Her chin tilted stubbornly at his rebuke. “Maybe if you hadn’t locked me up with nothing to do I wouldn’t have to resort to childish tactics to get some attention.”
She could have sworn she saw a glint of humor momentarily light his eyes. “Oh, you have my attention. Don’t blame me, though, if you don’t like it.” He bared his teeth at her and she rolled her eyes.
“Enough with the trying to intimidate me. I’m no use to you dead, so unless you’re planning on starving me as some sort of punishment, I need food.”
“I have better ways of chastising you.” His eyes roved her body sensually. Megan couldn’t help the bolt of heat that speared her cleft.
She pretended to not understand his sexual innuendo. “Could you beat me after you feed me?”
“Follow me and I shall provide sustenance. Perhaps it will improve your ill disposition.” He smirked as he stepped back into the elevator, and as she entered the tight space facing him, she threw a dirty look at him for his remark. He leaned around her and she sucked in a breath, expecting retaliation, only to release it when she realized he simply wanted to push a button.
It occurred to her as the door slid shut behind her she didn’t know if her space pirate had a name. Somehow purple people eater didn’t seem apt. “My name is Megan, by the way, or do you not name the merchandise you’re going to sell?”
She could have sworn his lips twitched before his grim façade took over again. “I’m Tren, and I name all the things I sell. New hover car. Relaxing retreat. Night at the Red Vulva. You know, that type of thing.”
It was her turn for her lips to quirk. “Touché. So, I have to ask, if my people are such barbarians, how is it you know our language?”
“I don’t, the translator does. It is standard protocol for the devices to be programmed with all known languages, defunct or not. Although, I believe the version for your planet might be somewhat out of date given some of your expressions aren’t translating.”
Megan inclined her head in understanding. “Pop culture references I’ll bet.”
“And this Han Solo I heard you mention before, he is a pop culture?” His clear blue eyes bored into hers as the elevator stopped, and she almost fidgeted at his intense look.
“He’s a movie character. From Star Wars.” At his blank look, she laughed. “I don’t think I can explain this without you seeing the actual movie. But, basically, your whole bad ass buccaneer look was first done by Harrison Ford who played Han Solo in the Star Wars trilogy.”
The brows of her captor drew together. “I am not an actor.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, duh. I’m just saying, at first glimpse you reminded me of him in that role. But don’t worry, now that I’ve really gotten to look at you without the whole pain and exhaustion thing messing me up, I’ve changed that comparison to Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. Except you have whiter teeth, pointier, too.”
His lips tightened at her words. “Nothing you’ve just said makes much sense. I am myself, and while there are those who would try to copy me, I am unique.” He stepped from the elevator into a long hall, his back stiff.
Megan laughed. It appeared as if Tren, her purple pirate, was offended. “I never said you weren’t unique.” He swiveled to peer back at her and shot her a dark glare. She smirked, and with a shake of his head, he turned back again. “Just forget it. So where are we going?”
“My quarters.”
Megan stopped walking. “Excuse me. When I said I was hungry, I meant for food, not sex.”
He craned to look at her over his shoulder and she definitely couldn’t mistake his slow grin this time. It transformed his face and made her heart stutter. “Who said anything about sex? It’s where the food replicator is located. Although, since you keep offering, I am not averse to testing the merchandise after our meal.”
Megan’s mouth rounded into an ‘O’ of surprise. “Like hell.”
“I would assume you mean no. But do not blame me for offering. You are the one who keeps referring to intercourse. I was just trying to meet your obviously insatiable needs.” He eyed her frame up and down in a slow perusal that ignited a slow burn between her legs.
She pressed her thighs tight together. “I need another lover like I need a hole in my head. No thank you. And I am not some kind of nymphomaniac.” Even if the current conversation was making her hot.
“If you say so,” he drawled as he led the way into a large suite, which, of course, held a massive round bed.
Megan ignored it, afraid any comment would lead him to believe she wanted to test its springs-which her pussy certainly did-but went against the grain. While she enjoyed a healthy sexual appetite, she had one teensy tiny requirement in her partners. She had to at least like them.
She wandered around the space noting the table bordered by chairs that appeared made of rubber. A shelving unit built into the wall held strange objects, figurines of creatures, but like she’d never imagined. One appeared a mix of fairy and a dragon in a rainbow of colors. Another, a voluptuous woman with five boobs, waved four arms.
“Are these real creatures?” she asked running her finger across their varied surfaces.
“Keepsakes from some of my more notable conquests,” he boasted.
She snatched her hand back and whirled with wide eyes. “You fucked all of them?”
He frowned at her. “If you mean had sex, then yes. But that’s only a fraction of the females I’ve been with, and like I said, the most memorable.”
“Great, I’m stuck on a ship with man whore,” she snorted with disgust; although, she couldn’t deny a certain curiosity. Exactly how knowledgeable is he about the female form?
“I am not paid to pleasure my partners. However, if the need is great and I am not in the mood to woo, then I will recompense a female for her time.”
“Great. I made it to space and met my first alien only to discover men all over the universe are pigs.”
Tren’s brow knitted into a frown. “I do not like your tone or implication. My method is the one most widely followed through the known universe. How do your people handle their sexual needs?”
“We date. You know, go out to dinner, maybe see a movie. Then, if we like each other, we go to bed.”
Tren laughed, a short barking sound. “So instead of exchanging credits, you are purchased for a meal or an evening of entertainment. I see no difference other than your females can be cheaply bought. And at least my conquests don’t try to kill me after we’re done.”
His reference to her boyfriend’s attempted murder rankled and Megan glared at him. “I’m really starting to dislike you.”
“Good. I hate clingy females.”
With that rejoinder, he turned his back on her and fiddled with something on the wall above the table. A moment later, an odd aroma tickled her nose.
Curious, she stepped forward and saw two plates, the steam still rising, resting on the table. “What is that?”
“Food.”
She slid into the rubber chair which molded to fit her bottom and almost caused her to scream. When she realized her seat wasn’t about to swallow her, she relaxed enough to poke at the purple and green stuff on her plate, interspersed with white marble things. “What kind of food?”
“The kind that won’t kill you, so eat.”
Using a pair of silver rods, much like chopsticks, he dug into his meal. With trepidation, and yes, a fear of food poisoning, she followed suit. To her surprise, she didn’t immediately spit it back out. Whatever the goop on her plate was, it tasted pretty good. She ate with relish, the only dinner sounds consisting of them chewing and swallowing.
As her hunger eased, curiosity prompted her to question him. “So, you’re obviously not human. What exactly are you?”