Page 83 of Alien Captain's Prisoner

“You don’t need sensible anymore, Tasha – unless you’re planning on pulling off another heist that I don’t know about.”

Fuck.

Panic surges, but I get control of it. I don’t want him to think I’m up to anything, and that’s going to be difficult since he canfeelmy emotions through the Bond.

There are layers to this interaction – subtleties that flow way beneath the surface. I don’t feel any suspicion coming from his aura – but he’s got hundreds of years of practice in hiding his own emotions through the Bond, so who’s to say I can trust what I sense.

“Sit down,” Aelon says, motioning towards the sofa. I sit down gingerly. He goes to the corner of his room. There’s a hiss as he opens a chilled compartment. After everything, I’m expecting him to come back with a weapon or some fiendish sex toy. Instead, he returns with two bottles of chilled, orange liquid. He tosses a bottle to me. With my heightened reflexes, I catch it effortlessly.

I wonder what it will be like to pilot with my new senses? I’m eager to get behind the controls of one of his Reavers as we make our escape tonight.

But that can wait. For now, I have to play it cool. I crack open the bottle. The aroma of sweetness fills my nostrils.

“Sweetfruit,” Aelon tells me. “It grows on only one desert planet in the backwaters of some distant solar system – but it’s worth the expense to have it shipped.”

The towering Aurelian sits beside me.

“You’re Bonded to me now, Tasha,” Aelon purrs. “Your life won’t be barely scraping a living anymore. You won’t be always looking over your shoulder. We’ll protect you, Tasha. We’ll worship you. You’ll experience things you never even knew you wanted.”

For once, Aelon isn’t making a snarky comment or a ribald joke. In fact, I can’t detect even a hint of arrogance in his words. I wasn’t expecting this. The cocky Captain suddenly sounds sincere.

But it’s too little, too late.

I can still feel his darkness lurking in his mind, ready to surface at any moment. This gentle side of him would disappear in an instant if the Toads entered this system.

I take a sip of the drink, and the sweet nectar explodes on my tastebuds. Aelon drinks it too, but he seems restless. He simply stares at me, as though he’s seeing me for the first time.

“What is it?” I demand.

A sincere smile graces that handsome face.

“It’s just… Well, I never thought I’d experience this. You hope you will – but you never really believe it will happen. I’ve never been drawn to a woman like I’m drawn towards you, Tasha. Women have always been pleasant distractions – but until now, they’veonlybeen distractions.”

Asshole.

“Distractions?” I snort. “From what? Making money and killing Toads?”

His anger flares through the Bond – but Aelon’s face stays exactly the same. It’s uncanny how he can hide his emotions so fluently.

“Do not reduce me to that.”

“What more is there to you?”

I’m on thin ice. I’ll be gone from his life soon enough, and this is his last chance to convince me that there’s something deeper to him than just violence and anger.

He draws in a deep, harsh breath. “You haven’t seen what I’ve seen.”

His darkness is oozing through the Bond, like oil coming to the surface of water.

“Okay, then tell me. Tell me what happened that day.”

Aelon’s lips draw back, showing his teeth. The three of these Aurelians are beasts to the core. I can see it clearly now – and I don’t need the enhanced senses of the Bond to know Aelon can’t change. Hewon’tchange. This man can’t be the father of my children. How could I bring sons into the world of this bloodthirsty, vengeful man?

But then he slowly begins to speak.

“I… I was on that Toad ship, back in my last year of service in the Aurelian Army. I was only supposed to be in diplomatic talks – but I slipped away from my Toad escort for a moment… and I saw something on board that ship I wasn’t supposed to see.”

His aura is growing cold and dark. I can feel his pain building inside of him, spilling over into my own mind. “What did you see, Aelon?”

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