The Sextet - Sharing [The Sextet Anthology, Volume 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

have adopted them, or at least claimed that they were his sons via a

surrogate mother. Thus far, no one had ever come up with a better

method of cloning than implanting DNA in a fertilized cell and then

placing the egg in a surrogate, therefore
someone
must have given birth to them, and they could easily have passed for twins. Why even

tell Sar and Lon that they were clones? It made no sense.

Unless this was Sarlon’s way of instigating the legalization of

human clones. A hotly debated topic for centuries, convincing the

citizens of the galaxy to accept it would be difficult, if not impossible.

Then again, Sarlon had never been one to follow conventional

wisdom. Was he manipulating the law even after his death? Had he

hoped that someone would find the two men and champion their

cause? Sarlon couldn’t have done it himself. He would have been

arrested, or at the very least condemned for doing it. No, it had to be

done by someone else.

Nalira was beginning to feel manipulated herself. Given the short

time she’d spent with Sar and Lon, she was already changing her own

attitudes about clones. They were real, warm, loving, caring, feeling

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Cheryl Brooks

human beings, not some sort of test tube automatons that possessed

no trace of humanity. What had their childhood been like?

“Have you always known you were Sarlon’s clones?”

It was Lon who answered. “Our surrogate mother told us when we

were children that we weren’t brothers. Later, when we were old

enough to understand, she told us that we were Sarlon’s clones,

though everyone else probably assumed we were his bastards. She

wanted to keep us away from him, and even tried to run away with us,

but he had too much power over her.”

“But bequeathing you to the hotel as though you were chattel…”

Nalira paused, shuddering. “Little better than slaves…Were you even

educated?”

Sar nodded. “We were like normal children in that respect. But

since Sarlon apparently didn’t want anyone else to know what we

were, we were forbidden to speak of it. To be honest, I’m not sure

anyone in his organization knew about it, either. Records were

discovered after he died.”

“It was like being caught by a press gang,” Lon said with a

grimace. “Men came to our house and took us. I thought we were as

good as dead, but they put us to work here instead. Said it was in the

instructions he’d left behind.”

“Instructions as to what to do with you two, but no last will and

testament. Hmm…” Without a doubt, Sarlon had wanted someone to

discover his secret. But was Nalira the one to do it? The matter would

have to be handled very delicately. “I can’t believe you had no

choice.”

Lon shrugged. “Working here isn’t so bad. It could be a lot

worse.”

“Want to get out?”

“Every single day of my life,” Sar muttered.

Resolve settled in Nalira’s chest—or was it Lon’s head resting

there? “I bet I could do it.”

“Do what?”

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71

“Get you out. So you could have a life of your own. This isn’t

right, whether you’re clones or not. How do they keep you from

running off?”

“There are ways,” Sar said. He was being deliberately evasive.

Perhaps it was too gruesome to relate. Nalira dropped it—for the

moment.

“Has anyone ever tried to buy out your contract—or whatever it

is—and take you home with them?”

Sar snorted. “Are you kidding? We have no identity, no life. Who

would want us?”

A short laugh escaped her. “I would, for one,” she replied. “I

mean, who wouldn’t want to have the two of you for their very own?”

Sar seemed to consider this for a moment, but then shook his

head. “You’d have to have a lot of money.”

“I’ve got plenty of that,” Nalira said. “Too bad it can’t buy me

love,” she added, nearly choking on the words.

“And all the sex in the world won’t get that for us, either,” Sar

said. “We’ve done lots of people, but no one ever gave a damn about

us or even asked why we were there. They just fucked us and gave us

a tip—sometimes.”

Sar shifted sideways, and Nalira lost her grip on him. The sense of

loss she felt was brutal. No way could she just fuck them, tip them,

and send them on their way.

“Tell me something, then. Why did you tell me all of this? Did

you know I was a lawyer or what?”

Sar cleared his throat to speak, but Lon beat him to it. “He told

you because he saw something in your eyes.” Sighing, Lon nuzzled

her breast and kissed it. “I know because I saw it, too—almost

immediately.”

“Something in my eyes? You two must be a lot more intuitive

than Sarlon ever was.” She paused as another possibility occurred to

her. What if they weren’t entirely human? “Did they throw some alien

DNA into the mix or what?”

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Cheryl Brooks

Lon shrugged. “Who knows? I suppose they could have, but no

one ever told us much.”

This was consistent with all the rest. Keep them in the dark about

the details and—“I still don’t understand how they could keep you

here against your will.”

“They told us that as clones, we would be captured and killed if

we left,” Lon replied. “They said we would be safe here.”

Smiling grimly, she nodded toward Sar. “Obviously you don’t

believe that or you wouldn’t be telling me this.”

“I don’t know
why
I told you,” Sar said slowly. “I don’t even

know how true it is. But it seems wrong.”

“It
is
wrong,” Nalira said with conviction. “Murder is murder

whether you’re clones or not. In fact, given the differences between

you and Sarlon, as well as each other, it would be tough to prove you

were clones at all, especially if the records regarding the two of you

were destroyed—which is what any prudent person who found them

would have done.” Actually, any prudent person would have exposed

the situation long ago. Lon and Sar wouldn’t have been held

responsible—how
could
they be?—and Sarlon was dead.

Someone was still working for the old man even after his death.

And Nalira was about to call his bluff.

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73

Chapter 3

Lon was skeptical. “So, what? We’re just going to walk out of

here?”

“That’s
exactly
what you’re going to do,” Nalira said firmly. “The hotel can’t own you. Slavery is illegal on this and just about every

other planet in the galaxy! No one can own another human being, and

you
are
human. Your origin makes no difference. It’s the
act
of cloning that’s illegal, not
being
a clone. You may not have any records of your birth, but if we can find your surrogate, she can

corroborate your story. Any idea where she is?”

“Well, we know where she
was
, but that was several years ago.

She could be anywhere now—she might even be dead.”

“That wouldn’t be surprising,” Nalira said. “But if Sarlon had in

mind what I think he did, he would have made sure there was a trail

for us to follow.”

“Wait a minute,” Sar began. “You’re saying he
wanted
us to be

found out?”

Nalira nodded. “Not only that, I think he wanted you to inherit his

fortune, but he couldn’t admit to having cloned himself. His

‘instructions’ put you here in plain sight for someone like me to find

you
and
made sure you knew you were clones. If he didn’t want you to be discovered, he would have left you right where you were and

made sure no one told you anything. There’s no other explanation. I

didn’t like the old man one bit, but I’ve got to hand it to him, the plan is brilliant.”

Lon wanted to believe her, but wasn’t quite ready to throw caution

to the wind. “And you can do this?”

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Cheryl Brooks

Nalira shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll need to. All we have to

do is walk out of here and see what happens. You two getting gunned

down is highly unlikely.”

Lon wasn’t so sure about that. “Those guys were pretty

convincing.”

“They’d have to be. If you escaped, would you have told anyone

you were clones?”

“Probably not,” Lon admitted.

“But you were desperate enough that you told me, weren’t you?”

“It wasn’t so much desperation as—” Lon broke off there, looking

to Sar for help.

“You were someone we thought we could trust,” Sar finished for

him.

“That was a snap decision if I ever saw one,” Nalira said dryly.

“You hadn’t been here more than a minute.”

Sar shrugged. “Sometimes you just know.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that because your assumption was spot

on. You
can
trust me—with anything.”

The smile that accompanied this assertion was enough to sway

Lon just a bit, but he still wasn’t completely sure. “Even the fact that

we love each other?”

“Even that. In fact, especially because of that. If you hadn’t had

each other…”

“We would have gone nuts,” Lon said grimly. Giving Nalira a

firm hug, he rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. “Sar

and I don’t just like to fuck each other, either—there’s more to it than

that.” He hesitated, unsure of how to put it. “I don’t think many

women would like the whole sharing thing.”

“Possibly, but the funny thing is, until you two walked in here, I’d

have said I never wanted another man again as long as I live, and now

I want both of you.” She sighed with regret. “I’m a lot older than you

guys, too. I don’t know if you’d want to stay together with me or not.”

Lon nestled closer, brushing her hair back with his fingertips. To

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75

him, she was not only beautiful, she was ageless. “Nalira,” he said as

he kissed her cheek, “if you really can get us out of here, I will never

leave you. Ever.”

“Even when you’re filthy rich and have gorgeous young chicks

hanging all over you?”

“Even then,” he replied. “Though I’m not sure I’d know how to be

rich. You might have to help us with that.”

Chuckling, she kissed Lon on the nose. “I’m not very good at it,

either. I’ve got plenty of money but no time to enjoy it.”

“But you’re here now,” Sar pointed out. “And I
think
you’re

enjoying yourself.”

“I’m here to
work,
” she corrected him. “Nasty divorce case, too.”

“Dump it and be our lawyer,” Lon suggested. “We’ll pay you

double.”

“Your case could take years to prove,” she cautioned. “We’ll have

to live on something in the meantime, so I still need to work.”

“But think of the reward when you do prove it,” Sar said. “We’ll

pay you at least half of our fortune.”

“Promises, promises,” Nalira chided. “Right now, I need sleep

more than money.”

Lon grinned. “I was thinking more along the lines of a shower and

then
sleep.”

Sar was more direct. “The bathtub is big enough for three.”

“Done some research, have you?”

Sar’s eyes crinkled, his thick lashes dropping as he smiled

sheepishly. Lon loved that smile, but Nalira’s laughter had a different

effect, bringing on a new kind of feeling. It occurred to him then that

he’d never loved a woman before. He’d had sex with them, but had

never fallen in love—until now. Once they’d gotten past the trust

issue, loving her seemed all too easy…

* * * *

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Cheryl Brooks

Sar watched as Lon rose from the bed, holding out his hand to

Nalira. He could get used to this. The two of them making love to the

same woman seemed so right, so perfect.

Sharing her had been phenomenal—the ultimate act of love. It

seemed presumptuous of them to think that she returned that feeling,

yet there was every indication that she felt the same way, no matter

how illogical it might seem.

Lon led the way to the tub with Sar bringing up the rear. Just the

sight of his two lovers sent blood rushing to his cock, swelling it well

beyond normal size. There was no doubt in his mind where this would

lead, and Lon’s dick appeared every bit as eager as his own.

Sar loved being naked with no place to hide what his mind

imagined and his body felt. He could tell Nalira and Lon he loved

them as many times as he liked, but the pulsation in his groin

conveyed his desire so much more eloquently. Sar had always

believed that being wanted was better than being needed, and he

hoped Nalira agreed. After all, she didn’t need them—a woman like

that could have any man she set her sights on—she
wanted
them, and that fact was like a tonic to his soul.

Lon pushed the buttons, and hot water cascaded from two

opposing showerheads into the huge, round tub. Showering with Lon

was a favorite pastime of his, but with Nalira there, his enjoyment

tripled. Sar couldn’t recall ever having a woman wash both of their

dicks before—at least, not at the same time. With a soapy hand

wrapped around each stiff cock, she slid her fingers from head to base