The Bride's Unexpected Change in Plans (4 page)

“That’s not necessary,” Dayved said, feeling a little guilty for his earlier thoughts even though he hadn’t even said them out loud. “I know you do an important job. It’s not always easy to break away from your duties to make a personal call. You don’t need to do that for me.”

“Actually, I do. I really do.” Ewin pulled him close, pressing his face against his heart, the soothing
lub-dub
sound calming whatever was making him disagree with his lover. “I love you, baby. I don’t say it often enough, but I love everything about you. I love that you take care of me and look after our home and don’t get mad when I bring a stranger home to stay with us for a little while.”

“How long is a little while?” he asked, not really minding how long the woman stayed but needing to know so that he could plan their meals and change his other commitments if necessary.

“The next transport back to Earth leaves in six days.”

“She’s going home?”

Ewin nodded and moved away as the shower stopped and the drying cycle began. Gentle puffs of warm air dried their skin as he answered the question. “She doesn’t really have another choice. Without her sponsors, she’s not allowed to stay. The law is very clear on unmarried aliens on the planet.”

Dayved nodded his understanding. It hadn’t always been that way. There was a time when the kings had let offworlders wander the planet freely, but after dozens of human women went missing without a trace, they’d realized the temptation a woman capable of producing offspring could be on a planet where fertile women were rare. The laws had been tightened even further when a criminal syndicate had been caught red-handed hiring out some of the missing women for purely breeding purposes. On a planet where sexuality was considered natural and was usually enjoyed, discovering that human women were being raped and used for breeding against their wills had been sickening.

But it also highlighted how desperate some parts of their society had become. Without offspring, ancient families and their traditions were literally dying out.

In an effort to try and control the situation, the kings had quickly passed very stringent laws on the protection of human women. The “baby factory” case, as it had come to be known, was a shame on Desconian society, and something none wished to see repeated. As an unclaimed mubellabina, the woman lying in their spare bed was in very real danger. She would need their protection, something that both he and Ewin were more than able to give.

“Have you eaten?” Ewin asked as they left the bathing area. A little bit embarrassed to admit that he hadn’t, Dayved considered lying, but in the end told his lover the truth.

“I was waiting for you, but I’m not angry. Please don’t think I’m angry. You did the right thing staying with her. I’ll just go and grab a plate of food. Do you want something? Are you hungry? It’s still warm.” He knew he was babbling. He even knew that he was overcompensating for the annoyance he’d felt at Ewin before his lover had gotten home.

“Baby,” Ewin said, turning him around so that he could cup his jaw and stare into his eyes. “You have the right to be angry. Hell, I should have called every time. Not just this time. I’ve been taking you for granted. You need to kick my ass when I do that. You need to say something. Get annoyed at me. Please don’t let me take you for granted.”

“I don’t understand,” Dayved said, the urge to cry very real even though he couldn’t explain why.

Ewin pressed a soft kiss to his lips, held him close, and sighed heavily. “I’m sorry. It’s been a rough day. But the one thought I can’t shake is that Kimberley is so sweet that she probably never once made a fuss or demanded anything from her promised tredella and mubella. I think they abandoned her so easily because they didn’t think she would mind. Even now that she has to borrow money to go home to a planet that will treat her with disdain simply because she’s been here, she’s willing to be happy for them.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Can you believe that? Even after the anguish they’ve caused her, she’s willing to go away and let them be happy together.”

Dayved wanted to assure his lover that he would do exactly as he asked him—from now on he would speak up if he felt he was being taken for granted—but thoughts of what Kimberley would face once she returned to Earth filled him with dread. He’d read some of the horrific accounts of human mail-order brides being attacked and humiliated in public when they returned to Earth. It seemed insane that a planet could consider sex so evil. The thought of that happening to a woman they could help made his stomach churn with anxiety.

“Can we help her?”

“We are helping her,” Ewin said with a sad smile. “We’re keeping her safe until she can get home.”

“But home won’t be safe either.”

Ewin nodded in agreement. “I know, but without her sponsors she can’t stay on Descon.”

Dayved shook his head as a million ideas bounced through his head at a dizzying rate. “What if we find her new sponsors, a new couple to marry, or maybe talk to Eric, Cindy, and Loukie? Surely they can offer some suggestions. There has to be a way to keep her safe. She came here wanting to embrace the Desconian lifestyle, and goddess knows there are plenty of childless couples looking for a human mail-order bride. There has to be something we can do.”

“Come here,” Ewin ordered as tears filled Dayved’s vision. He stepped into his lover’s familiar embrace. “I love you. I love you more than I can ever hope to tell you in mere words.” He pressed a kiss on top of Dayved’s head. “I’m so very grateful to be loved by a man like you.” Ewin nodded, the movement rubbing his chin against Dayved’s hair. “Cindy and Loukie said they’d drop by in the morning. We’ll talk to them and find a way to keep Kimberley safe.”

“Thank you.” Dayved tipped his head back, going on to his toes so that he could press his lips against his tredella’s. “I love you, too. And I promise to kick your ass if you don’t call me the next time you’re going to be late.”

Ewin laughed, the deep chuckle vibrating through them both.

“Let’s get something to eat and then go to bed.” He grabbed Dayved’s hand and headed into the eating area. “But let’s be quick. I feel the need to hold you close all night.”

Dayved nodded and tried very hard to hide the happy tears that filled his eyes.

Chapter Three

Kimberley woke in a strange bed in a strange room. It took a few more moments for her to remember she was also in a stranger’s home on an even-stranger planet.

Of course it wouldn’t have been a strange planet if things had just gone the way she’d planned. She twisted the ring on her finger nervously, the disappointment of the day before rolling over her again. Anxiety gripped her, the fear of her unknown future dragging at her, trying to drown her in worry.

Annoyed at herself—this wasn’t the first time things had gone wrong in her life, after all—Kimberley rolled over, hoping to figure out where she was. She had vague memories of crying on the security guard’s shoulder before being carried onto a small transport craft. Everything else after that was a huge black void. It wasn’t like her to be so trusting, but considering how little she’d slept on the trip from Earth to Descon it was probably to be expected.

But it did leave her wondering where exactly she’d ended up.

She climbed out of bed, glanced at the rumpled clothing that definitely looked like she’d slept in it, and crept around the room. It seemed to be a dormitory of sorts but unlike any she’d seen on Earth. There were three beds in the room, but each of them was large enough to hold several people, maybe even more than several.

One of the beds was rumpled and messy like someone had slept in it, but the other was neatly made up and seemed untouched. Maybe it was the mess of other problems swirling in her head, but it took another three seconds to realize what the room was probably used for. She’d read some stuff about the type of sexual voyeurism many Desconians enjoyed, but Juna and Hollank had assured her that they didn’t indulge in such things, so she’d never really bothered to learn that much about it. Heat pooled low in her belly as she imagined what type of things might have happened in this very room. She could feel heated embarrassment creep up her cheeks as some of the illegal video footage she’d found on a website on Earth swirled through her brain. She’d never imagined such things were possible until she’d seen them done. It was probably why the morality laws on Earth were so strict. Once she’d seen some of the things that were possible, she’d wanted more than anything to try them.

Finally after a good ten minutes of contemplating things she knew very little about, Kimberley realized she could hear people talking quietly in a room not far from where she was standing. Uncertain of her welcome, she crept closer to the doorway, hoping that she could hear a little of the conversation before blundering into a situation where she might not be welcome.

“I’ll talk to my father,” a woman’s voice said carefully, “but I can’t promise anything. It’s a very unusual request.”

“Well it’s a very unusual situation,” a male voice said. She was pretty sure it belonged to Ewin, the security guard who’d brought her to his home, but then another male voice spoke up.

“Surely someone has to be held accountable. They left her penniless, Loukie. She has nothing. They’ve left her destitute and they’re just walking away.”

“I know,” the female voice that she assumed was Loukie said in a sad tone. “I’m not happy about what happened either, but we have to go through the proper channels. Not even the kings can go changing laws without due process, and I doubt they can make it retroactive without a major backlash.”

“But they—” Whatever the man was going to say was cut off by Loukie.

“Dayved, I know you’re upset, but I think we have a good chance at changing the law to deal with Desconian couples who treat their mubella or mubellabina so poorly. It won’t help Kimberley, but it should ensure that if it happens again the human woman is treated with respect and given a chance to build a new life without having to return to Earth.”

“Hell, if the law won’t protect Kimberley then I will. Give me the name of her sponsors. I’ll make certain she is compensated for the way they’ve treated her.”

“Dayved,” Ewin said in a voice that sounded almost as upset as the other man’s, “we need to follow the law. You can’t just go intimidating someone because you don’t like something they’ve done.”

“Of course you’d take that attitude,” the other man said in a sad voice. “I just want Kimberley to be looked after.”

She’d heard enough. She wasn’t an abandoned child. She was a grown woman. She could take care of herself.

But as she stepped into the area where four people argued her fate, her confidence faltered.

She was on a planet a very long way from home, surrounded by strangers and left penniless by two people who’d convinced her they’d look after all the details.

“I…um…” Words escaped her as the reality of her situation started to sink in.
Holy hell!
How had she let herself be put in a position like this in the first place? Nothing had ever gone her way before. What malicious little demon had possessed her to believe it might work out this time? “I…um…I…please don’t upset Juna and Hollank. They just learned they’re having a baby. I don’t want to ruin that for them.”

“But what about you?” the man she hadn’t met demanded. “What about your rights? You were brought here under false pretenses. Why are you even defending them? It’s obvious that they didn’t care for you.”

“Enough,” Ewin growled at the other man. He moved to her side quickly, his arm going around her shoulders as he led her into the room and urged her to take a seat. “This is Loukie and Cindy. I introduced them to you last night. Do you remember?”

Kimberley nodded, suddenly feeling very shy.

“And the guy over there,” he said, tilting his head toward the other man in the room, “is my husband, Dayved.”

She looked over at him and nodded, but she couldn’t quite keep the tears from her eyes. Hell, was there something in this planet’s air that messed with her emotions? She hadn’t cried this much since her first day of kindergarten. She forced herself to smile at the man who loved the man she’d latched onto. It was obvious that he wasn’t happy. The last thing she wanted was to come between a happy couple.

“I’m sorry to be a bother. I can…um…” But again the hopelessness of her situation struck her. She very literally had no place to go.

“Oh, hell, sweetheart,” Dayved said as he rushed to sit beside her and put an arm around her shoulders, “you’re not a bother. Ewin and I both want you to stay with us, unless you…” He hesitated, glanced at the others, and then started to say something else that he didn’t finish. Finally he swallowed heavily and managed to get the words out. “Unless staying with us makes you uncomfortable. I mean we’ve already discussed moving one of the beds into a different room so that you can have some privacy. That’s what humans prefer, isn’t it? I mean, I’m not an expert on humans or anything, but I think… Well I was led to believe… Isn’t that the way you prefer it?”

Ewin smiled at the man indulgently and then moved to squat in front of the sofa where they both sat. He took one of Kimberley’s hands in his and placed the other on his husband’s knee. His hand skimmed over and over the same spot as if he was trying to soothe his husband’s agitation.

“Honey, I think you might have gotten the wrong impression when you first came in. Dayved is trying to get the kings to help you. He wants you here as much as I do. You’re very welcome to stay in our home for as long as you like.”

“But I thought I had to go home.” She almost shuddered at the word “home.” Earth wasn’t her home any longer. She’d been ridiculed and rejected by her friends for even contemplating moving to Descon. She was unlikely to be able to find employment anywhere when she got back. With everyone knowing almost everything about everyone else thanks to the removal of privacy laws on Earth, her travel to Descon would be one very big black flag against her name. She didn’t even want to consider the type of things that could happen once she was identified as a “fallen woman.”