Free NASTRAGULL: Pirates by Erik Martin Willén

looked around, then quickly picked up a sponge and dipped it in a bucket full of soap solution. Without a word, she started to swab away the grime and blood on Alec's face. After a long moment she stepped back, eyed the scar on his left eyebrow, and let out a small sound of relief.
    Alec noticed that this Alexa took her duty very seriously, and she did everything she could to avoid embarrassing him. He was surprised when she began to whistle softly while cleaning him...and as she leaned closer, he could smell her faintly floral perfume. He felt ashamed by his filthy appearance and current situation, and begun to blush.
    She noticed it, but kept cleaning him. When she transferred her attentions to his stomach, he tensed a bit; she glanced down, inhaled sharply, and moved quickly to where his hands and feet protruded from the stock bar. Now it was her turn to blush, which he found bemusing. A pirate, blushing?
    Well, it was obvious why she was blushing. He cursed under his breath, and glanced down at his "little bastard." It was fully erect, straining hard as a rock and high as a mountain.
    "Sorry about that," he whispered between his teeth, while trying to concentrate and make his "little bastard" shrink. It was like trying not to think of green elephants.
    "Why?" Alexa replied, looking innocent. "At least it proves one thing for sure."
    "What's that?"
    "I turn you on."
    Alec looked at her blankly. No use telling her that the wind would have turned him on right then. "What's your name?" he finally demanded, though he knew it well enough.
    Alexa looked at him and answered, "Pirate, remember?"
    Alec let out a short cry as she dragged one nail across the bottom of a foot. "Oh, dear. Ticklish?"
    "No!" he exclaimed.
    She gave him a quick tickle, and Alec bit down on his lip. Alexa stopped, looking a little disappointed. She walked over to his free side, leaned over, and suddenly gave him a small peck on his ear. Then she breathed into it, "I have traveled through endless parsecs of space and oceans of universe just to find you. You are the most beautiful man I have ever met, and one day I will be your bride and queen, while you shall be my husband and shining knight. Nothing can ever come between us; and if anything or anyone attempts to interfere with our everlasting love, then together we shall conquer the universe, so that our many children may live in peace."
    She stopped whispering, caressed his cheek, and stood up suddenly. She looked at him with a serious expression.  "Now, young man, get some rest—and don't you go anywhere, now." She gave him another quick kiss on his ear, and another on his cicatrized eyebrow. Then she looked Alec in his eyes, lifted up his tunic, and barked, "Down, boy, down!" With that, she covered him up and walked away whistling.
    Flabbergasted and embarrassed, just stared straight at the nearest bulkhead for a long moment. Then he looked down at "the little bastard" and whispered, "Traitor."
                 
     

Chapter 4
     
    The Bitch and the Bright Star exited the jumpgate one after the other, set a new course, and plunged into another jumpgate in the same transit cluster. When they emerged this time, Zuzack ordered a new course set for a large asteroid conveniently located just a few million kilometers away. As they approached the asteroid less than an hour later, the ships were met by several drone fighters, which took an escort position around the Bright Star and led the way into a massive bay that opened into the interior of the hollowed-out asteroid. Meanwhile, the Bitch settled into orbit around the asteroid.
    When the Bright Star reached its new berth inside the Rock, the prize crew slid it carefully into position between two other ships: a cargo freighter about twice its size, and a liquid materials freighter about four times larger. A shuttle with the skeleton crew from the Bright Star soon lifted from the cruise ship and joined up with a small frigate class ship. The two