Seduced by Two Warriors (5 page)

Rune
surprised the heck out of her by releasing her hand and placing an arm around
her shoulder. When she didn’t move or pull away, he pulled her close to him in
awkward hug. It felt good.
Really good
.
Warm and toasty, plus something she hadn’t felt
in over two years.
Lustful.
All spicy and hot, like
she wished she was alone with him somewhere so she could find out if it was
even possible for her to enjoy sex again.
Consensual
sex.
Sex that didn’t hurt and make her cry with fear and hopelessness.

Fallon
shook her head. “And I thought the three of us had it bad. I wasn’t raped. You
were.
And by more than one man.
Gia, I’m so sorry you
went through that.”

“I
am, too. But if working here and getting the real story out to the people on
these planets will help, then that’s what I want to do.”

Thane
leaned close, and she inhaled his clean, masculine scent. What would it be like
to make love to two men who bathed regularly, and who didn’t simply take her?
Were these two the answer to her unrelenting prayers for the return of a
somewhat normal life?

“You
are one brave girl,” he said, his voice full of awe.

She
didn’t know what to say. Gia leaned into Rune’s strong embrace, and gazed into
Thane’s beautiful eyes, knowing she’d made the right move both in transferring
to this department, and in telling everyone here what she’d gone through. She had
crossed the bridge that up until an hour ago had always seemed impassable. Now,
maybe … just maybe … she could pick up the rest of her shattered life and make
it into something beautiful once again.

Chapter
Five

During
the next few days, Gia slowly realized that Thane and Rune were making up
excuses to be in her office, from asking her opinion on something she knew very
little
about,
to bringing her treats they’d pilfered
from other departments. It seemed they knew many people inside the Ministry,
and she got a kick out of imagining them charming their way into offices and
conference rooms just to sneak out food.

The
aliens grew a plant similar to wheat which they used to make bread and other
types of dough, but it tasted sweeter and tangier than any dough she’d had on
Earth. Consequently, every baked good she’d eaten for two years was like
indulging in the most delicious cake imaginable, but it didn’t contain sugar.
The taste came solely from the grain. She couldn’t get enough of it.

Once
Thane and Rune discovered how much she loved the baked goods on their planets,
they brought some to her several times a day. They also kept her laughing with
stories of their childhood escapades on Sera. It sounded to her like they’d had
boyhoods similar to those of her brothers. They’d been in all kinds of trouble,
and listening to them was like talking to friends back home.

It
made her both homesick and happy to finally have something in common with the
aliens. Here,
she
was the alien.
Consequently, it was difficult to think of these men as humanoid. They looked
like her, and from what she’d learned in two years they had the same body
functions. They needed less sleep and slightly less food than Earthlings, but
their muscle mass was greater so they were much stronger, and their stamina was
far greater than hers could ever be.

She’d
found that out firsthand during her few weeks on Voyeur Moon.

No!

Not
today. Not any day from this point forward. She would not allow those memories
to overtake her ever again.

“Where
did you go just now?” asked Rune, frowning.

She
forced a smile to her face. “You two remind me of my brothers, but in a good
way. They were always in trouble for something. It’s refreshing to hear such
normal stories, but it makes me miss them.”

Her
lie fooled them. Both men looked at her with empathetic faces. They exchanged a
glance and seemed to communicate without words. She’d noticed them doing that
all week, and it reminded her of a set of twins she’d known in school. They’d
done that, too. With just one look, they each knew what the other was thinking.
But she didn’t believe these two were twins.

“May
I ask you both a personal question?”

“Of
course,” said Thane.

“How
old are you? You’re not twins, are you?”

He
shook his head and smiled. “No, but we are mistaken for them. I’m forty-one,
and Rune is forty-three.”

Good
lord. They were each old enough to be her father.
Yeah, if they’d had sex with your mother when
they were barely out of puberty
.
“I’m twenty-eight.
Too young for you?”
Jesus
H. Christ!
Where had that come from? Gia put a hand over her mouth as the
most delightful wicked grins graced their faces. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I
said that.”

“No
apology necessary,” said Rune. “You’re not too young at all.” He gave her a
long, searching look that seemed to burn right into her soul. “Would you like
to have dinner with us tonight? We’ll cook.”

She
swallowed hard. Was he asking her out, or was this merely a friendly gesture
toward a coworker? “You cook?”

“Quite well.”

“All right.”
There was no harm in that,
surely. “But may I ask one
more nosy
question?”

“Ask
as many as you’d like,” said Thane.

“Why are you two not married or
with anyone?”

They
both chuckled softly, and Rune shook his head. “You’re going to find many men
on Addo and Sera have chosen to forego that state. Our women, you understand.
They hate sex.”

“Not
that we’re implying anything,” said Thane, a worried look on his face. “I mean
about you … and us, tonight.
Just dinner.”

She
found his concern endearing, and it spoke to how much these two were gentlemen,
underneath it all. “I understand, but thank you for clearing it up. So you live
together, then?”

“We
thought it would be easier for now once we took this position. It’s close to
here.
A short walk.”

“It
would be nice to get outdoors again. I don’t do that a lot.”

“Why
not?” asked Rune.

She
shrugged. “I feel safer indoors.”

“They
can’t land on Sera,” he said.
“None of the Tyrann ships.
They would never allow it.”

“But
what if some of those men weren’t Tyranns? If what I heard is correct, even men
from Sera went to the holding cells in disguise. Rumor had it that even some of
the Regum
were
known to have frequented it, and Fallon
told me some of the Regum came to the shows at the Zoo.”

They
exchanged a glance. “All true,” said Thane. “But you’re safe here. No one is
going to swoop out of a craft, on land or air, and take you away.”

“How
do you know that?”

Thane
sat close to her. So close she could count his very long eyelashes. “Because we
won’t allow it,” he said quietly. “Fallon has Cord and Arlo to look after her,
and now you have both of us. If you’ll allow it, that is.”

She
tried to maintain a neutral expression while her pulse raced and her hormones
stirred for the first time in two years. “What does that mean, exactly? And by
that I’m asking what do you two want from me in return? What are your
expectations?”

He
looked like she’d slapped him, and she nearly recoiled. “We have none.” His
voice was hard.
“None at all, Gia.
This isn’t about
sex. It’s about us getting to know you, as a person, and about making sure no
further harm comes to you.”

“You’ve
been through more than any woman, Earthling or otherwise, should have to go
through,” said Rune. “The last thing we would do is add to your fear or
anxiety.”

“I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so bitchy.”

They
both shook their heads, and Rune moved close to her as well. He took her hands.
Once again, his warm touch was comforting, and this time it was also arousing.
“No need to apologize. We’re not upset. We merely want you to understand that
we’re not trying to trick you, or use you, or take anything from you that you
don’t want to give us. We’re not like that.”

“I
don’t know what to say.” She was blown away by both these men.

Thane
grinned, and the gesture sent her heart fluttering again. “Say you’ll have
dinner with us. Let us cook for you. Enjoy an evening away from this building
and those tiny apartments.”

“I’d
love that. It’s like living in a dorm again. Do you know what those are?”

Thane
stood. “We’ve heard about them.” Her attention drifted to the bulge in his
pants.
Holy hell!
She averted her
gaze and hoped he hadn’t noticed. “We’d better get back to work. We’ll see you
at the end of the day.”

“All right.
Thank you.”

As
Rune stood, she caught a glimpse of his erection as well, but he turned quickly
enough that she doubted he noticed her looking. Once they left, she closed her
office door and drank two cups of water. The temperature in the room had
nothing to do with the HVAC system. She hadn’t been sexually aroused in so long
that it took her by surprise.

But
it also brought back memories, and she struggled the rest of the day to keep
them at bay. This wasn’t the same thing at all, and she’d never been sexually
aroused by the men who had taken her from the holding cells. Not even close.

If
something were to happen tonight, it wouldn’t be like that again. Thane and
Rune wouldn’t rape her. They would never hurt her. They’d be patient and
gentle, the way it used to be. The way she remembered from her life before the
invasions.

She
knew that as sure as she knew her own name.

As
the day wore on, she found herself so busy that she thought less and less of
her time in the holding cells, and more about what might happen this evening.
It was Friday, and even on Sera inside the Ministry, some departments took
weekends off. This one did, as she’d already been informed. She was also
cautioned, though, that there might be times when they would need to work extra
hours or off days. She didn’t mind. What else did she have to do, after all?

At
the end of the workday, Thane and Rune followed her through the underground
corridors to the building where hundreds of Ministry workers lived in
apartments. The tiny dwellings made up in efficiency what they lacked in space.
They told her they’d never been in one before.

“It’s
not so bad. I’m fortunate in that this particular section is deemed a quiet
one, meaning no slamming doors when you leave your unit, no loud talking or
shouting in the halls, and you can’t play loud music or
do
anything inside that disturbs other residents.”

Thane
glanced around. “You have it decorated so pretty.”

She
flushed. “Thank you. I like colors and patterns.”

“There’s
not much space,” said Rune, eyeing her tiny kitchen.

“I
don’t need much.”

“I’d
be claustrophobic living here.”

“It
makes me feel safe.”

He
gave her a sympathetic look. “I think we need to get you outdoors more.”

After
she freshened up and changed her clothes, she picked up her clutch bag
containing her phone, mints, keys, and makeup. “Let’s go then. Lead the way.”

Their
condo was right around the corner from the Ministry, in a complex that reminded
her of upscale ones back home because of the design.
Plenty
of windows and interesting angles.
The outside colors were as bland and
uninspired as the inside of the Ministry, but when they ushered her through the
front door, she smiled. “Now this is what I’m talking about.”

“I
wish I could say we did this,” said Thane, “but it was already like this. We’re
leasing it from a Regum couple who built a home near the ocean. They’re
debating whether to keep this place as well, to have a house close to the
Ministry.”

She
walked through the bright, open rooms and admired the pale bronze and sea green
palette. Little touches of culture were everywhere, from the prints on the
walls to what looked like antique pottery on the end tables. “What did you
bring with you from Addo? Is any of this yours?”

Rune
smiled and shook his head.
“Clothes, dishes, and towels.
Not much else.”

She
glanced out the window into a courtyard filled with people sitting on benches
or walking. Green trees and bushes dotted it, and the walkways looked like
flagstones. She backed away from the window and turned to face them. “So, can I
help with dinner?”

“Sure,”
said Thane, leading the way into the kitchen.
“As long as you
can actually cook.”

She
laughed. “Ah, I’m Italian. Of course I can cook.”

“I
have no idea what that means,” he said.

“No,
I don’t suppose you do. On Earth it means people drool at the sound of my
heritage. It means lasagna, homemade spaghetti sauce, roasted veggies, and
to-die-for desserts.”

Thane
reached underneath the cooktop and pulled out a large saucepan. “Well here on
Sera, ‘I’m a good cook’ means you know your way around dough, and how to sauté
vegetables until the flavor is just perfect.
Prepared to be
amazed.”

She
and Rune opened a bottle of wine, and he poured them each a glass. They sat on
stools at the counter and watched Thane prepare what Gia thought of as akin to
stir-
fry,
with meat that she knew was similar to
chicken, vegetables whose names she still translated into their English
equivalents in her head, and sauce that smelled like a combination of peanuts
and sesame. She also detected ginger, oregano, and of course pepper. They loved
to add pepper to dishes on Sera.

The
smell filled the condo until her stomach rumbled. As they drank their wine, she
and Rune popped a pre-made loaf of bread into the oven, and then she helped him
set the table. Once the food was ready, they sat down to eat, and Gia told
Thane she’d never tasted anything so good.

“My
family would adore you,” she said. “They’d be all over this, begging you for
the recipe.”

“I
wish I could have met them.”

She
couldn’t talk about them in the past tense, even though she’d long ago accepted
that they were dead. “What about you two? Do you have family here or on Addo?”

“Most
of our family is still here on Sera,” said Rune. “Our parents are retired from
jobs in finance, and we have a younger sister who works as an administrative
assistant for a lumber company on
Addo
.”