His Highness the Duke Read online

  He took the long route back to his home, going toward the entrance of the castle before turning to go back down the hall to his home. The slow walk gave him time to think, but it did little to settle his mind. He started listening for Aeron before he reached the entryway. All was quiet inside. As he went in, he focused his senses until he detected the sound of her steady breathing in their bedchambers. The sound was faint, but he knew she slept. Not wanting to wake her up and risk feeling the doubt and worry still undoubtedly radiating from within her, he went to the simulator to materialize food. He never used the thing for personal meals, but found he did not have the energy to prepare a meal for himself. The bland vegetables and flavorless meat tasted more like a punishment than a meal. Next came a bath and then several electronic files that needed his attention.

  As the hours crept toward dawn, he knew he could avoid it no longer. Bron made his way upstairs to the dark bedroom. He did not let his eyes shift as he moved through the darkness. If he saw Aeron, he would have to touch her and her breathing was so peaceful and steady. Already her smell surrounded him, so sweet and feminine.

  Bron crawled into bed and closed his eyes. Every nerve seemed to reach for her, but he kept his arms back. For now, he would be content to simply lie in her presence and listen to the sound of her sleep.

  13

  Five days passed in a blur of castle tours by one of the servants, visits to see Riona, contemplative looks from Bron, stoic looks from Mirek, and a flurry of workers and tailors. If she had been a suspicious woman, she would have thought Bron was avoiding her. In truth, there was no way to be sure. Yes, she needed dresses so the tailors were necessary. She did need to know how to get around the castle, and wanted to visit her sister even if Riona couldn’t answer back.

  Workers built Riona’s isolation chamber, laboring endlessly until it was completed. Her sister was still in stasis. The medical reports were quite thorough, some even repetitive. That fact surprised Aeron. Mirek had every available physician in the Draig territory look at her sister. It would seem he really did care about her. Married to a Draig of her own, she was slowly coming to understand how these men worked. Whatever the reason, breaking the crystal really did seem to cement their feelings toward their wives. And, just perhaps, it also solidified the wives’ feelings for their husbands—it just took a little longer.

  Aeron watched Bron through the thick plastic door as he waited inside the isolation room with his brother. The workers left, filtering out of the home. She could hear them talking just beyond her sight, waiting in case they were needed. Mirek pushed a command on the wall panel to start the decontamination of the room.

  The small room was built as some sort of laboratory. Hand-held medics, injector refills and other, more primitive, medicines lined the transparent cabinet on the wall. The only furniture was the medical bed next to the stasis pod. When the room finished cycling, they moved to open the pod. Aeron bit her lip, watching as they lifted her sister out of the plastic box and onto the medical bed.

  The room didn’t look like anything else she’d seen on the planet. It was too technically advanced. The fact that such drastic measures were needed just to maintain her sister’s current state terrified Aeron. They lived in an age where medical booths could cure just about anything. If a booth couldn’t help Riona, then…

  Aeron didn’t want to think about it. She couldn’t lose her sister. Bron helped adjust Riona’s limbs before moving toward the door. It opened and he quickly stepped out, leaving Mirek and Riona behind. The sickeningly sweet smell of decontamination followed him.

  “What’s he doing?” Aeron asked, pushing to see a clearer picture of Mirek before the door closed.

  “The blisters cover her body. He needs to remove her clothing so they do not hamper her healing and reconnect her nutrient tube to the medical bed. Once she’s stabilized, the tube can be removed. The doctors believe this is her best chance at recovery. The medical bed will monitor her for pain, and apply the necessary medications. The second she wakes up, Mirek’s alarm will go off and he will inform us. Until that time, there is nothing more we can do.”

  Aeron placed her hand on his chest. It was one of the first moments of contact they’d had in the last several days. He had been keeping his distance, coming to the rooms late and leaving early. She assumed he had duties to attend to, but found she didn’t like his schedule—even if he did send a servant to take her around the castle and entertain her.

  “Thank you for all you have done,” she said softly.

  “Come, let’s leave him to tend his wife.” Bron took Aeron by the arm. “You look tired. Have you been sleeping?”

  Before she could answer, they reached the workers. Bron said something to them in the Draig language. They immediately dispersed toward the front entryway.

  “I really need to learn the language,” she muttered.

  “I will teach you, though I am told with your delicate vocal chords, it can be difficult for non-shifters to form the sounds.” He lightly touched her throat and she shivered.

  “Perhaps, but it would be nice to understand the sounds even if I can’t form them. And to answer your question, no, I haven’t been sleeping well. I keep trying to wait up for you. Is your schedule always so busy? Or are you avoiding me?” She meant it as a joke, but as she said the words, she couldn’t help but feel the true fear in them.

  “I only wanted to give you space. You appeared upset about your sister and…” He stopped himself. She wondered what he was going to say.

  Closing her eyes, she felt the answer instead. “You felt my worry and mistook it for questioning your family’s honor.”

  He hesitated before finally nodding in agreement.

  “And that insulted you.”

  Again, he hesitated and then nodded.

  “Bron, I wish you would understand that I don’t mean my worry to be insulting. It is not that I don’t trust you to do the right thing, it’s just that I am worried. I worry about everything—the Tyoe, my sister, you, us. It’s just my way. I worry about things that I care about. I even sometimes worry about things I shouldn’t care about. A Federation doctor once told me it was because of what happened. I couldn’t control that one thing so now I worry when I can’t control even the littlest of things. I’m also slow to accept change. The Federation didn’t care because it made me good at my job. I looked at all the little details. It’s just my way. I’m not sure I can change it.”

  “And you care about me?” A small smile lifted on the side of his face.

  “How can you even ask me that?” She hit his arm lightly.

  “So you are saying, all this worry I feel in you every time I come near you this last week is because you care? Not because you doubt me and my family’s honor?”

  “She’s my sister, Bron. Of course I’m worried about her. She’s the last of my people. I love her. To see her like that, to be helpless to do anything, of course I worry for her.” When he would speak, she stopped walking and added, “I know you will do all that you can for her and I appreciate that. I see the honor in you and in your brother. I don’t doubt that. This ability to feel inside each other is new, for both of us. I think it will take time to decipher what it is we are sensing.”

  “It will come in time,” he assured her. “As will other things.”

  “You mean dealing with the Tyoe?”

  “There is no immediate threat, but we will be ready for it. One of our pilots will arrive tomorrow. Mirek will join the launch and check out things from space. He will scan the planet and ensure we are safe. Then he will send out transmission inquiries to friends. We will learn everything there is to discover about the Tyoe. If there is to be a battle in our future, we will be ready. Our people owe much to their new duchess. Perhaps someday they will know fully what it is you have done for them.”

  “Just keep them safe,” she answered. “I don’t care if they know. As far as I’m concerned, so long as we keep them safe it is enough.”

  Bron
smiled at her. “Spoken like a true Draig.”

  “I can tell you one thing.” Aeron’s face turned red as she looked down.

  “What is it?”

  “I am pretty sure what you are feeling now is desire.” She glanced up at him.

  “Are you sure? I thought that was what you were feeling.” He grinned, the look endearingly wicked and completely self-confident.

  “I’m pretty sure that is you,” she countered, running her hands up his chest.

  “Hmm.” He reached down, sweeping his arm under her legs. “Perhaps we should go home and sort out these feelings. I promise to get to the bottom of them if it takes all night.”

  “But…” She glanced around the hall. “Isn’t it morning? I thought I finally had a handle on the time.”

  “Oh, it is morning. I just plan on this chore taking all night.”

  Aeron laughed as he walked faster, carrying her toward their home.

  Bron traced a line down his wife’s arm, watching as tiny little bumps formed in his finger’s wake. He found himself mesmerized by the reaction. In fact, he was mesmerized by everything about her. He wondered if she knew how much control she had over him. One word, one thought, and he would be hers to command.

  Aeron opened her eyes and gave him a sleepy smile before closing them once more and snuggling into his naked chest. The room was dark and he wondered if she could see his face. He doubted it.

  Bron snaked his hand over her waist and held her close. Her soft skin molded easily to the will of his fingers. A ghost of a smile formed on her mouth at his touch.

  “Ask,” she murmured, suppressing a tiny yawn.

  “Ask?” He ran his hand down to cup her ass before pulling at the back of her thigh. Her leg slid over his. He pressed his erection forward.

  Aeron chuckled. “Not that. Ask me whatever it is you’ve been thinking about.”

  “But…” He rocked his hips forward.

  “Fine, the answer to that question is yes, after you ask me the other question.” She didn’t shy away from his touch.

  “You are an expert at communications.” He rubbed his hand over her butt and back of her thigh. By all the stars, she was supple.

  “That is a statement.” She poked his chest.

  “Leading to a question.” He grinned, able to smell himself on her skin. It was highly erotic, like she was marked as his. “We need to set up communications between our home, the cabin, the mines, the village, and the palace. The units we have in place are old and some need repairs. I had hoped that with your knowledge you might like to oversee the project. I understand if you would rather not because it is a big undertaking. However, you do not seem the type to stay at home cooking and having babies—though I would be lying if I didn’t say I had hopes of some of that, too. Would this be something you could help me on?”

  Aeron slowly let go of her captured breath and nodded. “Yes. I would love to.” She began to sit up from the bed, using his chest for leverage. “I’ll need to see some maps and calculate distance. I’ll also need to see the schematics for the current systems, know my budget, and—”

  “Not at this moment, my lady,” Bron said, pulling her back into his arms. “I believe you promised me something first.”

  Aeron laughed. “Yes.”

  “Yes.” He nodded before kissing her throat. “Yes.”

  “Mmm,” she sighed softly. Her hands found their way into his hair as she pulled him closer. His lips trailed over her shoulder, wherever they could reach. “Yes.”

  He made love to her slowly, tenderly, taking time to explore every inch of her. Already he had her body memorized, but each touch felt like the first. By the time he rolled on top of her, her legs were open and her sex wet and inviting. He kissed her as he entered her. Her hands roamed his body, tracing his muscles and scratching lightly at his flesh. Oh, but it was sweet, being inside his wife. Bron was sure he’d never felt anything so perfect.

  In these moments, the world faded away and nothing else mattered. He was wrapped in her feelings for him, so open and pure. She didn’t try to hide and neither did he. She could have all of him and he wouldn’t stop her.

  When they climaxed, it was in perfect, unspoken unison. He withdrew his lips from hers, letting her inhale deep breaths. Her heart beat so loud he could hear it. Her hands dropped along his arms as she rested her elbows on the bed.

  Bron grinned. Pleasure erupted throughout him. “I love you, too, wife.”

  “But,” she began in protest. “Too? You really should wait for me to say things out loud before you read my thoughts for me.” Then, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she returned his smile. “I love you, too, husband.”

  14

  Epilogue

  Bron smiled to himself as he reached his feelings out to his wife. Their connection had grown stronger over the last several weeks. He could detect her almost anywhere in the castle. Sensing a wave of sadness and worry inside Aeron, he knew she was with her sister. Riona was still in stasis. There had been no change to her condition. All the doctors could tell them was to wait. They hoped she would simply wake up one day on her own. Until then, Mirek guarded and watched over her like a sacred treasure.

  Sighing, he closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of his chair. Mirek’s expedition into space had been most telling. There were signatures of another spacecraft in their area, both in the sky and in the mountains, but no ship to connect it to. Whoever had kidnapped him had left their airspace. It would seem his wife was right. The Tyoe planned something. Perhaps his capture had been an experiment to see how they would react. Or perhaps the Tyoe had simply wanted to get rid of the highest ranking nobleman dealing with the mines. If that was the case, none of his family was safe. Precautions were already being taken.

  At least his marriage was settled. In that he was grateful. Aeron still worried over her lifespan and his, though she did try to hide that fear from him. Bron was not convinced there was something to be worried about, but he had the doctors looking into it nonetheless. He would do whatever it took to protect his wife and put her at ease. In the meantime, she kept herself busy setting up the communication networks. Her knowledge far surpassed his in that area, and he was glad not to have to deal with encoding problems and distance modules.

  As for Alek, Vladan and the four princes, those were entirely different stories that would take too long to decipher and tell. Bron did not have that kind of time or energy. Not today. Not when his wife had softly whispered to him in the early morning hours that she was pregnant.

  Bron grinned. He was to be a father. Now, if only his brothers and cousins could follow his example and get their marriages into order, life would be perfect.

  The End

  * * *

  The Series Continues with

  The Stubborn Lord

  CLICK HERE to get the book!

  The Stubborn Lord

  by Michelle M. Pillow

  The Series Continues…

  The Stubborn Lord

  Dragon Lords Book 6

  Bestselling Shape-shifter Romance

  * * *

  Repossessed…

  Kendall Haven’s life turns upside down when she’s kidnapped off her fueling dock home by thugs claiming to have the right. Her father, the gambler, used her to cover his losses at the Larceny Casino Ship. Drugged and treated like cargo, she’s sold to the highest bidder—Galaxy Brides Corporation.

  Landing on a primitive planet on the far edge of the universe, she has no intention of fulfilling her father’s contract—even if that contract includes marriage to a very handsome, very sexy, very intense barbarian of a man. He might be everything a woman fantasizes about, but he wants a little more than she can give.

  * * *

  Possession…

  Lord Alek, Younger Duke of Draig, has not been lucky in finding his life mate. Resigned to a lonely life, he attends the bridal ceremony out of familial duty. Then the impossible happens—Kendall. Nothing goes according to
tradition, but he can’t let that dissuade him. She is his only chance at happiness, and no matter how she protests, he’s not going to let her get away.

  The Stubborn Lord

  CLICK HERE to get the book!

  The Stubborn Lord Excerpt

  He reached for his neck, jerking the crystal that hung there. The leather strap broke. Fingering the stone, he traced over the familiar surface before balling it into his fist. He thought about leaving it on the forest floor, as if his failure would be easier to bear without the constant reminder hanging about his neck. As he debated the decision his fist became warm, then hot. Loosening his grip, he saw the faint glow of light radiating from between his fingers.

  The crystal glowed.

  Alek couldn’t believe what he was seeing so he merely stared at it. He was in the forest. Alone.

  Alone?

  He held his breath and let the hard, dark brown flesh of the dragon work its way from his thighs up his body. A ridge grew from his forehead to create a protective shield over his nose and brow. Fangs extended in his mouth and talons grew from his nail beds. In his dragon form, he moved with greater agility and his senses were enhanced.

  Was he alone? Was this the final word of the gods?

  The crystal’s light grew. The sign was unmistakable. His bride had to be near. Even as he thought it, he began to feel her inside him. The pull of her drew him before he picked up the sound of her breathing in the forest. Footfalls hit in a steady rhythm for several paces only to grow softer and slower. The beast inside him surged into action. He tracked her as easily as prey.