“And you don’t?”
“What I need is not necessarily happiness.” Riona thought of the fifty-thousand space credits. The reminder sat like a weight on her chest and gathered stress in her stomach. “And my staying is not necessarily what is best for your people. Think about it. If the gods did arrange all this, then why did you not meet me when you were supposed to? By your own people’s logic, we would have met during the ceremony at the right time.”
He said nothing. She hated the stormy look in his eyes. There was so much passion in him, and perhaps anger or frustration, yet he held it in.
“I am not my sister. We live very different lives. You know I’m Jagranst, so you know what happened to my world.”
“Aeron has told me some of the story,” Mirek acknowledged. “And just the stories I’ve heard over the years from other dignitaries.”
“An alien race called the Gregori wanted to test a weapon they’d developed. My planet was located near enough to make the trip short for them but far enough out that no one would see the blast. We were simple people. My parents were strict but loving. We obeyed our god. We had our traditions. We didn’t make noise in the universe. We were just another planet of people trying to live the way we were raised to live.” Riona took a deep breath.
“You don’t have to tell me if you are uncomfortable with my knowing,” he said.
“No, it’s not that. I just have never had cause to tell this actual story. It’s strange saying it out loud.” She let loose a long sigh. “The weapon ship never even landed. I doubt the people on my world even knew it was coming. We didn’t fight with other aliens. We didn’t have special fuel ore like you do here. I was in space when it happened. We had an offworld chaperone who took us to the Zonar District for a social learning exercise my parents had signed us up for. I was so irritated that they’d made me go with my sister. Even then she was such a know-it-all and we didn’t really get along. I was always in trouble and she was always lecturing me about it.” Riona gave a small laugh. Some things never changed.
“You two were the sole survivors,” Mirek concluded.
“Yes. The weapon detached a land drill, made a hole on the surface and then followed it with a laser blast. I suppose you could say fate got our revenge as the weapon ship was situated over an energy factory. When the factory blew, the resulting blast hit the Gregori ship. It was over in a moment. The chaperone did his best by us. Lantos made sure Aeron got into a Federation prep school, and he would show up when I called to be bailed out of some planetary detainment. I found out he died a few years after the explosion. He’d been trying to help some orphan kids and they ended up stabbing him for his trouble and his money book.”
“That could not have been easy for you.” Mirek tried to pull her into his arms.
The comfort would have been nice and warm and safe, but she kept back. At the moment, she felt too vulnerable. “Aeron will be a good fit here.”
“And we welcome you as we do her.”
“I told you that I am not proud of everything I’ve done, but neither am I ashamed. I am a survivor. It’s all I know how to be. If I need money, I challenge someone to a game of chance. Most times they pay, sometimes they don’t. When you’re stuck on some fuel dock without space credit, the only acceptable way to earn is to win. If I need a ride, I work on a crew—sometimes the ships are luxury crafts, sometimes they’re more piratical. When I was a lot younger and desperate, I stole food to keep from starving, but I never steal high-credit items. I never cheat. I sometimes fight. I sometimes run from the law when I get myself into a bit of trouble.”
“You live honorably in a tough circumstance,” he concluded.
Riona looked at him in amazement. He was so ready to believe the best in her. The confidence in her honor was strange. “And I never go back on a bet. If I lose, I pay my debts.”
“Range,” Mirek concluded.
“I owe him money,” Riona said.
“If that is why you tell me this, then consider it done. Tell me where to send the money and I will pay this debt for you.” Mirek smiled as if this took care of the problem.
“I,” she emphasized, “owe him money.”
Mirek had no idea how large her debt was. She couldn’t let him pay fifty-thousand space credits on her behalf. Though, to be honest, she probably wouldn’t let him pay off five space credits of her responsibility.
“Very well, but the offer stands,” he stated. “As my wife, what I have is yours.”
“Mirek, please understand, I don’t know that I can be a wife. I honestly never thought about it.” She jumped slightly as the ceffyl made a loud snort in her direction. “Right now I need to earn. This society doesn’t really lend itself to my skills and I don’t want to take advantage.”
“So you wish to earn, and to do this you think you have to leave?”
Riona nodded.
“And your wanting to leave has nothing to do with your dislike of me?”
“Dislike you?” She shook her head. “Mirek, of course I like you. I don’t think I can be married to you, but we did have fun last night, didn’t we?”
“What if I gave you a job as my assistant? You come with me on ambassadorial missions. Help me greet alien dignitaries. You clearly don’t have a problem traveling to space and meeting people. Besides, you were very ill. I don’t think you should be doing extensive travel at this time.” He lifted his hand as if he’d touch her face, only to stop and thread his hand through her arm instead to lead her out of the stables to the brightly lit yard. Wind stirred through the trees, crashing leaves together.
Riona did need to make a little startup money if she was going to join any high-stake games, and she did like Mirek. Staying with him a little longer wasn’t a hardship and would actually be fun. “At a fair wage for the job.”
“Naturally.”
“Minus food and lodging?”
“Nonsense. You are welcome here as a guest. I won’t charge you for food. We don’t charge anyone for food.”
She agreed to his terms with a nod. “And the marriage thing?”
“We have our traditions. As long as you remain you will be called my wife by others. I would appreciate it if you didn’t try to tell people otherwise. It is a matter of honor here. Having dealt with many offworlders, I understand that not everyone thinks as we do. I will not force you to be with me. I will only pray that you come to understand as I do that the gods do not make mistakes in these matters. You were sent here for a reason, though you might not have found it yet.”
Riona didn’t want to argue the point. He was being fair to her. How could he have known who she was when he tried to marry her? That she wasn’t there to be a wife? She came to the planet with the other brides. The mistake was forgivable.
“I have been punished for impatience once. I will not make the same mistake again.”
She arched a brow, confident she didn’t understand the full meaning of that statement. “So when is our first mission?”
“Possibly in a few days. I was going to try and communicate from the ground, but negotiations would go better in space.”
“Few days it is. Now, enough of this serious talk.” She stepped closer to him. With the heat from his body came the promise of heart-racing pleasure. “How about we find some mischief?”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Sex in the…” She glanced around. “Well, anywhere but the forest. I don’t really want to wake up five years from now in an isolation chamber.”
“Sex? Again?”
“Are you complaining?” She smiled sweetly at him and batted her lashes.
“Never, my lady. My body is yours to use as you will.”
“Mm.” She pulled at his shirt. “I like the sound of that, dragon man. Now throw me over your shoulder and cart me away.”
Riona laughed as he did just that.
Chapter Eight
Mirek couldn’t take his eyes off his wife and she couldn’t seem to keep her hands o
ff his body. It would have been perfect but for one tiny thing—she didn’t really think of herself as his wife. How could he blame her? He had failed to claim her as he should, and a small part of him worried that his failure meant they really weren’t married. And, if they weren’t married, how could he expect their life forces to merge. If they were really married, he’d feel her inside of him—not just his love for her, but more than that. They would join. She’d hear his call and he hers. They would feel each other’s emotions. She would become a part of him, and without her he would not be whole.
Such was the way with married Draig.
Such was the way he wanted it to be with Riona.
It was not. He tried, almost fanatically, to feel her emotions as his own, but he was blocked from her. The only thing he was sure about was if she did leave him, he’d never recover. Married or not, ceremony or not, there was one thing he understood above all others—she was the only woman in all the universes for him.
Mirek loved his non-wife wife.
He wanted to tell her every time he looked at her, but he refrained. Already she had paid a steep price for his impatience, and he would not risk angering the gods again. He would earn her love first.
“Done.” Riona dropped the large report on the couch next to Mirek’s leg. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Quiz me if you want, but I’m pretty sure I can manage if these Redde aliens should visit again.”
“Redde?” Mirek frowned. “No, you were supposed to read the report on the Lithorian negotiations.”
“But I wanted to know about Clara’s family. The way you describe them is fascinating. I’ve never met a Redde, and I can’t imagine a people who wear hair cones on their heads and never touch their children after childbirth.”
“You will meet the Redde nobles in due time. Right now, I have to focus on the Lithorians. We need to order chocolates for the upcoming Breeding Festival tents.” Mirek sighed. He lifted his Redde report and tossed it away from him to make room on the couch for Riona. He patted the cushion indicating she should join him.
Riona instead leaned over the back of the couch and kissed him on the top of his head. Her lips found their way close to his ear, and she whispered, “Reports are boring. I’d rather just do, not read about it.”
“Unfortunately, this is part of your training. Unless you have changed your mind about my paying off Range for you?”
Riona stiffened and stood. “I didn’t ask you to pay him off. I asked for a fair wage. And you’re right. I have a job and I’ll do it. I’ll read the report now without complaint. I earn my own way.”
Mirek regretted his words, not meaning to make her feel bad. He wished she’d just let him take care of her problem, but again he reminded himself that she was not fully his wife and he had no right to insist. “I am sorry for the necessity. The Lithorians are a very tedious people and…” He sighed. “Perhaps this is not the right negotiation to take you on for your first time. I can go myself.”
Riona quirked a brow. “I can handle a few monks. Don’t worry. I’ll read it. Every word.”
Mirek nodded, wishing she would come and sit by him.
Riona grabbed the Redde report and disappeared into his office. She returned with the Lithorian documents. The report was twice as big as the Redde one. “Before I get started, what do you say we go take one of those ships you say you have up into space? Just the two of us?”
“Without a pilot?” He laughed.
“I can fly,” she insisted, dropping the document and standing behind him. “Or do you have land cruisers?”
“We have ceffyls.”
“Hmm, cliff jumpers?”
“Cliff jumpers?”
“If you have to ask that probably means you don’t have them. They’re for jumping off cliffs and gliding down.” Riona sighed. “What do you have that goes fast?”
“Liquor supplies when my brothers are celebrating,” he teased.
Riona laughed. “Now there is an idea. What do you have to drink in here that is not Maiden’s Last whatever?”
“Use the food simulator,” he offered. “Maiden’s Last Breath is only used as part of the ceremony. It’s tradition. We don’t serve it at any other times because it takes a long time to prepare.”
“You have a food simulator?” She gasped in surprise.
“We have a food simulator. You live here too.”
“Where?”
“Wall panel, over the table.” Mirek pointed in the general direction.
Riona went to the wall and felt around. Within moments, she had the panel open and was looking at the unit. “Why didn’t you say we had this? And why would you keep going to get trays of food when we can just make something to eat right here?”
“Have you tasted food simulator food? I’m sure the creators even know it tastes substandard. That is why they call it simulator and not replicator.”
Riona chuckled. “I never thought about it like that. Of course, when you’re in deep space and starving, you take what you can get. At least this way food doesn’t spoil and doesn’t taste like those tiny tubes of paste mineral supplements that were so popular before this technology came out.” She began pushing buttons, barely looking at what she was doing. “Have you ever had Old Earth whiskey?”
“I don’t believe so.” Mirek watched her. “Do you think that maybe you should go and see your sister? It’s been two days since she visited.”
Riona’s hand stopped moving over the panel. “I know you’re speaking out of kindness, but my relationship with my sister is none of your concern. We’re not like you and your brothers.”
Mirek saw the cold mask falling over her features. This was one topic she would not discuss with him. He wished he could fix it for her. But as only her lover and not a husband, he had no right to pry.
“We meet with the Lithorians tomorrow,” he said.
“I know.” She started pushing buttons with a renewed force.
“You will be representing this planet,” he insisted.
“Fine.” She tapped her fingers against the unit. The simulator made a small noise and she opened it. He expected liquor. Instead, she held a bowl of steaming food and set it on the table. She grabbed the large document off the couch, placed it next to the bowl and opened the report to the first page.
“Are you angry?” he asked, confused by the change in her.
“Just trying to do my job.” Riona refused to look at him as she ate and read. She didn’t say another word.
* * *
Riona read every last word of the Lithorian report—every last tedious word. Mirek’s reminder that she needed to speak to Aeron had left her feeling guilty, which in turn had irritated her, which had caused her to stop speaking and focus on the report. She now knew every cultural nuance to the Lithor Republic old society. A small pain throbbed behind her right eye—every last, tedious nuance. Closing the report, she left it on the table. Her bowl was already recycled so she wasn’t leaving too big of a mess behind.
Mirek had gone to bed a few hours before so she guessed it was late, though because of the planet’s light she could see just fine until she reached the top of the stairs. The bedroom was dark. Riona walked in the direction of the bed. It was strange sleeping next to someone, not that they’d done much sleeping in the last few days.
Being with Mirek was one of the few things on the planet that made her heart race. It made her feel alive. She needed that rush, had since that fateful day long ago. She needed to live fully because so many could not.
Riona stopped walking as her legs hit the edge of the bed. She automatically pulled out of her clothing and dropped them on the floor. This was only temporary. Riona understood herself well enough to know she wouldn’t last on such a tame planet. She survived. That’s who she was and what she did. She didn’t know how to be anyone else. Right now, to survive, this was her adventure.
Then why did her hands shake whenever she was near Mirek? Why did her heart flutter and her stomach tighten? Why d
id his opinions matter? If she was a true survivalist, she would have taken his money for her debt and been done with it. Yet, even though he offered it freely, that felt like stealing, or in the very least taking advantage of the Draig people.
“I’m not that kind of thief,” she whispered, staring at the bed, trying to make out his form in the darkness and unable to.
“Riona?” Mirek mumbled sleepily.
“I finished,” she said, crawling onto the bed next to him. Her wrist slid along his naked arm as she moved. Fur covers padded her knees.
Keeping his elbow on the bed, he lifted his forearm and touched her hip with the back of his hand. She stopped moving. Mirek lazily stroked her outer thigh where he could easily reach from his position on his back. That small caress held more intimacy than she was used to. She tried to dismiss the connection. Mirek was her first and only lover. He’d saved her life when she’d fallen in the yellow. He’d tried to marry her and had a kind heart. It was only natural she’d feel connected to him. It didn’t mean that the connection would last forever. It didn’t mean she loved him.
Sex was just sex. Like adventure was just adventure. This was a way to make her feel something. But if she knew anything, she knew that rush of adrenaline would end. Everything eventually ended. As would this moment. It didn’t matter what she wanted. She was insignificant in the whole course of the universe. Fate didn’t care what it did to her. Destiny was a joke. His gods didn’t exist. This moment was merely the byproduct of coincidence, an accidental meeting. She would be a fool to read more into it.
“Are you…?” He stopped moving his hand on her arm. The words were sleepy. “Are you feeling sadness?”
Riona stiffened. How could he have known that? Lying, she answered, “No, why would I be sad? That would be silly. I am actually very good right now. I have shelter, food, a job…” She pulled her arm away from his touch and flopped over on the bed. The soft covers pressed against her back. “And a warm, comfortable bed.” Forcing a short laugh that held more humor than she felt inside, she added, “This beats being crammed into a tight corner of a loading dock and hoping some alien rodent doesn’t gnaw off my toes in the middle of a sleep cycle.”
The Impatient Lord Page 12
