A Fair Trade Page 3

  Warm lips brushed his belly, the hair above Cotton's lips tickling and teasing his skin.

  He murmured to Kaya, petting Cotton's hip. "Thank you.'

  "I... thank y'all. I never... Y'all just. Damn."

  Kaya smiled, moving to loop an arm around him, and they both gave Cotton a kiss, sweet and open mouthed and wet.

  "Stay with us a bit?" Kaya asked.

  "I..." Cotton settled between them, his tanned skin sliding and rubbing with their own. "I never knew nothin' like this before."

  "Then let us love you a while," Kaya said.

  “Yes. Let us.”

  They would keep their Cotton, at least for a little while. He made a fine addition to their nest.

  ***

  When he woke, the heat surprised him, confuddled him a little. Why on earth was he? Oh. Oh.

  Cotton looked down at where his fingers were tangled in two fine heads of hair. Goddamn.

  Just.

  Goddamn.

  They'd turned him inside out and upside down and damn if he didn't want to do it all over again. Right now.

  Those two looked so fine though, sleeping away, so he glanced around their little... what? Hogan? Something. Built right into the red earth, with stone on two sides and adobe on the rest.

  Every surface, every wall, it was all crammed with stuff. Feathers and bits of red string, blankets from Indian traders, and pieces of leather from saddles and boots. There were jangly things and sparkling things and little bits of animal bone made into pretty carvings. It was a riot of color and shine, even in the gloom of the cool room.

  They had piled like things together, once. He could see the pattern. But then it looked like it all got too big, and started to just spill about. It made him grin like a new born fool, to see all the pretty things, lined up and jumbled up and cared for. Birds.

  They were birds.

  Good lord.

  The quiet one, the one whose hair felt like his momma's old heavy satin dress, shifted against him, murmuring, one hand going to his twin's arm to stroke. Then those dark eyes blinked open, and the sweet thing smiled at him. "Cotton- man."

  "Yeah. Hey there." He grinned down, fingers reaching down to stroke the thin cheek.

  "Hello." Kaya blinked, slow and easy, nestling right into his palm. "You are warm. It is good."

  "Yeah. I'm plenty warm." He smoothed down Kaya's hair, just sort of touching and all.

  Long eyelashes brushed his hand, when Kaya turned into his touch again, looking for all the word like a puppy wanting scritches. Oh, this one was a lover when his brother wasn't talking for him.

  "Pretty thing." He hummed and kept touching, kept up with the petting, just feeling like this whole thing was a dream.

  "Pretty, Cotton." Kaya moved, sliding up his body, sorta bouncing off Kasa, who murmured querulously.

  "Shh. Easy now." He reached down, drawing Kaya up with one hand, petting Kasa with the other. If this whole damned thing was a dream, he wasn't waking up, no way.

  "Mmm." Kasa settled right back down, but Kaya surged right up to kiss him, lips hot and swollen on his. He could remember that mouth somewhere else. Hoo yeah.

  Cotton moaned, tongue pushing into Kasa's lips, johnson filling up. Kaya knew. Bless his little blackbird heart. That slim hand reached down and cupped Cotton's prick, pushing and pulling. He groaned, lips wrapping around Kaya's tongue, drawing the wild flavor into him.

  "Greedy Kaya." The other one was awake now, and stroking Kaya's back, Cotton's thigh. The touch almost felt like feathers, so soft and warm.

  "There's 'nough of all of us to share." And share. And share. Lord have mercy.

  "There is," Kasa agreed, kissing his cheek. "Good morning."

  "Mornin'." He turned his head, tongue just touching those warm, soft lips.

  Kaya pushed into the kiss, and lord have mercy, it was just a sweet, sweet thing. Like a warm morning dream. But the feel of skin and hair and them wet mouths was very real. He was beginning to think he'd kicked the bucket - got bit by a rattler or somethin' and was in Heaven. They sort of closed around him, wrapping him up in them like a blanket, and god, he could smell himself on their skin.

  He took his time, kissing here and licking there and touching? Lord, he got to touch and touch. Those little birds preened for him, letting him pet and kiss anywhere he wanted. And they touched each other, too, fascinating his eyes with the way the moved together. He'd heard tell of them magics the Indians had, the way they make a man see things that no one'd ever seen before. He reckoned this was like that.

  Whatever it was, he'd take it and be a happy man, especially when Kaya licked down his throat and Kasa's mouth moved to his ear. Hungry little things. Kasa started making sounds that were almost - almost, mind you - words. Promises. Things that made him shudder, bone-deep. Kaya stayed quiet, but it was Kaya's hands that made the moves that had him shaking even harder, sliding down his belly to cup his prick in hot palms.

  Cotton turned his head, his lips meeting Kasa's as Kaya encouraged him to spread like butter under a hot knife. His balls pressed up under the pressure of Kaya's hand, right up against the base of his shaft. Kasa took the kiss deep at the same time, making him moan, his body bucking like a bronco's.

  Lord, these two. Everything went wild inside him again, just like last night, just like his blood was on fire from a strong whiskey.

  They moved around him, trading places so Kaya could kiss and Kasa could touch, and he'd swear there wasn't one part of him that didn't get explored. Kaya moaned and Kasa babbled, and the sounds and smells made him dizzy. Everything blurred some, his hands finding flesh no matter where or what or who he touched. He felt the touch to his prick like a lightning strike, though. That stood out hard, because someone's thumb had found the slit at the tip and pressed good and hard. He made a sound like a bark, his hips punching the air.

  "Pretty, Cotton."

  "We want to feel you."

  "Inside," they finished together, and Lord, that thought all but made his head fly off.

  He couldn't say a goddamn word, but he sure nodded and spread himself wide.

  Kasa slipped between his legs and Kaya knelt by his hip, and two pairs of slim hands found his privates, cupping his prick, his balls. Then sliding down beneath. Lord have mercy on him, he was gonna burn alive. His thighs felt rock hard, the muscles shaking.

  Kasa moved down, knees down by his ankles, and bent, setting his mouth where no one ever had before. Christ on a crutch. The sound that tore out of him damn near hurt him. The whole world sorta went tight and dim, every bit of his skin burning.

  When Kasa had got him good and wet, Kaya pushed one finger against him. Into him. Inside him. His body went so tight that his backbone felt like it was going to snap in two. In him.

  Kaya moaned, the sound shockingly loud from his quiet little bird. "Cotton-man. So hot."

  "Hot. Yeah." Hot. Full. Maddening.

  "I want to feel." A second finger slid into him, but it wasn't Kaya's. Kasa had pushed right in beside, opening him up so much he thought he might split.

  "Oh..." He twisted, toes curling. "So full. Y'all."

  "So sweet."

  "So warm and soft."

  "Ours."

  The last word came out together, both of them bending to lick at his shaft, their fingers moving in and out.

  "Uh. Uh-huh." He could do that. He could be theirs, lord knew weren't nobody else lying in wait for him. They took turns sucking him in deep, mouths wet and hot, the pleasure so intense he could just let his hips ride it out like a balky mule.

  He threw himself into the sensations, his cries pouring out of him, just like his seed did.

  Kaya moved up to kiss him, hand slipping away from him, that mouth tasting like him for all the world. Kasa, though, he stayed where he was.

  "Kaya. I could... while you...with me."

  He was sorta thinking that might be English. Maybe. "Anything."

  They smiled at each other, sharing a sweet kiss. Then Kasa m
oved between his legs, pushing up so the head of that sweet, slender prick pushed against him. There. And Kaya moved behind Kasa, staring at him over his twin's shoulder.

  He groaned, body stretching, spreading as Kasa pressed in and in and in. Kasa moaned for him, body shuddering, and he realized that...Oh, good lord. Kaya was in. In Kasa. With them. Pushing Kasa into him.

  He groaned, knees drawing up, trying to make more room inside him.

  "Oh. Cotton. Kaya. Feel." Damned if Kasa didn't grab his brother's hand and pull it around until Kaya could feel where Kasa's prick filled him.

  His body tightened, silly cock fighting to come back to life again, to spring back and shoot.

  They moved, Kaya into Kasa, Kasa into him. It went on and on, both of them chattering words he couldn't understand, but knew the meaning of anyway. The sun streamed in, light catching on the jewels and gems, the baubles all around. It sorta dazed him, really, made him dizzy like he'd been hexed. Blessed. Something. Maybe he was. But he damned sure didn't mind, not when they looked like that above him, all flushed, dark bird eyes glittering. They touched him like he was the finest treasure they had. Like he was everything they needed to feather their nest.

  "Y'all..." He smiled, hand reaching up to cup Kasa's face. "Yours."

  Yes, silly as it seemed, he was. Their own.

  They came for him, one into him, and one into the other, making it all seem complete, making it all seem right. He could see in their eyes that he'd never be lonely. Alone.

  Hell, in their eyes, he right seemed to shine.

  ***

  Kaya woke him before the dawn, nudging him and pulling at him. Kasa blinked, trying to get the sleep sand out of his eyes. He would have rolled right back into sleep, warm and happy against the Cotton-man, but Kaya pushed at him again, chittering, and Kasa realized his brother had changed. Gone to bird.

  Crawling out of their warm nest, Kasa went with Kaya into the early morning sky, his body shrinking as he sprouted wings and a tail.

  They flew together, high and low, letting the wind carry them. It had been too long, Kaya told him, too long since they had flown.

  It hadn't, really. But that meant his twin was worried about something.

  When they finally landed, Kaya perching on the bleached bones of a horse, the saddle leather cracked and worn, Kasa changed back to his man right away. So they could talk. They needed to talk.

  Kaya landed at his feet, flapping his wings and pecking at Kasa's toes.

  "What is it, you silly bird?" Kasa asked, and Kaya changed, sitting on the ground, arms and legs crossed.

  "If we keep him..."

  "Yes?" Kasa sighed. He knew now what Kaya was fretting about. "We get to keep his buckle and spurs."

  "That is not funny."

  "I know." Kasa sighed again, reaching out to touch his Kaya, running his fingers over one bony knee. "But what will it harm? He likes us."

  Cotton seemed content to stay with them, loving with them, laughing as they tended beans and squash and calling himself a farmer.

  "But he..."

  "No. We are not hurting him."

  "But what if there is someone he loves?"

  Yes, what if there was. A brother or a sister, or...

  "We will ask him. We want him to stay." He looked into Kaya's eyes. "Don't we? Don't you?"

  "Yes, brother." Kaya murmured it low in his throat, like a call in the night. "I love him almost as I do you. But the time is slipping away, faster and faster. He should know."

  "Then we will give him the choice." Neither of them had ever thought that it would come to this with their Cotton-man when they first found him at the river, but now they knew. They wanted more than his shiny metal and stones.

  Kaya nodded, and that was that. His brother's mind was settled, and by that, so was Kasa's. It was time to fly back to their Cotton and wake him and tell him. Give him his choice. Let him come back before his world had disappeared altogether.

  Cotton was just stirring when they returned, swooping into their little cave, landing by Cotton's legs so they could start to preen him.

  "My pretty birds. Y'all been out seeing the world?" Their man smiled for them, happy and laughing, face less lined now than it had been when they'd found him.

  Kasa spent a few moments preening Cotton's hair while Kaya strutted about, cawing. They would both avoid it if they could, he knew, so Kasa finally summoned up his man form and moved to sit next to Cotton's hip.

  "Good morning, our Cotton-man."

  "Mornin', honey." Cotton's arm slid around his hip, tugged him closer. "Y'all have a good wander?"

  "We did." Snuggling in, Kasa bent to give a kiss, wanting to connect, to touch. Cotton's tongue pressed right into his lips, the touch lazy and slow, easy. One of Cotton's hands stretched out, reaching for Kaya.

  Kaya took that hand, Kasa could see it out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly Kaya was there, in the kiss, loving both of them. It eased him to the bone. There was no tension in their Cotton-man. No worry.

  Nothing but care and desire and need for them. Kaya sighed against them, a happy sound, not a frightened one. Cotton eased them back into the nest of blankets and soft pillows, the scents there strong, necessary and familiar as flying. They all tumbled together, rolling a little, laughing together. He and Kaya always laughed, but with Cotton it was like they were more, bigger, happier.

  They had to keep him.

  Cotton's fingers found one spot after another on him, the touches making him shudder before they shifted to do the same to Kaya.

  "Cotton-man. We need you."

  "I'm y'all's. I ain't going nowhere." Cotton met Kaya's eyes first, then his. "Just like y'all are mine."

  The touching was sweet, hot, like a summer day in the sun, but Kaya was making those noises again, serious ones, and Kasa sat back, smiling down at Cotton.

  "Then we have something we must tell you."

  "So? Tell me." There wasn't a bit of worry in those clear eyes, at least not until Cotton tilted his head. "Y'all are okay, aren't you? Happy?"

  "Very!"

  Kaya nodded. "Very, Cotton-love. But we want to make sure you are. Do you..." Kaya paused, looking at him pleadingly.

  "Will someone miss you if you stay with us? Will someone lose what we gain?"

  "Someone? You mean like a wife?" Cotton laughed, shook his head. "Only one that'd miss me is old Bonner and that nag ran off on me forever ago."

  "Your family? They are gone?" They had to be sure. Kaya made an urgent little noise and curled against Cotton's side, waiting, eyes huge.

  "My momma got took by the ague, honey. Fever burned her up. I got a sister somewhere, but she went east when Momma died. I'm just me."

  Kasa bounced, his smile stretching his cheeks. "Then we will keep you and love you and you will be part of us."

  Kaya just crowed, the cawing sound one of complete agreement.

  "Well, okay then." Cotton looked confused, but those strong hands dragged them in close, hands keeping them there.

  How could he explain to Cotton what they were? What would happen if the man stayed? But Cotton was meant for them, happy with them. Looking younger and healthier. How could they let him go?

  "Come on, y'all. You're both all fluttery. 'Fess up to me so's we can make it good again."

  "We're not..."

  "Like other men."

  They were talking, weaving words seamlessly through from one to the other, he and Kaya. But Cotton could follow where they led now.

  "You may have noticed," Kasa said, smiling and cupping Cotton's cheek.

  Cotton's laugh warmed them both. "I did, right from the first. I'm real smart that way."

  Kaya snorted and rolled his eyes. "If you stay with us, you will be different, too. Though you may never get wings," Kaya added, rather sadly.

  "Different? Different how?"

  They both titled their heads, trying to put it into words. Finally, Kasa simply spread his hands. "Ours. Out of time."

  "Out of...
" Their Cotton tilted his head, watched them. "I get to stay with y'all? Here?"

  "Yes!" Kasa nodded, so proud of his smart man.

  "But you cannot go back to the white man's world," Kaya added, watching Cotton closely, stroking all of the fine skin he could reach.