Sarah's Pirate (11 page)

She nodded and a small smile curved her lips as she fell into a relaxed sleep. For the first time in twenty-four hours, Jordan worried about something else besides Sarah dying from an infection. He signaled to G’ntriel to follow him into the hallway and then stepped from the room.

“G’ntriel, what the hell is going on? You know I can’t guarantee Tee-ani’s safety, anymore than I can guarantee Sarah’s. There are men on this ship that won’t care that she’s a doctor. They’ll only see a human female.” He rubbed tired hands down his face, his anxiety levels increasing as he worried for both women’s safety. “G’ntriel, you are the only female on board because you are stronger and faster than most of the males on this ship. Since you married Judge, none would be stupid enough to try anything, anyway. You know human females don’t have your skills.”

“Jordan, much has changed since you left the ship,” she said, stepping closer and placing her hand on his left cheek. “You love her, don’t you?” He nodded, knowing that her empathic skills would’ve noticed his deep emotion and caring for Sarah probably before they even landed onboard.

“What has changed here? How can I keep her safe?”

Just then, the biggest, meanest looking pirate ambled around the corner, grasped G’ntriel from behind, and pulled her into his embrace. She smiled in delight and then let her husband, Judge, finish telling the captain about the past twenty-four hours onboard.

“Seems Andrews wasn’t quite happy with the way you were running the ship, so he staged a mutiny,” Judge said, his voice gruff. “But, well, he didn’t find the kind of support he was expecting.” The big man grinned, his yellowed and broken teeth making his face less attractive and far more dangerous looking. “Poor fellow found himself out the airlock almost as soon as he took over. Turns out that pirates who are willing to stage a mutiny aren’t the most loyal types, if you know what I mean.”

“How many of the crew did we lose?”

“Seventeen,” G’ntriel told him, a grim expression on her face. “All mutineers. I have two in custody, but considering their age and general intelligence, I doubt they will be making any trouble.”

Seventeen! That was nearly half the crew. How was he going to keep the ship moving with so few on board?

“Where did Dr. Tee-ani come from?”

“While we were cleaning up afterwards, we received an emergency hail from a ship not far from here,” Judge said, grinning. “When we went to investigate we discovered a badly-damaged transport full of human female prisoners. The guards told us that they were criminals, but my lovely wife here could sense no such thing. We spoke to the women and discovered that they had been abducted and were probably being sent to the slave markets in the Benorian system.”

“So we rescued them, made transport arrangements for those who wanted to return home, and invited the others to stay here,” G’ntriel finished with a smile.

“Will they be safe here?” Jordan asked, his concern about the danger his crew may represent still uppermost in his mind.

“Absolutely,” G’ntriel assured him in her musical voice. “There are none left among the crew that wish to harm them. In fact, I have sensed a need in most of the males to protect them.”

Smiling broadly and taking a full breath for the first time in he didn’t know how long, Jordan felt himself relax as his thoughts strayed to the future he wanted with Sarah. Was it really possible to have a future with her now that his ship was no longer dangerous to human females? Would she even want to stay? Somewhere she had a life, maybe friends and family waiting for her return. Could he let her go if she wanted to leave? Somehow, he doubted it, but he steeled himself against the possibility.

G’ntriel stepped forward again and touched his face with her warm hand.

“Talk to her before you make any decisions,” she said and then stepped back into her husband’s embrace and changed the subject. “Were you able to find Oberon?”

He nodded as he made an effort to push his own jumbled thoughts aside so that he could concentrate on their original mission—the delivery of medication to children who desperately needed it.

He glanced at the ship's chronometer. “We have a rendezvous point in about eleven hours. I have the co-ordinates, but we need to modify one of the shuttle pods or Sarah’s ship so that we can hide it from the planet’s radar network.”

“I’ll get to work on that right now,” G'ntriel said confidently. Judge nodded to Jordan and turned to follow his wife towards the docking bay, but turned back to grin at him once more.

“Oh, and Captain? Welcome back.”

Jordan stepped back into the medical bay and shook his head at all the things that had changed in the last two days. Only forty-eight hours ago, he’d been the captain of a dangerous crew, struggling to maintain order and protect one tiny slip of a woman. Now he had a different crew, including many women who had chosen to stay because they had something to offer to their main mission—protect and help those who needed it using any means necessary.

He sat beside Sarah as she slept on the narrow medical cot and pulled her hand into his as he lowered his head to the mattress. Suddenly tired beyond anything he’d ever known, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber, his hopes for his future following him into his dreams.

Chapter Ten

Sarah woke slowly, the exhaustion of the last few days difficult to shake off. Tee-ani hurried over to her and used several medical instruments to check her temperature, blood pressure, and other vital signs.

“Looks like you’ve made a full recovery,” she said quietly as she tried not to wake Jordan as he slept beside Sarah. Sarah reached out to run her fingers over his face. He had tired shadows under his eyes, but he looked happier that she’d ever seen him—well, except maybe when he was buried deep in her body, smiling into her eyes.

“He’s been here for hours. I couldn’t convince him to go back to his cabin. Maybe you can,” she said quietly. “You can go with him, if you like.”

Sarah smiled up at the doctor. “Thanks, Tee-ani. I really appreciate your help.”

“No problem,” she replied happily. “I suspect you won’t be my only projectile weapon injury on this ship.”

Sarah smiled at the doctor, sensing that she’d missed a lot while she’d been sleeping, but turned to give Jordan a gentle shake.

“Jordan,” she called softly. “Wake up and take me back to your cabin, please.”

He roused almost immediately, his attention on her clear and undivided. His concern melted from his face as he smiled at her.

“You’re looking better,” he said.

“Yep. Tee-ani said I can go if I want to.”

He stiffened slightly, barely masking the pain that crossed his features.

“Of course, I’ll just go check that your ship is in working order and stocked with supplies.”

“You want me to leave? Now?” she asked, shocked that he’d be so keen to let her go.

“Don’t you want to leave?” he asked, his voice gruff, his expression unreadable.

“Hell, no,” she said. “I want you to take me back to your cabin and make love to me.”

He shook his head briefly, but smiled and said, “Yes, ma’am” as he lifted her into his arms.

* * * *

He’d wrapped a blanket around her naked body before they left the medical bay, but as he lay her down on his bed, he opened the covering and gazed lovingly at her.

Carefully, as if she were breakable, Jordan lowered his head and captured her lips. His hand cradled her face as he deepened the kiss. He pressed harder against her mouth as all of the fear of the last few days bubbled to the surface. He felt her hands on him, eager fingers fumbling as she tried to push his clothes off. He stood for a moment as he discarded the rest and carefully slid onto the bed beside her. He’d almost lost her, almost had his one chance of redemption taken from him and he couldn’t wait another moment to claim the woman who was the other half of his soul.

She sighed into his mouth as she pulled his body over hers and wrapped her legs around his middle, urging his stiff cock towards her pussy.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said in a low, urgent voice.

“You won’t,” she reassured him. When he hesitated, she wriggled against him and whispered, “Roll over, then, and let me make love to you.”

He rolled, holding her carefully as she squirmed onto his chest, quickly aligned her pussy with his engorged flesh, and impaled herself on his cock. They both groaned as he entered her slick channel, the flesh contracting around him even before she began to move. He held her hips, controlling her pace and slowing down her frantic movements.

He loved her then, reverently, like he’d made love to her in the hotel, telling her with his body how much he cared for her. She was the most important thing in his universe and he would never let her go. He rejoiced in his heart, even as her body began to pulse around him, her climax building rapidly, even with the slow pace.

He felt her body respond and his movements grew faster as his own body tightened, sending them both spiraling higher. Soon he was slamming into her, lifting his hips to meet her downward movement as she moaned in ecstasy. Her orgasm broke over her like a wave and pulled his cock deeper into her body. He pumped into her one last time and then held her tight against him as his seed jetted deep into her welcoming body. For the first time in his life, Jordan wished that their joining would result in a child.

Pulling her pliant body higher up his chest, he kissed her forehead softly as her face settled against his shoulder.

“Sarah, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever known, inside and out.”

She laughed at that. “Well, I supposed you did get to see more of my insides than I intended to show you,” she said, rubbing over the area where her injury had been.

His face turned serious as his hand joined hers.

“I’ve never been so scared in my life as I was when I thought I might lose you.”

She smiled, unsure how to reassure him. They both lived dangerous lives, so she had no way to guarantee him that she wouldn’t die any time soon. But she could promise him she’d be here as long as he wanted her.

She lifted her head to look into his eyes and threw caution out the airlock as she bared her soul. “I love you, Jordan, and I never want to leave. Please tell me we’ll find a way to be together.”

He grinned, kissed her fiercely, and hugged her harder.

“Sweetheart, I want the same thing. I love you, too. Wherever you are, that’s where I want to be.”

She smiled and closed her eyes as she relaxed into his embrace, but then another thought crossed her mind. She levered herself off his chest in agitation.

“The medicine,” she burst out. “Did we get the medicine to the children?”

He pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back as he spoke.

“We have a rendezvous point and G’ntriel, her husband, and the new doctor are currently working on modifying your ship so that we can enter the planet’s atmosphere without being detected.”

“Good,” she said, calming a little. “When do we meet Oberon?”

“I don’t suppose I can convince you to stay here while I deliver the medicine.”

She lifted her head and looked at him with such irritation that he laughed and pulled her back into his arms.

“Didn’t think so,” he said. “We leave in a few hours.”

“And then after we finish the delivery, what do we do? Where will we go?”

“I don’t care where we are, as long as I’m with you,” he answered truthfully.

“Too bad we can’t stay here,” she said. “I kind of like the idea of being a pirate.”

“How about being the wife of a pirate?”

She smiled and then kissed him soundly.

“Is that a proposal?”

“Yes,” he said, his eyes bright as he waited for her answer.

“Yes, Jordan. I would love to be your wife.”

“And, sweetheart, about where we’re going to live—a few things changed up here while we were on the planet…”

THE END

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