Their Rebel Mate [Helan Universe 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (17 page)

Kerek’s expression melted, and Thantos could feel his mate’s hope beginning to blossom in him. “I agree wholeheartedly,
talan
. Listen, I was talking to Kim earlier today about her favorite meal.”

Thantos’s lips stretched in a wide smile as he listened to Kerek’s plan to sweep Kim off her feet.

“Are you sure you want to come down on the shuttle, Kerek? I mean, I know how much you suffer.”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ve spoken to Dr. Tabar, and he will give me a sedative so that I sleep right through the whole flight. He says that he will send the antidote so that you can wake me as soon as I land. Then we can put our plan in action.”

Thantos gaped at him. “But…you don’t like to be vulnerable when we’re not in our quarters.”

Kerek sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I still don’t like the idea, but I trust the pilot, and you’ll be there as soon as I land. And I really don’t want to wait for three hours to recover from motion sickness before we go to Kim.”

Made sense to him. “Okay, Kerek. I’ll meet your shuttle and administer the antidote. I’m going to go shopping for our dinner ingredients while I wait.”

He signed off with Kerek and rubbed his hands together. Kim might not decide that she wanted to be with them, but they were not giving her up without a fight.

By the time he was finished shopping and he’d prepared with his own hands the little finger foods Kim had described to Kerek, Kerek’s shuttle was due any minute. He had just enough time to get to the landing pad with his guards.

The drive was quick, and he was waiting for the shuttle with minutes to spare. The landing seemed to be quite rough, and Thantos prayed to the gods that whatever Dr. Tabar had given Kerek, it had worked perfectly.

The shuttle door opened with a hiss, and the pilot jumped out. “Ambassador,” he said with a smile and a chest thump.

“Lieutenant,” he responded, nodding to acknowledge the greeting.

Thantos waited until the pilot had walked past him before sprinting up to the open hatch and launching himself up through it. He rushed to the back of the shuttle, searching frantically for his mate. He already knew that Kerek wasn’t feeling any physical sensations of motion sickness in his drugged sleep. Their bond was as physical as it was emotional. But the question that weighed on his mind was how Kerek would fare once he regained consciousness. His poor mate had a tendency to react poorly to drugs.

There he was, strapped into an upright position, head drooping as he slept. Thantos flipped the armrest up and felt around. He extracted a syringe and all but tossed it over his shoulder when he realized it was the space sickness antidote. Finally he pulled out a clear bag that held another syringe and a note. He quickly read through the instructions Dr. Tabar had provided and administered the antidote.

Kerek groaned as he came around, head lolling forward until it rested on Thantos’s shoulder. Thantos let his fingers play with the ends of Kerek’s long hair, knowing Kerek loved the slight pulling on his scalp.

The shuttle was quiet, almost oppressively so, as Kerek’s body worked on waking him up. Thankfully the only thing Thantos picked up on was a deep confusion and no physical reactions to either the shuttle trip or the drugs.

“
Talan
?” Kerek said thickly. A shock of concern for Thantos was transmitted through his bond with Kerek, and Kerek tried to sit up.

Running his hands up and down Kerek’s legs soothingly, Thantos crooned in his mate’s ear. “Shh, my love. Just let the antidote work its way through your system for a few minutes. We’re alone in the shuttle, and my guards are waiting outside. Everything is safe and secure.”

“Mmm,” Kerek answered. Arms came around Thantos’s middle and held him gently, with none of the regular strength he’d come to associate with Kerek’s embraces. It seemed the drug really knocked Kerek out but, quite frankly, if it helped his mate cope more comfortably with shuttle travel, Thantos would kiss the doctor’s knuckles in appreciation.

“You will do no such thing,” Kerek muttered as he struggled to sit up fully, having heard the thought in Thantos’s head. “The only people you will be kissing are me and Kim, if she decides to be with us.”

Oh, growly, possessive Kerek was back. That was a good sign. “Don’t worry,
talan
. I was just grateful that the doctor was able to help you.”

Kerek stretched his arms over his head, and Thantos admired the heavy muscles rippling under his tight uniform shirt. He let his hand drift over those ridges, caressing and petting and letting Kerek preen under his attention. “Did you get everything for our dinner?” Kerek asked as he flexed his abs.

“Yep,” he answered, letting his fingers march up Kerek’s body to feather over his nipples, which were clearly visible through the tight shirt. He tweaked each one lightly before speaking again. “I even made everything up so it’s all ready for us.”

Kerek jerked at the attention Thantos was paying to his nipples, and Thantos smiled as he nuzzled into Kerek’s throat. Those little nipples of Kerek’s had always been a hot spot, one he’d discovered back when they’d first mated. It was delightful to be able to just lounge here and play.

Of course, it helped that the physical sensations of the pleasure he was giving to Kerek was transmitted to him through their bond.

And Thantos’s nipples were just as sensitive as Kerek’s.

In fact, if he didn’t stop torturing the both of them soon with his nipple play, he was going to end up coming in his pants.

Kerek pulled his hands off his chest, pressing soft kisses into the palms. “Save that for later,
talan
, when I can tie you up in our bed and put those little clamps that you like on your nipples. Then we’ll play for hours before I let you come.”

Thantos shivered and grinned. “I’m looking forward to it, Kerek. And I’m also looking forward to the time when we can be with Kim, too.”

Kerek stroked his hair, and Thantos let himself lean into his touch. “You’re pretty confident that Kim will be joining us, even though our bond is broken.”

Thantos nodded and began working on Kerek’s seat restraints. “Yes,” he said as he helped Kerek slip the straps off his shoulders. “I don’t actually think our bond is broken, either. I think if it was actually broken, it would have taken longer than three days for the discomfort to ease. I think that our bond has gone dormant until we’re together again. You know, as a fail-safe action?”

Kerek stood up, his knees cracking and back popping as he unfolded himself from the crunched position he’d been sitting in. “That’s an interesting theory, love. And you’re probably right. I mean, look at what happened when Sathon’s bond broke. Mind you, Hema was killed, but still. It took him years to recover. I’m not sure he is fully recovered.”

Thantos pushed to his feet and took Kerek’s hand, leading him to the shuttle hatch, which was still half-open. “Let’s talk about good things, okay? Romantic things.”

Kerek nodded and nudged his way in front so he could assess the situation and make sure Thantos was safe. Thantos grinned, pleased that Kerek didn’t seem to be suffering from any side effects from either the journey or the drugs.

He waited patiently while Kerek descended to the ground and scouted things out despite the fact that his bodyguards were hanging around. “Come on down,
talan
,” Kerek finally called.

Thantos eased his way down to the ground. He could feel Kerek’s desire to help him down, but his mate refrained. While their society had come a long way, strength and independence was still highly valued, and Kerek would never do anything to cause anyone to question Thantos’s authority. “
Thank you
.” He sent the words mentally to Kerek through their bond, letting his mate feel his appreciation.

Kerek smiled in return and touched his wrist briefly. Thantos’s skin burned with the memory of his mate’s fingers. “Let’s go see Kim, yeah?”

Thantos nodded, pleased they were on the same page. “Yeah.”

The knocking at the door startled Kim, and she bounced a little in her chair before jumping to her feet. “Who’s there?” she called as she rushed to the door.

“It’s us.”

Kerek’s low voice caused goose bumps to ripple along her arms, and she squashed the urge to squeal like a little girl. She worked the locks on the door, sliding the chain off with trembling fingers and flinging the door open. She drank in the sight of her two lovers, a little disconcerted that she couldn’t feel their emotions or hear their thoughts. “What are you guys doing here?”

Thantos smiled at her and held up an old-fashioned picnic basket. “We’ve missed you, so we thought we’d bring you dinner.”

She moved back to let them in and turned to Kerek. “You came down here for me?” They had told her they wouldn’t give her up without a fight, and the fact that Kerek had braved his severe motion sickness to see her proved that to her.

The man in question picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles, making her giggle and blush. “Are you feeling okay? You don’t seem to be sick or anything.”

This time he turned her arm over and kissed the palm of her hand. “Dr. Tabar gave me a new sedative he’s been working on. I slept through the whole trip and felt no worse for wear when I woke up. Not that it mattered. I would have come to see you regardless. I just didn’t need the three hours to recover.”

Kerek raised her arm and spun her around as if they were ballroom dancing, delivering her neatly into Thantos’s arms. He took the hand Kerek had abandoned and flipped it over to feather his lips against the inside of her wrist.

Her blood heated at the intimate gesture, the touch causing her pussy to moisten and swell. She moaned and pressed closer, trying to align her body with his.

Thantos’s lips worked their way up her arm, lingering at the inside of her elbow before moving along to suck at her neck. Her eyes fluttered closed, and he kissed her eyelids once before pulling away with a sigh. She almost cried with disappointment but stepped back as well.

“Oh,
lira
, don’t look so sad,” Thantos said, cupping her cheek with one hand and stroking his thumb along her jaw. “We just don’t want to risk triggering our bond again until we get to know each other.”

She wasn’t quite sure how to take that statement. “You guys are happy our bond is broken?”

Thantos pressed another kiss to the inside of her wrist and led her to the tiny living room. “No, we’re hot happy at all,
lira
, but we respect your opinions. And quite frankly, if you decide to be with us as our mate, we’d rather you had no doubts down the line. If you need time to be sure of where your heart is, time is what we’ll give you.”

The living room had been transformed, the furniture pushed to the walls and her couch cushions piled in the middle of the floor. So this was where Kerek had disappeared to. A series of dishes were set up on the coffee table. “Thantos made us dinner,” Kerek said as he went about putting together a plate, filling it with all her favorite foods. “Come…sit and talk with us while we eat.”

She sat down on one of the cushions and accepted the plate from Kerek, who immediately went about fixing another plate, which was handed off to Thantos. Thantos set the plate aside for a moment, reaching for her vidscreen and tapping a few icons until a low, soothing music filled the room. Kerek fiddled with the dimmer switch and lowered the light as well so that they were in an intimate, romantic cocoon.

Kerek finally settled on the cushion next to Thantos and plucked a cube of cheese from Thantos’s plate, holding it to his mate’s lips until Thantos opened his mouth and accepted the bite. “So, tell us about your work?” Kerek asked as Thantos chewed. “Surely your efforts with the rebellion don’t support you financially.” He popped a glossy green grape into his own mouth and looked at her expectantly, like he was truly interested in hearing what she had to say.

She lifted one of the tiny slivers of chicken to her mouth and moaned when the flavor burst on her tongue. “I’m a history professor at the university,” she said once she’d swallowed.

Thantos smiled at her as he brought a bright-red strawberry to Kerek’s mouth, slipping it between his lips. “I figured you would hold a position of authority. You are far too much of a leader to simply let someone else tell you what to do. Do you have a particular focus?”

“Actually, I focus on more modern history. I teach a class on Earth’s Second World War and another that’s more like a pop culture class…the last twenty years of our history, really.”

She watched in fascination as the men continued to feed each other. The actions seemed almost second nature to them, not at all sexual but just as intimate and just as private. “What about the two of you? Have you always been in the military?”

Kerek swallowed the bite of melon he’d been chewing and held up a shard of chicken for Thantos to eat. “We’re not actually on a military ship,” he explained as he fed Thantos the succulent piece of meat. “The King Jaron is an exploration ship.”

She giggled and chose a slice of kiwi. “The ship is named after the king that’s on board?”

Thantos laughed along with her. “Coincidence,
lira
. But yes, each of our kings has a star ship named after them. The High King D’Arik is also an exploration ship, and the King Nalan is a warship. But to answer your question, I studied very hard for politics. I’m one of the few Helan males that wasn’t born to be a warrior. Lucky for me, one of my fathers was quite good friends with Jaron’s father, the high king consort at the time, and he allowed me to be educated with the royal children. He even trained me to be an ambassador himself.”

Kerek was picking through the fruit and chose a small, juicy-looking blueberry and dipped it in a creamy fruit dip. He waited until Thantos had opened his mouth before popping the fruit in and licking the cream off his fingers. “I, on the other hand, was born too aggressive. A position in the military wouldn’t have been a good match for me. I have no problem following orders unless we are in some kind of danger. Then I tend to ignore orders and just kind of head into the battle without any thought to my safety. So being a communications officer on an exploration ship is an ideal position for me.”