Adiron (Corsair Brothers 1)

Kind of like the one in my lap right now.

I remember hearing the news that Crulden the Ruiner had been banned from even the most uncouth of gladiator arenas. He was impossible to control, and so destructive that other slave owners complained he was destroying their stock. He disappeared off the circuit five years ago or so, and I thought he'd been quietly put down by his owner.

Turns out he was sold and tossed into stasis.

I will die before I let her open up that particular stasis pod.

"Never go near it again," I tell Jade urgently. "Do you hear me? I don't care how safe you feel with me. That safety is a lie. The moment someone touches that pod, you get out of the room. You get off the keffing station and you head to the farthest galaxy you can find, all right? You do not want to be anywhere near that thing when it awakens." I cup her face. "And if you're wise, you'll let me space it right now." I think of her and the humans, sitting innocently on this ship for three long years with this monster in the hold. She's keffing lucky no one got curious and decided to wake it up.

The fact that the other pirates took other slaves and not this one speaks volumes. Crulden would be worth a fortune in the right hands, but he'd need a lot of handlers. A LOT of them, and expendable ones to boot.

It occurs to me that this ship might not have been abandoned for the wrong reasons…but for the right ones. Like say, trying to cover up the family's slave trade. And trying to dump slaves that will garner too much attention. Suddenly Straik's retreat looks less churlish and far more sinister.

Jade caresses my face, trying to ease some of the stress weighing me down. "Look, we won't go anywhere near it, all right?" Her voice is soft and soothing. "I have no desire to wake any of the sleepers up because we don't have the food to spare. We'll let him and all the others keep on sleeping, and when we get somewhere safe, we make sure he's handled appropriately. It's going to be fine."

"Right. Sure." I hold her closer. Maybe after she's asleep tonight, I'll sneak in here and—

"And you're not going to do anything to that stasis pod when I'm sleeping," Jade says calmly, stroking my hair off my brow. "You're going to leave it alone, because it's not our responsibility to determine who lives and who dies. Our responsibility is just to get these people to safety. It's not our place to determine their fates."

It's like she can read my mind. "I wouldn't do that," I lie.

She laughs, the sound light and sweet. "Oh yes you would. You're a terrible liar, Adiron. I can see it in your face. We need to focus on the ship, remember? Two rooms with climate control and no others? And then we'll have our cozy nest and we won't have to worry about this pod or any others." She runs her fingers over my face in a way that makes my cock twitch, and I love the soothing, gentle sounds of her reasonable words. "Even if he woke up somehow, there'd be no environment, right? So the best thing we can do to protect ourselves is to do what we originally planned and get those wires."

I lean in and kiss her brow. "You're so reasonable. Have I told you how sexy that is?"

"I'm almost positive you have, yes." She tilts her head up and smiles at me. "Now, let's get this done so we can go, all right?"

I nod, forming a plan in my mind. I get the wires needed. Check the other pods to ensure that no other monstrous splices or gut-churning criminals are hidden amongst the sleepers.

Then I barricade the door to the cargo bay. Just in case.

Then turn off the climate control to most of the ship except for the end of the hall. We can seal off a portion of the living area, the room closest to the kitchen quarters, and dwell there.

Then barricade the closed-off portions of the ship. Again, just in case.

Then…take my woman to bed and kef the daylights out of her. Because that's how every day needs to end from now on. A nice, solid afternoon of work, followed by sweaty, toe-curling matings that will make her forget everything but my name.

Gonna be a busy day, but I'm sure I can squeeze it all in. I kiss Jade again, then set her down and hop to my feet. Time to get to work.

53

JADE

I don't like how worried Adiron gets about the sleeper. He makes sure to check all the other pods, and when he doesn't find another that concerns him, I can see the relief move through his body. For happy, carefree Adiron to be so bothered, it must be bad.