Brianna (6 page)

“Here?”

“The Captain’s quarters. Bakom dare not come here. The Alalakans hate him with unbelievable passion. Char will keep you safe if for no other reason than to thwart Bakom.”

The tears she’d been fighting began to slide down Brianna’s cheeks. “But what will happen when we reach your planet? I can’t stay on this ship, in these quarters, forever!”

Lorilana allowed her fatigue to show. “I know, Brianna, I know. But it will take months to get to Drakan, and that will give us time to devise a plan.”

Eyes closed, Brianna leaned back against the wall. Tears ran silently down her cheeks.

Lorilana reached over and stroked her shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she said softly. “We won’t allow anything to happen to you. If we ask, Princess Merilinlalissa’s family will grant you sanctuary on Mediria. Bakom has many enemies on the five known planets. We’ll keep you safe.”

Brianna sniffed and wiped away tears with a corner of her blanket. “But when will I go home? Will I ever see my family again?”

The doctor’s eyes widened as she jerked her hand away.

“Do you have a husband? Children?”

“No, but my parents will worry about me.”

“Children would have certainly complicated matters,”

Lorilana murmured as relief flowed through her. “Too bad you’re not pregnant. Carrying a baby would certainly delay the tests if not cancel them completely.”

Brianna said nothing. Her eyes remained closed as tears continued to run unchecked down her cheeks. She clenched the blanket more tightly.

Lorilana rose and stretched. She really needed to get some sleep. But first, she had to take care of Brianna. “Try to sleep. If you’d like, I’ll give you a sedative. We can talk more when you wake. Just remember, you’re completely safe here.”

Eyes closed, Brianna remained silent. She
was
a prisoner.

Who’d have ever believed it? All those tabloids and their disgusting stories about alien sex. They were true. A short burst of hysterical laughter escaped her lips. She didn’t feel the needle gently inserted into her arm, nor did she realize when she fell into a deep sleep.

Char swirled the wine around in his glass and stared out into the blackness of space. When Lorilana exited the alien woman’s room, he turned and walked to a finely crafted cabinet.

“You heard everything?”

He poured her a rose-colored drink. “Not enough to form an opinion.”

Lorilana lifted the glass to her nose and savored the wine’s bouquet. Then she sipped. “One day, you simply must tell me how you talked the Deslossians into parting with so much vandanug wine. No one else can get anything nearly as good.”

“And no one ever shall,” he answered with a smile. “But about the woman, what opinion have you formed?”

Lorilana sipped more wine then sighed. “She’s simply someone who was trying to do the decent thing for another intelligent being and got caught up in something she never anticipated. I’m convinced she would have done the same thing no matter which species had discovered her planet first. By bringing her here, we’ve placed her in as much if not more danger than she was in on her own planet.”

Char picked up his glass and tossed the rest of his wine into the back of his throat. “What will Bakom do if he manages to kidnap her?”

Lorilana’s voice was grim. “He will exploit having an unidentified species in his power. He’ll subject her to every sexual test that he can devise whether sanctioned or not. Then there will be an accident. Since she won’t survive, the Tests will prove to be inconclusive, and he’ll send another expedition to her planet to obtain more specimens. Their humanity will have to be acknowledged eventually, but we’ll have made an enemy of an entire planet.”

Muttering a curse under his breath, Char set his glass down.

“The other planets in our federation won’t countenance Bakom’s actions. They’ll demand an accounting that will be impossible to obtain since he’s President of the Academy as well as a member of our Ruling Council. Those members in his thrall will support him no matter what.”

“It will mean an end to almost all of the interplanetary cooperation we’ve achieved up to this point,” Lorilana agreed.

“Bakom will turn back the tide of progress, just as he wants to.”

Char’s fist slammed onto the cabinet. “He’s a damn fool.

How can he begin to imagine that the other Federation members will allow us to go our merry way spreading havoc about the galaxy? The Gattans, Medirians, and Varcians are as technologically advanced as we are.”

“No one understands how he thinks,” Lorilana answered bitterly. “Our major concern now is what to do with Brianna.

Even if Meri’s family gives her sanctuary, Bakom will get his hands on her somehow. I simply don’t know how to protect her.”

His thoughts tumbling over each other, Char walked back to the huge window. Hands clasped behind his back, he stared out into the emptiness of deep space. He had to protect the alien woman. The honor of his clan was at stake. Not protecting her would bring great shame upon them, something he would not allow.

Char continued to ponder the blackness. Bakom considered the woman his. Judging by his past actions, he would do anything to have her back in his power. Therefore, she might be the key to Bakom’s downfall. If that meant using the woman as bait, well…

The peace of the universe was at stake. If Bakom weren’t curbed soon, he’d start a war that would reach all the way to her side of the galaxy anyway.

Char closed his eyes, remembering how smooth the woman’s skin had felt, how soft her hair. She was so exotic, so beautiful. His cock stirred. He wanted to lose himself in her glorious body. He wanted to feel her melt around him as he buried himself as deep as he could. But once they reached Drakan, the Academy would claim her. The law was on their side, and his clan would not, could not begin an insurrection over the fate of an alien woman. Their allies would never support them. How could he protect her, keep her in his possession? How could he thwart Bakom—legally?

Lorilana’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Maybe Dadon will have some ideas.”

Char pulled his thoughts away from Bakom’s downfall and concentrated on Lorilana’s words. Dadon… Lorilana’s husband.

Husband… Wife?… Marriage… Temporarily? The Academy could not take a wife from her husband even if she wasn’t a Drakian.

Before he had a chance to think over the ramifications of that particular thought, Char said, “Marriage. She’ll have to marry me.”

Lorilana choked on the wine she was drinking. “What!”

He turned around and leaned back against the window.

“Intermarriage among human species is recognized by the Academy. By marrying her, I will have the full weight of the Alalakan clan and the government to support her classification.

Bakom’s Tests of Humanity don’t address marriage to an unidentified species. And, more importantly, he will never consider that I’d marry her. Once the council knows that you, Dr.

Sendenton dem al’ Lorilana, have no doubts as to her humanity, she’ll gain that status not only for herself but also for the inhabitants of her planet.”

Lorilana shook her head. “Bakom will seek to block any such move by the Council, and have you given thought to what this will mean to you and, especially, to your family?”

He crossed his arms. “Father and Rodane will support me.”

Lorilana set her glass on the table and stepped towards him.

“Why are you doing this, Char? I understand why you want her in your bed. Her coloring alone titillates. But marriage?”

An unfathomable expression in his eyes, he locked gazes with her. “She saved two members of an Alalakan crew from certain death. For that reason alone, I won’t allow Bakom to use her as a sexual experiment. As my wife, both Drakian and Federation law protect her. If making her my wife is the only way to save her from Bakom, so be it.” Then he smiled. “Besides, terminating a marriage is no difficult task. She can free herself whenever she chooses.”

Lorilana leveled a gaze at Chardadon.
Termination. So that
was his plan.
“As long as she doesn’t go beyond the first phase of marriage. If she accepts a clan tattoo, the marriage won’t be terminated as easily as you think. What’s more, Bakom will accuse you of marrying her just to spirit her away from him.”

Char grinned.
I certainly hope so
. “He can try.”

“He’s more powerful than you think.”

Char walked back to his wine cabinet. “The Alalakans don’t underestimate Bakom’s power, Lorilana, but he’s become too impatient. If he had waited to begin his quest for power and control a few more years, he’d be much more firmly entrenched.

As it is, his support isn’t as solid as he thinks.”

“Maybe, but that’s months and years into the future. Bakom makes a very powerful enemy.”

Char poured her another glass of wine and grinned when he handed it to her. “Lori, do you really believe he could hate the Alalakan clan any more than he already does?”

Her smile was weak. “No, but he’ll have reason to be more public in his condemnations. People will listen to him simply because he is First President of the Academy.”

Char refilled his glass. “If he becomes too outspoken, there are certain indiscretions of his own which can be revealed, though we’d rather wait.”

Lorilana changed her tactics. “What if Brianna refuses?”

He shrugged. “She seems to be rather intelligent. She’ll see that it’s the only possible way to save herself and her planet.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Is that how you plan to broach the subject?”

Char lifted his glass and threw its contents into his mouth.

Time to nip Lorilana’s romantic thoughts in the bud. She didn’t have to know just how much he wanted this woman in his bed, on the floor, or against the wall, for that matter.

He began to pace. “What do you expect me to do, Lori? She saved two of my crew from certain death. The clan owes her. As their captain, I owe her. I’m taking you at your word that she’s human. Can you think of another way to save her life? You’ve read the Alalakan reports on Bakom. You know what he’s capable of, all in the name of science. Do you really want him to get his hands on her?”

She sank down onto a chair. “No, I don’t, but this marriage idea… Events are moving too rapidly.”

Char stopped pacing and stared out the window again. Was Lori right? Did he really know what he was doing? Marrying an alien? How would his parents react? How would the clan react?

Thank goodness Rodane was already married. He and Crystas would provide the heir soon.

Straightening his shoulders, Char quashed his uncertainty ruthlessly. He would destroy Bakom! And he would use this alien woman to do so. First, though, they would pleasure each other in his bed.

He turned his attention back to Lorilana. “There’s no other way and no time to waste. The ceremony must be performed before we get home, the sooner the better. What’s more, it must be secret from everyone except the necessary witnesses. The longer we can keep Bakom from learning about it, the less time he’ll have to formulate plans. Right now he’s sure he’ll be able to take the woman as soon as we get to Drakan. The longer he thinks that, the better.”

“Her name is Brianna.”

Char frowned. “What?”

“You keep referring to her as ‘the woman’. No one will believe in this marriage if you don’t even use her name.”

He cocked his head and studied Lorilana intently. What plans was she formulating in that lovely head of hers? “Brianna, then. You will perform the ceremony, of course?”

Her smile was genuine. “I’ve been waiting years to perform this particular ceremony. I just wish it could be under different circumstances. What reason for this marriage will you give those not privy to your plans for Bakom?”

Char shifted his gaze away. “The only reason anyone who knows me would believe because it’s the least believable.”

An elegant eyebrow rose. “And what would that be?”

He glanced back at Lorilana and grinned. “Why, that I fell madly in love at first sight, of course. Why else would the most eligible Alalakan left in the Clan marry a nobody from an unknown planet?”

“Madly in lust maybe,” Lorilana answered with a chuckle.

He shrugged. “Lust, love, what’s the difference?”

Lorilana’s lips twitched. For such an intelligent man, Char could be such an idiot. Then she chuckled again. “Do you know how many mothers with eligible daughters have plans of action in place for the moment you return to your family’s estate? Do you know how many ‘eligible’ friends your sister-in-law has invited to the Solstice celebration? Or have those plans helped you formulate your own?”

“I must admit that the thought crossed my mind,” he acknowledged with a grin. “As long as the…
Brianna
agrees, we’ll both be able to avoid difficult situations. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to Command. Are you staying here?”

“No, I’m tired, and with the sedative, Brianna should sleep approximately eight more hours. The guard you’ve posted, not to mention Meri’s Aradabs, will be sufficient protection.”

“That and the fact the door is keyed to open only to you or me,” Char said as he prepared to exit the room. “Do you want me to escort you to your room?”

She shook her head. “Go on. I want to make sure she’s resting comfortably.”