Undercover, p.10
Undercover, page 10
Lush green plants filled the rooms, making the air fresh and cool. The furnishings were plush, the kind of chairs and sofas that called for you to lay on them and dream the afternoon away.
Their guesthouse was built in a circular pattern and in the center there was a small courtyard with a fountain and a lovely table and chairs.
“Please feel free to move about this level and the two below it at will. Should you desire a tour of the middle strata, please contact the concierge and he’ll arrange for a Nondalese representative to accompany you.” He bowed, reminding them of the fact that Nondal was a very closed culture and to keep on those levels that were pre-approved. “There are several requests for your company at social engagements. Just check the console in the living area. Welcome to Nondal and Nondal Major.”
With a nod from Ash, the man turned and left them alone.
Sera sighed and fell into a chair, trying desperately not to show how upset she was with her major mistake.
Ash came to kneel before her, taking her face in his hands. “I know we’d decided to keep our status quiet at first, but it’s all right. No one is angry with you.” He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers with such tenderness it tightened her stomach. Saying things he couldn’t say specifically, trying to make her feel better.
Before she thought about it, her hands slid up the wall of his chest and over the soft skin of his skull. How long had it been? But her hands remembered, her skin remembered and rejoiced at the feeling.
He growled low in his throat and deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding across the seam of her lips until she opened to him. His taste burst over her, the sweetness of the memories rushing through her until they overflowed and she thought she’d drown in them.
With a soft sigh, Ash pulled back, slightly trembling. She realized he trembled with need and was holding himself back. She didn’t want to feel this for him again. Didn’t want to care about him. It was easier to hate and resent him.
But it was there, back like it had never gone although fear existed there too. Fear in her heart that she’d lose him again and so she couldn’t let herself love him, or anyone else. She’d care about him and they’d all make this work, but she mustn’t allow herself to fall for Ash Walker again.
“Are you all right?” Brandt asked through the link. He sat on the arm of the chair and tucked her hair behind her shoulder.
“I’m sorry. I can’t believe how stupid that was.”
Ash took her chin and turned her gaze back to him as he replied via the link, “You’re not stupid, Sera. It was a mistake but it didn’t cost anything. It gives you more protection while we’re here. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t rejoice to see you still wore my mark.”
“We’d both be very annoyed it you decided to punish yourself over this.”
Sera smiled up at Brandt who managed to sound arrogant through the mental link. Having to pose as a concubine to two incredibly handsome, virile men wasn’t such a bad situation after all. They’d have to deal with the aftermath once they left Nondal.
“Would you like to sightsee a bit?” Brandt asked aloud.
She stood. “Of course. Let me change into some shoes more appropriate for walking. Shall I change gowns?” She pointed to the mark on her back.
Ash stood and with his body, pushed her into the bedroom until she fell on her back onto the very large bed. Above her the sky, a deep blue, shimmered through the glass.
“I don’t want you to cover my mark any more than I want you to take off the ring in your nipple or the necklace that marks you as Brandt’s. You’re ours. I like that a lot.”
Brandt stood at his side, wearing a wicked smile. “I do think I need to see that ring in your nipple.” He reached out and yanked. The top of the dress ripped as he tossed it over his head, leaving her upper body bare.
“Oh…” The power of coherent speech left her.
Nimble fingers flicked across the hardened nipple and she caught her breath. She looked down the line of her body and watched his hand, the skin tawny gold, against hers, just a shade or so lighter.
“It’s been very hard not sleeping in the same bed at night. I’m glad the Representative saw my mark on that sweet skin of yours.” Ash moved to the bed, tossing his shirt aside before he lay beside her.
She turned her head, feeling snared in the slow honey of time and caught sight of him. Allowed herself to see him in a way she’d denied herself since she walked into her commander’s office the week before.
Still so ruggedly beautiful. All very hard muscle, his stomach was lightly furred and his chest hairier. Both nipples bore rings, one hers, the other one she’d given him. His narrow waist led up to a broad, wide chest. He was so masculine it took her breath away. It always had. From the first moment he’d unveiled his body to her fifteen years before.
Her hand sought his cock through the material of his pants. “How hard has it been, Ash?” Her voice was Sela, a sex-kitten purr.
“Pull it out so we can see,” Brandt said…no, ordered. And the remnants of the skirt followed the top of the dress.
Sera paused a moment, surprised by Brandt’s seemingly easy going attitude about suddenly sharing with Ash. She couldn’t deny the allure of being topped by two men at once. By these men. She wished they could talk about it but at the same time, she worried they’d lose the intensity of the moment. She wasn’t a stranger to either man at that point and there’d be time for talking later.
“That was a very expensive gown, darling.” Managing to not sound too breathy, she smiled at him as she rolled onto all fours. Why not make the best out of it?
“Worth every credit, I assure you.” Brandt lay down on the bed to better watch her.
Her hands went to the waist of Ash’s pants and unfastened them, finding him bare underneath. She pulled the pants off and moved from the bed to put them across the arm of a nearby chair before hopping back up between the two men.
“Well,” she looked back over her shoulder at Brandt, “it certainly looks hard.”
“I think we need a test. Just to be sure,” Brandt murmured, his body close to hers. Reaching around her waist, he took Ash’s cock in his hand. Coherent thought became nearly impossible as she watched.
Ash looked up into her face, reaching out to caress the line of her jaw. “Like silk. Always so soft.”
So much happening all at once. Despite being slightly overwhelmed, her attention was seized by Brandt’s fist, lazily pumping around Ash’s cock.
“Oh, that’s not the test. You know I just like to touch Ash’s cock.” He did? Well things were just getting better and better! “You need to suck it. I’ll think up the rest of the test as we go along.” Brandt moved his thumb up and over the head, spreading the moisture gathered there and brought it to her lips. She sucked it inside and tasted the spice of Ash and the tang of Brandt’s skin.
She moaned breathily around Brandt’s thumb and bit it gently before sucking on it.
“Sweet holy gods,” Ash breathed out and her attention turned back to him.
Brandt pulled his hand back and Sera leaned over Ash’s body to kiss his lips. Their tastes mingled. She heard the rustle of the rest of Brandt’s clothing being removed and he was back behind her body within moments.
“You know the way I like it, Freka.” Ash moved the caress from her jawline to her neck.
She froze at his use of the name he’d long called her, the name of a goddess he’d said she reminded him of. The pain of what they’d had and lost knifed through her and she sat up, moving out of his reach, her hand pressed over her mouth as if to hold in the scream of agony that threatened to flow from her.
Ash’s eyes closed for a moment and he moved, slowly, toward her. Brandt put his arms around her and murmured in her ear, “Be calm now.”
Ash stopped just in front of her body. He wasn’t touching her but a deep breath by any of them would have achieved that.
In her mind he spoke as Brandt listened too. “There has only been you. Forever and a day and it’s been you. There are so many things I want to say but cannot just now. I don’t have the right words. But I know you know me.” His eyes plead with her to understand him. To hear around what he could not say.
How long had she wanted to hear these things from him? Wanted to believe them? Looking into Ash’s eyes she did believe it and without a doubt. There were a lot of things to work out. She wasn’t sure what would happen when she wasn’t Sela Carter, concubine. But for that moment, she was Sera and he was the man she’d loved all those years before—before the pain.
A long, shuddering breath came from her lungs and she cocked her head slightly, inviting a kiss. With a groan, he moved toward her that last bit and their bodies touched just before his lips came down upon hers with crushing force.
It was a kiss of claiming as well as healing. Ash marked her with those scalding kisses as much as the tattoo on her back did. It was a melding of teeth and tongue and lips with a depth of intensity that felt as if he wanted to crawl inside her body.
All the while, Brandt stayed behind her, pressed against her, whispering in her ear that she was beautiful and sexy and how much he wanted her.
Ash broke contact and stared into her eyes for long moments, letting the unsaid be spoken through his gaze. “Now, I believe you were given an order.”
She gulped and barely suppressed a shiver of need at his tone. Her hands caressed the hard planes of his chest and stomach. She leaned in to skate her lips down the warm line of his jaw and to the hollow just below his ear, swirling her tongue there, feeling the frantic beat of his pulse.
Hands braced on his thighs for balance, her mouth skimmed downwards until she found his flat, hard nipple. He moaned as she brought the edge of her teeth over first one and then the other. Her mouth remembered what he liked and where he liked it as she moved it over his body, reading his desire by touch.
It was a good thing she’d been braced. Brandt bent her body forward a bit more and slammed his cock deep into her. Her ass rested on him, her thighs spread and leaning against his. His thrusts weren’t slow and easy. He pounded deep and hard, making her breasts sway, the diamonds clicking quietly with the movement.
“Suck his cock, sweet. Suck his cock while I fuck you.” Brandt’s voice was a feral growl and instead of speaking, she whimpered and found the head of Ash’s cock with her mouth, slowly sucking it inside.
Ash was not a quiet man in bed. He owned his sexuality in a raw, dark way. There was something so sexy in the running commentary he made, even the naughtiest, dirtiest things he said were so hot they never failed to make her wet.
“That’s right, Freka, suck me the way I like. Your mouth is so hot and wet, Gods you make me hard. I can’t wait to come, to fill you up. And later, I can’t wait to put my cock deep into your cunt and feel how soft and hot you are when Brandt is done. Would you like that?”
Brandt groaned behind her and his cock jerked within her in agreement. She took Ash deeper, breathing through her nose to keep her rhythm steady. As she dug just under the head of the crown with the tip of her tongue, his guttural groan let her know he still liked that very much.
Moving one of her hands, she cupped his balls in her palm and pressed his perineum with the pads of her fingers.
“Yesss,” he hissed, rolling his hips and thrusting into her mouth. His hand moved to her hair and gripped it so tight tears sprang to her eyes. But the pain rode that line, just on the right side of the pleasure/pain divide. He knew her body, knew how to make it sing just for him.
Sliding her hand forward, her fingertips stroked over his anus and his cock stiffened even more.
“Oh yeah, that’s the way.” Ash’s body arched back as he rolled his hips, thrusting into her mouth. One of his hands held her hair, controlling her movements. She began to slip away into the sweet haven of subspace. Brandt’s fingers digging into her hips anchored her there between them. Kept her from drifting off completely. Instead she felt warm and desired, cosseted and revered.
“Aw, fuck,” Ash groaned as he began to come. His taste flooded Sera again for the first time in so very long. It was as if her entire system celebrated his return. Her body tingled, her skin was ultra-sensitive.
Sera continued to suck and lick his cock until he’d softened and she pulled back with a kiss to the head.
Ash leaned forward and dragged his nails up her back and she shivered and stuttered a moan. Gods how she loved to be scratched like that!
“Oh, I see.” Brandt chuckled as he and Ash must have shared a look over her body.
She felt Ash bend over her body and cried out as he sank his teeth into the back of her neck. Only he knew that line she loved to walk, only he’d known just how far to push her and keep her safe.
“Oh, sweet, you’re so fucking beautiful,” Brandt groaned out as his cock jerked inside her body, filling her as he came.
Panting for breath, she found herself quickly flipped over with Brandt still between her thighs. “Now it’s your turn.”
“Indeed.” Ash moved down and settled in next to Brandt.
There was no way she had the power to reply to them so she arched her hips and made a sound of entreaty.
Both heads bowed. Brandt moved upwards and licked up her stomach and over her nipples, biting and laving until she squirmed. Which was nothing compared to the way it felt when Ash gave her pussy a long lick, pressing the flat of his tongue over her clit and sliding it from side to side.
“Brandt, come and help me.”
Sera grabbed a pillow and put it behind her so she’d be able to look down her body and watch as their heads met at her pussy. Ash’s soft, gleaming bare skin with those red tribal marks on the back of his skull and Brandt’s midnight, soft as silk hair. When Brandt’s tongue joined Ash’s she cried out, fingers digging into the soft blankets beneath her body.
Her breath came ragged around soft sounds of desperate need. Head moving from side to side restlessly, she knew the time had come to beg. She needed to come.
“Please, oh please!” she managed to gasp out.
Both men stopped and looked up at her and then turned to each other and kissed, sharing her honey and Brandt’s taste as well. Her eyes widened and her gasp turned into a squeak of surprise.
“Shall we stop?” Ash asked, eyes half-lidded, lips glistening.
Her mouth moved a few times. “NO! No, more. More!” As much as she wanted to come, watching these two men kissing had been even more compelling. She’d come in a few minutes.
Brandt laughed. “It’s your turn. Then more. Always more.” He bent his head down and sucked her clit into his mouth.
“Beg, Freka. You know what I like to hear.” Ash’s voice whipped up her spine and orgasm hovered just out of reach. How that conditioning had lasted all these years she didn’t know. She did know her body wouldn’t find release until he gave her leave.
“Please, oh Ash, please make me come. Brandt, please make me come.” Her words were breathless but they squeezed from her lungs anyway.
Ash’s fingers found their way into her pussy and hooked, finding her sweet spot, stroking over it with clever precision. “Show me how beautiful you are when you come, Freka.”
Orgasm, intensely blinding, rocketed through her. Her back arched and a cry erupted from her lips as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through her. On and on it went until she was sure she’d die from it.
Finally, she fell back to the bed, boneless and sated.
Both men crawled up her body and settled on either side of her body, each tossing a thigh over her.
“That was really lovely,” she mumbled from under her hair.
“It was, indeed.” Brandt gently pushed the hair from her eyes and she opened them to see him smiling. She returned his smile and he moved to kiss her. He tasted of her and of him and of Ash and it was deliciously intoxicating.
Ash nudged Brandt out of the way and took over. His kiss was coming home. Touching her, touching her without her anger or fear had been intensely satisfying. He’d thought he’d never have that with her again. Thought he’d never have that sort of intimacy and connection with anyone.
He’d given up in many ways after she’d gone from his life. After his relationship with Kira had failed, he realized just how truly unique and miraculous what he’d had with Sera had been. He’d known they had something good, but over time, he’d figured out it had been singular. The loss of it had laid him low, had closed him off and numbed him.
Numb no more, emotion swelled through him with Sera there in his arms again. Her scent on his skin. She’d filled in those gaping wounds, soothed, nurtured, made him whole again in a way only she could.
He wasn’t even sure he could grasp just what it meant to have her back so he decided to leave it for the time being. To celebrate instead of question.
They lay there, entangled in each other for some time, drifting in and out of sleep until Sera tried to sit up. “I’m hungry,” she said, her voice muffled.
Ash chuckled. “Sex does do that to you.”
“Hey! I haven’t eaten since this morning before we arrived.”
Brandt sat up and kissed her forehead and swung his legs out of bed. “Come on then. You get cleaned up and I’ll check our dinner invitations.” He nodded at Ash as well as Sera and she understood he was giving them some time alone. She wasn’t sure she was ready for it, but before they’d even reached the door of the bathroom, someone knocked at the outer doors.
Ash groaned. “Go on and get cleaned up. I’ll see who that is.” He caressed her shoulder before turning to grab a robe and leave the room.
She watched him leave with mixed feelings of relief she’d have time to get herself together after that intense interlude and missing him already.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Once the concierge had gone, Ash looked through the sheaf of papers in the file he’d delivered.
“The Representatives didn’t waste any time talking to your father did they?” Brandt looked at Ash over the rim of his glass.
