“Well, hello, beautiful,” I said in greeting. “How’s your day been?” I was itching to know everything, but my breath froze in my lungs when I saw the tight expression on her face. Something had happened, something bad. I swore, my body jerking against the chains as fury on her behalf rose hard and fast. Helpless, again. I hated that feeling, hated how I couldn’t do what she needed just yet, or free myself from these chains. The shift rippled under my skin, fur pressing up and claws digging against my finger pads. I felt the block, felt the pressure that kept me from completing that shift, but it was a very near thing.
“Flack,” she said softly, her tray of food rattling in her hands. She unlocked my cell as if it wasn’t a scary thing at all, like she’d begun to trust me. It eased something beneath my skin, settled the fur that wanted to burst forth. “Is… is your crew always so… terrifying?” The words, spoken in a high pitch that wasn’t quite a tremble and wasn’t quite incredulous, completely derailed me.
Aramon, that was my next thought. She’d managed to call theVarakartoomand hadn’t stopped at just calling and hanging up. She’d actually spoken to someone, and it was either crazy Aramon or someone like the Sineater or Thatcher who had answered the call. I opened my mouth to ask her what had happened, but she caught me completely by surprise that evening. Not just by arriving so suddenly, not just because she looked so damn good I could eat her. No, she dropped the tray on the cot next to me, and then she was reaching for me. Actually touching me in a willing, not forced, not coincidental act. Her hand touched my cheek, brushing warmly across it with the silky touch of her fingertips.
“Oh, what was that? That looked like fur for a moment!” The attempt to shift had shaken her completely out of her earlier state of shock. Now I saw a side of her that delighted, that made me want to smile and entice, and preen a little. She’d seen my failed attempt to shift, and it had roused her curiosity. It was, I had no doubt, a side of her she had not experienced in a very long time.
“It was,” I agreed mildly, and I tried again, pushing against the chemical bindings with as much force as I dared. Fur shifted and rippled beneath my skin with an itch so sharp it was almost pain. I ignored it; it didn’t matter, because Irena responded with a delighted gasp and touched my face again, brushing thewhiskers that briefly sprouted and the pristine white fur that momentarily covered my face.
“I am Sune,” I said proudly, my chin lifting so I could meet the curious glow in her eyes. “A shifter. I exist in three shapes: two legs like you see now, four legs, much like a fox from your planet, and a hybrid-form that blends the two.” Her hand lingered against my skin, though I’d given up on the shift. It drifted down my throat, along my shoulder, and made a chill shoot down my spine, pleasure coiling in my gut. My reaction to her was powerful and impossible to hide. My cock grew hard beneath the tight confines of my armor.
“And the drugs, they stop the shift, don’t they? That’s why you want me to stop giving that injection?” Her head tilted toward the tray on the cot next to me, and we both stared at the tarnished metal of the injector. It was so close to wearing off; in a few hours, I could shift and slip these shackles.
I nodded slowly. “Yes. Without the drugs, I could shift and escape.” I jerked my chin toward the shackles that held my wrists, which I would be able to slip once I shifted my hands into paws. Dimon knew just how easy it would be for me to escape, and there was no chain he could put on me that would hold me the moment I could shift.
Irena’s continued curiosity made me deeply aware of how little she knew. She’d only learned about those around her by using her eyes and ears, and there were no Sune readily shifting aboard theVidufor her to witness. Would she be scared or amazed when she saw one of the other shapes I could take? The humans on theVarakartoomthought foxes were cute and pretty, and that was the shape my four-legged form most closelyresembled. Would she think so too? Normally, cute was not a description I coveted, but cute was better than scared in Irena’s case.
“Okay,” she agreed, and rather than asking more questions, she lifted the injector she was supposed to give me and emptied it with a hiss into the air, away from us. The pale liquid of the drug lurched into the dark and disappeared against the grimy, smeared flooring of the brig. A wave of relief washed over me at the sight, and tension uncoiled deep inside my gut. I hadn’t realized how much I’d loathed the inability to change, the vulnerable state it put me in. Now, it was over. Not much longer, and the previous dose would fully wear off.
My fingers tightened, curling into fists. What would I do the moment I could get out of here? As strong as I was, and as ragtag as the crew was, I couldn’t take them all on at once. It wasverytempting to sink my claws into Dimon’s gut, or to tear into Xathena’s throat and make her pay for her cowardly attack. I burned to make them all pay for what they’d done to Irena, how they’d treated her. It was unforgivable.
“It’s done,” she whispered, and it drew me out of my spiraling—and considerably violent—thoughts. Irena. She was the only person who mattered on this rust bucket, and vengeance would have to come second to ensuring her safety. My mind already spun with options, but there was no escaping theViduwhile in space. None of her shuttles functioned well enough to use for an escape, so we’d have to make our move down on the planet where the diamond was. The Verana diamond that had once slipped through my grasp, but which I’d gladly let go again if it meant rescuing Irena. Of the two, she was by far the greater treasure.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” I said, and forced a smile onto my face to banish the darkness in my mind. I had my priorities straight, but that did not mean the desire to use claws and teeth on my enemies had abated. “Shall we eat now? Trixom’s food is certainly nothing to write home about, but it fills the belly…” And it would bring her closer to me. I could not wait to feel the tentative brush of her hand on my shoulder once again. My body ached just remembering that, as if it had been a kiss, a passionate embrace.
She gave me a long look that made my muscles tighten beneath my skin. Just yesterday, I didn’t think she would have managed to hold my gaze this long, but she was holding it now, her eyes clinging to mine as if she were trying to see straight into my soul. Was she still deciding whether to trust me? To believe Dimon’s word or mine?
Then she did this little thing where she nibbled on her lush lower lip, and I found myself jerking forward, all instinct and no thought. The shackles tightened around my wrists, rattling dangerously, and the cot groaned beneath me as if it was about to give. “Stars! That’s hot,” I growled, a voice at the back of my mind screaming a warning. Too much, this was too much, and I’d scare her away. Irena, though, she was made of bolder stuff. I didn’t once believe it was because I’d done that good a job convincing her she could trust me.
Pink stained her cheeks. The grid-like scar had taken on a more defined shape since healing, now forming pale white lines across her skin. Her eyes grew wide and shimmery, mirrors of deep, soft brown that reflected my image back at me. “Are you crazy, Flack? You keep saying things like that, but… have you seen me?Really seen me?” She flung her hands wide, then gestured at her body, inviting me to look.
I jerked against my chains again, fighting the urge to reach for her when I couldn’t. Touching her as much as I wanted would definitely scare her off, so it was a good thing I was still bound, even if my instinctive struggle was drawing red welts across my wrists where the shackles tightened.
“Have I seen you? Stars…” I said, mouth dry, pulse spiking, and all that tedious boredom of the day banished. Lust pounded through my veins, and there was no hiding a desire that powerful. My cock grew firm beneath my black armor, pressing against the tight confines with a delicious ache for her. “I have not seen nearly enough, and yet I know all I need to know. You are the most divine creature I’ve ever laid eyes on. In you, I see all the things I thought I’d never have. In you, I see a home.”
Damn it, that was not nearly a good enough declaration; it barely skimmed the surface of the immense things I felt when I laid eyes on her. Home, that was true, though. Seeing her made me think I could be the right thing, the right male, for just this one person in the galaxy. It was frustrating to be trapped, to want things that were just beyond my grasp, and then to fail at the one thing that normally never failed me: my way with words.
Irena’s stare grew wider and then, most confusingly, it abruptly morphed into a grin full of mirth. I had not made a joke; I’d been sincere with every word I spoke, but her smile… it was beautiful. I’d take it. “Did you just call me homely, Flack?” she sputtered as her grin morphed into laughter. My eyes widened in horror and I began shaking my head rapidly, but much to my relief, she wasstill laughing as she climbed onto her knees on the cot next to me and pulled the tray of food toward her.
“I’d never, sweetheart. You’re anything but homely. I meant…” I was never lost for words, but I was now. How had that backfired? But I couldn’t complain when the result was that smile, her laugh, and the final relaxing of her tense shoulders. I found myself just taking the hit, smiling ruefully as she began dividing the food on the plate into two portions—one slightly bigger than the other.
As I chewed on the first bite she offered me, I forced myself back under rigid control and approached this conversation with a more practical mind. She was trusting me, I knew she was, but I wanted more. I wanted to know everything about her. Was now the time to ask? Would she be receptive? I’d start off easy; that was the only way.
“Tell me what happened when you tried calling my ship, please?” She froze when I asked, but her gaze turned contemplative as she considered her answer, still slowly chewing on a small bite of food. Today, it appeared she was trying to savor each little nibble and make it last as long as possible. I tried not to hope this meant she wanted my company a little longer. Tried and failed.
“I guess… in hindsight it wasn’t so bad. Just very intense. I didn’t mean to wait for the call to connect, but I wasn’t sure how long it took to go out.” Ah, so that’s how she’d ended up actually speaking to someone on theVarakartoom. I hadn’t wanted to expose her to that, because I knew exactly how intense those manning the bridge could be. Aramon in particular, and the Sineater was even worse. I held a vague hope she’d gotten Mitnick instead, but then she said: “He said fuck a lot.” Aramon—our pilot—had to be. Asrai was the only language that used an equivalent swearword to fuck like the humans were so fond of. It translated perfectly.
Her eyes lifted from the plate, her fingers fidgeting with the smudged gray hem of her once-white dress. “I tried to explain that you were on theViduand that you were being forced to steal a diamond for the pirates. I’m not quite sure if he understood… He, uh… kept asking me if I was your mate. What does that mean?” It was my turn to feel heat curl through my flesh, though I was certain my pinks did not turn pink the way hers had. Aramon and his blazing big mouth, he always stuck his nose where it did not belong.
“They didn’t explain much about this quadrant, about aliens, did they?” I said rather than answering outright. She shrugged casually, but I knew what it meant. They hadn’t explained anything at all. I could only guess how she’d gotten here, but there were only three options. Given her lack of knowledge, that ruled out being part of the shipment of current-day humans that had wound up on Ker, or voluntary travel from the Alpha Quadrant to the Zeta Quadrant. Which meant she’d been abducted long ago, then slumbered in stasis for years, if not centuries, before waking on the wrong side of the galaxy.
“Most alien species mate for life. The Asrai, the Xurtal, the Tarkans, and even the Kertinal all do.” I ignored the bite she offered me, as if she feared where this was going and wanted to shut me up. I pierced her with a stare I hoped conveyed that I was serious, that this was important, and that I trusted her to handle it. “And the Sune as well, like me.” I didn’t want to scare her again by telling her I knew she was mine, but I never lied, and I wasn’t going to start now.
“Ah, I see,” she whispered, and then she shoved the last bite meant for me into her own mouth and rushed to gather the tray. She was retreating, and there was nothing I could do to stop her. I could call out to say that Aramon just wanted me happy like he was with his human mate, but I doubted his motivations were so altruistic; he simply thrived on chaos. The words were on my lips to tell her that she did not need to worry about such things now.
I still had more questions than answers, and all I could do was watch her run away. The cell locked behind her, the door slamming shut with an ominous click. It wasn’t until she’d darted out of the brig area and that door had sealed behind her too that disappointment gave way to fear. Out of my reach again, alone and in constant danger. Within reach of a crew with far too many males who would not care about such a thing as consent. Would they see her healed face and see how truly beautiful she was now?
I bucked against the chains, fought even harder against the slowly fading chemical block that bound my shifting ability. Ihadto get out, now! Then the scream echoed across the deck, and the whole world turned red.
