Berrr's Vow (21 page)

A look akin to horror twisted his features as a low grumble came from him. “You are mine, I will never give you up, and you are only here for your protection until she is gone again. I spoke with her yesterday about why she was present in my house. She heard about her second daughter and wanted to meet Destiny.”

Relief washed through Shanna. “So she just came to do the grandma thing and now she’s gone back to where she came from? Are you taking me home with you?”

Flinching at his hesitation, she knew what the answer was going to be before he said it.

“She wishes to stay until Ariel is medically cleared to go home. She has demanded use of my home, which is her right as my bound, until she has her fill of the offspring.”

“Why doesn’t she stay at your son’s house?”

Berrr snorted, a grin spreading across his face. “She would never stay in Ral’s home. His home is not big enough to suit her and she has no status in his home except guest. Alluwn must always be the leading female of any home that she stays in. It would also not be good for Ariel to spend too much time with Alluwn if she stayed in their home because Alluwn doesn’t like humans. She resents that she is not Ral’s most important female in his life anymore.”

“She’s high maintenance and a drama queen in other words.”

His eyebrows rose.

“Trust me, I’ve got her pegged. So how long is she staying for?”

His massive shoulders shrugged. “I don’t have an answer, my Shanna. I will come visit you every day.” His hand reached out to curl around her hip. “I wish I could stay here with you but I have guests in my home so I must be there often.”

“This sucks.”

“I’m very apologetic, my Shanna.” Berrr looked sincere as he gazed into her eyes. “I am sure Alluwn won’t stay long. She grows bored easily and being near me puts her in bad moods.”

“Why can’t I just go home with you? I can totally hang out in your bedroom if you don’t want me running into her.” Shanna’s eyes narrowed as she closely studied Berrr’s features looking for signs of him lying. “She doesn’t have any reason to go to your bedroom, does she?”

He shook his head, total looking sincere again. “She will never come to my bedroom, Shanna. Even if she changed her mind and wanted me I would never want her. You are all that I want.”

“So let me come home with you and I’ll just stay in your room. The house helpers can bring me food and then we’ll be able to sleep together and spend every minute you have free with each other.”

Berrr hesitated. “I am tempted but if you were under my roof than you would be at Alluwn’s mercy. She is legally my bound, the official lead female of my house, and you are just a house helper under Zorn society rules. She would be able to order you to do her bidding.”

Understanding hit Shanna as if a light bulb had gone off in her head. “That’s why you got me the hell out of there, isn’t it? She can order me around, can’t she?”

He nodded. “She could punish you as well. She could have you do harsh chores or send you out to do shopping unprotected by guards if I were not there, putting you in great danger. I won’t allow her to use you against me to cause harm and she would take great pleasure in that.”

Sighing, Shanna curled tight against Berrr’s warm body. “I hope she leaves soon. I slept like shit last night without you.”

Black eyebrows rose. “Is this another Earth saying?” A grin split his lips. “I get the meaning that you didn’t sleep well.”

Her gaze lifted, staring into his eyes. “How did you sleep? I hope it was alone.”

“My house helpers aren’t allowed in my bed anymore. The only woman allowed touching me or sleeping with me is you.”

“Just checking.”

He gave a sharp nod. “I have to go now. I will come back tonight if you don’t mind me coming to you very late. I have a dinner to go to with my many guests where we are going to plan how to rid the districts of the wild Zorn males who are attacking them.”

Depression hit her. “You can’t stay longer?”

“No. I am already behind in my plans to meet with some of the warriors. They wait so that I could come see you.”

“Okay.”
At least he came to see me.
She was grateful for that instead of another messenger coming to the door to tell her that Berrr wouldn’t be showing up. “Just come back tonight no matter how late it is.”

“I give you my vow.”

Nodding, Shanna released him, and rolled on her back to put a few inches between them. “And you always keep your word.”

A grin split his handsome features. “I always keep my vows, my Shanna.”

She watched him get off the bed and slowly dress. She didn’t bother to put on clothes. She hadn’t been lying about sleeping horribly when Berrr hadn’t shown up the night before. She’d tossed and turned all night wondering if he and Alluwn were together and she instantly decided to take a nap until he returned.

Dressed, Berrr eyed her with intensely blue eyes. “It may be very late but I will come to you.”

“I’ll be right here in this bed waiting for you.” She licked her lips and let her hands run over her stomach and breasts, knowing that those sexy eyes of his were watching every movement she made. “Hurry back to me.”

A soft growl tore from Berrr before he turned away, walking for the doorway. Shanna let her hands stop roaming on her skin as Berrr left her room, the door closing behind him. She sighed loudly, blowing out air in frustration, and then rolled over onto her stomach.
I had to go and fall in love with a damn world leader with a busy schedule. Why couldn’t I fall in love with an out-of-work alien who has all the time in the world to stay in bed with me?

She dozed for a few hours and then woke up after it was dark. Feeling a little guilty about blowing off Ali, she took a shower. After dressing in pants and a shirt, she followed the smell of cooking food. Ali was in the kitchen when Shanna found her.

“Hi.”

Ali grinned. “Hyvin Berrr cares very much for you to take time out of his busy day to come see you. You worried and starved yourself for no reason.”

Grinning back, Shanna gave a nod. “Can I help? Whatever you’re cooking smells wonderful.”

“It is done. You could take some plates from the shelf to set the table.”

Shanna and Ali shared a pleasant dinner making polite conversation. The Zorn woman was an excellent cook and Shanna took down two bowls of the tasty meat stew. When they finished both women went into the kitchen to do the dishes. Shanna offered to dry while Ali washed.

“So what do you guys do around here at night?”

“I finish all of my chores and if Brenda were here we would talk Argis Rever into playing a game. Brenda has been teaching us many human ones.”

“What kind of—”

A bell rang, interrupting Shanna. Excitement instantly hit her as she spun. “Berrr must be here early.” She went to run for the door but Ali grabbed her arm, halting her.

“I will answer the door since you are human and it isn’t safe. Some Zorn males get very excited to see a human woman. Stay put and I will go let him in if he is the one at the door. It might be Argis Rever and Brenda. I locked the door since you are here.”

Rolling her eyes, Shanna gave a nod. “Sure.”

She paced the
kitchen,
excitement hit her, hoping that Berrr could stay all night with her. She hadn’t been kidding about sleeping poorly without him. It might have had some small part with her worry about what and who he was doing while he was away from her. Now that she was sure that he wasn’t going to take Alluwn back into his life she knew things would be a thousand times better. A noise drew her attention to the door, a smile on her lips as a large male form came walking through the doorway.

“You aren’t Berrr.” Shanna frowned at the uniformed Zorn male who came to a halt to frown back at her. “Where is Berrr?”

The Zorn man’s frown deepened. “I was ordered to pick you up and take you to Hyvin Berrr’s home.”

Relief hit Shanna as she grinned. “Terrific!”

Ali walked into the kitchen behind the uniformed guy to give Shanna a smile. “It was nice meeting you and you are always welcome in the home of Argis Rever. Brenda will be saddened that she missed the opportunity to speak to another human woman but I am sure you will visit often.”

Shanna moved to hug the much taller, bigger woman. “Thanks so much for having me, Ali. You’ve been great.” She stepped back, grinning. “I guess that woman got bored and took off a lot faster than Berrr thought she would.” Winking, she turned to face Berrr’s guy. “Let’s go.”

He gave a nod.
“This way, human.”

Excitement hit Shanna.
Alluwn hadn’t stuck around for long at all, which is a great thing. Maybe having all those Zorn guests in Berrr’s house had made her want to leave right away.
Shanna didn’t really care what the reason was, she was going home to Berrr and that’s all that mattered. He’d sent for her, ordering four large guards to collect her in his car that she recognized right off as one of the men opened the back door.

The drive wasn’t too long to the house. The sun was going down when they reached the driveway and one of the guards let her out. He gave her a sharp nod and waved his arm to the house.

“You are awaited inside, human.”

She almost corrected him by telling him to use her name but thought better of it, not sure what Zorn customs were. It was a little irritating being called human but she’d been called a hell of a lot worse names in her life. She walked to the front door and opened it up, instantly letting her gaze drift around the room looking for Berrr. No one was in the living room at all.

Sighing, thinking he might not be home yet from his dinner, she made her way toward the back of the darkening house. She’d wait there for him, in bed, and light a fire until he arrived. She stepped into his bedroom and headed right for the fireplace with the fading sunlight dimming the bedroom considerably.

The black logs had been set neatly in the grate, waiting to be lit. As the fire roared to life, Shanna turned to glance around the bedroom she’d wondered if she’d ever see again yesterday when she’d been rushed out of his home. The bed had been made, their discarded clothes gone, and she didn’t need to be told the house helpers had come in to clean up the room. She sighed and looked at the room
again,
hoping Berrr wouldn’t be too long. The people of Zorn really needed television.

The bedroom door swung open behind Shanna. She spun around, a smile on her lips, her mood greatly improved knowing Berrr was home. It wasn’t her sexy alien who strode into the room though. The woman had to be about six-foot-three with black shoulder-length hair and was dressed in men’s clothing. Shanna had a sinking feeling as she stared into a pair of dark, furious eyes that Alluwn hadn’t left after all.

“So you are the human Berrr is so attached to.” The woman almost growled her words. Her hands went to the hips of her tight leather men’s pants, gripping them, as her eyes narrowed, and her mouth tightened in a grim line.
“Truly pathetic.”

Shanna stared at the woman and said the only thing that came to mind. “I thought you were gone.”

A viciously cold smile turned the woman’s harsh mouth upward. “Gone? I’m the one who ordered you brought here. As soon as I was told that Berrr was humiliating me by bedding a human, I was just waiting for the right opportunity for us to be alone to get to know each other.”

Chapter Twelve

Shanna knew she was in a whole world of shit. The big Zorn woman looked mean, as though she were the “kick ass and don’t bother to take names” kind of woman. Her hair had been cut short unlike any other Zorn woman Shanna had seen and she wore male clothing. Shanna tried not to panic.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Shanna lied flat out. “You must be Alluwn. I’ve heard so many nice things about you.”

A growl tore from the woman and she took a menacing step forward. “Lower your eyes to me and you call me Bratha, rude human.”

Okay,
Shanna thought grimly as she lowered her eyes, hating doing it but giving a nod, fixing her attention on the Zorn woman’s boots, noticing that they resembled the ones Berrr and his men wore.
Could the woman be any more butch?
Shanna doubted it. She was grateful though when the woman didn’t come any closer, halting at that foot.

“What Berrr sees in you is a mystery,” the woman continued growling as she spoke. “Humans are weak and pathetic. You are too small and useless to be of any value on my planet. I told him he should send all you off-worlders away from Zorn. My sons have poisoned our great bloodlines with your Earth weaknesses. It is all about
bloodlines,
it is about sacrifice, to continue to stay on top.”

Shanna glanced up then, remembering what Berrr had told her. “You sacrificed for the bloodlines, didn’t you?”

The woman’s dark eyes widened, looking a little shocked at Shanna’s question. She frowned. “Berrr told you of our union?”

“He said your fathers were pack and that they wanted you and Berrr to combine your bloodlines.” Shanna hesitated, not sure how far to go without setting the woman off but wanting to find some common ground with her before Alluwn blew up in a rage. Pissing off the mean-looking woman was the last thing Shanna wanted to do. She looked tough and not someone Shanna would want to end up in a fight with. “I’m sorry that happened to you. On Earth we believe mostly in love between a man and woman who have children together. That must have been really hard on you.”

“Mostly?”

Glancing back up, Shanna gave a nod. “Some women and men get together for…power.” Shanna wasn’t sure if Alluwn would understand if she said money. “Sometimes it’s a cultural thing like with what happened to you where two families set up the union between their children.”

Alluwn cocked her head a little. “You are fully grown. Were you bound on Earth before you were taken by force? I’m aware of how you got here and how Berrr acquired you.”

“I was bound to an unfit man who hit me,” Shanna tried to speak in words that Berrr had used so the woman understood. She knew Alluwn and she would never be friends but she didn’t want to be enemies either. The large Zorn woman scared the shit out of her, looking as tough as Berrr. “On Earth you are allowed to sever the relationship and go your own ways. We don’t need a man’s protection.”