Planet Mail (13 page)

Thorlan
touched her shoulder. “I’ll find the king. Perhaps he can make you see reason.”

The first of the two suns reached its peak before Marcus managed to get to see Douglass. She sat on her bed, a scowl on her face, a packed bag at her feet. She’d braided her hair in a single plait down her back and wore more clothes than he’d ever seen on her before. Marcus ordered the guards to wait outside.

“I hear you are leaving us.”

He couldn’t keep the bite out of his voice. He knew they’d agreed their separation was for the best. He hadn’t realized she intended to leave him the very first minute she could.

“I’m trying to, but apparently your future mother-in-law has made a formal complaint against me which has to be investigated before I can go.”

Marcus dragged a chair across the carpet to sit in front of her. “
Thorlan
said you swore at him. I believe he was quite shocked.”

She leaned forward, her hands clasped together. Purple circles under her eyes underlined her weariness and the pain in her direct gaze. “Let me go, Marcus.”

He reached for her but pulled back at the last moment. “If you agree, the Council has suggested a compromise.”

She continued to stare at him, the sharp intelligence in her face made him want to ignore common sense, drag her into his arms and never let go.

“What did you have to promise them?”

He smiled. “I am the king. Why should you imagine that it was I who had to compromise?”

Douglass looked unconvinced. “Whatever happens, I’m not staying here.”

Marcus shifted his weight in his chair. “You can leave the palace if you agree to accompany Sven on the quest to retrieve your spacecraft.”

“Why on earth would the Council let me do that?”

“Because I told them that if you managed to signal your people it would get rid of you faster.” He wondered if she understood how much giving that advice had hurt him.

She bit her lip, her expression as careful as his. “That was kind of you. It will be great to get out and not to be cooped up.”

To his secret relief, her lack of enthusiasm to leave appeared to match his own. “If you are out of the palace, Mistress
Freya
can no longer fear for her daughter’s safety and Sven as my most trusted bodyguard can vouch for your behavior and prevent you from escaping.”

Douglass
nodded,
her gaze no longer on his.

“
Thorlan
agreed because despite his words, he finds you fascinating.”

She shrugged.
“Yeah, right.
It occurred to me that he was probably one of the guys who saw me naked on that first night when I became your consort.”

Marcus drew a painful breath. “I release you from the vows you made that night.”

She still wouldn’t look at him.

He stood up and gripped the back of the ornate chair in an effort not to reach for her. “After you contact your people, Sven will wait with you at the spaceport until they come for you.”

His erection brushed the back of the chair. Was she wet and ready for him as well? He cleared his throat, unable to speak as a tear glimmered on the silk of her skirts. Was this goodbye?

He inclined his head. “I wish you well, my consort.”

Douglass remained on the bed, her knuckles white. “I wish you well too, my King.”

Marcus walked out and found his way to his apartments. He bolted the door against
Thorlan
and the servants who clustered around him. His cock throbbed with unsatisfied desire. If he wanted a woman he only had to snap his fingers and one would be provided for him. The very thought made him nauseous.

He sank down into a chair and wrapped his fingers ‘round his shaft. Letting Douglass go was the right thing to do. She had a child. Possibly even a man to rear that child with. The image of her with another man made him want to puke. How could he insist she stay with him when he had nothing to offer her but his love?

His cock jerked painfully within his ferocious grasp. His throat ached as if he wanted to howl and mourn like a wounded animal. He was the
king,
he had a planet to govern and a people to lead. Douglass challenged him like no other woman he had ever met. But her bright courage and humor would never be his to enjoy.

A knock on the door reminded him that he was needed and that a king wasn’t allowed to display such grief in public. For once he yearned for the privacy to act like a simple man whose soul had just been ripped in two.

Chapter Nine

Douglass shaded her eyes and studied the vast expanse of the Purple Desert which lay before her. Sand shimmered like water as it caught light from the two suns making the landscape seem alive. Soft rounded hills that went on forever crowned the horizon. Six mounted men spread out beside her, Sven, ever vigilant,
was
by her side.

Their
Nav
-track devices seemed primitive compared to the ones she was used to on Earth. For the first time in her life Douglass truly understood the hopelessness of the old saying about needles and haystacks.

“Do we have any idea where we are heading?”

Sven unraveled his long head scarf to expose his mouth. “Yes, consort, we do. For security reasons, the crash site has been monitored ever since you arrived here.” He motioned at the man in front of her.

“
Karan
is our best tracker. He will ensure we arrive at our destination within the next three days.”

She hadn’t realized they had so far to travel. Of course, her injuries from the crash had made everything seem dreamlike until she woke up to the feel of Marcus’ cock against her lips…

Dammit
. She had to stop thinking about him. He had chosen his royal pain in the ass path of duty and she had a fulfilling life to lead back on Earth—didn’t she? At least she had Danny to love and a few close friends to help her through. Who did Marcus have? Lillian?

She wrapped her shawl around the lower half of her face and studied the terrain.
Three nights in a tent in the desert with six men.
She reminded herself that at least it was better than a jail cell in the palace.

Douglass shivered as the suns abruptly disappeared leaving the desert bathed in moonlight. The two white planets that orbited Valhalla were both smaller than Earth’s moon but far brighter. Had she only been here for three months? It seemed longer. She had forged an unforgettable relationship with Marcus and gained the friendship of her male servers. She studied Sven’s tall form as he moved around the campsite putting up the tent.

Night creatures, drawn by the lure of the lamplight, emerged from the dunes to circle the tents. Despite Sven’s teasing, Douglass still hated the sound of beetles and termites scratching around in the sand beneath her sleeping bag. Danny would’ve been in heaven. He collected bugs like other children collected candy. Tomorrow they were due at the crash site. If they were lucky enough to find the black box, Douglass might be on her way home soon.

She sighed as Sven came to sit beside her. Nausea tugged at her senses. Never again would she experience the pleasure of being waited on hand and foot by three men. Never again would she know the extravagances of Marcus’ lovemaking. She’d be back to being boring old Douglass Fraser, United Planetary Parcel Service pilot extraordinaire, trying to keep a roof over her family’s head.

“Are you well,
consort
?”

“I’m fine, Sven.” She studied his calm, rugged face in the flickering firelight. “What will happen to you and the others when I leave?”

He settled next to her on the sand and crossed his legs. “We will resume our positions in the king’s bodyguard unless we are selected to serve the Lady Lillian.”

“Will you mind?”

He turned to her, his gaze considering. “It has been an honor to service you, consort. If I never have the opportunity to know a woman again I will consider myself privileged to have satisfied you.”

Douglass patted his arm. “I wish I could take you with me. I have loads of single girlfriends who would just love to meet a man like you.”

“Your women are not all taken then?”

“No, I’d guess there are probably more women than men in the general population. It’s hard to get a guy to stick around these days.”

“The king told me you have a son. Does he not have a father?”

“You see, there’s a case in point. Danny’s father ran out on me when he found out I was pregnant.”

Sven snorted. “I’m surprised your family didn’t seek him out and end his existence.”

Douglass suppressed a desire to laugh. “You can’t go around doing things like that on Earth anymore, even if you’d like to. And anyway, it was partly my fault. If I’d listened to my family and friends I would never have gone out with him. He was a complete jerk and I refused to see it until it was too late.”

“If I had a son, I would never leave him.” Sven sounded stubborn, his fingers closed around the hilt of his dagger.

“As I said, you are a good man. The immature idiot who fathered Danny wasn’t.”

“My wife died in childbirth.”

Douglass dug her fingernails into his arm. “Oh God, Sven, I’m so sorry,”

He stared into the fire. “It was many years ago. As with a lot of our women, the pregnancy did not go well with her. My son never took a breath.” He let out a long sigh. “The king will make a good father.”

Douglass’ serene mood abruptly disintegrated. She got clumsily to her feet. “Yes, he will, won’t he?” She dug her fingernails into her palms as she imagined Marcus caring for Lillian’s child. Danny deserved a father like Marcus not the scumbag who had deserted him before his birth. She headed for the tent and curled up in her sleeping bag before Sven could realize she was crying.

Douglass woke to find she had wiggled free of her sleeping bag and had rolled on top of Sven’s. His heavy thigh lay between her legs and she was unashamedly rubbing herself against him. One of his large hands rested lightly on her butt and held her in place. She opened her eyes to find him watching her.

“I’m sorry, Sven. It’s just that…”

He smiled at her, his teeth white in the gloom of the tent they shared. “You don’t need to explain, consort. I am at your service. The king gave me express orders that you were to be satisfied.”

Douglass was too horny to argue with him. She’d grown far too used to having sex whenever she wanted it. She unzipped her sleeping bag and crawled into Sven’s. He pulled her across his body until she straddled him. His erect cock strained the front of his leather pants. Heat radiated from his body as she leaned down and kissed him hard on the lips. He threaded his hand through her hair to hold her close as she worked on the ties of his shirt.

With a murmur of approval, he pulled off her leggings and let her sink back down against his shaft. She took off her top, freeing her breasts, and leaned forward until they brushed his face.

“Ah…consort.”

He took the tip of her nipple into his mouth and sucked. She gasped at how sensitive she felt. He eased his sucking as she rocked against him, loving the feel of his leather-clad cock against her clit and pussy. She came quickly, soaking his pants with her cream.

When he suddenly sat up she only had time to grab him around the neck and hang on. He slid his hand between their bodies and cupped her mound. “Tell me what you need. Do you want my fingers or my mouth?”

She studied his intent face. “Tell me what you want, Sven.” She sensed his hesitation and lightly nipped his earlobe. “Just for once, I want you to take control.”

His muscles bunched under her fingers as he drew her down onto the ground and pushed her legs wide with his massive shoulders. “Then I’ll finger-fuck you first and when you’ve come I’ll use my mouth.”

Douglass’ sex throbbed in time to her heartbeat as he smiled down at her.

“You’ll have to be quiet, consort, unless you want all the other men to come and watch. They’ve probably never seen a royal bodyguard fuck a real live woman.”

He slid one thick finger inside her. She tried to clamp down on it.

“You need more to fill you now. The king’s cock is very wide.”

She glanced at the front of his pants.
“So is yours.”

He stroked himself through his pants. “Perhaps you’d do me the honor of sucking my cock when I allow you to stop climaxing.”

Douglass licked her lips. “The honor will be all
mine
.”

He slid another finger inside her and
scissored
them, widening her even further. She quivered as he curled one upward and touched her G-spot.

“You were very tight when we first took you to bed. But even then we knew you would prove an exceptional lover for the king.” He added two more fingers. His thumb slowly circled her clit. “You were always so wet and welcoming. Your body was made to be caressed.”

He slowly worked her, his fingers keeping a steady glide, the pressure on her clit increased with each stroke. She dug her heels into the ground, raising her hips to his as her climax grew and consumed her. The musky scent of her arousal filled the small tent as he bent to her breast. She tugged on his thick red hair.

“Kiss me, Sven.”

He obliged, his mouth moving over hers with a savage intensity. Her second climax swept over her, her sheath tight around his questing fingers. Before she finished shuddering he slid downward, his tongue finding her pussy in one smooth stroke. He licked her from clit to anus, back and forth so slowly that she wanted to scream. When he buried three fingers deep in her back passage and applied his teeth to her clit she grabbed hold of his hair and held on as another ferocious climax shook through her.

With all her remaining strength, Douglass rose to her knees. She used her teeth to pull at the side lacing on Sven’s soaked pants, until his cock sprang free. He groaned as she sucked him deep into her mouth. She cradled his balls in her hand and used the tip of her finger to press on the sweet spot behind the head. He groaned, fisting his hands in her long hair.

“Harder, consort, suck me harder.”