Read Online Born of Legend by Sherrilyn Kenyon - Free Book Online Page B

show…” Ushara paused before she spoke the wrong name, “Dagger to his.”
    â€œYes, ma’am.”
    Jullien didn’t speak as Ushara led him through a rear door, out of the offices, and down a back, narrow corridor with a walk that he was pretty sure had been outlawed in a few systems. Most of all, he tried to focus on anything other than how perfectly shaped her ass was. How long it’d been since he last had a female touch him.
    Not that one had ever really touched him kindly. Even when he paid for their services.
    Still, she was being nicer to him than anyone ever had, and it made him feel almost normal. Like he wasn’t a total hybrid freak.
    Stop it. He knew better than to have these thoughts. If he couldn’t contract affection as a prince or tiziran, there was no way in hell he could expect anything except utter hatred and disdain as an Outcast. Especially from a female like her. She was honorable and high-ranking.
    Beautiful and accomplished. Way out of his league.
    All wanting did was make him hurt from the steady flow of unending disappointment. That was what his parents had taught him from the cradle. Don’t have desires or goals, and nothing aches. Just survive like the animal you are.
    Life was easier that way.
    Focus, Julie.
    Looking around, he refused to allow her to tempt him. Rather, he made himself learn about his new home. He’d heard a lot of rumors about Tavali stations, but he’d never been in one before. They were too secretive and cautious to let in outsiders carelessly. And he was stunned that she’d opened the doors to him.
    After all, his reputation wasn’t exactly one extolled for loyalty. He had basically sold out all but three members of his family.
    He’d even sold his own soul.
    Trying not to think about that, he glanced around the station. It was a lot cleaner than he’d have thought. More modern.
    For that, he was grateful.
    Hell, he was grateful just to have some place relatively safe to sleep again. A locking door was a major bonus.
    Ushara stopped at the end of the long steel alley and waved the card over a reader. “These are really crappy quarters. I’ll see about getting you moved once the others clear out.”
    â€œIt’s fine. Really.” Better than trash like me deserves .
    â€œYou say that, but you haven’t seen it.” She turned the lights on.
    Jullien swept his gaze around the small, spartan room, which took about a second and a half. “Well, it’s definitely not the palace I grew up in. But hey, it’s not the sewer I bled in last night, either. If the toilet and shower work, I swear I’m in Eweyne .”
    Skeptical, she handed him the card.
    Jullien froze as his fingers accidentally brushed against hers. It’d been so long since he had any physical contact with a female …
    He could barely remember what sex with someone else felt like. And he’d never had it with someone who actually liked him. Only females out to use him or the ones he’d contracted for it—which was the only thing he really missed most about Andaria. The sociably acceptable paid companions that had been a sweet bonus for his otherwise shitty life.
    As tahrs, he’d been allowed a standard two-year contract with any agency he wanted. And while he’d craved a permanent relationship with someone, not even their paid females would stay with him. No matter how hard he tried to negotiate a longer term with a companion or what he promised them, they always left as soon as their contracts expired.
    As his cousins were so quick to point out, he was nothing more than a hideous, corpulent, mongrel dog in their world. Yes, he’d been the crowned prince and heir. But not even the coveted title of Andarion tahrs could buy him affection, or mask the fact that his blood was tainted by the weaker human genetic code of his father.
    Great gods, Julie, your own mother can’t love you, or