Page 27 of Taken By The Alien Warrior Pirate

I was quiet. I didn’t know what kind of response to give him, or what he expected from me. I didn’t know how long I could wait around before I fought back at her, but then again, I didn’t want to royally screw everything up and sabotage everyone’s lives on the ship.

If Amada was as much of a loose cannon as Cyburn described her to be, then there was no telling what irreparable damage she might inflict on the crew or even herself, or worse… Cyburn and myself.

The whole thing completely unnerved me. I didn’t want to be caught in a love triangle. This was exactly why I had avoided intimate, physical relationships for my entire life. Now look at where I was.

Theonetime I let my heart open up to someone else even microscopically, I felt like I was already doomed to fail at it.

“I know you are upset about all the Amada business, but I promise she is harmless. She is all bark and no bite,” Cyburn mentioned empathetically, giving me a gentle smile but it did little to satiate my growing apprehensions on the subject.

“I sure hope so.”

"She is just insanely jealous. She is in love with me, and her mentality on the matter is ifshecan’t have me, then no one can.”

“That’s a bit ridiculous,” I declared gloomily.

“I agree with you one-thousand percent,” Cyburn said gently. He tried to give me a charming smile, but I just wasn’t feeling it.

Maybe I was being territorial like Amada, but maybe I had better reason to be because Cyburn and I wereactuallydating, unlike her fantasy land where she actually fathomed a chance in her delusional head to get him back.

“I just wish I could get in everyone’s good graces,” I mentioned, feeling melancholy and a little emotional. “It’s been hard… adjusting and all. I feel like not everyone is taking kindly to me.”

Cyburn reached out and began rubbing my back. “That’s not true, I can promise you that.”

I contemplated mentioning to him how I had overheard his own subordinate crew members dishing out their apparent distaste about me, but I bit my tongue.

I didn’t want to find another reason to argue with him. I was already feeling exhausted enough about the Amada situation.

Cyburn must have taken my silence for agreement because he continued rubbing my back and softly kissed my cheek. His lips felt good on my skin, so I didn’t pull away. Perhaps I just needed to give him a chance to prove himself accurately about Amada. After all, he knew her better than I did.

I sighed deeply, feeling weathered emotionally.

“Like I said, she won’t confront you directly. She will gripe about you, sure, but it will always be behind your back.”

I scoffed and looked at Cyburn as if he had ultimately lost his mind. “How isthatany better? Her talking behind my back? That’s still hurtful.”

“I know.” Cyburn looked confused at my response. There was certainly a gender and a species barrier between us when it came to communication. “She views you as a rival who is out to destroy her life.”

“Funny,” I said blandly, even though it wasn’t funny at all. “That’s exactly how I view her.”

“Just try to stay away from her,” Cyburn encouraged.

“It’s easier said than done when I have to workforher,” I mentioned.

“I can give you assignments from now on so that you won’t have to go directly through her,” Cyburn suggested.

“Then she’ll notice that we are pitting her against us,” I said. “If you get involved and become the middleman, I’m afraid that she’ll catch on and take it personally.”

Cyburn contemplated, his features turning into a frown. “Perhaps. She is inclined to take everything personally, however, as is her nature.”

I groaned. The whole situation seemed a little hopeless to me, but I still wanted to pursue a relationship with Cyburn regardless of the unpleasant hurtles inadvertently placed in our path by Amada.

“I just feel like I have to sleep with one eye open and one eye behind my back,” I mentioned glumly.

Cyburn roped his arm around my waist and hugged me close to him. “Well, I’ve got you covered on the sleep thing because you sleep withme,and I know for a fact that she won’t be bothering either one of us as long as we are in there together.”

“Cyburn, I appreciate what you’re trying to do,” I said with more frustration in my voice than I intended, “but I just can’t live my life this way.”

Cyburn’s face fell, and his green cheeks turned pale. “What are you suggesting?”

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