I circle the rim of her belly button. “Here.”
Ronan crouches down and I nearly groan, remembering the sounds she made last time he was between her legs. He lifts a brow toward the apex of her thighs. “Do we want to pierce her there?”
My cock screams yes, but Riya’s gone rigid again.
Jax shakes his head. I give a nod of agreement.
Ronan loads the gun with our crystal and a bit of platinum wire to pierce her. I cage her hands in her lap with one hand and wrap the other around her waist to keep her from squirming. Ronan steps forward, but when Riya flinches, he hesitates.
Jax snatches the gun from Ronan and makes quick work of her earlobes. “You see?” He strokes his thumb down her pretty cheek. “It’s nothing. Are you hurt?”
She shakes her head.
“Good. Pinch them for me, Tarren.” He indicates her breasts.
With vecking pleasure.
I pull her hands behind her head and trap them there with one hand, then grip her breast with the other, lifting the protruding nipple in Jax’s direction. Again, he’s quick and deft with his movements, piercing her with an admirable efficiency. I change hands to offer the other nipple up and it’s done.
“Now for the navel.” Jax squats at our feet and runs his finger around the rim. “Top or bottom?” He’s asking Riya, but I growl, “bottom” before she can answer.
“Is that agreeable, beautiful?” He flashes her his most charming smile. I don’t know how he always maintains his easy, confident manner.
She gives a wobbling nod.
I squeeze a small section of her flesh below the navel for Jax’s gun. In just a breath, he’s pierced her there, too.
“Anywhere else?” He includes all of us in the question. “Somewhere else on the face?”
Riya gives an emphatic shake of her head and Jax chuckles. “All right, sweet thing. That’s enough, then. Good girl. Thank you for your surrender.”
“Not sure I had a choice,” she mumbles, and I bristle, thinking of all the times her choice has been taken away from her. It makes me sick to think she’d put us in the same category as those Ocretion veckers.
“By the stars, do you think we’re monsters?” I snap. I don’t mean to sound so harsh. Jax flashes me a warning look but I plow on, “Did you not agree that we’re your mates?”
She flushes, and I scent fear on her.
I’m instantly sorry. I soften my tone. “We’ve just won back our home planet. We want to share the satisfaction of rebuilding and making a home with a female. With you,” I amend. “We don’t wish to terrorize you.”
Thank the one true Zandian star for my cousins, who step in to soothe her. “We’re going to help you get over your past.” Ronan holds out a hand and she takes it, standing up from my lap.
“After you’ve known pleasure with us, you’ll never be afraid of sex again,” Jax promises.
She swallows. “All right.” Her voice is small. I hate seeing her diminished. It makes me swear anew to find every last asshole who hurt her and tear them apart.
But it’s a start. She’s agreed to let us try to please her. We can’t ask for more than that.
Riya
I stare into Ronan’s eyes. His handsome features are drawn into a look of need th
at makes my breath catch. I’ve never seen a being look at me, Riya, with such blatant desire.
I put a hand to my mouth and step back, bumping into Jax’s strong body. He winds his arms around me and leans down to whisper into my ear. “Riya, I promise you will not find it so unpleasant.” His breath is hot and sends wild tingles down my neck and to the tips of my nipples. Without thinking, I push backwards, grinding into his hips, to feel his hard length. Hard is the operative word, for sure. Even clothed as he is, I can tell that he has a large member, and suddenly, Lily’s whispers about how wonderful mating is? It starts to make sense, at least to my body.
What’s even better? He said my name. He named me, making me a person, not a possession. None of the Ocretion guards—that thought is swept away as he puts his lips to my neck and presses down, sending stars into my eyes and down my pulse.
“Relax into me,” he murmurs and cups my breasts. He gently thumbs the new nipple rings and I flinch, even though the area is numb. “If these start to hurt, you be sure to tell us, all right, beautiful? Ronan will spray them again and take away any pain.”