A Menage Made On Madison [The Federation 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  The one good thing about her in-laws was that Rafer’s and Knox’s fathers weren’t bastards. They were really nice, and even though she was the wrecker of traditions, they still treated her fairly.

  Laro didn’t even bother to answer, just spun around to give her sons her attention. Parker’s mouth dropped open, and she glared at both men, who had the decency to look uncomfortable. She didn’t even wait to see if they were going to defend her—it wasn’t their place to continuously defend their mothers’ rudeness.

  Irritated, Parker strode off through the hall and aimed for their quarters. Mara trailed after her, and she heard the guys’ voices at her back, but she ignored them. And when she passed Hira, who must have heard the tuli arrive, she ignored her, too.

  Call her a big baby, but she didn’t even want to be here. She’d have preferred to tough it out at the hotel and see what was going on there. At least that way, they’d have had their fingers on the pulse.

  If this was her guys’ idea of a honeymoon, it more than sucked balls. It sucked donkey’s balls.

  And it fucking sucked that donkeys didn’t even exist anymore.

  She growled under her breath, grateful when she rounded the corner and Knox and Rafer’s quarters were up ahead. She waited at the adobe door for Mara to open the quarters with her key card, and with a neat smile, said, “Thank you, Mara. That will be all.”

  “But Maseign, you’ll need me to unpack.”

  “I can cope, Mara.”

  She nodded her dismissal and slammed the door shut. She didn’t bother looking around, because this place never changed. They didn’t spend enough time here to warrant her redecorating the place that was definitely a bachelor pad. Knox and Rafer even had a linga table—a game that was comparable to air hockey, only the disc could fly about the room, and had the players jumping over furniture in an attempt to get the damned disc in the goal on the table. There were shirts of the guys’ favorite sportsmen, a huge holo-televisor, and the requisite bachelor furniture—armchairs directly in front of the telly.

  She headed over for the cabinet that housed the little liquor the Shuzons drank, because boy, she needed a measure. Parker didn’t even bother pouring the jun into a glass. The beer-like drink was weak, too weak for her needs, but it was cold and had more of a kick to it than water.

  With her back to the door, she didn’t see the guys come in, just heard their entry. She could also hear Laro and Hira fluttering around, and knew they wanted to come in and to keep on talking.

  “We need to get some rest, Mothers. We’ve had a really long journey.”

  She snorted at that, snorted because they’d slept on the six heurs’ journey down to the landing port. She was no more tired than they were. The one thing you could do on a trip through the black soup was sleep. Even Knox, who’d been exhausted prior to travelling, was looking better, more refreshed.

  The doors closed on the sounds of kissing. She wanted to huff, but she wasn’t really upset. It was weird, because Parker had grown used to Laro and Hira’s treatment of her. She just liked to stay out of their crosshairs.

  Both her guys were smart. They didn’t mention their mothers or her in the same sentence. Rafer bounded over to her and said, “I think we need to redecorate this place.”

  Considering it was the first thing he had to say to her, she frowned. “Why do we? We’re not going to be here long…are we?”

  He squirmed a little, and she had a hard time seeing him as a High Commander of the Fleet when he couldn’t stand still under a prolonged stare from her. Unless—and hell, she hoped not—she was more frightening than the Barconians?

  “Rafer? We’re not, are we?” She really tried to stop her voice from going higher, but dammit. She’d planned on two semanals here. No more. Any more and she’d go fucking insane.

  “Well, it just depends on how long it takes to eliminate the threat.”

  She shoved her bottle of jun in his chest. “I’d eliminate that threat pretty damned fast if I were you, Rafer. There’s no way in hell I’m staying here longer than I have to.”

  Knox sighed. She heard it even though his head was in the fridge. Shuzons were the only race to still have a cooler. Most other races had machines prepare their food. Shuzons still cooked their own meals. It was why Madison Hotel was so popular with these people—they were some of the only hotels to have restaurants with real chefs.

  “Don’t be difficult, Parker. A deal’s a deal. You said you’d stay here if we came. And we’re here, even though it’s damned inconvenient.”

  “You did not just say that,” she demanded, wanting to stomp her foot but knowing it would make her look like a toddler. “Did you see my welcome out there? Did you see how she treats me? I don’t mind you being friendly with her, please do. Talk to her however much you want, and don’t feel you have to defend me. Just don’t put us in the same room together. Just don’t make me come here for longer than necessary. Is that so hard to understand? Some people just aren’t made to get on, and that is how it is with your mothers and I.”

  Knox finally retreated from the fridge with a kind of pita bread tucked with greens and cheese. He took a bite, sighed at the taste—he swore that food tasted better when he was back home—then, when he’d swallowed, murmured, “We’re here for as long as we need to be.”

  “Yeah, well, for as long as that is, you can use your fists to get off. Because I ain’t putting out, boys.” She purposely chose the diminutive their mothers used, and said it with a hiss.

  God, it was so satisfying to see their faces drop. But Knox’s didn’t stay that way for long. “You can’t hold out on us. You need us as much as we need you. That’s the Shuzon way.”

  “That’s the Shuzon way,” she mocked. “Need is relative, buddy. I need to not be in this house more than I need to have both of you fuck me. So think about your priorities.”

  Rafer decided to butt in with, “But we can’t help how long we’re here, Parker. The time factor isn’t something any of us can control. My guys have been lucky to come up with the results they have, and so quickly. That isn’t to say the next part of their mission will be so easy.”

  She jerked a shoulder. “I don’t care. You shouldn’t have withheld that from me, because if I’d known you intended for me to be here for a long time, I’d never have agreed to come here at all. You made it sound like they were in the middle of a breakthrough, Knox.”

  “I had to make it sound positive. You think I like giving you bad news?” he snapped.

  “You’re supposed to tell me the truth.” She glared at them both. “Let’s phrase this in a way you two will be able to understand.” She pointed at herself, then them. “I put out when you two share with me. You got that? When you two don’t share with me, when you hide things from me, I sleep on the sofa. Does that make sense now? Am I speaking in a language you understand?”

  “We don’t have a sofa,” Knox retorted, and she just knew he didn’t think she could follow through with her threat. Something which made her more determined to prove him wrong.

  “You have armchairs. One of them will suit me just fine.”

  Hell would freeze over before she gave in. And the coldest temperature to ever hit clement Shuzon was no way near freezing point.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Thank you for coming this notte, Maseign Baxx.”

  Kae Nori, the Shuzon movie star whose child she’d helped after the explosion, bowed over her hand and pressed a kiss to it. He was like a blue Cary Grant. She could understand why her great-grandmothers had had a crush on that particular star of the silver screen.

  “No, thank you for inviting us, Monseign Nori,” Knox inserted gruffly, eyes on the hand Kae had kissed. He reached for it, then, with his thumb, wiped away the kiss—the gesture had her holding back an irritated grunt. “How did you know we were on Shuzon?”

  Kae chuckled. “News travels fast. Especially when half the landing port uploaded your holo-images onto the EtherLine. We were already holding
this party and it seemed right that we invite you along.”

  “That was very kind of you, Monseign,” Parker inserted quickly. And it was. Anything to get her out of that goddamn compound.

  “Kae, please. I must introduce you to my mates. They’ve been so looking forward to seeing you. We left Madison the deya after we were discharged from the infirmary, and we didn’t get a chance to thank you again.”

  Parker waved a hand but followed Kae across the room to where his mates were chatting. “More thanks isn’t necessary. I was just doing what anyone would do.”

  He stopped so abruptly she almost walked into him, but Rafer grabbed her arm and pulled her to a halt before they could collide. “That isn’t true, Parker…if I may call you that?” At her nod, he continued, “We live in hard times. Lizu is…well, she could have been viewed as a commodity. We’re a rich family, anyone could have exploited that for their own gain.”

  She patted his arm, hearing how his voice choked up at the thought of his daughter being kidnapped. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Knox glare at the hand she had rested on the other man’s arm, and had to repress a sigh. Kae was mated, for Christ’s sake, and she was just trying to comfort him. From the corner of each eye, she took a second to glare at each of her own felixads, then murmured, “Well, I’m glad I was there to stop that from happening.”

  Kae smiled, showing pearly white teeth that, if Parker wasn’t mistaken, had small chips of diamonds on them. Shuzon fashion trends lent toward the ridiculous. In this case, expensive, too.

  “Jenn and Iru, Parker Baxx and her felixads are here.”

  Both women stopped their chatting and looked up at her. She saw the gratitude in their eyes a second before they both leaped up and tugged her into their embrace. Apparently these guys were effusive. She stiffened in their hold and choked out, “It’s okay, ladies. Really, I was happy to help.”

  “We wanted to thank you before we left but we couldn’t find you in the hotel.”

  Parker blushed. “We’d been awake all that notte, we spent half the deya in bed.”

  Iru chuckled. “I can just imagine what you were doing.”

  Parker’s cheeks went from pink to red. “We were sleeping, actually. The hotel was pretty much a warzone until we got everybody settled.”

  “Iru, stop teasing Parker,” Kae warned, then winked at her. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to greet some more guests.”

  She nodded, grateful that he was leaving, because both her men were acting like territorial pigs. She was starting to feel like the tree being piddled on by dogs again.

  Sexy.

  “Please, help yourself to any refreshment, Parker, Monseigns.” Jenn smiled at her, and murmured, “This party wasn’t for your benefit, but it should be. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t brought Lizu to us.” She clapped her hands to her cheeks, then briskly shook her head. “It would have killed me if anything had happened to my bebba.”

  Parker smiled, uncomfortable with the thanks. Saying “you’re welcome” just didn’t seem like an appropriate answer. Thankfully, Knox came to her aid. “Maseigns, it was our felixi’s pleasure. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we haven’t had anything to eat all deya.”

  Jenn and Isu giggled, honest to God giggled—and at what, Parker didn’t know—but they nodded their understanding, and she was relieved when Rafer reached for her elbow and guided her away toward the table of refreshments.

  “I didn’t need all these thanks,” she mumbled as she reached for a glass of bril. She hated the stuff, but it had a high alcoholic content, and she really needed that this notte. Hell, it was more like a requirement.

  “No, but they’re grateful. Children mean the world to us, Parker. They’re precious, and you cared for one of theirs. You’re lucky they haven’t really gone overboard.”

  She snorted at Rafer’s words. “What? Made a little relic of me?”

  He cocked a brow. “Don’t mock what you can’t understand.”

  Parker rolled her eyes and took another sip of bril. She hadn’t wanted to come here this notte, but when Mara had delivered the invitation, she’d leaped at the chance to evade the inevitable. On the first notte of their stay, there was usually a family dinner at the compound. This invitation got her out of that particular chore for the notte. There was always tomorrow, unfortunately, but that was another deya.

  Knox suddenly appeared at her side, and she mumbled, “Where did you go?”

  “Kae pulled me aside. He wanted me to give you this.”

  She squinted down at the package in his hand, then grinned at Rafer. “My relic?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know, but be prepared for something big.”

  Parker blinked at his serious tone, then reached for the package. It wasn’t heavy, nor was it bulky. She pulled open the box then blinked at the keycard. Eyes widening, she looked up and saw that Kae and his twinling, Robb, as well as Isu and Jenn were all watching her. When they saw her looking at them, almost as one, they nodded.

  “Put your hand on your heart,” Knox murmured quickly. “It means thank you.”

  She did as bade, and watched as the four smiled at her then turned back to their guests. “Is this what I think it is?”

  “It looks like a key to their house.”

  She frowned. “Why would they give me that?”

  “It’s a thank you. You’re welcome to come here, to seek shelter if ever you need it. It’s a gift given to people who require recompense for incomparable acts of bravery.”

  “But I wasn’t brave,” she snapped. “I was just doing what anyone would.” Maybe if she kept on repeating herself, they’d finally listen.

  Knox just huffed, then reached for her bril. “I for one don’t like the idea of you being able to come to this place for shelter.”

  “You wouldn’t,” she retorted. “Because you know I might use the damn keycard before this stay with your family is up.”

  His grimace told her she’d hit the nail right on the head. “Maybe we should look after the keycard, you wouldn’t want to lose it, and you didn’t bring a purse.”

  She grinned up at him. Exposing a lot of teeth. “I think I can manage.” She pressed the card against her chest, then slowly ran the edge down between her breasts before tucking it into the material. Seeing both men swallow, she took great satisfaction out of denying them something they both wanted.

  Her.

  Parker had brought more sexy underwear than dresses on this trip. Knowing that this was their honeymoon, she’d thought they’d spend more time in bed than out of it. She was lucky she’d brought this particular weapon: a black sheath that fitted to her curves from throat to toe. Down the central line of her breasts, there was a long slit, and the two pouting curves of her tits were visible, but that was it. Everything else was neatly covered but beautifully exposed.

  It was a dress to make a man suffer. And boy, was she glad for that fact. She felt like a blonde Morticia Addams, and she loved every mins of it. In true Morticia style, they were making her suffer, and she was making them pay.

  She turned to the table again and grabbed another glass of bril to replace the one Knox had just stolen. As she sipped at her drink, she looked around and admitted it wouldn’t be a bad place to seek shelter from the storms that were her mothers-in-law.

  A single one-story like most homes on Shuzon, it was almost as large as her in-laws’ place. Inside, the Noris were more extravagant by half. One wall was taken up by a rock feature that had real water tumbling down over its craggy face in an endless dance. The floor was made of hii glass and it sparkled like the diamonds on Kae’s teeth. Low-slung sofas were dotted about the place, each a different color of the Federation rainbow. On console tables, little knickknacks that she knew cost the Earth were placed here and there. It was expensive, chic, but not particularly warm and cozy like her own quarters back on Madison.

  “What’s this party even for?” she asked after her perusal.

  “Kae and Robb
have just been awarded a part in the Richos' twinlings’ new feature movie.”

  She cocked a brow at Rafer. “A fan, are we?”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “Maybe.”

  Parker’s grin was infectious. “I can’t imagine you watching holo-movies.”

  “Why the lukcin not? I do have downtime, you know.”

  “I know, but I just didn’t picture you as a fan of those kinds of movies. That’s all.”

  “Should I be offended?” he asked Knox, who shrugged.

  “Griljerrd knows. Parker’s mind works in a peculiar way.”

  “Ooh, you really are trying to bury yourself in my bad books, aren’t you, Knox?” she snarled, then purposely rested a hand on her chest and let a finger drift down the central line of her torso.

  He grabbed her wrist and snapped, “Stop touching yourself like that.”

  “Someone’s in a mood.”

  “I’m more than in a mood. You’re punishing us for trying to protect you, for trying to keep you safe, and what are our thanks? You flirting with movie stars, touching them when you won’t touch us, and then making an exhibition of yourself in front of the most important people in Hypa.”

  “Calm down, Knox,” Rafer hissed. “Parker wasn’t flirting, were you?” When he urged her to answer with a quick nod, she glared at him. “Tell him you weren’t flirting with Kae, for lukcin’s sake.”

  Left eye twitching, Parker looked away from Rafer and moved very close to Knox’s chest. “I thought those papers you gave me all those annals ago stopped me from being your slave and you, my owner, Knox.” When he blanched, she knew she’d scored a hit. “Be very careful what you say to me now.”

  His jaw gritted. “I’m sorry, Parker.”

  Her smile was false. “So you should be. Let’s go, I think the mood has definitely soured on this pleasant occasion.”

  They made their way out of the Nori home, thanking the hosts and saying farewell to what felt like all of the household, before they eventually made it to the tuli. The ride home took place in silence. Both of her men were tense, and it shouldn’t have irritated her, but it did.