Page 31 of Captured
Rakir grunts, not lifting his eyes to meet me. I get the distinct feeling that he knew I was going to ask this very question and that he has no intention of answering it.
Oh, no. Not this time.
I’ve been in the dark since before this mission even began. No more.
This time, I don’t let Rakir ignore me. I put a hand in front of him, right on the screen, placing my entire body in his field of view. His handsome, sharp features freeze and his mouth takes a cruel, downward turn.
“Why is the worst company of mercenaries after a single Drakian? It makes no sense.”
“Not now, Juliet. I will explain everything later.”
I blink, confused for a few seconds. Yes, I heard him talk, I watched his lips move, but this is not the encumbered, accented words I’m used to from him. He spoke to me in a full sentence, yet there’s something wrong about it. The movements of his mouth don’t match the sounds I hear.
“It’s the universal translator,” he explains, impatience easily seen on his face as he speaks. “There’s just enough power for this room. I can’t divert any more.”
We hold each other’s gazes for a moment. He and I, lovers and enemies. For the first time since we met, we can truly talk. This changes things, shifts the fragile balance that holds us together as allies against a common enemy.
I’m not just some female to submit anymore. I’m his equal and he needs to know it.
“I have to send our exact coordinates to my brothers and activate what’s left of the shields.” Rakir explains without a trace of animosity. He would be in his rights to be pissed at me for shooting him down and sabotaging his ship, but he’s not. “Then, I will tell you all I can.”
A heavy stone settles in my stomach. The Black Star is the most high-tech mercenary company in the Galaxy. They’ll have the best spying system there is. Ears in the sky and eyes on the ground. They’re everywhere already. They’re going to find us, it’s just a question of time.
And if the Black Star finds us before Rakir’s people do, we’re toast.
I stare at him, this alien that is ten times stronger than I am. A hundred times, maybe. All my life, I’ve been told he would be nothing but a monster, a soulless predator bent on destruction and violence.
Can I trust him? Can I afford not to? He saved my life more than once, risked his own for me. He has proven himself in all ways possible.
Still, I hesitate. This is the moment that shifts my life, I know it. Not the sex, not running for our lives together. No, this is the moment. The moment when I hand over my trust to the one who should be my enemy.
I don’t know what pushes my decision. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s not trying to force my hand. Maybe it’s just the sheer perfection of his alien face in the low light. But in that moment, I choose to hand over more than my trust.
I hand over my heart at the same time.
“Okay. Do what you must. I trust you.”
