Pirate's Gold - S.J. Sanders Page 0,30

from being cooped up in her room with Azan for days. Even having Egbor hovering threateningly at her side as Veral was brought into the cargo bay had done little to dim her pleasure at being reunited with her mate.

She had wanted to run to his side, yet they were kept forced apart by Egbor’s private guard and Azan as Veral was forced to fly a team of twenty pirates down to the planet surface to the nearest safe clearing. Still, she had been able to tell just from the way his eyes roamed eagerly over her that he had missed her just as much.

Theirs wasn’t the only reunion denied that pained her.

The entire flight down, Krono could be heard throughout the ship snarling and digging at the metal door of the captain’s quarters where he had been trapped. She was unsure how long he had been sedated, but she hoped that it was for a few days. She didn’t want to think about him trapped and hungry in there, fed scraps of gods know what during the voyage. The captain hadn’t wanted such a valuable animal dying before he could turn a profit from it. She hated hearing his cries and sounds of rage, being helpless to free him. It was almost a relief to leave the ship she had called home as she exited onto the planet surface.

Now, however, her first experience of the planet was a hell unlike anything she had imagined. Why was there water in the air? Her lungs burned as she labored to breathe. All her life, she had wondered what it would be like to live away from the desert and be somewhere lush and green, but nothing prepared her for the heavy drag on her lungs with every forced breath. She gasped and wheezed beneath her mate’s concerned gaze. She could tell that he wasn’t breathing comfortably either, but he seemed to be controlling his reaction better.

“What is wrong with her?” Azan demanded, her blaster leveling on Veral.

“She has never breathed such humid air before,” he hissed impatiently. “She is a native of a desert environment like my species, and you thrust her out here without anything to make her manner of breathing easier. The humidity levels here are excessively high, even compared to the most humid places on her planet.”

Egbor grimaced from where he stood off to the side, scouting the area as his chosen team from among the crew formed a perimeter around them. “I do not have anything like that, unfortunately. She will survive,” he assured Azan. “You can see that, despite looking grotesquely wet and red, she is getting enough oxygen.”

The Blaithari female did not look convinced, but Terri nodded. Breathing was uncomfortable, and the wetness in the air felt like it forced her to draw deeper breaths instinctively, but she was not suffocating from it.

Why had she ever thought that this would be a paradise?

The greenery was beautiful, especially laden as it was with strange, exotic flowers she could never have imagined. The centers of the flowers were brilliant pinks and reds and pushed out in frills and spirals and strange shapes that were hard to look away from.

Yes, despite everything, it was most definitely beautiful. She had to admit that.

It was just incredibly miserable, too.

Not only in terms of breathing comfortably, but her sweat beaded on her skin and dripped from her. She was hot, sticky, and sweaty. There was little doubt in her mind that if her suit wasn’t self-cleaning and helping to regulate her body temperature she would have felt even worse.

Not that it helped with her general comfort level exposed to the elements. She hoped she got used to the humidity soon. She cast an envious look at the scaled assholes who didn’t seem to have much external reaction to the conditions. The Blaithari and Turogo looked almost comfortable. Only the Igwin seemed to struggle a little, but even they didn’t seem quite as uncomfortable as she was.

With a flick of his blaster, Egbor met Veral’s eyes. “Lead the way, Argurma.”

Veral snarled but looked away, his eyes searching out hers. As their gazes met, something within him relaxed as Terri gave him a reassuring nod, confirming that she was, in fact, okay.

His lips peeling back from his teeth, Veral gave the captain one more lethal glance that promised all manner of death and pain, before turning away to stride forward into the dense forest. Egbor stared after him with a self-satisfied smile as