Page 23 of Becoming Brandy

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Brandy was tremblingas Tork and Wrek escorted her to Drake’s room. Why did it feel like they were sending her to her execution? Whatever happened to her being wooed and convinced to stay? All of this felt like the opposite. She couldn’t wait to leave.

The last time she’d seen Drake, he was sacrificing her to criminals to be used as a sex toy. Now that he knew she was valuable to Han, he wanted her, but she had no desire for him. Her demise had seemed imminent, but since Han was now threatening to blow up the ship to save her—an idea that didn’t sound that great, but at least he cared—her hope was making her selfish. She wanted off the ship, and she wanted it now.

Well, to be fair, she kind of wanted Tork again, but that was a bad idea. He would be nothing but trouble. And Wrek was sweet. She wouldn’t mind hanging out with him and getting to know him better. It was Drake she wanted nothing to do with. And it was Drake she would be forced to see.

Why were the jerks the ones she always ended up with?

Her escorts stopped in front of a wall before facing her. Wrek seemed genuinely sorry for her. Tork seemed annoyed.

“He’s in there?” she asked, her hands shaking. There had only been a few times in her life as an escort that she’d been scared for her life. One time, she’d been hired by a drug lord to attend a party where notorious felons were going to be. She’d begged her manager at the time to let her skip, but the money had been too good. It was a night she’d rather not remember.

She hoped her time with Drake wouldn’t fall into that category.

“He’s in there,” Wrek said, reaching for her hand. “He won’t hurt you or he’ll have to face Han.”

“If you say so,” she said.

Tork was digging in a pocket for a cigarette. They all watched as he lit it and took a drag. “Just do that trick you showed me,” he said, squinting through the smoke, but he wasn’t smirking. Was he… jealous?

She wanted to ask him, but knew he’d never admit it. Plus, there wasn’t time. The wall opened behind her. Darkness waited on the other side of the wall. And then a voice bellowed, “Come in.”

Tork’s hand on her back ushered her into the dark. But when she turned to him, dejection was on his face. She expected him to wipe the real emotion off as soon as their eyes met, but he didn’t. He stared at her sadly as the wall closed and separated them.

Once the dim purple light from the hallway was gone, there was almost nothing to see by. Her heart pounding in her ears blocked out any sound. She whirled toward the large space. Her hands went instinctively behind her, feeling for the wall. It was her body’s last-ditch effort to escape what she knew was coming. What would Drake do? Force himself on her? Hit her? And how was this playing into what she’d been promised about wooing her?

“I hear you can dance,” a disembodied voice said from the deep reaches of the room beyond.

Her head turned toward the sound even though she couldn’t see him. “I can.”

“Good,” he said, the voice growing clearer. He must be moving closer to her.

She tensed, waiting. “What do you want with me?”

“What does any man want with you?” Now his voice echoed from the right.

She turned that way, her pulse pounding. “I don’t know. Sex?”

“Just sex?” the voice asked, this time from the left.

“Companionship?” She was trembling. “An heir?” What game was he playing at?

“Don’t you know what men desire? I thought that was what you were good at.”

She stared at the darkness, trying not to let the fear come out in her answer. “I do what men desire. They tell me what they want, and I make it happen. What do you desire?”

“You don’t care what I desire,” he said, his voice seeming to come from everywhere now. It reminded her of the Great and Powerful Oz, someone playing at power they really didn’t have. And what was she afraid of? She’d been with worse than Drake.

“You don’t care what I desire either,” she said cheekily. “And you should. I’m the one who can produce offspring. You men walk around like you own the planet when you are nothing without women.” It felt good to mouth off. How would he take it?

Suddenly, he was behind her, his breath on her neck.

“I do care what you desire, as long as what you desire is me.” A large hand snaked around her waist. He whirled her toward him, pulling her in until her body was up against his. Her hands pressed against the hardness of his chest as his arms held her tight. She couldn’t see his face, just the dim shape of him. And she could feel his arousal, raised and waiting.

She pushed him away. This time, he let her go. She took a step back so there was space between them. “Why should I desire you? The last time I saw you, you were trying to feed me to criminals.”

He laughed, a deep baritone. “I wasn’t really going to give you over to them. It was a scare tactic to keep you in line.”

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