Page 15 of The Captain's Bounty
She immediately ducked backwards when thick fingers brushed her hair. He grabbed a fistful before she could escape, putting an end to her limited struggles before tugging the blindfold down, turning it into a dull-green rag necklace around her throat.
Her stomach rolled in a way that had nothing to do with the gnawing of her wildly growing hunger as she stared in shock at the muscular male seated before her, his knees almost touching her own. She’d seen a lot of strange beings throughout her years of travel, moving from galaxy to galaxy, dig site to dig site, butthe man before her now… he wasn’t like any being she had met before.
He was humanoid, but that was as close as she came to identifying his race. Tall and built like a professional wrestler, his black “hair” was thick as porcupine quills and tipped in white. His grayish skin… she’d never seen skin like this before either. Rough, broken... craggy, more like tree-bark than real skin.
His hands–as he picked up the bowl and spoon resting on the short table by the bed, pulling it into his lap–seemed far more adept at crushing than cradling. His fingers were twice as broad and thick as her own.
Helpless to stop herself, she raised her gaze to his black as black could be eyes, situated in a face every bit as rough and craggy as his hands.
“Who are you?” she asked, surprised.
The chiseled line of his jaw tightened once. “Bruwes,” he repeated, slower this time. “Son of Mayzon, son of Ahbel, prince to the inherited crown that now sits heavy upon my father’s brow…”
“No, no,” she interrupted. “I mean...whatare you? I’ve never seen anyone like your kind before.”
“Until a year ago, mykind,” he enunciated, “had never seen yours either.” Spooning soup from the bowl, he lifted both to her mouth. “Eat, before your stomach gnaws itself inside out.”
“You kidnapped me, so don’t even pretend like you care,” she snorted.
“I care very much. Your contract specifies alive.” He brought the spoon closer, right to her lips. “But it’s not personal. Here. Eat. Take a little comfort while you can.”
Locking her lips, she glared at the spoon. She seriously doubted she would find comfort in anything he gave her.
“You’re an archaeologist,” the big man drawled. “I assume that means you’ve got some brains, so think about this carefully. You’ve really only got two options here. You can eat with a modicum of dignity, or I can administer a nutritional enema.”
“I’d rather starve.”
“Too bad, because that’s not an option.”
He needs you alive, the being reminded.Eat, or your body will devour itself to feed my power.
Like I should want to do anything to make any of this easier for either of you.She shifted her mutinous glare to the cream-gray soup he’d ladled up to feed her. Poison wasn’t the only thing he could slip into her food. What about paralyzers, coma-inducers… sedatives to make her pliant while he shuttled her from points A to B?
“It’s not poisoned, if that is your thinking.” As if to prove it, Bruwes ate what was on the spoon, chewing and swallowing, before dishing her up another bite. “Now, open your mouth, woman. I do not have patience for nonsense.”
Caught between two unwelcome captors and her own rising affront, she locked her jaw, pressing her lips tight. She was so hungry, the savory smell of the soup teased her nose with every breath. Her mouth watered, and yet, she couldn’t afford to trust that soup was the only thing in that bowl.
I’m done with you, the being said flatly.
“So be it,” Bruwes unknowingly agreed, as if they could hear each other and were in sound agreement.
The big male set the bowl aside, his massive hands coming to rest on his thighs. The steady black of his gaze bored into her.
“Now you have another choice. Do you want to apologize and eat your soup, or do you require correction?”
Insect. Egg. I will not be corrected by the likes of you. Enough. I have tried your way of dealing with him. Now for mine.
“Get fucked,” she told them both, just before the power of the being inside exploded through her head.
It moved through her, sliding into her flesh as if she were nothing more than a slightly too-small glove. Its dark thoughts crawled through her mind, forcing her mouth to open and although it was her voice doing the speaking, it was definitely its words coming out of her mouth. “You deal with me now, lesser being–”
Its–her?—unspoken “feed me as you will” morphed into a startled squawk when Bruwes grabbed them both, hauling Lissa straight up off the bed and dumping her unceremoniously across his lap.
The presence of the alien vanished instantly as the first hard slap of Bruwes’s hand caught the surface of her backside.
Lissa’s eyes bulged, her jaw dropping as one smack turned into half a dozen, all delivered without pause or mercy just as fast as he could lay into her. Before she could react or even scream, he hauled her up by the scruff of her dirty shirt and dumped her back to sit on the bed again.
Stunned, she stared up at him, belated heat flaring through the rising sting that now consumed her backside.
