Hearts Enchained

  Hearts Enchained

  DJ Michaels

  Sorcha Meehan is desperate to go home—and knows she never will.

  Trapped on an alien planet, Sorcha gives in to loneliness and temptation and spends an unforgettable night in Jax and Kaelum’s bed. For one brief, shining moment, she thinks she might have found a place with her Enforcers—until she realizes she’s nothing more than a convenient smokescreen.

  Jax is scarred and broken. The only thing holding him together is his relationship with Kaelum. A relationship that is absolutely forbidden and one Jax will do anything to protect. The night they share with Sorcha is beyond anything he ever imagined but he has too much at stake to risk doing it again.

  Then Sorcha is kidnapped and Jax and Kaelum must risk everything to bring Sorcha home.

  The Enforcers are willing to put their lives on the line to save their woman but are they willing to risk their hearts to keep her?

  A Romantica® futuristic ménage erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

  Hearts Enchained

  DJ Michaels

  Chapter One

  Sorcha leaned against the window and did her best to ignore the heavy, yearning ache of homesickness that seemed to be her constant companion these days. She sipped alien champagne, nibbled on alien finger food and hoped the smile on her face didn’t look as fake as it felt.

  Five weeks had passed since she’d been kidnapped from her Boston home, taken by slavers and then rescued by the men who were even now enjoying the party going on around her. Five weeks in which she’d learned all about the Gemarran planet, its politics and its inhabitants. Her hosts had made her and the other women feel welcome in the township of Sapphire but there was no escaping the fact that the Earth women were a long way from home.

  Gemarra was a planet of two halves. The northern continent was owned by Brightstar Mining—the people who were behind Sorcha’s kidnapping—and their part of the world was completely dependant on advanced technology. But on the other side of the globe, in the southern hemisphere, the society was pre-industrial.

  In Ivasta, the continent where Sorcha lived, ion storms ruled the sky and those storms made technology unreliable. But they were adaptable, inventive folk and while their world was not high-tech, it was by no means unsophisticated or lacking comforts.

  Except in fashion. As far as Sorcha was concerned there was nothing comfortable about a long-sleeved, tight-waisted gown that came complete with corset and bustle. Not to mention a neckline so daring she was afraid to take a deep breath. A lady’s attire didn’t include underwear, which was just plain weird, but it did include silk stockings tied at the knees with garters.

  Her clothes fit measurement wise, but they didn’t fit her personality and she knew no matter how long she stayed here she would never be comfortable. Not in her physical body or her heart. She felt so out of place here, so lonely, she couldn’t breathe.

  In this world she had no family. No loving mom and dad to run home to. No loud, brash brothers to get up in her business and drive her crazy. No one who shared a single memory of her previous twenty-eight years.

  And now her only friend on Gemarra had taken a spectacular leap of faith, marrying not one but two men. Chelsea’s husbands, Ari and Tarkan, were Enforcers. The equivalent of Special Forces on this world but instead of riding in ships and planes, they rode on dragons. Big, black, ferocious dragons who were regarded with reverent terror by everyone except the men who rode them. And Sorcha.

  For reasons known only to themselves, two of the most powerful dragons in the den had decided to take her under their wing, so to speak. Tengale and Jaysada spoke to her, mind-to-mind, a privilege usually reserved for the partner who rode them. It was the kind of special treatment Sorcha could have done without. Especially when Tengale seemed determined to make her his pet and his rider Jax seemed determined to ignore her very existence.

  That was fine with her because she had no illusions about how alone she was in all this. If Den Commander Jaxmyre Randovar, one of the most powerful and influential men in Sapphire, wanted to make her life difficult then there was little she could do about it. And fuck him, anyway. The guy was an oversized freak—too tall, too heavily muscled, too exotic—and she didn’t find one inch of his six-foot-eight frame the least bit interesting.

  But his den-mate Kaelum was a different story. Each mated dragon pair had two Enforcers they claimed as their own and Kaelum belonged to Jaysada. Kae was only a couple of inches shorter than Jax and just as bulky but his ready smile and open nature made him so much easier to like.

  Shifting her focus slightly, she watched them in the reflection of the glass. Jax’s white-blond hair was easy to distinguish but Kaelum was a little harder to define. His darker coloring blended into the shadows but Sorcha saw him in her mind’s eye as clearly as she saw Jax. They were two of the most beautiful men she had ever seen, even though that beauty was unconventional by Earth standards.

  In fact all the Enforcers were exotic. Their features were angular with prominent cheekbones, sharp jawlines and oddly tip-tilted eyes. Their hair looked more like a full, silky mane than regular hair. The colors ranged from black to white and everything in between—including variations of blue, green, red, purple and orange. Same with the eyes. Colors that should have looked wrong but didn’t, shades that should have looked freaky but only made the Enforcers more intriguing.

  Jax’s hair was white but with a shine that made it look soft and healthy. His eyes were a dark green, ranging from emerald to almost black depending on his mood. A green much deeper and unusual than the subtle green of her eyes. Kae was just as imposing as Jax, but his mid-brown hair and golden eyes made him seem warmer. As did the sparkle of humor that almost always lurked behind his gaze. Separately they were something to behold but together they took panty-wetting lust to a whole new level.

  Damn it. Sorcha shifted her weight from foot to foot. Now she was lonely and horny.

  Rolling her head onto the cool glass, she looked out into the night. Those with rank and authority lived high up in the den and in the daytime this view included a lush forest, blue lake and an elegant township. At this hour all she saw was black night and two moons; one small and red, the other pale blue and so large it took up a quarter of the sky. Of all the strange and weird things on this planet, nothing made her more homesick than the wrongness of Gemarra’s constellations and moons.

  She sensed movement close behind her and she knew by the warm, spicy smell it was Kaelum. And how freaky was that?

  “Aren’t you enjoying the party?” He stood beside her, waiting, and when she turned to face him his golden eyes seemed to look right into her soul.

  “Of course I am. It’s not every day my one and only friend gets married.” She gestured to her silk and lace gown. “I’m dressed to party and ready to fulfil whatever maid of honor duties I have left this evening.”

  Kaelum braced one hand on the wall behind her but didn’t lean in. “Then why are you standing over here looking out the window as if the answers to all your problems lie in the darkness?”

  She avoided his eyes. “Maybe they do.”

  He reached out with his free hand and threaded their fingers together. “Jaysada says you feel sad.”

  “Those damn dragons need to mind their own business.” She made a mental note to ask Chelsea’s new husbands if there was a way to block the scaly busybodies.

  Kae laughed softly. “As far as they’re concerned, you are their business. Tengale and Jaysada have claimed you the same way Benmonth and Annlyss have claimed Chelsea. Apparently a human pet is the new ‘must have’ item for battle dragons.”

  Sorcha had a mental image of herself using kitty litter and wearing a tinkling bell. “I thought blacks were the mos
t vicious, aggressive type of dragons on the continent.”

  “They are, make no mistake about that. They’ll take a chunk out of anything, flesh, feathered or scaled if they’ve a mind to. But once a black claims you as his or her own, they’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

  Sorcha already knew that. When the Sapphire Council had tried to take Chelsea away from her Enforcers their dragons demolished a building and threatened to raze the town to ashes. Sorcha would have been very impressed with their dedication if she hadn’t been dragged into the mess by Jax’s dragon.

  Kaelum gestured to her empty wine flute. “Would you like another glass of champagne?”

  She twirled the stem in her fingers. “My translator implant is giving me the word champagne but this doesn’t taste like champagne at all.”

  Kaelum shrugged. “The chips are smart. They can extract and extrapolate a lot of information but when no exact parallels apply they default to the next closest thing.”

  Sorcha made a face. “I found that out the hard way. On my first day here I made the mistake of asking for a cup of coffee and I still don’t think my taste buds have recovered.”

  He rubbed his thumb over the palm of her hand, bringing her attention to the fact that he was still holding it. “Chelsea had the same problem. Is coffee a popular beverage on your world?”

  “For people like me it’s as necessary as air but the stuff you serve here is like dishwater by comparison.”

  His slow-circling thumb was shooting sparks up her arm and shorting out her brain. Her nipples beaded and that was her signal for a strategic retreat. Reluctantly pulling her hand away from Kaelum’s, she slid along the window and stepped away from the shelter of his body. “Let’s go get a drink.”

  He followed her easily enough but Sorcha felt as though she had a big flashing sign over her head that spelled out “coward” in hot-pink neon. He was just a guy, for gods sake, and after spending half her life in her father’s pub she knew how to deal with men in all their variations. And her brothers had made sure she could look after herself. There was no need to panic because a good-looking man engaged her in a rather harmless conversation. No need at all.

  But it wasn’t the talking that made her run or even the touching. It was her reaction to Kaelum—and Jax, damn his arrogant ass—that made her panic like a preschooler. The quivering, the aching, the tingling in all the wrong places had her hovering on the edge of an anxiety attack.

  She had enough drama to deal with right now and she didn’t need to add a man to the mix. Not a nice man like Kaelum and certainly not an asshole like Jax. She took a swig of blue champagne and tried to calm herself down. Then she took another swig, hoping the taste would improve with volume.

  She was on her third or fourth glass when Chelsea finally peeled herself away from her men. Grabbing Sorcha by the elbow, the Aussie dragged her to an empty corner of the room.

  “Are you okay, honey?” Chelsea ran a soothing hand down Sorcha’s arm.

  “Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Because you’ve been quiet since we finished dinner and I was getting a little worried about you. Then I saw you talking to Kaelum and I relaxed but I’ve just watched you skull your seventh glass of champagne and now I’m back to being worried again.”

  Wow, seven. Really? Good thing she could hold her liquor. “I am the daughter of one of Boston’s finest bar owners. I am perfectly capable of having a couple of drinks and keeping my clothes on.” She toasted Chelsea and threw down the remains of whatever number drink she was on.

  Chelsea raised an eyebrow. “And why were you thinking of taking your clothes off?”

  “Kaelum. He’s very sweet, you know.” Sorcha leaned in a little and placed her arm around Chelsea’s shoulder. “And Jax. He’s an asshole but you can’t deny he’s super-hot.”

  Chelsea’s eyes almost bugged out of her head. “You’ve got a thing for Jax and Kae?”

  “Shh. Are you crazy? Keep your voice down.”

  “What are you going to do about it?” Chelsea whispered.

  “Not a goddamn thing.” Her daddy hadn’t raised a fool. “I’m going to mind my own business and keep my knees together. Then I’m going back to Addestet House as soon as I’m sure I’m sober enough to get on a dragon’s back.”

  “You could stay here with us tonight.”

  Sorcha shuddered. The mere thought of spending the night at Chelsea’s was beyond sad and pathetic. “I am not about to lie in your spare bed and pretend not to hear the three of you fucking each other senseless. I may be drunk but I have my pride.”

  “You told me you could handle your liquor.”

  “I can.” Sorcha dropped her arm from Chelsea’s shoulders, stood up straight, and only wobbled the tiniest bit. “Ha. Told you.”

  “Yes you did. Congratulations. Now let’s find you somewhere to sleep off your sobriety.”

  “Don’t you dare. You keep your goddamned pokey kangaroo nose out of my business.”

  Chelsea gave her an evil-bitch smile before she wandered back to her husbands and Sorcha’s stomach sank in a way that was not in any way alcohol related.

  Chapter Two

  Jax followed Kae and Sorcha down the corridor, not bothering to hide his anger. As they crossed the threshold of the den Jax decided he was going to kill Kaelum. Slowly. He would strip his lover’s life away in tiny increments so painful he would beg for release. Jax had the know-how. He’d once spent nine debilitating weeks being tortured by Brightstar experts and he was familiar with every pressure point on a male’s body. He knew in intimate detail how to make those points hurt and he understood the persuasive agony of knives, brands and fists.

  Jax shook that memory off. Those thoughts and feelings intruded too often as it was, he didn’t need his den-mate triggering them as well. He looked at Kaelum and ignored the alcohol-loosened woman at his side.

  “That ball-breaker is not staying the night in our home.”

  Kae escorted Sorcha to the couch and got her settled. “She needs somewhere to sleep and we have a spare room.”

  Yes, a spare room in quarters that only had two sleeping chambers. If word got out that they were lovers, that Den Commander Jaxmyre Randovar had perverted himself so thoroughly he would fuck his best friend, life as he knew it would be over. Jax would lose command, lose respect, lose his position of authority and he would quite possibly lose Kaelum as well. No Enforcer would fly with them if their status became public and that shunning would permeate the den and the wider community.

  Jax was wired to lead, to belong, and he wasn’t about to risk everything because one mouthy woman had too much to drink.

  “She can’t stay here. I won’t allow it.”

  Kae dropped to his knees in front of Sorcha, lifted her skirts over her knees and proceeded to unbutton her boots. “Last I checked, this was my home too, so I get equal say in who comes here.”

  The argument must have finally penetrated Sorcha’s foggy head and she made a halfhearted attempt to pull away from Kaelum. “I can go, really. I have no desire to cause an argument and I’m certainly not going to stay where I’m not wanted. My head’s starting to clear and I’m sure Tengale would be happy to take me home.”

  I would not, the traitorous dragon declared to all three of them. In fact, I would be very unhappy if my rider was to shirk his duties and ignore the needs of my pet.

  Sorcha flopped back onto the couch and yelled at the ceiling, “I. Am. Not. Your. Pet!”

  By this time Kae had both her boots off and he was rolling silk stockings down her long, smooth legs. Her skirt had crept up to mid-thigh and as Kae cradled her foot in his hand her knees opened a little. Not enough to see anything, of course, but enough to hint at something soft and feminine. Something Jax had chosen to relinquish many years ago.

  He hadn’t realized he’d moved closer until the front of his legs pressed against Kae’s back. He looked down at the small, dainty foot in his lover’s large, capable hands. “
What’s that on her toes?”

  The toes wiggled. “We call it nail polish,” Sorcha said, her head back and her eyes still closed. “There’s a whole range of stuff that the alchemists have made up for us. Hair dye, nail varnish, hair removal creams.”

  Kaelum rubbed her feet and elicited a deep sigh. Then her knees eased a little farther apart.

  Jax tried to follow Sorcha’s conversation but too much of his attention was being taken by keeping his eyes above her waist. “Why would you dye your hair if you’re going to remove it?”

  Sorcha cracked one green eye open and pointed to the elaborate coils of her hair. “This is what we use the dye for. Poppy red is not my natural color.” She flopped back and closed her eyes again, clearly enjoying Kaelum’s massage. “The hair removal is for other parts of our body.”

  “Like where?” Kaelum asked.

  “Oh, legs, underarms, pussy.”

  Jax gave up the fight and let his eyes dropped to her lap. He’d heard enough about Earth women to know what a pussy was. “You grow hair on the intimate parts of your body?”

  “Yes, don’t you?”

  “No.” Jax edged a little closer and tried not to breathe in Kae’s arousal. “Why do you remove the hair?”

  “Not everybody does.” She made a vague gesture with her arm before letting it flop back down on the cushions. “Some women keep themselves bare, some trim a bit or a lot, some women don’t do any maintenance at all and just let nature take its course.”

  Jax looked at the lean legs that Kae was stroking in long, smooth sweeps and his mouth watered. It had been so long since he’d been with a woman, since he’d even wanted to, that the smell of her body and Kae’s arousal pushed every rational thought out of his head.

  Lowering himself to the floor between them, Jax reached out and pushed Sorcha’s skirts over her thighs. Her hands shot out to stop him.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” She sounded more curious than affronted.