Breathe, Aletta. Breathe.
The pain was excruciating, but she pushed through it and managed to wiggle her fingers, much to her relief.
The two aliens were still discussing her as if she wasn’t there.
“—wants the first go?”
Were they talking about her? Like she was some fucking carnival ride?
Aletta looked frantically around her. She was still on the cargo side of the cage, separated from the main part of the shuttle. She could see all the other aliens, and none of them looked particularly friendly or helpful.
Scarred, tattooed, and bored-looking. Like this was just an average Tuesday. Ferrying cargo and the occasional kidnapped woman about to be sold into prostitution.
Lovely.
She was going to have to figure this out for herself. Unfortunately, even if the crates around her had anything that could help her, she was still tied up, with what she suspected was a broken wrist, and she couldn’t read the writing on the labels anyway.
What was she going to do? Politely ask her kidnappers to wait while she inspects all the crates to see if there’s something there to help her escape?
She snorted, shook her head, then gasped in pain.
Well, fuck.
Aletta was drawn out of her introspection as the first alien—Xerrick—stared at her, Jerrick at his side. Oh, great. It looked like they both thought she was on the menu. She shuffled backward on her butt, trying to get away from them.
“Fuck!” She cursed as her entire arm throbbed. If only she could get her hands free, then she wouldn’t be jerking her busted wrist around with every small movement. Holding her breath against the pain she knew would come, she rolled to her knees.
Then one of the aliens grabbed her by the hair, jerking her back onto her feet. He turned to face the cage. “Looks like I get first go.”
The aliens in the front of the ship barely glanced up except for A’Kar. She looked past him as if he were nothing.
“It’s not very often I get the first go.” He lifted her as if she weighed nothing, tossing her over his shoulder heedless of her injured arm, and headed toward the back of the shuttle, where he dumped her on top of a hard metal crate.
She groaned, rolling to her side. She was going to be black and blue tomorrow.
There will be a tomorrow. No matter what, I’m going to get through this.
Aletta drew in a breath, sitting up to face the giant who was unbuckling his belt. Blood was rushing so loudly in her ears thatit sounded like a washing machine. This was not happening. She closed her eyes, then snapped them open. She would not go quietly. She would not make this easy for him. She eyed his belt that had been draped carelessly over the next crate, along with his shirt. The belt had a knife sheath.
She just needed to get his knife.
And then what?
She would deal with the next step once she had the knife.
She almost laughed with glee when he pulled out the knife and slit the tape holding her feet together. One step closer. She rolled her ankles to get the movement and feeling back and readied herself, propping her feet on the crate.
He absently placed the knife on the crate next to him and reached for her hips. Aletta cringed at the feeling of his hands on her, but she didn’t resist as he moved her closer to the weapon. Just a little further and she’d be able to reach it. She didn’t dare look at the knife directly.
The metal of the crate was cold as he pushed her onto her back and spread her legs. She couldn’t help but fight to keep her legs closed; it felt so wrong. She shuddered, but he forced her legs open and then ripped her shirt in two, exposing her breasts clad in a sports bra. That, too, he tore from her body, and she reached up to cover herself, trying to pull the scraps of fabric back over herself.
“You’re going to regret this.”
He just grinned and reached into his pants to fist his cock. She turned away, her eyes landing on the knife.
It was now or never.
The shuttle shook, the crate she was on shuddered, and the knife skipped a little closer. An alarm wailed, and her would-be rapist looked toward the front of the ship, distracted.
