Barbarian Pirate. Cecily Royce

be selfish. Instead she took the glass and swallowed the liquid in one gulp, only then finding out how really bad the stuff tasted.

      "Good girl," Rego said with a grin, taking back the glass while Chayara shuddered at the awful taste in her mouth. "You can have some water in a few minutes, and that will help. Just as your reward will help. I'm going to let you use my shower."

      "And now I shouldn't even contaminate it," she said huskily while trying to rid her mouth of that horrible taste. "You're being so good to me I'm nearly overwhelmed, but there are a couple of things you still haven't said. Where is this ship heading, and what happens to me when we get there?"

      "When we get where we're going you'll be turned loose," he said before she could snarl at herself for asking a question she might not like the answer to. "Your expression says you don't quite believe me, but there's no reason you shouldn't. We're headed for the station near Moradan on the planet Verena, and you can tell the station authorities anything you like."

      Shock made Chayara forget the taste in her mouth for a moment. Ever since she'd left home, her biggest worry had been how she would get to the place her uncle Leron had said he'd be. Not many years ago Verena had been just another planet, with not much more than a resort and barbarians, but today it housed the city of Moradan, which was the home of every pirate who roamed deep space and made life unbearable for the government. The planetary system was so well defended that governmental forces hadn't been able to get through those defenses, and Chayara hadn't known how she would get through—even assuming she reached the station. Now Rego had said he was taking her right to where she wanted to go, proving that her luck hadn't deserted her after all.

      "Yes, I can see that the station authorities won't care what ship I came on," she said slowly, her head whirling with newly made plans. "About how long will it be before we get there?"

      "Just a few days," he answered, the words nearly a drawl. "Go ahead and take your shower now, and then we can talk about my reward."

      Chayara hated the instant blush she could feel on her cheeks, most especially since Rego couldn't have missed seeing it. Instead of saying anything, though, she hurried to the bathroom. The light came on as soon as she stepped through the doorway, of course, so she quickly closed the door behind her. There was no way to lock it, but closing it was better than leaving it open.

      "I'm beginning to hate that man," she muttered as she went to the sink and turned on the water. There was no glass to use, but her palm served well enough to get water into her mouth to drown the awful taste of that medication.

      If she hadn't already cleared the room of dirty clothes and piled books, she wouldn't have enjoyed the idea of a shower half as much as she did. But she had cleared the room, so she was able to get out of her rubber-soled shoes and well-worn clothes before stepping into the narrow shower stall. The frosted mock-glass door kept her from seeing out, but that meant no one else would be able to see in. Rego thought he would be enjoying himself with her soon, but she'd already decided not to let that happen. Unless, of course, he enjoyed taking his jollies with a corpse.

      The shower water was steaming hot, a treat Chayara hadn't enjoyed since she left home. Station showers never got hotter than almost warm, and the sanitary facilities in freighter supply holds didn't have showers. As she washed, she thought about food, but not because she was hungry—yet. The food concentrate tablets only had to be taken once a day, but now that she wasn't in a hold any longer, she might get the chance at some real food.

      But not if Rego gave her a hard time over the meal. Chayara had lived on tablets for what seemed like months now, even though it had only been a little less than two standard weeks, so a few more days would hardly kill her. She would not give him everything he wanted, not if he tried to bribe her, and not even if he hurt her. Chances were good that he would hurt her, but that made things better. Getting hurt would make her mad, and mad was still better than nervous.

      Chayara had already rinsed the soap from her body and hair when the delicious hot water cut off and the warm blowers came on. The shower had lasted longer than showers on stations, but even the captain's shower had an automatic cutoff on board a ship. Well, the fact that the blowers blew warm air instead of cold made up for losing the water, so she enjoyed being dried almost as much as she'd enjoyed getting clean.

      When even her hair and the bottoms of her feet were dry, she stepped out of the shower stall. She didn't really want to get back into her dirty clothes, but the rest of her things were still in Rego's office and she could hardly ask him to retrieve them.

      Her heart skipped a beat when she reached for clothes that were no longer where she'd left them. Nothing but empty floor lay outside the shower, which meant that if she went back out to the cabin, she would have to go naked. Instant embarrassment heated her cheeks, and for some reason the embarrassment seemed to be echoed by her body as well. A similar heat appeared inside her and began to spread, just as if she found walking around naked arousing.

      "I most certainly do not like that idea!" she snarled softly, clenching her fists in an attempt to ignore what she felt. "And I'm not going to do anything to encourage that miserable man."

      "Well, that's much better," Rego said after opening the door so abruptly that Chayara actually jumped. "You clean up better than I thought you would, not to mention the fact that your clothes didn't tell half the story about what was under them. Now that you're ready, you can come out here."

      By that time Chayara had used her arms to cover her body, or at least she'd tried to cover herself. The effort turned out to be almost completely ineffective, and Rego's amusement made her want to scream. He'd turned away from the door after graciously giving her permission to walk around naked, but she couldn't just leave matters at that.

      "I'm not moving from this room until my clothes are returned!" she shouted at the broad back that had already begun to move away. "Those clothes were mine so you had no right to touch them! Tell me where you've put them!"

      "Your clothes are in the cleaner along with the rest of mine," he answered mildly, only turning part way back to speak to her. "If you don't feel like coming out of the head by yourself, I can always send for a couple of my men to help you. You have one standard minute to decide if that's what you want. After that I'll make the decision for you."

      Mortification added to the flames already consuming Chayara's face and body in spite of the fact that Rego had continued on his way. It was bad enough that he had seen her like this; if he ever called his men the embarrassment would kill her. That meant she had to walk out just as she was, and without trying to hide behind her arms. Hiding like a backward child had made her feel so stupid.

      She had to swallow hard before she was able to force herself to leave the bathroom. The first few steps weren't too bad, but then she was able to see Rego where he sat in the cabin's only chair. Even though the glimpse was just out of the corner of her eye she could feel the weight of his complete attention, an awareness that didn't simply add to her embarrassment. Her body's arousal increased as if she were enjoying being looked at, and suddenly walking became more of a chore.

      "Yes, that's much better," Rego said from the deep, padded chair he sat in, the words almost a murmur. "Come closer to me."

      Closer. Chayara wanted nothing more than to pick a direction and just run without ever stopping, but even if she'd been dressed she couldn't have left the cabin and stayed alive. She moved closer to her captor just as he'd ordered, but not very quickly. And she certainly didn't look directly at him.

      "No!" she shouted, trying to fight the big hands that had come to pull her into Rego's lap. He'd waited until she was close enough to grab, probably knowing she would never have gotten into his lap by herself.

      "Enough melodramatics," he ordered as he held her where he wanted her in spite of her struggles. "Are you a grown woman or a small child?"

      His words hit her like a bucket of cold water. She was behaving like a child, and that was even more embarrassing than sitting naked in a strange man's lap. It took a real effort to calm down, but finally she managed it.

      "You're right, and I apologize," she made herself say, still not looking at him. But not looking at Rego didn't help with