"I think I do!" she snapped. "It's just as I told you. They are not human beings at all, but aliens from outer s.p.a.ce. Who knows what they really look like or what kind of monster child I will bear them? Now I will get out of here unless they kill me to stop me."

"Dear me, you do sound serious. Very well then, I will tell you the truth. You need not worry about sleeping with a s.p.a.ce alien. These people are very human indeed and they were once very famous in our world. They are Spartans who traveled to this island and took their old ways here."

"Spartans?" she asked. "From Ancient Greece? But how could you know?"

"How could I not know? Just to start with, they speak Greek. And look at their names...Hurk for Hercules, Hek for Hector and Haln of course comes from Helen of Troy. They are married, but they also have lovers of their own s.e.x and their young men spend their lives in military service to keep the slaves under control. This famous Spartan whip festival was the last piece of evidence for me. We could say Sparta was the basis for every police state that anyone ever came up with...and they certainly lived on Earth."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.

"I was afraid you would inform them and I am not sure they know it themselves. If one of us did tell them the truth, I don't know how they would respond. They might decide to go back to their own country, which would have no place for them...except perhaps to display them like circus freaks. Right now I am wondering what the effect has been on you."

"But they have slaves," she objected.

"And since you are here you can do your best to make their lives easier."

"So they are the Spartans," she responded slowly. "I have heard of them. Someone even made a hit movie about them although I didn't go to see it. Weren't they very brave?"

"They were indeed. The women had great freedom and great beauty, too, like Haln. She is lovely, is she not?"

"She is indeed," Merilee answered, glancing at her sister-in-law. "No wonder, since she is Hurk's sister, after all."

"And you are attracted to them both." When she did not deny it, he went on, "Best of all, you have a real family again and not just a mad old man like me. So let us stop this talk about escaping and enjoy the rest of the whip festival. It should not be long now. As you can see, three contestants have dropped out and they have only reached fifty lashes."

"They did not drop out," she retorted. "They cried out despite themselves. No Spartan would ever give up that easily of his own free will."

"No indeed," he answered gently. "We Spartans never would."

It was down to the last four contestants now. Haln pressed Merilee's arm to call her attention to the action when one of them gave in. Merilee nodded and touched the other woman's shoulder in response, letting her own fingers linger there.

TO LOVE A MORTAL.

Tonya Ramagos He fell in love with her the moment he saw her. Hair of vibrant white flowed around a face with high cheekbones, eyes as green as the plants of the ocean and lips so luscious they made his mouth water. Immortal. She had to be for no mortal he ever saw held such beauty. She stood laughing on the sh.o.r.e with his twin brother, Euryon. Euryon-always the charmer, Phymos thought, always the one to get the lady.

Not this time, he vowed as he walked up behind the beauty and boldly slid his arms around her slim waist. This time, this one is mine. I might share her for a few, but in the end she will be only mine. And he would see she stayed that way forever.

Dira felt his warm breath on the side of her neck even as his wide, muscular arms encircled her waist. She didn't need to turn to know him. She needed only to smell his sweetly masculine scent, feel the power of his presence to know it was Phymos. She waited for him her whole life, wished for him, dreamed of him. She wanted to belong to him, this son of Poseidon, this king of Atlantis. Because of his standing as king she admired him from afar for as a mortal she would be denied him. Of the ten kings of Atlantis, Phymos was one of the few unwed who continued to hold true to the laws of the kingdom set by Poseidon. He would not wed a mortal, would not spare one more than a pa.s.sing glance.

The necklace she wore, a string of the finest pearls and stones of the ocean gifted to her by Euryon, would change that. As long as she wore the necklace, Phymos would sense her as immortal. As payment for such a gift, she had only to have s.e.x with Euryon. Not a hardship, she mused as she looked now into his eyes-eyes the color of sapphires. Eyes the same color and shape as those of the man who stood behind her, held her. The hair, long and shimmering blond, would be the same also as were the oval facial features, broad shoulders and trim hips. Identical twins, Euryon and Phymos, but for the sly look of amus.e.m.e.nt always found in Euryon's eyes and the dimple she knew appeared in Phymos's cheek when he smiled.

No. It wouldn't be a hardship to repay Euryon for the necklace. If she played the game right, she might even convince Phymos to join them.

"Marry me," Phymos whispered in her ear and nipped her lobe with his teeth.

Oh, if only he meant that, she thought wistfully as goose pimples rose to cover her flesh. Could the necklace have more power than Euryon told her? She wanted Phymos to love her with his true heart not because of some spell. "Such an offer from a handsome king is hard to resist," she said and turned her head to look at him. The movement put them nearly nose-to-nose, lips almost touching.

"Then don't refuse," he said, his voice low and seductive. "We can be wed tomorrow."

"Your brother has invited me to his palace," she told him. Her heart hammered in her chest. She wanted nothing more than to accept his offer of marriage, but first a debt must be paid and true feelings must be explored.

"You are welcome to join us, of course," Euryon said. His lips tilted in a mocking grin.

Phymos's features hardened, his own lips setting in a thin line. Dira thought he would refuse.

Instead, he nodded slightly and, in a resigned tone, said, "If the lady wishes. Though I would prefer my palace instead. She should see where she will live once we are wed, after all."

Alarm made her blood slow in her veins. Could his proposal of marriage really come from a true heart? She wanted so desperately to believe, but the suddenness coupled with the spell of the necklace left her in doubt. She gazed into his eyes and hoped he could see the love in her eyes that ran so deep within her. "Take me where you wish, my Lord."

Phymos took her to his chambers in the palace at the northern point of the island mere miles from the temple of Poseidon. He left her to stand beside a huge four-poster bed draped with a curtain canopy of white as he set around the room to light candles.

Euryon drew the curtain on one side of the bed.

She turned to him and caught his arm. "You said the necklace would only make him sense me immortal," she whispered.

"That is all it will do."

Dira looked at him through narrowed, disbelieving eyes. "Then he is serious. This marriage proposal is true?"

"Most likely so," he said with an unconcerned shrug. "The kings of Atlantis often fall in love on sight. It is my guess that is what happened here. The necklace makes him believe, but his heart is true. It is up to you too hold on to both."

She understood what he meant. If...when, she corrected herself, Phymos found out she was truly mortal she could lose him. She couldn't wear the necklace forever, wouldn't keep up this charade. Only long enough to make him love her, she promised herself. Then she would tell him the truth.

"Secrets between a man's brother and his soon-to-be-wife are not very proper," Phymos said as he joined Dira and Euryon at the bed.

Though his words sounded scolding, she saw the glimmer in his eyes and the slight tilt to his lips. Phymos stopped mere inches from her and she felt Euryon move behind her, close in at her back. The brothers seemed to meet each other's gaze over her head for a long moment and she wondered if they ever did this before. Did they make a habit of sharing women?

Phymos lifted a finger, touched it lightly to her jaw just below her ear and let it slide down. Like a delicate feather on her flesh, his finger moved down her face, her throat, her neck and dipped to her cleavage displayed by the dress she wore. She shuddered-her gaze locked with his and she saw a fire spark to life in his eyes. Behind her, Euryon gathered her hair in his hands and pushed it to one side to expose her neck and shoulder. His lips brushed over her skin in a kiss so light it made her tingle all the way to her sandaled feet.

Phymos traced the low cut neckline of her dress, still with only that one finger that seemed intent to drive her mad. When his finger reached her shoulder, he eased one side of the dress down. She felt Euryon mirror the move behind her, sliding the dress off her other shoulder even as he continued to trail kisses along the back of her neck, her shoulder blades. Her hands fisted at her sides, nerves and antic.i.p.ation tangling in her belly as together Phymos and Euryon peeled the top of her dress down to her waist.

A sigh of appreciation broke the silence of the chamber as Phymos gazed down at her naked b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "Beautiful," he whispered as he cupped both of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in his hands. "Absolutely beautiful."

Euryon's hands skimmed her sides. When he met with the dress bunched at her waist, he pushed it down and let it fall in a pool of cloth around her feet. His hands returned to her body, one gliding up and down her spine in slow, lazy caresses while the other flattened on her a.s.s to ma.s.sage her b.u.t.t cheeks.

Phymos grazed his thumbs over her nipples and toyed with them until they swelled, hardened. His gaze met Euryon's once more and as unspoken conversation pa.s.sed between the two brothers.

Yes, Dira thought. They shared women before. Phymos squeezed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and drew a moan from low in her throat. She gasped in surprise seconds later when Euryon fisted his hand in the back of her hair, yanked her head back and crushed his mouth to hers. She felt a flutter of warm air on her right nipple. Phymos's breath, her mind slowly registered as he licked a circle around her nipple, then flicked his tongue over the tip. He caught her left nipple between his thumb and forefinger and twisted it as his teeth gently closed around her right peak.

Arrows of heated desire shot through her, bathed her p.u.s.s.y in wetness. Her body arched, pushed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s into Phymos's hand and mouth even as her tongue tangled with Euryon's in a deep kiss. She felt Euryon's hand, still on her a.s.s, glide over her crack, one finger slipping inside. She made a sound of protest that sounded more like a moan of pleasure even to her own ears with Euryon's mouth clamped to hers. She'd never been touched there and it frightened her even as she felt excitement rear to life in her belly, in her p.u.s.s.y.

"He's playing with your a.s.s, isn't he?" Phymos asked, his voice rough with need.

Euryon broke the kiss.

She gasped, "Yes!"

Phymos chuckled, "He likes to take women that way."

Euryon looked down at her, the glint of mischief that always sparked in his eyes now dimmed by l.u.s.t. "If you want me to join you, you will let me have what I want."

Fear and indecision battled with want and need inside her. She wanted both of these men at this moment, wanted them to take her, to f.u.c.k her. It was no longer about payment for the necklace with Euryon, but the desire to be with two men-one she loved, the other she owed a debt.

"You have such sweet little a.s.s, Dira," Euryon whispered and released his hold on her hair. His finger found her a.n.u.s and circled the outer rim with the fingertip.

Her heart hammered in her chest. Slowly, she raised her head to meet Phymos's gaze.

One of his hands skimmed down her abs, her belly and moved between her legs. "Don't be frightened," he told her softly as his finger found her c.l.i.t. "We will prepare you. You will enjoy it."

With the promise of his words shining in his eyes, she slowly nodded and closed her eyes. Euryon's finger moved from her a.n.u.s, pushed between her legs to delve inside her throbbing p.u.s.s.y. His finger wiggled inside her, pumped a couple of quick, deep thrusts that made her writhe against both men, then he pulled free. The finger returned to her a.n.u.s, spread her own juices around the hole and just inside it to lubricate.

"Spread your legs, Dira," Phymos whispered. "Give us more room to work you."

Shakily, she did as he asked. She wished they would lay her down. She didn't know how long her quivering legs could hold her upright. Especially when Euryon's finger slowly inched inside her a.n.u.s. She gasped, moaned and made other sounds she would have no definition for later. Her eyes opened on darts of shock, pain and pleasure and she lifted her arms to Phymos's shoulders, fisted her hands in the cloth that covered him. By the G.o.ds, she was the only one naked in the room!

"Relax," Euryon said softly, his free hand moving to spread her a.s.s cheeks. "It won't hurt as much if you relax."

Dira tried to relax her muscles, almost succeeded until Phymos pushed a finger into her v.a.g.i.n.a. She cried out, her inner muscles clinching around that finger even as her a.n.u.s tightened around the one inside it. Still, neither man stopped nor withdrew. Instead, they plunged deeper and deeper, slowly at first, then faster and faster until she was nearly screaming from the painful pleasure. In seconds she found herself teetering on the edge of an o.r.g.a.s.mic cliff and, when Phymos raked his thumb over her c.l.i.t and ma.s.saged, she fell.

The o.r.g.a.s.m rocked her, ruled her, consumed her until she could do nothing, but tremble and gasp in their hands. A black haze formed around her vision, her knees shook and she feared she might pa.s.s out.

"Take it easy," Phymos instructed. "Lean against Euryon while I undress."

She collapsed more than leaned into Euryon's arms. Her breath erratic, her mind whirling, her lower body drenched with her own juices, she didn't think she could take anymore, but couldn't find her voice to say so.

"You liked that, didn't you?" Euryon whispered in her ear. "Tell me you liked it."

Her throat so dry she feared it might crack if she attempted to speak she simply nodded. She expected to blush, to be embarra.s.sed to admit such a thing, but she wasn't.

"When you and Phymos are wed, we can do this again. Anytime you wish."

When they were wed, Dira thought as the fog in her brain slowly started to clear. She had to tell Phymos the truth. She couldn't wed a man when he believed her something she was not. No matter how much she loved him, she could not trap him in such a way. "Take off the necklace for me, Euryon. I want him to know the truth."

"Not yet. If you do it now you may lose him. Wait until after. Wait until we've had you, he's had you, then you can tell him."

"Tell me what?" Phymos asked as he returned to them.

Dira looked at him and allowed her gaze to slide down his naked body. So handsome, she thought, so gloriously beautiful. He's everything I've ever wanted and I can have him now, forever. If only I keep this secret. She raised a hand to his face and caressed his cheek with the backs of her fingers. "That I love you," she whispered and her voice hitched on the words. "That I have loved you forever and want to give myself, my life, to you."

He smiled. The dimple she found so breathtaking etched itself in his cheek. He pulled her to him, enveloped her in his arms and kissed her. "I fell in love with you the moment I saw you."

"And I with you."

"Does that mean you will be my wife?"

"Yes," she whispered and guilt tangled with happiness around her heart.

"Come with me," he said as he lay back on the bed and took her down with him.

She straddled him. The tip of his c.o.c.k brushed her p.u.s.s.y, but he did not enter her.

"Do you still wish to have us both inside you?" Phymos asked. "Or would you prefer only me?"

Dira looked back over her shoulder at Euryon. He stood naked now behind her, his c.o.c.k fully erect and waiting. She doubted what they did so far paid her debt to him and realized that even if it had, she still wanted to be had by both men. "Do you care that he is with us our first time?" she asked as she returned her gaze to Phymos.

"No. He is my brother, my twin and, as such, we often share in pleasures. I can show you much alone, but together we can give you a world of pleasure."

"Then he stays."

As if that were all the answer he needed, Phymos gripped her hips and pulled down until he plunged his d.i.c.k inside her awaiting p.u.s.s.y. Though she was still wet from her release, his wide c.o.c.k spread her, pushed against the walls of her opening and filled her fit to bursting.

Dira caught his hands in hers, pushed them to the mattress on either side of his head and held them there. "Let me," she said and began to ride. She bounced on his c.o.c.k, driving him impossibly deep inside her. He grunted, groaned, but it was the quiet, "Oh yes," that told her he really enjoyed what she did to him.

"Dira, please," he panted, begged. "Slow down. I don't want to c.u.m yet. Euryon..."

At the sound of the name, Dira stopped. For a moment she forgot the other man. She remembered him now though and felt his hands glide over her a.s.s on their way to grip her thighs.

"Stay leaning over Phymos," Euryon instructed. "It will be easier that way. Don't move, okay?"

Dira's pulse raced and she fought for control of her breathing, of her muscles. She forced herself to relax, to take even breaths as the tip of Euryon's c.o.c.k grazed over her a.n.u.s. It wasn't fear that shook her insides this time, but antic.i.p.ation. She already felt a small dose of what this would be like-small because she knew Euryon's d.i.c.k was far larger than his finger. Could she take him? Would he fit in that tiny hole in her a.s.s? Could her body accommodate two d.i.c.ks, one in her a.n.u.s and the other in her p.u.s.s.y? She would soon find out.

"Hold her," Euryon said and Phymos pried his hands from her grasp, then moved to grip her hips as Euryon's hands cupped her a.s.s and spread her cheeks. With Phymos's c.o.c.k still inside her v.a.g.i.n.a as far as it could go, Euryon pushed his d.i.c.k into her a.n.u.s.

Nothing, Dira thought in her last remaining second of sanity. His finger felt nothing like this, did nothing to prepare her for this. She felt her insides stretch, felt something deep inside tear just a little and the pain skirted on a thin line with the pleasure that bolted through her. The pain ebbed quickly enough and every slide, every thrust, turned to an exotic sensation so strong it destroyed any thought, any sense she had left.

"Better now?" Phymos asked softly.

She gazed down at him, her vision blurred and unfocused. "Better now," she repeated. "So much better now."

Phymos smiled and, obviously satisfied, began to move. Euryon's thrust into her a.n.u.s pushed her body up and forward just enough for Phymos to pull her hips down, sink his own c.o.c.k further into her p.u.s.s.y. As before when they fingered her, the men took control again. Euryon seemed to set the pace with his thrusts, rocking her body onto Phymos's c.o.c.k in a rhythm that was both measured and fast. Bodies slapped together, sweat beaded on skin and breaths came on pants and moans of pleasure.

Dira wanted to hold out, wanted this moment to last, but the feeling of both men, both stiff and gloriously large c.o.c.ks inside her body ignited fires in her that demanded to be extinguished. She didn't want to go alone this time, wanted them to fall with her. "Phymos, Euryon, go with me. c.u.m inside me." She nearly screamed the words as both men pounded inside her.

"I'm with you," Phymos said, his hands tightening on her hips, nails digging into flesh.

"As...am...I." Euryon said each word on a vicious thrust.

She let go. The o.r.g.a.s.m spilled out of her like a dangerous waterfall. Her body convulsed, jerked, went limp on top of Phymos as he and Euryon grunted with their own releases at nearly the same time. Sore, sated and feeling completely used and out-of-this-world, she lay unable to move as the men shot their seeds into her a.n.u.s and her v.a.g.i.n.a, then remained inside her as they too attempted to regain control of their bodies.

Phymos found his voice first and said the words Dira so needed to hear. "I love you." His hand glided up and down her arms, but he made no attempt to move any other part of himself.

"And I love you." Still dizzy from the s.e.x, drowsy from the o.r.g.a.s.m, Dira covered Phymos like a human blanket with no intention of moving. She wanted to stay this way forever. Could, she reminded herself and for the briefest of heartbeats thought not to tell Phymos the truth. But she would of course. No way could she live a lie for the rest of her life. Not even if it meant no risk of losing him.

Even as she thought it, began to consider when she would tell Phymos the truth, she felt hands slink under her hair to fumble with the clasp of her necklace. She lifted her head on a gasp of surprise even as Euryon unfastened the necklace and removed it from her neck. She shot him a look of horror over her shoulder and the look of comfort on his face only succeeded in making her temper boil. She felt it as the spell broke, as the power of the necklace left her. It seemed to swirl in the air of the room for a moment, then with an odd little pop, the world fell, still and normal once more.

Heart hammering in her chest, Dira slowly turned her head and looked down at Phymos. She saw astonishment in his eyes first, but that was quickly replaced with disbelief, followed by pain and finally fury. As she watched him, his eyes seemed to go red with it, his skin felt as though it heated beneath her fingers.