Alien (15 page)

Andi shrugged her shoulders and answered honestly. “I didn’t
meet him before this whole mess so I can’t tell if he is or not. I just know
that last couple of times he has been here he’s been looking worn-out and
pretty shaggy.” Cocking her eyebrow at Izzie, she asked, “Does he normally have
a really shaggy beard and aversion to bathing?”

Izzie gasped and laughed a little, covering her mouth. “Oh
my god, no. That man is usually so anal retentive he’s getting onto me for not
picking up things. I’m pretty sure he showers twice a day.”

“Well then I would say that he needs an intervention…and his
wife back.” Both women nodded at the same time as if they had just completed a
huddle on the football field. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I have to be. I miss Nixon,” Izzie admitted. “Sleeping was
just taking me away from here for a short amount of time. No dreams. Nothing. I
just felt peace. I can’t do that anymore. If there is a chance that I can have
a family with the man I love, then I have to try, right?” As Izzie spoke, her
voice sounded stronger and stronger.

“Right. Let’s get you a wheelchair and to a regen bed so we
can figure out what we are working with. Okay?” Standing up, Andi rubbed her
hands together, anxious to get this new beginning started as soon as possible.

“Okay, let’s do this.” Izzie smiled and for the first time
she looked like the fighter that Andi was sure she was.

After Izzie had been shuffled to the regen bed with some
help from both Tamin and Rodin, the men took time to study the readouts. Izzie
barely had enough strength from weeks of being bedridden to sit up. Andi helped
her manage as well as she could with some pillows propped behind her.

“How long will it take for them to tell?” Izzie whispered to
Andi for what seemed like the millionth time.

“I don’t know, Izzie. Just give them a few more minutes and
if they don’t say anything, then I’ll interrupt them.” Andi tried to calm
Izzie. The bride sitting on the bed was slowly starting to wilt in front of her
eyes. The determination and hope Andi had seen thirty minutes ago was now
looking more along the lines of desolation and despair.

“Tamin? Can you tell us what the report says?” Andi spoke in
a sugary-sweet voice that made Tamin look up almost immediately. Once she had
his attention, she jerked her head to Izzie and mouthed,
“She’s freaking
out.”

“Sorry for the wait, Isabel. Rodin is just rechecking the
data and then we can go over the findings with you.” Tamin walked to the exam
bed where the women were waiting. “How are you feeling? Any nausea or
lightheadedness?”

“No, I just feel really weak. When I first started moving, I
felt a little sick to my stomach but that’s getting better the longer I sit
up.” Izzie looked at Andi. “Like I’m recovering from a wicked case of the flu.”

Andi explained, “Your muscles haven’t been used in a while.
I’m sure that any movement is producing some soreness since it’s been so long
since they’ve had a workout.” Looking up at Tamin, she cautioned him, “She
needs to be helped anytime that she gets out of bed. Even small trips like the
restroom. Until she regains some stability in her legs, she’ll be a fall risk.
We should probably schedule some exercises for her to get her strength back as
well.”

Tamin placed a hand on her shoulder, the palm feeling
extremely hot even through the sweater Andi was wearing. “I agree. Nixon should
be arriving soon and he will want to be involved in her care.”

Andi noticed that Izzie immediately sat up a little
straighter. As she tossed some glances to and from the door, she asked in an
excited voice, “How soon will he be here?”

“Considering that it was hard to get him to leave in the
first place, I am expecting him to come charging through those doors any
moment. Especially since I left him a message that you were up and asking for
him,” Rodin stated as he walked to them.

“What did my results say? Tell me. Please,” Izzie
practically begged Rodin.

“Well—” Rodin started when they all heard a loud bang in the
front of the medical center.

“Izzie! Where are you? Izzie!” The shouts were frantic as
footsteps rushed up the hall, checking each doorway.

“Calm down, Nixon. We are in here,” Tamin hollered, winking
at Izzie who had started to push her hair back from her face and straighten her
robe.

Rushing into the room was a well-put-together warrior who
Andi barely recognized as the grieving husband from before. In the place of a
shaggy beard were clean-shaven cheeks and a strong jaw. Hair that looked
freshly washed and combed graced his head and his uniform looked newly pressed.
Andi jumped off the bed just moments before she would have been pushed aside as
Nixon basically covered Izzie in a full-body hug.

As Izzie and Nixon embraced, Tamin and Rodin both bracketed
Andi’s body, one taking her hand and the other putting his arm around her
shoulders. Watching the couple, Andi let out a sigh of happiness.

“He must love her dearly,” Tamin whispered to Andi.

“He does. I could tell when he wouldn’t leave her… Even when
she told him to go, he stayed by her side.” Andi felt her eyes prick, a sign
she might cry. She blinked quickly, trying to hold it in.

“I would not have left you either,” Rodin said clearly but
softly from her right side, emphasizing his statement with a squeeze on her
shoulder that moved her body closer to his.

“Should we give them a few moments alone?” Andi said softly,
not wanting to be a voyeur but definitely feeling like one.

“I am fairly certain they will want to hear the news before
we leave them to their reunion,” Rodin said loudly enough to interrupt the
couple on the bed. Realizing they had an audience, Izzie and Nixon both
straightened. Keeping their hands locked together, they looked up at the
doctors.

“Doctors, what did the scans say?” Nixon’s voice was strong
but Andi could tell he was nervous they would hear something his bride couldn’t
take. He glanced nervously back and forth from her face to the doctors.

“Good news, actually.” Rodin grabbed a stool from the side
of the room and scooted closer to the couple sitting on the bed, taking a
doctor’s pose that Andi had seen used many times before to calm a patient.

“The scarring that occurred during the initial miscarriage
isn’t as inflamed as it was on the first from a month ago. From the information
gathered in the most recent regen bed scan, we have a fairly good chance of
being able to minimize what is there enough for you to try to conceive again.”

Tamin was still holding on to Andi’s left hand and she
squeezed his fingers, happy at the couple’s good news. When his fingers not only
squeezed back but also stroked her palm, she looked up at him.

“What?”

“We heard you earlier. You are the reason she is out of that
bed.” Tamin smiled down at her and accompanied the grin with another palm
stroke.

“Just doing my job.” Andi tried to brush off the praise.
“She is a friend; I had to try to help.”

“Well, thank you. We would have never been able to talk to
her the way that you did.”

Before Andi could say anything else, she was pulled against
a big uniformed chest.

“Oomph.” Her breath left her in one giant whoosh. This was
the second time she had been crushed by the big man. She remembered him from
the day of the kidnapping. Even then, he had shown his love for his bride by
crying in front of Andi.

“Thank you so much, Andrea. I do not know how much longer I
could have watched her wither away.” The voice belonged to Nixon whom she was
still squished against so she couldn’t see his face.

An amused voice from the hospital bed chose that moment to
chime in. “Well then maybe you don’t want to smother her to death. I don’t
think she can breathe, Nix.”

“Sorry, so sorry.” As Nixon let Andi go, he patted her
shoulders awkwardly.

He was clearly uncomfortable at the emotion he had shown on
the spur of the moment. Andi decided to cut him some slack. “It was my
pleasure. How about we all go into the main room and eat?” Looking at Izzie,
she asked. “Izzie, you okay with sitting up for a while longer? I can take out
your IV but I want you to eat only bland items to start with until we are sure
your stomach won’t revolt.”

“Yes, thank you. I don’t really want to go back to that room
for a while if I can help it. And I don’t care what I eat as long as it goes
into my mouth and not my hand.” Izzie was helped out of bed by Nixon who
decided to forgo the wheelchair completely and simply carry her out of the
room.

As the trio followed the couple into the main area, Tamin
and Rodin were both speaking about something on one of the tablets. Andi
stopped to grab a few pillows to pad the chair that Izzie would be sitting in while
she ate.

Nixon helped his wife get situated and then parked himself
as close as physically possible to her without actually sitting in her lap.
Filling her plate with food and cutting her sandwich into small bites as if she
were a child, Nixon made sure to serve her before himself.

“When can she come home?” Nixon asked as he stared the
doctors down. Obviously there was one answer he was wanting them to say and it
was the word “now”.

“She is still very weak. Are you able to get time off duty
on the bridge to be able to stay with her?” Rodin asked with his brow cocked,
not at all intimidated by him.

“I am sure if you write a medical report, they will give me
a leave until you think I can resume my duties,” Nixon offered. “According the
Bridal Pact, our women come first.”

“That sounds fair. I will have Tamin prepare the paperwork
and I will work up a care summary for Izzie. She will need to exercise her
muscles, doing some therapeutic techniques to regain her strength but as long
as you are with her until she is able to be fully functioning, then I see no
problem with transferring her care to you.”

“Fully functioning?” Andi laughed as she repeated what he
had said. “We are not robots, Rodin.”

Izzie couldn’t contain a giggle as Andi looked at her and
rolled her eyes.

“I am fully aware that you are a woman, Andi.” The comment
was said so seriously that everyone at the table became quiet. Andi looked
across to Izzie, whose face had turned bright red, and felt her own face burn.

The rest of the meal was quiet except for Tamin and Rodin
explaining the exercises that they needed Nixon to help Izzie with daily for
her to regain strength. Listening to the men off and on, the women talked every
once in a while. Mostly, Andi just took the time to think about the situation
she had found herself in.

“Andi?” Tamin said, startling her.

“I’m sorry, my mind started to wander.” Embarrassed to see
everyone staring at her, she looked around the table and asked, “What did I
miss?”

“I explained to Nixon that we had some gift baskets with
lotion prepared for the brides when they first arrived and asked if you would
take Izzie to pick out one that has an appealing scent for her. He has been
instructed which muscles may need to be massaged after her workouts if she
encounters soreness.” Rodin pushed his chair back to stand and held out his
hand for Andi to use to pull herself up with as well.

“Of course, I saw them in the supply closet.” Gathering her
plate to dispose of the food she had forgotten to eat, Andi smiled at Izzie.
“I’ll grab a few different ones so you have a variety. I’m not sure who did the
ordering but they were a little click happy when it came to choosing the amount
of lotion.”

“Thanks Andi, I appreciate it.” Izzie was picked up gently
by Nixon who transferred her to the wheelchair that the doctors insisted on
them taking back to their apartment.

As everyone picked up their plates and Andi packed Izzie a
bag to go, Andi started to feel apprehensive about being alone with the men.
Now that she knew what they wanted, it was hard to focus on anything else when
they were in the room together. The proverbial elephant in the room was getting
bigger and bigger by the second and would soon start stampeding its way right
over her if she didn’t address it head-on.

For the next week, Andi avoided being alone with the doctors
as much as possible. When they were through with patients, she would find that
she needed to stock an exam room. As soon as they entered the exam room, she
would leave with the excuse of paperwork to take care of in the main room.

She could tell that the doctors were getting tired of the
situation. Loud sighs and disappointed looks were becoming more and more
frequent. To their credit, they didn’t push her to talk to them. The only
contact they initiated other than those regarding a patient was when they would
brush by her. Every once in a while, one would touch her. The contact was
always innocent, but Andi could feel the little touches all the way down to her
toes.

Andi had the feeling her time was running out.

“Andi?” Rodin’s voice was strong and loud in the silent
room.

“Yes, Doctor?” Andi answered automatically, falling back
into her normal professional response.

“Please, call us by our names when we are alone.” Smiling at
her, Rodin approached and took her by the hand. “Come and sit with us, we need
to speak.”

“I’m sure there are tons of things that need to be done,”
Andi started, only to have Tamin speak this time.

“Nothing that cannot wait.” Tamin pulled out a chair on the
opposite side of her, caging her between the two men. Something they did
frequently.

“We would like to say that we will be patient, no matter how
much time that you need,” Tamin said as he looked at Rodin while talking to
her.

“What Tamin is trying to say, but unsure how to do it is, is
that we are anxious to find out what you have decided. We want to give you time
but find that it is driving us crazy to do so. Have you thought about the
arrangement we proposed a week ago?” Rodin asked, plainly.

Folding her hands in her lap, Andi decided that it was now
or never. “Well, I spoke to Zane about this quite a bit…” At the mention of her
friend’s name, both Tamin and Rodin stiffened up like telephone poles. “You
guys really need to chill out about Zane, especially since he is on your side,”
Andi pointed out, scowling at the men for acting jealously over her friend.

“He is on our side?” Rodin’s voice rang with disbelief.

“Well…technically he’s on my side, which for the time being
is also your side and that’s what we need to talk about. He pointed out that I
have an attraction to you. Both of you. That I never had with him. Zane thinks
that you two are the perfect match for me. That is, if I have the balls to go
for it.” At the mention of balls, both of the men leaned back in their chairs
slightly. “Don’t worry, guys, I don’t have any extra parts. It’s a figure of
speech.”

“So you are agreeing to marry both Tamin and me?” Rodin
asked calmly, although his fists were clenched at his side.

“First, I have some questions regarding this whole
situation. Is ‘situation’ the best word for this? Maybe ‘arrangement’?” Andi
started to ramble, unable to stop the nervousness that she was feeling from
spilling from her mouth.

“We would call it a marriage.” Tamin smiled, obviously
amused at her verbal diarrhea.

“Marriage. Gotcha.” Pointing her fingers like little guns,
Andi made clicking noises and then realized what an idiot she must look and
stopped.

“So now that we have agreed on what we would call our
arrangement, what are the questions you have?” Rodin cocked his eyebrow.

“Well, exactly how would this work? Would we split time, me
with one of you for a day and then switch off? Will jealousy be an issue?”
Feeling as though she had a million more things she needed to ask, Andi
realized she was very close to flapping her hands at them nervously. As she
tucked her palms beneath her thighs, she saw the action did not go unnoticed by
Tamin, who smiled at her.

“No splitting time. We will each be with you unless called
away for medical duties.”

The statement was given with no explanation from Rodin,
which caused Andi to simply stare at him. Did he not realize what he said
really didn’t clarify anything?

“So we will all live together? What about…sleepy time?” Andi
waited for them to answer and realized her palms were starting to sweat
underneath her legs.

“Andi, we will live together. We will sleep together.
Everything will be together unless one of us is on duty,” Tamin explained in
what she had started to dub his “doctor” voice.

Realizing her fingers were starting to go numb, Andi put her
hands back onto her lap and laced her fingers together.

“Everything?” Her voice came out in a squeak.

“Everything.” Both Tamin and Rodin spoke at the same time
and with sure voices.

“I’m not going to lie. I have read books with the whole
ménage theme, but I wouldn’t know how to go about actually doing it,” Andi
blurted out.

“It?” Rodin smiled for the first time since this
conversation started, causing butterflies to take flight in her belly. Andi
couldn’t help it. The man had a killer grin.

“The sex. I have never had sex with more than one person at
a time.” Hands flapping again but unable to stop herself, Andi elaborated, “I
went to college and admit that I may have
seen
some interesting things
by accident, but never participated in any of it.”

Rodin and Tamin shot quick glances at each other before
Rodin nodded to Tamin. He leaned forward and grabbed one of her hands in
midair. “Andi, we have experience enough to make it work. We have known for a
long while this was the route we wanted to go with. Sharing is something that
we have done in the past and we are comfortable doing it. In fact, we prefer
sharing.”

“So this is something you guys have done a lot?” For some
reason that knowledge hurt, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. This was
not the time to get jealous over their past.

“Both Rodin and I realized a long time ago that we enjoy
sharing a female.” Tamin looked at Rodin and chuckled softly, “It was actually
quite by accident.”

“Could you elaborate please? An accidental threesome doesn’t
really make sense to me.” Andi was intrigued as to where this was going and
honestly, this was one of the first times she had talked to them about anything
personal. She couldn’t help wanting to dig a little.

Rodin clapped his hand on Tamin’s shoulder and spoke this
time. “We were visiting the Pleasure Sector on leave and there was a scheduling
error at the brothel. We had not had leave for six months and were told that
only one worker was available. The owner explained that she would be willing to
service us both during our allotted time if we needed her to do so. Given our
options, we decided it was better than waiting for our next scheduled leave
cycle.”

“And that made you decide that sharing would work?” Andi
asked incredulously. If a one-time hooker experience was what they were banking
on to make this work, then she wasn’t so sure anymore.

Both men laughed, realizing where her thoughts had gone. “No
Andi, we have shared since then. That first experience, years ago, was simply
what introduced us to the possibility. After much discussion when Earth women
were discovered, we knew that sharing would be ideal for us.” Rodin leaned
forward to hold her slightly damp hand.

“Can you explain it to me?” At the men’s questioning glances,
she elaborated, “Why this works for you, I mean.”

“In case you didn’t realize it, Rodin likes to be in
charge,” Tamin said with a smile and eye roll behind his friend’s back.

“I saw that,” Rodin said almost immediately without turning
around.

“See what I mean?” Tamin teased and then turned serious.
“There is no better way to explain than to say we complement each other.”

“I like to watch, Andi,” Rodin said evenly, staring into her
eyes. “I also like to instruct. Tamin likes to follow those instructions,
although sometimes he takes his time about it.”

Tamin chuckled from his seat. “It is called anticipation,
Rodin. Anticipation.”

Now it was Rodin’s turn to roll his eyes at his friend,
which caused Andi to giggle.

“Are you a dom?”

“I am dominant yes, more dominant than Tamin at times. Do I
wish to punish you for sexual pleasure? Not necessarily. Although, I do admit
that some spanking will most likely happen considering I cannot seem to stop
staring at your ass lately.”

At the mention of her ass, Andi couldn’t help but clench her
cheeks on the seat of her chair. Spanking? Both men at once? Where did she need
to sign to make that happen as quickly as possible? Taking a deep breath before
she could scream, “take me now!” and toss herself onto the table, Andi tried to
think of all the questions she had in her head.

Gone. Every single question was gone. Damn these men and the
pheromones they seemed to be leaking into the air. She was unable to think of
anything except feeling Rodin’s big palm against her bare ass.

“Any other questions about our sharing you?” Tamin asked,
wiggling his eyebrows.

Andi couldn’t help it. She giggled. And giggled. This insane
conversation, her emotions going up and down, and then Tamin and his crazy
eyebrows, and they just came bubbling out. It was emotion overload that could
only escape in uncontrollable giggles. The giggles reminded her of when she’d
been a teenager and started laughing during a test, unable to stop herself.

Rodin leaned back and watched her with an indulgent grin on
his face while Tamin joined in with deep chuckles, apparently amused at the
spectacle she was making of herself.

Finally able to calm herself, Andi wiped her eyes. “I think
I get it.”

Both Tamin and Rodin glanced at each other and then back at
her.

“You’re both so different that being together makes it
work,” Andi explained. “You know what’s funny?”

“What?” Tamin asked with a smile.

“When I first met you, you seemed interchangeable. In fact,
when most people refer to you they say ‘the doctors’ like you’re one person,
but you’re not. You are completely different.”

“You are correct,” Rodin replied, standing up and reaching
for her hand. “Some of our patients stillcall us the wrong names even when they
have seen us numerous times.” Leaning forward to kiss her cheek, he whispered
into her ear, “I knew that you could see two different men. It was in your
eyes.”

Aware that she was blushing, Andi reached up and pulled him
into a hug. Rodin was so much taller than her it was an interesting reach. It
helped when he reached down and grasped the lower curve of her ass to lift her
up against his body. “Is this what you were trying to do?” His voice was
innocent but the effect was ruined with the sexy grin that took over his lips.

“Yes,” she whispered before clearing her throat. “Now I know
why Wheaton’s wife seems to leap into his arms. She can’t reach him otherwise.”

Still gripping her ass in his big hands, Rodin turned until
her back was presented to Tamin, who snuggled up against it. There was still
one question she had not yet voiced. “I did have one more thing to ask.”

Tamin had moved even closer. If what she thought she felt
against her ass was right, then she might need to ask her question quickly.

“Since we will all be…together, does that mean you are
saying you will be wanting to—”

Tamin did not give her a chance to finish her sentence,
pushing his hips into the rounded ass that Rodin was massaging. “Fuck your
ass?”

“Ummm…yeah.” Turning to give him hell for being crude, she
was stopped at the heat showing in his eyes. “Yeah, that’s what I meant,” she
stuttered, unable to feel anything but amazing heat in her pussy.

“Have you ever welcomed a man here?” Tamin asked while
pushing his rigid cock against the seam of her pants. Trailing one of his hands
around her waistband, he waited patiently for her to answer.

“No, I haven’t. I’ve always been curious, but the guys I
dated…well, let’s just say there wasn’t enough trust to get into a situation
like that.” Watching Rodin closely, she would have been surprised to hear him
rumble deep in his chest if she hadn’t felt it vibrate against her tender parts
pressed tight to his belly. Hooking her legs tighter around his hips, she
squeezed her thighs. The action caused another rumbling purr to resonate
through his torso.

Feeling a nip at her ear, Andi jumped. She hadn’t forgotten
Tamin was behind her, but the nip had been unexpected.

Tamin moved his hips against her more firmly. “We will make
sure that you enjoy it. This I can promise you.”

Staring into Rodin’s eyes, she saw the truth glaring back at
her. Yes, they would make sure she enjoyed herself. The only question would be
when it would happen. She knew her mind enough to know that she wanted them
both. That same mind, however, was warning to her to proceed with caution.

“Can we take this slowly? You know, have a couple dates
before we move into more…intimate territory?” Andi whispered into the small
circle the three of them had created with their bodies.

Tamin groaned as he moved his hips against her and tightened
his fingers on her waist. “It may kill us, but we do not want to rush you.”
Tamin’s admission was softened by the teasing tone his voice had taken on.
Meanwhile Rodin had still not spoken, simply staring into her eyes.

After a moment of silence, Rodin gave a soft smile, his lips
quirking into a sexy grin of understanding. “We do not wish to overwhelm you.
It feels as though we have been waiting forever for this very moment.”

“Because we have,” Tamin piped up from his place behind her.

Giving his partner a stern glare before turning his
attention to her, Rodin admitted, “It may be hard for us to not touch you
though. Will you be comfortable with that during the dates that you wish to
have?”

“Touching is fine,” Andi said quickly. “In fact, now that I
know what the two of you feel like, it may be harder for me to keep my hands to
myself. I just want to make sure that this will work. No signing any paperwork
or jumping into bed is allowed just yet. Getting pregnant seems to be in the
water around here and I want to be one hundred percent sure before we take that
chance.”