Free Avoid by Viola Grace Page A

forward and exhaled into her mouth. Time energy was swirling around them, and when her lips parted slightly and she coughed, he backed away.
    Her breath came in with a wheeze, and her hands flailed up, smacking into the medical team that was assisting her.
    Harken held her down. “Idara, please, calm down. You are safe now. Relax and breathe. Just breathe.”
    She sucked in another breath, and he couldn’t help but watch her breasts rise and fall in the barely-there top that she was wearing. Whoever had dressed her definitely had more than the guise of a simple courier in mind. She was dressed like a Companion, and not an expensive one.
    He slid an arm under her and helped her sit up, easing her intake of oxygen. “Just breathe slowly, the healing will continue until you are completely well again.”
    She looked up at him with wide blue eyes, and she whispered in a hoarse voice, “You.”
    Grinning at the woman he had watched for weeks, he winked, “Me.”
    * * * *
    Pain was rippling through her throat and lungs, but with each breath, Idara felt vastly better. “What happened?”
    She looked around, and the three persons who had attended her receded out the door, leaving only the man who had been watching her, staring at her with a curve on his inky-black lips. In fact, now that she could see him, all of his exposed skin was the same black velvet as his jaw line.
    “Who are you, and why have you been following me?” Her voice was a croak.
    “I will explain all of that in time. Do you wish to change clothing? I can obtain something for you.”
    She touched her throat and swallowed with effort. “Please. I don’t want to wear this livery after what they did.”
    Struggling to stand, she fought his hands and instead tore off the hated clothing of the Skiilar prime family.
    Her companion stared at her in shock. “Um, I will go and get you some clothing. There is a lav to the left if you want to have a shower.”
    She perked up, “Real water?”
    He laughed, “Real water.”
    To her consternation, he glowed brightly and then disappeared.
    Naked, she pattered into the lav and scrubbed her skin from head to toe under hot water, removing all traces of the Geenari’s hands and the noxious perfume she had been forced to wear.
    Idara didn’t know where she was, but she was certain that her life had just taken a particular swing in an upward trajectory.

Chapter Two
    Four boxes were piled on the bed when she returned to the room, wearing a towel around her and one on her head to dry her blonde locks.
    “Wow. Are those all for me?”
    Her companion jumped at her silent arrival and sudden speech.
    He cleared his throat, and his posture seemed a little nervous. She still hadn’t seen his face completely, but his body was built along lines she really appreciated. Tall, wide shoulders and narrow hips, he was a beautiful ideal, and if she could see his face, she would be better able to judge if it did justice to his body.
    His lips curved in a smile, “They are a selection of clothing appropriate to your species. Choose what you like, and the others will be brought to your quarters should you need them.”
    Bemused, she wandered over to the stack and opened the first box. It contained a bodysuit and boots in a lovely shade of navy blue with silver and bronze piping running across them.
    “Oh. That’s nice, but let’s see what else we have.”
    She hummed to herself as she opened a box with a lovely gown and another with a tunic and trousers set, the last was a gauzy wrap that would have appealed to her before the Skiilar incident.
    “Bodysuit it is then.”
    She dropped the towel and stepped into the suit, amused when he turned his back. “Are you shy?”
    He tilted his head. “That is not the precise word for it, but I am not used to women who remove their clothing without warning.”
    She snickered as she fastened the front of the suit. “In training as a private courier, we were given mixed-gender drills to get us