Not the Man She Thought Read Online Free Page A

mind. Settling on a glare instead, she
snatched the purse out of his hand. As she followed Devorah out of the room,
she couldn’t resist glancing over her shoulder at Karsten again. He must have
been waiting for her to do just that because he flashed her a mocking grin as
the door slid closed.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
     
    Laken tried to ignore her stinging bottom as she walked down
the ship’s passageway with the other woman. Devorah was a bit taller than she
was, and her figure was a little more on the boyish side, but she looked to be
about the same age as Laken.
    Though Devorah wasn’t looking at her oddly, Laken couldn’t
help but wonder if the other woman had heard her getting spanked. The smacks on
her ass had sounded incredibly loud to her. The thought alone of being held
down over Karsten’s knee while he punished her poor bottom made her blush. Not
to mention angry as hell.
    “So, has your captain always been such a people person?” she
asked the other woman.
    Devorah’s lips curved into a small smile. “You got off easy.
He usually puts stowaways out the airlock.” She laughed at the look of horror
on Laken’s face. “I’m kidding. You two just got off on the wrong foot. I mean,
you are a stowaway, after all. Things will get better once you’ve been on board
a while.”
    Laken seriously doubted that. From everything she’d seen,
the man was a complete ass. It probably wouldn’t be wise to say that to one of
his crew, though, so she made no comment as Devorah led her up a set of metal
stairs.
    “Why did you sneak on board anyway?” the other woman asked
as they rounded a corner and walked down another passageway.
    Laken tucked her long, red hair behind her ear. She had
already told Karsten the reason, so there was no need to hide it from the crew.
Not surprisingly, Devorah was much more understanding of her situation than the
captain had been. The woman even went so far as to say the whole thing sounded
romantic.
    “Well, here we are,” Devorah announced with a smile, coming
to a halt outside a door. She pushed the button alongside it so that it slid
open. “All the comforts of home.”
    Laken almost smiled at that as she stepped inside the tiny
cabin. Actually, it had none of the comforts of her luxuriously decorated room
back home, but she supposed the narrow bed, small desk along one wall and the
wash basin in the corner would have to do while she was on board.
    “We take our meals together in the crew’s mess. Just follow
this passageway, make two rights, and you’re there,” Devorah said from the
doorway. “You’re welcome to join us if you want.”
    Laken thought a moment. “Does the captain eat with the rest
of you?”
    The other girl shrugged. “Most of the time.”
    Not really crazy about the idea of sitting across the table
from the man after he’d just put her over his knee and spanked her, Laken gave
Devorah a rueful smile. “Then maybe it would be better if I just got something
to eat and brought it back here.”
    “Don’t be silly. If you spend all your time in this cabin,
you’ll be stir-crazy by the time we get to Marlon Prime. Besides, I want to
introduce you to the rest of the crew. They’ll all want to meet you.”
    Remembering the looks she’d gotten as Finn had dragged her
through the ship earlier, Laken doubted the rest of the crew would be as
friendly as Devorah. Nevertheless, Laken found herself reluctantly agreeing.
The dark-haired woman was right. She couldn’t spend the entire journey in the
small cabin. Besides, she’d never been the type to shy away from confrontation.
If the captain didn’t like her taking her meals with the crew, that was his
problem.
    Devorah smiled. “Good,” she said. “It’ll be nice to have
another woman on board to talk to for a change. My cabin’s two doors down on
the right if you need anything. If I’m not there, I’m usually in the
communications room.”
    Glad to have found a friend on board, Laken