“Yes.” He wondered at the far away dreamy look in her eyes. What memory did she relive? He watched a flush warm her skin when her eyes cut back to his.
“Tell me about the beaches.” He wanted to hear her voice and felt nearly desperate for a safe topic to discuss. One where she’d do most of the talking. After the high-pitched simpers he’d had to listen to from hopeful women, her soft throaty tone was a balm to his ears. The mixed accent and slightly foreign cadence of her voice made him think of faraway places he’d only been mildly curious about before.
“Soft, pale gray sand, deep green waters, fruit trees every other step, flowers so bright and sweet-smelling it is difficult to believe they’re real. And the mint, well, it’s just everywhere.”
Another memory that brought a small smile to her face, followed by the hint of a frown quickly smoothed into a neutral expression.
“What did you do there?” he prompted.
“I enjoyed myself.” Her simple statement, made with small, wry smile made him want to grind his teeth. Must every word be pulled from her?
“What does that mean? What did you do to enjoy yourself?”
“I lounged on the beaches, swam in warm seas, and sailed across the waves. I drank sweet juices, ate all the fresh fruit I could stand and I enjoyed. The Lidarians are very friendly people.”
“Men?”
“Beautiful men,” she agreed, with another cryptic smile, and a stab of vicious jealousy slashed through his gut.
“I see.”
She looked at him with those distinctive eyes. “What do you see?”
“Nothing. None of my business anyway.” Purely to see how she’d react, he steered the transport toward a snow drift. Just enough to tilt the vehicle a little and tip her from her seat into his arms.
“Hey!” The moment the transport settled down again, she pushed away from him.
It hadn’t been long, but long enough for him to wrap his arm around her waist. That oh-so-very-slender, curvy waist he’d seen when she’d changed. Unexpected, the nearly paralyzing heat boiling his blood made it hard for him to breathe. Suddenly he had visions of pulling her into the bunk without the heavy outer clothing. The bunk was a cozy nest with a feather mattress and thick alpaca wool blanket. Often he’d wondered what it would feel like to spend a long, dark night there with The One in his arms.
“You did that on purpose,” she accused him safe on her side of the cab.
He merely grinned at her.
“I thought you were holding yourself pure?” Those disturbing dark brown eyes narrowed as she glared at him. He wanted to see the look in her eyes as he conquered her.
“I am, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like a warm armful every now and again.”
“Just exactly what do you mean?”
The heat of her glare spiked a feeling through him he’d never felt before. He’d had all the normal urges, and had even indulged in self pleasure while dreaming of his woman, but never had he felt the need so fast, so strong, and so absolutely intense.
“It means I enjoy the company of a beautiful woman as much as the next guy. Probably as much as you enjoy the company of a beautiful man.” He returned her stare, until the transport glanced off the side of a snow drift and nearly tipped him into her arms. Too bad he wore his safety harness.
As if reminded, she fastened her harness again and he felt a sense of loss. He’d been hoping to lay the transport over and give her no excuse to crawl off again.
“Will the ride be this tippy once we join the convoy?” Annoyance was transmitted by her glare and snippy tone. Cute. It made him want to smile more.
“No, it will be nice and smooth.” Except for the uphill and downhill portions. Now that could be fun while sleeping.
Judging by her glare she was beginning to question his definition of pure, and her definition of Hell.
Chapter 3
So this wasn’t Hell, eh? Could have fooled her.
Never say never. The words from the old man came back to haunt her again.
Had Coreen planned this? Had she set up this particular conveyance? Probably.
Noreen wiggled in her seat and laid her head against the shoulder strap of the harness holding her in place. At least she wouldn’t be tumbled into Duke Zaren’s arms again. She’d bet her next case of Lidarian mint brandy he’d tipped the transport on purpose. So much for remaining pure until he met The One. And she only had half a case left anyway.
Biting her lip in annoyance, she closed her eyes against the darkening sky. Barely past mid-day, it was already black as night elsewhere and would remain so for the next nineteen hours and fifty-five minutes. Not bad for a planet with twenty hour days. Winter. Why, if she had to come back at all, why did it have to be in the deepest part of winter? Ruthlessly she tamped down on the panic wailing to break away from her tight control.
With her eyes still closed, she thought back to that day, oh so long ago, when her world had tilted, only to land her in her current circumstances. She’d been sliding for ten years, fighting and clawing to avoid the destiny thrust upon her by the old man with the wild, silver eyes.
She’d been at the summer house, enjoying the very short season when the sun provided warmth to the frozen world of Nordia. The small island on the equator, where the house was located, was only suitable to inhabit during the three months of warmth. The ocean around it was never warm enough for swimming. Not for her anyway, although others braved it and teased her for preferring the thermal pool. Nevertheless, she’d enjoyed the gardens with the tall trees, the green a blessed relief from the stark white she lived with the rest of the year.
Her sisters all teased her about her quest for warmth, but that was their way, everyone joining in and no one immune. With names all similar, Noreen often led the teasing of Coreen, Loreen, Doreen, Moreen, Toreen, Boreen, Soreen, Zoreen, and Joreen.
What had her father been thinking? Ten daughters, all named the same except for the first letter and the copious middle names. It was madness. At least he hadn’t named them alphabetically. That would have made them all so much easier to track. Although all their mothers hated the chaos of it, the girls had grown to love it, and all answered to the call of Reen when the dinner bell rang.
But there must have been a method to his madness. None of Bjorn’s lesser subjects, and damn few of the nobility, could remember who was the true crown princess. Indeed, it worked to Noreen’s advantage that Fader had purposely never been clear on that subject at all. At least, not until they’d all started reaching the age of majority. She may not have hung around, but she’d sporadically stayed in touch and remained aware of the current status.
Coreen was the better princess anyway. She’d been the one who’d excelled in political studies, while Noreen had stared out the window and daydreamed of ways to stay warm year round. While Coreen argued political policy with their father, Noreen had buried her nose in every travel brochure or picture book she could wheedle her father into getting for her. Planets with warm seas had drawn her attention like no others. If the ocean water wasn’t at least body temperature, she shunned it completely. By age fourteen, she’d had a list nearly as long as she was tall of all the worlds she wanted to visit. She even had a few picked out as possible permanent residences.
While Coreen strode the halls of Parliament, absorbing the laws of the land, their father had indulged Noreen by letting her decorate her apartments with sun lights and potted trees from exotic worlds. He’d even let her turn the vast thermal pool room into her vision of a tropical paradise, complete with an imported-sand beach and brightly painted murals for all to enjoy. Ancient stone columns had become the trunks of palms and banana trees, each surrounded by bushes of sweet flowers