Del's Pirates [Sequel to G'baena's Pirates] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Rachel Clark Page B

sad look. “I’m sorry, Coop, but I have to go with him.”
    “I know,” he said, gathering her in his arms once more. “I know how important this is to both of you.”
    “You’re letting us go?” Del asked, realizing as he said it how ridiculous the question was. They’d just spent the last few minutes making it clear it was their own decision to make, nobody else’s.
    “No, I’m not letting you go,” Cooper said, reaching for Del as well. He crushed them both in his embrace as he said the words that both made his pulse pound in relief and ache with sheer terror. “I’m choosing to come with you.”
    Avery went to say something, but Cooper shushed her.
    “Enough talking. The decision has been made.” He shuffled them back toward the bed. “Just let me hold you for a while.”
    Del and Avery went willingly, clinging to the man who understood them even when they didn’t understand themselves.
    Many hours later they made love to each other slowly, their usual explosive passion overridden by the deep emotional connection they all seemed to share. Afterward, Del held Avery close, Cooper’s big body pressed up against him as they lay there silently contemplating the mission ahead.

Chapter Eight
     
    “It’s not too late to back out,” Cooper said.
    Avery gave him a raised eyebrow in response. They were about to enter Keytark-controlled space and were literally seconds away from committing to their planned course of action.
    Cooper shook his head and smiled slightly. “I had to try.”
    “And I love you for it,” Avery said with a bright smile. “We’ll get through this, Coop. If there is any way to get us out, G’ntriel and Judge will find it.”
    Cooper nodded. It had been three standard Earth days since they’d decided to take on this crazy mission, but they’d been days filled with preparation, training, and planning. Cooper shuddered at some of the scenarios they’d had to plan for. When Ben and Trey had mentioned Keytark’s penchant for watching violence and the possibility that he would order the person he believed brainwashed to hurt either Avery or Del or both, Cooper had almost changed his mind. The instinct to tie both his lovers to the bed and never let them go on this deadly mission had almost won.
    But it had been Avery’s whispered “I’ve been through worse” that had nearly stopped his heart. She and Ruth had always denied being hurt by the slavers when they were captured, but four whispered words had proven that untrue.
    He’d cornered Ruth and made her tell him the details.
    “I love you,” he told Avery as he snapped the electronic locks onto her wrists. Keytark would expect the recovered slaves to be suitably bound. Hopefully, he had no way to tell that Devlin and Cooper had designed these cuffs to release if Del and Avery twisted them a certain way.
    He reached out to touch the fake bruise on her cheek. Sarah had suggested that it was necessary for the slaves to look injured. Knocking them out would have been the only quiet way to get them off the ship.
    “We’ll be fine,” Avery said with a wink. “Anything that happens in there is because we’re here to bring down a tyrant. You do whatever you need to do, Coop. Just remember that no matter what, Del and I will love you forever.”
    He ground his teeth together and nodded before turning back to pilot the small transport craft they’d “stolen” from the pirate ship.
    Cooper had spent much of the past two days observing Yavef’s brainwashed behavior. G’ntriel had used her skills to manipulate the man’s mind so that he’d believed that the people around her were part of Keytark’s organization. He’d used the words “yes, master” as an answer to almost every question and done everything they’d told him to do, including attempting to commit suicide. Fortunately, Sarah had been ready for the engineer’s response to the order and had quickly sedated him. They’d hoped that by giving him an order so