by Paige Tyler
Slayter frowned. “I know.” He looked around at the bodies littering the passageway, then back at her. “Come on.”
Teyla almost protested, thinking he was taking her to his cabin. She would much rather check on Olin. Which was why she was relieved when she realized Slayter was heading in the direction of the medlab.
She quickly followed him into the room, expecting to see Bantly, the ship’s medtech, desperately trying to save Olin, but instead the man was frantically running from one makeshift bed to another. Considering the number of pirates who had attacked the ship, she knew she shouldn’t be surprised, but she was shocked to see how many of Slayter’s crew had been injured.
“How bad is it?” Slayter asked as the blond-haired medtech leaned over one of the beds.
“Bad.” Bantly threw Slayter a glance over his shoulder. “Two of the men didn’t make it and I have eight more who are barely hanging on. I put the worst of them in the nutrient pods, but I’m still not sure if they’ll make it.”
Teyla looked around, taking in the sac-like healing pods. When Slayter had explained their purpose on the tour of the medlab earlier, she hadn’t imagined she would ever see them in use. The men inside lay unmoving, floating in a nutrient-rich bath of liquid that gave them their best chance to survive.
She wanted to ask the medtech about Olin, but then she spotted Genoone beside one of the pods, and knew from the grim look on the communication officer’s face that the boy was inside. Heart heavy, she slowly walked over to look through the small window. Olin’s eyes were closed, his face pale, but he was alive.
Slayter came over to peer through the window. A frown creased his brow. “Did Bantly say if Olin would make it?” he asked Genoone.
“Maybe,” was all the redheaded man said, but Teyla could tell from his gruff voice that neither Genoone nor the medtech were holding out much hope the boy would survive. Tears stung her eyes.
Beside her, Slayter’s face hardened to stone. He opened the link on his com. “Do we have our sensors up yet?” he asked whoever was on the other end. The man must have given him the answer he was looking for because he nodded. “Good enough. Do you have any life signs on that damn ship still stuck on us?” A pause as he listened. “Get a team of men assembled at the main hatch.” Then, “No, I’m taking them over. I want the team briefed before I get there. There will be no mercy offered and no quarter taken. They need to learn what happens when they attack a real pirate ship.”
Teyla felt a shiver run through her at the murderous look in his eyes. Slayter had every right to be angry with the men who had attacked his ship and killed and injured his crew, but that didn’t make it any easier to know he was going to walk onto that ship and execute every single person he found. It only reminded her that despite all his good qualities, Slayter was still a pirate himself. He made his living with violence, weapons and a merciless heart.
Yet none of that changed how terrified she was for him.
She impulsively reached out to grab his arm as he turned to go. “Be careful.”
His gazed down at her for a long moment, his expression softening. Then, without a word, he gave her a nod and walked out.
Chapter Four
The pirate ship latched onto the hull was like a damn parasite, but it didn’t take long for Slayter and the team of men he took with him to deal with the pirates on board. There hadn’t been many of the vermin left and most of them had been falling all over themselves to negotiate for surrender rather than continue the fight. True to his word, though, Slayter hadn’t wanted any of that. If they thought they could attack his ship, breach the hull, and injure and kill his men, then barter their way out of it once their plan failed, they soon learned otherwise. He and his crew had put down every single one of them like the sick animals they were. It had been harsh, but necessary. Life in his line of work was hard enough. If he gained a reputation as being soft and an easy mark, it would only be harder, and that would get even more of his crew killed. When word got around the pirate underworld—and Slayter would make damn sure it did— another ship would think twice before attacking him or his again.
When they were done, Slayter and his men dragged the bodies of the enemy pirates off his ship and piled them with the rest in the hold of the other spacecraft, then left without touching a single piece of cargo. He wouldn’t have it said he had profited from the pirates’ attack. Someone would find their ship and be able to piece together what had happened.
Leaving his men to set the other ship adrift, Slayter headed down to check on the members of his crew who had been injured. The moment he stepped inside the medlab, though, he stopped. The smell of the place always got to him. He didn’t know if it was the medicinal odor of the nutrient bath or the ever-present disinfectant, but it was almost more than he could stand, and he had to steel himself before going further.
As he waited to get a grip on his senses, he spotted Teyla slowly moving from bed to bed, talking softly to those men who were patiently waiting for their turn in the healing pods. Even though they were obviously in tremendous pain, whatever she said seemed to ease them somewhat. One or two of them even managed a weak smile.
Teyla’s compassion didn’t extend only to the men who were conscious, though. When she left them, she stopped at each healing pods and spoke a few words of encouragement. The men couldn’t hear her in the medically induced comas they were in, but even so, it was an incredibly kind gesture coming from a woman who would soon be on the auction block.
“She was amazing, you know.”
Slayter turned to see Genoone standing beside him. The man watched Teyla as she pressed her hand to the glass window of Olin’s pod.
“When Olin got shot, she never hesitated, just picked up his rifle and started shooting at those bastards,” the man continued, admiration in his voice. “She insisted I bring him here while she stayed to fight because it gave Olin the best chance at survival. She’s got more brass than any woman I’ve ever met. Hell, more than some men, too. Those assholes would have killed me and Olin both if she hadn’t been there.”
Slayter didn’t say anything. When he’d first discovered Genoone had left Teyla to fend for herself, he’d been mad as hell and filled with so much fear he had barely been able to think straight. But then he’d seen how badly Olin had been hurt and he knew Genoone hadn’t had a choice. He still couldn’t believe Teyla had held off the pirates on her own so the two men could make it to the medlab safely. What she’d done had taken guts. Every time Slayter thought of what might have happened to her, he wanted to kill those scumbags all over again.
Slayter ground his jaw as he thought back to the attack. He had known something was wrong the moment he’d arrived at the main airlock. Although the hatch was open, the other pirates hadn’t been trying to board his ship. They had been shooting and ducking back. He’d known in his gut it had all been a ruse to draw the defenders away from the main point of attack. But there wasn’t a hell of a lot he could do about it since the ship’s internal com had gone out along with the external sensors and life-support systems. Unable to do much more than guess where the pirates might actually be attacking, he’d hauled ass down to the C-deck loading dock only to find nothing there, either. After that, he and his men had raced from one likely entry point to the next, shouting the whole time for engineering to get the damn sensors up and working.
It had been pure luck that had taken him past the medlab at the exact moment Genoone carried Olin in. Slayter had stopped him only long enough to ask where Teyla was before he took off down the passageway again, this time toward the evacuation bay—and Teyla. He should have realized that was where the pirates would try to board the ship. It was the perfect place to attack because it wasn’t designed as an entrance. People who went out that door didn’t come back.
Slayter was so relieved to see Teyla alive and unharmed he’d almost grabbed her in his arms right there in front of his men. His relief was quickly replaced by fear for her again when he realized she woul
dn’t have been running like her life depended on it if the threat was gone. The thought that someone would come onto his ship and take what was his, attack his crew, endanger his woman—it had made him seethe with a level of fury he’d never felt before in his life.
It was only after he’d taken out that rage on the pirates who had attacked his ship and stood here now with Genoone watching Teyla tend to his injured crewmen in the medlab, that he realized he had subconsciously called her his woman. Where the hell had that idiotic idea sprung from? Teyla was a beautiful and amazing woman who was not only courageous, talented and business savvy, she was also a natural-born enchantress in the bedroom as well. The one thing she wasn’t, was his woman. She was payment for a debt and she’d be the first to remind him of that.
As he watched her stand vigilantly beside Olin’s pod, though, he had to ask himself if a woman who was nothing more than payment for a debt would have done what she had done—for the ship, for his men, for him.
Slayter mentally shook himself from his musings. That kind of introspection was not only pointless, but dangerous, too. It could make a man think about things he shouldn’t, want things he couldn’t have.
Leaving Genoone’s side, he walked over to Teyla. A look of relief washed over her face at the sight of him.
“You’re back.”
He nodded.
“Are the other pirates…?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “How’s Olin?”
“The same.” She shook her head. “I keep seeing him lying there in that passageway, his face in agony. He could barely stay conscious and yet he still tried to protect me. He told me to run, but I couldn’t leave him.”
“So Genoone told me. What you did was very brave, Teyla.”
Her face colored. “I only did what anyone would have done.”
Slayter considered arguing the point on that, but didn’t. As humble as Teyla was, she wouldn’t agree anyway. Instead, he told her he’d be back in a little while, then went to check on the rest of his injured crewmen.
Teyla was still by Olin’s pod when he returned, her smooth brow lined with worry.
“Why don’t we go to the mess and get something to eat?” he suggested.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to leave Olin.”
“Olin’s in good hands, Teyla. There’s nothing we can do but wait and let the nanos do their job.” Slayter slipped his arm around her waist. “Bantly will call me if there’s any change. Come on.”
She hesitated, indecision in her lavender eyes. Finally, she nodded. “Okay. But only if we come back and check on him right away.”
Slayter nodded. “We can do that.”
Since it was time for the evening meal, Slayter wasn’t surprised to find the rest of the crew at the table in the mess. None of the usual jokes and laughter filled the room like it normally did, and the men only gave him and Teyla a somber greeting as they sat down. It was the first time she had been in the same room with all his men together since coming aboard the ship, and Slayter couldn’t help but notice the distinct change in how they looked at her now. He didn’t know whether it was because she had gotten them the barrel of Dunagan ale back on Thrace or had stood up to the pirates who attacked the ship, but they definitely had a new respect for her.
“Genoone told us about you did after Olin got shot,” Deran said around a mouthful of bread. “Where did you learn to handle a weapon like that?”
Teyla accepted a slice of bread from the basket Genoone held out. “Kallor doesn’t have an organized military force, so everyone is trained on the use of weapons. I went to the local militia hall with my parents and sisters twice a year to practice.”
Slayter wasn’t surprised to hear that. He’d read a lot about Kallor’s culture and history before getting involved with Teyla’s father. What did surprise him, though, was how her story got his crewmen discussing what life had been like on their own home worlds. He learned more personal information about them tonight than he had in all the years he’d been aboard ship with them.
After leaving the mess, he and Teyla stopped by the medlab to check on Olin and the other members of his crew again. They smiled as soon as they saw her, clearly pleased she had stopped by before turning in for the night. Unfortunately, there was still no change in Olin, but Bantly assured him and Teyla that the boy was responding well to the nanos, as were the other men in the healing pods.
Slayter got the feeling Teyla would have stayed there all night to help tend to the men, but thankfully the medtech talked her into going back to the cabin and getting some sleep. She looked exhausted.
He was damn tired, too, he realized as they walked into his cabin a little while later. With a sigh, he pulled off his boots and stripped off his clothes.
“I’m going to take a shower,” he told Teyla.
Any other night he would have asked her to join him, but after the day’s events, he wasn’t in the mood and he suspected neither was she.
Once in the tiled enclosure, he turned on the spray full force and stepped underneath it, resting a hand on the wall as he let the warm water run down his body. He wished it had the power the wash away the memory of what had happened that day along with the dirt and sweat, but when he closed his eyes, all he could see was Teyla running from the attacking pirates and he was reminded again of how close she had come to getting killed. The thought made his gut clench.
Slayter was so lost in the images playing over and over in his head that he didn’t realize Teyla had stepped into the shower with him until he felt a gentle pair of hands on his shoulders.
“I thought you might like some company,” she said, pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades.
He closed his eyes as she made slow circular motions on his shoulders with her fingers. “That feels good.”
Actually, “good” didn’t even begin to cover it. Her touch was magical and he could only groan as she slowly moved her hands down the muscles of his back, then up to his shoulders again. The tension gradually started to leave his body.
She continued the massage, focusing on every knot in his back and shoulders as if she knew exactly where they were. He leaned against the wall of the shower, letting her fingers melt the stress of the day away. God, she had amazing hands.
While the massage had his muscles so relaxed he was practically sagging against the wall, it had the reverse effect on a certain other part of his anatomy. Slayter opened his eyes to look down at his rapidly stiffening cock. So much for not being in the mood. Perhaps making love to Teyla was exactly what he needed. Perhaps it was what they both needed.
Turning around, he took Teyla in his arms and without a word, kissed her on the mouth. Her arms went around his neck, her fingers threading into his wet hair as she parted her lips and gave him a taste of her tongue.
He urged her back against the wall with a muffled groan, his hands gliding up her taut tummy to cup her perfect breasts. They were slick from the shower and her nipples slipped teasingly through his fingers as he gave them a squeeze. She whimpered against his mouth, arching into him, and he buried his face in the curve of her neck to trail kisses up to her ear. He swirled his tongue inside, unable to resist, chuckling when she let out a breathy moan. The feel of her wet, naked body against his made his cock throb and he groaned again. He’d thought he would be able to take things slow, but now he wasn’t so sure.
Gazing deeply into her eyes, Slayter cupped her pussy in his hand, then gently slipped a finger inside. She was hot and wet and ready for him, and he let out a low growl of appreciation as he moved in and out of her wetness. Teyla rotated her hips in time with the fast, steady rhythm of the movement, grinding against his hand. Slayter felt his erection harden to new and painful proportions, and he closed his eyes.
Sliding out, he lifted his hand and sucked his finger into his mouth to hungrily lick her juices from it. She tasted just as sweet and intoxicating as she had last night.
He couldn’t wait any longer. He wanted, needed, to be insid
e her.
Grasping her ass in both hands, he lifted her up against the wall and sheathed himself inside her in one forceful motion.
Teyla gasped, her legs going around him to squeeze him tightly. The move pulled his cock even deeper into her pussy, and for a moment, Slayter thought he might come right then. He reminded himself again about taking it slow and easy, but she felt too damn good wrapped around him for that. Tightening his grip on her ass, he starting fucking her hard and fast.
She grabbed his head, tilting it back so she could kiss him. “Harder,” she demanded breathlessly against his mouth. “Fuck me harder!”
Slayter obeyed, the force of his thrusts slamming her back against the wall, and still Teyla begged him for more. He gripped her ass more firmly and pumped into her even faster. That must have been exactly what she was looking for because she dragged her mouth away from his and cried out her pleasure.
“That’s right,” he rasped. “Come for me, baby.”
She did, her screams echoing over and over in the small space and drowning out his own hoarse groans of release as he exploded inside her. The urgency of their lovemaking and the feelings that came with it shocked him. He’d never felt as close to a woman as he did to her. It was as if in that moment, their souls had somehow become one.
The significance of what that might mean was too dangerous to even contemplate and Slayter concentrated on regaining his breath instead. When he got it under control, he released Teyla, letting her slide down his body until her feet touched the floor. He slipped his fingers beneath her chin and tilted her face up his. Her beautiful lavender eyes were so full of emotion he expected her to say the three little words that could change everything between them. He held his breath, not sure what he feared more, hearing the words or not hearing them.
She didn’t say anything though, and the moment passed. He finally lowered his head to kiss her long and lingeringly on the mouth, then turned off the water, swung her up in his arms and stepped out of the shower.
