Chapter 20
Aano
Three weeks docked with the Enotheas, and I'd spent most nights tangled between Leah and Yahn on her ship instead of here.
Tonight, though, I needed answers more than I needed their bodies.
My fingers swiped through articles on Tholkon s, each one confirming what my body already hummed with certainty about—I was falling into something permanent with them, something that transcended the casual fucking we'd started with.
The thought should have terrified me. Instead, it settled in my chest like a missing piece sliding home.
‘Can a Lifemate Bond Work For a Triad?’ the headline blared.
I scrolled deeper, scanning paragraphs about hormone cascades, psychic resonance, and lifelong neural pathways.
Not exactly the most romantic reading, but my practical side needed verification that what I felt wasn't just post-mission adrenaline or gratitude for surviving.
The door to my quarters hissed open without warning. I jerked upright, fingers stabbing at the screen to minimize the research, but I was too slow.
"There you are!" Leah's voice carried that musical lilt that always made my chest tighten. She bounced into the room like she owned it, all pink-streaked curls and bright smiles, her small frame vibrating with energy. "We were looking for you."
Yahn followed behind her, his movements fluid as his tail swished gently against the closing door. He scanned the room, cataloguing everything with that obsessive precision, as if there might be a threat in my tiny cabin.
"Sorry," I muttered, still fumbling with the screens. "I needed some... space."
"Oh! Should we go? Do you need alone time?" Her blue eyes widened with sudden concern. "We've been practically living in each other's pockets on my ship. I didn't even think—"
"It's fine," I said, too quickly. My hand moved to cover the screen, but Yahn was already there, leaning over my shoulder.
"Mate Bonds in Triads," he read aloud, his voice carefully neutral, but I caught the slight uptick of his final syllable—a question wrapped in observation. His tail twitched once, betraying his surprise.
Leah's gaze darted between us, confusion melting into curiosity as she plopped into my lap like she owned it and squinted at the screen.
"Wait, what's this?" I put a hand on her waist and tugged her closer, burying my face against her throat, grazing my fangs over the spot where I’d bite her if she was Tholkon. The possessive urges I felt towards both her and Yahn had only grown more intense over the past weeks, and I knew what my body wanted. I just didn’t know if it was too much to ask of them.
"Holy shit," she whispered, scrolling through the diagrams. "This is kind of sexy. There's a psychic connection? Like, you'd be able to read our minds or something?"
I cleared my throat. "Not exactly. It's more... intuitive. A sense of what the other person is experiencing. Emotions mostly, sometimes physical sensations if they're intense enough."
Yahn settled beside us on the bench. His eyes never left the screen. "The bond forms immediately but strengthens over time," he said, scrolling to another section of the article. "The neural pathways deepen with continued proximity and..." his lips quirked upward, "intimate contact."
Leah giggled, wiggling against me in a way that sent blood rushing south. "We've got that part covered."
"The initial link requires a precise hormonal trigger," Yahn continued, tapping a diagram that showed the Tholkon nervous system.
His finger traced the junction between neck and shoulder, where a cluster of specialized glands lay dormant beneath the skin.
" activates the receptors. The chemicals released create the physiological foundation for the bond. "
Leah's eyes widened as she studied the diagram. "Right here?" She twisted in my lap, straddling my hips, her breath hot against my neck as she pressed her mouth to the exact spot Yahn had indicated. Even through my shirt, the contact sent shivers cascading down my spine.
"Yes," I managed, my voice rougher than I'd intended.
Yahn's gaze darkened as he watched us. Slowly, deliberately, he moved behind me, his chest pressed against my back, his mouth hovering over the same spot on the opposite side of my neck.
"The articles indicate it could work with a triad.
" His lips brushed my skin as he spoke. "The hormone cascade would recognize multiple signatures. "
My heart hammered so loudly I was certain they could hear it. Leah's mouth opened, teeth grazing the sensitive skin where my neck met my shoulder. Not biting, just testing. Meanwhile, Yahn's breath was on the spot right beside her.
"I think it'll work," he said softly, kissing my shoulder. "When you're ready."
The words hung in the air, weighted with possibility.
Their mouths on my skin, so close to the trigger points that could bind us together permanently, sent fire coursing through my veins.
My cock hardened, and my hands tightened on her hips, yanking her down onto my erection.
Yahn tugged off my shirt, then trailed kisses over my neck and shoulder, his hands roaming over my chest.
A growl built in my chest, primitive and demanding. "Do it," I said, the words ripping from me with unexpected ferocity. "Bite me. Now."
They both froze. Leah pulled back, her blue eyes searching mine. "Aano, this isn't like deciding what to have for dinner," she said gently.
“You don’t understand. It fucking hurts to not be mated to you both.”
Yahn frowned. "This is... permanent for you. Are you sure you want to be bound to us for life?"
“Have you been researching Tholkon mate bonds, Yahn?”
Yahn dropped his forehead to my shoulder. “It’s a fascinating topic, knowing I might own you in such a permanent manner. Especially with your penchant for tying me up and fucking my hole.”
I chuckled softly, reaching behind me to haul him closer. “This won’t change that urge.”
Yahn's hand moved to my shoulder, squeezing. "You should take time," he said, practical as always. "A few months at least. Think through the implications."
I shook my head, frustration building. "I'm the Tholkon here.
I'm the one who feels the connection already.
" My voice grew sharper with each word. "I'm the one taking the risk. You’ll still be able to leave me." My voice broke on that last part, as it already felt too hard to be without them. “This is how I’m built — I’m made to fall hard and fast for the people I love, and I know it’s fucking inconvenient, but—”
Leah grabbed my face and kissed me fiercely. “You are not an inconvenience, Aano.”
"This is precisely why we should wait," Yahn countered, his tail twitching with agitation. "This bond affects your biology, your neurochemistry—"
"And what if something happens?" Leah interrupted, her hand stroking my cheek. "What if we bite you and then a month from now you realize you can't stand my snoring or Yahn's obsessive bathroom cleaning routine?"
“My bathroom cleaning routine is well within the range of normal!” Yahn grumped.
“Sure it is, honey,” she said, reaching around me to pat his chest.
Yahn cleared his throat. "The point is, what if this is just post-mission intensity?" Yahn added. "We've been through extraordinary circumstances together. That creates artificial intimacy—"
"There's nothing artificial about what I feel for you," I snapped. My hands clenched into fists. "You think I don't know my own mind? My own body?"
"Aano—" Leah started.
"I've never wanted anything like I want this. I can feel it—here." I patted my chest. "Like an ache. A fucking constant pull toward both of you that gets stronger every day."
My voice broke, and with it, whatever walls I'd kept around my heart. "I need it," I said, softer now. "I need to know you're mine. That I'm yours. That what we have isn't just—" I gestured helplessly, "—fleeting. Tholkons don’t do fleeting."
Leah stared up at me, smiling softly. Her small hands framed my face. "Hey," she whispered, "it's not convenience. It never was."
Yahn’s tail curled gently around my leg in the possessive gesture I'd come to recognize. "We just don't want you to have regrets," he said.
"The only regret I'll have is waiting when I already know," I insisted.
My hands found theirs, gripping hard. "This isn't a casual thing for me.
What I feel for you both goes so far beyond temporary attraction or affection.
" I swallowed hard. "I love you. Both of you. Together. Separately. All of it."
Something shifted in Yahn's expression—a softening around his eyes, a slight part to his lips. Leah's eyes had filled with tears that sparkled in the starlight.
"You love us?" she whispered.
"Yes," I said simply. "And I want the bond. I want everyone in the fucking galaxy to know that we belong to each other."
Leah exchanged a long look with Yahn, some silent communication passing between them. Then she smiled, rising on tiptoes to press her lips against mine.
"I love you too," she breathed against my mouth. "So much it scares me sometimes."
Yahn's hand slid around my waist, his chest pressed to my back. "My feelings are growing similarly." His mouth found the side of my neck. "Though I maintain we're being impulsive."
I huffed out a laugh. "For once in your over-planned life, just follow your instincts."
His teeth nipped lightly at my skin in response, not hard enough to trigger the bond but enough to make me gasp. Leah's gaze traveled appreciatively over my chest, her fingers tracing the blue patterns that marked my skin.
"Here?" she asked, touching the spot where the article had indicated.
I nodded, unable to speak past the knot in my throat.
Leah shifted, pressing her mouth to the junction of my neck and left shoulder. Her small teeth scraped gently over the sensitive gland beneath my skin. Yahn settled his mouth next to hers.
"Together," he murmured, and I felt Leah nod against my skin. “At the same time.”
"We love you," she whispered. "Forever."
Their teeth sank into my flesh , breaking the skin with precise pressure. For one suspended moment, there was only the sharp pain of the dual bites—and then the world exploded behind my eyes.
Heat rushed through my body, starting at the twin points of connection and flooding outward in a tidal wave.
I felt dizzy, but they held me upright on the bench between them, their mouths still sealed to my skin as the hormone cascade triggered by their bites coursed through my system.
Colors flashed behind my eyelids, bright and overwhelming.
And then I felt them—Leah's bubbly excitement tinged with wonder, Yahn's steady determination laced with a possessiveness that mirrored my own. Their emotions washed over me, distinct but harmonizing, creating a symphony in my mind that I somehow recognized as home. Yahn continued to suck on the spot he’d bitten as his hand slid between us and wrapped around my cock, intensifying the hormonal rush.
My hands clutched at them, desperate for an anchor as the bond settled into place, neural pathways writing themselves into permanence with every passing second. When they released me, I was trembling, my chest heaving with ragged breaths.
"Fuck," I gasped, as they steadied me. "That was—"
Leah giggled, pressing her fingers to the mark she'd left. "I hope you don't change your mind in a few weeks," she teased. "Pretty sure these are permanent."
I shook my head, pulling her into a deep kiss that left her breathless. "Never," I said, before turning to claim Yahn's mouth with equal fervor. When I pulled back, I rested my forehead against his, Leah tucked into my lap. "I've never been more certain of anything in my life."
Aano stood and tugged Leah to her feet, nodding towards the bed. “So, the bond is deepened by intimacy?”
Leah gave us both a cheeky grin, helping me up. “Worth a shot, right?”