The Power of Three (20 page)

Teg’s face was ashen. “No, you don’t
understand. I loved her. When she told me she was pregnant, I
was
thrilled
, but I couldn’t
get back to her—” His face crumpled. “I had no idea…”

Meljan’s voice rose over her son’s. “Soreya,
please sit down a moment and let me explain exactly what happened.
Teg fell in love with your mother. He was too scared to tell me,
and too scared to sign on for all the already-infrequent Etruscan
flights in case I noticed, and asked why he wanted to be on that
particular planet so badly. Dahl knew about your mother and offered
to help out when he was scheduled to visit. From what I understand
now, they both fell in love with her and were hoping to bring her
back to Pavlovan as their female.”

“
So what happened?”

“
Our ships were refused admittance to
land on the planet,” Dahl spoke up. “No reason was given. We were
frantic, Teg especially. We even tried to get down to the planet’s
surface illegally.” He touched his brother lightly on the shoulder.
“Teg was caught by the military and beaten so severely he barely
survived.”

“
They use telepaths in the military.
It’s the only option open to us.” Soreya whispered. It hurt to look
at the two men. Teg was crying now, and his brother looked equally
distressed.

“
We know that we have deeply wronged
your mother and you, our offspring. We would be willing to do
anything in our power to make it right for you.” Dahl swallowed
hard. “But we also understand if you never wish to see us again. We
will respect your wishes.”

Soreya looked at Meljan, who nodded.

“
I had no idea about this. I wonder
whether the authorities knew about your mother’s pregnancy and
banned our vessels because of it or whether it was simply appalling
timing. Etrusca always hated dealing with telepaths.”

She took Teg’s hand and squeezed it.” I’ve
always been puzzled by the fact that neither of them found a mate.
I didn’t know that they’d found her…together.”

Soreya got up and inclined her head. “Thank
you for seeing me. I hope it’s okay if I don’t give you my answer
right away? I need to think about a lot of things at the
moment.”

“
We understand. And, as the head of the
Meljan clan, I wish to offer you my support, and the support and
resources of our entire family, whenever you need them—whether you
acknowledge us as kin or not.”

“
Thank you.” Soreya left as fast as she
could and came out onto the sidewalk. For a second she simply stood
there and looked at the vehicles rushing by, the stream of people,
and felt the comforting hum of telepathic thought all around her.
She loved that sense of being a part of something. Did she belong
here? Did she belong
anywhere
?

It was time to find out.

She squared her shoulders and went down to
catch the public transit bus that would take her closest to Ash and
Esca’s home.

* * *

She opened the door and stepped inside, only
to find both men sitting on the couch, their gazes already riveted
on her. Their hastily concealed anxiety reminded her a little of
the Meljan twins.

“
Soreya.” Ash came forward. “Can I get
you something to drink?”

She nodded, aware for the first time that she
hadn’t eaten since the night before. Stripping off Esca’s old
sweatshirt, she dropped it onto the floor and went to sit
cross-legged on the couch opposite him.

He nodded at her before getting to his feet.
“Lang, I’ll get you a sandwich.”

She waited for him to start yelling, but he
busied himself at the refrigerator talking about everyday stuff to
Ash as if it were a normal day and they’d all just come in from
work. But it wasn’t normal. It might never be that way again.

The sandwich was excellent. Ash refilled her
drink while Esca cleaned up the kitchen and made more coffee. Could
she just crawl into bed and face everything tomorrow? She sensed
that if she suggested it, neither Ash nor Esca would push the
issue. It was almost amusing to see how hard Esca was biting his
tongue not to say anything. But it meant a lot to her.

Eventually she finished eating, everything
was cleared up, and they all sat on the couches together. She took
a deep breath.

“
I went to see the Meljans this
morning.”

Ash looked mildly interested. “How did it
go?”

“
Not quite as I expected. I still don’t
know who my father is. The two males are identical twins.
Apparently they were both in love with my mother, which didn’t stop
them pretending to be one person.”

Ash opened his mouth and then slowly shut it
again.

“
They wanted to bring her back here,
but Etrusca denied them planetary access, and my mother and I were
stranded there for good.” She pressed on. “They want to acknowledge
me as their daughter. I told them I’d have to think about
it.”

“
Makes sense,” Esca said
gruffly.

She gripped her hands together in her
lap. “And then there was the link with my grandparents. I thanked
them for looking after me and told them I wouldn’t be coming back.”
Ash raised his head, his expression alert. “I also told them that
I’d met two amazing telepathic males. That went down like a lead
balloon, and they told me I was a disgrace, an abomination and that
by the way, they were glad they’d had me sterilized so I could just
be a slut, as opposed to a
pregnant
slut
like my mother.”

Silence.

She took a deep breath. “So, here’s where I’m
at. I won’t go back to Etrusca, I can make my peace with the Meljan
clan and live with them, or I can stay here with you guys, if you
don’t mind about the sterilized bit.”

They moved toward her as one. Esca picked her
up and sat her sideways on his lap, her legs across Ash. Their arms
came around her and she rested her head against Esca’s
shoulder.

“
We want
you,”
Ash murmured leaning in to kiss her cheek.
“If we want a family, we can certainly try for one, and if it
doesn’t work out, then we’ll make our own. I bet there are dozens
of Etruscan telepathic kids who’d like a home.”

Esca lifted her chin and kissed her. “Ash is
right. We need you more than the Meljans, and definitely more than
those freking bastard Etruscans. You really don’t have any choice
at all.”

Ash glared at him and he raised his hands.
“Unless you want to have one, okay? I’m trying here, I really
am.”

“
Oh,
Esca
.”

Soreya found herself smiling through her
tears as the kisses came more frequently, and soon they were a
tangle of naked limbs entwined on the couch, their minds enmeshed
as Esca sank into her needy sex and Ash’s cock filled her ass.
There was nothing but her two males, and soon there wasn’t even
that as the power of the triad transformed them into one.

One power, one being, one love.

A force she willingly gave herself up to for
the rest of her natural life.

* * * * *

Award winning author Kate Pearce was born
into a large family of girls in England, and spent much of her
childhood living very happily in a dream world. Despite being told
that she really needed to "get with the program", she graduated
from the University College of Wales with an honors degree in
history.

A move to the USA finally allowed her to
fulfill her dreams and sit down and write her first romance novel.
Along with being a voracious reader, Kate gets to hang out in
Hawaii, and derives a lot of inspiration from the stunning sea
views and the slope of the volcano in her back yard. Kate is a
member of RWA and is published by NAL Signet Eclipse, Kensington
Aphrodisia, Ellora's Cave, Cleis Press, Carina Press and Virgin
Black Lace/Cheek.

Visit Kate on her website
www.katepearce.com
.

* * * * *

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* * * * *

Eden's Pleasure

Antonia's Bargain

Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?

Roping the Wind

Planet Mail

Secured Mail

Riding The Line

Simply Sexual

Simply Sinful

Simply Shameless

Simply Wicked

Lords Of Passion

Simply Insatiable

Some Like It Rough

Simply Forbidden

The Ties That Bind

Kiss of the Rose

Blood of the Rose

Raw Desire

Mark of the Rose

Simply Carnal

Simply Scandalous

Educating Elizabeth

Redeeming Jack

Soul Sucker

Branded

Death Bringer

The First Sinners

The Sinners Club