To Love A Space Pirate (9 page)

“It doesn’t burn anymore,” she said.

“Faxon said it would go away with the help of our bodies’ liquids.” He continued to rub her back and felt her relax against him. “Sleep for now,” he said as he pulled the blanket over them.

Sleep came quickly to him, but it didn’t last long. The sound of his Elizabeth moaning and crying out in pain woke him with a start. She was on the bed beside him curled up in the same ball she had been in after Faxon left. He immediately knew what she needed and went to work. This time, their lovemaking was much more frantic and quick. When it was over, she fell into an exhausted sleep next to him. He wondered how long this reprieve would last.

Several more times during the night he needed to ease the burn of the Loto juice. By the time the first rays of the morning sun appeared over the horizon, they were both sound asleep for the first time.

Hours later, he awoke to the sound of knocking on the door. He rose up out of the bed and pulled on his discarded pants. The knocking persisted again, and he rushed to the door, afraid it would wake up his sleeping mate.

He unlocked the door then cracked it open to see who was on the other side. One of his housekeepers waiting there for him to acknowledge her. “What is it,” he whispered.

“Captain, the doctor is here.” It was the newest member of his household, Sireni. The young girl had come to live on his moon the last time he had gone on a run. He found her living in a back alley on a dirty planet housed with thieves and murderers. If he hadn’t been drunk and got lost on his way back to his ship, he might have never heard her crying in the dark alley. He brought her on board his transport and offered her a place to live in exchange for working for him. The dirty face he remembered smiled brightly up at him when she gladly accepted the offer to leave the horrible planet.

“Tell him, I will be down in a moment. I need to get dressed.” As he spoke, he watched Sireni lean to the side to look around him. “There is nothing for you to see. Deliver my message,” he said then shut the door. His staff didn’t need to know what went on in his bedroom. They could all guess, but he would never tell them.

He walked to the bathroom and turned on the water. Quickly, he splashed the warm liquid on his face then dressed in a clean pair of black pants and matching shirt. He pulled on his boots then exited the bathroom. Elizabeth was still sleeping in the big bed. He wished he could crawl back in there with her, but he needed to inform Faxon of Elizabeth’s condition.

Making sure he locked the bedroom door, he hurried down the stairs and found his friend waiting for him in the living room. The big picture window allowed natural light in from the outside. The least amount of energy he had to use in his home, the better.

“Faxon, how are you this morning?”

“Morning? I guess I should tell you, it’s well past the noon hour,” the doctor said as he started to laugh.

“Oh well, I didn’t realize what time it was.”

“I bet you didn’t! Long night?” Faxon’s face turned serious when Carden nodded. “How is she?”

“She’s sleeping at the moment, but the effects of that damn juice keep resurfacing. I don’t know how much more she can take.”

“I was afraid of that. Did you do what I suggested?”

Carden gave him a look. “Seriously? What do you think we have been doing all night? Just when I think it's passed, it returns.” He ran a hand through his messy hair.

“Sometimes the Loto juice can take a couple of days to wear off. Depends on how much was used then consumed. You are just going to have to keep at it until it is out of her system. If she still has it when she wakes up, you can bet whoever did this used a considerable amount. Any ideas on who it might be?” Faxon sat down in one of the chairs facing the window.

“I don’t have a clue. There were so many people in and out of here yesterday that it would be hard to place the blame.” He thought about it during the wee hours of the morning after another bout of sex with Elizabeth. Anyone could have poured the juice on any of the food in the kitchen. But, who would want to harm her? She had only been in his home for a short time! No, it had to be someone who didn’t want him to take a mate.

“I would suggest assigning one person to fix her meals. Someone you trust explicitly. I haven’t done extensive research on humans, but I would guess, another round of the Loto juice may cause her irreversible damage. I will have to do some poking around, but I wouldn’t chance it.”

Carden was at a loss. He couldn’t get over the fact someone he brought to his home was proving to be a deadly ally. From now on, he would have to be much more careful in who he decided to rescue and bring home.

“Can I examine Elizabeth before I go,” Faxon asked.

“Sure. I’ll wake her up. Come on,” he said and led his friend up to the room where his mate slept.

The room was quiet when they entered. The drapes were still pulled over the window, and only a sliver of light was pushing its way through a small crack. Elizabeth lay curled up on her side in the middle of the big bed, looking small and child-like.

“I hate to wake her, but I need to be sure it was Loto juice she consumed.” Faxon set the black bag he was carrying on the nightstand next to the bed.

Carden yanked open the drapes then turned to wake up his human female. He leaned over the side of the bed and gently stroke the bare arm poking out from under the thick blanket. “Elizabeth, you need to wake up.” He lightly touched her cheek with his index finger. She moaned and scratched her nose. “Come now, my love. Faxon is here and needs to see you.” When one eye reluctantly opened, he smiled. “How do you feel,” he asked.

Elizabeth yawned then struggled to sit up, all the while making sure she didn’t expose herself. “I feel like I have been run over.” Her hair was a mess and pointing in every direction.

Carden smiled. Secretly he knew why she looked a mess. Their night of nearly constant sex had worn her out past the point of exhaustion. He would continue making love to her for as long as the Loto juice was in her system and causing her to feel as if she were on fire. Not that he would ever stop wanting her in his arms and under his body.

“Ah, Elizabeth! You look much better than you did last night,” Faxon commented as he approached the side of the bed and placed his instruments next to her. “I want to run a blood test to make sure it was the Loto juice that caused your symptoms. It’s just a small prick of your finger.” He picked up a white tube that looked like a pen. He took hold of her hand and pressed the tip of the pen to her thumb. “Just hold still a moment.” Faxon held the device to her skin and waited for the reading to produce the results.

“How do you know what to look for,” she asked as she rubbed one eye with her free hand.

“I’ve programmed the blood machine to look for a particular component known to be in the Loto plant. It’s what causes the burning you felt. The scanner can pick up a trace amount in someone the size of Carden here. In you, it should be relatively easy to find.” The pen clicked when the result was ready. “Yep, there it is.” He showed her the small window on the pen that reveals the number “1543.”

“What does the number mean,” she asked. Lizzy pulled her hand back and rubbed the area where the pen had stuck her.

“I knew it was going to be high, but not this high. I was afraid of that,” Dr. Faxon said.

“Afraid of what,” Carden asked alarmed. He stiffened on the bed.

“Elizabeth still has a considerable amount of X-51, the Loto juice, in her system.”

“What…what does that mean,” she asked as she looked at the doctor and Carden.

Faxon sat down on the edge of the bed facing her with a serious look. “It means the burn is not over yet.”

“What?” She squealed. “I thought it was over. I haven’t experienced it for several hours now.” She looked at her arms as if she were waiting for the red burning skin to return any second.

“It’s probably in a ‘sleeping’ state right now. From what I understand, there was a lot of touching going on in here during the night. Which was a good thing, but, I am afraid, there is more to come, at least, another day or two of it.”

Neither one of them said a word. It took several minutes for the new information to sink in and process. Carden would do anything to help the one female in all the universe who set his blood on fire!

“You have got to be kidding me,” Elizabeth mumbled and shook her head. “Who would do this to someone?”

Carden moved over the bed until he was sitting next to her. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. Already he could feel the heat returning now that she was fully awake again. “I don’t know who did it, but I vow to find out who and punish them. There is no excuse for it!” His anger was quickly rising. When he felt it was safe to leave Elizabeth alone for an extended amount of time, he would question every person who had entered his home within the last day. He wouldn’t stop until he knew who had this grievance against him and his human.

“Like I said, Carden. Make sure you know who is preparing her food even if you have to do it yourself. A second dose will not end up good.” Faxon put his tools away. “Call me if you need me today. If I don’t hear from you, I will check back again in the morning. See you later.”

“Thanks, doc.” Carden acknowledged the doctor leaving, but his attention was turned to Elizabeth. “We will get through this.” He still held her hand in his and was surprised when she jerked it away.

“You don’t know how embarrassing this is!” He heard the tremble in her voice. When she turned to look at him, he saw the tears threatening to fall. Her normally green and bright eyes were red with the unshed liquid. “I have to have you touch me all over to make it stop when all I want is to go home!” The dam, holding back the tears, burst. She sobbed until she had no more tears to cry. He held her in his arms and let her cry. He was ultimately the cause of all her pain!

“Oh my god,” she whispered then say up with a petrified look on her face. “Here it comes again!”

Chapter 9

“I want to know where the hell my daughter is!” Martin Riley shouted at the viewing screen in his office. “She’s been missing now for over a week. I want to know what your people are doing to find her.”

The representative from Tarwick Industries sat quietly on the other side of the call and listened to the man rant about his daughter. “Sir, I understand your concern for your daughter and we are doing everything we can to locate her. But, you need to be aware of the actions she took to cause this.”

“I know what she did, you fool!”

Gunyo was losing his patience with the father very quickly. “Sir, there is no need for name calling. Elizabeth altered her course when she was advised not to do so. It is against Tarwick policy to take an alternate route. We have no control over who is out there preying on our ships when they go off the designated routes. Now, if she had been on the correct course, we would be solely responsible for her disappearance. The last known signal from her ship put her in the Nebula Sector, an extremely dangerous place to be even on a good day.”

“What are you doing to find her?” Riley calmed down somewhat.

“We have a ship out as we speak searching for any clue to where she might be. The Nebula Sector is quite large and will take some time to explore. I assure you, Mr. Riley, all efforts will be made to find your missing daughter.” Gunyo wanted to shut the man up. Oh, he had a plan to find the lost ship alright, but it wasn’t with conventional means.

“I expect to hear some news from you within the next two days. A week is more than enough time to find some trace of her.” Riley leaned back in the chair Gunyo could see in the man’s office.

“Until then, sir.” Gunyo nodded his head then cut the transmission. “That son of a bitch is going to be a pain in my ass.” He turned to the man waiting patiently in his office on the top floor of Tarwick Industries’ one hundred floor building.

“Want me to take him out too,” Bork asked.

“No. Leave him be for the time being. If he persists in his endeavor to find his wayward daughter, then perhaps I will have to take the man out. But, I don’t want to raise any suspicions. After all, he does work with the Galactic Council. The last thing I need is the council on my back.” Gunyo didn’t like dealing with the well-known pirate. Several times over the years he had used the help of Bork to settle some unsavory business ventures that turned sour. The few ships and pilots that had gone missing were all due to the Bork and the arrangements he would make with the pirate. Being high up in the company allowed Gunyo to have access to most of the shipments sent out. Many of them were worth a small fortune. Even though he earned a considerable salary, Gunyo felt he was worth so much more! The two owners of the company had passed him up time and again for a raise. He had dedicated most of his adult life to building Tarwick up to what it was today, and he never saw any of the rewards.

The idea to hijack Tarwick ships had come after the pirate, Bork, had gained access to the first ship to stolen from the company. The call came through to him on the day the pirate demanded a ransom for one of their pilots named Carden Swien. The unlucky pilot had ventured into a wild zone and was captured by the wicked man who was ready to kill the captured pilot. It took some back and forth negotiations, but in the end, he and the Bork ended up striking a deal that would lead to both men profiting handsomely over the coming years. Sadly, though, he had to sacrifice the young pilot to the pirate. He didn’t care to know what he did with the Kiot as long as the man never resurfaced again. For more than fifteen years now, their alliance had gone unnoticed. His bank account was busting at the seams with more credits than he knew what to do with, and, still, he wanted more!

Elizabeth Riley was now a big thorn in his side that he wanted out! The female pilot was known for disobeying direct orders, so why she had been given a solo mission was beyond him. She should have been fired a long ago, but because her father worked for the Galactic Council, she was still an employee. When word reached him Riley’s ship was off course, he saw the chance to take her out permanently. He contacted Bork immediately and had him go after the ship. The payload on board wasn’t much to stress over, but it was his one chance to eliminate the annoying human. He hated to see her perish at the hands of Bork since she was quite attractive but it was her mouth that set his nerves on edge. Bork, of all people, would silence her forever, and he would be free of her. But, her father was proving to be more troublesome than he thought he would be.

“I want you to find the female if she is still alive. The only thing that will shut that fucking human up is the return of his daughter.” He sat down heavily in his desk chair and spun around to gaze out the window.

“Send me the last known coordinates of her ship and I will take care of it. I will find her or the ship,” Bork said.

“You had better for what I am paying you! You are the only one profiting from this run, and the sooner she is returned, the sooner you can get back to work doing other things.” Gunyo didn’t bother to look at the one-eyed alien. It gave him the creeps to see the one-eyed pirate in his home, but he didn’t have much choice in the matter. Meeting in his company apartment seemed the safest way to speak with the pirate face to face. No one would be suspecting a known thief would be walking right through their very doors and up to one of the exclusive apartments.

“Don’t worry. I will find her and the blasted ship. Just make sure the credits are transferred before I reach my ship. If not, you can handle this problem on your own.” Bork abruptly turned and left his apartment with a resounding crash of his front door slamming shut.

He was glad the alien was gone. They may be in business together, but he did not enjoy the man’s company what’s so ever. He preferred to deal with Bork over the video screen, but the pirate had insisted on meeting in person this time. He was reluctant to agree but, in the end, consented as long as it was late in the night. The surprise call from Martin Riley had taken them both off guard. It wasn’t a regular thing for the company’s answering service to forward calls to his home without consent. Whoever forwarded the call, must have figured it was of the highest importance it reach him. He had to agree, unfortunately. With the missing human, he needed to act as if he too was upset with her disappearance. He wouldn’t be able to brush off the father and act of if things were going on as usual.

The president of Tarwick would be checking with him in the morning about the status of the case. He needed to have some information to relay to the owner and assure him things were moving forward as normal. If, at best, Bork would have more concrete news of the whereabouts of Elizabeth Riley. Or, at least, he better! There was a big shipment of supplies that would be leaving the port on Keplar 1 within the next month. It contained everything from lumber and steel beams to gold and silver. The order was for a mining company setting up shop on a new moon on the other side of the Nebula Sector. The price tag on the shipment would be a nice addition to his already substantial account. He hoped Bork would be finished with the job at hand and ready to intercept the ship at any given moment.

Gunyo smiled to himself as he thought about the upcoming shipments for the next year. He stood to gain a tremendous amount, but he needed to be careful how he went about arranging the raids. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to steal every ship’s cargo that left Keplar 1. That would cause an internal investigation on who had access to the ship’s cargo information and the routes that were taken. This unexpected problem with the Riley female would leave plenty enough time to arrange another raid soon with the large one coming more at the end of the month. Perhaps, he would just wait for the big raid to happen. His buyers were happy for the moment, so there was no need to rush. He kept them pleasantly supplied with almost everything they could want, so their hushed voices informed him they were content for the time being.

The night was growing late, and he would have to be up early the next morning with his report to the owners of the missing ship and employee. He didn’t relish going before the pair, but it was unavoidable. He would give them the limited information he had then state his plans for finding the ship. Needless to say, he wouldn’t tell them he hired a pirate to do their bidding but rather a bounty hunter.

Bounty hunters were used all the time in tracking down missing or stolen things in the galaxy. Some only took cases where a person was involved, but some took whatever they could get. He would give the name of the hunter they regularly used when the need arose. The owners would not question his judgment to use the bounty hunters since all they wanted was to find their missing ship and employee.

He stretched then stood up and headed to his bed. A few hours of sleep would ease his nerves and prepare him for tomorrow. He needed to be cool and calm when he entered the office in the morning as he if hadn’t been spending his time with a known deadly pirate!