Chapter 16
“Yes. It indicates you have a bonding beyond all others,” His father says proudly. “What’s that mean exactly?” I don’t feel any different than before.
“It means you are more in-tune with each other than most. You have the need to always be close…” Ren chuckles. “Which explains them…” She points at her sons, “It also means you are very sensitive to mood changes in your mate. For instance if they are depressed you will be able to feel that from them without seeing them. I am sure there are other things, but there has only ever been several ‘twice golden’ as they call it, couples before. So we only know bits and pieces about it. I also know that if one dies the other does within minutes of their mate,” Her mood saddens.
“But that isn’t going to happen for a long time,” Kiy reassures her.
“Now, if your ready, let’s go announce your mating.”
“Just give us a second and we’ll follow,” I tell them.
Kiy walks over and gives me a hug as does his wife again before exiting the room.
I turn to Lenime who is grinning, but looking at me curiously.
“Len , I love you so much and I want you to touch me, just not in front of people, please?” I plead.
“But you like me touching you?” I roll my eyes knowing that and I love you, is all he heard.
I wrap my arms around him best I can. “Yes, you annoying handsome man, I love you touching me…” And this is where he stops listening again. “…Just not in front of others”
He wraps his arms around me, drawing me in closer and starts licking the side of my face.
“You know he wasn’t listening to most of that?” Phe says again stepping forwards and sandwiching me between the two.
“I know, Jet. I’ve probably only made it worst,” I sigh. He chuckles, “For sure.” He bends down and begins licking my other cheek.
All I could think is if only Aaron could see me now, he definitely wouldn’t be calling me the virgin Mary.
After a minute I decide we really have to be joining the party again.
Phe and Lenime isn’t happy about being stopped showing me their love, but they knows as much as I that we need to join the others.
“I promise you can give my whole body a tongue bath afterwards,” I says actually walking, yes, walking out of the room tucked in between my mates.
“Or we could skip this and do the tongue bathing now,” Phe suggests exiting the room.
“I love that idea. I need to see my button.” We all know who said that.
“No, you don’t,” Kiy stops in front of us.
He and Ren had waited outside the door for us.
“You are coming with us,” He says grabbing Lenime’s hand.
“But my button…” He sounds like a child who has just had his favourite toy taken away.
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Kiy says dragging Lenime with him and Ren has her arm around my shoulder, leaving Phe alone.
“She is our mate, mother,” He tries to take me back but she hit his hand away. “And she is my daughter now.”
It is quite comical. Lenime also continues holding his hand out but his father is pulling him.
“You will be fine for a minute,” She tells them.
I laugh, “He won’t even let me use the toilet by myself. Even if I beg,” I tell her and she frowns.
“I’ll speak with them later,” She reassures me.
“Aammmbbbbeeerrrr!” Lenime says dramatically, trying to get my attention.
I chuckles, “Yes, Len?”
“Hello,” He says normally, making me laugh more.
“Hello.” He is happy I am paying attention to him.
“Amber, I miss you,” It is Phe standing beside me, trying to take my hand and attention.
Thankfully, we get in the room where everyone is standing about speaking to each other.
Everyone stops speaking and eyes turn to us.
“Lenime still being a bad boy?” Koya laughs seeing her father holding his hand.
“He keeps rambling about a button,” Ren says making Koya and Ty laugh.
I guess they remember earlier. Everyone looks at them unsure.
Then a look of realization and then a smile takes over and she runs over to me and picks me up out of her mother’s grip.
“Koya, put me down.” As her brother did she ignores me.
“You are, aren’t you?” I know she is talking about, Lenime and me being mates.
She has me in her arms off the ground.
“Put her down, Koya,” Phe walks over and takes me from her arms.
Great, I am now bridal style again.
“I give up.” I flop my head back against his chest. “I miss holding you,” He kisses the top of my head.
Lenime is frowning in our direction.
I can feel his loneliness.
“She is. Isn’t she?” Koya asks Phe third time.
As though sensing Lenime’s loneliness too, Phe automatically walks over to him.
Lenime’s hand is straight onto my cheek, brushing my hair away again. It is strange, but at that I moment I can feel both my mates contempt feeling. I get so lost in Lenime’s gaze that I totally forget where I am for a minute.
Until…
“Let me make a reintroduction. Everyone, this is Amber…” I turn my head to see everyone staring. Lenime doesn’t seem to be paying attention because I feel his fingers playing with my ponytail and neither is Phe. He is just staring at me and stroking my side as he holds me. But both are happy, despite Kiy still holding Lenime’s hand. So I am happy too.
“… Phe’s and Lenime’s mate.” Everyone but Koya and Ty stood wide eyed.
“I knew it!” She says bouncing around.
“As soon as they said button I knew.” She and Ty bounce over to us. Well, she bounced and he follows behind walking and chuckling at his mate.
“And they are twice golden,” Ren announces proudly.
Cue dozens of voices asking questions.
A few I hear are, “How?”
“But she is only a junior. Isn’t she?”
“Can I see the marks?”
“What button?”
I can’t help but laugh at that last one.
“Quiet!” Kiy orders and everyone goes instantly silent.
“We will try to answer your questions, but some we don’t know,” He tells them and finally let go of Lenime’s hand.
He tries to get me and Phe to make an escape, but Ren grabs his hand stopping him.
He goes back to pouting.
“Phe, put Amber down, please,” He tells him.
Phe grumbles but does as he asked and places me between them.
Ren is still holding his hand, but now he and Phe are holding mine too.
“She’s so tiny,” Another unfamiliar male voice says.
“How old is she?” A similar but not the same voice.
“Technically, she is the oldest person on the whole ship.” A few people gasp. “She was in stasis for around a eight hundred years after all. But biologically she is full grown, she is twenty-six. Her race are just smaller than ours,” Ren is the one doing the speaking this time.
“As for why she has two mates… We do not know that but all that matters is they are happy and have successfully joined,” She pauses thinking what else they had asked.
“The button? No Idea…”
“That is…” Lenime tries to take his hand from mine to show them, but I keep a death grip on it.
“It isn’t important,” I tell them leaving no room for argument.
“Can we see your marks?” A man who looks a looks like a younger Ty asks.
Both my mates happily show theirs, but I, on the other hand, am more reluctant.
It is one thing pulling my suit down in front of their parents but another in a room jammed with people I don’t know.
Not to mention my charmers wandering hands.
They all crowed around and take turns to admire the marks. Of course Lenime’s went all the way down, but he only shows them to his waist.
Koya walks over to me “Can I see your please, Amber?” She reminds me of Lenime. It is just as sweet as him the way she asks I can’t say no.
“Alright, but hold Lenime’s hand. I don’t want him searching for ‘the button’ in front of everyone,” I tell her lowly, but both my mates must have heard because Lenime is grinning and Phe is giving him a warning look.
Thank God, I have been having laser treatment on my under arm hair and had them waxed just before I went into stasis or I would look like a monkey.
I’ll have to find a new way to remove my unwanted hairs.
Koya giggles, “Hang on. I have an idea.” She grabs my hand and began to lead me out of the room.
It isn’t even a second before I am being snatched back into the arms of Lenime this time but Phe is right beside us and they are both still topless.
“You are not taking her anywhere,” Lenime glares at his sister.
“She is ours,” Phe growls.
“Len, Phe please don’t yell at her,” I ask trying to calm them down.
Their faces instantly soften and Phe moves in front of me entombing me between them.
I am thankful Lenime is holding me off the ground otherwise I wouldn’t be able to breath Phe is that close.
I hear a few gasps and mumbled words being exchanged, but nothing I can make out and my mates don’t seem to care about the others.
They both have their entire attention on me. I feel completely content staying here. I can feel waves of happiness flowing from them to me.
I place one hand on each of my mates chests and touch their bare skin.
My fingers tingled, as though stung by a light pulse of electric. It isn’t a bad feeling, the exact opposite. It is one of the best feelings I have ever had without joining with my mates.
I barely even notice them both move in front of me, whilst still somehow keeping me in their arm and my hands still attached to their chests. At least not until my eyes connect with both of my mates. I know instantly, in that fraction of a second that they are feeling the same thing as me. The joy, love, need, the absoluteness, everything.
“You complete me,” Our voice eerily say as if we are one.
It is the strangest feeling. Almost as if our minds are all connected by one long string. It start at me, then each of them before returning to me.
I don’t know how long we are stood there just staring at each other. But in that time we all forget the people around us. Hearing nothing as though we are alone. But the truth is the entire time they are speaking trying to figure out what we are doing.
“First they have two mates now this…? What is happening?” A voice I don’t recognize breaks through.
It is as though something clicked. I knew exactly what was happening… Okay, maybe not totally, but I had an idea.
“They only have one mate,” I feel everyone’s eyes land on me, though my eyes stays on my mates.
“Amber is my mate,” “And she is mine,” Both Lenime and Phe say still connected with me.
“Both Lenime and Phe are my mates, but not each other’s.”
I suddenly snap out of my mates gaze. “I need to check something,” I say moving from between my mates and out the door.
I hear hurried footsteps and know without looking who it is
Before I even get my foot through the door I am swept up into someone’s arms.
“Where are we going, love?” Phe says nuzzling my neck. And yes, they still are only half dressed. Not that I mind.
“I want to look at some stuff on them data sticks. I want to look over some of the research results Aaron sent to do with the accident.” Phe is carrying me towards the lift and Lenime is walking beside us holding my hand.
“Can you help me go over the results if I read them to you?” I ask Lenime knowing he does the same kind of thing as me and might be able to see something I can’t.
His face lights up. “I would love too.” He kisses the back of my hand.
“Thank, Len.” I turn my attention back to Phe. “And you handsome man, can help if you can?” I say not wanting to leaving him out.
“I’m not really any good at stuff like that, but I’ll give it a go for you.”
“How about we go to the room and have the contents of the sticks transfer to a private file on the main computer and then we can look it over in the comfort of our own room?” Lenime suggests.
“I like that idea,” Phe agrees and with that we do as he said.
