Page 9

Tanin

K eeper Ikvar, captain of the starship Hovtu-I-3, had responded personally to Tanin’s message. And he responded quickly. Human females taken from Earth were a big deal, and so he had to act immediately. Since he couldn’t divert his entire ship – not when they were safe and unlikely to be hurt – he requested that Tanin meet up with him as soon as possible.

The keepers undoubtedly had a subspace generator that didn’t need multiple days to recharge. It also probably wasn’t limited on swing distance and time like his was.

But the females were safe with him, so it wasn’t unreasonable to ask him to go to them. A peacekeeper mother ship was massive, more like a city than a ship. It would dwarf the Humility by orders of magnitude. It also served as a base for other peacekeeper ships, smaller ones sent out on missions, and it’s flight path was predetermined for a reason. That couldn’t be changed without good cause and, right now, they didn’t have one.

“The keepers are waiting for us,” he said, still speaking to Garnet as he read through the message. “When we can jump again, we’ll get to them in about… I’d say two or three days. Our swings are pretty slow, so despite the relatively close distance, it will be a longer swing.”

He looked over to Garnet when she didn’t respond. Only to find her frowning, looking at his console like she was trying to see through it.

“Garnet?”

“Huh?” She jumped, focusing back on him. She quickly fixed a smile on her face. “Oh, right. Great! That’s good news.”

“It is,” he agreed, searching her face. What was that expression for? “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.”

He faced her fully. “About?”

She shrugged. “A lot of things, I guess. The last couple days have been a lot. Or, you know, however long it’s been since we were taken. I actually don’t know.”

“What do you remember about being taken?”

She shook her head. “Not much. My last real, solid memory is heading home after work. I wasn’t wearing these clothes though. So, I guess me and Goldie decided to go grab some food or something. But I don’t know for sure. I just remember this person with pitch black skin and five, white eyes coming at me. And then nothing.”

“That person must have been a shinuk. That’s how their species look. And Gissrn, the one who hired us, was a shinuk king. I imagine that the person who caught you is the one who jettisoned your chest in order to protect himself. Don’t worry. You’ll be back home soon so your people won’t have to miss you for much longer.”

She let out a short, annoyed sigh. “I’m sure my job has already replaced me at this point. They certainly aren’t going to miss me. Goldie’s school too, for that matter. It’s not going to be a fun time when we get back to clean up those pieces.”

“Do you have someone waiting for you on Earth?” The question slipped out before he even paused to think about it. Really, it could mean anything. Parents, friends, family. But he didn’t mean it that way at all.

He wanted to know if she had a mate waiting for her. Some younglings perhaps. He wouldn’t mind her having young, but a mate would put these amorous feelings he was developing swiftly to bed. So, he rather hoped, for himself, that she said yes.

But she shook her head – the human, nonverbal no – laughing. “Not really. It’s pretty much always been me and Goldie against the world. I had a guy I was dating, but we split up a little while back. I just cannot stand a man that acts like he can’t take care of himself and makes me mommy him. It’s a real mood killer to have to treat your partner like a child.”

She didn’t have someone. He was pleased about that despite himself. Her human abilities at attracting other species were too easily wielded against him. Even as he was actively trying to resist her pull. But he couldn’t stop being relieved that she was unclaimed, even knowing it was a bad idea to become attached to her.

“Hopefully, the transition back isn’t too difficult for you,” he said, hiding his relief.

“Yeah. Right…” That consternated look crossed her face again. But she quickly covered it as she smiled at him. “I’m sure it will be fine.”

“It will be. And while you’re here, you’ll be taken care of. So don’t worry.”

“Thanks. Still,” she turned, her smile widening, becoming more genuine, “I’d like to pay you back somehow. Are you sure I can’t do anything to help?” She struck a pose, fist up, hand squeezing her upper arm. “I’m pretty strong. I was a delivery girl myself back home. I carried boxes all day. And I’m pretty good at cleaning too. Or whatever other odd job you need. I’m pretty versatile.”

She was precious. Strong? With that little body of hers? She was definitely determined, he’d give her that. He rather wanted to turn her loose on his ship and see what she did. But he also didn’t want to put a female to work when her only crime was being captured against her will.

“Thank you, but there’s no need. My crew and I can handle all the jobs on our ship.”

She snickered. “Really? Because your bridge is a trash yard, your medbay is full of boxes, and if you think I didn’t see all the dust and dirt in every hall, you’re delusional.”

He frowned. Not because he was annoyed at her pointing that out, but because he couldn’t even argue about it. Sway worked near constantly, rarely taking time to clean up. Usually, Tanin or someone else picked up after him – whenever they remembered to do so. The medbay did need to be unpacked, but since none of them knew how to use most of the things he’d purchased at the recommendation of the seller, they just let them stay in their packages. Only a few had been accessed as they needed things – medicine and bandages or whatever. But those cases had just been opened, searched, then left a mess as they found whatever they needed.

And the general mess of the ship? Their robot cleaners broke down a lot and fixing them simply didn’t take priority over everything else that needed repairs. A little dust and dirt wouldn’t hurt anyone, and so long as it wasn’t harming the ship itself, they could just let it be.

Would anything be worse if he let her have her way?

“You don’t need to repay us,” he started slowly, “but if you really want to help, I’m not going to stop you.”

“Really?” She brightened.

“Do as you like.”

“Cool!” She beamed. “I can’t wait.”

“To clean?”

“To explore a spaceship.” She laughed, nudging him with her elbow. “I’ve never really given much thought to aliens and stuff. I was always focused more on surviving. But I’m certainly not passing up this experience.”

“If you like,” he agreed, a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. She was excited over something so menial. He supposed he had been excited too, the first time he’d stepped off the space station he’d been raised in and onto the Humility. It was still rather precious to see her beaming at the idea of puttering around his ship.

She caught his gaze, and her smile widened. He couldn’t look away from her. She really was pretty. A treasure worth capturing. He could see why Gissrn’s people picked her out of a crowd – for surely Gissrn wouldn’t have tolerated them bringing him just any human female.

Her eyes were so bright. Glowing in the light of the holos floating around them. Her hair was mostly brown, but there was a distinct red caste to it that caught his eye every time she moved. He liked the color red. It reminded him of his mother, of her eyes shining the rare times she smiled at him as a youngling. That this female had that color in her hair, a subtle shade of it hidden in the light, just made her more attractive. Like she had been designed to tempt him.

He couldn’t keep her. He shouldn’t. The complication of a female in his life was never something he’d wanted, and it was not something he could make space for. Not when his business was just starting to gain enough notoriety to turn a profit.

Garnet’s smile started to slip, her cheeks brightening, and it was only then that he realized that they had been staring at each other for quite some time now. He was entranced by the sight of her, and she wasn’t making any effort to look away.

They were trapped. Locked into each other. He didn’t want to turn away. He enjoyed the heat of her eyes on him. He wanted to dance for her. That was dangerous.

His species had a mating dance that males used to attract females. The female, if she enjoyed the dance, would then dance for him in turn. Dancing together like that, culminating in sex, was what locked their mating bond together if it was meant to be.

Wanting to dance for her…

Tanin looked away first, focusing back on his console. “Alred will give you access to any part of the ship you need. He won’t let you in anywhere it’s not safe for you to go, or any of the private quarters. Otherwise, feel free to do as you like.”

“Right…” She breathed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her looking away as well, her hand covering her heart. “Erm, thanks. S-See you around.”

He grunted in reply as she quickly left his side, going to the ladder. He couldn’t help but look back, watching her walk away.

Her body was truly beautiful. All round curves. So completely different from a s’skree female. But Tanin hadn’t been raised around any s’skree female but his mother, so his tastes had always skewed a bit to the exotic.

And what was more exotic than the scandalous, overly sexual curves of a human female? A species considered a feast for the senses. One so sexual and sensual, anyone could breed them. Tanin had only ever fucked alien females, but he’d never thought about younglings because it simply wasn’t possible between other species.

Except for humans. She could take his seed. She could give him young. She could be his mate. If they wanted it.

No. He forced his eyes away as she began to climb down. His focus could only be on his crew, on his business. This life they’d fought for was not an easy one, and holding onto it was just as difficult. He couldn’t risk that to get his cock wet. He couldn’t bring a mate or young into such an unstable situation as his.

No. He couldn’t have her. She’d be gone in just a few days anyway. Then, she wouldn’t be a temptation for him any longer.