Secured Mail (13 page)

Thea drew in a shaky breath. “Oh great. Did he go into all the gory details and how did the queen feel about that?”

Harlan smiled. “You are more polite than your mate. Sven threatened to beat me to a pulp when I asked him.”

“He didn’t tell you anything?”

Harlan got off the treadmill, his skin gleaming with sweat. “He told me to mind my own business, much as you have done.”

Thea held his gaze. “I’m not his mate.”

“He seems to think you are.”

“One night does not a relationship or a mating make.”

“Maybe that is true on Earth. But one night is enough for a male from my planet to make up his mind.”

70

Secured Mail

Thea crossed her arms over her chest. “From what I’ve heard, any male who manages to find a female on your planet is bound to fall instantly in love with her.”

“That is not true.”

“Are you sure? Females are so rare, any man who catches one would probably be prepared to do or say anything to keep her.”

Harlan smiled. “Valhallan males are not stupid. A woman who is unhappy does not make a good mate or a life partner. Why would any man want that?”

“So you all sit around waiting for that perfect person?”

“In an ideal world, yes of course. There are males on our planet who are prepared to risk anything to keep a female, but they will be in a minority now that the fertility problems have been resolved.”

Thea grabbed her towel. “So it’s all good then. Sven can go home and find himself someone new. If the queen’s okay with that, of course.”

“The queen wishes her servers to be happy.”

Thea turned abruptly away from Harlan and closed her eyes. There was that word again, happy. The Valhallans were so full of it. She swung back around and glared at Harlan.

“The queen gets to have her cake and eat it.”

Harlan looked puzzled. “And what is wrong with eating cake?”

“I mean, she wins either way. She has the king and all of you guys eating out of her hand, giving her sex whenever she wants it…” Thea’s voice trailed away as she imagined the queen writhing between all those strong sweaty male bodies.

“The queen is an amazing woman.”

“I bet she is. I don’t know how she manages you all.”

Harlan bent to pick up his clothes. “Ms. Cooper, are you jealous?”

“Of a woman who can satisfy four men? Of course not.”

Harlan came toward her, his expression amused. He used his white T-shirt to rub at the sweat on his muscled chest. “You do not understand our ways. Perhaps you should ask Sven or the queen to explain matters to you more clearly.”

Thea clutched at her towel as he towered over her. He was so close that she could see his pupils had shards of silver buried in the gray.

“I understand everything perfectly, thank you.”

“Nay, you don’t.” Harlan touched her cheek, his fingers soft. “Talk to Sven again.”

Thea stepped back. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“It was merely a suggestion.” Harlan bowed and walked back toward the door.

“Sven is a proud stubborn man and I fear that unless you approach him, he will simply turn his back on his chance of happiness.”

Thea shook her head. “Don’t try to make me feel bad. He’s the one who’s fooling around with two women, not me.”

71

Kate Pearce

“Sven is no fool.”

“No, I suppose you’re right.” Thea walked across to the locker room door, pausing before she opened it. “He’s probably worked out that he’s been found out by now. Will the queen dump him as well?”

“Sven has made vows to the queen.”

“She’s
married
to him?”

Harlan laughed out loud. “Nay, all her servers made sacred vows to the king to serve the queen.”

“The king sure is relaxed about this.” Thea attempted a sneer. “And he looks like such an Alpha male. I wouldn’t have thought sharing was his thing.”

“Exactly.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“The king doesn’t share.”

Briefly Thea closed her eyes. “Harlan, if you have something to say, just spit it out.”

“I don’t spit.”

“Tell me!”

“Ms. Cooper, it is not my place to interfere between you and your mate. Ask Sven.”

With a last glare, Thea pushed the door into the locker room and went through. Just what she needed. Another man with a body to die for and a strange take on the realities of life. Were all Valhallan males like this? Determined to speak in riddles? She headed for the shower hoping the water would clear her head and maybe hide the tears she was still aching to shed.

She almost went into reverse when she emerged from the locker room and found Matt leaning up against the opposite wall. He fell into step beside her.

“I know this isn’t a good time, but I need to talk to you.”

Thea glanced at him. He wasn’t smiling and his tone was all business.

“I was about to go home, can’t it wait until the morning?”

“No.”

Matt grabbed her arm and maneuvered her into a vacant office. It smelled of burned toast and old coffee. He sat on the edge of the desk and stared at her.

“What’s the worst piece of news I could give you right now?”

“Um, Mick Jarvis has got his hands on a sex tape of me and Sven?”

Matt paused and raised his eyebrows. “He was that good?”

“Shut up.”

“How about this, then. The Valhallans have requested that you accompany the initial return party back to their planet.”

72

Secured Mail

“No way am I doing that.” Thea dropped her bag to the floor. “Don’t they know what happened?”

“They do, but the queen insists she wants a female bodyguard to accompany her.”

“You told them I wouldn’t do it, right?”

“I tried but…”

“It doesn’t have to be me, does it?”

Matt shrugged. “We’d like it to be you.”

Thea kicked the door shut with the heel of her shoe. “When you say, ‘we’ are you speaking for your multiple personalities or for the government?”

“The government. It would take too long to bring another female bodyguard up to speed before the Valhallans leave, and you have developed a good relationship with the queen and the rest of them.”

Thea leaned up against the door. “Matt, I don’t want this. I really don’t want to be trapped with Sven Magnusson for five minutes, let alone on a long space journey to the edge of our galaxy.”

“We need to play nice with them. We still need their land for future colonization.”

“So you’re prepared to sacrifice what I want for the good of the government?” His implacable expression didn’t change. “I bet you didn’t even stand up for me. I thought you were my friend.”

Matt got up from the table. “I am your friend but I want to succeed in my career as well. Can’t you understand that?”

Thea picked up her bag. “There’s a hell of a lot I’m not understanding at the moment but you putting your career ahead of our friendship? That sounds way too familiar.”

“I’m not like Mark, Thea.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “No, you’re not. I always knew he might leave me, but I figured we were friends to the end.”

“Shit, Thea…”

She shouldered her gym bag and gave him a smile.

“No worries. I’ll think over what you’ve just told me tonight and decide whether it’s worth resigning over.”

Mat stared down at his hands. “The government won’t accept your resignation, you know that.”

“I’ll still think about it. This isn’t the only planet in the solar system.”

“You can’t always run away from stuff.”

“I’m not running.”

Matt took a hasty step toward her. “Yeah, you are. You did it over Mark and hey, you’re doing it again over Sven. Much easier to blame me and the government for your mess ups than take responsibility and deal with them yourself.”

73

Kate Pearce

A hot shiver of rage licked at Thea’s stomach. “I am sick to death of everyone telling me how to run my life!”

“How about you stand up for yourself and fight for what you want then?”

She glared at him. “You don’t know what I want.”

“Neither do you.”

“I want to be left alone.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right, because if you’re alone you don’t have to risk anything, do you? And if you don’t think you’re worth sticking around for, how the hell is any guy supposed to believe it?”

“Matt…”

Thea flung open the door and marched away as fast as she could. The exit door loomed in front of her and she just managed to fumble her way out before the tears returned. Okay, her definition of the worst day ever was now today. She wasn’t convinced that a gallon of her favorite ice cream would even make a dent in how awful she felt.

She climbed into her vehicle and turned the music up loud. How dare Matt turn everything around and make her the bad guy? She was the one who’d been hurt and betrayed wasn’t she? Perhaps the cosmos were trying to tell her something. Stay away from males. She wiped her eyes and stared defiantly out at the busy traffic on the freeway. All those guys could go to hell. She was quite capable of surviving without any of them.

74

Secured Mail

“We have entered orbit around Planet Valhalla. Please feel free to move around the ship.”

The calm female voice of the ship’s guidance systems echoed around the passenger recovery bay. Thea grimaced as she climbed out of the stasis capsule and rubbed her dry eyes. She’d been warned that when she was allowed out of the claustrophobic plastic pod her body would be stiff as a board. With a groan, she started on the series of warm up exercises she used when she was at the gym.

While touching her toes she got a close up view of a pair of big bare feet. She straightened too quickly and bumped into Sven’s chest. He caught her elbow to steady her and she felt her cheeks heat. He wore a pair of regulation yellow space pants, slung way too low on his hips and nothing else except two gold armbands.

“Are you all right, Ms. Cooper?”

God, he smelled so good, so warm and welcoming. She swayed toward him and immediately pulled her arm free.

“I’m fine. What do you want?”

He met her gaze, his brown eyes as shuttered as her own. “It’s my job to make sure everyone comes out of stasis. I’m just checking on your general wellbeing.”

“My well-being is just fine and dandy thanks. Even better if you’d leave me alone.”

He sighed. “Thea…”

She raised her chin to stare right into his eyes. “I thought we’d agreed it would be Ms. Cooper from now on?”

“We haven’t agreed anything.” She tried to move past him and he frowned. “By Thor’s blood, will you not even speak to me?”

“I’ll speak to you when it is relevant to the mission. That’s it, Mr. Magnusson.”

He caught her elbow and yanked her against his chest. She could feel the heavy beat of his heart, the tension humming through his large frame.

“We’re on my planet now, my lady. The rules have changed. You won’t be able to avoid me so easily.”

She watched his luscious mouth form the words, heard the subtle threat behind them and still wanted to kiss him more than she wanted to breathe. Deliberately she stood on his toes. He winced but didn’t release her.

“Let me go, Mr. Magnusson or my next target will be your family jewels.”

“I will if you agree to talk to me tomorrow.”

His tone was inflexible, his face as hard as moonstone.

75

Kate Pearce

“All right.”

He stepped back and bowed. “Thank you my lady.”

She moved past him, found her way to one of the observation windows and looked out at the planet they orbited. She gasped. It really was purple. She’d seen the images but nothing had prepared her for the glinting shifting many-hued reality of the planet’s surface.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Aye, my lady, it is.”

“Go
away
, Mr. Magnusson.”

There was an amused chuckle. She jumped as the king’s reflection appeared alongside her own. He nodded.

“We are grateful for your planet’s help in restoring ours.” He held her gaze, his golden eyes full of emotion. “At times, I thought I would never see it again, let alone find it restored and free of pollution.”

Thea cleared her throat. “I’m pleased that you are pleased, Sire.”

“I give thanks daily to our gods that my queen appeared to save my planet and me.”

Thea stared at his massive chest and neck, noticed a fading bruise on his throat. His love and respect for the queen was obvious in everything he did. How could he countenance her sleeping with other men?

“The queen is a lucky woman, Sire.”

He laughed, the low sound almost a purr of satisfaction. “Nay, I am the lucky one.

She brings me great joy with her presence and her body. She has given me a son.”

Thea frowned. Was that it? Was the king prepared to give the queen anything she desired simply because she had given him a son? She knew how important children were to the Valhallans. His expression sobered.

“Is something wrong, Ms. Cooper?”

“No, Sire, I’m just trying to imagine how it would feel to be loved like that.”

The king smoothed a hand over his chest and then down to his groin. Thea followed the movement of his hand and then realized he was half-erect. She quickly raised her eyes to his smiling face.

“From what I have heard, Ms. Cooper, Sven would be more than happy to show you.”

“Mr. Magnusson and I are merely fellow workers.”

“Is that so?” the king smiled. “Then you will surely appreciate his company while you are on my planet. I have assigned him to be your personal escort.”

Thea gaped at the king, who nodded and turned away. What was wrong with everyone? Were they all determined to push her and Sven together? She headed for the shower, ignoring Harlan and Bron who smiled and bowed to her. She wasn’t about to 76

Secured Mail

stop and chat with any more Valhallan males determined to set her straight about Sven and send her back into his arms.

The female shower was already operating. Thea sighed as she stepped under the hot stream of water.