The Impatient Lord (21 page)

“
You said you felt it. You’re inside me, Riona. I can’t live without you. The ceremony doesn’t matter. I realized we don’t need the formalities to be together. You
are
my wife. I don’t know if we were foolish or in denial, or if the gods simply decided we’d finally earned it, but you are mine and I am yours. My life is no longer my own. All that I am is yours. And all I ask for in return is you.”

She forced him to stop walking and jerked him to her. Lifting up on her toes, she grinned. “
Well, dragon man, if you put it that way…” Riona kissed him hard and didn’t intend to stop.

“
The alien craft has left our airspace. It is safe to go to your seat, my lord,” the pilot’s voice said. He paused. When Mirek didn’t answer, he insisted, “Um, my lord? I can’t land until you’re seated.”

Mirek leaned to press the intercom
button. “Take us around the planet a couple times. I’m busy kissing my wife.”

“
Yes, my lord.” The pilot’s tone held a trace of laughter. “Orbiting the planet now.”

Riona leaned to the intercom and pressed the button. Smiling seductively at her husband, she said, “
Pilot, you’d better make it three times.”

Breeding Festival Grounds, Draig Palace,
planet of Qurilixen

“
No children? Are you sure? Can nothing be done?” Prince Ualan gave his cousin a sad look. The Draig princes and noblemen watched the tents being raised for the upcoming festival. Their wives and children were inside the palace waiting for them. It was believed their eight blessed marriages would bring luck to those who searched this night, and so the princes and noblemen went to honor the prospective grooms with their presence. After the brides landed, they would slip away to join their family.

“
For now,” Mirek answered. He wanted children, but he was willing to trust the gods would bless him if and when it was time. “But my wife is awake and healthy. For that blessing, I would give her the medication a thousand times. If it is not meant to be, we will take in an orphan.” He looked at his adopted brother and grinned. “Welcoming Vlad into the family turned out all right.”

Vlad winked at him. “
The House of Draig needed a little wild blood in it.”

“
And if none of that happens, I will have my nephews and my little cousins.” Mirek smiled. Nothing could dampen his spirits. Riona was his life and he was hers. That would be more than enough blessing.

“
I, for one, am just glad I do not have to don the loincloth again,” Bron said. “I would not have survived another failed attempt.”

“
But waiting for your bride was worth it,” Prince Zoran stated. He stood with his arms crossed, looking at the valley as if he was a general overseeing his army encampment.

“
Yes,” Bron agreed. “More than I can express with words.”

“
I, for one, am very pleased I don’t have to read any more Lithorian documents,” Prince Olek said. The Royal Ambassador had thanked Mirek profusely when he’d found out the happy news.

“
Oh?” Prince Yusef inquired. “Please don’t tell me we’re no longer getting chocolate. My firebird won’t be happy.”

“
Do not worry. Princess Olena will be well stocked. Lady Riona renegotiated the deal. We get all the chocolate we want, whenever we want,” Olek said. “All we have to do is place the order.”

“
Well done, Lady Riona,” Ualan stated, nodding happily. “This will please the women greatly.”

Mirek watched as a group of
loinclothed men walked through the grounds. He could see their excitement in their steps. Soon that energy would be pulsing through the air as dusk came to the planet. The small thrill of anticipation filled him as he thought of what was to come. Though not necessary for their marriage, his wife had insisted he bring the loincloth with him. Apparently, she had her own night in a tent planned and for them there would be no restriction on what could happen.

“
I almost feel sorry for them,” Mirek stated, nodding at the grooms. If they found brides, they would not be able to claim them completely until the ceremony was finished. “If they’re blessed, they’re in for a very torturous night.”

“
After the problems with the last shipment, we almost cancelled our business with Galaxy Brides, but then we’d deny all these men the chance at the happiness we have found. I may not like how they do business, but who are we to question how the gods deliver our fates?” Ualan motioned the others to follow him down into the valley. “Come, let us find the rum and make a toast to our hearts. Without our wives, our lives would not be whole.”

* * *

“I can’t explain it,” Riona told the women. They sat in Princess Nadja’s palace home surrounded by sleeping babies and trays of decadent chocolate. Her high-backed chair practically swallowed her in comfort. “Mirek and I have a special bond.”

Nadja and Olek had a relaxing home filled with life
—from the abundance of plants, to the center water fountain in the front hall, to the walls of giant fish tanks.

“
What do you mean special?” Princess Morrigan asked. She cradled her son in her lap. The baby already showed signs of being strong-willed. He had his mother’s dark hair and his father’s brown eyes. Morrigan lightly stroked his hair, causing the thin strands to stand up in a strip of hair down the center of his head.

“
We feel each other,” Riona said. “I don’t know how it happened, but I can sometimes feel him so much that his mind becomes clear to me.”

“
And he calls you from across the castle?” Nadja asked. Her son lay in a bassinet. The boy was a tiny little thing, but with the way he ate he’d soon catch up to the others.

Riona nodded. “
Yes.”

“
All the Draig couples have that,” Olena said, bouncing her red-headed son to keep him from fussing too loud. Riona couldn’t help but smile when she thought of the woman who’d drunk whiskey with her on the Galaxy Brides ship and spoke of marriage like it was something to mock. Oh, how time had changed that woman’s tune. Olena was completely smitten with her Prince Yusef.

“
They do?” Riona asked in surprise. She looked at Aeron, who nodded in confirmation. Baby Lantos snuggled next to Clara’s and Kendall’s newborn sons on a blanket. The three boys were constantly in each other’s company when they were at the fortress home.

“
Bron uses it to make food requests,” Aeron drawled. “I finally managed to block him, after he kept making me visualize my hands stirring a giant pot of stew.”

“
That’s what you get for trying to cook,” Kendall said. “Alek never visualizes me using a food simulator.”

The women laughed.

“Ask the queen. She will tell you all about it. I’m pretty sure she gave all of us
the lecture
.” Pia made a face even though her tone was ominous. “At least she did to us princesses.”

In the room full of baby
boys, there was only one girl—Zoran and Pia’s daughter. It was kind of perfect that a girl was born to the largest, most fierce of all the princes. Pia confessed that she’d already called off three of her husband’s soldiers who had been ordered to act as the baby’s bodyguard. Though Riona could see why Zoran would worry as a father. Already the baby showed a strong favor to her mother’s stellar looks. But in some ways Riona felt bad for the girl child. She would be raised around boys and she was already set to be married to a Var prince. It was part of the peace agreement with the cat shifters.

“
No,” Aeron said, “I’m pretty sure I got it from the queen too, when we came here to warn them about the Tyoe.”

“
Ah, I missed out on that,” Clara said. “What did she say?”

“
That, insert husband’s name, had put every chance at happiness in, insert wife’s name,” Morrigan stated regally, mimicking the queen’s voice.

“
Oh, and he gave his life to you,” Pia added. She looked at Olena.

“
Um,” Olena bit her lip thoughtfully. “Fighting always makes warriors happy, for it’s something they know how to do?”

Laughter again rang throughout the home. Pia and Morrigan grabbed their sides and Nadja struggled to breathe.

“I’m pretty sure that’s the wrong lecture,” Pia stated.

“
Huh.” Olena shrugged. “Honestly, I kind of daydreamed through some of her lecturing. Oh, I believe it was something about how married men can’t have sex with other women because of the whole crystal breaking and…I think around that time they brought in a tray of food and I just stopped listening.”

“
She said they share their life with you,” Nadja inserted softly. “I think it’s terribly romantic.”

“
Yes, well done, ladies,” Morrigan nodded regally before continuing on with her impersonation, “By giving you his life, he shortened his and extended yours so your fates could remain together. If you were to choose to leave him, he would be alone for the rest of his days.”

Though they were joking
around, Riona found herself listening intently.

“
I do not sound like that,” Queen Mede scolded from the doorway.

Morrigan gasped, looking properly horrified before laughing. “
I was trying to give your lecture the right tone.”

“
I don’t lecture,” the queen stated. She began making the rounds to each child, kissing their heads. “But if I did lecture, you ladies deserved it and much more. We have never had a more stubborn batch of brides.”

Clara, Kendall, Aeron and Riona all laughed at the princesses.

“I was talking about you ladies as well,” Mede said. It was the princesses’ turn to laugh.

“
So what does this life force exchange have to do with my feeling Mirek?” Riona could feel her husband now, even though he was out of the room.

“
Oh, well you didn’t tell her the best part,” the queen said, kissing another head. “When you are bonded completely, you will be able to hear his thoughts in your head. You’ll sense his troubles. You’ll hear him call to you from across the palace. You’ll know every moment he wants you, when he’s sick, when he’s hiding something from you in an effort to protect you.”

“
And he’ll be able to place an order for dinner,” Aeron added.

“
What’s this about dinner?” Bron asked, leading the husbands into the room. “I’m suddenly very hungry for stew.”

Riona smiled and instantly stood to greet Mirek. She w
ent to him and slid into his arms to kiss him.

“
Not stew,” Alek said. “Great-grandfather’s Qurilixian rum. The ladies can finally drink it and this seems like the perfect celebration to break open the old bottle.”

“
Save me a glass. I have to attend the ceremony,” the queen said as she left.

“
I missed you,” Riona whispered to Mirek.

“
Not I,” he answered. “For I carry you inside me always.”

Riona hit his arm.
“You’re lucky that’s a sweet answer.”

She turned to witness the happy couples and their children.

“I had to tease Sven about his loincloth,” Vlad was saying to Clara. “You should have seen it. Arianwen, uh, decorated it for him.”

“
Ri, I know you’re up for a drink,” Alek said. “If this is as strong as I think it is, it’s possible we’ll be causing some serious mischief down at the festival later. Kendall and Mirek might have to bail us out of trouble.”

Riona laughed. “
Sorry, brother, none for me.”

“
Ah.” Alek pretended to be hurt. “You have to try it. We’ve waited a long time to open this bottle.”

“
She has plans tonight,” Mirek stated, holding her closer.

“
Actually, now that we’re all here, I wanted to say something,” Riona announced. When their eyes turned to her, she had a moment of hesitation at the direct attention. Mirek touched her arm and the hesitation went away. “After what Aeron and I went through as children, I never thought I’d want to call a place home. I’m glad I was wrong. This planet has given me a family. I love you all.”

“
Aw.” Nadja began to tear up.

The group returned her sentiment, the wom
en more openly than their warrior husbands, who offered their blessings and reaffirmed her standing as their kin.

“
And—” Riona turned to Mirek as the talking died down once more, “—I’m very happy to announce that our family will soon be complete.” She took her husband’s hand and placed it on her stomach. Softly, she said, “Aeron and I checked the medical booth earlier to confirm my suspicions.”

Mirek
’s eyes rounded. With a hearty laugh, he lifted her up off the ground and spun her around the room. Congratulations exploded around them, so loud it woke the babies who began to cry. Mirek placed his wife on the floor. As he moved in to kiss her, he whispered, “You have given me so much, wife. How can I ever begin to repay you?”

She pulled back and let a mischievous smile curl her lip. “
You did remember to pack that loincloth, right?” He nodded. “Good. Now grab a tray of the chocolate and take me to our tent. I want to celebrate properly.”

Mirek nearly tripped over himself to obey
and soon he’d swept his wife in his arms, dumped chocolate on her lap, and was running out of the palace amidst the amazed laughter of their family.

The End