Brida Pact (24 page)

Wishing she could simply hear his voice before she went to
her lonely bed, she paused when she heard the tone at the door. Had Val
forgotten something?

Opening the door and seeing her beautiful man standing in
front of her had Poppy grinning like an idiot. She felt like crying but didn’t
want to scare him off so she settled for launching herself into his arms.

“I thought I wasn’t going to see you tonight.” Her words
were muffled by his leather shirt.

“Nothing could keep me away, little flower.” Wheaton hugging
her in return, his hand running down her back to cup her ass and lift her so he
could walk into the bedroom. As they walked, he kept talking. “Behyr came as
the Council was letting out and asked Hannah if she would share a meal tonight,
so I escaped while I could.”

“He asked her to dinner?” Poppy smiled, clinging to him.

“Yes, why do you sound so surprised?” He lowered her until
her feet touched the floor.

“Because he had a full meal here not even an hour ago,” she
said with a smile as he whisked her shirt over her head.

Unbuckling his pants, he quickly shucked them down his legs.
After he was done with most of his own clothing he helped push her pants down.

Poppy grinned at Wheaton. “I have a feeling that Behyr may
take Hannah off our hands,” she said, eying the now half-naked form in front of
her.

Dear god, this man was pretty. She would never tell him
so—that would probably ruffle his feathers—but he was so beautiful to her it
made her stomach clench. She was pretty sure that her stomach wasn’t the only
thing clenching. Leaning forward to nip at his muscled chest, she heard him
hiss, and flicked her tongue out to follow the nip with a lick.

With his chest fully rumbling, Wheaton leaned down to grip
her under her now naked thighs. Walking her to the bed, he tossed her backward.
Poppy let out a laugh at his playful mood and his hot gaze on her pussy as she
lay back and opened her legs.

Wheaton clenched and unclenched his hands while breathing in
her scent. Leaning down with his fists on either side of her hips, he smiled
sexily at Poppy.

“Little flower?” he rasped.

“Yes?” she said with a now-dry mouth.

“I am thirsty.”

That was her only warning before he pounced.

Poppy stretched in bed and groaned loudly as her back
popped. She felt the bed move next to her as Wheaton chuckled at her actions.

“What?” Poppy turned over with a smile.

“Nothing. I am just happy.” Wrapping one arm around her
shoulders to pull her closer, he kneed her legs apart.

“I’m happy too. In fact, I can safely say I don’t think I’ve
ever been happier than right now.”

The bedroom had simulated sunlight during the day and dimmed
automatically at night. Right now, the light was reflecting perfectly off
Wheaton’s sculpted face. Poppy stared at him for a moment and absorbed his
handsome visage. Brushing his long hair away from his eyes, she cupped his
cheek.

“I love you, Wheaton.” Following the declaration with a
kiss, she nuzzled his cheek.

“I love you too, my little flower.”

Meeting his gaze head-on, Poppy had no choice but to believe
he meant what he said. She’d had fears at first that Wheaton would not be able
feel love to the same depths as she did. Those fears had been unfounded. He was
capable of love and she was the lucky girl he felt it for.

“And I love our little baby.” Moving down the bed, he
stopped to nuzzle at her soft belly.

Poppy raised an eyebrow at him. “You realize I’m going to
get fat, right?” she admitted. “Well, I guess it would technically be ‘fatter,’
to be honest.”

Poppy was actually someone who believed being fat was okay.
People came in all shapes and sizes. She just happened to be more padded than
some. She also didn’t mind the word
fat
, which surprised people. She
loved her body. There was a time, around high school when she’d hated the
teasing and would wear baggy shirts to hide what she thought were lumps of unattractive
fat. At some point she’d started not caring and had embraced the word
fat
.
It made the bullies realize that being called names didn’t bother her.
Eventually, when they wouldn’t get the reaction they wanted, they left her
alone. She would never be able to run a marathon and that was okay with her.
And if it was okay with her, then anyone who it wasn’t okay with could go fuck
themselves.

Truthfully, there were some things she would change about
her body. She didn’t know one person who would say differently. Honestly, she
would love it if her arms didn’t resemble bat wings. Was she willing to order
that stupid shake thing she saw on TV to make it go away? No. In her opinion,
nobody should look that stupid exercising. Sweating was punishment enough. She
would wear tank tops and let her arms jiggle with pride and give the skunk eye
to those who she saw judging her.

The extremely baggy jeans and tops had left her closet, and
she’d started wearing yoga pants and fitted T-shirts. The jeans she did have
were expensive and fit well, but she just hadn’t had a chance to really wear
them much since she spent so much time at home. Poppy tended to dress for
comfort but she had come to realize very quickly that there was a difference
between dressing for comfort versus dressing to cover up what others viewed as
flaws. She’d admit that when she’d first been naked around Wheaton it had taken
every ounce of courage she had. Being comfortable in your body was one thing.
Hoping that your body sexually aroused a man who could be a body double for a
god was another. He had shown her quickly that he didn’t have a problem with
her form and in fact craved it. Generally as naked as he could get her.

“I love your body,” Wheaton said with a smile. He could
obviously read her face well enough to realize she wasn’t being disparaging to
herself.

“Well, big guy, I’m glad you love my body, because after
years in it, I have come to the realization that it’s not going to change
much.” She grinned mischievously. “Now, on the other hand…if you lose any of
your muscles, we may have a problem.”

Laughing out loud when he caught her grin, he nipped her
belly and tickled her sides. “Oh really?”

“Yes sir. I am going to be counting those ridges on your
abdomen daily to make sure you don’t start slacking on me.” Between laughs as
he tickled her, she was finally able to gasp out that he needed to stop before
she peed herself.

“Wheaton! I’m warning you. Seriously!” At her frantic tone,
he literally rolled off her—and right onto the floor. Of course, this caused
her to laugh even more as she hurried off to the bathroom.

Relieved she’d been able to hold off having an accident,
Poppy laughed at herself. Well, that would have killed the romance quickly, she
thought while washing her hands.

“I have a few meetings scheduled with the Council today but
I should be able to come and join you for lunch in the med center,” Wheaton
offered as he finished his breakfast.

“Anything important I should know about?” Poppy asked,
hoping he had news regarding their match that he would share with her.

“Just some minor items are scheduled for today’s talks. I
believe we have the majority of our negotiations with Earth complete. We have
only a few more days before we reach Phaeton Major and then I can show you
around,” Wheaton said, sipping coffee.

“Hey, that reminds me. One of the guys explained that
warriors live in barracks on your home planet,” she interrupted.

“Yes.” Raising an eyebrow in question, he waited for her to
elaborate.

“How are these warriors supposed to have families if they
live in barracks? In fact, that brings up the question regarding our baby.
Where are we going to live?” When he opened his mouth, she held up her hand.
“And before you say it, if you even suggest that we let our innocent baby be
taken away to a training house, I will literally kill you with my bare hands.”
She was completely serious.

“I admit that we might not have thought the family aspect
through very well when it comes to housing but this is easily solved.” Standing
up to hug her, he whispered to the top of her head, “And I would never let
anyone take our baby.”

“Good. Now since you believe this is so easily solved, let
me know what your plan is.” Poppy highly doubted that he was able to figure out
a solution when both she and the guys had been unable to do so. Their new
timeline only added to the problem.

“First, we have many cloning centers. I would suggest we
start turning those into housing for warriors who have been granted brides.
Since the cloning has not been satisfactory for a few cycles, the centers
should only contain machines that would need to be moved out. The same goes for
a few training centers. We recently had some young warriors cycle out to be
assigned to posts. Those buildings will be vacant as well.”

Seeing the surprise on her face that he did indeed have a
plan, he continued with a smile. “By my calculation we should have fifteen to
twenty buildings available for us to transform into housing as soon as we have
Council approval.”

“Okay, Mr. Smarty Pants, I have something I doubt you’ve
thought of yet.” At his look, she continued, “What about baby-proofing the
ship? I’m assuming you’ll be on Squadron One quite a bit and would want us with
you… How are you going to solve that one?”

“You are correct. That is something I never thought of.”
Wheaton tapped his fingers to his chin, unable to immediately handle that
question. “I admit that the housing on Phaeton Major would not be ideal for the
Council since we do have to travel quite a bit. And I do want you with me while
I am traveling for my duties.”

Wheaton smiled when he saw the glee on her face at having
stumped him. Laughing at her little victory dance, he swung her up into his
arms, hugging her hard before setting her back down on her feet.

“You got me, little flower. I will think more on a solution
today while in the Council meetings and let you know what I can come up with.
Now give me my last morning kiss before I have to leave you.”

Leaning forward to steal some kisses, Poppy pulled back
before it got too hot and heavy. “Let me know if you can do lunch,” she
whispered against his chest, taking the cuddle time to breathe in his scent
before she would be deprived of it for the rest of the day.

“Of course. I should know what the Council schedule is
within the hour.” Walking to the door, Wheaton gave her one last hot smile
before he left.

Poppy was bored out of her mind for the rest of the morning
while waiting for Behyr. She had tried to call Pixie a few times to video chat
but the interference was wicked. It seemed the farther they moved away from
Earth, the more static was a problem. During the initial Hannah situation,
Poppy had emailed Pixie a few times back and forth. Her sister had been
sufficiently pissed-off on her behalf and had threatened to “hijack a ship and
whip some alien ass”.

After Poppy explained everything that had happened, Pixie
had calmed down but was still holding Wheaton responsible for hurting her baby
sister. She demonstrated her anger at Wheaton by thumping her fist into her
palm a few times and reminding Poppy of what had happened in high school. As if
she would ever forget that memory-worthy tidbit. According to Pixie, she was
“about to kick ass and take names” at work but hadn’t said anything more
regarding what was happening. Instead she had said that it was too much to
email and she would rather explain things face-to-face.

Annoyed by having to sit and twiddle her thumbs, Poppy
realized that the whole “escort” thing was actually starting to grate on her
nerves as well. Before she had been familiar with the ship, being shown around had
made sense. Now she felt like a little kid constantly waiting for someone to
come and fetch her from one place to another. Deciding she would talk to
Wheaton later that day at lunch about her need for a chaperone, she made a
mental note not to forget to show him her cheat sheet. That should placate him
if he brought up the issue of her getting lost. She was sure there were things
the warriors needed to do other than walk her around all day anyway.

The tone at the door indicated that her “babysitter” had
arrived and Poppy took a second to stick her tongue out at the closed door. It
wasn’t fair to kill the messenger so Poppy pasted a smile on her face for
whoever the lucky guy was today. Opening the door, she greeted Behyr, who
appeared to be a little ruffled.

“Hey, Behyr, how’s it hanging?”

Behyr took a moment to inspect the doorway above him,
searching for something hanging down.

“What?” he asked.

Confusion was evident on his handsome face and as he glanced
around, she saw a noticeable hickey on his neck.

“Wowza.” Not realizing she’d said it out loud, Poppy jumped
when he repeated her exclamation, his tone one of bewilderment, and she
realized her attention had been focused solely on his neck.

Trying to drag her gaze away, she smiled wickedly as Behyr
tugged the neck of his shirt up.

“Oh nothing,” she continued, in response to his puzzled
look. Gathering her items busied her hands for a moment. “Nothing at all.”
Biting her lip to contain her laughter, she slipped on her shoes and studied
him closely. The poor guy seemed so out of sorts compared to his normal
put-together manner that she wondered what exactly had happened last night with
Hannah. Unsure if she should ask him how things had gone, she followed him
silently to the med center.

As they approached the med center door, she paused. “Behyr,
how was your second dinner last night?”

Behyr stopped so quickly he almost tripped over his own
feet. As he turned toward her, he had a slight blush on his cheeks. Sensing
that she was enjoying his discomfort, he smiled down at Poppy.

“You liked that, didn’t you?” he
said. Laughing at her expression of innocence, he shook his finger at her. “Do
not act like you did not enjoy catching me off guard. Wheaton must have
mentioned that I took Hannah for a late meal last night, did he not?” Rubbing
his hand up and down the back of his neck, he grinned down at Poppy widely
enough for her to catch a glimpse of his fangs.

“Why yes he did…and I noticed your close encounter with
Hoover Hannah.” At his questioning glance, Poppy motioned to his neck.

Now with his face completely red, he pulled his leather
collar up higher and flashed her full fang.

“Do not call her that and yes, we had a wonderful night.”
Walking the last couple steps to the doorway, he swiped his hand across the
wrist plate and continued, “She is not anything like you described her before.”

Poppy made a face at him and folded her arms across her
chest before she smirked and dropped the bomb she was sure he wasn’t aware of
yet. “Oh really, well then I guess I shouldn’t have hated her for a while
because she kissed Wheaton.” Turning, she walked through the med center doors
as Behyr sputtered behind her.

“What?” Obviously shocked, he didn’t move for a moment and
the door closed with him on the other side.

“Oh, you hadn’t heard that part of the story?” Poppy asked
when the door opened again and he still had his mouth open.

“No, I did not. Explain the story please.”

“Yeah, apparently your new girlfriend decided to test out
her seduction skills on Wheaton before I made her realize it was a bad idea.”
When Behyr’s face fell in disappointment, Poppy realized that she might have
ruined the idea of Hannah for him. She clutched his arm and tugged him into the
room so he wouldn’t be shut out again.

“Don’t make the gloomy face. She was testing the waters, and
I don’t have a problem with her anymore…at least as long as she keeps her eyes
off Wheaton as potential mate material.” Winking at him and nodding to his
neck, she went on, “Plus, I think she may have someone new on her mind.”

Poppy patted Behyr on the arm as she went to see where Rodin
and Tamin were. Checking the exam rooms, she noticed that everything was empty
even though the machines had been booted up. She heard footsteps behind her.
Behyr had followed her as she’d searched for the doctors.