by Aria Bell
I leaned over and kissed her deeply, tenderly. I finally drew back and took a deep breath, wanting nothing more than to continue, to kiss my way down her body. To worship every part of her. To spread her legs and taste her warm wetness, driving her back to the heights of pleasure again. I would’ve loved to stay here in bed with her all day and all night, getting to know every millimeter of her incredible body, every freckle, every scar, memorizing every curve with the touch of my hands, sliding them along her amazing body.
But I still had a ship to captain. And I had to tell Gren’don that his last wild hope at the ransom on Sylvis was over. She was my true mate. No one could deny it now.
I reluctantly sat up, then slipped out of bed and reached for my clothes.
Sylvis rolled over and propped her chin on her hands. She looked me over from head to toe with that grin still on her face. “Mmm. I just want to take that cock in my mouth right now. I’m sure all the alien girls tell you what a great body you have.”
“Only the ones with both brains and impeccable taste,” I quipped pulling on my pants.
“Aw, you don’t wear a shirt, so I was hoping you’d go without pants now that we’re mated,” she said, pouting, and I had to bite back a groan at how sexy she looked. This woman could stir me with a curve of her lips, a lift of her eyebrow. She was amazing. “I suppose you have captaining duties if you’re putting away my new favorite part of you.”
I laughed. “I’m beginning to think you only want me for my body.”
“Exactly.” Her smile widened. “And after last night, double exactly.” She sat up, and I didn’t bother to stifle a groan of pure lust as I watched her shrug into her clothes. If only I really could keep the two of us here, naked, forever. Someday. Someday soon.
As we finished dressing, I noticed she’d grown quiet, her attention turning inward. Her beautiful, dark eyes appeared troubled. I went to her and embraced her from behind, pulling her tight against my body and kissing her lovingly on the top of her head.
“What’s on your mind?” I murmured to her.
“Nothing.” She shook her head, sighing. “No, that’s not true. My father is suddenly on my mind. I’m thinking of what to tell him about…what has changed.”
That put a dampener on the building heat between us, but I understood. We still had problems that no amount of scorching sex would cure. Although I was more than willing to try.
“I’ll be happy to tell your father you’re no longer his pawn,” I told her. “I have a few more choice words I want to say to him.”
She touched my hand, a grateful look on her face. But she also shook her head. “No. I will face him. It is time to scuttle that ship once and for all.”
I drew her into my embrace. “I understand, Princess.”
She looked up at me, smirking. “You’re not going to start that whole ‘princess’ thing again, are you?”
“You’re my tersa tuval now, my fiery princess. No one else’s. And I thank the universe for that with every passing second.”
She didn’t say anything, her eyes brimming with emotion as she kissed me.
Soon enough we were back on the bridge. The moment I walked in and Second Mate Sav’kon called out that the captain was on the bridge, I didn’t like the feeling, the atmosphere of tension and unease in the air. If the bridge crew was tense, then the rest of the crew would be even more on edge. No doubt the entire crew of the Defiance Blade had known I meant to mate Sylvis two seconds after I first announced it. Gossip traveled fast on a pirate ship after all. I’d gambled that giving up my share of the profits would appease them, but perhaps I hadn’t done enough damage control. I needed to keep my eyes open and my sword at my side, at least until we got back to the outer rim. I refused to question my decision…and after the time we’d shared together, I refused to turn back.
“Where’s Gren’don?” I asked, intending to finish this business between us and surprised he wasn’t here. This was his shift.
“He requested I cover for him, Captain,” Sav’kon said.
I didn’t like the sound of that, but there was nothing I could do about it at the moment.
I turned to the crewmember at the communications terminal. “Send a call to House Trasker. I want to talk to the duke. Now.”
I put my arm around Sylvis’s shoulders and drew her close to me. She slipped her arm around my waist after giving me a grateful look. We stood there together, facing the main holo-display, waiting as the Trasker crest filled the screen. After a few minutes, Duke Trasker’s face appeared, looking both irritated and smug. His expression immediately darkened when he saw us with our arms around one another.
“Why are your hands on her, pirate?” he demanded.
“Because she has done me the honor of accepting me as mate,” I growled back.
His face went pale with rage. He glared at his daughter. “Is this filthy allegation true?”
Sylvis moved out of my embrace, taking a step toward her father’s image on the viewscreen. Her fists were bunched. “It’s true, Father. Your daughter is married to a pirate, so she’s ruined goods. But you know what? He’s a thousand times the man of any of your cronies.”
“I will destroy you for this,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “Your career is over. When I get through telling the galactic police what you’ve done, you’ll be lucky to end up on a prison planet. Because it’s far more likely this lying pirate will slit your throat and dump you into space.” He leaned toward the screen, his lips pulled back in a snarl. “And I won’t mourn.”
Rage flared inside me. I stepped up beside Sylvis, putting my hand possessively on her shoulder. “I will never harm her. I will destroy anyone who tries. But I will tell you one thing right now. You are not worthy to be her father.”
Sylvis put her hand on my arm. I glanced down at her and saw her gratitude that I’d rushed to her defense, but also her determination to face her father on her own terms. I nodded, getting her message, but still allowing my hand to rest on her shoulder and my other hand to rest on my sword.
She faced her father again. “I’m sorry it had to end this way. But I don’t want the life you chose for me. Tell my mother not to worry. I’m going to make myself a life I can believe in, no matter what the universe throws at me. A girl has to remain flexible.”
“And being the whore of an alien scum pirate is the life you choose? He turned you down in front of me. I don’t want to know how far you had to debase yourself to make him change his mind.”
I nearly ripped out my sword and hacked through the viewscreen with fury. But with a tremendous amount of willpower, I held myself in check. This was Sylvis’s fight. I would have her back, but as much as I wanted to protect her from everything, even her father’s nasty insults, I knew she was strong enough to face him.
But I would be right here by her side, the entire time. And he’d better pray I never met him in person.
She took my hand. “He did refuse me when I surprised him. But then he asked me, which is how the Jardan prefer to do things.” She gave me a tender smile. “He’s turned his back on your ransom, just for me.” She looked back at her father’s furious face. “He doesn’t need to prove himself. I wanted—needed—to say these last things to you. I’m done being scared by you. I’m sorry you’re the kind of man who’d put conditions on his own daughter for her freedom. But I’m glad I have the chance to tell you I’ll never let you control my life, Father. And…to tell you good-bye for the last time.”
The duke began to speak, but I could tell he had nothing worthwhile to say, only more nastiness and venom, so I told the comm tech to end the subspace transmission. The duke’s angry face vanished midway through a curse.
Sylvis stood there, her head down, hugging herself. I immediately wrapped my arms around her and drew her close to me.
Sav’kon, my second mate, was staring at the screen and shaking his head in disgust. “Too bad we can’t raid a few of his ships. Hit him where it hurts. Teach him a lesson for bei
ng such a bastard.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but Sylvis beat me to it. “I’m just glad I got the chance to…to end things. Speak my mind. I wish he was a better man. But he’s not.”
It broke my heart, hearing her sound so down. But I was also proud of her. I knew that call had been hard on her. Now I wanted to take her away from here. To take her mind off this unpleasantness. To make it right.
I quickly scanned the nav station readout on our course back to Prioxa. We were making good progress. We’d be completely out of Galactic Imperium space within ten standard hours. I glanced at Sav’kon. “Anything of note?”
“No, Captain. We’re on course, cloaked, and we have no sign of pursuit.”
“Good. Contact Cerros Nune Station and let them know when we expect to arrive…and that we’ll be coming in heavy.” Heavy meant we had plenty of loot to offload to any interested parties. “You have the bridge. Let me know at once if there are any issues.”
“Aye aye, Captain.”
As soon as the dust settled and we were back in a friendly system, I intended to replace the Defiance Blade’s first mate, Gren’don, with the second mate, Sav’kon. I’d do it right now, but changing positions mid voyage could cause chaos and disorder, and it would be risky until we were out of Galactic Imperium territory. But right now, Sylvis needed me, and I was determined to be there for her. I put my hands on her shoulders and turned her to face me. She was very quiet, and I wanted to do anything in the galaxy to take her mind off what we’d just seen, but first I wanted to let her know exactly how I felt.
“I’m proud of you, tersa tuval. I could not have found a braver mate.” I kissed her gently, then drew back and gave her an easy smile. “How do you feel?”
“Terrible,” she replied. “But also good. Like a weight is off my shoulders.”
“You were kinder than I would’ve been. Now, what do you say about getting out of here? It will be quite awhile before we arrive at Cerron Nune. Let’s go debase each other until we’re exhausted.”
Her lips curled upward. “Is that captain’s orders?”
“You learn fast.”
I escorted her back to my cabin.
Once inside, I wasted no time. I scooped her up into my arms, lifting her fully off the ground. She shrieked laughter until I kissed her.
And kissed her.
And kissed every millimeter of her body. She was mine.
Mine.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Captain Sylvis Trasker
When I woke again, it was because Kash’s bulk was shaking the bed as he rolled out of it. Earthquake-level bed shaking was definitely a downside of having a really big male for a lover. But there were a lot of upsides. One upside was I could practically sleep on top of him because he was nearly as big as the mattress. His incredible strength and stamina were a few more. The size of his cock was one of my newest favorites…
“What’s going on?” I mumbled, yawning and wishing I had some coffee or something to help clear away the last cobwebs of sleep. I sat up, the sheets pooling around my waist as I yawned again and stretched.
Kash continued to yank on his clothing in silence, his motions sharp and hurried. His broad, muscular back was to me.
I frowned, suddenly uneasy. There were no alarms sounding, but something felt off. “What’s wrong?”
“The ship isn’t moving,” he said, not turning to look at me.
“What? I thought we were headed to the outer rim.”
“We should be. But I know this ship, and I can feel when her fusion core engines aren’t powered up. The faster than light drives aren’t going. We aren’t moving at any speed. And I’m going to go find out why.”
He stood and buckled on his sword. Then he took a blaster and holster out of a nearby drawer. Quickly, he attached the holster to his sword belt opposite his blade before shoving the weapon inside. That sent a cold chill through me. I hadn’t seen him use a blaster weapon before. This had to be something serious.
I scrambled out of bed and searched for the scattered pieces of my captain’s uniform. I really needed to get some new clothes. Washing the same uniform every day was getting truly old. “Wait, I’m going with you.”
“No,” he said, the crack of command in his voice. There was no smile on his face either, and that sent another chill through me. This was so unlike the Kash I’d come to know, and it was making me even more worried.
“What do you want me to do then?” This was his ship, he knew it, and he knew his crew. If he thought I might be in danger or in the way, I was enough of a professional not to let it ding my ego.
He paused in the act of shrugging on his synth-leather coat to look at me. Then he came over to me and kissed me softly, stroking a gentle hand down my cheek. “Stay here, tersa tuval. I need to find out what’s wrong. I’m going to lock the door behind me. Don’t let anyone else in. Check the viewscreen to make sure it’s me.”
I nodded. He reached for the mini supercomputer earring and attached it, turning it on as he left the room, trying to contact the bridge crew. I heard the outer doors slide shut and lock. With Kash gone, the room felt very empty and far too quiet.
I dressed quickly. The entire time my stomach felt as if it had frozen inside my abdomen. For a while I paced around the outer area, looking out the big windows while sipping kestrav. The hot Jardan drink was hearty with a hint of spice, but best of all had a mild stimulant effect like caffeine. The more time that passed, the more I worried I grew about Kash. What could be going on? Why had the ship stopped dead in space? I had a hard time believing it was something innocuous like a mechanical problem.
The door chimed but didn’t open, startling me. I stared over the top of my cup at the doorway, my heart beating fast, but otherwise I didn’t move, not even to blink. Part of me wanted to go barricade myself in the living quarters area and find a weapon. The Jardan were all about weapons, right? Kash probably had a dozen of them hidden around the place.
But I was no warrior, and the door hadn’t opened so I didn’t want to overreact. I made my way over to the panel and activated the holo controls. The display screen flashed up and I caught a glimpse of Gren’don, the first mate, placing a device on the outside panel. He had a sword in his hand and a blaster on his hip.
Frantically, I checked the door status. When I first looked at it, it said LOCKED in bold red letters. A sigh of pure relief escaped my lips. But when I reached for the audio terminal, desperate to reach Kash over his communications earpiece, the red LOCKED suddenly changed to a green UNLOCKED. I stared at the screen in horror, my hand frozen in midair.
The door began to slide open. I turned and sprinted for the bedroom, praying I’d be able to lock the doors and keep Gren’don out, even though he’d clearly had some kind of hack-override tool he’d used to open the doors to Kash’s quarters. If I could buy myself a few seconds, I could reach another terminal and alert Kash. Let him know about Gren’don’s mutiny. That his first mate had just broken into Kash’s quarters with his sword out and I was trapped in here with him.
I made it halfway to the inner doorway before a powerful arm snaked around my waist and jerked me back. I was crushed against a big body that stank of Jardan sweat. Struggle as I might, I could not budge Gren’don’s hold on me. In desperation, I was about to try and bite him when his sword blade swung up. The sharp edge stopped right at my throat, pausing there threateningly. I immediately froze, my eyes wide, my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest.
“You spoiled little bitch,” he growled, squeezing me tighter against him. I knew Jardan were powerful, but right now he was in danger of breaking my ribs if he didn’t ease up. “You managed to fool that idiot captain by shaking your ass at him, but you didn’t fool me. We will be collecting the ransom from your rich daddy, I promise.”
I sucked in enough air to wheeze out a few words. “Mutiny…”
He only laughed. “Maybe that’s a big deal on your frilly pleasure cruises, but on a pirate ship, this
is how we do things.” He waved the sword blade in front of my eyes as if I needed a prop to understand him.
“I’ll never go along with it. Neither will Kash…” I coughed hard as he flexed, squeezing me even tighter. “He’ll stop you…”
“It doesn’t matter if that fool goes along with it or not.” He leaned in, putting his mouth right next to my ear, and I shuddered in disgust. “Not when he’s dead. And you are only a hostage—a coddled little human who is only worth something because her father is rich. But don’t be afraid. I already made all the arrangements while you two were busy in here, fucking each other and leaving me in command. That fool should’ve killed me when he had the chance. He’s always been too merciful. He’s always been weak.”