Sharing a Mate Read online

  Not that Sorin minded.

  I like it when we all touch together, he thought, frowning. But it’s never been sexual before. It’s just…a comfort thing.

  Which was honestly true. From the very beginning of their friendship when Sorin felt down or discouraged about something, Bron always seemed to sense it. How often had he put a consoling arm around Sorin’s shoulders or just given him one of his long, hard bear hugs that seemed to squeeze the sadness right out somehow? And when Kayla had joined their twosome and made it a threesome, the comfort and touching had become even more intense.

  Intense and pleasurable, Sorin admitted to himself. They had even shared a bed before, on several occasions when they had gone on expeditions to alien worlds together. There was always more to find—more to discover and since their interests and fields of study matched so perfectly, they would often be at their field work all day long and then fall into bed exhausted at night.

  And if the bed they happened to fall into was the same one because the inn they were staying at was full or the locals were hostile and they had to share the bed on their shuttle, well, none of them minded and nothing ever came of it.

  Sorin had woken up more than once with his head pillowed on Kayla soft breast while Bron rested on the other, or to feel her soft body cupped around his own, while Bron curled around her on the other side—the three of them like three spoons in a drawer. It had never bothered him a bit…but now he started to wonder about himself. Did he feel more for his friends—both of them—than a male ought to?

  Surely not, he told himself uneasily. It’s Kayla I want—Kayla we both want. We don’t all want to be together—that would be wrong. Unnatural.

  Which was true, he was sure. It was just that when they helped her with her needing together—when they shared her—things got…hazy. Lines got blurred. The pleasure of touching her when Bron was also touching her seemed to bring down barriers inside himself that Sorin had believed were unassailable.

  It was strange and troubling and yet the experience they’d just had together, the three of them, had been the most erotic sexual act of his life. And they hadn’t even had sex! They’d only helped Kayla with her needing.

  Sorin shook his head. He would have to think about this later. Right now, they needed information on how to proceed on Carnal Four and the entire Mother Ship was counting on their success. He forced his mind back to the matter at hand and looked at the holo-link again. What else could he do?

  Can’t believe we fucking did it again, Bron was thinking, as he piloted the ship closer to the center of the Carnal solar system. We shared Kayla between us—like we were fucking Twin Kindred. And neither of us seemed to feel any anger or went into Rage at all. Why the fuck did we do that? What in the Seven Hells is wrong with us?

  This unnatural behavior on the part of himself and his best friend concerned him far more than the fact that he and Sorin had touched shafts. Touching was natural to Bron—the act of seeking physical comfort or giving physical love to someone you cared for just seemed right. And Sorin was the friend of his heart—he had no problem sharing pleasure with the other male.

  You also apparently have no problem sharing a female with him, whispered a disapproving voice in his head. What would his father and his older brothers think of him if they knew he had allowed himself to become a cuckold—a male whose female is cheating on him sexually with another? Cheating was extremely rare in Kindred culture but not in the cultures they mixed with and Bron knew that was how his act of sharing Kayla with another male would be perceived by his male relatives. He would look weak to them—submissive for allowing Sorin to touch and pleasure the female he wanted.

  His mother might have understood—she had always told him to follow his heart—but his father would disown him if he found that his youngest son was doing such a thing. Not that he cared that much what his family thought, Bron told himself uneasily. He rarely got home to Rageron more than once a year, mostly during festival time.

  Once he had brought Sorin with him but the constant loud celebration hadn’t been to his friend’s tastes much. It was better when they struck out together—or even better, with Kayla—to explore someplace new and different and find samples of alien microbes and viruses to bring back to their lab.

  Just like we’re together now, Bron told himself. It’s just another fucking trip—think of it like that. And after we get the antidote to that damn Xi-46, Kayla will take it and either choose one of us or things will go back to normal.

  He honestly didn’t know which outcome he was hoping for. Having tasted Kayla’s sweet nipples and fingered her hot, wet pussy, he wanted to bond her to him more badly than ever. But at the same time, he didn’t want to lose Sorin, which he surely would if Kayla chose one of them over the other.

  If only we could keep sharing her, Bron found himself thinking and then pushed the thought quickly away. Beast Kindred didn’t share—ever. And he wasn’t going to start now, he told himself. It wasn’t natural or right.

  With that idea firmly in place, he got back to piloting.

  I can’t believe I acted that way, Kayla was thinking as she sat between them. She was wearing another one of her prim and proper business blouses although she knew before they went down to the planet’s surface, Sorin would synthesize culture-appropriate clothing for all of them on the portable clothing pattern replicator. Still, having on a long-sleeved blouse which was buttoned up to her neck and another slimming skirt which went down to her knees made her feel better somehow. Less…slutty.

  No, don’t go there, Kayla told herself firmly. It’s not like I was being slutty with a couple of strangers I met on the street. My two best friends were helping me get over a chemical reaction to an illegal aphrodisiac drug which it was not my fault I was exposed to.

  It sounded so much nicer that way—so much less guilt-inducing. But it couldn’t completely clear away the lingering shame she felt or the worry that came with it. The three of them were getting deeper and deeper into this new aspect of their relationship and so far Bron and Sorin had been willing to work together to help her—to share her. But Kayla knew that wouldn’t last. The minute she got the antidote and was cured of her sexual needing, they would expect her to pick one of them for good.

  And that’s going to break my heart, she thought sadly. It will break up our threesome—end our perfect friendship.

  And more than anything, she didn’t want that. She wished the three of them could keep living and laughing and loving and working together forever. Looking from one to the other of her guys, Kayla gave a soft sigh. Oh, why couldn’t they have been Twin Kindred?

  She knew some girls whose families were shocked and scandalized when they brought home two husbands instead of one. But her Auntie Feenie was surprisingly open-minded and her sister would have laughed and congratulated her. Everything would have been perfect if Sorin and Bron were the type of Kindred who shared…instead of the kind who fought to death over a female if they both wanted her.

  Oh please, Kayla half thought/half prayed, although she had no idea who she was praying to. Please—there has to be a way to keep us together. I don’t want to lose either one of them—I love them both so much!

  “We’re here.” Bron’s deep, rumbling voice pulled her out of her silent reflection.

  Kayla looked on the viewscreen and saw a wild-looking, rainbow colored world spinning in space beneath them. It looked like a huge, glittering disco ball with every color imaginable swirling over its surface.

  “Whoa,” she breathed, leaning forward. “What the hell?”

  “The coloration is due to harmless pigments in their atmosphere,” Sorin reported. “Apparently they have a mild aphrodisiac effect.”

  “What?” Kayla demanded. “Damn it, I’m already under the influence of one aphrodisiac—I don’t need anything else on top of the Xi-46!”

  “The effects are supposed to be extremely mild,” Sorin assured her. “They don’t really make anyone aroused. They just…h