Page 50 of Caught By Menace

“And you’re too sexy for your own good.” Menace kissed the crown of her head. “You can use the tablet to control the entertainment center.” He paused. “You might want to stay away from the nine-hundred range.”

“Why?”

“It’s pornography.”

“Pornography? You mean…?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“I see.”

“Have you ever seen pornography?”

Her ears grew hot. “Yes. I came across racy pics and magazines back in Connor’s Run. They’re sold in back alleys and bars. Teenage boys trade them as currency to buy cigarettes or whatever.”

“But you’ve never seen a film?”

“Until this afternoon when you showed me that,” she gestured to the big flat screen built into the living room wall, “I’d only ever seen short government films projected on white sheets in the town square.”

“We’ll have to watch one together.”

“What?” Now her face was as hot as her ears. “No. I don’t think so.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

She pursed her lips. “You’re a pervert.”

“And you love it,” he said with a laugh. He retreated to the entryway. “I’m locking the door. You won’t be able to leave unless there’s an emergency.”

She tried not to dwell on the fact that he was basically keeping her prisoner. After what she had learned from Hallie about the lost property laws, Naya had no desire to explore the ship on her own. Another more troubling thought rushed to the forefront of her mind. “Can anyone else get in here?”

“Only Vicious,” he said. “He’s my emergency contact and yours. You’d have to let anyone else in the door.”

“Good.”

“What has you so worried?” Menace tilted his head. “Is it the pamphlets and all that business about the property laws and stealing wives? Because I can tell you right now, Naya, there isn’t a man on this ship stupid enough to try to break into my home to steal you.”

What about Terror, she wanted to ask. He definitely wasn’t stupid, but Naya felt sure he was brazen enough to do it. Over lunch, she had cautiously pumped Menace for info on Terror. He had said the one-eyed soldier was a logistics clerk, but Naya had silently called bullshit on that. The secret police down on Calyx also had similarly innocuous titles. Janitors, sanitation workers, maintenance men—they were occupations no one gave much thought and men who were overlooked on the street. It was the perfect cover.

“Naya?” His gentle voice called to her.

“Yes?”

“Try to relax tonight. Enjoy the quiet time. Watch something silly or fun.”

“I’ll try.”

He shot her one last sinfully sexy smile before walking out of view. She heard a few quick beeps before the door opened and closed. The loud locking mechanism made her feel fractionally more secure. Alone with her thoughts, Naya hugged her knees to her chest and tapped the screen of the entertainment console. Menace’s suggestion to find an entertaining program seemed like a good one. Anything to rid her mind of the worry her run-in with Terror had caused.

But not even the melodramatic program on the screen could tear her thoughts away from the man who threatened her most. Oh, the two sisters fighting over the man who had proposed to one but gotten the other knocked up was interesting enough but those worries about Terror wouldn’t leave her.

What could she do? Trust Menace with the secret that could send her to prison? She doubted there was anything he could do to help her even if he knew what she had done. Whether he would want to help her was the real question. The thought of being betrayed by Menace cut deeply. She had known him a very short time but already she was beginning to care for the green-eyed sky warrior.

Naya reached for the tablet again and found the information browser Menace had shown her earlier. She tapped at the screen and entered her search term. A few seconds later, dozens of results appeared. It was going to be a long night of reading.

Chapter Eleven

Menace worked hisjaws in a rhythmic motion, smashing the citrus-flavored gum between his teeth as they waited for the fixer Vicious had arranged via Hallie’s contacts on the planet. It had been some time since he had been on a live mission off theValiantbut the old, well-honed instincts never really died. He had easily adjusted to the eerie yellow-green night vision projected by the tactical glasses he wore. Keeping the nose of his weapon down, he stayed on alert, ready to raise it and fire at the first sign of trouble.

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