Sarah's Pirate (4 page)

He heard her whimper behind him and he turned to see true fear flash across her face just before she managed to hide it behind a sarcastic sneer. Acting on instinct, he crossed the room to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Sweetheart,” he said softly. “I’m not going to attack you. I just had to make the crew believe that so that you’d be safe from them for a while. As long as they think they might get their chance later, they’ll leave you alone. I just haven’t figured out how to get you out of here yet.”

She couldn’t hide the relief on her face and the tears that she’d held in check in the midst of her terror tipped over her eyelids and slid down her face.

“I’m sorry if I scared you, but I was running out of time and had no way of telling you beforehand,” he said, stretching the truth just a little. It hadn’t really occurred to him that she would be genuinely frightened of him. He’d honestly expected her to kick him in the balls and laugh as they turned blue. He supposed that they’d both misread each other.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Please don’t cry.” He reached over to her, breathing a relieved sigh when she didn’t flinch from his touch. He smoothed a callused finger carefully over her cheek. She whimpered again and gulped air into her lungs, words obviously impossible.

Unable to control his protective instincts anymore, he grabbed her under the arms, hauled her onto his lap, and pressed her face against his heart as he rocked her back and forth. She clung to him as she slowly regained control, her tears no longer flowing quite so fast.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled as she burrowed deeper into his arms, her own slender arms wrapped tightly around his waist.

“Sweetheart,” he said, “I’m the one who’s sorry. I wish I’d handled that very differently. I’m sorry for putting you through that.”

She sagged against him, exhaustion seeming to claim her as she finished crying. He wriggled more fully onto the bed and lay back against the pillow so that he could pull her pliant body over his as she slipped into sleep. He held her close, willing his body not to react to her nearness. The last thing she needed was to wake up and feel his hard cock pushing against her exposed flesh.

Jordan ground his teeth together trying to reign in his body’s reaction. Sure didn’t look like he’d be getting any sleep tonight. She snuggled closer and a small breath escaped from her tear swollen lips. Aw hell, sleeping was overrated anyway.

Chapter Four

Sarah woke as the man beneath her moved carefully, trying to slide out from under her without disturbing her. He kissed her forehead as he resettled her on the pillows.

“Please, don’t go,” she said quietly. He smiled down at her, his hand smoothing an errant curl back behind her ear.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said, a small smile on his face. “I’ll be back soon. I’ll lock the door so you’ll be safe.”

“I don’t even know your name,” she said anxiously, as sudden, unexpected fear for his safety gripped her. What the hell was wrong with her? She should’ve been planning her escape, not worrying for this man's wellbeing.

He sat back on the bed, gathered her into his arms, and kissed her gently.

“My name is Jordan Bowman,” he said with a genuine smile on his face. “And I’m very glad I met you, Sarah Kaydel.”

Her full name? G'ntriel had obviously been busy filling him in on all the details she'd garnered. Sarah knew she should still be pissed that the woman betrayed her, but instead she smiled at Jordan, enjoying the tender moment more than she would admit, even to herself. He bent once more and captured her lips with his own, kissed her sweetly—reverently—as if she were precious to him.

“I’ll be back as fast as I can,” he whispered before he levered himself off the bed and headed to the door. She heard him punch in the unlock code and then the door closed behind him. The lock engaged a moment later.

Sarah fell back onto the bed and took a moment to gather her wits. Being captured by pirates had been such an emotionally draining experience. She couldn’t honestly remember being so frightened for so long, despite her checkered history as an interplanetary courier or her life before that. She’d found herself in more than one dangerous situation, facing her own mortality, but on each occasion, she’d managed to extract herself without help, without having to rely on someone else.

But this situation was so very different. Here, she faced something far more frightening than dying. She had zero chance of escape without help, and she really didn’t want to leave without her cargo.
Damn
. She'd nearly forgotten all about the medicine until now. Were children dying even as she lay here contemplating her unknown future? She felt tears well again. Hell, when had she turned into such a weepy mess? She wasn’t even sure if there
were
dying children. It was quite possible, considering G’ntriel’s involvement, that she’d been conned right from the beginning.

Sarah closed her eyes against the headache that had begun to pound behind her forehead. She needed to ask Jordan about the medicine, and she should ask him about G’ntriel, and she really wanted to know how she’d ended up in the middle.

Lost in her worry, Sarah was startled when the door slid open and Jordan stalked in, not bothering to lock the door behind him. He threw clothes at her and his eyes watched her intently as he tried to convey something she didn’t quite understand.

“Get dressed, woman. Now!” He stood over her aggressively, raising his hand as if to strike her. Sarah flinched away as her mind whirled with confusion. They were alone in his cabin, why would he suddenly be this angry? Could she trust him or not? Was this the same man who’d held her while she slept?

Her heart beat erratically, fear beginning to pound through her until she saw that several very large crew members stood at the door. Witnesses? Was he trying to protect her from them? Or was he about to prove that he was the last person in the universe she should ever have considered trusting? She nodded carefully. Did she really have a choice? She reached for the jumpsuit that he’d thrown at her and managed to pull the clothes on, not really caring if she exposed herself to the audience at the door.

“Hurry up,” he said, grabbing her arm and dragging her to the door. “We haven’t got time for this. Grab your damn boots. You can put them on when we get there.”

He shoved the boots into her arms, grabbed her upper arm again, and dragged her out the door.

“Captain?” his first mate asked. “What if she blows your cover and tries to escape?”

“Not a chance,” Jordan proclaimed arrogantly. “She does what she’s told or she gets punished. My belt stings against that pert little ass, doesn’t it woman?”

She nodded warily, still trying to catch up with the situation. He was treating her like a possession, pushing her around as if he had a right to, but he was referring to punishment that had never actually happened. When he’d first opened the door her newfound trust in him had wavered, and the sight of all of those pirates on her doorstep brought back all the fear she’d felt just a few hours before. Still off balance, and fluctuating between abject terror and absolute trust in the man, Sarah sucked in a deep breath and fell back on her training. She quickly decided to play whatever game he was playing and see where it led. It sounded like they were getting off the ship and she was definitely all for that.

They stepped through the door, Jordan’s grip on her arm punishingly tight, and headed away from the cabin and into the docking bay. She managed to mask the soft sound that she made when she saw her tiny vessel. It seemed that it hadn’t moved since they’d landed on board fewer than twenty-four hours ago.

“Get in,” Jordan growled loudly, pushing her towards the open cargo door of her little ship. “Andrews,” he said, turning to his first mate. “Keep the ship out of sensor range of the planet. I’ll contact you as soon as I know more.”

His first mate nodded his understanding and stood back as Jordan stepped into the ship. “Start the engines and close the damn door!”

Sarah rushed to follow his orders, her hands shaking, either from fear or excitement or both. She was in her ship and she was leaving the pirates behind, so things were definitely looking up, but she was careful to hide her excitement, lest the man beside her wasn’t the honorable man she’d begun to believe him to be.

So many questions, so few answers. Geez, her head hurt.

She started the ship, relief pouring through her when all systems registered as functional, and she was able to maneuver out of the larger ship’s cargo hold.

“Where are we headed?” she asked him as she tried to swallow against her dry throat.

“Heltor,” he said, looking at her calmly for the first time since they’d left his quarters. “Our buyer failed to make contact, so you and I need to find him.” She input their course into the helm and then turned to give him a quizzical look.

“The medicine?” she asked, still confused. “Why not just give it to the children it was meant for?”

“Sweetheart, that’s what I’m trying to do.”

She shook her head, her confusion growing as she tried to understand what he was saying.

“Sarah, the government on Heltor is corrupt. They’ll take the intergalactic aid and give it to a selected few and either stockpile or sell the rest. The children it’s meant for will never see it.”

“So that’s what this is all about? You’re selling it on the black market so that it actually reaches those who need it.”

“Something like that,” he hedged, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation.

She glared at him and held his gaze until he shrugged and told her the truth.

“I’m not selling it. I'm giving it to them.”

She shook her head in denial. Surely she must have heard wrong. Pirates don't give, they take.

“But hang on,” she said, still trying to find her balance. “How do you make money, keep the ship running, and the crew fed if you give away your stolen booty?”

He laughed at that, a rich rolling sound that bought a smile to her face.

“I didn't say we were angels, sweetheart. We work on an ancient Earth principle. Have you ever heard of Robin Hood?”

“I think so. Is that the guy who stole from the rich and gave to the poor?” He nodded as a wry smile split his face.

“Well, we’re a little more discerning than that, but it’s kind of the same principle. We do a lot of research and target only corrupt governments and criminals. We retain enough for ourselves to keep the crew loyal and interested, and we make sure that those who need help, like medicines, can get it.”

“So what’s the plan?” she asked, very eager now to help. “How will we find this guy?”

“First, your ship wasn’t registered as carrying the medicines, was it?” She shook her head. Another ship had been registered as a decoy. The only people who’d known about her cargo had been her and G’ntriel. “Good, Heltor relies heavily on the tourist trade, so you and I are going to pose as newlyweds and try to track down our missing contact. Is that okay?”

“Absolutely,” she smiled at him, lifting her hands as if to weigh her options. She bounced her right hand. “Honeymoon resort,” and then glanced at her left. “Ship full of menacing pirates. Uhm...no contest.”

Jordan leaned over and pulled her onto his lap, his lips meeting hers in a searing kiss. She didn’t think that he’d meant for it to be anything other than a brief celebration, but her small sigh and soft acceptance had his cock swelling inside his jumpsuit, the hard rod pressing against her thighs. He speared his tongue into her welcoming mouth, sliding it against hers in a sensual dance as he tangled his hands in her hair.

She squirmed on his lap, trying to get closer, rubbing against the hard cock pressed against her bottom. Her breath came in short gasps as he pulled her across him until she straddled his lap, then unzipped her jumpsuit and snaked a hand around to her ass. He pushed the silky fabric of her lingerie aside so that he could grip her cheeks in his big hands. She moaned into his mouth, so he squeezed her again, kneading the flesh with his strong fingers.

Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight as his clever fingers played over her ass and then crept up her back as he kissed the sensitive skin under her ear. Moist, soft kisses rained down her neck, over her shoulder, and down to the lace that covered her breasts.

With a strangled sigh he pushed the lace aside, sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, and bit down gently. She moaned her excitement as her clit began to tingle and her pussy pulsed with cream. The smell of her arousal filled the small cabin as she held his head to her breast and urged him on, implored him to suck harder, bite her, possess her in the most primitive of ways.

His hands pressed against her lower back and pushed her dripping pussy against his thick erection, rocking her clit against his strong body. Electrical currents zinged through her blood. Her breath came in ragged gasps as warmth spread through her.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he said. “We don’t have enough time to do this properly, but I need to watch you explode in my arms.”

She shook her head as she squirmed against his cock. Her hands tried to undo the buttons on his suit, tried to find the zipper, tried to release his cock so that she could impale herself on him and they could ride the storm together.

“Shhh. It’s okay, sweetheart,” he said as he gathered her hands, pushed them behind her, and pressed them into her lower back so that her breasts were forced closer to his mouth. “You are so beautiful,” he whispered as he pushed his other hand into the front of her suit to find her swollen clit and rub the sensitive nub. “Now come for me.”