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it might be, I couldn't give in to him.

He let go of me, and then I felt my blindfold being pushed away. "I have something for you, but I want to see

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your eyes when I give it to you."

Once the blindfold was gone, I opened my eyes. I

couldn't help but blink in a feeble attempt to clear my vision, but there was still only frustrating blackness.

Something brushed my lips. "Open your mouth."

Why exactly I obeyed, I couldn't even have said.

Something touched my tongue—something sticky, and

sweet, and absolutely divine. I closed my lips around his finger, sucking it clean. The pleasure of it caused my eyes to roll back and my eyelids to drift shut.

Valero moaned. "What I wouldn't give to be the one to put that look on your face," he said, pulling his finger free.

I opened my eyes again, for all the good it did me.

"Is that real honey?" Real honey could still only be found on Earth. I'd never had it before, but there was nothing else it could be. The imitations I'd tasted didn't even come close.

"It is," he said. I felt him lean forward again. His breath was warm against my lips. "Would you like more?"

I knew where this was going. I knew I should say

no. "Yes."

It took a second for him to comply. I waited for his finger at my lips—I didn't even care what kind of cheap thrill it gave him.

He kissed me instead. My lips were parted, and his

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tongue slipped easily past them, touching mine, sharing the honey that rested there.

It was so delicious—the honey, and the taste of his mouth, and the weight of him on top of me. I shouldn't have responded as I did. I shouldn't have leaned into the kiss, sucking the sweetness from him. I shouldn't have chased after each drop of it. I shouldn't have continued to kiss him, long after the honey was gone, but the truth was, it felt good. I could feel his strength as he pulled me tight against him. I could feel the urgency in him. He was frantic as he kissed me, and part of me wanted more than anything to feed his desire. He had unnerved me by bringing up my fantasies. I wanted to do the same to him.

He pulled away for a moment, and I felt drops

landing on my bare chest. His warm mouth followed, his tongue leaving a cool, wet trail behind it. He used his finger to smear some on each of my nipples, then raised the finger to my lips. I sucked it into my mouth, savoring the sweetness there as he licked me clean.

It was one of the most arousing things I'd ever

experienced. There was something unbelievably erotic about the way it felt to suck his finger deep into my mouth as he teased my nipples, one after the other, licking them and nipping at them with his teeth.

He pulled his finger free and kissed me, hard. His

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tongue pushed into my mouth and I gave in to it. His body on mine was heavy and hard. His weight pinned me to my chair. I arched against him, and I loved the way he moaned in response.

His right hand slid down my back and I lifted my

hips, grinding against him, allowing him to reach down and cup my ass in his hand. His lips moved to my neck, to my collarbone, down my chest. I was helpless beneath him.

His tongue circled my navel, and I heard myself

whimper. He reached the waistband of my pants. I lifted my hands to give him access, arching toward him, and he moaned again. I anticipated honey on my cock, and him sucking it clean. The thought made me ache. I was

desperate. I couldn't wait for him to free my erection from my pants.

I felt his fingers at the buckle of my uniform pants, but he didn't undo them. Instead, I felt him move back up. I leaned toward him, parting my lips, waiting for him to kiss me again.

He stopped short.

"Captain Kelley," he said, "tell me your name."

My name.

Such a tiny thing. Such a simple question. Such an

easy answer to give. And yet, it suddenly occurred to me what I was doing—I was in his arms, waiting for his touch,

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my erection pressed tight against him. Gods, I wanted him so much.

How had I let myself fall into his trap so easily?

His lips brushed mine again, but this time, I refused to grant him entrance.

"Just your name," he said.

I was ashamed at how easily he could get me to

respond to him sexually. The flesh was weak, and mine, it seemed, was weaker than most. My cock had always had more power over me than was healthy and I knew with a sudden, painful surety it was the only reason Rikard had ever promoted me. I wasn't a captain. I was nothing but a high-ranking whore. I thought I might choke on my shame.

"No," I said as I pushed him away. "I'd like to go back to my men now."

He sighed in frustration. "Are you sure you mean that?" he asked.

Was I? "Yes," I said, and I wondered if he believed me more than I believed myself. I still ached for him. I halfway wished he'd refuse to accept no for an answer. It wouldn't have taken much for him to turn my no into a yes.

But it turned out my pirate was more honorable than that.

"As you wish," he said.

* * * *

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Valero didn't speak as he led me back to the medical bay, and I was glad. As the glow of desire faded, I was left with only embarrassment and shame. I was

mortified that I had been manipulated so easily, and angry at myself for quickly forgetting my duty: Rikard, and the Regency. I'd sworn an oath long ago, and not only had I broken it, but I continued to break it by allowing Valero to tempt me.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Captain Kelley," Valero said before leaving me with me Pierce.

"No you won't," I said. I had no idea if he heard me or not. It didn't matter. At that moment, I had no intention of going back to his quarters. It was clear my ability to deny his advances wouldn't last long, and therefore I must not allow myself to be put in a vulnerable position. If I refused to go, would they tie me up and drag me to him anyway?

Pierce led me back into the medical bay and cut my

hands free. The men were arguing when I entered the room—whether it was over the bunks, or the showers, or something else, I didn't know, and didn't care. They fell silent when I came in. I made my way to the far bunk, away from most of the commotion. Some of them were

whispering. I sat down on the bunk and put my head in my

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hands.

A moment later, I felt the mattress shift as

somebody sat down next to me.

"How you doing, son?" Jerald asked, his voice pitched low so as to not be overheard, assuming nobody was too close to us.

"Fine," I said, wishing he'd leave me alone.

"Where do they take you?" he asked.

I didn't answer.

"The men fear you're being tortured."

A bitter laugh escaped my throat before I could stop it. "I am," I said, "but not the way they're thinking."

"It might help if you spoke to them. Told them everything would be okay. Laid some ground rules for the things they argue about."

"Why me?"

"'Cause you're their captain."

Their captain. It was so absurd, I laughed again. "I shouldn't be," I said. "I should never have been promoted."

"Whoever they're taking you to," he said, his voice even quieter than before, "is he trying to get you to switch sides?"

Was he? I thought about Valero saying,
And if you
can't beat me, will you join me then too
? "Something like that."

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"Will you?" he asked.

"No." But I knew I didn't sound convincing.

He was quiet for a long time, and I waited, knowing he had more to say. "You're trying to be loyal," he said,

"and that's not a bad thing. But as far as I'm concerned, the idea of loyalty gets mixed up a lot with the idea of duty.

And the two don't necessarily go hand in hand."

"It seems like they do to me."

"Let me help you break it down. First, you got your men. They're worried about Rikard—not because they give a damn about him, but because what happens to him will affect what happens to them. They're worried about you for much the same reason. If you're being tortured, they fear they're next. As their leader, you may have a duty to do what you can to ease their fears, but does that mean you owe them loyalty?"

"Of course."

"You sure?" he asked. "'Cause I'll tell you right now, just about any one of those boys will sell you down the river if it means saving his own skin. They've got no loyalty to you, or to your prince."

"Is this little pep talk supposed to make me feel better?" I asked, but he ignored me.

"Second, you've got Rikard. Do you know where he is or what they've done with him?"

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"I only know what they've told me, which is that he's on board, and safe."

"As captain of his guard, maybe you have a duty to try to find him and rescue him. But let me ask you this: do you think, if he finds a way to get himself out of this, he'll stop for one second to think of you? Or of me? Or of any of the other men here?"

I didn't even have to consider it. "No."

"Right. He has no loyalty to you either."

"You're saying I should ignore both loyalty and duty?"

"I'm saying that in my opinion, your loyalty may be misguided."

"You don't think Rikard deserves it?"

"I'm not even talking about Rikard. I'm talking about your damn Regency."

"You don't think they've done anything to earn my loyalty?"

"I'm saying, if I were you, I'd wait and see how the Regency responds to the ransom demands before deciding where your loyalty lies."

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I dreamed about Valero that night. In my dream I

could see again, and yet I still couldn't see
him
. He was a vague form, and every time I tried to focus on him, he drifted away. But I could hear his voice in my ear, telling me all the things he wanted to do to me, promising to grant me everything I longed for. I could feel his hands on me, and his lips. In my dream, it was frighteningly easy to admit how much I wanted to give in to him.

I woke trembling, my cock hard and aching in my

uniform pants. I was relieved I hadn't come in my sleep. It was disgusting enough having to wear the same pair of pants day after day without having jizz in them as well.

I took a shower. The nice thing about everybody

being blind was that as long as I kept my breathing under control, nobody had to know what I was doing. I stood in the hot water, thinking of honey and the taste of his kiss as I stroked myself to a slow and exquisite climax.

I didn't let myself feel guilty for it afterward, either.

The release had been too long coming.

I was ready when Pierce came for me later in the

day. I stood complacently as he bound my hands in front of me, as he always did before taking me to Valero. My heart pounded more than usual. I could no longer deny that I

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wanted to see him.

Pierce was silent as we walked through the halls,

but once we were in the lift, he spoke.

"He's never done this before, you know."

"Done what?" I asked, shaking myself from my thoughts of what might lie ahead of me.

"Taken an interest in a prisoner like this," he said.

"He's never paid attention before."

I hadn't stopped to think about whether or not

seducing a prisoner was a normal pastime for Valero.

"Never?"

"He had a companion years ago," Pierce said. "Back on Rosen. His name was Stanton, and they were over the moon for each other."

I could hear the 'but' coming. "What happened?" I asked.

It took him a moment to answer. I was beginning to

think he wasn't going to answer at all. Then I heard a click—he'd pushed one of the control buttons on the lift. Its low, hydraulic whine stopped. The slight sense of motion ceased, causing my knees to wobble under me. Pierce had stopped the lift.

"How much do you know about the war on Rosen?"

he asked.

"Not much. Only that you lost."

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His laugh was bitter. "Guess that's all that mattered to the Empire."

He didn't seem to expect a response, though. He

continued on before I had a chance to answer.

"The Empire's smart. I'll give them that. They couldn't bomb us without risking damage to the mines.

They could have gassed us all, but they didn't want to be bothered repopulating the planet with new workers. Most of the war was fought on the ground, guerilla-style. They destroyed our bases. Our entire army was broken into pieces, hiding in the jungle. For every battalion of soldiers out fighting us, they had four more in the towns and cities, doing everything they could to convince the civilians
we
were the enemy."

"Hearts and minds," I said. It was an old battle tactic, one I'd learned about in my boot camp days.

He laughed again, sounding sheepish. "I guess," he said. "Anyway," and although I had no idea what he looked like, I could imagine him waving his hand dismissively at me. "We knew we were losing. We knew we were doomed.