Good—that was the only way.Theywould go toCherubinThree, make the vaccine, save whoever needed saving, and then be done.
Cassie could be cured andSevcould go back to his lab.Ravikcould return toSingleMalebarracks or take a long-range assignment so far from theMotherShipthat he wouldn’t have to see or smell either one of them ever again.
That was the plan.
It sounded like death.
Ravik rubbed both hands over his face and cursed under his breath.
No, it sounded likesanity, he assured himself.Itsounded like honor.Itsounded like the only way to stop this thing before it got worse—more twisted.Becauseif he stayed—if he let himself keep touching and pleasuringCassiewhileSevtouched her too—then sooner or later he was going to want more than the cure demanded.
Hell, he already did—that was the real problem.
He could tell himself he was angry becauseSevhad bitten him.Thatwas true enough.Hecould tell himself he was furious becauseSev’sessence had made him come like a helpless male in front ofCassie.Alsotrue.Hecould tell himself that the whole thing made him feel violated, exposed, and used in a way noBeastKindredmale should ever be used.
It was all true.
But underneath all that was something worse…he had liked some of it.
Not the fear.Notthe infection.Notwaking up with his memories in pieces and finding out he had been half-feral for months.Butthe rest?Cassiein his arms…Cassieopening for them both…Sev’svoice guiding him…Sev’shands onCassie’sbody whileRavikwatched…Cassie’smouth around both of them, her hands pressing their shafts together…
Fuck yes—he’d liked that.Allof it.
His cock stirred again, traitorous and hard.
Ravik snarled and turned away from the memories, trying to shove them down, shove them away.
“Stop it,”he growled at himself.“Fuckingforget it, why can’t you?”
His body didn’t listen—it remembered.
It rememberedCassie’ssoft mouth and hot tongue, but it also remembered the slide ofSev’sshaft against his own.Theshock of it…the wrongness…the heat.Theway his body had tightened, not in disgust but in pleasure.ThewaySevhad made a low, broken sound whenCassietook them both, and how that sound had gone straight throughRaviklike a blade made of fire.
It wasn’t the first time they’d shared.
The thought came before he could stop it, and with it came the old memory he had spent years burying under ale, shame, and silence…
TheTenebrianwoman’s name had beenLirana.OrmaybeLiranna.Somethingsoft with too many vowels, spoken in a purring voice that made a male think about silk sheets and dark rooms and the way a skilled tongue could feel sliding over bare skin.Ravikhad been drunk onGoldsheillale that night—too drunk, if he was honest, though not so drunk he couldn’t remember what happened—every single, searing detail.
They had been on shore leave after theKarridiancampaign, and the entire lower pleasure district had been glowing with blue lamps and music that thrummed through the bones like a second, more primal pulse.Tenebrianwomen were famous for their dark violet skin, silver eyes, and clever hands, andLiranahad seemed delighted to find twoKindredwarriors looking for distraction after months of blood and dust and battlefield stink.
“Both of you?”she had purred, looking fromRaviktoSeverinwith open, hungry appreciation, her gaze lingering on the breadth ofRavik’sshoulders and the lean, dangerous lines ofSeverin’sform.“HowfortunateIam.”
Ravik had laughed, the sound rough in his throat, and told her he andSevweren’tTwinKindred.BeastandBlooddidn’t share that way.Butthe ale had been a warm, molten weight in his blood andLirana’shands were already on his chest, her thumbs circling his nipples through the thin fabric of his shirt, while her silver eyes slid toSeverinin an unmistakable invitation.
“Then don’t share,” she had said, her voice dropping to a husky whisper.“Simplyenjoy me at the same time.”
It had sounded reasonable then—maybe becauseRavikwas drunk and hungry and tired of being alone—his body a live wire of pent-up need.
Severin had been quieter, as always, but he hadn’t left.Thatwas the partRavikremembered too clearly.Sevhad stayed—pale and elegant in the blue lamplight—his eyes sharp and unreadable asLiranaled them both behind a curtain into a private room full of low cushions and warm, scented air, thick with musk and desire.
At first it had been about her.Thatwas whatRavikhad told himself afterward.Ithad beenLiranabetween them…Lirana’shot, wet mouth sliding down his shaft while her clever fingers worked him to a throbbing hardness…Lirana’shands pullingSeverindown to the cushions beside her whileRavikkissed the side of her throat, tasting salt and perfume.
She had laughed and touched them both, guiding their hands to her bare breasts…her narrow waist…the slick heat between her thighs, pulling them closer as though there was nothing strange about having one male on either side of her, their bodies forming a cage of heat and muscle around her.
ThenSeverin’shand had brushedRavik’ship.
It had been an accident—Ravikhad told himself that for years.
