Page 9 of Savage Union (Brutal Universe #2)

8

JESSINA

I waited nervously, wondering what Turk’s decision would be. Part of me wanted to reveal my true identity and beg him for help…but another, larger part knew that would be the height of foolishness. He didn’t know he was my Fated mate so he wouldn’t go against a Clan Chief—aka my father—to keep me from getting married, especially when the Binding Contract had already been signed. I was on my own here, with nothing to recommend me but my skill at navigation.

From across the bridge, the slimy Galafruxian was glaring at me. He wasn’t making any secret about the fact that he hated me now—his purple eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets with the emotion.

I tried to keep myself busy and ignore him and his evil glaring. I was clearly the better navigator—if he couldn’t handle that fact, it was just too bad for him. But what was taking Turk so long? How could he have any doubts about who he should give the job to?

At last the pilot—who looked like a sloth from Old Earth—came ambling out of the back room. A few moments later, Turk followed. We all turned to face him and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Would he turn me down just because I looked too young? Curse that stupid Synth dealer! He should have given me some whiskers at least.

Turk came around and seated himself in the padded chair in the center of the room—the command center—the captain’s chair. It was slightly raised, sitting on a pedestal that allowed it to swivel in all directions. As he sat, he turned toward us and beckoned.

“Gurflug and…boy, I don’t know your name,” he said to me, frowning.

“Oh, uh…” I almost blurted out my real name, which would have blown my cover immediately. Then I thought about calling myself “Jess” but that was too close to the truth too. Finally I settled on my middle name—Cassandra. In Brute crime families, your middle name is sacred and nobody outside your family knows it. That’s so it can be used as a password in times of trouble or distress. It was the best solution I could come up with on the spur of the moment.

“Cass,” I said to him. “You can call me Cass, Captain Turk.”

Turk raised his eyebrows, his bronze eyes narrowing slightly.

“Seems like you had to think about that, Cass,” he growled softly. “You wouldn’t be running from something, would you? Maybe you committed a crime or pissed off the wrong person?”

“Nothing like that,” I said steadily, meeting his eyes. “My family wanted things for me that I didn’t want.”

“I see.” He nodded knowingly. “Let me guess—your family sent you for piloting lessons and you happened to display this incredible talent for Cross Dimensional Navigation. But your Sire wanted you to stay home and run the family business instead of exploring the stars. So you got itchy feet and decided to come looking for adventure.”

I nodded my head.

“You’re very perceptive, Captain. I want to make my own way in life,” I said, which was the truth. I just happened to leave out the fact that I was scheduled for an arranged marriage that I wanted to ditch as well as “exploring the stars.”

Turk beckoned for me to come to him and I did, walking up to stand beside the captain’s chair. To my shock he shot out a hand and took me by the throat—something he never would have done if he had recognized me as his “little bird”—the nickname he’d given me after the incident at the club.

His grip wasn’t so tight I couldn’t breathe, but it was firm enough to make me feel thoroughly dominated by him. My neck felt fragile in his grip—breakable.

“Come here,” he rumbled and pulled me even closer.

Heart pounding, I leaned in, as he seemed to want me too. Indeed, I had no choice since his long fingers were still curled almost completely around my throat—I hoped he didn’t notice that he couldn’t feel the fake Adam’s apple the Synth implant was projecting.

“Listen to me, Cass,” he growled softly, looking me in the eyes. “You better be telling me the truth. If I find out you lied to me and you’re actually on the run from the Imperium or some shit like that, I will fuck you up.”

“No, Captain,” I gasped. “I swear—it has nothing to do with the Imperium!”

“Good. Because I have a pain whip in my quarters and I will use it if the situation warrants it,” he said, his eyes flashing. “The Illyrian is owned by Clan Savage—we already have enough trouble evading the law.”

I swallowed hard, looking into the molten depths of his copper-bronze eyes.

“I…I wouldn’t lie to you, Captain,” I said—which was, in itself, a lie. In fact, my whole appearance was a lie. But I couldn’t admit that—he would call Slade or my father to come get me and never trust me again, even if he was my Fated Mate. I only wished he could recognize that—the way I had the very first time I touched him.

And speaking of that, being so close to the male I was sure was my Fated Mate was playing havoc with my hormones. I could feel my nipples getting tight and my pussy getting wet because he was touching me and I was close enough to smell his warm, spicy, masculine scent. Goddess of the Four Faces, I shouldn’t be getting turned on in this scenario with his hand wrapped around my throat, but I couldn’t seem to help myself!

“Please, Captain,” I whispered, my voice coming out breathless. “I…you’re making it hard for me to…to breathe.”

Turk looked deeply into my eyes for a moment more, as though trying to read me. Then he released my throat.

“All right. I’ll take your word for it—it just better be fucking true,” he growled. “Go back and stand by Gurflug again.”

That was the last thing I wanted to do—I felt weak in the knees from being close to my Fated Mate. But I knew I couldn’t disobey.

I went back to stand beside the huge Galafruxian and waited to hear what Turk would say.

“All right, Cass and Gurflug,” he murmured, studying us both. “I have a proposal for the two of you. Cass, you have a definite talent for navigation but Gurflug has far more experience. I can’t make up my mind between you. Therefore, I would like to hire you both.”

“What?” Gurflug gurgled—why did he always sound like someone gargling with wet cement? “How dare you?” he demanded. “Why, I could go anywhere and get my full asking price. Not to mention much more respect than you’ve offered me here on this stinking, piece-of-shit ship!”

Turk’s eyes narrowed and for the first time, he bared his fangs.

“Be careful how you talk about my ship, navigator ,” he growled and there was a deep menace in his voice that sent a shiver down my spine, even though it wasn’t aimed at me. “The Illyrian might not be a beauty, but she’s got grace and speed and she’s seen me through more conflicts and troubles than I can count. She deserves your respect .”

He looked serious and scary and incredibly hot as he uttered the words. Of course it helped that he was wearing his Captain’s uniform—a black fitted suit coat and trousers with bronze stripes up the sides, along with shiny black knee-high boots. The bronze braid on his shoulders gleamed the same color as his eyes and his large, curving horns.

I had heard Turk talk about his ship before, so I knew how serious he was. It was almost like The Illyrian was a woman he was in love with.

I wished I could hear him talk that way about me someday.

Gurflug flushed a muddy greenish brown color.

“My apologies, but I don’t understand how you could possibly value me and that little snot of a boy equally, Captain!”

“Watch it with the name calling,” Turk growled. “I don’t allow my crew to fight. Anyone who starts a fight gets a beating with the pain whip I mentioned. Is that understood?”

“I haven’t agreed to join your crew yet! I could go anywhere!” Gurflug protested.

Turk shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling.

“Then fucking go. You know of any other ships that are looking for a new Cross Dimensional Navigator right now? Because I don’t. But you’re welcome to go try and find one. Or…” His tone got softer, almost coaxing. “Or you can stay here and make twenty thousand for a single mission.”

Gurflug’s wide, rubbery lips pulled down into a frown.

“I was promised thirty thousand until this little…until Cass came along.” Somehow he managed to make my name into a curse as he shot me a sneering glance. He acted like I was something he’d scraped from the bottom of his shoe.

Turk shook his head.

“No, you mentioned thirty thousand but we hadn’t agreed on a price yet. My offer is twenty thousand—take it or leave it.”

Gurflug glared at him, his purple eyes bulging.

“And what does the pup make?” he asked, nodding at me.

“Ten thousand,” Turk said promptly. He looked at me sternly. “Take it or leave it, boy.”

I wanted to protest—why should the big, smelly Galafruxian who couldn’t navigate his way out of a wet paper bag make twice as much as me? Especially when I had proved over and over that I was the superior navigator?

But I reminded myself that I wasn’t aboard The Illyrian for the money. I was here because I needed desperately to get away from my arranged marriage and because I wanted to be near my Fated Mate. So I swallowed my pride and nodded.

“I’ll take it, Captain,” I said humbly.

“Good.” Turk looked pleased. He turned to Gurflug. “And you?”

“I suppose I’ll take your offer as well,” the Galafruxian huffed. “Though it’s a criminal underpayment for one with my vast knowledge and experience,” he added, glaring at me with his bulging purple eyes.

“Good,” Turk said again. “Then I’ll have Snuffy show the two of you to your quarters and get you acquainted with the rest of the crew.” He raised his voice. “Agatha? Call Snuffy up to the bridge please.”

“Who’s Snuffy?” I asked blankly. I had never heard Turk mention any such crewmember before. I thought I would have heard of him—I eavesdropped on Turk’s conversations as much as possible every time he came to visit my big brother.

“He’s the ship’s cabin boy,” Yorrin the sloth-like pilot answered. He smiled at me. “He’s nice—you’ll like him.”

“Oh, uh, thank you.” I smiled back at him, hoping it was the right thing to do. I’d been reining in my temper almost from the moment I had stepped aboard the ship—doing my best to remain calm and collected and project myself as a male. Was it okay to smile? To show any emotion at all? I wasn’t quite sure.

At that moment there was a sound like feet pounding on metal. Up from a vertical tube set back to the far side of the bridge came a strange little figure. He had gray skin, like a Brute, but he didn’t look like any of the Brutal Clan warriors I had ever seen.

After a moment, I realized that his skin color was because he was covered in short, dense gray fur. When he turned to look at me, I saw he had bright black eyes and a long, flexible nose that wiggled in the air, as though he was sniffing everything. He also wasn’t much taller than me which was nice, since everyone else I’d met so far on board The Illyrian towered over me.

“What’s to do, Captain? What’s to do?” he asked in a high, squeaky voice. I had been trying to lower my own voice to appear more male but hearing a crewmember with such a high voice made me feel better.

“Snuffy, these are our two new navigators—Gurflug and Cass. I need you to take them down to the crew deck and get them installed in the navigators’ bunk,” Turk told him. “Oh, and get them both fitted for uniforms, all right?”

“Yes, Captain. Right away! Right away!” Snuffy exclaimed, his long nose wiggling in excitement. “You two, follow me!” he said to me and Gurflug. “Hurry up now—we’re almost ready to get underway.”

And he scampered away.