Read Online Prince's Courtesan by Mina Carter - Free Book Online Page B

its technology too smashed to be useful to anyone.
    Finally the cutter was done. His eyes gleamed as it snapped off. With a whir the laser ring lifted and withdrew back into its recess, taking the section it had cut from the shuttle below with it. Gas hissed as it was released and the air pressure between the two vessels equalized. An old hand at boarding other ships, Seth swallowed and wiggled his jaw until his ears popped.
    He approached the hatch with care, scooting down to look around the compartment revealed below. She was armed, or at least she had been on his flagship if the empty holsters of the incapacitated guards were any indication. The last thing he wanted was to dangle his legs through there and get shot in the family jewels.
    His hair brushed the deck plating as he lowered his body into a push-up position to get a view of the back of the shuttle. Grease and whatever they used to clean the plasti-flooring wafted up to his nose as he scooted around.
    His silver eyes narrowed. She was in the back corner, curled up into a ball with her arms around her legs and her head on her knees. He frowned.
    What in blazes was she doing?
    Checking the restraining clip on his sidearm Seth dropped through the hatch and landed lightly. He kept his eyes on her all the time in case she went for a weapon. She didn’t move. She didn’t even flinch as his boots hit the deck plating.
    “Jaida?”
    There was no reply. In fact she didn’t respond at all as he walked toward her, and he was left in the unusual position of not knowing what the hell to do. Where were the pistols she’d taken? With half an eye on the seated woman, he cast his gaze about the cabin, finally locating them in the foot well in front of the copilot’s seat. His frown deepened. Nothing about this was making sense. Why would she run again, and not use them when he caught her? “Jaida, honey…are you hurt?”
    He crossed the cabin in long strides. Worried, he searched for signs of blood. The madcap moves she’d been pulled could easily have thrown her from the pilot’s seat and knocked her out.
    “I’m not hurt.”
    Her voice was quiet, and finally she moved. Her hand disappeared under the fall of her hair and he got the distinct impression she was wiping her eyes dry. “Look at me.”
    Crouching in front of her, he tried to see under the cascading purple locks. He was expecting to see teary eyes filled with the tiredness he’d seen earlier. What he wasn’t expecting was for her to burst into action. In his haste to make sure she was okay he hadn’t noticed how she was sat, with her legs half bunched under her.
    Big mistake.
    Using the power from her coiled legs she threw herself at him, knocking him off his feet, and heading for the cut-out boarding hatch that led to his craft.
    “What the—” Seth swore as he landed on his ass. Her slender, lithe form shot over him, just out of reach of his grasping hands. He twisted, forcing his body into movement. If she got through that hatch and hit the disengage switch, he was going to be sucking cold space. The fact that Jaida would be put to death for the murder of an Imperial Prince was scant comfort. He’d still be dead.
    She reached the hatch, leaped up and dangled from it as she prepared to haul herself into the shuttle above.
    “Oh no you don’t.” Adrenalin surged through him as he threw himself toward her. She squealed, a soft exclamation of denial and frustration as she tried to haul herself out of the way. He hit her midsection and they fell from the hatch in a tangle of limbs.
    Seth found himself holding onto a wildcat. Someone, somewhere, had taught Jaida to fight. His breath left his lungs in a hiss as he blocked rapid fire punches. She didn’t hit hard, but she was fast, and good as he was, some sneaked through his guard.
    “You little—”
    After what seemed like an age, he latched a hand around one of her slender wrists and slammed it into the deck