Corsairs - Straik (Corsair Brothers 3) - Page 77

Somewhere along the way, a switch was flipped in my head. I've gone from despising her to being obsessed with her.

I've heard the jokes that mesakkah males get attached to their females quickly, and I've rolled my eyes at all of them. I didn't believe a word of it, especially because I felt dead inside sexually. Well, I'm not dead inside any longer. I'm awake, and I'm miserable, and I need Ruth to be well like I need air.

But now that I know she's safe? The doors are open. Nothing is off limits. Ruth wants me to take out the bounty hunters as much as I want their heads on pikes, and that's all I need to hear.

I doze next to her for a short time, but I can't sleep. I'm too wound up. Instead, I watch her as she dozes, making sure that this time, the sleep is a restful one. I watch the monitors, too, half afraid they're going to light up and Ruth will take a turn for the worse. But all is quiet, and by the time the comms chime to let me know we've arrived, I feel refreshed.

Those bastards are going to be so keffing sorry they messed with my female.

I leap out of bed, then immediately check on Ruth, pressing the backs of my fingers to her cheek. It's flushed, but her temperature reads as normal and she's sleeping peacefully. I stroke her skin one last time, reluctant to leave her, but someone needs to pay for this, and I'm in a murderous mood. With that thought in mind, I turn to Sakkar, who waits at the med-station, watching me. "You stay here. If she so much as whimpers in distress, I want to know about it. Understand?"

Sakkar nods. "She'll be safe with me, Lord Straik."

"Good." I storm out, heading toward the bridge. I move with purpose, letting the anger that's been slowly simmering in my system all week come to a head. When I get to the bridge, my men are there, suiting up in blaster-proof plas-armor. It's an expensive luxury, but I don't give a kef. I pull off my tunic and strap my vest to my chest. "Status report on the ship?"

"It's a piece of junk," Aithar tells me, spinning around in his chair. "Didn't respond to comms so I sent them a virus, just to see how they'd react. I don't think they were expecting that." He grins wickedly. "Next thing you know, their entire ship grinds to a halt, their systems offline. Didn't even have to fire a single rail gun."

I grunt. I never trust it when things are too easy, but maybe this bounty hunter cut corners. "Where are we in relation to space traffic?"

Aithar taps a few more buttons on his comm panel while Zaemen and the others gear up. "We've pulled off into an uninhabited system so no one would notice," Aithar tells me. "Unless someone is cloaked, the nearest ship is two thousand parsecs away. The bounty hunter is the only one that followed us, which means we should be at liberty to do as we like."

"Good." I lift my chin, glancing at my men. "You all know the drill. We go in, disable the ship so she can't fly off with us on board. Take out the crew. If anyone lifts a weapon, dispose of them. One change to our plans, though. The captain is mine." I give them a fierce grin. "We're taking him back here and we're going to find out just who and what my mother has hired."

Kazex shoulders his blaster and nods to the crew. "We do this for Lord Straik and Lady Ruth. No one touches our people and gets away with it."

"NO ONE," the a'ani call out in response. I see bloodthirsty smiles on the faces of the crew.

I'm oddly pleased. A few days ago I'd have been furious if they'd brought up Ruth, because I would have thought she was turning them against me. The fact that they've come to care for her just means she belongs here, with us. The crew doesn't hate me, either. As they grin at me, eager for a fight, I try to think of how the va Sithai brothers would joke around, to bond with their men. Lots of fingers in ears and grabbing of hair. I wonder if I should do the same.

The ship gently shifts and then locks into place. "Boarding tunnel extended," Aithar says. "I'll wait here for further instructions."

"Ready at your order, my lord," Kazex says, glancing at Aithar in confirmation.

"You're a good crew," I say, and then I try to take a page out of Adiron va Sithai's playbook. I lick my finger and push it into Erzah's ear, since he's standing closest to me.

Erzah blanches and skids backward, looking uncertain. "Uh, sir?"

Tags: Ruby Dixon Corsair Brothers Fantasy
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