The little animal panted in what Faith chose to think of as agreement. She was an odd looking creature, so ugly she was cute. Her mottled brown skin looked too big for her small stubby body, falling in heavy wrinkles around her neck and legs. Bulbous black eyes topped a head with almost no sign of ears or nose but a wide mouth that seemed stretched into a permanent grin.
“Well, he’s not going to stop me.” She climbed out of bed and remembered that she was naked. Her jumpsuit still lay in a heap by the wall, but the front had been ripped completely open. Athtar had destroyed it in his eagerness to get inside her. Mm. The memory made her nipples harden and started a corresponding ache between her thighs. Not only from excitement, she realized as she went to collect what was left of her clothing. The combination of eight years without sex and Athtar’s massive cock had left her more than a little sore this morning. But it had been worth every ache.
“Why does he have to be so stubborn?” she asked Precious, but the war beast had made a nest in the rumpled covers and only blinked lazily at her. “I don’t suppose you know, either.”
Shower first, she decided and made quick use of his private san. She could only find one tooth cleansing brush but she shrugged and used it anyway. Considering he had intimately explored every inch of her mouth last night, she wasn’t getting squeamish now. Clothes presented a bigger problem. Her spare jumpsuit—now her only jumpsuit—was back on Studoc’s flyer. While she had no issue raiding Athtar’s wardrobe, everything was ridiculously oversized. In the end, she cut the ruined top off of the jumpsuit and tied the pants on with a sash she found amongst his clothes, then covered the whole thing with a flowing silk shirt that seemed more like something a pirate captain would wear than her Viking warrior.
Not that he didn’t look just fine in nothing but leather pants and a scowl, she thought reminiscently. Or even just a scowl. He really had the most magnificent body, every inch covered with bulging muscles, and that cock… Did the Elginar women even realize how lucky they were to have men with vibrating penises? The ache between her legs increased and she realized she was getting aroused just from the memory. But it wasn’t only his body, it was the fierce protectiveness hidden behind the scowl, the quick intelligence in his eyes, even the way he spoke to Precious. Don’t be ridiculous, she scolded herself. He’s just a man.
Determined to forget about Athtar and his positive qualities, she turned her attention to solving the problem of getting back to Hothrest.
“Faith! What the fuck did you do now?” Athtar’s bellow reached all the way from the bridge down to the crew lounge. She had been too nervous to wait in his cabin until he discovered that the ship was no longer responding to his commands. Although she had curled up in one of the oversized chairs and started going through her calculations, part of her had been waiting for this moment.
She ignored the yell and continued to work on her tablet, but her heart was racing. She wasn’t afraid, exactly, but she wasn’t quite sure what would happen if he let his Viking tendencies take over. The atmosphere in the room changed and she knew he was in the doorway, but she didn’t look up. To her surprise, he didn’t start yelling immediately. Nervous about his silence, she finally took a peek in his direction.
He was leaning against the door frame, his eyes like white flames.
“Do you have any idea how fucking hard I am right now?” he said casually. He lowered one hand and gripped his erection, and she could see that he was indeed, extremely aroused.
“Oh.” Her mouth went dry and she had to fight down the desire to add her hand to his. “Why?”
“Because in spite of the fact that I hate fucking scholars, I find a woman with a smart mind sexy as hell.” He tugged on his erection again and then began stalking towards her. “I’m having a hard time deciding if I want to fuck you, spank you, or throw you out of the fucking airlock.”
“You… you wouldn’t.” she gasped, ignoring the fact that two of the three options sounded rather enticing.
“No,” he agreed, as he reached her and leaned down over her. He was so close she could see every detail of that hard, intimidating face but all it did was cause an ache between her legs. “I wouldn’t throw you out of the airlock, even if you are a mutineer.”
“Um.” She wet her lips nervously and he watched the movement like a hawk. “What about the other two?”
“They are definitely still on the table, baby.” His tone was deceptively mild but his eyes were still blazing. “Now are you going to give control of my ship back to me?”
“N-no.” Damn. She hadn’t said that as firmly as she would have liked.
“So what are you going to do with it?” he asked casually.
“Go back to Hothrest?”
“You know how to get there?”
She stared at him in dismay. That was one thing she hadn’t taken into consideration. She could probably figure it out eventually, but she wasn’t sure how long it would take. She firmed her chin. “You’ll take me there.”
“We’re not moving one fucking inch from this spot unless I give the command.”
“I could cut off the air,” she threatened.
“Then you’d die, too, and I know you’re too fucking smart for that.”
“I can learn how to navigate the ship,” she said stubbornly, and his eyes grew even hotter.
“I’m sure you could, baby, but could you do it while you’re tied to my bed?”
Another shiver of something suspiciously like excitement rolled up her spine but she ignored it. Unfortunately, her body responded as well and Athtar saw. He closed one big, warm hand around her breast and pinched a taut nipple.
“Looks like you might enjoy that,” he whispered, his voice husky.
“I wouldn’t.” He pinched her nipple again and her eyes fluttered closed for a moment before she remembered herself and glared at him. “Well, maybe I would—but we’d still be sitting here.”
He growled. “You’re a damn stubborn woman.”
“Yes, I am.”
“But I’m an equally stubborn man.”
He released her breast and stepped back, and she had to fight not to show her disappointment. He tugged on his beard and frowned down at her.
“Do you have an actual plan? One that wouldn’t involve getting us killed?”
“I’m working on it,” she admitted, waving her tablet at him.
“Then here’s the fucking compromise. We’ll take Zartan to the emperor. You’ll work on your ‘plan.’ Once we drop him off, if you can convince me—and my crew—that it’s possible to shut down the lab without getting fucking killed, then I’ll consider it.”
She frowned at him. “How do I know you won’t just take me to that planet you keep mentioning?”
“I give you my word.”
It might be foolish, but she trusted him. “All right.”
“Now return control of my fucking ship.”
She ran a quick code snippet on her tablet, releasing the override. “It’s done.” She didn’t think it was necessary to tell him that she could take it back just as easily.
“Fine. I’m going to tell my crew to get my ship back on course.” He leaned over again. “And, baby, don’t forget about that spanking. Tonight, your ass is mine.”
Her mouth went dry, and he leaned even closer, close enough that his lips were brushing hers and she could feel the soft tickle of his beard. “Fucking is optional.”
Athtar had to pause outside the crew lounge, fighting the urge to go back and take his little scientist in hand. Damn, she was one hell of a woman. His cock was still pressing painfully against his pants, but he ignored it and headed for the bridge. Ultana, Kanithe, and Grabon all turned to look at him.
“Yeah, it was her. Ultana, head back to Kaisar, full speed.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“She took control of the ship?” Grabon asked, scowling. “Do you want me to lock her up?”
“No,” he growled, then sighed. Grabon was only doing his job. “
First of all, she’s not going anywhere near that piece of shit we already have in the brig. Second of all, I took care of it. And third…” He couldn’t hide his grin. “I doubt you could keep her locked up. She already broke out of my cabin once.”
“A nice set of chains would take care of that,” Grabon said grimly.
Only the fact that he knew Grabon was just doing his job, kept him from the man’s throat. “Grabon, if you ever lay a finger on her, you’ll lose your job and your finger. Do you understand me?”
The man’s eyes widened. “Fuck. She’s your mate.”
“No, of course she isn’t. Elginar don’t believe in true mates like you fucking romantic Dhalgroll. Now don’t you have anything better to do?”
“Yes, Captain.” Grabon shook his head. “I’ll go check on that piece of shit in the brig.”
When Athtar turned back around, Ultana was watching him speculatively. “At the risk of losing my job,” she said dryly, “what are you going to do about our… guest? I’m not thrilled with the idea that a stranger can take control whenever she feels like it.”
“She wasn’t doing it on a whim.” He really didn’t want to have to justify Faith’s actions, but this was going to involve the entire crew eventually. “You heard her last night—she wants to go back to Hothrest.”
Ultana tilted her head. “She liked being a prisoner?”
“No, of course not,” he snapped. “But now that she knows what they were really doing, she’s determined to stop it.”
“Do you think she can?”
“If anyone can, she can.” He paused then looked at both women. “I told her that after we drop off fuck-face we would listen to her plan. But that everyone would have to agree before we took any action.”
“No offense, Captain, but I still have a scar from the last time we went on a rescue mission.” Ultana rubbed the almost invisible scar at her hairline.
Kanithe grinned, a rare sight on the normally stoic Asing’s face. “I enjoyed that very much. Wherever you lead, sir, I’ll follow.”
“Well, of course, I’ll follow, too,” Ultana said, frowning at Kanithe. “I’m just not anxious to take on a secret weapons lab without some assurance that I’m going to live through it.”
“No one lives forever.” Kanithe shrugged. “The weapon is an abomination. It should be destroyed.”
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Athtar said. “All I said we’d do was listen. It got us the ship back, didn’t it?”
“You didn’t mean what you said?” Faith’s soft voice came from behind him. Fuck. He turned to see betrayal in those big eyes.
“I meant every fucking word of it. Which is why I was explaining it to my crew. What the fuck are doing up here?”
Her back straightened and she glared at him. “I was looking for Precious. Do you want me to leave?”
“Precious probably went back to bed.” As he surveyed Faith, it occurred to him that going back to bed was a remarkably good idea. He’d been too enraged and excited to notice before, but now he realized that she was wearing one of his shirts, the one formal shirt he owned. It was ridiculously big on her but the sight of all that soft silk—his silk—drifting over her even softer skin had his dick responding again. What was it about this woman that made him react like a randy fucking teenager? Pushing the thought aside, he waved her onto the bridge. “Might as well come in, now that you’re here.”
“Thank you. You’re so gracious,” she said dryly, and he heard Ultana snort.
“Ultana, since you’re so entertained by our guest, why don’t you show her what you do?” His second-in-command raised her eyebrows and he nodded. It was a calculated risk. He had no doubt Faith would pick up on how to navigate easily enough, but he suspected she would never be ruthless enough to take advantage of his crew, especially once she got to know them.
Faith stepped forward eagerly and he caught her just before she tripped down the step separating the front consoles from his chair. Gods, she needed constant watching. Not that watching her was a hardship, he thought as she flashed him a grateful smile, then bent over Ultana’s console with rapt attention. He sat back in his chair and watched as she peppered Ultana with questions, then moved on to Kanithe. He liked seeing her here, liked having her on his bridge, on his ship. If only he could believe that she would be content to stay here.
Chapter Eight
“Athtar, there may be something wrong with the prisoner. Do you want me to take him to sick bay?”
Faith looked up from where she was interrogating Kanithe as the gargoyle alien stepped onto the bridge.
“He said his stomach hurts,” Grabon added.
“I don’t give a shit what kind of lies he makes up,” Athtar said dismissively.
“Um. It probably does,” Faith interjected. They both turned to look at her. “I was, um, slowly poisoning the Elginar scientists.”
They both stared at her, then Athtar roared with laughter.
“That’s my girl,” he said, when he finally stopped cackling.
Grabon was still staring. “You were poisoning them?”
“Slowly,” she said defensively. “They weren’t in immediate danger.”
“But why?”
“Why the hell not? They kidnapped her and stuck her away on that fucking ice planet,” Athtar said, glaring at Grabon.
His immediate leap to her defense gave her a little rush of pleasure but she forced it down. “It wasn’t just that. We all knew that the project was finishing. Skevyk had indicated that unless I was ‘cooperative,’ they wouldn’t have any further use for me, and I didn’t like his idea of cooperation.” Athtar growled, but she ignored him. “I wanted an alternative. The only way to reverse the effects of the poison is with an antidote and I’m the only one who knows how to make it.”
“Damn, you’re a dangerous woman,” Athtar said, giving her an admiring look.
She blushed but hurried on. “I should probably make the antidote now. For Zartan.”
He tugged one of his braids and looked thoughtful. “I’m not so sure about that.”
“Why not?”
“I trust the emperor—to a certain extent. But I don’t trust any of those other bastards for a minute. What if one of his so-called advisors manages to get enough information out of him to start the whole fucking project up again?”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” she said slowly, wishing she was a little more certain. “But I can’t just let him die.”
“The bastard wanted to fucking rape you and he’s responsible for millions of fucking deaths.”
A bitter laugh escaped her mouth. “So am I.”
“But you didn’t know. He did. And he was willing to do it again. What would have happened to a man who committed murder on your planet?”
“He would probably have been sentenced to death. But I don’t want to be judge, jury, and executioner.”
“Then I’ll be the judge. He is guilty. This is my ship and you’re not getting the ingredients for any fucking antidote.”
She looked around the bridge. Both of the women nodded in agreement. Grabon was the only one still frowning.
“I don’t like it,” he said slowly. “But if those are your orders, Captain?”
“They are.”
The big alien sighed, gave her another suspicious look, and left.
“Wait a minute, if you’re poisoning all the scientists, aren’t they going to die anyway? Why do we need to go back?” Ultana asked.
“Remember I said it was a slow acting poison? It was distributed through the water system, then I used the same water supply to provide a low level of antidote. Because Zartan is no longer getting water from the system, the poison is beginning to affect him. As long as the others remain at the lab, they’re safe.”
“You are a worthy opponent,” Kanithe said gravely.
Startled, she turned to look at the woman. Kanithe smiled, showing a ridge of sharp pointed teeth along both gums. Faith gulped and took a step
back, forgetting the step behind her. Athtar swore and caught her before she fell, then hauled her up onto his lap. She froze, not at all sure what to do. She actually quite liked being in his arms, but it didn’t seem… dignified. She tried to squirm free, but he only pulled her closer.
“You keep fucking wiggling like that and we’ll be going back to my cabin a lot sooner,” he growled in her ear. Since he wasn’t exactly quiet, she blushed. Ultana shook her head, but her lips quirked as she bent over her console, and Kanithe grinned again.
“I hope you didn’t mean that you thought I was your opponent,” Faith said tentatively.
“Of course not. Only that a scholar may have a place in battle along with a warrior.” Kanithe looked directly at Athtar.
“No, she fucking doesn’t,” he said. Before Faith could protest, he pulled up a screen in front of them. “Would you like to know more about Kaisar? That’s where we’re going to deliver Zartan to the emperor.”
Part of her wanted to continue the discussion about a scientist’s place in battle, but the mention of Kaisar spiked her curiosity.
“Is it a religious site? All of the Kaisarians at the lab were very devout. A little too devout if you ask me.” She shivered, remembering the fanatical gleam that would appear whenever they spoke of their god Napisten and his plans for the Empire. Her knowledge of how the Empire worked was pretty sketchy since almost all of the documents available to her were scientific rather than political.
“Nah, it’s the fucking capital of the Empire. It’s a wretched hive of scum and villainy masked behind fake fucking smiles.”
“But we have to go there?”
“Yes. If I don’t take fuck-face to them, they’ll have the fucking Fleet after me. How long is he going to last?”
“Zartan?” She did a quick calculation. “Maybe six days without the antidote?”
“Good. We’ll be there in five. I’ll just shove the bastard at them and leave before he dies.”
“It's not exact,” she warned.
“Close enough.” He shrugged.
Faith and the Fighter Page 5