Brianna by Judy Mays - Celestial Passions 01 Read Free Book Online Page A

blanket more tightly.
    Lorilana rose and stretched. She really needed to get some sleep. But first, she had to take care of Brianna. “Try to sleep. If you’d like, I’ll give you a sedative. We can talk more when you wake. Just remember, you’re completely safe here.”
    Eyes closed, Brianna remained silent. She was a prisoner.
    Who’d have ever believed it? All those tabloids and their disgusting stories about alien sex. They were true. A short burst of hysterical laughter escaped her lips. She didn’t feel the needle gently inserted into her arm, nor did she realize when she fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter Three
    Char swirled the wine around in his glass and stared out into the blackness of space. When Lorilana exited the alien woman’s room, he turned and walked to a finely crafted cabinet.
    “You heard everything?”
    He poured her a rose-colored drink. “Not enough to form an opinion.”
    Lorilana lifted the glass to her nose and savored the wine’s bouquet. Then she sipped. “One day, you simply must tell me how you talked the Deslossians into parting with so much vandanug wine. No one else can get anything nearly as good.”
    “And no one ever shall,” he answered with a smile. “But about the woman, what opinion have you formed?”
    Lorilana sipped more wine then sighed. “She’s simply someone who was trying to do the decent thing for another intelligent being and got caught up in something she never anticipated. I’m convinced she would have done the same thing no matter which species had discovered her planet first. By bringing her here, we’ve placed her in as much if not more danger than she was in on her own planet.”
    Char picked up his glass and tossed the rest of his wine into the back of his throat. “What will Bakom do if he manages to kidnap her?”
    Lorilana’s voice was grim. “He will exploit having an unidentified species in his power. He’ll subject her to every sexual test that he can devise whether sanctioned or not. Then there will be an accident. Since she won’t survive, the Tests will prove to be inconclusive, and he’ll send another expedition to her planet to obtain more specimens. Their humanity will have to be acknowledged eventually, but we’ll have made an enemy of an entire planet.”
    Muttering a curse under his breath, Char set his glass down.
    “The other planets in our federation won’t countenance Bakom’s actions. They’ll demand an accounting that will be impossible to obtain since he’s President of the Academy as well as a member of our Ruling Council. Those members in his thrall will support him no matter what.”
    “It will mean an end to almost all of the interplanetary cooperation we’ve achieved up to this point,” Lorilana agreed.
    “Bakom will turn back the tide of progress, just as he wants to.”
    Char’s fist slammed onto the cabinet. “He’s a damn fool.
    How can he begin to imagine that the other Federation members will allow us to go our merry way spreading havoc about the galaxy? The Gattans, Medirians, and Varcians are as technologically advanced as we are.”
    “No one understands how he thinks,” Lorilana answered bitterly. “Our major concern now is what to do with Brianna.
    Even if Meri’s family gives her sanctuary, Bakom will get his hands on her somehow. I simply don’t know how to protect her.”
    His thoughts tumbling over each other, Char walked back to the huge window. Hands clasped behind his back, he stared out into the emptiness of deep space. He had to protect the alien woman. The honor of his clan was at stake. Not protecting her would bring great shame upon them, something he would not allow.
    Char continued to ponder the blackness. Bakom considered the woman his. Judging by his past actions, he would do anything to have her back in his power. Therefore, she might be the key to Bakom’s downfall. If that meant using the woman as bait, well…
    The peace of the universe was at stake. If Bakom weren’t