Page 11 of Rescued By The Alien Prince Pirate

This worried me, because I needed to be able to fend for myself, so I stopped Cyburn when we got to a little corner. We tucked ourselves into a small little breezeway.

"What's wrong?" Cyburn's eyebrows knitted with concern.

"Is this thing like a regular gun?" I cut right to the point, holding up the ray gun.

"You mean the types you have on Earth?" Cyburn asked.

"Yes."

"Similar," he said.

I didn't ask him how he knew that already. I had the feeling he'd been around. Maybe he'd even been to Earth before. Now wasn't the time to have a 'get to know you' question and answer session, but Ididwant to make sure I could fire this weapon properly.

"Do I just pull this little red trigger right here?" I asked, pointing to where it was right below the barrel.

"Yes." Cyburn confirmed with a nod. "Go ahead and get into firing position."

"Do you want me to actuallyshootit?" I asked.

"No… but you can just practice getting into position," he mentioned.

I stiffened my arm muscles and put myself into a defensive stance with my left leg jutting out slightly in front of me while my right leg was back. I concentrated on my aim, although at the moment it was at nothing in particular but the wall. I took a deep breath and tried to tap into my feisty spirit.

I felt like I looked kind of silly, but Cyburn and Nix both exchanged a look with each other as if they were instantly impressed by my technique.

"That's it," Cyburn said with a wild grin on his face. His eyes were practically glowing with eagerness.

He clamped his hand over my shoulder and gave it an endearing squeeze. Then, he lightly stroked my back, brushing his fingertips in an up and down grazing motion that made me feel like I was melting from the inside out.

"I have the hang of it already?" I asked, feeling a little surprised by their reaction.

"Absolutely." Both Cyburn and Nix nodded with approval.

Cyburn's eyes were doting and alive with excitement. I fed into his positivity. He made me feel important and good about myself, like I was doing something that mattered— when in fact —I hadn't really doneanythingyet.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "I really want to be able to contribute. If I can't help the cause, then I'll feel like I'm just in the way."

"You arenotin the way," Cyburn reassured me and then grinned. "I'dbe afraid to cross paths with you if I saw you with that ray gun pointed in my direction."

I scoffed playfully. "Ohplease.Yeahright.You are just trying to make me feel better—"

"No, I really mean it," Cyburn interjected, looking suddenly stoic.

"Oh." I paused and gave him a wary smile. "Good, then, I guess."

I could feel Nix watching us as if he was intrigued, as if he somehow knew something weird was going on between me and Cyburn, too.

Cyburn poked his head out from behind the breezeway. Then, he waved us along to follow him out. "All clear out there for now."

As we shuffled on ahead again, Cyburn tenderly placed his hand on the small of my back to escort me along.

It was a simple gesture on his part, yet extremely blissful for me. Yet again, those crazy, erotic tingles practically swallowed me whole.

I felt like I would succumb to literallyanythingCyburn told me to do at this point— which was a little scary at the same time.

I felt like he was trying to guide me and protect me, giving me just enough independence without getting in the way.

I hoped he wouldn't thinkIwas in the way. I kept reminding myself that if he really wanted to hurt me, he would have already exhibited some of that shady behavior. Since I had yet to see that side of him, if it even existed, I adamantly forced myself not to worry about it.

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