Spaceport: Juiced Page 6

This time, she used her training to hold her own release at bay. The desire to watch Tomak come apart, even though she’d heard him climax not that long ago, had her making minute adjustments to each stroke. The promise of Tomak’s kiss was realized in the silken slide of his shaft. Unable to elude her climax any longer, she closed her eyes and gave in to the pleasure.

  * * *

  The woman riding him exceeded Tomak’s wildest dreams. With Zaiden beside him, watching them, urging her on, Tomak found his desire intensified. As Ioanne came atop him, he focused on her expressive face, the exquisite thrust of her breasts with their hard nipples. So beautiful. So perfect. He’d never found anything like this on, or off, the TriZ court or in the rush of Styng entering his blood. Never.

  His mouth went dry, his balls tightening with the need to fill her with his seed. Thrusting into her hard enough to elicit another cry, the mouth of her womb riding the head of his cock, he gave himself over to the sensation. He closed his eyes, needing to focus on her, on his body, and he thrust into her, trying to savor every single moment.

  At the pinnacle of his stroke, he stiffened. His balls tightened so much they ached with the need for release. An all-too-familiar pressure built, and then he came hard and fast, his come shooting deep inside her. He shouted, lost to everything but the sensations rocking his body, the ripples of release and the feel of her pussy milking every last drop from him.

  Panting, Ioanne collapsed atop him, and he cradled her slight weight. Zaiden rolled into him, his hand splayed on her back, his cheek against Tomak’s shoulder. Tomak smiled. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined them ending up this way when Zaiden had announced his crazy scheme. He squeezed his eyes closed, wanting the memories of this moment burned into his mind. Because he knew once the withdrawals hit, he’d need everything he could just to make it through.

  Chapter Six

  Of the three of them, Tomak woke the earliest. He crept his way into the room he shared with Zaiden, though the other man was still in Ioanne’s bedroom, and checked his messages on the com unit. Deke, his agent, had called. Groaning, he sank into the bed and rubbed his hand over his face. They’d barely been here two days. Two days and already his agent was riding his ass.

  Better get this over with. He savagely hit the button that would return the call to Deke. Stupid agent had sent him here to get clean. If he tried to pull him back -- Tomak shook his head. He wouldn’t go. Not when he finally had a chance to kick his addiction and get his relationship with Zaiden back on track.

  He raked his fingers through his short hair, making it stand up on end. Mentally, he calculated the time difference and bit back a mocking laugh. He’d be lucky to get Deke. The team had a game in three hours. Most likely Deke was out scouting the lower level league teams, hoping for the new Tomak, just in case he didn’t get the old one back.

  “Yo!” Deke’s face popped into view. He spoke to someone off camera, and Tomak smiled, catching the words “salary” and “rights.”

  “You called?” Normally Tomak waited for Deke to finish his work. Sure, he might be Deke’s highest grossing client, but that didn’t mean he had to be rude. Today, after experiencing Ioanne’s delicious lovemaking, anything that took him away from her, or Zaiden, chafed.

  “Change of plans. I need you back here in three days, ready to play.” Deke waved to someone out of visual range.

  “I don’t think so. You know what I’ll be like in a few days, and it won’t be fit to play. Not with the --”

  Deke shushed him with a wave of his hand.

  Oh, so that was how it was. Deke hadn’t revealed the real reason for Tomak’s vacation, and now his coach wanted him back, pronto. They had a high-level game, probably one that would make or break their season to play. “Sorry. I won’t be there.”

  “You will if you want to stay on the team. The league won’t wait. You don’t come back -- well, can’t say you’ll ever play again.”

  Tomak bolted to his feet. “That’s bullshit.” He tempered his voice just enough so it wouldn’t carry beyond the door. “You’re the one who told me to come here, remember? You said I needed a ‘break’.” He put finger quotes around the word, because both of them knew it wasn’t a seaside vacation.

  “You’ve missed two games. The owner isn’t going to pay for someone who doesn’t want to play.”

  Tomak crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s not the way it is and you know it. They kept Jetea on after he broke his arm. Six whole weeks in a cast plus four of rehab before he came back. Didn’t lose a credit.”

  Deke shrugged, a faux-sympathetic look on his face. “Sorry, man. That’s how it is.”

  Tomak drew a deep breath. He’d exploded at Deke before, and his agent had weathered the storms fairly well. Things had changed. Deke’s eyes held a calculating coldness far greater than they’d ever had before. “You kick me off the team, I go to the TZC and tell them what I know.” At this point, he didn’t care who in the room heard him. He’d just gotten his chance to rebuild his life. He had no idea if he even wanted to go back, but if someone wanted to yank the opportunity away from him, he’d fight them all he could.

  The visual field swiveled, revealing the grizzled face of his coach. “You go to the TZC you’ll look like a poor, washed-up player who got into too much trouble. This order comes from the owner. You come back and all is forgiven.”

  “I’m addicted to Styng. You run a clean club. You’ve told us that enough. Whether I believe it or not…” Tomak shrugged. “I’m tired of the juice. I play clean, or I don’t play at all. Wasn’t that what you told me, Deke?” He smiled, putting some venom behind the sugar.

  “You come back and play. Or you’re off the team. Your choice. I’ll give you a day. One. Day.”

  “I don’t think you want a bitchy, shaky TriZ player. You seen guys going through Styng detox?” Tomak arched an eyebrow.

  The door to their room opened. He ignored it, not needing the distraction right now. His gut churned. Maybe that was why he’d turned to the juice. Not to enhance his performance, though he knew it would be tough playing against guys pumped full of the stuff. But because he wasn’t happy, he was searching for something… or someone. Maybe she slept in the bed across the hall. Maybe he didn’t need TriZ at all. Tomak relaxed his jaw, suddenly aware he’d been grinding his teeth.

  “One day, man. That’s all I can give you. You come back, you handle your symptoms.”

  “With what? You know nothing cuts Styng’s bite.”

  Coach shrugged, all his talk about running a clean club only so much crap. “However you need to. I need the league MVP back, not a junkie.”

  The bed dipped as Zaiden sat down. “I…” He couldn’t say the words. Knowing this day was coming for a long time, and actually making it happen, were two completely different things. “I’ll think about it and get back to you tomorrow morning, if not sooner. Either way, by tomorrow, you’ll have my decision.”

  “See that you make the right one. There will be end of season bonuses if you can pull the team through.” Without waiting for an answer, Deke disconnected the call.

  Tomak cursed. He pounded his fist on the bed beside him, wishing he had the guts to tell his agent to stick their offer in the nearest supernova. On the court he had plenty of courage, though maybe that was why he’d turned to Styng in the first place. He exhaled and felt a strong, warm hand on his back.

  Zaiden. No matter what happened his lover was there, by his side, coaxing him through the worst pain and injuries, or bringing him down after the adrenaline and hype of a game. Tomak closed his eyes. He’d come so far, learned too much to go back to the TriZ court now.

  “Deke’s a bastard.”

  Zaiden’s pithy comment made Tomak smile. “Yeah, he is.”

  “That’s a hell of a choice.”

  “Yeah.” Tomak resisted the urge to lean back on the bed and lose himself in Zaiden’s body.

  “Ioanne is up. She’s got some crazy smoothie drink that she swears wil
l help get you detoxed before the bad stuff hits.” Zaiden stood. “I dare you to drink it.”

  Tomak laughed, thinking of some of the crazy cuisine he’d eaten with the team. “Why’s that?”

  “Smells like gnit piss and is about the same color.” Zaiden’s eyes twinkled.

  “You just make it sound good.” Tomak stood, knowing the longer he stayed here the worse his mind was going to circle. He needed to be out, maybe force whatever it was Ioanne wanted him to drink down his throat, try to figure things out.

  Zaiden clamped him on the shoulder, stopping his forward movement. “Seriously. Before we go out there, because she has the best morning after look of any woman I’ve ever seen, you going to blow this all and go back to the league? I don’t think either one of us can compete with being the league MVP and an end of season bonus.”

  “Do you think you have to?” Tomak pulled Zaiden into a crushing hug. He clapped his lover on the back. “Do you really think it’s a choice?”

  Zaiden sagged against him. Slowly, his arms came up, pulling Tomak into a bear hug. Against his stomach, Zaiden’s cock hardened, matching his own arousal. “She’s wary. If I’d known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have suggested her. Don’t --”

  A slight tilt of his head, and Tomak swallowed Zaiden’s words. He knew what his lover was going to say. Don’t screw this up. Don’t hurt her. Don’t be an ass. No matter what phrase followed, it all meant the same thing. He had to be sure, really fucking sure, before he called Deke back. Because once he said those words aloud, there wasn’t any going back.

  He pulled away, sliding from Zaiden’s embrace. “You said Ioanne has some gnit piss for me?” He arched an eyebrow and tried not to laugh.

  “Yeah, just don’t tell her that’s what I called it. I was going to head out and touch base with some of my old colleagues. I don’t have to.”

  “Thanks. I think I’d like you here for this. You can touch base tomorrow? Besides the withdrawals might hit, and you’ll want to get away from my screaming, scratching, ugly face.” He managed a smile, even though the thought of going through detox scared him even more than Ioanne’s foul-tasting drink. He’d had some sports medicine docs pour foul things down him. He figured Ioanne’s couldn’t be any worse.

  By the time he made it to the kitchen area and downed the first, brave gulp, he knew Zaiden hadn’t been making this up. He’d never tasted gnit urine, though he’d found himself in some very seedy alleys that stank like it, but he suspected the drink wasn’t far off. Ioanne’d seemed so proud of herself, pouring spices and tinctures into the mixer, he hadn’t had the heart to stop her. Even if it meant he had to drink it.

  Zaiden looked from her to him, then back again, and Tomak knew exactly what his lover was trying to say. Tell her. He nodded, knowing he had to do just that. He drained the last of his smoothie and winced at the bitter taste. Right now a beer would be far more favorable to that greenish yellow slime. He wrinkled his nose, quickly smoothing his expression as Ioanne turned.

  “My agent called last night. I called him back this morning. He wanted me to come back. Apparently the team isn’t willing to continue without me. I come back, or they drop me.” He didn’t sugarcoat it. Ioanne was a big girl. She’d proven that last night.

  “What do you want to do?”

  He smiled and set the glass down, thankful there wasn’t any more of the foul liquid. “Truthfully? I want to meditate, and I’d like Zaiden to join us. Then, I’ll think about it. Going back to the team means going back to Styng. I have a chance to keep it from ruining my life. I’d like to see what I can do and who I can do it with.” He smiled.

  Ioanne’s sudden gasp told him she knew exactly what he meant. Saying it out loud to Deke was one thing -- to them, well, that was another. Zaiden’s grin nearly split his face. He took two bounding steps across the small kitchenette and pulled Tomak into his second bear hug of the morning.

  Moments later, Zaiden released him and started for the large meditation room. “Last one naked gets to drink more of that smoothie.” Laughing, he darted out the door.

  “Hey!” Ioanne yelled after him. She turned to Tomak. “You liked it, right?”

  He’d made some pretty tricky moves on the TriZ court. He could negotiate this. “It’s like medicine, tastes horrible but it’s good for you. Zaiden’s the one who said it tasted like gnit piss.”

  “Hey!” Ioanne yelled again, darting after Zaiden. “That wasn’t very nice.”

  Chuckling, Tomak followed. If this was what awaited him if he decided to stay, then he couldn’t wait. Might be nice to put someone else in the hot seat for a change, and the two of them could make Zaiden’s life very interesting indeed. Good payback for all those physical therapy sessions. He waited a moment, then when he didn’t hear anything decided he’d better follow. After all, when it came to meditation, he had to show Zaiden how it was done.

  Chapter Seven

  Ioanne opened her eyes and allowed the soft chimes she’d programmed into the ambient music system to whisk the last of her tension away. Pressing her hands palm down on the floor, she took several deep, steady breaths to ground herself. On two pillows across from her, Zaiden and Tomak still had their eyes closed, and she took a moment to study the two men.

  She’d thought that making love with them would make it more difficult for her to meditate. Instead, it made it easier. Knowing their bodies, and knowing that there was a time and place for her to have them if she so wished, kept her libido in check. Oh, she wanted them. Zaiden’s cock rested against his thigh, more erect than Tomak’s. The contrast between them made her wish she were an artist so she could capture their likenesses forever.

  She stared at Tomak, the TriZ player holding an allure of the new and not-quite-forbidden. His revelation at breakfast, and the easy way he handled her detox concoction, shook her. His agent wanted him back. He obviously didn’t want to go.

  For now? Forever? She licked her lips and swallowed hard. Rising effortlessly to her feet, she went to the small kitchenette, still nude, and arranged a loaf of crusty bread and some dipping oil on a tray with three large glasses of fruit juice from her small plot in the arboretum. Satisfied that the food would nourish and ground them, she brought the tray back and set it between them.

  When she sat back down again, she realized that the guys had come out of their sitting meditation and were watching her. Tomak reached for the bread, breaking it into chunks, and dipping one into the oil. He ate, washing it down with a swig of juice. Good. The food would ground him, help him face what was to come.

  “I don’t want to go back to the league,” Tomak said, startling her.

  Zaiden grabbed a chunk of bread and followed Tomak’s lead.

  “I’m glad,” Ioanne admitted. “I’m really, really glad.”

  “Good.” Tomak reached across the space separating them and tangled his fingers with Ioanne’s. “This is a leap for you, I know. You agreed for Zaiden and me to come here to get help with my addiction to Styng. Things are good for now, but we all know in a couple of days it’s going to get bad. I don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want, but I want to figure out what we have here. I want to learn how to control this. I’m tired of going, of staying in a different place every night. I want a home, and I think I want it with you.”

  Ioanne squeezed his fingers, certain if she let go she’d awaken from this dream. His words rocked her, made her hope for things that she’d thought forbidden. Her body swayed toward his, yearning for his touch. She licked her lips.

  Tomak released her left hand.

  She mourned the loss, until she saw him reach for Zaiden to clasp his fingers.

  “I thought you said that TriZ was your life. I wouldn’t have worked so hard on your knee last season if I thought you wanted to settle down.” Zaiden grinned, though beneath his words hung sorrow.

  “I know. I wasn’t ready then. I am now.” Tomak released a sigh. “Tell me what I need to do, Ioanne. I want to kick this, e
ven if it means drinking more of those smoothies.”

  Her heart lurched. “I wish I had all the answers. The best I can tell you is that you’re in the right place. Keep meditating, work on cleansing your body. The more you’re detoxed, the easier it will be to ride out the withdrawals. They won’t be easy though, by any means.”

  “I’m trying to keep him here,” Zaiden growled.

  “I know. And we won’t do that by coddling him.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, Zaiden. I thought I had a home with the league. Deke and Coach showed me how wrong I was. I was so wrong.”

  “You’re not wrong now.” Deep inside, Ioanne sensed the need to reassure Tomak that he wasn’t making the wrong choice. To the contrary, even if her heart wasn’t involved -- and oh, it was -- the priestess in her knew that Tomak’s actions would bring him balance and peace. Those were two very precious commodities she doubted TriZ gave him.

  Tomak sighed.

  Time to lay things on the line. Forty-eight hours ago she would have laughed at anyone who suggested she would break her celibacy with her childhood friend and his lover. Forty-eight hours ago she would have scoffed that someone, or two someones, would get beneath her icy wall. Now, in such a short period of time, she couldn’t imagine being without them.

  “I know you brought me here for more than my Styng addiction.” Tomak turned to his lover and grinned. “You hadn’t spoken about Ioanne much. What you did say told me she was a very special person to you. I could have gone anywhere, to any of the luxury resorts that catered to celebrity substance abuse. Instead, you brought me here.”

  “Those places wouldn’t have helped you.” Zaiden released Tomak’s hand and folded his own in his lap. “They’re not designed to help people.”

  “No, not the way you and Ioanne can. That is, if she’ll have us.” He flashed his trademark grin, the one that melted hearts and opened sponsors’ wallets.

  “Why would I turn you away?” She helped herself to the refreshments, pleasantly surprised that neither of the men had gone to get their clothing. With her practice, she was used to sitting around naked. Her nudity didn’t bother her. The men, on the other hand -- well, perhaps they thought this was their way of getting a free show. “Like Zaiden, my goal is to help people. I wouldn’t turn you out.”