The Royal Mate (Space Wars) (2 page)

Chapter Two

Paisley marched back and forth in front of the door that hid her from her mother’s offices. From there they would take a hidden tunnel that would lead to another hidden area that would then lead them to the tramp that would take them via underground tunnels to her family’s hidden shelter. It was a long trip with many loops and turns. It would be just her and this Markus man—the royal heir—along the way. Her mother’s guards that were going to be on the outer rim of the panic rooms had become ill and with as suspicious as it had been, and the length of time it would take new guards to be vetted, they decided no guards.

Granted because of this shift her mother had filled the tramp with enough weapons to start their own war, if Paisley knew how to use one, that was.

She paced in the darkness and paused when the silence was broken. She heard her mother’s voice coming closer. When the door opened, Paisley was shocked to see a huge man standing behind her mother. He was gorgeous.

Her mouth was suddenly dry and when she went to swallow she coughed. The reflexive action had her eyes watering. “Holy smokes,” was all she said, her gaze on the man, who’d moved to stand beside her mom. “Hi?” Okay, she was smarter than this.

He grinned, and her mother shook her head slightly before turning to look up at the man. “Lieutenant Colonel Markus Rothschild, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Paisley Ralston. Paisley here will be showing you to the location of the bunker where you’ll be staying. There are supplies and everything you could want down there even if this goes longer than expected, Colonel. Try not to kill each other.”

Confusion was the first emotion to roll over his face, then a dawning realization, before a mask fell down. She knew that mask. Her mother had one she used when dealing with politicians or speaking to the media. “This was definitely not what the general told me.”

The marshal hid a smirk behind her hand while scratching what Paisley knew to be a nonexistent itch on her nose. “No, I’m quite sure that Fintan left out all the details. He was highly amused by my plan to keep you tucked away safe, and we both know he has a twisted sense of humor when he decides to show it.”

“To say the least, Marshal.” Paisley was pretty sure he muttered something about keelhauling the general but she might have been mistaken since her Old Craegin was a little rusty.

“Well, good luck,” her mother said cheerfully. “Paisley, do close your mouth, dear. No one needs to see your tonsils.”

Paisley waited until her mother’s back was turned and stuck her tongue out. Childish, she knew, but for the love of all that was holy why and how did she get stuck with this man who was so beautiful it made her teeth ache?

“That’s impolite dear. Oh, and make sure that he understands why he needs to keep you alive as well?” her mother called over her shoulder after practically shoving Markus into the small room with Paisley.

She noticed just how hard all over Markus Rothschild was when his arms automatically wrapped around her body. “Uhm. Hold on?” she said, then pressed her forehead to his chest when she felt the bottom give way under them and the trip to their pseudo-home for the next while began.

It wasn’t until they made it to the tramp that she let go of him and spoke. “There were supposed to be guards on the outer layers of the panic housing but they suspiciously became ill. Because of that, Mother added more weapons, food, medical supplies and so on to the facility we will be staying at,” she said as they got on board. She slid into the pilot’s seat. “Thankfully this thing has autopilot, because I can’t fly. I also can’t shoot. You should know that now. I’m…” She felt her face heating. Gosh bless it, why? “I’m a teacher for the young, ages two to five. I don’t do war, much to my mother’s horror.”

Settling into the co-pilot’s seat to her right, he gave her a look. “Don’t apologize for not participating in the war or anything to do with it. You have a much more important position than all the military combined. You are helping to mold and to instruct our most precious assets, our young. They are lucky to have someone who has no such ties. I pray this war is finally done with so not a one ever has to put on a uniform before they are old enough to make the decision themselves. No child should ever have to learn how to field strip a weapon or kill another being before puberty.”

She looked at him in horror and found herself reaching out. Her hand closed over his and she gave it a squeeze. “I’m so sorry, Lieutenant Colonel, no one should ever have that life. No one should ever have to hide, either, but here we are. At least the travel to the protective facility won’t take long,” she continued. “Once we’re inside, I will tell you a few secrets, ones I don’t dare voice aloud here or my mother might hear them,” she teased him, well, tried to tease him, as she fired up the engines and put in the coordinates for their destination.

“You don’t need to apologize to me for anything. I may not have chosen this life had I had the option, but I’ve done well for myself. Unlike many, I didn’t have parents to argue against me going into the academy at an early age. While they were alive, they kept me out because I was their only son, but without them around the choice fell to the state. Since I was healthy and a male, the natural choice was the academy.” He gave a shrug and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. “I did well and made something of myself. My parents may not have chosen it for me, but I think they would be proud. Or I hope they would be.”

“Well, you have my mother’s admiration, which is rare. Believe me,” she grumbled. “Your commanding officer thinks very highly of you as well.” And he hadn’t blinked or pushed her away when he’d been shoved into the small shelter room with her. She was also impressed that he hadn’t made a sound when the floor let go. Or pushed her away from him when she’d all but clung to him like a spider monkey.

“This is not the first time I’ve had an unusual set of circumstances sprung upon me. Won’t be the last, I’m sure.”

“Well, this is a first for me. Normally, I’m perfectly happy being the plump, fluffy wallflower with a book on my data pad.” Paisley had no delusions when it came to her looks, at all. She was far larger than a Craegin woman should be in the hips, waist, boobs, and butt but she didn’t care. She embraced her womanly curves and was happy she wasn’t all stickly and tall and manly.

Markus turned to look at her, not merely his head, but his entire body. “I don’t know about the wallflower part, but I do not see anything wrong with how you are built. You are as a woman should be built. And any man who says otherwise needs to have his head examined.”

Paisley looked at him and grinned. “I think that’s the single nicest thing that any man has ever said to me. And please, call me Paisley? Since we are going to be in the bunker together you might as well call me by my given name, right?”

“Only if you call me Markus, Paisley.” Oh, but she liked how he said her name. His voice had a little growl to the deepness that had her toes curling within the confines of her shoes. “Where exactly is this bunker you mentioned? I’ve been told very little about what is going on.”

“Markus.” She liked his name, and she said it with a smile. “There is good, and there is bad.” She winced as she spoke and they banked at the same time, landing in the bay they needed to secure. “The good is that even if the planet is laid to waste, we’ll survive. The bad, you have to keep me alive to remain alive as well.” She saw his sharp look and shrugged. “I’ll tell you more once we’ve locked down the bay. Will you help me?”

“You don’t even need to ask. Do we need to move the crates in the back out now, or can they wait? I only ask since you know this place and I don’t. If we’re locking the bay down, does that mean we aren’t coming back out here at any point until we depart?”

“No, we won’t be coming back until it’s time to take you back to the surface. As you can see, we are deep inside of the planet. The tramp is something that my father designed to get us here through lava tubes. We’ll grab the hover mover and take everything inside. Once we’re in the elevator, there is no going back. Are you sure you want to be stuck alone with me for however long this might take?”

Leaning toward her slightly, he nodded. “Fintan had me believing I would have some behemoth lurking around every corner during my stay. Believe me, Paisley, you are the much better option to that. I would gladly be locked up with you for the rest of time.” Pushing to his feet, he looked into the back. “If you’ll grab the mover, I’ll get the crates in a position we can quickly slide them out and onto it.”

She simply stood there and looked at him. No one had ever said that they would gladly be in her presence for any amount of time, let alone the rest of time. “You confuse and intrigue me, Markus. I like that about you. A lot,” she told him, grabbing the mover so that they could start to transfer more weaponry and food staples into the bunker.

Markus grinned. “I’m not that interesting, Paisley. But I’d like to get to know you. And I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time for all that once we’re settled in and you have broken to me how bad my prison is to be.”

She snickered. “Oh, Markus, my dear sweet man. It’s not a prison. Anything but. The last time I was down here there were five bedrooms and seven full bathrooms. There’s a spa that is connected to the hot springs on our planet, and there’s also a gym as well as a shooting room or whatever it’s called.” She shrugged. “With the little things that pop up and you shoot at them?”

He nodded. “A shooting gallery. As to the construction, no matter how gilded the cage might be, it is still a cage.” He pulled two crates out and set them onto the mover. Then he moved the third and the fourth with a grunt. “Any idea what’s in these? That last one felt like it might have a building in it.”

“Weapons, lots of weapons. I’m assuming that those are for you.” She took the handle of the mover and added, “And some foodstuff.” When she saw the last crate was loaded, she asked, “Will you close the hatch and key in code A-one-eight-B-six? That will lock it down fully so that we don’t have to worry about it and then once we’re in the elevator, we will lock down the whole bay so that it's secure, too.”

He gave her a nod and turned to grab a bag, the same one he’d had with him when she’d met him, then locked the tramp down. Following her to the elevator, he let her get the mover inside before joining her. Markus put a hand on the mover to hold it in place while she turned the hover mode off. There was no way she wanted it still in that mode while they were moving in the elevator; it would be a great way to get squashed.

She looked at him and took a breath. “Remember I said you had to keep me alive? I meant it.” She placed her hand on the scanner and heard the computer key up. “Paisley Alana Ralston, highest security settings available. Lockdown, an undetermined amount of time. One other being, Markus Rothschild. Confirm?” When she heard the confirmation, she winced at the needle that poked into her hand.

“Blood confirmed as Paisley Alana Ralston. Welcome.”

“Sorry, but you’re stuck with me now. I hope that’s going to be okay.”

“I already told you that I have no problem being locked in with you, Paisley. That creepy AI voice is not all that comforting, though. And you mentioned you were going to explain something when you had us sealed in?”

“Yes, we are now sealed in. Basically, the facility will stay on full active and protective mode for as long as I’m alive. If my vitals should ever falter, the facility would close down and all air would be removed. It’s a safety measure, I guess?” She didn’t think it was, but who was she?

“By all that is holy, that is scary.” He muttered a few choice words under his breath, only half of which she understood. “At least I know now what your mother meant about keeping you breathing for my own safety.”

“You know, I’m impressed. So far you’ve accepted everything thrown your way without blinking.”

“So have you. It really was not fair to put you in such a position.”

She shrugged and smiled up at him. “I’m finding it’s not such a hardship.” Which was true. She felt drawn to this man, and for some unfathomable reason she was tempted to reach out and touch him again. Already she was craving his smile. “I think I’m going to have to thank my mother for putting me in this situation.”

“I’ll thank her, too, right after I have strong words with her about putting you in any type of danger. Unacceptable no matter how you look at it to place a civilian into a situation that we all know could blow up at any point. Especially her one and only child.” Shaking his head, he looked down at her with eyes that were pale blue outlined in dark gray. Pretty eyes, and a rather stunning contrast to the dark hair. If not for the dimple in his right cheek, his entire face would be harsh with those cool-colored eyes. “Do I have something on my face? Paisley, you are staring, little one,” he said in amusement.

“I…” Words failed her. There was such an intense draw to him, such a pull, that it ate at her insides. She was aching to be closer to him and she had never felt that before. Ever. “We’re here.” Thank heavens, saved by the
ding
of the lift’s bell. “Let’s get this stuff moved into storage and I’ll show you around. There are many screens around that you can watch television on, if you want. No communications out, though, sorry. We can receive, just not send.”

“Well, there goes Fintan’s master plan.” At her look, he chuckled. “He sent all the reports I have not yet managed to get around to completing. I was supposed to finish them all, forward them to him for sign off and for a friend to wipe the data trail before he submitted them. It also means I don’t have to do them immediately, which is good. The military has way too many and yet they still insist we fill each and every single one of them out.”