As I take a seat – my feet dangling above the floor – Captain Aelon snaps his fingers, and the holographic projection winks out of existence.
He then takes one of the seats across from me – settling into the immense chair, which is perfectly proportioned for his huge frame.
For a moment, the Aurelian Captain sits there silently, sizing me up. I shiver at the heat of his gaze.
I don’t know what to fear most – that Captain Aelon desires me, and wants to take me by force…
…or that he has other plans for me.
When you’re on the Aurelian Law Enforcement criminal list, facing life in prison, I’m not sure which would eventuality would be worse.
Aelon’s tongue trails over his lips.
“The Empire is looking for you, Tasha.”
I gulp dryly as his words.
Dammit, I was able to stare down the Toad’s las-beams unflinchingly – but Aelon’s eyes are even more intense than 2,000 joules of targeted plasma. I can’t meet them – and I end up looking down at the wooden table in front of me instead. My feet are dangling above the floor and I can’t help but feel like a naughty child being disciplined by an angry parent – only the punishment I face is far worse than being grounded.
Once again, I hear Sawoot’s words in my head, and I cling to her strength and spunk. Finally, I raise my head and growl at Captain Aelon: “The Empire chokes us out like weeds. We only do what we have to do, in order to survive.”
Aelon grins. He’s enjoying my discomfort.
“By law, I have to turn you in, Tasha. You’re a criminal. I don’t know how you managed that heist – not with a skeleton crew and a ship that looks it’s held together by tape and spit – but you did.”
He shakes his head – as if both impressed and disappointed.
“The Empire demands that you pay for your crimes, with interest. You owe them forty years, Tasha.”
Forty years!
It’s not a life sentence – but it might as well be. I’d be an old lady by the time I got out of whichever Aurelian prison I wound up in; assuming I survived the entirety of my sentence.
I force myself to meet Aelon’s gaze.
“So, are you going to turn me in?”
He cocks his head right, like an owl watching its prey.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
My eyes widen. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? What’s that Aurelian expression they use? About the ‘poison of hope’? Is that what Aelon is feeding me now?
He continues:
“It would be such a shame to waste you in a cell, Tasha. Humans are like flowers. They bloom, then they wither so quickly – and you’re so freshly bloomed.”
My cheeks burn hotly. Captain Aelon is staring right through me now, and suddenly I know exactly what this alien captain wants from me.
I should have known. I mean, Captain Aelon might stand seven-feet-tall, and be built like the statue of some ancient Greek God, but he’s still a man – and men are all the same. They all want one thing.
Not that I’m against that. I mean, I’ve had my flings with men – even a boyfriend once, for a year – but I’ve never been with a man seriously before; in a relationship that extended beyond companionship and convenient sex.
Why would I? What good would anything come of it? Even my boyfriend had eventually left – and it wasn’t because he was cheating, or had betrayed me. He simply left for a better job – because even the hardest workers on our home planet barely scraped by after the Aurelian Empire took their cut for offering our world ‘protection.’
The species offers ‘protection’, sure – but they also charge a hefty fee for it, and their taxation crushes all of us.
Aurelians only think of themselves, always. They don’t understand that the taxes they charge to pay for their warriors’ lavish mansions and harems of beautiful women have to come from somewhere – and on our world, they came from the scraps of money that the human residents relied on to put a roof over their heads and food on the table.
Aurelians only ever think of their own needs first – what they want…
…and it’s very clear that Aelon wants me.
I let myself imagine it, if only for a moment. For all his sins, Captain Aelon is devilishly handsome, even by the gorgeous standards of Aurelians. There’s a certainty to him, too – a confidence and assurance that draws me to him in the same way that his arrogance pushes me away.
I know he merely wants me to be his latest conquest. He just wants me to whimper and moan his name as he claims me as his own – to be discarded when he’s done.
But rather than feel daunted or afraid of this, I suddenly realize that it might offer me an opportunity.
I look up at Captain Aelon and steel myself.
“The Empire wants me,” I nod, “but they don’t know the names or identities of my crew. If you turn me in, you could tell that my crew died – say that they were blown to dust during our capture.”
I lean towards him, widening my eyes in what I hope is an alluring and submissive gesture.
I murmur: “Please.”
Aelon snorts, leaning forward to meet me halfway across the table that separates us.
“You’re negotiating, Tasha – when you should be begging.”
Oh, fuck.
My eyes instantly drop down again, staring at the table. I can’t get a read on this Captain – I don’t know how best to manipulate him with my feminine wiles; if such a ploy would even work.
“Tasha. That’s what the arrest warrant said. Is that your real name?”
I nod. “It is. Tasha.”
“Well, Captain Tasha,” Aelon’s voice is dry and mocking, “you’re seem so eager to spend your life in a jail cell.” He pauses. “Are you?”
I take a deep breath.
My heart is pounding, the blood rushing through my veins. This
