Sought(69)

“We’ll be reenacting the courtship of the sun and the moons,” Lock said, interrupting her nervous musings. He patted her shoulder comfortingly. “The chief will be reciting the legend in their common speech so hopefully your convo-pillar will be able to translate. Just do exactly as the chief says and everything will be all right.”

“Yes, but what exactly is the chief going to say?” Kat asked, vainly trying to rearrange her leaves for maximum coverage. God, this is ridiculous! I feel like I’m wearing a salad—I’d get more coverage from a g-string bikini.

“We discussed this last night—you know the legend,” Deep growled. “It’s mainly going to be a lot of kissing and tasting but there’s likely to be penetration too. It just depends on these people’s version of the tale.”

“Will we…” Kat swallowed hard. “Is this going to seal the bond between us?” The prospect wasn’t as frightening as it had been. She and Deep seemed to be on better terms now, though she wished their talk in the cave hadn’t been interrupted. But she still wasn’t sure about the idea of being tied to the brothers for life.

Deep seemed to sense her hesitation. He frowned. “That shouldn’t be necessary. Though you may have to allow us to penetrate you.”

Kat swallowed hard. “Both at…at the same time?”

“No.” Lock shook his head firmly. “We won’t go that far, my lady, I swear it. At most Deep and I will enter you one at a time and then only briefly, for the purpose of the reenactment.”

“We won’t fuck you or come in you if that makes you feel any better,” Deep said harshly. His blunt words made Kat’s heart skip a beat.

“Oh my God. Okay. All right.” Kat took a deep breath. “I can handle this. I can.”

“Of course you can.” Deep’s voice went from harsh to unexpectedly gentle. “You know Lock and I would never hurt you, little Kat.”

“Yes, I know.” Kat had a sudden thought. “But won’t it hurt you? I mean, to be so…uh, intimate with me if only one of you is involved?”

“As long as we’re both making contact with you it won’t matter that one of us is touching you more…intimately than the other.” Lock coughed. “If you know what I mean.”

“I think so.” Kat nodded.

“So if Lock has to penetrate you, I’ll be holding you,” Deep explained. “The same way we did the night after you ate the bonding fruit. Remember?”

“How could I forget?” Her uninhibited behavior that night still made Kat’s cheeks hot. But I’m about to get a whole lot more uninhibited now, she told herself unhappily. We’re about to put on a live three-way sex show here for Chief Pervert and his band of merry men. Crap, how am I going to do this?

“My lady…” Lock took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “It’s going to be all right,” he murmured. “We’re going to get through this together.”

Kat saw the sincerity in his deep brown eyes and felt a little of her anxiety melt along with her heart. Why did Lock have to be so sweet and easy to trust? It made refusing to be with them permanently even harder. “Yes, all right,” she whispered. “I know.”

“And though it may strengthen the bond we already have—the soul bond, I swear it won’t form a physical bond,” Deep added, also looking at her. “I know that’s what you’re afraid of, but you don’t need to worry.”

Kat wasn’t sure what to say to that. She could feel the hurt radiating from Deep, the longing she had felt after their first joining, when he’d asked her to stay the night with him and Lock. Part of her wanted to hug him and give him hope—to let him know that she was becoming more open to the idea of bonding with them. But another part—a deeper part—was cautious.

She well remembered the times in her parents’ marriage when her father and mother would seem to make up. For weeks—once even for months—the constant bickering would stop and there would be peace between them. Kat would always get her hopes up that this would be the time they would learn to love each other…and then everything would blow up and things would be worse than before.

I can’t risk that, she thought, seeing the need in Deep’s black eyes, feeling the desire from both of them. I have to be absolutely sure before I let myself get into something I can never get out of.

“I’m sorry,” she said at last, looking up at Deep. “Really sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” Lock stroked her cheek gently. “We know how you feel, my lady. And neither of us blames you for it.”