by Nina Croft
I pulled the T-shirt over my head. “Could we follow them to wherever they’re going?”
Kill shook his head. “They’d pick us up. They’re bigger and better than us. And they don’t take kindly to being followed. Chances are they’d blast us out of the sky before they spoke to us.”
Hmm… “How about getting a message to the Federation for me?”
An expression of horror crossed Kill’s face. “I’m not going anywhere near the fucking Federation.”
Zak grinned. “Sweetheart, you have in front of you Killian Sharpe, the most wanted man on the Federation’s most-wanted-dead list. They’d blast us out of the sky before they’d open a comm link with us.”
“Why?”
“That’s a conversation for another time,” Kill replied. “But believe me, the Federation will not help.”
It was probably for the best. Pendleton had said they suspected a traitor in the Federation. Knowing my luck, I’d go straight to him. I heaved a huge sigh. “Then you have to get me back on that ship.”
Kill ran his metal fingers through his hair. “You’ll have to tell us a little more than that. I take it this isn’t just a matter of you wanting to be some alien’s sex slave.”
Could I trust them? Did I have a choice? “Yes, there’s more. It all began a few weeks ago on Earth. I got to work one day, and everything changed.” Quickly, I ran through what had happened, from when I’d been sacked to now. Then I sat back and glanced between the two of them.
“You have a tracking device?” Zak asked.
“They said so. That’s how they’re going to find me.”
Zak crossed to me, raised his wrist with the comm unit, and slid it over my body. A loud beep sounded when it reached halfway up my head. “Yeah, she’s wired.” He pressed a button, and the beeping stopped.
“So you see, I have to go back.”
“You don’t,” Killian said. “Just forget it. Come with us for as long as you want to stay. You don’t owe these people anything.”
“My friends are on that slaver. All the time on that ship, I made myself feel better by believing that I could save them. Now anything could be happening. You took Maria, which is good, but what if they’ve just moved on to another girl? And you told me most of the girls are dead in a few years. I can’t just leave them and go have fun with you.” I bit my lip. “However much I want to.”
And I did. Had I mentioned life wasn’t fair?
I reached out a hand and rested it on his thigh. “I know you won’t get paid if you take me back…” I had a horrible thought. “You can take me back, can’t you? You can find them?”
For a moment, I thought he was going to say no. Would I believe him? Then he shrugged. “We’re still within radio contact distance.” He got up and shoved his hands in his pockets, then paced the room. I glanced at Zak. He looked thoughtful.
“I hate fucking slavers,” Killian muttered.
I was pretty sure I had him at that point. “Then you see that I have to do what I can to bring them down and help my friends.”
He paced some more.
What else could I say?
“I know you’ll lose out, but I’m sure once I tell the people on Earth what you did, they’ll pay you for helping me.”
…
Killian
I supposed I deserved that. I was a fucking pirate. And my last couple of jobs could have worked out better—in which case, I might have gotten paid for them. Also, there was a price on my head, which often required paying off the slimy, bribe-taking bastards in authority. So I needed that money. I fuck up on this job, and the Guild would never touch me again. I’d be back to where I’d been before, but with another price on my head. And a whole load more bad guys after me.
Goddamn fuck it. I slammed my good fist into the wall.
Ouch.
Really, none of that was important.
I just didn’t want to send her back. Whatever she said, I didn’t trust these humans to get to her before she was hurt, or raped, or worse.
I whirled around and stared at Zak. He looked outwardly relaxed, but a tic was jumping in his cheek. He didn’t like this any more than I did.
She got to her feet, tugging Zak’s T-shirt down over her thighs. She walked over and stopped in front of me; she only came up to my shoulder. “Please, Kill. Help me.”
Her voice was soft and sweet, like the rest of her. Someone like Ruby shouldn’t have been mixed up in this crap. She should’ve been back on Earth, living a nice life. If I ever met the assholes who had dragged her into this, I’d kill the fuckers.
“Have I mentioned that I fucking hate slavers?”
That was the problem; part of me understood exactly why she needed to do this. Why she couldn’t walk away. I forced myself to think about it logically.
“What I don’t get is who paid us to rescue you. Any ideas?”
Her brows drew together. “No. I’ve thought about it, and it doesn’t make sense. No one else was supposed to know.”
I didn’t like unanswered questions, but clearly, she had friends somewhere she didn’t know about. I moved on to my next argument. “We can’t take you back. What the hell do you expect us to say to them—we don’t like you and we want a refund?”
“We could ask for half the money or maybe another girl,” Zak said. “Give them a good reason why she’s not suitable for us.”
I cast him an incredulous glance. “What? Like her pussy doesn’t work? What the hell reason is there for returning a sex slave?” I turned back to face her. “No. I’m sorry. It just won’t work. No way would they even let us on board.”
“How about we give her an allergic reaction? You tell them she erupted in spots as soon as she came near me. And I’m pissed. I want another girl… We’ll come up with something believable.”
I looked at Zak and scowled. “You want her to go?”
“No. But if she doesn’t, she’ll never forgive us.” He thought for a moment. “Lots of spots—we’ll paint them on if we have to.” He turned to Ruby. “That way they’ll quarantine you until you reach wherever you’re going. There’ll be less chance of the crew messing with you.”
It could work, I suppose. I go in belligerent, accuse them of selling me dodgy goods, demand my money back or an exchange. I doubt they’d give me the money, but a girl…maybe. No one wanted to piss off the Groth Imperial House, and while Zak was out of favor right now, that could change. Of course, they might decide to blow us to little pieces instead. But that was a small risk.
Shit, I didn’t want to do this.
“Please.” She stared up at me with those big blue eyes.
I hit the comm on my wrist before I could think it was a really bad idea. “Creb, can you set us a course back to that Bhaxian ship and get us radio contact?” I closed off the link and held out my hand. “Come back to bed.”
Chapter Eight
Ruby
I sniffed and blinked away a tear.
Don’t be a wimp.
Saviors of the world don’t cry.
It had taken twenty-four hours to get back to the slavers’ ship. Killian hadn’t tried to dissuade me. I’d obviously been convincing. But the two of them had made love to me again and again until I was limp and sore, and it still wasn’t enough.
Now, here I was, back in that room with the table in the bowels of the slavers’ ship. The other women were watching me through the bars. Sarah was frowning, and I turned away and tried to avoid scratching at the red rash that covered my body. I was wearing Zak’s T-shirt, and I hoped they’d let me keep it. I looked back at Killian but couldn’t focus on him because it hurt too much. He hadn’t spoken to me since we’d gotten here. He was angry but as much with himself as with me.
He was arguing with the guard, gesturing to me. The guard pulled a gun, and I bit my lip. They wouldn’t shoot him, would they? It would be my fault. But they talked some more, and finally the guard holstered his weapon and gave a disgruntled nod.
The guard
came to me, but not too close. He didn’t point me at the main room but gestured off to the side, where there was a door. Edging past me, he kicked it open and waved a knobby green hand for me to go inside.
The space was small and bare, and I didn’t want to go. But the guard growled, and I shuffled inside. At the last moment, I peered over my shoulder, but Killian was gone. I was on my own.
Then the door closed, leaving me in Stygian darkness, and a scream welled up inside me. I dropped to the floor and hugged my knees to my chest.
“Don’t leave me here,” I said.
But there was no one to hear.
…
Killian
I raised the bottle to my lips and took a big swallow. The raw alcohol burned my throat. It had been two days since we’d left her, and I’d been drinking since. It didn’t help.
Everything felt off, wrong.
Like I’d made the biggest fucking mistake of my entire life.
And there was nothing I could do.
“It’s what she wanted,” Zak said from beside me, and I growled.
I had no money to buy her back. I could attack the slaver, but they would destroy us and that wouldn’t help Ruby. I just needed to put this down to experience and go find a way to get myself and Zak and Creb out of the crappy situation I’d gotten us into.
At least I was alive. At one point, I thought I might have pissed them off too much by demanding a refund and they were going to shoot me point-blank. But, in the end, they satisfied themselves with giving me a new girl and tossing me off the ship. The new girl was looking after Maria.
The comm unit buzzed. I ignored it, and after a moment, Zak leaned across me and pressed the unit. A voice came through the comm.
“I believe you recently did a job for me. You have the girl?”
Zak shrugged, looked at me, and raised his brows. This was obviously our employer.
I took another slug of alcohol and leaned forward. “Yeah, we have your girl.” At least that would stop whoever it was from going after her again. Though, they’d no doubt find out soon enough that I was lying. “What do you want us to do with her?”
“Wring her neck and toss her out the airlock. Send me proof, and you’ll get the final payment.”
And the comm went dead.
I stared at it for a long time. I’d thought whoever was employing us wanted to save Ruby. That had been a little naïve in retrospect. Instead, they wanted her dead.
“Fucker,” Zak muttered.
“He’s going to be expecting some proof of death,” I said.
“And what do you think he’ll do when we don’t send it?”
“He’ll go after her again. And this time he’ll make sure she’s finished.”
We were both silent for a second. Though I was itching to move, I needed Zak on board with this.
“What do you want to do?”
An image flashed up. My last glimpse of Ruby, looking so alone and so scared and so brave. “We’re going to get her.”
“Can we find her?” Zak asked.
“You still got the wavelength of that tracking device in her head?”
He pressed his comm unit and waved it in front of my face, and a little flashing light blinked on the screen. Ruby.
“And then what?” he asked. “They’re still bigger than us. We still have no money.”
“We’ll find a way.”
And we would. Because some women were worth rescuing. However many times it took…however much they didn’t want to be rescued.
Hold on, Ruby, we’re coming to get you.
Again.
To be continued...
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank everyone at Entangled publishing, who are a dream to work with, especially Liz and Candy, who I had the great pleasure of meeting for the first time this year, and my new editor, Brenda, whom I’m sure must be feeling a little overwhelmed at this point—thank you for taking me on and for the fabulous edits!
I’d also like to thank the lovely ladies at Passionate Critters, who keep me on the straight and narrow, motivate me, and tell me exactly what they think, and where I go wrong.
And finally, of course, my husband, Rob—without him, none of this would be possible—my hero!
About the Author
Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia, which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of nine-to-five work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain.
Nina writes all types of romance, often mixed with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.
And if you’d like to learn about new releases sign up for Nina’s newsletter here.
www.ninacroft.com
The steamy serial continues next week with…
Stolen by the Space Pirate
Part Two of Ruby Robbins’ Sexy Space Odyssey
After a brief, but magical interlude with a couple of stunningly gorgeous space pirates, Ruby is back with the slavers, and her mission is on target. But saving Ruby is becoming a habit for Space Pirate, Killian Sharpe. And this time, it might cost him his life.
And then don’t miss Part Three!
Saving the Space Pirate
Ruby is thrilled that her mission is almost over. Not only will she have saved her planet, but she’ll finally be able to live happily ever after with the space pirate of her dreams. But when a tragic twist puts everything into jeopardy, it’s up to Ruby, with Killian at her side, to change to world for good this time. She only hopes they both survive the ordeal…
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