Page 14 of Journey to the Forbidden Zone
The Xena.
His. At least for the duration of the trip to Babcinq.
Maltese had been explicit:
“No touching, Corso. Not a finger. She arrives pristine, untouched, exactly as loaded.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Nick had retorted. “You think this is my first time moving delicate goods? You hired me for a reason.”
Maltese leaned forward on the desk, his thick jowls drooping like a dog’s.
“This is no ordinary job,” he said, his voice husky.“The package is destined for a high-ranking government official. These are not people you fuck with, Corso. Follow the instructions to the letter.”
Nick’s lips curled into a sneer. Maltese was grosslynaïve. If the Xena had really been purchased by a senator or cabinet member, they were not going to complain. They couldn’t afford to have their little secret toy be made public. The wealthiest, most powerful UPA Senator couldn’t survive the scandal of owning a sex slave.
Maltese was a lowlife with no concept of what powerful people were willing to risk – and what they weren’t. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
Because one of the keys to success was seizing opportunity when it came along. And this was the type of opportunity that would never come along again:
A Xena. Spread before him. For days.
Nick Corso wasn’t the type of man who said no to something like that. The official would never know. And Nick would never forget.
His steps quickened, the rhythm matching the pounding of his heart. He could almost taste her already – alien, exotic, designed to provoke.
He imagined peeling back that fur, finding the pale skin beneath, tasting the salt of her fear-turned-desire. She’d be confused at first, maybe even resistant. They always were. But his authority would do the work. It would soften her, make her pliant. Eager, even. He’d seen the data. She was built for this. Built to serve. And he was made to take.
He passed a mirrored panel lining a junction box. He paused, catching his reflection. Tall, broad-shouldered, impeccably dressed in a tailored jacket over a silk shirt. Hair slicked back, not a strand out of place. The picture of control.
The image Carmen Díaz had always been too blind, too stubborn, to see. The memory of her face, twisted in disgust back on Alora, flashed in his mind.
I wouldn’t fuck you with a stolen vaj.
The laughter of the cantina crowd echoed in his ears, phantom humiliation warming his cheeks even now. That little bitch. Always spitting defiance. Always thinking she was better.
Not better, he thought, his knuckles whitening where they gripped the edge of the panel.Just stubborn. Deluded. Like all women.
They needed a firm hand. Needed to be shown their place. Díaz most of all. Her refusal, her constant rejection … it wasn’t about him. It was about her own twisted pride, her pathetic need to play captain. To pretend she wasn’t just another lost soul needing a real man to take charge.
He remembered the first time he’d made his intentions clear. AboardThe Buccaneer, years ago, before the mutiny. He’d cornered her in the starboard sensor relay alcove, a cramped space cooking with the heat of warm circuits. She’d been elbow-deep in a fried panel, grease smudged on her cheek….
“Problem, Díaz?” he asked, leaning against the doorway, blocking her exit.
He made sure to fill the space, radiate confidence. She didn’t even look up.
“Just a blown capacitor, Corso.” Her voice was flat, dismissive. “Nothing your delicate constitution needs to worry about.”
He stepped closer, lowering his voice.
“Always working so hard. Don’t you ever take a break? Let someone else take the strain?”
He reached over, intending to brush a stray lock of hair from her temple. Her hand shot out, lightning-fast, catching his wrist an inch from her skin. Her grip was surprisingly strong.
Finally, she looked up. Her dark eyes weren’t angry. They were cold. Contemptuous. Like he was something she’d scraped off her boot.
“Touch me,” she’d said, her voice low and dangerous, “and I will feed you your dick.”
He laughed, tried to play it off. But the rejection stung. Sharp and deep.