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Mistakes could give me an opportunity to escape…

But mistakes are also how people die on Marn.

Mistakes are how business deals turn into criminal investigations.

The fear wells up in me. These Aurelians don’t know what they’re doing! It’s like they’re making up their kidnapping plans on the spot. I was gagged by something that was probably just bought at a nearby pleasure store!

It doesn’t matter what they threaten – if I see an opportunity to escape, Imusttake it. Facing down the punishment Brennan threatens is a risk I’ll just have to take.

I remember the way Brennan manhandled me so easily earlier – throwing me over his shoulder as if I weighed nothing, and spanking my ass like I was a naughty wench. I can’t even imagine what it would feel like to betrulypunished by this cruel alien commander. My mouth goes dry at the mere thought.

Brennan gently places his huge hand on my lower back, and I’m guided out of the room. Once we’re through the door, he grabs me – helping me over the steps and out toward the landing page.

A brisk wind grabs at my thin pajama dress when we step outside. I can’t do anything to stop the wind from picking it up, exposing my legs. Brennan’s hand suddenly presses harder against me, and he takes in a harsh breath.

These three alien warriors seem to be half-motivated by this deal they’re manipulating from my father – but equally motivated by darker urges; as dark as the ones I’m struggling with myself.

I shiver as Brennan hoists me effortlessly into the ship – and, at the same time, I can feel the same tension emanating from their huge, muscular bodies.

These three are barely holding back.

Theywantme.

Brennan promised to keep me safe – but not from himself.

I know I’m utterly inexperienced in these things – that my only erotic adventures have been undertaken within the pages of the books I devour – but I can tell these threeachefor me.

It’s an ache powerful enough that the three of them risked breaking the laws of their own Empire to take me. Something tells me that if I were a son, and not a daughter, they wouldn’t have risked such a brazen kidnapping attempt.

Their motivations are far from “just business.”

And, once again, on an environment such as Marn – that’s dangerous.

These three Aurelians might be fearless, brutal warriors - but they’re rank amateurs when it comes to playing the ancient game of “business” on Marn.

My father has lived in this society for decades – he understands it. Herespectsit.

Now the carefully ordered protocol for such things has been violated, he’ll send armed men after me – and people will die. My father will hire men to hunt down the Aurelians, and they’ll find them. All that inhuman speed and strength – those terrifying Orb-Weapons – will be useless against heavily armed gunmen.

The beautiful, marble-hewn bodies of the three Aurelians will be split open by a hail of gunfire. All their big, beautiful muscles will be helpless to stop high-velocity lead slugs from ripping through them.

I need to get away before that fight happens.

But I have no way to escape right now. We’re in a shuttle, as opposed to the Reaver the Aurelians kidnapped me in. The ship’s engines roar as we lift off – rattling, and loud, and so uncivilized in comparison to the Aurelian’s sleek, Orb-powered vessel.

Them using this alternative mode of transports worries me. Switching locations is an equally bad sign. The corporations of Marn have a system when it comes to kidnapping, and it’s to avoid sloppiness like this. Sloppiness gets people killed.

In a civilized Marn kidnapping, the victim is taken to a safehouse – one built like a prison, impenetrable and hidden. There, the victim is held safe and secure until a deal is made. It’s as much to protect them as the kidnappers themselves.

Such strategies are a game of cat and mouse here on Marn. Kidnappers use non-lethal weapons and social engineering to catch a victim – they don’t burst through the window, like the Aurelians did!

The violent, unpredictable actions of the warrior triad have changed the way the game is played. My father isn’t merely in a business negotiation anymore – he’s trying to protectme.

Parents protecting their offspring play with the glovesoff. They shoot to kill, and those that die in the process should have known the stakes of the game before they began playing it.

I have a feeling I’m not being taken to a luxurious, hidden safehouse. I have a feeling it’s impossible to predict what will happen next.

I’m kidnapped, blindfolded, and handcuffed – with a gag hanging around my neck, and being taken Gods-know-where in an unmarked spacecraft. I’m surrounded by three huge, hulking alien warriors, who are clearly and desperatelyachingto take me.