kindred novels are now available in PRINT.

Also, all Kindred novels are on their way to Audio, join my Audiobook Newsletter to be notified when they come out.

* * *

Kindred Tales

The Kindred Tales are side stories in the Brides of the Kindred series which stand alone outside the main story arc.

These can be read as STAND ALONE novels.

MASTERING THE MISTRESS (Also Available in Audio)

BONDING WITH THE BEAST (Also Available in Audio)

SEEING WITH THE HEART (Also Available in Audio)

FREEING THE PRISONER (Also Available in Audio)

HEALING THE BROKEN (a Kindred Christmas novel) (Also Available in Audio)

TAMING THE GIANT (Also Available in Audio)

BRIDGING THE DISTANCE (Also Available in Audio)

LOVING A STRANGER (Also Available in Audio)

FINDING THE JEWEL (Also Available in Audio)

BONDED BY ACCIDENT (Also Available in Audio)

RELEASING THE DRAGON (Also Available in Audio)

SHARING A MATE (Also Available in Audio)

INSTRUCTING THE NOVICE (Also Available in Audio)

AWAKENED BY THE GIANT (Also Available in Audio)

HITTING THE TARGET (Also Available in Audio)

HANDLING THE HYBRID (Also Available in Audio)

TRAPPED IN TIME (Also Available in Audio)

TIME TO HEAL (Also Available in Audio)

PAIRING WITH THE PROTECTOR (Also Available in Audio)

FALLING FOR KINDRED CLAUS (Also Available in Audio)

GUARDING THE GODDESS (Also Available in Audio)

STEALING HER HEART (Also Available in Audio)

TAMING TWO WARRIORS (Also Available in Audio)

THE KINDRED WARRIOR’S CAPTIVE BRIDE (Also Available in Audio)

DARK AND LIGHT (Also Available in Audio)

PROTECTING HIS MISTRESS (Also Available in Audio)

UNLEASHED BY THE DEFENDER (Also Available in Audio)

SUBMITTING TO THE SHADOW (Also Available in Audio)

SECRET SANTA SURPRISE (Also Available in Audio)

THE PRIESTESS AND THE THIEF (Also Available in Audio)

PLAYING THEIR PARTS (Also Available in Audio)

RAISED TO KILL (Also Available in Audio)

HEALING HER PATIENT (Also Available in Audio)

DELIVERED BY THE DEFENDER (Also Available in Audio)

ACCIDENTAL ACQUISITION (Also Available in Audio)

BURNING FOR LOVE (Also Available in Audio)

HIDDEN RAGE (Also Available in Audio)

ENTICED BY THE SATYR (Also Available in Audio)

SAVED BY THE BEAST (Also Available in Audio)

LOVED BY THE LION (Also Available in Audio)

BONDED BY TWO (Also Available in Audio)

TAMING THE TIGER (Also Available in Audio)

DRAGON IN THE DARK (Also Available in Audio)

GUARDED BY THE HYBRID (Also available in Audio)

QUEEN OF THEIR COLONY (Also Available in Audio)

FINDING HIS GODDESS (Also Available in Audio)

FAKING IT WITH THE HYBRID (Also Available in Audio)

TIED TO THE WULVEN (Also Available in Audio)

SHARED BY THE MONSTRUM (Also Available in Audio)

LOST ON OBLIVION (Also Available in Audio)

WICKED AND WILD

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 1

Contains Mastering the Mistress, Bonding with the Beast and Seeing with the Heart

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 2

Contains Freeing the Prisoner, Healing the Broken and Taming the Giant

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 3

Contains Bridging the Distance, Loving a Stranger and Finding the Jewel

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 4

Contains Bonded by Accident, Releasing the Dragon, and Sharing a Mate

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 5

Contains Instructing the Novice, Awakened by the Giant, and Hitting the Target

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 6

Contains Handling the Hybrid, Trapped in Time, and Time to Heal

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 7

Contains Pairing with the Protector, Falling for Kindred Claus, and Guarding the Goddess

* * *

Kindle Birthright series

(Sci-Fi / Action-Adventure Romance)

The Children of the Kindred series

UNBONDABLE (Also available in Audio)

* * *

Born to Darkness series

(Paranormal / Action-Adventure Romance)

CRIMSON DEBT (Also Available in Audio)

SCARLET HEAT (Also Available in Audio)

RUBY SHADOWS (Also Available in Audio)

CARDINAL SINS (coming soon)

DESSERT (short novella following Scarlet Heat)

(Also Available in Audio)

BORN TO DARKNESS BOX SET

Contains Crimson Debt, Scarlet Heat, and Ruby Shadows all in one volume

* * *

Alien Mate Index series

(Sci-Fi / Action-Adventure Romance)

ABDUCTED (Also Available in Audio)

PROTECTED (Also Available in Audio)

DESCENDED (Also Available in Audio)

SEVERED (Also Available in Audio)

THE OVERLORD’S PET (Also Available in Audio)

THE BARON’S BRIDE (Also Available in Audio)

ALIEN MATE INDEX VOLUME ONE

Contains Abducted, Protected, Descended and Severed all in one volume

All Alien Mate novels are now available in PRINT.

* * *

The Cougarville series

(Paranormal / Action-Adventure Romance)

(Older Woman / Younger Man

BUCK NAKED (Also Available in Audio)

COUGAR BAIT (Also Available in Audio)

STONE COLD FOX (Also Available in Audio)

BIG, BAD WOLF

* * *

The CyBRG Files with Mina Carter

(Sci-Fi / Action-Adventure Romance)

UNIT 77: BROKEN (Also Available in Audio)

UNIT 78: RESCUED (Also Available in Audio)

* * *

The Institute series

(Daddy-Dom / Age Play Romance)

THE INSTITUTE: DADDY ISSUES

(Also Available in Audio)

THE INSTITUTE: MISHKA’S SPANKING

* * *

The Swann Sister Chronicles

(Contemporary Fairy / Funny / Fantasy Romance)

WISHFUL THINKING (Also Available in Audio)

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (Also available in Audio)

* * *

Nocturne Academy

(Young Adult Paranormal/Action-Adventure/Romance)

LOCK AND KEY (Also Available in Audio)

FANG AND CLAW (Also Available in Audio)

STONE AND SECRET (Also Available in Audio)

* * *

Detectives Valenti and O’Brian

(1980s M/M Romance)

THE ASSIGNMENT

I’LL BE HOT FOR CHRISTMAS

FIREWORKS

THE ASSIGNMENT: HEART AND SOUL

* * *

Forbidden Omegaverse Series

(Paranormal Romance

Step-Brother / Foster Brother Romance)

HIS OMEGA’S KEEPER (Also Available in Audio)

THE BRAND THAT BINDS (Also Available in Audio)

HEAT CYCLE (Also Available in Audio)

SINS OF THE FLESH

* * *

The Shadow Fae

(Dark Fantasy Romance)

THE THRONE OF SHADOWS (Also Available in Audio)

* * *

Compendiums and Box Sets

ALIEN MATE INDEX VOLUME ONE

Contains Abducted, Protected, Descended and Severed all in one volume

BORN TO DARKNESS BOX SET

Contains Crimson Debt, Scarlet Heat, and Ruby Shadows all in one volume

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME ONE

Contains Claimed, Hunted, Sought and Found

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME TWO

Contains Revealed, Pursued and Exiled

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME THREE

Contains Shadowed, Chained and Divided

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME FOUR

Contains Devoured, Enhanced and Cursed

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME FIVE

Contains Enslaved, Targeted and Forgotten

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME SIX

Contains Switched, Uncharted and Unbound

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME SEVEN

Contains Surrendered, Vanished, and Imprisoned

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME EIGHT

Contains Twisted, Deceived, and Stolen

HAVE YOURSELF A SEXY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

Contains Kidnapped for Christmas, Cougar Christmas and Season’s Spankings

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 1

Contains Mastering the Mistress, Bonding with the Beast and Seeing with the Heart

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 2

Contains Freeing the Prisoner, Healing the Broken and Taming the Giant

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 3

Contains Bridging the Distance, Loving a Stranger and Finding the Jewel

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 4

Contains Bonded by Accident, Releasing the Dragon, and Sharing a Mate

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 5

Contains Instructing the Novice, Awakened by the Giant, and Hitting the Target

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 6

Contains Handling the Hybrid, Trapped in Time, and Time to Heal

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 7

Contains Pairing with the Protector, Falling for Kindred Claus, and Guarding the Goddess

NAUGHTY TALES: THE COLLECTION— Volume One

Contains Putting on a Show, Willing Submission, The Institute: Daddy Issues, The Institute: Mishka's Spanking, Confessions of a Lingerie Model, Sin Eater, Speeding Ticket, Stress Relief and When Mr. Black Comes Home.

ONE HOT HALLOWEEN

Contains Red and the Wolf, Gypsy Moon and Taming the Beast

ONE HOT HALLOWEEN Vol.2

Contains The Covenant, Secret Thirst, and Kristen’s Addiction + BONUS: Madeline’s Mates

* * *

Stand Alone Titles

(Sci-Fi OR Paranormal Action-Adventure Romance)

ANYONE U WANT

BEST KEPT SECRETS (Step-Brother romance)

BLIND DATE WITH A VAMPIRE

BLOOD KISS

BROKEN BOUNDARIES (M/M romance)

CEREMONY OF THREE

COMPANION 3000 (Also available in Audio)

DEAL WITH THE DEVIL (Also Available in Audio)

DEFILED

EYES LIKE A WOLF (Foster Brother romance)

FOREVER BROKEN (M/M romance)

GYPSY MOON

HUNGER MOON RISING

MADELINE’S MATES

MARKED

OUTCAST

PLANET X (Also Available in Audio)

PLEASURE PLANET

PLEDGE SLAVE (M/M romance)

PUNISHING TABITHA

PURITY (Also Available in Audio)

RED AND THE WOLF (Also available in Audio)

SECRET THIRST

SEX WITH STRANGERS

SHADOW DREAMS

SLAVE BOY (M/M romance)

STRESS RELIEF

SWEET DREAMS

TAMING THE BEAST

TANDEM UNIT

THE BARGAIN (Also available in Audio)

THE COVENANT (Also available in Audio)

THE LAST BITE (M/M romance)

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (Also available in Audio)

THE LOST BOOKS (M/M romance)

THE PLEASURE PALACE

THE SACRIFICE (Also Available in Audio)

THE THRONE OF SHADOWS

’TIL KINGDOM COME (M/M romance)

* * *

Stand Alone Titles

(Contemporay Romance)

A SPANKING FOR VALENTINE (BDSM)

BOUND AND DETERMINED, anthology with Lena Matthews, includes The Punishment of Nicollett

COUGAR CHRISTMAS (Older Woman / Younger Man)

DANGEROUS CRAVINGS (BDSM) (Also Available in Audio)

DIRTY GIRL

FULL EXPOSURE (with Lena Matthews)

KIDNAPPED FOR CHRISTMAS (BDSM)

MASKS (BDSM) (Also Available in Audio)

MORE THAN FRIENDS (BDSM)

PICTURE PERFECT (Step-Brother romance) (Also Available in Audio)

STR8TE BOYS (M/M romance)

* * *

Naughty Tales

(Short Reads to Get You Hot and Bothered)

CONFESSIONS OF A LINGERIE MODEL

PUTTING ON A SHOW (Step-Brother romance)

SIN EATER

SPEEDING TICKET

THE SWITCH (An erotic interlude with the characters of DANGEROUS CRAVINGS)

SEASON’S SPANKINGS

WHEN MR. BLACK COMES HOME

WILLING SUBMISSION

NAUGHTY TALES: THE COLLECTION— Volume One

Contains Putting on a Show, Willing Submission, The Institute: Daddy Issues, The Institute: Mishka's Spanking, Confessions of a Lingerie Model, Sin Eater, Speeding Ticket, Stress Relief and When Mr. Black Comes Home.

* * *

YA Novels

THE ACADEMY (Also Available in Audio)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Evangeline Anderson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Brides of the Kindred, Alien Mate Index, Cougarville and Born to Darkness series. She is forty-something and lives in Florida with a husband, a son, and two cats. She had been writing erotic fiction for her own gratification for a number of years before it occurred to her to try and get paid for it. To her delight, she found that it was actually possible to get money for having a dirty mind and she has been writing paranormal and sci-fi erotica steadily ever since.

You can find her online at her website www.evangelineanderson.com

Come visit for some free reads.

Or, to be the first to find out about new books, join her newsletter.

She’s also got a mailing list for updates on audio books.

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