“You know what.”
“Evidently, I do not. Tell me or get the fek out of my house.”
I grit my teeth. “Contraception.”
“Oh.” Harlee giggles.
“Pretend you are still asleep,” I beg her. “For my dignity.”
“Of course. I’m asleep.” And she closes her eyes.
Roan, however, rolls out of bed. “Why did you not say so before? This is an emergency.” Retrieving his cracked datapad from his bedside table drawer, he switches on the overhead light, and Harlee, who stopped pretending to sleep almost immediately, claps a hand over her eyes.
“Babe!”
“Sorry. Sorry.” He kisses her cheek in recompense.
“Now, please.” I am not above begging. The knowledge that Lydia is in her bed, wet and waiting for me has my cock pressing against my slit. When she woke me in the middle of the night, her skin was coated in a thin layer of sweat, and her hands were shaking. But when I tried talking about the abduction and everything that happened yesterday, she shook her head and said, “Not that type of dream.”
“What is your preference?” Roan asks, gesturing at his still-open bedside table drawer.
A thought suddenly occurs to me. “You have used these?”
“Gross!” interjects Harlee.
“No!” Roan stares at me as if I have poisoned an entire lake of algae. “Everything in this drawer is single use. To be thrown out afterward. Everything in this other drawer is?—”
“Nope!” Harlee slides across to Roan’s side of the bed and slams a hand against the other drawer Roan had been about to open. “Absolutely no looking in there,” she tells me, sounding firmer than I have ever heard her.
“No looking,” I promise. “Not that I would want to look.” Instead, I peer into the single-use drawer. It is full, most ofwhich I do not recognize. “Akh…” Do I have a preference? I have never had penetrative sex before. Mayhaps Lydia has a preference, but it did not occur to me to ask.Thirty-eight and clueless still.
“Take these,” Harlee says, pulling out a packet from the open drawer. “Good, old-fashioned condoms. You can’t go wrong with those. And Lydia will know what they are because we have condoms back on Earth, too.”
I take them from her, and silence falls. There is a long moment when all three of us struggle to think of how to end the conversation. Should I saythank you? Instead, I say nothing at all, and they both watch me back slowly out of the room. I slam their bedroom door shut to break eye contact.
Lydia
“Killan.” I sit back against the headboard as he comes rushing into my room. I’m wearing nothing more than a T-shirt, and one of my hands is damp because I couldn’t stop touching myself as I waited for Killan to return. The anticipation an aphrodisiac—as was my dream. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I have seen…things. Things I wish I could forget.”
For a second, I’m confused. Then I remember exactly what type of items are in Roan’s contraceptive collection. I nod understandingly. “The dildo Roan made in the shape of his dick.”
“What?” Killan stares at me.
“Don’t worry, it grossed me out, too. Imagine making a mold of your own dick. That guy has balls.”
“He showed you his cock?” Killan asks, drawing himself up to his full height.
“He showed Harlee a replica.” I catch hold of an arm before Killan can storm back into Harlee and Roan’s cottage and start a fight. I’ve got more important activities planned. “I, unfortunately, happened to be in the room at the time.”
His eyes narrow as he considers my explanation, then he presses on his pocket, releasing his cock. “Mine is much superior.”
It is a magnificent cock, arching up toward his stomach, red and leaking. Begging for me. I instantly want to touch. Instead, I tip my head to one side, pretending to consider. “Maybe…”
“Lydia.” Resting a hand on my nightstand, Killan leans over until his face is mere inches from mine. “That was not a question,” he growls.
I laugh. “Much superior. Infinitely superior. Did you get the goods?”
