Ravnos pressed his cheek against Seht’s. “I have no desire to kill you, Seht. You’re free to go. I just wanted to prove to you, to both of us, that you can’t dominate me. It’s far too late for that. I will never go back with you.”
Seht sucked in a harsh breath. “If you will not come with me”—he gasped in another breath—“then I will not leave.”
“What?” Ravnos stiffened. “Are you insane?”
Seht wheezed in another breath. “I will not…leave you…again.”
A strange dizziness filled Ravnos’s brain. “You’re willing to stay with me here, under my command?”
Seht gasped. “Yes.”
Ravnos growled in his ear. “You are absolutely sure?”
Seht sucked in a deep breath, and his eyes closed. “I am…sure. I will not leave you again. I…I cannot live without you…anymore.” A tear slid from his eye, and his voice faded. “I tried. I cannot—I will not—anymore. You are…my other…half.” His body went limp in Ravnos’s arms.
In complete shock, Ravnos released the silver-haired prince’s throat and let him fall back into the cradle of his arms. He closed his eyes against the searing ache in his heart and in his throat. Wetness burned down his cheeks. Blood and hell… Seht wanted to be with him badly enough to stay? He opened his eyes to look blearily up at the distant struts of the bay, unable to tell if he was thrilled or horrified. He looked over toward the door and smacked his forehead. “Fuck! What do I do with him?”
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Chapter Twentytwo
Tired, sweating, and bleeding from a hundred shallow cuts all over him, Ravnos marched through the passageways, clasping the legs of the unconscious and bleeding Skeldhi prince he’d flung over his shoulder.
His lieutenant met him at the door to the captain’s suite and blinked. “I know I asked you to get us a first officer, Captain, but”—he pulled open the captain’s door and gave him a weak smile—“you really didn’t need to go so far as to kidnap one, sir.”
Ravnos stopped in the doorway and blinked. First officer…? He eyed the unconscious prince, and a slow smile lifted his lips. Perfect. He turned back to his lieutenant and his smile broadened. “I believe the old naval term is ‘pressed,’ as in,
‘press-ganged.’”
His lieutenant’s eyes widened. “Uh, why so it is, sir.”
Ravnos lifted his chin. “I’ll need a full set of uniforms, for both of us.”
The lieutenant followed at his captain’s heels. “Captain, you mean he really is going to be our first officer?”
Ravnos lifted one brow. “Do you have any objections as to how I acquire my officers, Lieutenant?”
The lieutenant hastily shook his head and lifted both hands. “Oh no, sir! Not at all, sir! But, um…” He eyed the both of them, then looked pointedly at the carpet under Ravnos’s boots. “Shall I get someone from medical down here first?”
Ravnos stared down at the blood dripping onto his carpet. “Hmm… Perhaps you should.” He strode past his neatly made four-poster bed, heading for the bathing facility, and called over his shoulder. “Oh, and ask security to bring up a full set of force cuffs, ankles and wrists.”
The lieutenant tripped on nothing in particular. “Force cuffs, sir?”
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Ravnos opened the door to his private facility. “Your new first officer has a nasty temper.” He set the unconscious prince out on the tile floor and pulled out one of his slender boot-knives.
“Yes, sir! Right away, sir!” The lieutenant turned on his heel to face away from the facility door. He tapped his ear-jack. “Medical, please. Thank you. Medical? I need a first aid medical team in the captain’s quarters, on the double. Yes, first aid only. Good.
Thank you.”
Ravnos yanked off Seht’s boots and began cutting Seht’s bloodstained clothes from his body.
“Acquisitions, please? Yes, I need a full set of uniforms for a first officer. Size?
Um…”
Ravnos focused on the ship’s sentience.
It only took a split second for the ship to assure her captain that she had indeed made a full scan of the Skeldhi prince, including clothing size.
“The ship has his measurements on file.” Ravnos threw the torn and bloody fabric against the wall with a wet splat. “Look under ‘Deshryt, Seht.’” Prince Seht…
The lieutenant nodded. “The ship has the required measurements filed under Deshryt, Seht. Yes? Good. Thank you. Security, please.”
Ravnos rose to soak a towel in the small sink, then went back to Seht to wipe off some of the blood.
“Security? The captain requires a full set of force cuffs, if you please. Yes. Ankles and wrists. Immediately.” The lieutenant tapped his toe. “No, this is not a fucking joke!”
Ravnos turned toward the facility door. “Security! Get me a goddamned set of force cuffs, right the fuck now! That’s an order!”
The lieutenant snorted. “Any more questions? No? Good. Thank you.”
The door chime sounded.
The lieutenant hurried to the door and admitted the medical team.
* * * * *
Patched, cleaned, dressed, and groomed within an inch of his life, Ravnos strode into his ready room. He swept a hand through his shoulder-length red waves, then down the cuffed sleeve of his freshly pressed and cleaned captain’s coat. He took a moment to ask the ship for the current duty roster, then folded his arms and leaned back against his desk, eying the frost-haired prince slumped over in the heavy-duty security chair. He had no doubts about the chair holding Seht firmly. It was designed to hold a marine-class cyborg.
It had taken two of his lieutenant’s yeomen to dress the unconscious prince. The force cuffs around Seht’s ankles and wrists were tuned into the prince’s augmentations, Interstellar Service & Discipline: Lost Star
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so despite the fact that Seht had been unconscious, the verbal command to stand had been more than enough to keep him upright.
The yeomen had done an impressive job.
Seht’s long silver mane had been combed back from his brow
