Tandem Unit Read online

  “Is this what you want?” Blakely wasn't sure which of them had said it or whose hands were filled with her ripe breasts, whose hands were gliding over her softly curving sides, caressing the silky skin of her inner thighs so wet and hot and ready…

  Then he felt Sadie stiffen between them, her body going rigid as a board. She had been unprepared for any of this, he realized; they might be overloading her system. Blakely looked at her anxiously, he didn't detect any of the usual symptoms of sensory overload and she hadn't fainted, but the flushed face still cupped in his palm trembled and her delicate features were tense with the overwhelming sensations.

  “Oh … Goddess,” she whispered brokenly, her honey-brown eyes huge with fear and pleasure. “I don't understand but please … Please don't. I've never … I can't … Please…” A tear leaked from the corner of her eye and ran over Blakely's thumb as he caressed her cheek and her breath hitched unevenly in her chest. Her body might be responding to the link but it was obvious that emotionally she was unprepared.

  Cursing himself and his partner for going too far, Blakely stepped back abruptly, giving her space and narrowing the link to its previous dimensions, feeling the loss like a suddenly amputated limb. He saw Holt wince and knew his partner felt it too. Caught off balance, Sadie almost fell but Holt grabbed her roughly from behind and held her until she regained her balance. When it was obvious she wouldn't fall, the blond man came around to stand shoulder to shoulder with Blakely and look her in the face.

  “We won't ask you for that kind of payment, Sadie.” Holt's voice was cold and precise. “But Blakely and I don't like being manipulated. We took you along to insure your safety, not for our own sexual gratification. Although we appreciate the offer,” the sapphire eyes took in all of her luscious curves naked before them, “neither one of us gets off on forcing anybody to sleep with us against their will.” Blakely nodded his agreement, not trusting himself to speak. If he did, it would be to reassure the girl and he would undo everything his partner had been trying to accomplish. Besides, the sense of loss was still so fresh. The link between him and Holt throbbed like an empty socket, needing a third to complete them, but he tried to ignore it and concentrate on the girl.

  “But, I thought … the way you … what you said…” Sadie was clearly taken aback at her sudden reprieve. She dried her cheeks with her fingers using quick, jerky motions and crossed her arms over her bare breasts, trying to regain her composure.

  “No, it was what you said,” Blakely reminded her gently. Leaning towards her, he kissed her softly on the side of her neck, over the spot where he had made his mark on her creamy flesh earlier. He was glad she wasn't going into some kind of hysterics but sad too—she had proven what Holt had been saying earlier. Sadie might possibly be able to handle the physical aspect of the T-linking which was rare, but she definitely wasn't receptive emotionally to what he and his partner had to offer. He tried to shrug off the melancholy mood. “It's time for bed, kid. You can have Holt's half of the bed tonight and he can sleep on the couch.”

  “I was going to offer her your half of the bed,” Holt mildly protested. He smiled lazily at Sadie and leaned in to give her a slow, lingering kiss near the corner of her mouth, as though the T-link wasn't throbbing like an empty socket in his chest the way it was in Blakely's. Holt had always been better at hiding his emotions—at hiding his pain, the dark-haired detective reflected.

  “Forget it, both of you.” Sadie put one small hand on either broad chest and pushed as forcefully as she could. Then, obviously remembering that she was still naked, she scooped the shirt off the floor and put it on, buttoning it as rapidly as she had unbuttoned it earlier. “I'm taking the couch.” Her voice still trembled slightly. “I don't know what's going on with you two but I'm not interested in being anywhere near either one of you in bed.” She turned her back on them and tapped one small foot on the carpet, obviously waiting for them to leave. She wasn't up for a discussion of the strange reaction she'd felt when she was sandwiched between the two of them yet.

  Blakely wondered if she would ask or try to find out on her own. Knowing what he did of reporters he was betting on the latter. Good luck, sweetheart. She would never guess. Looking at his partner he raised an eyebrow. “Holt, I think we've been dismissed.” He grinned and the blond man grinned lazily back. They had certainly made their point. It wouldn't hurt to let Sadie have her way now.

  “Guess we'd better get to bed, partner,” Holt replied. He nodded to Blakely and winked, no discussion was necessary. “Breakfast is at seven sharp,” the blond man told Sadie, or rather, her slender back held rigidly stiff. “If you're not up you miss out.”

  “You snooze, you lose,” Blakely clarified, snagging a thermal wrap from the storage area and tossing it onto the couch which promptly began to melt around it.

  “Fine, whatever,” she muttered, hunching her shoulders. It was obvious she wanted to be alone. Taking pity on her, Blakely headed for the tiny cubical which was barely big enough to hold the king-sized gelafoam-bed where he and Holt slept. Apparently the designer of the ship had been big on outer luxuries like the well-appointed living area and more frugal with the inner areas such at the fresher and sleeping spaces. Personally, he wished the designer had included at least one more bedroom. Holt had a tendency to snore.

  Chapter 6

  No matter which way she twisted on the c-gel couch, Sadie couldn't fall asleep. The couch accommodated her every move, cushioning her beautifully and it was certainly much softer than the steel storage locker she'd been sleeping in while playing the part of a prostie-borg but sleep continued to elude her. Sadie knew why too. Her discomfort wasn't physical—it was mental.

  What the hell is going on with those two? she wondered for the hundredth time. And why do I react that way when they put me between them? She shivered and remembered the sensation of the two strong, muscular bodies pressing hard against her, two sets of hands caressing her, two mouths kissing, licking, whispering what they would do… Just thinking about it made her breath come short and shallow in her chest and her cheeks flush a dull red with shame when she remembered her reaction. When she had felt that connection, that electricity between them flowing through her like a conductor, she had been almost ready to do anything they wanted. The words 'take me' had been trembling on her lips and Sadie had never felt so hot and wet in her life.

  What's wrong with me? I barely know them and I'm not that kind of girl … Slutty, Gerald's voice whispered in her head. Sadie frowned, studying the gently curved ceiling above her in the gloom. Yes, she had agreed, or thought she had agreed to trade sexual favors for a chance at the story of the century but it wasn't something she had ever done before or ever imagined herself doing in her wildest dreams or fantasies. And then Holt had made it clear they were just teaching her a lesson, getting her back for trying to use sex as a weapon and manipulate her way into their case. Well, she had been to some degree although he didn't have to make such a humiliating display… Sadie felt her cheeks get even redder. And it still doesn't explain why I reacted so strongly to them … to their hands on my body…

  She thought of Gerald, her ex-fiancé back on Io. Sadie's parents had died when she was very young and she was taken in by a strict elderly aunt who barely tolerated her. Despite being raised in Goshen Land which was Io's most conservative colony, Sadie had always been lively and curious. Her aunt Minnie called it nosy, which was probably why she became a reporter in the first place. Gerald had been the first real boyfriend she'd had after going off to college and getting out from under Aunt Minnie's thumb.

  Sadie really hadn't been with anyone else and Gerald's idea of a kinky sexual escapade was to leave the fresher light on with the door cracked so they could just barely make out each other's outlines in the darkened bedroom while they made love. Like everyone else in Goshen, he was extremely conservative sexually and when Sadie had dared to ask for more, the relationship crumbled under the weight of his disapproval. Sadie could almost hear him