I rub my eyes, wanting to drag her back down against me for another round of sex. Her gaze flicks to my mouth and she blushes, and it’s clear she’s thinking the same thing.
“You don’t want to stay in bed?”
Piper smiles. “I do. But I can’t. There’s too much to do.”
I grunt. I guess on a farm, there’s always something that needs to be done. No sleeping late or rolling around in the bed here. “All right. I’m getting up.”
“And you’ll go into port with me?” she asks again.
“What do you need in port?” I think about the shops there. “Supplies? Parts?”
She doesn’t hesitate. “I need to look for a new husband, and I’ll feel safer in port if I have someone at my side. So I can’t get taken advantage of.”
I stare at her, a little stunned. “You want me to help you go find a keffing husband? After leaving my bed?”
Her cheeks flush. “What we have together is…wonderful.” Her voice catches. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m in danger.”
“I said I’d send some credits back. Give me a month or two.”
Piper shakes her head and looks down at her hands. “You don’t understand, Vordigar. I might not have a month or two. The moment you leave…” She purses her lips, cutting off her own words. “It isn’t important. Look. I like you being here. I like it more than I ever thought I would.” She fusses at a piece of lint on the blankets. “But it doesn’t change my situation at all. You’re leaving in two days—one day—and if I don’t find someone to take me up on my offer, I know I’m going to lose my farm and my freedom. I can’t let that happen.” She turns those big brown eyes on me. “Please understand.”
I hate it.
I hate that she needs to go from my arms right into the arms of another. To marry him so he can get her pregnant. Last night we used plas-film again, and she gloved me in it without question. She won’t push her needs on me. She won’t trap me into getting her pregnant. She’s giving me a choice, because freedom is important to her.
Piper is mine. The timing’s all wrong, and even though this is fast, my mesakkah blood knows that she’s my female. The thought of giving her over to someone else fills me with helpless rage and frustration…but how can I ask her to risk her life? If she says two months is too long, I can’t ask her to wait for me.
She needs help right now.
And even though I’m going to hate every moment of it, I’ll go into port with her and help her find a new keffing husband. But first…I grab Piper around the waist and drag her back into bed. “I’ll go with you…soon.” And I slide my hand between her thighs so I can pet that silky soft cunt. “For now, you’re mine.”
“For now,” Piper agrees breathlessly, and clings to my neck as I touch her.
I’m in a keffing bad mood when we head into port a few hours later. Piper’s dressed head to toe in heavy, concealing clothing, and she pulls a buff-colored hood over her head as the air-sled lands. It hides her face and her expression, so I can’t see if she’s as openly frustrated to be here as I am.
I help her out of the sled and then wait. “Well? Do you want to go back to the jail and see if you can get another desperate convict? You can always tell them you need two farm hands and not just one.”
She tilts her head back and looks up at me. “I’m not sure. Did you know those men?”
“The szzt was a murderer, so I wouldn’t recommend him. The praxiian—”
“Not a praxiian,” she says quickly. “It’ll have to be someone else.”
Right. She looks up at me hopefully, and I realize she’s waiting for me to come up with ideas. Is that why she wanted me to join her here? “You don’t have a clue where to start?” I ask.
Piper bites her lip and ducks her head, hiding her face from my view. “I was hoping you might know someone…kind. I don’t know many here. I mostly keep to myself. It’s all right. I can start asking around—”
I grab her arm when she starts to walk away.
She stops and turns to look at me, her eyes peeking up from that heavy hood. They’re so worried and yet full of hope and determination.
I can’t let her down. I bite back the sigh building in my throat. “I knew a few guys that did odd jobs here and there. They hung out at the spaceport tavern. Let me see if anyone’s around. If not, the tavern owner might know when they might be back.”