Venik fell into step beside me, his own armor similarly marked from leading one of the other raiding vessels.
"Report," I barked.
"Three supply ships stripped of cargo," Venik recited. "Weapons, ammunition, replacement parts intended for Imperial battleships in the inner systems. All transferred to our holds. All Imperial soldiers dead and all civilian crew surrendered without engagement. Two raiders with minor injuries, but nothing that won’t heal quickly.”
I nodded. We'd overwhelmed them briskly, efficiently, and with no casualties on our side.
"The crew that survived and didn't fight?" I asked.
"Released with their transports as ordered. After being properly warned."
I remembered the terror in their faces when they'd realized who had boarded their ships, when they'd realized they'd been raided by the Qeth’rex himself. Some of them had actually dropped to their knees, begging for mercy they assumed wouldn't come.
I'd let them go with instructions to tell their bosses what happened. Tell them the Vandar are watching. Tell them there are consequences.
It was usually enough. My ruthless reputation meant I often didn't have to spill as much blood anymore. The threat alone was sufficient. Fear could be a weapon as effective as any blade.
We reached the officers' deck, the corridor narrowing. My quarters were at the end, apart from the others, and inside Jasmine was waiting.
The thought made my stride falter for just a moment before I forced myself to continue at the same pace. I'd made a decision during the raid, and it was one I didn’t regret now, even as my heart rattled its cage.
"I need guest quarters arranged for the woman," I said, keeping my voice even. “Not a cell. Somewhere comfortable but secure.”
Far enough away that I wouldn't be constantly aware of her presence, I thought but didn’t say. Far enough that I could think clearly. Far enough that I wouldn't be tempted to do something monumentally stupid.
Venik raised an eyebrow. “Guarded?”
I remembered the hate that had blazed in her eyes. “Definitely.”
Keeping her in my quarters was a distraction I couldn't afford, but I could also not risk her walking around the ship. I didn’t doubt the ferocity of my raiders, but I suspected she was more dangerous than she appeared. From the tales I’d heard from past Vandar who’d taken human brides, their small size was deceptive.
"I can escort her to guest quarters now, if you'd like," Venik offered.
"Good. Do that." I brushed aside any lingering regret, reminding myself that I could not afford to have anything take up as much space in my head as she had from the moment I’d encountered her.
We reached my door, I pressed my palm to the cool surface, and it slid open with its usual murmur. Mymajakwas a step behind me as we strode into my quarters without announcing our arrival. I assumed I would see her at the table, perhaps finishing her meal. Maybe she would be by the fire warming herself. She was neither of those places.
My gaze swept the space, and I stopped breathing at the same moment Venik drew in a startled breath and froze.
Jasmine was in my bed. She wasn’t sitting on the edge. She wasn’t standing beside it. She was in it, sitting up and leaning on one hand, with a silky sheet wrapped around her body and barely clinging to the swell of her breasts. It was immediately, devastatingly clear that she was wearing nothing underneath.
My brain short-circuited as I stared at her. Every rational argument I'd carefully constructed evaporated like water on hot coals.
Her dark hair was loose around her shoulders, still slightly damp and curling at the ends. Her skin was flushed, and her shoulders were buttered gold in the ambient lighting. She looked soft, vulnerable, and ripe for the taking.
Beside me, Venik made a strangled sound. “Do you still wish for me to--?” he managed, his voice slightly higher than usual.
“No,” I rasped, not bothering to glance at him. “Leave us.”
The door slid shut behind him, leaving me alone with a nearly naked human woman in my bed.
Jasmine's cheeks flushed darker, a deep red that spread down her neck and disappeared beneath the sheet. She scrambled to pull the fabric higher, clutching it against her chest with both hands.
"I don’t know what…I mean, I thought I might…” The words stumbled from her lips, making no sense. She seemed incapable of completing a sentence, her eyes wide and shocked, like she'd been caught doing something she shouldn’t be.
My brain finally reconnected with my mouth, and what emerged was not the calm, rational question I should have asked.
"Explain yourself!" The words came out as a bark, harsh and commanding.
