Berrr's Vow (4 page)

“I don’t want to hear it,” she cut him off. “I want to be treated just like all your other house helpers. That’s what you call them, right? Well, the chores they have they can just keep right on doing and I’ll just do what they do so it’s all fair and even to all of us. I don’t know what humans you’ve met who have been brought here but I’m not like them. I won’t take any shit.”

Shock was etched on his features.
“All right.
I didn’t mean to anger you, small human.”

“The name is Shanna so use it.”

“I meant no offense or to anger you, Shanna. I was trying to do the opposite by offering to give you all of the other house helpers’ duties to—”

“Well, don’t do me any favors, Berrr.” She cut him off.
“Really.
Just take me inside, show me where I’ll sleep and hopefully it’s in a room by myself, and then have your house helpers show me what I’m to do around here. If I see what they do I can learn it. That’s all I ask.”

He was frowning still. “If that is what you wish.”

“I wish so lead the way.”

Berrr still looked stunned but he walked toward the front door, opened it wide and then stepped inside. Shanna followed him into a huge living room, staring in open wonder at the large area with the high ceilings. The space had white stone floors and ceilings, the walls were a smooth black, red and purple stone. The furniture was mostly dark purple and blacks. The stark contrast to the white was shocking but strangely elegant. Movement caught her eye as two women rushed from a room across the way.

Shanna’s mouth fell open as she gawked at the tall, muscular women with long black hair down the backs of their bodies that fell to their knees. Both women wore outfits that reminded Shanna of a potato sack that went to their mid thighs. Their eyes were so dark brown they looked black as they both flashed Shanna stunned glances before rushing forward. Both women dropped to the floor, heads lowering, and went to their hands and knees before Berrr.

What in the hell?
Shanna’s gaze jerked to Berrr. He was frowning down at both women and then his blue gaze slid to hers. He stared into her eyes, studying her, and then sighed loudly.

“Aya and Kalo, please rise. This is human Shanna.”

Both women instantly rose at his command to openly gape down at the shorter Shanna once they were back on their bare feet. As the women moved in their thin, loose sack dresses it became obvious to Shanna that neither woman wore a bra. The taller one of the two frowned, her concentration solely fixing on Berrr.

“You acquired a human woman, Hyvin? Have we displeased you?” Her voice was soft, hesitant and definitely unhappy. “We can attend you well. We do not need a human in our home.”

Great
, Shanna thought,
the entire house is bigoted toward humans.
She wasn’t on the planet because she wanted to be there. They were as strange to her as she was to them. She wasn’t being rude and pointing out that the women reminded her of Amazons with their muscular limbs. And neither one of them had ever shaved their legs from what Shanna could tell at the quick glance down them, thinking a razor would do them a world of good.

Shanna wouldn’t be caught dead in the potato sacks both were sporting either. If that was Zorn fashion it was pathetic. She wasn’t even going to touch on the fact that they dropped to their hands and knees, almost crawling for a man, something that Shanna found degrading. Frowning, she stared at Berrr, waiting to see what he’d do.
If he ever expects me to drop to my hands and knees he is in for a big disappointment.

“She is a freed Collis prisoner who is now under my protection and that is all you need to know. It is done and that is how it is from now on. You are to make her feel welcome and you are to treat her with respect.” His voice deepened. “This is my home and you are my house helpers. I do not answer to you on who I bring into my home, understood?”

Both women paled slightly and their heads lowered meekly. The one who had questioned him nodded, her head dipping really low. She put her hands behind her back, locking them there.

“I’m sorry, Hyvin.”

Shanna wanted to flinch. He’d told her to call him Berrr but these female employees were on a first-name basis with him. It was just one more way that the alien guy was showing her where she ranked being an alien from another planet. She thought he liked her, probably from that little physical exchange they’d shared in the alley, but obviously she was wrong since he was having her call him by his last name. He was telling the other employees to treat her with respect but he sure as hell wasn’t giving her much of it. She was trying to not be weirded out by how submissive the women were.
Man, if he thinks I’ll ever duck my head and bow
… She sighed.
Not happening!

The tallest one looked up, her gaze fixing on Berrr again. “Are you getting rid of us to just have her as your sole house helper?”

He gave a shake of his head. “She doesn’t wish that. All of your duties are the same, Kalo.”

Shock hit the woman’s face but so did relief a second later. She actually smiled, which made her looks vastly improve. “Good. Are you hungry or do you need personal assistance?”

He hesitated. “Prepare food while I show her to a private room.”

The shorter one who had to be six feet tall frowned. “She gets a private room?”

Berrr growled. “It is my house.”

Both heads meekly dipped again as they backed away a few feet and then fled in the direction they’d come. Shanna was frowning, watching the women quickly disappear. Her attention returned to a frowning Berrr who was silently watching her. He lifted his arm, waving his hand toward another part of the house.

“Let me show you to a private sleeping room.”

“The other house helpers share a room?” She didn’t want special treatment either. That was the fastest way to make enemies at work, knowing that one firsthand from once marrying her boss, her now ex-husband. “If they share then I should too.”

He hesitated. “You are a rarity on Zorn so I am not sure the other women will respond to you well until they adjust since they weren’t pleased to see you. It is better until you get to know them if you have some personal space.”

She followed him through a long hallway with a few doors to the last room on the left. Berrr paused, staring at the door for a few seconds, a frown firmly in place before he twisted the knob and shoved it wide open.

Shanna stared at the room in shock. It was a really big space, decorated for a woman obviously from the lacy big four-poster bed to the large soft-colored, feminine rugs on the floor. A fireplace dominated a corner of the room and double doors stood open to reveal a huge tub, so she knew it was a private bathroom.

“Wow.”

Berrr stepped into the room after closing the door behind them to look around it with distaste. “I have not been in here in years but the house helpers clean the room and the bedding should be fresh. They always keep this room ready no matter how many times I remind them that there will never be a reason. It was good that they did not listen so you have a room in ready for you.”

Turning, Shanna stared up at the tall frowning man.
“Ready for what?
Guests?
You don’t have company come stay here?”

His blue gaze locked with hers, his arms lifted and crossed over his massive tan chest. “This room belonged to my bound, Alluwn.”

Frowning herself now, Shanna cocked her head at him, staring. “Belonged?
Past tense?
I heard that Oval say you were bound. That’s present tense so I don’t understand.”

He took a deep breath, not looking at her as his gaze roamed slowly around the room again. “We are still bound but we do not live together. It is going on ten years since she left my protection to live somewhere else but this was her room when we were bound. She wanted her own space and refused to share my bed when we slept so this room was built just for her needs.” His gaze finally landed on Shanna again. “Alluwn will never return here to me so this room now belongs to you.”

Stunned, Shanna just stared at him.

He took a deep breath. “Is this not done on your Earth? It is rare here as well. Usually bound couples live together but Alluwn wants nothing to do with me and she never did. As soon as our children were out of our home and living in their own spaces she packed her belongings to leave me.”

Shanna wasn’t sure what shocked her more.
He had grown children?
She stared up at his face, judging him to be in his late thirties, maybe early forties from the small lines around his eyes and his mouth. From the neck down he was in perfect prime shape. She swallowed.
Maybe he’d married super young.

“If I understand this correctly bound is the equivalent of married, right?”

He hesitated and then gave a nod of his head. “I believe that is the word of your world that means the same.”

“Why don’t you divorce her if she’s not with you anymore? On Earth if a couple splits they get a divorce. Hell, I divorced my husband, uh, bound.”

“You are bound?” He didn’t look happy.

“Not anymore.”

Anger flashed in his eyes. “Why did you leave your bound?”

Taking a step back from the pissed-off guy, Shanna frowned up at him. “He was a hitter and a drunk, that’s why. I should have guessed that drinking was a big part of his life when he told me he not only owned a bar but lived above it.”

Berrr glared at her, still frowning but he also appeared a little puzzled.

“A hitter is a man who beats on women, which he did to me twice. The first time he was drunk so when he cried and begged me to forgive him I was stupid enough to give him another chance. The second time he did it I got the hell away and got a divorce from him. He drank booze,
uh,
a drink that made him really stupid and he wouldn’t stop drinking it all the time. He was a real loser. Did you follow that?”

The anger melted from his face. “He was unfit to
bound
if he harmed you. We have drinks that make our warriors stupid so I understand your words.”

Shanna relaxed. “What split you and Alluwn up?”

His chest rose as he took a deep breath. “Our fathers agreed to
bound
us together when we were young. She was not happy to come into my home or my bed but she didn’t tell me until four of our offspring were taking breaths that she longed for another.” His jaw flexed, his face tensing in anger as he looked away from Shanna. “Alluwn wished to leave me then to go to him, stating she had done her duty to provide our family with at least two sons so our bloodlines were connected through them. She had provided me with two daughters and two sons at that time.”

“Oh man, that’s messed up. She never told you?”

He shook his head. “She pretended to care for me while she bid her time to provide the sons our fathers wanted us to create together. They were pack and wanted a bloodline to share with Alluwn and me.”

“Pack?”

He hesitated. “Lifetime friends devoted to the friendship like a blood bond without the bloodlines. Do you understand?” His gaze met hers again.

“Yeah.
I get it. So she left you?”

He shook his head. “My pride wouldn’t allow it at first. I cared for her and I didn’t want to let her go regardless of her desire for another. She was in my blood and she was the mother of my offspring who needed her. There is no way on Zorn to prevent pregnancy between bound couples. We had two more sons and a daughter after she told me of her wish to leave and she grew to hate me with every one who breathed life that I put there with my seed. She finally threatened violence if I impregnated her again.”

Mute, Shanna just stared at him while he avoided her eyes, looking anywhere but at her. A hundred questions went through her head but before she could ask, he spoke again.

“I thought I could have her care back for me if I gave her more of my attention but that didn’t work. My plan to show her happiness failed so we made a bargain after our last son breathed life. She vowed to stay in my home until the last of our children made their own homes if I vowed to never touch her again to avoid more offspring she did not wish to have with me. I also had to agree I would always owe her one request that I couldn’t refuse. I agreed for our children’s sakes so they didn’t lose their mother.”

“So she left to go look for this other guy eventually?”

Berrr looked down at the floor. “I released her from our bounding when our last child moved out. She wanted to be with another male and she bound to him.”

Confused, Shanna frowned. “So you’re not bound to her anymore?”

He hesitated. “I set her free of our bounding, giving her to him, even though it was hard for me to do. It is a great dishonor to have your woman leave you for another male but I vowed to release her so I did. I always keep my word. She went to him but he wasn’t right in his mind.” Berrr finally looked at Shanna, locking gazes with her. “He decided to not only take my bound but he wanted my life as well. He sneaked into my home in the mountains far from here to attack me. It was dark and I didn’t know who had come to kill me in my bed. I fought back and he died in my own defense. Alluwn was distraught and wished me to suffer very much so she demanded I bound to her again as punishment for taking the man she wanted. I may never
bound
to another to find full happiness in a female’s arms since I killed her chosen bound.”

“And you did it? You bound to her again? Why?”

His chin rose as his eyes narrowed. “I always keep my vow and I had given my word to agree to her request if she asked one of me. I have honor. I am Hyvin Berrr.”

Shanna was just stunned as she stared up at the big alien. There was keeping your word and then there was insanity. He’d married his ex-wife for a second time knowing it was her way of getting back at him yet he’d still done it.
Talk about a masochist
, she thought, keeping silent so she didn’t insult him. His nose flared suddenly, a frown twisting his lips downward as his gaze lowered down her body. In an instant he dropped to his knees in front of her.