Free Found by Evangeline Anderson

silver-blue muumuu, she almost missed the fact that
she was still wearing the blue slippers with crimson red soles.
When she finally realized she still had the shoes on, she had an
uneasy feeling. Was this going to cause problems later on? Or were
the worm cubes enough to pay for the slippers as well as the
clothes Blix had given her? Would Xairn be upset when he saw that
she had kept them?
    Deciding not to take a chance, Lauren took
off the slippers and hid them in a small storage cabinet under the
sink. Then, sighing, she went to return Xairn’s shirt.
     
* * * * *
    Xairn was weak with relief—or possibly blood
loss. He’d gotten into one last fight at the base of the support
which held up the plasti-glass splicer tunnels. There had only been
two splicers this time but one of them had jumped on his back
before Xairn saw him. His knife had bitten deep—though thankfully
not deep enough to wound his primary heart, which was what he’d no
doubt been reaching for.
    He looked down at his side, examining the
wicked gash where the knife had cut him. Dark red blood was welling
up from the slice but at least it wasn’t gushing out. Xairn pulled
the waistband of his black flight pants a little higher and
tightened his belt to put pressure on the wound. There was no time
to deal with it any further at present. He had to get the ship
powered up and moved to Slk’s parking accommodations before it got
completely dark. And before the Spider’s spies found out where he
was headed.
    He walked stiffly to the front of the ship
and settled himself in front of the controls, careful of the wound
on his side. Though he didn’t want to admit it, his body was
throbbing and it wasn’t just with pain. His secondary shaft, which
for years had lain dormant between his legs, was so hard it was
painful. It pressed against the front of his pants,snarling for
release. Thank the gods, at least, that his primary shaft remained
unaffected. But it was necessary only for bonding—the engorgement
of his secondary shaft was more than adequate for other sexual
purposes. Not that he would ever do such things to Lauren. Still,
his body was urging him to, telling him to take her, to make her
his.
    All because of one simple, innocent hug.
    She has no idea what she does to me—how
she affects me, he thought as he put the engine through its
warm-up sequence. For a moment he allowed himself to relive the
sweet sensation of Lauren’s full breasts flush against his chest.
He’d been able to feel her nipples, tight and ripe, rubbing against
him through the thin material of his shirt. All her warm curves
pressed against him as she came so willingly into his arms…it was
almost as though she wanted to touch him. As though she
wanted to be close to him despite what he was.
    She wouldn’t be so eager if she knew how I
felt. The things I need, Xairn thought grimly. He didn’t want
the desires inside him. Didn’t want to be like the rest of his
race…like his sadistic father. Closing his eyes briefly, he
remembered the many perversions he’d seen the AllFather perform.
He’d savaged them—the unwilling females he took to satiate his
monstrous appetites. I’d rather die than hurt Lauren that
way, Xairn told himself fiercely.
    No, he decided as the ship rose above the
skyline of O’ah and nosed toward the splicing district, he
would never do that to her. Never use her that way. In fact, it
would be better if he never touched her again. Gathering her into
his arms had been stupid and impulsive, especially considering even
such brief contact made his body react so strongly.
    From now on he would have to keep his
distance—it wasn’t safe to be near her again.

Chapter Eight
     
    “What’s troubling you, my lady?” Lock’s voice
was soft as he washed Kat’s back.
    “I’ve sensed it too.” Deep kissed her and
squeezed the sponge he was holding so that warm water ran down over
her bare breasts. “Tell us what’s wrong, little Kat.”
    The three of