Marauder Kronos: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Mating Wars) by Aya Morningstar

did...but it’s a lot, and it’s really bad. Maybe after this contract is up I can retire. I never thought I’d be able to give up the pirate life, being as I’m a fugitive and all.”
    I nod. “Thanks for staying on, Ramu. That means you’re full crew now.”
    The three of us sign the contract. Delphie will be safe for as long as she’s aboard the Time’s End, even if she doesn’t sign. If she can’t get another captain in the swarm to take her, I can try to get her a shuttle back to New Rotterdam. But with Ramu on board, I expect she’ll sign soon.
    After Minna signs, she looks up at me, and her lip trembles. Tears start to stream, and I notice Ramu sneak out of the room the moment the first tear falls.
    “What’s wrong?” I ask, taking hold of her. I pull her against my chest, and I feel her warm tears soak through my shirt. “This is exactly what we needed! You’re safe now. There’s no reason to cry.”
    She looks up at me with red eyes. “I’m crying because of what you said.”
    I run back through everything I said in my mind. Where did I fuck up? What little thing did I say wrong? Maybe she misinterpreted something –
    “No one has ever stuck up for me like that...no one has ever cared for me like that,” she says, her voice breaking up.
    Oh. She’s happy? I put a hand on the back of her head and strengthen my grip on her, to let her know I’m really there and won’t let go.
    “Maybe I just really want a badass woman with a biosuit on my crew, and I’m using you,” I say, smiling.
    She looks up at me with wide eyes.
    “I’m joking!” I say. “I don’t want you fighting at all!”
    “But I signed the contract,” she says. “I have to fight if they draft us.”
    “It’s an armada,” I say. “The Time’s End has to fight, it’s up to the captain to say what each individual crewmember does. You’re the cook.”
    Her tears stop, and I can’t decide if that’s good or bad. She seems almost angry now.
    “Really, Kronos? The cook? After all this, I’m just the cook?”
    “What do you want?” I ask. “You want me to throw you and Jerky out of the ship so you can board an enemy ship and murder everyone inside? You think I’m going to risk you like that? Or force you to kill?”
    She lets out an annoyed huffing sound that only a woman can make. “There’s a middle ground, somewhere between being your kitchen slave and being thrown like a bullet out of the ship.”
    “All right!” I say. “You can just relax, help however you want. You don’t have to cook!”
    “Oh,” she says. “So your sex slave then? Just lay on the bed and wait around for you?”
    “Get Delphie to teach you the engineering stuff! You’re a scientist, probably engineering is the same type of crap….”
    “Do you even know what kind of scientist I am?” she asks, crossing her arms.
    I narrow my eyes at her. Shit. What kind of scientists are there even? She made a biosuit, so….
    “Biologist,” I say.
    “Damn it, Kronos!” She gets up and starts to walk away.
    “Hey, where you going?”
    “I’m going to cook! That’s all I’m good for.”
    I should feel frustrated or dejected, but I don’t. I lean back in my chair and think it all over. It would be too easy if things just fell right into place, wouldn’t it? Nothing in my life has ever come easy – not even close. Hell, I’ve known Delphie since we were both kids, and she still doesn’t listen to a thing I say. If I want Minna’s heart, I’m going to fight for it. I’ll have to fight for it like a pirate. I’m going to have to steal it.
    Ramu comes back in. “Delphie signed. I saw her on the privateer manifest.”
    I smile. “She didn’t tell you she signed though, huh?”
    “Nope,” Ramu says. “I guess that would be admitting too much.” He twitches his ears rapidly and licks his lips.
    “She’ll come around,” I say.
    “What about yours? I just saw her beating some eggs to death.”
    “I pissed her off,” I say,