Corsairs: Adiron: Corsair Brothers Book 1

by Dixon, Ruby

  I do love a difficult female.

  When I close the closet, I see her adjusting the front of her borrowed clothing, puffing it out, no doubt to hide my blaster that she's got stuffed in there. "I'd use the belt," I point out as I hold it out to her. "I have a holster for that blaster. Don't tuck it into your underclothes or you'll shoot a hole in places that shouldn't be shot."

  She looks at me with that too calm gaze, her eyes narrowed. "Why are you giving me a weapon?"

  "Because you're my guest?"

  "I've heard that line before. It didn't involve me being anyone's guest."

  I can just imagine, and my blood boils at how she's probably been mistreated. "I figure if you were going to kill me, you'd have done so already, back on your ship. If it makes you feel better, carry my weapon. Just try not to shoot the a'ani. They really are decent males."

  She reluctantly digs into the front of her clothing and then pulls out my blaster. "And your brothers?"

  "Not all that decent, but I promise on my balls that they won't harm you."

  "And the one in black? Straik?"

  I grin. "Him, you can shoot."

  She grins back, a genuine grin, and I'm utterly dazzled. This female is so keffing beautiful. Her smile fades as she catches me watching her, and she tilts her head, then considers the blaster in her hand. "I wonder if I should shoot you? Considering you got me drunk so you could wring secrets out of me."

  "It wouldn't be the first time an angry female shot me the morning after a drunken bender," I joke. It actually would be, but it sounds good.

  Jade just shakes her head at me. "Are you ever serious?"

  "Not if I can help it. That's Mathiras's job."

  "One of your brothers?"

  "Tallest one," I agree. "Looks constipated."

  "Probably because he's dealing with your shit," she quips.

  Aaaaand I'm in love all over again.

  I give her another lovesick grin, and she just rolls her eyes at me, putting the blaster in her belt. "Quit looking at me like that. Anyone ever tell you that you have a rotten poker face?"

  "My sister Zoey. Like, a dozen times." I follow her back out of my room and put a hand to the small of her back to guide her. Jade jerks in surprise, watching me, but relaxes when I don't touch her more than that. "She also says I can clear a room with a belch, but that's a lie. Kaspar is much, much worse with that sort of thing."

  "Charming."

  I actually do wish I was more charming in this moment. Kaspar can be pretty suave when he wants to be, and Mathiras is good with ladies. Me, I just grin like a fool…kind of like I am right now. Not that I've ever really cared about getting a lady-friend, but now that I do, my goofy smile isn't doing me any favors. Jade's shooting me wary looks, like she expects me to pounce on her. I guess I can't blame her…I did get her drunk and trick her. "Can I ask you something?"

  The expression on her face has “uh oh” written all over it. "What?"

  "How do you and I become friends?"

  Her mouth flattens for the barest of moments. "You're very direct, aren't you?"

  "I don't know another way to be." I shrug. "I'm not a good pirate for my smarts. I'm good because I'm loyal and I like to run into danger. Mathiras and Kaspar are the smart ones."

  "Mmmmhmm."

  "So…how? Because I want to be your friend."

  Jade keeps walking, her gaze on the hall in front of us, but she gives her head the tiniest, rueful shake. "That cat might be out of the bag. I don't know if I can trust you."

  "So…" I continue, not willing to give up. "How do I put that cat back in the bag? Also, what's a cat?"

  Her lips twitch, and a hint of a smile curves her lush mouth. All right. If we can't be friends right off the bat, then maybe I can win her over with jokes. Maybe what Jade has needed all her life is a big goofy idiot like myself who doesn't take anything too seriously and loves a good time. Maybe she needs someone like me so she can have a good time, too. So she can relax a little bit because she knows I've got her back.

  Yep. I think I'm exactly what this female needs. Now to make her realize it.

  22

  JADE

  Even though I don't trust him as far as I can throw him, Adiron is a perfect gentleman as he escorts me through the halls of the ship. The Darkened Eye, I repeat to myself, in case I need the name of it later. Lord Straik. Mathiras, his brother. Adiron. And…Gaspard? Close enough. And clones. I can't forget the clones. It's all information, and information can be currency when you've got nothing else. So I make note of people and faces, and doors, and I try to pay attention to everything as we walk through the large ship.

  Adiron pauses in front of a large double door, and I touch the blaster strapped to my waist. I feel much better with it at my side. Just knowing I have a weapon in a ship full of strangers means that I can't be overpowered and attacked. I can at least protect myself. I think. I forgot to ask him to show me that the gun works. I just took it on his word.

  God, I really am bad at being a badass.

  My companion notices my frown as I touch the gun again. He puts his hand on the pad to open the doors. "What?"

  "How do I know this weapon works?" I gesture at my waist. "How do I know this isn't another one of your tricks?"

  Reaching over, Adiron takes the weapon from the holster with practiced ease, flicks a switch that makes the thing hum like it’s powering up, and then turns and points it at the nearest wall. He fires, and a concentrated beam of light flies toward the wall, the sound so flaringly loud that my ears pop. Sparks fly and a massive scorch-mark appears on the pristine wall, and an alarm goes off overhead.

  The door opens to a meeting room, where the other corsairs and my friends sit.

  "What the kef are you doing to my ship?" the one in black bellows. Lord Straik. "You keffing idiot! You could get us all killed!"

  At my side, Adiron shrugs, handing the weapon back to me. "Jade wanted to make sure it worked."

  "Can we not fire weapons inside an environmentally controlled ship?" Mathiras asks, his expression weary, as if he's seen this shit a dozen times before. "I'm a big fan of breathing."

  The other brother—Kaspar, I remember now—just looks over at me and the weapon at my waist. "Should have picked a double-barrel Kith model," he says to Adiron. "Less of a kick for human hands."

  Adiron gestures at him. "Excellent point. I'll get her one later."

  "You," Mathiras says, pointing at Kaspar, "are not helping."

  "Hello," Alice calls out in her sweet, musical voice. She snaps her fingers twice, getting everyone's attention. "Can we please focus here?"

  "It's like being on the Good Ship Attention Deficit," Ruth adds sullenly. She's slouched low in her seat, which tells me she's still wearing her “brat” persona like a protective cloak. I don't blame her. The less these strangers know about our real personalities, the better. Ruth lifts her chin in my direction. "So where's my gun?"

  "You don't get one," Lord Straik snaps at her. "I don't even know if that keffing idiot should have one."

  "Probably not," Adiron says cheerily. He steers me around the long table and pulls out a chair for me, just like we're on a weird date of some kind. "I can't be trusted around weapons…or laundry."

  "Oddly specific," I murmur as I sit down. I note everyone's appearance, making sure that the girls are all right. Alice's hair is a little mussed, but she looks good, even if she's still wearing her slave girl outfit. Ruth sits to one side of her, and she's dressed similarly to me, but her cuffs aren't rolled up nearly as much. I notice that they're flanked on either side. Ruth is close to Lord Straik—probably so he can choke her if she doesn't shut up—and Alice is next to Kaspar, who she's doing her best to ignore. Between Kaspar and Mathiras is Helen, who has on one of the clone military uniforms, a bright smile of excitement on her face. She looks like she's having a blast. She probably is—this is undoubtedly the most excitement she's had in her short life.

  I also notice that her chair is
close to Mathiras's and his arm rests on the table, but Helen is within reach of him, and I do my best not to glare. Every male alien we've ever run across is possessive of Helen, and I'm not going to let her fall into anyone's clutches. I'll have to warn her when we get a moment alone. For now, I relax in my seat between Mathiras and Adiron, who drops into his chair beside me as if we're on a date and I'm his girlfriend. He even puts his arm on the back of my chair.

  I try not to roll my eyes.

  "I am glad we are all here now," Straik says in a stiff voice. His accent sounds different from the others, even through the translator, and I wonder if he's speaking a different dialect than the others. Different country? Planet? I wish I knew. "We need to discuss the matter of the discovery of the Buoyant Star and its…ahem, cargo."

  "We also need to discuss the weapons we'll be receiving, since we're now part of this crew," Alice says boldly. "If Jade has a weapon, I want one, too."

  "I am not arming you," Straik continues. "Now, can we discuss—"

  I watch as Kaspar leans toward her. "I will," he mock-whispers. "After this." And he winks.

  Alice fights the smile that curves her mouth, but she looks pleased, and a new thought occurs to me…we set a seduction trap for these men. What if they're playing the same game with us? Feed us, clothe us, seduce us with weapons and promises of safety…and then what?

  I wish I could trust someone. Anyone.

  I look over at Adiron as Straik continues speaking, and I notice he's not paying attention to the others. He's watching me, and there's that weird mixture of pride and affection in his eyes as he regards me. I don't know what to make of him…but I wonder if he's the one I can trust.

  After all, he DOES have a terrible poker face.

  23

  JADE

  "Let us discuss the Buoyant Star now," Lord Straik demands in a pompous voice. "We've wasted enough time as it is."

  Suddenly, I'm tired of this. I'm tired of being bossed around by men all the time. I'm tired of being afraid and not being respected. I feel like a ping-pong ball that's been bounced back and forth between parties ever since I woke up to find myself in deep space instead of on Earth. First, it was the crew of the Star…or at least, a crew. Then they fractured and split, and we were left with two grope-happy idiots, and when we made it clear we were not submitting as simpering bed slaves just because they had the keys to the ship, they left us behind.

  Now these blue guys think they can run roughshod over us, and I'm tired of all of it. I'm tired of being pushed around this universe just because I don't have a penis.

  And it ends now.

  I lift a hand into the air before Straik can say anything else. "I need to know a few things before we go on." And I wait, calmly.

  Straik makes a blustering noise, but Mathiras watches me with sharp eyes. Maybe he senses I've been pushed to the edge of my limits. "What is it?"

  I clear my throat, feigning a serenity I don't quite feel. "Before we discuss anything, I need to know if my ladies are all right. If they are still cuffed or they've been harmed in any way, then none of this…"—I gesture at the table we're seated around, as if we're holding a very civilized sort of meeting—"…matters."

  Straik opens his mouth to speak.

  I lift a finger, silencing him. "I didn't ask you." I point at Alice and Ruth, then at Helen. "I asked them."

  At my side, I hear Adiron huff in what has to be laughter, and I discreetly kick him under the table. Now is not the time.

  For a moment, Straik looks as if he's going to burst a blood vessel in his eye, and I suspect no one talks to him like I just did. I don't care, though. I'm tired of people bargaining for me or around me. I have nothing left to lose, and so I'm going to bet it all. I'm not a warrior. I don't win my battles with a gun or elite skills. I've got jiggly thighs and a fear of heights, so I have to win my wars with smarts. And I know right now that if I let these men make plans around me, I'm never going to be on equal ground with any of them.

  If they don't like it, they can just send me back to the other ship. It's probably safer there for us anyhow.

  "Alice?" Kaspar asks, and for a moment, he looks just like Adiron, because he's doing his best to hide a laughing smirk behind a hand…and doing it poorly.

  Alice licks her lips and gives me a proud smile that tells me she's thrilled I've taken charge. "I have been treated well enough," she says. "No torture, no rape, and while I would like some clothes, I'm content to wait a little longer." She lifts her hands to display her wrists. "No cuffs, either."

  "Ruth?" I ask.

  "Fine," is all she says.

  I turn to Helen. "Are you all right?"

  Her smile is broad and sweet. "I'm wonderful, thank you for asking."

  "No one tortured you or hurt you? Did they touch you inappropriately?" I have to push it, to make sure Helen grasps what I'm referring to.

  "Mathiras didn't sex me, no," she says cheerily. "I asked him to tongue kiss me, but he declined. But if I feel a sexual urge, I'll probably ask him to service me."

  Now Mathiras is the one making strangled noises. He shifts in his seat, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Uh. I would never touch her without her permission. Let's just set that on the table."

  "Well shit, I didn't ask for tongue kisses," Adiron chimes in. "I should have asked."

  "You wouldn't have received," I say tartly and turn back to Helen. "You and me will chat later, all right?" It's natural for Helen to be sexually interested in the first halfway decent men we've run across in our adventures, but I need to remind her that she needs to be careful. I eye each of the women again. "Is anyone hungry? Do we need to eat something before we have our meeting?"

  "I'm good," Alice says.

  Ruth just shrugs, turning to give a smug look at Straik.

  Helen lights up with excitement. "Jade, you should have seen it! They have a thing in their dispenser that makes cake! I had a cake! With whipped stuff on top of it! And Mathiras said I could have as much as I want!"

  That makes Ruth sit up. "Well, now I want cake."

  "Oh my stars, Ruth, it was SO good," Helen enthuses.

  Straik just sighs, rubbing his face. "I'll put in an order for cake. While we wait, can we please continue?"

  "Yes," I say, stepping in again. I straighten in my chair. "We women need to know what our position on this ship will be before we agree to anything. Are we cargo? Are we crew? What rights do we have?"

  At my side, Adiron shoots me an admiring look, as if he approves of my ballsiness. "You'd be crew, of course."

  "If we're crew, we get weapons, then? Our own quarters? Bodily autonomy?"

  "Access to the ship and her workings?" Ruth asks in an innocent voice and then ruins it with a slow smile.

  "All the cake we want?" Helen adds.

  "And someone to show us how to use everything on the ship, I assume," Alice chimes in, ever practical. "We'd need lessons on how to do the remedial stuff. Access to language lessons, too."

  "This is my ship," Straik begins, and I can tell he doesn't like the way the bargaining is going. "I'm in charge here—"

  "And Jade is in charge of us," Helen interjects quickly. "That's why we trust her to talk for us." She pauses for a moment, and then adds, "Not you."

  I'm proud of her. She's not been completely distracted by cake—or trying to kiss Mathiras—after all.

  "I cannot believe this." Lord Straik makes an indignant noise. "We're trying to rescue you, you ungrateful humans."

  "You're crew," Adiron reassures me. "We'll figure it out. You're in control of your body. That's not even a question."

  There's so much I want to address in this moment. Lord Straik's calling us ungrateful, Adiron and the others ignoring him, the whole body thing—but I need to stay focused. "Let's talk about rescue, then. What does that entail, exactly? Are you bringing us back to Earth?"

  Adiron hesitates for the first time and looks at his brothers. I get a sour, sad feeling in my stomach.

 
Something tells me that no matter how this goes down, it's going to make me unhappy.

  24

  ADIRON

  I hate that I don't have the answer Jade needs. I hate that I can see disappointment in her amber eyes. She wants to go back to Earth. There's two problems with that. One—Earth is supposed to be off-limits to everyone, not that slavers pay much attention to that.

  And two—there's not much Earth left to go back to. A few years ago, the stupid Earth people caused a temporal rift to open up in their planet's atmosphere and everything got all keffed up. There's no “Earth” to return to…at least, not how she thinks it is. The planet's still there…just the people aren't. The cities have fallen, the humans have more or less disappeared, and rumor has it that a few misplaced drakoni just run around burning everything.

  "You can't go back to Earth," Mathiras says, but his tone is odd. "Long story, but it's not on the table. I'm sorry."

  There's a long, aching pause, and I remember all the times my little sister begged to be taken back to Earth, “just for a visit.” I remember how devastated she was when the news about the rift back on Earth made its way to us. It's one thing to choose to stay in space. It's another to realize you can never go home again, because your home has been destroyed.

  "So that's it, then?" The yellow-haired one—Alice—says. She crosses her arms over her chest, looking mutinous. "You just decide we can't go home, but we're not slaves. So what are we, then?"

  Everyone looks over at Straik, but he's silent. He's got a strange look on his face, as if he's just now realizing the magnitude of what we've found. For a male that seems to hate slavery, he sure does find himself with a lot of slaves.

  "Guests," Mathiras says. "You're guests."

  "Crew," I volunteer. If no one else wants to arm the humans, I will. I'll give ’em whatever they need to feel safe and secure. And at some point, when that suspicious, haunted look leaves Jade's face, I'll even tell her about Earth. Not right now, though. No one needs that sort of bomb dropped on them when everything else in their life is so uncertain. It can wait.