Zeth rolled his eyes.
“Well, how am I ever supposed to learn if I don’t get a chance to practice?” He smiled innocently. “I wouldn’t have hurt her, if that’s what you’re worried about. Not too badly, anyway.”
Just then, the door at the back of the cockpit whooshed open and Murdok stepped inside. The smell of the woman was all over him, especially on his fingers, which were clad in black rubberized gloves and glistening with wetness.
“I take it you’re done searching her?” Aeron said.
“Aye, boss. Got her secured and dressed up real pretty for you too.”
“Is there anything else to report?”
“There is…”
What Murdok said next made Aeron sit up a little straighter. His dick did too.
“Are you serious?” Aeron asked.
“You think I would joke about something like that?”
“Take the controls,” Aeron said, standing. “I’m gonna go have a look for myself.”
“Figured you’d want to,” Murdok chuckled as he slid into the pilot’s seat.
“Why does Murdok get to haveallthe fun?” Zeth groaned.
“Don’t worry,” Aeron said. “You’ve got a role to play too. Once the ship’s in position, I want you to run the long-range cameras so we can see exactly what’s going on down there at that mine. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go check on our passenger. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Right,” Zeth said. “Shortly.”
Murdok snorted.
Aeron ignored them and exited the cockpit. After a short walk down the ship’s central corridor, he came to the holding cell at the aft section ofthe Talionis. Typically, that room was for transporting targets whom clients wanted taken alive. Today, it was housing a very different sort of prisoner.
Murdok had left the door shut and locked. Aeron tugged off his right glove and placed his palm against the wall scanner. Aftera few seconds, the lock let go with a softsnick, the door gasped open…
And there she was.
Like any good Merc, Aeron was not prone to sudden surges of emotion. Decades of fighting and killing had hammered such things out of him. Even during that shitstorm on Greef a few months back, his heart rate hadn’t gotten above sixty.
But it was higher than that now. A lot higher. Aeron could feel it punching the inside of his chest like a pulse rifle set to autofire. In his pants, his dick went as rigid as a steel rod. He stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. Then he locked it.
He didn’t wantanyinterruptions.
The woman was bound to the back wall of the room. Her arms and legs were arranged in an X configuration, and her wrists and ankles were attached to the wall with steel shackles and short chains that only allowed her a minimal amount of mobility. She was dressed in an outfit made of black vinyl straps that did nothing whatsoever to conceal her body. Instead, the straps merely framed her bare breasts, leaving her nipples fully exposed. Down below, the straps curled around her upper thighs like a harness, but left her pussy on full display.
Murdok. That bastard.
The outfit had been obtained several missions back, when they had removed a sex cult on Borgialis. Aeron had honestly forgotten they’d kept the damn thing, but obviously Murdok hadn’t. Aeron didn’t know whether to be annoyed with his second in command, or pleasantly surprised.
He moved forward slowly, walking with a slight limp thanks to the steel rod he was now smuggling in the front of his pants. As he advanced, he let his eyes wander over the woman’s nearly naked body. She was perfect for what he had in mind. Curvy in all the right places, tough as nails in others. A tattooed serpent slithered up her right arm, its poison fangs bared in obvious warning to any man who might try to lay his hands upon her.
Aeron decided to risk it. He didn’t care if he got bit. In fact, he kind of hoped he did.
But first…
He turned his attention to the woman’s face. She looked even prettier now than she had when he’d first seen her. Her face was still a bit dirty, but there were clean streaks where her tears had washed away the grime.
Aeron didn’t feel too bad about that. He’d made plenty of women cry in his day. He’d created plenty of widows. And he’d made women’s eyes water in other ways too.
