Page 27 of Claimed By Brothers

“I don’t mind coming around more,” Helios says. “But I’ve yet to find a friend among my people who would join me in such a bond. I need some time to look at those close to me in order to figure out the perfect candidate. If we’re to forge a connection with Alicia, there must be two of us.”

“I’ve wanted to ask for a while now,” I interject politely. “Is it always two of you and one woman?”

“Yes,” Helios replies. “There have always been more men than women on Sunna, and the tradition is so ancient we simply cannot fathom single couples. Few have managed in pairs, but they never last for long. There is strength in numbers, and our unions are always better with two men by the woman’s side.”

“And what of the men who don’t have brothers or friends close enough to join them in a bond?”

Izzo lets a heavy sigh roll off his chest. “They die alone. Solitude is a curse on Sunna.”

“Is it really that cut and dry?” I’m genuinely surprised. “What about the survival of your species? Must there really be three of you in order for it to work? It doesn’t make much sense.”

“Maybe not to you,” Helios says. “But to us, it’s been a way of life for far too long for it to make sense in any other way. Worry not, Amber. While it’s been harder lately on account of most of our women dying off, we’re all ready and capable of forming new bonds. The instances of single males in our species have always been rare. Few ever truly died alone, like Izzo said.” He pauses and smiles at the bonfire. I follow his gaze to see some of the younger men dancing around it while two elders beat a set of drums in a steadily growing rhythm. “Ah, it begins.”

“What begins?” I ask.

“The night of red fires,” he says.

“There will be no more red fire nights unless you help us protect the human women,” Izzo calmly reminds him, yet his hand keeps traveling up my thigh, fingers slowly reaching under my dress. I suck in a deep breath and stiffen my back, but I don’t say a word, secretly yearning for him to find my core wet and ready for him. “I need to strengthen my defenses, Helios. And I need all of the Fire Tribe in order to do that.”

“You are asking a lot,” Helios replies. “What do the Hadana twins think about it? Are they ready to fight the Sky Tribe for these women?”

“Aren’t you?” Izzo shoots back. “You’re clearly interested in Alicia, Helios. How will you get yourself a human woman if you don’t protect her?”

Helios takes a long sip of his liquor, his red eyes darting across the terrace as a half-smile teases the corner of his mouth. “Maybe the Sky Tribe doesn’t have the worst idea. They could get us more women. Why go to war over four humans when they could simply be allowed to retrieve more of their kind from Earth?”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” I scoff, anger unfurling in the back of my throat. “What happened to the Fire Tribe’s creed to adhere to a natural way of life?”

“Relax, Amber. I’m just going over the options here,” Helios says patronizingly. “I have no intention of groveling before the Sky Tribe for women who don’t want to be on our planet. But I’m thinking about the doubters in my town. You know our people, Izzo. You know we like to measure our thoughts carefully before any decision.”

Izzo finishes his hot drink at the same time his fingers find my pussy wet and aching for him under the table. “I know, Helios. But I also know that what the Sky Tribe is doing is wrong. We cannot let them trample all over us. Amber and her friends may not be able to return home, but we can offer them love and safety among us. I don’t know if and when the Sky Tribe will be able to launch another starship for a second Earth mission, but I do know they will stop at nothing to get their claws on every single woman of the Fire Tribe. Don’t think for a second that they will settle just for the humans in our midst. They will come for our girls and the surviving females, as well.”

“All right, then,” Helios concedes. “You shall have our support. It won’t be enough. You know that, right? It’ll take a lot more than the Hadana and the Tallas clans to successfully push those bastards back when they come. And we’ve only just barely survived the Battle of the Crimson Sea. It’s been less than a year since we lost many of our brethren trying to take Salla City back, remember?”

Helios goes on to tell me about that particular battle. It sounds gruesome and horrifying, making me feel increasingly worried for my safety, even among the Fire Tribe Sunnis. It ended in bloodshed and countless casualties as a result of a failed attempt to reconquer one of the cities. The Sky Tribe had most of the weaponry and the tactical advantage of their high-rise city structures. The Fire Tribe didn’t stand a chance. Worse even, one or more of the surviving men inadvertently brought strains of the plague back with them. It cost the Mal, the Hadana, and a few other clans several of their girls.

“The males are mere carriers of the disease,” Helios explains. “It took us a long time to figure that out because we never exhibited symptoms. It was a tragedy, and in the absence of medical equipment, we couldn’t even test our blood to study the transmission conditions further.”

“I’m sorry you all had to go through that,” I mumble, sadness testing my heart.

“Let us not dwell over the past anymore,” Helios quips and has more bowls of hot liquor brought over as the fire dance gets brighter and more crowded with more young men joining in. “Let us drink our minds away and let the fire of Sunna consume us.”

Somewhere across the terrace, seated between two strapping Tallas clan gentlemen, is a gorgeous woman—one of the few here. She wears a skimpy leather top and an even shorter skirt as she tilts her head back to receive some of the hot liquor one of her mates offers to pour into her mouth. I find myself incredibly aroused as I watch them. The woman’s hair is sleek and black, flowing down her back like a cascade of light-consuming ink, while the men touch her and kiss her impatiently.

She smiles as one of their hands slips under her skirt.

At the same time, Izzo intensifies his conquest of me, his fingers probing my tender clit. I inhale sharply and spread my knees under the table to let him work his magic. I stare at the woman, and her gaze finds me. Her other mate cups her breast while Izzo trails kisses down the side of my neck. Tiny fires burn in the woman’s eyes, much like the ones I feel burning in mine. The world around us seems to disappear as she slowly gets up and calls for her mates to follow her.

I can tell they’re horny as hell by the bulges of their loincloths, and I know Izzo’s just as hard and dying to be inside me. His fingers probe my entrance, my cheeks burning red hot as I look away from the woman and steal a glance at Helios—only he’s nowhere to be found.

“Come,” Izzo says. “Whatever is left for me to talk to Helios about can wait until morning.”

“Where did he go?”

“Probably somewhere along the river. As much as he loves the red fire nights, they’re not as much fun without a mate of his own. Even the men you see dancing tonight… will soon tire and go to sleep. None of our flaming rituals have been as compelling since the plague broke out.”

He leans in and hungrily kisses my lips. “I think it’s time for us to move this activity of ours elsewhere, don’t you think?”

Only a few minutes later, Izzo and I are in the cool bedroom at the deepest end of Helios’s house. A single candle burns on the nightstand as my lover peels my dress off with slow, deliberate moves, his breath ragged and his giant cock swollen, twitching under my gaze.

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