Corsairs - Straik (Corsair Brothers 3) - Page 41

The toilet scares me. Exactly how long am I supposed to be in here?

He gestures that I should go in, and I do, trying not to panic. This isn't like the Star, I tell myself. You're not being left behind again. Someone will come back for you.

I step inside, looking around, and Straik points at me. "Be quiet, and remember, shoot whoever comes through this door if it's not me."

I clutch the gun to my chest, swallowing hard. "You're coming back, right? You're not just going to leave me here?" There's a high, panicky note in my voice that I can't hide. "You're not just going to forget about me?"

"I'm not going anywhere," he says with complete assurance. He moves to touch the door to close it again, pauses, and then steps inside the small room with me. He takes two steps, grabs me by the shoulders, and then presses his mouth to mine in a lip-mashing kiss. While I stand there, shocked, Straik gives me a triumphant look. "When this is done, I'll take you up on that shower."

With that, he turns and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him, and I'm left with throbbing lips from the world's shittiest kiss.

32

STRAIK

Given the fact that my mother is trying to assassinate me, I should be having a worse day than I am. But…I kissed Ruth. Surprised her with it, too. I feel as if we've been sparring and I've won this particular round, and that's more unexpected than the fact that my mother's sent someone after me to dispose of me.

My mother cares for one thing and one thing alone: herself. Since she couldn't bend me to her will, she'll get rid of me. It's not unexpected, and it doesn't hurt my feelings. It's not personal. My actions threaten her reputation, her livelihood, and her fortune, and that of everyone that deals with house sa'Rin. She's protecting herself.

Doesn't mean I'm going to lie down and just let it happen, though.

I rub my lips, thinking about the kiss I gave to a very startled Ruth. It wasn't great. Why do humans enjoy that nonsense so much? Touching is far better. I think about how she refuses to back down, even if it means agreeing to shower with me, and I grin as I race toward the bridge. I'm going to take her up on it provided we get away safely, just to see her squirm.

The ship tilts sharply as I make my way down the halls, and I manage to stay on my feet. By the time I get to the bridge, we've righted again, and the crew is racing around the controls, doing their best to evade the Silencer on our tail. Everyone's at their stations, and Dopekh slams past me, heading for the ladder below deck to get into the artillery chamber and lock our cannons onto the enemy. I feel a tinge of guilt at the sight of him because I kissed his female.

I'll make it up to him. Somehow. Either that, or I'll take her for myself and compensate him. She's all wrong for him anyhow.

I move toward the nav station. Jerzec's fingers are busy moving over the control panel, the path of our ship morphing and changing on the screen as we evade. Up ahead, Zaemen sits in front of the monitors, hands on controls as he flips the ship quickly to one side. "PORT!" Just as quickly, he flips back to the other side when they fire on us. "STARBOARD!"

I grab onto one of the bars overhead—built in for such a moment—and let my feet fly off the floor until the ship rights once more. "Have we been hit?"

"No, my lord." Zaemen sounds positively gleeful. "They're amateurs. Complete amateurs."

I grunt. Good. Guess my mother's goons are better with poisons and knives than deep space pursuit. "Excellent job, Zaemen. Keep it up."

Jerzec looks up at me, his gaze flicking to my clothes—or lack thereof. I'm wearing nothing but my undertrou and a belt, because everything else more or less fell apart as I raced up here. He stares at my strange wardrobe for a moment longer, then points at his screen. "I'm re-charting a course. Do we let them board and take them out, or do we lose them?"

Much as I would love a good hand-to-hand—or blaster-to-blaster—fight, I don't want to risk the Darkened Eye getting damaged, especially when we don't have a safe place to dock. "No. Let's go dark and lose them. Do you still have the contact at Prefalon?" I ask Jerzec, who nods. It's not my favorite station, but the officials there don't care where their credits come from, so that makes it our destination. "Leave our friends behind and we'll head there for fuel and to regroup."

"And Risda?" Aithar asks, typing quickly without looking up. "Should we keep trying comms?"

Tags: Ruby Dixon Corsair Brothers Fantasy
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