by Layla Nash
Her eyebrow arched. “What kind of contract?”
The Tyboli would love the lawyer, too, with her legal jargon and emphasis on the correct process and procedures. The rules. They’d hold him to the deal with an iron-clad contract, despite his best efforts to find a loophole. Maybe the lawyer would have more success. He had to swallow a smile. He’d just have to keep an eye on her—and them—and make sure she didn’t end up kidnapped out from under his nose. “Exchange of goods.”
Violet nibbled on some of the fermented vegetables and immediately started coughing, her eyes watering and face turning red. Whatever she’d been about to say disappeared in her fit of sneezing and coughing. Wyzak traded a look with Faros, then sighed and retrieved the galley panel to order something less delicious for the Earther. Faros slid a cup of liquor in front of her. “Sip this. It’ll cut the heat.”
And it was a testimony to her general misery that she didn’t argue. Violet fumbled for the cup and gulped the contents, despite his advice, and Faros sat back to watch the next round of coughing and possible seizures. Earthers didn’t drink Xaravian beverages. Even the males couldn’t...
He glanced at his second-in-command in surprise as Violet held out the cup and croaked, “More.”
Faros poured more into her cup and waited for her to choke on the powerful liquor. Instead, Violet pounded on her chest, cleared her throat, and recovered as if she’d been sipping water all along.
“Very impressive,” he said.
“What?” Violet pushed away her plate and studied the bottle of liquor instead.
Wyzak passed her a tray of Earther-friendly food: the bland proteins they served to the Fleet and its prisoners. “Earthers do not drink the liquor.”
“It’s not that bad,” Violet said. She squinted into the bottle, as if expecting to find something enlightening in the clear liquid, then shook it at Faros. “I don’t even feel buzzed.”
She ruined the indignant declaration with a hiccup. Faros tried not to smile; he finally had a drunk Fleet officer at his table. He’d always wanted one of the bastards at his mercy, but he’d never envisioned having a Fleet officer like Violet in front of him. She’d have a hell of a hangover in the morning, especially if she didn’t stuff herself with protein to absorb the evil booze. “Where did you learn to drink like that?”
Violet put the bottle back carefully, frowning as she studied the Earther food. “Law school. Had to have some kind of vice to deal with the stress and I didn’t feel like sleeping around, so alcohol it was.”
“There are many more vices than just those two,” he said smoothly. “Surely you tried more than sex and liquor?”
She slid him a sideways glance as she toyed with her empty cup.
Faros didn’t mind being a gentleman when the opportunity presented itself. He refilled her drink and left the liquor uncapped on the table. Maybe he could keep her inebriated for the rest of the trip. She seemed far more reasonable after just a few sips of alcohol.
Violet shook her head as she sipped. “Those two were enough.”
“Typically sex doesn’t have the negative side effect of a hangover,” Faros said, still watching her. He could practically see her thoughts turning as she debated and picked at her food. Fascinating. “Unless you Earthers do it differently.”
She snorted and indulged in more of the strong drink, shaking her head. “Regret and shame are their own kind of hangover, and they can’t be fixed with hydration and painkillers.”
The captain leaned back in his chair and swallowed an immediate follow-up. Regret and shame, and apparently a lot of bad decisions? Bad partners? He pondered as he studied her more; he would not have pegged her as the type to run around with many males. She was too controlled, too self-conscious, too... prim and proper. He wondered what it was like when she let her hair down—if she ever did.
Faros flicked his index finger against the half-empty liquor bottle and decided to test her a little more. “Some time ago, I made a small deal with a group of traffickers. I needed to get something off a particular planet, and could not take it myself. They agreed to transport and store it for me for a period of six standard weeks. If I don’t retrieve it before then and settle the bill, they will seize the cargo and most likely send bounty hunters after us to take the ship as collateral.”
“That’s a hell of a problem,” she said. The drink softened her sharp tone and a lazy smile crept over her face. “I’m glad it’s not my problem.”
Wyzak laughed, slapping his hand on the table, and poured more liquor for Faros.
The captain refused to encourage that kind of sass, even if he wanted to grin back and needle her for more surprises. “Since you’re on the ship and would be forfeit along with the rest of us, it’s at least somewhat your problem.”
She sat up straighter and squared her shoulders, looking a little more serious. “Forfeit? What kind of people are you dealing with?”
“Tyboli,” he said with a sigh. It had been the worst decision he’d made in a long, long time, but he’d been desperate to find Faryl’s treatment and save his life. Faros hadn’t had any other choice, and the crew knew that.
“The slave traders?” Violet’s jaw dropped as she stared at him, then she glanced at Wyzak as if waiting for him to be just as shocked as she was. When the second-in-command didn’t blink, the lawyer turned her attention back to Faros. “You can’t be serious. You made a deal with them? And signed a contract? What the hell were you thinking?”
That he had to get the fuck off that planet, he needed the Alliance-created weapons and boosters he’d purchased from some of the ungoverned territories pirates, and that his son was dying. “I had my reasons.”
She pressed her fingertips to her forehead and stared at him. “How much time until you have to pick up the cargo and pay the debt?”
What she really wanted to know, he figured, was how long she had to get the hell off his ship before the Tyboli claimed them all and sold them to free the debt. Faros smiled. “Plenty of time. But you can see why I couldn’t sit in that rebel jail another hour.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Seriously. How long? Where is the contract?”
“I’d offer to load it onto a tablet for you, but I’m not certain I can trust you not to throw it at me.”
Her lips twitched, either in fury or amusement, but she managed to look dignified as she reached for her glass once more. “Then don’t give me a reason to throw it at you.”
Wyzak snorted and shoved to his feet. “That’s unlikely, Earther.” The second-in-command glanced at Faros before going on. “I’ll take the bridge. Izyk reported an issue with the next quadrant and we need to keep an eye out for Alliance hunters.”
The captain dipped his chin in acknowledgment, though he didn’t take his attention off Violet. He knew there weren’t any problems along their path to meet the Tyboli; Wyzak was a good warrior and got out of the way so Faros could converse with the relaxed female. She didn’t seem to care very much that it was just the two of them. Once the door slid closed behind Wyzak, she even attempted to eat more of the Xaravian food that caused her such trouble earlier.
Faros smiled to himself and topped off her drink. Very interesting.
Chapter 8
Violet
The Xaravian liquor with the unpronounceable name tasted a bit like the moonshine her cousins used to distill behind the shed, before Violet’s parents forbade her from visiting that part of the family ever again. She’d never forgotten the burn of the clear liquor. With just a sip from the bottle that Faros so helpfully handed her, she was transported back to the wild, carefree summer days before she started high school. Some of the stress and tension she seemed to carry with her everywhere after high school eased when she took each sip of that liquor.
She didn’t even mind when Wyzak left and she watched Faros from across the simple table, the dishes piled with inedible food. She tried some kind of fermented vegetable, practically radiating peppery heat, and retreated back to the midd
ling steak that Wyzak had ordered for her. “How long until the contract is due? How well is it drafted?”
“I’m not a lawyer, of course,” Faros said, his silver eyes impassive. “But it’s fairly well negotiated. There aren’t any loopholes that we’ve been able to discover. And it’s due in a standard week.”
“A week?” Violet’s heart stuttered. No wonder he’d been desperate to get out of jail to handle his business. Having a contract with the Tyboli broken and hanging over one’s head... That wasn’t any way to live, even for a rebellion pirate and privateer. The Tyboli were ruthless enough that even Fleet general counsel didn’t want to touch anything the Tyboli negotiated. “Do you have…what you owe? Can you fulfill the contract?”
He paused, head tilted as he studied her, and Violet held her breath. Newton help her if he had no intention of paying the Tyboli back for their efforts. Her only real option, if that was the case, was to steal an escape pod and take her chances out in the ungoverned quadrants. It would be a kinder, gentler death than anything the Tyboli or their minions would serve up.
Faros waved his hand back and forth a little, making a shrugging gesture that set her nerves on edge. “For the most part, everything should resolve itself.”
“For the most part? What does that mean?” She wanted to get up and shake him. How could anyone be so cavalier with not only his own life, but his crew’s?
“That is my concern and not for you to worry about,” he said smoothly. The captain tapped the edge of her plate. “You should eat more, otherwise that hangover will include more shame than normal.”
Her cheeks heated; she still couldn’t believe she’d admitted to some of those wild days in law school. She’d been completely out of a control after the uber-restrictive high school her parents sent her to. Law school had been the first time she’d been free in what felt like decades. And being so completely out of control, unaccountable to anyone but herself... That had been terrifying. How the hell did anyone survive it?
But Violet wasn’t about to let him be so patronizing. “It’s my concern because I’m too valuable of a bounty to wind up in a Tyboli ship. So if you’re not going to fix this, I will.”
“That’s right,” he murmured, dark eyebrow arched. “The whole group of you Earthers have bounties on you. Are you sure the Fleet will still pay it? I heard a rumor that one of you made a deal with the Alliance’s spies to leave you all alone.”
Violet held her breath; she’d wondered about how Jess managed to distract the Fleet from coming after them. The bounties hadn’t been forgotten, even if they weren’t officially still on offer. If a Tyboli ship scooped her up and offered her to the Fleet, she had no doubts that the Alliance would pay a hefty fee to have her back in their claws. She sighed and hoped none of her fear leaked through. “And you believe that? That the Fleet would walk away?”
His impassive expression cracked just a bit with an unfortunately endearing smile, like a little boy with a secret prank about to spring shut on someone. Violet hardened her heart. He’d kidnapped her and dragged her into danger, without her having the chance to walk away. She might have felt crazy enough to go with them, if he’d asked.
Faros leaned his elbows on the table, suddenly closer and intimidatingly large, and the smile spread just a touch. “I’ve learned to expect the unexpected with the Fleet and its officers. You certainly haven’t disappointed.”
She sat up straighter, feeling indignant. “And what the hell do you mean by that?”
She should have stormed out in a rage without waiting for him to explain himself, since she felt like he mocked her or set some kind of trap. But as the liquor softened the world around the edges and took the heat out of her irritation, she didn’t know if she could have stormed out if given the opportunity. And the last thing she needed was to stagger into the wall or fall on her face.
The pirate’s shoulders flexed in his casual shirt and one of the bones tied in his hair fell forward as the dark locks moved. She almost couldn’t breathe, caught in his silver-eyed gaze. “You are full of surprises. Much like ungoverned space.”
Violet laughed before she caught herself, then struggled to maintain a stern expression as his eyes twinkled and he even winked at her. Winked. As if it were all a joke to him or... or a flirtation. Was he flirting with her? “Did you just call me ungoverned space?”
“How am I to know what secrets you’re hiding?” He gestured at the full length of her body. “And there doesn’t seem to be anyone laying claim to you, so... ungoverned? Unclaimed? Wild and rebellious? Stop me when I get close.”
“You’re completely wrong and this is completely inappropriate.” But her heart beat faster and her skin prickled and she wanted to bite her lip. “You shouldn’t say that sort of thing.”
“This is my ship,” he said. “I can say whatever I want. It’s delightfully freeing, isn’t it?”
Violet clenched her hands into fists under the table so he wouldn’t see her struggle. Delightfully freeing? More like terrifying. How did he decide what to do every day? If he said and did anything he wanted, how did he deal with the consequences? Were there consequences? “You might be the captain but there are still social norms, and you shouldn’t—”
“Yes, but I’m also a pirate, and typically pirates do not abide by social norms.” He still fixed her with that intense stare and the crooked smile. “Which is even more freeing. You should try it, Violet. Just say what you want. Doesn’t matter what it is. Tell me exactly what you want to. Scream it at me. Curse at me.”
Her lips parted in anticipation. It felt like madness. She never said what she really thought, not anymore. It was all carefully locked away. She vibrated with the urge to do what he suggested, to blurt out that she found him suddenly very attractive and it was probably the liquor making her foolish and that was precisely why she didn’t drink anymore. She even reached for the glass again, to push it away or finish it off, she didn’t know. But the words stuck in her throat, too real to be spoken out loud.
His hand slid across the table slowly, so slowly she could have moved to avoid it, and ghosted over her fingers so he could capture her wrist in his massive grip. His thumb stroked across her skin with a gentle rasp, and static shivered through every inch of her. “Do it, Violet. Tell me. Say it.”
She wanted to. She desperately wanted to blurt out something wild and crazy and completely inappropriate. She loved the way he said her name, roughened with his accent and the slight hiss of air through his sharpened teeth. Maybe they hypnotized their prey with their eyes. She hadn’t heard that Xaravians could do that, but there was no other explanation for how quickly she’d lost her composure and good sense.
The air crackled. She bit her lower lip and thought about kissing him. It had been forever since she’d enjoyed a man’s company. Well, since she’d enjoyed a man’s body. Their company wasn’t always the point. Her cheeks burned still more, and Faros’s smile spread farther. Maybe Xaravians could read minds. Maybe that was the problem.
She wanted to snap an insult or blistering condemnation, to knock some of the ego out of him, but every word she’d ever known fled her brain until she was left with... nothing. Nothing but a blank memory and the silver radiation of his eyes.
When he moved, Violet braced for something offensive or shocking. His hands caught her face and drew her out of her chair, closer to him, until she almost sat in his lap. He still sprawled, unconcerned and at ease, in his chair like a true pirate captain, but a curious tension filled his muscles. Her hands braced on his chest so she didn’t end up plastered to his body; instead of reassuring her that she could keep her distance, it just proved how muscular and strong he was. Taking advantage of his... company seemed like a better idea with every passing moment.
Faros’s thumb smoothed over her cheek as he studied her mouth, and he smiled enough to display those sharp teeth. “You’re sure there’s nothing you want to say to me?”
Violet was almost certain there was. But she couldn�
�t remember what. She held her breath. She should have bolted. Taken the reprieve and stormed out. She needed to find her equilibrium and self-control before she completely threw caution to the wind and spiraled into bad behavior once more.
His scales flared with reds and blues and an intense purple that nearly distracted her as Faros leaned in and his mouth hovered just a whisper away from hers. Her fingers dug into his chest, testing the hard scales under the softer fabric of his shirt, and she started to push away just as his lips brushed hers and stole the rest of her good sense.
Chapter 9
Faros
Faros had good instincts. He sensed immediately that the carefully-controlled facade that the lawyer presented was exactly that and nothing more—a facade. A veneer. Underneath seethed a wild side, an adventurous party girl who just needed someone to inspire her into indulging all those vices she’d missed out on.
So he kissed her. Slid his hands over her smooth, soft skin until his fingers tangled the carefully tied-back hair that felt like silk, and dragged her face to his. She weighed almost nothing, balanced against his chest and thigh. Violet took a sharp, surprised breath just before his lips touched hers, and Faros lost himself in the gentle give of her mouth. She tasted like heat and spice and a little like nerves.
But she didn’t pull away. He sat up more and dragged her closer, deepening the kiss until she finally opened to him and he tasted a hint of her willingness. Her fingers dug into his chest. Faros made a hungry sound and lurched to his feet, carrying her with him, so he could bend her over the table and have more room to feel her body against his. It had been far too long since he’d taken a female. His lust spiraled until he nearly lost all reason, lost in Violet’s soft curves.