G'baena's Pirates (5 page)

She nodded her understanding, but he could read a million questions in her eyes. He couldn’t help himself. Grasping her hand in his own seemed so natural, so necessary, that he held her warm fingers tighter than he first intended.

“It’s okay to ask me anything. Anything you want or need to know, you just have to ask.” He could see her struggling, see her grimace as she tried to find the words to say whatever she wanted to say, but at the last moment, she seemed to change her mind and ask something completely different. He’d been expecting a question about the ship or maybe about humans or human culture in general, but the question she did ask had the blood pooling in his groin.

“Will you have sex with me?”

The piece of lasagna he’d been chewing lodged in his throat, and he tried desperately to remedy the situation without making a fuss. He could just see his epitaph now—he choked on lasagna in the mess hall with a hard-on. He finally managed to swallow the mouthful and grabbed for his glass of water.

“Did I say it wrong?” G’baena asked quietly, concern and embarrassment written all over her pretty face. He reached across the table to cup her cheek in his hand.

“No, honey, you didn’t say anything wrong. You just took me by surprise.”

“Oh,” she said in a non-committal tone.

Devlin shifted in his chair, trying to ease the ache in his groin without cutting off the blood supply to his legs, almost groaning aloud with the discomfort. G’baena fidgeted in her seat and looked like she was going to make a run for it, so he grabbed her hand again and held on tight.

“G’baena, I’m sorry, I just don’t know how to react here. You were held captive as a sex slave. I thought sex would be the last thing on your mind.”

She shook her head, her face coloring again as she awkwardly tried to explain.

“I…uhm…wasn’t, they didn’t, I mean…” She blew out her breath in irritation and then pinned him with her gaze. “I was sold as a virgin, so no one touched me in a sexual way.”

Devlin was starting to feel like he’d fallen into a non-orientable wormhole and popped out in some alternate universe. “You’re a virgin?” he whispered anxiously.

“No.” She shook her head fretfully. “I’m a trained concubine.”

He shook his head again, the information seeming to make no sense.

“How did you get away with that? Surely Keytark’s men would’ve checked.”

“They did, but G’trobian women are a little different from other species.”

He watched her steadily, suddenly wondering if Tee-ani was mistaken in her idea that humans and G’trobians were all that similar. She lowered her voice to the barest of whispers, and he had to lean across the table to hear her. That put her mouth next to his ear, and her warm breath bathed the sensitive skin as she whispered her secret. He willed his cock to behave as he listened to her words.

* * * *

He pulled back so suddenly she almost fell off her own chair in reaction.

“Is this common knowledge?”

She shook her head. No, it wasn’t common knowledge at all. She'd never heard or read anything about it herself and didn’t think anyone else, besides her fathers, knew of the medical quirk. How they knew was still a mystery to her.

“G’baena, honey, we need to tell Tee-ani. If the slavers figure this out, the women on G’trobia could be in a lot more danger than we first thought.” Goddess, she hadn’t even thought of that. She nodded frantically as she pushed her chair back and rose to her feet. Devlin wrapped his arm around her waist and held her shaking body tightly against him as they headed for the medical bay.

Chapter Four

Tee-ani looked amused when she first saw them together, but then must’ve seen the fear in G’baena’s stance, because she crossed the room quickly, a million questions glittering in her eyes. Devlin pulled G’baena closer as he tried to explain.

“Doc, there’s a G’trobian medical quirk we think you need to be aware of,” he began, not really sure whether to blurt out the information or let G’baena handle the situation herself. His instincts were screaming at him to take charge, to protect this woman—his woman—but another part reminded him that she had a right to choose when and where she accepted his protection. She had a mind and a will of her own, and there was no way he would treat her with anything less than respect.

Tee-ani’s concerned gaze bounced from one to the other until G’baena tried to explain.

“When I came of age, I was sent to a very exclusive school to be trained to please my intended mates.”

Tee-ani nodded, looking confused, as she waited for G’baena to explain the rest. When G’baena hesitated again, it finally struck Devlin that G’baena was talking to the woman who was mated to the very men G’baena had been trained to please. Talk about awkward. He gave G’baena a reassuring squeeze and then spoke quietly.

“Doc, she was sold as a virgin, but she’s not one. The hymen grows back if a G’trobian woman doesn’t have intercourse in a long time.”

Tee-ani shook her head as if the information seemed unbelievable, but then realization at the implications must’ve hit her. She stared at them in horror. “Shit, if the slavers knew that, they’d be willing to take a whole lot more risk to get their hands on G’trobian women for slavery.”

Devlin nodded as he again felt G’baena shiver in his arms. He pulled her closer, his heart swelling with tenderness when she turned her face into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I need to speak to Ben and Trey and the captain. This situation could be far more problematic than we first thought.”

“It’s not common knowledge, I don’t think,” G’baena said, turning her head slightly so that she faced Tee-ani. “G’trobians value experience over virginity and all wives have two husbands, so I doubt many women have ever lived the phenomenon. Or if they have, it’s likely that they didn’t really understand it.”

“So how did your abductors know?” Devlin asked.

G’baena shook her head, the memories of her treatment at her abductors’ hands obviously still raw and painful.

“Don’t worry about this now,” Tee-ani said soothingly. “Devlin, why don’t you take G’baena back to her quarters, and I’ll let you know what happens after I talk to the captain.”

Devlin nodded, concern for G’baena’s state of mind urging him into action. He held her close, feeling very reluctant to let her go once they reached her cabin. As they approached the door, she whispered quietly, “Stay with me, please.”

He nodded, ruthlessly stamping down the desire that was rising in him again. The woman was shocked and frightened. Even though she never intended to return to her home planet, there was no doubt that she worried for the women who could be targets. He ground his teeth together, determined to be her support, her rock, without following through on her earlier invitation.

He went to settle her on the sofa, but she pulled him towards the bed. He shook his head, and a small smile flitted across her face. “Well, maybe you can just hold me.” He smiled back and then helped her onto the bed and lay down beside her. She cuddled into him, her soft curves molding sweetly against his side. They lay quietly together for several minutes.

“I’m sorry about before,” she said softly. Puzzled, he lifted his head in an attempt to make eye contact, but she kept her face averted.

“Sorry about what?”

“I didn’t mean to insult you by asking you to have sex with me. I’m still trying to understand proper protocols when it comes to dealing with humans.”

He couldn’t help it—he laughed. How did this situation end up so upside down? Wasn’t it usually the male apologizing for being too eager to get into bed?

“I’m not insulted,” he finally said. “I was just surprised. There is nothing I’d rather do than drive my cock deep into your body and make love to you all night, but I suspect that we are going to have a couple of visitors before too long.”

“Visitors?” she asked at the same time the door chimed. She sat up and looked at him with such fear in her eyes that he pulled her close and took a moment to reassure her.

“It’s probably just Ben and Trey,” he said as he moved away from the bed and towards the door.

* * * *

G’baena’s heart was pounding hard despite Devlin’s reassurance and the knowledge that he’d protect her if she needed it. She had no idea why she would need it, but she could feel the agitation of the two G’trobian males on the other side of the door, and having Devlin close made her feel less threatened.

“Ben, Trey,” Devlin said as he stepped back to let them in. They both seemed to size up Devlin for a moment before turning their attention to her. She was really glad she’d wriggled off the bed and walked into the main area because she could feel the brothers’ aggression towards Devlin. Maybe they’d spent too much time with humans, because they seemed determined to protect her from romantic advances. Goddess, with Devlin willing to protect her from Ben and Trey and Ben and Trey willing to protect her from Devlin, things could get ugly fast.

“What do you want?” she said, a little more harshly than she intended. She’d never been given a choice before on whom she could fraternize with, and she wasn’t going to let any of these males take away her newly won freedom.

“G’baena, we need you to come to the planet with us and talk to the Kings.” Ben looked very uncomfortable, and it finally dawned on her what Devlin had probably already figured out. They wanted her to confront her abductors for what they’d done to her.

“No, I can’t,” she said frantically as the ripple effect of her actions unwound in her imagination.

“G’baena,” Devlin said in a deep, comforting voice. “We will protect you, you have my word on that, but you need to do this. The women on your planet need you to do this. If your abductors had a contact on the planet, those people need to be caught and punished.”

She shook her head, her expression just a little desperate.

“G’baena, you need to confront your fathers,” Trey said.

“What do her fathers have to do with this?” Devlin asked, sounding confused. He turned to G’baena. “What did they do?”

She hesitated, hoping Ben and Trey would tell him the awful truth, but they both watched her, waiting for her to answer. She swallowed hard and then said the words in a rush. “They sold me to the slavers.”

He rocked back on his heels a moment, almost like he’d been struck. She could feel his compassion and concern as he stepped closer and placed his hand on her arm. “G’baena, I’m so sorry. Your fathers should’ve been men you could trust, but if they sold you to slavers, they need to be held accountable.”

“But they’ll kill them,” she said as she shivered in agitation. “They’ll execute them as an example. Won’t they, Ben?” She felt shock roll through Devlin at Ben’s solemn nod.

“It’s the only way, G’baena,” Trey said sincerely. “If the Kings don’t act swiftly to bring justice upon those who deal with slave traders, things could quickly spiral out of control.”

She could sense Devlin’s mixed emotions over what would likely happen in this situation. If she was interpreting him correctly, he wasn’t happy about the possible death sentence but seemed willing to support her regardless.

“G’baena,” Devlin said quietly as he held his arms open for her. She flew into his embrace, tears flowing freely as she made a decision she hoped she could live with.

“What will happen to my mother?” she asked Ben and Trey.

“As long as she was not involved in your sale to slavers, we will make sure she is provided for. Your sisters, too.”

G’baena hadn’t thought about her younger sisters in such a long time. It hurt so much to imagine what they were living through. Her fathers were ambitious, brutal, selfish men, not unlike the slavers working for Keytark, and a part of her feared that her sisters had been sold to slavers as well.

“We can offer them sanctuary on the ship,” Devlin said confidently. “You need to do this, honey, not only for all G’trobian females but for yourself and your sisters, too.”

Taking a deep breath, G’baena stepped out of Devlin’s arms and faced the two men she’d once been promised to and trained to obey. She wasn’t doing this for them, wasn’t doing it to please anyone. She was doing it because it had to be done and because she had a chance to protect women who’d never known a different life. “My mother and sisters were not involved. I’m certain of it. Just tell me what needs to be done.”

Trey smiled softly as he stepped forward to touch her cheek. “You are an amazing woman, G’baena, and I’m very proud to know you.” His soft words started the tears flowing again. The last time she’d been praised like that was so long in the past that it almost felt like a lifetime ago. Ben glanced toward Devlin and stepped forward to take Trey’s place.