Chapter Ten
“Captain.”
Kyle’s voice came over the intercom as Kane entered his cabin.
“He’s not in here,” Sa’Mya yelled from her seat on the bed.
Kane ignored her and sauntered to the communication panel. He resisted the urge to smirk. He could understand her. The translator worked perfectly.
He turned his back to her and rested his shoulder against the wall. “I’m here. Ears are listening so keep it low. What’s up?”
“She’s Princess Sa’Mya Lacolil of Laconia,” Kyle whispered. “It’s a medium-sized planet in the Zaronna System. She’s the sole owner of Mercanis Shipping and Hauling, the galaxy’s largest shipping and transport company.” Kyle strained to maintain a whisper.
With his interest piqued, Kane stepped closer to the communication panel. “Holy shit.”
“She’s rich. I mean, she’s got to be filthy rich. That’s the good news. Are you ready for the bad news?” Kyle asked.
“Lay it on me.”
“Her uncle has reported her missing and placed a large reward for her safe return.”
“How is that bad news? We’ll get paid without having to go through the headache of a ransom,” Kane whispered, making sure Sa’Mya couldn’t hear him.
“Yeah, in theory, but we wouldn’t be turning over a poor lost princess. No, she’ll inform her uncle we captured her and her crew and we’re all good as dead.”
Shit, Kyle’s right. What had he expected? Nothing had ever been that simple since the minute he’d been snatched from Earth.
Of course Sa’Mya would tell her uncle. No easy reward to collect. Kane clenched his fist in frustration.
Damn.
Kane took a brief look at his prisoner. Sa’Mya sat naked on the edge of his bed, her arms resting in her lap and gaze fixed on him.
Kane addressed Kyle. “Well, this can still work out in our favor. At least we know where she’s from and who to contact for a ransom. We need to go somewhere and lie low while we make all the necessary arrangements.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Kane didn’t worry about where Kyle would tell Ryan to take them. Ryan would set a course for the only safe haven that any of them had known since their escape.
Kane closed his eyes. So he had a runaway princess on his vessel. This would explain why she had been so secretive regarding her home planet.
Why had she run away? She probably had a spoiled fit. But not his problem. As soon as he made the necessary arrangements, she would be out of his hair and back to her life of luxury. Suitors probably fell all over her, vying for her attention. And she seemed the type to soak it all up.
Finally opening his eyes, he scanned the cabin. It wasn’t as clean as it had been before but he could tell she had made a valiant effort. Hell, she’s Princess Sa’Mya—surely this was the first room she had ever cleaned…in her life.
His gaze finally rested on her. She was golden perfection. Wild waves framed a face that would have made angels jealous. Her luscious breasts rose and fell with each erratic breath she took. Her nipples were dark and perfect.
He ran his tongue across his lips. Suddenly they had become too dry.
When she sniffled, he snapped his gaze to her face. Fresh tear marks tracked down her cheeks, past pouty full lips. Using the back of her hand, she wiped the tears. The palm of her hand was reddened and bloody.
Blood?
One good look and he tensed. Faint lines of blood trickled down her golden legs.
Where is that blood coming from?
His boots crunched on small pieces of glass as he walked closer. He kicked and swiped it out of his way. He dropped to his knees in front of her. “What happened to you?” He inspected her legs for the blood’s source.
Sa’Mya unclasped one bloody hand and pointed to the dinette table. He remembered an intricate vase that used to sit there. It had been a gift from his former crewmate’s wife. Yeyet had given it to him on their last visit.
Kane let out an exasperated breath and ran a light touch over her bloody knees. She winced and pulled away. “Shhh…it’ll be okay.” His fingertips lightly grazed over glass shards embedded underneath her skin. “Hold still. This is going to hurt a little.”
Sa’Mya nodded. Her eyes were rimmed in red.
How long had she sat here in pain? Hell, she used the intercom as though it were her personal cell phone. She couldn’t have called him for this?
He pushed the fact that she was naked from his mind and began the arduous task of picking glass from her knees. From his assessment, she’d been crawling through it.
“I’m sorry for destroying your property,” she said. “I had no right to cause this much destruction. I lost my temper and honestly, I’m quite embarrassed by my juvenile display. Really, my mother would have not approved.” She sounded even better now that he could understand her.
Kane sighed. “Apology accepted. Don’t worry about it. I can replace most of the things you broke anyway. Well, except for the vase. I think it was handmade.”
Sa’Mya’s eyes widened in shock. “What? How? Do you understand me?”
“I can understand you now.” He looked up sheepishly. His gaze rested on her full breasts that were within his grasp.
She crossed her arms, shielding her breasts from his view. “Really?”
Stay focused. He moved his concentration back to her knees where it was safe. “Yeah. We picked the translators up from Treios.” His plan to keep the universal translator a secret and frustrate her a little longer went down the drain.
She stuck out a little pink tongue. “Yuck.”
He chuckled. “We couldn’t beat the price.”
Sa’Mya winced again while he dug out a small, sharp piece. He stroked the side of her thigh. “I’m sorry. I know this hurts,” he whispered.
Her muscle relaxed under his touch. “I would’ve never bought and used anything that came off the dead. There’s something just not right about it.”
“Sometimes you have to do what you need to do. Besides, not everyone is fortunate enough to have an unlimited credit account.”
“I had almost forgotten. Slaves aren’t given access to credit.”
“How did you know?”
Sa’Mya shrugged. “I’m aware the Loconuist have sold the humans as slaves since invading your planet.”
“I didn’t expect you to know about humans. I wasn’t aware there were humans this far out. I mean, they’re mostly in the Delta System, near Xenaris, but not in this sector of the galaxy.”
“King Taio had a human slave.” Sa’Mya narrowed her eyes. “He acquired her from Xenaris.”
“Ah, figures. The ever-popular Xenaris, the place to go for hard-to-find items. And now—slaves.”
“I don’t know. It seems as though he could have gone anywhere for a concubine.” When he raised his brow, she added, “The human, Eva, she was his slave and concubine. Well, used to be his slave.”
“And?”
“She’s pregnant with his child. The future Prince of Sonis. He intends to bond with her.”
Kane stopped working. A happy ending for a human? So far, he knew of only two humans who had found happiness after the invasion. The rest were slaves…or fugitives.
“Don’t move.” He went to the bathroom and retrieved a clean towel and a bottle of antiseptic. With a handful of supplies, he dropped down in front of her. “I need to clean the wound. It’s going to sting a little.”
As she made whimpering noises, he wiped and cleaned the wounds and excess blood from her knees and legs. Even with cuts and scrapes, her legs were sexy. Long, shapely legs that would feel good wrapped around him.
She cleared her throat. “My feet…”
He startled. “Right.” She’s injured. And an alien. Keep it together.
He lifted and inspected the bottom of her feet. No wonder she hadn’t gone to the communication panel—her feet were just as bad as her knees.
“Do you own any slaves?” he asked, hoping to distract her. He lifted up one foot and placed it in his lap and began picking out the small glass pieces.
She closed her eyes tightly. “No. Slave trade isn’t practiced in the Zaronna system.”
He let out a sigh of relief. Somehow he didn’t know if he could’ve continued helping her knowing there were throngs of human slaves on her home planet.
“King Taio told me the humans are being sold as slaves elsewhere though. Is that not correct?”
“That’s right.”
She scrunched her face in pain. “What of you and your crew?” She winced as he pulled out an embedded shard. “Why are you free to run around?”
“You sound as though we shouldn’t be.”
“If this didn’t hurt so much, Captain, I would give you one reason why you should not be free.”
Kane chuckled. Yeah, patrolling the galaxy for unsuspecting victims was a good enough reason. “We were slaves. Not anymore.”
Sa’Mya cocked her head.
“The Galontaers. You know, big ugly beasts, hairy, they grunt a lot, carry a whip.”
“They have a mining planet. Metals, I believe.”
“Yeah, that would be them.”
“They released you?”
Kane choked. “Oh no, honey. We released ourselves and ta-da, here we are in our new careers.”
“Thieves.”
Kane motioned his hand through the air. “Space pirates.”
“It does not matter what you call yourselves. Are you aware that what you are doing is illegal? The Galactic Council will have your heads.”
He shrugged, unperturbed by her threat. “Beats being a slave. If they catch us, they catch us.”
“Why don’t you stop?”
“Maybe one day. We can’t do this forever.”
Kane placed her foot gently down and picked up the other. The skin was ten times worse. He couldn’t help but frown. “Why didn’t you put shoes on?”
She turned away.
“Your shoes, hell, mine would have protected you.”
Her leg tensed under his grasp. “I’m not dumb.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
The muscles in her calf relaxed. “I was crawling when you chased me.” She showed him her red, swollen and bleeding hands. “When I stood, I kept stepping on it. I tried not to but I couldn’t see all the glass. And you said…” Her lips trembled.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
A whimper escaped past her lips. He was an asshole. Under the circumstances, he wouldn’t have minded if she had slipped on a pair of his boots. He hadn’t really intended to kill her but she obviously hadn’t known any better.
He finished taking out the rest of the glass in silence. To his credit he didn’t try to peek between her legs or watch the rise and fall of her breasts. Even when he retrieved another towel to clean her soles he made sure not to let his gaze linger on her body.
Every now and then, she let out a soft pain-filled cry, but she didn’t squirm away, even when he wrapped bandages around her. She held her hands on her lap with her eyes squeezed shut.
“Shh, almost done. I know it hurts but it has to be done,” he whispered.
By the time he moved to her fingers and palms, tears streamed down her cheeks.
Eli really should be doing this.
But the thought of Eli seeing Sa’Mya naked made Kane’s vision red. No, he would clean her up. He was responsible for her condition so he should be the one to attend to her wounds.
Her hands weren’t nearly as bad as her feet and knees. He took care of the few cuts he found. Satisfied all the glass was finally removed, he wrapped her palms with bandages.
He sat back and inspected his work. Her feet again, then knees, then… His gaze wandered to her fully exposed treasure.
Sa’Mya watched in silence as he visually inspected her cunt. She didn’t close her legs to him or do anything else that would obstruct his view.
Her nether lips were so plump, ripe…delectable. His fingers twitched at the thought of touching her.
Giving in, he ran a finger across her skin. Kane expected her to slap him. But gold-speckled eyes framed with thick golden lashes met his heated gaze. Her own gaze spoke of anticipation.
His finger brushed her silky flesh.
Kiss it.
He couldn’t resist. Right now, he couldn’t remember why he had ever tried.
Once.
He leaned forward and placed a kiss as light as a feather on the soft skin. His lips felt as if they would melt. Inhaling deeply, he rolled his eyes to the back of his head.
One more kiss.