Anna and the Three Generals (10 page)

“Go now,” Vadim ordered, pointing to the hallway. “This needs to be finished before we get to Fourth Quadrant. Then, we will complete the final step of the mating in my quarters in sector forty.”

Oh, stars above. That just ratcheted up her anxiety to a whole new level. She’d been happily blocking out the thought of the four of them together all at once. One man at a time was sensory overwhelming enough. How the hellitude was she going to deal with all three men at the same time?

Marco reached for her elbow to guide her off the bridge, and she jumped at his touch.

“Relax, Anna.” His tone soothed.

She met his gaze and thought his eyes looked a little sad. Had she hurt him? Could he feel her reluctance to mate with him?

When they got to the captain’s quarters, she turned to face him. Hesitantly, she raised her palm to his cheek. “I’m sorry.”

He studied her for a moment. “For what?”

“For my uneasiness about our joining.”

His eyelids closed as he bowed his head. “I’m sorry I am not worthy of you.”

Anna’s heart lurched. “No!” With both her hands on his cheeks, she tugged until he met her gaze again. “That’s not at all what I meant. It has nothing to do with you. It’s me. Only me. You’re fine.”

A wry grin tipped up one side of his mouth. “A stunning endorsement.”

“I mean you’re perfect. There’s nothing wrong with you. I’m the one who’s freaking out over this whole mating thing.” She dropped her hands to her sides and looked away from his warm brown eyes. “It’s a bit much to deal with, as my entire life has been disrupted.”

Marco stroked a light finger down the side of her cheek. “What can I do to make this easier for you?”

Her stomach somersaulted at his gentle touch and kind words. He was so selfless, when he could have just demanded his right to take her as his mate and thrown her on the mattress. Instead, he was asking her what she wanted.

Suddenly, she couldn’t get the image of him sprawled naked across the berth out of her mind. A grin tugged at her lips, and she decided to initiate a new sort of experiment.

“Take off your clothes,” she replied to his question.

His eyes widened briefly. Then he was undoing the buttons at his collar and lifting the hem of his tunic up his tight abs and over his head. He paused with his hands at the waist of his trousers. “Everything?”

She nodded and licked her lower lip. “Everything.”

His erection bounced free as Marco slid his pants down his thighs, and she was startled by the shape. He was curved, whereas the other two men had straight rods. She wondered if he would feel differently inside her. Would he reach places the other two didn’t?

Once his shoes and trousers were off, he stood upright. “Now what?”

“On your back on the mattress,” she ordered, feeling a new surge of desire as she reveled in the power to command this large, muscular, military man.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied before complying.

She recognized the wet heat gathering between her legs, and nearly dropped trou and immediately straddled him on the bed. But she needed to complete her experiment first. This was the perfect opportunity to prepare herself for one of the things she’d be required to do once they got to Vadim’s quarters in sector forty.

She knelt on the mattress and crawled towards Marco’s midsection, finding it difficult to look at anything other than his erection. A thick vein along the underside throbbed as she watched, and she traced it lightly with her fingertip.

Marco sharply drew in his breath.

Feeling a bit giddy, Anna repeated the movement, and this time, Marco moaned low in his throat.

She wondered what he’d do if she used her tongue. Bending down, she raised her eyes so she could watch his face as she dragged her tongue slowly up his length.

“Oh, blast,” he ground out between clenched teeth, the tendons in his neck standing out.

She giggled, a sound coming from her that she’d never heard before.

She returned to the base of his erection and licked up it again, pulling another deep groan from him. This time she didn’t back away when she got to the tip. Instead, she swirled her tongue around the flared head. His skin was so velvety soft. She laved him again, tasting his salty muskiness. Then, she wrapped her lips around him and sucked softly on his tip.

He threaded his fingers through her hair as he whispered her name. “Anna…Anna.”

She liked his hand on the back of her head as his hips jerked up at her. She swallowed more of him in her mouth, licking around his rod. His hips jerked more rhythmically, forcing more of him down her throat, and surprisingly, she felt more wet heat flow from her core as she relished this pleasuring of him. She continued lapping at him, until he abruptly stopped and held her head tightly between his hands so she couldn’t bob down on him.

“Stop. I want to be in you for our first time,” he spoke with a gruff voice.

He guided her head away from his length and pulled her face towards his. He met her lips with a lick of his tongue. Then, his mouth pressed firmly over hers.

She wrapped her arms under his neck and gave herself over to his demanding kiss as she—still fully dressed—straddled his hips.

His fingers plucked at the buttons of her shirt and pulled it away from her body. Then he had her bra slipping off. His fingers eased under the waistband of her trousers, and she helped him slide them over her hips and down her legs, kicking them to the floor without losing contact with his mouth—his hot, spicy mouth with his tongue that mimicked the rutting that was about to commence.

He slipped a hand between their bodies and guided himself to her channel. With his hands on her hips, she eased down until he was fully inside her.

“Oh.” She broke their kiss with a gasp. He was in her so deep.

She raised her backside slightly, experimenting with the feeling of him in her core. When she lowered her bottom, a moan escaped her throat as he touched an exceptionally sensitive spot inside her.

His hands tightened on her hips. “Oh, sweet beauty,” he whispered against her neck. His warm breath tickled her skin, sending goose bumps down her spine.

She rose and fell again, and they both moaned.

“You’re torturing me, Anna,” he groaned.

She leaned back so she could see his face. And he did indeed look tortured. His eyes were squeezed shut as the muscles in his clenched jaw pulsed.

“Does it hurt terribly? Perhaps I should get off.” She moved her hips as if she was considering disengaging with him, but instead, she gave them a swivel. If she’d learned anything from her experiences with Kojo and Vadim, it was that pleasure and pain could be as perfectly paired as a strand of DNA.

His fingers dug into her hips, heightening her own senses, as his eyelids popped open. “Don’t. You. Dare. Leave.” He glared at her, causing her unfamiliar giggle to reappear.

“You, tease,” he said, then he flexed his abs and sent his hard length pumping in and out of her in a quick rhythm.

“Oh, stars! Oh, yes! Oh, yes!” she yelped, grabbing his shoulders and holding on as he repetitively hit the internal spot that had her seeing stars behind her closed eyelids.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, her muscles seized and a tremendous wave of bliss washed through her body. A scream of pleasure rushed from her throat.

Marco’s hips thrust into her faster and sharper as he shouted out his own release.

When he’d finished, she lay on top of him, her muscles still rigid as she floated back to her body and mind. Finally, with a deep breath, she released her hold on his shoulders and flexed her fingers. Straightening her knees, she slid her legs down the length of his until she lay flat over him with her cheek resting on his chest. His heart pounded in her ear.

He trailed his fingertips up her spine, causing her to shiver. “I could stay here with you like this forever,” he whispered against the top of her head, and she murmured her agreement.

This was a rare moment for her, to be completely comfortable with another person. She could take a little bit of forever of this, as well.

“Too bad it’s time to get off the transporter,” Kojo spoke from the open doorway.

Anna startled, and Marco’s arms tightened around her. She glanced at Kojo’s tight expression. Was that what jealousy looked like? But Kojo had an equal share of the mating. Each man did. Why would he be jealous of something that he had an equal share of?

“Are we at Fourth Quadrant already?” Marco asked, his chest rumbling under Anna’s cheek as he spoke.

“Soon enough,” Kojo answered curtly. “Vadim told me to get you.”

And from the sound of his terseness, it appeared to Anna that Kojo was spending too much time with Vadim.

“I’m on my way,” Marco answered, but he didn’t let go of Anna.

Kojo stayed a moment longer in the doorway, sending a narrowed eye glare at Marco, before heading back to the bridge.

Marco kissed the top of her head. “Time to go, my beauty. Duty calls.” He gently eased out from under her and retrieved his uniform from the floor as she watched from the berth.

His muscles were just as well-defined as her other two mates. Though Marco’s legs looked more developed. His thighs rippled as he bent one leg then the other to stick his feet in his trousers.

Once he was dressed, he stood with his hands on his hips and looked down at her. A slow smile slid across his face. “I don’t know how I earned a mate as worthy as you, but I’ll thank the stars every day of my life.”

Before she could reply, he spun on his heel and left the captain’s quarters, taking her breath with him.

Chapter Eight

Anna stood between Kojo and Marco as Vadim unlocked the door to his pod. She wiped her sweaty palms on the trousers of her well-worn uniform.

Stars, she’d give just about anything to get into some clean clothes, but all her things were back in First Quadrant. She wondered how soon she could get to this sector’s general goods store for some new supplies to cover her until she got back to her personal pod.

Vadim stepped through the open doorway and gestured to her to come in. “Welcome to your new pod.”

Anna’s stomach clenched. The way he said those words made it sound like she was here permanently. Weren’t they going to return her to her place in First Quadrant? That was where her research was, her home.

She glanced around at the bare spaces on the shelves and vacant walls in the main room. It looked so impersonal, like no one actually lived here. Where were Vadim’s things? Pictures and mementoes from his life? This was such an empty space.

Loneliness hollowed her gut, even though she was surrounded by her three mates—three men who were willing to die for her—but it wasn’t the same as having her best friend nearby and everything that was familiar to her.

She looked at Vadim. “Have you heard anything about Doctor Bella?”

Vadim pulled his datapad from his hip pocket and checked for a message. “Doctor Bella has arrived in the Fourth Quadrant.”

Anna turned and practically ran for the door, but Vadim’s hand shot out and grabbed her forearm.

“You may visit her tomorrow,” he instructed. “We must finish the second step of our mating.”

She freed her arm from his grip and stuck her hands on her hips, glaring at him. “You mean, I can’t see my best friend and make sure she’s all right until all four of us have sex together?”

“Exactly,” Vadim responded coolly.

“What if she’s h-hurt?” Anna choked out the last word, afraid of losing the only woman she’d ever felt close to.

“The report does not indicate that she was sent to the infirmary. She is not injured,” Vadim answered.

Marco slipped an arm around Anna’s waist, and she leaned into his hold. “You can see her tomorrow, Anna,” he reassured her.

“She’s safe here in Fourth Quadrant.” Kojo stepped closer to Anna’s other side. “Just like you.” He kissed the top of her head.

Warmth flowed through her chest, filling some of the hollow space in her. She really wasn’t as alone as she’d thought. Marco and Kojo had bonded with her, and she with them.

She glanced over at Vadim. Now,
he
would take more time to thaw.

“Ready to see the rest?” he asked.

She nodded, and he led them through to the next room in the pod where a desk faced two chairs.

“You have an office in your pod?” she asked. She’d never heard of having such a luxury of space.

Vadim nodded. “Much of my communications is highly confidential. This ensures privacy.”

He walked to the next room, which Anna knew would be the bedroom, and her anxiety increased as she thought about what still needed to be done to complete their mating. Though honestly, the anxiety was now mixed with an equal part of anticipation. She couldn’t imagine to what heights of pleasure the three men together would take her.

But the next room wasn’t the bedroom. Filling nearly every centimeter of floor space were exercise machines. Her gaze flicked from the machines to Vadim and back again. Now she knew how he achieved such physical perfection.