Sharing a Mate Read online

  “Is by sucking,” Bron said flatly. “The males have to suck their female’s nipples to draw it out. Otherwise it can cause permanent damage and pain.” His golden eyes made the same journey Sorin’s had earlier, lingering for a moment on the erect points of Kayla’s nipples pressing against her thin robe.

  Kayla shivered, wishing that she’d worn something less revealing. Though her guys were obviously making an effort not to look, the subject matter of their conversation was definitely making things awkward. She wondered if they were remembering how it felt for one of them to palm her breasts while she sucked the other. Then she pushed the embarrassing thought away quickly.

  “Thank goodness I didn’t have that symptom,” she said as lightly as she could. “Is that all?”

  “Nope, afraid not.” Bron growled.

  “The breast inflation sometimes comes with a feeling of emptiness,” Sorin went on. “A need to be filled so intense it can be painful.”

  “Filled with?” Kayla lifted an eyebrow.

  “Cock, of course,” Bron said bluntly. “Sorry, but it’s true, Brother,” he added, seeing Sorin frown. “It doesn’t always happen but it’s not uncommon. That symptom has been the cause of a lot of recent bondings, by the way. It’s really reduced the number of unmated males aboard the Mother Ship.”

  “I’m sure it has,” Kayla murmured. For a moment she had a mental picture—of herself with full breasts and an aching pussy, needing to be filled and emptied at the same time. Sorin was sucking the nectar out of her ripe nipples while Bron was filling her, his thick shaft stretching the inner walls of her pussy to the limit…

  No! Stop that! she told herself. Where had such a thought come from, anyway? She needed to get her mind out of the gutter and back to business.

  “So that must be all, right?” she asked, trying to cover her confusion by asking further questions. “I mean, there can’t possibly be more.”

  Bron and Sorin exchanged a look and Bron shook his head.

  “Some females also experience the need to have their pussies licked,” he growled.

  Sorin frowned again at his friend’s blunt choice of words.

  “They experience a sharp pain that only male saliva can soothe,” he explained to Kayla. “Which means their males need to spend a long time between their female’s thighs, soothing the ache away with their tongues.”

  Kayla had another mental image—lying on her back with her legs spread while Bron and Sorin took turns tasting her as she moaned and opened herself to them…

  No! She really had to stop thinking this way! What was wrong with her?

  “Not that the males in question are complaining,” Bron remarked. “Since Kindred need to lick pussy anyway.”

  “Bron…” Sorin frowned at him.

  “Well, it’s true,” Bron growled defensively. “I’m not saying anything Kayla doesn’t already know. It’s a biological need for most Kindred to spend quality time between their female’s thighs.”

  “Actually, I didn’t know that.” Kayla pressed her thighs together even more tightly. “Why is that a biological need?”

  Sorin shrugged. “No one really knows. But some people speculate that we evolved that way to help tie a woman to us when we bond with her.”

  “A happy female with a well-licked pussy probably isn’t going anywhere,” Bron pointed out.

  This time Kayla and Sorin both exclaimed, “Bron!”

  “Sorry, but you know it’s true,” he growled. His eyes flicked down between Kayla’s thighs—which were tightly crossed—and he cleared his throat and looked away.

  “I think we’re getting off topic,” Sorin remarked. “Of course, lots of females experience combinations of symptoms—they have different needs at different times and with differing frequencies.”

  “Which means we’re all pretty much fucked,” Bron said.

  “Literally,” Sorin added dryly, which caused the big Beast Kindred to bellow laughter.

  Kayla laughed too but inside she felt a deep apprehension. What if the lust attack she’d experienced—the “needing” as Bron and Sorin were calling it—wasn’t just a one-off? What if she had another one and had to choose which of them she wanted to help her?

  It would be tantamount to choosing one to mate with over the other, she thought, feeling like a cold hand was closing over her heart. Which would be the end of our friendship. Oh, please don’t let me have another attack!

  “So what we need to do next is—” Sorin began but he was interrupted by a loud gurgle from Kayla’s stomach.

  “Oh my God.” She put her hand to her abdomen, her cheeks hot with embarrassment. “I’m so sorry! I just…haven’t eaten in two days. Ever since we…” She trailed off, still blushing.

  “Haven’t eaten in two days?” Bron demanded. “What are you trying to do—starve yourself to death?”

  “Why would you punish yourself like that, leelah?” Sorin asked quietly. “Because of what happened in the lab?”

  Kaylah bit her lip.

  “I just…wasn’t hungry. Besides, guys—it’s not like I’m going to fade away to nothing anytime soon.” She made a gesture that took in her full hips, large breasts, and big behind. She was always meaning to lose some weight but somehow it never quite seemed to happen. “I have too much junk in the trunk all ready.”

  “If you’re trying to say you’re too big, stop right there because it’s not fucking true—you’re just right,” Bron growled, frowning.

  “You’re what the Twin Kindred call an ‘elite,’ Kayla,” Sorin explained. “You shouldn’t try to change that.”

  Kayla had heard this term thrown around from time to time but she didn’t really know the Kindred meaning.

  “What’s an elite?” she asked, frowning.

  “A female with full, luscious curves given to her by the Goddess.” Bron made a gesture in the air, describing an over-full hourglass with his hands. “In other words, fucking gorgeous.”

  “I have to agree,” Sorin remarked. “Elites are uniquely beautiful females.”

  Kayla arched an eyebrow at the two of them.

  “Hey—you two never felt free to comment on my, uh, assets before.”

  “Well, you never tried to starve yourself to death before!” Bron exclaimed. “Come on, Sorin—let’s fix her something to eat before we get her packed.”

  Kayla put a hand on her hip.

  “I can do my own cooking and my own packing, thank you very much.”

  But when she stood up, she nearly fell over, she was so dizzy with hunger. Her stomach growled again and Bron frowned at her.

  “Looks like at least part of you disagrees with that,” he remarked. He and Sorin stood, looming over her on either side.

  Kayla reflected, not for the first time, that she wished she could have known some Kindred in high school. Back then she was too tall and couldn’t find a date among her shrimpy senior class for prom. But Bron and Sorin made her feel positively petite.

  “Come on, Kayla,” Sorin remarked, smiling at her. “I’ll cook for you. Do you have any unfertilized avian embryos in your cold unit?”

  Kayla burst out laughing. “You mean chicken eggs? Yes, I think I have some.”

  “Make some for me too.” Bron put a hand to his rippling abdominals, which were visible through the thick, silky crimson uniform shirt he wore. “I’m starving.”

  “You’re always starving, you ox,” Sorin said, but he was grinning when he said it.

  “How do you know ‘ox’ but not ‘chicken’?” Kayla demanded, laughing. She could feel the lightness in the room—the return to their normal friendly, teasing routine. It made her so happy she could almost cry again.

  “And I’m not a male bovine,” Bron put in.

  “No, you just eat like one,” Sorin snapped back.

  “Oh, you two!” Kayla laughed again and reached up to smack Bron playfully on the back of his thick neck which was exposed, since he had pulled his shaggy hair into a loose knot at his nape.
/>   But the moment her fingers made contact with his skin, a feeling like a painful, electrical shock went through her. Kayla gasped and jerked her hand away, feeling like she’d accidentally put her fingers in a light socket.

  What the hell was going on?

  Four

  “Kayla?” Bron turned to her at once. “What’s wrong, small one?”

  “Didn’t you feel that?” She was holding her hurt hand to her chest, nursing her wounded fingers. “You just gave me one hell of a shock!” She tried to smile. “Must be static electricity built up in your pretty hair or something.”

  “Hey, I like my fucking hair this way,” the Beast Kindred growled, grinning a little. “You were probably just shocked by my blinding good looks.”

  “Or not,” Sorin said dryly. “Come on, leelah,” he said, reaching for her hand. “Let’s get you sitting at the table.”

  But the moment his long, pale tan fingers touched Kayla’s mocha ones, another shock ran through her. This one almost stronger than the last.

  “Ow!” Kayla yanked away from him. “What the hell is going on?”

  “Shocked again?” Sorin asked anxiously. He looked at his hand and shook his head. Clearly he hadn’t felt the intensely painful sensation.

  “Feels like I grabbed an electric fence,” Kayla said. “Seriously, it really hurt. Do you think it’s static electricity building up with your boots on the carpet?” She nodded at the tall, black boots that both males wore which were a standard part of the Kindred uniform.

  “Could be, I guess. Here, Sorin—let’s test it out.” Bron shuffled his feet in the deep maroon carpet and held out a hand to his friend.

  Sorin hesitated a moment, then shrugged.

  “All right.” He, too, shuffled his feet on the carpet and then reached for Bron’s big paw.

  The two males clasped hands and looked, first at each other—then at Kayla.

  She raised her eyebrows. “Nothing? Nothing at all?”

  “Afraid not.” Bron shrugged and let go of Sorin’s hand.

  “I didn’t feel anything either,” the Blood Kindred remarked. “Maybe it’s just you?”

  “Maybe…I don’t know.” Kayla was tempted to shrug it off but something felt strange about the situation. Something felt…off. “Come on.” She beckoned for both of them, heading to the kitchen where there was tile instead of carpet. “Let’s try again in here,” she said, her bare feet planted firmly on the cool ceramic tiles.

  Bron and Sorin exchanged one of their looks and then shrugged.

  “Sure, if it’ll make you happy,” Bron said. He reached for her. “Want me to touch you?”

  “No, no!” Kayla backed up a step hastily. “Let me touch you. Both of you hold out your hands.”

  Shrugging again, both men did as she asked.

  Kayla approached them carefully. She wasn’t eager to repeat the painful shock she’d just gotten twice in a row but her gut told her something strange was going on and she had to know what it was.

  Gingerly, she put out one finger and tapped the back of Bron’s big hand.

  “Ouch! I got zapped again!” she gasped.

  “Really? Then maybe we shouldn’t do this.” Sorin started to withdraw his own hand but Kayla shook her head.

  “No, I need to try this—need to know.”

  She extended her finger again—a different one this time—and tapped the back of Sorin’s hand, as she’d tapped the back of Bron’s.

  A sharp electrical jolt ran up her arm, making her pull back and hiss with pain.

  “Ow! What the hell is going on? Why can’t I touch you guys, now? We were all just now sitting on the couch together with no problem!”

  Bron looked puzzled but Sorin’s sharp blue eyes had a thoughtful expression in them.

  “You’re right—we were sitting on the couch together.”

  “Maybe it didn’t hurt her because we weren’t making skin-to-skin contact,” Bron rumbled.

  “No, we did make contact,” Sorin countered. “We both kissed her on the cheek.”

  “At the exact same time,” Kayla said. “I remember thinking the two of you were as much in sync as ever.” She frowned. “Is this some kind of weird side-effect of that damn lust drug? I thought you guys told me it made a woman want to be touched more, not less!”

  “I haven’t heard of anyone else having this problem with the males who, er, helped them during their needing,” Bron said, frowning.

  “I want to try something,” Sorin announced. He still had that sharp expression in his pale blue eyes that he got sometimes right before making a breakthrough.

  “Try what?” Kayla asked warily. She had been shocked just about enough for one day, thank you very much.

  “I think Bron and I should try touching you at the exact same time.” The Blood Kindred raised one silvery-blond eyebrow. “All right?”

  Kayla shuffled nervously but she could see the point of the experiment.

  “All right,” she said at last. “But only touch me with your fingertips. Here.” She held out her hands, palm-up, offering one to each of them.

  Bron and Sorin looked at each other and raised their hands in unison. They really were incredibly attuned to each other, Kayla couldn’t help thinking. It was amazing how well they meshed together. They…

  Were about to touch her.

  She squinted her eyes nearly closed as she watched their hands descending at the same time. At the exact same time both of their fingertips touched her palms and…

  Nothing happened.

  “Hey!” Kayla opened her eyes and looked down at where they were all three touching. “It didn’t shock me this time.”

  “Now what happens if I do this?” Sorin took his finger away.

  Immediately a jolt of pain went through her hand where Bron was still touching her.

  “Ouch!” Kayla gasped and pulled away. “Hey, that hurt.”

  Bron shook his head, his dark brows pulled low over his golden eyes.

  “I don’t fucking understand what’s happening here.”

  “I think…I might,” Sorin said slowly. “You say you’re getting a low-level electrical shock when one of us touches you by himself?”

  “I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘low-level’ but yeah, something like that.” Kayla nodded.

  “But it’s fine when we touch you at the same time,” Bron mused. “Fucking weird. Like a reverse Twin Kindred thing.”

  “How do you mean?” Kayla asked.

  “It’s painful for Twin Kindred to touch their mate unless their twin is also touching her,” Sorin explained. “They describe the sensation as a ‘low-level electrical shock.’ It’s why neither male can make love to their mate without his brother.”

  “But you guys aren’t Twin Kindred!” Kayla protested. I only wish you were and then I wouldn’t have to choose!

  “No, but Bron is right—what you’re experiencing when only one of us touches you is what Twin Kindred feel when one of them touches their female without his brother,” Sorin pointed out. “You asked if it might be a side-effect of being exposed to the Xi-46. I’m beginning to think that maybe it is.”

  “How so?” Now Kayla was interested on a professional as well as a personal level. She was fascinated by the perplexing mystery of the lust compound while at the same time feeling victimized by it.

  “Think of it—both of us touched you while you were…during your needing.” Sorin was clearly trying to be tactful.

  “What are you talking about? I sucked you one at a time,” Kayla said bluntly. She was about over all the damn shame she’d been feeling for what she’d done since she now knew she’d been drugged at the time.

  “Yes, but when you were, uh, sucking one of us, you wanted the other one touching you,” Sorin pointed out. “Remember? I wanted to leave to go try and find some help but you made me stay. You wanted me to touch you while Bron gave you his seed.”

  “And you wanted me touching you when you took Sorin in your mouth,” Bron rumbled. H
e, too, looked thoughtful now.

  Kayla shook her head. “I don’t understand. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “It’s one of the aspects of the Xi-46 we’re still exploring,” Sorin explained. “We wanted to know why an unmated female would end up with a particular male when the compound started affecting them.”

  “Especially if she was in a crowded area,” Bron went on. “Why pick one and not another?”

  “Okay, I’ll bite—why?” Kayla asked.

  “It turned out that whatever male she was touching at the time she inhaled the Xi-46 was the one she asked to help her with her needing,” Sorin said.

  “And usually the one she bonded with soon after,” Bron went on, giving his friend a significant look. “But If Kayla was touching us both at the same time she inhaled the compound—”

  “And she was! Remember, she stumbled and we both grabbed for her to keep her from falling,” Sorin exclaimed. “And then we both helped her through her needing but she wanted both of us touching her the whole time.”

  “Oh my God…” The full implications of what was going on were beginning to get through to Kayla’s numb brain. “What are you saying? That if I had another attack—”

  “We would both have to help you again,” Bron rumbled. He frowned. “And if you picked one of us to bond with—”

  “That’s the thing—I don’t think she could. Pick just one of us, I mean,” Sorin said. “Not if touching one of us without the other results in such severe pain.”

  Bron glared at his friend. “Beast Kindred don’t share.”

  “So you pointed out to me earlier at the High Council meeting,” Sorin replied icily. “And I believe I told you that Blood Kindred are also not in the habit of sharing mates.”

  “Stop it!” Kayla put up her hands. God, this was exactly what she’d been afraid would happen if she ever tried to pick one of them.

  “But Bron is right—neither Blood nor Beast Kindred share mates like Twin Kindred,” Sorin pointed out.

  “Who said I was going to pick one of you?” Kayla demanded. “We’re all just good friends, remember?”

  “Small one…I think you know that time is past.” There was sorrow in Bron’s deep, harsh voice. “I wish it wasn’t but…”