She stared at me. “What am I thinking right now?”

  Again, with the lust. Again, with desire and craving…

  “I’d rather not answer,” I admitted.

  Her cheeks went red. She turned back to Cheri. “You?”

  Cheri ran her thumb over her bear, winked, and said, “Not sure, exactly, but I know you can’t get Ezra’s cock out of your mind. Might want to try, it’s huge and likely doesn’t fit easily.”

  “Cheri!” Erupa scolded her with a laugh. “Come on…”

  “It’s not like the girl hasn’t seen it,” Tink chimed in, grinning my way. “Pull it out. See what happens. Maybe she’ll jump on it, maybe she’ll scream and run off. Only one way to find out.”

  “Don’t,” Mer said, voice hushed.

  “I can’t think of why he shouldn’t,” Cheri added, pursing her lips in thought. “I could get it started for you, if you prefer.”

  “I’m not… ready.” Mer stood, gave me an apologetic glance, and then headed back to the room where she had been resting earlier.

  “Well, that was different,” Cheri said, pouting. “I really expected her to be all about it.”

  “She is,” I pointed out. “But not ready, yet.”

  “I don’t understand those words.”

  Erupa chuckled. “Yeah, you wouldn’t.”

  I turned to stare at Erupa, wondering about her. When she couldn’t stand me staring anymore and the rest of the room was uncomfortably quiet, she held out her hands. “You’re either undressing me in your mind—which wouldn’t make sense when you could just come over here and do it for real—or you have something to say. Which is it?”

  “Gale.”

  “You’re undressing Gale with your mind while staring at me?” Erupa clucked her tongue. “You dirty, dirty man.”

  I chuckled. “You know what I mean. What was that comment back there? You two have a history?”

  “Ah. Don’t worry about it.”

  My frown said it all, but when she didn’t offer more, I persisted. “Erupa, come on. Is this the type of group that keeps secrets from each other?”

  “You don’t?” Erupa looked from me to the others. “None of you?”

  “What you wanna know?” Cheri asked.

  “How many people you fucked?” Erupa folded her arms, waiting.

  “Not fair—too high to count.”

  “See.”

  “Wait, what’s the highest you can count to?” I asked, holding up a finger. “More than this?”

  “Fuck you. Just for that, I’ll tell you it’s a fuckton. Sorry, but I like pussy, and I like cock. I’ve been around, but from now on, there’s only one cock for me. There you go.”

  Erupa cleared her throat. “You asked us what we wanna know. This, I wanna know.”

  “Honestly—and I mean it, this is the truth—I stopped keeping count around the hundreds.” Cheri shrugged. “But that includes men and women. Never counted them separately.”

  “Huh.” My heart sort of lurched at the thought of that many people being with her before I came around. But it shouldn’t matter, I told myself. For one, as she said, it was all about me and now. Me and the team, actually. And we supers live damn long lives, so for all I knew she was a bit older than I was, even if she didn’t look it. How old? Even I wasn’t stupid enough to ask that question.

  “Fifteen, here,” Tink said. “Only men.”

  “Let’s switch the topic,” I suggested. “Honestly, I don’t like hearing this. Don’t want those numbers, or the faces I make up and start associating with them in my head.”

  “Ask me something else, then,” Cheri said. “Something I… know the answer to.”

  “When did you know you were into me?”

  She let out a gleeful laugh. “The moment we met, pretty eyes.”

  “Bullshit,” Erupa countered. “When he was trying to capture you, to turn you in for money, you liked him?”

  “You kidding? What’s hotter than that?”

  “Not the moment you wanted to fuck me,” I corrected, “but the moment you knew you were into me. That you might someday feel, you know… love or whatever.”

  She leaped over and threw her arms around me. “Ah, sugar-lips, I fell in love with you the day you captured me.”

  “Oooh, the big ‘L’ word,” Erupa said, cringing. “Sorry, but we’re not there yet.”

  Tink laughed. “Yeah, I’ll go down on you whenever you want and am always good for a quickie, but fuck saying ‘love’ anytime soon. No offense, it’s just too damn soon.”

  “Speak the truth.” Erupa fist-bumped her.

  “I don’t need years or any fancy rings to know my feelings,” Cheri said. “When I see love, I know it, and this right here is it.”

  Honestly, talking about love made me uncomfortable, too. The others were right in that it was too damn fast to be saying that. But still, I felt like Romeo swept away by a river of emotions and devotion that was Juliet, except in this case not a fourteen-year old girl but a beautiful woman. Three beautiful women, to be honest with myself, and a fourth with potential, maybe.

  I’d never said the big ‘L word,’ though, and wasn’t quite there. To my relief, Cheri didn’t give me much of a chance to respond or say anything on the matter, since she had turned to see Mer was back, standing in the doorway and listening.

  “Yes?” Mer said, when she realized the attention had gone to her.

  “Come on, your turn,” Cheri said. “Do you love us yet, or what?”

  Mer blinked rapidly, smiled, then frowned. “Wait, is she joking or serious?”

  “Let’s always assume joking,” Erupa replied. “Makes it easier to put up with her.”

  Cheri rolled her eyes, her cheek against mine. “What’s not to love, huh?”

  “Can we focus on the more pressing topic?” Tink asked. “We’re sitting here talking about all this, not even giving Mer and our boy here a chance to get to know each other. How much longer do you think we have?”

  I checked the display, and our course showed another hour at least. Before I could answer, though, Erupa sighed and said, “Wait…”

  “Yeah?” I turned back to her, remembering that we were still waiting for an answer.

  “Before her days with the Citadel, actually,” Erupa explained. “Gale and I were on a mission together. One that was sort of, it turned out, an initiation. Neither of us knew it but whoever had hired us had an affiliation with the Citadel and was looking for recruits.”

  “Hired you for what?” Tink asked.

  “A mercenary job, basically. I figured it couldn’t be that bad, since it was a simple move against a famed space pirate group known as the—”

  “Crimson Bones,” Cheri said, and then laughed. “Oh, shit! I thought I recognized you from somewhere.”

  “Wait, what?” Erupa frowned, not following.

  “Come on, imagine me but with purple, ear-length hair. No tattoos yet, dressed in all black.”

  Hot, I had to admit, although I preferred her current look with the blue pigtails and red outfit.

  “No…” Erupa stared, muttered “Fuck” under her breath, then said, “Yes, the Crimson Bones.”

  “Can someone fill the rest of us in?” I said.

  “No need,” Tink said with a chuckle. “I heard about this. When I was studying to get into the Citadel, after leaving my old planet behind, I was all about following up on all the military leaders, including Gale. The way I read it, she took down the captain of the Crimson Bones and that was what got her in. Only, now I’m guessing there was more to that story, including Erupa, and I figured Cheri was involved as well.”

  “Not as one of the mercs, though,” Cheri said proudly. “That was back in my dark days, as I like to think of them.”

  “You were one of the pirates?” I asked.

  She nodded, pigtails bobbing. “I was, indeed.”

  “Holy shit.”

  “Holy shit, is right,” Erupa agreed. “First of all, I thought I killed that little bitch, who is apparently you. I remember driving a sword through your gut.”

  “You mean right here?” Cheri indicated a spot. “Yes, you did. Only, we had a damn fine healer on board. It wasn’t until after you were long gone, and the captain was dead, that one of the others helped me escape. I never looked back. Being that close to death changes a woman.”

  “And now… now you two are best buddies,” I said with a chuckle.

  “Or more,” Cheri added with a wink Erupa’s way.

  “I just…” Erupa shook her head, putting a hand to her temple. “I need to process all of this.”

  “Wait,” Mer chimed in. “What about Gale, then?”

  Erupa swallowed, held up a hand, and then nodded. “She did kill the captain, far as I can tell, but at the expense of losing half the crew. Her choice came down to mission accomplishment or risking it all for us.”

  “And she chose the mission,” I said, frowning. “Is that the kind of choice the Citadel wants from its soldiers?”

  “To be fair, most organizations would,” Tink said. “If it’s down to a few lives versus the bigger picture, they often look at the bigger picture.”

  Mer snarled, baring her pointed teeth.

  “Not your style?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “Me,” I stood, pacing, pausing to watch the screen, “I say take the risk to save your team, then go back and try for mission accomplishment. Maybe those organizations say otherwise but fuck them. Nothing matters if I don’t have my team.”

  “Awww.” Cheri blew me a kiss.

  I stopped, feeling exhausted from the whole discussion. “Maybe we should all get some rest before we arrive.”

  “You don’t get off so easily,” Erupa said, wagging her finger. “Come on, what’s your secret? How many?”

  “How many isn’t a secret for me. It’s not a lot.”

  “Then get on with it.”

  “Before you all?” I pursed my lips in thought. “Maybe seven or eight.”

  “Aw, the poor baby.” Cheri gestured me over. “That’s why we have to do it a lot. To make sure we’re making up for your lost time.”

  I laughed, a smile on my face as I noticed Tink grinning and her aura hinting that she was also imagining the fun time we had just had.

  “That’s also why I think I need at least a small nap,” I noted while heading for the door. “Anyone want to join me?”

  “Just a nap?” Cheri pouted. “Eh, I think I’ll keep watch up here.”

  “Me, too,” Erupa said, motioning Mer toward me. “Go on.”

  Tink stood to accompany me, but an aura of hesitation came from Mer.

  “It’s okay,” I said, offering her my arm. “Honestly, only sleep. Nothing more this time.”

  That helped put her at ease, slightly, and when Tink held out a hand, she accepted. The three of us made for what I had taken as my room. Tink went in first, arranging the bed, and took the spot against the wall. Next was me, but I sat at the side of the bed and motioned Mer over.

  She stood, eyeing us. “You all, this team… you’re really close.”

  “Extremely,” I said. “But you don’t have to be like that. It’s up to you.”

  “I… want to be,” she replied, surprising me. But then she held up a hand. “Only, not yet. Right now,” she motioned me back, and then laid down next to me, hand on my chest, “I just want this.”

  I nodded, taking Tink’s hand in mine, loving the feeling of her soft breathing on my cheek, and closed my eyes.

  5

  Tink woke me with a fluttering of her wings that slapped against my face, reminding me of the idea of those wings fluttering against my balls, as I had been dreaming about. She, however, was still asleep. I sat up, confused, and got another wing in the face. Not quite the pleasant experience of my dream.

  She muttered, “Huh?” as she turned my way, eyes still closed.

  I moved out of her way, not wanting to wake her when we were so close to our destination and wouldn’t have time to go back to sleep. Her heavy breathing returned, and she was like an angel to watch. It had never occurred to me how much of a hassle it must be to sleep with wings but watching her there on her stomach, I realized that she couldn’t really roll over if she wanted to.

  With a jolt, she sniffled and then shrunk, so that she was in her small, fairy form. I stared in shock, thinking how horrible that could have been if she had shrunk while we were sleeping. I could have rolled over and crushed her!

  Then again, she was a super and damn strong. Maybe it would have been more like rolling onto a rock, inconveniencing me more than anything.

  “An angel,” Cheri said, standing in the doorway. “A teeny, tiny, beautiful angel.”

  I chuckled and motioned her over. She knelt at my side, hand on my thigh, watching Tink sleep. I bent over to kiss the top of her head, glancing over at Mer sleeping, wondering about her and her past. Eventually, I figured we would learn more.

  “Don’t you need some rest?” I asked as Cheri nuzzled my hand.

  “The voices rarely let me, anyway.”

  I nodded, taking her hand and staring at it. “You know, we were so busy kicking ass and blowing shit up, I hardly got a chance to know you.”

  “Other than physically,” she replied with a wink.

  “Physically, I think I know you better than I’ve ever known anyone in my life,” I replied with a chuckle.

  “There’s still a lot to learn.”

  I kissed her hand. “And I can’t wait for th—” My words cut off as I started at Tink going back to full size, and the motion of it waking her up.

  Her eyes flew open, settled on us, and she smiled. “Two of my favorite people in the universe here to wake me up. Doesn’t get much better than that.”

  “Did you know that you change sizes in your sleep?” I asked.

  “So I’ve been told.” She shrugged, then sat up and stretched. “Hope it didn’t bother you.”

  “Not at all.”

  Her eyes roamed over to Cheri. “I had a dream about you.”

  “I daydream about you all the time,” Cheri replied, blowing her a kiss.

  Tink laughed. “Thank you. But this, it was odd. I mean, not that anything about us is normal, but…”

  “Tell us,” I said, my curiosity winning as my attempt to remember any dreams I might have had, failed.

  “It’s silly, really. We were walking along some street in a sunny place, I don’t know where. Rolling, brown hills in the distance. All around us were cute little stores, large trees with branches that reached out, looming overhead, and tiny white lights strung around the trunks. We stopped by a little bakery that sold coffee—and not just regular coffee, but all sorts of varieties, with flavoring and even whipped cream. One had chocolate sauce… and you and I were in cute little dresses, while Ezra wore a three-piece suit, and we were laughing, sharing a chocolate chunk muffin and one of those coffees with chocolate in it.”

  “It sounds grand,” I said, trying to imagine this world of such simplicity and peace.

  “I’m not done,” Tink said with an amused grin. “Suddenly, Cheri goes to the counter and orders a chocolate cream puff, takes off her dress, and spreads the chocolate cream along her breasts and pussy while eating the puff, then laid herself out on the table to let us go to town on the chocolate.”

  “Getting better,” Cheri said with a laugh. “Sounds more like a premonition than a dream, if you ask me.”

  “I’d lap it up,” I admitted.

  “We did, and loved it.” Tink licked her lips at the memory of the dream. “Imagine my surprise when I woke to find you two here.”

  “All we need is a bakery and we’d be set.” Cheri pulled at the top of her red armor, exposing a breast and nodding me over. “Tell me what you think—does it need chocolate?”

  I leaned over, nibbled at her nipple and then gave it a circling lick before pulling back and pretending to consider the choice. “No, I’d say it’s quite good without the chocolate.”

  Tink rolled her eyes. “Still, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice.”

  “I wouldn’t say no either way,” I admitted.

  Putting her breast away, Cheri lifted herself to sit on my lap. “We’re actually close. That’s why I came to check on you.”

  “Did the others get some rest?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Mer certainly has had her share, but it hadn’t been much compared to all the other hybrids.” Apparently, due to their status and need to heal up, it was best for now to leave them back there, let sleep take them, and figure the rest out when we were done with all the chaos. Presumably, when we reached the Citadel. “Even Erupa managed to sleep for an hour or so.”

  “Good.” I stood, adjusting my morning wood that had been fueled by the small amount of foreplay, and frowned at the fact that we didn’t have more time to play around. Leading the other two back toward the bridge, I had to ask, “That dream, Tink. What do you think it means?”

  “Other than that she wants to devour me, sexually and maybe otherwise?” Cheri offered.

  “Shut up,” Tink replied, hitting her playfully. “Honestly, I think… Well, what with Abaddon being so close to Earth, I think part of it was that. And maybe we’ll still get to visit, someday.”

  “You’d want to go to Earth?” I asked.

  “Sure, who wouldn’t?”

  Cheri raised her hand. “Me. No way. It’s gone to hell, I’d say.”

  “I don’t see it that way,” Tink countered. “I mean, I haven’t studied all the nerdy bits like Ezra here, but from what I’ve read of how Earth once was, I have to believe it still holds some magic. It’s where we all came from, after all. Why not go connect with our roots, you know?”

  “Well, if it ends with me on a table and you all eating chocolate cream from my tits and nether regions,” Cheri said, “I could possibly be convinced.”

  “I have to admit, I’m curious,” I said. “We don’t know if any travels to Earth will be in our cards, but I hope so. The table and chocolate cream thing, though? That’s definitely happening—first chance we get.”

  Cheri licked her lips my way and slapped my ass. “My man.”