The Power of Three by Kate Pearce Read Free Book Online

bit down on his lip, making him
writhe beneath her as she finally climaxed in endless, shuddering
waves.
    She didn’t want to move ever again. She
wanted to stay there, on his lap, his cock buried inside her
forever. Would he feel the same? Was this how her mother had felt
with her father? She’d told Soreya that she didn’t regret a
thing.
    “ Lang?” he whispered.
    “ Mmm?”
    “ Do you have another name?”
    She raised her head to look into his eyes.
“Yes, why?”
    His smile was breathtaking. “I feel that
we’re at a point in our relationship when I should know what it
is.”
    “ Soreya.”
    “ That’s beautiful.” He touched her
cheek.
    Unaccustomed tears rose in her throat and she
pushed at his chest to disentangle herself. “It’s nothing special.”
She started to rearrange her clothing, and ended up sitting on the
cold ground, freezing her ass off as she struggled to put one foot
back through her panties.
    “ Soreya.”
    “ What ?”
    “ I know this is difficult for you and
my timing is lousy, but we will be discussing our relationship further when we get back on
the ship.”
    “ If.” She finally untangled her panties
and pushed her foot through. “And this isn’t a relationship—it’s
just sex.”
    “ You always have sex like that, do
you?”
    He was smiling openly at her now.
    “ Sure.” She shrugged. “Don’t you? I’ve
gotten really good at faking it with my superior
officers.”
    For a second he looked put out and then a
slight smug smile appeared again. “As I said, we’ll discuss this
when we get back on the ship.” He patted the blanket next to him.
“Now come and sit here and we’ll attempt to get some sleep.”
     
    * * * * *
     

Chapter 4
     
    As she slept, she leaned closer into
him and he willingly took her weight. Just holding her made him
feel good. Strike that, holding her was awesome , but even breathing her in was enough in
the particular circumstances. He kissed the top of her head like a
crazy besotted fool, and she murmured his name and put her hand on
his chest.
    He felt complete , like she was the missing piece in his
head and his heart—the balance to his love for Ash, a female
version of his male lover. Which, according to his people and
traditions, was how it was meant to be. Who’d have thought he’d end
up such a traditional old romantic? Ash would be amused.
    Through his tiredness, Esca’s mind was
already busy working out the diplomatic tangle of his wanting to
bring an Etruscan into his country, an Etruscan who was considered
scum by her own people. There had to be a way…
    * * *
    His alarm went off and he opened his eyes
into the darkness of the cave. It was freking freezing. He gently
shook his companion’s arm.
    “ Lang? We’ve gotta get
moving.”
    Her eyes flew open, and he registered the
interesting mix of blue and grey.
    “ Yes, sir.”
    It didn’t take them long to gather their
stuff, arm their weapons and start for the landing zone. The rocks
were slippery with ice and his breath froze on every exhale. It was
deathly quiet out, with no signs of the pursuit below.
    That worried him.
    “ Shall we try and contact
the ship, sir? ”
    He looked down at Lang, her face barely
visible under the hood of her jacket.
    “ Yes.”
    She joined her superlative power to his and
projected outward.
    “ Ten minutes .”
Trenx was much clearer now.
    Esca judged the terrain ahead and projected
their speed and current location. They should just make it if they
kept a steady pace.
    “ Let’s go.” His
leg was already bothering him but there was nothing he could do
about that. The cold always made it worse.
    The route was neither easy nor
straightforward, but he kept on, Lang close behind him. As they
approached the flat summit, the unsubtle roar of a descending troop
transporter was already rattling the rocks. A glint of something
metallic caught his eye. Before he could warn her, Lang was down
and rolling into a ball.
    “ Esca, move it!”
    He