Chapter 14 #2
“He’s persistent.” Odelm watched Zyxel take another hit, roll, recover. “I’ll give him that.”
“His form is improving.” Xylo moved to my other side, completing the bracket. “He’s learning the patterns faster than I expected.”
“They’ll need to be ready.” My voice came out rougher than I intended. “The Chamber…”
“Will be dangerous.” Odelm’s fingers brushed my arm, the touch feather-light. “But you’ve faced danger before. You’ve survived worse than politicians and posturing.”
“Have I?” The question escaped before I could stop it. All the exhaustion I’d been holding at bay pressed against the inside of my chest—heavy, suffocating. “I was kidnapped. Tortured. I almost died. I would have died if Vowels hadn’t…”
I trailed off, unable to finish.
We stood at the railing, the night breathing around us.
Below, the backyard glowed with bioluminescent life—ferns lit from within, petals opening and closing in slow pulses of blue and green.
Solar orbs casted warm arcs of light across the training circle where Kaede moved with lethal grace, Ryzen matched him strike for strike, and Zyxel learned—stumbled, corrected, adapted.
Metal flashed. Bodies collided. The sounds of impact carried softly through the jungle air.
I watched them for a long moment before speaking.
“I anchored him,” I said finally. “Ryzen. I tied his lifeforce to mine.”
Xylo didn’t stiffen. Didn’t flinch.
“Not like you,” I added quietly. “Not like the clan. It’s not… deep. Or intimate. But it’s there. Along the edge of my shields. Enough to keep him from spiraling.” I swallowed. “Enough to ground him. He’s training me. Teaching me how to expand, how to control what I am. It made sense.”
The jungle hummed. A blade rang against another.
Xylo’s gaze stayed on the training circle, calm and knowing.
“I’ve always felt a draw between you,” he said, as if stating something obvious.
“A resonance. So tying him to you was only natural.” He turned then, teal eyes steady on mine.
“You have nothing to worry about. If your instincts told you to do it, then it was right.”
Relief loosened something tight in my chest.
Odelm shifted closer, leaning his forearms on the railing beside mine.
“Among the Circuli,” he said gently, “nestqueens often accept those who are drawn to them. Not every connection becomes love. Some remain… distant. Held with care but not cultivated.” A small smile curved his mouth.
“I’m not saying that’s what will happen with Ryzen.
Only that it’s natural to keep space if space is needed. ”
“I know,” I said. “He doesn’t even know what he wants. Not from me. Not from anyone.”
Xylo nodded. “And in his grief, allowing him to unravel when you had a way to stop it would have been irresponsible.” His hand found mine then—cool, steady, a healer’s touch meant to anchor rather than claim. “You’re carrying too much weight, Nestqueen. You always do.”
Xylo’s hand found mine. His skin was cool, steady—a healer’s touch designed to ground and center. “You’re carrying too much weight, nestqueen. You always do.”
“Someone has to carry it.”
“Not alone.” Odelm shifted closer, his body heat bleeding through the thin fabric of my flowy dress. “Never alone. That’s what a clan is for.”
The training below continued—the rhythm of combat, the dance of weapons, the grunts and hisses of males pushing past their limits.
Through the crimson thread, I felt Zyxel’s exhaustion.
Through older bonds, I felt Kaede’s relentless focus, the way he was cataloging every weakness in their coordination and already planning how to fix them.
Through newer connections—thinner, fainter—I felt Ryzen’s grief-forged determination.
They were doing this for me.
All of it was for me.
“Let us help,” Odelm murmured against my ear. “Please.”
The word cracked something open inside me. Please. Such a simple word. Such a devastating one.
“How?” I asked. “And with what?”
Xylo’s hand slid from mine to my hip, turning me gently until my back pressed against the railing. His clinical gaze had softened into something warmer—desire tempered with concern, need balanced against care.
“By taking some of that weight from you,” he said. “Even if only for a moment.”
Odelm’s fingers traced the line of my jaw, tilting my face toward his. His jade eyes held mine with an intensity that made my spots flicker.
“Keep watching them,” he said, jerking his head toward the spurring males.
I blinked. “What?”
“The training.” His thumb brushed my lower lip. “Keep your eyes on them. Keep your mind locked down so they can’t sense what we’re doing.” His voice dropped lower, rough with promise. “Use your mental strength. Shield us from them. Treat this as practice.”
Understanding dawned, hot and sudden.
My Favored intended to pleasure me here. Now. While their clanbrothers trained below with Ryzen, unaware. While I maintained my shields and pretended nothing was happening.
The challenge in it made my breath catch.
“I could slip,” I whispered. “If my shields crack—”
“Then they’ll know.” Xylo moved behind me, his chest pressing against my back, his lips brushing my neck. “They’ll feel your pleasure through the bonds. They’ll know exactly what their clanbrothers are doing to their nestqueen.”
Heat pooled low in my belly.
“Would that be so terrible?” Odelm asked, and his smile was wicked. “Letting them sense you? Knowing that you’re here, being worshipped, while they fight to protect you?”
My shields trembled.
Below, Kaede barked another command. Zyxel rotated in. Ryzen’s daggers wove defensive patterns.
“Watch,” Xylo breathed against my ear. “Watch them train to defend you. To kill for you. To love you.”
I watched.
Odelm knelt.
The motion was graceful, deliberate—a worshipper assuming his proper position. His hands gathered the flowing fabric of my dress, lifting it slowly, exposing first my calves, then my thighs, then…
I gasped.
“Shields,” Xylo reminded me, his mouth tracing the curve of my neck. His hands slid around to cup my breasts through the thin fabric, thumbs finding my nipples with unerring precision. “Keep them strong.”
I tried. Stars help me, I tried.
Below, the spar continued. Kaede’s psydagger hummed. Ryzen’s daggers flashed. Zyxel moved between them, still stumbling but learning, always learning.
And Odelm’s mouth found me.
The first stroke of his tongue dragged a sound from my throat that I barely managed to swallow. Wet heat against sensitive flesh. The gentle pressure of his lips. The way he settled into the task with the same focus he brought to his music—precise, attentive, utterly devoted.
Xylo’s fingers tightened on my breasts, rolling my nipples between them until sparks shot through my nerve endings. His teeth grazed my neck. His hips pressed against my lower back, holding me there, preventing me from crumbling to my knees.
“You’re so beautiful like this,” he murmured. “Trying so hard to stay quiet. To keep control.” His hand slid lower, over the swell of my belly, down to where Odelm worked. “But we know how much you need this. How long you’ve been carrying everything alone.”
Odelm’s tongue circled my clit.
I shattered my grip on the railing, stone biting into my palms. My shields flickered—I felt the bonds pulse, felt attention start to turn—
I slammed them back into place.
Reinforced walls. Locked doors. A fortress around my pleasure that let nothing escape.
Below, Kaede didn’t pause. Ryzen’s daggers didn’t falter. Zyxel didn’t look up.
Good.
I could do this. I could maintain control while my body liquefied under my Favored’s attention. I could—
Odelm’s finger slid inside me.
“Oh,” I gasped, and Xylo immediately covered my mouth with his hand.
“Quiet, nestqueen.” His voice was thick with want. “Unless you want them to hear you.”
The threat—the promise—made everything more intense. The danger of discovery. The thrill of doing something illicit while three warriors trained below, oblivious. My mates. My protectors. My constellation of devoted males who would tear apart anyone who threatened me.
And here I was, being consumed by two of them while the others fought to become worthy.
Odelm added a second finger.
My back arched against Xylo’s chest. His hand muffled my moan. His other hand worked my breast with knowing skill—pinching, rolling, soothing—while his hips ground against me in a rhythm that promised more.
“That’s it,” he breathed. “Let go. We have you.”
Odelm’s tongue flicked faster. His fingers curled, finding that spot inside me that made stars burst behind my eyes. The pleasure built in waves—cresting, falling, cresting higher—each peak threatening to breach my shields.
I held.
Teeth gritted. Muscles locked. Mind screaming.
Below, Kaede disarmed Zyxel again, and yet, he recovered faster this time.
“They’re learning to work together,” Xylo observed, as if he weren’t currently driving me toward madness. “Kaede sees Zyxel’s potential now. Respects it. By the time they reach the station…”
I couldn’t respond. Could barely think.
Odelm’s mouth sealed over my clit and sucked.
My shields cracked.
Just for a heartbeat. Just a sliver of sensation bleeding through the bonds—
Zyxel’s head snapped up.
His eyes found me across the distance, chartreuse burning gold. Through our crimson thread, I felt his sudden awareness. His realization. The surge of possessive heat that flooded through him as he understood exactly what his clanbrothers were doing to his enax.
But Kaede was already moving.
“Focus!” The word cracked like a whip.
Zyxel’s attention snapped back to the spar. His next block was sloppy. Kaede punished it instantly.
I slammed my shields shut.
Odelm laughed against my flesh—a dark, satisfied sound. “He knows. He’ll think about this later. Dream about it.” His tongue traced a slow circle. “Imagine what we’re doing to you while he couldn’t watch.”
The thought shouldn’t have made me wetter.
It did anyway.
Xylo’s hand slipped from my mouth to my throat, holding with gentle pressure. Not restricting air—just reminding me of his presence. His control. The way he could position my body and my pleasure with equal precision.
“You’re close,” he murmured. “I can feel it. The way your muscles are tensing.” His thumb pressed against my pulse point. “Come for us, Nestqueen. Let us give you this.”
Odelm’s fingers thrust deeper.
His mouth worked faster.
The pleasure crested—higher than before, higher than anything—
“Now,” Xylo commanded.
I broke.
The orgasm tore through me like a wildfire—consuming, overwhelming, endless.
Wave after wave of sensation crashing through my body while my shields held by the barest thread.
Xylo’s hand muffled my scream. Odelm’s tongue gentled, easing me through the aftershocks.
My legs shook. My spots blazed brilliant gold.
And still, below, the training continued.
My mates fought on, unaware of how thoroughly I’d just been undone.
Well. Almost unaware. Through the crimson thread, I felt Zyxel’s heightened attention—the way he kept glancing toward my position between attacks, chartreuse eyes dark with want. He knew. He’d felt that crack in my shields.
He’d deal with that later.
The thought made me shiver.
Odelm rose from his knees with fluid grace, his mouth glistening. His smile was soft, satisfied—the expression of a male who’d accomplished exactly what he set out to do.
“Better?”
The word came out barely a whisper. “Yes.”
“Good.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “You needed that.”
Xylo released my throat, his hands smoothing down my arms in soothing strokes. The clinical part of him had already returned, assessing my state with practiced efficiency.
“Your pulse is elevated but stabilizing. Spots are shifting toward a healthy green.” He turned me gently, supporting my weight when my knees threatened to buckle. “You should rest. Real rest. The kind where you close your eyes and let your body recover.”
I wanted to argue. There was so much to do—preparations for the journey, briefings about the CEG, mental training with Ryzen, time with the cubs…
But my body was already making the decision for me.
The pleasure had released something—tension I’d been carrying for days, weeks, before Zirene left for the war. The constant vigilance. The endless worry. The weight of being everyone’s Beacon while my constellation scattered across the galaxy.
For this one moment, I was just Selena.
Tired. Satisfied. Loved.
“The nestbed,” Odelm said, reading my exhaustion with his empath’s precision. “We’ll carry you.”
I didn’t protest when Xylo lifted me into his arms. Didn’t argue when Odelm fell into step beside us, one hand resting protectively on my belly.
Below, the training session continued. Kaede’s voice drifted up—sharp commands, corrections, the relentless push toward perfection.
Through my bonds, I felt them all.
Zyxel’s determination and distraction, his mind split between combat and the memory of my pleasure.
Kaede’s focus, absolute and unwavering, driving his clanbrothers toward excellence.
Ryzen’s grief-forged purpose, his spirit daggers moving in patterns that honored the brother he’d lost.
Further away—V’dim and Z’fir, preparing for their deployment to the sol system. The echoing ache of coming separation.
And across the stars, Zirene. My Shadow. Fighting a war while I grew heavy with our daughter.
The thoughts softened as sleep claimed me.
I drifted under, wrapped in warmth and steady presence, guarded by my mates, held by a love that asked nothing of me in that moment.