by Paige Tyler
The other girl shrugged. “Most of the time.”
Not really crazy about the idea of sitting across the table from the man after he’d just put her over his knee and spanked her, Laken gave Devorah a rueful smile. “Then maybe it would be better if I just got something to eat and brought it back here.”
“Don’t be silly. If you spend all your time in this cabin, you’ll be stir-crazy by the time we get to Marlon Prime. Besides, I want to introduce you to the rest of the crew. They’ll all want to meet you.”
Remembering the looks she’d gotten as Finn had dragged her through the ship earlier, Laken doubted the rest of the crew would be as friendly as Devorah. Nevertheless, Laken found herself reluctantly agreeing. The dark-haired woman was right. She couldn’t spend the entire journey in the small cabin. Besides, she’d never been the type to shy away from confrontation. If the captain didn’t like her taking her meals with the crew, that was his problem.
Devorah smiled. “Good,” she said. “It’ll be nice to have another woman on board to talk to for a change. My cabin’s two doors down on the right if you need anything. If I’m not there, I’m usually in the communications room.”
Glad to have found a friend on board, Laken assured the other woman she would stop by if she needed anything. Which she just might. All she had on her was the dress she was wearing and whatever was in her purse. Of course, Karsten would probably say such meager living served her right for sneaking on board his ship.
Laken’s lip curled as she thought of the man. Her bottom was still tender from the spanking he’d given her, damn him. Just who the hell did he think he was, putting her over his knee like that? Wait until she told Mallin. He would be furious. He might even call Karsten out. She couldn’t help but smile at the vision of Mallin knocking the arrogant captain off that high horse of his.
But for now, at least, she would have to deal with Karsten herself. She wasn’t afraid to stand up to him, but she didn’t want to get another spanking, either. The best way to avoid that was to stay out of his way altogether and give him no reason to make good on his promise to put her over his knee again if she did anything he didn’t like. That shouldn’t be too difficult on a ship this size.
With a sigh, Laken walked over to the wash basin and gazed at her reflection in the small mirror above it. After her run-in with Karsten, she’d been half afraid to see what she looked like, but apart from her long hair being a bit tousled and a smudge of dirt on her cheek, she looked none the worse for wear. She wished she could say the same for her bottom. She reached back to rub the offended area with her hands. Brute. What kind of man spanked a woman, for heaven’s sakes?
Running the water, she splashed some on her face to wash off the smudge of dirt, then ran her brush through her hair before giving herself another look in the mirror. Satisfied with her reflection, she left the cabin and headed for the mess.
Devorah’s directions were easy enough to follow, but when Laken got there, she hesitated outside the door. The whole crew was inside from the sound of it. Her stomach churned a little at that. She wasn’t usually nervous when it came to meeting new people, but this wasn’t exactly a normal social setting. Being a stowaway wouldn’t endear her to the crew, which meant she was going to have to work extra hard to win them over. Hopefully, they were a lot nicer than their captain.
Smoothing her dress, she took a deep breath and stepped into the room. Besides Devorah, there were five men at the table, and Laken sighed of relief when she saw the captain wasn’t among them. No matter what she had told herself about standing up to him, she didn’t feel like having him glare at her across the table the whole time she was eating. As it was, Finn was eyeing her with about just as much welcome.
Laken forced a smile to her lips. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
Devorah shook her head. “No, of course not. Come on in. I saved you a seat.”
Laken was extremely aware of the crew’s gazes on her as she walked over to the long table and pulled out the chair between Finn and Devorah. As she sat down, the other woman reached for one of the bowls in the center of the table and ladled a thick brown stew into it, then set it down in front of Laken.
“Let me introduce you,” Dev said. “Finn, you already know. And that’s Keir, Jorn, Vance and Kamran.”
Each man gave her a nod as Dev made the introductions. Except for Finn. He didn’t acknowledge her at all.
“Dev didn’t tell us you were so pretty.” Keir sat back in his chair and flashed her a smile. Good looking with blond hair and blue eyes, he was the youngest of the men.
“That’s because she’s spoken for,” Dev said. “Not that such a minor detail would stop you from putting the moves on her, I’m sure.” She grinned at Laken. “You’ve got to watch out for him.”
Across from her, Keir laughed, as did the rest of the men at the table. Laken dipped her spoon into the bowl of stew. “I’ve never been on a cargo ship before. It’s different than I expected.”
“It’s just home to us,” Keir said. Her brow furrowed. “You live on here all the time?”
It was Kamran who answered. “Twenty-four seven.”
Laken was surprised by that. She couldn’t imagine living on a ship. “What about your families?”
Kamran shrugged. “We see them whenever we get around to our respective home planets.”
“How often is that?”
“Every couple of years or so.”
Her eyes went wide. “Every couple of years? Wow. That must be tough.”
She wasn’t exactly on speaking terms with her father right now, but she couldn’t imagine not seeing her parents on a regular basis.
Kamran shrugged again. “It is what it is. Work keeps us busy.”
Laken nodded. “The Federation is always shipping something somewhere.”
“We don’t work for the Federation,” Dev said.
Laken frowned. She thought every cargo ship worked for the Federation. Well, all the reputable cargo ships anyway. But then again, she really didn’t know that much about it. “Oh. Who do you work for then?”
“We’re independent,” the dark-haired woman said.
She learned something new every day. “What do you transport?”
From where he was sitting on the other side of the table, Jorn shrugged his broad shoulders. “Pretty much anything and everything. You name it, we’ve probably hauled it.”
Keir grinned. “We’re hauling something really valuable on this run. Captain says...”
“That you should learn to keep your damn mouth shut.”
Laken jumped at the sound of Karsten’s voice. She turned to see him standing in the doorway, his first officer at his side. The old man’s features were inscrutable, but the captain’s handsome features were marred by a scowl as he glared at his crew.
Across from her, Keir flushed and sat up straighter in his chair. “Captain?”
Karsten’s brows drew together. “Our cargo is none of anyone’s business, especially not a stowaway. Just because I didn’t confine her to quarters doesn’t mean I want you treating her like she’s one of the crew because she’s not. Is that understood?”
Laken’s hand tightened on her spoon. She couldn’t decide if she was more embarrassed or angry by what he’d said. He was acting like she was a criminal.
“Is that understood?” Karsten repeated when Keir didn’t answer.
The other man nodded, his color deepening. “Understood, Captain.”
She watched as Karsten make his way over to the table and took the seat. So much for staying out of his way. Part of her wanted to tell him exactly what he could do with his nasty attitude, his precious cargo and his damn ship, while the other part wanted to storm out of the room. In the end, she did neither. Telling him off would just start argument, which she didn’t want to do in front of the crew. And she’d be damned if she would let him have the satisfaction of chasing her off. Especially since she hadn’t even eaten half of the stew in her bowl.
Laken stayed as long as she could, but it was impossible to eat in the awkward silence that followed. Finally unable to take it anymore, she pushed back her chair and got to her feet.
“I’m rather tired so I think I’ll return to my room,” she said quietly. “It was nice meeting all of you.”
She didn’t wait for them to return the sentiment, but instead turned and left the room, her head held high.
* * * * *
Rade Karsten watched her go. As did every other man in the room, he noted irritably. The way his crew looked at Laken Andara, it was like they’d never seen a woman before. He could understand why. With her long red hair, full pouty lips and curvy figure, she was gorgeous. If he were a less scrupulous man, he might consider taking advantage of her and offer passage in return for warming his bed like some merchant captains he knew. But unfortunately, he was a gentleman. At least as much of a gentleman as a part-time pirate could be.
Dev was the next to leave, saying something about needing to run a check on the com equipment. A few minutes later, the rest of the crew followed. As they filed out of the room, Rade was extremely aware that his first officer was looking at him. Kellen had been with him since the beginning and Rade couldn’t ask for a better second-in-command, but when the older man had something on his mind, he wasn’t afraid to speak it. Obviously, now was going to be no exception.
“You were a little hard on the crew about the girl, don’t you think?” Kellen asked as he reached for another slice of bread.
Rade’s mouth tightened. “The girl is a stowaway and they’re treating her like she’s an honored guest. Did you see the way the men were looking at her? I’ll be lucky if I don’t have a mutiny on my hands.”
His first officer smiled. “She is very beautiful, I’ll give you that, but I doubt we have to be worried about a mutiny.”
“Maybe not. But for all we know, she could be a Federation spy.”
“Her?” Kellen lifted a brow. “You don’t really believe that, do you?
Rade swore under his breath. He didn’t know what he believed. It wasn’t every day he found a stowaway on board, but of all the days she could have picked, this was probably the worst. Against his gut instinct, he had just agreed to take on a job that had the potential to get him and his crew all killed.
“Regardless if she’s a spy or not, she’s trouble,” he snapped. “And the sooner she’s off the ship the better.”
Kellen frowned. “You don’t plan on taking her all the way to Marlon Prime, then?”
Rade gave him a hard look. “I never said I would.”
The other man’s frown deepened. “Unless you plan on stopping somewhere in between, that means dropping her off on Seguu.”
Rade said nothing for a moment. As the first stop on their run, Seguu would be the logical choice, if it weren’t a complete hellhole. He didn’t even like Dev getting off the ship when they docked there, and though he couldn’t care less about Laken Andara, he couldn’t bring himself to dump her off on a planet like that.
Realizing that Kellen was still waiting for an answer, Rade shook his head. “No. That cesspool is no place for a woman like her. We’ll try and make up some time so we can drop her off someplace better.”
That seemed to satisfy Kellen and they both ate in silence for a time before the other man spoke again.
“You seem to be getting yourself all worked up about this girl. Granted, she’s a stowaway, but harmless from what I can tell. Is something else bothering you?”
Rade frowned. He had downplayed the risk involved with the job they were going to Marlon Prime to do, and for a moment, he wondered if he should confide in the other man. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but for some reason he couldn’t. Not yet. So he shook his head.
“No. Everything’s fine.”
He hoped.
* * * * *
Laken had gone directly back to her cabin after she’d left the mess. What she’d said about being tired had been true and with little else to occupy herself, she decided to take a nap. As tired as she was, thought, she couldn’t sleep, and ended up lying there staring up at the ceiling.
Though she knew putting up with the hateful Captain Karsten and his crap would all be worth it once she was in Mallin’s arms, she couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about stowing away on board the cargo ship. Not because her presence annoyed the hell out of its captain, but because she had left Tellune without a word to anyone, not even her mother. Whatever Laken’s relationship was with her father, she had always been close to her mother, and Laken knew she would be frantic when she discovered her daughter was missing. Laken wished she could get a message to her.
Laken’s brow furrowed as an idea suddenly came to her. That jerk Karsten may have smashed her com, but there were other ways to communicate with the outside world. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Laken got to her feet and left the cabin.
Taking a chance that Dev would be in the communications room, she headed down the passageway in that direction. The dark-haired woman was sitting at one of the many computers in the room and she looked up at Laken’s entrance.
“Hey.”
Laken returned the other woman’s smile with one of her own. “Do you have a minute?”
“Sure. Come in.”
Laken walked across the room and took a seat in the chair beside Dev. “I was so eager to get to my fiancé Mallin that I left Tellune without telling anyone where I was going, and now I’m concerned my mother is going to be worried about me. Could you help me get a message to her?”
Dev said nothing for a moment, then shook her head. “I’d really like to, but I can’t, Not without the captain’s permission.”
Laken was afraid Dev would say that. “I won’t say anything, if you won’t.”
Dev’s lips curved into a rueful smile. “I’m sorry, Laken, but I can’t. If the captain gives the okay though, I’d be happy to send a message for you.”
Trying to change the other woman’s mind would only be a waste of time. Laken had seen how the captain treated his crew and she was sure Dev didn’t want to get on his bad side. “I understand,” she said. “I’ll talk to him.”
Outside the room, Laken stopped for a moment. Having to go to any man, especially someone like Karsten, and ask him for his permission to do something as simple as send a message to her mother went against everything in her, but if that was what she had to do, then she would. Remembering how well her previous meeting had gone with him, she wasn’t looking forward to it. But it would be different this time. She wouldn’t lose her temper, no matter how much he annoyed her.
With that in mind, she walked down the passageway to the captain’s ready-room. Once there, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door, then waited.
“Are you looking for the captain?”
Recognizing Jorn’s voice, Laken turned to see him walking down the passageway toward her. “Yes.”
“He’s down in the cargo hold.”
Thanking Jorn, she went back the way she had come and headed down to the cargo hold. She had only come this way the one time when Finn had dragged her to see Karsten, so it took her a while to find it. When she got there, she saw the captain and his first officer standing beside a stack of open crates, along with Finn and Kamran. She hesitated, wondering if she should interrupt, but the first officer spotted her before she could leave. He leaned close to Karsten and whispered something. Karsten’s head jerked up, his eyes meeting hers. Giving Kamran a terse order to close the crate they had been looking in, he turned on his heel and strode across the cargo hold.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded. “I told you I didn’t want you sneaking around the ship.”
She glared at him. “I wasn’t sneaking around. I went to your ready-room to talk to you and Jorn told me I could find you down here.”
He clenched his jaw. “Well, you found me. What do you want?”
Laken’s gaze went to where the other men were standing
down in the hold. “I wanted to ask you a favor, but since you’re busy, I’ll come back later.”
A look of annoyance flashed across his face. “You’re here now, so ask me.”
She hesitated for a moment, wetting her suddenly dry lips. “I’d like to send a message to my mother letting her know I’m okay.”
“No.”
Laken blinked, taken aback by his curt answer. “But she’ll be worried about me.”
He shrugged. “Then you should have thought of that before you decided to stow away on my ship.”
“But...”
“I said no!”
“Why not?”
He folded his arms across his broad chest. “Because I said so, that’s why.”