He clears his throat delicately. “Ah, plas-film?”
Protection? I don’t follow his line of thought. “For?”
The look on his face becomes downright constipated. “For…human diseases, sir.”
Human diseases…? I recoil the moment I realize what he’s talking about. “I’m not going to rape her, Kazex!”
He looks over my shoulder, at the female. Naked in my bed. Cuffed. The look on his face is clearly disbelieving. “You said you were going to break her—”
“Just go get the food,” I bellow. So much for thinking my crew was on my side.
12
RUTH
This asshole is totally going to rape me. He's going to take one look at my rock-hard, frozen nipples, decide that I'm asking for it, and then just be all over me in the next moment. Ugh. Men are all the same and I hate all of them.
If he wants to rape me, fine then. I'll make it as awful as possible. I'll lie here like a dead thing, because he seems to like my fighting. I wonder if I can make myself puke on demand. If not, maybe I can sneeze directly in his face. I'd pee on the bed, but since I'm chained to it, that seems like a bad call, but I keep it in my mental “sleeve” for just in case.
I'm not going to let him win, though. This is war between us, and I might not have the advantages he does, but it doesn't mean that I'm not going to give this everything I have. If he rapes me…I hope I infect him with something. Human cooties. Human plague. Doesn't matter as long as it's virulent and painful.
I shiver as he moves toward the door, talking with someone there. My breath is frosting in front of my face with every puff, and it's so cold in here that my toes feel like ice. My nipples, too. I want to curl up and conserve body heat, but that'll just show him that he's got the upper hand, and I'll fucking die first. I'm just going to have to ignore the cold, like I'm trying to ignore my nudity.
He turns around, and our eyes meet. I glare at him again as he approaches the bed. "If you touch me, I'll vomit."
To my surprise, he scrubs a hand down his face. "Female, if I touch you, I will vomit."
The fuck? I keep my scowl on my face, but I'm confused. If he finds humans so damn gross, why am I naked and chained to his bed? I decide to press my luck. "You should let me go."
He moves to the far side of the room, activating the closet, and pulls on one of his dark robes. I'm disappointed when it doesn't fall to pieces in his arms. Can't the universe cut me a break, just once? He shrugs it over his form, and it looks warm and thick and reminds me just how cold I am. "I'm not letting you go anywhere. The state of my crew is fragile enough as it is. I might be lenient if you tell me about the mutiny, though."
"Oh, well then," I say sarcastically. "What do you want to know?"
He turns and crosses his arms over his chest. "Everything."
"Okay, well, you got me." When he leans forward with a fervent look on his face, I continue. "Bob's gonna be in charge of coordinating outfits," I chirp. "Because what's a good mutiny without the appropriate fashion, right? And then Jimmy's gonna be in charge of snacks. And let's not forget party favors—"
"Female," he snaps. "Are you making this garbage up?"
"—and I'm going to be in charge of telling you to fuck yourself," I finish happily. "And now you know everything about the mutiny." I shoot him the bird, just because it feels good to do so.
Straik looks so angry that I expect to see a vein burst in his forehead. His expression darkens and then he closes his eyes. Takes a deep breath. "I am trying to be your friend, female."
"You are absolutely not." I snort. "Nice try, though, male." If he's going to call me “female” all day long, he'd better be ready to get his fair share.
His eyes narrow. He reaches into the closet and pulls out another robe, shoving it over the first one. "Computer," he snaps. "Still hot in here. Keep cooling."
Bastard. "So is this how you get me to spill all the non-existent secrets? You freeze me out?"
"Of course not." His voice lowers and becomes purring, and it sends alarm bells through my mind. "I just like the cold. It has nothing to do with you."
Bullshit it has nothing to do with me. It's obvious what he's up to. "Maybe if you were a nicer captain and didn't abandon people, you wouldn't have to worry about a mutiny," I say, echoing his polite tone. "Be a real shame if someone booted your ass off this ship, male."