Page 45 of Star Mates

CHAPTER TWENTY

Logan sat waiting for her when she was brought back to the cell. The Kexians pushed her in, and she fell forward onto her knees. He helped her up and placed his finger under her chin as he studied her face.

“What’s wrong? Did they hurt you?”

Slowly, she moved the neckline of her dress down to reveal the angry red burn. He stared at the branding in horror.

“Oh my god.”

“You’ll probably get one as well. I guess they denote slavery stations.”

His mouth worked as he tried to formulate something to say. His gaze stayed locked onto the puckered skin until she self-consciously drew her gown back up to cover the marks. The Merloni doctor had put a clear salve on them that instantly cooled the burns and sealed onto the tender skin.

“I’m guessimg one bar is labor, two bars are for breeders and three are for the pleasure slaves that Pell had mentioned,” she told him quietly.

“You have two bars,” he stated.

“Because I’m…I’m pregnant already.”

Logan blinked at her as if coming out a foggy dream. “What?”

She put her arms protectively on her belly. “This Unarian man, Lord Palazio, was there and he told me that I was his property but…but he couldn’t claim me until after my baby was born. So he had me braded with two bars until then.”

“You’re…pregnant?”

“He told me…that, ah, they’ll take my baby and then I’ll be sterilized. Become his personal property.”

She barely acknowledged him as he turned away from her.

“I have to get out of here,” she whispered and began inspecting the door. “I can’t let them touch my baby.”

“I can’t believe you’re pregnant,” he said. “When did this happen?”

“Does that really matter? We need to get out of here.”

Logan marched back toward her, shaking his head. “No. No, this does matter. You slept with him? With him?”

“Who I sleep with is none of your business.”

“Of course, it is! Don’t you realize I did all this for you?”

Something about that statement made everything inside her body freeze. She turned to look at him cautiously. “What does that mean?”

He hesitated and half turned away. “Nothing.”

“Logan. What did you do for me?”

He ran his hand through his hair and when he turned to face her, guilt blazed brightly from his eyes. She began to shake her head, suddenly not wanting to hear what he had to say.

“I wanted to get us home,” he said, almost pleadingly. “And staying there, in that…that…mocking city was becoming unbearable. They had me listening for chatter, for god’s sake!”

Her chest constricted and something hard and unyielding settled into the pit of her stomach. “What did you do, Logan?”

He tried to take her hand, but she snatched it back.

“I was thinking of us,” he said, pleading. “I was thinking of a way for us to see Earth again. You were getting way too close to that Captain so I had to-”

She slapped him across the face. “You did this out of jealousy?”

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