Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 55551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“You’re my captor,” I say, though it’s not really what I mean. Sometimes there’s such a big disconnect between what I am thinking in my head and what comes out of my mouth. I wish he could see my thoughts. I wish he could know all the tender things and the little nuances I never seem to have the ability to communicate.
“I am,” he says. “But not like that. I intend to keep you whole.”
It’s like he has read my mind. But that might simply be the way it feels to be understood. From the moment I first met this creature, I felt that he saw me in ways nobody else ever had. That feeling has only grown stronger with every passing day, and certainly with every carnal and disciplinary encounter.
He has me in ways the people who thought they owned me could never have me. His control makes me feel completely different. Instead of exploited, I am cherished. Instead of used, I am protected.
“I know,” I say, once again completely failing to communicate all the depth of my feeling. I hope he can feel what he needs to feel, because I don’t know if I will ever be able to say what I need to say. When we are connected, our bodies joined, there is a wholeness to us that I’ve never felt before. You could call it a mate bond. You could call it love. Whatever it is, I want it forever.
Seeing Raine has made one thing very clear to me: I no longer have any interest in escape. Thorn is more than my saurian master. He is my family. He is my home.
“You’re safe with me, Suli,” he says, telling me what I already know. “And so is Raine. Avel will take good care of her.”
“She won’t submit easily. She’s never had a chip. Never been sold. She’s always been free. She was orphaned before she was twelve. And she never answered to anyone. Not even me. The only reason I was captain was the fact I owned the ship, and I’d do things that she couldn’t, because I couldn’t feel the fear that stopped her. She’s worse than I am, because she’s learned to operate through her fear. She’s learned to listen to it, to work with it. She’s fucking dangerous, Thorn.”
“Don’t worry about Avel. He can take care of himself.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you if it turns out she’s already killed him.”
“I think for the moment, you should worry less about Raine and Avel, and a great deal more about you and me. There is a reckoning to be had, isn’t there?”
“What? Why? I didn’t call the ship here. They came of their own accord. All I did was not escape. I was practically perfect today, and I think you know it.”
“Except when you helped the other two escape me.”
“They deserved to escape. They’re not like Raine and me. They wouldn’t do well in the care of your type. They deserve nice men.”
“Oh, I’m not a nice man?” Thorn raises a brow and pretends to be offended, while also being a massive saurian alien with scales and a tail.
“You’re not a man at all, and you know it. Mouse and Zara deserve to get their happily-ever-afters. A nice place somewhere far from all this craziness. A farm or something. Good husbands. A small gaggle of offspring. That’s what I want for them. I don’t want them in a cage on a saurian world being repeatedly punished for following their natural instincts to escape. You probably wouldn’t be able to keep either of them in, anyway. They’re much better at what they do than I am.”
“Is that right?” Thorn smiles. “You have a lot of admiration and care for your crew, don’t you.”
“Of course I do. They’re the closest thing I have left to family. Family that wouldn’t betray me. I guess, right up until they did. But I think I might stop blaming them for that. It’s starting to feel like they might not ever have had a choice.”
“What do you mean?”
“When someone’s like me — reckless and thoughtless, and doesn’t take care of you in the way you need to be taken care of, then getting rid of them is the right thing to do. Getting rid of me was the right thing for them to do. Coming after me? That was the mistake.”
11 HAPPILY EVER…
Thorn
This little pirate is taking responsibility for her actions in a way I am certain she never has before. I can see what inspired such loyalty in her crew. Whether she gives herself credit for it or not, Suli is a natural leader, and I don’t think it ever had anything to do with the augmentations inserted into her brain.
“Maybe the chip did not break,” I suggest. “Maybe you simply found yourself in a situation for the first time where you were being controlled by someone who had your best interests at heart. Someone who wasn’t trying to exploit you. Maybe your perception of not feeling fear was some kind of survival instinct. Perhaps you couldn’t afford to feel fear.”