by Rachel Clark
Sequel to Sarah’s Pirate
Tee-ani’s Pirates
Tee-ani, an ex-slave, rescued by the crew of a pirate ship, has worked hard to fit in and be a useful member of the crew—and to find a way to rescue others forced into slavery. She's determined to concentrate on her self-appointed mission, but G'trobian twins, Ben and Trey, are a distraction she doesn't need right now. And besides, G'trobians don't mate out of species, so her attraction to them will just have to remain a secret.
Ben and Trey can't believe they've finally found the mate they want to commit their lives to. Only one problem—she's human and humans usually mate in pairs. Will the woman they love more each moment be willing to try love the G'trobian way?
Genre: Futuristic, Menage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 29,986 words
TEE-ANI’S PIRATES
Rachel Clark
MENAGE AMOUR
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Amour
TEE-ANI’S PIRATE
Copyright © 2010 by Rachel Clark
E-book ISBN: 1-60601-803-5
First E-book Publication: April 2010
Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2010 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter from Rachel Clark
Regarding Ebook Piracy
Dear Readers,
I write because I love to create stories and characters, but to get published I go through several rounds of editing with the help of my critique partners, beta readers, and editors, so that the story you read is the best it can be.
Sadly, my ebooks and thousands of others have been stolen and uploaded illegally to pirate Web sites. I have spent countless hours sending DMCA take-down notices requesting for the links to be removed, only to have them pop up somewhere else. It is a frustrating and painful process, and it takes up time that I’d rather use writing.
Ebook piracy is a serious drain on the industry. In a single day, more copies of Accidental Love for Three were stolen than were bought legitimately in the first month of its release. If you downloaded one of my ebooks for free, please understand that it is a stolen copy. I don’t get royalties for stolen copies and neither does my publisher.
Most authors are just hardworking, average citizens. Very few make enough royalties to earn a living with just their writing. With so many copies illegally downloaded and shared every day, my dream, and the dream of many writers to work full time on their craft, will remain just that—a dream.
Please don’t steal ebooks. If you see Siren-BookStrand books being offered for free, or sold in bulk lots, chances are that they are stolen. Please don’t download them. You can help by reporting illegal sharing to [email protected] and encouraging your friends and family to do the right thing.
With deep gratitude,
Rachel Clark
DEDICATION
To all of you who paid for this book. I couldn’t do it without you. Thanks.
TEE-ANI’S PIRATES
RACHEL CLARK
Copyright © 2010
Prologue
The harsh sound of a whip rang out across the crowded cargo bay. Tee-ani pushed through the group of terrified women, trying to get to the one who was injured, the one still being attacked. Another loud snapping sound, another terrified, pain-filled scream.
What the hell was wrong with these creatures? Men seemed too kind a word. They may have looked similar to humans, but the complete lack of empathy toward another’s suffering seemed downright bewildering.
Tee-ani broke through the edges of the crowd as one of their captors raised his arm to hit the woman again.
“Stop,” she yelled as she placed herself between the whip and the injured woman. The guard hesitated at the sound of her words and then turned his attention to her.
“This is not your concern, slave. Move away or you will be next.”
The voice sounded gravelly and cruel and the creature grinned maliciously. He obviously enjoyed the woman’s pain and no doubt he would enjoy hers as well. Tee-ani swallowed nervously, but stepped in front of the guard, effectively cutting off his clear aim at the terrified woman.
“She’s just a child. She doesn’t understand the rules yet.” Tee-ani wasn’t above begging, but she knew that only a show of strength would stop this creature. It seemed the only thing they understood. He raised his arm again as if to strike, but Tee-ani held her ground. No way would she let more harm come to this young woman if she could do something to stop it.
She held her hand out, palm facing him in what she hoped was a universal sign to stop, and then she grinned back at him, trying to infuse as much mocking bravado as she could.
“How do you think Keytark will react when he finds out you damaged his property? He personally wants this slave. How are you going to explain what happened when she dies from injuries you caused?”
The creature threw his head back and made a loud snorting sound that Tee-ani had learned was the equivalent to a human laugh.
“He would thank me for ridding him of this troublesome slave.”
Tee-ani braced herself for the blows that would surely follow such confident arrogance, but they never came. She watched as he coiled the whip and pushed it back into the clip on his belt.
“Clean her up.” He barked the order as he turned and stalked away. Wobbling at the knees, Tee-ani exhaled the breath she’d been holding and then turned to the softly crying woman behind her. The young female had curled into a ball on the deck floor and it seemed that the whip lashes had hit her squarely between the shoulder blades. Tee-ani moved toward her, but she cringed away in fear.
“It’s okay.” She kept her voice low and soothing. “I can help you. I have medical equipment.” The injured woman lifted her head to look at Tee-ani. Her face streaked wi
th tears, eyes puffy and red-rimmed, the woman didn’t look much older than sixteen or seventeen in human years. The beginnings of a bruise showed on her left cheekbone and Tee-ani reached over to run her hand lightly over the swelling. “I can fix this.”
The young woman looked at her again, fear crowding her features as she hesitantly moved so that Tee-ani could help her to her feet. She hissed with pain as her shoulder muscles flexed, and Tee-ani could clearly remember the agony of her own beating so many months ago.
The other women parted to let them through. They were all terrified and it seemed clear from their movements that even though many may have wanted to help, none were willing to align themselves with her, lest they share the same fate.
Tee-ani helped the young woman onto the narrow bench that she’d been using as a medical bed and grabbed her equipment. She helped the woman lie on her stomach and then peeled back the damaged material to examine the angry welts. The skin had broken in many places and Tee-ani could see green blood oozing from the damaged areas.
“Sweetie,” she said as she moved into the young woman’s line of vision. “What species are you?” The girl shook her head in confusion, but gasped in pain when the movement pulled against her damaged flesh. Tee-ani tried again. “What is your home planet?”
“G’trobia.” It was a small breathy sound, as if she didn’t understand the question. Tee-ani moved so that the young woman could see her clearly.
“That explains the green blood but not how you ended up on a slave ship.” Curving her lips into what she hoped looked like a kind smile, Tee-ani showed her the medical instrument that she held and then straightened so that she could use the technology to close the wounds on the woman’s back. “G’trobian females aren’t supposed to leave the planet. Isn’t that right? How did you get abducted by slave traders?”
Tee-ani saw the woman’s body tense. A reaction she suspected had nothing to do with the pain of the beating she’d just received.
“I wasn’t abducted.” The monotone of the mumbled words startled Tee-ani for a moment. Every G’trobian that she’d ever met had a fascinating sing-song quality to their voice, but it was completely missing in this woman’s speech pattern.
Moving back into the woman’s line of vision, Tee-ani tried to make eye contact. The young woman’s eyes seemed unfocused, as if she saw something from the past, not what was actually in front of her eyes.
Tee-ani reached out a hand to carefully brush stringy, matted, sweat-soaked hair away from the woman’s eyes.
“If you weren’t abducted, how did you end up a slave?”
The woman’s eyes filled with tears as she said the one thing guaranteed to chill Tee-ani all the way to her soul.
“My family sold me.”
Chapter One
Nearly four Earth months later…
Tee-ani sat on the stool, fighting the lethargy she felt. It had been close to forty-eight hours since she’d had any sleep—or even a moment’s reprieve—and her body just couldn’t give her any more.
“Looks like that was our last patient,” Sarah told her as she walked back into the medical bay. The woman still bounced with energy, despite the fact that she’d been dealing with patients alongside Tee-ani for the last two days. “You look like hell,” Sarah said with a smile on her face.
“Well, thank you, that makes me feel so much better.” Tee-ani laughed tiredly. Sarah was married to the ship’s captain and had been able to help with the influx of seriously wounded patients. They’d come across the freighter after a vicious attack and most of its crew had been left seriously injured. Sarah’s first aid skills had saved a lot of lives today and Tee-ani felt very grateful for the help. She didn’t know where Sarah’s knowledge of medicine came from, but considering they were all currently crew on a pirate ship, it was probably better that she remain in the dark.
“Go get some sleep,” Sarah said, smiling. “I’ll wake you if something comes up that I can’t handle.”
“What about you? You haven’t slept either,” Tee-ani said, concern for the other woman’s health overriding her own needs.
“Yeah, well I’ve learned a few tricks over the years,” she said, smiling. “But I can guarantee that I will sleep for a very long time once I stand down. Go, before I make my husband order you to bed.”
Tee-ani laughed then. Despite the fact that Sarah’s husband, Jordan, was the captain of this pirate ship, he was the most honorable and generous human male she’d ever met. He had never given her an order in the two months since his crew rescued her and many other human females from the slave ship. Many of the women stayed and joined his crew and now he ran his ship like a family. Everyone had a function and a purpose and he’d somehow blended a myriad of skills into a workable team.
“Okay, Sarah,” she conceded, despite the empty threat. “I’ll grab a few hours’ sleep and then I expect you to do the same. That, my friend, is an order from your doctor.”
Sarah grinned and saluted her cheekily before she turned to leave the room.
Suddenly tired beyond anything she’d ever felt before, Tee-ani climbed onto one of the unoccupied medical beds and fell quickly asleep.
* * * *
Trey sauntered into the medical bay, hoping to run into his favorite doctor. His brother, Ben, followed not far behind. The good doctor had been on the ship for less than two months, but they’d both felt an irresistible attraction to the pretty female and for the life of them, neither could explain why.
She was human, after all. Humans mated with a single partner. They held no understanding of G’trobian mating rituals, yet somehow, Trey couldn’t shake the strange attraction. Ben had denied it more times than he could count, but Trey knew without a shadow of a doubt that his brother felt the same odd fascination.
“Damn,” Ben whispered softly as he saw Tee-ani’s sleeping figure. Curled up on one of the medical beds, she looked small, tired, and very, very beautiful. Dark smudges showed clearly against her pale face, testament to how hard she’d worked over the last two days. Every instinct Trey owned clawed at him to protect this woman, to gather her in his arms and never let her go. He barely managed to hold himself back.
Goddess, what was wrong with him? G’trobians didn’t mate out of species. Well, G’ntriel did, but she was a rogue female and too willful to be mated to any true G’trobian males. G’trobian women were supposed to be demure and pleasant and they obeyed the males in their lives—pretty much the exact opposite of G’ntriel and many of the human females on this ship.
Ben glanced up from his perusal of the doctor’s sleeping form. Trey knew what he was thinking. He had enough skill as an empath to sense his brother’s deep disquiet and he didn’t even bother to try to hide his own confusion.
Ben glared at Tee-ani. He hesitated a moment and then he spun on his heel and left the room, his back rigid, his gait stiff. Trey watched as he left, understanding the anger had come from frustration and a little surprised he didn’t feel the same way.
He was about to leave when Tee-ani’s eyes fluttered open.
“Trey?” she asked tiredly as she struggled to sit up. “Is everything okay? Does someone need me?”
Yes, he thought possessively. I need you. But he just shook his head and smiled as he encouraged her to return to her rest.
“I’m sorry I woke you. I just wanted to make sure that you have enough medical supplies.”
“I’m running low on antibiotics for humans,” she said quietly, “but otherwise I’m still fairly well stocked from the last delivery you gave me.”
“Good,” Trey said as he nodded. “I’ll see what I can do to get more in our next delivery.” He smiled when he said it. “Delivery” was a polite euphemism for how they actually got supplies for the ship. It was a pirate ship, after all.
Not stopping to consider his actions, Trey gently pushed Tee-ani back onto the medical bed. “Sleep now. I’ll wake you if we need you.” His loins tightened even as he said the words. Yes, he needed her. His body
acknowledged his attraction to this woman, even if his head wouldn’t agree. She closed her eyes and he reached out to smooth a lock of pale blonde hair from her eyes before he could tell himself not to. She smiled for a brief moment and then fell back to sleep.
He sat there watching her for several minutes, knowing that he shouldn’t but unable to pull himself away. He’d been so deep in thought that the small chirp sound from his communicator startled him.
“Yes, captain?” he asked into the small device.
“Trey, I need you on the bridge.”
“Yes, sir,” he said quietly as he hurried from the room.
* * * *
Ben made it all the way back to his own quarters before he could do something completely stupid—like turning around and going back to the medical bay. The mechanical door slid open and he stepped into his cabin, heading for the sonic shower. Oh, what he wouldn’t give for a real G’trobian cleansing. G’trobians bathed in a fluidic substance that caressed the skin and soothed tired muscles. It had long been part of the mating rituals of his planet, but was widely used for other less intimate moments, as well. Since joining the crew on this ship, he hadn’t had a chance to return to his home world and lately he’d begun to miss lots of the little things.
He spent far more time in the sonic shower than he intended. Distracted, he contemplated his life on board a pirate ship and how different things had been three cycles ago. He only roused from his musings when he heard the door slide open, so he quickly finished up and went into the cabin room that he shared with his brother. Trey wandered in listlessly and flopped onto his own bed.