Mari set her heavy suitcase down at the side of the road, panting with exertion—and struggling not to cry. In their minds, the Twins probably felt fine. They’d offered her breakfast, perhaps as a kind of repayment for sex. But the last straw was them walking away as soon as the train stopped.
Mari took a deep breath. Maybe good-byes were overrated, but did they have to flirt with another woman so soon? And directly in front of her?
She huffed out, breathed in, working on breath control as a panic attack threatened. She had no idea where the Wanderer Inn was located. All she wanted to do was hide, hide and cry while her out-of-control adrenaline pumped through her blood. Her heart beat at a million miles an hour, and the hostile nature of the street she stood upon only made things worse.
Focus. She had to focus. Digging into her pocket, she pulled out the sheaf of scrap paper her father had kept beside his bed. Most of the white space was covered in his scratchy handwriting. She’d meant to study it on the train, see if it contained any clues she could spin into practical advice.
Diagrams filled the first three pages, half-sketched plans of some kind or other. Mari swallowed. Dad had always been inventing things. She flipped past the drawings, all the way to the last few pieces of paper, where his handwriting had taken a marked turn for the worse.
Scavengers, $150 offer. Valuable. No-show. Winter St. Other half???
Mari shook her head. There was nothing written here that she was unfamiliar with. Her father had slurred these words over and over, holding her hands as if he were desperately trying to communicate something. Perhaps the cancer had ravaged his memory.
In any case, it wouldn’t hurt to walk down Winter Street, would it? She pulled out her crude map of the City, orienting herself as she went. The roads were still vaguely maintained, but there was none of the buzz she remembered from living here as a teenager. Here and there, buildings had been knocked down to create areas to grow crops or keep stock.
She hurried onward, turning a series of corners. Thankfully, there were still green street signs at each corner, battered but readable. When she came to Winter Street, however, she hesitated. There weren’t many houses here, and most of them were dilapidated. Halfway down, a small knot of people squatted on upturned crates, passing around a plastic bag.
Mari winced and looked down at her map, only to look up again as someone emerged from the porch of a nearby house. The man was about her age, scruffy but clear-eyed.
“Want to buy something?” he asked.
Mari shook her head, and the man shrugged and sauntered away in the direction of the train station, a mostly empty burlap sack draped over his shoulder. She relaxed as she realized he was likely a scavenger, not a junkie, come to hawk his wares. So this was a kind of market area? That made sense. She continued onward, looking closely at the house the scavenger had visited.
With a start, she realized there was an old lady sitting on its porch. She wore baggy trousers and a long shirt. Her gray hair was cropped close to her head, and a Rottweiler sat at her feet.
“You lookin’ for a place to stay?” she asked.
“No, I’m trying to find the Wanderer Inn, but thank you.”
“Wanderer’s pretty full these days,” the woman said. “Rates are high, since trains aren’t coming through very often. I charge less than half of what they do, and I reckon my place is more comfortable and quiet.”
The quiet part appealed to her. All she wanted to do was sit somewhere quiet and recover herself.
“What do you charge?”
The old woman named a price that made her blink. “That’s lower than I expected.”
“Take it or leave it, but you seem like a good sort. You remind me of my granddaughter Abigail. She left a year ago. Haven’t heard from her since. They say no news is good news, but these days, I figure otherwise.”
“I’m sorry.” Mari bit her lip. “My father passed away recently.”
They looked at each other, briefly kindred souls. Then the old lady went back to business mode. “Interested?”
“I’ll pay for one night and see if I like it.”
“Done.” She got to her feet. “I’ll show you around. You’ll be my sole lodger. I only take one at a time, and only women. I got a safe for your valuables since it ain’t too nice around here anymore. Dog-eat-dog world, though I wish it was a Bark-eat-Bark world, then we wouldn’t have near so much trouble.”
She snorted at her own joke while Mari followed her inside. The dog sniffed her politely, following its master. Inside, there wasn’t much in the way of furniture, but the place was clean. A cherrywood table in the corner was completely covered in a jumble of eclectic items, from a bottle of laundry detergent to cutlery, candles and various pieces of hardware. All were neatly dusted, even the partially-disassembled laptop computer.
“You’re welcome to make me an offer for any of that stuff,” the woman said when she saw Mari eyeing the table. “My daughter and granddaughter were scavengers. Used to bring me things to sell. I got a reputation as a middleman, so I still get scavengers dropping by now and again.”
So that explained the man she’d seen earlier. Maybe she should show this woman her father’s notes, see if she recognized anything that came from an alien ship. But that would have to wait—she wanted to settle in first. Besides, she didn’t want to come across as unhinged.
Hey, do you have anything here that might have belonged to an alien? wasn’t a very good introduction.
“I’m not sure I need anything, but thanks,” Mari said politely.
The woman let out a rusty-sounding laugh. “Tell you the truth, I haven’t been able to shift some of that crap for years. Can’t bear to get rid of any of the things my daughter found. It reminds me of her. So I let it sit there, and I call it nouveau art.”
Mari looked at the oversized watch on her wrist, fingered the locket around her neck that had once belonged to her mother. “I can understand that line of thinking.”
“My daughter went east with my granddaughter, Abigail. That was a year ago when the attacks here started to really get bad. Haven’t seen either of them since. Come on through here.”
Mari’s room was up a short flight of stairs. It boasted a double bed with a desk and chair near the window. There was even a small attached bathroom with a shower.
“Will this do you?” the old woman asked. “I’m Patrice, by the way.”
“Mari.” She dug in her purse for money, handed it over. The woman’s hands shook a little as she carefully tucked the coins away, and Mari frowned as she realized how thin the woman was.
“Do you like turnips?” she asked.
* * * * *
Hours later, Mari rubbed her eyes, sitting up in bed. She hadn’t meant to nap quite so long, but after last night’s excitement, she had been exhausted. She and Patrice had eaten bread and boiled turnips for lunch, frugally storing the uneaten portion for later. The old woman had been a good listener, although Mari was careful not to confide everything to her.
Still, she’d come away with the distinct impression that Patrice was trustworthy. So, after taking a shower, she went downstairs in search of her, eventually finding the woman sitting on the porch in her rocking chair. A pistol was within reach, as was an old, battered paperback, but Patrice watched the streets.
“Used to be busier out there,” she said by way of greeting. “Lots of people have left over the past decade. Crime’s gotten worse. So’s the drugs. But there’s still folks to watch, and it passes the time.”
“Will you be all right if I take a walk?”
Patrice frowned, her blue eyes sharpening. “A walk? At this time of evening? Girl, it’ll be full dark in a few minutes, and the Barks will be attacking that wall.”
A little chill took her. “Is it in danger of falling?”
“Not tonight. Soon, though. They’re relentless.”
Her father had formed a theory about that, she vaguely recalled. He’d discussed it with her mother, but Mari had been too young to understand what she was hearing. Then they had fled Scar City, and she’d all but forgotten about the theory for more than a decade. Flagstaff had been so safe by comparison.
The aliens wanted something in this City, and they wouldn’t stop until they got it.
Her mother had argued that the Barks wanted meat, but her father pointed out that hunting wild animals was more efficient than trying to dig under a wall every night. Then Mari’s mother had cried, asking why the aliens kept attacking, begging her father to make them stop. He hadn’t replied, merely stormed off into the night to make his usual observations.
Within a week, however, they’d left. And, Mari admitted, found more peace in Flagstaff City than anywhere else they’d ever been. It was a shame her mother had died before truly realizing that.
“There. Look!” Patrice tugged her arm. “Those are Twins.”
Mari’s eyes widened and she bent down, peeking from behind the rocking chair as Finn and Gareth passed. They looked…intent. Worried. They paused halfway down the street, conferring.
Probably just talking about her father’s rumored device. It was best that they’d parted ways. Mari needed whatever her father had left behind.
On impulse, she decided to follow them. Maybe they would lead her in the right direction. She felt a stab of guilt for leaving them without a good-bye, but she’d wanted to spare herself the pain of being dumped.
Not that she had any lingering guilt over losing her virginity to them…
But sleeping with them again was painfully tempting.
“You look like you ain’t never seen Twins in your life.”
“I hadn’t until recently.” Mari kept her eyes on the men. “Well, I’ll go for my walk now.”
“Be careful.” Patrice reached for her paperback. “Ain’t exactly the friendliest of Cities after dark.”
The Glock was heavy against her waist, and Mari flashed the old woman a quick smile. “Thanks for the warning.”
She devoutly hoped that following the Twins wasn’t a stupid move. The men were moving again, striding along as they animatedly discussed something. When they stopped in front of a large building to argue, Mari ducked behind a Dumpster and pretended to adjust her shoe. Then she had to hurry when both men strode off again. God, they could walk fast.
The men disappeared into the building, which seemed to be some sort of gaming hall, judging from the sounds within. Mari paused on the threshold, but a group of loud men on the street behind drove her inside. Despite the revolver at her side, she felt uneasy, both at the leers the men gave her and the seedy appearance of the interior.
Oh hell. This was the Wanderer Inn. She stared at the sign above the counter, reading it twice before it sank in. The place had changed from a friendly saloon to a raucous gaming hall.
“You want a drink?” A passing waitress gave her a frankly dubious look.
“I can order at the bar.” Mari had no intention of doing so. Not here.
She vaguely remembered the layout of the Wanderer. A former casino back in Reno’s heyday, the slot machines had all disappeared from its floors. Pool tables and couches took up most of the large room. The bartender was serving up home-brewed beer in large glasses, flipping out the occasional shot of what was probably moonshine in small glasses.
Mari sidled along the wall, eyes widening as she caught sight of what was going on in the shadows. A man stood with his hands on a kneeling man’s shoulders, eyes closed in pleasure as he thrust his naked cock forward. His partner’s lips slid sensuously down his shaft, head bobbing rhythmically.
A few feet away, a couple was getting busy against the wall, oblivious to their audience. Several people watched the action from couches, nursing their drinks as they leaned against high, circular tables. Somewhere in the shadows, a woman hit orgasm and let out a loud shriek of pleasure.
Mari jumped as someone placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. She smelled stale body odor, accompanied by the stink of beer breath.
“You alone, li’l lady?”
“I’m otherwise engaged,” she replied coolly.
“Doesn’t look like it.” The man kept his hand on her shoulder, looking her up and down. “You’re like steak in front of a dog, walkin’ in here. How do you expect me to resist?”
“I once owned a Labrador who loved prime rib. But he wouldn’t take anything off my plate without my say-so.” She turned to glare in his face. “And if you behave worse than a dog, you might as well give yourself up to the Barks outside.”
Mari rested her fingers on the butt of the Glock, wrenching out of his grasp. Behind the man, she caught the waitress’s smirk of approval, but she didn’t wait around, striding quickly for the door. It had been a mistake to come in here at all.
She crossed the threshold, the sounds of a scuffle following her. Without pausing, she continued on through the streets, trying to visualize where she was. She only vaguely recognized this area, having rarely been allowed outside their tiny family dwelling after dark. But she could see the wall in the near distance, so she turned to head there, retracing her father’s steps.
Footsteps pounded behind her. Her eyes widened—had the man come after her? She pulled the gun, whirling, and came face-to-face with—
“Finn?”
“Thank God we’ve found you.” He ignored the gun and crushed her to his chest, one hand cradling the back of her head in such a comforting gesture that she briefly let herself relax against him, letting him tuck the gun back into its hidden holster.
Then she wriggled. “You were looking for me? Why? I intended to leave without you seeing me in there.”
“You nearly succeeded. Gareth’s back there…remonstrating with that man. And yes we were looking for you,” he practically shouted. “We were worried sick! When we didn’t find you at the Wanderer, we searched the entire City, even searched outside the walls.”
She swallowed, disconcerted. “Oh. You looked for me. I thought…”
“That gaming hall was the last place we thought we’d find you,” Gareth said, having unexpectedly prowled up behind her. “Good thing we went full circle.”
“Hey, I followed you in there.” She tried to fold her arms, but the men boxed her in, gently but firmly.
“Why did you run?” Finn’s sincerity disarmed her.
“I—because…it clearly wasn’t going to last between us.” In their intoxicating presence, all clarity of mind seemed to disappear. She felt addicted to their smell, their voices.
“What do you mean?” Gareth asked.
“You’re both on male birth control, for heaven’s sake,” Mari said. “For all I know, you make it a habit to seduce women aboard trains.”
Finn went slack-jawed, and Gareth made a slight sound. “The facility we come from doesn’t permit us to leave without first taking a birth control injection,” Finn said. “Does that put your mind at ease?”
Mari tried to step away, shaking her head, not in denial but in bewilderment. “But…then you were flirting with that train driver. I thought it best to leave without further complicating things.”
“You mean you thought we would dump you? That’s the silliest thing I ever heard.” Finn reached to smooth her hair, as if he couldn’t help but touch her. “We definitely weren’t flirting with that driver, by the way.”
“Well, she was coming on to you pretty strong,” Mari muttered.
“The feeling was decidedly not mutual,” Finn said.
“Oh.” Mari shuffled atop the cracked asphalt of the street, embarrassment flushing her cheeks. “Look, I’ve…never done this relationship thing before. When I was young, dating was all about going to the movies and riding around on bicycles—or in cars, if you were old enough. Then the world basically ended, and…”
They were still listening, so she soldiered on after a brief pause. “I mean, I’ve kissed boys, but things have always stopped there. I never knew what to do next, because I wasn’t ready for marriage, and where I lived, women were required to have dowries. I couldn’t afford that. So I resigned myself to living life on my own. That’s all.”
They were standing on either side of her, soaking in every word she uttered. Although the occasional laugh or shout drifted out from the nearby gaming hall, the streets were deserted.
“What I think,” Gareth said quietly, “is that you don’t consider yourself worthy of love.”
“I’ve never met anyone I was—” She cut herself off before saying attracted to, because she had met somebody. Two somebodies. She was very damn attracted to the Twins. “I wouldn’t know what to do in a long-term relationship,” she concluded lamely.
Gareth closed in behind her, and Finn took her back into his arms. She felt as if she were trapped between two hungry tigers, but she clung to Finn, tentatively at first, then more firmly as he bent his head to kiss her.
“We’ve never been in a long-term relationship either,” Gareth said. He pressed against her back, cupping her breasts as if he owned them. “Maybe we could learn from each other, play it by ear.”
“You should know we never intended to let you go,” Finn said, breaking the kiss. His green eyes were deadly serious. “Had you decided to end things, we would have respected that, but we would have insisted upon escorting you somewhere safe. Where have you been, Marisol?”
She blinked. When had she told him her full name? But his tone brooked no argument, and his words—and the kiss—had left her dazed, so she simply answered, “I took lodging with an elderly woman a few streets that way. She needed the money and offered a better rate than the Wanderer Inn.”
“We’re glad you’re safe,” Gareth said. “We were beginning to think you’d managed to leave the City somehow.” He brushed a caress across her bare neck.
Finn tensed, his heavily muscled arms tightening as a far-off series of howls pierced the night. “Here they come.”
“I want to go watch them.” Had to, really, because she had to understand why her father had walked those walls night after night. What she truly wanted to do was hide under the covers—preferably with the Twins—until morning.
“We’ll go with you.”
Most of her trepidation seeped away as the men took her arms, walking on either side of her. Although the lighting along the streets was dim, she felt little fear, knowing that just one of the Twins could take out any threat to her. And she had two of them with her.
It still seemed unreal. But she was quickly yanked back to reality by the sounds of the gathering aliens. Scar City’s wall was twenty feet high, with strategically placed towers from which guards could observe the aliens and fight back when necessary. There were walkways between each one. That was where her father had paced, night after night, watching the aliens come in their waves and be rebuffed.
“There’s one reason human-on-human crime’s so bad lately,” Gareth said, nodding at the towers. Each one was fully manned, leaving very few enforcers on the ground to take care of crime there.
They went single-file up the metal steps, but Mari was glad when Finn took her arm again at the top. There was only a narrow catwalk between towers. Parts of the wall had been shored up with rubble and barbed wire. Crude metal spikes jutted from the bottom, although Mari rather doubted any of the Barks were stupid enough to impale themselves so easily.
She took a deep breath of the night air, looking up at the stars. They were clear and bright, constellations distinctly visible in the sky. Stargazing hadn’t been something one could easily do within the bounds of a pre-Invasion city, since there had been so much light pollution in those days.
While up here, she could see why Reno had been renamed Scar City—the mothership that had crash-landed atop the eastern half of the city had left blackened lines radiating outward, scars that had burned for months even with no apparent fuel. Years later, they were still visible, encircling the City. Mari shuddered, and Finn and Gareth moved closer as if instinctively offering comfort.
“Did you grow up around here?” Finn asked.
“In Scar City? No. I was born and raised in Portland. When the Invasion happened, we were staying in our cabin in Tillamook. The aliens mostly concentrated on eating people in cities, so we were safe in the forest for a few months. Dad even found one of their smaller ships nearby, but it was abandoned.”
“What made you leave?” Gareth asked.
Mari shrugged. “Humans often seek strength in numbers. My parents eventually wanted the safety of walls, so we went to Seattle City—or what was left of it. From there, we went back to Portland, then came here.”
Each time, the aliens had come in waves, attacking the walls at night. Until they went to Flagstaff City, Mari had believed they attacked everywhere with such fervor. Perhaps they had been caught up in the blood thirst of the first few years, before humans built walls to keep them out. Or perhaps her mother had been right, and the creatures had been following them.
“My father thinks the Barks underestimated us,” Mari said. “At least at first. That’s how we were able to shoot down so many of their ships. Of course, we underestimated them too.”
“People have a tendency to disregard their enemies if they’re vastly different from them,” Gareth said. “I don’t think anyone expected the Barks to be so vicious, though.”
Mari flinched as another volley of howls sounded. She could see a group of the aliens in the distance, undulating and pale as they ran among the rubble of what had once been suburbs. “Let’s walk,” she suggested.
By the time they’d made it halfway around the wall’s perimeter, an attack began in earnest, a concerted attempt by the aliens to demolish part of the wall. Mari hung back as guards shot at the Barks, bullets flying mostly harmlessly through the night, but a few connecting. Craning her neck, she could see that the part of the wall the aliens were targeting was beginning to seriously crumble.
“Screw this,” Gareth muttered. “I can’t stand by and watch this. Stay with her.”
Finn drew her into his arms as Gareth strode forward, lights springing from his wrist and hand. They shone into the darkness, driving the aliens back.
“He can’t do much from up here,” Finn said. “The UV lights we use as weapons are more effective up close, but he can still drive them back.”
After scattering the creatures, Gareth nodded to the guards and came back to them. “Ready to get down?”
“Yes.” Mari had seen enough for tonight, enough to know she wasn’t going to find the answers she needed at the top of the wall. It only stressed her out to see the aliens attacking—she hated to see them up close—and the chilly air was making her shiver.
“Come with us, then.” Finn’s voice was pure seduction, and he led her down the nearest set of stairs, Gareth bringing up the rear.
“Where are you staying?” she asked as they made their way through the dimly lit streets.
“A private house,” Gareth answered. “It’s not large, but it’s comfortable enough. It belongs to the government, so Twins are able to stay in it anytime.”
Mari breathed easier with every step she took away from the wall. Fortunately for her nerves, the house was located centrally, down a quiet side street filled with a mixture of bungalows and FEMA-style temporary housing. Finn stopped in front of one of the latter, motioning for Gareth to do a quick check around the back.
“All clear,” Gareth said. Not that the house looked all that vulnerable to burglary with its metal-shuttered windows and sturdy walls.
Finn unlocked a heavy-duty door, preceding her inside and lighting several candles. Although she was eager to go inside, her body clamoring for theirs, Mari hung back. “I can’t stay here tonight.”
Gareth’s head came up sharply. “Why not, honey?”
“I—I’m not ready to just…stay with you so soon. I’m sorry. And Patrice will be worried if I don’t come back.”
“Patrice is the name of the woman you’re renting from?” Finn asked. He came to her—they both did—touching her gently, almost reverently, yet with a certain possessiveness that made her heart thud faster.
Mari nodded. “She’s really nice. She says I remind her of her granddaughter.”
She’d had a grandmother who lived in New York, a nice old woman who smelled of lavender and sent cards with money inside for each birthday and Christmas. She had died at the age of eighty-one, having passed peacefully in her sleep a year prior to the Invasion. Mari was glad her grandma had been spared a violent death.
“What if we spend a little time here, then walk you back to where you’re staying?” Gareth suggested.
A blush suffused her cheeks as she caught his meaning. She wasn’t at all averse to spending time with these men—especially if it involved what she thought it was going to, but she wasn’t entirely sure how to express it. Still, she was eager to embrace her new freedom—and if a relationship with Twins was part of that, all the better.
“Is it true what you said about a relationship?” she blurted.
“That we want one? Yes.” Finn gave her a searching look, reminding her abruptly that, military training aside, these men hadn’t been socialized in the outside world. Most likely, they’d never been able to date someone properly.
Then again, nobody really dated properly anymore.
“All right. I wouldn’t mind a tour of your place,” she said, stepping over the threshold.
Behind her, Finn locked the door against unwanted intruders. Not that Mari figured anyone would dare try to interrupt them—at over six feet, the Twins didn’t look like men to mess with.
“So this is government housing?” she asked, glancing around. The place was passable, less homey than Patrice’s, more comfortable than her old shipping container. Ledgers lined the shelves, and a freestanding safe sat in the corner.
“Yep. The government still has some aces up its sleeve,” Gareth said. “When Twins travel to Cities, we’re welcome to request anything we need to get our mission done—from vehicles to housing and provisions.”
“Whether we get those requests is another matter entirely,” Finn said. He trailed a casual hand down her back, and she shivered in response, half turning toward him.
When she placed her hands on his chest, she felt some of the tension in his body ease. She ran her fingers across the fabric of his shirt, tracing a circle around one hardened nipple. That, it seemed, was enough to galvanize them both into action.
She watched, half-mesmerized, as they simultaneously shed their shirts, revealing broad torsos and heavily muscled shoulders. They had showered somewhat recently, for their hair smelled faintly of sandalwood and they were both freshly shaven—and very appealing.
She reached out to touch Gareth’s face, fingers sliding along his scar all the way down to his stubble. She stroked Finn’s cheek with her other hand, turning her full attention to him when he pressed a kiss into the palm of her hand. The small gesture was enough to make her tremble with desire.
Mari let Gareth guide her hand downward, hooking her fingers into the waistband of his jeans. His cock tented the denim, but he ignored it, leaning forward to concentrate on the buttons of her blouse. His large fingers were surprisingly nimble. Within a few seconds, she stood in front of both men clad in bra and skirt.
With anyone else, she might have found the situation uncomfortable, but she was beginning to feel safe with the Twins. Even so, she was grateful that she’d chosen to wear reasonably stylish underclothes. Most garments these days were either handmade or patched within an inch of their lives. Mari had been fortunate to find a local seamstress who sewed practical yet sexy bras.
The candles flickered, throwing shadows on the wall as Gareth reached to free her breasts. She let her hand dip, grazing against the bulge in his pants, and tensed as Finn came around behind her. His bare torso pressed against her back, the warm skin-to-skin contact both reassuring and exciting her.
She caught a brief glimpse of the small dwelling as they led her farther inside. There was a living room with a comfortable couch, a kitchen, a bedroom with two king-sized beds. Gareth turned to light another candle while Finn began teasing her skirt down, interrupting his more functional movements with the occasional caress.
Although she knew this was no permanent residence, the place had a masculine feel with its dark tones and sparse, heavy-duty furniture. Patrice’s place had been fairly bare as well, but there had been touches of decorations here and there, a hint of femininity this place lacked.
Her underwear fell to the floor as Finn tugged them over her thighs. Cool air washed over her sensitive parts as she stepped out of the garment, kicking it aside. She was trying her best to appear confident, but she was more nervous now than she had been on the train.
This is silly, she snapped at herself. I know what to expect now, and there won’t be any pain this time. Unless…
Mari swallowed. There were two of them. Of course they would want to try that.
Even so, her trepidation dissipated as they both came to her, Finn standing in front, Gareth behind. Finn’s bulge was as large as his brother’s, and without really thinking, she reached to ease it by unzipping his fly. There was an echoing zip behind as Gareth undressed, and their jeans fell to the floor with twin whumps.
Her eyes widened. “Isn’t it uncomfortable for men to go commando?”
“When you’re rock hard, yeah,” Finn said with a grin. “We didn’t take the time to get dressed properly after our showers earlier.”
Guilt prompted her to cast her gaze downward. “I’m sorry for running off.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Finn said. “We should have kept a better eye on you, made it clear we wanted to keep you with us.”
It would take some time to grow used to that, the feeling of being wanted. These men had gone after her with single-minded intensity, which didn’t unnerve her so much as fill her with relief that someone else was taking charge for once. With an unfamiliar warmth in her chest, she gladly gave herself over to them, leaning back against Gareth as Finn pressed close. The tip of his erection rested against her, neither asking nor demanding as Gareth supported her weight with his arms around her. He pressed a series of teasing kisses to her neck as Finn bent to taste her mouth, tongue flicking against hers in a move that made her dizzy.
Gradually, Gareth removed his arms, so that she was supporting her own weight again. She made a sound of disapproval against Finn’s lips as she heard the other man’s footsteps recede. She needed him—needed them both. Otherwise, she was afraid the fragile almost-relationship they were building might disintegrate.
Moments later, she gasped as Gareth returned and slid something cool and rubbery between her thighs. Instinctively, she spread her legs, but shivered as he nudged it against her back passage. Although it was lubricated, she stiffened in involuntary protest.
“Relax against it,” Finn said. Without urgency, he cupped her sex, toying with her clit in a way that made her squirm.
“I—I’m trying.” She sucked in a breath as Gareth gently but insistently worked the toy inside her. He caressed her thighs when he was done, causing her to gasp and wriggle, then immediately freeze at the unfamiliar sensation of the plug inside her.
“Walk here to me,” Finn urged, backing across the room. His gaze followed her appreciatively as she complied, the plug sending tiny jolts of pleasure at each step.
“So sexy,” Gareth said, his voice roughened with passion. When she reached the bed, he sat at the foot of it, pulling her atop him. She squeaked at the falling sensation, but Gareth’s strong hands kept hold of her, turning her so she was astride him, his cock pressing deliciously against her pussy. She couldn’t help but give a little rub against him, then another, eyes glazing in pleasure. She felt so full with the plug inside her.
“That’s it, honey, get yourself off.” Gareth’s voice grew even rougher and his expression was avid as he watched.
He could easily have made her feel dirty, embarrassed, but all she detected in his attitude was lust, pure and simple. Her breath came in short pants as she thrust against him. She was nearly there, breath coming in short, uneven bursts—especially when Finn reached around to cup her breasts. She moaned as he stroked her nipples with movements that seemed to shoot fire right through her.
It was almost too intense, and she cried out when Gareth took hold of her hips and guided himself inside her. Closing her eyes, she shuddered in release, vaguely aware that the only sounds in the room originated from her as she whimpered in a sweet aftermath.
Gareth guided her forward so that she lay on his chest with him still inside her. Mari gasped as Finn withdrew the plug and stroked her anus, dabbing something cool and liquid back there. She tensed, and Gareth immediately rubbed her back.
“Easy, now. We’ll take this slow.”
She had half expected Finn to get it over with in one swift movement, but he worked slowly, inserting two fingers and curving them so that she nearly jumped at the sensation. Meanwhile, Gareth tilted her head up for a kiss. By the time he let her up for air, Finn had graduated to three fingers.
“Relax now,” he told her, and she felt the tip of his cock press against her. Two sets of hands held her still as Finn eased inside. Mari hissed at the sudden sting—Finn was larger than the plug had been—but the pain began to ease. Both men remained motionless within her, waiting for her to adjust.
Her arms didn’t seem to have enough strength in them to prop her up, but Gareth was more than willing to support her, which was a good thing since Finn began to move. Mari clenched the blankets in her hands, the powerful, concentrated pressure almost too much to take. The two men quickly hit their rhythm, and soon she was gasping, riding the edge again.
“That’s it, Mari. Let go. Scream for us.”
She obeyed because she simply couldn’t help it. The orgasm rattled her like a wolf shaking its prey, and she dug her fingers further into the blankets. Behind her, Finn groaned, driving hard into her as he spilled his seed.
When Finn withdrew, Gareth helped her into a sitting position, his cock jerking inside her as he neared his own completion. His green eyes bored into hers, the scar on his face barely visible in the golden candlelight. Mari knew her lips were parted, that her hair was a mess, but all she could focus on was Gareth.
His eyes never left hers as he released, letting out a deep sigh of pleasure. Mari thought she was too tired to respond, but she clenched against him in an involuntary response, a movement which seemed to heighten his pleasure, for he muttered an expletive.
“You all right, beautiful?” Finn lifted her off Gareth, gathering her close against his chest.
Mari managed a nod. “I—I don’t think I can stand quite yet.”
“That’s fine.” Finn took her into the adjacent bathroom, where the shower was already turned on. Although the water pressure wasn’t great in Scar City, Mari was thankful for the warmth. When Gareth climbed in after them, the men braced her between them, soaping her liberally. She sighed, resting her cheek against Finn’s chest, thoroughly sated.
By the end of the shower, she felt a little stronger—and smelled far more masculine than she expected. She toweled herself off and reached for her clothes as the men dried themselves. “Maybe I should lend you two some flowery soap for your shower. I smell like sandalwood now.”
“We won’t be here long enough to appreciate it.” Gareth paused to spear her with a look. His damp black hair stood almost on end, lending him a rakish look. “Mari, this City’s going to fall within the month at the very outside. I’d give it a week, maybe two, before there are serious problems here.”
Okay, she was going to need some time to process this. She shook her head, an automatic reflex against what her gut reaction told her was the truth. But it couldn’t be—coming here was a move of desperation. Her father had even said so on his death bed, gripping her hand weakly as he tried his best to communicate, speaking through the haze of expensive, black-market medication. She’d helplessly memorized his last words, scrawling them down in a futile protest against death. During the last two days, he’d repeated the same thing over and over in a gradually weakening voice.
“Find it, daughter, before it’s too late. Read the notes I left for you. Do what I should have done years ago. Then seek your own fortune—somewhere safe.”
Scar City had been the only logical choice. But she’d been thinking in terms of her own desperation, her own need for money, food and lodging. She had assumed that whatever her father had left behind in Scar City was valuable.
“So soon?” she blurted. She would give herself a week to find the hidden device before she had to get out. She wasn’t stupid—but neither did she know where to go next. Mari felt as if a rug had been ripped out from under her feet.
“Given the state of those walls, yes,” Gareth said. He made no move to get dressed yet, instead leaning against the damp, tiled walls, staring at her with that hungry, possessive look of his. It made her want to chatter like a schoolgirl.
“So you’ll head back to…” She trailed off, unsure which City they hailed from. Washington DC? Or perhaps Chicago, where the majority of the Twins had been…born or created or whatever they called it.
“Chicago,” Finn confirmed. He wrapped his towel around his waist, never taking his gaze off hers. “You’ll be comfortable and safe at the Complex—that’s where the majority of the Twins live. We’d like you to come back with us, Mari. I’m stating that up front in case you try to disappear again.”
“The scientists would allow me there?” Her thoughts whirled. Coming to Scar City had seemed like the only way to fix her life, the only way to get away from Tim. Now that was being taken away from her, what else could she do but throw herself on the mercy of the Twins?
Crawl back to Flagstaff City, beg for her old shipping crate back? Accept Tim’s offer of marriage—if it still stood, given her lack of virginity? She rejected that immediately. Ugh.
Gareth pulled on a pair of boxers, his movements sharp, forceful. “Allow isn’t the operative word here. The scientists should not run our lives. That’s down to us.”
Mari pulled on her clothes, hoping she hadn’t offended them. With the superhuman way the Twins had fought, she realized that the scientists who created them would no longer have the upper hand. Not in this day and age.
“We’ll talk about this later,” Finn said with a glance at his brother that suggested they were also communicating telepathically.
“Damn straight we will.” Gareth jammed on his boots and straightened to look directly at Mari. “I hate the thought of being separated from you for even one night.”
“Do you always move this quickly with women?” Mari tried to keep it light. Gareth was simmering with pent-up rage. As far as she could tell, it wasn’t directed at her, but she wasn’t entirely sure what to say or do.
“We’ve never shared a woman before.” Gareth stopped en route to the door of the bedroom. “Like we said, we’ve never even been attracted to the same woman—before you. I’m going to go scout ahead, see if there’s anyone else to fight in this godforsaken City.”
“He’s right, you know.” Finn hooked an arm around her waist. He was shirtless, but the night air wasn’t cold. “You’re a first for us, and Gareth feels very strongly about protecting those he loves.”
“I’ll be fine,” Mari said automatically. How many times had she told her father that? It seemed to reassure him every time. But the words didn’t reassure Finn.
“You think so, but you can never be sure. Gareth and I lost someone special in the first flush of the Invasion, back before we knew the aliens’ Achilles heel was sensitivity to UV light. She was a scientist, our foster-mother, a wonderful, ethical woman who…well, basically raised us as her own.”
Finn paused, looking out into the night as the howls of the aliens rose and fell. “She died rushing off to save her neighbors. Told Gareth and me she’d be back in an hour. By the time we followed, she’d been killed. By a goddamn human, in fact.”
Mari said nothing but reached out for him, letting her actions do all the talking. With her arm around his waist, they walked down the City streets until Finn suddenly stopped again.
“So you can see why we might not want to let you separate from us. Rationally, we know we can’t smother you. Emotionally…yeah, that’s a whole different ballgame. It takes a special woman to accept both of us. Losing you would be pretty damn tough, Mari.”
“I promise I’ll be careful. I really like you guys too. It’s just…we’re moving so quickly, and I need to catch my breath.”
They passed the Wanderer Inn. More people had arrived at its downstairs gaming hall, and strains of loud rock music leaked into the night. Mari wondered if they cranked it up to drown out the howls of the aliens that sought their flesh. Perhaps they knew they were living on borrowed time. Perhaps not.
“I understand,” Finn said. “Let’s get you to bed. We’ll be there for you in the morning.”