Page 30 of Alien Captain's Prisoner

“Yes, I can!”

“Let me explain,” Sawoot holds up her hand. “They all thought they were going extinct, you know – the Aurelians, I mean. They’re all male, and they can’t sire children naturally – so their numbers were dropping with every Aurelian who got killed before making it to one of those cryo-chambers.”

Aurelians live for thousands of years – but even such an incredible lifespan is but the blink of an eye in terms of the universe itself. For every Aurelian who died naturally, and was cloned via a cryo-chamber, how many warriors died in agony in a Scorp nest? Or were left floating in frozen space after an ill-fated engagement? Slowly, but surely, their numbers had been dwindling.

“It’s only been in the last couple of hundred years that their species even hadhopeof continuing,” Sawoot nods, as if following along with my thoughts. “It’s only been since then that the Bond has been active again, and triads of Aurelians have found a Fated Mate and been able to have sons naturally.”

She shifts on the bunk.

“Now, there are a dozen or so Bonded triads spread across the universe – and their species is growing in numbers once again. But that just drives the rest of the Aurelians crazy – knowing their Fated Mate is out there, somewhere, but that they might never find her.”

“I’ve heard about this…Bond.”

Sawoot runs her hand through her thick, black hair, pressing her tongue against her cheek as she assembles what she knows.

“My friend who’d been in the harem,” she explains, “told me that she was heartbroken when she found out she wasn’t Bonded to her triad. She’d had this foolish notion thatshe’dbe the one to beat the odds and be their Fated Mate.”

Sawoot laughs bitterly.

“Long story short? She wasn’t – and she quickly found out that no woman can compete with an Aurelian’s desire to find thatonehuman woman capable of bearing theirs sons. They treated her kindly… but she became just one more woman in their collection, and they ceaselessly sought out more. That’s ultimately why she left. You can’t be in an Aurelian harem if you’re the jealous type – because unless you’re that triad’s Fated Mate, you’ll never be enough for them all by yourself.”

I ponder her words.

How horrible would that be? To join a harem in the hopes of being somebodyspecialto those Aurelians… and instead finding yourself relegated to just another plaything among so many others. Just another warm, sucking mouth and tight little hole for the triad to enjoy whenever they deigned that it was your turn. A woman who falls in love with an Aurelian is foolish indeed.

But a woman who wasBondedto a triad? Well, that could be a smart choice – thesmartestchoice. Anyone offered that possibility should take it.

I remember what Sawoot had told me about the Bond, and I considered the opportunity in the context of my own hardscrabble life.

For a start, as the Fated Mate of a triad, your lifespan would be greatly extended – to the same thousands of years at the Aurelians you’re Bonded with.

Dealing with a trio of aliensobsessedover you would probably become easy after the first hundred years or so – especially given that the alternative is death.

Sawoot sits there silently, watching me ponder this information.

After a few moments, she licks her lips, her nervousness showing.

“Well, Captain – spanking or not; how are you going to get usoutof here?”

The question has no hint of sarcasm to it. Despite being imprisoned in the brig of a warship, separated from the rest of her crew, and being completely unarmed in a midst of a fully-manned Aurelian battalion, Sawootstillhas faith that I’ll come up with a plan to get us out of this mess.

I appreciate her faith – Gods know I do – and it’s not entirely unfounded. I mean, I’ve gotten us out of tight spots before…

…but the deck of cards has never been so stacked against me before.

I turn to her and force myself to smile.

“I’m working on it,” I promise. “I just need to figure out Captain Aelon and his triad first. He holds all the power. If we want to get out of here with our skins intact, weneedto get the better of him.”

But Aelon had justification for being so cocky and arrogant. He was clearly a brilliant, cunning commander and a fearsome warrior. Getting the better of him would not be easy – if it was possible at all.

“I need to find out what motivates him,” I tell Sawoot, “because it sure as hell isn’t loyalty to the Aurelian Empire – and that might be the key to getting ourselves out of this.”

I tap my fingers against the edge of the bunk as my mind works on the problem. Keeping my mind occupied is the easiest way to forget the spanking I’m destined to endure.

The spanking – it still fills me with anger more than humiliation or fear.

It’s sadistic. Aelon wants to humiliate me in front of my entire crew. He wants to break down any respect they might possibly still have for me – erasing the years of progress I’d made with each of my crew in one, fell swoop.

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