Pirate's Gold - S.J. Sanders Page 0,4

She willingly chose this life with him. She didn’t regret it—there was really nothing for her on Earth—but she did worry that her decision to accompany him had made his attempts to avoid his people all the more difficult.

He refused to speak of it when she attempted to bring it up, but it had become an uncomfortable point between them. Everything was fine as long as she didn’t mention it, but it didn’t stop her from thinking about it constantly as of late. Even in plotting out their course to check out wreckage on another planet, she had noted that Veral had gone out of his way to burn extra fuel to avoid inhabited zones.

All because of her.

She wasn’t stupid. She knew that eventually they would see more bounty hunters from Argurumal. They already had two who came after them on Earth, and Veral was certain that it was just the beginning. She also knew that he was worried about it, even if he didn’t share his concerns with her. The only thing he allowed himself to vent his grievances about were the males whenever they encroached anywhere near their ship. Though he hated other aliens’ attempts to steal her, he didn’t truly worry about them. Much of his venting was an outlet for his true concern: his people tracking them down. The salvager was their only refuge, and it wasn’t exactly secretive when they depended on taking odd jobs.

At least this time she would get to do some actual salvage work, and she was going to be on a planet! Sure, they made a stop to retrieve furs for an employer, but Veral had insisted she stay inside due to the number of unmated males approaching their ship… and that was before the space station incident. This time, since they were salvaging alone, she would be able to get out. She grinned at the idea of getting to stretch her legs on an alien world. If only they could just speed up the travel time. She’d assumed that they would be there in a matter of days—not months.

“You are restless, anastha,” Veral observed, his mandibles making a soft clicking sound as he examined a schematic blown up on one corner of the viewing screen.

Terri hid a frown. She hadn’t meant to be so obvious.

“I am just eager to get started on our salvager,” she corrected with a small smile.

His eyes turned toward her and narrowed, his mandibles letting out a sharper click. Although her mate wasn’t particularly expressive unless under the influence of strong passion or rage, she had come to notice the subtle nuance of his “you’re full of shit” expression.

“Honestly! Okay,” she conceded after he kept staring. “I may be feeling a bit impatient. I guess I didn’t realize just how long it would take.”

A soft chuff erupted from her mate, his glowing blue eyes warming by degrees.

“Is this not what I told you? There are great distances that have to be traveled when salvaging.”

“I know,” she grumbled. “I just didn’t think it would be that long. Plus I didn’t get to leave the ship with you when you last refueled and restocked our supplies, so it feels like it’s stretching on forever. How many more days are we estimating here, anyway?”

She frowned at the way Veral’s vibrissae quivered in amusement, his lips tugging upward. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she shot him a mild, chastising scowl. It was bad enough that she verged on whining—not that it wasn’t a legitimate observation—but now he was laughing at her.

“Time estimation: eight days until we are in orbit of outpost planet Tignr.”

She cocked her head. “Outpost planet? Does that mean there are people there?”

Veral shook his head, his vibrissae swinging with the movement. “Negative. The outpost planet is on the edge of the Megnax system and could serve as a defensive base if threat ever broached that part of the system.”

“So why haven’t they sent someone out before now? Why contact us if it’s within their own system?”

That alone confused her. From what Veral had told her, professional salvagers were typically employed to retrieve property when it was either too far away or too dangerous to retrieve themselves.

Veral clicked thoughtfully. “The planet is far enough away from their regular trade routes that it is more cost efficient to hire a salvager, especially when retrieving valuable cargo in a potentially hostile environment. A professional salvager is trained to work within parameters that include unknown factors. The royal house is