Page 50 of The Captain's Bounty
“And this… chatty ghost is the source of your power?”
She sighed. “And the reason Corporate wants to pay you so much money for me. I guess they think they can use it as a weapon.” She almost rolled her eyes, sighing. “A very powerful weapon. My God, the ego. The two of you have so much in common.”
That didn’t sound like a compliment, but Bruwes let it go without comment. “How did this very powerful being get inside you?”
“I stumbled upon its prison, buried in the sand on Cutirut I. I guess I ran into it. We just… melded.”
“And now it’s inside you.” He drew her hands out of the gel. The blistering was already diminishing, though her fingertips would surely peel and be raw for days.
“He says if you want to stop this from happening again, then don’t put me back in chains.”
He snorted. “How then shall I ensure you don’t try to escape or cause more damage to my ship?”
“I could give you my word that I’ll be perfectly well behaved for as long as we’re together?”
He snorted. Having dealt with two human women now, he knew better than to fall for that. “Unfortunately for you, I’ve known too many humans.”
“Have they all been humans you’ve held captive?” she challenged.
He didn’t like that challenge.
Her stomach rumbled again.
Placing her fingers back in the gel, he said, “Do not move from this spot.”
Her glare followed him from the room, but he didn’t look back. She would either obey, or he would hunt her down to face the consequences.
Marching to the galley, fully aware he made a far better cook than he did a doctor–albeit only marginally–he fixed food. Most of what they had were packets that needed only to be rehydrated and heated. He had no idea where the packets were from. They had cargo crates of packets hailing from dozens of different species, most of which were black market fare and so were unmarked. Anymore, he’d come to think of his meals as supper surprise. Tonight’s surprise looked spicy,orange-red and had clumps of what looked like red meat and some form of bland root to give the soup bulk. He served it over oats he hoped weren’t pre-sweetened and took it back to the Medibay where he found supper surprise number two: Lissa was still sitting where he’d left her, waiting on his return.
“Consider it a token of good faith, cheerfully deposited into my obedience piggy bank,” she said.
He was pleased, but not stupid. “And still, I’ve known too many humans.”
She tsked, taking her hands out of the gel and giving them a gentle shake to dislodge the excess bactalplast.
“You are not done healing.”
“I can’t eat with my toes, either.”
He cocked an eyebrow, the quills on his head rising slightly.
She caved first, tsking with an annoyance belied by the pink flush of a blush creeping into her cheeks.
He caught the most subtle hint of her arousal scent when he came to stand before her. Dishing up a modest spoonful of food, he tried to ignore the embarrassment as he brought it to her lips. From captain to caretaker. He didn’t want to enjoy this unfamiliar softening of his well-honed character as he fed her.
She got two chews into it. “Oh my God!”
Snapping her face aside, she covered her mouth with her wrist, eyes tightly closed.
“You do not like the taste, I take it.”
“Oh my God,” she said again, hurriedly swallowing. “It’s horrible.” She opened her mouth. “More. Hurry. Before I change my mind. I’m so hungry.”
“Fingers,” he reminded, shoveling an even bigger spoonful into her mouth.
She obeyed, shuddering and choking as she chewed.
That was almost adorable, how quickly she snacked each bite off the spoon, sometimes groaning, sometimes gagging, but always swallowing just as fast as she could.
