G'baena's Pirates (14 page)

Together, they surged into G’baena, her entire body still shaking with her orgasm. Kam grunted as he came, and Devlin’s cock exploded, the emotions swirling through him foreign and unexpected as his seed pulsed deep into G’baena’s body. He fell forward a moment, draping himself over her slight frame as he caught his breath.

Carefully, he pulled out of G’baena’s exhausted body and lifted her into his arms. “Shower first,” he said to them both, “then sleep.”

Kam looked surprised by the invitation but hurried into the cleansing area ahead of them. He had the sonic shower going but stood back to allow Devlin and G’baena to enter first. G’baena smiled sleepily, her arms wrapped around his neck as he stood under the shower’s rays and felt what little energy he had left drain from his muscles. Kam held his arms open, and Devlin placed G’baena on her wobbly legs. Together, they cleansed her thoroughly. By the time they were finished, Devlin’s cock had risen again, and he tried not to admit to himself that it wasn’t only G’baena’s gorgeous body that had been the cause.

Kam led them back to the bed, arranging G’baena in the middle and encouraging her into Devlin’s arms. Devlin wrapped his arms around her, his hand landing on Kam’s hip. At first he thought the other man might object, but after a moment of hesitation, Kam seemed to relax and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Devlin closed his eyes, content to leave the confusion of his feelings for another day.

* * * *

Kam woke to find himself on his back, G’baena sprawled half across him and Devlin tucked up behind her. Devlin’s large hand rested on Kam’s abdomen, and for a moment he considered pushing it away.

Until he’d left G’trobia, he hadn’t even considered a relationship between two men. Maybe he’d lived a horribly sheltered life, but on G’trobia there wasn’t even a hint of homosexual behavior within the community. Once he’d joined the group of displaced sons, he’d learned that a few of the males were involved as couples, but he’d considered the relationships as ones concerned with taking care of physical needs rather than emotional connections.

Now, he wasn’t so sure.

He’d never considered that he might find not only the type of emotional connection he’d had with his brother, but also a deeper, more carnal need for another man. He had no idea how Devlin would react when he woke, but last night had meant a great deal to Kam, and he wondered if, at least on some level, Devlin would be open to exploring the attraction that sizzled between them. He just hoped G’baena would understand. Her training had never included this type of situation.

* * * *

Devlin woke to the feel of a rough hand caressing over the top of his own. He flexed his fingers and realized that they rested on the hard planes of Kam’s abdomen. A part of him wanted to snatch the appendage back, deny the unexpected feeling, but a bigger part of him was willing to at least try and think rationally. Humans had long since accepted the normality of a homosexual relationship, but the newness of his emotions made Devlin hesitate. He’d never been attracted to a man before, and he had no idea how G’baena would react. Considering that G’trobian relationships usually involved twin brothers, she was unlikely to be expecting a physical relationship to develop between him and Kam. Once again, he worried that he would be putting pressure on G’baena to behave differently from what made her comfortable.

Fuck, how was it that a fragile relationship and complex situation could become even more fragile and more complex on a single thought?

His hand tightened over Kam’s stomach, the reaction possessive as he urged the man closer.

* * * *

G’baena lay still, controlling her breathing, trying not to give away that she was awake. She watched as Kam caressed Devlin’s fingers and Devlin’s reaction as he pulled the man closer. She’d seen the love and affection between Kam and his brother, but this was different, more possessive, and she wondered where exactly this development left her.

She wasn’t completely naïve. Her time as a slave had shown her that some males preferred other males, but she hadn’t actually considered a relationship between Kam and Devlin. To be honest, until last night, she really hadn’t considered anything beyond her own confused emotions. She wanted Kam and Devlin both to love her, but she hadn’t given a thought to how they would interact. She’d never considered the ramifications of two non-related males sharing her bed.

A small kernel of jealousy wormed through her, but she realized that by loving them both, she wanted them to be happy, even if that meant they loved each other. She just hoped they had room in their hearts for her also.

“Dev,” she said quietly, hoping that she was taking the right approach. His hand stiffened momentarily on Kam’s stomach but quickly resumed the gentle caress. “I love you,” she blurted out, as sudden panic squeezed her heart.

“I love you, too, Bae,” he said, as he leaned over and nuzzled her neck. “So does Kam,” he whispered conspiratorially, even though the other man could see and hear them both.

She nodded and raised her eyes to Kam’s. “I love him, too.”

“I know, baby girl,” Devlin said in that deep, sensual voice that sent tingles to all her happy places. “That’s why we’re both going to keep you.”

* * * *

Almost a week later, Devlin stood at the engineering panel, monitoring the ship’s radars. They approached G’trobia with caution, careful to fulfill all duties and protocols of a merchant or transport vessel. The last thing they needed was for their true identity as a pirate ship to be discovered accidentally.

Considering G’trobia’s limited space capabilities, it was very likely that the ship would withstand a full-scale attack from the planet, but Devlin really didn’t want to have to fix everything again. He finally had the ship’s propulsion and weapons running the way he wanted them, and he really didn’t want that messed up.

“You have entered G’trobian space. Please advise the purpose of your visit?” Devlin shook his head, not for the first time, at the singsong quality of the G’trobian voice. It was almost bizarre how the words could be so formal in nature but the delivery of them so musical.

A small part of him worried that neither G’baena nor Kam sounded like the voice on the communicator, but he hoped that Tee-ani’s theory would prove correct. She’d suggested a few days ago, when he’d tried to casually mention his observation to her, that perhaps the musical quality of G’baena’s and Kam’s voices would improve over time. Both had been through traumatic changes in recent months, and hopefully, their voices would recover as they managed to piece their lives together again. She’d suggested that their relationship with Devlin should help.

Devlin barely heard the captain’s reply to yet another inquiry from the planet but was certain it was identical to what he’d said the last three times they’d been contacted. Ben and Trey had assured
Jordan
that multiple contacts and many probing questions would be standard procedure before they would be allowed near the planet, so no one was overly concerned at the moment.

Ben and Trey entered the bridge dressed in clothes not dissimilar to the clothing Kam had worn when he’d been brought aboard, but much fancier somehow. He supposed that, like ancient Earth royalty, G’trobian royalty would need to dress according to their status.

Tee-ani followed close behind, her manner suggesting she had much on her mind.

“How long do we have?”
Jordan
asked her.

“Sixteen revolutions of Keytark’s planet will be completed in about thirteen hours, and we have a forty-nine hour window after that. I would prefer sooner rather than later. I don’t know if the device will begin to deteriorate in that time or not, and I really don’t want to find out.”

Devlin felt a twinge of guilt when he realized that they were talking about Del. Devlin had been so caught up with his developing relationship with G’baena and Kam that he hadn’t given any real thought to how Del might be feeling.

They’d continued workouts and weapons training, of course, but
Del
hadn’t shown any nervousness or concern over the coming contact with Keytark. Although, considering that
Del
didn’t really know the full extent of his poisonous-tooth subspace-transponder, perhaps he didn’t know he should be worried.

“We’ll be on the planet before then,” Trey said, “but we don’t know if we will be able to return in time. Are G’baena and Kam ready to go?”

Devlin nodded. “They’ll meet us at Sarah’s ship. It’s going to be cramped, but we can’t risk taking any of the other transports in case they are identified as raiding vessels.”

Ben and Trey both nodded in agreement. “Thirty minutes,” Ben said to Devlin before leaving the bridge. Devlin checked ship’s systems again, feeling torn. His assistant engineer was very capable, but Devlin had always been on board when the ship was under threat.

He took a deep breath, trying to remind himself that the ship wasn’t actually under threat. Well, not yet at least. G’baena and Kam had even recognized his agitation earlier and suggested that perhaps he should stay here while they visited the planet and approached the kings. He’d nearly had a fit. To hell with the ship. G’baena and Kam were his family now, and there was no way they were doing this without him. It was too important.

He’d lain awake in bed for hours last night, his mind creating scenario after scenario, each just a little worse than the last. Kam had even changed places so that he could massage Devlin’s shoulders. His strong fingers had kneaded the tight muscles, and Devlin had finally fallen asleep. It had felt a little weird waking up with G’baena in his arms and Kam pressed against his back, but it also felt right. Like he’d finally found where he belonged.

Rolling over to kiss Kam good morning had felt normal, natural. Even the fact that it had been the first time either of them kissed another man hadn’t impacted on the rightness of the moment.

After traveling the galaxy for years with no real plans, other than to try and help those who needed it, it felt good to have found the two people who completed him. He laughed quietly to himself. He’d never considered that his future would include loving two people of a different species, or that one of them would be a man, but he wouldn’t change it for the world. Now, if only he could keep them alive through this mission. He’d felt it in his gut. Something wasn’t right, and he’d learned to trust his instincts.

“Dev,”
Jordan
said as he approached his workstation. “Go join them in the docking bay. We’ve got the ship.” Slightly embarrassed that his captain could read him so well, Devlin nodded and left the bridge.

Jordan
was still the solid friend he’d always been, supporting his new relationship with quiet acceptance. In fact, no one on the ship had batted an eyelid at their unusual situation, except for maybe a couple of Kam’s old shipmates. The irony there was that they didn’t actually oppose the bisexual nature of their developing relationship, but rather that the G’trobians were in a mixed species relationship.

Kam had been furious when he’d overheard one of his old shipmates disrespecting Tee-ani, but Devlin couldn’t help but smile at the way Kam had handled it. He’d very casually walked up to his shipmate and kicked the guy’s kneecap hard, shattering the bone. Since Tee-ani was the only actual doctor on board, the guy had retracted all his previous statements and begged for medical assistance.

Devlin laughed quietly to himself and made a mental note not to piss off Kam without making sure his kneecaps were well out of the way.

As he entered the docking bay, he found Kam with his arms around G’baena. Devlin didn’t hesitate. He did exactly what felt natural and wrapped his arms around both of them. G’baena turned and lifted her face to kiss him. He ran his tongue along her lips, marveling at the difference between hers and Kam’s. Where G’baena was soft and inviting, Kam was hard and challenging, and he found himself enjoying the extreme contrast. He and Kam hadn’t progressed past a few hot kisses yet, but Devlin had plans for when they returned to the ship. He just hoped it wouldn’t be long.

His gut still twisted, and he hadn’t been able to shake off the feeling. At first, he’d considered the idea that he was more concerned simply because the two people he loved were involved, but that didn’t lessen at all when he reminded himself that, despite his lack of formal training, Kam was a natural with a stun gun. Between the two of them, they would surely be able to protect G’baena.

He pressed a hard kiss to Kam’s mouth. Kam lifted a palm to Devlin’s cheek as they finally broke apart. He didn’t say a word, but the look of determination in his eyes said it all. He would protect G’baena and watch Devlin’s back no matter what.

Ben and Trey and another G’trobian male entered the area and headed directly for Sarah’s small transport ship. Kam went to step out of Devlin’s arms, but he held him tight. He wasn’t about to hide the nature of their relationship from his shipmates—not any of them.