Chapter 9

Despite the hostility between us, a little silence and some asteroids to make sure we avoided, took the edge of the atmosphere, especially when I could help him by spotting the house sized rocks on the radar and giving him plenty of warning to fly around them.

At the speeds we were traveling compared to the flying rocks they were easy to avoid, but it was still useful having another pair of eyes to feed you information so you could focus on just one task. It was one of the reasons a lot of ships had multiple people on them. Teamwork was a genuine life saver.

"Right," he said when we were through the field and nothing but stars appeared to be ahead of us. "We're in a safer section of space. Now's a good time to get some sleep."

"Oh," I replied, having almost forgotten I'd have to get back into the box at some point. I really didn't want to, but I had a feeling that I wasn't going to get much choice about it.

A moment later my hands disconnected from the seat I was sitting in and Icaan walked past me and towards the ladder to head up to the bedroom and my hiding place.

One hand reached toward the wrench I'd stowed in the depths of my suit again, and I almost pulled it out to take my strike, but again I couldn't bring myself to. We were in the middle of nowhere. What if I killed him and couldn't fix my ship? Could I steal his? I'd have some serious answering to do if I showed up at a space dock with a ship not registered to me.

Not to mention a dead Frentin.

But I knew I couldn't let him sell me either. Sighing, I got up and followed like a meek little lamb. Where had my spine gone? I had no idea, but I'd never been in a situation quite this bad either.

Icaan was waiting at the bottom of the steps and motioned for me to go up first making me glad the wrench was still hidden. If I'd pulled it out I'd never have got a shot in. I couldn't afford to get my move wrong when I finally made it.

Grateful for at least that, I climbed the steps and tried not to think about the view I was giving him. a memory flashed into my mind as I thought about it, however.

Thoughts of how his body had felt pressed up against mine earlier. How his smell made my knees go weak and my heart skip beats. Even the memory had a powerful impact on my emotions, making heat flush between my legs and desire suggest ideas to me that I'd have considered unpleasant barely thirty hours earlier.

He was right about one thing, Frentin pheromones could make a human woman a lot more willing to be screwed than I'd realized.

As soon as we were in his room, I paused. The hole he'd stuffed me in the previous night still sat wide open, but my feet didn't want to go any closer.

He looked between me and it a couple of times, but just before I could beg him to let me sleep somewhere else, he reached forward and closed it.

"You really are claustrophobic, aren't you?" he said.

I nodded as I considered my words. "I know it's a weird thing for someone running her own tin box of a ship, but I'm petrified of small spaces.”

"You're right. It's weird. But I'll give you a chance. You've shown you'll cooperate if you're getting something you want, so, I won't put you in there to sleep if you'll sleep sensibly somewhere else."

"Where do you have in mind?" I asked, trying to hide the relief that flooded through me.

"Somewhere I can still keep an eye on you", he said as he pulled his mattress off his bed and onto the floor.

I raised my eyebrows, but kept back as he made a sort of bed on the floor and then grabbed another blanket and arranged it on the frame that had supported his bed a moment earlier.

"Can I have a pillow too?" I asked, wondering if that would be pushing it, but asking anyway. He looked at me and rolled his eyes, but fetched one of those from the overhead cupboard the blanket had come from too.

A moment later there was a sort of bed for me. One that would no doubt be far more comfortable than the prison I'd started our journey together in.

I didn't hesitate to climb onto it and snuggled down. The second I stopped moving I felt my ankles lock into place together. He was serious about keeping me still if nothing else.

"You comfy enough?" he asked as he sat down and rearranged his own bedding a bit more.

"I think so," I replied, anticipating his intention of locking my hands together as well.

They snapped shut a moment later and I marveled at how they'd obeyed his thoughts. He hadn't even so much as looked at me, still getting himself settled in the floor space between me and freedom.

I quickly imagined what might happen if I ever joined him on the floor, my mind serving me up the memories of his hand as it brushed over my hip and the electric sparks that ran across my skin.

For a moment I almost gave in to it, but then I realized I could faintly smell him either from the bedding I was using or the bed frame itself. And it was instantly taking over my thoughts and emotions, making me desire to offer myself to him for his satisfaction.

I'd heard of human women getting high on this scent, using it to increase their arousal with other partners and all sorts of things, but I'd never believed it to be anything more than a myth or scam. Now here I was getting even a small whiff of this man and I wanted to practically have his babies.

Despite the temptation, however, I was determined to resist. Not only because it was probably because he expected it, but also because I wasn't that kind of person and he was someone I didn't trust. Even if I enjoyed myself I knew I'd regret it.

Sighing and trying to think of something else. Diagnostics readouts, or calculations for distances. Anything not remotely sexy, I rolled over.

It barely helped, and before I knew it I was huffing and rolling over again.

"If you're going to be that difficult about sleeping you can go back in the hole," Icaan said, making it clear he was also still awake.

I growled. It was his fault I couldn't sleep. I desperately wanted to be.

"Lay still and think of something pleasant. You'll be asleep in no time," he added, shuffling himself to get comfy again as well.

"If only it were that simple," I replied after a moment. "I can smell you."

It was the only information I was going to give to describe my current predicament. His chuckle in response let me know he'd worked out what that meant for me.

"If you want you can come down here and I'll sort that problem out. Apparently, there's some kind of almost neutralizing power to our cum. I stick you full of it and you'll sleep like a babe."

I blinked, surprised at the blunt admission. From a biological standpoint it made sense. Something needed to turn it off once the woman had been ravished by the Frentin man, but I hadn't expected it to be so... crudely spoken of by Icaan. Although I'd noted he'd used the word apparently. Had he never actually enjoyed the human women he'd taken?

"I'm good, thanks," I replied. Somehow I was going to resist this desire. There was no way I was giving myself up to the cocky Frentin. He'd be sleeping alone or I would put myself back in the hole as punishment. But that meant I had to find some other way to get to sleep.