Dangerously Yours: 2 (Loving Dangerously) (12 page)

“Since you don’t respect other people’s belongings, you don’t get to have any,” he whispered.

Sa’Mya narrowed her eyes. “You can’t do this to me. I am a princess.”

Kane stood over her and let the torn material fall from his grasp. “You will make this cabin immaculate. When I return, everything will be restored to my satisfaction.”

“With or without clothes, I still hate you.” Sa’Mya threw her torn shirt at his retreating back. “I’ll make you pay for this.”

Kane stopped in his tracks and turned to glare at her. “I will kill you if you so much as touch my trunk. I will kill your crew while you watch.”

Sa’Mya stilled. “They haven’t done anything to you,” she whispered.

Kane smiled. “Your death will be slow and painful.”

“Stop threatening me.”

“I will piss on your bodies and throw all of you out the air lock to float in space for eternity.”

She shrank from him. “That…that is…not nice.”

“Do you understand me?”

Terrified, she nodded in mute shock. She wanted to teach him a lesson. She didn’t want to die in the process. This was bad.

The echoing sounds of Kane’s heavy footsteps crashed against the walls as he stomped through the deserted corridors. That brat was more trouble than she was probably worth.

Sending her out the air lock would be easy to do. A simple push of a button. He suspected he would even laugh as her golden ass was sucked out, terror on her face, a scream from her lungs.

Not a bad idea.

An idea he would follow through with if she didn’t have his cabin cleaned when he got back.

Or if she puts her destructive little hands on my trunk.

He had returned, expecting to find her cowering. He’d planned to ream her out for using the intercom to contact her guard.

Instead…

He still didn’t know where the princess belonged or how to contact her people. He couldn’t wait any longer. She was too much trouble.

Because of her stunt, Kyle had to reroute the open-channel link so it wasn’t accessible from Kane’s cabin or the guard’s any longer. Kane had to get Sa’Mya off his vessel sooner rather than later. If she stayed he would end up killing her. Or worse…

Kane had to put his foot down with her and her aides. Hell, her aides probably didn’t realize they were prisoners. They treated his crew as their personal sex slaves.

The only option now was to separate the aides from his crew. He would give them back to the brat princess. Let her be their problem from now on.

It was past time they
all
left. The princess had destroyed most of his personal belongings. Meager as they were, they were still his.

The other two females were insatiable and determined to bring down his crew, one orgasm at a time. So far the lone male prisoner was the one alien who hadn’t given him a headache.

The guard had just woken up and Kane was hoping he would be more than willing to give up the information needed to send them all home. For all the princess’s high-and-mighty hang-ups, she kept her mouth closed regarding her home world. What was the purpose? What was she hiding?

Right after being captured, their previous captives had begged to return home, giving him and his crew anything that was requested.

Kane had been sure the brat princess would relent by the second day. That she would give up the name of her home world as soon as she realized she wouldn’t find comfort and relaxation on his vessel.

What more could he have done to her? He refused to let her wear her own clothes. He denied her the help of her aides. Hell, he had even ignored her. Why the hell did she
want
to stay?

Kane stepped into the guard’s cabin and immediately wanted to backtrack. The security monitors hadn’t captured the true size of the guard sitting in front of him. Nebin sat on a king-sized bed that resembled a twin-sized bed underneath his massive girth.

Nebin had to stand nearly eight feet tall and tip the scale at over four-hundred pounds. His flawless cocoa-colored skin was much darker than Ryan’s mocha tone.

Nebin’s piercing gray eyes locked on him as he stepped into the room.

“
Wil noe frosu Princepetta?
” Nebin asked. His hard tone grated against Kane’s eardrums.

Kane shook his head. “I can’t understand you.”

Shit.

In his haste he had forgotten to bring Ryan to translate.

Kane held up his finger. “One minute.” He went to the communication panel. “Ryan?”

Nothing.

Double shit.
He’d forgotten the open-channel button had been disabled in the guard’s cabin.

Kane selected the buttons to the bridge, dining hall and Eli’s cabin, repeating Ryan’s name each time.

Finally, Ryan answered from Eli’s cabin. “I’m here, Captain.”

“What are you doing? I need you to translate for me,” Kane said in obvious relief.

“I’m playing cards with Eli. This bitch is cheating. I’ll be in your cabin in three.”

“I’m not in my cabin. I’m with the guard.”

“Wait. What? Alone?”

Again, he would have thought this through if he hadn’t been in such a hurry to get rid of the brat princess.

“I’m alone.” Kane faced the guard. “I suspect I won’t have any trouble out of you, right?”

The guard grunted. “
Nes.
”

Before captain obvious could reply, Kane said, “I know that means ‘no’, Ryan.” Then he faced Nebin. “My name is Kane Epps. I’m the captain of this vessel.”

The guard nodded.

Cooperation, finally.

Relieved, he used his foot to pull over a chair and placed himself between the guard and the door. The guard’s gaze tracked Kane’s every movement. He didn’t believe the guard would try to escape. Kane was pretty confident he wouldn’t be able to stop Nebin if he tried. Hell, Kane didn’t know if anyone onboard could stop the bear of a guard if he so happened to wish to leave his small prison.

“What planet are you all from?”

Nebin stared at Kane in silence.

“Ryan!”

“Captain, he has a Universal Translator. He can understand you.”

Kane watched Nebin watch him. “Look. I’m sure you want to be off this vessel just as quickly as we want you off. No harm will come to you or the females. I need to know who to contact for the ransom demand.”

Why was it so difficult to get basic information from these aliens?

“
Wil noe frosu Princepetta?
”

“He wants to know if you are taking care of the princess. Or something of that nature,” Ryan said.

“Yes, she is secured in my personal cabin. Now, tell me where you’re all from.”

Again, Nebin made no attempt to respond. Kane ran an impatient hand through his hair. Maybe he should try the two sex-crazed females one more time. He might have better luck.

“Listen. Nebin, I’ve got a job to do here. Yes, it’s not the best job to have and yes, we did take you against your will. Nonetheless, I have a job to do. We have no plans to harm you or the females.”

Nebin dipped his head in a regal nod.

“Our plan is to contact whatever planet you’re from and give you back. The sooner you give me the information we need, the sooner you can be on your way.” Kane threw up his hands. “No harm done.”

Nebin would understand his position. He would provide the necessary information they needed to move the ransom along.

Nebin didn’t say a word.

“
Holy fuck
,
” Kane yelled after waiting for a response that wasn’t coming. “When am I going to get rid of these fucking aliens?” The idea of dropping them all off on a deserted, desolate planet sounded pretty tempting right now.

“Captain, Eli got word that the translators are ready,” Ryan said over the intercom.

At least one thing worked in his favor today. Rising from his chair, he gave Nebin another hard look. “I’m not done with you yet.”

Nebin nodded once.

Kane backed out of the door and relaxed only after it closed. He made his way to the infirmary where Eli waited to implant the Universal Translator. The entire procedure would take an hour at max. His next stop after that would be his cabin to finally have a decent conversation with the brat princess.

* * * * *

Kane strode through the hall, adjusting his head from side to side. According to Eli, the feeling of water behind the ears was one of the irritating side effects of the procedure. Thanks to the planet Treios, he and his crew were now the proud owners of used Universal Translators.

A shudder ran down his spine as he thought about how the translators had come to be
used
.

An outbreak from a deadly virus had wiped out a quarter of Treios’ population. The Galactic Council had put the planet on lockdown until the outbreak could be contained. Five months later, the planet was now free of contamination and open for trading.

Even though the translators had been cleaned and approved for resale, they hadn’t sold as fast as the locals had anticipated. Kane and the rest of the crew members had gotten a good deal, considering the translators had been harvested from cadavers.

The ability to understand every language would make all the difference. But right now, there was only one person he wanted to talk to and she was locked in his cabin.

“Captain.”

Kyle’s voice came over the intercom as Kane entered his cabin.

“He’s not in here,” Sa’Mya yelled from her seat on the bed.

Kane ignored her and sauntered to the communication panel. He resisted the urge to smirk. He could understand her. The translator worked perfectly.

He turned his back to her and rested his shoulder against the wall. “I’m here. Ears are listening so keep it low. What’s up?”

“She’s Princess Sa’Mya Lacolil of Laconia,” Kyle whispered. “It’s a medium-sized planet in the Zaronna System. She’s the sole owner of Mercanis Shipping and Hauling, the galaxy’s largest shipping and transport company.” Kyle strained to maintain a whisper.

With his interest piqued, he stepped closer to the communication panel. “Holy shit.”

“She’s rich. I mean, she’s got to be filthy rich. That’s the good news. Are you ready for the bad news?” Kyle asked.

“Lay it on me.”

“Her uncle has reported her missing and placed a large reward for her safe return.”

“How is that bad news? We’ll get paid without having to go through the headache of a ransom,” Kane whispered, making sure Sa’Mya couldn’t hear him.

“Yeah, in theory, but we wouldn’t be turning over a poor lost princess. No, she’ll inform her uncle we captured her and her crew and we’re all good as dead.”

Shit, Kyle’s right.
What had he expected? Nothing had ever been that simple since the minute he’d been snatched from Earth.

Of course Sa’Mya would tell her uncle. No easy reward to collect. Kane clenched his fist in frustration.

Damn.

Kane took a brief look at his prisoner. Sa’Mya sat naked on the edge of his bed, her arms resting in her lap and gaze fixed on him.

Kane addressed Kyle. “Well, this can still work out in our favor. At least we know where she’s from and who to contact for a ransom. We need to go somewhere and lie low while we make all the necessary arrangements.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Kane didn’t worry about where Kyle would tell Ryan to take them. Ryan would set a course for the only safe haven that any of them had known since their escape.

Kane closed his eyes. So he had a runaway princess on his vessel. This would explain why she had been so secretive regarding her home planet.

Why had she run away? She probably had a spoiled fit. But not his problem. As soon as he made the necessary arrangements, she would be out of his hair and back to her life of luxury. Suitors probably fell all over her, vying for her attention. And she seemed the type to soak it all up.

Finally opening his eyes, he scanned the cabin. It wasn’t as clean as it had been before but he could tell she had made a valiant effort.
Hell, she’s Princess Sa’Mya.
She struggled to wash herself—surely this was the first room she had ever cleaned…in her life.

His gaze finally rested on her. She was golden perfection. Wild waves framed a face that would have made angels jealous. Her luscious breasts rose and fell with each erratic breath she took. Her nipples were dark and perfect.

He ran his tongue across his lips. Suddenly they had become too dry.

When she sniffled, he snapped his gaze to her face. Fresh tear marks tracked down her cheeks, past pouty full lips. Using the back of her hand, she wiped the tears. The palm of her hand was reddened and bloody.

Blood?