Entwined (Intergalactic Loyalties) by Jessica Coulter Smith Page A

surprise. “I thought pirates always traveled in groups of ten or more.”
    He laughed. “Well, I guess we aren’t your typical pirates. We mostly deal in goods. Slaves aren’t the norm for us.”
    “If you don’t keep slaves on board, who’s in the holding cells?”
    “Other pirates, criminals, anyone who crosses us. We’ll trade them to their people for things we need.”
    She nodded and followed along. The corridor opened into a large room, and she peeked around Ghel to see three large Tarnans sitting at a table. All conversation stopped when they saw her, and the largest of the three rose and came to meet them.
    “I see you have our honored guest with you, Ghel.” He gave her a disarming smile. “I’m Lees.”
    “It’s nice to meet you,” she said softly, still not comfortable enough to come out from behind Ghel. Being in a room full of large warriors was a little disconcerting, even if she knew they meant her no harm.
    The other two came to greet her as well. “I’m Fenir,” said the shorter of the two.
    “And I’m Torl.”
    “I’m Ariana,” she said. “Have I met everyone now?”
    Ghel smiled. “Almost. There’s still the captain. We’ll head that way now. I’m sure Bynt is with him.”
    Ariana smiled at the three Tarnans she’d just met and allowed Ghel to guide her toward the front of the ship. If she had to guess, the captain was in the command center.
    She’d never been in the command center of a ship before. When they entered the room, she stared in amazement at all of the panels of buttons before looking out the large window at the front of the ship. It was a breathtaking view, and she could tell immediately that they had begun to move. Where were they going?
    “Ghel, have you been giving our delightful guest a tour of the ship?” the captain asked.
    “Yes, sir. Captain, this is Ariana. Ariana, this is our captain, Sol. He also doubles as our medic since we don’t have one on board at the moment.” Ghel gave her arm a gentle squeeze.
    “Why are we moving?” she asked.
    “It’ll take us a week to reach Tarnan. The sooner we get moving the better. That should give you plenty of time to decide,” Sol said.
    “Decide?”
    Sol smiled. “Of course. You need a protector. There are six men on this ship. Surely one of them will meet your standards.”
    Her jaw dropped. “You expect me to just pick a guy within a week, and what? Spend the rest of my life with him? As what, a slave?”
    “Not as a slave,” Ghel assured her. “We would never enslave a woman on Tarnan.”
    “Then --”
    “As a life partner,” Bynt told her.
    “You took me from the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” she told them. “I was happy before you stole me away from my home.”
    “Happy?” Bynt sneered. “You were a possession, a piece of property. You were bought and paid for.”
    “It isn’t like that. Bane loves me!”
    The other Tarnan in the room gave her a contemplative look. “He has feelings for you?”
    “Not just feelings. He loves me,” she said adamantly.
    “He’ll come for her,” Bynt said.
    Ghel moved closer to her. “I want her, Captain. I’ll protect her if he comes here.”
    “He can’t win against us,” Bynt said. “He isn’t a fighter. She said herself that he’s more the intellectual type.”
    The captain looked at his men. “And if he comes here and you see for yourselves the depth of the feelings she has for him, will you stand in her way of being reunited with him?”
    Ghel looked grim. “No, I couldn’t make her unhappy.”
    “So if Bane comes, I can leave with him?” she asked.
    “Yes and no,” the captain answered. “We won’t stand in the way of the two of you being happy together, but there’s the little problem of the woman who’s paying us.”
    “Surely she’ll leave us alone when she realizes she failed.”
    Ghel shook his head. “I doubt it. There is one thing though. While her crime against you isn’t really considered a