Lindsey's Rescue: A World Beyond Book 3 (12 page)

Mala’s brows darted up as she relaxed her stance. “You found them?”

Lindsey nodded. “At the Triad Bridal Meet I asked both of them to be my husband.”

For some reason this sent Mala off into more laughter and it was a good while before she got herself together in order to help Lindsey with her project.

Chapter 18

All of her language lessons paid off in the weeks to follow and Lindsey understood and spoke well enough to communicate without issues to those around her. Another reason she was sure her husbands had eased up on the campaign for her to try another implant. To their credit, the continued dinners and cocktail parties held in their home consisted of a smaller crowd.

The results were the same though minus her inelegant sprawl across the floor. Guests made snide remarks, she ignored them and the cycle repeated itself. Lindsey hoped at some point it could all be done and over.

That wasn’t to be, however, and she had Baruk’s assistant, Mala, to thank for the knowledge. Mala’s personality matched Kimsha and the two buzzed with good humor and excitement whenever Lindsey spent time around them. The only dark shadow came when Zumei decided to join them. His critique of Lindsey since her health scare increased but he made sure her husbands weren’t around to hear his remarks.

Wanting to share her latest achievement and inroads on the tricky Hypheti dialect, Lindsey found Mala in Baruk’s office.

“Hi, Mala.”

Baruk’s assistant jumped in her seat and hurried to shut down the holo images.

“Wait.” Lindsey caught the announcers saying her name.

Mala’s fingers hovered in the air by the holo screen and her mouth curled down. “Lady Lindsey, you shouldn’t see this. It’s just talk. Gossip.”

About her
. Lindsey continued to watch and listen. A man she didn’t know named Qual went on and on about how unfit the Senate Leaders’ new wife was. Another segment flashed across the holo. More rumors claiming Senate Leader Baruk made a mistake with his selection of a Triad wife. Poor counterpart. Not worthy to the Laars name. The list of faults seemed infinite.

Devastated, her eyes welled but Lindsey refused to look away. After all her efforts they still disparaged her and now it was there for all of Teeve, heck the whole planet, to see. Every video ranted about her lack of skills, knowledge and inability to be a wife to the two men who she admired and liked a little more each day. The beginning of a crater cracked open in her chest.

“Lindsey?”

The sympathy in Mala’s voice tipped the scales and the first tear fell. Her nostrils burned as Lindsey sniffed and tried for a smile when she turned from the screen and faced Mala. Pity glinted in the other woman’s eyes.

“I’m alright,” Lindsey lied.

Mala swiped in the air and the holo faded. Not that it mattered. She couldn’t unhear the horrible things said about her.

Lindsey brushed away the single tear from her cheek. “I-I should…uh…leave you to your work.”

“Wait.” Mala came around her desk and hugged Lindsey. “Don’t let gossip get to you. None of it matters. Senate Leaders Baruk and Zadal are more than pleased to have you in their life.” 

 Lindsey wondered if that were possible. No matter how hard she tried, no one here liked her. Being from another planet sucked.

“They hate me,” she choked, thinking of the jeers and smirks she’d endured for nothing.

Mala stiffened and pulled back. “What? No one hates you.”

Lindsey studied the gentle face in front of her. A shift in the brown eyes put lie to the words and the storm broke. Weeks of being strong waned, the lump in her throat grew until it was difficult to swallow.

“How long has this been going on?” She spoke through numb lips. Did Baruk and Zadal know?

“It doesn’t matter.” Mala’s protest answered the question for her.

“A while? Days? Weeks?” Like a scab, Lindsey plucked at the open wound.

Mala nodded. Her heart tumbled and Lindsey had to compose herself.

“I just wanted to be loved,” she breathed out quietly. “Is that too much to ask?”

“Not at all,” Mala said, rubbing Lindsey’s shoulder.

“I don’t want them to regret the marriage. I’m nothing like what they wanted. I don’t know how to be cool and say the right stuff. When the wives ask me how I feel about the latest vote I’ve no clue what they’re talking about. The men only want to look at my boobs and if I tell Zadal and Baruk, I’m afraid it will make things worse. These are the people they work with.”

Lindsey sniffed, tilting her head back to keep more tears from rolling down. The haters would not completely win. She just needed to try harder.

“Leave us, Mala.”

Lindsey spun around. Baruk and Zadal entered Mala’s office, two dynamic men in their own right yet different. They must have returned from work together as both still wore their black senate robes. After a slight hesitation, Mala made her escape and closed the door behind her.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were having such difficulty, Lindsey?” Baruk asked, coming toward her and cutting the distance to mere inches.

Lindsey wrapped her arms around her waist and swayed side to side. Self-pity gripped her. “I need to fit in. But I don’t.”

His warm arms curved around her, his head lowering to her hair. “You fit. Perfectly.”

She snorted, face tucked under his jaw. “Not like this.”

“What is better than this?” Zadal’s chest pressed against her back as he joined them.

They held her like that, not saying anything else for a moment.

“I want the names of everyone who made you feel small.” Steel laced Baruk’s order.

She struggled in their arms. “It’s not important.”

Zadal gripped Lindsey’s shoulders and turned her around to face him. Anger blazed from his golden brown eyes. “Everything about you is important. Do we need to prove it?”

Heat exploded. Her body tingled with remembered pleasure and the nights spent with her husbands. Zadal got a knowing look. “Baruk, take off her clothes.”

Lindsey held in her moan. It wouldn’t be the first time they stripped her bare and made love when the mood moved them.

“I’m glad to help, Zadal.” Baruk slid the straps of her dress from her shoulders.

The material caught on her breasts before falling to her waist. Baruk’s arms came from behind and cupped her fullness. Warmth engulfed her swollen breasts. “No lacy surprises for your husbands this time?”

Lindsey flushed. “T-the dress didn’t call for a bra.”

Zadal hummed, his breath stirring against her shoulder blade. His lips brushed along the sensitive slope of her neck. Lindsey tipped her head to the side silently, begging for more even as she shivered from the delicious tease. Up, up, he kissed until sharp teeth sucked the tip of her ear into his mouth. Her knees wobbled but Baruk caught her.

“Easy, Lindsey.” Once she regained her balance, he knelt at her feet and tugged her dress off completely.

Baruk then switched positions with Zadal seamlessly, coming around to her front as Zadal moved to her back. Baruk lowered himself to his knees again, lips trailing over her belly. “You’re important. Special.”

Lindsey moaned as his hands moved with seductive skill and her underwear joined her dress on the floor at her feet. Shoes were tossed aside as Baruk kissed her inner thigh, the juncture between her legs and then his tongue probed deeper.

Zadal held her steady from behind, his arms a comfort as he sustained her weight. “How does it feel?” he whispered against her ear.

“Good,” she choked out. “It feels so good, Zadal.”

Zadal’s arms curved around her front. Lindsey braced, unsure what he’d do next. Blunt fingers tweaked her nipples. She jerked, the pleasure shooting straight down to her loins where liquid pleasure leaked. Baruk groaned and gripped her thighs tight but never ceased tormenting her with his mouth. He sucked and nipped, rubbing his tongue along one side of her folds then the other. When her legs weakened, Baruk braced one of her feet on his shoulder and continued feasting.

Zadal’s fingers were wicked, plucking and pinching her nipples alternately. Lindsey cried out, hips rocking as they each launched their sensual attack.

“Touching you is a delight. I never know how you’ll react and you’ve such a responsive body,” Zadal growled.

Gasping, Lindsey shook her head against his shoulders. “It’s you. You and Baruk.”

Baruk’s hand joined his mouth. Instead of focusing on her seam, he eased one then two fingers into her entrance, filling her aching core.

“Baruk! Yes, yes,” she chanted as his fingers scissored inside.

His tongue worked in concert with the thick fingers, probing, sliding and teasing. Round and round Baruk’s mouth circled her bud, his hands keeping her legs spread wide and her center exposed.

“Look at him,” Zadal ordered, teeth raking her throat.

Lindsey lowered her gaze and her whole body shook from the erotic sight. Baruk’s dark head bobbed back and forth, his lips shiny as he occasionally released a hungry groan. Red prints formed on her thighs where his fingers squeezed her legs open. Her foot pressed down on his shoulder in reaction and wetness trickled.

She fought the instinctive desire to clamp her thighs tight while passion encouraged her to part them as wide as possible to enjoy the way he laved her to the fullest. Her hips rotated against his mouth and she cried out in ecstasy.   

“Come, Lindsey.” Zadal chose that moment to turn her head slightly and kiss her on the lips.

Lindsey peaked, unable to endure the persistent licks between her legs and the taste of Zadal in her mouth. Her lower limbs trembled and the orgasm raced over. Convulsive shudders rolled through her as Baruk lowered her leg to the floor and straightened.

The kiss ended gently as Zadal soothed her shaking body with steady caresses up and down her sides as he held her. Lindsey parted her lips then stopped, unable to speak. Her gaze dropped to the front of Baruk’s pants. The front placket bulged from his rock hard erection.

She expected them to move on to sex next but Baruk placed his palm on the side of her face. His smile contained satisfaction. “Believe in us. Believe in our Triad. We’ll make this right for you.”

Lindsey couldn’t break her gaze away. Blue eyes pleaded for understanding. She gave in. “Alright.”

 “Who stares at your
boobs
at the parties?”

Zadal’s question sent Lindsey into snickers, completely thrown from the sexual haze.

Chapter 19

“I don’t want to go to another party.” Lindsey whined and knew it yet refused to change her tone. Nothing good came from socializing with people who didn’t like her.

“It won’t be so bad this time,” Baruk said.

Lindsey should have known the quiet over the last few days after her confession was a brief respite. She pushed at the food on her plate, appetite gone.

“No one’s going to hurt you, Lindsey, and get away with it,” Zadal declared.

Her head snapped from Baruk to Zadal. Where Baruk’s stare contained arrogance and his comfort in the power his name wielded, Zadal’s stare contained more. Much more. His brown eyes glowed with an unholy light and his fingers clenched and unclenched.

“Does it have to be a party?”

The corner of Baruk’s mouth curled up. “This one will only be very close friends and my family. They’ll make you feel welcome.”

Lindsey wasn’t sure about that. “Can I invite anyone?”

Both frowned though only Baruk answered, “You can invite anyone you want. Make sure Kimsha has the name for the invitations.”

Zadal wasn’t so subtle. “Who are you inviting?”

“Welsin. And his wife and husband.” Since the party seemed like a done deal.

“Welsin?” Zadal repeated.

“Spouse partner,” Baruk corrected.

Lindsey ignored both comments. “I like Welsin and want to meet his family.”

“Of course,” Baruk instantly agreed, rubbing her shoulders.

“Fine.” She exhaled. “One more party. Then can it just be us?”

Zadal stared. Baruk’s gaze darkened. “After this, you will not have to endure anyone else in our home unless necessary. I’ll make Kimsha aware.”

Lindsey relaxed even more. “Thanks, Baruk.”

He caught her fingers. “I promise any future guests list will be culled accordingly. People will either respect you and Zadal or they won’t be welcome.”

She could see Baruk caught Zadal off guard with his last remark as well. Kissing both husbands on the cheek, Lindsey gave in. “Fine. Enjoy your politicking and I’ll see if Kimsha can help me choose a dress for the party.”

Then she left.

***

Zadal waited until Lindsey flounced from the room, her blue dress flirting about her knees. “You’re sure about this?”

Baruk released a grunt. “No and yes. I believe my friends and family will welcome Lindsey with open arms. I just hate that it’s going to bother her until she sees I’m right.”

Zadal shoved aside his plate and leaned back in his chair at the dining table. He faced Baruk with a derisive look. “And me. Will I be welcomed by the magnificent Laars family?”

“If you don’t frown at everyone,” Baruk replied.

He respected Zadal quite a bit. The man wasn’t his first choice for spouse partner, in fact his name was nowhere on Baruk’s list of contenders but seeing him with Lindsey and admiring his restraint in face of the insults and snubs he’d probably endured at the parties, made Baruk very glad he shared a Triad with him.

Zadal chuckled. “I’ll do my best not to frighten your family.”

The joke would be on Zadal. “It’s my mother you should concern yourself with.”

His spouse partner tensed. “Is she opposed to your marriage?”

“You don’t know my mother if you think that.”

Zadal waited. Baruk hated his damnable silence. “My mother has longed for my marriage for years. My sister is in a Triad but has chosen to wait to have children because of her career.”

Garulaxan law mandated that professional women take two years off from work when they gave birth. His sister followed his mother’s path of science and would go crazy if forced to take a hiatus from her latest project.

A curious light entered Zadal’s brown eyes. “Does your mother plan to remarry?”

“No.” The answer was simple and easy.

Sofia Laars-Danson had loved her husbands with the same intensity she gave to her field of botany before she settled into family life. Both men were killed in a Zorona mine crash during a corporate tour several years ago.

“Would you care if she did?” Zadal asked.

“No.” Baruk had loved his fathers but he also loved his mother and would support anything she chose to do.

“Your family is not typical of those in your class.”

To be contrary, Baruk corrected, “
Our
class.”

Zadal’s glower was worth it. “You take too much pleasure in telling me of my new wealth.”

“You take stubbornness to new heights pretending it’s not there.” Any other spouse partner with Zadal’s upbringing would have gone through the finances with an advisor and more than likely splurged on a lavish spending spree.

Zadal grunted. “I have money. Perhaps not to the extent of the Laars fortune but I’m no pauper. Still, I’ll do my best not to raid your piles of
likos
.”

Baruk’s lips twisted in wry amusement. “I appreciate your restraint.”

His words won a rare grin from Zadal. “Tell me this since I’m curious and you’re in a talkative mood.”

Baruk chuckled and flicked him off.

“Why did you agree to the Triad?”

Another easy answer. “Lindsey.”

Zadal nodded. “Yes. Our Earthling wife has an indefinable draw.”

“Exactly.”

***

Zadal thought of Lindsey’s playful humor when she called him Z. The need to protect at all costs welled inside. His wife wouldn’t suffer what he had as a
briot
. “If anyone hurts her again, you won’t stop me.”

Baruk growled. “This party is different. Only close family and friends. How many times do I have to say it?”

“Then there better not be more tears from her.” Zadal rose from the table.

Before he could leave, Baruk called out. “Zadal, do your best not to kill anyone related to me.”

Lips curling up, Zadal ducked his head and didn’t answer.

Baruk’s curses rang out behind him.

Zumei started on him as soon as Zadal entered his office. His first assistant lined reports on Zadal’s desk for his signature.

“What are these?” Zadal sat and brought up his holo screens.

Zumei sat across from him and keyed on his data pad. “It looks like acceptance to access for the Laars family funds as well as secondary placement within the multiple companies they run.” Zumei glanced up. “Senate Leader Baruk has added you to all accounts under the Laars holding.”

Zadal groaned but scrawled his signature on the forms without reading. Baruk refused to accept that he didn’t want his money. Zumei tucked them away.

“What else?” Zadal didn’t like Zumei but he was ruthlessly efficient.

“On to the Nether region vote. The decision to send in soldiers to quell the rebel faction is imminent.” 

The Nether region supported those who preferred a quaint way of life. They eschewed technology, farmed for their food and used livestock for transportation. Supposedly the Garulaxans who lived there wanted a return to life with basic values. Ironically enough they still followed the principles of a Triad and most households boasted spouse partners and a wife. There just weren’t enough women for anyone on Garulaxan to get back to their true origins where men didn’t share women. The security of having another man protecting the wife you loved appealed to too many.

Several small communes were making a go at it but High Council Jakil had brought it up in recent Senate meetings. A few months ago, reports started to come in of attacks by armed men, attempts to snatch women and young girls and raiding of food stores. Something needed to be done but the majority of his Senate peers thought it best to wait until the citizens of the Nether appealed for help.

“Have they reached out yet?” Zadal asked, meeting Zumei’s gaze across his desk.

Zumei’s lips pursed. “No, and I believe we shouldn’t get involved.”

“If the military send in soldiers now, it could prevent the potential slaughter of the Nether people.” Hundreds of lives could be lost. It frustrated Zadal having to wait for it to come to vote. He wanted to offer assistance the moment the rumors and attacks started but his hands were tied. A forced vote from the Senate Leaders meant they could move forward and deal with the attacks without permission or a request from help from the inhabitants of the region.

“If they want to live like backwards Garulaxans, let them.” Zumei’s sneer left no doubt as to how he felt.  

Zadal held in a sigh at such a blind way of thinking. At some point, he needed to speak with Baruk about replacing Zumei with an equally efficient first and adding a second assistant. Someone who at least liked him and vice versa.

“Make sure the Nether situation gets precedence over anything I’m working on if something new develops.”

Zumei reluctantly agreed. “If that is your desire, Senate Leader.”