Page 61 of Claimed By Brothers

“We don’t know yet,” Cynthia says. “But I would assume there are some risks involved. Sunnaites are bigger, which may be a problem for the human mother carrying their child. We don’t yet know how or if the human body is prepared to adjust to this. There have been instances of earthling mothers carrying and delivering large babies into the world, but there are also complications, which is why I want to keep a close eye on Amber going forward.”

“That settles it, then,” Binzen concludes, clearly rattled but also nowhere near ready to address these risks just yet. He’s just barely got me back. The last thing he and Izzo need is to immediately start worrying about my physical well-being. I guess that’s another bridge for us to cross later. “Alicia will stay with the Tallas clan, Jewel will stay with the Kreek clan, and Cynthia will move just across the river from us with the Hadana clan. Let this be the beginning of a fruitful collaboration between our species and our civilizations.”

“Maybe someday, Sunna and Earth will truly meet,” Izzo says. “Officially, peacefully, and with the prospect of intergalactic collaboration and exploration. We may all be stronger as partners than as enemies.”

“The same applies to the Fire and Sky Tribe,” Maur chimes in. “We should focus on bringing them back into the fold first.”

“Or obliterating them if they insist on following in Umok’s footsteps,” Yossul adds.

The truth is, we already know where this is headed. And it will take each and every one of us to pull off that best-case scenario wherein fewer Sunnaites die in the pursuit of survival. Because that is what it all comes down to, I’m afraid. The survival of an entire species, hopefully not at the cost of another.

29

Amber

By evening, Valen is sleeping soundly in his bed, gently wrapped in a soft blanket. Safe and loved, never to leave our sight again. Soldiers patrol through the town every hour, yet two are constantly stationed around our house. We cannot let anybody get as close as Umok’s men did. The children are no longer off-limits, clearly, but now that we know what we’re dealing with, we also know how to prevent further such incidents.

Watchtowers are being built at each of the four cardinal points of every town within the Fire Tribe’s authority. Every day, fighters will stand up there and watch every inch of land in sight along with the skies to make sure the Sky Tribe can be seen when they’re coming. They will come. But not tonight. Tonight, we rest and rejoice in one another’s company.

Jewel has already left with the Kreek clan. I last saw Alicia carrying some of her things—mostly clothes and jewels gifted to her by the Mal townspeople—to the barge that will soon take her and Helios and Kharo back to the Tallas clan. And Cynthia is likely weaving dreams of her own in a bed across the river from us. I remember her distinctly saying she will not be sharing a house with the Hadana twins anytime soon, though I’m also pretty sure that’ll change before next summer. The bond is already being forged, well out of her control.

As for me, I’m half-submerged in the steamy waters of the obsidian cave, my skin melting and my muscles gradually relaxing as the trauma of earlier events begins to wear off. My cuts and bruises have been cleaned and disinfected, gently treated with healing oils, and I can now dip into this marvelous pool. I’m naked and exhausted, but I still can’t sleep, so Binzen and Izzo gather some of the love grass from the pool’s edge before they join me.

“How are you feeling?” Izzo asks, then goes fully underwater for a moment, emerging with a broad grin on his face. “You look splendid.”

“I think I’ll welcome the bed’s comfort soon enough,” I reply with a giggle.

“Not yet, though,” Binzen says, inching closer until his bare shoulder nudges mine.

The cave waters have a multitude of beneficial effects. Muscle relaxing, skin cleansing, soul nurturing, and with just a bite of love grass, they’re downright transcendental. I chew my tuft joyously, fully aware of its impact. I’ll feel it in just a second or two.

“Oh, there it is,” I whisper as the heat spreads through my body and gathers between my legs. “I’ve missed this.”

“And we’ve missed you,” Izzo says, getting serious for a second. “Don’t ever leave our side again, Amber. I can’t take losing you.”

“I won’t, I promise,” I reply, my voice trembling softly. “I love you both too much to fight this. I can’t anymore.”

“Good, because you can’t fight true love,” Binzen whispers in my ear. “We’re in it together. The five of us. You, me, Izzo, Valen, and the little one in your belly. We’ll survive whatever comes our way. We will thrive in the face of adversity as long as we’re together.”

“My heart won’t let me part from you,” I say, turning to look him in the eyes.

Izzo growls softly, his hand reaching underwater between my parted legs. “Your body and your heart belong to us, Amber.”

“Every inch of your body,” Binzen adds, massaging my breasts as he trails kisses down the side of my neck. His lips cause fires to spread across my skin wherever they land, the heat surging and bubbling somewhere at the center of my being. The pressure builds quickly.

Izzo’s fingers work my slick pussy into a shameless frenzy, two of them sliding inside while the thumb flicks my swollen clit, beckoning me closer to the edge. I’m holding on to the pool’s edge with one hand while the other reaches for Binzen’s cock—massive and hard as a fucking rock. I’ll need both hands to hold it properly, but Izzo’s finger-fucking forces me to brace for an explosive orgasm.

I cry out just as Binzen covers my mouth with his. Izzo gets underwater to kiss and suckle each of my breasts, teasing the nipples with his teeth as I come all over his hand. He’s got three fingers in, stretching and priming me for what’s to come. My hips sway back and forth, my flesh taut and my pussy tightening and rippling ferociously in his grip.

“That’s it, let it all out,” Binzen whispers, then bites my shoulder.

The love grass amplifies everything a thousand times over. I feel each wave of the orgasm crashing through me, yet I want more. I need more. I wrap my arms around Izzo’s neck and my legs around his waist while Binzen positions himself on the ledge behind me. He’s hard and ready for me.

“I love you more than life itself,” I tell Izzo as he positions me on top of Binzen’s cock, joined by his own gargantuan erection at my pulsating entrance.

“We love you to all three moons and back,” Binzen hisses as I slowly glide down his and Izzo’s cocks at once. They’re both inside me, stretching me into the realms of madness and filling me in ways I sorely, desperately missed.

“I… oh, God,” I moan sharply as they begin to move.

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