Captive: Blue Barbarian Series Page 6

  I am surprised. We fell asleep in the same bed last night, even though Tessa holds us at arm’s length unless we are all separate. Only then will she allow us to have affection. So when would they have had time to rut? And why would she not have turned to me, too? We had both just told her we loved her. I am hurt to be excluded.

  “When was this?” I ask.

  “This morning. When Lucie took you to help build the travois.”

  My thoughts are whirling around in my head.

  “What is it?” Jeroc asks softly.

  “Why would she have waited until I left? Does she perhaps prefer you over me?”

  Jeroc looks appalled. “I am sure that is not the case. Maybe she just hadn’t fully woken yet. Maybe she wanted extra time before deciding to take us both. We may never know, at least, not until we can all speak together.”

  I am not convinced. I look at the Tessa out of the corner of my eye, and she is so beautiful my heart hurts. She may prefer Jeroc, and if that is the case, I will have to understand. But, oh, the pain that tightens my chest.

  “Tijar, I really do not think so. Please do not torture yourself. I’ll tell you what. As soon as the human she is talking to leaves, I will wander further up the trail. You will be alone with her. If she does not come to you to rut, then when we settle in the caves, I will turn away from her to encourage her your way.”

  “But what if she does not want to?” I hate that my voice sounds whiny like my young brother’s, but I cannot help it. The pain engulfs me.

  “She will. Just do not read too much into it. She may be tired later. They are human, and there is not another one who has been willing to take on two such as us.”

  At that moment, Aschero whisks off the human called Meeranda and my mate is left alone. With a pointed look at me, Jeroc skips ahead.

  “Jeroc?” Tessa asks, and her voice sounds broken.

  “Do not worry, sweet dove,” I say. “I am here to care for you.”

  But she looks lost as she tries to go after him.

  “Tessa,” I murmur. “It is okay.”

  She turns to me and looks so forlorn, I almost give up and yell for Jeroc. But then her tiny hand slips into mine, and I feel my heart skip a beat.

  This sweet, sensual creature is mine. Ours. I am not out of the running.

  We’re approaching a third-level cave, and everyone is stopping to frolic in a creek. I deliberately lag behind, with my Tessa close to me.

  “Jeroc?” she asks again, in a wavery voice.

  “He is fine. Please do not worry over him. He is giving us time together, as he partook of your sweet cunt earlier.” I lead her to a stream, where we sit in the shade under a tree. The rock is smooth, and I playfully spoon water onto her lap. She gasps, as if she expects it to be cold, and then laughs when it is warm. But her laughter changes, and she gets a look in her eyes that I love. The warmth would feel sexy over that part of her body. Her eyelids grow heavy and sultry, and her glorious long lashes sweep downward as she studies my form.

  I cannot help it. My loincloth tents.

  She deliberately lets her gaze drop to my cock, the little minx.

  “Will you rut with me?” I ask her. “I feel aggravated that you did with Jeroc, when I was available, too.”

  “Jeroc?” she whispers, and looks around.

  “He is not here, sweet one. He is giving us time to be together. Time for you to decide if you want me also.”

  Her funny little head tilts to one side. The water has splashed, darkening her leather halter with droplets. Her macciacas are ripe, bursting through the fabric so enticingly. She has rigged the halter together with leather twine, and it crosses down the front of her, giving me the tiniest view of luscious, smooth skin. I reach out to trace the area between the twine strings, down as far as it will go, and I watch her breathing quicken at the feel of my finger on her.

  “Tijar,” she says softly.

  It is me. It is not Jeroc she thinks of at this moment. “Take off your clothes, sweet girl.” I pull on the string that creates a funny bow across her macciacas, and the halter bursts loose. She reaches up to pull the rest of the twine looser, and then slips from the top.

  She is beautiful naked. Her globes are round and firm, and a lighter color than the rest of her skin. But the round disks of colored flesh around her nipples are a rosy shade that is a cross between a flower and a branch from the Ikticor tree. It is delightful. And the nipples themselves—they peak with desire into hardened nubs, as if they taunt me to lick them.

  “I wish for your skirt to come off, too.” My voice is thick with lust.

  As if she understands, she pushes the fabric from her hips and tosses it safely to the dry land. Then she sits demurely, as if waiting to see what I will do.

  I stand and remove my own loincloth, and she stares at my cock. I am quite proud of it. I know several of the females in our tribe cannot avert their eyes when I enter the pools. It appears to have the same affect on Tessa.

  I lean back on the smooth rock, because it is hard and I do not want to scratch her pretty back. “Come crawl on top of me,” I say, and she straddles my waist. “Not there,” I say, and lift her by the buttocks up to my face.

  Tessa gasps, but it is stopped when I lower her cunt onto my waiting mouth.

  The gasp is turned into a long, drawn out moan instead. Her lips quiver as I tenderly suck at them, drinking her essence. Her taste floods my senses, and my cock threatens to spill even as I bring her pleasure.

  Then my woman is grinding herself down on my face, trying so hard to make herself come. I oblige her gladly.

  She shouts, and a flood of moisture hits me. She pulls from me, and I twist her around as I rise so I may impale her onto my waiting cock. Sweet Tessa wraps her arms around my shoulders and pushes herself onto me at the same time I thrust up. I fuck her passionately, but she’s taking it—even seems wild for it. Then she yells again and her muscles tighten around my cock rings as she comes again. She plasters her mouth onto mine and my orgasm wrenches through me.

  I am panting, and a thin sheen of sweat covers us both, so I bend my legs and dunk us into the water. It makes her giggle and I kiss her lips, dunking us again. I spend time with her, because I know if there is a hunt going on, Jeroc will cover for me.

  By the time we dry off and return to the cave, he approaches, noticing our wet hair.

  “Rutting in the creek?” he asks, and I nod. I’m sure a goofy grin is stuck on my face.

  He smiles at me. “I told you all your worries were for nothing, did I not?”

  “You did,” I agree, my mood restored.

  He takes Tessa by the hand and leads her to where others sit. “As soon as we all can speak,” he says, over his shoulder. “I would like to offer her a mating.”

  Chapter Six

  One month later:

  The crackling of the fire wakes me. Jeroc’s familiar blue eyes are beautiful in the glow from the flames.

  “Good morning, sweet Tessa.”

  I smile at the sexy man, and my brain—fuzzy without coffee—recalls where I am. I fell asleep in Jeroc’s cave last night, instead of the one I share with Miranda and Cammie. Tijar is out hunting. The hunters work in three day cycles and usually when he returns, I spend time with him.

  The human girls and the hunters had taken a trip back to the Drurian vessel. Niki continued to grow sicker, and Drakar wanted to get to the Drurian spaceship where we could search for clues as to why she was dying. Instead, we found a Stargazer vessel.

  Stargazers had arrived on Earth and integrated with the inhabitants a couple years earlier. They mostly lived on parcels of land set aside for their use, so none of us abductees had actually ever met any of them. But the one who landed here has a pregnant Earth wife named Jessie, and they invited us into their ship. They healed Niki, telling us part of the problem was the Drurians had scrambled her brainwaves during the language experimentation and there was a lot of scarring. Then the generous Stargazers implanted the
rest of us with the Blaedonian language. We were able to see the night predators on the planet from the invisible walls of the ship, we ate Earth food one last time, and…the Stargazers offered anyone who wanted it, a ride home.

  There were no takers.

  Everyone had their reasons, and no one really shared a whole lot. Niki is pregnant and there was no way she’s leaving Drakar. That one was a given. Jezebel had decided to stay with Maca. Valencia with Atareek. Me? I never volunteered a reason.

  But we all returned to the village, and now me and the two guys tread carefully. Even though part of life is easier with understanding each other—on the other hand, even with knowing the same language, we don’t fully communicate.

  Tonight, though, will be different. Tijar is returning home from his shift, and he had arranged to have Jeroc gently tell me the three of us will have dinner in his cave. Alone. While we normally have dinner together, we do it in the main hall along with everyone else. Lately things are subtly shifting, and I’m not sure if I’m ready for the changes. Changes make me wary. I pull back from the guys for a while every time we get too close. They get frustrated, and we slowly move forward once more, after I’ve taken a huge step back. We live in a delicate dance.

  Why? I like the way things are. I don’t want to change them because I don’t want to risk losing one or both of the guys. I suspect they’ll want me to choose one soon. In the meantime, I tried to make things as normal as possible by sleeping in Jeroc’s cave last night while Tijar was out hunting.

  “Good morning, gorgeous,” I whisper.

  He is. Jeroc is stunningly beautiful, and I’m sure Blaedonian women eyed him long before I came along. Hell, with the way he performs in bed, I’m sure he’s had plenty of practice between the furs.

  “Are you hungry, sweet Tessa?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “Is it time for you to go to Byndi and Jerobi’s cave?” The Blaedonian couple is expecting a child in a few seasons, and Jeroc paints scrolling words in the caves before a baby’s birth. The symbols bring luck, health and well-being to an infant or something like that.

  “Yes. I need to get started so I’ll be finished by the dinner tonight.”

  A subtle reminder of the three of us getting together. Sometimes I feel like the guys gang up on me. A sense of dread clenches my gut. Is tonight the night they’ll finally force me to choose between them?

  I nod.

  “You know I’d normally stay and bathe and feed you, right?”

  He seems worried about his care of me. I think he worries that Tijar may do it better, and it lessens his chances of winning. I don’t want him to worry, so I cup his lean cheek in my palm. “I know, baby. I’ll be fine. I’ll visit with the other girls today. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll be here tonight. Do you want me to sleep over after our dinner?”

  I hold my breath. Normally, he’d back away for a couple days while Tijar has his time with me. But I want to know what they’re planning by insisting upon the shared dinner. Is everything as we know it over?

  “We’ll see how it goes,” he says noncommittally, and leans down to kiss me. That doesn’t ease my fears.

  When he leaves, I straighten his cave and make the nest. Then I head to the cave I share with Miranda and Cammie, and gather fresh clothes before I head to the bathing pool.

  Vesha and Maynak are in the pool, and laughing loudly.

  “Tessa,” Maynak calls. “Come join us.”

  I smile and quickly strip, then wade to where they sit.

  “This is Jezebel’s first shift with kitchen duty,” Vesha snickers. “We cannot wait to see what she comes up with.”

  Jezebel’s a colorful character. I’m surprised they gave her kitchen duty. “Oh, boy.”

  “It may not be too bad,” Maynak defends. Technically, she has to, since her brother Maca has been chasing Jezzy since we arrived on the planet. I don’t think they’ve actually mated though. “After all, she has help.”

  Vesha snickers again. “I feel for Tohnea. She may be throwing in the kitchen towel after this.”

  “I hope not.” I really enjoy when she cooks.

  “What are you doing here? How does a woman with two men chasing her get some time alone, anyway?” Vesha asks with a laugh.

  “Tijar’s out hunting, and Jeroc needs to paint Byndi’s cave so many moons before the baby’s born, or something like that.”

  “Yes, the earlier the better,” Maynak says. “But it cannot be too early. If the baby does not survive the first six-month gestation, it is horrible for the parents to face the beautiful painting each day.”

  “You know reverent mother asked him to paint it as soon as possible?” Vesha says. “Byndi’s pregnancy is not going so smooth. They hope this will help.”

  I didn’t know that, but then my world has been wrapped up with Jeroc and Tijar. This could be my chance to learn other details about my guys.

  “I didn’t realize that Jeroc and Tijar were best friends. Of course, we couldn’t communicate until the humans learned to speak Blaedonian. But I was so confused. I thought they were in a contest for me.”

  Vesha snickers, but doesn’t answer. So I continue on.

  “Instead, one would just move aside while the other took care of me.”

  “They were probably trying to not scare you. I know you hu-maans are so much smaller than us. For a long time we thought you were so fragile, we were afraid to hurt you. Are your males small too?” She doesn’t get what I’m asking and changes the subject, but I’m eager to share the details of Earth with her.

  “They come in all sizes, not like your people where everyone is similar. But the average is about six feet tall. So still shorter than your people.”

  Vesha snorts. “I would break a man that size.”

  Maynak and I burst out laughing.

  Then Maynak gets serious and leans in. “What about the size of their cocks?” She motions “down there” with her eyes.

  “Well, things are definitely proportionate. But with many differences. You could date one tall man and find a rinky dinky pinky, and date another smaller guy and find he’s abnormally the size of a horse. Of course, it’s all relative.” There’s no way I’m going to admit I’ve never actually seen a live human cock. It doesn’t matter anyway, as their expressions cloud. Probably thinking of what a horse could be.

  “Does everything else look the same?” Vesha asks.

  “Nope. No rings around the cock.” This I know for a fact.

  “What?” Both jaws drop.

  Maynak splutters. “But how do you reach your satisfaction without them?”

  I shrug. “It’s hit or miss, usually.”

  “I am glad none of your males came with you,” Vesha says, and sounds grumpy.

  I laugh and start to wash up. “Let’s go see what recipes Jezebel came up with.”

  They follow, ready for more laughs.

  * * * * *

  The bell outside the gates clangs, and I know it signifies the hunters have arrived. I head outside along with a crowd of others, and there, scanning the crowd for me, is my Tijar. I run to him, and he lifts me easily. I smother him with kisses, and he tastes salty and manly. Three days feels like forever.

  “I have missed you, Tessa,” he manages, between kisses.

  “I’ve missed you. So much.” But a part of my belly is still sick, knowing I’ll have to choose tonight and I really can’t make that choice.

  I’m hugging him tight, even though he’s dusty and sweaty.

  “I need to bathe,” he laughs.

  “I’ll wash you.”

  He pulls back, and looks appalled. “It is my job to bathe you, silly. But I appreciate the thought. How is Jeroc?”

  “He’s fine. Painting Byndi’s cave so we’ll have time tonight for our dinner.”

  I’m sure he can see the look of dread rove over my face, because he grunts. “We are all three having dinner and we’re going to enjoy it. I promise.”

  “I’m sure I’ll enjo
y dinner. We have it together every day. I just don’t understand why it’s inside instead of with the others.”

  He lets me slide down his body so we can begin walking.

  “We want privacy to speak among the three of us.”

  Well, there it is. I feel like spitting. It’s too late to pretend I’m sick. But the panicked feeling spreads, and I begin to wonder if I am a little ill after all.

  We’re at the pool now, and he drops his spear. He begins unstrapping the various knives against his body. His muscles glisten with a fine sheen of sweat and he looks as yummy as ever.

  “Why don’t I let you wash me?” he says. “If that is what you want, little one, so be it.”

  I nod. It’ll distract me, at least for a little while. I sit at the edge of the pool and remove my moccasins, then dangle my legs in the water.

  He climbs in and sighs at the warmth. He dunks, wetting himself thoroughly, and sits between my legs as I unbraid his hair. He has one thick pleat going down his back today. I lather his hair and dunk him, and then give him a good conditioning. Then I rub soap across his back and neck and clean his arms. He turns to face me so I can wash his chest, but then reaches out to stop me.

  “I’ll have to do the rest myself,” he says. “Or I’ll take you on the side of the pool.”

  The thought sounds intriguing. “Maybe your cave will be empty.” Highly unlikely, since the hunters are on the same schedule as Tijar.

  “I don’t think so. They’re probably hoping I’ll be at Jeroc’s. How about your cave?”

  That makes me grumble. “Cammie wanted to take a nap earlier. She was up all night planning what she was going to teach the children today.”

  He sighs.

  “Jeroc’s cave should be empty.”

  “No, little one. It is not. He is preparing dinner for us.”

  And if we didn’t have to do that damn dinner, Tijar and I could go outside to a spot by our favorite creek.

  “It is all right. We will have all day tomorrow to be together.” He stands firm on the whole dinner-thing, just like Jeroc did earlier.

  * * * * *

  Tijar holds open the curtain of fur that hangs as a door at Jeroc’s cave and I enter. Jeroc is lighting a small torch in the center of the table.