“So, you’re happy your brother has a mate, but you disapprove of him following the new custom? One woman with three mates.”
She shrugged. “I mean no offense, Bella. While you are only the third bride from Earth, our new queen is from your world. She is very beautiful, with dark red hair and a very feminine form. Many of the warriors have had their heads turned by her beauty, and now desire a bride from Earth.”
Ahhh. Realization was dawning. “And the warrior you desire?”
Her fair skin flushed instantly and she turned away to stare out at the icy tundra still visible along the far wall. “I have no desire other than to serve.”
Liar. But I wasn’t a bitch, so I let her have her secrets. Knowing each other for five minutes wasn’t long enough for her to bare her soul. Looked like me and the sister-in-law weren’t going to be besties anytime soon. I could live with that. Civil was good enough for now. “Okay. Well, I have a desire.”
She turned back to face me, a question in her eyes.
“I want some clothes. Underwear. Something I can wear in public where my mates won’t rip other warriors’ heads off. My nipples are poking out, for god’s sake. And then I want to go to Liam’s hearing. I’m not sitting in this room like a pet while they decide his fate.”
Her next words surprised me. So did the determination in her eyes. “Agreed.”
Wow. That had been a lot easier than I’d thought it would be. She walked to the far wall and opened a drawer I hadn’t seen and pulled out a cream-colored set of clothing. Why hadn’t Evon just grabbed those for me instead of the dang nightgown dress? That was right, he liked to know I was bare. The fact I was turned on by the idea only empowered me to grab the other clothing. If I was going out in public, I didn’t want to risk the chance of wanting to climb him—or my other mates—like a wild monkey. “This is standard issue for civilians. Put it on.”
She handed me the pile. It was soft, like cashmere, and lined with the finest fur. I imagined it would be warm and extremely comfortable. But I was covered in sex and sweat and interstellar transport dust.
“Is there a bathtub around here? Or a shower?”
She pointed to a door in the far wall as she walked to the tray of food, grabbed a piece of the fruit and nibbled. She waved her hand. “Be quick, Bella of Earth. I don’t want to miss anything. And Evon might need me.”
I grabbed the new clothes and dashed to the bathroom, relieved to find a fairly self-explanatory setup. I’d feel like an idiot if I had to ask Thalia for help in working a bathtub. As the hot water washed away the last few hours, I had to wonder what kind of hell the beautiful Thalia had endured, why she was so jaded about me and my warriors, and which warrior here had broken her heart.
Chapter Seven
Rager
When Evon and I arrived at the civil services center for the judicial hearing, I had expected the usual panel of five leaders to preside. What I hadn’t expected was Evon’s father to be among the five, or his brother to be seated in the audience. Evon obviously hadn’t anticipated them either, for he stopped just inside the doorway and I bumped into his back. Then I saw the direction of his gaze and I stifled a curse.
While Evon was my closest of friends—along with Liam—he was ruled by rules, codes of conduct, honor. He was unbending. Evon’s family had served the planet for centuries, believed that nothing was more important than serving with honor. Always had. He was uptight, laser-focused and that made him a good leader. Exceptional, in fact, and that trait had brought all of us back from the front lines alive. It also made him a very dominant lover, which Bella quickly discovered.
But years of companionship, of trust between the three of us, had softened some of Evon’s very hard edges. It was possible I may have even seen a smile crack his lips when he was looking at Bella earlier. She was good for all of us, but especially him. If anyone could calm him, offer him a semblance of peace, it would be her.
But Evon’s father, Commander Tyrell? He was so damned uptight he shit Viken ore. His son—his other son, Dravon—was just as bad. He’d followed in his father’s footsteps in civil command and had stayed solely on Viken. Unlike Evon, who went into the Coalition Fleet and became one of the fighters serving on a Prillon battleship. We’d fought the fucking Hive while his father and brother had remained much closer to home. Evon and his sister, Thalia, had been off saving the universe while his bad-tempered father and brother remained to protect the home front.
They were all noble, their family history only proved Evon’s family was loyal to the core. They believed in Viken, served Viken, even commanded large sections of it. Having Evon serving as a high-ranking officer in the IQC only added to the Tyrell family’s influence on the planet.
Having Evon’s father, Commander Tyrell, seated on the panel meant Liam was fucked. There was no gray area for that man, for that family. I had no idea what they would accuse Liam of doing, but if there was a
shred of doubt, there would be no mercy in the commander’s decision. I clenched and unclenched my fists, my mind racing with possibilities.
The penalty for treason was death.
And there was no way they were taking Liam without a fight. He was innocent. I knew it for a fact, would stake my life on it.
I watched as Evon nodded to his father and brother in turn before taking a seat amongst the ten or so before the panel. A few members of the IQC community were present, perhaps because they were waiting for someone else to appear once Liam’s hearing was over.
Liam entered, two guards flanking him. Thankfully, they’d given him some damn clothes. Why they took him away stark naked, I had no idea. They positioned him to the side of the room, remaining standing as the charges were read. He wore the simple cream-colored clothing of a civilian. I had rarely seen him in anything but his brown uniform. The light color, the lack of a red armband, was strange to my eyes.
Liam stood tall, his shoulders squared and his eyes blazed with defiance. There was no mistaking the warrior’s stance, despite the clothing they’d forced him to wear as a punishment. What kind of game were they playing? Was he not still a member of the Royal Guard?
The female Viken on the far left of the panel stood. She wore a brown uniform as a representative from Sector 1. “Liam Chyron of Sector 1,” she began. She lifted her dark eyes from the tablet in her hand, looked at my friend with serious intent. “The charges that have brought you before this panel are: Conspiracy, smuggling of illegal goods, stealing royal property, stealing Coalition property, illegal weapons transport, unauthorized use of mobile transport pads, treason against the crowned kings of Viken, and murder.”
She read the charges like they were nothing more than a shopping list, but when she lifted her gaze to his, her look alone was enough to strike a lesser man down. “These are very serious charges, sir. How would you address the charges against you?”
While I didn’t hear the door slide open behind me, I knew Bella had entered the room. I sensed her. A moment later her sweet scent reached me and Evon stiffened next to me. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and my cock lengthened and hardened beneath my uniform pants. I stood, then turned. Evon followed. Someone behind us cleared their throat.