Brianna (22 page)

“More or less.”

“Just how big is your family?”

Meri glanced back at her friend and grinned. “Some of my great aunts and uncles and second cousins were too far away to get here in time. You’ll probably meet them within the next few days.”

Brianna swallowed, but before she could say anything else, Meri came to an abrupt halt in front of her parents.

An older version of Meri sighed, shook her head, and said in a vexed tone, “I had hoped marriage and motherhood would dampen some of your exuberance, Meri. I can see that I was wrong.” Turning to Char’s mother, she continued, “Xdana, I apologize for my daughter leading you across the room at almost a dead run. I did try to teach her better manners.”

Xdana laughed as she embraced her old friend. “At least,”

she said shooting a chagrined look over her shoulder at Char, “
your
child told you she was getting married. My wayward son, on the other hand…”

Taking Brianna’s hand from Meri, Xdana said, “Carilinlalissa, Queen Hardan, I present to you my son’s wife and carrier of the Alalakan heir, Alalakan dem al’ Brianna of Earth.”

Brianna was going to curtsy, but before she got the chance, she found herself in the queen’s embrace. “Welcome to Mediria, my dear. So you carry the heir already. Wonderful.”

Turning to the man at her side, Carilin said, “This is Brianna, darling. Now wipe that rather pompous look off your face. I’m not going to go through all that formal introductory falderal. The Alalakans have been friends too long.”

“Now you know where Meri gets her impetuousness,” Xdana whispered into Brianna’s ear. “At Meri’s age, Carilin was twice as bad.”

“I heard that,” the queen teased. “Since you don’t know the proper tone to use with royalty, you’re going to have to come with me and talk to Findal’s mother.”

A dismayed expression flashed across Xdana’s face, but the queen already had a firm grasp on Xdana’s wrist and was dragging her across the room much as Meri had done with Brianna.

Sighing, the king watched his wife stride away. “This means another lecture from Mother. You’d think after twenty-eight years of marriage and five children, Mother would realize that she’s not going to change Carilin.”

All the men around Brianna laughed. Meri nudged her father in the ribs. “Father, you haven’t introduced yourself to Brianna.

You’re the king. She can’t introduce herself to you.”

“Now you’re interested in protocol,” the king grumbled in an amused voice. His smile widened as he acknowledged Brianna.

“You may as well just call me Findal.”

“But…you’re the king!”

Findal’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “Ha! A girl who knows the correct way to greet royalty. She’ll satisfy the Patriarch himself.” Then he swept Brianna into a hug that was even more exuberant than his wife’s. “Tell me, Brianna,” he said after he put her back down, “are there really dols and orcs on your planet?”

“Yes, if your dols and orc look like the carvings Meri has.”

Brianna was definitely unsettled by the familiar treatment she was receiving.
Am I nuts? Or am I really dreaming? A green
man with a crown on his head just gave me a hug!

“Ha! It’s true then! Everybody, it’s true!”

Everyone in the room turned his or her attention to the dais where Findal had taken Brianna’s hand in his. “I wish to present to you Alalakan dem al’ Brianna, new wife to the Alalakan clan and carrier of its heir. As you can see, she is not a member of one of the five known human species. She comes from a planet on the far side of the galaxy which she calls Earth. Our dols and orcs reside there.”

At first…silence. Then…chaos, extremely loud chaos.

Everyone began talking or rather shouting at once. Findal pounded the ornate cane he carried on the floor. The booming noise eventually silenced everyone. “The location of the dols and orcs has been given to us as a gift by Alalakan dem al’

Brianna, and she asks nothing in return. The Alalakans have given us the use of their largest ships to transport any dols and orcs who wish to return. This is a gift for which we can never offer adequate thanks.”

The whispers of anticipation whipped through the crowd.

“Therefore, I have decided to offer Brianna the only gift that even approaches the honor she has brought to us. I offer her the Hardan name and ask her to join my family as my fourth daughter.” Turning to Brianna, Findal said humbly, “Will you accept this small token of our esteem? Will you join our family?”

Breathlessly, the crowd waited. What Findal was doing was unprecedented. No one had ever become a member of the Hardan royal family except through marriage.

The Dowager Queen Mother fainted.

Completely out of her depth, Brianna looked to Char for guidance. By his expression and those of his family, she knew Findal’s offer was completely unexpected. Looking about the room, it was the face of Meri’s cousin, Bandalardrac that caught her attention. Emotions that clearly showed his approval, hope, and uncertainty flashed across what she was sure was a countenance that rarely displayed its true feelings.
God. What
am I supposed to do?

Char flashed her a supportive smile.

Sighing deeply, Brianna said humbly, “I will be honored to join your family.”

Findal swept her into another hug. Laughing, he whispered, “I’d like to see Bakom try and get his hands on you now.”

Locking her arms around his neck, Brianna planted a huge kiss on his cheek. It wasn’t every day that one was adopted by royalty.

Later that evening, Char leaned against the column on the right side of the dais contemplating all that had transpired, a smug smile on his face. This side trip to Mediria had worked out better than he could possibly have hoped. If Bakom tried to take Brianna now, he’d have every Medirian assassin in the galaxy after him.

Char watched as another member of the Hardan royal family cornered his wife. Too bad Findal’s mother revived enough to stay. The evening would have been more pleasant without her and some of the other members of the royal family. But Brianna had faced down the dissenters with dignity and aplomb. Though she didn’t say a word, the first outcry against her caused her to flush and raise her chin in the air. When he saw that dangerous sparkle flash in her eyes, he smiled and felt pity for the first person who thought he’d be able to browbeat her into denying the honor extended.

Char shook himself from his musings as his father joined him. “Your wife certainly is a success,” Jamiros commented as Brianna and Meri were surrounded by yet another group of Hardan relatives.

“For more than one reason, it seems,” Char commented lightly. The last group that had surrounded Brianna consisted of Meri’s unmarried male relatives.

“From what I observed with Findal’s Uncle Dardralarlac, those rakes should be very careful,” Jamiros said in an amused tone. “Brianna has a temper to rival a Gattan.”

Char grinned. “And won’t it be very interesting when the Gattan finally make her acquaintance?”

The grin quickly turned to a frown and Char’s nonchalant pose against the column snapped to one of alertness.

Bandalardrac had joined the group around Brianna. Char tensed as the Mediria’s most infamous womanizer raised his wife’s hand to his lips. Before he could take a step in their direction he felt a hand on his arm.

“You won’t interfere,” Jamiros said in a stern voice.

Char scowled but acceded to his father’s demand.

From various parts of the room, Alalakan eyes watched Brianna’s encounter with the most notorious rake on five planets.

Damn it, Brianna, if you mess up my plans…
Unwilling to admit the true reason for his reaction to Ban’s presence at his wife’s side, Char concentrated on his plans for Bakom.

Unaware of the close scrutiny of her in-laws, Brianna laughed at Ban’s comments, but her attention kept wandering.

Where had Char gone? Finally she saw him standing next to the dais, talking with his father. Sending him a blinding smile, she turned her attention back to Meri’s cousin.

Ban had stopped his one-sided conversation with Brianna soon after her attention had begun to wander.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Ban,” she said looking up into his face. “Did you say something?”

Bandalardrac glanced over her head and caught Meri’s eye.

She smiled in commiseration.

Ban leaned closer to Brianna. “I was saying, the moons are lovely tonight. Come, and I will show you a view to take your breath away.

Her face brightened. “There’s more than one moon?”

“Three, but their radiance pales next to your lovely face.”

Chuckling, Brianna shook her head. “Ban, you are a true rogue, and I think I will become very fond of you. But, I’ll stay here with Meri…and my husband.”

Ban leaned closer. The fingers caressing her bare arm raised goose bumps. “He can never love you as well as I, sweet Brianna.”

“Go bother some other woman, Ban,” she said in an exasperated tone, “preferably one who isn’t married.”

For an instant, the pain and loneliness in Bandalardrac’s soul was evident in his eyes, but he quickly regained control of himself. Smiling gaily, he bowed deeply and said, “I am ever at your disposal, newest cousin. Welcome to the family.”

Spinning, he struck out blindly with no definite destination in mind, but he soon found himself nearing Char and his father.

Changing direction slightly, Ban stopped before them.

“Jamiros,” Ban said as he nodded his head stiffly in greeting.

He turned his attention to Char. “You seem to have won, but if she ever comes to harm because of you… She is Hardan now, and Medirian revenge is swift.”

“No swifter than Alalakan,” Jamiros interjected enigmatically.

Char smiled. Brianna’s gentle set-down of Bandalardrac left him disinclined to accept Ban’s obvious challenge. Nodding slightly, he watched the younger man stalk away.

“I wouldn’t want to be the next person who crosses that young man,” Jamiros murmured. “You may have trouble from him, Char. Your wife is a temptation to any man not already in his grave.”

“I’ll watch him. However, I don’t believe he’ll do anything to besmirch his honor.”

“Hardan honor?”

“No, Father, his Drakian honor, as you well know.”

*

The sun was streaming through the balcony doors when Brianna awoke. Char was not in bed, but she heard movement in the living room and assumed it was him. Stretching, she rose from the bed, went into the bathroom and turned on the water to fill the tub, adding a generous dollop of bubble bath. Back on Earth, she’d always preferred showers, but after being stuck in a spaceship for almost five months, soaking in a huge tub was too appealing to pass up.

In minutes the tub was full and, after pinning up her hair, she slid into the hot water. She was barely settled when Char appeared in the doorway naked, his erection making his purpose quite clear. She began to smile seductively as he crossed the room to stand before her.

“I promised myself I’d share your bath at the first opportunity,” he said as he lifted a bottle and poured fragrant bath oil onto his palms. He eased into the tub and pulled her into his arms for a long, passionate kiss. Eventually his mouth broke away from hers. His nibbled down her neck to her shoulder to her breasts…her lovely, lovely breasts.

Arching her back, Brianna laced her fingers though his hair as he suckled first one nipple then the other. “More, Char, more.

Now!”

Chuckling, Char licked her erect nipples once more. “Getting rather demanding, aren’t you?” He slid his fingers between her thighs.

She spread her legs wider. “Your cock. I want your cock inside of me.”

“Get on your knees and turn around, love. I want to mount you.”

Shuddering, she turned around and gripped the side of the tub. “Deep, Char. I want you deep.”

“As deep as I can, love.” Rising to his knees, Char began to massage her buttocks, spreading them and pressing them to back together. “You have the most beautiful ass I’ve ever seen, love.” He trailed an oily finger down her cleft and pushed against her anus.

Brianna moaned.

He slid a thigh between her legs and pushed her legs wider apart, then slid his cock back and forth against her slippery vulva. Then, slowly, he pushed his cock into her.

Sighing, Brianna braced herself against the side of the tub as ripples of pleasure coiled up from between her legs. Char knew exactly where and how to stroke, pinch, and prod.

Soon his tail slipped between his thighs and hers to rub her clit.

Brianna moaned. God, but his tail was pure heaven. She swiveled her hips and pushed back each time his hips thrust forward. “Yes, oh yes.”

As he thrust his cock as deeply as possible, Char continued to massage Brianna’s buttocks, sliding a finger into and out of her anus. He felt his balls contract as her internal muscles pulled him deeper. When Brianna shuddered with release, he ground his hips against her buttocks one last time.

Some minutes later, Char sat back down in the tub and pulled Brianna down into his lap. Sighing, she rested her head against his shoulder and smiled. Raising her eyes, she met her husband’s gaze in the mirror that hung across the room. “You knew that mirror was there the entire time, didn’t you?”

He chuckled. “Watching your face as you climaxed heightened my own pleasure.”