An unexpected laugh bubbled up from Lacey, and she grabbed Roxy for another hug. “Thank you.”
Giving her cheek a kiss, Roxy pulled back with a smile. “Don’t worry about it. Anything for a fellow soldier. Look, we’ve only got a few minutes before your men barge in here, so we need to talk.”
A warm wave of desire went through Lacey as she thought of Gwarnon and Chel, of how Gwarnon had touched her, how he’d driven her mad then basically seduced a kiss out of her. She’d be more irritated about it if she hadn’t experienced that brief moment of perfect romantic love with him through their bond before she’d passed out. Chel and Gwarnon loved her and were good men, despite her almost desperate need to believe otherwise. She didn’t know what her future might bring her, or how, but she knew her men would be a part of it.
“Lacey,” Roxy sat on the bed and took her hand. “You are never going to find two men who will love you more than Gwarnon and Chel.”
Lacey held up her hand, cutting the other woman off. “Don’t worry, I get it now. That connection you were trying to explain that you have with Cormac and Nosa? I felt it with Chel and Gwarnon. It was…there is…I can’t even begin to explain it. I could feel them, their souls.”
“I know,” Roxy smiled, her dark eyes growing soft. “Isn’t it amazing?”
“It seems almost too good to be true.” A shiver went down her spine and she shifted uncomfortably as her thoughts went in a rather dirty direction.
Those happy thoughts died a quick death when Roxy said, “I think you should tell them about…you know who.”
The pang of heartache and sorrow that tore through her chest made it hard for her to breathe. God, she missed her daughter and her mom so much and worried about them every hour of every day, but the less people that knew about Jillian, the better. On the other side of the wormhole on Earth, her daughter Jillian was safe from the dangers of the Bel’Tan Galaxy. According to the NevShoo, Lacey and Roxy’s identity had not been revealed to the rest of the Galaxy. The Baladium protected the identity of the fighters until the very last minute, so no one had an advantage in betting. Oh, their basic stats were given out, and odds were made and placed, but a human fighter was something new and unknown. The Baladium was working that angle to increase the enormous amounts of money being tossed around in the various betting pools.
“Do we have privacy?” she whispered.
Roxy’s dark gaze went distant, then she nodded. “As far as I can tell.”
“Once we win, I’m going to find a way go home, get my mom and daughter then alert the Kadothian ship where I am. Hopefully, Gwarnon and Chel will be able to forgive me once they meet my mom and Jillian. I figure if they don’t know what I’m going to do, then they can’t get in trouble for it. The Kadothian High Congress is already going to be super pissed at them. Chel and Gwarnon will understand that I couldn’t leave my family behind, that it would kill my mom to lose us since my dad passed away a long time ago. Sure, she’ll have our extended family, but me and my mom are tight, and she thinks the sun rises and sets on Jillian. And I would burn down the entire galaxy to keep Jillian safe. I have to have my family with me, Roxy.”
Roxy’s eyes grew wet with tears that she blinked back. “I wish I could bring my parents, but I understand why I can’t. At least they have each other and my older brother and his family. God, I’m going to miss them.” She swallowed hard and wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand. “But I agree with your reasoning, even though I worry about how it’s all going to work out. I still think you should tell your men, but I can’t argue with not creating anymore problems with the Kadothian High Congress. From what Nosa and Cormac have told me, there are elements within the government that do not like Earth females and would ban us all if they could.”
A chime came from the door, admitting four agitated Kadothian males. The gaze of the first two, Nosa and Cormac, focused on Roxy, while Chel and Gwarnon locked onto her like heat seeking missiles. She could feel their worry, then their growing happiness as she smiled at them. God, they really were the hottest men she’d ever seen in her life. Broad, huge, powerful and so masculine it made her ovaries ache. Both men had their hair down instead of back in the usual club-like braid. The blue streaks in Gwarnon’s wild mane of hair shimmered in the light as he knelt before her, relief filling his stormy dark blue and silver lighting streaked eyes.
Chel knelt next to him, so they were arm to arm, hip to hip, and the soothing touch of his soul whispered over her own. Beneath the skin, they were more alike than different. Tears came to her eyes as she soaked in their love for her, no hint of deception in their hearts as they both opened their side of the bond wider, flooding her with affection. She didn’t even realize she’d started crying until she found herself on Chel’s lap with Gwarnon gently brushing away her tears.
“Sorry,” she choked out. “I swear I’m not usually this much of a crier. You guys must think you got bonded to a basket case.” Seeing their confused expressions she couldn’t help but smile despite her tears. “It means a crazy woman.”
Gwarnon’s tanned fingers were dark against the pale skin of her arm as he gently stroked her and Chel said, “There is no need for the embarrassment you feel. It is your body’s natural reaction to the enormous mental and physical stress you have been under. Anyone without the heart of a true Warrior would have collapsed by now. We do not think you are crazy. How are you feeling?”
Taking a quick mental stock of her body, she let out a sigh of relief. “Good. I had some nausea when I woke up earlier, but that seems to have faded.”
Chel rubbed his lips over the top of her head, his breath warm against her sensitive scalp. “We are pleased to hear this.”
For a moment, they were quiet, and Lacey closed her eyes, sinking further into Chel’s embrace as Gwarnon lightly raked his nails over her palm. The motion sent little shivers dancing over her skin, and she squirmed against Chel, then felt something begin to grow beneath her butt. Something her body expressed instant interest in.
A familiar ache began to throb between her legs, the same ache she’d been battling for days. When she wasn’t with Chel and Gwarnon, she was thinking about them, daydreaming and masturbating to unfulfilling orgasms. Desire furled through her blood as Gwarnon and Chel picked up on her desire, the heat of their passion sparking to life like a bonfire soaked in lighter fluid.
“Lacey,” Chel shifted beneath her and his side of the bond closed off. “Are you ready for your crystal implant?”
She was ready for more than that. The irrevocable choice had been made, the transformation to her body made. A sense of relief tinged with guilt filled her as she realized she belonged with them now and no longer had to fight her needs. That she could give into the craving for them that had started the moment she’d laid eyes on Gwarnon and hadn’t abated since.
“No,” she said as she tried to sit up a little bit, but both men grumbled and held on tight to her. “I want to do something first. Lemme up for a second.”
“I do not want to release you,” Gwarnon’s pout was almost too cute to resist, but she managed to control the urge to kiss it away.