Knights of Desire [Flights of Fancy 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (17 page)

"I won't debate that part with you."

He was clearly in his cabin, or Elsa hoped he was. Empress Janelle came into the image, and she wore a rather skimpy negligee. She leaned over to kiss her husband, and Elsa suspected he could have seen all the way to her toes by looking down his wife's cleavage.

Janelle looked at the screen. "Oh, hello, Elsa."

"Your Majesty." What else could she say?

In rapid succession, Empresses Tanya, Paige, and finally Marilyn joined their spouses, and they weren't dressed any more than Janelle. Elsa was distracted wondering how the four women could look so good at more than three-thousand-years-old—Tanya and Marilyn were both nearly five thousand—and she missed for a moment that Paige knelt down beside her husband's chair. At least she missed it until the Emperor's eyes crossed.

He panted a little. He was able to focus on the communicator again. "I think that wraps it up. I have to go. Bye." The screen went black.

* * * *

After the doctor released Shane from sickbay Clemmons walked her to her cabin, and she held his arm as they made their way through the passageways. She didn't need him to steady her—she just wanted to touch him and feel him close to her.

The doctor told them Landis would be awake and out of the regenerator by noon tomorrow, and Shane planned to be there when the knight woke up. She knew Clemmons would be by her side. She'd come to realize she had feelings for both men, and the feelings went far beyond simple attraction. She couldn't really put her finger on the details, but the big picture was all that mattered right now.

Shane had learned the doctor had kept her sedated for four days while she healed, and she wondered about something. She squeezed Clemmons's arm. "Have you been going back and forth to the planet?"

"No. Your Captain gave me a room here on the ship so I could be close to you and Landis."

That puzzled her. "What did you do to convince Captain Davis to do that?"

He smiled. "Maybe it was threatening to hold my breath and stomp my feet if she didn't."

They laughed together, and it was wonderful to be on his arm as they shared the humor.

They reached her cabin, and the door slid open at their approach. Shane wasn't sure what made her take the tack, but it felt like the right thing to do. "You don't need a cabin of your own. You can stay here." Heat flushed her cheeks. "Besides, I could use a little help getting around for a couple of days."

Clemmons stared past Shane, his blue eyes studying the cabin behind her, and was silent for nearly a minute. He smiled, but it looked a little sad to her, and then he shook his head. "No, you'll want Landis to stay here with you tomorrow."

Shane opened her mouth, but a passing group of crewmembers made her think again about her answer. The corridor of a starship with people traipsing about wasn't the right place to try explaining her confused feelings. She regrouped and went on. "Come inside—we need to talk."

He hesitated but did follow her into the cabin, and the door hissed closed. Clemmons shook his head. "There really isn't much to talk about. You and Landis belong together."

She gathered her thoughts and decided the direct approach was best. "I won't argue that point with you, but I think you and Landis belong together, too." Shane took a deep breath. "And you and I belong together."

His eyes flickered between wide open in surprise and narrowed closely in suspicion a few times. He worked his mouth like he was about to speak, but no sound came out. Clemmons finally closed his eyes for a moment and got his rogue tongue under control. "What are you saying?"

"All I'm saying is that, among my people, more than two people in a relationship isn't all that unusual." She shrugged. "You love Landis, and he loves you. I admit I might love Landis, and I also might love you. I think both of you may have fallen for me." She frowned, trying to get the swirling facts—at least as she understood them—straight in her head. "I think that's right."

His eyes went open wide and stayed there. "That's insane."

"No, not really. Our Emperor has four wives. That's not really correct, though. Those five people, who just happen to be a man and four women, are all married to each other and very much in love. We have a word for that, but I'm not sure how the translator will handle it. We call it polyamory."

"Say that again."

"Polyamory. Love among many people."

He nodded slowly. "I think I understand the word. You mean a person has love—true love—for more than one other person. Is that right?"

"Yes, exactly."

"And you think that's the case for us?"

"Maybe. I really don't know yet."

Clemmons laughed. "This is much like the conversation Landis and I had when we decided to form a couple."

"I can understand that. It's not an easy concept for most people. Not even me."

"You say your Emperor has such an arrangement. How common is it among your people?"

"I don't really know. Maybe twenty percent of relationships are polyamorous."

"I don't know, Shane."

"All I'm saying is it's something to think about."

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter too much, though. From what I gather, you'll be leaving soon."

Shane hadn't thought of that.
Daedalus
might stay here for a couple of weeks—maybe more, maybe less—before moving on to their next mission, but certainly not more than a month. Now she really had no idea what to do next.

* * * *

Clemmons stood watching Shane as she pondered the idea that, no matter if she picked him or Landis, they would soon be torn apart. From her expression, he didn't think she liked the idea any more than he did. And the idea of her picking was just as bad.

He'd been willing to die to save her for Landis. Clemmons was objective enough about his feelings to know he loved Landis with everything in him, and, to make Landis happy, he would do anything needed to save Shane. Initially he'd carried on with the rescue to prevent Landis from having died in vain.

But someplace in the darkness of the maze of the cave, his feelings for Shane had changed. Clemmons had been attracted to Shane the first time he saw her, dressed in solid black, no skin, not even her face showing. He'd wanted her almost instantly. But when he thought Landis was dead, his feelings had changed. He still found her attractive, and he still wanted her, but Clemmons found he didn't want her for a single night of passion and pleasure. He wanted Shane forever.

Clemmons knew he needed to shut down that line of thought. With Landis alive and on the mend, Clemmons had to back away. She belonged to Landis. It was really that simple.

Yet he still wanted her. Even knowing she and Landis would be together tomorrow, for whatever time God would allow them, Clemmons longed to feel Shane in his arms, to taste her lips fully, without the pain of her injuries getting in the way to stop the kiss from moving to the inexorable next step.

If his rival for Shane were any man other than Landis, he would fight for her. Clemmons realized he felt the same way about Landis. If anyone were to challenge him for Landis, he would leave him or her in a pool of blood. And yet, just as with Shane being with Landis, he would gladly step aside to ensure Landis's happiness.

Clemmons felt the same way for both Landis and Shane.

Shane stepped close to him and looked up into his eyes. "When Landis is able, I think the three of us need to talk."

Maybe it was her blue eyes. Maybe it was Shane being so close to him. Maybe it was that she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen or ever would see. Maybe it was that he just didn't care about all the things that should be right or wrong, but something in him snapped. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled Shane to him, his mouth pressing to her lips.

* * * *

About the time Clemmons followed her into the cabin, Shane gave up on holding onto anything even close to rational thought. When he pulled her lips to his, even the last hints of reason fled from her mind, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Memories from the kisses they shared in the cave flooded her mind, and she waited for something other than the now absent pain to interrupt. The way her luck ran with kissing Clemmons, the ship would probably explode now.

Instead, an explosion of desire swept through her, and Shane knew she wanted him. As Clemmons's tongue darted in her mouth, Shane ran her fingers through his long hair and removed the leather tie, letting the blonde locks spill over his shoulders to tickle her cheeks. His hands moved up and down her back, caressing her with a strange combination of gentle firmness. The strength of Clemmons's hands and arms made it clear she couldn't escape his grip, even if she had wanted to.

Shane didn't want to leave his embrace. She felt a mix of emotions as Clemmons held her, and Shane knew that just a short time ago, the feelings would have confused her in the extreme, but sometime since meeting the knights, she realized she didn't need to understand everything she felt or did. Maybe it wasn't even desirable to fully understand feelings like want and desire and love. Shane inhaled deeply, and as the scent of the man in her arms filled her head, she knew all she needed to do was to let him love her.

When his hands slipped down her back to cup her ass, Clemmons pulled her hips against his pelvis, and the hardness of his cock pressed against Shane. Her mind recalled watching him and Landis in the forest, seeing Clemmons's dick sliding deep into Landis's ass, and Shane wanted to feel him inside of her. The fantasy made a wave of burning shivers rush through her, and heat flooded her pussy as wetness flowed from her.

Clemmons pulled away from her, and Shane lunged at him. With a soft smile, he easily swept her into his arms and carried her to the sofa, where he placed her on the couch and then knelt beside her. With a slow deliberateness that nearly made her crazy, he carefully worked at the buttons of her blouse, unfastening each in order, starting from the lowest and working his way toward her neck. As he moved his hands up her body, Clemmons's fingers touched her through the material of the shirt, and each fleeting moment of contact made Shane twitch with anticipation. When he released the last of the fasteners, he pushed the blouse open and, since she hadn't put on her bra before leaving sickbay, he exposed her breasts. His fingers danced delicately around her hard nipples, and his palms caressed her breasts.

Shane sighed, and her eyes flickered closed as the roughness of his hands gently massaged her. Clemmons leaned close to her and swirled his tongue around her nipple before he sucked it firmly into his mouth. As visions of passion danced like phantasms in her mind, she felt his hand moving down across her stomach, where he manipulated the fastener on her pants. Through the shivers his mouth on her breast created in her, Shane was aware that he pushed her pants down a little.

Clemmons pulled his lips from her nipple with a pop, and she again lunged at him, trying to connect either her lips or tit back to his mouth, but his strong arms again pressed her back onto the sofa. He stood and pulled her pants from her legs and tossed them across the room before he leaned to lift her from the couch. He carried her this time to the dining room chair, and lowered Shane to her feet. Turning her so her back was to him, Clemmons tenderly pushed her shoulders so she leaned over the back of the chair.

As she gripped the seat of the chair, Shane expected a slight delay as he exposed his cock before feeling him enter her pussy or ass from behind. Instead, Clemmons knelt behind her, and his hands held her hips as his tongue traced wet tracks up her thighs. He licked slowly around the cheeks of her ass before he pulled her hips against him, and his tongue swirled delightfully around her anus. Shane flexed her hips back, and Clemmons flicked his tongue into her pussy, lapping at her and adding the wetness of his mouth to that flowing freely from her.

She leaned as far forward as the chair would allow, and his tongue darted to dance over her clit. Flicking and pressing his tongue against the hard bud, Clemmons pumped his head, and between fluttering passes over her clit, his tongue darted into her pussy, fucking her over and over again.

Clemmons reached around the back of the chair and took her nipples between his fingers. Rolling her breasts with his palms, he firmly squeezed with his thumbs and fingers, and the combined actions of his tongue and hands pushed Shane over the edge. Lights exploded in her vision, and her pulse drummed in her ears. Her screams of pleasure came choppy as Clemmons licked her pussy, and her breath was short and rapid. Between leaning on the chair and Clemmons hands holding her, Shane managed not to fall to the floor. As she twitched, Clemmons stood and again swept her into his arms. He held her close and touched his lips softly to hers. The scent of her pussy on his breath made a delightful blend that served only to intensify the tremors that rocked her body and the shooting stars that raced through her vision.

As her body calmed from the shaking of her climax, he lowered her to the sofa and knelt beside her. Clemmons smiled at her and brushed his hair from his face.

"You should rest a little. The doctor said you needed to take it easy for a day or two."

She was tired, but there was so much she wanted to say—and do—to him, but her eyes felt heavy and relaxation worked its way slowly over her. He held her close to him and Shane felt sleep overtake her.