Deceiving The Corsair

by Dixon, Ruby

  The three brothers exchange a look. “We’ll figure something out,” Mathiras says, and pats Zoey on the shoulder. “You rest for now, here with the medic.”

  “Oh, but I want to talk to Sentorr—”

  “No,” Mathiras says, and I find myself flanked by the two big brothers again. “He’s coming with us.”

  “Uh oh,” is all Zoey says. But I think she’s grinning.

  I find myself smiling, too. It’s impossible not to.

  6

  SENTORR

  Zoey’s three mesakkah brothers drag me from med-bay down the hall. I don’t even mind. I’m grinning to myself, thinking of my female and how she’s truly, finally going to be mine. I think of her soft pale skin and her soft brown hair and—

  Adiron slings an arm around my neck, nearly choking me. The guy is keffing enormous, almost as big as Tarekh and far more hands-on. “So. We need to talk.”

  “Leave him alone, Adiron,” Mathiras says. He moves toward the docking bay of the Fool, then pauses and crosses his arms over his chest again. “Our sister is in love with you.” It’s a statement, not a question.

  I nod. “We’ve been talking for months. I didn’t know she was human, and I don’t care. She has my heart.”

  “So if we leave her here with you for a few days, you’ll look after her?”

  “We’re leaving her here?” Adiron scowls at Mathiras. “What the kef—”

  Kaspar reaches over and smacks the back of Adiron’s head. “Think, you big dummy. How are we going to hunt down the rest of the pirates if Zo’s hurt and in danger? This way she’s out of the line of fire.”

  Adiron just scowls at him, rubbing the back of his head. “I guess.”

  Mathiras watches me with intense scrutiny. “You tell Zoey we’re just finishing our run. She doesn’t have to know that we’re going after the mother ship in case there’s other pirates.”

  I nod. “Because she’s going to want to go after them as well?” The thought of her flinging herself into danger makes my blood run cold. “You have my word.”

  “Zoey will be safe with you,” Mathiras says. “Your other humans seem to be happy. That’s enough for me, for now.”

  I’m a little surprised. “You’re trusting her to me?”

  “No, we’re trusting Zoey to Zoey,” Kaspar says, and for a moment, he looks as if he wants to smack me on the back of my head. “She’s a tough little scrapper, and smarter than most give her credit for. She can look after herself, and if you don’t believe that, you don’t know Zoey as well as you think.”

  Adiron grins. “And if you piss her off, she’ll have your balls in a vise.”

  “You care for her greatly.” I’m impressed at their faith in their human “sister.”

  “She’s a hard little shit to love, but once you do, you’d kill for her.” Mathiras gives me a crooked grin. “We’ll be back in a week or so. I expect you to let her set the pace.”

  Is he lecturing me on mating? I don’t know what to say. “Of course,” I manage stiffly.

  “And make sure that medic takes good care of her.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “Now you’re insulting me if you think I’d let her get further injured.”

  “She’s human in a mesakkah world,” Mathiras says bluntly. “I know that. You know that. Sometimes Zoey forgets it, though. She desperately wants to be mesakkah. We treat her like she’s mesakkah. But deep down, she’s not. She’s as fragile as any human, and sometimes she forgets that. I’m just saying…be careful with her.”

  “Or we’ll come back and tear your throat out,” Adiron says cheerfully.

  ZOEY

  Pretty sure the ugly bastard running the med-bay slipped a mickey into my transfusion, because I fall asleep before my brothers and Sentorr return. When I wake up later, the lights are dim with the ship’s version of “nightfall” and it’s all quiet. Someone’s pulled back some of the paneling to reveal a window out to the stars, and it’s all quiet, nothing but empty space and endless stars around us.

  No asteroid.

  No Little Sister.

  I sit up abruptly, my head swimming. “Mathiras? Kaspar? Adiron?”

  A large figure emerges from the shadows on the far side of the room, and I suck in a breath at the sight of him. It’s not one of my brothers, but the man I’ve been having filthy dreams about ever since I first heard his voice. “Sentorr.”

  “Your brothers are gone,” he says, his voice crisp and yet somehow sexy with authority. “They went on with the passengers on the Little Sister. You’re to recuperate and stay here…with me.”

  Even though he stands tall and erect by my bedside, there’s an odd glint in his eyes that makes me shiver. He’s watching me like…like Adiron watches his favorite bowl of noodles, or the way Kaspar gets that look in his eyes when there’s a dangerous sort of job calling his name.

  No one’s ever looked at me like that before, like they want to devour me whole.

  I keffing love it.

  I fight the urge to squirm in the bed, because I’m still a little sore and achy. My leg throbs and I’m tired—and yet wired at the same time. “I can’t believe they left me here.” I’m a little shocked by it. It’s the first time my brothers have left me behind in the ten years I’ve been with them. I’m also a little hurt. “They don’t need me?”

  “I’m sure they do. But I won’t let them take you while you’re injured. I can keep you safe here.” He gazes down at me in that stiff manner for a moment longer, and then sits on the edge of the bed again, taking my hand in his. “You’re safe with me, Zoey. No one is going to hurt you.”

  I nod. On one hand, it’s a little terrifying because this is the first time I’ve “flown the nest” as Earth people say. Every day of my life has had one brother or another in some sort of supervisory fashion. If Kaspar and Mathiras went on a mission, Adiron stayed with me. They’d switch out “sister watching” duties so I was always protected. But now I’m here alone on the Fool with the man of my dreams. I shiver and I don’t know if I’m scared or excited.

  He takes my hand in his, caressing my knuckles and gazing down at our joined fingers.

  I decide the shiver is excitement.

  Sentorr’s so quiet I feel like I have to say something. “I saw you, you know. On Three Nebulas.”

  He looks up at me, surprise on his sharp, austere features. “When?”

  “You passed me on the walkway. I had a holo concealing my features.” I grimace a little. “I always pose as Vanora va Sithai when we go out so no one asks questions. Most of the time, though, I just stay on the Sister. It’s easiest.”

  “Humans aren’t widely accepted,” he agrees, still playing idly with my fingers in a way that makes my nipples tighten and my pulse thrum low in my belly. “I know the others are especially protective of their mates when they go out on stations. The women wear collars so people think they’re pets.”

  “Oh, that’s clever. I never thought of that.”

  “It’s demeaning,” Sentorr says flatly. “They deserve better.”

  “Yeah, well, there’s an Earth saying—shit in one hand, get what you deserve in the other, see which fills up faster.” Okay, so it’s not exactly like that, but the message should be clear enough.

  He just snorts, his fingers lightly caressing the bumps of my knuckles, especially my pinky. “Truer words never spoken.”

  “I’d rather wear a slave collar than a holo,” I admit. “A holo makes me nervous. If it fails, I’m totally exposed. A slave collar just makes everyone ignore me.”

  “I wouldn’t want you to wear one.”

  “Yeah, but…would you treat me like a slave? Pull my hair and make me call you daddy?” The words are supposed to be teasing, but they come out all soft and trembling because I’m terrible, terrible, terrible at flirting. Part of me is shocked by what I’m saying and part of me is thrilled at the boldness of it all.

  Sentorr’s eyes meet mine and he holds me pinned there by the force of his gaze
. “I would treasure every inch of you.”

  That small, fervent statement steals the breath from my lungs. “Gosh, is it hot in here?”

  Immediately, his hand goes to my forehead. “You’re feverish?”

  “No, just being a dork,” I admit, wondering if it’s all right to grab him by the collar of his shirt and haul him down against me for my first kiss. Too soon, I wonder? Because I want to kiss him more than I want anything. “So…what does this mean, you and me? Where do we go from here?”

  To my surprise, a hint of a smile touches his face and I can feel myself smiling back, utterly enamored. I thought my three brothers were good-looking (even Adiron in his dopey sort of way), but Sentorr puts them to shame. There’s such stern nobility in his features that it makes me want to strip him naked and do bad, naughty things to him to crack that hard facade.

  He leans back, his hand moving away from my brow. Instead, he tucks the blankets tight around my body. “Tonight, you sleep in med-bay and recover. Tomorrow, I start courting you.”

  “Courting me?” I’m not entirely sure I heard him correctly.

  “Your brothers insist. If I am to claim you as mine, they want me to woo you like humans woo their females. So I am going to leave here when you go to sleep, and I am going to ask Fran and Iris and Cat how one courts a human female.”

  I don’t know if I’m thrilled that my brothers told him to do that, or annoyed. I kind of want to jump his bones. I’m not sure where that fits in the courting scheme of things, but I also know I’m impatient. Courting might be fun. “Will you hold my hand and talk to me until I sleep, then?” I ask, snuggling down on the blankets.

  “If you want it.”

  “I do. I don’t want you to go,” I tell him softly, and bite back the “ever again” that’s brimming on my tongue. I’m an intense sort of person and I should probably give him a day or two to ease into the idea. He knows me, but he doesn’t know me.

  Best to not scare him too much yet.

  He touches my hand and sits next to the bed, and I’m content…for now.

  7

  ZOEY

  When I wake up, Sentorr’s not in med-bay. I guess he can’t wait around holding my hand forever, but I’m still a little sad. I yawn and rub my face, and before I can get up, one of the human women bustles in. She’s tiny, even for a human, and I doubt she’s within spitting distance of five feet tall. This is the one that gave me blood—Cat. For a moment, I just stare at her because it’s so very…odd to see someone with human features wandering around. For so long, I’ve seen nothing but handsome blue mesakkah faces, and other, far less attractive alien races. Cat’s smooth brow and lack of tail is a little shocking to see and yet makes me weirdly homesick at the same time.

  “Hey there,” she says cheerily. “Tarekh will be in after a moment to check on you. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine,” I tell her and casually shift the plas-film blanket aside, peeking at my leg. The gash must have been pretty deep, because despite the surgical machines on the ship, I still have a pink, dimpled spot on my leg where the flesh has knitted but not entirely returned to normal. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Sentorr’s told me a lot about the crew here.” Of course, he only recently told me that half of them are human, but I leave that part out.

  She looks over and gives me a wry expression, even as she picks up something that looks like a dirty sock off the floor. As I watch, she moves around the small med-bay cabin, tidying up and collecting bits of strewn clothing, recyclable noodle containers, and what look like spare parts for the ship itself. “We live with Sentorr. You don’t have to soft-pedal it for our sakes. We know he can be a real pain in the ass.”

  “He said Tarekh’s a slob and that you give him shit all the time,” I admit, grinning.

  Cat preens a little. “That might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about me.”

  Tarekh enters the room and he gives his smiling mate a hot look that makes me feel a little awkward—and a little jealous. He caresses her cheek as she picks up a discarded shirt and then moves to the machines monitoring me. “Let’s take a look at how our patient is doing.”

  “I’m fine,” I tell him and do my best not to seem too eager. “Can I go to the bridge and see Sentorr?”

  “He’s not going anywhere,” Tarekh says, punching buttons on the med-bay equipment. “I need to do a few scans to make sure you’re all right, and then I’ll release you. Cat will show you to your room.”

  “My room?” I blink at the thought. Of course I’m going to have a room. It’s not like they’re going to let me sleep in the cargo bay or something. It’s weird though…I never thought of being on the Fool and not sharing a room with Sentorr. But maybe he doesn’t want me to. Wait, what if he’s had time to think about things and changed his mind? What if all he wanted was a long-distance relationship and now that he’s had longer to stare at my human face, he’s having doubts? Chewing my lip, I wait for Tarekh to finish.

  “It’s less of a room and more of a closet,” Cat admits. “We’re low on space on board, but we’ve cleaned out one of the storage compartments and put a cot in there. I hope that’s all right. It’s cozy and secure if not exactly spacious.”

  “It’s totally fine. Sentorr mentioned that quarters were tight on the ship.” Oh boy, and now I’m that dork that mentions the guy she’s crushing on all the time. When Tarekh smirks at me, I know I’m right and I force myself to be silent.

  The big medic unhooks the monitors from my arm. “Looks like you’re all right, just take it easy today and try and stay off the leg.” He turns away from me and leans down to give Cat an affectionate peck on the mouth. “She’s all yours now, love.”

  She gives him a flirty look and then furtively caresses his tail when he turns away, and the big man jumps. She only giggles and flutters her eyelashes at him, and now I’m filled with envy at their silly, affectionate relationship. “Come on, Zoey. Let’s get you some clothes. We bribed a tailor back at Haal Ui to make some human “costumes” and we’ve got a decent-sized wardrobe. I’m sure we can find something that fits you.”

  Bribing a tailor? Clever. I never thought to do that. Of course, I never went around as human, either, so it wouldn’t have mattered. “Thank you.”

  Cat leads me away and through the ship, pointing out rooms as if I don’t know the layout of the Fool by heart already. Sentorr told me that she was a Class IV Private Cruiser from Homeworld and I downloaded schematics and carefully filled them in from our conversations, like the obsessed stalker fangirl I am. I know that Sentorr’s the only one with a room to himself at the moment. I know Fran and Kivian share the largest room, since Kivian’s the captain. Alyvos and Iris are across from Sentorr, who has the smallest chamber. He’s said before that he doesn’t mind having the smallest cabin because it reminds him of his days back in the military, when he had to bunk with four other men in a closet-sized room while stationed on a terraforming planet. Now that I’m here, I wonder if that’s why he wants me to have my own room…or if it’s because he needs space to get used to the idea of me.

  The reality of being face to face with each other changes everything, I realize that. I just hope that he doesn’t change his mind about me.

  Cat leads me down the hall, and at the end is a door marked “storage” in Mesakkah Proper, the written language used on Homeworld and in all legal documents. She gives me a little grimace of apology then opens the door.

  Inside, though, it’s charmingly cute. Decorative art has been hung on the walls and expensive, synth-silk scarves drape over storage boxes. Just as promised, there’s a small cot in the corner, but festive, colorful blankets and a multitude of pillows cover the bed. Iris sits on one corner, a vivid purple ribbon over her eyes, and Fran, Kivian’s mate, stands nearby folding something fabric into a box. They turn as the door opens and Fran’s pretty face widens in a smile. “Welcome! I hope you’re feeling better.”

  I smile at her. “I am, thank you.” I can’t
stop staring. Cat’s cute in an impish, wholesome sort of way, but Fran’s beautiful. She’s got long black hair, dark eyes, and smooth golden skin that could point to a variety of ethnicities. Iris is more elegant than lovely, with wavy dark hair and a gentle smile.

  They’re all so different and so human that I get choked up at the sight of them together. My brothers have always protected me from the trafficking side of the galactic underworld, so seeing so many human faces in front of me is overwhelming. “Hi,” I manage around the knot in my throat.

  Fran gestures at the room. “I know it’s not much, but we’re not really a passenger ship.”

  “It’s lovely. Thank you for making it so welcoming.”

  Iris just smiles, her face turned toward us. “Sentorr asked us to make sure you had a comfortable room. As if we’d let you sleep on the floor.”

  “We thought since we were here, we’d have a girls’ day,” Fran says brightly, taking my arm and steering me toward the cot. “Rumor has it that Sentorr’s going to be dating you per your brothers’ demands, so we thought we’d help you with hair and makeup and wardrobe.”

  I touch my hair. Since my three brothers were the only ones that ever saw me, I mostly kept it in a ponytail at my nape. I’ve never worn makeup, since I was only ten when I was taken. The thought of making myself pretty for a date is probably silly, but it’s also wildly appealing. “If you don’t mind…”

  “Mind? Girl, we’ve been looking forward to this all day.” Fran takes me by the arm and pulls me toward the cot. “You sit next to Iris. We’re going to make you irresistible to him.”

  Iris touches my hand as I sit down. “Can I braid your hair?”

  “Sure?”

  “I’ll be in charge of makeup,” Fran says. “Cat, you do wardrobe. This’ll be like one of those makeover shows. You ever watch those, Zoey? With the right transmitters, you can sometimes pick up satellite feeds from Earth. Did you know they started Queer Eye again?”