Cruel? Wait a second! I can’t believe how soft I’m being. These aren’t some innocent romantics. Captain Aelon has stolen a fortune from me. I haven’t even brought up the subject of the Orbs with him. If he’s willing to steal my stuff and keep me captive, then surely he deserves a little taste of his own medicine!
“Thousands of years…”
My voice trails off as the magnitude of what that offers sinks in.
To have my life extended? My youth be practically limitless? That’s too good to imagine.
It’s brutally unfair that the Gods gave us humans only a hundred years or so to experience creation, while Aurelians live ten or twenty times longer than that. To have all those centuries? Just imagine the things you could do during that time! The things you could see.
I’d never truly understood until now how trapped we humans are by time.
“So, Tasha,” Sawoot asks me, “why do you think you might be Bonded to them? It’s rare, you know – like insanely rare. My friend hoped for it – prayed for it – but most Aurelians never find their Fated Mate.”
I shrug. “It’s… it’s just a feeling, but a strong one – do you know what I mean? It’s the way Aelon spoke about the Bond. He said an Aurelian can go mad if he thinks he’s Bonded to you – and he almost lost control.”
Sawoot scowls. Her pretty face turns ugly. “You think he’d have tried something on you? Like Kit and his triad tried with me?”
I shake my head. “No – not by force. I think if he lost control like that, he’d kill himself with the guilt. But he was scared he might lose control. How…” I gulp. “How did your friend say it was? The one in the harem?”
Sawoot lightens up. “How what was?”
I cringe. “You know! Being with an Aurelian.”
I can’t believe I’m seriously considering doing anything with that arrogant bastard Aelon.
Confidence is attractive in a man – but overconfidence that crosses the line into cocky arrogance is a step too far. Still – if it meant that the Bond could be activated, and I could reap what feels like eternal youth in return for it…
Well, isn’t that worth a little discomfort in the short term?
And I might even enjoy it.
I force that thought back to wherever it came from in my dark, depraved subconscious.
Sawoot’s eyes flash.
“Oh, yes! You bet my friend told me about it – in great detail. That’s why I’m eager for tomorrow night and my little, ahem, distraction. She said Aurelians are… Well, I think she must have exaggerated somewhat…”
“Why? What did she say?”
Sawoot bites her lip. Even though we’re alone, she leans forward, like she’s about to tell me a secret.
“She said they were, like, over a foot long.”
My jaw drops. That rumor matches the outline of Aelon’s dick I saw, straining the material of his pants – and the hard firmness of Vinicus’s dick, prodding me in the stomach as I lay across his lap.
“Woah, okay – fuck that.” Or, rather, don’t fuck it. “That settles it. No way I’m doing anything with Aelon. My last boyfriend had six inches, and that hurt if he stuck it in too quick.”
Sawoot laughs. “Oh, it gets better, she says. Aurelians are like, made for fucking. My friend said their cocks just constantly drip this precum that’s, like, the universe’s best lube. She said it hurts at first – but that it hurts good. She said after she left the harem, she just never bothered to sleep with another human guy again. Those Aurelians ruined human men for her, she says.”
I should be thinking of how to get off this ship, but now I’m imagining those Aurelians in bed with me. I knew they were big from the way Vinicus and Aelon’s cocks had felt as they were pressed up against me – but putting it into standard measurements, like feet and inches, makes it all too real.
Sawoot shrugs. “That’s only the half of it, too. It’s not just their size and skill, my friend said. They’re passionate in a way humans aren’t.”
Sawoot sighs.
“My friend – she said she loved them. They broke her heart when they didn’t want anything more than sex from her, and they had no interest in committing to a single woman unless she was their Fated Mate.”
My best friend shrugs.
“Listen, Tasha – if all goes well, we’ll be off this ship tomorrow. So, if you want to do something, you have to do it tonight.”
“I’m not doing anything,” I tell her. “I was just curious.”
Sawoot grins, and I can tell she doesn’t believe me. “You’re the captain, Captain. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow is the big day. This escape plan feels like it’s been thrown together at the last minute, but only because it has. It’s solid though – I’m convinced of that.
With a little luck, we’ll be off this ship and this ordeal will be a bad memory.
“Goodnight, Sawoot.”
“Nighty-night.”
I leave her behind. The next time I’ll see Sawoot, we’ll be running for our lives together – just like we’ve done countless times aboard the Wayward Scythe.
I press the button next to the door and open it.
Sawoot’s guardian angels are standing stock still outside. It looks as if Garrick and his two battle-brothers haven’t moved an inch since I first entered these chambers.
“Thank you, Garrick,” I say to the leader of the triad. The other two never told me their names, but don’t seem offended that I didn’t ask. There’s something weirdly symbiotic about the interaction of an Aurelian triad. You can kind of tell which one is the leader of a triad by this aura of leadership to him. One of the three always feel just a little bit more in control than the others. Garrick has it, albeit to a lesser extent than the swaggering, cocky Aelon.
Garrick nods, silent and stoic. I wish Captain Aelon
