by Stormie Kent
He pressed firmly against her and shouted. She felt him release within her. Niki’s body continued to twitch and convulse. She was tired. Too tired to move and too tired to care when a little too much of his weight brought her flat to the mattress. She moaned. He swept her hair to the side and kissed her neck, which sent another shiver down her spine.
Then he did it again and again as if he couldn’t get enough of her. He rubbed her in slow strokes and her exhausted body ceased its involuntary movements.
He sat back and pulled from her slowly.
“Oh,” she said.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked softly.
“No.” Only a little. The pain had added to the pleasure somehow. There’d been moments when she hadn’t been sure she could take climaxing so many times.
“Niki?”
She managed to turn toward him on her side. She scooted over and tucked herself into his body warmth. She didn’t want to analyze what had happened too closely. He gathered her close and pulled the sheet over them both. She closed her eyes and pretended to be sleep.
The room was quiet for a long time. He smoothed her hair and she realized a sleeping person couldn’t protest.
“I know you aren’t asleep, Niki.”
He couldn’t prove it.
She batted at his hand as he held her eye open.
“Were you raised in a barn?” she grumbled.
“I have something serious to ask you.”
“No way. I’m trying to bask in the afterglow right now.”
“Niki.”
“Rhine, if you’re going to ask me anything except if I want to take a little nap before we try reverse cowgirl, I just want to warn you I’m going to be extremely pissed and not let you play with my girl parts anymore. I’m going to take my toys to the other room.”
He paused. She could almost feel the struggle his brain was waging with his body.
“What is reverse cowgirl?” he asked finally.
She whispered the answer in his ear.
He cleared his throat. “Do you want to take a nap before we try this reverse cowgirl?”
Chapter Seven
“You can’t distract me forever. We land on Ordan tomorrow. You will answer my questions or I will tie you down,” Rhine declared.
She raised her eyebrow.
“And I won’t pleasure you while I have you tied up.”
Well, he wasn’t any fun today.
She stood in front of him, facing the door. It occurred to her that the problem with a room on a spacecraft was there were no escape routes. He stood in front of the only exit for the chamber. She’d already established she couldn’t get around him and he looked really determined.
She knew when the path of least resistance would be best. She walked over to the sofa and sat.
“What would you like to know?”
“Why are you distressed to say Camryn is your sister? I have never heard you call her sister without catching yourself.”
Man. She sighed. She thought he’d forgotten about that. Her stomach churned a little and she wondered if she might be sick.
“What is it?” He crossed the short distance and sat down next to her. “Why do you have this reaction every time you are asked about her? You behaved strangely when you spoke with her on the ship as well. Don’t think I didn’t notice you both sending secret messages to each other.”
“Why do you need to know this?” she asked.
“If I noticed, Venn will notice. I want to help you.”
Maybe if she gave him the bare facts, it would satisfy him and they could move on to the part that didn’t expose her soul and leave her insides bleeding.
“Camryn and I have the same father, Nelson Highbear.”
He took her hand and rubbed the top with his thumbs.
“Our mothers were both in love with him and agreed to live together as a family unit with him. Our mothers were also sisters, Kate and Ana Sawyer.”
“So your family was polygamous. This happens on many planets. This isn’t the reason you feel…shame.” He stared into her eyes.
“It wasn’t legal where we lived and our mothers being sisters was taboo. But you’re right. Until I was five, I didn’t know our family was considered wrong. They were just my family.”
“What happened when you were five?”
“Our father and our mothers sat us down and explained that when I entered school we would have to tell a few lies. Outside of our home, I was no longer Niki Highbear, I was Niki Sawyer, my father’s niece. Camryn would remain a Highbear and his daughter.” It was at that point where she started thinking about making a break for the door. She knew she wouldn’t make it. He was too quick.
She didn’t want to talk about this. She never talked about her past. She wouldn’t even speak of it with Camryn. She especially didn’t want to speak of it with another person who thought she was second best. Like a man who loved her sister, but fucked her because if he blurred his eyes she could be her. Or because I let him.
He tried to hug her. She stood abruptly.
“Niki—”
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
She turned and he let her. She walked as normally as she could into the bedroom. She averted her eyes from the bed as she moved through to the bathroom. Once inside, she shut the door and sank to the floor. Her head fell back and banged against the door.
“Are you hurt, Niki,” Rhine asked.
He was obviously right outside the door. She hoped she’d locked it.
“I’m not hurt.” I’m just stupid.
There was a long pause and then she heard shifting. A light tap sounded right by her ear. Was he sitting on the other side of the bathroom door? She pulled her legs up and hugged them to her body.
“Niki, it isn’t your fault your parents chose to lie. It isn’t your sister’s fault either. What else happened? Why are you angry with her?”
She turned so she leaned sideways against the door. She laid her palm against the smooth surface. They sat in silence for a while.
“I didn’t understand at first. Or maybe I did. I knew that somehow the words Papa…Nelson said to me made us broken. And Cam, even at six, she was my protector. I still remember how she stood and placed herself between me and them. I remember how she hugged me. She would say to me every day, ‘You’re my sister. We’re a family,’ but no one else believed it. They whispered about me being illegitimate. Every misstep I made was compared to how well behaved Cam was. The worst was hearing how good it was of Nelson to take me in and be a father to me.”
She laughed bitterly. “Imagine that. He was a father to his own daughter.”
“I wish you would open the door,” he said.
“No. I thought you wanted to hear this.”
“The door makes you feel more comfortable.” He sounded as if he was turning the idea over in his mind. “Please continue.”
She snorted. “I didn’t behave well. I was always in trouble and I left home early. Camryn and I love each other. I know in my heart she would do anything for me. I would do anything for her. Hell, searching for her is what got me captured. We are the only family the other has left, yet when I look at her sometimes, all I see are all the times I was compared to her and found lacking. Sometimes I feel…”
“Shame,” he said quietly.
It shocked her and she automatically thought to deny it. Then she remembered he could sense and decipher her emotions even when she couldn’t.
“So I stay away. I come back when I can’t function without seeing her and knowing she’s safe.”
“I am the perfect person to help you,” he said.
She almost smiled. He was a sweet man, even if he was nosy and a bit arrogant.
“How can you help me?”
“My father was outcast because he would not accept my Uncle Ivan’s right to rule Tribe Huntu. Lord Ivan had to defeat him several times before sending him away. I spent the first seven years of my life in exile.”
She
rested her hand against the door. He sounded matter-of-fact, but for someone as duty driven and family oriented as Rhine, being an outcast had to be extremely painful for him.
“How are you Venn’s second now if you were in exile?” she whispered.
“My uncle came for me when it was my time to foster. My father let me go because he thought it would be good strategy to have someone loyal to him on the inside.”
His pause was the only indication he was having difficulty telling the story. She needed to see his face. His voice wouldn’t tell her what he was feeling. She reached up and tapped the door release. The door slid open. The light from the bedroom hurt her eyes for a moment.
When she could see again, she wasn’t surprised to find him seated on the floor, facing her. His feet were planted on the floor and his forearms rested on his knees. He gazed back at her. He smiled slightly.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hi.”
She moved out of the smaller room and sat with her bent legs between his. He didn’t touch her and he didn’t say anything further.
“What happened?” she asked.
“You have to understand how my father had raised me until then. He told me Lord Ivan was responsible for his disgrace. He was angry. He shouted at me and my mother for the smallest mistakes. He started my combat training before he should have, and when I failed to accomplish tasks I was too small for, he would beat me with his fists.”
She moved closer so her legs touched his. She didn’t know if he wanted her to comfort him or not. She wasn’t good with emotion. All she knew was she needed to touch him to reassure herself he wasn’t that beaten little boy. He was a man who protected others. His fingertips lightly touched her knee.
“My father’s favorite motivational statement was that my cousin Venn was learning what I couldn’t. He would say, ‘I’m sure Ivan’s boy is not a weakling.’ He told me that when I was born with the face of a girl, he knew I would be useless.”
She wrapped her arms around his leg and laid her head on his knee. He smoothed her hair back gently. His eyes never left her face and she didn’t try to hide her sympathy. She understood.
“I was terrified of my uncle. He was bigger than my father and I feared the beatings he would give me when I failed to learn what I should and I was sure my cousin was going to be a bully and superior. I knew I wouldn’t like him. I was wrong. I learned kindness from my uncle. He didn’t beat children when they didn’t learn something right away. He didn’t beat children at all. We did perform many chores. I think the stable hands had an easy job when my cousins and I were being fostered.”
She chuckled a little and squeezed his leg. “What about Venn?”
Rhine actually smiled. “He didn’t smile much as a child, but I learned it was because he was naturally serious. The day I arrived, he looked me up and down and told me I was too skinny. Then he showed me how to talk Cook out of extra sweets. He knew things I didn’t know and he was very patient with me as I caught up. By the time Tor, Gunter and Olaf joined us the next year, I knew enough to help them. I also would have followed Venn into a Trogo den empty-handed, with meat strapped to my back.”
She laughed and pushed gently on his other leg.
“I know how it feels to be held up to a family member and to be found lacking. I know it happened to you for so long you developed unhealthy coping skills, but I also know you want to be different with your sister or you wouldn’t have crossed several galaxies just to protect her.”
“I’m sorry your father hurt you,” she said.
He pulled her closer, adjusting her legs so they rested against his sides. Then he folded her into a tight hug.
“Petting me would make me feel much better.”
She smirked, but rubbed his back anyway. Something within her wanted to offer him comfort, even if she suspected he was too well-adjusted to really need it or her.
“Niki, I need to talk to you about being careful around Venn.”
He stroked her hair in long passes and she realized he expected her to become upset. Considering she’d recently locked herself in the bathroom, she wouldn’t bite his head off.
“Why?”
“He is very protective of your sister. The emotions you have when speaking to her will be troubling to him and you can be abrasive.”
She tried to pull away and he held her tight.
“I just mean that his word is law in our country. Camryn wants you with her and Venn wants her to be happy.”
“So basically I’m on probation. Don’t worry, I will definitely be on my best behavior.”
*
They landed on Ordan at night. There was a slight bite to the air, but it wasn’t cold. She looked at A’Di. She felt sort of responsible for the woman. She’d given her a couple of the traditional dresses Camryn had sent on board the Alta. Bronwyn’s clothes were too big for A’Di and apparently it was highly scandalous to show one’s legs in public.
The spaceship landing area was lit by rows of what appeared to be solar panels. All around them was grassy terrain, not the concrete jungle she’d anticipated. Then Rhine led her to the vehicle which would carry them to the keep. She fell in love on the spot.
“What is it?” she asked.
“It is a hover vehicle.” Rhine eyed her in disbelief. “The Orpuwanou did not bring hovercraft to your world?”
“Those were mass transport vehicles with cages in the back. This is hot.”
She rubbed her hands over the hood. The machine was black, large and all angles. It was the type of vehicle she thought about in her head when someone said truck of the future. The doors lifted up and she smiled.
“Butterfly doors.” she whispered. Inside was a front driver and passenger seat. Then the bench seats in the back faced each other similar to a limousine. The leather was soft.
“It has wheels too,” Rhine said.
“Yeah.” She started to kneel down and look under the vehicle, but Rhine caught her arm.
“I’ll show you in the daytime,” he said.
She nodded. They had someplace to be.
Tor drove and Olaf rode shotgun. There was very little talk as they rode along. She couldn’t make out much as she looked out the side window. There seemed to be a lot of fields and farmhouses. She compared it to the barrenness of Tuetvon and decided she’d take the country living.
Until she saw the castle in the distance. As they travelled closer, it got larger. She could see soldiers walking along the battlements. The vehicle stopped and Tor entered a code into a panel which folded down out of an apparently fake stone wall. She wondered what type of metal reinforced the walls here.
They drove through an endless courtyard and directly to the front steps. Then she realized her big sister lived in a castle and started laughing.
“What is funny?” Gunter asked.
“There isn’t anything funny about my home,” Bronwyn said. She frowned up at the structure.
“You had to be there,” she said.
Some little girls dreamed of growing up and marrying a prince who would whisk them away to his castle. She wasn’t one of them, but leave it to Cam to end up on the other side of the universe sitting pretty, married to the ruler of his country and living in a true-to-life castle.
A guard opened the doors and they entered. Niki was surprised Cam didn’t come running around the corner when they arrived.
“Lord and Lady Huntu are in the first receiving room,” the guard said.
She looked up to find him staring at her. She frowned at him and turned away. She had bigger issues. She’d spent months searching for Camryn and been captured by slavers. She’d been sold and rescued by giants and then captured again by beast men. None of it scared her more than this moment.
She’d met her goal. She’d found Camryn. Rhine’s hand travelled down her braid in a soothing motion and she took a deep breath. His hand slid to her arm and he squeezed briefly before releasing her and opening the door. She noticed the door here had a ha
ndle and not a pad like on the ship.
It felt as if the door opened in slow motion until it was completely ajar and Cam stood directly across the room from her. Niki moved forward. Cam vibrated with excitement, but she didn’t move and Niki frowned. Her eyes travelled over Camryn and found Lord Huntu’s large hand clutching Cam’s skirt. What the hell? She looked at him and back at Camryn. When Niki reached the halfway point in the room, he released her skirt and Niki relaxed as Camryn shot forward.
Niki braced herself just in time as she was engulfed in a fierce hug. Niki’s arms came up more slowly. She locked them behind Cam’s back and held on tightly. She closed her eyes and let the familiar scent and feel of the only person who’d ever loved her envelop her. She would let herself have this moment. Hugging someone didn’t make her weak, even if the hugging happened in public. She was just really glad Cam was alive.
“You scared me. We looked for you, but all we found was your pack,” Niki whispered.
“I know. I took a nap and woke up to a Trogo patrol.”
Camryn loosened her hold and Niki held on for a moment longer, then took a step back.
“Let me look at you,” Camryn said. “You look good. Are you well? What happened on Tuetvon?”
Niki smiled a little. “I’m fine. How are you?”
“You keep asking me that. What do you think is wrong with me?” Camryn frowned.
“Niki,” Rhine said softly.
She stiffened, but got the hint. She wouldn’t assume the worst of her new in-law, yet. “Are you going to introduce me to your husband?”
“Oh yes.” Camryn turned and pulled her toward the frowning man.
He was scary as hell. Instead of the stoic look the others showed to the world, his eyes were narrowed, and frankly, she’d seen scowls before and that was a scowl. He wasn’t as tall as Tor, but he was just as big. Plus there was something in his eyes. She knew he was a predator. She’d seen the look before.
“Niki, this is my husband, Venn.”
Niki stared up at the man and narrowed her own eyes. She held out her hand. “Lord Huntu.”
