Spider Bight [Deep Space Mission Corps 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read Online Free Page A

“I’m more concerned about where the bar is.”
    “Didn’t you have enough fun the other night?” Emi asked. “I know I, for one, was pretty hungover.”
    Sophie grinned. “Yeah, but a wise doctor once prescribed a heaping dose of fun for Halloween parties.”
    “What doctor?” Donna asked.
    Sophie winked. “Me.” She headed into the crowded hall. Donna and Emi shrugged and followed her. Sophie made her way through the crowds of people with Donna and Emi trailing in her wake before the crowd could close up again and separate them. Emi wasn’t looking forward to getting separated from her girlfriends if she couldn’t find her men.
    And so far, she’d seen neither hide nor hair of her men.
    Hell, she’d settle for sticking around with the men of the other two crews, just to have familiar faces close by. She knew she wasn’t in any danger, but it was difficult for her to close out all the emotions of the celebrating partygoers, most of them already lubricated by copious amounts of alcohol.
    It didn’t help that her bar fight experience in the sim wouldn’t leave her mind, when two unchipped men from another ship nearly raped her.
    Just because it turned out not to be a real experience didn’t mean it left her mind.
    Sophie found the bar. “Oh, goodie. Open bar.” She turned to Donna and Emi. “Join me?”
    Donna grinned. “Hell, yeah. Give me whatever my girlfriend’s having. What about you, Emi?”
    Emi sighed. “Make it three.” She couldn’t make out any familiar shapes among the people dancing in the darkened room. She tried to look for Caph’s large form, but many people wore costumes with either large hats or entire heads that added to their height, making that effort futile.
    She’d started to turn back toward the bar, where Donna and Sophie were ogling the half-naked bartender dressed as an old Earth gladiator, when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the dance floor, spinning her quickly out of sight amongst the throngs of other dancers. She couldn’t make out a face behind dark, full mask hidden beneath a cowl, but she also knew from her empathic senses it wasn’t one of her men.
    Before she could object, the man spoke.
    “Emi, it’s me, Rob.”
    She relaxed a little and let Rob Elloy lead her around the crowded dance floor. “What’s going on? Where’s Aaron, Caph, and Ford?”
    “They’re around here somewhere. I wanted a moment alone with you.”
    “Why?”
    “I know I said this before in front of your men, but I wanted to talk to you alone.”
    “You didn’t have to abduct me from the bar.”
    “Please, this is hard enough for me.”
    She felt that much from him and shut up so he could talk.
    He spoke low and quickly, barely audible above the music and noise of the raucous crowd. “I’m sorry for what happened in the sim. I don’t know why I acted like that. Why we acted like that. But I’m the captain, so I’m ultimately responsible. And I know we hurt your feelings about what we said about your body.”
    She tensed. “You’re right. You did.”
    “You are a beautiful woman, and your men are very lucky to have you. I’ve discovered a lot in a very short amount of time with Donna. We’re learning how to loosen up and not take ourselves so seriously. And again, I want to thank you for that. If it hadn’t been for you, she wouldn’t have joined the DSMC and we wouldn’t have met her. The three of us never realized how miserable we were, and how self-centered and assholish we’d become over the years. I just wanted you to know you did make a difference for us, even if indirectly. You’re also a damn fine doctor. Look at the way you handled the Aroykin colony mission. And I promise you, if you or the guys ever need backup, we’ll be the first in line volunteering to be there for all of you.”
    “Thank you, Rob. I appreciate that. It takes a big man to admit when he screwed up. And I promise you this, if you and your guys ever hurt Donna, there’s no