Elizabeth Raines (7 page)

“Thama—Syla’s stepmother—accused her of treason. If I hadn’t smuggled her out of there, Thama would have had Syla thrown in the castle’s dungeons and ordered her execution.”

“Castle? Dungeons? God, you make it sound like everyone on Trilan lives in the nineteenth century.”

“More like eighteenth,” Jake retorted. “They modeled some of their civilization after Earth’s history. It’s why they accept humans so easily. We share enough DNA that we had to have come from the same ancestors.”

“That’s interesting… How in the hell did human DNA get to Trilan?”

Jake shrugged. “I’m not a biologist or a geneticist, so beats the shit outta me. I’m sure someone’s making a shuttle full of money exploring it, though.”

“Why doesn’t her father put a stop to all this? Why isn’t he protecting Syla?”

“The old man’s nothing but a puppet now.”

“Old? How can he be
old?
Syla’s only what…twenty-three, twenty-four?”

“She’s twenty-six, but her father’s sixty-eight.”

Luka let out a low whistle. “I assume her mother was much younger than her father.”

“Yeah. It was kinda romantic. He used to say he searched his whole life for the right woman. Took them a few years to have Syla, and they never had any more children. She’s the next in line to the throne.”

“Until the king married Thama, right?”

Jake nodded. “She hates Syla, and she wants the king to change the line of succession so her son is heir apparent.”

“If they modeled the monarchy after Earth dynasties, that can’t happen. If I remember my history correctly, you had to be of royal blood to take the throne.”

“Thama has her own agenda. To hell with tradition.” Jake sat down next to him. Dropping his elbows to his knees, Jake rested his head in his hands. “So frustrating. Thama had an arrest warrant issued on some trumped-up charge of treason. If I hadn’t gotten Syla out of there, she would probably already be dead. All I want to do is help her, but there’s not a damn thing I can do. I can’t get to her father to explain. No one can. I honestly don’t even think the old man would listen if I could.”

Luka wrapped his arm around Jake’s shoulder. “He believes Thama?”

“She’s got him dangling from strings like some puppet. I don’t know if Syla could even get through to him now. She sure doesn’t think so.”

“Then I have a solution,” Luka offered. “Stay here. You and Syla stay in Montana. Let her heal mentally and let Thama play her little game. Maybe one day, Syla can go home again.” The words sounded convincing, even if he knew there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d ever leave his farm. His years of chasing intrigue were over—dead and buried with Kimini. How could he expect a future queen to give up her throne to stay in the wilderness?

“Thanks, Luka. I knew you’d help.”

He knew Jake well enough to read more into those simple words—
a lot
more. “I said you could stay with me. I didn’t say I’d go back to Trilan with you two.”

“You will,” Jake insisted. “When the time’s right, I know you will. She’s already getting to you, isn’t she?”

Not ready to even think about what this new woman meant to him, Luka let the question go unanswered. Only time would tell if the spark he felt for Syla turned into a flame.

“The food is ready!” Syla’s voice called from the house.

Luka clapped Jake on the shoulder. “As good as that smells, I might just fall in love with her if she keeps cooking for us.” He followed the flip statement with a wink.

“Cooking or not, you’ll fall in love with her,” Jake insisted. “She’s too easy to love.”

The sun rose far too early for Jake’s taste.

He stretched his arms over his head, a bit surprised that Syla wasn’t using his shoulder as a pillow like she usually did. The woman was a cuddler—something he found endearing. A quick glance to his left proved she was still a cuddler. She’d just chosen to use Luka as her pillow this morning.

The three weeks the three of them had spent together had flown by. Away from the pressures and demands of palace life, Syla thrived. She’d quickly learned many of the chores around the farm, and had people watched her dragging around buckets of grain or hoeing a row of vegetables, they’d never guess she was of royal blood. Although she worried about her father and hated some of the Trilanis believing she’d ever be involved in any plans that could hurt the king, she was more relaxed than Jake had ever seen her.

Despite Luka’s initial reticence, he’d quickly accepted Syla—just as Jake knew he would. That very first night, it had been Luka who suggested that, since they’d already been intimate, there was no reason to pretend they weren’t all going to end up in his big bed together. There was, after all, only one bedroom.

So like Luka to use a practical excuse rather than admit he was attracted to Syla. And Jake never once doubted that Luka was still in love with him.

The three of them had fallen into a nice rhythm for each day. Syla cooked for them—not because the men asked her to, but because she genuinely enjoyed the task. Luka and Jake did the grunt work on the farm, but Syla helped. Luka had really made a nice place for himself, and Jake and Syla fit in seamlessly. The farm ran like clockwork, and the three of them were in sync in almost every way.

But the bliss couldn’t last.

Not only would the calm eventually become boring, Syla would have to go back to Trilan. The crown was her birthright, and no matter how content the three of them were to live together in the middle of nowhere, her heart would always be on her home planet with her people.

Jake rolled to spoon against her back. He’d awakened hungry for his lovers. While the three of them might not have the same goals for the future, they shared a sexual connection that was unequaled. Sure, he, Luka, and Kimini had enjoyed each other, but the closeness Syla brought to the men surpassed that level. They had something very, very special going, and Jake never wanted it to end—wherever they decided to live.

He rubbed his hard cock against her tight ass as he nibbled the soft flesh of her neck.

She moaned and ground her backside against him.

Now if only Luka would wake up…

As if on cue, Luka groaned and rolled toward Syla, capturing her mouth for a hot kiss. Since everyone seemed on board with making love, Jake slipped his hand around to cup Syla’s naked breast.

She whimpered, pressing her backside against his dick before rolling on top of Luka. “Are you awake?” she said, her voice a husky whisper.

Luka didn’t reply. He simply cupped her neck and pulled her down into a heated kiss.

Jake wasn’t about to be left out, and Syla had just put herself into the perfect position for the next intimacy he wanted to introduce her to. Although the sex the three of them had shared had been satisfying—and fucking hot enough to start forest fires—there was one thing they hadn’t done that Jake needed to finally feel as if their trio had become a committed group.

He crawled over Luka’s legs to put himself behind Syla. Holding her hips, he worked his cock between her thighs, brushing over her pussy and loving how she pushed back against him. “Wanna learn something new, sweetheart?”

Luka’s gaze caught Jake’s as his eyes widened. Then a slow smile spread over Luka’s face. “There’s some aloe on the nightstand.”

“What do you wish?” Syla asked, watching as Jake reached over to grab the little bottle.

Dropping the aloe within quick reach, Jake brushed her long hair forward and massaged her shoulders. “I want the three of us to fuck at the same time.”

Her quick intake of breath boded well. Syla was a passionate woman, and everything the men had tried with her had always pleased her. He hoped this intimacy would as well because it was one of his favorite things about having two lovers at the same time—a need to feel that all three were equally involved and not simply taking turns.

“This is possible?”

Luka chuckled. “Oh, yeah, honey. It’s
possible
. And it’s damned
hot
. Since I’m in the right spot, how about we show her, Jake?”

“Yes. Show me,” she insisted.

Syla had an idea of what her men wanted, but a shiver of fear ran through her when she thought of them both possessing her body at the same time. Both Jake and Luka were large men, and she was such a small woman. She reminded herself that they had brought her pleasure like she’d never known time and time again and let that help quell her anxiety.

“Ride me, Syla,” Luka said, holding his cock for her.

She rose up to let him slide inside her. The feeling of fullness she had whenever one of them was joined with her was beyond compare. Yet she worried whether her body could accommodate
two
men.

Luka thrust his hips up, distracting her and starting the slow burn of desire that curled out to all of her limbs. Jake’s fingers were tickling down her spine, adding to the myriad of sensations she wanted to savor.

“Lean down, sweetheart,” Jake coaxed as he gently urged her forward. “Rub those beautiful breasts against Luka while I get you ready for me.”

The touch of the crisp hair on Luka’s chest made her nipples tighten and tingle. She kissed him, sliding her tongue past his lips to mate with his and capturing his growl. Her kisses must have pleased him because his hips surged up again until he was as deeply planted inside her as possible.

Jake’s hands were on her backside, separating the two cheeks. His finger slipped between to find her most intimate spot and swirl something cool and wet around and around.

Syla hissed out a breath, but Luka kept her busy. He stopped moving and held her close, kissing her and sucking on her tongue. She relaxed, and when Jake slid a finger inside her, she didn’t flinch.

“You’re so tight,” Jake said as he stretched her wider by adding a second finger.

She didn’t know what to say in response, not even sure she could form words in his language. This was surely the best feeling in the world. At least that was what she believed until Jake pulled his fingers back and pressed the hot head of his cock against her.

He gently thrust past the ring of muscles, then pushed against her, again and again, sinking a little deeper each time as though teasing her with what she wanted.

Syla took control, moving back hard against him until his cock was all the way inside her. She moaned, loving that the three of them were now connected in a way that was beautiful and giving.

“I can feel you inside her, Jake,” Luka said, rocking his hips up.

“This is fantastic,” Jake replied.

While she loved their words, she needed them to move. “Love me now,” she insisted, not sure which way to rock. She didn’t want either of them to slip out of her body.

“Set the pace, Luka,” Jake said. His hands held tight to her hips.

As Luka withdrew part of the way, and Jake followed, she feared they’d leave her. But they didn’t. Instead, both men surged back inside her, hitting sweet spots she never knew existed. She cried out.

The men stopped moving.

“You okay, Syla?” Luka asked. His eyes searched hers.

“Move!” was all she could say.

And they did. The tempo they set pulled her higher and higher. Heat fanned through every cell of her body from where they were so snug inside her. She dug her fingernails into Luka’s shoulders, raking them across his skin as she let her lovers bring her closer and closer to the sun.

Her internal explosion made her scream in pleasure. Her body contracted around her men. She was vaguely aware of Luka climaxing with a feral growl and Jake thrusting into her a few more times before the heat of his seed bathed her insides.

* * * *

Luka wiped the back of his arm across his sweaty forehead and watched the sky, loving the orange and yellow that tinted the expanse of blue. Montana was the land of the “Big Sky,” and the beauty of the approaching sunset revealed exactly why it had received that name.

“Do you wish a drink?”

Syla’s sweet voice made Luka smile and turn to her. “Depends on what you’ve got for me to drink.”

“Limeade.” She held up a glass full of lemonade.

“It’s lemonade, honey.”

“Lemon. Lime. I mix these up.”

“Easy mistake.” He took a long drink of the overly sweet drink. Syla, he’d quickly learned, was a sugar-junkie. While he liked sweets every now and then, he normally hated any drink with
that
much sugar. But since she’d made it, he’d drink it and keep his criticism to himself.

“It is good?” She looked up at him with those gorgeous two-tone eyes.

If the drink had tasted like horse piss, he’d tell her it was ambrosia. “Great.”

A light slap hit his upper arm. “Liar. I think it is too much sweet for you. Yes?”

“You’re getting to know me well, aren’t you?”

“
Very
well.” She tossed him a saucy wink.

As she whirled and started walking away, Luka dropped his shovel. He snaked an arm around her waist and hauled her back against his chest. He nibbled her earlobe and then kissed her neck.

She tilted her head, giving him better access to what he’d quickly learned was one of her most erogenous zones. Although he was a sweaty mess, he was ready to drag her to the barn, toss her on a bale of hay, and have his way with her. Then they could both find Jake and take a swim in the lake.

About to pick her up, Luka froze at the familiar yet entirely unexpected sound. “A ship’s coming.” It was two days too early for the supply drop, which meant this ship was searching for someone hiding out here. He had to remind himself that, had it been an enemy, the protection grid would have scrambled ships to intercept. Someone in authority had obviously given it clearance. The reminder didn’t stop his racing heart.

“A ship?” Her gaze shifted to the sky. “Do you know who?”

He shook his head, immediately sorry because her face blanched. “There’s no danger. I’ll protect you, Syla. Jake and I won’t let anyone hurt you. No one could fly out this far without permission of some
really
important people.”