G'baena's Pirates (21 page)

“Me, too,” G’baena said, smiling up at him.

“Kam,” Devlin said. “Can you show Flynn and the girls to my quarters? There should be enough room for the three of them. I’ll clear my stuff out later.” Kam nodded, relieved to have something to do. He was about to leave the docking bay when a strong hand wrapped around his arm and pulled him back. Devlin hauled him into his embrace, kissing him fiercely before whispering, “Whatever it is, we’ll work it out. I love you.”

Kam could feel tears threatening to form, and he blinked rapidly to stave them off. Goddess, he truly loved this man. Even without empathic skills, Devlin knew him, actually saw his faults and insecurities and loved him anyway.

Kam nodded. “I’ll meet you at G’baena’s quarters?” He’d meant to say the words as a confident statement, but to his own ears, it sounded more like an insecure question. Devlin kissed him again and then winked as he stepped away.

Feeling a little lighter, Kam left G’baena with
Del
and led Flynn, G’darlee, and G’deece to their living quarters on their new home.

* * * *

“I can’t even see where the old one was. Tee-ani did a wonderful job.” G’baena smiled as
Del
nodded. He seemed more relaxed now than she’d ever known him, and she had no idea if it was thanks to her return on board or something that had happened in her absence. Whatever the cause, G’baena was glad to see
Del
acting closer to the youth that he was rather than the slave he’d been. He practically bounced with good humor.

“So anything interesting happen while I was away?” she asked, smiling wider at his exaggerated huff.

“I helped Tee-ani for some of the time. She says I’ve got a good aptitude for medicine. She’s going to teach me some stuff, you know, like first aid and field medic stuff that’ll come in handy, but I’m not sure if I want to be a doctor. Too much misery, you know.”

She nodded in agreement.
Del
would make a wonderful doctor. His compassion and protectiveness would adapt well, but she understood his need to step back from the pain of dealing with the dead and the dying. Medicine was quite advanced, and Tee-ani was well equipped, but still, not everyone made a recovery. G’baena tried to find a change of subject.

“Did you have meals with anyone?” She’d worried that
Del
would sit alone rather than seek out the company of people he didn’t know, but he surprised her yet again. He blushed, his cobalt blue skin flushing a deep purple across his cheekbones.

“I spent some time with Abby. She’s kind of nice, ya know?” Well, that explained the change in speech pattern. Abby was one of the human slaves Ben and Trey and the other pirates had rescued from the disabled slave transport where they’d found Tee-ani. Abby had only just been abducted, so she spoke with the typical human vernacular used by the youth on Earth, where she’d grown up. G’baena tried to hide her smile and wondered if
Del
even noticed he was copying the young woman’s habits.

“Anyway, I told her I’d help her in the kitchen. Ruth says she’ll teach Abby how to cook, even if it kills her.” He smiled and laughed softly, and G’baena felt tears gather behind her eyes.
Del
seemed so happy, and she couldn’t think of anyone who deserved it more.

“What happened with Keytark?”

He shrugged, and G’baena wondered if the casualness was real or feigned. His overall mood suggested that, whatever happened, he wasn’t overly concerned, but she still wanted
Del
’s version of events. She knew from Tee-ani’s reports that things went smoothly, and now she wanted to know how
Del
felt about it.

“Not much,” he said, as he leaned against the doorframe and crossed his ankles. “I pulled the tooth, it started flashing like there was a light in it or something, and then a few moments later, Keytark asked me if Ben and Trey were real slavers. I said yes, and then the tooth sort of melted. Tee-ani put it in a vacuum seal in case Devlin wanted to have a look at it later.”

He shrugged again. “Anyway, Abby sure knows how to mess things up when she tries, so I think having me in the middle might stop Ruth and Abby from killing each other in the kitchen.” He grinned as he said it, so she was fairly certain he wasn’t talking literally. “And besides, you totally need a shower. I don’t think I’ve smelled something that bad in, like, forever.” Laughing harder, he left the room before she could swat him one.

* * * *

Kam stayed so long hovering over Flynn and the girls, explaining every gadget, communication device, and control, that they’d finally grown tired of him and kicked him out. Flynn had smiled knowingly, and he wondered just how much the woman understood about his relationship with Devlin and G’baena. He suspected Flynn knew a whole lot more about life than even G’baena gave her credit for.

He ran into a couple of friends on the way back to G’baena’s quarters, but both gave him a wide clearance and promised to speak to him
after
he’d bathed. He didn’t even want to think about how badly the cramped quarters they’d lived in for twelve days smelled. Judging by the crew’s reaction, he guessed it was pretty awful.

He rounded a corner and almost walked straight into Devlin heading in the opposite direction. Devlin smiled and reached out a hand to steady them both.

“I just have to speak to the captain, and then I’ll meet you at G’baena’s quarters.” Devlin touched his finger to the dark circles under his own eyes. “I’m looking forward to three days’ solid sleep with you and G’baena in my arms.” He leaned over and kissed Kam softly. “I’ll meet you in the shower,” he promised as he walked away.

Kam was a little surprised to find G’baena alone.

“Where is
Del
?”

“Apparently, young Abby is in need of his company, and she smells much nicer.”

Kam smiled, relieved to hear that
Del
had taken G’baena’s absence well. “Shower?” he asked, as he held out his hand.

“Absolutely,” she said, grasping his fingers. “Something tells me we could really use one.”

* * * *

“What happened with G’tarvey? How did he get through your scrutiny, G’ntriel?”

He didn’t really want to yell at the woman, but fear and relief and exhaustion were all combining to make him feel just a little bit nuts.

“He didn’t,”
Jordan
said quietly. “G’ntriel suspected that G’tarvey might choose the path he took, but it wasn’t really in his personality to do something so bold.”

“So what tipped him from timid person to megalomaniac?”

“Ah, that’d be me.” A soft laugh sounded behind him, and he turned in time to see Sarah shrug. “He demanded my obedience, I broke his nose. It was a whole big thing,” she waved away dismissively, “but I didn’t start it.”

Jordan
snagged Sarah’s hand and pulled her into his embrace.

“What my wife is trying to say is that G’tarvey had difficulty adapting to life on board and decided to blaze his own trail. We gave him the opportunity to prove us wrong, but the moment he was left alone with the raiders, he stole one and took off.”

“Unfortunately for our G’trobian friend, he chose the one with lots of tiny little parts missing,” G’ntriel said with a wide smile and a song in her voice. “Guess you’ll be needing these back.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a collection of small pieces, all critical parts from the attacking and defensive weaponry on board the raiders.

“Hell, no.” He laughed tiredly. “You can put it back together yourself. I’m going to shower and then sleep for the next three days. Where is G’tarvey now?”

“Our newest—and most spectacular—failure as a slave trader currently resides in one of the holding cells,” Sarah said triumphantly.

“We’ll figure out what to do with him later,”
Jordan
assured Devlin. “Go get some rest. We’ll let you know if anything important happens, but until then, consider yourself on leave.”

“Enjoy your honeymoon,” G’ntriel said as he walked passed her.

Honeymoon? Well, it was, in a way. He planned to claim both G’baena and Kam, but he wanted it to be special, something they would all remember fondly. He desperately needed sleep, but he’d talk to the captain soon about claiming his mates in the human tradition as well.

The debriefing had taken longer than he’d hoped, and he found Kam and G’baena asleep in each other’s arms. They both looked as exhausted as Devlin felt, so he headed straight for the shower and tried to stay upright long enough to get clean. When he was done, he slid under the covers, pulled Kam’s back tight against his front, and rested his hand on G’baena’s belly. Both snuggled closer a moment before sleep claimed him.

Chapter Sixteen

Kam lifted the weight rhythmically, working the upper arm, stomach, and pectoral muscles. He was pushing himself hard, but couldn’t help it. No matter how many times Devlin reassured him, he still felt like he wasn’t pulling his weight.

At least when he’d been with the other displaced sons, there had been a need for his weapons skills, but
Jordan
had worked hard to separate the ship’s pirate activities from the innocents now living on board. They still appropriated medicines and other wealth from corrupt governments, but they accomplished it by stealth and infiltration rather than brute force.

It wasn’t quite as economical, but it did mean the women and children living on board this vessel weren’t placed in the line of fire unnecessarily.

Kam had spent the last three weeks training and honing his skills, hoping that
Jordan
would send him on one of the missions. So far, the captain hadn’t given him the chance, but Kam continued training and worked out and honed his weapons skills and tried to stay out of everyone’s way.

He glanced down at the plain silver band on his finger. Devlin had claimed him and G’baena in both the G’trobian tradition and the human wedding ceremony officiated by the ship's captain. He loved and was loved in return, so he should be happier than ever, but he just couldn’t shake the melancholy.

So he worked out and, for the most part, avoided contact with everyone else.

“Kam?” Her voice was so sweet, and she sounded so worried for him that he wanted to grab a hold of her and never let go. “Do you want to talk about Ky?”

Grief he hadn’t even known he was carrying squeezed his chest hard. Tears rolled down his face at the mention of his brother, and G’baena rushed into his arms. He held her close, rocking them both, taking comfort from her unassuming presence.

Goddess, he missed his brother with every breath.

She held him as he cried, never once turning away or trying to stop him, and he loved her all the more for her understanding. He hadn’t had the chance to grieve until now, and these weeks of inactivity had hit him harder than he’d realized.

“Well, well, well, what a touching scene.”

G’tarvey stood in the doorway, a strange looking weapon pointed at them both. Kam hurriedly pushed G’baena behind him.

“And might I say, quite fortuitous for me. I thought I was going to have to leave without making a profit, but now I might even get a big reward from Keytark for returning his rarest slave.” He stepped closer, sneering as Kam shifted to keep himself between G’baena and the gun.

“Go start that transport pod, little slave, or your lover boy here is going to discover just how good of an engineer I really am.” He waved the strange looking weapon at them both, growling impatiently for G’baena to do as she was told.

“Go fuck yourself, asshole,” his spitfire of a wife yelled, as she tried to look around him. Kam held her against his back, determined to protect her from all threats—including her own temper. Goddess, had she been taking lessons from Sarah?

G’tarvey stepped even closer, his face twisted in anger as he yelled all the horrible things he would do to G’baena once he got her alone. Kam felt her anger and her determination grow as G’tarvey spewed the words, spit bubbles foaming his lips as he slipped into madness.

His head practically wobbled on his shoulders, his eyes wild as he leveled the weapon at Kam’s chest. G’tarvey’s hand shook, and Kam realized the man had no plan. He was as likely to shoot Kam as he was to leave him alive.

Kam pushed G’baena toward the transport pods as he lunged forward, taking G’tarvey by surprise. “Go,” he yelled, hoping G’baena would understand. Kam slammed his fist into the man’s jaw at the same time a loud sound rang out and a sudden stinging heat skimmed his temple.