Page 58 of Warped

I scramble across the bed to the more even-tempered member of the crew, who is still sitting on the edge of the mattress, watching.

“Rek!” I gasp. “You’re not really going to let Travenpunishme, are you?”

His response is not what I had hoped for. He just brushes my hair back and treats me to his trademark cocky smirk.

“Depends,” he says. “We’ll have to wait and see what kind of punishment he has planned.”

“ButRek!” I whine. “You promised you wouldn’t let anybody hurt me!”

“I promised I wouldn’t let anyoneharm,” he says. “That’s different.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I start to tremble with a combination of anxiety and frustration. What the hell gives these guys the right to punish me in any fashion? The fact that I’m their Warp companion, I suppose. I probably should have read the fine print on the WarpSeekers website, but I didn’t exactly have time for that. The welfare of an entire planet was at stake. I would have thought Rek, of all people, would be willing to make some allowances for that.

“Look,” I say, trying my best to tug at Rek’s heart strings. “I know I probably put you guys and your ship at risk with my actions, but it was for a good cause. I’m trying to save billions of people. God, if anything, I should be getting a reward, not a punishment!”

Rek just smirks a little more.

“I agree,” he says. “The way Traven dishes out punishment, I think we’ll be able to kill two birds with one stone.”

What the hell isthatsupposed to mean? They’re going to punish and reward me at the same time? That doesn’t even make sense.

I can see I’m not going to have any luck persuading Rek to take my side in this matter. The only other option that leaves me is to make a run for it, but that would just be absurd. I’m trapped on this ship with the two warpers. There’s nowhere for me to go.

I drop my head, defeated.

Then Rek places a finger beneath my chin and tilts my head back up. When I look at his face again, his smirk is gone, and his dark eyes seem to pierce right into me.

“Hey,” he says softly. “Listen. If you think this is about my safety, or Traven’s safety, or the safety of our damn ship, you’re wrong.”

“Then what’s it about?” I ask.

“It’s about putting you in your place.”

Heat floods my face, and my eyes go wide.

“Excuse me?” I snap. “And what place would that be, exactly?”

Rek seems unfazed by my angry tone.

“Well,” he says. “Right now, you are without a doubt the most valuable thing on this ship. Hell, as far as I’m concerned, you’re the most valuable thing in the whole damn galaxy, and I’m pretty sure Traven feels the same way too. That means me and Traven have an obligation to protect you, Binx, but we can only fulfill that duty if you’ll let us. You can’t be keeping secrets from us, and you have to obey our every command, both in bed and out.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I tell him. “You’re going to punish me because I’m valuable?”

Rek just shrugs.

“Some things don’t make a lot of sense when you try to put ’em into words,” he says. “You just gotta experience ’em to understand. Like this…”

He takes my face in his hands and kisses me, slow and deep.

I have to admit, Rek does have a point. There are feelings expressed in that kiss that words could never do justice, and I return all of them by kissing him back with all my might. By the time our lips finally separate, I’m feeling much better, totally at ease, safe and protected.

But the feeling is short-lived.

Rek glances over my shoulder and nods.

“Looks like Traven’s ready,” he says.

I turn to look, and as soon as I see the big warper standing naked in the doorway to the toy closet, a startled cry breaks from my lips. I don’t know what’s more frightening, the object Traven is holding in his hands…

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