Warriors of Phaeton: Paine and Rowe Read online

  “Ummm. Because I am?”

  “No, you’re not,” Paine said firmly

  “Why do you think that?” Rowe asked, trying to figure out why she thought they would let their match go after waiting so long for her. Especially considering what they’d just told her.

  “What do you mean, why do I think that?” Indigo snapped, her irritation evident.

  “Indigo,” Rowe started, keeping his voice calm. “Our mission was to pick up the human brides that the Djaromir had rescued. We’re taking you back to Phaeton One, not Earth. From there I’m not sure what exactly is going to happen to the brides that aren’t matched, but—”

  “Wait, hold your horses. Back up.” Indigo made a motion with her arms that the men had been told meant “time out” by the sisters. “None of us were matched. Zero. Eva never followed with that whole mess, which means we’re all going home.”

  “You’re partially right,” Rowe said slowly, taking the time to choose his next words carefully. “The liaison assigned to your files hadn’t received matches from the system when she entered them.”

  “Probably because she didn’t allow them to fully load before cancelling the requests,” Paine interrupted with a snort.

  “However, when the Phaeton Council retrieved your files after your kidnapping, they entered them into the system.”

  “Oh shit,” Indigo mumbled, closing her eyes. If possible, any color that had been left in her face leeched away.

  “Out of the twenty-seven brides rescued there were nine matched. Luckily, none of the mated women fell into those numbers.”

  “And?” she squeaked, opening one eye to look at them.

  “You were one of them,” Paine announced enthusiastically.

  “Yaaay,” she whispered, her voice dwindling away as she dropped her head down until her chin was to her chest.

  “Wow,” Paine drawled, his tone more than a little sarcastic, “we’re happy to meet you too.”

  Indigo’s head popped up. “We? What do you mean, we?”

  Rowe elbowed Paine when he opened his mouth to speak. There was no way he was going to let his partner dig them into a hole with their bride, no matter how tempting she was when she was feisty.

  “You were matched with us,” Rowe answered. “Both of us.”

  He could tell the moment she understood what he was saying. Looking from one of them to the other, Indigo’s mouth opened and closed as if she were a fish.

  “Breathe,” Paine ordered, breaking the silence that had fallen as they waited for her to come out of the state of shock she’d fallen into.

  Indigo’s chest heaved as she sucked in a huge lungful of air.

  “I didn’t even know that was possible,” she blurted, her cheeks bright red. “I mean, two husbands? Is it like some sort of timeshare or something? Do you each get a day of the week?”

  “Yes, it is possible, but it is rare. No, not many Phaetons would agree to sharing a bride, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ve been paired together for so long that in a sense, we complete each other. Also, there are times that we are sent on solo missions and we wouldn’t want you to be left alone.” Rowe elbowed Paine again, this time jokingly. “I know he may not look it, but Paine’s a good protector and I trust him with your life.”

  “The same goes for me,” Paine agreed with a nod. “We’ve always known we would share a bride; we just needed a bit of help finding her.”

  “This won’t work,” she murmured quietly, rubbing her temples.

  Rowe didn’t know why, but she seemed exhausted, regardless of the full night’s rest she had taken advantage of snuggled between them.

  “Why not, love?” Scooting forward a bit on the mattress, he made himself available to touch but made no move to reach out. “Why can’t this work?”

  “We’ve done a lot of research on how to please a human wife,” Paine interrupted, placing his hand on her knee.

  Rowe winced, knowing the words sounded worse than Paine had intended.

  “What?” Indigo flinched, moving her knee slightly away. “Gross.”

  “That’s not what he meant,” Rowe offered.

  “No!” Paine yelled on his own behalf, his expression panicked. “That’s not what I meant at all. I was trying to say that we befriended the wives on Phaeton One, and they’ve passed on information that we think will assist us in making you happy.”

  “We’re not the first Phaetons to share a wife either. The doctors on our ship are both married to a human female named Andi.” Rowe tried to think of anything else he could say that might sway Indigo to their side. “She is incredibly happy with their triad.”

  “She started out matched to someone else, but he died, and then she met the docs. Now, she’s pregnant with their babies and gigantic,” Paine added, oblivious to the fact that he wasn’t helping.

  “Gigantic?” Indigo blinked at them both with rounded eyes.

  Rowe coughed, pulling her attention back to him. “The point is that this can work. We can work.”

  Indigo was shaking her head before he’d even finished.

  “You don’t get it,” she said softly. “I need to go home.”

  “What home, sweetheart?” Paine asked bluntly, reminding Rowe of what they’d read in her file. “The last address you had listed was an apartment that we know you no longer rent.”

  “I have…friends,” she whispered, looking away from him to focus on her lap once again. “I’m sure I’ll be able to crash on a couch or something until I get my feet under me again.”

  “Stay,” Rowe whispered. “Stay with us. Give this a chance.”

  “I can’t,” she whispered, the words sounding as if they were pulled painfully from her.

  “Tell us why,” Paine pleaded. “Tell us why you won’t at least give this a chance. Is it because there’s two of us? Because I can assure you, we can bring you more pleasure than you’ve ever known. Between the two of us, you will be cherished and loved until the end of our days.”

  Rowe wanted to echo the words his brother had let pour out, but he stopped himself when he noticed the pain on her face.

  Chapter Eleven

  Indigo was torn.

  She’d been on a planet full of horny miners for over a month and had absolutely no problem turning each and every one of them away. Considering the gorgeous men providing the temptation, it should have been at least a little hard, but it had been easy. There’d been no maybes or second-guessing of her decision to leave unattached, regardless of how many Djaromir crossed her path.

  So, why am I having a hard time resisting these two? she wondered as she tried to resist the two Phaetons before her. Granted, the two men were hot enough to make her drool, but it was more than that. She felt weirdly comfortable around them, and it wasn’t the type of comfort she’d feel if they wanted to go tailgating together. No, this was the kind of comfort with another—two others—where she kept finding her guard down.

  Her ease around them helped confirm that what they’d said earlier was true. They were the ones responsible for chasing away last night’s nightmares. Through their comfort, she had them to thank for her getting her first full night’s sleep in a long while. While she was grateful and surprising comfortable, it sadly didn’t erase her original plans.

  Regardless of now having a match—or matches, in this case—Indigo had never planned on staying. One husband, much less two, had never been a part of her five-year plan, and she’d used the Pact as a means to an end, and that end was her owning a bakery. No matter how gorgeous they were, there was no way they were going to convince her otherwise. She had to stick to her guns.

  “I’m sorry, you guys, but I can’t do this,” Indigo said, struggling to keep her voice firm. “I’ve already made up my mind. I’m going to go home, beg for my shitty job back, make pies, and pretend none of this ever happened.”

  Indigo held up her hand when Paine opened his mouth to argue. She didn’t need Temptation #2 giving her any more dangerous looks wi
th his gorgeous steel-colored eyes. It took all of her willpower to keep herself from crawling across the mattress and asking them to make everything better. She also was not oblivious to the fact that her current situation was reminiscent of some of her favorite romance novels. It was slightly overwhelming, actually. Never in a million years would she have thought that the opportunity to have two men for her own would ever happen.

  The urge to grab what they were offering with both hands was ridiculously tempting. She struggled to carry the weight of all the baggage. Unable to resist, Indigo let herself admire them for a moment before shaking the idea out of her head.

  No matter how much she wanted to pass her baggage off and let someone else take the reins, she knew that wasn’t the way to solve her problems. She’d gotten herself into this mess and she was determined to get herself out.

  “I’m tired. I just want to go home,” she repeated, hoping to convince herself of it the more she said it. “I know, I know. I don’t technically have a home, but you don’t have to rub it in. Believe me, I understand what I’m up against here. Not only am I going back with my tail between my legs, I’m doing it with less than what I left with.”

  She snorted just thinking about the pickle she was going to be in once she landed back on Earth. If there was ever a time that she wanted to hand over her troubles to someone else, now would be the time.

  “Even I think I’ve outdone myself. Everything I touch turns into a shit sandwich, but you know what? I’m not going to dwell on that anymore. I’m going to focus on the good and not the bad. So what if none of this worked? At least I didn’t die, right?”

  “Don’t joke about something like that,” Paine interrupted, his tone grim. “We could have lost you before getting the chance to know you.

  “Sorry,” Indigo said immediately, feeling contrite. Paine was right. She shouldn’t be so blasé about the fact that she could have died if the circumstances had been slightly different. She knew better than to take something like that lightly.

  Her nightmares reminded her of that fact nightly.

  “I tend to crack jokes when things become uncomfortably serious. It’s a coping mechanism,” she blurted out, even as she wondered why she was bothering to tell them that little tidbit about herself. It wasn’t as if she owed them any type of explanation or anything—even though it strangely felt like she did. She needed to refocus herself and stick to her mission.

  Operation Avoid the D.

  She’d bat them away with both hands if she had to, but come hell or highwater, her ass was going home. It wouldn’t be that hard. She’d done it once, so she could do it again. Indigo gave herself an imaginary high five at the internal pep talk and tried to ignore the men in front of her.

  The last month had taught her one thing: if she couldn’t avoid the men that stumbled—aka rushed—into her path, then the only other option was to ignore them. There had been scores of handsome miners that had given up after receiving the silent treatment. It wasn’t that she’d been rude or anything. She’d simply told them she wasn’t interested and then gone about her business.

  She’d plug in her earbuds, regardless of her phone having no power, and pretend to listen to music. Sometimes it would take an hour or two, but the Djaromir had eventually taken the hint and left her alone. The next day, it would start all over.

  Lather, rinse, repeat.

  Dispatching suitors as if she were some sort of spinster ninja had become so easy, she could probably do it in her sleep. Technically, considering she’d taken a small catnap during one of Junie’s engineered tea times, she actually had done it in her sleep. Ignoring men had become her superpower.

  Which was why she couldn’t figure out what about these two guys made them hard to ignore. She had to fight the urge to lay down and let them cuddle her again. Her body craved the safety she’d felt before she’d woken up.

  “What would it take for you to at least give us a chance?” Paine asked, heart in his eyes, as he watched her.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized, feeling guilty for the sad looks her words put on their faces. “The sooner I get back, the sooner all of this is behind me. I don’t even know that the job I had before is still open, but I do know that if I wait any longer it will be easier for them to turn me away.”

  “What if you didn’t need to worry about a job a month from now,” Rowe said, giving her a look she wasn’t able to read.

  “But I will need a job because I am going back,” Indigo repeated, nodding for emphasis.

  “But what if you didn’t?”

  Indigo frowned. Were they speaking two different languages? Her brain was too tired and confused to work on trying to figure out the riddle of what he was saying.

  “I’m not sure if you’re trying to be confusing, but I don’t understand what you’re getting at.” She glanced over at Paine to see if he could help clear up whatever his friend was trying to say.

  Paine looked at her and shrugged. His face was adorable even when he was confused.

  “The women that were matched still fall under the initial contract. You could tell the others that you changed your mind and want to go home, but what will that get you?” he asked bluntly. “If you stay and fulfill the terms of the trial period, you’ll at least have enough money to start over if you decide to leave.”

  Indigo was stunned. She couldn’t believe he was suggesting the plan that she’d come up with in the first place. She was more than a little suspicious of the offer though. From where she was sitting, she had nothing to lose.

  “What do you get out of it?” she asked, unable to stop the question from tumbling out of her mouth.

  “Yeah, Rowe. What do we get out of it?” Paine practically growled with anger toward his friend.

  “Hear me out, brother.” Rowe held out his hand to Paine. “Trust me.”

  Indigo watched the exchange, unsure what was happening, but not wanting to interrupt.

  “Where you go, I go.” Paine shook the hand Rowe had offered before looking back at her. The anger on his face was gone.

  Even if she hadn’t witnessed…whatever that was, the trust between the two was more than obvious.

  Rowe leaned forward, catching her attention again. “Fulfill your part of the contract and we will make sure that you still get the stipend that was originally offered. Thirty days for us to convince you to stay.”

  “Between us,” Paine added, giving her a devilish grin.

  Indigo sucked in air so quickly that she choked on her own spit. Coughing, she tried to catch her breath even as she was sure she would be the first person ever to die from something like this. The men moved immediately. Paine began patting her back while Rowe spoke to her soothingly.

  “Breathe, love. Just breathe,” Rowe encouraged, his tone reminding her of one someone would use with a child.

  On her other side, Paine’s attention spanned the gamut from soft pats on her back to resounding pounds strong enough to knock a rib loose.

  Every time his hand fell, she was reminded of the fact that she went to bed in her pajamas. Pajamas that consisted of a soft tank top and shorts. Her tank was so thin it almost felt like there was nothing between his hand and her skin. Even on the verge of dying, it made her nipples hard.

  Control yourselves, you hussies!

  Indigo leaned away, hoping he’d get the hint.

  “Are you okay?” Paine asked, following her move with one of his own to continue his not-so-helpful assault.

  “Yes,” she rasped, turning to catch his hand before he could hit her again. “And thank you.”

  It really had been sweet of him to try to help her, and it earned him an A for effort, even though he’d practically knocked the wind out of her making it harder to catch her breath.

  “You’re welcome.” Paine tangled his fingers with her and gave them a squeeze. “It was partially my fault anyways.”

  “Ahem,” Rowe interrupted. “You might want to—”

  Indigo turned to see him ges
turing towards her front. Once pointed out, she didn’t know how she’d missed the fact that her breast was completely bare. Slapping a hand over the boob in question, Indigo felt her face flame. Her twisting had managed to line up perfectly with the armhole of her tank, and voila.

  She’d just treated Rowe and Paine to front-row seats of an unplanned peep show.

  “Holy tit,” she moaned, wanting nothing more than to disappear.

  “Did you just say holy tit?” Paine snickered, looking over her shoulder where her hand was concealing her nipple and as much of her double D bosoms it could.

  “Let’s all pretend that none of that ever happened,” Indigo said as she adjusted her tank top and tugged her forgotten blanket back up. “I’m just going to go under here and die.”

  “Don’t do that.” Rowe laughed as he kept her from covering her head. Letting go of the cover, he gave her a serious look, which countermanded the twinkle she could see clearly in his eyes. “Your breasts are beautiful. You should be proud of them, not ashamed.”

  “I know I am,” Paine quipped with a wink.

  Indigo couldn’t stop the snort that escaped her. Crossing an arm over her chest, she held the blanket there and took a swing at Paine. Smacking his arm, she laughed as he fell over dramatically.

  These two were a strange bag of mixed nuts. Funny and teasing one minute, serious and sexy the next. It caught her off guard. She wouldn’t have expected it from the look of them. She saw a couple of muscle-bound, stern-looking warriors—scary looking fangs included. Yet, when they smiled and gazed upon her? Well, it was enough to make her forget her damn name.

  “What do you think?” Rowe asked, bringing her attention back to the serious conversation they were having before her near death and nipple flash.

  “What do I think?” she repeated, buying herself some time to figure out what she was in fact “thinking.”

  She was tempted, but she’d given into that temptation once and that had landed her into some major trouble. Her plan had backfired so badly it had literally almost killed her. All things considered, it was a lesson she wasn’t going to be forgetting anytime soon.