He looked confused. “It’s a spiritual ceremony—”
“As well as a physical one,” I completed. “I know. You already said. So let me get this straight… You abducted me, were going to sell me, and now you want to have sex with me… And you don’t see any problem with this?”
“I’m a male and you’re a female—”
“Hold it right there, buster.” I gritted my teeth and formed fists at my sides. “I’m not your property. I’m nobody’s property. I decide what I want to do and when I decide to do it. I won’t sleep with you just to make you ‘stronger.’ Even if my life is on the line! Do you understand?”
“I understand.” He took no insult from my outburst. “It’s an option is all I’m saying.”
I seethed.
He has a streak of honor in him, Maisie had said.
If he did, where was it? I guessed it must be buried deep.
Very deep.
“Why do you abduct innocent people?” I said.
“Nobody’s innocent,” Nighteko said.
“I was.”
Three days, I told myself. Just three days. Then I would be back with my friends, on home soil. I could put up with anything for that long. Nighteko had made me a promise.
He would keep it. Wouldn’t he?
The truth was, I had no way of knowing if he would keep his word or not. I didn’t know him. I didn’t even know anything about his species.
I shook my head. I might not trust Nighteko yet but I did trust Maisie. She knew these smugglers better than I ever would.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Nighteko said. “Why didn’t you leave when you had the chance? You were in the shuttle. You had a translator strip. I checked the records. You told Computer where to take you, but instead of leaving, you chose to stay. Why?”
“Because my friends are still out there. You kidnapped and sold them to strangers. If I can help them, I will.”
“If it were me, I would have jumped in the shuttlecraft and taken off. Nothing could stop me from returning home.”
I shrugged. “Then I feel sorry for you.”
Now it was his turn to blink. “Sorry? For me? I’m the captain of one of the best smuggling ships in the galaxy. What do you have to feel sorry about?”
“You might be the captain of this ship but there’s nobody among your crew you can trust,” I said. And yes, I did enjoy twisting the knife. “Any second they see you’re weak enough, they’ll Challenge you for leadership. The only people you can trust are a pair of human females And you don’t even know one of them at all! I’m a stranger here and yet you still trust me more than your entire crew.”
His eyes burned with fire. He ground his teeth, preparing to spit a retort but I grabbed his blanket first and yanked it off him.
“What are you doing?” he spat.
“You’ve had your lunch,” I said. “Now you need to exercise.”
He snorted and, self-satisfied, folded his arms, and looked out the window. “Titans do not need to exercise. We are constantly in peak condition—”
I slapped him across the face. The sound cracked and my palm stung like crazy but I kept my eyes focused on his. “And yet for all your species’ perfection, you didn’t see that coming.”
“You should not strike a superior officer,” he said, eyes turning dark and hard.
“I’m not a member of your crew,” I said. “We made a deal and I expect you to be ready for when you fight.”
He got out of bed and towered over me. On Earth, he would have been a tall man. Compared to me, he was a giant.
And still, I didn’t take my eyes from his. I refused to back down. Not when my life was in his hands.
Those huge, powerful hands.
The space between us crackled with energy.
And, Goddammit, I was turned on by it.
By him.
I cleared my throat and spoke evenly. “If you’re going to stand a chance in beating your crew, you need to be strong. Yes, I know you’re already strong. But you’ve been sick for weeks and it will have had an effect.”
He cocked his head to one side and then—finally—turned away. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. They were sore from lack of moisture.
Still, it was worth it. I won.
And then he took his shirt off.
I gasped and immediately tried to cover my surprise with a cough. My gasp-cough caught my lungs off guard and I choked.
“Are you all right?” he said.
I tried to tell him I was fine but the words caught in my throat. I waved a hand for him to carry on and that I was fine.
“Very well,” he said.
The guy’s body was ridiculous. Titans were these badass gods of the old world, ancestors to the Olympians. I wondered if these Titans had visited Earth long ago and that was how the mythology had come about. If Nighteko was any indication, it was certainly possible.
His entire body was muscle, a solid wall of unbridled power. He was Dwayne Johnson on steroids… on steroids.
My cheeks flushed red and I suddenly felt very stupid for telling him to exercise… I mean, who was I to tell someone to exercise more?
He went into a handstand against the wall and performed a series of push-ups. Impressive, I thought, especially for a sick guy. But he’ll soon fall flat on his ass trying to show how strong he was.
I took a seat and got comfortable.
He got to fifty before I starting losing count. He was a machine. He only began to pant once he reached around one hundred.
He straightened up and clenched his hands open and shut. “It appears you were right. I’ve grown a little weak with the sickness.”
This was weak?
“I would have exercised before but the pain was unbearable,” he said. “I couldn’t move without experiencing a bolt of pain through my brain.”
“That’s how I get
