Her Stepbrothers Are Aliens (3 page)

“What? I haven’t eaten since this morning?” she grumbled, yanking her hand out of Gunner’s and moving towards their table, seeing her friends. Her face was hot and Lea knew her cheeks had to be pink, but what had her furious was that Gunner and Rogue were bound and determined to change her life. With or without her permission

*****

She didn’t speak a word as she made her way through the throng of people. Oh, Gunner knew the board members were staring daggers at them, but right now all that mattered was their woman.

Gunner glanced at his brother, ‘
Maybe we should have mentioned this adventure before we came here?’
he sent Rogue telepathically. He could see that Rogue was just as worried as he was by the expression on his face.

‘
I can feel the anger and hurt radiating from her. I hope father was right about this, but I have a feeling we are going to see that anger come out soon,’
Rogue pulled out a chair for Lea as they arrived at her friends’ table.

“Tara, Melody, Tina, John, Mike, this is Rogue behind me and his older brother, Gunner, sitting on my left. Their father is married to my mother and now they own my company, but they’re also trying to court me,” she rambled on and gave Gunner a glare.

No one said a word at the table, all of them looking back and forth at the brothers.

“Do you really want to do this here, because I will?” Gunner tapped his fingers on the table. He never backed down from a fight, and their little woman was pushing every button she could.

The warrior inside demanded that he act. “You are ours and you know it. I have no problem informing your close friends who you are to us. Plus, they wouldn’t be able to tell anyone else. Don’t push us too far,
Neba
. We won’t hesitate to teach you a lesson.” Gunner said, placing the ball in her court.

He knew that Lea had no idea the things they could do, but challenging them in public was a big mistake. Right now Gunner was being gentle when all he wanted to do was pull Lea over his lap giving her the punishment she deserved. Over and over they would repeat this process until she accepted her punishment.

Gasps came from around the table, but his all he cared about was Lea’s reaction. Her cheeks turned pink and she glared at him for only a few seconds, before lowering her gaze, showing the submission he needed.

“I’m sorry if I offended you and Rogue.” She lifted her head and she held his gaze, anger and heat sizzling all around her. “But why should I be punished for speaking the truth?” She leaned towards him. “What the hell were you thinking, buying my company? How the hell am I supposed to work there now? You’d really expose yourself to my friends?” she asked last, frowning and sitting back just now realizing what he had said. She looked around at her friends who were staring at them.

“You’d really…” Rogue covered her hand with his.

“Yes, you mean that much, to us, but you must stop challenging us, little one. We are warriors at heart and just because you are part of us now, do not think we will not hesitate to accept any challenge.” Rogue leaned over the table and cupped her cheek. “My brother and I are being very patient with you, but where we come from...” She held up her hand and he stopped speaking.

Lea looked around. “Okay listen up. What is said here stays here. Believe me, if Gunner says they can stop you from sharing what we speak about, then most likely can.” She glanced over at him and he nodded.

“Gunner and Rogue claim that I’m their woman, or
Neba
. They are not even from this world. And before you even ask, Tara, no this is not what they look like. Oh, they’re frames are built the same, but their skin color is different and so is their hair. When they say they are warriors, they’re speaking literally. My stepdad is their father and he just bought my million dollar company like it was nothing.” Lea rambled on quickly. She ran her hand through her hair, as the waitress from the bar came over and took their orders.

After the waitress walked away, Tara leaned over, staring at him. “Prove it? I’m sorry Lea, but all this is too much. You’re my best friend, but maybe these men have done something to you?” she shrugged. “We need to know what is what.”

Rogue laughed. “We can arrange it so that this small group will see us as we are, but others around us will not.” And the brothers changed. The human men at the table jumped up out of their seats and stared at them while the women stared.

“Okay Tara, quit ogling them already. Mike, John please sit down, you are drawing attention to us, which I really don’t need right now. Melody, Tina, are you okay?” Lea asked, and they shook their heads.

“Damn, they’re for real,” Tara whispered. “And their bodies. OH MY GOD, you have two hot men!” Tara screeched. “You greedy hussy, you.”

Gunner was about to say something when Lea started to laugh. “Only you would say that. And it takes a hussy to know one. Weren’t we called the Hussy sisters in school?” Lea teased, and the rest of them laughed.

Tara leaned over and took Lea’s hand. “Then I take it that
Neba
, or whatever that word is, means you’re their mate, wife? Is there a way to tell?”

Lea flipped over her hand showing Tara the mark on her wrist. “I guess they have a different mark on their body and no, you are not seeing it. Do couples carry the same mark on your planet?” Lea glanced at him, then at Rogue.

“No, each pair is different. For example, our family mark is the heart with a sword through it, because we are warriors for our king. Our family has always been close to the king and warriors, likely our sons will be also,” Gunner stated.

“Sons? And how many children do you see us having?” Lea asked, taking a drink of water that the waitress had placed down in front of her.

He looked at his brother and shrugged. “At least eight. Father has had thirteen children so far and I expect more now that he found his
Neba
.”

Lea’s eyes got big. “Um, I hate to break the bubble here, but mom has already gone through the change of life. I don’t think you’ll be getting any more brothers or sisters.”

Gunner laughed, reaching over and yanking her chair close to his. “Oh, but there you are wrong. You see, once a warrior meets his
Neba
, her body starts to change. Your mother, Aimee, will not only look younger, she’ll be younger, in all ways. As our mate, you will also live as long as we do and your body will be able to carry our children. We live a very, very, long life.” He reached up and placed his hand around her neck, just resting it there.

Her nipples hardened. Unbeknownst to Lea, her scent changed, enticing her men to her. “Already your scent changes, calling us to you. Your body is ready for our loving. Do you deny it?” he rubbed his cheek against hers.

“Okay, enough of that!” Tina fanned herself. “I swear you three are just like that story you gave to me, Lea. What was the name of it?
Alien Embrace
by Tracy St. John. Damn, that book was hot. Too bad I can’t find two or three men to chain me to the wall and have their way with me.”

Tara glanced at Tina, and then at Lea, and they both started to crack up. “Do you really think Lea would allow her men to strap her to a wall and have their way with her?” Tara glanced once more at Gunner and his brother. “On second thought, don’t answer that. Yep you’re right, she would.”

“Damn it Tara, shut up,” Lea growled as the waitress came with their food.

“Interesting. We’ll have to look up this book. Are there any others we should check out?” Rogue asked, as he took a swallow of his beer.

“Oh God, yes. You have to read Cherise Sinclair. All her books. Lea has every single one she could get in print. I don’t know how many times we’ve read them over and over again,” Melody stated, digging into her food.

“You should bring them to the club. It would be quicker then reading all of them,” their friend John said, taking a drink. “Bring them this Friday. You were going to do the demonstration with Marco anyway. It would be the perfect time, unless they get jealous, then you would have a problem.”

Everything stopped. Once more all eyes were on Gunner and his brother. “What demonstration?”

Chapter Four

If John was right across from her, Lea would kick his ass right now. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head and glanced over at Gunner. Sure enough he was staring right at her, waiting.

“We sometimes visit a BDSM club called Kittens. I volunteered to help one of the masters there. He’s an expert with the whip and he needed someone who had never been exposed to it.”

“No,” Gunner stated, and took a drink of his beer, his eyes locked to hers.

“Fine. John, will you inform Master Seth that I won’t be able to help him Friday night. Do you want to go to the club?” she asked, glancing at Rogue then at Gunner.

“We’ll talk about that later. Eat, your stomach is demanding food,” Gunner said, just as her stomach growled loud enough for everyone around them to hear.

“You are in so much trouble!” Tara actually giggled and Lea couldn’t help but smile.

“Keep it up Tara, and I’ll have them bring some friend from their world just for you if we go on Friday,” Lea teased.

“We can do that. Matter of fact, Kink and Brogan will be here by then. They will help run the company when we go back to our world for a visit. Plus, they are hoping to find their
Neba
. With father and the both of us finding ours here, others want to come and search too, but only so many of our warriors are allowed to come at one time. Eventually, we too will have to go back home,” Gunner took a bite of his food.

“Why do you need to go back? Can’t you stay here?” Tina asked the question that was on the tip of Lea’s tongue.

“No, we cannot stay here. The longest someone stayed here was six human years and the side effects were not good. The air, and keeping up this pretense, is hard on the body.” Rogue said, finishing his plate of food. “Even the food does not carry the nutrition we need to survive.”

Her stomach knotted at the thought of them being hurt. “Should you be here? Maybe you need to go home,” Lea asked, looking at Gunner then at Rogue. “I don’t want you to get sick. Wait, how long has your dad been here?” Lea asked.

Gunner sat back in his seat, his plate of food gone. “I was waiting for you to figure that out. He’s been here three years. Your mom and my father will be going there for their honeymoon. With a two week stay there, his body will be back to normal.”

“When are they leaving? Why didn’t they tell me they were leaving the planet? Mom said they were going out of the country,” Lea moaned… “Only mom could say out of the county and mean to go to another world.” She shook her head and Tara snorted.

“At least your mom has a strong man. He came over and introduced himself to us earlier before his meeting. He knew your mom raised most of us. He invited us all over for super next week,” Tara stated.

“Seems like my stepfather has been busy today. So when do they plan on leaving on this trip?” she asked Gunner and Rogue, pushing her plate away.

“You’re not done eating, now finish it. They’ll leave in two weeks.” Gunner said, pushing her plate back to her.

Lea worked on her plate and listened to Gunner and Rogue ask Mike and John questions about the club, while Tara, Melody and Tina teased her for the next thirty minutes till she could eat no more. Pushing her plate away from her, Gunner gave her a stare.

“Honest, I’m full. I can’t eat another bite,” she rubbed her belly, and he nodded. Why Lea should answer to him she didn’t know, but she did. Maybe Lea was more like her mom than she had believed.

Gunner stood and held out his hand. “Come, let’s dance.” His hands were twice the size of hers. Lea placed her smaller one into his callused hand. He twined his warm fingers around hers and escorted her out onto the floor where the band had just started to play a slow song. He pulled her tight against his body, his arms going around her waist, holding her tight as he started to dance with her.

“I’m surprised you know how to dance,” she said, looking up into his gaze. her hands resting on his broad shoulders.

“Father had us take lessons a few weeks before his wedding.” He reached up and tugged on her hair. “So, tell me how often do you visit this club?”

“You tell me why I want to answer your questions when we just met? I mean I know I have a little submissive in me when it comes to sex, but with you, it’s different. And I’ve been thinking, how did you know it was me who was your
Neba
? I mean any women at mom’s wedding could have been yours or Rogue’s.” Lea cocked her head to the side to study him, and he smiled.

“It’s not just the mark that let us know you were the one. Remember, we talked with you before all of the people came for the wedding. That first meeting my brother and I knew you were special. My father was right. In some ways you are just like your mother, but that part of you that needs to submit to us is buried deep. You’ve had to take care of your mother for a while, haven’t you?”

“I’ve taken care of my mother since I was sixteen. Once she knew I was smart enough to pay bills and organize the household, it’s like a switch turned off in her. Tara and I both watched over her. I still can’t believe she actually raised most of us sometimes.” Lea laughed. “Although I’ll never forget the time Tara’s stepdad hit her in front of Mom. Mama bear came out. It was the first time we’d seen her since we were small. I’ll give you some advice. Mom has a mean right hook.”

One minute he was dancing with her smiling, the next she was shoved behind him with Rogue now at his side. “Tate, what are you doing here?” Gunner snapped. “You were ordered to watch the left quadrant last I heard.”

She peeked through the space between Rogue and Gunner, sucking in her breath. The man in front of them was as tall as Rogue, but the scar running down the left side of his face was hideous. Then there was the fact that his eyes gave her the creeps. And with that thought, those eyes turned their focus directly on her.