He opened one of the drawers, showing her it was a toolbox.
“How clever.” Anyone looking for it would either assume she was wearing it or check the jewelry box. Or some other place to keep valuables. Who would look for it in a toolbox? Brianna cleared her throat. “Niklas, why do you have a toolbox in your room? I don’t mean to offend you, but you just don’t seem like the type to repair things,” she asked, curiously.
“There are times when I do my own repairs.” He looked affronted.
She grinned, her eyes, showing her mirth. “
Excuse me
, I didn’t mean to offend your masculinity. You just don’t seem like the type, that’s all.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “Just what type
do
I look like, Brianna?”
Shrugging, her sense of humor kicked into high gear. She walked past the table in the corner, sliding her hand over it as she walked. “Oh I don’t know, you have this…presence or something. You have an authoritative attitude, like you’re used to people doing everything you tell them to do.”
He snorted. “Like you do?” he asked, trying not to let the way she caressed the table have an effect on him, but he was having a difficult time controlling himself. He watched while Brianna’s hips swayed gently as she made a slow circuit of the room.
She turned, smiling over her shoulder. “I might. You just haven’t asked me in the right way. Yet.” She winked and gave him a sultry look that left Niklas steaming.
“Would you care to elaborate on how I should proceed? Will you tell me the right way?” He was stalking her now.
* * * *
Brianna laughed. “I didn’t mean right now, Niklas. You have a lot of explaining to do. And I want to see this ship.” She backed away with her hand flung out in front of her.
The look in his eyes was hungry, predatory.
“I’m sorry for teasing you. I don’t know what came over me.” The smile melted from Brianna’s face. She watched him, wary. “I don’t know if I can just pick up where we left off. I don’t even know if I can even trust you anymore.” She tilted her head to the side, pinching her lip between her teeth. “I need some time.”
Niklas’s expression changed, became shuttered. He stopped his pursuit, leaned toward the wall, and pressed a button next to a blinking yellow light on the communication panel. “This is Niklas. What do you need?” he asked in English. Pausing, he stared at the wall in front of him while he waited for the answer, his head tilted to the side as he listened to the exchange in
Terrnan
. He turned his head and lifted his gaze to look into her eyes. “I have to go. There seems to be some trouble on the bridge.” He turned and left the room.
Brianna watched him go with mixed feelings. Part of her wanted him so badly she ached from it. Another part knew she couldn’t trust him. She sat on the huge bed and waited for it to change size. How in the world was she going to get used to
that
? Furniture wasn’t supposed to move on its own. Shaking her head, she looked out through the window. Stars streamed by as she watched, like long streaks of light in the darkness of space.
What in the world was she supposed to do on this ship? She had no job, no real function other than chief complainer and head bitch. The damn thing even cleaned itself. She walked over to the replicator, deciding to figure out how to use it. Brianna watched Niklas use one at lunch to make her iced tea, but she wasn’t sure how they worked. She wasn’t really all that hungry anymore, but a nice piece of pie would help or chocolate. Brianna licked her lips at the thought. She loved chocolate. She brightened, chocolate pie sounded like a good compromise. That would hit the spot.
She walked up to the replicator slowly. Reaching out with no small degree of trepidation, she punched a few buttons. The thing beeped and bleeped, which didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary. She waited a full minute before she realized it was going to take a while to learn how certain things worked around here.
Her stomach grumbled in protest. She put her hand on it and scowled. “Oh, shut up.”
Chapter Fifteen
She was going crazy! There was nothing for her to do here. Brianna tried to find something to do, even offered to help the cook, but no one would let her lift a finger. They treated her much the same as they treated Niklas. She scowled at no one in particular, thought of their conversation the other day, and nodded to herself. She’d been right, Niklas did have presence. Everyone on this ship deferred to him. She figured that was normal since he was their Captain. But did they have to treat him like some sort of God?
Sheesh
.
It was obvious he was used to getting his way. He answered to no one while in space. “Spoiled rotten brat,” she muttered. She wondered how well he followed orders from his superiors when he was home. Niklas didn’t seem the type to bow to anyone else’s judgment. Yet he made her feel like his partner, as if she’d had a choice in coming on this journey. She had to love him for that. He never treated her, or anyone else, as if they were beneath him. He was a man with an abundance of power, yet he didn’t abuse it.
Niklas began sleeping in the regular crew quarters since he’d brought her on board. Brianna still didn’t know how she felt about that. Although she knew she would have been horrified had he demanded some sort of conjugal rights since he said they were married in the eyes of his people.
It was strange, though. Everyone treated her like his wife even though they made no pretense of sleeping together. Niklas didn’t even eat with her half of the time. The thought made her fret. “Why is he avoiding me? You’d think he’d want to patch things up.” She paced the room, wondering what she could do to make him spend more time with her. After all, no one liked spending all of their time alone.
The crew acted strange around her, too. None of them wanted to call her by her name, even though Brianna had given permission to them several times. They all called her Ma’am. It made her feel like her mother.
Brianna left her quarters, determined to find Niklas. She couldn’t stand it anymore. The sexual tension between them was tangible. It had to stop and so did this Ma’am business. She caught up with him just outside the cafeteria. “Niklas, we have to talk.” Her hand on his arm, she stopped him from following Cholo into the room.
He smiled and took her hand. “We can talk over lunch.” He seemed genuinely happy to see her, although it seemed he had been avoiding her for the last few weeks.
She held fast. He wasn’t doing this to her again. “No, Niklas, we cannot talk over lunch. I need to talk with you alone.” Brianna watched him intently. If she didn’t know better, she would swear he was nervous. “Now.”
“That would be wonderful,
Laharra
. Would you care to join me for lunch first?”
She watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallowed convulsively. He turned to enter the door, about to leave her in the hallway.
Brianna held tight to his sleeve. “Oh, no, you don’t, mister. The last time I pinned you down, you wanted to have lunch. Then you conveniently had an emergency on the bridge. You told me to wait for you, and I waited for two hours before I finally gave up, damn it. You’re coming with me. Now!”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, falling into step behind her.
“Stop calling me that,” she smacked him on the arm. “Everyone on this ship calls me ma’am. I’m sick of it.”
“I’m sorry,
Laharra
, I didn’t realize it made you uncomfortable. They do not feel comfortable calling you by your name.”
“Why? Because I’m the captain’s wife?” Brianna watched his reaction. The color rose from his neck, and his face turned red. What was it that he was afraid to tell her?
“No, it is not because you are the captain’s wife.” Niklas sighed. “Come with me.” He took her hand and pulled her behind him to his quarters. She almost had to run to keep up with him, his stride was so long, and he walked quickly. He spoke the pass code, pushed the door open, then shut it firmly behind her. When they were finally alone, he sighed looking down at his feet. He actually looked nervous.
“I wish I could have told you everything before I had to force you to come with me. You have been wonderful, considering the circumstances,” he said as he paced in front of her. “You could have spent days, weeks, ranting and raving, cursing me and my people, but you have been everything that is gracious.” Niklas turned, put his hands in his pockets and heaved a sigh.
She listened, half bemused. Was he saying she was being too nice? She wished she had the power to read his thoughts when he didn’t want her to. He was very good at setting up barriers. Besides, during the past weeks of separation, it seemed that she lost what little ability she’d had to read his mind. She swallowed, not at all sure she was ready to hear what he was going to say next. “What are you saying?” She walked to the bed and sat down. It had adjusted itself to her size earlier, so it didn’t move.
He raked a hand through his hair as he paced from one side of the room to the other. “I doubt you will like this. but I have put this off long enough. We are only a month from
Terrna
now, and you must come to terms with this before we arrive.”
Niklas
was
nervous. She’d never seen him like this before. He actually looked frightened. But what could he be afraid of?
“The way my crew treats you is very different from how the rest of my people are going to treat you. The members of the crew are getting to know you. Soon, they may call you by your name as they call me by mine. It took forever for them to do that by the way. Months.” He smiled ruefully. He walked to the window, looking out into the darkness of space. “I need to ask you a question. Your answer will hopefully give me the courage to continue.” He turned to look over his shoulder. At her questioning look, he asked, “Do you love me, Brianna?”
“Yes,” she answered without hesitation. “Yes, of course I do. How else could I have forgiven you or come to terms with all of this so quickly? My love for you overshadows the rest.”
Niklas sighed with relief. “Then hopefully, that will help you with this also. The people on my world will treat you differently. You must expect that as your due.”
“I don’t understand. How will the rest of your people treat me? Will they resent me because I am an off-worlder?” Expect their disdain as her due? Well
that
hurt. She scowled, crossing her arms over her chest.
Niklas ran his hand through his hair again.
Brianna watched with a half smile as he wreaked havoc on it. The short ebony thatch stood on end. She hoped he never stopped doing that. It gave her an excuse to touch him when she would otherwise have none. Standing, she moved to the window and looked out through the blackness of space.
“The rest of my people will treat you with much more respect.”
Well, that was something, wasn’t it? “Because I’m Morwyyn’s granddaughter?” It made sense in a weird sort of way.
“No,” Niklas closed his eyes and sighed. “Because you are their Queen.”
“What!” Brianna’s stomach lurched, and her heart drummed against her ribs, feeling as though it might burst through her chest. He couldn’t possibly be serious! Her knees suddenly felt like rubber and she had to emotionally pull herself together to keep from collapsing. “You can’t be serious.”
He looked at her in a way she would believe him. Had to believe him.
The authority in his voice, the nobility in his bearing could not be denied and suddenly, she realized he told her the truth. Niklas drew himself up to his full impressive height. “
Laharra
, I am Niklas Tanis Marcious Voortag, High King of
Terrna
.” He bowed, took her hand, then kissed it. Niklas lifted his head and looked into her eyes.
What could she do? She saw the hope in his eyes, the yearning. Knew he thought she was going to condemn him for not telling her the truth after all of this time. He was having a difficult time controlling his emotions and she could feel it. Finally, after all this time, she could feel something from him.
Apparently, she could still read his thoughts after all. He’d just been blocking them the past few weeks. Now that he was upset, she could feel them spilling over the barrier he’d built in his mind. She felt his fear of losing her, his love for her, his determination to keep her with him no matter what.
Tears ran down her face. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you warn me that I was going to be a…a
queen
before you asked me to choose?” Pain knifed through him. She felt it even though he disguised it well. She wouldn’t have known if he had his emotions under control.
“Would you have chosen differently,
Laharra
?” he asked. “Would you have loved me any less?”
“Ooh, I hate it when you do that. You know it wouldn’t have made a difference, you big goon.” Brianna pushed at his chest and glowered when she didn’t budge him. “I would have liked to have had the choice anyway,” she snapped, her expression practically spitting fire.