Kiss the Clones Read online

  She knew her taste in males was unusual. She also knew Turi's tastes were typical. Most Thabor females loved their males combative and overconfident, loved making them hunt their prey. Sera hated it. Hated feeling like she was warm meat for a mindless predator. And Wathan had been worse than any she'd ever met before.

  Aden hadn't been like that. Not with her.

  Sera squeezed her eyes closed at the thought. Don't think about him, she admonished herself as she limped down the sidewalk.

  “Hey!”

  Sera whipped around to find Aden—looking almost as disheveled as she felt—racing toward her.

  “Hey!” he shouted again. “Sera?”

  “Get bent, Aden.” Pivoting to give him her back, she forgot her broken heel and lost her balance. Instinctively, her arms shot out from her sides to find balance. She tipped. Her arms pinwheeled, hands grasped for something to grab onto. When her fingers caught at Aden's thick shoulder, his strong arms went around her. He hauled her up against his broad chest.

  Cursing, she shoved him, but he refused to release her. “Let me go!”

  “Can't. Not until you listen to me.”

  “I don't want to hear any more of your lies.” She struggled against him, breathlessly, but his arms just tightened further, trapping her against his hard body.

  “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

  Sera screeched and slammed her one good heel into the top of his foot.

  “Fuck!” Aden stumbled back but didn't release her. Together they fell to the ground in an uncoordinated lump of sodden bodies.

  Breath heavy, they lay like that for a moment before Aden said, “If I let go of you, do you promise to hear me out?”

  “No.” Sera lifted her head to glare down at him.

  A slow smile spread across his gorgeous face. “I see now why he loves you.”

  “Who?”

  “My double—my clone, Aden. I see why he loves you.”

  Sera's brow furrowed and she shook her head. She asked deadpan, “You have an evil clone?”

  “Nah,” he said chuckling, “I'm the evil one. Name's Oren.”

  “I. Don't. Believe. You.”

  “Do you smell me?”

  “What?”

  “Our scents are subtly different.”

  Sera frowned down at him, refusing to play his game and take his scent into her lungs. If he thought she’d give up the small scrap of dignity she had left, he really didn’t know her at all.

  “Oh, come on. Just one little sniff. Please?”

  “Screw you!”

  He lifted his hips and ground himself against her. “As you can feel, I'd be more than happy to take you up on that offer.” He sighed. Long and hard. “Unfortunately my double's heart is involved.”

  Sera gasped at the blatant evidence of his arousal. Her sexual desire rose to the surface to drown out her hurt and anger. She couldn't help herself—it had been too long and she'd missed him too much. So what if he'd broken her heart and was now telling her an outrageous 'evil clone' story. Her body wanted his.

  Badly.

  She tilted her head and kissed him. After a moment's hesitation, his lips parted. His tongue darted into the warm cavern of her mouth.

  She spat him out.

  Rearing back, she stared down at him in bewilderment. He didn't taste like Aden. She lowered her head to his neck and breathed him in. What the bent? He didn't smell like Aden either.

  “No,” she whimpered, beginning to tremble.

  “What the fuck do you think you're doing?” Someone grabbed Sera around the waist and hauled her up off...Oren?

  She recognized the hands whose heat burned through her flimsy dress to singe her chilled skin, knew the voice that berated the male still lying flat on his back on the sidewalk.

  Slowly, as if in a dream-state, she turned and looked at him.

  Aden.

  “That's the thanks I get for trying to get your female back for you,” Oren quipped, regaining her attention.

  “You,” Sera hissed, pointing a trembling finger at him. “It was you at the Steel Trap with that girl. Not Aden.”

  “Yes, I'm sure it was,” Oren said as he slowly sat up. “Aden hates those types of bars. Never can get him into one.”

  Sera shook from head to foot. All her anger, all her pain unraveled. She was left only with guilt and fear. What had she done? Leaving Aden like that. Without a word of explanation. Without giving him a chance to defend himself. Tears gathered in her eyes and spilled down her flushed cheeks. Her breath hitched. She slammed a hand over her mouth to smother a sob.

  “Shh. Lovely, it will be okay.” Aden turned her toward him and hugged her close. “This is my fault. I should've told you about my double. Introduced you to my family. I was a coward.”

  “Why didn’t you? No. Don’t answer that.” Sera buried her face against his chest. “I’m the coward. I didn't even give you a chance to explain. I just ran away.”

  Aden smoothed a hand over her fine hair. “I love you, Sera.”

  “I love you, too.” She met his steel-blue eyes and returned his smile with a hopeful one of her own. They had more to talk over. A lot more. But that could wait. Right now all she wanted was to press into him so the lines of their bodies melted into each other and remember how well they fit together.

  His heat soaked through their clothing to warm her chilled skin, making her shiver. She moistened her lips and watched his bright eyes follow the quick pass of her tongue. He lowered his head and kissed her then, a slow, seductive rub of lips that had her moaning in relief.

  He forgave her. Loved her. Would take her back.

  Clutching his shoulders, she parted her lips to beg for more. He brushed his tongue lightly across her lower lip, teasing her, testing her patience...forcing her to take the lead. She wanted it all, and he just wasn't moving fast enough.

  Cupping his face in her hands, she opened her mouth further and flicked her tongue into his mouth, sampling his unique masculine flavor. Her body hummed with contented pleasure as his arms tightened around her back and he deepened the kiss.

  The taste and scent that enveloped her senses belonged to her mate.

  “Mind if I join in?” Oren said, pressing a hand to her hip.

  “Yes,” Aden said against Sera's mouth.

  “Fine.” Oren sulked. “I don't need you.”

  *****

  Oren had lied. He did need them. Every nerve in his body screamed for him to follow them into the house and savor the arousing smell of their perfectly mingled scents—a sign of a true mating.

  When they reached Aden's bedroom, his double turned to him, hesitated, then gave him a lopsided grin. “Want to see what you've been missing?”

  Oren gave a jerky nod. True mated pairs were rare. He'd never seen one copulate before.

  “Do you mind if my clone watches?” Aden asked Sera, his voice hoarse.

  “No,” she said absently, all of her focus on releasing the tabs on Aden's shirt.

  Oren slunk into the room after them, feeling a bit like an intruder as Aden and Sera, lost in the moment, undressed each other with quick, quaking hands. He wanted to participate, not watch as they showed him what he didn't have, what he would never have if his past said anything about his future.

  Sera's ruined shoes went first. Her dress next. Then Aden had her undergarments off before she could push his shirt from his shoulders and down his arms.

  Their caresses and sighs filled the room to overflowing. Oren panted as their scent grew more and more sexually explicit.

  “I love you,” Sera said as she shoved Aden's pants and underwear down, then helped him kick off his shoes and step out of his clothes. “Let me show you how much.”

  Aden sucked in a deep breath when she nipped at his neck and did a slow slide down his body until she knelt before him.

  Her lips brushed over his hip then she kissed and licked her way down his shaft to his balls where s
he sucked each into her mouth before working her way back up his now glistening dick. Aden's toes curled as she flicked and swirled her tongue around the head of his penis. Gripping the base of his shaft, she worked him with hands and tongue.

  When Sera wrapped her swollen lips around the head of Aden's cock and drew him into her sweet little mouth, Oren couldn't suppress a groan. She looked over to where he stood against the door, and he could see the passion in her large, burnt-orange eyes as she suckled his clone. Oren burned under her hot gaze, wanting nothing more than to feel her mouth on him.

  Aden fisted his hand in her long, golden-blond hair, bringing her attention fully back to him.

  “I can't take much more, lovely,” he gasped, thrusting helplessly into her mouth. “I'm desperate to reclaim you.”

  Murmuring love words, he stepped back and helped her stand on shaky legs. He took her slender, graceful hand, then stopped to stare at dark fingerprints that bruised the pale skin of her left breast.

  Seeing the angry-looking bruises, rage detonated in Oren's brain, spilled through his body like acid, and rose up his throat in the form of a growl. Before he could analyze his strong reaction, Aden turned on him with a look so ugly that Oren shrank back into the door.

  “You did this?”

  “Not me…I-I didn't—” Oren stuttered.

  “It wasn't your clone,” Sera said quickly.

  Aden turned his frightening gaze back on her.

  “Who marked you?”

  “It's not—” Sera’s voice broke. A shiver caught and shook her petite body when she met Aden's narrowed gaze, making Oren’s protective instincts go into overdrive.

  Aden gripped her arms, his fingers sinking into her pale flesh. The tension in the room beat at Oren. He had to force himself to remain silent and immobile when he wanted desperately to pry Aden’s fingers off Sera and soothe her obvious anxiety with gentle words he had no practice using.

  “You’re hurting me,” she said, her voice barely audible, but she held his clone’s ferocious gaze. “Stop.”

  Aden jerked as if she'd slapped him. Oren decided that Aden had finally realized his sudden dominant behavior was scaring the fuck out of his mate...never mind his double. Aden released her and took a step back. Several seconds elapsed as he clenched and released his shaking hands.

  Oren exhaled, feeling some of his own tension drain away. If Aden could bring his emotions under control then so could he. Sera wasn’t his mate, he reminded himself. This was not his fight, though he’d position himself at Aden’s back if the situation called for it.

  At last Aden got himself under control enough to find his voice. He tucked his fingers under Sera’s chin and lifted her head so she met his eyes once more. “I’m sorry. I would never intentionally hurt you,” he said in a soft, gentle voice. “You've got to believe that.”

  Tears wet her eyes, making them gleam in the low light. “I know,” she said, grasping his hands. “You just…I’ve never seen you like this before.”

  Aden's brow furrowed, his lips thinned. “I've never felt this way before. I’m…furious.” He shook his head. “No. More than that. I—gods—I want to kill someone.”

  “It's probably the mating bond,” Oren said in a soft voice, trying to maintain the unstable calm that had begun to replace the overwhelming rage.

  His explanation worked perfectly for Aden, but what about him? Why did he feel like ripping someone’s head off? Could Sera be his mate too?

  Possible but not probable, he decided. Though they were cloned from their original, the geneticists had tweaked their DNA to make them unique. They were not, he reminded himself, exact replicas of the male or of each other. Gods, just look at how different their personalities were. Where he was bold and sometimes—okay, often—loud, Aden was restrained and thoughtful. He worked in law enforcement, Aden in law creation. And their tastes in females couldn’t be more different…until Sera.

  He wanted her, Oren admitted to himself. Not to share. Not for a single night of hunting prey. He wanted her as his mate…regardless of Aden’s prior claim. But Aden wouldn’t share her with him. Not now and maybe not ever.

  Oren closed his eyes in an attempt to shut out the misery his thoughts invoked. He gritted his teeth and swallowed a howl of pain. His mate. Found and lost in the same night.

  “Come here,” Sera said.

  Oren’s eyes popped open of their own volition.

  Sera tugged Aden forward into her embrace. He dropped his head to her neck and sharply inhaled her scent. His body remained rigid, his muscles tight.

  “I need you,” he said against her throat. “I need…”

  “I know what you need.” Sera ran her fingers through his dark hair. “I need it too.”

  “Fuck!” Aden grabbed her hips and flung her onto his float-bed. She bounced once, then sprawled out, an open invitation that Oren read as saying, everything I am, is yours. Come, take what you want from me.

  If only she was saying it to him.

  Aden grabbed her ankles and pulled her to the edge of the bed. Dropping to his knees, he swallowed visibly as the bed auto-adjusted to his height, positioning Sera before him.

  Oren stepped forward because his double’s big head was blocking his view. If he couldn’t touch her, he’d damn well devour her with his eyes. If he couldn’t taste her, he’d take her sweet scent into his lungs and hold it there until his face turned as blue as his balls.

  Oren bit his lip when Aden gently spread Sera’s legs and planted her heels on the edge of the bed. She was…perfect, if small, her golden curls glistening with desire. She propped herself up on her forearms to watch as Aden lowered his mouth to her mound.

  He laved at her swollen nub with slow, deliberate strokes until she collapsed back on the mattress and moaned his name. Oren watched her undulate on the bed, her fingers tangling in Aden’s hair as she held him to her.

  “Aden, please,” she begged. “Inside me. Now.”

  Oren shuddered at her words. He wouldn’t have been able to deny her, but Aden remained kneeling. After a long indrawn breath, he tested her small entrance with a single finger.

  His voice came out strained. “You’re still too tight.”

  “I don’t care,” she gasped. “Want you.”

  Oren watched his clone close his eyes and brace himself against her words. His famous control was slipping, Oren could tell. After several tense seconds, Aden opened his lust-filled eyes and slowly pushed two fingers into her. She lifted her hips and pushed back, welcoming the invasion.

  Panting, Oren fisted his hands at his sides and watched Aden open her. Damned if she wasn’t the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. Sera and Aden’s connection, their need for each other, overwhelmed Oren until he fought not to beg Aden to let him mate her.

  Now. Before Oren lost all reason and shoved his double aside to take her himself. As if his mind had merged with Oren’s, Aden stood and braced Sera’s legs against his chest. He thrust into her in one fierce movement, penetrating her with aggressive, violent need. Sera made a low, lush sound of approval, which Oren seconded with something that sounded embarrassingly close to a howl.

  Aden remained still for a long moment, his eyes closed, his hands gripping her hips. At last, he opened his eyes and looked down at her flushed face.

  “Did I hurt you?” he asked through clenched teeth.

  “No,” she said, her voice husky. “No.”

  A shudder ran through Aden’s body. Oren could imagine the ecstatic torment he must feel in forcing himself to remain still to allow her to adjust to him. He could almost feel her wet heat, her tight muscles holding him in an excruciating grip.

  “I can’t…go slow,” Aden panted.

  “I don’t want you to.” Sera covered his large hands with her smaller ones. “Mate me. Just…go deep.”

  Aden and Oren both groaned at her words.

  Gods, she was hot. Her voice. Her body. Her desire. Oren’s thoughts whir
led out of control as he lived vicariously through his clone who began to thrust into Sera with a ferociousness he’d never seen in Aden before.

  Driven. Obsessed. Possessed by need.

  Oren stood immobilized. The knowledge that he couldn’t have her crippled him. Still, nothing could distract him from the slap of flesh against flesh, the wild writhing of Sera’s head, the clenching of her hands in the sheet, the arch of her back, the curve of her neck.

  She mesmerized him.

  Aden leaned forward, angling down over her himself for deeper penetration. His breath came in hard gasps. His body was a wall of unyielding muscle. Sera reached up and gripped his shoulders, as he pounded into her with a rhythm that left her panting, moaning.

  Oren didn’t even realize he’d stepped closer until his thighs bumped up against the bed. She’d drawn him with a magnetism he was powerless to refuse. He couldn’t have her tonight, but he swore to all gods, holy and unholy, he’d have her soon.

  Without premonition, Sera’s body tensed and convulsed. Her eyes slammed closed. She let out shriek after shriek as her head thrashed from side to side.

  Aden let out a low string of oaths as he lost his driving rhythm and his thrusts became frenetic. Gripping the back of her head, he kissed her. Then he surrendered to the demands of his body, driving into her one last time.

  Oren’s body trembled in sympathetic communion when Aden shuddered in the intense aftermath of his release. Soon, he reminded himself, then repeated the word in litany as his ward, his talisman against the other word that attempted to breach the lines of civility, of familial bonds.

  Not now but soon.

  Chapter Four

  Sera awoke sandwiched between two bodies that radiated so much heat she was slick with sweat. Aden’s heart beat a steady, comforting rhythm beneath her cheek. She wrapped her leg around his hip and squirmed at the feel of his arousal. Oren blanketed her back, so hot her skin burned. She didn’t realize he was awake until he nuzzled her neck. Her breath hitched when he slid his cock against the crease of her bottom.