G'baena's Pirates (6 page)

“Anything we can do for you, you just need to ask.” And then he leaned forward and whispered into her ear, “He’s a good man. You’ve chosen well.”

“Thank you,” she managed to choke out. As the two men left the room, Devlin pulled her into his arms once more.

“I’m sorry you had to make such an impossible decision, but I promise to be there for you no matter what.”

“Will you come with me to see the G’trobian Kings?”

“Of course,” he said reassuringly as he ran a soothing hand up and down her spine. “I’ll always be here for you.”

* * * *

Always was a very long time, but somehow it didn’t seem long enough. He felt completely humbled by G’baena’s courage. He couldn’t imagine having to make a more difficult decision than the one she faced, but he believed she'd made the right choice. If her fathers were responsible for her being sold into slavery, then they needed to be punished. He wasn’t completely happy about the death penalty, but he would support her planet’s laws. Humans had given up on capital punishment several centuries ago, but Devlin had been a pirate long enough to realize there were situations that simply called for a swift, decisive end to a problem.

He lifted G’baena into his arms, cradling her against his chest for a moment longer than necessary before lowering her onto the bed. She wriggled over to give him room, and then he stretched out beside her and arranged them both so that he held her back against his chest.

“Sleep now,” he whispered. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She nodded slowly, and he realized just how exhausted the woman was. Her life had changed so rapidly over the past week, it was no wonder she was worn out. He held her as his mind buzzed with the necessary preparations. He needed to talk to Ben and Trey about G’trobian royal protocol. He’d promised G’baena he would be there, but the last thing anyone needed was for him to say something or do something wrong and accidentally upset the Kings.

He held her as she slept, his cock ignoring his admonitions to stand down. She felt so good in his arms, smelled so sweet, he almost wished that they’d come straight back to her cabin and made love all night.

But thoughts like that brought him full circle. She wasn’t a virgin, but she kind of was. Would sex hurt her the way it did for a human woman the first time? He would need to check before things went too far. Devlin never wanted to hurt the woman in his arms, even accidentally. He’d talk to Tee-ani about birth control and compatibility problems before making love with G’baena.

God, he really had fallen into a non-orientable wormhole. Since when had he been this big of a planner?

* * * *

Devlin crawled onto the bed beside G’baena. It had become a bit of a habit lately. Several nights in the past couple weeks he’d held G’baena in his arms while they both slept.

Trying to run the ship on a skeleton staff was beginning to take its toll. He felt absolutely exhausted. Not only were his engineering and maintenance staff starting to make mistakes, but so was he, and everything was beginning to take twice as long as it should. If they didn’t get some replacement crew soon, the ship just might fall apart around them.

Devlin pulled G’baena closer as she woke slightly. “Shhh, baby, it’s just me.”

“Dev, what time is it?”

“Late, go back to sleep.” She opened her eyes sleepily, looked over her shoulder, and frowned at him.

“What if I don’t want to go back to sleep?” she said. He could only see the side of her face, but he was pretty sure she was pouting. She wriggled her delectable ass against his cock, and he went from exhausted to very, very interested in almost a heartbeat. She moaned as his erection pressed between the soft cheeks of her bottom.

“G’baena,” he somehow managed to say on a groan, “we haven’t spoken to Tee-ani yet.” It practically killed him to voice his concerns again, but he was determined to protect her any way necessary. He’d even surprised himself by how content he felt just holding her.

“Well, maybe we could—” She hesitated, and he could practically feel her blushing. “We could maybe do something else.”

His cock definitely liked that idea.

She rolled in his arms and pressed her lips against his, taking what she wanted, writhing against him in wanton need. Devlin couldn’t help but pull her hips closer and grind his already rock-hard erection against her soft flesh.

“All crew to battle stations,” Trey’s calm voice boomed through the intercom. Well, so much for sexy plans—life on a pirate ship sure had a way of messing them up.

G’baena stopped instantly, every muscle in her body tense and ready.

“Dev?” she asked worriedly.

“It’s going to be all right,” he assured her. “Grab the blanket. I want you and
Del
locked in his room until I know what’s going on.”

She nodded hurriedly, wrapped the blanket around her, and followed him as he dragged his clothes on and headed for door. He quickly checked the hallway.
Del
was already there, his first thoughts obviously for G’baena’s safety.

Devlin hustled G’baena towards the young man. “
Del
, you and G’baena stay put. Lock the door. I’ll let you know what’s happening as soon as I can.”
Del
wrapped his arm around G’baena and pulled her into the room, grim determination in every movement. Devlin nodded his appreciation and then turned and ran toward engineering and his duty station.

“Sit-rep,” he called to his second in charge as soon as he entered the room.

“Dev,” the man said with obvious relief. He was a damn good engineer but had never been comfortable in a leadership role. “The ship is under attack by two small vessels of Pendarian origin. They don’t seem to have caused any damage yet, but they sure are trying.”

“Ready the grapple. I doubt
Jordan
wants to be seen blowing up space vessels this close to G’trobia. Do we know why they’re attacking?”

“No clue,” his second said with a shake of his head and then turned toward the area that housed the grappling hook. They only had one hook, so they’d only be able to grab one of the ships, but at least the occupants might be able to provide some explanation for their attack.

“Devlin,” the captain’s voice said over his communicator. “Are you able to target the lead ship with the grapple?’

“Yes, Captain.” He nodded to his second and then punched in the information the computer would need to identify the ship they wanted to grab. He’d probably only get one chance. Within a few moments, Devlin watched the targeting cameras as the grapple punched into the outer hull of one of the ships and pulled taut. He’d once seen a documentary on an ancient Earth sport called fishing. The grappling hook worked in a similar fashion. A small, maneuverable ship had a chance to escape if the pilot was good enough, but Devlin had been manning this particular equipment for a long time. No one was getting away today.

He let the tether run a little and then reeled it back as the small ship turned toward them. Realizing the mistake, the pilot of the small craft tried to veer away, but the damage had already been done. The small ship lost speed in the frantic maneuver, and the tether slowed it even more. Devlin programmed the grapple to pull the ship into the cargo area.

He watched the monitor with a smile on his face as the massive outer doors closed behind one of the ships that had attacked them.

“Well done, Devlin.” The captain’s voice echoed through his communicator.

“Thanks, Captain,” Devlin said confidently. “Our other attacker is making a hasty retreat, so I’ll meet you in the cargo bay, and we’ll have a little chat with our new friends.”

“Acknowledged,” Jordan said, the slightest bit of humor leaking over the connection. The last time they’d reeled a tiny vessel into the cargo bay it had contained one fiery, outraged human woman with a kick-ass attitude and the skills to match. Devlin smiled as he remembered meeting Sarah that first time. She’d been so angry that G’ntriel had played her in their scam that she’d shot G’ntriel and Judge with a stun gun. But somehow, despite the wild temper that went with her flaming red hair, her arrival had changed everything for the better. He just hoped this new “guest” wouldn’t have quite the same impact. He liked his life just the way it was now.

He grabbed his communicator and called
Del
and G’baena to let them know the situation, and then he hurried to the cargo bay.

Chapter Five

“Sit-rep,”
Jordan
called as he marched into the area. Ben and Trey were with him.

“Life scanners suggest five G’trobian males on board. So far, they seem to be waiting for us to make the first move,” Devlin said casually. “We’ve disabled their external arsenal, but we can’t determine what personal weapons they may be carrying until we open it up.”

“Ben, Trey, any idea who we might be dealing with?”

“Are any of the occupants twin brothers?” Trey asked as he studied the markings on the hull.

Devlin shook his head, very interested in why that would be of consequence.

“My guess is that we are dealing with
displaced sons
.”
Jordan
must’ve looked as confused as Devlin felt because Ben stepped forward to explain.

“As you know, all G’trobian male births are identical twins, so our society revolves around the idea that they are two halves of one whole. All employment, business, marital, and societal issues require both brothers.”

Devlin had a million questions for that. What happened if one brother was smarter than the other, or chose a different career path or different wife? What if one brother died? Ben nodded to him as Devlin made the connection.

“Displaced sons are brothers who’ve lost their twin?” he asked.

“Yes. Since our society needs both brothers to function correctly, if one twin dies, the other is considered to be dead as well.”

“Shit, what a fucked-up planet.” Devlin winced when he heard the words but thankfully realized they hadn’t come out of his mouth. They were
Jordan
’s words. Although, considering Devlin was thinking the exact same thing and Ben and Trey were empaths, he probably wasn’t off the hook just yet. But Trey surprised them with his next words. “It is fucked up.”

“It is actually one of the reasons we left G’trobia,” Ben filled in. “We knew that the G’trobian way of life had problems, but it was the only life we knew. From an outsider’s point of view, it probably looks even worse.”

Jordan
nodded. “So what’s the story with the displaced sons?”

“There have been rumors for generations that many leave the planet to pursue life elsewhere, but since no one keeps track of the dead, it is difficult to prove.”

“Considering we have a tin can full of brotherless G’trobians in front of us, I’m guessing the rumors might be true. Any ideas on how to pry our guests out of their little spaceship?”
Jordan
looked at Ben and Trey for a moment and shook his head with a soft laugh. “Of all the times for G’ntriel to be off the ship. Do either of you sense anything from the occupants?”

“Actually,” Ben said with a slightly confused look on his face, “I think one of the G’trobian males is familiar but can’t quite place him.”

“Maybe G’baena would have more luck,” Devlin said before he fully considered his words. He didn’t want G’baena anywhere near this situation, but he’d noticed over the past couple weeks that she was a much stronger empath than either Ben or Trey. Maybe not as powerful as G’ntriel, but she certainly had some serious skills.

“Perhaps you are right,” Trey said sincerely. “It would seem that G’trobian females possess more powerful empathic skills than commonly acknowledged on our home world.”

“Devlin,”
Jordan
said. “Please contact G’baena and we’ll see if we can sort out this mess without anyone getting hurt.”

Devlin nodded, his throat feeling tight. He wanted to protect G’baena, but not at the expense of her freedom, which meant, even though every instinct screamed at him to deny her this chance, he had to let her make the choice. Damn.

* * * *

G’baena paced the cramped space in
Del
’s cabin. For the most part,
Del
seemed unaffected by the commotion, but G’baena knew that the young man had developed the ability to pretty much hide any outward reaction under any circumstance. Even though
Del
seemed quite comfortable around her, it had taken Devlin’s influence before the younger man relaxed enough to let his guard down. But right now? Right now,
Del
seemed relaxed, and G’baena knew that to be the bluff. If any danger came to the door, she had no doubt that
Del
would lay down his life to protect her.