Page 39 of Tamed By the Alien Warlord
He turns from the hologram, eyes alight with hunger. “Simple. I want Reaper DNA. As much as I can get. You, Captain, are the perfect specimen. Alpha. Pure. Violent. Controlled.”
He gestures to a sleek blade resting on the desk between us. “Slit your throat. Bleed out. I’ll take your body and extract what I need. In exchange, I’ll let the sisters live.”
“You think I’d believe you?”
“You’re out of options,” he replies. “The second you or your brutes kill me, she pulls the trigger.”
I look at the blade.
It’s ceremonial. Long, curved, and cruel. Combine steel—stolen tech from a dozen species.
I glance at my men.
Gash’s knuckles are white on his rifle. Rith growls under his breath.
None of them move.
They’re waiting for me to give the order.
And I… I’m frozen.
I am a killer. A warlord. A Reaper born of violence and raised in chaos.
But for the first time in my life, I hesitate.
Because if I move wrong, she dies.
Georgia. My Georgia.
The only softness I’ve ever known.
I turn back to Nakamura, voice like ice. “If I give you what you want, you’ll let them go?”
He nods solemnly. “You have my word.”
His word means nothing.
But her life?
Everything.
The knife is cold in my hand.
And the room spins.
CHAPTER 18
GEORGIA
My vision swims back into focus like an unhinged holo, and the first thing I feel is a banging in my skull. I lie there a moment, swirling through the trauma—Jasmine’s pistol slam, the darkness, the taste of fear. My jaw aches. I gently touch it and press my fingers to my temple. When I open my eyes, Deepshadow lighting filters through the corridor. I’m on a cold metal bunk, Georgia-free-sheeted and limp. A soft hum indicates the ship is still idling somewhere above Gur.
A door slides open. Jasmine stands there, jaw stiff, eyes empty. Her pistol is at her side. Everything inside me wants to leap up and hug her. Instead I lie there, breath shaking.
“Flo,” I whisper.
Her eyes flick away, but she doesn’t turn away. “Georgia.”
I force my voice calm. “Listen—I know this isn’t you. You did what he wanted. I forgive you.”
