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They continued to fuck her body, but the battle waging in Ansley’s mind consumed her awareness. She tried to yield, tried to silence her own fear. But her instincts took over. She fought against Jobek, resisting his control with every fiber of her being. He was strong and skilled, and ruthlessly disciplined.
The final skirmish in their hours-long battle lasted three minutes or less. They had come too far and she trusted him too much to complicate the outcome. As he wove his energy through hers and then brought Tandor into the mix, thoughts, feelings, and sensations inundated her mind.
Protectiveness and power, hunger and hope, they needed her, were incomplete without her. Her abilities had been bound for the last twenty-five years. She had been blissfully unaware of what she was missing. They had known who they were, had fought and trained to prepare for something they knew was unlikely to happen. They could sense their power, their potential, yet knew that it would never be reached unless they claimed a conduit.
No wonder they had refused to give her up.
A savage sound tore from Jobek as he thrust his entire length into her and came. The hot spurts of his seed triggered Ansley’s orgasm, which in turn brought about Tandor’s release. Tandor pulled out and drew her into his arms. Jobek simply followed her forward and she ended up snuggled between them. They collapsed on their sides in a sweaty pile of tangled limbs.
Ansley felt dazed and tingly as if her entire body had just been electrified. The males were equally dazed. She knew because she could sense them now. Oh, God, had they—
“We did not claim you,” Jobek assured her. “The link we created is temporary, as I promised. Think of this as a trial run. It will allow you to experience what it will be like to bond before you commit to a permanent connection.”
Feeling strangely vulnerable, she wiggled away from both of them and moved to the foot of the bed. She dragged the sheet up to cover her body, then asked, “What happens now?”
“We can spend a day or two here, but then we must return to our ship,” Tandor told her. “There is no way Commander Cylex will wait any longer.”
“And then I’ll be taken to the Citadel?”
Neither of the males looked pleased by the possibility. “The mentors best qualified to train you reside there,” Jobek admitted with obvious reluctance. “Our mentor is wonderful, but he does not train conduits.”
“Will the people at the Citadel honor our courtship?” The thought of being parted from these two was surprisingly upsetting and the possibility of being touched by anyone else made her nauseated.
“Do you intend to honor the courtship once you are free to choose?” Jobek countered, his brows upraised.
She didn’t answer immediately. After what they’d done to her, she should want to get as far away from them as possible. If it weren’t for the mind link, that might have been her attitude. But the mind link allowed her access to their minds. She understood why they had done this and what they were trying to accomplish.
“I want to know more about you,” she admitted. “I don’t hate you two nearly as much as I should.”
Her backhanded compliment made Tandor chuckle and allowed Jobek to relax. “It doesn’t seem like much progress,” Jobek grumbled, “but we’ll take it.”
“I’m going to go take a shower.” She paused for a moment to see if they’d object then headed for the bathroom.
“We’ll go select some sort of snack,” Tandor said. “You just burned through several thousand calories.”
She stood beneath the spray letting the heat soothe her muscles. Last night, she’d slept on the hard floor of a sea cave. Now she was headed for outer space. Last night, the closest she’d come to sex was an awkward kiss and her own fingers. Now she’d been penetrated in every way a female could be penetrated and she knew the staggering pleasure found in total submission. Mystic energy seethed within her mind, barely controlled and waiting to power her abilities. Before her lay a blindingly bright future filled with possibilities, and yet her past had been reduced to rubble.
Tears slipped down her cheeks as she scrubbed herself clean. She didn’t regret allowing them to fuck her. It had to happen eventually and she liked Tandor and Jobek, liked them a lot. She just needed a moment to grieve the loss of her human self. Her life on Earth might have been filled with lies, but it was the only life she’d known for the past twenty-five years.
Someone had placed a clean towel, comb and brush, and her dress on the counter by the door. They were trying to respect her privacy, give her the space she needed to process what had just happened. She appreciated the gesture, but there was a much bigger problem. As long as they could sense her emotions and hear her thoughts, she would never have anything resembling privacy. Their mind link was amazing; it added a depth of intimacy she’d never experienced before. Still, she needed to be able to turn it off from time to time.
She dried off and dressed then walked into the outer room as she worked the tangles out of her wet hair.
“The only human selections are entrees,” Tandor told her. “So we printed an Altorian dessert that we think you will like.” He motioned toward the small dining table on the domestic side of the room.
“There is also Pyronese wine,” Jobek added with a smile.
They were trying so hard. She almost talked herself out of making her next demand. Maybe it didn’t need to feel like a demand. She sat down and let Tandor serve her the cake while Jobek poured the wine. Setting the comb aside, she took a bite of the cake and then another. Tiny ribbons of buttery filling wove through the light, springing cake and the thin layer of frosting on top had a bright, citrusy taste.
“This is delicious.” She took a sip of wine next and smiled at Jobek. “So is this. If you two keep choosing the menu, I might not starve to death.” She finished the cake and was on a second glass of wine when she finally made herself ask her next question. “Can one of you teach me how to shield my mind? Sensing you guys all the time is a little overwhelming for me.”
“That is not surprising,” Tandor assured her. “You were raised without mind links of any kind. It must feel very strange to you.”
Well, that was much easier than she’d thought it would be. “It is.”
They moved to the sofa and she reclined in Tandor’s arms, her back pressed against his chest. “The first step in shutting down a link is being able to locate it.”
Tandor taught her how to use visualization to manipulate metaphysical objects. Jobek recycled the dishes and then sat in the chair facing them and tried not to be a distraction.
