Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 66904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
If I was bolder, more like Sullivan, I’d let out the “or what” that appears in my mind when he says he won’t warn me again. Instead, I let him strip the wet shirt from me and replace it with another of a similar kind. I feel like a ragged little orphan in this unsuitable attire, barefoot, and possibly pregnant in a subterranean lair.
I need to escape this underground labyrinth, and I need to make contact with one of the captains in the city. That’s my plan. If I allow myself to stay his captive, I will end up pregnant with some kind of hybrid that is thus far only theorized. I’m not ready to be a mother to a creature that has never before existed on any planet anywhere. I’m not ready to be a mom at all. I’m ready to get my captains back and continue my nice, quiet life of crime.
He seems satisfied by my silence, mistaking it for agreement, maybe.
“I know this is a very strange, and probably very frightening situation for you, but do as you are told, and no harm will come to you.”
“No harm except being forced to give birth.”
He has no response to that. His expression is grim, and I wonder if it has occurred to him that he is making a baby with me for demonstration purposes, more or less. I’m not entirely innocent to the ways of the universe. I know that people of all kinds of species get conceived for all sorts of reasons, including none whatsoever.
I need to get back to the ship and take a pill. We have a lot of contraception on board. Some of the crew on the Mare have gotten pregnant from time to time, and some of them have kept their babies, but none of them stayed aboard once they got close to giving birth. A pirate’s life is not suitable for an infant. It’s too dangerous. And infants notoriously lack the coordination to man the weapons banks. So.
Before we can continue not discussing what is happening between us, there is a banging at the door.
“Shan! Wrath needs you! We’re going out!”
“Stay here,” Shan says. “Don’t try anything. Don’t touch anything. Don’t attempt any kind of escape. If you do, I will make you regret it.”
I sink away from him, lower my eyes, and do my best to appear small and compliant as I let the tremors that have been running through me since the baths and Wrath’s appearance take over to a greater extent. I tremble before Shan, and I let him believe I will do anything and everything he says.
I feel his scaled hand slide beneath my chin, lifting my face so that I am forced to look into his dark saurian gaze. There is something about Shan that is more than simply otherworldly. He is alien even among aliens. There is a part of him that is forever reserved for him, and him alone. But I can sense it when he looks at me. I can feel it when he touches me. It is cold. It is dark. And it makes me quiver.
“Be good for me,” he says, his voice quiet and even. “You will not like what happens to you if you are not.”
With that, he straightens, and begins to put on his harness and weaponry and a jacket and pants other such accoutrements. Whatever he is about to do, it is something very wrong, and absolutely illegal. I feel a little jolt of arousal as he gets dressed. There’s something very satisfying about the way his clothing is all tailored to fit over his shoulder spikes. He is dangerous in so many ways.
5 RUNAWAY MATE
Lettie
It takes a few minutes for the chill to leave my bones after his warning, but I shake it off. Whatever he will do to me is irrelevant if I do a proper escape — which is what I intend to do. I need to get back to the Mare. I want my own room. I want my captains. I want the life I had, the cozy yet exciting life of a pirate.
My suit has been taken, but I am in a room full of objects, and like I always say, a room full of objects is as good as an escape room. I’m getting out of here, and I’m going to take the tunnel out.
Before I do that, I go through Shan’s wardrobe and I cobble together a bit more of an outfit. Thank god I still have my boots. That’s the part that would be very hard to recreate with handmade items. All I need for the rest of the outfit is enough to keep my flesh covered. The shirt he gave me this morning is a start, but I grab more, a leathery sort of overcoat thing which I belt around my body to give me a bit more bulk and more protection from the elements. It is scaled, which is good. I wonder if saurians might mistake me for one of them if I can wear enough scaled stuff.