Queens' Warriors (6 page)

Vincent who spotted Stephanie as she stood watching the two brothers eat, quickly stood, and started to go to his knees before a word from Stephanie stopped him.

“No. If you feel you must, you can bow or tip your head, but no going to your knees or forehead. It’s both ridiculous and damn uncomfortable.”

Shan Lin, who had stood with his brother and stopped when Queen Stephanie spoke, bowed deeply from the waist.

“As you like, Your Majesty,” both brothers replied simultaneously.

“And you can call me Stephanie. We’re family after all.” The smile returned as she spoke, and made the brothers feel truly welcome for the first time since their mother had passed on.

“As you wish…Stephanie.”

It felt strange to call a Queen by her given name, even in an informal surrounding. Vincent would never have imagined his new ruler offering the use of her given name. But he would abide by it when they were as a family.

“But I might add, when we’re in front of others, you’ll always be Your Majesty. It is the way of our world, and until the law is changed and accepted more widely, I would make the suggestion we leave it that way.” Shan Lin nodded in agreement with his brother.

“As you say, we are family. It will still take a bit of getting used to.”

Stephanie sighed, “So Brock continues to tell me. And I keep assuring him I’m not trying to be disloyal, or even change customs, which have been in practice long before I ever became a part of it; I’m just trying to fit in.”

She looked from one brother to the next, and gave a decisive nod.

“Perhaps all three of you are right. Brock included.”

A surprised sound came from behind Stephanie and she turned to look. Brock stood with his mouth open, staring at Stephanie.

“You all right, Brock? Has the grilling been too harsh?” Stephanie asked, laughter in her voice. Guessing what the look was about, Stephanie’s smile turned into a grin.

“Yes, you, dear man. You were right.”

Brock blinked, then turned all shades of red while a proud-as-you-please grin shown on his face.

Turning back to Shan Lin and Vincent, Stephanie lost her smile as she switched topics and spoke to the brothers.

“I need to…” Stephanie began and watched from the corner of her eyes as three faces latched onto her every word. She wanted to shake her head at these people and tell them her every thought wasn’t always the things heads of state normally thought of, most of her thoughts were merely mundane normal things. Except she knew these people were placing their lives into her hands, and she didn’t want to do anything to disappoint them.

“…talk to you about Queen Sara. I want you…”

Vincent and Shan Lin both held up their hands, one nearly mimicking the other, movement for movement, as they looked left and right. They didn’t need to speak. The rest of the staff in the kitchen stopped what they were doing, and left.

Even Brock, who could have stayed, Stephanie told him as much, left.

Stephanie waited. She knew what they were doing, and knew they wouldn’t yet believe no other member of her household would betray her. She would dispel their worries eventually, but for now, the dethroning of Sara was uppermost in her mind.

“Go ahead.” Shan Lin spoke.

I think she knows.
Vincent drawled.

“As a matter of fact I do. We’ll deal with the rest later. For now, let’s talk about Sara and how we’re going to bring her down.”

Stephanie paused then took a deep breath.

“I want you both to become my spies.” She watched for any sign from either man that would indicate a problem with her request. She gave a small nod of approval when neither man reacted negatively, before continuing.

“I still have things I need to learn about the ways of your people and what will soon be my new home before I can take any kind of leadership role in Aranak. I currently can’t be there myself due to my residual commitments here on Earth, and I need all the proof I can get to take this woman down without outright killing her myself.”

The last was said with enough bitter venom to fill a nation. Whatever Mitch and Kristain had told Stephanie about their mother, added to what Shan Lin and Vincent had imparted when they arrived, had put the final nail in Sara’s coffin as far as Stephanie was concerned.

Chapter Four

Shari had done it. Finally, she had freed herself from the bump and grind of nine to five. No more setting the alarm for o’dark thirty to primp and prepare herself for a day of closed-in office space. No more conferences, meetings, lunches, or drop-in surprises for this lady. No sirree, Phil! She was free to pursue her dreams of…

Shari paused on her trek down the hall to Karen’s apartment and grimaced in pain, both mentally and physically. Her body ached in all the wrong places and her mind vacillated between thoughts on what exactly she would do now and focusing on the minor accident she had just been in.

Sighing silently, she made her way down to Karen’s door. All she wanted to do was get inside and crash on the nearest flat surface. Walking as fast as her sore body would allow, forcing one foot in front of the other, she made her way down the hall.

Lord, my head hurts.

The scrape down the side of her hip had left her body aching and throbbing, and she would be lucky if she lived long enough to reach the apartment’s door.

Stop it. You’re exaggerating because you’re doing your best not to freak out about handing in your two-week notice.

Smiling wryly, Shari White pushed thoughts of worrying about not having enough money in her savings account, having to tuck her tail between her legs and go back to a “real” job, and now the pain her body was signaling to her. The tiny aches and pains from the accident were becoming more and more intolerable by the moment. Shari supposed walking home after the accident hadn’t been the smartest thing she could have done.

Finally
, she thought as she reached her friend’s door,
I can go in and crash!
Fumbling her key out of the pocket of her ruined pants, she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Shari dropped her purse and the equally ruined briefcase where she stood and turned to push the door closed, allowing it to shut behind her.

Immediately the doubts began to creep in once again. Would she be able to find something she truly enjoyed doing before her “Freedom” money ran out. Shari had given herself what should be a year’s “cushion” of money to pay necessities, minor frivolities and, if needed, emergency spending money.

But can I?

Her muscles interrupted her second thoughts, screaming viciously in protest as she walked forward. She was determined to land on a soft spot this time, and not settle for curling into a little ball of pain in front of the door.

“That’s all I need. Karen would come in and smack me on the other side of my aching skull to make a complete job of it.”

Even talking quietly out loud hurt her head too much, so she concentrated on making it to the couch and thinking thoughts softly.

The car coming out from the underground garage probably hadn’t been going more than five m.p.h. The poor rattled driver had been coming up the blind ramp faster than he had thought and,
Bam!
Knocked her clean off her feet. But when the car had rammed into her, Shari felt as if it had been going at light speed.

She had been dazed, but other than probably needing an aspirin, she was pretty sure her injuries did not need a doctor. She flat refused to have an ambulance called. She hadn’t lost consciousness, and most of the abrasions only needed bandages and cleaning. She would be fine once she got home.

“Not too smart, was it, Shari ‘you’re a twit’ White?” Shari mumbled, wishing someone was there to whine to.

As pain continued to lance its way through her head, she remembered her comment not to talk out loud. Maybe if she just whispered. Besides, she did not have time to spend seven hours sitting in an emergency room somewhere in the city waiting to be told she was fine, go home. She knew her body well enough to know she would probably be fine in a few days.

Turning slowly, she spotted the couch and stumbled to it. She was on the verge of simply falling on it carefully, and sleeping for a week, when a hammering noise sounded against the front door.

No!
She gripped her head as the noise reverberated against the inside of her head. It would just top her
Day from Hell
if it ended up being a damn salesman intent on getting someone to buy the five thousand dollar set of encyclopedias, which would become obsolete the minute the next
coup d’état
in Peru erupted.

Wasn’t there somebody trying to take over Peru at the moment?

Shari’s head throbbed as her thoughts scrambled around in her head. Inconsequential things popped up and chased after one another until the pounding at the door started once again.

I could just ignore it, pretend there’s no one here.

She grimaced at the thought. She had never been able to ignore answering a knock at the door or a ringing phone.

The pounding thundered again.

Muttering low in her throat and immediately wincing at the renewed pain, Shari forced her body toward the door. Standing slowly, she started to rise. It took her longer than she would have thought as her head began to whirl. Raising her arms with difficulty, she held her head between her hands long enough for it to stop doing merry-go-round imitations, then started for the door.

Shit!
The heartfelt, whispered word ran through her.

Not bothering to check through the view hole in the door, she braced herself with a hand on the doorknob and wrenched the door open, leaning heavily against it for support.

Truly, she had every intention of stripping skin off whoever stood on the other side. Until, that is, she came face to face with the pair of sex gods. Her words died a flaming death. The pain, which had so recently radiated through her body, fled.

There stood two of the most gorgeous men she would ever lay eyes on. In front of her were two six-foot-five, muscle-bound, sable-haired, chisel-jawed, Chippendale dancers. Animal magnetism rolled off the pair in waves, making her pussy weep. Taking shallow breaths, Shari saw black spots appear before her eyes.

“Please…”

She drew in the last of a shallow breath and let out a moan so close to a howl she almost scared herself. Her vision went gray at the pleasure streaking through her body and she fell to her knees, the pain in her body forgotten. Her head would have hit the floor as she bowled over if not for a skin-roughened hand slipping between her forehead and the floor.

Shari felt herself grind her hips on an erection she was sure was between her legs. She ground down as if riding a man, then gave a final shuddering scream as an orgasm rolled over and through her body in mind-numbing bliss.

It took a few moments to gather her scattered thoughts. Panting in the aftermath, Shari felt muscled arms surround and cradle her body as if it was a delicate piece of porcelain. Turning her head slowly, she looked up into a pair of eyes the color of a sunset and had to blink, thinking she was imagining things.

The eyes she gazed into were glowing.

Squeezing her eyes closed in hopes she was seeing things, she blinked several times, then looked once again.

Nope. Not glowing at all.

She stared into two different colored eyes. One a golden bronze, the other the color of crisp, green, summer leaves. She closed her eyes once more and shook her head slightly for good measure, vaguely remembering her headache. When she opened her eyes again, she still saw the same set of eyes, both different colors.

A voice, low and resonating sensations against her stimulated body seemed to be making soothing sounds to her.

Tilting her head back a little more Shari took in the whole picture. She seemed to be in the arms of one of the men who had stood on the other side of Karen’s door.

“Er…should I thank you and be offering a cigarette about now?”

* * * * *

Vincent stopped rumbling nonsensical noises and looked away from the woman in his embrace. Biting his lip at the woman’s cheeky mouth, he locked eyes with Shan Lin. His nod telling his brother the woman was all right, he gave his attention once more to the woman he held.

“We have come to insure your safety. We saw what transpired and know you for a strong woman. It is our wish to have you for a wife. I have already given you a glimpse of what is to come. You seem very susceptible to it. You also seemed to enjoy it. But since you almost blacked out from it, I will have to hold back until you are more used to our ways.”

Vincent, finishing the only explanation he intended to give, propped the woman up so Shan Lin could see the woman was better. He didn’t know if he was pleased she could climax so easily, or disappointed he would have to be so gentle with her. As he looked her over, a sense of familiarity came over him, and he wondered just where he had seen the woman previously.

Not to worry,
he thought,
I’ll remember soon enough.

* * * * *

Shari looked at the hunk-of-the-month still holding her firmly enough she might have trouble getting out of his grip, and gave him her ‘you’ve gotta be kidding’ look.