STORY EXCERPT

“Hey, Drake?” Matt asked. “Ever read Swiss Family Robinson back on Earth?”

“Not familiar with that one,” Drake called down as he reached for another piece of wood that Matt passed up before Drake raised it higher to Betinsa. She’d done a good job lashing together a deck for them to use while they slept. “What brings it to mind?”

“It’s the story of a family who was shipwrecked and built themselves a wonderful tree house to call home.” The platform they’d constructed was larger than some bedrooms back on Earth. “We did a nice job of this, didn’t we?”

Drake laughed. “We did. Seems like the three of us work well together. We’ll have to write a book about our adventures when this is all over.”

They’d salvaged more from the Mirhala than Matt had ever dreamed. A medical scanner that still worked. Some first aid supplies. A couple of laser rifles. Plus, both he and Betinsa had their personal laser pistols. A small amount of food. Even some bedding.

Since their E.B.I. standard black suits and Drake’s dress clothes were too hot, they had all changed to some of the more casual clothes they’d packed. He and Drake had started with shirts and shorts, but their sweat-soaked shirts now lay draped over one of the higher branches. Betinsa wore a formfitting tank top and tight workout shorts. Matt had seen her in similar outfits many times before when they’d gone for runs or practiced take-down maneuvers. Sure, he’d always admired her svelte, athletic shape. Now, what he noticed was Drake noticing her as well. What Matt couldn’t decide was if that bothered him or if he wanted Drake to envy him because he was close to her.

Despite Betinsa’s lack of a distress message, he knew someone would eventually come looking for them. Drake Keller was one of Earth’s ambassadors—he wouldn’t be allowed to remain missing without a search being conducted. Nor would the Earth Bureau of Investigation allow two of its agents to be considered missing-in-action without checking into all possibilities of how they could have survived.

Several of the thick trees on Katenya were similar to Earth’s bamboo—thick bark but hollow on the inside. He, Drake, and Betinsa had even been able to strip wire from the communications consoles to use to bind the logs they cut down with an ax Drake fashioned from a sharp piece of the ship’s hull. With the three of them working as a team, they would have a safe place to sleep for the night. He hadn’t had the nerve to ask what the gremtils she spoke of were, but the shiver in Betinsa’s voice told him all he needed to know. No way in hell he’d be on the ground when the suns set.

Betinsa hadn’t complained about her injured arm, not even seeming to favor it. He wouldn’t wound her pride by inquiring after her. He knew better.

“Matt?” she called down. “The time?”

She’d asked often enough, it was starting to make him nervous. “An hour ’til the suns set.”

“We should fetch the rest of the supplies from the ship and make our places up here,” Betinsa said as she shimmied past him down the tall tree. She’d found something to bind her long hair with, and though he understood why she’d want the thick curls up while she worked, he missed seeing it loose and bouncing around her shoulders. Such beautiful hair. Black as a raven’s wing with long ringlet curls he’d always wanted to tangle his fingers in to see if they were as soft as they looked.

His gaze followed her down the tree, and he couldn’t help but admire the sway of her petite but nicely rounded hips as she hurried to the remainder of the wreckage. Maybe having her here—away from the stress and strain of their jobs back on Earth—might give him a chance to cultivate a deeper relationship with her. He’d desired that for a long time. He’d desired her for a long time. Yet they’d hopped from one investigation to the next with no time in between for them to get to know each other a little better.

Now, they had time. Plenty of time.

ADULT EXCERPT

Pleasure shot through Betinsa, making her moan and arch back against Drake at the same time she turned her head to see him. Her hands stretched up to reach behind to bring him down to her. His hands covered her breasts, rubbing and kneading gently as he nibbled on the tender flesh of her lips before capturing her mouth for a proper kiss. A rush of heat flooded her core as she hoped Matt wouldn’t be shocked by the fluid her body released in desire for her mates.

From the way he reacted, she knew he didn’t mind. His tongue lapped at her as he hummed like a child savoring a sweet piece of candy. When he pulled her clitoris deep into his mouth, using suction to torment her, Betinsa lost her fight for control. Breaking away from Drake’s kiss, she brought her arms back in front of her to weave her fingers through Matt’s short hair. Her body clenched before snapping like a tightened spring suddenly released. “Saramie!” she shouted, bucking against his mouth as he kept forcing his tongue deep inside her. Between Matt’s hands on her hips and Drake’s on her breasts, she could barely move, only quiver against the sensations ripping through her as spasm after spasm of pleasure shook her body.

By the time she recovered from the tantalizing orgasm, Betinsa found herself lying on top of Drake as he reclined on a towel spread over the soft grass. His cock pressed hard against her pussy as he rocked his hips up. Desire resurrected at light speed, and she nodded, somehow knowing he was waiting for her approval.

He surged up inside her with one powerful thrust, and she sat up, spreading her thighs wider to take him as deeply into her body as she could. Matt’s hands settled on her shoulders as Drake stilled, looking past her to nod at Matt.

Matt captured her chin with his fingers and turned her face toward him. “Can we please try something, Tinsa?”

“Anything.” And she meant it. Nothing her mates wanted to do with her—to her—was forbidden. Her body, her heart, and her soul belonged to them.

“Can we both be inside you at the same time?”

“How?” Her question was a breathless whisper as her insides tightened at the thought of loving both Matt and Drake at the same time. She squeezed Drake’s cock with her inner muscles as he groaned in response.

Matt laid his hands on her shoulders and smoothed his palms down her back, leaving gooseflesh in his wake. Then he cupped her backside before sliding a long finger over to the cleft between her cheeks. He slid down the sensitive skin until he reached her most private of places. “I can love you here.” The tip of his finger pressed up inside her.

Betinsa had never felt anything half as marvelous. Drake’s cock filled her, and yet her other mate could claim her body as well. Taking a shuddering breath, she gave him what she hoped was a seductive smile. “Show me, saramie.”

Drake’s hands stroked her breasts, working his way up until he could hold her neck. He pulled her forward until her face was only a hand’s breadth away from his. “Relax. Let us show you how.”

“Yes, lamanna.” My heart. “Yes.”

His mouth claimed hers as Matt settled behind her, spreading her buttocks with his warm palms. A moist finger probed her tight hole, pushing up inside her, gently stroking and stretching her for his invasion. Drake kept her occupied, kissing her deeply, his tongue coaxing hers into his mouth where he sucked. She whimpered against his lips when a second of Matt’s fingers joined his first, still warm and wet from their swim. The pain and pleasure mixed, drowning her in sensation until she wanted nothing more than to feel both her men buried inside her.

“You ready, Tinsa?” Matt asked as he removed his fingers and pressed the hot, damp head of his cock against her entrance.

“Yes,” she said between the kisses Drake used to keep her so blinded with passion she could barely think.

Centimeter by agonizingly slow centimeter, Matt eased inside her body until she couldn’t take the wait a moment longer. Rocking back hard, she impaled herself on him, her buttocks slapping against his stomach. “God, Tinsa… You’re so tight.”

Drake rocked his hips up at the same time Matt pushed hard against her. Then they both pulled back just enough to make her fear they were leaving her. Clenching her muscles, she almost cried out that she needed them to stay when both men surged deep again. Soon, they set an easy rhythm, rocking in before pulling back enough to plunge inside again.

Her body felt so wonderfully full. Never had she imagined loving her mates in such a fashion was possible. All too soon, release approached, the orgasm building quickly inside her until she feared she would splinter apart with the intensity.

Tearing her mouth away from Drake, Betinsa gasped for breath, wanting to tell her men how wonderful they were making her feel, how beautifully they were making her body sing. All she could manage were moans and cries of pleasure that built into a scream as fire erupted in her sex and fanned out to reach every cell.