Strength in Numbers Read online

  Pataryio’s smile was cocky to say the least. “Eterin, we’ve spent how long on back-to-back missions with no chance for release? While you may enjoy living the lifestyle of a monk, I do not.”

  Eterin recalled all too well what it was like to have Pataryio’s cock in his ass. While Pataryio was open and vocal about his preferences including both sexes, Eterin had always preferred only women. He’d needed Pataryio’s assistance in rescuing Sempia and agreed to the terms laid forth by the man—allow him free access to his body during the show to make it as believable as possible.

  Pataryio’s mood had been light, almost giddy in the weeks leading up to the rescue mission. He’d continued to give Eterin advice on receiving a man and on giving pleasure in return. He’d also gone as far as to give Eterin a butt plug so he could prepare himself accordingly. Thankfully, Eterin had done so.

  Pataryio came farther into the chamber, his gaze going to Sempia. “You look lovely, my beauty. How are you settling in? Do you want for anything?”

  She put her hand toward Eterin. “I want for him so much my body aches.”

  Eterin inhaled deeply, shocked and proud at her declaration. He opened his mouth to comment but Pataryio reached out and skimmed his hand over Eterin’s lower abs.

  “I know the feeling, beauty. I am teased with glimpses of his body, and often we are the only two living souls upon this vessel for months at a time,” he said. “Do you know he only permitted me to touch him in the manner in which I wanted because of you?”

  Sempia slid her legs off the bed and came directly to Eterin. She caressed his chest lightly, her fingers scorching his skin. “Did you not enjoy what transpired?”

  A knot formed in his throat. He considered lying but held back. “I enjoyed it.”

  “More than he cares to admit, I think,” Pataryio added. He stepped back. “I shall go and leave the happy couple be.”

  Sempia grabbed for his arm. “Pataryio, thank you for assisting him in coming for me. And do not think I’m too blind to see your feelings for him are much like my own. You love him too, don’t you?”

  Love?

  Eterin remained still, unsure what to say or do.

  Pataryio bent his head. “Yes, but his heart is yours and yours alone, my lady. I can see why. You are a great beauty, and from what I have seen of you thus far, your inside is as warm as your out.”

  Sempia took hold of Eterin’s hand and placed it upon Pataryio’s forearm. She looked between the men and then tugged at Eterin’s shoulder, encouraging him to bend to meet her mouth. He did and the kiss was explosive. Hands were suddenly everywhere and it took him a second to realize more than just Sempia’s hands were upon his body.

  He tensed and Sempia increased her kiss, forcing him to relax.

  Someone rubbed his chest, following the ridges of each muscle. The action made his cock lengthen. Soft, tender hands encased his shaft as best they could and he knew those belonged to Sempia.

  Eterin caressed her body with one hand, his other roaming to Pataryio. He hated admitting to himself that he got pleasure out of touching his friend, but he did. Pataryio took hold of his hand and guided it down washboard abs to his loincloth. He pushed the cloth aside as if daring Eterin to go further.

  Eterin did.

  He took hold of Pataryio’s cock and stroked it while spearing Sempia’s pussy with his other hand. She whimpered in his mouth and clung to him. Pataryio’s cock leaked in his hand and the added juice provided lubrication for Eterin to continue to stroke the man. Eterin tugged on Pataryio’s cock gently, pulling him closer. He turned his head with the intent to look his friend in the eye. When Pataryio’s lips found his, Eterin tensed.

  Sempia kissed his chest, nibbling on it.

  He opened his mouth to Pataryio and surrendered to the kiss. He fingered Sempia more, wanting to sink his cock into her, needing release and soon. Pataryio’s kiss was teasing in nature and brought a smile to Eterin’s face.

  “May I sample her?” Pataryio asked, glancing towards Sempia’s cunt.

  “No,” he responded gruffly. “She is mine.”

  A lazy grin happened upon her as she stared up at him. “Do you not share your toys, master?”

  His pulse raced. A part of him did enjoy watching as Pataryio had fucked Sempia’s ass. He hated admitting as much out loud. For so long he’d envisioned them together—just the two of them. Pataryio had not been part of his plan, but the idea of sending the man away caused a feeling of unease to spread through Eterin.

  Sempia leaned up and kissed his scars. “Master, let us love you.”

  “No,” he said sharply, catching her wrists. “I am not your master.”

  “Eterin,” Pataryio whispered. “She plays an erotic game with you. No more. No less. Give her this. I believe you want to.” He kissed Eterin’s shoulder. “It is simply a game. One we will all enjoy. Will you play?”

  “Will you touch her?” he asked, his voice deep.

  “It would appear not,” Pataryio said. “Though I greatly wish to know what it feels like to be in a woman with such love in her heart as to agree to share her man with another.”

  Eterin looked down at Sempia. She truly loved him after all this time?

  The answer was there upon her face.

  Yes. She did.

  “Would it please you to receive him?” he asked.

  She blushed and nodded. “I would like for him to enter me and for you to enter him. I think he would like it as well.”

  “He would,” Pataryio replied with a grin. “Very much so.”

  A moment of protest danced upon the tip of Eterin’s tongue. He swallowed it away as he stared at his friend, noting every ripple of muscle, remembering what it was like to have Pataryio buried deep within his ass. He cock twitched and he exhaled slowly. “Do not lay your seed in her, Pataryio. That is for me to do and me alone. Are we clear?”

  “We are,” his friend said, easing between Sempia and him.

  Eterin stepped back, permitting the man to touch his woman. Pataryio eased Sempia onto the bed. Eterin almost stopped everything as jealousy threatened him, but he maintained control, shifting his focus to Pataryio’s back. Eterin ran his fingers over it, gliding them down to the top of Pataryio’s ass.

  Pataryio crawled over Sempia on the bed, dipped his head low and buried his face between Sempia’s legs. He reached back with one hand and stroked Eterin’s cock. He moaned into her pussy and then lifted his head. “She tastes of the gods.”

  “Soon enough, I will know,” Eterin stated evenly.

  Pataryio glanced down the length of him, to his cock. “Use the lubrication in the side drawer and then you may do with me as you wish, Master.”

  Sempia giggled before Pataryio returned to his task at hand—his face in her cunt. Doing as instructed, Eterin retrieved the lubrication and spread it liberally upon his cock. With a force that surprised him, he ripped Pataryio’s loincloth from his body before doing the same to his own. Sempia cried out, wrapping her legs around Pataryio’s head. He chuckled into her pussy as Eterin eased up behind him, aligning his cock head just right with his ass.

  He pushed in gently at first, the feel so tight he nearly came. Animal instinct seemed to overtake him and he thrust in deep. Pataryio came up fast, panting, moving his body against Eterin’s before sliding up and over Sempia. Pataryio then shoved into Sempia, causing her to moan sweetly. It took a moment, but their thrusts fell into a rhythm, each pumping at the same time. Grunts and groans filled the room as did the heady smell of sex. Satisfaction coursed through his veins, igniting his thrusts. With a roar, Eterin slammed into Pataryio, his cock jerking with release.

  Pataryio panted and pushed back, shaking his head. “Let me up. Quickly!”

  Eterin did, just as Pataryio splashed seed upon Sempia’s stomach. The look of rapture on her face said she too had found bliss in it all. She reached up, first touching Pataryio’s lips and then Eterin’s. “Can we do that again, very soon, but switch?”

 
Laughter erupted from the men.

  “Your wench is saucy and demanding,” Pataryio said, tracing a finger through his cum upon her stomach.

  “That she is,” Eterin admitted, nodding his head toward the bathing chambers aboard the vessel. “Let us clean ourselves.”

  Sempia pulled a cloth toward her and used it to wipe her stomach clean. “Yes, but can we first lie together and hold one another?”

  Eterin and Pataryio groaned.

  She huffed. “Men.”

  Shrugging, Eterin nodded. He took one side of her and Pataryio took the other. They embraced her, sandwiching her in. “There. Better?”

  “Much,” she said.

  Chapter Six

  Sempia put her hands out to the men as they stood in the oversized particle shower, awaiting her. She’d heard talk of showers that didn’t use actual water but rather had simulated water that adhered to tiny cleansing beads. Eterin and Pataryio glanced at one another before Pataryio tipped his head. “I’m not sure she’s actually going to get in. You better just grab her.”

  Her eyes widened as Eterin did just that. He lifted her, chuckling as he set her between him and Pataryio. “There. Much better.”

  She touched each of their chests. “Will it hurt?”

  “Will what hurt, beauty?” Pataryio asked.

  “The particle stream,” she supplied.

  They shared yet another look and she blushed, feeling very sheltered in comparison to them. They’d no doubt seen the universe. She’d seen her home planet and then the moon on which she’d trained to be a sexual servant. Nothing more.

  Eterin put a finger under her chin and tilted her head upward. “It will feel no different from the showers or baths you are accustomed to. You have my word.”

  Relief moved over her and she nodded, still embarrassed at her reaction to something new.

  Pataryio put his chin to her shoulder. “Beauty, the first time I saw an actual body of water on a planet, I ran the other way, convinced some giant sea beast was going to come lurching out of it and eat me alive. There was much about the various planets that amazed me. I’d been born aboard a space station and had lived there until I was in my early teens. So you see, I very much understand what it feels like to be out of your element.”

  She relaxed, a smile touching her lips.

  Eterin seemed pleased with his friend as well. He nodded and then set his sights upon her. He pushed several buttons within the shower and water that was the perfect temperature shot out of various sprayers, soaking them all. She squealed and moved against Eterin’s chest as one nozzle sprayed directly in her face.

  Eterin grunted and adjusted it quickly, moving it lower for her. “Sorry. You are smaller than we are.”

  Pataryio chuckled, sliding up against her back. “Now, let us clean our woman. Um, I mean…”

  “Yes, let’s clean her,” Eterin said.

  Sempia was surprised an argument didn’t break out.

  Pataryio began caressing her back, gathering a good lather with soap from the dispenser. Eterin followed his lead, doing the same to her, washing her front gently. They took their time with her, rubbing her body tenderly as they inched their way down it and back up again. Pataryio reached around and tweaked her soapy nipples while Eterin dipped a finger in her wet cunt.

  She moaned and tipped her head back. Eterin kissed her neck and Pataryio did the same to her temple. It was as if hands were everywhere on her body, all at once. Pleasure rippled through her and she closed her eyes, losing herself in the moment. She squirmed on Eterin’s finger, her pulse racing.

  Pataryio pinched her nipples, tugging lightly on them. Each pull caused her lower abdomen to spasm with need. Her body should have been sated for weeks. Somehow, they made her want more.

  “Mmm, how does it feel, beauty?”

  “Good,” she murmured. “So good.”

  Pataryio chuckled deeply in her ear.

  Eterin rubbed her clit with his thumb as he continued to thrust a finger in and out of her. She rode it slowly, wringing pleasure from the act. Neither man seemed to tire of tending to her. She felt pampered like a princess rather than the slave she was born to be.

  Eterin eased closer to her, his warm breath skating over her neck and cheek. “Sempia.”

  “Yes?”

  “Scream for me,” he said, increasing the speed in which he finger-fucked her.

  Panting, she arched her back to him, roaming her hands over his chest. She reached back, grabbing for Pataryio, but she couldn’t quite reach.

  He laughed softly. “No, beauty. This is for you. This is our thank you for allowing us the pleasures of your body. Let us care for you.”

  Tears came to her eyes but she held them in. No one had tended to her or cared for her in her life. To have two men show up and give her freedom and affection was somewhat overwhelming.

  Eterin took hold of the back of her head and jerked her to him, covering her mouth with his. His kiss was so sweet, so thoughtful and tender that she lost her battle with her tears. He rubbed her clit more, tweaking it just so to the point she reached culmination. She cried out, gifting Eterin the scream he’d so desired. Her entire body shook and her pussy clenched around his finger. Pataryio played with her sensitive nipples, riding out the orgasm with her as Eterin’s tongue laced around hers. When it was all said and done, she was left panting, held up only by them. They pushed tight against her, covering her in tiny kisses, and she knew she was where she belonged.

  Sempia stared out at the darkened sky. It was so different seeing it from this vantage point rather than from planet-side. She leaned in the copilot’s seat, swivelling to gain a better view of the gasses among space.

  Eterin glanced over at her, appearing amused. “You enjoy this?”

  “Greatly. It is beautiful.”

  “Yet it does not compare to you,” he said, piloting the vessel.

  “Where shall we go?” she questioned. “Will this vessel be our home?”

  “Would it be so bad?”

  She stared at him. “No. It’s a fine vessel, Eterin. Very fine indeed. Though, the only other I’ve ever been aboard was the one that took me from our home planet when I was but a child. I was afforded no view of the stars, only metal walls.”

  “I hate that I couldn’t protect you then,” he said calmly, facing forward.

  She remained in her seat, bringing her knees to her chest. “You were but a child yourself and born of the same station. The fact you have come this far, done this much is amazing.” And it was. Most of the males of her tribe were sent off to work in mines or serve in the armies as warriors of low ranks, grunts for the slaughter. Eterin had moved past all that somehow. She wasn’t sure how, and she guessed it probably wasn’t legal, but he’d done it all the same. “If we are going to go down this path, let me say that you suffered greatly as well. You can try to tell me otherwise, but the proof of my statement is upon your chest.”

  His gaze flickered to his scars and then back out into space once more. “The pain was fleeting. I am above it now.”

  “Eterin, what became of you?” she asked in earnest. “I noticed you wear the marks of the elite warriors. Were you among them?”

  “I was.”

  She sighed. “You wish to speak of this no more with me?”

  He eased his grip on the steering column. “In truth, I know not how to speak of this to you. How does one tell another of times so dark, so indescribably horrid that simply thinking on them can bring the nightmares to life?”

  She hugged her legs tighter. “One does not speak of them.”

  “One should to the one they love, yes?”

  She stilled, her gaze frozen upon him. “Eterin?”

  “Yes?”

  “Nothing,” she said, turning her chair in the other direction, too much a coward to ask him if he loved her.

  I do, his voice came in her head.

  She jerked around, her eyes wide. “How is it you do such a thing?”

  He lau
ghed. “You are more concerned with the ability to speak telepathically than you are with the fact I love you?”

  She snapped her mouth shut, her eyes wide.

  He laughed more.

  Pataryio entered the bridge. “What is so funny?”

  “He loves me,” she blurted.

  He too laughed. “And this, my beauty, you are surprised by? I have known him many years, and you are all he speaks of. You should know he has great plans for your life together.”

  “Pataryio,” Eterin said sternly.

  Sempia noticed the sadness hiding in the depths of Pataryio’s gaze. She exhaled slowly. “And what of you, Pataryio? What of your future with us?”

  Both men eyed her.

  She shrugged. “It was a good question. I can see there is something between the two of you. I would never ask you to forgo your feelings for each other on my account.”

  “My beauty, your heart is big, but others would not understand. Their views are not as open as yours.”

  She jutted out her chin. “Not true. Many, many different types of lovers passed through my training facility. Some were made up of only women, others only men and some varying numbers of each.”

  “Warriors take a wife,” Eterin said as if that was the final say on the matter.

  “Says the very body of leaders you will speak not of?” she questioned, knowing she was overstepping her bounds. “Correct me if I am wrong, but these are the same leaders you defected from, refusing to be a warrior for any longer, yes?”

  Pataryio flashed a smile. “She has a point.”

  “And what would be your answer to this, Pataryio?” Eterin demanded. “Would you have us live as three? Would you ask me to share my wife?”

  “Wife?” Sempia asked.

  “You will wed me,” he stated, his patience short as he glanced to his friend. “Would you ask that of me?”

  “No,” Pataryio said, lowering his gaze.

  “Why not?” Eterin questioned, as if he were angered by the response he’d received.

  Sempia hid her smile. Such proud men. How long would it take them to realize love sparked between them and that, with time, she too could grow to love Pataryio as Eterin did?