“You believe me to have dishonored you.” Something akin to hurt flashed in his wild eyes.
“No! No! I didn’t say that.”
He looked at the people around them, then back at her. “You didn’t have to.”
His gaze penetrated, making her feel ashamed. And Brigit was. Talking to Orion was the equivalent of dancing freeform before someone turned on the stereo. Every time Brigit thought she made the right moves, the music changed and she faltered. For some reason, it was important to her that he believed her.
She reached for his arm, stroking him soothingly. “Please Orion…I don’t want to fight. Let’s just enjoy the contest. Enjoy this moment. Afterward, we can go our separate ways if you want. Okay?” she offered, even though the thought sickened her. Brigit didn’t want him to leave and wouldn’t rule out begging if it came down to it.
His breathing had deepened and his body looked brittle enough to break in a strong wind. Brigit knew she’d insulted him, even though that hadn’t been her intention. If he walked now, she was screwed. What was she saying? Panic enveloped her as she thought about Orion striding out of her life. Suddenly, the contest didn’t seem all that important.
“I’m sorry. Truly. I know you’re nothing like Rocket Man, Rick. It was stupid to suggest as much, even though that wasn’t how I meant it.” Brigit fluffed her skirt absently. “You’re more man than he’ll ever be,” she added, speaking more to herself than to Orion.
He seemed to weigh her words for a moment, then shook his head sadly and left.
Brigit watched him make his way through the crowd toward the stage, her heart sinking with every step. She kept hoping he’d turn around, but he didn’t look back. Tears welled in her eyes. Why did it feel like she’d just screwed up the best thing that had ever happened to her?
* * * * *
Orion’s mind was in turmoil as he made his way to the stage. He’d never dishonor Brigit the way Rick had done. He’d never dishonor her or any woman, period. If she were his woman, Brigit wouldn’t have to worry about his faithfulness. He could be nothing but true to her. Honor and his people dictated as much. Even if they didn’t, his code of ethics did. But would she do the same? Orion didn’t know. Humans were not bound by Atlantean law or its customs. From what he’d learned, they could break a bond and not think anything of it. The thought made his skin prickle and itch. Orion knew himself well enough to know he’d kill any male who lay with his mate. He doubted that Brigit would understand that he’d be perfectly within his rights.
Anger over these unfamiliar emotions surged through him. He wanted to pound this man, Rick out of existence. The fact that he’d claimed some part of Brigit and tossed it away only made the sensation worse. No man would touch her and live. That knowledge, along with the possessive feelings swirling inside of him, rocked Orion. He had no intention of claiming Brigit for himself, or any other Earth woman for that matter. Yet, the thought of her lying beneath another man, spreading her legs, taking his cock inside her, left him with murderous thoughts.
Why?
Why here? Why now? Why her?
The questions buzzed like angry senties in his mind. Still Orion felt no closer to the answers. He walked to the side of the stage and waited near several couples. He sensed the moment Brigit joined him, but didn’t look at her. The couples chatted while they waited to be called onstage.
Orion didn’t miss the secretive glances the women sent him nor the invitations in their eyes. Apparently, neither did Brigit, whose creamy skin now glowed fiery red, matching her hair. Her emerald-colored eyes shot Zaronian daggers, daring anyone to make a move closer. So his little ward cared much more than she let on. That more than anything soothed his bruised ego. Orion smiled, enjoying the strange clothing competition for the first time.
His smug smile faded, when he noticed a man making his way through the crowd straight toward Brigit. The man looked like an average Earthling with dark brown hair and tanned skin. He was above normal in height, but still much shorter than Orion. He held little muscle on his frame and would not fare well in a Zaronian battle, unless he possessed hidden abilities.
The man stopped in front of Brigit, his brown eyes devouring her lush curves in undisguised appreciation. He grinned, flashing white teeth, then stepped forward and pulled Brigit into a quick embrace. He released her slowly. The action was far too familiar for Orion’s liking. Brigit’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times in surprise, then she appeared to gather her wits.
Orion heard his knuckles pop and realized he’d clenched his fists.
“I’ve missed you,” the man said. His dulcet tones grated on Orion’s nerves.
Brigit’s flush deepened as she glanced over at Orion. She slowly, almost reluctantly turned her attention back to the man in front of her.
Orion hadn’t missed the sudden flash of indecision on her face. Her emotions hit his gut like a blow from a Taration giant. Was she actually considering taking this human for a mate? Unease crept into his bones. He had the overwhelming urge to toss Brigit over his shoulder and carry her back to his ship where he’d hold her until she forgot all about this human male.
“What are you doing?” she asked her voice low and brimming with confusion.
“I wanted to tell you how beautiful you look tonight. And to let you know that I miss you.”
“Y-You m-miss me?” Brigit sputtered.
“I made a huge mistake.” The man brushed a hand along her arm and she trembled.
Orion watched in disbelief, his every instinct telling him to kill the intruder, who dared touch his woman.
“Where’s your girlfriend?” Brigit asked, suddenly pulling away.
“It doesn’t matter.” The man’s gaze shot over her shoulder to land on Orion. Smugness and a confidence that hadn’t been there moments ago hardened the man’s expression. “I’m here now to wish you luck and to tell you that I want you back,” he said to her, all but daring Orion to respond.
“I don’t know, Rick,” Brigit said hesitantly.
Orion stood motionless, his entire body throbbing with churning fury. This was the man he’d sought earlier. The man who Brigit said he couldn’t harm. The same one who’d discarded her for the company of a whore. The man was a fool. And here she was actually considering his offer. He could see it on her face.
Fear clutched Orion’s chest as he watched Rick attempt to win her back—attempt to take his woman away. The fear was slowly replaced by a lethal calm. If they were on Zaron, Rick would already be dead.
Power surged through Orion. His hands began to glow, along with his skin. People glanced around, their voices rising in excited whispers at the scene unfolding before them. Orion pushed the power back, forcing it deep inside of his body. The last thing he needed was to alert the Earthlings to his alien origins. His vision dimmed and his ears rang. He could no longer hear what Brigit and Rick were saying, but their body language spoke volumes and he didn’t like what it was saying.
They leaned into each other, the sexual tension thick, familiar. Rick smiled, a look of triumph on his marginally handsome face, as he glanced once more at Orion. A moment later, he placed a quick kiss on Brigit’s cheek and departed.
Orion followed Rick’s movements. He walked a few feet away, stopping beside a woman who could only be described as lush. She didn’t look pleased. Rick’s name was called and he stepped onto the stage, the raven-haired beauty followed closely behind. She smiled for the audience and they responded by whistling and screaming out her name.
So this was the temptress, Dorothy, who Rick had chosen over Brigit. Orion scowled. Like a Zaronian field flower, she was beautiful, but common.
The couple strolled to the end of the ramp where Rick twirled the woman before bending her back over his arm. He grazed on the white expanse of her throat, his weak lips reminding Orion of a lemac nibbling sugar.
Dorothy blushed, her face turning rapturous. Orion could not see what made this man or the woman in his arms exceptional. Th
ere was a falseness to their appearance, a shallowness in their chins. Their eyes while brightly colored showed only insecurity. Orion snorted. He’d seen enough. He turned to Brigit, only to catch her frowning at the spectacle.
The crowed roared, snapping his attention back to the couple on center stage. Dorothy’s dress dropped away, exposing one ample silver pastie-covered breast. Rick placed a kiss above the silver star, causing the men in the crowd to howl. Dorothy’s mouth opened and she slid one finger between her teeth. Howls rang out, the sound deafening in the cavernous room.
“I swear that woman has no modest, no shame at all. Just look at her.” Brigit spun, her green eyes flashing in the darkness. “Tell me you are not gawking.”
Orion arched a disapproving brow. If he weren’t so angry, he’d be amused by Brigit’s erratic change in behavior. They had much to learn about each other.
“Just checking,” she said, then blushed.
He saw her glance down at her own modest cleavage and frown. The couple exited the stage a minute later, passing Orion. Rick slowed as he neared Brigit. His smile brightened and he lowered one eyelid. Orion wasn’t sure of the significance of the gesture, but he knew he didn’t like it. Before he could stop himself, energy shot out from his hand, searing the man’s backside.
Rick yelped, his fingers curving protectively around his rump. He glared at Orion, who shrugged in response. By the time Brigit swung around to see what occurred, Orion made sure he’d already looked away, an expression of placid boredom firmly in place.
Dorothy sashayed by a moment later. “Good luck, sugar,” she drawled. Her attention quickly left Brigit to rest upon Orion. “When you get tired of playing with sloppy seconds, let me know.” She trailed her fingertips over his corded forearm.
Orion punched a button on his wrist to translate the meaning of her words, then coolly assessed the woman. In another time, in another galaxy, he might have taken her up on her offer, but only if he was bored or had had too much Zaronian ale. She was disposable and interchangeable with any of his previous bedmates. He found her strangely lacking in substance.
Brigit’s gaze turned from hot to icy. Her face mottled as Dorothy’s words registered. “You bitch!” She moved to reach for the woman’s hair, but Orion stopped her. “Let me go!” She struggled to free herself from his grasp. “I’m going to snatch that bitch bald. She practically threw herself at you, and you just stood there, ready to catch,” she said, vehemently.
“I hadn’t noticed,” he growled. “Though I could’ve sworn that you said Rick discarded you in front of your people without regard for your feelings.” Orion pointed to her ex in the crowd as if there were any doubt who he was referring to. “Even now he flaunts his new bed partner in front of you to remind you of his choice. Yet, you do not act like a wounded woman. Quite the opposite. Moments ago, you lapped up his attention like a feline in heat. You practically rubbed yourself against him, when he offered to take you back. A beast with no nose could’ve scented your lust it was so thick in the air.”
“I’m not the one who’s in the wrong here. He… She… A feline in heat!” Brigit sputtered, her gaze narrowing. “What do you mean by that?”
Orion’s lips thinned. “I mean do not welcome me in your bed, if your heart lies with another.”
* * * * *
Brigit’s jaw dropped. She wasn’t sure what shocked her more, Rick trying to worm his way back into her life or Orion’s jealousy and gargantuan ego in presuming that she’d planned to fuck him. Okay, maybe she had, but still…he didn’t know that.
Men! Can’t live with them and can’t drag them behind a truck by their testicles.
Did Orion actually believe she’d fall back in her ex’s arms, when this god of a man was standing in front of her? Obviously, he did, since he’d come right out and said so. Was he nuts? Did Orion have that low of an opinion of her character?
The truth slapped her face like an airbag during a collision. She had been too zealous in her quest to beat Rick in these competitions. Maybe even subconsciously she’d hoped that once she won he’d want her back. She’d come to the Con feeling like she had something to prove. That all changed when she met Orion. She no longer wanted Rick back, but was it so terrible to want him to realize what he’d given up?
No, darn it!
She’d been out to prove a point, but not at the expense of everything else. Not if it meant losing Orion. She glanced his way. Disappointment and something else clouded his eyes. He thought less of her. She could see it. Brigit knew she wasn’t perfect. Far from it. So why did she feel the need to be that way around Orion? Why did she care what he thought?
Up until now, she had never cared what anyone but Jac and Rachel thought about her. It bothered her that a guy she barely knew had managed to get under her skin so fast, especially since after tomorrow she’d probably never see him again.
Was this some kind of rebound? She considered the possibility. Rick broke up with her a few months back. She’d been heartbroken for a while or so she’d thought at the time. She might even have wanted a little revenge in the beginning. Not mature, but the ugly truth. She was over that now. Brigit had moved on and it was more than obvious Rick had, too. He was already back to his scumbag cheater ways.
What could she do to convince Orion that since the moment she’d laid eyes on him no one else had existed? And why was it so bloody important that she try?
Brigit wished Jac and Rachel were here. They’d know what to do. They had so much more experience than she did. Her gaze went of its own volition to the front row of seats. They were packed with people she didn’t know. Sadness swamped her. She looked back at Orion. He watched her, weighing her worth as the seconds ticked by. She felt lower than a dust bunny.
Well she’d show him.
Brigit considered multiple possibilities, discarding one only to pick the next. Hmm…but where to begin? She glanced at the spotlighted stage and licked her lips. Could she do it? Did she dare? Yes, she could. She decided to give the audience one hell of a show, one that would make Rick and Dorothy’s performance look as if they’d auditioned for a children’s show, and hopefully convince Orion that she wanted him. Only him. If Brigit managed to pull this off, Orion wouldn’t know what hit him. She almost purred in delight.
* * * * *
Orion didn’t like the look Brigit gave him. Like a farcat eyeing a fat esuom meal, her gaze raked him from head to boot. The skin at his nape prickled, warning him trouble lay ahead. He straightened, not allowing her to see how off balance that look left him. Never had a woman churned such emotion in him. One minute he felt like shaking her senseless and spanking her luscious ass, the next, he longed to bury his cock inside her warmth for at least thirty moonrises.
He had no idea where he stood with the firebrand. She wanted him. That much was clear. He felt fairly certain in her presence. Yet she also seemed to want the mere Earthman.
Shocked, and more than a little disappointed, Orion found her lack of discernment and taste only reinforced his opinion that Earth women were only good for sex. He hated the fact that he’d wanted Brigit to be the exception. But, she wasn’t. He’d created an illusion out of wishful thinking and must now accept that fact.
Everything beyond a physical coupling with her was mired due to her indecisive behavior. Earlier, that would’ve matter naught. Now, it did. What had changed? The answer shocked him. For the first time in Orion’s life, joining wasn’t enough. It pained him to acknowledge such, but he needed more, wanted more from this woman. He was just no longer convinced she was capable of giving him what he sought.
The announcer called out their names. Brigit smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. A second later, she stepped onto the stage. She stuck her hand into a hidden flap in her skirt that Orion hadn’t noticed before and pulled out a gold chain with a gem-encrusted hoop at one end. She latched the collar around her neck and then held out the leash for him to take. The action seemed meaningless to the audience, but he knew better
.
Heat flared, sending a surge of power, along with an onslaught of sexual awareness through Orion. She was offering herself to him, giving him full control over her body. Her gift was simple, yet incredibly primal. More powerful than had she spread her legs and bent forward, offering her ass and honey-laced quim for his immediate consumption. Orion shuddered. His gaze locked onto the chain a second before grasping the cool links in his hand. It felt satiny to the touch, yet scalded like flame.
The gold sparkled in the spotlight, spilling droplets of light over their skin and onto the floor. He longed to tongue every twinkle that caressed her soft feminine form. He watched the rays dance for a moment, then turned his attention back to his gift.
Orion gave the leash a gentle tug, drawing in the slack until it pulled taut. Brigit’s eyes flashed, then melted into emerald pools of desire. He saw promises in their depths, along with something else. Something that if he were in his right mind should worry him, but didn’t.
Her body subtly moistened. He could smell her heat in the air. Orion inhaled, his head swimming with need. His cock hardened, demanding release from the confines of his spacesuit. The fragile chain stretched between them, frail in its substance, but substantial in significance. He was going to like this new game. A lot. And from the expression on Brigit’s face, he wasn’t the only one.
Are you certain you want me to have this, little one?
Atlantean's Quest Volume 2 Page 21
