“Nothing,” Kane replied.
He had confided in JB in confidence. I’m going to kill him.
“Did you fuck her?” Jess asked, her voice rising to a hysterical level.
“It’s not your concern, Jess,” Kane said calmly.
“I can’t believe you actually fucked her. You got hard for an alien whore?”
“Calm down,” JB interrupted. “We’re discussing the ransom. Nothing more.”
Her chair screeched across the floor as she pushed away from the table. “One vote for torture and killing,” Jess snarled.
“You need psychological help,” Eli said.
“Fuck you,” Jess said before leaving.
They all watched as Jess kicked the chairs and tables that stood in her way as she left the dining hall. Trying to talk over the noise would have been pointless.
“Back to business. Do you trust her?” Kyle asked Kane.
I hope I don’t regret this. “Yeah.”
JB nodded. “Good enough for me.”
“Count me in,” Ryan said.
“Me too,” Eli said.
Kyle shrugged. “I guess I’ll go with the majority.”
* * * * *
“You fucking whore!”
What?
Sa’Mya struggled to wake as the bed dipped and an unknown person straddled her. Hands tightened around her neck, gripping hard, strangling the life out of her and cutting off her air supply. Her lungs burned, craving air. Sa’Mya’s eyes flew open in shock just as a fist barreled toward her. She closed them just in time.
Ancients.
Extreme pain shot through her face. Stars danced around her head. “He…lp,” Sa’Mya gurgled.
Sa’Mya grabbed at the assailant. She frantically scratched and pulled, trying to make the hands release her. The fingers only tightened and pressed her farther into the mattress.
Sa’Mya opened her eyes once again. A human female with red, swollen eyes stared back at her. Her lips were snarled up in disgust. Sa’Mya clawed wildly at the female, pulling at her hair, trying to escape. Nothing worked.
Sa’Mya pressed her feet on the bed and bucked, to no avail. The human held tight, gripping her harder. Sa’Mya was losing consciousness. Before darkness could take her under, she dug deep into the female’s sockets, grabbing at her eyes. The human screamed and rolled away, holding her face.
Coughing and choking, Sa’Mya rolled in the opposite direction. She fell off the bed and crashed to the floor.
“I’ll kill you for that, bitch!” the human screamed.
Sa’Mya ignored the pain in her eye and neck. She scrambled to her bandaged feet. Face-to-face with only the bed between them, Sa’Mya looked around the room, searching for a weapon. Anything. But found nothing.
The human jumped on the bed and ran across it. Screaming, Sa’Mya ran toward the bathroom.
“Oh no you don’t, bitch,” the human snarled. As Sa’Mya’s hair was grabbed from behind, pain raced across her scalp.
Sa’Mya stumbled as she was yanked back. Then, catching her footing, she brought up an elbow and hit the human in her nose. Bone cracked against bone. The human screamed.
Huh. All that self-defense training with Nebin had actually been useful.
Chapter Thirteen
Echoes of screaming coming from his cabin met Kane as he rounded the corner. What had Sa’Mya gotten herself into? He trotted the last few steps.
What he hadn’t expected was to find Sa’Mya kicking and punching on Jess as if she were a Shaolin Warrior.
After pausing momentarily, he ran to separate the two, pushing Sa’Mya behind him. “What the fuck is going on here?”
Jess spit blood on the floor and covered her nose with a hand. “That whore broke my nose.”
“She was going to kill me.” Sa’Mya choked behind him. “She tried to strangle me.”
Kane turned to inspect Sa’Mya. Red marks covered her neck, and her eye was beginning to blacken.
What the hell?
Sa’Mya choked again.
“Argh!” Jess flew at Sa’Mya with outstretched arms.
Instead of cowering, Sa’Mya tried to reach over his shoulder to grab at Jess. Before Jess could reach her, Kane pushed Jess back. Jess stumbled over her feet and fell to the floor.
“You fucked her. How could you?” Jess cried. She pulled her knees to her chest. She wrapped her arms tightly around them and rocked on her butt and heels.
“Sa’Mya,” Kane said, low and controlled. “Go into the bathroom. I will send your aides to tend to you.”
Sa’Mya nodded and limped cautiously past Jess. He noticed the bright-red blood splotches that her feet left behind as she entered the bathroom.
After the door closed behind Sa’Mya, he knelt beside Jess who cried hysterically. She probably had deserved the beating Sa’Mya had given her, but right now she needed him. As he scooped her off the floor, she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and cried onto his chest.
“What the hell is the matter with you?”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Jess cried.
“Why did you come here?”
Jess struggled to control her crying. “You…you’re the only person…still…pure.”
Jess could be a bitch, but she was family with some major psychological issues. He couldn’t blame her for wigging out every now and again but to try to kill the princess? There was no excuse, even for someone with a fucked-up mind.
“I’m not pure, Jess. Nobody is.”
“You were. You were the only one of us who hasn’t fucked an alien. You were so pure. She ruined you.” She cried harder onto his chest. “That bitch ruined you.”
Jess was right, fucked up, but right just the same. He had given in to how his body had reacted with Sa’Mya. What he’d done could never be undone. He’d soiled Anna’s memory and that would stick with him forever.
On the way to her cabin, he spotted JB with the other females. Kane stopped JB in his tracks as he was leading them from Kyle’s cabin to his own.
“Fun’s over,” Kane said. “Take those two to the princess. She needs their help.”
JB didn’t object but his gaze lingered on Jess’s emotionally broken frame. “What’s up with her?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
Finally at her cabin, he laid Jess on the bed where she curled into a ball. Her nose was now purple, swollen, misshapen and bleeding. He hit the intercom.
“Eli. Jess has been hurt. She needs medical attention.”
“I’m there, Captain,” Eli responded.
Kane sat next to her. “We have to talk.”
Jess nodded.
“I don’t want you near Sa’Mya or her crew. They will be here for another two weeks. You are to stay away from her and her crew until we get the gold. If you don’t think you can control yourself until then, I’ll confine you here. Do you understand?”
Jess sniffled and nodded again.
Kane waited with her, giving her what she need most. Comfort.
Walking through the door, Eli stopped midstride and eyed Jess and her bloody mess. “Holy shit. Who finally got tired of her mouth and fucked her up?”
“Princess Sa’Mya.”
“No way. The princess did this?” Eli took a seat next to Jess and began to study the damage.
Just like the rest of the crew, Eli had left his former life—his as a plastic surgeon—back on Earth. The twenty-eight-year-old hadn’t yet completed his residency when the aliens had come, but he’d completed enough training to keep them all stitched up and taken care of.
“Fix her up. When you’re done come to my cabin to help the princess.”
Eli shook his head. “Chick fight and I missed it.”
* * * * *
When the bathroom door closed, Sa’Mya laid her back against it. She slid to the floor and waited. She didn’t know how long she had stayed on the floor cradling her painful feet. A light knock on the bathroom door caused her to startle.
“Princess?”
Moira’s voice came from the other side. Sa’Mya let out a relieved breath. She scooted from the door, allowing it to open.
“Moira, I’ve never been so happy to see you in my life.” Wayward tears streamed down her cheeks. A weight lifted from her.
As she looked at Sa’Mya, Moira’s eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. “Princess, what happened to you?”
Yazmine peeked from behind Moira. Her hands flew to her mouth, covering a gasp.
Moira grabbed Sa’Mya’s hands and tried to pull her to her feet. Sa’Mya yelled out as pain ignited in every wound in them.
“Oh my,” Moira said. “Yazmine, please help me.” They both took a side and supported an arm.
They had been missing in action since being captured, doing Ancients knew what. But it didn’t matter, they were both here now. Sa’Mya leaned on them and let them guide her to the bed. Moira apologized the entire way.
“Princess, I don’t know where to start.” Moira clucked her tongue as Yazmine worked on making her comfortable, propping her up with pillows. “You need a healing tank. You need a good scrubbing and I might need to cut the knots out of your hair. You’ve been mistreated so badly. I was promised you were well taken care of.”
“Ha! I don’t know who told you that. The captain wouldn’t let me have my own clothes and he wouldn’t let you and Yazmine attend to me.”
Moira and Yazmine exchanged worried glances.
So Kane had been right. They had been enjoying themselves with the crew.
Sa’Mya sat back against the pillows. Yazmine looked the same, but Moira, she looked…different. Her once dull skin now had a radiant glow. Her hair, normally in a severe bun, now flowed in sandy locks past her shoulders.
“You have wounds everywhere,” Yazmine said.
“I think Kane went a little overboard with the bandages.” She eyed the thick wrappings that covered her hands, knees and feet. “Help me undo them.”
With Yazmine’s help, Sa’Mya unrolled the wrappings.
“It’s not as bad as I imagined,” Sa’Mya said after she inspected her injuries for the first time. “Well, except the feet.” She tsked. Some of the cuts had started to bleed again.
All because of that crazy human female.
“Great Ancients,” Moira said.
Moira dropped on the bed next to her and gingerly took a hand in hers. “I’m so sorry. I never would have thought that you were being mistreated.”
Sa’Mya stared back in shock. Moira had never shown any compassion for her. Yes, it was Moira’s job to see to her needs, but Sa’Mya always felt that her concern ended there.
Moira continued, “You’ve already been through so much. I was not at your side. I was off…” Moira’s gaze diverted from hers. “I know you haven’t been able to trust me. I’ve been so un-loyal—”
“It’s okay.” Despite the pain, she gave Moira’s hand a gentle squeeze. “You are here now.”
“I’ll make it up to you,” Moira vowed.
“Be loyal to me. That’s all that I ask.”
“It is done.”
A knock interrupted them. “Enter,” Moira said, wiping mist from her eyes.
The males entered the room. They delivered her four trunks of belongings and stacked them by the wall.
“Who was the human female who attacked me?” Sa’Mya asked after they left.
Moira went to kneel in front of the larger trunks. “Jess,” she said over her shoulder. Moira began inspecting outfit after outfit. “You need suitable clothing. You’ll need something that won’t brush against your injuries.”
“Ah, I can’t wait to get into my own clothes. It’ll make me feel more civilized.”
“Why did she attack you?” Moira asked.
“I think she was upset because Kane and I had sex.”
Both Moira’s and Yazmine’s eyes widened in shock and their mouths fell open. Snapping hers shut, Moira was the first to reply. “Was that wise?”
Sa’Mya shrugged. Had it been wise? She didn’t know. Would she do it again? Yes.
Yazmine grinned wickedly. “How was it?”
Sa’Mya closed her eyes to relive every glorious moment. “Wonderful.”
“I know that look,” Moira replied. “Be careful with your heart. I haven’t had many dealings with the captain, but the others have said that he doesn’t like nonhumans.”
“I may have changed him,” Sa’Mya replied.
I hope I have changed him.
“Are you sure the whore won’t try to finish what she started?” Moira asked.
“Whore?” Sa’Mya asked.
“Jess used to be a brothel whore,” Yazmine said. She positioned herself behind Sa’Mya and began to comb through the knots in Sa’Mya’s hair.
What was Kane doing with a brothel whore?
And he had been with her. Sa’Mya was sure of it. She had recognized her scent from some of Kane’s clothes.
“Did you do all that damage to her face?” Moira asked. Sa’Mya nodded. “Nebin taught you well,” she said approvingly.
Moira was right, if it wasn’t for Nebin forcing her to learn his native fighting techniques, she would have been dead by now.
“I saw her draped all over the captain. She was so pathetic. She was clutching his neck and sobbing, ‘Oh, Kane, Oh Kane’,” Yazmine said mockingly.
Sa’Mya slumped against Yazmine. While he had made her hide in the bathroom, he had carried his whore away.
Chapter Fourteen
Guilt-ridden.
The crushing weight of guilt had plagued him for the past three days. He had tried to push what he’d done from his mind but couldn’t. Every word she spoke reminded him of how she had called out his name. Every move she made reminded him of how she had felt in his arms.
He couldn’t forget about it. And the worst part? He didn’t know if he wanted to forget.
“Tsk, what a shame. I have all these beautiful clothes and I’m stuck in here.”
“All dressed up and no place to go.”
“What?” Sa’Mya asked.
He watched her on her knees, sitting back on her heels. When she turned to face him, the movement caused her now tangle-free waist-length hair to bounce and sway. It reminded him of one of those old television shampoo commercials. The overhead lighting danced and played on each strand, making her highlights shimmer.
He cleared his throat. “That’s a common Earth saying.”
He had long since stopped reviewing the paper maps scattered across the dinette table in front of him. He focused on her instead. Their escape route was plotted and planned. After they dropped the princess off, they were going to hightail it out of the Zaronna System. Preferably somewhere they’d never been.
“Oh.” Sa’Mya went back to rummaging. “So you are talking to me again.”
He stared at the small of her back, the way it tapered to full hips and a round ass. He could imagine other things she could be doing on her knees besides looking for clothes.
“I never stopped talking to you.”
She snorted. “The chatter coming from that side of the room was so overwhelming I must have blocked it out.”
He chuckled. “Did you snort, Princess?”
“Don’t laugh. It wasn’t my fault. I believe you actually said you never stopped talking to me.”
“I did.”
Sa’Mya whirled around. A cascade of golden waves bounced around her. “Captain Kane Epps. You haven’t strung two sentences together since that…that…brothel whore attacked me.”
Kane straightened in his seat. “Don’t call her names. Jess isn’t a brothel whore. The Loconuist sold her. She didn’t choose that lifestyle.”
Sa’Mya rolled her eyes. “Still, she had no right to attack me.”
He hadn’t planned to start an argument with her. Come to think of it, he didn’t have a plan at all. If he was smart, he would put her in a separate room and keep her out of his sight. But…he wasn’t smart.
&
nbsp; “I apologize for her. I’ve ordered her to stay away from you and the others.”
Sa’Mya relaxed. “Thank you.” She paused and then added, “Thank you for giving me Moira and Yazmine. Perhaps you can also give me Nebin?”
“Oh no. Nebin is where he needs to be.” If he let her have her guard, he was sure to never get near her again.
“I should at least get to see him. Make sure he’s being taken care of.”
Kane raised an eyebrow. “If you didn’t ask while you were talking with him, then you’ve missed your opportunity. You’ll get to see him when our business arrangement is complete.”
She playfully pursed her lips and pressed on her hand. Characters he didn’t recognize appeared two-inches above her wrist. “Hmm. I guess I can wait a while longer.”
“What is that?”
“A time-keeper.”
“Clock?” he asked. Sa’Mya cocked her head to the side. “Let me see it,” he said.
Even though the bottoms of her feet were healing, she still walked on her tiptoes. She slid into the seat across from his and pushed on the spot. The jumbled characters projected in the air above it. Then, a blink later, the numbers instantly became readable.
“No matter where I am, I’ll always know what time it is on my home planet.”
He leaned in, squinting. “It appears to be counting down.”
She pressed the indentation again and the numbers disappeared. “To my birth cycle.” The air of playfulness she had mere minutes ago faded. She abruptly got up and tiptoed to her trunk.
“Is there a big celebration planned?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you want to be there for the festivities? I mean, the celebration will be for you, won’t it?”
“The celebration will go on with or without me.”
“Seems wrong to have a birthday celebration without the birthday girl.”
“Where I am when I turn twenty-five birth cycles is irrelevant.”
He stared off into space. “I stopped celebrating my birthdays a long time ago.” Anna had always been big on birthday parties.
She glanced at him. “How did you celebrate it?”
Every year she had planned a surprise birthday party for him and every year he had acted surprised although he knew about the party months beforehand.
Dangerously Yours: 2 (Loving Dangerously) Page 11