He held so still he looked like a carved statue and though his face was unreadable, Terra saw that he was trembling ever so slightly as her hand hovered by the side of his face.
This affects him, she thought, frowning to herself. He cares every bit as much as the other two—he just doesn’t want to show it.
Rather than cupping his cheek as she had with Tem or grasping his hand as she had with V’rone, she gestured at his glasses.
“These are part of you?” she asked.
Briefly, he nodded.
“They are my oculars—they are made from the same chitinous bio-material as Tem’blx’s antennae and V’rone’s horns,” he added.
“Fascinating,” Terra murmured. “But what about the lenses? Do they really help you to see better?”
He nodded.
“As the Brain of our colony, I must do a lot of deep study and reading. My oculars adjust to match my needs.”
“That’s amazing,” Terra told him. “May I touch them?”
For a moment, the big Monstrum seemed to freeze in place, then he nodded slowly.
“If…” He cleared his throat. “If you wish.”
“Thank you.”
Delicately, Terra ran a single fingertip along the angular black frames, tracing from the spot where they met over the bridge of his nose all the way back to the place where they originated at his temple.
She felt the tingle again—even stronger this time—and she knew that Rive felt it too because he shuddered all over and let out a low groan.
“Ahh! You are the one,” he gasped and for just a moment the lenses in his oculars went from opaque to transparent and Terra caught a look at his eyes—his real eyes. Their color was silver-green like the tips of his thick black hair and they were wide and vulnerable for the split second that she saw them.
Then the lenses went back to reflecting her own image and Rive pulled away from her touch, though they continued to look at each other for a long, breathless moment after breaking contact.
“There—Rive felt it too!” V’rone exclaimed triumphantly. His deep voice broke the connection between Terra and the green Monstrum and she turned to look at him.
“It doesn’t matter what anyone felt—” she began but Rive interrupted.
“We have not yet made a full circle,” he said, rising to his feet and frowning down at her from his great height. “The Touch-test is not yet complete.”
V’rone made a frustrated sounding growl and rolled his eyes.
“Always such a stickler for formalities,” he muttered.
“It is no formality—it is the completion of the test,” Rive pointed out.
“Rive is right—come on—let’s all join hands.” Tem was on his feet too, holding out his hands.
Rive took his left hand and then took V’rone’s right. The three of them were standing in a semi-circle as they had been in the Dark Side of the ship.
“Well?” V’rone held out his left hand to her and Tem held out his right one.
“Please, my Lady,” he said softly. “Take our hands—complete the circle of four—Brawn, Brain, Heart, and Soul.”
Terra felt a chill of uncertainty run down her spine. For some reason, the simple act of taking their hands seemed important—like it might set off a chain of irrevocable events. But that was crazy, wasn’t it? How could simply holding hands, as though the three of them were about to play “Ring Around the Rosie” do any harm?
Still, she couldn’t’ shake the feeling that fate was hovering over her shoulder.
“Um…” She cast a look back to where Iyanna and Dra’vik were still sitting and watching the four of them.
“Go on,” Iyanna said softly. “I don’t know why, but I have a feeling you’re supposed to.”
“You should do as my mate says,” Dra’vik rumbled. “Pregnant females are often closer to the Goddess than the rest of us—they can feel her urging.”
Terra wasn’t sure what to say to that. She’d never been much of a believer in any kind of deity herself, but she certainly wasn’t going to denigrate anyone else’s religion. And it seemed there was no backing out now.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and took V’rone and Tem’s hands at the same time, completing the circle of four.
SEVEN
For a moment, nothing happened—not even the strange tingling she’d felt when she touched all three of them separately. Then, the most explosive orgasm she’d ever had suddenly rolled through Terra’s body.
“Oh! Oh my God!” she gasped, her fingers tightening convulsively on the hands holding hers.
It was like an unexpected tidal wave of pleasure crashing over her—every muscle in her body stiffened and her nipples were suddenly so hard they hurt. Her pussy was drenched and her knees were trembling as her legs threatened to give way and spill her on the ground.
Suddenly, her mind was filled with images—V’rone and Tem sucking her nipples while Rive knelt between her legs, his hot tongue spreading her pussy lips… Then on her hands and knees, straddling one warrior while another entered from behind and a third used her mouth…Then—