Their Rebel Mate [Helan Universe 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (8 page)

She arched a brow at the king and turned to the chef. “I would like to try the
majtai,
please.”

The chef smiled and nodded, and Thantos glowed with pride. Not too many of the human women had tried a Helan dish their first day on board, at least not on his previous ship. “I’ll have the same. And if you wouldn’t mind sending some down to Chief Kerek when he wakes, I’m sure he would be appreciative.”

R’oan smirked as he gave his and Jaron’s order and invited them to sit at their table. The four of them sat at the largest table, reserved for the most important person on board.

Jaron reached out and captured Kim’s hand, and Thantos had to swallow the small growl that was rising in his throat. “We haven’t formally met. My name is Jaron, and this is my mate, R’oan. You must be Kim McManus.”

The urge to slug his friend got even bigger. Instantly, the chatter died away, and all eyes in the room were trained on Kim. The hostility in the room was clear, and Thantos took a deep breath. “That probably wasn’t the best thing to say out loud, Your Majesty.”

Jaron blinked a couple of times before understanding filled them. “Oh, crap. Sorry, Kim. But why is everyone acting so weird?”

R’oan sighed and reached out to stroke his hand over Jaron’s hair. “
Liro
, the men probably resent her for helping to hide the women from us, and the women…well, I’m not sure why the women seem so hostile.”

Kim smiled at the king and patted his hand. “Don’t worry about it. The women are probably worried that I’m going to condemn them for choosing to mate with Helans instead of joining the evacuation effort. But, I promise,” she said in a louder voice, “I’m here to learn about Helan culture, not to judge anyone.”

The hostility in the room seemed to ease marginally as everyone went back to their meals. Slowly, people began to talk again. Couples and triads began openly showing affection for each other, and the kitchen staff began sending out meals again.

Four bowls of
majtai
were delivered to their table, and Thantos watched eagerly as Kim sampled her first Helan delicacy. He almost came in his pants when her mouth closed around the spoon and she moaned. “Delicious,” she whispered, licking the corner of her mouth to capture a stray drop of the thick substance.

Thantos’s groan was echoed by both Jaron and R’oan. Kim flushed a little but continued to eat. “So, King Jaron, you and Thantos seem to know each other quite well.”

Oh, she was good. Her instincts for steering a conversation to where she wanted it to go were flawless.

Jaron beamed and scooped up a spoonful of his own breakfast. “Thantos and I went to school together. We’ve known each other since we were only knee high to a grasshopper.”

Thantos chuckled at Jaron’s use of the human phrase. “You need to stop watching so much Earth television, Jar. No one actually says that.”

Jaron stuck his tongue out at him before taking another bite. “Anyway, we’ve been best friends since we were about four seasons or so.”

Kim swallowed and gestured to Jaron. “You didn’t have private tutors?”

Thantos smiled. “Oh, he had tutors, but only because he couldn’t sit still in class and needed to catch up on all the stuff he ignored.”

R’oan squeezed his mate’s hand. “Only the high king is tutored privately. Lower kings are schooled in the general population.”

Thantos sat back as Jaron, R’oan, and Kim discussed the finer details of Helan society. She was curious, sharp as a tack, and was able to convey her thoughts and opinions in a nonconfrontational way. She would have made an excellent ambassador.

A twinge of awareness trickled through him. “If you will excuse me,” he said to the table, “Kerek is awake and needing me. Would you be able to bring Kim to our quarters when she’s ready for sleep?”

Kim pushed her bowl aside and stood up. “Actually, I’m ready now.”

Thantos resisted the urge to twirl his long red hair around his finger while he thought about a delicate way to explain to Kim that when he said Kerek needed him, Thantos meant that he was needed in a sexual sense.

Jaron and R’oan were no help. Jaron was waggling his eyebrows at him suggestively, and R’oan was trying to smother a laugh into his napkin.

Thantos pushed his hair behind his shoulders and saluted his king again. “Very well, Kim. This way.”

He guided Kim forward so that she was walking slightly in front of him and made a rude gesture at Jaron behind his back. Jaron’s hoot of laughter followed them out of the dining hall.

The closer he and Kim got to the quarters where Kerek waited for them, the more his body responded to the needs of his mate. His cock thickened in anticipation, and his nipples tightened. It had been longer than normal between their lovemaking sessions, and they were both feeling the absence.

The door to their quarters was open when they got there. Kerek was standing in the small living space, wearing nothing but a pair of loose silk pants. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was supervising a couple of the ship’s crew, who were putting up a small bed. Kim’s bed. Thantos felt a moment of panic that she wouldn’t be joining him and Kerek but stamped it down. She was here to learn about their ways so that she could report back to her people, not sleep with him, no matter how much he would like her to.

Kerek dismissed the men with a wave of his hand and sidled over to them, winding his long body around Thantos’s like a giant cat. “I need you,
talan
.”

Thantos’s body skipped about ten levels of arousal and went straight into need-to-come-now territory. But before they abandoned Kim, he needed to explain things to her.

Kerek’s lips were trailing a blazing line over his shoulders, and Thantos shivered. “Kim, there’s something you need to know about the relationship between Helan mates…oh, Kerek, right there. Helan males are highly sexual and feel the need to orgasm several times a day. Bonded mates can’t find satisfaction without their mate.”

That would have to do. Thantos didn’t wait for Kim’s response. He twined his arms around Kerek’s neck and pulled the bigger man down for a kiss. “Take me to bed,
talan
.”

Oh, sure. They expected her to sit here on this damn cot in the small living space, with her hands folded in her lap, waiting for them like an obedient little puppy while they did the nasty in the next room?

A soft moan drifted on the still air from under the closed bedroom door, and she bit her lip, feeling a little guilty about the thought she’d just had. She highly doubted there was anything nasty going on at all. It was clear to anyone who had eyes that Kerek and Thantos were deeply in love, so whatever was happening behind the closed door of their bedroom was probably beautiful and romantic.

Another moan wound around her, as soft and silky as satin ribbon. Her eyes drifted closed, and even as exhausted as she was physically, her body wasn’t about to let her sleep.

Not when there were two hot men making all kinds of lovely noises in the other room.

She tried counting sheep. Fail. She tried picturing a serene lake. Fail. She tried some deep breathing relaxation exercises. Epic fail.

In fact, the only thing she could see behind her closed lids was a whole lot of golden skin, tangled limbs, and hard cocks.

What would it be like to be in bed with so much masculinity? Her back arched at the sudden thought, and a rush of moisture gathered to coat the folds of her pussy.

Her clit throbbed, practically begging for attention, and the sounds of pleasure, getting increasingly louder and more frequent, were not helping. Flopping back on the mattress, she slid her hand down her belly until the very tips of her fingers rested just above her mound.

Did she dare?

“Kerek!” Thantos cried out for his lover, and Kim threw caution to the wind.

Fuck it.
It wasn’t not like they were going to hear her own soft gasps through the noise Thantos was making. As if it had a mind of its own, Kim’s hand slipped the rest of the way down, and her index finger brushed over her straining clit.

A groan worked its way up her throat, and she applied even more pressure to the swollen little nub. Dear god, nothing had ever felt so good before. Not even her favorite purple vibrator on its highest setting gave her half as much pleasure as her single finger.

Was it something in the water? Okay, cancel that. She hadn’t had any water to drink. Something in the food then?

Whatever. All that really mattered was getting off right now.

Her pleasure ratcheted up higher, and she sped up the movements of her finger, stroking her clit in small, concentric circles in her effort to relieve some of the pressure that was building up inside her.

She groaned again, partly from pleasure and partly from frustration. None of the usual tricks were working, and her heart was racing faster than normal. Was it possible that her heart could beat fast enough to pound right out of her chest? God, she hoped her rib cage was strong enough to contain her heart because she was pretty sure her heart was about to explode.

“What the devil is going on here?” Kerek roared, breaking her out of the trance she had been in.

She jerked her hand back and blushed to the roots of her hair. “What are you doing out here?” she asked, pushing herself up and out of the bed so fast, she almost toppled over.

Kerek’s chest was pumping as he breathed, his huge cock pulsing rhythmically. “What have you done to Thantos?” he shouted, advancing on her with rage in his eyes.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she shouted right back.

Now that the bedroom door was open, Kim could hear Thantos’s desperate whimpers. “What are you doing to him?” she demanded, storming over to the door and peeking around Kerek’s massive body.

The sight that met her eyes took her breath away.

Thantos’s wrists were trapped by some sort of cuffs, which were attached to a ring in the wall. His head was tossing on the pillow, his long red hair spread out dramatically on the crisp white sheets.

Her eyes travelled farther down Thantos’s body, taking in the nipple clamps that seemed to be vibrating, and the black plug his spread, bent legs displayed.

His dick was leaking steadily, and if the pool of fluid collecting on his lower belly was any indication, it had been for some time now.

The expression on Thantos’s face was far from serene. He looked tormented. “Help him,” she said, rushing over to him.

“What the fuck do you think I’ve been trying to do?” Kerek bellowed. “I’ve been trying to relieve some of his need, but he can’t orgasm. Why is that?”

She would have shrugged, but Thantos’s earlier words came back to her.
Helan mates are highly sexual and feel the need to orgasm several times a day. Bonded mates can’t find satisfaction without their mate.
“He needs you to come before he can, right?”

Kerek blew out a sigh that sounded like pure frustration. “Yes, but the kicker is I need him to come as well. Bonded mates tend to have simultaneous orgasms.”

She failed to understand the problem. Kerek was hard as a rock, and the head of his dick was shiny with his own pre-cum. He looked like a single firm stroke could send him flying. “So just let go and come. He’ll follow you right over.”

“Shit, you just aren’t getting it.” Kerek ran both of his hands through his hair. At least he didn’t seem quite so enraged. “I saw what you were doing. You looked just as unsuccessful at finding your release as well. Somehow, I think you and Thantos have started to bond.”

No, that couldn’t be right. Except when she thought about it, she had realized that there was absolutely nothing she could have done to force her orgasm. Even now, despite her confrontation with Kerek and her confusion over what was going on, she was still as aroused as ever. More, even.

Crap. “What are we going to do about this?”

Thantos cried out, his cock jerking wildly, and he hitched his hips. The wave of pleasure rocketing through her, completely in time with Thantos’s distress, robbed her of any ability to think. It was so strong, she had to grab on to something solid to keep herself upright.

Her palms met skin, and she briefly understood that she was clinging Kerek’s arm before another wave of pleasure threatened to wash her away.

The need was too much, and it was so far past eager anticipation that she was very nearly in pain. Poor Thantos looked like he was about to die if he didn’t find his release soon.

A third wave of need buffeted against her, and she was vaguely aware that Kerek’s knees buckled under the onslaught. “You are going to join us and give Thantos the relief he needs.”

She was barely on her feet, relying completely on Kerek to keep her upright, and he was barely able to support himself, let alone her. A tiny part of her brain, way in the very back, screamed at her that if she went along with this, there would be no going back. Something massive was about to go down, something that was about to change her life forever.

The larger part of her brain, the part focused on the sensations slamming into her, didn’t give a damn. “How do we do this?”

“We can’t risk you getting pregnant until we know what’s going on,” Kerek answered. “So you’re going to go sit on his face and let him eat you out until you come, and I’m going to fuck him at the same time.”

Kerek’s comment about not wanting to get her pregnant stung just a little, though she couldn’t put her finger on the why of it. The idea of having Thantos’s tongue on her, however, was enough for her to shake off the little niggle and walk eagerly up to the bed.

“Wait,” Kerek ordered. He reached past her and unfastened Thantos’s wrists and released the nipple clamps, stroking the man’s chest when Thantos whimpered, clearly distressed. “Shh,
talan
, you’re still going to get what you need. We all are. But you’ll need your hands to help her stay up.”

“Kay,” he said, shaking his hands out and staring at both her and Kerek through glazed eyes.