by Stella Cassy
That would've undone any progress I'd made with my men by coming down so hard on the slave. I'd itched to hold her close and protect her.
Eventually, I gave in to my thoughts of guilt at her pain and stood. "Page me if I'm needed," I said before leaving the room. Nobody responded. I probably wouldn't be needed until we arrived on Coovoo.
My legs carried me to Leticia Oslo's personal quarters. I stared at the gold square outside her door for far too long. If anyone looked on the camera feed for this hallway or walked my way, they'd see me standing outside the slave's door like a dumb fool. I pressed the square and walked in to find her sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. Her bed was made neatly, and she wore one of the coverall sets from the medibay.
Leticia jumped to her feet. "What do you want?" she asked in a deep voice. I was sure she intended to sound angry and intimidating, but the huskiness of her voice was sexy, not aggressive. The memory of my imaginings in the shower led me to wish I could hear that husky voice moan out my name.
I cleared my throat. "I came to let you know that you can leave this room if you'd like. There isn't anywhere on the ship you can't be, except for each crew member's personal quarters." My words were stiff and formal. "As long as you are obedient and don't attempt to injure me or my crew, you are free to do as you wish."
Her eyes flashed. "Obedient?"
"Of course. Do as you're told and there's no reason to think you'll have to be punished so harshly again."
My throat itched, and I closed my mouth to clear it again. Before I could apologize and tell her that I wished I'd come up with a different way to get through to her, she stepped forward until she was close enough for me to wrap my arms around her.
My brows lifted in surprise. What was she doing?
She clenched her fists at her side. "The next time you do something like that to me, you'd better kill me," she said through clenched teeth. Her face was blood red, and spit flew out of her mouth.
Damn, she was pissed. I bristled. I understood her anger, but I was still her captor and protector. She had no right to be so aggressive toward me. "Stand down, human. Your punishment was harsh, but that doesn't give you the right to challenge me. I have no wish to injure you further." Her hostility and backbone were sexy. I didn't want to be challenged in front of my crew, but in private, I loved that she had the courage to stand her ground.
"Injure me further?" her voice rose an octave and her expression switched from angry to outraged. "You almost boiled me alive! What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing is wrong with me, slave." I stepped forward, our fronts pressing together. Luckily, she backed off, because the feel of her warmth through our clothes caused my dick to harden instantly. I hoped she couldn't see it. If she hadn't moved she definitely would've felt it.
"In front of my crew, you must treat me with the respect of my station," I said evenly. "There is no other option for you."
"What about when they're not around, like now?"
I longed to tell her she could treat me any way she wished, but that wouldn't have been appropriate at all. Especially considering I hoped she'd eventually wish to treat me like a lover. Damn it. When had I flipped from determined to sell her to determined to bed her?
Maybe I could do both. A good fuck would get her out of my system, then I could make sure she was sold to someone that would treat her well.
"You do not have to be formal with me when we're alone together," I said. "There is no reason we can't make sure your time with us is as pleasant as possible."
"I'm your slave," she said bleakly. "How can that be pleasant?"
"You're less a slave and more a captive," I said slowly. "I don't plan on having you clean the kitchens or anything, but you still belong to me until other arrangements can be made."
"I don't belong to anyone," she said severely, her backbone rearing up again.
"You can't belong to yourself, not in this world. Maybe you did on Earth, but humans are not free here."
"Why?"
"You're too valuable. For one thing, you're a breeder. If you aren't owned by someone powerful, you'll be vulnerable to any species in the galaxy."
Her dark brown eyes were wide. The poor creature was terrified. "What, specifically is a breeder? I get the gist from the name, but can you please be more specific?"
"Your biological makeup is compatible with a multitude of creatures. You can mate with many different species and your offspring will take their dominant genes. You can provide many children to species that have a shortage of women."
Horror filled her expression. "Please, no." I stepped backward as tears filled her eyes. I didn't know how to handle that. "I'm not a breeder. Please don't let them rape me."
My dragon roared inside me, desperate to break free and wrap himself around the delicate, vulnerable creature. Damn it. Damn it! He wanted to keep her. With him on her side, I didn't stand a chance.
No. We were selling her, and that was final.
"I will make sure your new owner is powerful and kind. You will not be mistreated. I'll make sure of it."
I turned and left her room before I promised more things. Now I'd have the task of finding a private buyer instead of an auction. I was sure I would get top dollar for her, but facilitating a private purchase was a much bigger pain in the ass. It would require a lot of work. I needed to get started researching potential candidates.
8
Leti
The scream building in my throat wouldn’t be contained. I grabbed the pillow from my neatly made bed and screamed into it. That infuriating man! How had he managed to get under my skin so fast?
I'd been working out exactly what I'd say to him when I saw him again. I'd practiced it. I'd even recited it out loud, for cripes sake. I'd planned to tell him that I would respect his authority, and I wouldn't try to throw chairs at him again. I would do as he said. In exchange, I would ask that he help me get back home. I was going to offer to do anything he wanted. I could clean, cook, or provide medical services. I could work off the cost of the journey back to Earth. Surely I could do something productive for him so he'd pay to take me back home.
I'd even considered offering to be his mistress and working off the costs of the journey using the oldest profession. Whatever it took to get back home.
But the instant he'd stepped into the room, my hackles had risen. How dare he just walk in after he tied me up and held me over that scalding steam. No matter that there was no long-term damage, the short-term damage had been absolutely traumatic.
I jumped to my feet and paced my room. He'd be sure to find me a benevolent new owner. Owner! The thought of being owned by another person was disgusting.
My feet moved back and forth across the room. It was big bedroom by standards on Earth, but it was easily the smallest room on the ship. At least it gave me plenty of room to pace. I had too much nervous energy to stay still.
The infuriating captain had given me permission to explore. I didn't have to stay in the room.
I stopped in front of the gold square that would let me out of the room but hesitated. I didn't know if I was ready to face a ship full of strange dragon men. Did they even have any women on board? I hadn't seen one yet.
As I ran over the events of the day, I continued to walk and mutter to myself. The image of the broad dragon kept flashing into my mind. His uniform had fit him like it was picked out by a photographer for a sexy spaceman photo shoot. He'd make a great Mr. December. I snickered to myself.
Maybe I was starting to lose it. He was a dick, but he was a sexy dick. And I had clearly noticed the bulge growing in his pants after he'd pressed his body against mine. He'd been aggressive, but he obviously thought me attractive.
I couldn't help but wonder what a dragon dick looked like. What if it had little spikes or scales on it? Would sex with a dragon hurt?
If he sold me to an alien with a dick that had barbs or something on it, they'd destroy me inside and I couldn't breed for them. Surely they needed t
heir breeder's reproductive systems to remain healthy.
My mind kept going back to his bulge. It had been impressive. Assuming he and I would've been compatible, I wouldn't have been averse to trying adventurous new sex with a dragon, except for the part about him boiling me.
My stomach growled at me, reminding me I hadn't eaten since... I couldn't remember when. Before the dragons had invaded the slimy orange aliens' ship.
The symphony in my stomach gave me the courage to hit the gold square on the wall and step out into the hall. I gasped when I nearly ran into the captain.
"Leticia," he said formally. "I was just coming back to see you."
I raised one eyebrow and jutted out my chin. "Oh?"
"My intentions with my visit earlier had not been to anger you. I came to apologize."
Apologize? For nearly killing me? I set my lips and didn't respond.
He looked around, almost as if he was nervous. "I'm sorry I was so harsh with you. Actually, I'm sorry I wasn't nicer to you when I first encountered you. You were clearly overwhelmed and scared. I should've let you know upfront that as long as you didn't cause any trouble you wouldn't be harmed."
He was damn right. He should've tried talking to me first before barreling ass over to me and making me feel threatened. I still didn't respond. With men on Earth, it was usually better to stay silent and let them say their piece. They'd either redeem themselves or dig their graves.
"I, uh, after I scared you and you responded violently, I should've given you an immediate slap back. That would've, uh, satisfied my crew and been less traumatic for you. It would've kept with our traditions as well."
I cocked my head and narrowed my eyes. Hitting me would've been unpleasant, but it would've been a far cry better than the water. Plus, I'd always been a believer that if you hit someone, don't cry foul if they hit you back, no matter if they're bigger and stronger. Women had no right to hit men either.
He stared at me expectantly. I considered apologizing for hitting him but decided not to. He'd deserved it. I shrugged. "I'll consider accepting your apology."
The smile that lit up his face was a startling contrast to the grumps I'd seen so far. I nearly laughed at the boyish charm on his chiseled features. "Can I escort you anywhere? Where are you headed?"
"I'm hungry. Nobody has brought me food."
He nodded. "I see. That's partly my fault. I didn't properly instruct you about the duties and procedures on this ship." He motioned that I should follow him. "I've just brought a meal to my room. It's more than enough for both of us. If you'll join me I can fill you in on what you can expect over the coming journey."
I considered requesting access to the kitchens. I was sure I could bumble my way through whatever they had down there and make my own meal. However, the information he had could prove helpful to me. Plus, I wanted to start broaching the topic of returning to Earth. "All right," I said softly. He stepped around me and touched a gold square several feet down from my own. "Your room is next to mine?"
"Indeed. The good doctor must have thought we'd make good neighbors," he said dryly.
I snorted. More likely he wanted to keep an eye on me.
His room looked exactly like my own, except he had hooks on one wall that held several more of his uniform coveralls. I didn't even see a cabinet for underwear. "Where do you shower?" I asked, then blushed. I didn't mean to ask something so personal.
"We have communal showers," he said without looking at me. "They're private, but we share them. That's just on this ship because it's so small. On most of the Hielsrane ships, each private quarter has its own full bathroom." He busied himself with the platter of food sitting on his bed. "Please, sit," he said, motioning to the other side of the bed.
I sat gingerly on the edge, as far away as I could. Sitting on his bed and eating what looked like an assortment of exotic fruits was more intimate than I was really ready for.
He grabbed a purple fruit, round and spiky, biting into it. The juice ran down his chin and he chuckled. "Sorry, it's juicy." I handed him one of the napkins from the tray so he could dry his face.
"What does it taste like?" I asked. What if I had some crazy allergy to the space fruit? I hoped Doctor Oslow was capable of administering something for anaphylaxis.
"Here," he said. He pulled out a knife and cut off a chunk of the bright fruit. "Try it."
I nibbled the inside, avoiding the spiky outside. I didn't think my mouth would appreciate those spikes. His mouth must've been made of thicker scales for him to be able to bite into it.
When the flavor of the fruit exploded on my tongue, I moaned involuntarily. I was starving, and the fruit was delicious.
"You like it?" the captain asked in a deep voice.
I opened my eyes—hell, I hadn't even realized I'd closed them. "It's amazing." He cut me off several more pieces and put them on my side of the platter. I watched him as his fingers deftly divided the fruit. He kept the part around where he'd bitten in and finished it off. I realized I had no idea what his name was.
"What's your name?" I asked curiously. If I was going to be spending time with the man, I might as well learn a little about him. Plus if we got to know each other on a more personal level, he might become more emotionally invested and want to return me to Earth to make me happy.
"Illion Nevrin-Hielsrane." He grabbed a different fruit and began quartering it. This one was dark green and filled the air with a sweet smell as soon as he cut into it.
"How did you come to be captain of this ship?" I asked as I tried the new fruit. The moans escaped me again. The fruit was delectable. The meat of the plant was reminiscent of coconut, but the flavor was more like some sort of cake.
He didn't respond, so I returned my attention to him as I enjoyed the food. His eyes were narrowed on me. I looked at him expectantly.
"My home planet has been in a war. I performed admirably on the battlefield and was rewarded with this mission. We're looking for water."
"There's not enough water on your home planet?" I looked down at the platter, not sure what I should try next. I was delighted to find an apple. "Oh my gosh, you have an apple!" I squealed and grabbed it. "How do you have an apple?"
He laughed and took it from my hand. "What is an apple? This is a bascat." He cut into it and handed me a piece.
When I bit it, I was sure. "This is a granny smith apple, from Earth."
His laugh this time was a little annoyed. "This is a bascat, from Thirren."
I continued to eat the apple as I argued. "No, at some point you must've gotten seeds from Earth because these are a very common fruit there." I waved my arms around. "Everyone eats and loves apples. Hell, there's even mythology and religions about apples."
"You have religions about bascats?" he asked incredulously. "That's ludicrous."
"Well, more like an important figure in the religion was tempted by an apple, but still."
"Thirren is many thousands of rotations older than Earth. If the two planets share a fruit, which I doubt," he said with an air of superiority, "Then the fruit came from Thirren first."
"You're so damn arrogant." My voice was beyond annoyed. He was hot, sure, but damn he was cocky. "You assume that your people had to have been the one to invent the apple."
"Nobody invented the bascat, human," he said, rising to his feet and slapping the wall beside his bed. I rose to come around and see what the hell he was doing.
Then I felt silly because he was just opening the trash chute to throw the apple core away. He turned around and jumped slightly. I was sure he hadn't noticed me get up after he did. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"I was just seeing how your trash system worked," I lied. "Why are you so defensive?" He was being overly aggressive again and I wasn't having any part of it.
"I'm not defensive, you're abrasive," he boomed. He stepped forward, putting himself directly into my personal space. Energy crackled between us, unnerving me. I found myself looking at his eyes as they stared at me. E
xcept he wasn't looking into my eyes. He was looking at my lips.
Illion blinked rapidly before he turned to the bed and picked up another fruit. "Here, try this one."
I'd not eaten properly since leaving Earth, and the three fruits I'd eaten had filled me up quickly. "No, thank you."
He furrowed his eyebrows. "You'll like it."
"I'm full."
"You can't possibly be full." He grabbed his knife and cut off a piece. The inside of the yellow fruit was red and looked like a watermelon. "Here," he said, stepping forward again. His body pressed against mine. Holy shit, he was hard as a rock, both his large body and his intimidating dick. It pressed into my stomach.
"I said, I'm not hungry." I clenched my teeth and looked up at him. "Why can't you accept that?"
He stepped forward again, forcing me to move backward. He kept going until he had me pressed against the wall. He took the fruit and rubbed it over my bottom lip. I refused to open my mouth, so he reached forward and licked the juice from my lips. I gasped, the feel of his tongue on my lip causing a reaction that frightened and angered me.
My hands surged forward and gripped the front of his jumpsuit. I pulled him toward me hard, and his mouth crashed into mine. What the hell was I doing?
He reached down and grabbed my ass, yanking me upward and into his arms. The fruit fell, forgotten, onto the floor. I wrapped my legs around him tight and repositioned my hands so that I was gripping his chest, not just his clothing. I wanted him to feel me, feel my legs around him and my hands on him. I was not someone he could punish or push around.
He reached one hand between us and pulled down the zipper front of my jumpsuit, without removing his lips from mine.
The inside of his mouth did not feel like it was lined in hard scales. It was soft and hot. I squeaked as his tongue darted forward to meet mine.
It was forked. Holy shit, I wondered what he could do with a forked tongue.
