Tee-ani's Pirates Read Online Free Page B

she’d worked her way under his skin as well.
    He’d told Trey that they should have sex with her just to get her out of their systems, but the whole time he’d been lying to his brother—and himself. Yes, he wanted her, but he wanted far more than a quick mating and a fond memory. He shook his head in disgust.
    She was human. How many times did he have to remind himself that humans mated in pairs, not trios? The relationship that both he and Trey would want was most likely abhorrent to her. He rolled his 26
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    shoulders in irritation. Goddess, maybe he and Trey should head home. Space life sure was messing with his head.

    Tee-ani’s Pirates
    27

Chapter Three
    Tee-ani crawled onto the medical bed, too tired to make it back to her quarters. She’d spent more than twenty hours administering medications and training people to help the ill in the village. She’d lost two of the children. She’d been too late and they hadn’t responded to the treatment she’d provided, their young bodies too badly damaged to recover from such a virulent infection. Her heart had wept for the loss, but her training had kept her moving, kept her helping those she could.
    Fortunately, some of the children had responded well to her aggressive antibiotic treatment. By the time they had packed up and were ready to head back to the ship, several of them had regained consciousness and asked for food. Jordan had quickly arranged another shuttle delivery of emergency food supplies and had organized some of the ship’s crew to work with and train the natives in the best ways to cultivate and harvest enough food to support the village indefinitely. He’d also provided several bio-shelters to protect the most ill from the worst of the planet’s weather.
    She’d passed on as much information as she could to the volunteers who had stayed on the planet, and the rest of the ship's crew was going on another acquisition hunt. They’d head back to pick up the others in a few days.
    Tiredly, she closed her eyes and let the sorrow come. No matter how many patients she saved, she always found the loss of a child hit her the hardest. So much life to live, so much unrealized potential, snuffed out way too easily. Tears threatened to escape and she let a few fall before she tried to control her emotions. As much as she 28
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    loved being a doctor, she really hoped that nobody would need her for a day or two. Her body and her soul were both crying out for rest.
    She was almost asleep when she heard Ben’s voice. She tried to open her heavy, sticky eyelids, but gave up when she felt herself lifted into the air and then cradled against his hard chest.
    “Go back to sleep, doc,” he said gruffly. “I’m just taking you back to your cabin so that you can rest on a real bed.”
    Tee-ani nodded gratefully, snuggled closer, and rubbed her face against the solid warmth of his chest. She sighed softly as she listened to his heartbeat, so similar to that of a human, but somehow uniquely his. When she felt a large hand smooth her hair away from her face, she realized that Trey was with him and relaxed even more. Feeling almost boneless as their warmth and comfort spread through her heart and mind, she finally slipped into sleep.

    * * * *

    Ben walked through the corridors, trying not to stare at the woman in his arms. She fit perfectly against him as she sighed quietly and fisted her small hand over his heart. Her eyes were red-rimmed and she looked tired and vulnerable, but all he could see was the woman who’d worked herself into exhaustion helping people she hadn’t even known existed just a few days ago. He’d never met such a woman, never seen such devotion to strangers. If she represented a typical female of her species, then maybe the G’trobian people could learn a thing or two from human example.
    He held her tighter as he again considered his and Trey’s future.
    Trey was right. They needed to return home, check on their