Beloved Stranger: Gaian Series, Book 5 (10 page)

“Women and children benefit from living in a prison on a mining colony? I can see how the men profit from it, but most of the men here return to Gaia after a few years. Even you will be back there in six months. Why not wait to take a wife when you return to Gaia?”

For a moment he considered not telling her. Unfortunately the question wasn’t going to go away and Sonja was too smart not to realize the truth.

Roan took a deep breath. “The reason is that criminals are usually banned from marriage meets on Gaia. For most of the men, if they don’t get a wife here they won’t ever have one.”

Sonja stared. “Would that mean you, as well?”

“Yes,” he said quietly. “That would include me.”

“No wonder you’re so desperate to keep me.”

A flash of anger swept through him. “I want to keep you as my wife because you
are
my wife. There is no question about that. I attached to you and you accepted me. That makes us married by Gaian law.”

He reached out to touch her face, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. “Last night we made love for the first time, and it was good. Very good, and I think that was true for both of us.”

He was happy to see that she didn’t immediately argue with him on that point. He’d thought she’d enjoyed their time together, and apparently that was true.

“But I still have three days to dissolve our marriage.”

Much as he hated to admit it, he nodded. “However, you need something from me. You’ll need my help in tracking down your sisters.”

Surprised, Sonja stared. “You’ll help me find them?”

“I promised to listen to the problem and if I could help then I would. I’m not about to break up anyone’s marriage, which I’m worried you intend to do. So I’m going to make you a deal.”

She looked apprehensive. “What kind of deal?”

“As you’ve already pointed out, you can leave me anytime in the next three days. If I help you, I want you to stay all three of those days.”

“What will that prove? I already know I don’t want to stay married to you.”

Roan suppressed his anger at her callous words. “It gives us time to discover how good it is for us to be together. It gives me time to prove to you that I make a good husband. It gives you time to decide that you want to continue to be my wife.”

She contemplated him. “If I say no?”

“Then I take you back to the spaceport and tell the authorities that you changed your mind. They’ll hold you there until you can be sent back to whatever ship you came on.”

Sonja scowled. “I’d have gained nothing if you do that.”

“That’s why my option is better. After all, it was good between us. And I’ll help you find your sisters.”

“But you won’t help rescue them.”

Roan shook his head. “I think when you talk to them you’ll find they are more than happy to be here with their husbands.”

“But if they aren’t happy?” she persisted. “If they want to leave?”

Roan was torn. It was against his principles to break up a marriage, even one created the way Sonja had described, with women stolen from their homes, abused by their captors and sent to one of their marriage meets without any preparation. But he knew that Sonja didn’t share his beliefs. She simply wanted her sisters back regardless of what kinds of lives they had now.

He was certain Sonja would find that her sisters were happily married. Possibly they might even convince her that she had nothing to lose and everything to gain by staying his wife. Finding them might actually work in his favor.

“I can’t help break up a happy marriage, Sonja. But if your sisters need my help, I promise to give it. Will that work for you?”

“You will help them to escape?”

“I will do everything in my power to assist them. I’ve never tried to get someone out of the prison, but I suppose that could be done.” He grinned. “Actually it’s pretty easy if you know how to do it.”

Sonja looked skeptical. “If it’s so easy, why are you still here?”

Roan shook his head. “I’m here to serve my time, just like everyone else. No one tries to escape.”

She stared. “You haven’t tried to escape?”

“It’s complicated.” The answer to that question was too much to deal with for this late at night—in spite of the javi, weariness threatened to overwhelm him. “You’d have to understand a lot more about Gaian society for me to explain. Just know that prisoners here don’t try to escape, and there are reasons why.”

She didn’t look convinced. “But you will help me find my sisters, and if they want to leave…” Her voice trailed off.

“If they really want to leave then I’ll help them do it.”

“And in exchange? What do I have to do?”

“In exchange you will continue as my wife for the next three days. Traditionally, the prison gives a newly married man time off for his honeymoon. It’s to help us get to know each other and make our marriage stronger. So we’ll spend that time doing just that. We’ll eat together, sleep together…”

“Make love?”

He couldn’t help but grin. “Yes, make love.”

Sonja nodded, apparently satisfied. “That’s all you’re asking. Three days. It doesn’t sound like a lot for the help your offering. And there is the marriage fee,” she said thoughtfully. “Thirty-one thousand credits.” She shook her head as if in disbelief.

Was she still obsessing over that? Roan started to tell her not to worry about the money. But then he realized it must seem a fortune to her. In any other economy it probably was.

To him it was a fair price for something as precious as she was to him. But she was clearly feeling guilty about the money so he might as well take advantage of it.

Roan cleared his throat. “With respect to the money, if you stay my wife after the three days, then I’ll consider it a bargain. If you decide to leave me later, then you can pay me back. In fact I’ll take off five thousand for each day you stay, that way you’ll only owe me sixteen thousand in the end.”

“It’s worth five thousand credits a day to you for me to be your wife?” Sonja sounded more than a little skeptical.

“It’s priceless to have you, Sonja. But I’m willing to pay that much to keep you with me. Do we have a bargain?”

She took a long time in deciding, but in the end she nodded and stuck out her hand. “I agree.”

Roan shook her hand. “Then we have a deal.”

Satisfied, Sonja stood. “So how do we begin?”

Roan suppressed a yawn. “The first thing we need to do is go back to bed.”

“To bed?”

He pulled her towards the bedroom. “To bed and to dream. I don’t know about you, but for me, skulking around in the middle of the night is exhausting.”

Chapter Eight

Sonja woke up disoriented, for a moment not certain where she was. The bed and bedroom were only vaguely familiar, the arms around her even less so.

Then she remembered she was in Roan’s bed and his arms, and she grew even more perplexed. She hated cuddling after sex and didn’t like being held while she slept.

But last night when Roan had drawn her into his arms after they’d climbed into bed she hadn’t argued the point. Surprisingly, after expecting to toss and turn all night, she’d gone to sleep that way. Even worse, she’d slept sounder than she had in a long time, somehow feeling secure with him there.

Or maybe it was because she’d been exhausted when they’d finally gotten to bed, worn out by the physical and emotional trials of the day. Whatever the reason was, today she was feeling wonderful and ready to start the hunt for her sisters.

She felt a nibble on the back of her neck. “Are you awake?” Roan said.

She turned towards him and found herself drowning in the green flecks of his eyes. “I guess I must be.”

“Then I must be too.” He slid his hand through the hair she’d left loose at his insistence. He watched the pale strands as they fell through his fingers. “For a moment I wondered if I might have dreamed you up yesterday.”

Sonja forced a smile. “After the trouble I’m causing you? I’m surprised you wouldn’t think of me as a nightmare.”

He actually chuckled. “Oh, you are definitely a dream for me, but never a bad one. And you pose no trouble I can’t handle. Having you here is a miracle.”

“A miracle?” No one had described her that way before. It surprised her anyone ever could. She knew he meant to flatter her, but the strange thing was she believed he meant it. To him she was something miraculous.

It was a pity she couldn’t be what he wanted her to be. Roan wanted a wife. She was most definitely the last woman any man should pick to be his wife.

Roan wanted a woman to stay with him, to stand by him. Most likely he wanted someone to have children with. Sonja had never stayed more than a day or two with any of her lovers. Even the mention of any kind of commitment to another person made her antsy.

How could she even pretend the ability to be this man’s wife when commitment was the basis of everything he wanted?

“You are thinking way too hard right now,” Roan said, apparently judging her thoughts from her face. He pushed her onto her back and leaned over her. “Why don’t you try simply feeling for a moment?”

Breathless, Sonja stared into his green-flecked eyes. “Feeling what?”

“Feeling this.” He lowered his head and kissed her, his lips gentle against her, more teasing than demanding her attention. It worked, distracting her from her thoughts.

“More,” she said when he broke off the kiss.

“My pleasure.” Roan kissed her again, but this time let his mouth travel from hers, down her neck to where her shoulder began. He found that sensitive hollow above her clavicle, and when she moaned, settled there for some in-depth exploration.

Against her thigh his cock was hard and ready, but he didn’t rush things, taking his time to become better acquainted with her body. He kissed his way down to her breasts, spending time with each one, letting her enjoy the feel of his mouth on her nipples. But then he continued, moving down her body until he arrived at the apex of her legs and the cleft where her sex lay.

He leaned over and blew gently against her clit. Sonja cried out at the slight breath of air. “So small,” he whispered, “to be so sensitive.”

She couldn’t help herself. Leaning forward on her elbows Sonja asked, “How do you know how to do this?”

“How do I know how to make love?” Roan’s eyebrows rose. “Are you sure you want to discuss this now?”

She wanted to regain some control over herself. “I’m curious, that’s all.”

Roan shook his head but answered her question. “Gaian men spend a lot of time imagining how it would be with their wives, and we watch films that show people making love.”

Sonja’s couldn’t help but laugh. “You watched pornography to learn how to make love?”

Roan didn’t look the least bit embarrassed. “I believe that it’s only pornography if you get turned on. Not something that applied to me. I suppose non-Gaian men would find them sexy and get physically excited. I just found them educational.”

He leaned in to touch her clit with the tip of his tongue, and a thrill went through her. “Are you complaining?” he asked.

“Not at all,” she said when she caught her breath. “Feel free to demonstrate everything you’ve learned.”

His tongue lashed out again, and Sonja cried out under its gentle assault. Roan took that as permission to continue and used his mouth on her clit and other private places. Sonja threaded her hands through his hair, holding him to her and giving him tacit approval when she couldn’t find the breath to say anything.

Fortunately, Roan didn’t need more guidance than her obvious enjoyment to figure out what she liked.

When she thought she could take no more, he rose over her and again fitted himself to her opening. He stared down at her. “Do you want me?”

“Yes,” Sonja heard herself say. “Please.”

Roan smiled. “My pleasure,” he said, and he drove himself deep inside her, his cock filling her.

“Wonderful,” Sonja cried out.

Roan closed his eyes, and Sonja saw his arms tremble.

“So good,” he whispered. “You feel so right.” And then he began to move, the rhythm familiar to her, same as the night before and just as satisfying.

“You are mine,” he whispered to her. “My wife, now and always.”

“Yours for now,” she said.

Roan opened his eyes, and she thought she saw hurt in them. But he blinked and it was gone.

“Mine now,” he said. And then he sped up, and neither of them could put two words together after that. He moved until they were both at the brink of climax, and then he moved one more time and stilled. Sonja’s hands clutched his shoulders, digging in. She was at the point of near completion, her pleasure point nearly reached but not quite. She moved beneath him, pushing him deeper within her, spurring him onward.

They were at the edge and then over, both of them climaxing together. Sonja cried out and Roan shouted. They collapsed together in fulfillment, arms and legs tangled. Roan opened his eyes and smiled at her.

“That was amazing.”

Sonja blinked at him, struggling to catch her breath. “It was.”