Lara Santiago - Menagerie Read online

  “I won’t force you to be in any position exclusively,” Valerie promised. “But I don’t want to take any positions off the table, so to speak. Maybe we could consider the missionary style once or twice a year for kicks.”

  “Sure, honey, whatever you want. I appreciate your willingness to try new things.” His gaze traveled her body from head to toes and back again as if considering a plethora of exotic sexual stances.

  She gave him a mock frown. “I’m not going to be dangling from a chandelier, am I?”

  Mark shook his head and finally started walking towards her. “Nope. Unless you have some light-fixture fantasy. I prefer beds. More comfy and easier on the knees, regardless of the position.”

  “Are you going to kiss me now?”

  “Yes.” He slid into her personal space. “Are you ready?”

  Rooted to the floor, she found she was unable to move anyway. “Not sure. I’ll let you know when you’re done.”

  His wide grin captivated her as his fingers danced along her arms, tickling a path to her shoulders and distracting her. She turned to one side to watch his hands caress her arm and he ducked in close. Kissing a sensitive place on her neck halfway between her shoulder and her ear, Valerie tingled from his kisses all the way to her soul.

  He licked the spot he’d kissed and another voracious bolt of electricity went straight to her core. A moment later she was enclosed in his arms. She slipped her hands around his waist and clasped them behind his back.

  One of his hands cupped the back of her head and the other wound around her in a tender embrace. His lips blazed a path from her jaw to her chin and before she could take a breath or prepare, his lips were firmly planted on hers in the most sensual kiss she’d ever participated in. Well, it was the most seductive kiss since the last man she’d met had been in the room.

  Mark was aggressive. His tongue stabbed inside her mouth, dominating the space. Hips rolling against her belly with each stroke and lick, he quickly possessed her mouth, her body, her very essence and she could only cling to him until he was finished seducing her.

  If he’d whispered a vague request for a practice screw, she knew she would have peeled her clothing off and denied him nothing.

  After several long seconds, during which she’d begun to vibrate from shoulders to knees, he released her and separated himself from her body. She moaned and tried to reconnect.

  “Sorry, honey, we’ll have to wait until we’re together again the next time to finish this. You still have to meet Dominick. He’s probably about to burst in here and throw me out. He’s the only one with the muscles to pull it off.”

  “Dominick?” Valerie trembled from sexual overload from the four men she’d already agreed to have sex with. At this point, she hoped five men would be enough to quench the thirst built up over the past several minutes that was testing her unsatisfied libido.

  “He’s the last in line for introductions.” Mark backed away from her slowly, hands firmly on her shoulders to keep her upright.

  Valerie swallowed hard and did her best to calm down. “Right. So, is he nice?”

  Mark’s eyebrows went to his hairline. “Dominick? Nice?” He tilted his head to one side as if trying to find a way to tell her bad news. “Nice is not a word I’d use to describe Dominick. He’s big and quiet, but he’d never hurt you.”

  Valerie knew that after having four studs in a row, the fifth would have to be scary or ugly. “How do you know that?”

  “Because I wouldn’t, and the five of us were supposedly matched in temperament. If I wouldn’t, then neither would he.” His hands squeezed her once more as if in assurance.

  Valerie sighed. “Forgive me if I don’t jump for joy. Today is only day one and three years is a long time to endure whatever you would or wouldn’t do.”

  “None of us are the brutal sort.” A genuine smile accompanied his statement.

  She nodded, but the wariness didn’t leave her mind. She turned her back on the door as Mark left. Valerie didn’t want to be a baby about meeting Dominick. She trusted Hauser, if no one else. If she should need to be worried about any of the five, she was certain that Hauser would have warned her up front. But he didn’t.

  After a few minutes, she heard the door open and close again. She felt a large presence in the room, but he didn’t say anything. She gathered her meager courage and turned to face her final future mate. Dominick, who was described by Mark as being not mean, but not necessarily nice either.

  Fighting to keep her eyes from slamming shut, Valerie had her face turned to the floor. She saw his booted feet initially and the bottom legs of his jeans. Her curious gaze crept up the rest of his body and by the time she’d made it to his hips she was nervous. He was big. Very big. And she hadn’t even made it to his chest yet.

  Her eyes stopped momentarily at the vivid six-pack abs evident beneath the soft shirt he wore. His shirt was the only soft thing about him, she figured. His massive, barrel-sized chest had muscles on top of muscles, which led to a surprisingly nice average-sized neck. It wasn’t as thick as she would have expected, given all his other muscles.

  Dominick’s shaved head only added to the frightening visage he represented. He looked like a biker mercenary. God help her.

  “Holy cow, you’re…big.” Valerie swallowed hard and stared at his warrior’s face, complete with a slash of a scar on one cheek and another crescent-shaped one over his sensual lips. Brutally attractive in a scary sort of way, she wondered if he’d break her with a mere touch.

  He nodded slightly at her statement. “I am.”

  Valerie didn’t know what to say to him. The other men were so different. In her mind, he stood alone as a man who wouldn’t put up with crap and who might not stop if she asked nicely.

  “Do…do you have any questions for me?” Valerie stuttered her question, embarrassingly enough. To prolong the arrival of the inevitable kiss they had to share before he left to join the others, she might play twenty questions. It wasn’t like she could change her mind now. She was stuck with this group of men. Four out of the five men in her group didn’t scare the crap out of her. That had to be a good record for anyone.

  “Will you service me?” he asked so quietly she almost missed it.

  Valerie startled and focused her gaze on his face. “What? Service?”

  He sighed deeply, but the expression on his face didn’t change. “Will you fuck me regularly for the next three years?”

  Unable to find her voice, Valerie nodded. She had to say yes anyway. “I have to.”

  “No. You don’t.”

  He’d stayed on his side of the room since he’d entered. He hadn’t so much as twitched a muscle to make a move on her and truthfully she was becoming intrigued by this silent giant. Her gaze slid to the scars adorning his face.

  She was intrigued, wanting to know where his scars came from along with a host of other secret information. What made Dominick tick? What made him smile? What made him needful? What would make this man want her like no other?

  “How did you get those scars on your face?” She blurted out her question before prudence could screen her words.

  His eyes widened as if surprised and sent his eyebrows to his non-existent hairline. “I don’t exactly remember.” He lifted one large hand and swirled it in the air simulating a tornado. “This place doesn’t allow much in the way of memory. Were I to guess, I must have been misbehaving.” His sudden smile softened the harsh planes of his face.

  Valerie nodded in understanding. “I feel like I’ve been dreaming since I got here. I’m going to wake up any minute to my alarm clock and have to face my real life. Whatever that is.”

  He crossed his arms again and murmured quietly, “I don’t think this is a dream anymore.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ve been here for almost two months and my dreams don’t last that long. You?”

  Valerie shrugged. “I’ve only been here for about a day. I guess I’ll have to let you know in a couple o
f months.”

  “I’ll look forward to that.” Dominick watched her for a beat and then grinned. His whole face lit up and Valerie’s heart almost stopped. He was, in truth, very attractive. Not in the classic sense and not at all like the others, but in his own brutal, scary way.

  “So how about it? Do you think we could come to some sort of arrangement?”

  “Arrangement?”

  “For…servicing.”

  Valerie glanced down his body and then back up once more. He was so big that he’d be able to take whatever he wanted from her regardless of any arrangement. He was behaving, for now. She hoped that he would remain civil once they were alone together for their two nights a month.

  Her instincts told her that he was dangerous in some way, but she couldn’t tell if it were just in general or specifically targeted at her.

  “Yes,” she squeaked out.

  If he was surprised by her affirmative answer, he didn’t show it. “Good. I’ll look forward to our time together.” He glanced up and down her body as if taking inventory and making plans to do any number of erotic sexual acts.

  “Should I be worried?”

  His eyes narrowed. “Worried? I don’t know what you mean.”

  “In the future, when we’re alone together so that I can ‘service’ you, should I be worried about what you’ll do?”

  The stunned expression that slipped out before he could hide it disappeared quickly, but she’d seen it anyway. He pierced her with his stern gaze. “I won’t do anything harmful.”

  Valerie didn’t think she liked his answer one single bit. Not doing anything harmful wasn’t the same thing as not hurting her. Perhaps he had dark, insatiable desires and she’d be his to do with as he wished twice a month for the next three years.

  From across the room, he watched her cycle through his last words and attach meaning to them. He didn’t explain further, so she focused on the good news that it was only twice a month for thirty-six months. Seventy-two times she’d have to be fearful over the next three years. God help her.

  Valerie knew they’d have to kiss, but she couldn’t move her legs yet. The uncomfortable silence grew too quickly between them.

  “Come here.” His darkly passionate voice beckoned.

  It was time to go. She took a deep breath and on shaky legs, she walked towards him. Valerie couldn’t believe her body cooperated.

  His head tilted to one side as if in surprise as she crossed the room. He let her come all the way across until she stood an arm’s-length away.

  Another long space of time crowded the room. Valerie trembled as she looked into Dominick’s eyes. “Kiss me.”

  His eyes went opaque at her simple, quiet invitation. After a few moments she added, “I want to kiss you.” It might give her a hint of how he’d treat her later on.

  “Do you?” A sardonic smile formed on his lips. “That’s fortunate. I want to be kissed.”

  Valerie teetered on tiptoes, tilted her head all the way back, and watched as he leaned in to give her access to his mouth. She slid her hand around his neck and pressed her lips to his before she could change her mind. Dominick tasted like sin. His full lips parted, but did not engage. She twisted her mouth across his, preparing to take things to the French level, if he would allow it. He seemed to be letting her determine the level of heat for this kiss. At first, anyway.

  Once she licked her way into his mouth, he grabbed her to his chest with a growl and dueled with her tongue in the most salacious and intriguing way. A rush of pleasure slid to her already achy core. Valerie was so turned on, she moaned with every thrust of his tongue.

  Her hips took on a life of their own and pressed into his groin. She felt his hand slide down to cup her ass so he could grind into her as well. She launched from her tiptoes and surged forward so fast that she pushed him into the wall behind them. Their lips didn’t break apart and the kiss ratcheted up another level to volcanic. He twisted them until her shoulder blades pressed into the wall.

  Valerie wanted to have sex with this man. No problem. Right now. Please. She heard his moan and realized that one of her legs had slipped around his thigh to secure him against her body. The ridge of his cock now pressed perfectly between her thighs and rubbed deliciously against her clit. With every move he made, pleasure pounded upwards through her body. His hips rolled into hers rhythmically as a vibrant climax built in her core. She curled her hips and met each and every stroke searching for relief. They devoured each other with the carnal kiss until, without warning, Valerie broke away from him and fairly howled at the electrifying climax that bloomed from her core, saturating her in pleasure.

  Trembling, she relaxed against Dominick’s chest, hoping he’d continue to hold her up since her legs didn’t seem to want the job any longer. He kissed a path along her jaw as she focused on breathing in and out.

  “Did you just come?” he whispered. The fine hairs in her ear tickled with the breath from his seemingly awe-filled words.

  Panting wildly, trying to catch her breath, Valerie nodded since she couldn’t make her mouth form words just yet.

  “Damn. I guess I don’t have to apologize for pinning you to a wall and taking advantage.” Laughter rumbled in his chest. He kissed her throat gently and repeatedly until she came back to her senses enough to answer.

  “No. I don’t expect you to say sorry. It was…” she paused, trying to think of a word. “It was stupendous. Unbelievable.”

  Dominick leaned back and stared into her eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever made a woman climax from just a kiss.”

  “If it hadn’t just happened to me, I wouldn’t have believed it either.” The near orgasm she’d had with Hauser had been fabulous, but it paled in comparison to the one that Dominick had just rocked her soul with.

  Another sardonic smile formed on his luscious lips. “Three years might go by faster than I thought.”

  Valerie didn’t say anything. She was still vibrating from the orgasm. Dominick didn’t scare her any less, but she decided her body was aroused enough that perhaps her brain could suspend her fright long enough for sex with him twice a month.

  He slid his warm, wide palm from butt cheek to knee before he pulled her leg away from the back of his thigh. “I’d better get back out there before someone busts in here to see what’s taking me so long.” He extracted himself from her slowly.

  Valerie remained against the wall and straightened her clothing. Her lips felt swollen. She wiped the back of one hand across them to remove any moisture and put her gaze on the scant space between their bodies. “What happens now?”

  He cleared his throat. “The official ceremony to seal us.”

  Valerie glanced up in surprise. “I thought it was already done.”

  “There is an official ceremony where all of us link our DNA with yours. Adultery is not allowed here. Ever.”

  “Really? How can they prevent it?”

  “It’s some sort of implant they place in all of the males once they are brought aboard. If a male tries to penetrate a woman with whom he isn’t sealed, my understanding is the pain will make the man want to cut his own dick off to make it stop.”

  Valerie raised her eyebrows in surprise. “So then I don’t have to be worried about being raped by a stranger.”

  “No.”

  But the question regarding force and a man she was sealed to remained unanswered. Dominick didn’t say anything further. He glanced at the door and his demeanor became that of a man who had overstayed his welcome. Pointing his thumb to the door, he followed and exited the room without saying anything else.

  Valerie waited a few minutes more and Hauser came back.

  Pensive expression on his face, he asked quietly, “Are you ready to go to the permanent ceremony?”

  “I guess. What do we have to do again?” Her mind was all a flutter from her recent and visceral orgasm. She hoped Hauser didn’t notice her still quaking legs. Already she felt like she’d cheated on him. Three years was going t
o be an eternity.

  “We link our DNA then move on to the…consummation phase.”

  Valerie sucked in a deep breath. Consummation phase? Oh God! “Right.”

  “Do you know about the initial night?”

  She shifted her gaze from the bland wall to Hauser’s faded blue eyes. “What ‘initial’ night?”

  He stepped close enough that his unique male scent drifted across her conscious. He didn’t touch her as if sensing her reluctance to touch another man so soon after the vivid experience with Dominick, but he leaned an elbow on the wall. Hauser’s quiet voice washed over her. “Where you’ll be with each of us in a twenty-four-hour period?”

  Valerie’s eyes widened. “At the same time?” She really should have paid more attention during the orientation they’d forced her to go through.

  “No. No. Each of us will get three hours with you to…um…consummate. But it’s only a single time with each of us. Just so we can stop shaking from our enforced abstinence. Plus, it’s sort of the alien version of a honeymoon night. They even refer to it as that. Following the honeymoon, you’ll be directed to our regular living quarters after the fifth man has…finished.”

  Heart pounding nearly to her throat, she asked, “And who is going first?”

  “Me.” His quick grin relieved her anxiety a notch. “You’ll consummate in the same order you met us.”

  Her brain sifted through the information. Hauser being her initial lover was good. The scarier proposition was that Dominick would be the final man to slake his long-awaited lust. That auspicious event would take place after she’d already had sex with four other men. She didn’t mean it when she said, “Okay.”

  “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “That’s easy for you to say, you don’t have to sleep with five strangers tonight.”

  “It’s been two months since any of us had sex.” The low tone of his voice caught her complete attention. “We can’t come any other way. Trust me, tonight will be about immediate relief.”