The Heroes and the Heiress - Sneak Peek
I’d spent my entire life following rules—my mother’s rules, society’s rules, my own stupid self-imposed rules. Tonight, those chains shattered like glass. Standing before two gorgeous alien men in nothing but my black lace underwear and silver stilettos, I watched heat flare in their eyes. My skin tingled with the delicious knowledge that for once in my well-ordered life, I was doing something wild, reckless, and absolutely fucking magnificent.
“Like what you see?” I asked, surprising myself with the husky confidence in my voice. The charity gala dress—a five-thousand-credit silver number I’d bought on a shopping spree—lay in a shimmering puddle at my feet. The temperature controls in my ship’s galley hummed softly, keeping the air warm against my newly exposed skin.
Aano’s blue lips parted, his eyes darkening as they swept over me. Seven feet of muscled Tholkon construction worker, now looking at me like I was every fantasy he’d ever had.
“You are…” His deep voice faltered, the first time I’d heard uncertainty from this mountain of blue confidence since winning him at the bachelor auction. “Magnificent.”
I’d never felt magnificent before. Competent? Sure. Responsible? Always. The good daughter who never caused trouble. The capable ship captain who always filed her flight plans. But magnificent? That was new. I liked it.
His companion, Yahn, hung back, those reddish-brown eyes intense beneath furrowed brows. The orange-skinned Araced leaned against my galley wall, arms crossed over his chest, his long tail flicking slightly—the only sign of his agitation.
“You just going to watch?” I asked Yahn, emboldened by the heat pooling between my thighs.
A slight smile tugged at his mouth. “For now.”
Aano didn’t wait for further invitation. He moved toward me like a predator, all liquid grace despite his size. The first brush of his fingers against my bare shoulder sent electricity skittering down my spine.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” he said, tracing the curve where my neck met my shoulder. “When I agreed to be auctioned off for that charity thing. I figured I’d have to flirt with a middle-aged Chokreni, not a gorgeous young thing like yourself.”
I laughed, tilting my head and looking up at him. “I wasn’t expecting to end up two dates, but here we are.”
“You are a hero, taking pity on Yahn so he wouldn’t have to go back to Ruth,” Aano said.
“I don’t know, I feel a little bad for Ruth. She missed out on some fun.”
He laughed and bent his head, dropping his lips to mine. He tasted like the expensive champagne from the gala and something alien and spicy that had to be uniquely Aano. His hands settled on my waist, enormous and warm, his blue fingers stark against my pale skin. I’d been kissed before, but never like this—never with such hungry precision, like I was being memorized.
“Fuck,” I whispered against his mouth when we broke apart. My heart hammered against my ribs, my nipples tight beneath the black lace of my bra.
The corner of Aano’s mouth quirked up. “That’s the plan, little human.” His hands skimmed lower, cupping my ass and lifting me effortlessly onto the countertop. The cool surface against my thighs made me gasp as Aano wedged himself between my legs.
With a single fluid movement, he reached behind his neck and pulled his shirt over his head. The ripple of blue muscle made my mouth go dry. If I’d thought he was impressive fully clothed, it was nothing compared to the revelation of his bare torso. Broad shoulders tapered to a narrow waist, his blue skin adorned with subtle, darker blue markings across his pectorals and shoulders—like tribal tattoos.
“Jesus,” I breathed, reaching out to touch him. His skin was hot and smooth beneath my fingertips. “Did you get a body like this doing construction? What do you do, bend steel beams with your bare hands?”
He chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest and into my palms. “You have no idea what these hands can do.”
To demonstrate, he slid one large palm up my ribs, ghosting over the swell of my breast before his thumb brushed across my nipple through the lace. The jolt of pleasure made me arch into his touch, a soft moan escaping my lips.
“So responsive.”
I hooked my legs around his waist, drawing him closer, and felt the unmistakable hardness pressing against my core. My eyes widened as I realized what I was feeling—the outline of his cock, thick and insistent against his pants, but with a distinctly alien configuration.
“Is that—” I started, then stopped, not sure how to ask if what I felt was what I thought it was.
Aano’s grin turned wicked. He ground against me deliberately, letting me feel the twin ridges straining against the fabric. “Built for maximum pleasure.”
My pussy clenched at the thought, a rush of wetness soaking my underwear.
“Fuck,” I breathed again, unable to form more coherent thoughts as Aano captured my mouth in another kiss, this one deeper, hungrier. His tongue swept past my lips, tasting, taking, as his hips continued their maddening pressure against my center.
I was so lost in Aano that I’d almost forgotten we weren’t alone. A soft sound from across the room reminded me of our audience. I broke the kiss to look over Aano’s shoulder at Yahn, still watching with that same controlled intensity. But now his arms had uncrossed, his hands flexing at his sides. The front of his pants betrayed his arousal, the outline impressive even from this distance.
“He’s very good at that,” Yahn observed, his voice lower than usual. “But I think you need more attention.”
Aano turned his head, still keeping me pinned against him. “She does. Care to help?”
My breath caught. The thought of both of them touching me, kissing me, had been a fantasy since I’d impulsively bought both their “dates” at the auction. But I hadn’t dared hope it would actually happen.
“Please,” I whispered, not caring that I sounded desperate. I was desperate. Twenty-three years of playing it safe, and now I wanted everything, all at once.
Yahn pushed off from the wall, stalking forward with a predatory grace different from Aano’s. Where the Tholkon moved with raw power, Yahn’s movements were calculated precision. His tail, that sinuous appendage I couldn’t stop staring at, unfurled behind him like a living thing with its own intentions. Araced fucked with their tails as well as their cocks. I knew that much.
He stopped just behind Aano, close enough that I could see flecks of gold in his reddish-brown eyes. Without breaking eye contact with me, he placed one orange-skinned hand on Aano’s shoulder.
“May I?” he asked, the question directed at both of us. Aano stepped to the side, and I nodded, not trusting my voice.
Yahn stepped in closer, and suddenly his tail was snaking around my waist, warm and strong, an alien caress that pulled a startled gasp from my throat. The sensation was unlike anything I’d experienced—both restraint and support, the tip of his tail stroking lazily up and down my bare back.
He leaned in, and now I was bracketed between the two of them—Aano’s solid warmth at my front, Yahn’s lean strength at my side. Yahn’s mouth hovered inches from mine, his breath warm on my lips. “I was so fucking jealous when I saw Aano was bought by such a beautiful creature.”
Then his mouth was on mine, so different from Aano’s kiss but no less intoxicating. Where Aano had been hunger and heat, Yahn was technique and teasing, the flick of his tongue a precise instrument designed to drive me mad. His hand came up to cup my face, long fingers sliding into my hair.
I moaned into his mouth as Aano took advantage of my distraction to pull down one cup of my bra, exposing my breast to the air. His thumb circled my nipple, sending sparks of pleasure straight to my cunt. I squirmed between them, overwhelmed by the dual assault on my senses.
My mother’s warnings faded to white noise as four hands began to explore my body—Aano’s large blue ones kneading my inner thighs while Yahn’s delicate orange fingers teased and pinched at my nipples. I was caught between them in a whirlwind of heat and sensation.
Yahn’s tail curled around my thigh, inching higher with agonizing slowness. His hand slid beneath the band of my underwear, fingertips just brushing the edge of my folds.
“So wet already,” he observed, his voice dropping an octave. “And we’ve barely begun.”
I gasped as Aano parted my lower lips and darted his tongue into me, causing a jolt of pleasure straight to my core. “God, please don’t stop,” I managed, spreading my legs wider to give Yahn better access.
“We haven’t even started yet,” Aano promised, raising his head to capture my mouth in another scorching kiss.
When we broke apart, I found myself staring into Yahn’s intense gaze. Something unreadable flickered in those reddish-brown depths—a moment of hesitation, perhaps, before resolution settled in its place. With deliberate movements, he sat up, his tail still maintaining its grip on my thigh as he pulled off his shirt. Aano’s lips trailed down my throat, peppering kisses over my breasts as I watched Yahn strip.
The fabric lifted, revealing inch after tantalizing inch of toned orange abdomen, the muscles shifting under his skin as he tossed the shirt aside, his tail flicking at my clit as Aano sucked on my nipples one at a time.
“I could stay here all night,” I whispered.
Aano glanced at the clock on the wall and shook his head. “I wish we could.”
I blinked, the haze of desire clearing enough for their words to penetrate. “What do you mean?” I asked, suddenly aware of how ridiculous I must look—half-dressed, lips swollen, practically panting between two fully clothed aliens. Well, half-clothed.
Aano sighed, a sound that resonated deep in his massive frame. “We have to report back to the construction site early tomorrow, so we’ll probably have to go soon. The foreman’s already riding our asses about that support beam installation.” He shot a meaningful glance at Yahn, something passing between them I couldn’t quite interpret.
“That’s… unfortunate,” I said, an idea forming in my mind. A reckless, impulsive, wonderfully terrible idea. “But what if you didn’t go back?”
Yahn arched an eyebrow, his tail flicking behind him in what I was beginning to recognize as a sign of interest. “Didn’t go back?”
“To work,” I clarified, hopping down from the countertop, my heels clicking against the galley floor. I ran a finger down Aano’s exposed chest, feeling the shudder that ran through him at my touch. “Come with me instead.”
“With you where?” Aano asked, his enormous hands settling on my hips, keeping me close.
“Wherever I decide to go next,” I said, the plan solidifying as I spoke. “I’m thinking of exploring some outer rim planets. And I have room.” I gestured around the galley, which, while not luxurious, was larger than most private vessels its size. “And I promise the company would be worth it.”
To emphasize my point, I pressed my nearly naked body against Aano’s, feeling his double-shafted cock twitch against my stomach through his pants. I heard my mother’s voice in my head, clear as if she were standing right beside me: Annaleah Sheffield, have you lost your mind? You don’t know these men! They could be criminals or worse!
I mentally told her to shut up. For twenty-three years, I’d lived cautiously, always making the responsible choice, always considering the consequences. Always listening to my mother’s warnings about strangers, about men, about the dangers lurking in every port. Just once, I wanted to act on impulse. To embrace the reckless joy of wanting something and simply taking it.
Yahn and Aano exchanged another of those looks, a silent communication I couldn’t decipher.
“It’s tempting,” Yahn said slowly, “but we have commitments. The project we’re working on—”
“Will still be there when you get back,” I interrupted, turning to face him. The Araced’s controlled expression almost cracked as I stepped close, pressing my lace-covered breasts against his still-clothed chest. His tail twitched again, more agitated now. “When was the last time either of you did something just because it felt good?”
I reached up, threading my fingers through Yahn’s short black hair, pulling his face down to mine. “Don’t you think you deserve a little vacation?” I whispered against his lips before kissing him, slow and deep.
When I pulled back, his reddish-brown eyes had darkened, pupils dilated.
“Vacation it is,” Aano said, a slow grin spreading across his lips.