The panel slid open.
Navarre stepped forward to take Adrianne’s arm, halted instead and tried not to gape. Nikki caught the break in his composure and smirked.
Adrianne’s shoulder-length blonde hair had been pulled back and secured in a knot at the nape of her neck. Loose silvery tendrils framed her face. Her skin was a smooth peaches ‘n cream shade, blue eyes darkened around their edges with a smudge of charcoal. It brought out the gray flecks in their blue depths. Her full lips were painted a soft coral, shiny and wet-looking. A far cry from the frightened woman he had fetched out of a hotel parking lot. She held herself with a quiet confidence. He went alternatingly hot and cold with desire.
“Good morning, Dragoness,” he said finally, stiff with formality. He offered her his arm.
“I clean up well?” She raised an eyebrow, ruining the effect.
By the First Egg, yes. She threw him off-kilter with her candidness. So much was riding on her bonding and mating with one of them. And she understood so little of her role here.
He could feel the tremor in her limbs, though, as if she did comprehend, yet her face was composed, her actions measured. She had the makings of a fine Queen. He was proud.
“Yes,” he answered. “Every measure our Queen.”
She flushed. “Good.” Her nervous smile was for him alone. She glanced around the room at the men waiting for her and smiled as well, but this smile was cool and unruffled.
They seated themselves at the center of the U in the tables. He held out her chair for her, and drew it in as she sat. Everyone else then sat as well.
She rested one hand on his knee, almost teasingly, he thought, then realized it was for reassurance. He wanted to touch her mind and soothe those taut nerves, but with the entire Dragoon assembled to see her, she needed to be able to present herself adequately on her own. He laid his hand over hers. Her thoughts were closely guarded.
What did their Queen think of this motley crew? The last of her subjects, they were desperate enough to die for a chance to pass on their genetics through her. He did not pry.
Every eye was focused on Adrianne. A thin edge of panic lanced through her closely guarded thoughts. She visibly fought it back. Her hand clenched beneath his. He smoothed it, flipped it over so he could trace the fine lines in her palm.
Benito stood. “Dragoness.” He inclined his head.
“Benito,” Navarre murmured to Adrianne quietly by way of introduction.
“As the eldest member of the Dragoon, please allow me to give you a formal welcome. Forgive our overeagerness. Some of us have waited centuries for this moment to occur.”
Adrianne bit her lip, unnerved by that new bit of data, then straightened in her chair. “Thank you, Benito.” Her voice was soft, but grew in volume as she continued. She slipped her hand from Navarre’s and stood, fingers tented on the tabletop. “I would ask your forgiveness as well…and your patience,” she added. “I… This comes as a shock. Please, I wish to meet with each of you, to better understand what I’ve suddenly become a part of. My family has always been very small. To find that I now am blessed with thirteen family members is both heartwarming and somewhat terrifying.”
Navarre saw only her, a shining beacon in the room. Courage came in many forms. Her willingness to face them, and to empathize with their situation, went a long way toward their acceptance of her. Although acceptance or not, she was their only chance.
She sat then and kept her hands to herself. With her flushed skin and hands twisted in her lap, she looked so vulnerable, yet determined to be strong. Navarre felt some indefinable emotion take possession of his heart. She would be his, he hers.
Each member of the Dragoon took their turn, offering their words of welcome, and tried to form a favorable impression with their new Queen.
“Like a dessert buffet. Where does one begin?” Nikki remarked quietly.
“Shh.” Adrianne focused on Vespero, the last of the Dragoon.
“Dragoness, like Benito, I am too old to woo your hand.” Navarre knew Vespero preened like a peacock, to the point of dyeing his gray hairs a dark black. Given the chance, he’d try to bed her. “But I am our chosen historian. This day and all days forward will be chronicled so all will know of the sacrifices you made to bring the Dragoon back from extinction.”
“Oh dear,” Adrianne muttered.
“Your own personal poet.” Nikki turned a laugh into a cough.
Adrianne smiled politely. “And you will fill your books with praise? No descriptions of my bad days, the tantrums, my habit of cursing and saying out loud whatever comes to mind?” She said it all in such a serious manner she actually caused Vespero to stumble over his words.
“Dragoness, history cannot be a one-sided portrayal of one’s best assets.”
She regained some of the former confidence Navarre had seen in her at the hospital. “I’ll have to convince you otherwise, Vespero.” She flashed him a winning smile.
Vespero sat, speechless. Altarre nudged him in the ribs, teasing him. They had never known Vespero to be at a loss for words. It was good to see humor restored to the Dragoon.
Vespero gave her a small smile. “Your sense of humor will be noted.”
“And her best friend’s incredibly good looks,” Nikki added under her breath.
“I’ll make sure he adds that.” Adrianne turned to Navarre. “After breakfast, Nikki will need to be returned home. I wish to go along and pack some of my belongings.”
The Dragoon would frown on her leaving. They couldn’t adequately protect her in her world. “We can replace your personal effects,” Navarre offered, knowing she’d argue.
Adrianne shook her head. “Not all of them. I have to explain things to Doug too, probably make some plausible excuse for leaving work as well. You can’t expect me to abandon my life just like that.”
That’s exactly what they expected her to do, but Navarre could sense her angst, despite the tight shield she kept over her thoughts. He kept his expression neutral.
She wishes to go home, he said to Benito.
Impossible, came the reply.
To collect her belongings. Sever some ties.
It would be too difficult to protect her.
He would fight this battle for her. She needed some tie to her past to anchor her in her new present. Her mind is set on this. Ask the others.
“Who is this Doug?” he asked, stalling. He chose that direction well. She colored and glanced at Nikki.
Nikki paused, food halfway to her mouth. “You mentioned him, not I.”
“A close friend,” she said warily.
“Male?” he questioned, voice tight. He felt rage first. How dare someone else touch her? Common sense quickly extinguished that flame. He was foolish to assume she was untouched especially since he, himself, was not.
“Yes.” She met his gaze, anger simmering in her eyes.
So she wasn’t totally cowed by them. Good. “You cannot reveal our presence to him or your birthright.”
She sighed, rolling her eyes. “As if he’d believe me.”
What was this Doug to her? He wanted to demand answers, but that was not his place. His jaw worked. It was his responsibility to bind her to the Dragoon, despite his own emotions. “Then you have nothing left to say to him.” He knew he sounded harsh and regretted the words immediately.
Her eyes flashed fire. “You can’t censor who I talk to or tell me what I can or can’t do. Maybe now’s a good time to have a few questions answered. Do you expect me to leave Earth? Am I supposed to be content with being escorted by one of you at all times? What about this Hunter? Will he try to harm Nikki? Do you expect me to just smile and look pretty without a thought in my head?”
“Good questions,” Nikki said around a mouthful of food. “How about this one? When do you expect her to start popping out kids?”
“Nikki!”
He had expected the denial and now the rage. What he wasn’t prepared for was the vibrating aura of wrath sh
e projected without even knowing it. They knew she had psi talents. She wouldn’t have been able to stop the plane or hear him half a universe away otherwise. He was uncertain how to handle an irate Queen. If she was one of the Dragoon, he’d have walked away and waited until she could think rationally. He didn’t have that option.
Conversation stilled. The Dragoon were a discreet lot, though. All eyes continued to focus on their plates and their meals.
“We have not discussed a permanent residence,” Benito interjected while Navarre tried to keep his composure.
The woman was maddening. Adrianne appeared oblivious to his state. Although he, himself, could not have defined just what he was feeling. Possibly it was the human equivalent to jealousy. If he could sense her emotions, why could she not discern his? She was their Queen, the only person standing between the Dragoon and extinction. He wanted to take her outside and fly with her, to drive her mad with her own hunger to soar. She’d seen reason then.
Be careful, Navarre cautioned Benito although that was probably obvious to even the most psi-dense of them.
“Arrangements could be made to remain on your planet. Perhaps in a warmer climate?” Benito offered. “The Hunter, however, is a grave concern. It is why we wish to keep you safe within the hull of our ship.”
“Nikki has no need to fear him. He seeks only you,” Navarre added.
“And children?” she prompted.
Benito met Navarre’s gaze, wordlessly yielding the conversation to him. Coward. “When you have become more acquainted with us, we will, of course, discuss this.”
Her plate of food was barely touched. The anger still simmered in her eyes, but she held it in check for now. “It is an important subject.”
“To us as well,” Navarre answered, hoping his emotions weren’t as transparent as hers. He cursed to himself, then saw a flash of emotion in her ocean blue eyes that stilled his own. Fear. She was truly afraid of what they meant to do with her. Immediately contrite, his ire vanished. Of course, she was like a young dragonet now. It was his duty to assuage her doubts. “I promise to answer any questions you may have. Now is not the appropriate time.”
She made an effort to eat and sipped at their rea, a warm coffee-like beverage. It was not like her coffee, but she was gracious in her attempt to sugar it down enough for her liking. “I wish to stay near Nikki right now,” she said. Her tone was firm, but not commanding.
“And Doug?” he probed. The name seared his tongue, but he succeeded in keeping his voice neutral.
She raised her chin a fraction, her look defiant but her voice smooth. “Yes, perhaps Doug too.”
Benito shot Navarre a quizzical look.
She has a mate. This Doug. He bit off each word. He did not have to censor his feelings around one of his own.
A complication we had not considered. The others do not wish to release her, but her agitation eats at them all, he said to Navarre. Perhaps with familiar possessions around her, she will settle down and accept her fate. An agitated Queen does not make for a healthy clutch.
Again, he sensed they were relying on him to keep her steady. They should have picked his brother, Altarre. He was the empath.
“We will escort you home but we cannot leave you alone,” Navarre said.
“But—” she began.
Nikki elbowed her hard. “Sounds good.” She laid her fork on her plate and gave the roomful of men a winning smile. “When can we go?”
Adrianne scowled at her plate, but kept silent.
For once, Navarre was grateful for Nikki’s presence. She shot him a you-owe-me look.
“They are trying very hard to please you,” Nikki said a little later on as they waited in the outer windowed hallway for their escort.
Adrianne groaned. “I know. I know. I have this hunch that I’m nothing more than a little breeder for them. You’ll note that none of them conveniently answered that question.”
“I noticed.” And it worried her too. Nikki smoothly switched subjects. “Even Benito is good-looking. And you have free rein with them all. I’m so jealous.”
“Except Quince,” she replied, without turning around. She pressed her palms against the glass. “What will I tell Doug?”
“That you found someone else?” Nikki offered, a trifle too gleeful. “I doubt he’ll be heartbroken.”
True, but she didn’t want to think about all the time she wasted the last couple of years in a dead-end relationship. “How about my friends at work? Ernie at the diner? The police?” She turned toward Nikki and thrust her hands in her pockets. “I’m a lousy liar.” And she was desperately grasping at something to force her to keep her life as it was. The sad fact, in all its depressing glory, was other than Nikki there was very little tying her to her present life.
“You’re getting married to someone filthy rich. You’re moving and when you know which house of his you’ll be living in, you’ll forward your address.”
Adrianne rolled her eyes.
“It’s a great lie,” Nikki insisted.
“Do I look like a person who could fall in love just like that?” Anybody who knew her at all would see through that one.
“No, but you are, aren’t you?” Nikki lowered her voice. “I can see it in your eyes. You wouldn’t have given in to them so easily elsewise.”
“You’re nuts.” But she felt a niggling feeling of doubt creep in. She was staying with them to learn how to fly. That’s all. She’d decide what she wanted to do once she mastered that. “Navarre patronizes me. And I barely know him.”
“He’s trying to protect you.”
“He’s arrogant.”
“And you’re not?”
“I don’t want to be coddled.” She sidestepped Nikki’s question.
Nikki threw up her hands. “Listen to you. They could cart you off to God knows where and no one would be the wiser. And no one could stop them. The point is, they haven’t.”
“I didn’t ask to be anyone’s Queen,” she replied sullenly.
“And I doubt you’d have been first on their list either.” Nikki sighed. “Why couldn’t it have been me?”
“What would you have me do?” She flung herself away from the window to pace the hall.
“Work with them. Try to understand where they’re coming from.”
“I understand,” she said through clenched teeth. “What they don’t realize is I need independence, my own personal space—”
She cut off her rant mid-sentence. The panel slid open and Navarre, Quince and Altarre emerged.
Adrianne leaned against the wall, trying but failing to look nonchalant.
Nikki let out a low whistle. They had dressed in jeans and t-shirts. Their footwear was still undeniably odd, more boots than shoes, but tucked beneath the hem of their jeans, it was unremarkable. And any woman with working hormones would never notice their shoes.
Adrianne couldn’t help but notice how the thin cotton fabric hugged Navarre’s broad chest. His dark blue jeans fit him all too well, the denim cupping his snug bottom. Her fingers itched to run all over his body, and probe the shadowy muscles that rippled beneath his shirt. It was difficult to mask her thoughts from them. Nikki made no effort to do so.
Altarre blushed under the scrutiny. He was his brother’s height, with the same tanned skin tone, but hair the color of dark chocolate with the same coppery highlights as Navarre.
“Have we adequately disguised ourselves?” Navarre asked, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. You are broadcasting again.
Bug off! she retorted, embarrassed. “You’ll draw attention wherever you go,” she grumbled.
Navarre arched an eyebrow. She supposed he had no clue what the slang meant. Too bad. He could hear her thoughts. He should be adept enough to read between the lines.
Nikki shot Adrianne a dark stare. “In a good way.”
Altarre’s blush deepened.
“We’ve decided your vehicle will be the least inconspicuous. We have a smaller craft which will drop us
discreetly off.” Navarre offered Adrianne his arm. She refused it. He sighed.
Nikki’s eyes twinkled. “Five people in my car?”
It was Adrianne’s turn to sigh. At least she and Navarre had frustration in common. If this had been happening to Nikki, she’d be just as amused as Nikki was. Twice as disbelieving, but just as thrilled to be a part of the fantasy. Being crammed between Navarre and Altarre in the car would put her uncomfortably close to Navarre. Unless that was the Dragoon’s intent, to foster her off on Navarre as soon as possible.
That was it, wasn’t it? Sure, he was really good-looking, and a great kisser, she grudgingly added, but beyond physical attraction, there was nothing more. She didn’t believe in reincarnation, did she? She straightened her shoulders, unable to even lie convincingly to herself.
She knew him. She didn’t know how, but she knew Navarre intimately. Perhaps she’d stolen his memories from his mind without knowing what she was doing. No, every nerve in her body thrummed when he touched her, claiming him as her own, as if they were soul mates. What a ridiculous thought. She was sane and logical-thinking. The concept of being destined for just one person in the universe was not logical. It was inanely romantic.
“I am eager to meet your mate, this Doug,” Navarre said finally, painfully polite. If his eyes flashed jade fire, she tried not to notice.
“He is not my mate.” She stumbled over her words. “He’s…well…a good friend.”
“Nikki is also a good friend, is she not?” Navarre asked.
“Yes, but not that way.” Damn him. She shot Nikki a pleading glance.
Nikki snickered.
“We are looking forward to getting to know our Queen better. Please excuse our overeagerness,” Altarre said.
Quince looked downright dangerous, dressed all in black with a face as still as stone. Navarre’s painfully polite expression hid anything he might be thinking. Only Altarre appeared truly optimistic.
“I can’t wait,” Adrianne muttered.
Less than an hour later, Adrianne found herself wedged in the backseat of Nikki’s car between Navarre and Altarre while Nikki chatted nonstop to Quince, seated beside her. The heat of Navarre’s body pressed against her. The scent of him surrounding her and the constant necessity of censoring her thoughts was making her irritable. Navarre, for his part, kept his hands to himself. That was even more frustrating.
The Last Queen Page 9
