Tee-ani's Pirates Read Online Free

and pressed a quick kiss to her lips.
    “We are armed and expected to protect you, Tee. You only stay behind so that we can keep you safe.”
    Well, didn’t that make a whole heap of sense? Darn it. She was looking for a good reason to yell at both of them and here they were being calm and reasonable. Tee-ani took a deep breath and, not trusting her voice, nodded once in understanding and then stood back to let them past. Ben smiled way too widely as he passed her and dropped a quick kiss on her lips, as well. He stepped out the airlock.

    22
    Rachel Clark
    Trey held out his hand and she grabbed it gratefully. Why she would even want to yell at them was still a mystery to her.
    She’d always been a non-confrontational type of person. Even on the slave traders’ ship, she had usually managed to avoid major conflict and still provide medical assistance to the women who’d needed her, but something about these two males raised all sorts of unfamiliar emotions.
    Okay, so she wasn’t comfortable with the way their species treated women, but she’d lived on many different planets and she had always made an effort to respect—if not understand—the local customs. Why did she find Ben and Trey’s cultural traditions so threatening? She’d met other G’trobian males. Why hadn’t she felt this same conflict with them?
    Had being a slave changed her so much that she felt the need to seek protection from a big, strong man? She almost laughed aloud at the thought. No, being a slave had done the opposite—she would control her own destiny, no matter what the cost.
    On this mission, it was Ben and Trey’s job to protect her while she worked with her patients, so why did she feel that this time it was her heart that needed protecting? Could she really be falling for them both despite everything else?
    Trey rubbed a thumb over the back of her hand as he pulled her through the airlock. She tried not to react to his simple caress but found it impossible to hide her shiver, even in the overpowering humidity of this swampy planet. She thought she heard another quiet chuckle and she would’ve said something, but the hand enfolding hers tightened and led her into the dense foliage.
    They seemed to wander in circles for hours. How anyone found their way in this swampy, foul-smelling, waterlogged planet was simply beyond her. With so much decay and humidity, it was a perfect breeding ground for some very virulent illnesses. No wonder they were crying out for medical assistance.

    Tee-ani’s Pirates
    23
    “Damn,” Trey whispered. “Get down, stay low.” Her eyes widened at his words, but she did as he said. It also helped that he practically threw himself over her, so she had little choice in the matter. She tried to take a deep breath but almost choked on the cloying thickness of the putrid air this close to the ground.
    Desperately trying to control her gag reflex, Tee-ani squirmed against the hard body surrounding her.
    “Shh. It’s going to be okay,” he said close to her ear. She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t panicking. She wanted to explain that she was gagging on the foul air. She wanted to push his warm arms away and make him listen to her, but as his grip tightened and she found herself surrounded by hard male muscles, she melted into his warmth instead. Every muscle in her body betrayed her righteous tirade and relaxed against Trey’s tight body.
    She had no idea how long he held her like that, and she would’ve happily spent the next couple of years pressed hard against him, but too soon he straightened.
    “Sarah has things under control,” he said as his body relaxed. Tee-ani could’ve sworn she heard respect in that sentence, but shook it off as absurd. Trey was G’trobian. No way would he appreciate a woman as complex and fearless as Sarah. Sarah was kick-ass attitude and sassy irreverence rolled into a five-foot-five bundle of energy and the exact opposite of what G’trobians expected of