accepted his brother that I let it slide.
By the time they arrived back at the cave, I was dancing impatiently from one foot to the other at the entrance. Outside, there was a little more light than in the cave, and I wanted to see them as soon as I possibly could.
Of course, it was the stench that hit me first. I couldn’t believe something could smell that bad. How was I going to stand having them in the cave smelling like that? It was bad form of me to complain, after they’d fought so bravely, but really… that was the worst odor I’d ever had the misfortune to smell. Worse even than the witches’ midden heaps.
I heard their laughter moments after I registered their stink.
‘Don’t worry, podmate, we plan on taking a detour to the nearby stream to clean up before we come to you. You don’t have to worry,’ Nial said with amusement.
They had just jumped down from the last of the rocks, and I could see their outline clearly. Someone swept Rian/Charsus into his arms, and I heard them both exclaim in annoyance and damaged male pride. It was Lain, and he was vengefully proud that he was the one to carry the flagging Theran to the water.
I heaved out a relieved sigh. ‘Oh, good. But be careful. You don’t know if there are more of them out there. Maybe some you knocked down didn’t actually die.’
They all picked that up, and I heard a grudging acknowledgement from four different voices. Typical males, not wanting a woman to fuss over them.
The silhouettes disappeared in the next instant, and I was left alone again. At least they took the stench with them. Small mercies.
Again I waited, my impatience growing as the minutes ticked by. I saw the black mountain stream that formed a waterfall about half a mile away. Lain carried Rian to it and threw him in, laughing when his brother came up coughing and furious.
It amazed me how well Rian/Charsus had done, given the sedentary lifestyle Charsus had lived over his thousand years of life. And Rian’s skills with a staff were exemplary.
The males played as they washed, and their laughter rang out across the dark night, worrying me to death. What if the noise attracted more Vargeez?
‘Then we’ll fight more Vargeez!’ came the cocky retort from Meida.
I shook my head at him. ‘You two might still have some energy, but Rian and Lain haven’t.’
‘Hey, don’t discount me!’ Lain piped up indignantly.
I groaned loud enough for them all to get my point and sent them a ‘hurry up’ down the line. I reveled in the sound of their light-hearted laughter coming back at me.
Ten minutes later they were back, their bodies still wet from their bath. Or shower, depending on which part of the process they’d focused on during their romp.
They barged into the darkness of my cave, exultant with victory, their blood still up. I threw myself into Lain’s arms, and then Rian’s. Meida and Nial got their hugs too. And kisses, lots and lots of kisses.
The atmosphere shifted suddenly from one moment to the next. One moment, I was just so glad to feel their hot bodies against mine; the next, it wasn’t nearly enough.
Kisses turned frantic as I experienced my fear for them yet again. Open mouths, questing tongues, hands and bodies pressed in around me so tightly I thought I might be squashed. I felt their need, fed by what was left of the blood lust and adrenalin. Even Rian was not immune to the rising tide of frenzied desire.
My dress was yanked none-too gently over my head. Bodies around me shed still damp breechcloths. I felt hard erections everywhere my hands touched. And I was exhilarated by it. No thought of what we were doing, no fear of the mating frenzy, no doubt about Rian’s part in it. It was just my pod and me, filling our senses with each other.
I kissed a Danan mouth and felt a forked tongue invade me as another big body pressed into me from behind. This was like our threesome. Yet there were far more muscles and hands moving in far more confident ways. I didn’t have to lead anyone anywhere to have my needs met. In fact, my mind was an open book to them all, and they read me voraciously, wanting to give me what I needed. What we all needed.
It was odd to feel male arousal from the inside. I was still