To Love A Space Pirate (6 page)

“My reasons for doing what I do are my own and not up for discussion. This is about you and…”

“You’re right!” She cut him off. “This is about me and about how I want to go home! You have no right to hold me here. You had no right to invade my ship and confiscate my load. Didn’t you check to see if there were any life forms on board before you broke down the damn door?” Her chest rose and fell with her outburst. Her face was flushed as her anger towards him grew by the second.

She was a feisty human, and he was going to enjoy taming her. The time they would spend together on his moon would either calm her or make her hate him even more than she already did! But, he was willing to take the chance to find out.

“Let us come to an agreement,” he said after she finished her tirade.

“I have nothing more to say to you.” She folded her arms across her ample chest and glared at him.

She was gutsy too. If any other prisoner had spoken to him as she did, he would have taken drastic measures to ensure it never happened again. With Elizabeth, he liked to see her all riled up and ready to fight. It let him know she was willing to fight for what was hers.

“Do you not wish to hear what I have to offer?”

“No. I do not. Now please leave,” she asked as she pointed to the door.

A smiled crossed his face as he watched her. “So be it then. You will find out what I have in store for you once we reach our destination. I will leave you alone to think until we arrive.” He stood up and walked out of the cell.

As soon as he exited the small room, the beams appeared without warning. He stood off to the side listening to his human talk to herself.

“The nerve of that man! How dare he try and make some deal with me! I need to get the hell out of here as soon as I have the chance. Dirty pirate!”

He heard something bang and had to stifle the laugh that rose up. Yes, he was going to enjoy taming his little human for as long as it took!

Chapter 6

“Get up!”

The sound of metal hitting metal jerked her out of a sound sleep. Wearily, Elizabeth rolled over and faced whoever was yelling at her.

“Go away,” she mumbled.

“I said to get up. The captain told me to escort you off the ship.”

“Off the ship,” she said as she quickly stood up and faced her guard. She was still wearing the jumpsuit from Tarwick, and she felt rather grungy. Perhaps they were taking her to a rendezvous point where she would be traded back to Tarwick! She patted her tangled hair down. No matter! She didn’t care how she looked; she was going home. “Lead the way,” she said and gestured with a wave of her hand.

The man walking alongside her was huge! Compared to her five foot three height, he was nearly two feet taller than her! He had to be even taller than Carden. The sound of his boots hitting the floor as they walked filled the corridor. She paid close attention to the direction he was leading her just in case she had the opportunity to make a run for it. Or, if she were somehow taken back to her cell, she would know which was out if she could ever get past the beams barring her way.

The pair walked in silence for some time until they came to a ramp that led down. Sunlight lit up the end of it. As they proceeded down, she could hear the sound of male voices shouting directions. She was confused why there would be some many others around at her release. Didn’t they know they were taking a big chance on being arrested? For conspiring with the enemy? She guessed not.

Reaching the end of the ramp, Lizzy stopped dead in her tracks. The sight before her was not what she had been expecting. Instead of seeing a Tarwick ship or Tarwick personnel, she saw a lush green forest with numerous people milling around the ship. Where the hell was she?

“What the hell is going on,” she demanded of her escort.

“Follow me,” he said and walked off the ramp. Two men moved in behind her, blocking the hasty retreat she thought about making.

She didn’t like the way things were looking. Something told her she wasn’t being given back to Tarwick at the moment. The man in front of her walked down a path and into the forest that surrounded the ship. She looked back quickly to see the size of it and was astounded. How the heck they had been able to land the massive ship in such a tight area was beyond her. It would take years of piloting to make the landing safely and not crash into the trees.

The cool air that whipped through the trees felt wonderful on her face after being inside of a ship for so long. It had been over a week now since she left Keplar 1 on her first mission. By now, Tarwick would know something happened to her when she didn’t arrive at the mining colony as expected. Her family would be frantic with worry and Tarwick would be pissed with her for losing both the ship and cargo. She wondered why Tarwick hadn’t responded yet to the pirate’s demands.

The four of them walked on until they came to a building set back into a grassy hill. It looked like a house to her, but she couldn’t be exactly sure. Part of the building jutted out from the mound and was surrounded by tall trees with green and orange leaves. She could hear the sound of water flowing and searched the area for it, but her view was blocked when her two rear guards stepped up beside her. The front door to the building opened and out walked her least favorite person in all the universe, Carden.

“I will take her from here,” he said as he took hold of her upper arm and pulled her toward him. “Come with me.”

His voice was hard as well as the pressure on her arm. Inside, she glanced around and found that the place was under construction. Several people stopped what they were doing to gawk at her as Carden pulled her alongside him. The smell of fresh paint and cut wood filled her nose.

“What is this place,” she asked as she trotted to keep up with his long legs.

Carden remained silent as he guided her down a long hallway then up a set of spiral stairs. At the top, they took a left and went down another shorter hallway only to stop in front of a large wooden door. Lizzy grew more nervous by the minute as she watched the pirate press his hand to a silver panel on the wall. With a click the door opened. She refused to go any farther and jerked her arm back in a vain attempt to get free.

“I asked you what this place is,” she said again. She planted her feet on the tile floor, but it was no match for his strength. He pulled hard on her arm once causing her to stumble into the room beside him.

“This is where you will be spending the rest of your time with me.” He released her arm and walked over to a cabinet standing against the wall. He pulled open a small door and reached in to pull out a bottle. “Care for a drink?” He waved the bottle in the air.

“No,” she replied.

“Pity. I was hoping you would have one with me before I left you.” He poured an amber colored liquid into a short, clear glass.

She eyed him suspiciously as he tossed the liquid back into his throat then swallowed. “I hope you choke,” she muttered.

The Captain’s eyes snapped to her, but he didn’t respond to her goat. Those icy eyes made her feel as if she was suddenly standing inside a freezer. A shiver ran down her spine as she refused to look away. She wasn’t going to let this man intimidate her!

“This is where you will be staying. I hope you don’t mind all the construction, but my home is a bit behind schedule.”

“Your home? This is your house?” She was stunned. Why would he bring her here?

“Yes, this is my home. It’s taken some time to build it, but it is coming along nicely. A few of my people have been working on it while I was gone. What a pleasant surprise to find when we landed this morning.” He appeared to be proud of his people. “You will stay here in this room until further notice.”

Her reaction surprised even her. “What? Why? Where is your prison? You have got to be joking?” A hysterical giggle threatened to explode from deep down inside of her. This man threw surprises at her as if they were candy!

“I assure you, I do not have a prison here on my moon. There is no need for such a thing. Most of those who reside here are happy to be here and should a problem arise it is taken care of immediately.” He walked up to her and looked down at her stunned face. “I have some work I need to attend to for a few hours, but I will be back. Don’t bother trying to escape. The door and windows are programmed to open only to my hand print. Besides, if you did escape, I would hunt you down and bring you back.” A sly smile spread across his face.

Elizabeth stood there in silence. Was she to be his personal prisoner in his home? What was up with that? It was highly unusual according to her but, heck, what did she know about being kidnapped?

She watched the object of her anger stroll out of the room and close the behind him. The air in the room was mild and smelled of the construction going on in the rest of the house. This room, HIS bedroom, was large with a lot of light filtering in through the numerous windows that lined two of the walls. An enormous four-poster bed stood between the windows and was decorated with an array of pillows in every size and shape. It made her very nervous to look at that bed, and she wondered who would exactly be sleeping in it when night came!

A big, round rug covered the floor to the side of the bed where a light taupe, u-shaped sofa sat in front of a brick fireplace. If it had been under other circumstances, she would love to sit in front of a roaring fire while curled up on the cushy sofa with a good book. The walls of the room were painted a tan color and were decorated with paintings of scenery of distant worlds that showed strange looking wildlife.

What was she supposed to do? She walked to the door and tested it. True to his word, the lock on the side of the doorframe turned red when she pressed her hand against the cold plate. Out of frustration, she kicked the door and succeeded in hurting her toes!

“Dang it,” she said out loud. She leaned against the door and folded her arms. She was stuck! How had the fates lead her to this place? Did she have such bad luck that she couldn’t even attempt to make a run for it? Even if she got out of the room, would any of the people she saw earlier be willing to help her? Probably not. If they were all truly happy living here, then they wouldn’t want to risk angering the pirate who ruled this place.

Her thoughts trailed back to the man in question. What was he going to do with her once he returned to the room? Surely, he didn’t plan on sleeping in the same bed with her! He would be stupid to trust her not to harm him as he slept! If she could perhaps knock him out and drag him over to the lock, she might be able to gain her freedom and take her chances on the outside. Yes! That was it!

A plan started to formulate in her head. There were numerous things in the room she could use to cause damage to her captor. A crash of a lamp over his head as he slept should keep him out long enough for her to get away. Excitement filled her as she thought about hurting the man who was causing her undo stress. He would be the unlucky one once he went to sleep.

With nothing else to do, Lizzy went to sit on the sofa and wait. The hours ticked by slowly and the boredom was beginning to get the best of her. Earlier she went through every drawer in the room looking for a weapon, but the room was clean. She came across Carden’s clothing and figured she would help herself to some and get out of the dirty ones she still wore.

She found the bathroom off the bedroom and managed to figure out how to turn the water on. Without the use of knobs, the water flowed freely from the spout when one waved their hand under it. The water was deliciously hot as it cascaded over her sore and tired body. Whatever was in Dr. Faxon’s compound was working. Her ribs didn’t hurt nearly as much as they had the night before and the slight ache she felt in her head that morning was entirely gone now even though the bump remained.

The turn of events left her wondering what Carden’s true motive was. She was a prisoner, but she was captive in a place of beauty! Surely, he could have found somewhere else to house her until Tarwick came for her. She could have remained on the ship for one thing, so why bring her here? No, the man had ulterior motives as far as she was concerned and she was going to find out what they were.

After her shower, she felt fresh and renewed. Her long hair was still wet when she heard the sound of the door unlocking. Carden stepped inside and stopped in his tracks when he saw her. For several seconds, they watched each other until he spoke first.

“I see you helped yourself to my clothes.” He sauntered over to where she sat on the sofa.

“I did. I needed a change of clothes, and you were nowhere around for me to ask.” She shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t care what he thought. But, in actuality, she had butterflies in the pit of her belly as she watched him move closer to her. “I haven’t had a shower in days.” It was the truth, and she thought she could smell herself before she washed away the dirt and grime of the last few days.

“I should have seen to your needs before I left, but there were some matters that needed to be cleared up. I take it you found what you needed?” He raised one eyebrow as if he knew she had rooted through his belongings.

“Yes, I did.” She’d be damned if she was going to say “Thank You” to a pirate. She was though regretting taking off the jumpsuit, though. The shirt she wore only fell to the middle of her thighs, leaving most of her legs in view of hungry eyes. She had rinsed out her underwear and bra and put them back on wet, but she was feeling exposed under Carden’s gaze.

She swallowed uncomfortably as his eyes raked down her then back up to linger a bit too long on her breasts. She tried to shift her position some, so she wasn’t so exposed but ended up giving him more of a look-see. Her pulse sped up, and she had to look away. She needed to distract him somehow!

“Have you heard from Tarwick,” she asked. It was the best she could do.

Carden cleared his throat, “No.”

She didn’t believe him. He was hiding something. She could sense it, but she couldn’t prove it. “Why am I here,” she blurted out suddenly. She surprised herself with the blunt question.

Carden leaned back on the sofa making himself comfortable. “Because I want you here.”

Lizzy shook her head. “For what? What possible reason could you have for wanting me in your house? In your room?” Did she wish to know the answer?

“I am going to make you mine,” he said barely above a whisper.

Elizabeth wasn’t sure she heard him quite right. “Did you say you are going to make me yours?” He nodded. “I don’t get it.”

Carden rolled his neck until it cracked. “My dear little human. It is simple. I want you and I plan on having you.”

Her heart jumped into her mouth. This pirate was crazy! She would never give herself to a man for the sake of saving herself. “Like hell, you will. I demand you release me at once,” she shouted as she jumped up off the sofa. It was her turn to look down at the man scaring the hell out of her now.

“I am a pirate, and I take what I want.” He didn’t move a muscle as he spoke. “And I plan on having you. Come here,” he demanded quietly.

Lizzy backed up a step and nearly landed in the unlit fireplace. She regained her footing just in time to avoid Carden’s hand that reached out to steady her on feet. “Don’t touch me.” Her voice was shaking as well as the rest of her body.

“I plan on doing more than just touching you, Elizabeth.” It was the first time he had used her name during a conversation and the way he said it caused her stomach to flutter. “Would it be so hard to give yourself to me?”