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  Kat assumed that she meant the brothers were out doing…whatever it was they did while they were home. She wondered if the tall, slender woman was in any way related to Deep and Lock. She looked a little too young to be their mother but not quite old enough to be an older sister. Maybe she was just a maid?

  “Um, okay,” she said hesitantly, wishing she’d gotten an injection of translation bacteria the way Sophie had before she visited Tranq Prime. “I guess I’ll just—” To her mortification, her stomach growled loudly, interrupting her hesitant speech. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Thoroughly embarrassed, she put a hand over her tummy, only to have it growl again.

  The woman threw back her head and laughed. “Cheela! Noosh. Noosh,” she said, taking Kat by the arm. She pointed at the sink where Kat could now see there were several fruits or vegetables—she couldn’t tell which—laid out. The woman pointed at them and then looked at Kat and raised her eyebrows. It was clear she was asking which one Kat wanted.

  “Uh…” Kat looked over the variety uncertainly. Aside from the twin fruit there was a twisted purple root and a greenish-yellow object with orange dots, about the size of a lemon.

  Neither of the other choices looked really appealing. Kat was about to go for the twin fruit by reflex, when a warm, rich, ripe scent tickled her nose. She lifted her face and sniffed—what was that smell? Whatever it is, it smells amazing! Like a cross between pineapple and raspberry with something salty thrown in. Maybe buttered popcorn? The delicious aroma seemed to be coming from a bowl of triangular fruit about the size of her palm.

  Looking closer, she saw the individual fruits were shaped a little like a strawberry, though they were considerably larger. Each was a tempting golden peach color with just a blush of pink on its smooth skin. They had purple stems at the top that were so pretty they could almost double as flowers. But Kat had never seen flowers that she wanted to eat, and suddenly her mouth was watering to try one of the three-sided fruits.

  “Could I…would you mind if I tried one of those?” she asked, pointing to the bowl which was sitting to one side of the sink.

  The woman looked surprised. “Kala?”

  “Yes.” Kat nodded eagerly. “Kala—I’d like to try some of that. If it tastes half as good as it smells I’ll think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

  The woman looked doubtful at first but then she shrugged and handed Kat one of the fruits.

  Kat took it by the stem carefully. She had a fleeting thought that she might be about to eat something that was perfectly fine for Twin Moons inhabitants but poison to an Earthling like herself. But when she brought the peachy-pink triangular fruit to her nose and took a deep sniff, all her fears disappeared. Nothing that smelled so good could be bad for you, could it? Still, I’ll go slow, just in case.

  Experimentally she took a tiny nibble from the pointed end of the fruit. A flavor unlike anything else she’d ever had exploded in her mouth. It tasted like it smelled—fresh pineapple, juicy raspberry, and hot buttered popcorn—but there were other, more subtle flavors as well. A hint of hot chocolate, a taste of honeydew melon, and the tiniest bit of smoked cheddar cheese. Really, the fruit had too much going on—the strange and different flavors should have fought with each other. Instead, they blended harmoniously in her mouth in a way that made Kat’s eyes roll back in her head with pleasure.

  In no time she had finished the first fruit—right down to the purple stem—and the woman handed her another.

  “Oh my God, this is amazing,” Kat said around mouthfuls of the juicy, tender flesh. The triangle fruit, as she was beginning to think of it, had a texture like a peach but with little crunchy lumps in it that were chewy and crispy at the same time. She finished the second as well and looked hopefully at the bowl. “Um, I don’t want to make a pig of myself or anything but…”

  Laughing, the woman pushed the entire bowl into her hands. Then she surprised Kat by giving her a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

  “Oh. Uh, okay. Thanks.” Kat was caught off guard by her sudden affection. But the triangle fruit was so good she probably would have put up with much weirder things than a hug and a kiss in order to get a whole bowl of it.

  Still smiling at her, the woman led Kat to a small, sunny alcove in the corner of the kitchen where large, flat pillows were arranged on the floor. She seated Kat on a blue and purple one and then made motions at the bowl of fruit. “Noosh. Noosh.”

  That must mean ‘eat.’ Kat nodded politely. “Yes, noosh. Don’t worry, I will absolutely noosh. Thank you.” She picked up another triangular fruit and took a bite. “Mmm, good!”

  This seemed to satisfy the woman. She smiled at Kat, said a few other things in the Twin Moons language, and went back to washing fruit at the sink.

  Left alone with the bowl of succulent fruit, Kat got busy. She told herself sternly she ought to take it easy—after all, who knew what effects the alien fruit might have on her system? But it had been days since she’d done more than pick at her food and she was ravenous. Before she knew it, she was down to the last two fruit in the bowl and wishing she’d gone slower. She was about to take a bite of the next-to-last-fruit when Deep and Lock came through the door.

  Immediately Kat was flooded with emotions that weren’t hers, and none of them were good.

  “What in the seven hells were you doing this morning?” Deep demanded, striding over to her.

  Kat was immediately on the defensive. “I don’t know what you’re upset about but you can just back off. You two went out and left me here in a strange house, in a strange town, on a strange planet where I don’t even know the language. I had to muddle through on my own.”

  “We’re very sorry, my lady.” Lock, who had been speaking rapidly in Twin Moons dialect with the tall woman, came over to where Kat was still sitting with the mostly empty bowl. “We had to run some errands and we didn’t think you’d be up before we got back.”

  “Oh, she was up, all right. Up and giving the vendors at the market a show,” Deep snarled.

  “What are you talking about?” Tired of craning her neck to look up at him, Kat stood and put a hand on her hip. Of course she still had to look up, just not quite as far.

  “I’m talking about the way you were showing yourself out the window this morning—the entire township is talking about it.” Deep glared at her.

  Kat frowned. “I couldn’t find any clothes when I first got up but I wrapped a sheet around myself. I looked out the window and some people waved at me so I waved back. What’s the big deal?”

  “The ‘big deal’ is that you shouldn’t be showing your body to strangers.” Deep eyed her possessively, making her feel suddenly naked.

  “I wasn’t,” Kat protested, wishing the weird, feathered shirt she’d put on was longer. “I was very careful to keep the sheet wrapped around me the entire time, I swear.”

  Lock cleared his throat. “Apparently, the light shining in the window rendered your sheet, ah, transparent.”

  “What?” Kat felt a heated blush sweep over her. “Are you serious? So all those guys who were waving and smiling at me weren’t just being friendly?”

  “They’d like to be a whole lot more than friendly,” Deep growled. “Do you know how often the average male here on Twin Moons gets to see an elite? Almost never. And to see an elite without her clothing, her lush curves revealed, her—” He stopped abruptly and frowned at the triangle fruit Kat was still clutching in one hand. “What are you eating?”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “She gave it to me.” She pointed at the tall woman who had been standing at the sink and watching their conversation with a worried look on her face.

  Lock turned to her. “Mumzell? Chara vena Kat Kala ala noosh?”

  She nodded her head rapidly. “Ja, ja! Shiba ava Kala ala noosh.” Then she hugged Lock and stood on tiptoes to kiss his forehead.

  “What? What is she saying?” Kat demanded.

  Deep frowned. “She’s saying you asked for it. She thinks yo
u wanted it because…” He broke off, shaking his head.

  “Because what? What does it do?” Kat asked, worried. Had she poisoned herself with the strange fruit? Or had she somehow eaten something she wasn’t supposed to eat for religious reasons? Damn it, she didn’t know anything about this stupid planet. She had to get herself some translation bacteria!

  Lock finally finished speaking to the older woman. He turned back to Kat and spoke in a low voice. “What you ate are Kala fruit—what we call bonding fruit. They have uh…a special significance to our people.”

  Deep snorted. “That’s an understatement.”

  “Deep, please.” Lock gave him a warning look. “Will you just let me explain?”

  “They’re not poisonous or anything, right?” Kat asked. “I mean, I’m sure the nice lady wouldn’t have let me eat them if they were but—”

  “That ‘nice lady’ is our mother,” Deep said harshly. “And she now believes that you intend to mate with Lock and myself. Immediately. Because why else would anyone eat an entire bowl of bonding fruit in one sitting?”

  “What?” Kat felt a sudden rush of panic. “No, no,” she said to the woman, shaking her head rapidly. “It’s not like that with us. Really, it’s not.” She turned back to Lock. “What exactly are ‘bonding fruit’? Do they have some kind of religious importance to your people?”

  “Not religious exactly…” He hesitated for a moment as though trying to think how to explain. “Bonding fruit is usually eaten by unmated women right before they bond with the twin males they have chosen to be their mates.”

  “Oh.” Kat was relieved. “So it’s just a misunderstanding. She thinks because I ate the fruit, you and I and Deep were going to…but we’re not, of course.” She laughed nervously. “So just explain it to her and tell her I’m sorry I gave her the wrong idea and we can forget about it, right?”

  “I’m afraid not.” Deep shook his head. “I don’t think any of us is going to be able to just ‘forget about it’ for quite a while.”

  Kat frowned at him. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to profane your weird eat-fruit-before-you-get-busy custom but it was an honest mistake. If you can’t get over it then that’s your problem, not mine.”

  “That’s not what Deep means, my lady.” Lock shook his head apologetically. “You see, there is a reason that females eat bonding fruit before they get mated. It has special properties.”

  That sounded ominous to Kat. “What kind of special properties?” she demanded.

  Lock looked uncomfortable. “Well, it increases your elasticity in certain, uh, areas.”

  “What?” Kat demanded. “What are you trying to say?”

  “It makes you able to take two shafts in your pussy at the same time,” Deep said bluntly. “Is that clear enough for you?”

  Kat was horrified. Her eyes went immediately to the sink where the twins’ mother had been standing, but luckily, she had left the room.

  “Don’t worry. Mumzelle can’t hear us. And even if she could, she can’t understand English, remember?” Deep laughed but it wasn’t a happy sound. “I can feel how upset you are. Why don’t you say something?”

  “I just…I can’t…why the hell would anyone want to…to do that?” She looked at Lock appealingly, ignoring Deep though she couldn’t help remembering the images he’d sent her the night before. Of both of them inside her, thrusting, filling her…But I never thought it was really possible. Never thought they would really want to—

  “It’s how we perform bonding sex, my lady,” Lock said gently, breaking into her frantic thoughts. “Deep and I thought you knew that.”

  “Especially after our exchange last night,” Deep growled, giving her a piercing look.

  “I didn’t think you were for real.” Kat shook her head, her mind filled with painful, scary images. “Never thought you’d really want to…”

  “Of course we want to,” Deep said harshly. “It’s the way of our people.”

  “But I thought…I guess I thought you did it, uh, one at a time. Or at the very worst, one in front and one in, uh, the back.” She could feel herself blushing but she couldn’t seem to stop. God, she really didn’t need to be thinking about this right now. Especially considering what the three of them had been doing the night before and the images Deep had sent her.

  “We do share a female in many different ways.” Lock nodded. “And we can form a limited kind of physical bond if one of us fills your, um, front and the other one fills your back, as you put it. But for true bonding sex to occur…”

  “Both our cocks have to be buried to the hilt in your pussy at the same time,” Deep finished for him in a low voice.

  “Oh my God.” Kat shook her head. “But you guys are huge. I, uh, felt you against me last night. There’s no way anyone could—”

  “Certainly you could. Especially after eating an entire bowl of bonding fruit.” Deep smirked at her.

  Kat rounded on him, suddenly furious. “Why do you keep making such a big deal about how much of it I ate? I was hungry, damn it!”

  “Brides-to-be usually start slowly, eating just a few bites of the fruit each day to increase their flexibility. They only eat a whole fruit on the day of their bonding ceremony,” Lock explained. “Just one whole fruit. I’m afraid since you ate considerably more than one, the effects will be multiplied.” He shook his head. “I really wish Mumzelle hadn’t planned the party for tonight.”

  “What effects? What is this stuff going to do to me?” Kat waved one of the two remaining triangle fruits in his face.

  “The bonding fruit doesn’t just make you more flexible,” Lock said carefully. “It also makes you more…what’s the word?”

  “Horny.” Deep grinned at her but it wasn’t a happy expression. “I’ve been practicing my Earth vernacular again. Did I get it right?”

  Kat’s hand itched to slap him but she somehow restrained herself. “You bastard,” she said in a trembling voice. “You’re telling me that I ate some kind of aphrodisiac? Didn’t just eat it but practically overdosed on it? And you think it’s funny?”

  “Not at all.” The grin faded from his face and he looked at her intently. “In a very short period of time, none of us is going to think it’s funny.”

  “What do you mean none of us? How can it affect you two?”

  “We can feel your emotions, remember?” Deep tapped the side of his head. “Everything you feel, we, feel.”

  “But it won’t just be us—though we’ll be affected most deeply.” Lock had a grim look on his face. “It’s going to affect every male in your immediate vicinity.”

  “Okay, I get the emotions thing. But how is it going to affect everyone else?”

  “Your scent,” Deep answered for his brother. “You already smell like a female in heat whenever you’re around Lock and me. This is only going to make it worse—much worse.” He started to pace as he talked. “You already look irresistible and now you’ll smell irresistible as well. We’re going to have to warn off every other male at the party tonight.”

  Lock shook his head. “I just hope it doesn’t come to blows.”

  “What party?” Kat was becoming thoroughly exasperated. “And why can’t we just skip it if it’s going to be such a problem?”

  “The party our mother planned in your honor,” Lock said quietly.

  “Which is why none of us can just ‘skip it,’” Deep snarled. “We have to attend and every other high ranking male in town is going to be there as well. The mated ones won’t be a problem. But the unmated males…”

  “You’re going to have to stay very close to us,” Lock told her seriously. “Of course this wouldn’t be a problem if…” He hesitated.

  “If what?” Kat said. “Come on, spit it out. If you know a way to keep every single guy in the immediate vicinity from humping my leg just because I ate the wrong fruit, then by all means, please share.”

  Lock sighed. “If you’d let Deep and I mark you with our mating scents…�
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  “But you did,” Kat protested, in a low voice. “When you…you know, licked me. Didn’t you?” The memory of Lock’s head buried between her thighs while Deep growled in her ear and pumped her pussy with his thick fingers made her feel hot all over.

  “I did mark you some,” Lock admitted. “I couldn’t help it. But I wasn’t tasting you to mark you, my lady—my aim was to bring you pleasure, so I wasn’t very thorough. And besides, my scent alone won’t keep other males away from you. Deep needs to add his scent as well.”

  Kat put a hand to her throat. “And how exactly…”

  “We need you naked and open between us.” Deep’s eyes raked her body, making Kat shiver.

  “What…what do you mean open?”

  “The same position we started in last night.” Lock’s voice was calming but somehow Kat didn’t feel soothed. “But you’d have to open your legs. To allow our shafts to rub against you. Against your—”

  Kat had heard enough. “Huh-uh. Sorry guys, but no way.” She backed away from them, shaking her head. “I am not up for that. That’s too close to…Anyway, I’m not going there.”

  “All right. It’s all right.” Lock held up his hands in a gesture of truce. “Deep and I would never do anything to you that you didn’t want us to do, my lady.” He looked at his brother. “Would we, Deep?”

  Deep looked at her speculatively. “Not unless it was for her own good. Which this very well may be, as you know, Brother. After all, we can’t let her be attacked by every stray male who smells her scent just because she’s a little squeamish about letting us mark her.”

  “No!” Lock held up a hand to stop him when he started to approach Kat. “Stop it, Deep. You know you wouldn’t act against Kat’s wishes, so stop pretending you would.”

  “Who’s pretending?” Deep growled. “I absolutely would act against her wishes if I thought her life was in danger and what I was doing was in her best interest.”

  Kat glared at him. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. I guess I’m just too stupid to know what’s good for me.”

  “No, you’re just too damn tempting for your own good.” Suddenly Deep was right in front of her, cupping her cheek and looking down into her eyes. “You have no idea how alluring you are, do you, little Kat?” he said softly. “With your full curves and your hot scent. No male in the universe could be near you without wanting to fuck you.”