Page 4 of Becoming Brandy

Tork held up his hands. “Don’t blame me. You gave this mission to Wrek when I told you he couldn’t handle it. If you’d have left it up to me, we’d have his mate here and a desperate Han on the commlink. Now we have nothing.” He gestured at Brandy in apparent disgust.

Nothing? She wanted to protest, but Drake stalked toward her. Cowering, she tried to grow smaller as he towered over her, veins on his neck pulsing. “I hope you have more to offer than a nice set of tits.”

Brandy covered her bosom with her arms. She’d faced lots of angry, intimidating men in her previous line of work. She knew the best thing to do was not to make them any angrier than they already were. The testosterone would wear out eventually. She stared at him with doe eyes. “I’m good for a lot of things.”

He snorted, but she could tell he found her attractive. When he stepped closer, he trailed a hand down her neck. “I bet you are.”

“Drake,” Wrek said. “Don’t you think we should deal with the issue at hand? They seem to be charging weapons as we speak.” Wrek gestured to the screen and Han’s ship sitting patiently in the dark expanse of sky.

Drake moved away from her, adjusting his pants. His physical reaction to her closeness was apparent.

“Take us out. I need time to think.”

“Where to?” Tork asked, his hand on a section of wall that pulsed with light and symbols.

“I don’t care, just get us out of here.”

Tork began tapping the panel.

They were going to leave. Panic tightened its grip on her. “No, wait. Let’s talk to Han. I’m sure he’ll listen to your demands.”

“No more whining,” Drake said, watching Han’s ship grow smaller in the distance.

Their ship shot forward. Brandy lurched, nearly tumbling as the stars blurred to smears on either side of the screen. She dropped to her knees, feeling like she might be sick. A hand on her arm made her lift her head. Drake leaned over her, grinning.

“Come on, gorgeous. Let’s make you more comfortable.”

“Wait. I’m sure we can come up with a deal,” she said, her mind reeling. “Charis is my best friend. Han will listen.”

He pulled her up like a rag doll and began to lead her out of the room.

“The idea was to steal Han’s heir and keep him from inheriting his kingdom—to throw the whole system into chaos to give us the upper hand.” Drake’s gaze shifted to her. “Though I have no idea why I’m telling you that.”

Brandy got the impression Drake was playing at being a bad guy without actually being one, though she couldn’t be sure.

She tried more negotiation tactics. Being an escort on Earth had taught her to haggle with the best of them. “Why don’t you send me back, and I can talk to Charis and Han for you? What is it you want? World peace? A seat at the table? Money?”

“I want Han dead,” Drake said, his face serious.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “I can’t promise that, but maybe we can think of secondary wants. What’s on your B list?”

Drake yanked on her arm, starting to drag her to the door again.

Digging in her heels, she said, “Wait. Okay, how about this? Han has a mate. You all need a mate, right? Just like Han, you can’t procreate without a human female. And I’m a human female.” She smiled, putting a hand on her hip to show off her assets after snatching away from him.

Drake’s eyes roved over her. “You’d willingly mate with us?”

“All of you?” she asked, uncertainty grabbing her. She wasn’t sure what she’d gotten herself into.

Drake raised an eyebrow at Tork and Wrek. Wrek seemed keen on the idea. Tork kept his cool, not giving away his thoughts.

“If you mate with us and help produce an heir, it would solidify our position in the hierarchy,” Drake said, mulling it over. “But if you refuse, or you cannot produce an heir, we will not only take Han’s child, but we will kill your best friend Charis as well.”

“Now hold on. We don’t need to drag Charis into this.”

“No, this sounds like a great plan. One we can start right now.” He grabbed her arm again, heat flaring in his eyes.

“Drake, wait. Let’s think this through.”

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