Brianna (32 page)

“Only if the other people around are women. I can ‘run around naked in front of other men, if I want to’ she said. And I recommend that you do not wander into our quarters nude either. That is, of course, unless you want to see her blush.”

Rodane headed towards the bathroom. “Do you think she’ll always be like that?”

Char shrugged. “I don’t know. I doubt very much if any of us will be wandering about the house naked anymore. Ban and I are working on getting her to relax in our private quarters, though.”

Rodane stopped and swivelled. “Ban! You’re letting the most notorious rake on five planets walk about your room naked!”

Char grinned and shook his head. “I’m not stupid. No. He’ll be walking in when Bri’s naked.”

Rodane’s mouth fell open. That was even more unbelievable. Shaking his head, he turned back to the bathroom. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

So do I.
“Rodane, about Brianna carrying the heir…”

“Char, I’m not lying when I say that I am glad Brianna is carrying the Alalakan heir. I never wanted to make decisions that affected the entire clan.”

Char followed Rodane into the bathroom and leaned against the doorway as his brother stepped into the shower. “Is that true? Why?”

Rodane grinned. “Because I don’t want the responsibility.

You, on the other hand, revel in responsibility. Take it, with my blessing.”

“I can’t do everything myself.”

“And I’ll help all you want, Char. Just don’t expect me to make any final decisions where the clan is concerned. My family, even your family, that’s different. But the clan? Too many members are never satisfied. You’re more than welcome to deal with them. Now, do you have any more of those lounging pants?

I wouldn’t want to offend the mother of the Alalakan heir.”

Laughing, Char turned and pushed the intercom button.

When Fionilina left Char and Rodane, she went directly to Brianna’s rooms, her glare daring Kahn to try to stop her from entering. Kahn merely nodded his head and opened the door for her. Inside, she found Ban comfortably ensconced in a deep chair watching the morning news video. The remains of a very fortifying breakfast sat on the table beside him.

He looked up when Fio walked in, grinning when he realized that the overly large robe hanging off her left shoulder was all she wore.

“Where’s Brianna?”

“In the tub,” he answered, and then continued with a suggestive leer, “Want some company? I’m available.”

Fionilina smiled even wider and slipped the robe off of her other shoulder. Ban’s eyes widened. “Rodane works faster than Char,” he muttered. But then a smile crossed his face.

“Welcome to the family, Coz.”

“Thanks, Coz,” she replied over her shoulder. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Brianna needs all the help she can get.”

Brianna was soaking in the tub with her hair spread out over the side behind her. Verna and Meri were painstakingly working through it a few strands at a time. Every few minutes, they would dip it into the oily water. Beti stood patiently, holding each strand of gold and diamonds as it was separated from her hair.

All four women looked up as Fio walked over to the tub and looked down at Brianna’s hair.

“You really have a mess here,” she said, taking charge of the situation completely. “You’ll need two days to get that net untangled if you keep working like this. It will be a lot easier if her hair is under the water. Meri, we need to get in the tub.”

Dropping her robe, Fio slid into the tub and reached for a strand of hair. “Dip your head under the water again, Brianna. It really should stay oily for this to work properly.”

Verna shoved her head under the water.

Brianna came up sputtering after Verna released her head.

“You’re wearing a dragon,” she said wiping oily water from her eyes.

Fionilina smiled a wide smile, her deft fingers untangling Brianna’s hair. “And I have you to thank. If not for you, Crystas would still have Rodane in her clutches.”

“He certainly didn’t waste any time.”

Meri stripped off her robe and slipped into the large tub.

“Alalakan men don’t waste time when they know what they want.”

“But Crystas hasn’t even left the house yet!”

“She left at dawn. Her father’s shuttle fetched her,” Beti said in her flat voice.

Fionilina frowned as she continued to work deftly with Brianna’s hair. “I’d better call my father and mother today and give them the other side of the story before Crystas poisons their minds. Once they find out she was purposely thwarting conception, she’ll get little sympathy.”

Meri freed another strand of gold and diamonds. “When will the official ceremony be for you and Rodane?”

“It will take two weeks for the official paperwork declaring the dissolution of Rodane’s and Crystas’ marriage to be finalized.

We will marry quietly the day after Rodane receives his copy of the papers.”

Brianna shifted. “It’s that easy?”

“Crystas agreed publicly. Even if she hadn’t, using birth control without her husband’s knowledge is grounds enough for the dissolution of a marriage,” Fio answered. “Crystas won’t want to be publicly humiliated. She’d never be able to make another advantageous marriage.”

“You two certainly finalized all of your plans last night,” Meri commented as she struggled with a particularly difficult snarl.

Fionilina chuckled devilishly. “We did much more than plan.”

All five women in the room laughed.

Brianna had worked through all of the hair strands she could reach, so she leaned back and enjoyed their gentle ministrations. Grimacing, she shifted a little.

“I’m sorry if I pulled your hair,” Fio said.

Brianna shifted her weight. “It wasn’t you. The baby has decided it’s time for his morning workout.”

“Morning workout?”

Meri smiled. “You get used to it.”

Brianna shifted again.
“
How much longer is this going to take? I’m beginning to feel like a prune.”

“Prune?” both Meri and Fio asked.

Brianna chuckled. “Never mind. You’ll get used to it.”

Ban grinned as Char and Rodane entered the room.

“Comfortable?” Char asked as he threw himself into the chair next to his cousin.

“Quite.” Turning to Rodane, Ban continued, “I understand congratulations are in order. You two don’t waste any time grabbing onto your women.”

Stretching out in another chair and propping his feet up on a stool, Rodane grinned. “It helps keep rakes like you away.”

“There are rakes who prefer married women,” Ban shot back with a grin just as wide as Rodane’s. This family camaraderie was something he’d missed.

“Why did you leave, Ban?” Rodane asked. “We thought you were happy with us.”

Though Char was listening to the conversation, he was busy ordering more breakfast from the kitchen. He also took the time to contact Ademis via the intercom and ask him to join them.

Ban leaned forward, clasped his hands, and placed his elbows on his knees. With a somewhat abashed smile he said, “I swore I’d never tell you this, but, since circumstances have changed…”

“Two months after you married Crystas, you made that quick business trip to Mediria. You weren’t gone two hours before she was in my bed. At least that’s where I found her. I was all of seventeen.”

“Crystas was furious when I refused her. She told me that you and Char were making plans to slowly ease me out of the clan since I was a half-blood.” Ban smiled. “At the time, I didn’t know about Grandmother and her Medirian blood. If I had…”

He shrugged.

Rodane bit out a curse. “So Crystas drove you away with lies.”

“I was young and stupid enough to believe her. If not for Brianna and Char…”

“You’d still be devising ways to aggravate Mediria’s Dowager Queen,” Char finished, “and becoming more and more bitter towards anything Alalakan.”

Ban grinned very widely. “Half wrong, Char. I’m still devising ways to aggravate the old witch. I’m just doing it from Drakan.”

Both Rodane and Char grinned back. Laughter from the partially open bathroom door drew their attention.

The outer door opened and Ademis entered. “How goes the untangling?”

“Once Fionilina got here and took charge, things seemed to progress much more rapidly,” Ban answered. “At least that’s how it sounds.”

Char rose to his feet. “I suppose I should go see how things progress,” he said ruefully.

Ban laughed and stood up. “Wouldn’t recommend it, Coz.

Meri and Fio got into the tub with Brianna. I really don’t think Brianna wants you to see them naked.”

Char scowled. Ban had a point.
When will she get over this
jealously? Fio’s family now, and Meri practically is.

“Sit down. I’ll see how things go with the lovely Brianna,”

Ban said as he pushed Char into his chair and walked toward the bathroom. “I’m the only one without a naked wife in there.

Brianna will be less angry with me than with any of you three.”

Ademis’ eyebrow rose. “Wife?”

“Rodane and Fionilina,” Char answered as he watched Ban enter the bathroom. A sharp jab in the direction of his heart was ruthlessly quashed. So what if Ban saw Brianna naked?

Then, Brianna’s indignant yell caused him to wince. “I guess she’s still angry,” he muttered mostly to himself.

“What are you doing back here, Ban?” Brianna yelped as he entered the bathroom. “We heard the door shut when you left.”

“I never left, sweet Coz,” Ban answered with a shrug. “I opened the door and let my breakfast in.”

Meri and Fio grinned at each other as Brianna sputtered and tried to hide herself under water that no longer was filled with bubbles.

“We’re almost finished, Ban,” Meri said. “A few more tangles and the net will be free.”

“Good. Char ordered enough breakfast for everyone.”

“Everyone?”

“Rodane and Ademis are out there, too,” Ban answered as he turned to leave. “By the way, Bri,” he said as he was ready to duck out the door. “You seem to be putting on a little weight.”

Feminine laugher and Brianna’s outraged yelp followed Ban as he hurried through the doorway before the soap bounced off the wall.

At Brianna’s second outraged yell, Char rose to his feet.

Ban slipped through the door and pulled it shut. “Make sure you move fast if Brianna’s ever angry enough to throw things at you. She’s got quite an aim.”

I already know that.
“What did you say to her?”

Ban grinned more widely. “I mentioned that she looked like she was gaining some weight. “

Rodane and Ademis joined in Char’s laughter.

“Ban has an invaluable place with the Alalakans,” Rodane choked out. “Who else would be willing to face Brianna’s temper?”

Ban bowed jokingly to all three men. “I consider it an honor to have three of the galaxy’s most beautiful women angry with me so that their husbands do not suffer. Besides, what woman has ever been able to stay angry with me?”

“One day, Cousin,” Char growled, “you’re going to meet a woman who will not think of you as a charming rogue to be petted and cozened. And I, for one, hope to be there to see it.”

*

Sheala grabbed Brianna’s hand and started to pull her across the garden. “Come down to the pool today.”

Brianna smiled at Char’s sister. All that energy! “No. I think I’ll see what Jenneta’s doing. The stories she tells about all of you as children are hysterical.”

Jami and Vani exploded out of the patio doorway, and all three girls raced towards the pool.

After a leisurely walk in the gardens, Brianna entered the study from the patio to find Char the center of two of the maids’

attention. Though he was fully clothed, both of them were naked. And he didn’t seem to mind.

“Char!”

Damn! Why did she have to walk in now? I’d have been rid
of them in a few minutes.
“Hello, love.”

Bright spots of color appeared on her cheeks. “Love! You call me love when I find you with two naked women in your arms? How stupid do you think I am?”

“Brianna, it’s not how it looks.”

She shivered and struggled to speak. “Just
how
does it look, Chardadon?”

Both maids smirked. Brianna’s jealously had become the topic of many a conversation and the butt of many a joke. One of the maids went so far as to plaster herself against him and caress his groin. “You are welcome to join us, Alalakan dem al’

Brianna,” she purred.

Shocked at her audacity, Char stared down at her.

Brianna saw nothing in her husband’s gaze but seeming approval of the maid’s suggestion. Bursting into tears, she fled.

Taking her cue from her compatriot, the other maid slipped her hand inside Char’s shirt and sought his mouth with hers.

“Chardadon! What are you doing?”

Pushing the maid away, Char looked into the furious eyes of his grandmother. “I…”

“You two will leave! Now!” Jenneta snapped.

Both maids grabbed their clothing and practically sprinted from the room.

Eyes flashing, Jenneta rounded on her grandson. “How can you be so callous and unfeeling, Chardadon? How can you shame your family like this? You’re breaking your wife’s heart.”

He couldn’t meet her gaze. “Grandmother, I don’t encourage them. I would never have sex with another woman with Brianna in the house. I’d have convinced them to leave in another few minutes. Brianna misunderstood what she saw.”

Hands fisted on her hips, Jenneta glared at her grandson.