Replicant: The Kithran Regenesis, Book 2 by Dani Worth

anything. “You two need to talk or whatever it is you need to do together. I’m headed to my big bathtub for a little solo time before I strip down and give anyone with a com a show.”
    I walked away from Maska, passed the silent blond human and stopped. I wanted to ask them to come with me so badly, it hurt to hold the words back. Instead, I walked fast all the way back to my living pod and didn’t bother to engage the lock as I dropped clothes all the way into the bathroom. The room was dark with the covered dome, and automatically, I reached out to open the top just enough to let in moonlight. The roar of wind filled the room, but I could still hear the heavy thundering of my own heartbeat in my ears.
    Walking away from those two had been so hard, and I couldn’t understand it. Couldn’t understand why I wanted them so much, why I felt connected to them. I could only think it was being back here on Kithra and feeling all the old surges of emotion and that desire for family I’d once had here.
    I stared at the strip of night between the open sides of the protective dome and watched leaves sailing past, carried on winds that could last hours or stop suddenly. The bathtub began to fill from the four surrounding spigots, and because I had it set to hot as shit, steam quickly filled the room. I liked the way it caressed my naked skin.
    My heart still beat so hard, it threatened to break through my ribs. Tingles in my fingers made me flex my hands and raise them to cup my breasts.
    A big, warm hand stroked over my backside and I closed my eyes, held my breath.
    They’d followed.
    Now that I wasn’t focused on holding back my insane arousal, I could hear two different breathing patterns in the dark behind me. Lips touched one shoulder; hot breath flowed over the back of my neck. I cried out and hands came up to cup my breasts, covering my own. A groan sounded behind me and water splashed in front. Opening my eyes, I saw Maska standing nude in the fast-deepening water and holding out one hand to me. His hair fell in thick ropes that ended under water. He hadn’t blinked the covers over his eyes, and in here, they looked as black as the night sky above the dome. Wind moaned overhead and I shivered.
    Erik, at my back, stepped in close, and I felt his erection prodding, then sliding between my thighs. I squeezed my thighs together, moved my body back and forth a bit. He tilted his hips, and the tip of his cock slipped through the outer folds of my sex, slippery…hot.
    I should have stopped, told them they needed to work things out between them before adding a third, but after growing up in a society that leaned toward three or more in family groups, I understood this might be easier for them. They could focus on my body and get used to each other again. I let Maska tug me into the water. He didn’t let go once I was in, just kept pulling me close until my body was meshed to his. I groaned at the glide of wet skin and closed my eyes when there was a splash behind me and Erik pressed against my back. When I opened my eyes and glanced up, it was to find the men looking at each other. Maska’s gaze held the same aching love it had that first day as he changed. He had long, sultry lashes that spiked from the water. Erik ran his gaze over Maska’s face and shoulders before he reached out and touched Maska’s shadowed jaw.
    “Soft,” he murmured, awe thickening his voice.
    Maska’s whiskers were nothing like a human’s. They didn’t prickle, and I suddenly wondered what sort of beard he would grow, wanted to see it. Silly thoughts when they were interested in sex with me only to possibly ease them back into a relationship. I was smart enough to realize that.
    And smart enough to take advantage of it, too.
    Erik slid one hand around my waist to anchor my body to his, but the other he slid down Maska’s neck and shoulder. “Not soft here,” he murmured. “I don’t understand how you can have this body, which is so