Tee-ani's Pirates [Sequel to Sarah's Pirate] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 8

  “Ah, there you are.” Keytark’s voice sounded friendly enough, but his eyes spoke a different story. The man was suspicious. “It is a shame that you couldn’t stay longer, but I wanted to give you a parting gift, a gesture of goodwill for our new business arrangement.” He clapped his hands sharply and a young man dashed into the room and dropped at Keytark’s feet. “This is one of my finest slaves.”

  Something was definitely wrong here. The women were all covered in bruises, painfully thin and obviously frightened. This slave showed no signs of abuse and certainly didn’t cower the way the women did.

  Trey wrinkled his nose in an effort to show distaste. “We don’t play with male slaves.”

  “Ahh, now see, that’s the best part.” The obese body jiggled with laughter. “This slave is specifically trained for domestic duties. So while you play with your pretty females, this one can prepare meals and attend to your other needs.”

  “I see.” Trey’s mind raced, but he couldn’t come up with a reasonable excuse to refuse the gift. An idea started to grow in his head. “Well in that case, we would be happy to accept your gift.”

  Keytark moved forward in his seat, levering his bulk back onto his feet. “I expect you to contact me as soon as you have set up the contacts on G’trobia. The faster we get moving, the more money we will make.” He laughed as he turned his back on them and left the room. A guard stepped forward, clipped a leash to the slave’s collar, and handed the end to Trey.

  Ben and Trey followed a guard back to their ship, secured the new slave in the cargo bay, placed Tee-ani between them, and waited for clearance to leave. The moment permission came through the communicator, Ben got the ship into the air. Once they’d left the planet’s atmosphere, Trey grabbed Tee-ani and pulled her onto his lap.

  “Are you okay?” he asked softly.

  “Very okay,” she whispered back as she lifted her face to his for a searing kiss. Several moments passed before Ben’s impatient words bought them back to reality.

  “We have a slight problem.”

  Chapter Ten

  Tee-ani glanced from one to the other, impatiently waiting for them to explain the slight problem. None of their problems had been slight, so she was fairly certain this wasn’t good news either.

  “I think the male slave is a plant.”

  She grimaced as she tried to understand his meaning. She didn’t know any sentient species who’d evolved from plants, so her practical doctor’s brain slipped into planning and research so she could help the newest member of their group in a medical sense.

  Ben must’ve sensed her emotions and realized her thought process because he laughed out loud. The first genuinely happy laugh any of them had heard in several days.

  “Not that type of plant, G’bani. I meant I think he’s a spy sent to make sure we are who we say we are.”

  “Shit. That’s gonna be a big problem.”

  “Maybe not,” Trey said quietly. “Maybe we can use this to our advantage. Tee, do you have any sedative in your medical bag?” She nodded warily, uncertain where they were going with this. She didn’t like sedating anybody without cause. “I know it goes against your ethics, but it may save many more lives. If we can sedate him until we can get things set up on the ship, we have a good chance of convincing him that we are slavers. Would you mind staying undercover for a while longer?”

  Understanding washed through her. If they could keep the cover going, they would at least be able to buy more slaves or maybe even trace the abductors and stop Keytark at his source.

  Surprisingly, desire also unfurled low in her body.

  “Will it include another spanking?” Good grief, she could feel herself getting wet just from the thought. Trey pressed his erection hard against her, grinding his thick cock on the sensitized flesh of her ass. She smiled. “I’ll take that as a maybe.”

  * * * *

  It took longer than she’d hoped to get the cargo bay set up and secured so that Ben, Trey, and Tee-ani could continue the charade. Nearly two full Earth days she’d kept her patient sedated. Tee-ani checked the young man’s blood pressure again as Ben carried him into the small area that would be his home for the next few months. A small part of her still rebelled against treating anyone like this, but she understood the necessity.

  Ben lowered the sleeping man to the small cot they’d set up in the corner. He moaned as Ben stepped away.

  “Pet?” He used her slave title, and she glanced at him sharply. “How long before he wakes?”

  “Several more hours, at least.”

  “Good. Go with Trey, check the others. I’ll stay here and make sure our new slave has chores to do when he wakes.”

  She nodded, stepped closer, and brushed her lips against his quickly, but Ben pulled her hard against him and deepened the kiss before she could step back. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and bit down sharply. She gasped as the pain quickly morphed into pleasure and her whole body began to tingle.

  Trey glanced at the sleeping man and then hustled Tee-ani from the room. His hands shook a little as he rubbed her arms in a soothing motion. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? It’s very likely that we’ll need to fuck you in front of him to keep up the charade.”

  She nodded again. Part of her was terrified at what they would need to do to convince this slave that Ben and Trey were genuine, but a bigger part of her quivered with need at the erotic memory of the spanking she’d received on the slavers’ planet. Even knowing that Ben and Trey would need to demand sexual submission from her in front of another man didn’t seem to lessen her arousal.

  She seemed to be learning an awful lot about her own sexuality on this mission.

  Trey grabbed her hand, unlocked the door, and led her through the familiar corridors of the pirate ship. It seemed almost like they’d created another world in the cavernous space of the cargo hold, which essentially was what they were trying to do. The charade would only work if they could convince the male slave they were greedy, successful slave traders instead of the kind-hearted pirates on a mission that they actually were.

  Tee-ani stopped walking. The male slave? “We don’t even know his name.”

  “We’ll ask when he wakes. Or maybe you should.” He ran an agitated hand through his hair as he turned to face her. “G’bani, I have no idea how we’re going to pull this off. Pretending to be a slave owner for a day or two seemed simple, but trying to maintain the illusion for several months or more could be very dangerous.”

  “Trey, I trust you and I trust Ben. We can do this. G’ntriel is already tuned into the slave’s emotions. Even if you and Ben can’t decipher his intent, surely she can.” Trey didn’t look convinced and for a moment, she wanted to shake him. Even after everything he’d seen and done on this ship, somehow he fell back to the prejudices about female G’trobians he’d grown up with. “G’ntriel sensed your distress on a planet nearly a light year away. What makes you think she can’t read the emotions of a single male in the cargo bay?” She stood ready, hands on hips, willing to argue until he listened to simple logic, but he surprised her by lifting her off the ground and kissing her soundly.

  She could barely catch her breath by the time he replaced her on legs suddenly made from jelly. With a quick smile, he pulled her to his side and they again moved toward the medical bay. As she stepped into the room, her confusion and arousal were quickly overridden by concern for her patients.

  G’baena sat on the bed closest to them. The young woman watched Sarah intently as she used one of Tee-ani’s medical instruments to heal several scars across one of the Pendarian women’s shoulder. G’baena glanced over to Tee-ani but flinched when she caught sight of Trey beside her. Tee-ani moved quickly toward her, hoping to reassure her that she was safe.

  Sarah and several of the women rescued from the same ship as Tee-ani had spent the last couple of days treating and reassuring the women that they were safe, but none of them seemed overly convinced. Their collective demeanor suggeste
d false hope had been offered too many times.

  “G’baena, do you remember me from the slave ship?”

  The younger woman nodded her head slowly. “You treated me when I was first abducted.”

  “Do you remember what you told me about your family?”

  “Yes.” The word was soft, the anguish behind it heart wrenching.

  Tee-ani wrapped her arms around the slender woman. “We want to give you a chance to reclaim your life, the opportunity to seek justice. Trey and Ben can travel back to G’trobia with you and make sure…” Tee-ani’s words trailed off when she saw the absolute horror flash across G’baena’s beautiful face.

  “G’Beydeatrey? G’Bende-anrali?” G’baena’s frightened voice froze Tee-ani to the spot. G’baena looked up, taking her first good look at the man beside Tee-ani. “My Lord?”

  Trey nodded slightly.

  Faster than Tee-ani would’ve suspected, G’baena leapt off the bed and hit Trey square in the nose with a closed fist. Trey rocked back on his heels for a moment before he grabbed the startled woman and pulled her into his embrace. He held her as she cried and Tee-ani watched a myriad of emotions cross his features.

  It took several attempts before she could decipher the words tumbling from G’baena’s mouth. Things like “you left me” and “why” and “how could you” fell rapidly from her lips. Trey continued to hold the young woman as she cried out all of her fears and frustrations from her experiences over the last few months.

  “G’baena, please forgive me. Ben and I had no idea that your family would do that to you. We can take you back to the planet. Make sure you’re taken care of and that your family faces justice.”

  Tee-ani realized that G’baena had begun to hyperventilate. Her breathing rapid and labored, G’baena shook so hard, Tee-ani could see the vibrations ripple across Trey’s shoulders. Unwilling to just sedate the nearly hysterical woman, Tee-ani stepped forward and placed her hands on either side of G’baena’s face. She gently urged G’baena to look at her as she spoke in a low, soothing voice.

  “G’baena, I want you to listen to me. I know you’re scared and tired, but I promise you, you are safe here. No one will make you do anything you don’t want to do. You are protected and free to make your own choices. If you don’t want to go back to G’trobia, no one will force you. You have my word on that.”

  G’baena’s eyes seemed to focus on Tee-ani as she spoke and the violent shaking subsided just a little. She whispered a few words, but Tee-ani needed to step closer to hear them. It sounded like she was saying “I can’t believe I did that.” Trey’s warm chuckle filled the room.

  “I can believe it,” he said as he moved G’baena so he could see her face. “You have every right to be angry with me and Ben. We shouldn’t have left you behind, and anytime you want to swing that lethal punch at Ben, too, I’d be happy to hold him down.” He rubbed his nose and then pulled G’baena back into his embrace. The younger woman relaxed against him and sighed quietly.

  “Tee-ani, thank you for coming to find me.”

  Tee-ani knew she would never regret going to find G’baena, but the sight of Trey holding the younger woman seemed to be doing funny things to her head. They looked so perfect together. They were both the same species. Hell, G’baena was very literally the mate chosen and raised for him and Ben.

  Nope. The problem here was Tee-ani. She knew she didn’t belong, but did she have the fortitude to step back and let nature run its course?

  * * * *

  Tee-ani’s emotions confused him. He could feel sadness and regret and an anger that she seemed to aim at herself. Goddess, what was the woman thinking? Surely, she knew how much he and Ben loved her. They’d claimed her. She didn’t carry the traditional G’trobian scars, so what? She knew they belonged together, the three of them had made a commitment, and there was no way he would let her walk away from him and Ben without one hell of a fight.

  “G’baena,” he whispered to the woman in his arms. “You’ll find many human women here willing to help you make a life for yourself on the ship. Take some time to explore your options and decide what you want. Just know that Ben and I will be here to help you if you need it.”

  She stepped backward, pulling out of his arms. “You love her, don’t you?”

  Trey glanced over at Tee-ani and then back at G’baena. He nodded.

  “What about Ben? Does he feel the same way?”

  “Yes.”

  “So why haven’t you claimed her?”

  “We have.”

  G’baena glanced over at Tee-ani where she was using a medical instrument to heal several dark bruises on a patient’s thighs.

  “But she doesn’t wear your mark?”

  “True. She’s human and an ex-slave. She doesn’t want to be scarred as a sign of possession. And, well, Ben and I are…” He trailed off, unsure how to explain his step away from G’trobian tradition.

  “You and Ben love her enough to let her be her own person, to let her decide for herself, and to love her regardless.”

  Trey looked at her. He knew he had surprise written all over his face, but he couldn’t seem to hide it. After everything G’baena had lived through in the past three years, he hadn’t expected her to be quite so accepting of the situation.

  “Did you forget I’m an empath too?” she teased.

  “No. I mean, yes. I mean…”

  Her musical laugh sounded like a gift from the goddess. “I know what you mean. I’ve learned a lot in my time as a slave, and I’m the first to admit that it’ll be a long time before I feel safe anywhere, but I have also realized that the universe is full of different species, different cultures, and different ideals. I felt almost as trapped on G’trobia as I did as a slave, and now, for the first time ever, I feel like I can take a full breath. I feel like I have a chance to find who I am, not what I’m expected to be.”

  Trey pulled her into his arms again.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “Don’t be. You and Ben and Tee-ani are the reason I have the chance.” She pulled from his embrace and reached up to place a kiss on his cheek. “Go to her. Explain the situation. Make sure she knows how you feel.”

  He watched G’baena as she walked away, marveling at just how amazing the woman really was. How did he and Ben not see the true woman underneath the submissive mate they’d been offered? He turned to watch Tee-ani once again and everything he felt for her came rumbling to the surface.

  He leaned against a spare medical bed until she finished with her patients. He could still feel her sorrow, but she’d shoved it deep down as she concentrated on her work. When she eventually finished, she walked over to him. It looked like she was going to stop out of arm’s length, so Trey stepped forward and hauled her into his embrace.

  “Tee, I love you.”

  “But?”

  “But what? I love you.”

  “But what about G’baena? She’s perfect for you. Even your species. You and Ben could have children with G’baena. You know that humans and G’trobians aren’t compatible in a reproductive sense?”

  No, he didn’t know that, but it didn’t make any difference. They belonged together and if children weren’t in their future, well it wasn’t an issue for him and he was certain it wouldn’t be one for Ben either.

  “Tee, what is this all about? We claimed you. That’s a commitment as big to G’trobians as marriage is to humans.”

  “But when you claimed me, I didn’t know you were royalty. I didn’t know you had a woman like G’baena waiting for you.”

  He could feel his frustration rising again. How the hell could this woman make him so mad and yet so proud of her at the same time? She cared about everyone else, even at the expense of her own happiness.

  He turned and lifted her onto the medical bed so that they could be face to face. “Tee, G’baena is not ‘waiting’ for us. She deserves a chance to make decisions for herself, and the first decision she made was to tell me to make sure you k
now how I feel about you.”

  “But—”

  “No buts. This is very simple. I love you and you love me.”

  “And Ben?”

  “Yeah, well, Ben can convince you himself.” Trey’s communicator beeped. “Speak of the devil…”

  “Trey, I think it must be playtime. Send the slaves here. And you better not have damaged them like you did the last time.”

  Ben sounded so convincing as a slave owner that even Trey felt a shiver of apprehension. It was all planned. The three of them had discussed this little “performance” several times over the last twenty-four hours, but still a part of him worried for Tee-ani.

  “Don’t.” The stern look on her face warned him not to argue.

  “Okay, okay, I surrender,” he said, holding his hands high as he backed away giving her space to get off the bed. “Do you remember your the plan?” She smiled and nodded. “And since you seem to be reading my emotions better than I’m reading yours, maybe you could remind me which one of us is the empath…”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ben kept moving. He knew the male slave observed him, and if he sat still, his nervousness and shaking hands might give away the game before it started.

  The door slid open and Tee-ani stepped through in her slave outfit. It barely covered the essentials, and for a moment, Ben felt embarrassed for her. He and Trey were about to fuck her in front of a stranger, and no matter how much they wanted to be gentle or tell her that they loved her, they’d both have to restrain themselves.

  He took a deep breath. Showtime.

  “Finally! You’ve had both slaves for over two hours. Where is the other female?”

  “It would appear that our new slave wasn’t as strong as she looked.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, brother, don’t tell me you killed another one.” It was all a scripted play. He knew they were acting, but the thought that G’baena or Tee-ani could’ve been killed during their time as slaves suddenly hit him right in the gut. For a moment, Ben wasn’t even sure he’d be able to drag in his next breath.