The woman gave a nervous curtsy. “Hello, Lady, I am Urma, and Sir Niklas sent the programs for the replicator as soon as he returned to the ship.” The woman looked nervously toward Silera.
“Now, Urma, why are you so nervous?” Silera wrapped her arm around the woman and squeezed. “You’re going to make Brianna think we don’t like her.”
The woman looked stricken. “No, Ma’am, I don’t want her to think that! It’s just that, well, she’s to be the new mistress and all.” Her hands twisted nervously in her apron.
“And you want her to adore you as much as I do, is that it?” Silera teased, her eyes sparkling with laughter.
Urma giggled. “Oh no, Ma’am!” She cast her gaze to the floor, wrung her hands together. “I do want Lady Brianna to like me, but I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to tell her how much.” She brushed imaginary dust from her apron with a trembling hand, looked at Brianna, and gave her a tremulous smile.
Brianna smiled softly. “I’m sure I will like you and everyone else just fine.” She brought her hand to her stomach and rubbed absently. “But, I’m afraid, right now, I do need something to eat.” She waved her hand toward the table. “I must say, this is a welcome sight.” She swayed on her feet as dizziness swamped her and she felt the blood drain from her face. The two women rushed to help her into the nearest chair.
Urma pushed the dish in front of her with a nervous look and went back to wringing her hands. “I hope you enjoy it, lady.” She handed her the utensils. “Sir Niklas said this was one of your favorites.”
Brianna gave her a wan smile. “It is, Urma. Thank you very much.”
“Oh, you don’t have to thank me, Lady. It’s what I’m here for.” She fidgeted beside the chair, waiting for Brianna to eat.
“I’ll still thank you. There is no reason to think you don’t deserve praise for a job well done.” Brianna took the fork and swirled it through the spaghetti, enjoying the aroma.
Urma looked at Silera, obviously nervous.
Silera placed her hand on the woman’s arm and smiled. “She likes you. Now stop making it look like we never thank you. You’re making us look like ogres.”
The woman became more flustered. “I never meant to do that!”
“I know, Urma,” Silera soothed. “Why don’t you go see if cook has made any more of those Kin-berry tarts that I like so much?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Urma gave a little curtsy and crossed the room to talk with another woman by what looked to be the stove.
Silera sat down across from Brianna and watched her pick at her spaghetti for a bit. “Don’t you like it? I could have Urma replicate something more to your liking.” She started to stand.
Brianna held up her hand. “No. This is fine, really. It’s just that, well, earlier you said that Niklas wouldn’t impose his will upon me.” Brianna watched as her wandering fork caused the spaghetti to weave in and out on the dish.
Silera nodded. “I don’t believe he would. Unless, of course, it was for a greater good.”
“What if I told you that he already has imposed his will upon me?” Brianna watched the older woman’s reaction closely for a moment and wondered if Silera could be an ally. She had to know. This was all so overwhelming.
Silera pressed her lips together. “Then I would say it was for a greater good. What that is, I couldn’t even begin to say.” She paused for a moment, a frown creasing her brow as if trying to choose the right words. “How did he impose his will on you? If it were a safety issue, I would understand, but obviously I would need more information before I accuse my son of treating you poorly.”
Brianna sighed. “It’s not really as if he has treated me badly. Actually, he’s been everything that’s kind.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. How did you tell a woman that her son was an overbearing self-righteous pig about some things?
“Then I don’t understand your concern, Brianna.”
“He kidnapped me. He has stolen me from my home, my friends, and everything I ever knew.” She blurted. She would have added, to bring me here. But another glance around the room they were in told her that it most certainly was not a fate worse than death. So she just pressed her lips together, omitting that part.
Silera’s eyes darkened to a near black.
Had Brianna sensed that the anger in those eyes was directed at her, she would have been nervous, but something told her, that the woman’s anger was directed at her son.
“If you would excuse me.” Silera nodded to her and sailed out of the room. The sound of her shoes made sharp clacking noises as she hurried away.
Brianna took a bite of the spaghetti and found it hard to keep the smile from her face. “Uh-oh. Somebody’s in trouble,” she said with a singsong voice.
Chapter Twenty-one
Niklas looked up from the work he had gotten behind on during his trip, when he heard the clacking of a woman’s shoes hurrying down the hall. He sat up and rubbed the back of his neck, glad for the respite. Looking down at the computer screen in front of him, he shook his head. This was certainly one thing that he hadn’t missed while he was gone. There was an impatient knock at the door. With a frown, Niklas hoped something hadn’t gone wrong so soon after his return.
“Come.” He leaned back, stretching his arms above his head, waiting for whoever it was to enter the room. Niklas jumped up as the door flew open and banged against the wall behind it. The glass objects on the shelves behind the door shuddered ominously. The tinkling of glass heralded a doom he’d rather not face right now.
Niklas closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then let his breath out slowly. He didn’t want his mother to know that this interruption was not necessarily a welcome one, especially if this was going to be a demonstration of another one of her moods.
“Tell me it isn’t true.” Silera shook her head. “No, I know it’s true. I feel it. Just tell me you had a good reason to strip that woman of even the most basic of rights,” his mother demanded, her hands on her hips. “I don’t believe you kidnapped her.” She looked at him with disbelief.
Niklas inhaled sharply, so that was what this was about. He opened his mouth to reply.
His mother held up her hand. “Don’t.” She paced back and forth. “I’m not even sure I want to hear it. Do you realize that you have jeopardized your relationship with your El’edal?” She slowly shook her head in disbelief. “You can’t force people to your will, Niklas.” She looked at him reproachfully. “I was certain I had taught you better than that. Even your father never used such highhanded tactics on me, and I was a slave.”
Niklas heaved a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. He had known this would come out sooner or later, he’d just been hoping for the latter. After he could explain what was happening. “I know, Mother, but I didn’t have the time to court her as I should have. There are circumstances not under my control that have to be dealt with.” He turned and pulled Morwyyn’s scroll from his desk. He handed it to Silera. “Read this, and you will understand.” He looked at her curiously. “You can still read the ancient text?”
“Of course I can!” she snapped. “Who do you think taught you?” She glared at him.
How was it that she always had the ability to make him feel like a child? Niklas placed his elbows on the desk and put his head in his hands.
Her eyes widened as she read the ancient text. She stumbled backward, settling heavily into the chair in front of the desk.
Niklas raised his head and looked at his mother as she read the scroll that had changed his life so irrevocably.
“This can’t be.” She glanced up at Niklas. “Your El’edal has been guaranteed all this time?” She cast her gaze around the room, then stood and walked to the window. Looking up to the sky, she could still see the faint outline of Tomar hanging in the distance. The bright light of the sun nearly hid it in the purple sky. “What will it be like with Tomar gone?” she mused. Her lips drew up in a mirthless smile. “I’m sure you’ve wondered the same thing many times since you found
all of this out.” She took a deep breath. “So, this is why you went on your extended tour of the galaxy?”
Niklas nodded, watching her warily. He wondered how she was really taking this. He knew his mother was a magician at hiding her feelings when she deemed it appropriate.
Silera closed her eyes, pressed her lips together and took another deep breath. “I agree, you didn’t have much of a choice, but now that you are here, you must give her the choice to stay or to leave. You must earn her trust.”
Niklas started to agree, but she cut him off, waggling a finger in front of his face.
“I don’t want to hear any excuses. You don’t understand.” She pulled the chair closer to the desk and sat down. “Your El’edal can be the greatest partner you have ever dreamed of, but if she can’t learn to trust you, she will hate you as no one else is capable of doing.” She leaned over the front of the desk. “Once that happens, she will be lost to you. Forever.” His mother looked at him shrewdly. “I assume you don’t want that.”
“Of course not, Mother, I love her more than life itself,” Niklas said.
She smiled. “Then show her, Niklas.” Her hand swept out, encompassing the room. “Forget about all of this for now, it can wait. She cannot. Go to her and show her how much you love her, most importantly, tell her how much you love her. A woman needs to hear the words more than anything.”
Niklas left his mother sitting in his office and strode to the kitchen where his mother had left Brianna. He hoped she was still there. He hated the thought that perhaps she’d started to wander around the palace without a guide. She could be lost for hours before someone found her if that happened.
He wondered briefly if anyone had shown her where the express lifts were. Probably not, and without knowing how to control them, she would think them a small room, not what she would call an elevator that moved in all directions.
Niklas’s pace slowed as he entered the kitchen. She sat with her head on her arms, asleep at the table. He smiled slightly, this had been a long day for her and she had been sleeping more and more lately. He bent down, gently lifted her into his arms and carried her to the nearest express lift.
“Level twenty-six, kina.” Niklas said softly as he looked down at Brianna. She was beautiful even while she slept. Her red gold lashes swept her cheekbones, creating small golden crescents against her pale skin. She sighed, and her lips parted invitingly. He felt his groin tighten at the thought of pressing his lips to hers, then smiled when he saw a piece of spaghetti stuck to her cheek and one in her hair.
She must have been exhausted. His arms tightened around her briefly, but loosened when she stirred. How could one person come to mean so much to him in such a short time? Niklas shifted Brianna in his arms and her head lolled to the side, resting just under his chin. He nuzzled her softly, inhaling her unique scent.
The doors to the lift opened, and Niklas stepped out into his wing of the palace. He had yet to take over the master wing. Even though his father was gone, and he knew that rightfully it was his, he didn’t want to ask his mother to leave the rooms she’d shared with his father for so many years.
Besides, it didn’t matter. He was comfortable here. Niklas walked toward the door that allowed entrance to his main chamber and the door slid open. He carried her over the threshold into his life. Aware of the meaning for both of them, Niklas knew it was customary for the man to carry his bride over the threshold on her world. On Terrna, it meant the bride entrusted herself to his keeping. He closed his eyes and prayed to the Goddess that he could earn her trust once again.
* * * *
Brianna was a bit startled when she woke. The ground was moving! Cracking one eye open, it didn’t take long to realize that the swaying motion she’d been feeling wasn’t her falling off her chair like she’d first thought. “You can put me down now, Niklas.”
He looked down at her and cocked his brow.
Brianna looked away, he must know she liked that. A lot!
“I beg your pardon?”
She risked another glance. The brow was still up. Gods he looked so sexy like that. “You can put me down now, I’m not helpless, and I’m damn sure not going to tour this, this…”
“Palace?” Niklas filled in helpfully.
Brianna crossed her arms and scowled. “Citadel, being carried around like a sack of potatoes.” She glared at him for good measure as they passed through a doorway and sighed. “Please put me down.”
He grinned. “As you wish, my Lady.”
He took a few more steps and gently settled her onto the biggest bed she’d ever seen. And it was one that didn’t immediately adjust to her size. She looked around warily and raised herself on her elbow. “Is this a regular bed?” She looked at Niklas, her eyes filled with wonder. She’d been so sure that they’d left such normal things like this behind on Earth. She bounced on it a few times to be sure.
Niklas sat down next to her and gently brushed a lock of hair from her face. He reached up and plucked a piece of spaghetti from the side of her head.
“I was tired,” she said apologetically. Her face grew warm and she was sure she was blushing. She loved to watch him. Her appreciative gaze wandered over his handsome face and broad shoulders. How had she ever gotten so lucky? He was truly a work of art. His sculptor had indeed been a master. The man was perfection itself. He was the complete manifestation of every single one of her late night fantasies come to life. Brianna shook her head slowly, she had even dreamed of him. Watching his perfect lips, she unconsciously moistened her own with a slow movement of her tongue.
* * * *
Niklas inhaled sharply. What he imagined her doing with that tongue was illegal in at least three systems. He smiled at that, as it wasn’t illegal here. Not anymore anyway. Sometimes it was good to be King. Niklas smiled inwardly, Brianna would probably faint if she could see herself now.
One long golden curl hung over her shoulder. Smaller curls framed her face with little wisps of color. Her cheeks were flushed, whether with embarrassment or anger he couldn’t tell. She had no idea of her beauty, her natural allure or of her absolute power over him.
If she had the slightest urge, Niklas was sure she could rule this world through him. And he knew he would love every minute of it. He closed his eyes for a moment and said a small prayer, thanking the Goddess for bringing them together. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. He reached out, his hand gently cupping her face.
* * * *
Brianna closed her eyes. How did he always know how to say just the right things? Just when she was feeling like something the cat had dragged in. Not that she’d seen any cats since they’d arrived. “Thank you, Niklas.”
He bowed low, took her hand in his larger one and kissed her palm. “Thank you, Brianna, for forgiving me and trusting me after all you have been through.”
Brianna looked down, suddenly very interested in the comforter on the bed. She felt bad, she really did, but how could she really trust him after he’d kidnapped her? She had trusted him once and look where that had gotten her!
Yes, look where it has gotten you. You’re in a palace with the most handsome man you have ever seen in your life drooling on the back of your hand. And he’s willing to give you anything you could ever want.
Brianna bit back a groan. Sometimes she hated her inner monologue. It usually prodded her to say things she knew were better left unsaid. She bit her lip and peered up at Niklas, he was still staring at her mouth. What was it with him and her mouth for crying out loud? “What?” she asked impatiently.
His smoldering gaze met hers. “I was just thinking how perfect and full your lips are, and how much I want to kiss you right now.”
He rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip, causing her to shiver when a shot of warmth ran through her body, traveling all the way down to her toes. Brianna closed her eyes enjoying the sensation. Wasn’t it about time she came to terms with the fact that she was stuck here? Should she take advantage of the fact that thi
s man couldn’t seem to live without her touch? Things really could have been worse. If she had to be kidnapped, Niklas was infinitely better than some fat, unwashed biker with no teeth and an attitude.
She may not be sure that she could trust him, but boy, could he kiss like nobody’s business. Brianna remembered their times together and her libido started galloping away with what little sense she had left in her. It galloped past a cheerleader that had been lurking on the right side of her brain whispering all sorts of good ideas. While a pinched-faced party pooper from the left and logical side of her brain kept lecturing her on why she should maintain her lack of trust.
There was a spectacular display of fireworks when Niklas’s lips covered hers. He threaded his fingers through her hair, tilting her head to the side for better access and exposing the slender column of neck. He nibbled behind her ear and Brianna’s libido galloped up and whisked the pinched-faced pooper away, leaving nothing behind but the brazen cheerleader with her very good ideas. “Mmmm. That feels so good, Niklas.” His tongue probed her ear, made a circuit of the outer shell. His hands wandered across and down her back, massaging her hips.
“Yes, it does, doesn’t it?”
His right hand wandered back up and cupped her sensitive breast. The nipple pebbled against his palm. She arched up and into him. A small bit of sanity had her wondering why this was a bad idea. Her hand left his shoulder and brushed the front of his pants.
“Yes, Brianna.” His breath hitched in her ear. “I need you so badly, Laharra.” He pushed her back on the bed.
Someone pounded on the door.
“Niklas! I know you’re in there. I told you there isn’t going to be any mischief under this roof!” The tone of Silera’s voice brooked no argument. “I’m not leaving here without her, Niklas.” She rattled the knob. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s been so long that I don’t remember how hard it is to stay in the mood with someone standing outside of the door listening.”
Briannas Prophecy Page 23