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her situation could be a thousand times worse. He could be the warden, a certain sentence of eternal misery. Or he could be Raymond, happy to let her take the fall for his crimes.
    “I expect you to behave at the chapel, Becca. You will repeat the vows without hesitation. Know that you will belong to me, no matter what, even if you refuse to repeat your portion of the vows. However, if you give me any trouble before we leave Kemmius, I will punish you sternly for it later.”
    On the heels of this threat, he swept her out into the corridor.
     
    * * *
     
    Hunter locked Becca in their quarters on the transport, then sought out the pilot to instruct him to stop at the Interstellar Port so they could take on supplies. The journey to Merro, including the stop at the port, would only take three days, and he planned to spend all his free time ensconced in his quarters with his new bride.
    He sat in the bridge of the ship during takeoff, gazing at the brilliant stars and the moon that kept growing larger and larger until they zipped past it. Once they were far enough away from Kemmius and its moon, the pilots upped the speed and the stars became a blur of white lines against a black velvet backdrop. Interstellar travel had always fascinated him as a child, and though he had traveled in space dozens of times, he still experienced a thrill during the takeoffs.
    He thanked the pilot and copilot, asking them not to disturb him unless there was an emergency. He navigated the narrow gray corridors until he reached his quarters and paused at the door.
    He’d been harsh with Becca before they went to the chapel, had threatened her to ensure she repeated her vows. Most of the women who left Kemmius were happy to leave, even if the guard who claimed them was an ogre. Although if a woman refused to say her portion of the vows, she was still considered the man’s wife. Offering the woman a chance to repeat the vows was just a formality. But he’d heard of the occasional inmate who kicked and screamed all through her time in the chapel, and he hadn’t wanted Becca to behave that way.
    Hunter wanted her to want him, wanted to hear her respectfully repeat every word the priest instructed her to say, and so he’d frightened her into submission. His threats had worked too, because she’d stood still before him and softly spoke her vows, not hesitating once, even as she promised to obey him in all things.
    He ran a hand through his hair. She hadn’t uttered a word or even raised her eyes to his since they left the chapel. He thought about apologizing and took another step toward the door.
    No. If he apologized for ordering her to behave, he might appear weak. She might think him soft and he didn’t want her believing she could do as she pleased. The reality of their situation hit him then, so hard it felt like a punch to the stomach.
    After all the freedoms he fought for on Earth, after all the years he spent in prison for fighting back against an increasingly corrupt government, now he actually owned a human being.
    He couldn’t free her. Women weren’t allowed to travel to most planets in this sector without a male relative, and she would only end up endangered, probably claimed by another man. Or if someone spotted the small tattoos on her wrists that marked her as a Kemmius inmate, she would be captured and shipped back to the cold planet to serve the rest of her lifetime sentence.
    He tried to tell himself he’d done a good deed by taking her from the prison, by keeping her out of the warden’s clutches. But he didn’t know what to tell himself to explain the desire that pumped through him at the thought that she legally belonged to him. His wife and his possession, his own little prisoner.
    He cursed under his breath and typed in the security code. The door opened and he entered their quarters. It shut immediately behind him with a click, indicating that it was locked unless he reprogrammed it to open automatically. Not a chance.