Read Online Forsaken Realms (Bounty Hunters United Book 1) by Katalina Leon - Free Book Online Page A

caught her attention. A quick glance between the palm fronds revealed a patrol craft flying along the coastline in the opposite direction before heading over the jungle.
    “Hey! They’re searching for us.” With arms waving, she bolted toward the beach to signal the craft.
    “Wait!” Syan chased after her. In a heartbeat his arms locked around her waist, and he dragged her into the brush.
    “What are you doing? Let me go!” Gemmina struggled, but couldn’t break free. “I’m not going to turn you over to them. We need a ship. Pretend you’re sedated, injured, or something.”
    “I don’t trust them.”
    “And I should automatically agree with you? You’re not thinking clearly. How are we going to leave this place without some help?”
    “Watch.” He released her, darted toward the wet parachutes and dragged them into the open where the jungle met the beach. With swift efficiency he knelt and scooped armfuls of sand and a few fallen palm fronds into a long lumpy mound that resembled a prone body and covered the sculpted shape with the orange chute. “They’ll see this for sure on the second pass.” Using a brisk wave of his hand he motioned for her to head into the brush. “Keep your weapons handy and don’t show yourself in the open.”
    They hunkered down in the brush. Syan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his side. “You’d be safer behind me.”
    She jockeyed to reposition herself. “You’re not a window. I can’t see through you.”
    “Fine.” He pulled her under his arm and turned away from the beach using his broad torso as a shield.
    Gemmina felt his every breath rise and fall. Minutes passed. He was tense and getting impatient. She was so used to working alone that it was difficult to be so near another person and control her own anxiety. The overall feeling was strange and far too intimate. If he hadn’t held her so tight, she would have tried to squirm away.
    “Be patient.” His soft breath bathed her ear. “Give them time to turn around.”
    As they huddled close she became acutely aware of the heat radiating off his body and the slightly spicy undertones of musk. Syan’s distinct scent was all male and provocative. Her thoughts wandered. When she glanced up, he was already looking directly at her with his dark eyes glittering, and it was almost too much.
    He brushed his fingertips across her cheek with the sweetest whisper-soft touch. “Trust me. I’ll protect you.”
    The patrol craft swooped overhead in a wide circle. The trees swayed and parted. Gemmina tipped her face skyward and squinted into the jet wash, her long hair whipping in the breeze. Protectively, he drew her close. The craft slowed as it approached the beach and hovered above the orange parachute lying in the sand. The operators of the craft did not land or speak through an intercom as she expected. For many agonizing moments, they hovered at tree level and did nothing. She held her breath and waited for them to investigate matters or volunteer help, but the operators of the craft offered either. Her suspicions leaped when she saw the clouded look of concern on Syan’s brow.
    “Something doesn’t feel right.”
    The gunwales of the patrol craft opened, and the red beam of an energy weapon was unleashed. The blast ripped across the sand, creating an explosive wall of flame and incinerated the parachute in seconds, leaving behind a smoldering ring of flame and a molten pit of gritty soot on the beach. The craft retracted its weapon and sped away.
    Syan’s soulful eyes turned serious. “Well, do you still think they want us alive?”
    A soul-paralyzing chill settled deep in her gut. Too scared to think, she stared at the blackened char on the beach with an empty sense of disbelief. She’d badly miscalculated. If Syan hadn’t stopped her from running into the open and signaling the craft, she’d be a pile of ash too. “I usually read people better than this. My telepathic enhancements