Spider Bight [Deep Space Mission Corps 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (15 page)

She dug her fingers into his hair. “He is very good, Doctor,” she said in heavily accented standard.

Emi swallowed hard. “I’m sure he is.”

Rawin smiled and returned her attention to Emi. “Any or all of our pleasure males,” Rawin said, “free for you to use for the night. We have never had a human male before. We promise to keep him very busy so he doesn’t have time to miss you. And if money is an issue, we will be happy to compensate you for his use.”

Diplomacy be fucked!
Emi pasted a smile on her face and prayed it stayed there long enough to get them out of there. “That is a very generous offer, but I’m afraid I will pass on it tonight. I need to return to my ship as soon as possible. We have a critical mission we were pulled from. It is vital we get underway as soon as possible.”

Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed Aaron’s hand and almost tripped over the four males eagerly waiting behind them. Weaving around them, she nearly broke into a run and headed for the front door.

“Emi—”

“Shut up, Aaron. Regulations, smegulations. We’re getting the twins and getting the fuck off this goddamned rock of horny women right
now
,” she muttered.

Caph knew they couldn’t refuse the errand, since Mauri seemed cheerfully insistent that Emi partake of their planet’s most-desired export on her royal dime. With a map and list, along with a voucher from Mauri loaded into their handheld, they set out on their expedition.

“I’d feel better if we had a guard,” Caph griped. “Or a tour guide. At least we wouldn’t get lost.” He didn’t like the curious stares they received from both Moran women and men alike. And he felt worse than naked in the getup they had to wear.

“Oh, hush,” Ford said. “This is a piece of cake and it’s not that far away.”

They followed the handheld map until they arrived at a storefront a few minutes later. Caph looked up at the sign. Written in Moran, he couldn’t decipher it. “Is this the place?”

Ford double-checked the handheld. “It says it is on here.”

Caph took a deep breath. “I’ll be so damned glad to get back to the
TB
,” he muttered, low enough three Moran women walking past them couldn’t hear him. “I hate this fucking place.” He adjusted the collar on his neck before tugging at the G-string. “This damn thing is squeezing my balls nearly up into my ass.”

“Yeah, it’s not exactly my cuppa either, big guy. Let’s do this and get it over with. The sooner we do, the sooner we can head home and change. Remember, we’re supposed to be diplomatic.”

“Hard to do that dressed like this.” He followed Ford inside the store and grabbed a shopping basket from the rack of them by the door. A chime sounded at their entrance.

It was the right place. Fragrant displays of jars, bottles, and tubes, as well as what looked like candles and potpourri, were tastefully displayed in the busy store, even if the two men couldn’t read a single word on any of the packages. They weren’t the only men in the place, however. Caph spotted one naked Moran man wearing an orange collar and dutifully following behind his owner, carrying a full armload of stuff in an overflowing basket while she took her time browsing. The door chime sounded every time someone entered or left the store.

Caph followed Ford over to a woman standing behind a counter. Despite the differences, it seemed shops all over the universe had a lot of the same features in common, like checkout counters and clerks who didn’t want to be bothered by customers they considered beneath them. Ford pulled up something on the handheld and showed it to her.

Caph also guessed disdain was a universal expression. The woman arched an eyebrow at Ford as she glanced at the screen of his device. Then she walked around the counter and led them to a display along the far wall, pointing but not walking them through their list.

“Thank you. Eh,
cah’shleay
,” Ford said.

She let out what sounded to Caph like a snort of derision. “You are welcome, Earth man,” the Moran responded in accented, but understandable standard dripping with contempt.

“Huh,” Ford said, watching her walk away. “Didn’t think they spoke standard.”

“Many of us do,” a Moran woman said from behind them.

Caph turned to find himself nearly eye-to-boob with a tall Moran woman.

“Sorry?” Ford said as he looked up.

“Because we are used to hosting people from all over the galaxy, many of us speak standard.” She carried a shopping basket and pointed at the wall display directly behind where Ford stood. “You are not from here.”

“Oh, sorry.” He moved out of the way so she could reach the display. “It’s that obvious, huh?”

“You have been on our news. You and your captain, the doctor.” She picked up a jar, looked at the label, and added it to her basket. “She must be a very rich woman to have three men of her own as well as a ship.”

Caph had a weird feeling at the base of his neck. He didn’t like the way the woman’s eyes kept running up and down their bodies. Especially his. He wanted to get their stuff and get out of there and back to Emi. Ford would stand there talking all day if he let him.

“Could you help us find these?” Caph grabbed the handheld from Ford and showed her the screen. “Mauri Dob’antu told Emi…eh, Captain Hypatia, she wanted her to have these things as gifts for bringing the ship back for them.”

The door chime sounded yet again. Caph glanced to see a Moran woman enter. She cast her gaze around the store. When her eyes met Caph’s, he looked away quickly. He didn’t like the hard, intense stare she gave him.

The woman helping them looked at the handheld’s screen and turned back to the display. She selected three different items and placed them in Caph’s basket. “They are made here on our planet from what you would call organically grown plants. No chemicals are added to them. Women from various planets, and not just human, pay dearly to have this imported from us. Mauri is very kind and generous to those in her favor.”

She reached over to another display and grabbed two more items, tubes of what Caph assumed were lotion, and placed them in his basket. “She might also enjoy these.” She smiled, but it held no humor that he could see. “I hope she enjoys them.”

“Thanks,” Caph said. “We really appreciate your help.” He tapped Ford on the shoulder and pointed at the counter. “Let’s get out of here.”

They turned to make their way over to the counter when the woman Caph had seen entering the store approached them. He didn’t like the smirk she gave before she started screaming something in Moran.

Caph and Ford looked at each other. “What the fuck?” Caph said.

Immediately, two Moran guards rushed up and grabbed Ford and Caph.

Ford struggled. “Let go of us!”

The woman spoke quickly in Moran to the two guards, who ripped the basket out of Caph’s hand before slapping their version of handcuffs on them and bodily dragging them from the store.

“What the hell is wrong with you people?” Caph yelled, trying to fight.

They were dragged into an awaiting vehicle with a logo on the side that Caph assumed meant it was one of their security force vehicles. When they both continued trying to resist, the cuffs delivered a stunning shock that left both men immobile and disoriented for several minutes.

Ford groaned. “Aaron’s gonna kill us,” he said from his place on the floor in the back of the vehicle.

“Screw that. Emi’s going to kill us,” Caph said.

* * * *

Emi and Aaron quickly made their way back to the main Imperial Home. Rawin didn’t follow them, much to Emi’s great relief. Once again, every nerve in Emi’s body was screaming in protest, and nothing she told herself would settle her. The only thing that would help, she knew, was getting Ford and Caph and getting the hell back to the
Bight
.

One of the guards at the entrance understood enough standard she was able to lead Emi and Aaron back to Mauri’s office.

Mauri was still on the phone at her desk. Shaking with adrenaline, Emi plopped down on the sofa and looked up at Aaron.

How he’d managed to not say anything during the encounter proved the strength of his iron will. Maybe she wasn’t the best imitation captain out there. Aaron, hands down, did a far better job of at least pretending to keep his cool. Once Mauri got off the phone, Emi would ask her to send guards after Caph and Ford to see them back safely, and then ask to leave.

Mauri was still on the phone a few minutes later when a guard rushed into the office, speaking in excited tones Emi didn’t like.

Even more, Emi didn’t like how the guard glanced at her and Aaron before directing her comments to Mauri once more.

Mauri ended her phone conversation and frowned as she spoke with the guard.

Aaron walked over to Emi as she stood. “I don’t like this, babe,” he whispered.

“Neither do I.”

Mauri looked distraught. She rounded her desk and approached Emi. “Doctor Hypatia, I have just received troubling information about your other two men.”

Emi involuntarily reached for Aaron’s hand. “What? Are they okay? Did one of those spider things get him?”

“Things? No, there was an altercation in the store. I am so terribly sorry, I should have sent a guard with them but I did not want to insult your ownership of your men by doing so.”

“What happened?” Emi tried not to scream.

“It appears they assaulted someone in the store.”

“Assaulted?” Now she and Aaron were doing the twinspeak.

“No way,” Emi said. “They would
never
do that.”

“I do not have all the details, but security detained them and took them to a holding station.”

“Are they okay?”

“They are unharmed. We must go. Now.”

* * * *

Less than an hour later, they were standing in the station. Caph and Ford looked miserable, sitting on a bench inside a locked holding room. Two uniformed guards were trying to explain the situation to Mauri and Baltin, who’d been called in to help deal with this.

Rawin showed up with another woman and entered the fray as well after casting triumphant glances at Emi.

Both Caph and Ford stood up and walked over to the door, motioning to Emi and Aaron. Emi and Aaron could stand outside the cell and talk to them through the door.

“That’s her,” Caph said, pointing at the woman who’d entered the station with Rawin. “That’s the woman who walked into the store and then just started yelling. We never touched her, and we never touched the woman we were talking to.”

“I swear we didn’t,” Ford said.

“Calm down. We’ll get this settled,” Aaron counseled. Emi read the doubt in him, though, which didn’t instill her with confidence.

After several more minutes of wrangling, Mauri walked over to Emi. “Doctor, I must speak with you.” She brought Emi over to the gathered security officers, Rawin, and the other woman.

“There is a witness to the claims Ptau’Baegen makes. She claims they attempted to sexually assault her. These are serious charges.”

Emi struggled to remain calm. “My men didn’t touch her. She’s making this up.”

“This is what the report says.”

“I don’t care what the hell the report says. My guys are chipped. It ensures fidelity. Even if they weren’t chipped, I know they would
never
touch someone like that.”

“There is a witness.”

“Is it on video? Witnesses can lie.”

Rawin’s eyes narrowed. She looked amused. “Ptau’Baegen is my friend, and she does not lie.”

“You’re behind this, I’m sure of it!” Emi shouted. “You’re pissed off that I won’t let you get freaky with my husbands!”

Ptau’Baegen got in Emi’s face, which was hard to do because she stood a good half a head taller than Emi. “I do
not
lie!” She looked at Mauri. “I demand damages for the assault and for the accusation against my honor!”

Rawin got between Ptau’Baegen and Emi. “Mother, I have a simple solution. Perhaps Ptau’Baegen will be amenable to it?”

Ptau’Baegen looked like she was thinking. “Go on.”

“Do any of those men catch your eye?”

She looked at where Aaron, Ford, and Caph stood. “The free one. The pilot. He would do.”

Rawin looked triumphant. “I suggest a simple trade. Dr. Hypatia awards the pilot to Ptau’Baegen, and perhaps Ptau’Baegen would be agreeable to letting the other two go free?”

Ptau’Baegen nodded while Emi yelled and tried to charge the Moran woman. “No fucking way!” She felt hands on her and realized Aaron was pulling her back, trying to calm her.

She fought him, breaking free and standing on tiptoe to get in Rawin’s face, who stood at least a head taller than Emi. “Listen to me, you goddamned cunt. You are
not
getting your fucking hands on any of my men. I’ll do whatever it takes, but they all leave
with
me. This is made-up bullshit and you know it!”

There was a brief moment of discussion in Moran between Rawin and her friend. Rawin shrugged. “She says she demands a fight of settlement. Winner takes all.”