Tandem Unit Page 5

  “Is this what you want?” Blakely wasn't sure which of them had said it or whose hands were filled with her ripe breasts, whose hands were gliding over her softly curving sides, caressing the silky skin of her inner thighs so wet and hot and ready…

  Then he felt Sadie stiffen between them, her body going rigid as a board. She had been unprepared for any of this, he realized; they might be overloading her system. Blakely looked at her anxiously, he didn't detect any of the usual symptoms of sensory overload and she hadn't fainted, but the flushed face still cupped in his palm trembled and her delicate features were tense with the overwhelming sensations.

  “Oh … Goddess,” she whispered brokenly, her honey-brown eyes huge with fear and pleasure. “I don't understand but please … Please don't. I've never … I can't … Please…” A tear leaked from the corner of her eye and ran over Blakely's thumb as he caressed her cheek and her breath hitched unevenly in her chest. Her body might be responding to the link but it was obvious that emotionally she was unprepared.

  Cursing himself and his partner for going too far, Blakely stepped back abruptly, giving her space and narrowing the link to its previous dimensions, feeling the loss like a suddenly amputated limb. He saw Holt wince and knew his partner felt it too. Caught off balance, Sadie almost fell but Holt grabbed her roughly from behind and held her until she regained her balance. When it was obvious she wouldn't fall, the blond man came around to stand shoulder to shoulder with Blakely and look her in the face.

  “We won't ask you for that kind of payment, Sadie.” Holt's voice was cold and precise. “But Blakely and I don't like being manipulated. We took you along to insure your safety, not for our own sexual gratification. Although we appreciate the offer,” the sapphire eyes took in all of her luscious curves naked before them, “neither one of us gets off on forcing anybody to sleep with us against their will.” Blakely nodded his agreement, not trusting himself to speak. If he did, it would be to reassure the girl and he would undo everything his partner had been trying to accomplish. Besides, the sense of loss was still so fresh. The link between him and Holt throbbed like an empty socket, needing a third to complete them, but he tried to ignore it and concentrate on the girl.

  “But, I thought … the way you … what you said…” Sadie was clearly taken aback at her sudden reprieve. She dried her cheeks with her fingers using quick, jerky motions and crossed her arms over her bare breasts, trying to regain her composure.

  “No, it was what you said,” Blakely reminded her gently. Leaning towards her, he kissed her softly on the side of her neck, over the spot where he had made his mark on her creamy flesh earlier. He was glad she wasn't going into some kind of hysterics but sad too—she had proven what Holt had been saying earlier. Sadie might possibly be able to handle the physical aspect of the T-linking which was rare, but she definitely wasn't receptive emotionally to what he and his partner had to offer. He tried to shrug off the melancholy mood. “It's time for bed, kid. You can have Holt's half of the bed tonight and he can sleep on the couch.”

  “I was going to offer her your half of the bed,” Holt mildly protested. He smiled lazily at Sadie and leaned in to give her a slow, lingering kiss near the corner of her mouth, as though the T-link wasn't throbbing like an empty socket in his chest the way it was in Blakely's. Holt had always been better at hiding his emotions—at hiding his pain, the dark-haired detective reflected.

  “Forget it, both of you.” Sadie put one small hand on either broad chest and pushed as forcefully as she could. Then, obviously remembering that she was still naked, she scooped the shirt off the floor and put it on, buttoning it as rapidly as she had unbuttoned it earlier. “I'm taking the couch.” Her voice still trembled slightly. “I don't know what's going on with you two but I'm not interested in being anywhere near either one of you in bed.” She turned her back on them and tapped one small foot on the carpet, obviously waiting for them to leave. She wasn't up for a discussion of the strange reaction she'd felt when she was sandwiched between the two of them yet.

  Blakely wondered if she would ask or try to find out on her own. Knowing what he did of reporters he was betting on the latter. Good luck, sweetheart. She would never guess. Looking at his partner he raised an eyebrow. “Holt, I think we've been dismissed.” He grinned and the blond man grinned lazily back. They had certainly made their point. It wouldn't hurt to let Sadie have her way now.

  “Guess we'd better get to bed, partner,” Holt replied. He nodded to Blakely and winked, no discussion was necessary. “Breakfast is at seven sharp,” the blond man told Sadie, or rather, her slender back held rigidly stiff. “If you're not up you miss out.”

  “You snooze, you lose,” Blakely clarified, snagging a thermal wrap from the storage area and tossing it onto the couch which promptly began to melt around it.

  “Fine, whatever,” she muttered, hunching her shoulders. It was obvious she wanted to be alone. Taking pity on her, Blakely headed for the tiny cubical which was barely big enough to hold the king-sized gelafoam-bed where he and Holt slept. Apparently the designer of the ship had been big on outer luxuries like the well-appointed living area and more frugal with the inner areas such at the fresher and sleeping spaces. Personally, he wished the designer had included at least one more bedroom. Holt had a tendency to snore.

  Chapter 6

  No matter which way she twisted on the c-gel couch, Sadie couldn't fall asleep. The couch accommodated her every move, cushioning her beautifully and it was certainly much softer than the steel storage locker she'd been sleeping in while playing the part of a prostie-borg but sleep continued to elude her. Sadie knew why too. Her discomfort wasn't physical—it was mental.

  What the hell is going on with those two? she wondered for the hundredth time. And why do I react that way when they put me between them? She shivered and remembered the sensation of the two strong, muscular bodies pressing hard against her, two sets of hands caressing her, two mouths kissing, licking, whispering what they would do… Just thinking about it made her breath come short and shallow in her chest and her cheeks flush a dull red with shame when she remembered her reaction. When she had felt that connection, that electricity between them flowing through her like a conductor, she had been almost ready to do anything they wanted. The words 'take me' had been trembling on her lips and Sadie had never felt so hot and wet in her life.

  What's wrong with me? I barely know them and I'm not that kind of girl … Slutty, Gerald's voice whispered in her head. Sadie frowned, studying the gently curved ceiling above her in the gloom. Yes, she had agreed, or thought she had agreed to trade sexual favors for a chance at the story of the century but it wasn't something she had ever done before or ever imagined herself doing in her wildest dreams or fantasies. And then Holt had made it clear they were just teaching her a lesson, getting her back for trying to use sex as a weapon and manipulate her way into their case. Well, she had been to some degree although he didn't have to make such a humiliating display… Sadie felt her cheeks get even redder. And it still doesn't explain why I reacted so strongly to them … to their hands on my body…

  She thought of Gerald, her ex-fiancé back on Io. Sadie's parents had died when she was very young and she was taken in by a strict elderly aunt who barely tolerated her. Despite being raised in Goshen Land which was Io's most conservative colony, Sadie had always been lively and curious. Her aunt Minnie called it nosy, which was probably why she became a reporter in the first place. Gerald had been the first real boyfriend she'd had after going off to college and getting out from under Aunt Minnie's thumb.

  Sadie really hadn't been with anyone else and Gerald's idea of a kinky sexual escapade was to leave the fresher light on with the door cracked so they could just barely make out each other's outlines in the darkened bedroom while they made love. Like everyone else in Goshen, he was extremely conservative sexually and when Sadie had dared to ask for more, the relationship crumbled under the weight of his disapproval. Sadie could almost hear him
, remembering the way he had reacted to the 'unnatural' requests she'd whispered in his ear one night as they were preparing to make love…

  *

  Rolling up on his side and staring down at her in the semi-darkness, Gerald's thin hair had been in a tangle of fuzz at the top of his egg-shaped head. Even in the gloom of the bedroom, Sadie could see the look of distaste on his narrow, pinched face.

  “Honestly, Sadie, I don't understand this sudden obsession with trying strange things.” Gerald had what Sadie thought of as a 'prissy' tone that he used whenever he was uncomfortable or unhappy. It made the register of his speaking voice jump nearly half an octave turning his usually pleasant tenor into a mosquito-like whine. When she heard that tone in his voice, Sadie knew she wasn't going to win whatever argument they were currently having.

  “I just want to try something new once in a while,” she'd said defensively. “What's wrong with trying to spice up our love life a little, Gerald?”

  “If it isn't broke, why try to fix it?” he had countered. “Look, darling,” Gerald had always called her that when he was making a point. Near the end of their relationship when everything was falling apart, Sadie had come to actively hate that particular endearment. “I'm sorry but I'm just not comfortable with what you're asking. I don't know where you got those ideas but some of what you're saying is just, well, disgusting.”

  Sadie had apologized, feeling about an inch tall, and they had done their usual routine which consisted of her lying in the dark under Gerald while he grunted on top of her until he was satisfied and then rolled off, already half asleep. The whole incident had made Sadie feel dirty and terrible although she didn't think she had been asking for such outrageous things. It didn't help of course that Gerald's remarks echoed her aunt's words on sexual misconduct. Aunt Minnie's entire lecture about the birds and the bees had consisted of three words, “Nice girls don't…”

  *

  Gradually, Sadie had realized that she wanted more although how much more she really wasn't sure. She had secretly dreamed of having wild and amazing sex with the man of her dreams, if she ever found him, but her fantasies were vague and unfocussed. Mostly she just wanted to get out on her own and try something new for a change. Well, disguising herself as a prostie-borg to break the most scandalous story the Solar System had ever heard certainly qualified as something new. Sadie had decided to throw herself into becoming an excellent reporter and put the idea of finding Mr. Right on hold for a while.

  Breaking up with Gerald had been difficult and getting rid of that disapproving little voice in her head was harder still. Sometimes it sounded like her ex-fiancé, sometimes like her Aunt Minnie but it was always loaded with guilt and shame. It was amazing, Sadie thought, that she had able to overcome her up-bringing enough to make the deal she'd thought she was making with Blakely and Holt to come along on this mission at all.

  “All I wanted was to try something different once in a while,” Sadie grumbled to herself in the darkness, turning over and forcing the couch to readjust again which it did immediately. That had been the sum of her sexual ambition although she had always felt there was more out there … something else she wanted and couldn't put into words. But it certainly wasn't this … this scenario that Holt and Blakely seemed to be offering. Both of them … at the same time. The very thought was shocking, horrifying … intriguing? No, certainly not! So then why did she feel the way she did, react the way she did when they touched her at the same ti me? She hadn't felt that tingling burst of near-orgasmic pleasure when either one of them touched her separately so why… Could it be all in her head? Did she have some latent desire to be with two men at once? Or was there something else going on?

  I should just come right out and ask. Of the two Blakely was the more approachable while Holt seemed colder and more forbidding… But no, never mind how damn embarrassing it would be to ask in the first place, what if the dark, curly-haired detective just looked at her blankly? What if the truth was some part of her desired this so much it was making her behave like a feline in heat the moment they both touched her? Did she really want to walk on the wild side that badly? Sadie could hardly believe it. I know myself—I'm not like this. Something had to be going on.

  Sadie sat up in the dark and punched the side of the innocent couch; it sighed faintly, molding around her small fist. “Something's going on with those two and I'm going to find out what it is,” she said in a low, decisive voice. Just saying it out loud made her feel better. She had never been the kind of girl to lay back and take whatever life dished out. She was going to get to the bottom of this if it killed her. And she was going to get an exclusive scoop on the biggest story to hit the news vids in the past fifty years while she was at it.

  Pulitzer Prize, here I come!

  Chapter 7

  In the two week trip from Titan, which was at the far end of its elliptical orbit around Saturn, to Iapetus, Sadie got to know the two men quite well. Holt was quieter and more introspective, with a dry sense of humor that Sadie had come to appreciate, although it could turn to biting sarcasm if he was angry and he tended to be inflexible. Once the tall blond detective made up his mind about something it stayed made up. He had an air of breeding and refinement that the earthy Blakely lacked and Sadie learned that Holt had been raised in a very wealthy family on the first moon colony and his parents had disowned him when he decided to join the Old Earth Peace Keeping Force instead of becoming an officer in the Interstellar Fleet. Despite being cut out of his father's will, Holt retained an air of privilege and tended to look at the world in a cool and analytical manner. That coupled with his golden good looks sometimes made him seem stand-offish and unapproachable. He was beginning to let down his guard, however, and inside the cool blond shell, Sadie had seen a vulnerable man with a heart that was more easily touched than Holt wanted to let on.

  The blond man was often moody and troubled. Blakely had confided to Sadie that Holt had recently had some romantic difficulties and she privately wondered if his love life was in any way complicated by the strange bond that seemed to exist between the two partners.

  Blakely, Sadie learned, was almost as different from his tall blond partner as it was possible to be both in background and temperament. The dark, curly-haired detective had been raised on the mean streets of New Brooklyn on Old Earth. He had told Sadie candidly that Holt was the brains of their partnership and he was the brawn. Watching them interact Sadie realized that while Holt might be the more educated one of the two, Blakely was more intuitive. He was also more laid back than his cool blond partner, almost child-like at times in his enthusiasm for life and simple enjoyments and he could always make Sadie laugh. He was always brimming over with energy and had cat-quick reflexes that were almost scary. He had once caught a cup full of nutra-shake that Sadie had knocked off the table in mid-air though he had been half-way across the room when she did it. He had set it back down, not spilling a drop and neither he nor Holt seemed to think anything of it. There was a natural athleticism about him, a bounce in his step and a gleam in his eye that was instantly attractive. Although he didn't have the perfect bone structure of his tall blond partner, Sadie found his lopsided grin charming. She had yet to see him angry or upset but she suspected there was more to him than met the eye. There was a dark intensity about Blakely that was as intriguing as Holt's aloof vulnerability.

  The more time she spent with Blakely and Holt, the more Sadie liked them. They were the most unlikely set of partners imaginable but they seemed to complement each other perfectly and it was obvious despite their good-natured bickering that the caring between them was profound. The confines of the space needle were small but as Holt tended to be a morning person and Blakely was more of a night-owl, Sadie found time to talk to them both separately on occasion.

  Sex with either or both of them hadn't been mentioned again after the disastrous first night and in time Sadie got over her embarrassment and almost forgot that she had been willing to trade sexual favors for a c
hance at the story of the century. She was both relived and strangely disappointed that the subject had been dropped so thoroughly though that didn't make any sense—did it?

  Holt was charming and a perfect gentleman and Blakely flirted with her outrageously but he didn't seem to mean any harm by it. According to Holt the dark-haired detective would flirt with anyone, it was just his exuberant personality coming out. Sadie enjoyed the attention and liked spending time with both partners. To pass the time she often played chess with Holt or cards with Blakely who was an expert at every possible means of cheating. He taught her several tricks and they ganged up on Holt when all three played together until the blond detective quit, grumbling that there were more aces up either of their sleeves than in the actual deck.

  The two week trip was so genial and pleasant after the initial awkwardness of the first night that it would have been like spending time with two older brothers if not for the slight edge of tension that still existed between them. Sadie didn't notice it so much when she was alone with either Blakely or Holt but whenever they were all three in any kind of close proximity it gave every word spoken, every gesture made, a special significance that she found impossible to ignore.

  And somehow she kept finding herself between them, sitting on the couch, at the table or just standing in the food prep area. It took her a while to notice that, but when she did, she wondered if it was a conscious effort on Blakely's and Holt's part or if they were completely unaware of it. Whether it was on purpose or purely accidental, Sadie took care that no matter how close they got, she was never directly touching both of them skin-to-skin at the same time. It just seemed … safer that way.