Read Online Dark Runner: LodeStar 3.5 by Cathryn Cade - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Cathryn Cade
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her mother hadn’t been able to afford anything except vegeprotein and vitamin supplements in place of fresh produce. The only times she’d eaten well were at the guard academy and while she’d been employed by LodeStar.
Until she’d quarked that up. She’d long since ceased to blame the whole debacle on Ssaar. Yeah, he’d been a sadist and a user, but she’d been an idiot. She’d fallen into his arms like a ripe plumquot, ready to be devoured by any male who paid attention to her, while she pretended it was more than sex. She was definitely over that.
Darkrunner appeared just as she was finishing the last bite of the sandwich, which was surprisingly tasty, full of thin sliced veg and white meat, with a creamy, peppery dressing. She froze, and then licked her fingers, watching him over her hand.
His duster was gone and so were his shoes. Hells, even his feet were sexy, with high arches and neatly trimmed nails, only a dusting of hair on his bare toes. With his olive skin, his feet weren’t pasty white like many humans’ feet were.
He wore a pair of black knit sleep pants that hung on his narrow hips, and a burgundy tee that was so snug she could see every muscle in his torso, and the twin grooves in his groin, pointing the way down toward—no, she reminded herself. Just no.
She jerked her gaze away from him and concentrated on draining the last drops of the sweet, cool berry drink, not drooling over his male package, or the bulge of his biceps and the surprisingly broad plain of his chest under that snug shirt.
She wished he’d get on with whatever he’d come for, and not just stand there, sucking all the oxygen out of the space.
“So, what does Zharrdul mean?” she asked, crumpling her empty drink bottle.
He crossed the few meters between them. She waited for him to stop, and then froze as he leaned close, so close she could feel the heat coming off his body and his scent filled her nostrils—virile male in his prime, with an edge of some peppery spice, almost like incense, as if he had emerged from some arcane, exotic ritual.
So close she felt his breath ghosting over the bare skin of her temple when he spoke, his voice a low rasp in her ear. “It means the monster in the dark.”
Then he reached past her and grabbed a bottle of water from the recess, which she hadn’t even seen light up, so focused on him had she been. Hells, if she were human with the capillaries that ran so close beneath the surface of her skin to give off heat, she would’ve blushed.
She couldn’t control the shiver that raced through her, but that was some weird reaction to his physicality. He gave off pheromones like a Tyger in full mating shift. As for the rest, just common sense to be afraid of a man with his reputation. Fear kept beings cautious, kept them alive.
Ignoring his smirk, she slipped from the table, her shoulder bumping his hard chest. She slid around him to lean against the counter and consult her com. “Does not. It means ... your name. Zharrdul … Dark traveler ... Darkrunner. ”
He took a drink from his bottle of water, his gaze holding hers. As he lowered the bottle, he smiled, droplets of water glistening on his lower lip. “Like I said, Snake Eyes. I’m the monster in the dark.”
Everything in her rose instantly to his challenge, hot and eager. She’d like to tangle with him in the dark, nothing but touch, scent and taste to guide her as she explored the limits of what he could do with that mouth and those beringed hands.
To hide the impulse, she cocked her head and looked him over as slowly and thoroughly as he’d done to her. She knew better than most that monsters resided in the skins of ordinary beings. It seemed this one liked to warn his victims—the better to enjoy their fear. The hells with that—she wasn’t some little virgin to cower as he showed off his honed body and his big cock.
“Well, keep in mind, snakes aren’t afraid of the dark.”
His smirk
Until she’d quarked that up. She’d long since ceased to blame the whole debacle on Ssaar. Yeah, he’d been a sadist and a user, but she’d been an idiot. She’d fallen into his arms like a ripe plumquot, ready to be devoured by any male who paid attention to her, while she pretended it was more than sex. She was definitely over that.
Darkrunner appeared just as she was finishing the last bite of the sandwich, which was surprisingly tasty, full of thin sliced veg and white meat, with a creamy, peppery dressing. She froze, and then licked her fingers, watching him over her hand.
His duster was gone and so were his shoes. Hells, even his feet were sexy, with high arches and neatly trimmed nails, only a dusting of hair on his bare toes. With his olive skin, his feet weren’t pasty white like many humans’ feet were.
He wore a pair of black knit sleep pants that hung on his narrow hips, and a burgundy tee that was so snug she could see every muscle in his torso, and the twin grooves in his groin, pointing the way down toward—no, she reminded herself. Just no.
She jerked her gaze away from him and concentrated on draining the last drops of the sweet, cool berry drink, not drooling over his male package, or the bulge of his biceps and the surprisingly broad plain of his chest under that snug shirt.
She wished he’d get on with whatever he’d come for, and not just stand there, sucking all the oxygen out of the space.
“So, what does Zharrdul mean?” she asked, crumpling her empty drink bottle.
He crossed the few meters between them. She waited for him to stop, and then froze as he leaned close, so close she could feel the heat coming off his body and his scent filled her nostrils—virile male in his prime, with an edge of some peppery spice, almost like incense, as if he had emerged from some arcane, exotic ritual.
So close she felt his breath ghosting over the bare skin of her temple when he spoke, his voice a low rasp in her ear. “It means the monster in the dark.”
Then he reached past her and grabbed a bottle of water from the recess, which she hadn’t even seen light up, so focused on him had she been. Hells, if she were human with the capillaries that ran so close beneath the surface of her skin to give off heat, she would’ve blushed.
She couldn’t control the shiver that raced through her, but that was some weird reaction to his physicality. He gave off pheromones like a Tyger in full mating shift. As for the rest, just common sense to be afraid of a man with his reputation. Fear kept beings cautious, kept them alive.
Ignoring his smirk, she slipped from the table, her shoulder bumping his hard chest. She slid around him to lean against the counter and consult her com. “Does not. It means ... your name. Zharrdul … Dark traveler ... Darkrunner. ”
He took a drink from his bottle of water, his gaze holding hers. As he lowered the bottle, he smiled, droplets of water glistening on his lower lip. “Like I said, Snake Eyes. I’m the monster in the dark.”
Everything in her rose instantly to his challenge, hot and eager. She’d like to tangle with him in the dark, nothing but touch, scent and taste to guide her as she explored the limits of what he could do with that mouth and those beringed hands.
To hide the impulse, she cocked her head and looked him over as slowly and thoroughly as he’d done to her. She knew better than most that monsters resided in the skins of ordinary beings. It seemed this one liked to warn his victims—the better to enjoy their fear. The hells with that—she wasn’t some little virgin to cower as he showed off his honed body and his big cock.
“Well, keep in mind, snakes aren’t afraid of the dark.”
His smirk
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