Brianna (7 page)

Lorilana waited until Chardadon left. Then she slipped into the other room.

Brianna slept unaware of the conversation that had decided her fate. Her glorious red hair was draped about her, spilling over the side of the bunk onto the floor. The blanket had slipped to reveal firm white breasts with rosy pink nipples.

Lorilana regarded her dispassionately. This woman had touched Char in a way that she, for one, was glad. And the stubborn fool didn’t even realize it yet. “He’s lying to himself, Brianna,” she said to the sleeping woman. “Oh, he thinks he just wants you in his bed. He may think of this as a marriage of convenience, but I think you’re more than an end to the meddling of Crystas and revenge on Bakom.”

Bending, Lorilana tucked the blanket back around her patient’s shoulders. After brushing the hair from Brianna’s face, she smiled. Then she turned and left the room.

*

Dressed in a loose-fitting robe, Rodak don al’ Bakom relaxed in the cramped quarters assigned to him. He’d shrugged off this insult to his status, more than willing to tolerate poor food and quarters to gain knowledge of his opponents. Captain Alalakan don al’ Chardadon was no more than he’d expected, a member of a social group that reveled in what they considered their superior non-hermaphroditic sexual nature and four-syllable clan names. What fools!

Demanding transport on the Alalakan ship had been a stroke of genius, even if he had missed the Council voting session.

The captain had provided the one thing he, Bakom, had been unable to acquire, a non-identified humanoid specimen for his Tests of Humanity. And Captain Alalakan could do nothing to stop him. True, he should have anticipated the captain bringing a halt to his initial tests, but even that was for the best. When he got the woman back to Drakan, he’d have the Academy’s entire staff and facilities to initiate and complete the testing, certainly a facility much more adequate than the cargo hold of even the most advanced interplanetary ship. He had to give the Alalakans credit. Their ships were the best.

Much as the captain’s highhandedness irritated him, the theft of his specimen had been in his own best interest. The interfering Dr. Sendenton dem al’ Lorilana would do her utmost to coddle the female back to perfect health, assuming the captain would somehow keep him from reclaiming her. Fools!

He was just coming into his power. There weren’t enough members of the Ruling Council willing to oppose him. As for the Federation of Planets? Bah! They were totally inept and ineffective.

He half reclined on his bunk, absentmindedly stroking his tail. That Aradab girl three years ago had been a nobody. What difference would one less brat make? How was he to completely catalog the effects of mithrin if he wasn’t permitted to experiment! The Alalakan clan would pay. Before he was finished with them, they’d be no more than a third-rate transport company relying on him to keep them afloat financially. That form of revenge would be much more satisfying than destroying the clan completely. To have Alalakan don al’ Jamiros and his two stiff-necked sons in his power was more heady than any aphrodisiac. The haughty daughter-in-law and wife would become his for the asking. And the daughter, Alalakan dem al’

Sheala, young and nubile, was just discovering her sexuality; it would be a pleasure to introduce her to mithrin.

The imagined picture of the captain’s sister naked before him dissolved into the much more real image of the humanoid specimen as she had lain on his examining table, her wrists tied securely above her head, her legs spread wide, and her thick, auburn hair falling about her body in waves. Bakom’s pulse quickened as he imagined what he and others would do to her lush body. Damn Captain Alalakan for stealing his specimen. If only they were back on Drakan, he would be enjoying that lush body at this moment.

His tail moved sinuously as if it had a life of its own, and he moaned deep in the back of his throat. Gasps and sighs of pleasure deepened as his tail disappeared beneath his robes.

He did not acknowledge the door opening with a quiet hiss.

Odam’s breath quickened as he watched his superior. “The communication probe has been sent, Doctor.”

Bakom turned his head. “Good!” he gasped as his hips jerked. His hands moved to his belt. “Would you care to join me?”

Odam didn’t need a second invitation.

*

Brianna struggled wildly against her bonds. She could feel hands groping and pinching her body. Something probed between her thighs. “No!” she sobbed.

“Shhhh, you’re safe.”

The soothing voice penetrated her hysteria, and her struggles ceased when she realized she was held in strong arms. The hand tenderly stroking her hair eased the tension in her body and she relaxed. Sighing, she snuggled closer, seeking the safety of dreamless oblivion.

Cradling her against his chest, Char relaxed his hold but continued to murmur quiet platitudes and stroke her fiery hair— hair that clung to his hand and wrapped itself around his body with what seemed to be a life of its own. It was as soft and silky as that of his own people, but no one on his planet had any this thick or this long. And the color! Red such as he’d seen only once before on a planet halfway across the galaxy. Red that was a mixture of the rich, earthy auburn of the forest loams on his family’s estate, the shiny, burnished red copper of Gattan gold, and the deep, dark orange of the Varcian sun. The thick waves fell to her hips, and it fascinated him. Visions of the fiery locks wrapped around his aching erection appeared in his mind.

He groaned and shifted as his cock stiffened, responding to his fantasies.

Brianna’s hair tangled about Char’s hand, and it was inevitable that he pull it.

While the sudden tug on her hair did not hurt Brianna, it did force her back towards consciousness. Once again she registered the soothing voice and gentle hands. Tilting her head back, she opened her eyes. Not yet fully awake, she smiled contentedly as she gazed into velvety, brown eyes. She closed her eyes as he continued to stroke her hair.
This must be how a
contented cat feels
, she thought to herself, snuggling closer in his arms.

his arms.

Then her eyes flew open. She wasn’t dreaming! Gasping, she sat straight up, pushing herself out of his arms and then clutching the fallen blanket back to her breasts.

With amusement and wonder, Char watched the pink blush that stole rapidly from her breasts to her face. He chuckled and said, “I’ve already seen you naked.”

She lunged from his lap to stand half a room away. “I didn’t know you were there! You didn’t know I was…” she babbled.

Then she stopped. She grasped the blanket firmly with one hand and threw her hair back over her shoulder with the other.

Locking her eyes with his and raising her chin, she demanded, “What are you doing here?”

“I heard you cry out. You refused to quiet until I held you.”

Her nightmare returned, vividly.

Compassion appeared on his face. “Bakom?”

She nodded.

“He can’t hurt you here, and no one else on this ship would seek to do so,” Char stated firmly as he rose from the bunk. “I’m Alalakan don al’ Chardadon, captain of the
Restoration
. My clan —and I—owe you a debt of honor that can never be fully repaid.

We—I will protect you.”

Brianna gazed into his dark eyes, searching for the truth.

“Dr. Sendenton told me about the Academy and their Tests of Humanity,” she said finally. “How do you propose to protect me from those?”

Char sighed and clasped his hands behind his back.

Glancing into her expressionless face, he said, “I had hoped to explain under different circumstances, but—there’s one sure way to protect you, and I ask you to listen to me fully and think carefully before you answer.”

After her curt nod, he continued. “Citizens of the five known planets are exempt from the Tests. There are a number of different ways to gain citizenship, but the one way that all the planets have in common is marriage.”

Char waited for some reaction, but her face remained closed to him. Raking the fingers of both hands through his loose hair, he continued, “If you marry a citizen from one of the five planets, you’ll immediately be accepted as a member of that society.

You’ll be acknowledged as human because no one would marry you if you were anything else.”

“So,” she interjected flatly, “I only have to find someone from one of these planets willing to marry me, and I’ll be safe from this Bakom person.”

“Yes.”

“And you and the doctor have already determined who this will be.”

“Yes.”

Her nostrils flared. “Am I permitted to know, or is yours a culture that delivers its brides to a preselected, unknown groom?”

Char cocked an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected anger. “We aren’t barbarians.”

“Not barbarians!” she shouted, one arm flailing as the other clenched the blanket to her breasts. “One of your so-called scientists plans to inject a powerful aphrodisiac into a wounded, unconscious woman for the express purpose of some ridiculous sexual rite, and you say you aren’t barbarians! Exactly how would you describe yourself, Captain Alalakan don den del al’

whatever Chardadon?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “And your people are more civilized? One of my crew was scheduled for dissection.”

Brianna chose to ignore that statement and his growing irritation as she began to pace the small room. “You’ve kept me locked in this room with nothing but a blanket to save my modesty. How do I know you aren’t seeking to lull me into a false sense of security until I am fully recovered so that you can then perform these sexual experiments, Captain?” she snapped as she turned to face him. “How do I know that’s not the true situation?”

Char’s eyes narrowed, but he kept a tight rein on his growing anger. Never had the word of an Alalakan, especially
his
word, been questioned so caustically.

Green fire sparkled dangerously in her eyes. “Why bother waiting?” she challenged. “Call this Bakom person and get with this damn testing over with. I’m tired of waiting!”

Char took a step towards her. “Woman, you try my patience!”

Brianna was past caring about physical danger. Her body had repaired itself, but mentally she was exhausted. Lorilana’s revelations about the Tests of Humanity had unnerved her more than she admitted even to herself. She needed an emotional outlet, and the captain had provided it with his plan of marriage.

“ I
said
you would not be harmed,” he growled, teeth clenched against his anger, hands fisted on his hips, tail lashing with agitation. “My word has never been questioned before.”

She tilted her head back and glared into his eyes. “Then where are my clothes?”

He glared down at her. Clothes? What did her clothes matter? “Your clothes? Woman, what are you babbling about?”

Char’s now perplexed expression caused Brianna’s anger to completely conquer her fear. How could he be so obtuse!

“Where are my… Oh, forgive me!” She hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. “On your planet one doesn’t necessarily wear clothing when entertaining guests. Well, since you’ve decided I’m to join your society, I may as well get used to it. So what if
you’re
wearing your uniform? When in Rome…” she snarled and threw the blanket she’d kept clutched so tightly into his face.

Quick reflexes kept the blanket from becoming tangled about Char’s head. Flinging it onto the bed, he turned once more to the angry woman. Except for the bandage on her shoulder, she stood before him gloriously naked, her anger accentuating her beauty. She’d been nude when he carried her to this room, but then she’d been unconscious, pale and weak from loss of blood.

This woman was vibrantly alive and breathtaking in her fury. His anger drained away, and his body reacted instantly. Desire pooled in his groin, and his erection surged against his skin-tight uniform.

Slowly Char’s gaze traveled down her body. Her breasts, which were much fuller than those of his planet’s women, bounced lightly as she expelled angry breaths. The muscles of her taut stomach clenched, drawing his gaze down to gently rounded hips, and curly, fiery pubic hair at the apex of long, shapely legs. Her slender feet were planted firmly on the floor, and her hands were fisted on her hips. And her magnificent, fiery hair draped over her shoulders and down her back to frame her from the top of her head to her hips. Fury and defiance radiated from her flushed body.

Char stepped closer as his gaze moved slowly back up her body to her face. He wanted her more than he had wanted any other woman in his entire life.

Brianna raised her chin higher and stared unflinchingly into his face. Then her eyes widened with shock when she saw the passion burning in his.

Slowly, Char lifted his left hand and brushed his fingers lightly against her cheek. “No woman on my planet looks so vibrantly alive,” he said softly. “You rival the Gattan with your flamboyant beauty. Make love with me.”

Brianna wanted to pull back, but his delicate caress trapped her—and tantalized her senses. Her anger and defiance melted away to be replaced with uncertainty, fear, and…passion.

As she trembled beneath his gentle caress, Brianna cursed silently. Damn it, she’d let her temper get her into trouble again!