Captain Gareth's Mates
Terran Border Patrol

Professional Reviews

4 TEA CUPS: "I really enjoyed this story. Ms. Pierce does a wonderful job of making interesting, well-defined characters admist this hot futuristic romance that has plenty of sex for the reader that likes erotic works. The book starts out with a sexy high note and does not let go until the end. It isn't a long tale and I found I was transfixed to my e-reader wanting to know what was going to happen next. Don't miss this one." -- Hunter, Happily Ever After Reviews

Excerpt

STORY EXCERPT

Izbal stood beside her father’s empty chair, her hands clasped together in distress. The three stared at each other for a long, uncomfortable moment.

“Well?” Izbal finally asked. “Is it true? Do you already have a wife?”

Gareth couldn’t bring himself to lie. “No,” he admitted. “I have no wife.”

Izbal sighed in relief. “I apologize for my father’s behavior. Please believe me when I say this was his idea and not my own. Apparently one of his ministers saw us dancing on the common this afternoon, and he seized upon this strange notion that you should become my husband.”

“I don’t blame you.” Gareth shook his head. “Surely you don’t want to marry me. You know nothing about me. You certainly don’t love me.”

“True. We don’t know each other well enough yet. However, a woman in my position doesn’t marry for love. Her father would always choose her mate...my mate. And I must confess, you are the only man I have ever truly admired.”

“Thank you. I’m flattered, really, but surely you can see that it’s impossible.”

“For us to be together? Perhaps. But as far as fulfilling my father’s orders? I believe we can. And what he has proposed is, in fact, an order. Make no mistake. He spoke to you as he did because you are men, and you are his guests. With me, earlier, his words were somewhat different.”

Brennar spoke up. “What would happen if the captain refused?”

“My father would be most displeased. He would blame me.” She lowered her eyes, her blush returning. “Captain, I am well aware that your real life lies elsewhere. I have no wish to intrude, but I am accustomed to doing what I must for the good of my people. This may be the most important task I will ever undertake. I only ask you to consider my position before you refuse to do what my father has asked...or rather commanded.”

“Well, I suppose I have little choice. I just think...” Red-faced, he floundered for words. Should he confess to her that he had no wife, but he did have a male lover, who was in the room with them? Would the truth matter?

Once again, Brennar came to Gareth’s rescue. “May I consult with the captain privately for a moment?”

“Of course. I must retire for the evening in any case. We can continue discussing this matter tomorrow morning.”

When they were alone again, Gareth paced the room. “They’re pretty serious about this marriage stuff.”

Brennar folded his arms and pretended to examine the chair. “Indeed, and you should know that rejecting Zimeon’s offer will bring terrible shame to Izbal. She might even be deemed unmarriageable or handed off to some acquaintance of her father whom she, and probably we, would find unsuitable.”

“Of course I don’t want that to happen. You know how I feel about such barbarism. Any woman deserves better. Especially Izbal.”

“Then I might also point out that marriage to you would considerably enhance her position in her father’s household. Clearly your status here is of an elevated nature—for the moment. As your wife, Izbal would share your celebrity and your prominence.”

“Well, what about the Terran Council? Don’t you think we should run this by them? I mean, if they refuse to go along, no one could blame Izbal.”

Brennar sighed. “If I had to predict their reaction, I would expect it to be positive or even celebratory. Let us not forget what brought us here in the first place—the promise of a continued energy supply. I daresay you would almost be performing a diplomatic function on their behalf.”

“So I’m trapped any way you look at things.” Gareth scrubbed an agitated hand over his face. “On the bright side, I do like her...though not in the same way I like you. And I get the distinct feeling that you think I should go through with it.”

“To be perfectly truthful, I can see more advantages than drawbacks.” Brennar flashed him an enigmatic smile. “Marriages of convenience are not unknown in the world of interplanetary relations.”

Gareth lowered his voice. “You mean you’d still be willing to fool around with a married man?”

“Diplomats have been called upon to do far worse in the interests of maintaining peace.”

“My new father-in-law did extol the virtues of polygamy,” Gareth mused. “I doubt you’re what he had in mind, though.”

“I would expect not.”

“I’ll still need some more time to think everything over. Why don’t we go back to the ship and, ah...sleep on it? Zimeon can’t object. I’d need to make some arrangements of my own, anyway.”

Brennar crossed to the door. He paused with one hand on the ornately carved knob. “I will inform him that we shall both return in the morning.”

Gareth nodded. “Meet you at the travel pod in ten minutes.”

As he watched the door close behind Brennar, his bewilderment returned. “Krys Gareth” and “marriage” were words he had never expected to hear used together, much less speak himself.

At least Izbal understood, as he did, that what they were entering into was a business arrangement. She might even prefer a chaste, long-distance relationship. She’d already agreed it was impossible for them to stay together. He had his role in life to play, and she had hers. They both understood that, which made them compatible in an odd way.

And he wouldn’t have to give up Brennar.

Maybe he could pull this wedding thing off, after all.

ADULT EXCERPT

Her request, expressed so casually, stunned Gareth. “Izbal...I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not? I want to see the two of you together again. I want to get a sense of the emotions involved. As we all know, the things we fear most are those we do not understand. This will help me understand.” She gave a rueful laugh. “Trust me. I am well beyond jealousy, which is not a quality cultivated in Anubian women to begin with.”

The determined glint in her eyes never wavered. Sighing, Gareth turned to Brennar, who looked as baffled as he did shocked. Before he could lose his nerve, he leaned over and pressed his lips against the other man’s.

Brennar responded with an admirable show of zeal. Gareth did his best to emulate a genuine kiss, assuming Izbal would notice any subterfuge and make them start over. He didn’t use his tongue at all, and his hands remained innocent at his sides until they broke apart. Izbal stared at them with the detachment of a scientist inspecting a previously unknown specimen.

“Brennar’s mouth looks quite soft,” she said after a pause. “Does it feel so to you?”

“Yes,” Brennar answered on his behalf. “Shibans are possessed of hypersensitive skin. The tips, fingers, and...ah...more private areas tend to be especially sensitive.”

“May I try?” Izbal asked Brennar.

“As I am in your house, at your table, and have already been discovered taking intimate liberties with your husband, I can hardly refuse,” he responded.

Gareth had to admit, his answer made sense.

Izbal got up, came around to the other side of the table, and seated herself beside Brennar. Perfectly emulating Gareth’s movements, she bent forward from the waist up, keeping her arms at her sides, and opened her mouth against Brennar’s.

She kissed him with the same systematic objectivity, as if mentally noting every aspect of the experiment. Brennar kissed her back, and Gareth saw no sign of discomfort.

Suddenly, he knew what to do. The solution to the entire dilemma was, literally, right in front of his face.

The three of them would learn to enjoy each other.

Tilting his body forward, he encircled Brennar’s waist with one arm and extended his other hand to stroke Izbal’s rich, brown hair. While Izbal kissed Brennar’s lips Gareth began to lick and nibble the back of the other man’s neck. He couldn’t be sure how either of them would react.

Then, his wife’s slender fingers crept along his thigh and slipped under the hem of his robe. At the same time, Brennar reached backward and hooked one hand around Gareth’s waist, pulling him closer.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, kissing and touching. Finally Gareth extracted himself from the tangle of limbs and stood. The two of them followed him to his feet, and then to the bed.

Gareth lay down first, shedding his robe and stretching out in the middle. Without hesitation, Izbal dropped her garment, too, and crawled on beside him. Only Brennar seemed uncertain, standing with both hands on his shirt and an obvious bulge in his tight hose.

Gareth curled one arm around Izbal’s shoulders and pulled her close to his body. She immediately reached for his hard cock, stroking the length in her fingers until his pulse thundered in his ears.

With his other hand, he reached out toward Brennar.

“Join us, Brennar,” he urged. “Trust me. This can work.”

“It seems a somewhat irregular solution,” Brennar confessed. “However, I see a certain wisdom in the arrangement you suggest.” Slowly, he raised the top of his tunic and peeled it off over his head.

Waiting for Brennar to join them, Gareth and Izbal continued pleasuring each other. Bolder than she had been the night before, she reached down to knead his shaft, teasing him with long, languid strokes until his cockhead grew moist and purplish, the veins pulsing against his taut skin.

When he thought he couldn’t go another moment without exploding, Izbal released him and turned onto her back. She opened her thighs to him, revealing the swollen, ripe fruit inside. Gareth eased his solid frame on top of her, planted his arms on either side of her body, and burrowed into her.

She moaned, accepting him fully, her inner muscles pulling him into her core. He knew his own climax was too near to drag things out for very long. Rather than stroking in and out, Gareth kept himself buried while he began a side-to-side rocking motion with his hips.

Meanwhile, Brennar stood beside their heaving bodies, watching them with an intense expression. His clothes were off, and his hand stroked his own cock until it stood perpendicular to his groin. The skin around it was turning dark blue, and the spasmodic jerks of his fingers suggested he would not be able to ignore his own needs much longer.