Read Online Shielder — A new Science Fiction Romance (Book 1, Shielder Series) by Catherine Spangler - Free Book Online Page A

Long advised.
    Chase leveled a glare hotter than a nuclear
explosion at the prisoner. "Shut up, Long, or I'll put you under
for the remainder of the trip."
    He strode to his cabin and opened the
panel.
    "Captain!" Nessa protested, alarmed he
wasn't headed to the lab. "Your shoulder is bleeding heavily."
    Chase stood ramrod stiff, his entire body
radiating tension. "So?" he ground out, not turning.
    "You can't let it go. Surely you have
supplies in your lab for treating wounds?" she persisted, concern
overriding the desire to avoid his anger.
    He turned his head and looked at her, his
expression cold. "You let me worry about that."
    Not at all squeamish, Nessa had treated
Jarek's injuries more than once. "It will be hard for you to tend
your back. I—I can help you."
    Some of the tension eased from his
shoulders. "Can you now?"
    "I can try." She hesitated, wondering why in
the universe she was offering to help a shadower.
    He sighed, swaying slightly. She realized
the wound must have weakened him more than he would admit. Her
conscience kicked in, reminding her of all he had done for her.
    "You've assisted me so much, Captain. Please
let me help in return."
    "All right." Reluctantly, he turned toward
the lab. "Let's get this over with."
    In the lab, Nessa watched him gather
equipment on a motorized cart, moving efficiently despite his wound
and the loss of blood.
    Chase pointed to an inset wall receptacle.
"Place your hands in that. When the beam cuts off, they'll be
sterile."
    He steered the cart to the exam table, then
opened the seam of his flight suit. "Have you ever used an infrared
sterilizer?" He peeled his top off, detaching it from his pants and
tossing it into the corner.
    She stared at his bare chest, at the swells
of muscle tapering down to a firm waist. "N-no."
    He turned around and reached up, activating
the switch on a metal box about the size of a holoviewer. In spite
of the nasty wound, the sight of his broad shoulders and the
powerful rippling across his back when he moved sent a funny
sensation churning through her.
    A metal arm lowered the unit above the exam
table. Chase levered himself onto the table and lay face down. "Put
on the medical gloves—they're on the cart. Then get one of the
sterile cloths and the silver container off it," he instructed.
"Pour some of the compound on the cloth and clean the blood away
from the wound."
    Nessa approached him. Even prone, his large
body dominated the table. She marveled at how golden his skin was,
how smooth, stretching over the solid wall of his back. Taut
buttocks curved down to powerful thighs. The sudden temptation to
touch his rear, to see if it was as firm as it looked, shocked her.
Spirit, what was wrong with her?
    Swallowing hard, she forced her attention
back to the gaping wound. She followed Chase's instructions,
carefully loosening the dried blood and blotting it away, along
with the fresh blood oozing from the laceration. It looked like a
laser wound to her, although she'd only seen a few. It must have
hurt, but Chase never flinched.
    Calmly, he guided her through the procedure.
She lowered the infrared sterilizer just above the wound and
adjusted the settings. When the sterilizer beeped off, she deadened
the skin with a spray from the cart. Then she placed a suture unit
over the injury, listening to its odd hum as it sealed the edges of
the wound together. All this advanced technology amazed and
fascinated her.
    Finally, she bandaged the wound, placing a
self-adhesive fabric over it. Chase's skin felt incredibly warm and
smooth, even through the gloves. She'd never touched anyone like
this before. The fluttery feeling in her abdomen returned, and of
their own accord, her fingers lingered over the swell of his
shoulder. His scent wafted up to her sensitive nose, musk and male
and blood, oddly stimulating. She inhaled deeply.
    Was this what the desire to mate felt like?
The inexplicable rush of emotions; this sensitivity to another
person—how they