Divided: Brides of the Kindred 10 (13 page)

Chapter
Fifteen

Becca was flooded with relief as she pressed
close to her men. By claiming Truth, they had driven out the intruder. He was
theirs—hers and Far’s—and she would be damned if any horrible demon creature
would get its claws in him! In fact—

Suddenly the air above their heads was
split by a deep, inhuman laughter.

You think you’ve won!
the dark voice bellowed, sounding even more strange and
distorted now that it was no longer using Truth’s vocal chords.

Becca winced as the feeling of pure evil
flowed over her. It felt like hot slime trying to find a way to penetrate her
mind. But as long as she was touching both Truth and Far, she knew
instinctively the three of them would be all right. She kept one hand on
Truth’s neck and reached out to touch Far’s arm with the other.

“Ignore it and stick close. It can’t hurt
us when we’re together,” she said in a low voice.

It is true, I cannot invade you as you are
now,
the dark voice snarled.
But the joke is still on
you, human female. I have been inside Truth’s mind—I have tasted his past pain,
dissected his pathetic memories. He will never form a true bond with his
brother. Never—he is too closed, too unbending. The three of you may have cast
me out now but you will not be together forever and I can wait. I can wait…

With a gust of howling, inhuman laughter
that made Becca’s stomach clench, the demonic presence finally left them to
huddle together in the middle of the hallway in peace.

“Gods.” Truth’s voice was hoarse when he
finally spoke. “That was…I have no words.”

“It’s all right, Brother,” Far assured him
quietly. “None are needed.”

“Yes, they are. I need to say thank you.”
Truth’s handsome face was haggard when he looked at both of them. “For claiming
me. For saving me.”

“You’re welcome,” Becca said, squeezing his
hand. “And I want you to know, I…I meant every word I said. “I know we didn’t
part well earlier—you were a little freaked out by what we, uh, learned about
Twin Kindred bonding. And to be honest, I was too.”

“It was…a shock. And not something I feel
I could ever participate in,” Truth said stiffly. He got to his feet slowly and
pulled Becca up to stand beside him. Then he extended a hand to Far. “Brother?”
he asked, waiting.

Far looked up at him with a frown. “You
just said you couldn’t bring yourself to participate in any kind of a bond with
me. Why would you offer me your hand when it means you’ll have to touch me?”

“Just because I don’t wish to participate
in the Kindred way of bonding doesn’t mean I don’t wish to have
some
kind
of relationship,” Truth said roughly. “You saved me just now—you as much as
Rebecca, I know that.”

Far raised an eyebrow at his twin.

“So you’ll touch me out of gratitude? Is
that it?”

“Far,” Becca said softly. “Truth is
trying.
This isn’t easy for him—you should try too. Take his hand. There’s still a
lot of dust out here.” She shivered. “We need to be touching—keeping each other
safe.”

“All right.” Far sighed and took the
offered hand.

Truth pulled him up and gripped his hand
perhaps a little longer than necessary before letting go.

“Come on,” he said at last. “Let’s get out
of this dust. We’ll go in my suite and turn on the air cycler. Then we can
talk.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Becca
asked curiously.

“About this,” Truth said shortly. “About
us. The three of us.”

“I thought there was no ‘three of us,’”
Far said softly as they walked into Truth’s suite and sealed the door behind
them. “And no possibility of it in the future. Don’t tease, Brother.”

Truth sighed and ran a hand through his
short hair.

“I’m not. I just think…we need to talk.”

He flipped on the cycler over the door,
which immediately began to hum, then went to the couch and sank down on one end
with a tired sigh.

Becca and Far followed him and she found
herself in the middle of them as usual. Her position between the two, large
male bodies made her newly aware of the fact that she was wearing only the
thin, cream colored silk nightgown which molded to her breasts and barely
covered her thighs.

She fought the urge to cover herself—there
were more important things for her to worry about than modesty. Instead, she
deliberately took both their hands. Who knew how long it would take the cycler
to completely eradicate the deadly black dust? It was better to be on the safe
side and keep up the skin-to-skin contact with both of them, at least for now.

We’re all too worn out to be affected by
touching right now anyway—aren’t we?
she
thought uneasily. It seemed to be true—at least for now. Though she felt a warm
current running between them, it wasn’t nearly as intense as it had been in the
past.
It’s fine. Everything is going to be fine…

“All right,” Far said, speaking to Truth.
“We’re listening. Talk, Brother.”

Truth blew out a frustrated breath.

“Apologies, but I hardly know where to
start. After what we just experienced I feel that maybe I was…hasty in
rejecting everything you wished to offer me.”

“And what did you think I was offering?”
Far asked quietly.

“Friendship…brotherhood…as I said before,
a relationship.” Truth looked down at his hands. “I can’t promise to take
everything you offered. I still can’t imagine…doing what…what is necessary to
form a more traditional bond.”

“But how can we have a relationship—a
partnership—without a bond?” Far asked.

“Maybe you can have a
different
kind of bond,” Becca suggested. “Truth is trying to meet you halfway here, Far.
If you come to the table demanding all or nothing you’re going to get nothing.
Just listen to what he has to say.”

“All right.” Far nodded. “Fair enough.
Continue, Brother.”

Truth cleared his throat. “I thought I
wanted Rebecca all for myself,” he said in a low voice. “But I saw tonight that
was both foolish and selfish of me. She could not have saved me on her own. It
took both of you to help drive the demon out.” He shivered. “It took both of
you to save me.”

“So what are you saying, Truth?” Becca
asked softly.

“I’m saying I feel that, well, maybe it is
time for me to learn to share. At least a little.”

“Share Becca, you mean?” Far asked. “Is
that what you mean?”

Truth nodded, his pale gray eyes hooded.
“Yes. If she is willing to be shared, that is.”

Becca felt her heart jump in her chest.
“I’m not sure” she murmured. “Although, I think we just saw that the three of
us are stronger together than apart.”

“Agreed,” Far said. “We are stronger as
three than we are as two or as one. But how far is Truth willing to go when he
speaks of sharing?”

Truth shifted uncomfortably and Becca
couldn’t help noticing that there was a definite bulge in the loose sleep
trousers he wore.

“I don’t know. Earlier, when Lady Kat was
trying to bring us together… That is to say, when she had Rebecca kissing both
of us in turn…”

Becca felt her whole body flush at the
memory of being between them and kissing each brother as they clasped hands.

“Did you like it?” she asked Truth softly.

He nodded. “I…yes. Yes, I did,” he
murmured, his cheeks getting faintly red.

“Which part?” Far asked quietly. “Did you
enjoy kissing Becca yourself…or watching me kiss her?”

Truth cleared his throat. “Both,” he
admitted at last. “I enjoyed both.”

Becca felt another wave of heat wash over
her. “So you enjoyed sharing me, even that little bit,” she murmured, stroking
Truth’s hand gently with her thumb.

He nodded again. “Yes. Very much.”

“And you’d like to…share some more?” Far
murmured.

“I never thought I would wish to see
another male with my chosen female but…yes.” Truth’s deep voice was slightly
hoarse. “Yes, I wish to learn to share more fully. If Rebecca will allow it and
you will teach me, Far.”

Far looked at her.

“Becca? How do you feel about this?”

“I…let me think about it.” Becca bit her
lip. She wasn’t sure how to feel about this turn of events. On one hand, she
was glad for Far’s sake that Truth seemed finally to be coming around, at least
a little. On the other hand, he was admitting that he’d enjoyed sharing her
with his brother in a sexual way and wanted to share more. Should she encourage
something like that? Where would it lead if she did? And how far was she
prepared to go?

Earlier she had been so sure she had to
take the moral high ground—now she wasn’t so certain that was the right course
of action. Then again, maybe being between the two large, muscular bodies was
affecting her judgment. Though she had been sure she was too tired and worn out
to be affected by touching both of them at once, Becca began to feel decidedly
warm.

She had started out holding both their
hands in an instinctively protective gesture. A gesture born of the knowledge
that she needed to be touching both her men in order to keep them safe from the
demonic presences and the black dust which still drifted through the air. But
now the contact was having another effect—she could feel the sexual heat
coursing through her, almost burning her with its intensity as her nipples went
suddenly tight and her pussy became unbearably sensitive and wet.

Her first instinct was to pull her hands
away but she couldn’t do that. There might still be unseen danger waiting to
pounce. The demon that had called itself Ur might be hovering near, just
waiting for her to leave her men unprotected.

My
men. Since when do I call them that?
she thought distractedly.

“Since you claimed us,” Far said softly
and Becca realized she must have spoken her thought aloud. “Well, when you
claimed Truth, anyway,” he added.

“No…” Becca lifted her chin. “I claim both
of you. You’re mine—under my protection—for as long as this threat lasts.”

“I never thought claiming protection from
a female would feel right but this does.” Truth sounded thoughtful. “I thank
you for claiming me, Rebecca.”

“I’m thankful too,
mi’now,”
Far murmured.

Becca smiled. “Never thought I’d hear the
two of you agree on anything.”

“I think we can both agree how we feel
about you,
”
Far said softly.

“Far is right,” Truth said. “Your beauty
and courage are beyond praise, Rebecca.”

Becca laughed embarrassedly. “All right
now, you two are going to give me a big head.”

Truth frowned. “Why would your head begin
to enlarge if we speak well of you?”

“It’s an Earth expression,” Far explained.
“It means that she would become too proud of herself if she listened to our
flattery.”

“It’s not flattery—I speak the truth. And
I don’t sense any pride or hubris in our lady.” Truth looked at her
speculatively. “What I mostly feel is heat…heat and embarrassment. Tell me,
Rebecca, is being close this way affecting you the way it is affecting Far and
me?”

He had asked her a similar question during
their last joining and she had evaded him. Now she couldn’t evade anymore.

“It is,” Becca confessed. “It…it always
does. Every time I’m touching both of you at once, skin-to-skin, I feel it.”

“Feel what?” Far said softly. “Tell us,
mi’now.”

Becca felt like her cheeks might catch
fire from embarrassment but she couldn’t lie or duck the question—not any more.
Not after what the three of them had just been through together.

“It’s sexual. Sexual heat, I guess,” she
admitted. “I…I feel it everywhere but mostly in my…my breasts and between my
legs.”

“Here, then…” One of Truth’s big hands
reached up to caress the side of her breast though the thin nightgown she was
wearing.

“And here,” Far murmured, his long fingers
stroking lightly between her legs.

“Yes.” Becca’s voice came out in a
breathless little gasp. “I…I can’t help it.”

“And we only affect you this way when both
of us are touching you together? At the same time?” Truth asked.

She nodded. “I don’t know why. Maybe…maybe
because you’re supposed to be a matched set whether you want to be or not.”

“Maybe,” Truth said, frowning a little.

“I’m glad you told us, at least,” Far said
softly. “I always wondered why you got so jumpy when both of us touched you at
once.”

“Well, now you know.” Becca tried to laugh
lightly but the sound came out as more of a moan.

“Becca?” Far asked anxiously. “Is this
hurting you? Is it too intense?”

“No, I just need…” Becca bit her lip in
frustration. “I don’t know
what
I need."