Page 33 of The Captain's Bounty
“Except that we’re all lazy birds without a working jump coil,” Aldar said, taking a sip from his cup.
“Sitting ducks,” Cory corrected. “The phrase is sitting ducks.”
Saying nothing, Aldar took another sip.
Bruwes agreed with him. It didn’t matter what the phrase was. They were still a crippled ship limping through space, hoping they got where they were headed without attracting the attention of any of the many scavengers salvaging the thick belt of junk orbiting both Cutirut and its moon.
He was almost distracted by these thoughts—who was on navi-comm and how were they going to navigate said junk-belt with nothing but docking thrusters?— but then Vullum had to go and ask, “Does she smell? You know.Thatsmell.”
His eyes burned. Did they just flash red? Was it noticeable? For all that he was determined to be calm, he’d been on the verge of Rage practically from the moment he met Lissa. Having the randiest member of his crew ask after her in such a coarse way was enough to rile his temper all over again.
“No,” he lied.
Nobody believed him. They just leaned back in their chairs and stared at him, all except for Vullum, who smirked.
“She does, doesn’t she?” he said. “She has a scent just like Cory. God!”
“I donotstink!” Cory said, offended.
“Nobody said you did,” Doc soothed.
“I wouldn’t call it a bad smell,” Vullum corrected himself. “More like a… a perfume you can’t get out of your nose. A scent you ache to bend over the table and fuck.”
Bruwes took a step before he realized he intended to move. Kelys jumped up, hands held up to stop him from going after their shipmate. Vullum started laughing, and the only reason Bruwes didn’t go over the top of the table and after him was because Doc grabbed his arm.
“Let it go,” he soothed. “Let it go and give her to Cory to care for. You shouldn’t be keeping her in your room anyway. Especially since Medibay is a mess, and I don’t have a tube anymore to put you in if you go into full-blown Rage. Find your calm.”
Bruwes barely heard him. Everything was bright red no matter how hard he fought himself to calm. He took his breaths and struggled, willing his heart to slow again. Willing his breathing to smooth instead of seething huffs in and out of lungs now starting to burn.
“I am not keeping her for myself,” he growled.
Doc Demin arched his brow. “That’s not what I said.”
“Sure you are,” Vullum corrected them both. “Who could blame you? Hell, I’d keep her in my room too, if you’d let me.”
“She’s in my room because our brig won’t hold her!” And Vullum had a history of fucking anything that couldn’t move faster than he did.
Vullum scoffed. “Oh, that brig holds everyone.”
“Uh…” Cory held up a cautioning finger. “We all saw what she did on the dock, and Medibay is in pieces right now. So don’t be so sure about that.”
Bruwes ignored her. “No one we’ve ever had before has been able to shoot electricity out of their hands! She melted through the linkcuffs. She’ll melt right through the bars. She is dangerous!”
“So dangerous that you’re keeping herin your room?” A tinge of resentment creeping into his voice, Vullum laughed. “You know, I’ve never mated anyone more dangerous than I was. What’s it like?”
Exhilarating.
Exciting.
Unlike anything Bruwes ever thought mating could be, and yet so far beyond what mere mating should be.
As if he would know.
He stepped back from the table, glaring at Vullum, the only one at this table… well, apart from Cory and the Doc… who had mating experience. At this point, he probably had more experience than all the rest of them put together.
And he was jealous, Bruwes realized. He envied Vullum’s easy lust and ability to just go out whenever they landed, find a female, and get her into bed. Bruwes couldn’t do that. He’d didn’t see the sense in it. Why get intimate with a woman he already knew he’d never see again? Worse, why get intimate with a woman if all she really wanted from him was money?
Lissa didn’t want his money.
