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

looked, how they felt, their scent? She'd read
about mating, of course, had seen Shielders embracing and kissing,
up among the rocks near her primitive hut on Liron.
    Nessa had often longed for a normal life
like the other colonists enjoyed. She knew her yearnings were
foolish and futile, but still, she'd wondered what it would be like
to have a lifemate, to enter into the mating act, to bear
children.…Pain slashed through her, and she unintentionally dug her
fingers into Chase's shoulder.
    "Damn!" Flinching for the first time, he
turned his head and squinted up at her. "What are you doing? Is
that bandage on yet?"
    She stepped back, her heart skittering into
an irregular beat. "Yes. I think it's done."
    He swung himself up and shifted his legs
over the edge. "Are you all right? You're flushed."
    Her hand flew to her heated face. "I—I'm
fine. But we need to tend to those scratches on your face."
    "I can do that."
    She suddenly, desperately, wanted to touch
him again. "No, let me. Do I use the compound in the silver
flask?"
    Grudgingly, he nodded, and she took another
cloth and the flask from the cart. She found his face as
fascinating as his body. The high, pronounced cheekbones, the two
furrowed lines between his brows, the gold specks in his eyes, the
full curve of his lips. She committed every detail to memory.
    He jerked slightly as she cleaned the cuts,
and she drew back, concerned. "Does it hurt?"
    "Only when I fly too low."
    "What?"
    He grinned and her heart danced again.
"That's an old joke, Nessa. Haven't you ever heard it?"
    She shook her head and returned her
attention to the cuts. The heat Chase generated wrapped around her,
along with his scent. He remained as silent as she, and by the time
she finished, every nerve in her body stood on edge, and her skin
tingled with odd sensations. She stepped back, at a loss for
words.
    He slid off the table and took the cloth
from her hands. As always, his massive presence dwarfed her. "Thank
you. I'll clean up. Throw your gloves in the incinerator over
there. You might want to sterilize your hands again."
    She complied, watching him covertly while he
put everything away. Was this breathless sensation she experienced
at the sight of his bare skin and beautifully delineated muscles
another aspect of the mating fever? Not that it made any
difference, she told herself.
    She had accepted long ago that she would
never have a lifemate. Who would want a cripple who suffered from
unexplainable and frightening seizures? Even without her defects,
she'd still be undesirable. Too thin, too plain.
    Best to keep her focus on her mission, to
remember time was running out. Nessa shuddered, assailed by
thoughts of what would happen if she failed. No, she refused to
think about that now.
    Instead, she headed toward the cockpit where
she could lose herself in IAR and the knowledge it offered; could
read about far-off places, exotic animals, and myths of hidden
treasures.
    Where she could pretend—if only for a little
while—that she was normal. And maybe just a little bit pretty…and
desirable.
     

CHAPTER SIX
     
    Nessa's fingers flew over the keyboard. She
paused to study the screen, her expression rapt as she scanned the
data presented there. Distracted from plotting position coordinates
to transmit to Sabin, Chase leaned back to watch her. Oblivious to
his scrutiny, she soaked up the knowledge on the screen like a
wilted corona plant absorbing water, her dark eyes shining with the
wonder of discovery.
    Without her usual mask of distrust, she
looked almost pretty. Her face still held the gauntness of
hardship, but her skin glowed with golden tones, and her tousled
mahogany hair had some body and sheen to it. Obviously, she made
use of the cleansing stall in her cabin's lav.
    She leaned forward eagerly as the image on
the screen changed. Regret swept through Chase. Once he'd been just
as hungry for knowledge, eager to learn anything and everything.
He'd been innocent and trusting and