Chapter 16
Flack
I didn’t want to wake Irena, not when she was sleeping so peacefully in my lap. Her head was tucked beneath my chin, resting on my shoulder, and her arms hung limply at her sides. Her dark brown hair felt silky against my skin, and her scent clung to me as I inhaled and gently nuzzled her.
What she’d done was beyond my wildest dreams, what we’d shared in the dark of night in this cell…
I’d never forget it. My Irena was bolder and braver than she gave herself credit for, and if it wasn’t for her, I wasn’t sure I’d have survived any of this.
She made me strong; she made me want to do better, and once she’d gotten over her fear, she never judged me.
She was a gift of the gods, a precious treasure beyond compare.
This, what I felt for her, it was what my fellow crew members on the Varakartoom had discovered too.
Even the captain. They’d found their mate, their true love, and the world had become right for them, as it had for me.
Yeah, I understood it now. That’s why I had to wake her.
It would be selfish to keep her here at my side, where she could be discovered at any moment.
“Irena, my love, you must wake,” I whispered, nuzzling the side of her face gently.
She tasted a little like salt, like the sex we’d shared.
She tasted divine. Her skin was pale, and the scar stood out against her cheek, but I’d meant every word I’d said before.
Scars were marks of survival; they were badges of honor, and she wore hers well.
When she stirred, it was not to twist her head in such a way that it hid the mark, and that pleased me so much, to see that shift in her confidence.
“Flack?” she sighed sleepily, beyond adorable as her brown eyes blinked open.
I hated that I could not close my arms around her, hold her to me, and let her know how much I wanted to protect her that way.
She seemed to enjoy the close contact, though, just as much as the night before.
My tiny, touch-starved Tikai. She shifted to raise her head, but her arms came back up to curl against my neck, her bare chest pressing those lovely breasts against my pecs more tightly.
“You must leave, sweetheart. They shouldn’t find you in here…
” I gently warned her. “I’m going to make sure you’re needed for the diamond theft, so hide in the hangar bay, okay?
I’ll meet you there. Don’t draw attention to yourself.
After that, no more splitting up, I promise.
” I really hoped so; I couldn’t stand the thought of walking into another nightmare like yesterday’s.
She furrowed her brow as she thought about that, and I loved the little notch it formed above the bridge of her nose.
Then she nodded, and I discovered I’d been holding my breath in anticipation.
“Okay, are you sure about this? We can escape once we are on the planet?” she asked, her teeth worrying at her lower lip as she began to sit up.
I smirked as I nodded, though I didn’t tell her that I fully intended to steal the diamond while we were at it, too.
She’d find that out soon enough. We needed to vanish inside that mansion to get off Dimon’s radar.
I explained my setup with the two male job, and that I’d made sure to kill the one small Ovt who could have done the job in her stead.
Her eyes grew wide, but her scent remained calm and undaunted.
No, she might be sweet and shockingly innocent given what she’d gone through, but she was not bothered by my killing.
Good. There was plenty more to come; of that I had no doubt.
The simple fact was: for her safety, I’d murder every single person on this ship, starting with Xathena and Dimon.
With much regret, I watched her slip from my lap, locate her dress, and pull it back on.
I admired the graceful way she moved and envied how the worn fabric hugged her curves.
She was not so skittish now, her confidence around me soaring, and in that I took great pride.
I flirted, simply because I couldn’t help myself, when she shared a quick meal of pilfered ration bars with me for breakfast. Then she showed me the stolen weapons, and my admiration for her only grew.
“You really know your way around the Vidu, don’t you?
Give me the knife. You keep the gun, beautiful.
” She helped me tuck the blade into a hidden sheath built into the ankle holster there.
I was banking on nobody checking that, as they’d already convinced themselves I was unarmed.
“I really, really like you on your knees like that, though. Remind me—we should do that again later, when we’re both naked.
” She was blushing and smiling when she slipped from my cell a minute later, her pilfered supplies hanging from her shoulder inside a bulging satchel.
I’d instructed her to hide those supplies somewhere safe on the ship; we might need them later if my escape plan failed.
It would be too risky to show up with them when we went down to the planet, though.
If we did manage my escape as planned, we wouldn’t need them either.
With my shift forms accessible, I’d be able to provide her with everything she’d ever need until the Varakartoom showed up to retrieve me.
I got a little lost in thought while waiting for Dimon to show up.
My mind filled with fantasies of all the things I wanted to get my pretty Irena—clothes, lots and lots of silky, lacy things, jewels, and all the human foods her heart desired.
I had the means, the contacts, and all the money in the world to buy her what she wanted.
Yes, this seemed a very worthwhile purpose to spend all those credits I’d stockpiled on.
Dimon didn’t leave me waiting long, though, so it was a good thing I’d hurried Irena out of there.
The Rummicaron male came to the bars of my cell and curled his thick, gray fists around them.
Beady eyes, sharp but bloodshot, perused my form.
I’d be willing to bet he’d been deep into a Peckana cup last night, but that didn’t dull his wit now.
“What have you been up to?” he asked, his blunt nose lifting to sniff at the air.
If he’d been Jaxin, the Rummicaron weaponmaster of the Varakartoom, I’d be worried.
That male was sharp as a blade. Rummicaron olfactory abilities were most developed in the water, however, not on dry land.
He sensed something, but he seemed unable to figure out what.
To distract him from the scent of sex that hung thick in the air to my senses, I shrugged.
“What could I possibly get up to in here? Count bars, rivets, perhaps the many wounds I’ve been subjected to since getting here?
Oh, wait, maybe I’ll be recounting my kills instead.
How many is that now? Ten?” I smirked, but internally I did flick through the tally to confirm how much of the crew I’d taken care of yesterday.
Definitely that Ovt, so unless they had another small alien hiding somewhere, Irena was their only bet now to ‘save’ their filthy hides.
I wondered if Dimon had figured that part out yet.
He was alone, which was a bold move, but it didn’t surprise me that Xathena was still whining in the med bay after I’d injured her. She was tough, but she was also incredibly vain, and Irena had told me I’d managed to permanently damage her eye. She’d hate that, which meant I loved it.
“Eight,” Dimon snarled. “Good males, too! Enough of this, you’re getting the Verana diamond today, and then I’m getting rid of you.
” He pulled a slave collar from a pouch at his hip and dangled it in front of my face.
“Found this, so it’s your lucky day! This will make sure you do exactly as I want.
” My lips curled in dismay at the sight of that thing, instinctively.
I simply couldn’t help myself. It was a distasteful item, and the moment I could, I’d destroy it.
Before he could get it into his head to put it on the neck of my pretty Irena instead.
So I goaded him, making absolutely sure he fastened the clasp around my throat. “You’re a disgusting bastard, Dimon. You’ve sunk so low you’ve hit rock bottom, and I hope you drown there. You deserve everything Jalima is planning for your sorry ass.”
With a snarl, he charged into the cell, his usual cool shattering at the reference to his impending doom. He really hated being reminded of the trouble they’d gotten into with the deadly crimelord. I made sure to file that information away for later, in case I needed to push his buttons some more.
The collar felt like a noose as he tightened it around my neck, the little box and pins that would deliver incredible pain at the flick of a switch digging into my skin.
He thought he truly had me under control now, and the show I put on to further strengthen that belief was one of my best yet.
I bucked against the shackles, snarled, faked attempting to shift, and called him all kinds of names.
He flicked the pain button, and agony shot through my veins and burned along my nerves.
I let him have that satisfaction, even though it was a kind of agony I’d never felt before.
Blazing stars, was this what they subjected slaves and gladiators to?
It was horrible—I’d rather get shot again—and actual tears stung the corners of my eyes as I blinked through the suffering.
Yeah, I really didn’t want to feel that again, and Dimon’s expression said he knew it. Good.
“You’re going to behave now, are you?” he warned, smug, finally firmly believing he had the situation under control.
I panted, letting my head hang low on my shoulders; an act that was closer to reality than I’d like.
Showing weakness was never easy, and perhaps that hint of resistance was what sold the act to the pirate captain.