Page 56 of Warped

Rek rubs my back soothingly.

“So the Gaia Group has connections with the higher ups in the Intelligence agency,” says Traven.

“I guess so,” I answer. “That’s the only thing I could figure. I think Katie was an honest agent, but she was only low-level. That’s why they decided to kill her. After my call with her ended so abruptly, I was in a state of shock. I didn’t know what to do or who to turn to. I only knew that I couldn’t go back to my apartment. I had to get away. As far away as possible. And I had to warn the people of Caldera about the terrible thing that was going to happen. I figured if I tried to book a ticket on a Warpliner, the Gaia Group and their intelligence pals would have no problem tracing it, and they would intercept me. Maybe they would arrest me as some kind of corporate terrorist. Or, more likely, they would just send someone to kill me outright. Anything to keep their not-so-little secret safe.”

“So that’s why you created the fake Warpseekers account,” says Rek.

“It was the only thing I could think of,” I tell him. “I used what little cash I had on me to buy a burner phone. The rest I spent on a sexy outfit so you would think I was legit and an empty suitcase so you wouldn’t wonder why I was traveling without luggage.”

“A brave decision,” Traven says.

Coming from him, those words of approval make me flush with pride.

“I didn’t have any other choice,” I say. Then I smile. “I was nervous at the time, but I don’t regret it now. These past few days have been… amazing.”

I blush even harder.

“I agree,” says Rek. “I just wish you would have let us know what was going on with you sooner.”

“So do I,” I tell him. “I’m sorry I kept it from you, but I wasn’t sure if I could trust you guys. I thought, if you found out the truth, you might not take me to Caldera.”

“You kiddin’?” says Traven. “There’re billions of lives at stake here. Of course we’ll help you save ’em.”

“What was your plan once you got to Caldera?” asks Rek.

“I don’t really know,” I answer. “I’m pretty sure Gaia Group won’t put their plan into action until they’re certain I’ve been silenced. If they were to actually genocide an entire planet, and the truth came out after the fact, that would be a pretty serious PR problem, to say the least. I just need to find someone on Caldera I can give all this information to. Someone I know I can trust.”

Traven scratches at his beard again.

“We know just the person,” he says. “Before working as merchants, me and Rek did some time in the military. Our old commander is now a high-ranking officer in the Caldera Planetary Defense Force. He’s solid.”

“Yup,” says Rek. “Solid as a rock. We’ll get all this information to him, and he’ll know what to do next.”

I breathe a huge sigh of relief.

That was the final uncertain part of my whole half-assed plan, and it sounds like the warpers just solved it for me.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “Both of you.”

The wave of relief that just swept over me is immediately followed by other, less appropriate feelings. Considering the gravity of everything we’ve just been discussing, I really don’thave any business getting aroused, but I simply can’t help myself. It’s been several hours since the warpers last shared me, and here in the Warp a few hours without sex feels like an eternity. The sheets where I’m sitting are now growing damp with my need.

“Don’t mention it,” Traven says.

He rises from the bed and stands right in front of me. His crotch is right at the level of my face, and I’m able to see that his feelings match my own. His gray sweatpants are tented from his massive erection, and there’s a dark little stain right on the tip where his precum is leaking.

“Now that we’ve gotten the planning out of the way, we can move on to our next order of business.”

“And what might that be?” I ask.

A cruel smile touches Traven’s lips, and dark fire burns behind his eyes.

“Your punishment.”

CHAPTER 24: BINX

“Mywhat?”

“Your punishment,” Traven replies coolly. His bulging muscles seem to almost glow in the pale light coming down from the wall imager screen. And then there’s the other bulge, the one stretching the crotch of his sweatpants, which is instilling my body with tingles of desire, even as his words instill me with terror. “You’ve been a bad girl, Binx. A very bad girl indeed.”

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