Page 9 of Twins for the Barbarians

The Kreek brothers double over laughing at this point while I’m feeling something between exhilaration and panic. “I’ve only had the love herb once since I’ve been here, and I swore I wouldn’t touch it again,” I stutter, my skin tingling all over. “You should’ve told me.”

“I didn’t know,” Jewel says and shoots angry glares at Fadai and Yossul.

I’m not sick or anything; I know the herb itself is harmless. But they don’t call it the love herb for nothing. It’s doing something to me, enhancing the sensations I’ve been trying to suppress for a few years. My judgment feels clear, but my decision-making software is on the blink because as soon as I look at Helios and Kharo, I feel arousal taking over and filling my core with something hot and wet and eager to be released.

“You’ll sleep it off; relax,” Fadai tells me.

“I should slip some karna beans into your next meal,” I reply, “and see how you like losing control of your body.”

“You’re not losing control,” Helios says, moving closer and resting one hand on my knee. “Just take deep breaths and let the herb do its work. You’re going to be all right, Alicia.”

His touch alone is enough to make my blood boil. I have a good mind to rip his clothes off him and Kharo right here, right now. I wouldn’t care if the others enjoyed the show. Holy crap, this herb is dangerous and then some. But I follow Helios’ advice and take deep breaths, then smirk at Yossul and Fadai.

“You won’t even know when those karna beans make their way into your food,” I threaten. “Be warned.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Yossul says, half-worried. “We gave you something to take the edge off, and you want us to spend three days in intestinal agony? Doesn’t seem right.”

“Seems fair to me,” Jewel says, shrugging.

Granted, the first time I had karna beans for a digestive problem, I didn’t think they’d be so effective. But the Tallas elder who cooked them for me said it was the only way for me to get some relief. He was right, though he was careful with the dosage.

“You’ll never know,” I hiss menacingly, prompting Jewel to laugh.

“She looks sweet and innocent, but if you push her, she’ll push back.”

“I’m sure she’s just kidding,” Fadai mumbles.

Kharo shakes his head, suppressing his laughter. “I doubt it. Alicia may be one of the sweeter and kinder among the humans of Sunna, but she packs quite the punch if you cross her.”

Such words warm my heart and melt my insides as I struggle to sit up. It’s hard for me even to focus as I laugh and engage the others in conversation. The night rolls on with peculiar fragrances and the kind of dry heat that makes me wish I could shed my clothes. The love herb is a strange thing. All it does is enhance what’s already there.

But the first time I consumed it, I was curious. I’d only been on Sunna for a couple of months, and there was still so much I hadn’t experienced. The effect it had on me was immediate and profound. It scared me because I couldn’t stop thinking about Helios and Kharo for weeks. I spent so many nights touching myself, trying to take some of the edges off—whatever compound is in the love herb; it lasted for much longer than I’d hoped. It also forced me to face a hard truth: The attraction I felt toward the Tallas men could not be denied.

And tonight’s experience proves that. What I felt back then was nothing close to the deluge of desire I’m experiencing at this moment. Five years’ worth of denial and suppressed sexual tension bubbling to the surface, my own body turning against me as I try to resist. By the time the embers of the bonfire settle, however, I know what I must do.

It cannot wait any longer.

Damn those Kreek brothers. They shouldn’t have spiked my tea. We’ve got a perilous journey ahead of us. Helios and Tallas cannot afford any distractions, and neither can I. Yet here I am, sneaking across the hallway in pitch-black darkness and knocking on their door. We were given separate rooms, and I could hear Kingo snoring, the poor thing. Everyone is asleep at this hour anyway, except the sentinels standing guard and, well, me.

The door opens slowly, and Helios steps out to greet me. He’s buck-naked. Oh, God.

Wrapped in a black silk robe, my pussy already dripping wet, I mumble, “Hi.”

His eyebrows pop up, and he measures me from head to toe before he smiles. “What are you doing here, Alicia? You should be asleep.”

“I can’t sleep.”

Helios narrows his crimson eyes at me. “Why?”

“I need you both inside me—now.” I glance down just in time to see his cock twitch, hard and swollen and way too big for me. “From the looks of it, you need to be inside me, too.”

Without hesitation, I walk in, letting him close the door behind me. I find Kharo sitting on the edge of the bed, a towel wrapped around his narrow waist. I feast my eyes on the ropes of taut muscle stretching under his smooth, red skin and lick my lips as I remove my robe.

“The love herb must be quite the ride, huh?” Kharo snickers, but his voice sounds dark, loaded with burning desire.

“All it does is amplify what’s already there,” I say, slowly touching myself. “And I’m done resisting. It’s too much effort for absolutely no reward.”

Helios comes up behind me, his erection wedged between my buttocks. “What do you want from us, Alicia?” he purrs in my ear, and a thousand fires erupt through my torso. “I wish to hear you say it.”

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