Lindsey's Rescue: A World Beyond Book 3 (23 page)

Lindsey braced her hands on her hips and squared her shoulders. “That’s exactly what I’m implying. Smiki and I will do fine on our own.”

Torkel sighed. “This is not going to go over well.”

“Can I see Smiki? I’m kinda concerned about him and we look out for each other.” And right now Smiki was the only person Lindsey trusted.

He tapped a finger to his ear. “Bring the prisoner to Lindsey.”

“Smiki didn’t do anything! You can’t keep calling him a prisoner.”

A deep grunt followed. “I could list all of his crimes but we don’t have enough time. As Jutak, my duty is to turn him over to those who filed his warrants of which there are plenty.”

Lindsey refused to argue and when the Chamele entered moments later looking his same disgruntled self, she ran to him and hugged tight. “I can’t go back, Smiki. I can’t”

He patted her back awkwardly. “Why not? They’ve searched for weeks, months.”

“To keep from looking like they didn’t want their wife,” Lindsey countered.

The Chamele’s skin darkened to polished gold. “If they treat you bad we leave. But we’re going. I can’t keep up with rescuing you. I might die at this rate.”

Lindsey leaned back in his arms. “You’re going with me?”

Torkel groaned. “That was not discussed, Chamele.”

Smiki glanced over his shoulder. “If you want her going back to Garulax, you’ll make it a discussion.”

Chapter 34

Standing in front of the doors to her home, Lindsey didn’t know how to feel. Trepidation played at the forefront of her thoughts.

“Are we standing here or are you going to knock?”

She’d rather stand but knowing there was no way out of her situation since the Jutaks, Torkel specifically, made it quite clear that she wouldn’t be allowed to do anything until she spoke with her husbands and had this meeting.

“Alright.” Lindsey took a deep breath and prepared to knock.

The door flew open before her hand touched the panel. Familiar arms enfolded her in a snug embrace as she was snatched off her feet.

“Lindsey.” The voice muttered in her hair. “Lindsey.”

She held herself stiff, mounting tension keeping her rigid.

“Looks like you were missed,” Smiki mumbled.

The person holding her jerked backward and eased his arms from around her. Lindsey lifted her face and came eye to eye with Baruk. She tried to keep her emotions in check but tears welled and a sob escaped.

“Lindsey,” he whispered, stroking her back. His blue eyes gentled. “Everything will be fine now.”

Sniffling, she pulled away only to bump into another body. Rough hands pressed her face into a firm chest. “It’s really you.”

Lindsey became frantic and slapped at his arms, chest, anywhere she could reach. “Get off me! How dare you!”

Zadal released her instantly. Lindsey dodged behind Smiki. “I’m only here to prove a point. I’m not staying.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Baruk snapped.

“Lindsey?” Zadal held his arms aloft. His attempts to appear harmless failed.

Smiki chose to interrupt. “I wish I understood your gibberish but I don’t. My translators an older model. Can we come in now?”

Lindsey realized that she’d fallen back into speaking the language she’d worked so hard to learn. Switching to Chamele, she said, “I’m not staying.”

“Well, you’re not going yet. Let’s hear what they say. The Jutaks might have been tight lipped but it seems they wouldn’t bring us here if they expected something bad to happen.”

“Right.” Not.

Looking at them hurt. How could they pretend to be innocent? Smiki curved an arm around her shoulders. Lindsey lips parted at his voluntary action. He detested her frequent touches and uninvited emotions as he called them. Unwilling to question his change, Lindsey leaned into him for support.

“I’m not staying.” It bore repeating.

Baruk’s lips flattened but he waved them in. Zadal stayed at the entrance and Lindsey brushed against him to walk inside. To her dismay, her breast swelled and her nipples drew tight. Damnable pregnancy hormones.

“I think this conversation can be conducted in my office,” Baruk offered, leading the way.

Smiki’s gaze took in the sprawling home and the casual elegance. No one could miss the understated wealth of her former home. Using Chamele, he said, “I’m not sure leaving this behind is a good idea.”

His evident greed as they passed several servants brought Lindsey a brief flare of humor. “You get used to it.”

Those who recognized her called out greetings and Lindsey didn’t let the past impact her pleasure at seeing them. She waved and spoke though her stride never broke.

Once inside Baruk’s office, he closed the door and twisted the lock.

“Where’s Mala?” Lindsey expected the woman to be here and actually looked forward to it.

“With her husbands. News of your rescue has been kept quiet and she’s working on an official announcement for the public.” Baruk rested one hip on the corner of his desk.

Zadal took up residence against a wall, the caramel gaze she’d once loved piercing her with unwavering focus.

Smiki plopped into a seat without waiting for an invitation, leaving Lindsey no choice but to sit as well. No one spoke and the silence became a cauldron of mixed emotions. She wished they’d stop staring at her and plucked absentmindedly at the skirt of the dress she’d selected. The choice to follow the Garulaxan culture in wardrobe had the added benefit of hiding the slight roundness of her tummy.

“I know there’s a lot we need to share with you but all I want to do is put my arms around you and never let go,” Baruk declared in a hoarse voice.

Lindsey cleared her throat and stuck to English since it was close to their version of Standard and she wanted Smiki to understand. “Torkel Alonson said I need to listen to what you both have to say before leaving.”

If she kept repeating her desire to leave, it would squash this crazy need to dive into his arms. To bury her face in Baruk’s shoulders and let him hold her as he professed.

“The Jutak Unit leader warned us. We also agreed that if you didn’t forgive our part in what happened to you then we would provide for you the means to go anywhere of your choosing.”

Her heart slammed hard against chest. She didn’t expect that.

“You’ve every right to be angry.” Zadal straightened and slid his hands into black slacks that molded to his thighs. “After the translator incident we promised to protect you. And failed. I didn’t catch Zumei’s growing dislike of you. Nor did I realize he’d go to such levels to get back at me. That is on me. My responsibility.”

Zadal’s torment reflected on his face. Lindsey pushed her hands under her thighs to keep from reaching for him. “Yeah. Well.”

Baruk heaved a sigh and reached behind him for his data pad. “The information, if you wish to read it, is all here.” He leaned forward, forcing her to take it.

“What information am I supposed to see that would make me forgive either of you?”

They’d abandoned her. No way Zadal could have done what he did without Baruk’s knowledge.

Baruk dropped to his knees before her, his arms sliding around her hips. “You will never know how sorry I am about what happened. Zadal’s right in that we failed you. The servants disclosed Zumei’s treatment of you. Kimsha and Mala shared a little as well.”

Lindsey shifted in the chair, unable to break away from the intensity of his stare. With trembling fingers she brushed back the strands of black hair. “I can’t do this.”

She surged out of the chair and Baruk fell back on his haunches. Smiki caught her arm before she could run. Lindsey tore free and headed for the door but Zadal blocked her path.

“You sold me!” she cried out. “You got rid of me with a bounty hit thing.”

“Please,” Zadal begged. He looked sick with anguish. “Please believe that I never, ever paid to have you taken. I would never…
sell
you to a sex slave auction.”

Lindsey slumped a shoulder against the wall and sniffled. “How? Tell me how and I don’t want to look at this.” She waved Baruk’s data pad.

“It was Zumei.” Baruk’s hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her back against his chest. His arms slid around her waist as he nuzzled her neck. “Zumei tricked Zadal into signing papers. The open bounty went out and was picked up. When you were kidnapped, Zumei added the enticement to sell you and made back half the money he spent placing the bounty.”

Zadal cupped her chin, drawing her face up. Melted caramel. His brown eyes met hers. With a studied descent, his head lowered and he kissed her. Gentle lips pressed to her own. Then he brushed at the lone tear rolling down her face. “You have to believe us, Lindsey.”  

Could she trust him? Remembering their Triad marriage cast doubts on the fears she’d developed once she discovered her kidnapping had been planned.

“Zumei did all of this?”

Zadal flinched. “He did.”

It was hard to comprehend. The weeks of running. The heartbreak she’d experienced when she thought her husbands wanted her dead. “I need a minute.”

Zadal paled and Lindsey bit back her instinctive apology for the hurt he didn’t seek to hide. Baruk turned her around to face him. His thumb brushed her bottom lip and Lindsey trembled. “Take the time, wife, but never doubt you
are
wanted. Desired. We couldn’t have found a more treasured wife for our Triad.”

Lindsey could only nod due to the size of the lump in her throat. The thickness spread, keeping her from responding. With a deep exhale, he released her and after a final look, he and Zadal left her alone with Smiki in Baruk’s office.

The Chamele wasted no time. “You are…what did you once call me? A fool.”

Lindsey blinked back tears. “I’m scared.”

He stormed to her side and raised her hand holding the data pad. “Then look at what he gave you and make your decision. I don’t care for soft feelings.”

Lindsey snorted.

“But I believe they had no part of what happened to you.”

Lindsey’s fingers clenched on the data pad. “Alright.”

Baruk had the settings marked and Lindsey read through the file. Smiki came over to read over her shoulder. “Pfft. I can’t understand it.”

“It’s in the Garulaxan language.” She swallowed. “There’s the details about Zumei placing the bounty and a report from the authorities to say I was abducted.”

“There!” Smiki crowed. “They wouldn’t have filed a report if they paid to have you taken.”

Lindsey devoured the information. The messages and demands to the Jutaks were included. Her mouth grew dry when she came to the part about her death and a whimper escaped. “They thought I was dead.”

“What?!” Smiki turned to her with an appalled gaze.

Lindsey closed her eyes to absorb this new detail. “They thought I was dead.”

“Then why’d they have everyone after us?”

She opened her eyes to see Smiki’s lips turn down and twist with disgruntlement. “It looks like they wanted proof. Torkel and Faye were able to confirm the body they found wasn’t mine.”

Lindsey sighed and her heart softened further when she noted the reward for details leading to her safe return, not her capture. “We had it all wrong, Smiki,” she mumbled.

The Chamele smoothed a hand over his head then planted them on his hips. “What are you going to do?”

Lindsey turned from her friend, excitement and mounting relief lifting her. She yanked the door open only to come to a stop at the sight of Baruk and Zadal standing there. Zadal was closest and Lindsey ran toward him. 

“I believe you.” With a muffled moan, Lindsey stretched her arms up and tugged Zadal’s head down for a kiss.

***

Zadal fought the urge to cry as he held Lindsey and kissed her back with mounting passion. He’d given up hope. The day Baruk came to him with news of Lindsey’s supposed death, his world had come to an abrupt stop. Regrets played havoc with his thoughts as he recounted all the missed opportunities he’d had to tell Lindsey of his feelings.

“Does this mean you’re staying?” the Chamele, Lindsey’s unlikely friend, asked.

She fell into Zadal’s arms laughing. He shared a look with Baruk over her shoulder and his spouse partner beamed.

Chapter 35

“We didn’t get it right.” Soft kisses to her shoulder. “We made mistakes.”

Careful fingers pushed her dress to her hips and removed her panties. Lindsey writhed beneath their joint touch.

Zadal darted a quick kiss to the side of her mouth since he stood behind her. “I love you, Lindsey Laars-Gatar.”

This was his third time saying it but Lindsey would never tire of hearing it. “I love you too, Zadal.”

He carefully lined her up at the bottom of the bed, arms stretched forward as she crouched on all four. Baruk knelt on the bed in front of her, his rigid flesh bobbing before her. Zadal’s tight clasp on her wrists kept her from reaching out to touch either of them.

“Say you forgive me.” Zadal’s arousal teased her entrance from behind, his chest nestled along her back.

“There’s nothing to forgive. Please, give it to me.” Lindsey arched and struggled in his hold, Baruk’s glistening erection taunting her.

“Love you,” Zadal murmured and then the thick intrusion seared over her wet tissue as he slammed home. The hard length filled her greedy passage. Each slick glide as Zadal rocked into her lit her core with flashes of fire. She burned. Burned with her growing need for him.

“Zadal. Make it stop.”

“You’re wet and tight,” he moaned against her ear.

Baruk’s knees bent as he scooted closer and her head lowered to tongue him desperately. His fingers pulled the skin of his shaft taut, revealing the glistening head. Lindsey’s mouth widened as she tried to swallow him whole but only managed a portion of his flexing erection.

Baruk groaned, his other hand digging into her hair and tugged at the strands. Pain and lightning pleasure. Lindsey swallowed as Zadal pumped into her, the rhythm driving her toward a speedy climax.

“Take both of us. Love us.” Baruk panted, hips rocking.

Love them? Didn’t he understand? They owned her heart. Lindsey pushed her hips back begging for more from Zadal and sucked Baruk harder. She wanted to come, needed to come but not until she took them with her.

“I. Love. You. Lindsey.” Each word rasped from Baruk’s throat.

Pleasure exploded. White lights flashed over her vision.

Both men groaned, bodies shaking as they fell to the bed beside her. Lindsey smiled. From the brochures she’d read this was how a Triad should be. Smiling, she relaxed against them as Baruk shifted to pull her close, chest to chest and Zadal nestled up to her back.

“When are you going to tell us?” Baruk asked.

Lindsey froze. “Tell you what?”

From behind, Zadal framed her stomach with his broad palm. “You carry our child. Torkel said they found you because of a doctor’s information.”

They were in for a surprise. “Actually children is more apt. I’m carrying three.”

Baruk reacted first by lunging up in the bed and Lindsey rolled on the bed. “Three? That’s not possible. No one has multiples.”

Lindsey snickered, pushing up to sit. “Triplets aren’t common on Earth but they’re not unheard of either.”

Zadal sat up and eased Lindsey onto his lap. “Faye shared a bit about your experience together but she doesn’t know what happened to you after Alonson’s team rescued her.”

Her humor dimmed. “I’m not sure who got me out of there but I owe him. These miners wanted to take me back to service all of them. Then I ended up with Smiki and he really did take good care of me.”

Baruk twirled a lock of her hair. “We believe you.” 

“With the babies, don’t you care about who’s…” she lowered her voice to a whisper. “the father?”

Both laughed and Lindsey flushed. Zadal smoothed back the hair clinging to her cheeks. “We signed away our right to genetic knowledge.”

She curled into his lap, enjoying both their touches. “You did? When?”

Baruk merely shook his head and smiled. “It was part of the marriage contract and is a very standard clause. Triads have children all the time and they are loved by all their parents just as we will love our children.”

Lindsey thought the concept amazing. “I love you guys,”

***

2 days later

This was the last breakfast she’d share with Smiki. Today the Chamele announced his satisfaction with her situation and his desire to leave.

“We’d like to offer Smiki compensation as our thanks for caring for you.” Baruk laid his utensils down after finishing his meal.

Lindsey reached across the dining table and squeezed Smiki’s hand. “He doesn’t want money. We’re friends.”

Smiki interrupted from his seat. “Yes. Yes, I do want money, thanks.

Baruk’s mouth twitched. “We set aside a reasonable amount for his care of you.”

“How reasonable?” Smiki asked.

Baruk shook his head. “In addition, as a good will gesture Zadal and I worked on an extensive pardon. The chip wipes clean twenty-six of his thirty charges. The Jutaks were not pleased about him staying here while we waited for approval.”

Zadal handed over a small black chip and Smiki snatched it up. “My thanks.”

“We couldn’t do anything about the last four.” Baruk’s brow creased. “You’ve made some powerful people very angry.”

Smiki laughed, unconcerned. “With only four charges to my name I could go a lot of places without worry about being arrested on sight.”

The reality of his leaving saddened Lindsey. “At least promise to come back for the birth. I’m naming one of the girls after you.”

“Girls?” His skin darkened to lavender and his expression became squeamish.

Lindsey beamed. “Baruk had a doctor here. I’m having all girls.”

“You want to name our daughter Smiki?” Zadal’s displeasure was evident.

“No, Z. I’m naming her Camille because not all of them are bad.”

“I don’t like Z,” he started, “but hearing you call me that when I thought you lost to us forever is enough for me to give you your way.”

“I think my work here is done,” Smiki announced, coming to his feet. Baruk chuckled and her friend continued. “Being your friend, Lindsey, is the shit.”