14. Sloane

fourteen

Sloane

I 've gotten more accustomed to the new rules after a few more days. Okay, so maybe not more accustomed, but Jovi and I have learned plenty of loopholes we like to exploit.

"Do you want me to have something made for you when you get out of the shower?" Jovi asks as I turn the water on.

He pops his head into the bathroom, his eyes roaming over my still-naked body like he's ready to go again. I'd offer it if the new rules didn't specify a cooling-off period. I don't need a cooling-off period. I need Jovi on his back again, but I agreed to these dumb rules. The least I can do is hold up my end of them.

Jovi and I are already blurring the lines by him being in the bathroom with me, but I have the pendant turned off and told him we're just friends now. Our friendship has grown to the point where we're always naked around one another. It's just normal best friend stuff; nothing sexual about it at all. Except, of course, how hot and bothered it gets us both.

"Maybe some of that chicken stuff from Holoth's planet?" I say, not remembering the name he gave it when he had me try it two nights ago. It's not even chicken, but I'm pretty sure Jovi knows what I mean.

Jovi thinks for a moment, and then he nods. "I'll go get it started."

I hear him shuffling around in my room, getting dressed. By the time I get in the shower, he's left. Alik always waits outside my room when Jovi and I have relations, whether it's to take his turn after or to make sure Jovi sticks to the rules. Alik went before Jovi today, and so he's out there, ready to scold him for being in here for too long.

After finding out that their semen gets me all kinds of fucked up in a good way, they've been very purposeful about only coming in my pussy or on my body and then either cleaning me themselves or not leaving until I start a shower. I've been good and not even pretended to stuff it in my mouth.

Well, only the one time when Alik was being extra distant to me after we were together. Coating my fingers in his release and bringing it to my lips had him snapping his teeth in my face and pinning my hands over my head. He then carried me to the shower, rinsed me off like a dirty animal, and stalked out of the room in a huff, but I did get a reaction out of him, so that was fun.

That's one of the easier-to-handle rules, even though I really kind of want to get on my knees and blow them sometimes. One, because I'm great at it, and two, because I also want to know what kinds of things they'd make me feel while I'm high on them. Pretty sure we'd all have a really good time if they gave in.

The new rules are easy enough to handle. The pendant goes green at least once a day, sometimes more than once if I'm feeling generous, which I am most of the time.

The only really sucky rule is the timer. I'm supposed to set one for ten minutes for each of them, but ten minutes is not enough time for both of us to get off. I've been fingering myself beforehand, sometimes in front of Jovi if he's around, which, again, is fairly often. Then, after I come, I'll switch the pendant to green.

Jovi doesn't look at the timer at all when he's with me. He keeps his sole focus on me, getting as much of me as he can before the beeping of the timer tells him he needs to come.

Alik's a completely different story. He's never around until the pendant goes green. Not since the night of never have I ever. Now, when he's with me, his focus is on the timer way too much. He watches the seconds tick by with every thrust until he comes, wipes me off, and leaves with a cold, dead look in his eyes and a tense body like he didn't just orgasm.

I've stopped taking Alik's reactions to heart because I'm almost certain he's being so weird because he really, really likes me.

Jovi might've let it slip that Alik's struggling with keeping himself in control when he's with me. I was feeling really down about myself and needed some reassurance, and Jovi knew exactly what to say. Ever since he told me that, I've been trying to find ways to make Alik lose himself like he used to before the new rules.

I want that harshness, the version of him that tells me what to do and say. I want to know how badly he wants me and how feral he'll get to have me. So far, I've been unsuccessful.

I blame the rules saying no roleplaying me being pregnant or getting to call him mate. Those are two things he had me do when he lost control of himself. I'm sure it would do it to him again, but I agreed to follow their rules, so I will.

I shower, dress, and then head to the kitchen, where Jovi should already have food made for me. I'm surprised when I step into the kitchen and am met with both males I've been sharing a bed with standing in the kitchen whispering with one another.

They couldn't be any more different in how they respond to my presence. Alik's body stiffens when I step inside. Jovi relaxes, and a smile pulls at his lips. They don't continue whatever they were talking about, and I wonder if it was about me.

"Should I go?" I ask, trying to chuckle to ease some of the tension in the air. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No," they both say at the same time, causing my heart to flutter with how quick they are in the objection.

Alik reaches out and grabs my forearm as if he thinks I might flee if he doesn't keep me there. I step closer to him, hoping he'll keep touching me if I don't make any move to get away from him. Of course, it doesn't work that way, and he drops my arm just as fast. Jovi's quick about taking his place, though, one of his lower arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me close to him.

"We're discussing where we're going to have you stay once we get to the rendezvous spot," Jovi says as he places a kiss on the crown of my head.

I smile as I lean back against his chest, noticing the way Alik looks anywhere but at us. I also don't miss how he keeps balling and flexing his hands like he's keeping himself from doing something he wants to do but doesn't want to allow himself to do. A terrible part of me wants to know if I can get him to do it anyway.

Before I can think of a way to make Alik lose it a little bit, he's blowing out a long breath of air and talking. "We'll be there in a few hours, which means the smugglers could contact us in a few hours, or we could be waiting for them for weeks. Either way, we don't want you just out and about if they decide to do a scan of the ship. We need you somewhere where we might keep a human pet."

I snort at the idea and then end up laughing at the absurdity. "Pet?" When neither one of them responds, I realize they're being serious. "What, you want to put a collar on me and have me crawl around on my hands and knees naked for you?"

That gets the reaction I was hoping for. Alik's eyes harden, the cold depth flickering for just a moment before he pulls himself back together and turns his back to us. Jovi at least laughs either at my question or Alik's reaction, maybe both.

"We'll get you a nice collar at the next station if that's what you want, Sloane." Jovi trails his finger over my shoulder until he wraps his fingers around my throat, tracing my pulse up and down, never squeezing.

"We will do no such thing," Alik snaps, turning fully. His lips pull back in a snarl as he steps closer to us, his eyes pinning Jovi where he's at. "You would cover my mark?"

"Are you fucking serious right now?" Jovi grips my hip tighter, his palm flattening against my chest as he holds me to him. "You haven't marked her, so there's nothing to cover. Calm down."

Alik looks down at me, the cold darkness in his eyes chilling me to the bones yet igniting a burning deep in my belly. It spreads lower and causes my core to clench. This is what I've wanted to happen for so many days, for him to look at me like this again, like he wants nothing else in the universe but me.

So why, then, am I staying put in Jovi's hold like I'm scared of what Alik wants to do to me now? His lips twitch as he looks at Jovi's hand pressed against my collarbone.

"The only necklace she needs is one of our hands, isn't that right, little mate?" Alik pierces me with his gaze as he reaches out and wraps a hand over Jovi's and drags it back around my throat. "Answer me."

"Yes," I gasp, not able to breathe with so many butterflies going wild inside me.

"Good girl," Alik growls before looking at Jovi. "Hold her."

Jovi's fingers twitch against my neck, the movement making Alik's smile widen. I gasp, feeling a slight pressure, but not enough to keep me from breathing. Alik lowers himself until his face is right in front of mine. His head cocking to the side, almost like he's trying to decide what to do with us.

"Do you want to come, Sloane?" Alik's fingers trace my lips, his tongue licking at his own as he watches my mouth part. I nod, and he praises me again. "Such an eager female. Change your pendant to green."

My fingers work the pendant quickly to green and then to orange. Alik clicks his tongue softly in admonishment, shaking his head in mock disapproval. I fumble with the pendant again, trying to change it back to green since that's what he's disappointed in. Before I can, though, he grabs my hands and places them at my side.

"You need to be better at following instructions, Sloane." Alik runs his hands from my wrists to my waist and then slips them under the hem of my shirt to play with the waistband of my shorts. "If I say to change your pendant to green, what color should it be until I give you more instructions?"

I swallow deep, wanting to know what he'll do to me if I'm good and follow his instructions. "Green."

"Alik," Jovi's voice wavers, and when I look up at him, I can see the coldness in his eyes flickering back and forth like he's trying desperately to regain control instead of letting himself fall to his lust like Alik has allowed. I whimper at the thought of our fun ending so soon. "Not now. We can't do this right now."

Alik's eyes flicker up to Jovi's, and a snarl pulls at his lips. I see it, though, the small glimmer of reasoning seeping back into his vision, causing him to rise to his full height and then stumble away from us as he regains complete control of himself. He grabs at the ends of his hair with his upper hands, his lower ones on his hips as he chastises himself while pacing the kitchen.

I want to go over and soothe him, tell him I want to see what a desperate Alik will have Jovi and me doing. I know it'll only end with me having a great time. They seem opposed to it, though, even though they both lost themselves to their lust the first time we had sex. It was amazing, then. I don't know why they won't let it be amazing now.

"You need to stay in one room and not leave until we know where and when the smugglers will be here," Alik says, his frustration in himself noticeable in the way he refuses to face us. "Our room would be the best choice, so one of us can keep you safe, but we can't both watch you the whole time. It's just asking for there to be issues like this."

"Okay, I can just move some clothes into your room," I say easily enough. I thought they were going to say I needed to stay in a cage or some shit, and I was not looking forward to that. Especially when they said it could be weeks. "Which one of you will be with me?"

"Alik," Jovi says his name, and Alik turns around, thinking Jovi is just trying to get his attention. It's what we both think, but Jovi doesn't says anything else.

It isn't until the silence stretches that we realize Jovi's saying Alik needs to be the one trapped with me. I'm fine with it, but you'd think we were signing Alik up for a death sentence with the lack of excitement he seems to have about the whole thing.

Alik opens his mouth to object, but Jovi is faster than him. "You lose your shit too easily. The longer you keep pushing that part of you down, the quicker it's able to get you to snap at us. If they show up and it's been more than a couple hours since you've had her, there's a good chance you blow the whole thing."

My face flushes at the new information. Alik's been making himself scarce the last few days unless I turn the pendant to green. I know he's scared of losing himself, so I thought that was why he didn't want to be around me often. What I didn't know was how often he's been needing me this whole time.

Alik's chest is a dark violet that he tries to hide with his arms crossing over it, but it's clear he didn't want Jovi telling me all of that. He doesn't refute any of it, and I realize he's actually thinking about agreeing to be the one I spend all of my time with.

My stomach flutters, and my core clenches again. If we spend all our time together, I'm going to get plenty of that growly demanding side of him that makes me feel so good. Ideas are already forming in my head of how to make it happen.

"Okay." Alik rubs his face, nodding in agreement with Jovi. "You're right. You know why I'm worried, though."

"Yeah." Jovi doesn't elaborate, even though I would love to know why they're worried about Alik spending all his time with me. It's probably because he's going to get all commanding and freaky in bed, but that really isn't anything to be worried about. "I trust you to make the right decisions."

"The right decisions?" Alik narrows his eyes, his jaw ticking. "Is there anything you want to warn me not to do?"

"Not that I can think of." Jovi shrugs.

The two of them stare at each other for another moment, having some sort of silent conversation with just their eyes. Just as it's getting awkward, Jovi breaks eye contact, and then Alik is back in front of me, hands cupping my cheeks and tilting my face to look at him.

"This will be difficult for me, but nothing bad will happen to you, Sloane. Nothing. Get your things and move them into our room. You can have Jovi's bed, and he'll take yours."

I agree with what he's saying, but in my head, I'm already planning on sharing a bed with him. There's no way we're trapped in the same room, and I'm not sharing his bed. He looks up at Jovi, gives him one final nod, and then places a kiss on my forehead.

"I need to go do something real quick, but I'll be in the room when you get there."

"Do you think he can actually do it?" I ask Jovi when Alik leaves the kitchen, and the door closes behind him.

Jovi holds me a bit tighter like he's never going to see me again. I roll my eyes a bit because we both know he's about to be in his room all the time, anyway. I need to be guarded twenty-four-seven. He doesn't have to leave me.

Sure, they make it sound like they can't be around each other with me there, too, but that has to be an exaggeration. It's part of the rules, but surely it's just them being a little overdramatic about all of it. They managed to be in the kitchen with me together, and only tried to show me a good time for like maybe a few minutes.

"I think he's going to make some hard choices, but they'll be the right ones." Jovi gives such a nonanswer that I can't help but laugh. He fingers the pendant on my chest as it shakes with each laugh. "We'll need to turn this off and put it away."

"Oh?" I cock a brow at him as I look up. "So, no more sex, or now we just do it like normal people?"

Jovi unchains the pendant from my neck and tucks it into his pocket. He spins me around, grabbing my hips in his lower arms and pulling me close to him so I can feel his erection pressed against me. His forehead tips against mine, his eyes searching me. I beam up at him, realizing he still wants to know if we can have a good time without the pendant to give him the okay.

"Fuck me, Jovi." I barely get the words out before his lips are closing in on mine.

He lifts me onto the kitchen counter while I wrap my legs around his waist and let him pull my shirt from my body. We're working on removing our pants when the kitchen door slides open to reveal a frowning Essa.

"No fucking in the kitchen," Essa looks between the two of us, her frown deepening. "You still have a time limit, too."

I laugh as I push at Jovi's chest, grabbing my shirt from him and sliding it back on. "Come on," I tug on his hand as I jump from the counter. "We can do it one last time in my room before I move all my stuff."

Essa punches Jovi in the chest as we walk past and then threatens him with a hand on her dagger. "No funny shit, Jovi."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Essa," Jovi laughs.

He spins me around, bends down to wrap me in his arms, and then throws me over his shoulder. I let out a very unladylike squeal and then a curse, but he only laughs as he half walks, half runs back to my bedroom. He swats my ass when I wiggle around too much and then finally throws me on the bed when we get to the room.

"I'm on the clock," he says with a smile as he strips me down. "Have to make sure I make my ten minutes worth it."

"Oh, we'll have plenty more," I moan as he pushes inside of me. "So many more."

"You think?" Jovi asks, pulling his face away from my chest. He likes to nip and suckle my tits when he fucks me since he's not allowed to be at my neck anymore. "You think we'll be doing this same thing for a while?"

I feel my face heat with embarrassment, not knowing if I've said too much about how I feel about them. A part of me wants to tell him I hope to keep doing this forever because what if he doesn't feel the same? I'm just a part of their job, and once the job is over, will they even want me anymore?

So, instead of answering, I throw my head back, arch my back, and moan as he continues to thrust inside of me. Jovi either doesn't want to push the question or is back to being fully focused on fucking me. His face goes back to my chest, and he spends the rest of his time drawing out our pleasure until his ten minutes are up.