Microsoft Word - Blind_Space-Marie_Sexton.doc by Dawn Read Free Book Online

comfortable if we weren't in my quarters."
    I was still blind. I was still bound. But he was right.

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    Somehow, it felt less threatening being here than it did being alone with him in his cabin. Maybe it was simply knowing somebody could wander in at any time.
    "I appreciate that," I said.
    "I feel I should apologize for my behavior the other night," he said.
    "Do you want me to tell you you're forgiven?"
    "I take it I'm not?"
    I wasn't sure what to say. I no longer resented his occupation as much as I had before, but I wasn't ready to admit it.
    "I didn't know pirates longed for forgiveness?"
    He laughed. "Neither did I. I suppose it's a touchy subject for me. There's a lot of discussion about what we steal, but very little mention of what was stolen from us."
    "And you think two wrongs make a right?"
    "I don't know about a right , but I'm not ashamed to admit I'd rather be here, living the way I do, than trying to scratch a living out of the mines back home."
    I couldn't really blame him, but I opted to keep my mouth shut.
    "What about you?" he asked. "Where are you from?"
    "Delta-8."
    "Really? I was expecting you to name some Empire

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    planet."
    "It is."
    He laughed. "Well, it is now , but it hasn't been for so very long. Your own annexation didn't go so well either, did it?"
    I'd been thirteen when the Empire had annexed
    Delta-8. No wars, like on his world, but there had been plenty of labor strikes and riots in the streets. People had died, although no one I knew. I had memories of it, yes, but I'd understood so little of what was going on. "It was a long time ago."
    "That doesn't validate what was done."
    "The Empire grows bigger every year. My father says only a fool fights progress."
    "'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em'?"
    "Something like that, I guess."
    He laughed, and I felt him step closer. One of his
    fingers trailed down my bicep. "And if you can't beat me?"
    he asked. "Will you join me then, too?"
    "I didn't realize we were in some kind of
    competition."
    "You have a point. In truth, I'm not competing with you, am I? It seems I'm competing with your Regency. And you're the prize." He slid his arm around my waist. His lips touched my jaw. His hair brushed my cheek. His cold,

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    clean scent tickled my nose. "What can I bribe you with, Captain Kelley? Isn't there anything you long for that your Regency can't provide?"
    I kept myself perfectly still, not allowing myself to respond to his touch. "No."
    "No luxury you crave? No addiction you can't
    feed?"
    "No," I said again.
    "Your every need is met?" His tone was mocking. I could hear the smile in his voice.
    "Close enough," I said.
    "Every urge satisfied? Every indulgence you've ever dreamed of, granted?"
    His hand on my back felt way too good. His kisses
    unnerved me. "Yes," I made myself say.
    "Is there no fantasy left I can make come true?"
    No. I wanted to say no. But there was. I found my mind drifting to the one thing I'd never shared with anybody before: the contents of the envelope hidden in my room. I thought of what lay inside, and I felt my whole body react. My pulse sped up, my breath seemed to catch in my throat. Inside my uniform pants, my cock began to grow hard.
    "There is something!" he said with obvious relish.
    He pulled away a bit, as if to see me better, although one

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    hand still rested on my bare side, and the other on my arm.
    "Tell me what it is."
    "Nothing," I said, but my voice came out all wrong.
    "You're thinking of something," he said.
    "Something that turns you on."
    I wanted to say no, but the envelope's contents had spilled free in my mind, and I couldn't control the flush of arousal that followed. And the embarrassment. "It's nothing," I said again, and then, because it was such an obvious lie, I added, "I won't tell you."
    "You're ashamed of it," he said, sounding surprised.
    Of course I was. Any man