a sturdy people but tended to be on the short, slim side.
Nobody on Prospect colony would ever be accused of eating too much. It was one of the poorest planets in six solar systems. They also didn’t have tanned skin, since they spent so much time underground, and there were only five hours of mild sunshine in a thirty-hour day cycle.
“I apologize. I couldn’t resist after I saw that bathroom. It has a sauna shower with twenty water nozzles. I’ve always wanted to try one, and you were peacefully sleeping. I didn’t see the harm in using it.”
She was staring at his chest but she couldn’t stop. It was truly a sight to see.
“Hailey?”
She finally lifted her gaze to his face.
“How do you feel?”
“Better. I’m not hurting.”
“Good. Your hand has been treated, and I gave you a shot to help accelerate the healing. We should be able to completely remove the tape within a week.”
“Are we on our way back to Prospect? Were you able to contact my parents? They’ve got to be worried sick.”
He returned the towel to the bathroom and came back, staying across the room. “We need to talk.”
That didn’t sound good, and she tensed. “What is it?”
“I can’t take you back right away. I’d be killed as soon as I landed this shuttle and your port authority officers boarded.”
“I don’t understand.” Fear took over as the truth dawned on her. “You lied to me, didn’t you? You are one of the men who kidnapped me.” She scrambled to roll across the bed and almost fell off the other side. It put the big piece of furniture between them. She darted a terrified look at the door, expecting the rest of the crew to come rushing in.
“Easy,” Blade crooned. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“But those other men will. I heard what they want to do to me!”
“They are dead. That wasn’t a lie. They were injecting drugs and used a bad batch. It’s just you and me onboard.”
She glanced at the door again, wondering if she could flee before he caught her, and where she’d go.
“Hailey?”
She looked at him.
“I won’t come any closer. You look frightened but there’s no reason to be. I treated your hand. Why would I do that if I planned to harm you? It makes no sense. And I could have done anything to you while you slept. I didn’t.”
He had a point, but she wasn’t sure what to think.
“I’m going to tell you everything. I just need you to listen. I had my own shuttle but a year ago, my engine blew. It left me dead in space. The damage took out long-distance transmissions. I couldn’t contact the few people I trust to come help me, then I was boarded by pirates before I was able to make any repairs. They realized what I was immediately…and decided not to kill me. I was forced to live and work with them.”
“You’re a pirate?” She remembered his data bank. “But you had access to information on me. I don’t understand. Only authorities can do that.”
“I told you that I worked for Clone World for six years. That was the truth. I was given access to all official alerts and reports that are sent out to the authorities. At the time, I was one.”
That makes no sense. Unless… “You went undercover with the pirates? Like, to catch them?”
“Think of it more like being trapped and enslaved. They made certain I couldn’t steal a shuttle, I was never sent alone or given a working weapon. But I felt gratitude toward them for not killing me outright. I played by their rules—until earlier today. You changed everything.”
“Me?”
He nodded. “I knew what they’d do to you, and I couldn’t allow it. I always promised myself if we boarded any vessels with women or children that I’d protect them. I couldn’t sleep at night if I took either back to that hell. Over two hundred pirates live on one of the abandoned way stations. They call it the hub.”
“Is that one of the places they built when it used to take a really long time to travel in space?”
“Yes. The pirates living there would have put you up for auction to the highest bidder. Some of those pirates let other men have sex with their women for the right price. I don’t envy the ones kept purely for personal use, either. Some of them live off scraps from their owners. Most of them sport bruises or other signs