The Ilia's lovers - chapter Seventeen

Their date at Liber was perfect. From the food to the company and conversation. Dahnus ordered for Elaine because she had little frame of reference for Amaran cuisine. That was after he questioned her on her favourite flavours for several minutes, getting her to explain her favourite dishes from meetings with Hadith on the Sunset balcony and what she liked about it. He was precise in his questioning, intuitive in his understanding. The dishes he ordered for her were incredible and Elaine was quickly falling in love with Dahnus just as hard as she had already fallen for Hadith.

When the date came to an end, both Dahnus and Hadith kissed her, on the lips, brief, lingering, soft. Not enough to gage their abilities. It left Elaine wanting more.

Their second date, and by far their most public, was to an art gallery where several of Hadith’s pieces were being shown. Elaine hardly remembered a thing from it, from the crush of people, to the reporters screaming at them to turn this way, look here. Though she was surrounded by Dahnus and Hadith at all times, and by several guards, it was overwhelming. Pictures were taken, articles were written. News pieces were viewed by billions. To some, it was a scandal. Elaine was a human terrorist. A crew member of Endurance. To others, she was the innocent victim of a conspiracy against human membership of the IGC. They waited to see which way the public turned. It was roughly 50/50 split.

At the end of this date, the kisses were a little briefer. This was after they spent a couple of hours on the sunset balcony soothing her after the experience left her oversensitive, shaking and almost hyperventilating. Dahnus apologised but told her as their official lover she would need to become used to their roles and everything that went with it.

It made Elaine pause for a couple of days while she thought. She wanted Dahnus and Hadith, but with them came a whole world for which she was unprepared. Being their lover, was an official position and came with exposure and responsibilities. Could she do it? Did she want to do it?

Yes. A shaking, tremulous, terrified yes.

Now, today Dahnus and Hadith had taken her away for a few days. There was a festival happening all over Amara. Their planet was passing through a tiny part of the nebular that dominated much of their view of the sky. The chemicals within would pass through the atmosphere and explode in an array of light for the next four days. Work stopped. Businesses were shutting down. Everyone was going home or going on holiday. For those with access, they were going to the beaches.

Dahnus and Hadith were taking her to a private island they had on the fertile moon of Athia.

They broke the atmosphere of Amara surrounded by ships filled with guards. Even now, guards crawled over every inch of the island where they would spend the Varosai Festival ensuring it was completely safe.

Like a flock of starlings, the ships turned all at once.

Dahnus was in the pilot seat overseeing it all, while Hadith sat with Elaine, holding her hand and talking her through her anxiety.

The last time she was in space, family members of Castus found her. They’d been freed months before, an Amaran war cruiser saw their ship to Dahnus Ascent and gave them a one-way gate trip back to Devori space, but Elaine still expected them to show up at any minute and demand her return to them.

Only now she knew, Dahnus would never hand her over.

The equator of Amara passed beneath the shuttle, as they headed to Athia, which was rising on the other side of the planet, more and more of the moon revealing itself as they sped towards it.

They were going to make love while they were here.

Elaine couldn’t wait anymore. Several days had passed since they spoke about entering a relationship and besides the dates, they had spent every evening together on the Sunset balcony having dinner, talking, touching.

Elaine was shaking with the need to take these feelings, these desires, and make them real. Every touch caught her in that moment. Every gentle kiss and something deep, tender and sensual erupted within her until she felt like she was being consumed by them. But she wasn’t and she needed to be.

They were going to make love tonight and Dahnus and Hadith had no idea. They had left it entirely up to her, letting her know that they always wanted her. They reaffirmed it with those touches and kisses, and in whispers. And she wanted them, more than she’d ever wanted another man. In fact, looking back at those brief relationships, Elaine realised she’d never really wanted those men. She wanted something else. Distractions, experiences, to be desired. But even though she had gotten what she wanted in the moment, now she knew what it was to truly be desired, it swept those experiences away, as though they never existed.

Elaine never regretted losing her virginity when she did, to who she did, and she never would. But a part of her wished that she had waited for Dahnus and Hadith. But if she had, the circumstances that led her here would never have happened. Maybe, if she hadn’t, she would be with Pyri right now, waiting for the Adosians to find her a pack. Or, more likely, they would have shipped her off to the IGC to pay for the Bentari’s crimes.

Elaine could never frame the abuse she suffered, or the act she committed in retaliation as anything other than the horrors they were. All she could do was thank the universe that in the wake of those horrors she was here.

“We’re about to enter the atmosphere, my loves,” Dahnus called back to them. “Hold on.”

Elaine’s entire body lit up. No one had said the words directly to anyone else yet, though obviously Hadith and Dahnus loved each other, neither had directly told her, but they used the word love all the time now in different ways.

The shuttle shook as it entered the atmosphere, then smoothed out a couple of minutes later. They stayed high as they approached the island from several thousand miles away, then lowered only when they were within the last few hundred miles.

Within an hour of leaving Amara, they were flying up to the island chain.

Elaine expected the island to be the largest, it wasn’t. Instead, it was one of the smaller ones. It couldn’t have been more than a few acres in size. As they approached, she saw a collection of small buildings linked by a decked walkway that hugged the beach. There was a small pool on the decking next to the water, beside which a pier walkway ended in a private decking area which housed a table and chairs, all covered in what appeared to be a leaf roof.

The shuttle flew over the island, and they were landing on a pad surrounded by trees and bushes, which blocked the view of the pad from view from the buildings.

The shuttles with the guards were nowhere to be seen.

“Where did the guards go?” Elaine looked up at the viewscreen, trying to see the shuttles.

“There are several underwater stations around the island. There are cameras looking out at every part of the ocean and sky around us, including underwater, so that they may keep us safe, but none looking at the island. It allows us to be completely safe, while still giving us the privacy to do whatever we wish on the island.” Hadith squeezed Elaine’s hand.

“We are completely safe here, Elaine. I would not have taken you here otherwise.” Dahnus said, as he shut down the shuttle. He turned to her, a smile on his sensuous lips. “There are also underwater kitchens, living quarters and recreational facilities for our staff. The kitchen staff arrived a few hours ago and will be delivering food to the pier you saw as we flew over shortly. Everything is taken care of, Elaine, the only thing for us to do now, is relax.”

“I’ll try,” she said, smiling.

“Does that mean you won’t be working while we’re here?” Hadith asked.

“My work will be kept to a few hours in the morning, Hadith. I promise.” Dahnus stood up and walked over to them both, kissing Hadith, then Elaine on the forehead. “I plan to spend as little time working as the empire will let me get away with.” He stood straight, towering over both Elaine and Hadith, and smiled. “Come. Let us enjoy every moment we have.”

Dahnus led the way out of the shuttle and onto the sand mixed ground a few feet from the landing pad. It took them less than four minutes to cross the island to the buildings which were grandiose huts.

Every door was thrown wide open so that she could see inside every building. Each one was a separate room. A large living space with bifold doors that had been drawn back on all four sides, opening the space up. There was a firepit in the middle of the room with a chimney above it. Another room, similarly, opened, had some kind of table on it, similar to a snooker or pool table, though from the pucks on it, it seemed a different game entirely. A kitchen stood nearby was filled with food Elaine could only think was Amaran fruits, then she remembered the moon of Athia was a botanical moon, so really, they could be from anywhere. Devices stood inside, preserving, chilling, heating. Food was being delivered, but if it never came, they wouldn’t starve. Closer to the beach was a bar, and a bathtub which was big enough for a party.

There were also several bedrooms. Each with Amaran sized beds, big enough for orgies. Again, the doors stood open, so that the beds were open to the elements. Today, the elements were cool winds, a hot sun, and the regular to and fro of the waves on the white sands.

“Elaine?’

Elaine looked up at Dahnus who was grinning down at her. She realised she’d stopped to take in the view, then been too stunned to move.

She opened her mouth to speak a few times before finally she managed to force a whisper.

“This is incredible.”

Dahnus’s grin widened. “It is. I am very privileged. It is my joy to share this with you and Hadith.”

“Come. Let me show you to your room,” Hadith said, taking Elaine’s hand and leading her along the deck past the bathing tub and close to the end of the line of buildings. When they were at the second to last bedroom, he pulled her inside, Dahnus following.

“I had your things brought here.” He walked over to one of the two doors on the wall against which the bed sat. “This is your bathroom, which leads directly into your wardrobe.” He pointed at the other door. “I had some new things brought for you. Thanesh sent us a database Earth sent the Tessans, so you have swimsuits, The smaller separate type of swim wear...” Hadith looked at her for confirmation.

“Bikini’s,” Elaine said.

“There are those wrap things, dresses, skirts, dresses.” Hadith sighed. “I’m not sure it’s enough. If you need more, let me know,” he said, shaking his head.

“It sounds like enough,” Elaine assured him, trying not to laugh.

Elaine felt the heat of Dahnus, before she felt him behind her, his body pressed lightly to hers. He traced his fingers down her arm, before taking her hand and pointing at the last bedroom, the one that stood on a small peninsula surrounded by the ocean on all sides.

“That is where Hadith and I will be. We will not close the doors, unless you wish us too. Feel free to watch, from here, from the door, from the foot of the bed,” he said drawing the last few words out. “Feel free to join us. Tomorrow night. I will take Hadith out to the pier and make love to him under the stars during the height of that night’s Varosai light display. It is a tradition of ours since our first festival, usually we do it on the first night, but I think tonight we should watch the festival from the pier together.”

“Oh, don’t change tradition on my account,’ Elaine said, her still caught on the way Dahnus’s breath moved across her cheek.

“I insist. I would not miss the first night of you seeing the display. It is very beautiful,” he said, brushing the back of his other hand against her cheek. “Tomorrow is fine with us.” He looked up at Hadith who nodded his agreement.

“And when we do, please, feel free to watch, from afar, close, or join us. It is entirely up to you, Elaine. But know, Hadith and I want you, all the time. We wait only for your word.”

Elaine swallowed, again her ability to speak fled and she could only nod in response.

“May I kiss you?” he asked then.

‘Yes,” Elaine managed to force out, knowing verbal consent was essential for Amarans.

The smile Dahnus gave her then was panty-wetting in how sinful it was.

If Elaine hoped Dahnus would jump on her, she was sorely disappointed. Instead, he brought his hand still holding on to hers to her chest, and laid her palm flat against her skin, skimming his hands over it in a tender gesture that melted her heart, and her, against his body, feeling the strength and support of him. Letting go of her hand, he reached to her jaw, and traced his fingers across the line of it, his eyes following their trek as though he couldn’t imagine watching anything in the world more interesting than her skin under his burning touch. When his thumb touched her chin, he spread his hands over her chin and looked into her eyes.

Elaine’s heart seemed to stop. Dahnus’s light turquoise eyes held hers, his platinum blonde hair, untied for a change, fell around his face and seemed to block out the world until it was just the two of them. He leaned in and lightly skimmed his lips over hers. His other hand, which until now was missing in action, smoothed around her stomach, his fingers tensing on both hands as he grazed her lips again, this time, his tongue lightly tracing over her lips. She opened them automatically to accept his penetration, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. On his next graze, he pressed his lips firmly to hers, his body, his hands, everything, until she burned under his heat.

Finally, his tongue slipped between her lips and Elaine’s breath stalled in her throat. He kissed, guiding, each movement deliberate. Elaine followed, submitted, her whole-body heating and threatening to combust from an ember to a flame. When the kiss slowed, she felt disappointed it was ending so soon. He didn’t stop though, instead he nibbled at her bottom lip, sucked on it, and let a small groan loose against her, before finally breaking away.

Elaine opened her eyes to see Dahnus staring at her lips, a slightly dazed look on his face. He looked into her eyes, and the dazed look lifted, and his face changed, brightening, lighting her up with the approval, the happiness she could see shining from him.

He looked away from her, and she realised Hadith had watched the whole thing. She turned to look at him, seeing craving in his mauve-blue, aqua rimmed eyes.

“May Hadith kiss you?”

“Yes, please,” Elaine gasped.

Hadith stepped into their space, sharing it among the three of them. He stared down at her with an intensity she’d never seen in his eyes before.

“Control, Hadith,” Dahnus said, his voice a quiet rumble.

Hadith looked up at him, then down at Elaine. He took in a deep breath, his hand going to her cheek. Dahnus was still holding her chin, still had his body pressed to her back. Their hands entwined on her cheek, the three of them in contact at the same time.

“Slowly,” Dahnus warned again.

Hadith glanced at him again. This time, he closed his eyes and let out a long breath, before opening them and looking down at Elaine once more.

“I have waited a long time for this moment,” he whispered.

With that, he bent down and pressed his lips firmly to hers.

Where Dahnus’s lips were a gentle claiming, Hadith’s were a desperate, quiet request. Elaine felt that desperation ignite her own desire to be in their bed. To be theirs.

Not just for now.

Elaine shut the voice out. If she followed that train of thought, she would never start this, for fear of its end.

Instead, she allowed Hadith to carry her mind away, their lips expressing everything they wanted.

Bit by bit, Hadith slowed. Bit by bit, Elaine heard Dahnus coaching, demanding, ordering Hadith to pace their kisses.

Elaine didn’t want them too. She wanted to be carried away on Hadith’s passion.

But Amaran passion was tempered with restraint. Dahnus was dominating in his.

Everything was so muddled, that by the time Hadith withdrew, his eyes alight with need, Elaine had no idea how much time had passed.

Dahnus captured her lips for a brief kiss, before kissing Hadith, who then kissed Elaine, and back and forth they went for a few minutes, until Elaine was slick with arousal.

“The staff are setting up our meal,” Dahnus said, leaning his forehead against Elaines, while he stroked Hadith’s hair. “We must get ready to eat. Refresh ourselves.”

Elaine nodded, unable to speak, while Dahnus and Hadith, each with one last kiss, stepped away, leaving Elaine feeling cold and bereft, despite the strong exotic sun.

“Are you well?” Dahnus asked.

Elaine nodded. ‘Yes. Just…” she smiled. “A little needy,” she admitted.

Dahnus’s eyes lit up. “Just let us know when you want us to take care of that need, Elaine. It will be our pleasure. Hadith?”

Hadith nodded; his eyes lit with that same intensity as before.

They walked away, leaving Elaine in her wall less bedroom, staring after them, wanting for all the world to follow them, request they move her things to their room, share their bedroom, their bodies, their kisses.

But there was something holding her back. A wall of overwhelm that was afraid of taking those steps. So instead, Elaine headed into the bathroom Hadith had pointed out earlier to take a shower and try to gain enough of Dahnus’s oft said control to join them for a meal.