His Captive Mate Read Free Page A

the ship?”
    “How long until the rescue ship docks?” Zaer asked as calmly as she could.
    “One hour and twenty-seven minutes,” the girl replied, not looking Zaer straight in the eye. This one seemed unusually scared of her. Perhaps it was good that she had that kind of reputation. Made it easier to maintain order.
    “Send for me again when they are on their approach. I will meet them at the dock. Until then, I will be below decks.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” the woman said, curtsied, then turned to leave the room.
    “Tell the nurse she may enter,” Zaer called after the young woman.
    “Yes, ma’am,” she replied, turning to do so. Zaer watched her pause, then turn back to face her. “Ma’am?” the girl asked.
    “What is it, girl?” Zaer said, scowling at her for all the questions.
    “I’m sorry about your daughter.”
    Zaer’s expression didn’t change. “She’s not dead yet,” she said, eyeing the girl with an even stare.
    The young woman blushed, bowed slightly, then hurried out the door.
    Zaer turned once again to face the window. She would go below decks and see how the preparations were going for the next round of breeding. No sense sitting about and moping until the Tranquility arrived with the survivors. A pang of guilty adrenaline shot through Zaer and she closed her eyes and stilled herself, letting it run its course then releasing it into the room. How on earth had that ship suffered so much damage? The reports that they’d been shot had to be fiction. The men didn’t have anything close to capable of wreaking that kind of havoc on the craft. Did they?
    “Ma’am?”
    Zaer turned at the sound of the voice behind her, wondering how long she’d been lost in her thoughts.
    “Yes. Of course. I’m sorry.”
    “Not at all, ma’am. Are you still ready to go? I mean, we could put it off if you prefer. Given the circumstances…”
    “Nonsense,” Zaer said with a scowl. “There’s no sense sitting and moping about it. I’ll meet the ship at the dock when they arrive. Until then, let’s begin the errands.”
    The woman nodded and stepped aside so Zaer could pass.
    “Ma’am?” the nurse asked quietly.
    “What is it?” Zaer responded, starting to get annoyed.
    “Who… who made it off?”
    News traveled fast, it seemed.
    “Everyone but Ashea. Daz was in midair. They had to abort the retrieval. They saw her crash suit deploy. She’ll be fine.” Zaer knew she should show some more compassion at a time like this, more emotion to make the other women feel better, but somehow she didn’t have the patience for it. The nurse covered her mouth with one hand and shook her head, unable to believe what she’d heard.
    “What will she do?” the nurse asked quietly when she’d recovered from the shock of the news.
    “She’ll do what she’s trained for. If anyone’s going to survive something like this, it’s Daz. Now come along. Let’s get below and stop wasting time.”
    With that, Zaer opened the door and stepped out, with the nurse following her quick stride.
     
    * * *
     
    The descent into below decks was one of Zaer’s secret pleasures. Of course it wasn’t a ship they were on, so it shouldn’t really have been called below decks. Zaer didn’t even remember how the name came to be. It was just a euphemism for the unmentionable things that happened there.
    The thick, wet smell of females in heat that hit her when the lift doors opened was something she found particularly arousing. Though she could never admit it to anyone, of course, whenever she inspected below decks, she would have a man brought up that evening—so intoxicating was the odor.
    She had a ritual she followed whenever she went there too. She would always walk past the cages first, making sure that the men were being well tended to. Though they were there for one purpose and one purpose alone, Zaer was not of the opinion that they should be mistreated. Far from it. She, unlike some of her predecessors, believed