Battling Rapture (13 page)

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 handle and not a pad like on the
ship.