Page 9 of The Captain’s Bounty (The Collectors #2)

The presence of the alien vanished instantly as the first hard slap of Bruwes’s hand caught the surface of her backside.

Lissa’s eyes bulged, her jaw dropping as one smack turned into half a dozen, all delivered without pause or mercy just as fast as he could lay into her. Before she could react or even scream, he hauled her up by the scruff of her dirty shirt and dumped her back to sit on the bed again.

Stunned, she stared up at him, belated heat flaring through the rising sting that now consumed her backside.

What was that ? the being asked, but Lissa ignored it.

“You!” she breathed, her temper exploding. “Asshole!”

Hands once more resting upon his thighs, Bruwes seemed unbothered. “Option two can be repeated as often as necessary, and it will never again be as brief or as gentle as what you’ve just received.”

It was all Lissa could do to keep her breathing even and her mouth shut, until the being ruined it for her.

“ What are my options again? ” it asked with her mouth.

“Eat like a lady or get a nutritional enema,” Bruwes said evenly. “And I promise to make it the most humbling experience you’ll ever endure.”

In a gust, Lissa exhaled every molecule of air she didn’t realize she’d been holding in. Immediately, she sucked it all back in again.

Don’t say it.

“You wouldn’t dare,” she seethed.

I do believe he would.

The bounty hunter didn’t even blink. “You have no idea the lengths to which my daring exceeds when it needs to. Now, what will it be?” Picking up the bowl, he once more offered her a spoonful overflowing with greasy blobs and milky sludge.

Her stomach pinched in hard, rumbling loudly.

God. Damn it .

Shaking her head, as furious with herself now as was with them, she opened her mouth and ate the damn soup. Like an infant, dependent upon his every spoonful because her hands were bound behind her back. And the soup wasn’t even terrible, which made her that much madder.

When one spent their life on dig sites located far from the nearest town, one learned very quickly to eat whatever was set in front of them, but this wasn’t bad at all—savory, a little peppery, not too much salt.

It was hard to identify the lumps of white meat, but she thought it might be fish.

Whatever it was, it had definitely been dehydrated a little too long.

But then, she quite familiar with the chewy consistency that deep-space food tended to gain after ten or more years in storage.

Even if it tasted terrible, she doubted she could stop herself from gulping it down. From the moment the first drop of creamy broth hit her tongue, nothing else mattered. It was as if her body had never known food before. Ravenous to the point of pain, she gobbled everything he offered her.

And nobody said a word. For the longest time, the only sounds were the vaguely perceptible hum of ship engines, the scrape of the spoon against the side of the metal bowl, and her, gulping and gasping with every bite.

“Do you need the receptacle?” he asked, once the bowl was empty.

She hadn’t, but now that he mentioned it, peeing was all she could think about.

“Yes.” She swiveled, making it easier for him to reach her hands, but he made no move to uncuff them. Taking her elbow, he pulled her off the side of the bed onto her feet and led her into an adjacent bathroom.

The room was the epitome of function over decoration.

The sink was nothing more than a metal bowl attached to the wall.

So was the toilet, for that matter. The shower was a cylindrical tube barely big enough for the size of the male who pushed her into the room ahead of him, taking her directly to the toilet.

Then again, considering she’d just spent six weeks in the desert with recycled water and a designated rocky outcrop for a bathroom, this was damn near luxury.

Her breath caught, her belly at once erupting in blossoms of heat and knots of embarrassment as he turned her so her back was to the toilet.

His gaze burned into hers, all but daring her to protest as he unfastened her pants.

He skinned them down her legs, followed by her underwear, leaving them both tangled around her knees.

His grip held her steady, and even though her shirt wasn’t anywhere near long enough to conceal her from the hips down, his dark eyes never wavered from hers. “Sit.”

She did, but mostly because her knees were starting to quake. If he thought for a second she was going to use this thing in front of him…

Backing up a step, Bruwes leaned against the wall opposite of her, folded his arms across his chest and waited.

He couldn’t be serious.

“I’m not...” she stammered. “Not in front of you...”

Bad enough that she would have to share this moment with an alien…

I promise you, every aspect of your physical being is equally disgusting to me. Empty your bowels, woman. I don’t care.

I care! she thought back desperately.

Bruwes’s face did not soften, and neither did his stance. “I am not leaving.”

“Untie me,” she demanded. “I swear, I won’t do anything, but you can’t expect me to… to…”

“You will do as you are told, when you are told,” he said flatly. “You are my prisoner, not my guest, and after what you did down there, there is no way you’ll ever be unbound on my ship.”

The heat in her belly burned all the way to her face. “That wasn’t me, I swear.”

Careful…

Black eyes flashed faintly red and his tone dropped with the kind of disapproval that made her stomach clench.

“I was standing right there when that ship went flying,” he said flatly, still waiting.

Turning her face away, Lissa stared at the shower tube, appalled then grudgingly resigned. What difference was there, really, between this and a hole dug for two with nothing but a tall rock slab in the middle for privacy? There were times a girl couldn’t afford to be picky or modest.

Closing her eyes, pretending she was anywhere else, she forced herself use it.

Done, she glared at him again, mortified and subdued, only to be burned all over again by the smug victory smile curling the corner of his mouth.

“Good girl,” he rumbled.

Sarcasm dripped from every syllable, making her shake.

“Behave like this, and our time together will pass quickly and without any undo unpleasantness.”

Pushing off the wall, he came back to her she snapped her legs tightly together when he hunkered down in front of her. One big hand on each of her knees effortlessly prized them open again, long enough for him to wipe her clean.

“Behave like this,” he noted, “and I will have you back over my knee.”

Her face would never be anything but a burning scarlet from now until the end of her life. And it only got worse the longer the tingling effect of his touch echoed between her thighs.

Can I kill him now? the being in her asked.

No. More. Killing!

She was an archeologist, not a murderer, and yet the burning embarrassment only got sharper when Bruwes bent, bringing himself down to face level with her pubis.

One quick tug and he had her underwear back up into its proper place.

Was it her imagination, or did he pause just a little when he turned his nose toward her sex and sniffed?

Humiliation scalded her face, chest, and god, her pussy as his fingers lightly caressed their way down her thighs. That was probably her imagination too, because when he took hold of her pants, he seemed nothing but all business as he jerked them up.

You liked that ? the being asked, astounded.

“No!” She stumbled into the toilet when Bruwes grabbed her arm.

“Yes,” he countered, hauling her back out of the bathroom and into her equally small cell, decorated with little more than that bed, the table and the chair he’d been sitting on. With an almost gentle shove, he dropped her once more to sit on the edge of the mattress. “Thirsty?”

She didn’t bother asking again to have her hands untied. Judging by that glitter in his black eyes, he was waiting for her to and thoroughly enjoying the power he had not to allow it.

You like this, too?

Lissa shook her head, refusing to agree, but there was something weird about the pulsing heat in her belly.

It throbbed hotter and harder as Bruwes picked up the cup from the table beside her empty bowl.

He stepped in close to her, bringing the cup to her lips.

It looked like water, but tasted almost sweet.

What is there in this to enjoy?

Embarrassed by her inability to hide her reactions from the being inside her, she rejected it—physically, mentally, instantly and foolishly. She spat everything in her mouth back at Bruwes. The act felt hollow, but if she was supposed to be his prisoner, then she may as well act like it.

Unimpressed, Bruwes didn’t flinch, though he did look down on the mess she’d made of his shirt. The wetness soaked into the white fabric from chest to stomach. She’d even got his pants.

Even without his frown and narrowing eyes, she knew hers had been a stupid protest. But it was the only thing she could do, bound as she was, helpless as she was, criminal now that she was, and on her way to…

where? She had no idea. Or for how long, the rest of her life?

And for what, because she’d made the discovery of a lifetime?

Why would anyone want to imprison her for this? She hadn’t done anything wrong!

You have me inside you, the being stated. They will make you live forever, and you will spend every second of it doing things you will despise yourself for. I warned you!

Ignoring the caustic voice, she made herself focus on her captor. “What you’re doing is illegal. I haven’t done what I’m being accused of!”

“How do you know? I haven’t read the accusation.”

“I’m an archeologist, not a raider. I have all the permits back at the dig site. Take me back,” she begged. “I’ll show you.”