Read Online Starblood (The Starblood Trilogy) by Carmilla Voiez - Free Book Online

rather than granite in their greyness.
    ‘Come and sit down. Talk to me Steve … Satori. Tell me all that I’ve missed.’
    ‘He really doesn’t have time, darling,’ Paul answers.
    She silences Paul with a cold stare. He looks frightened of her, although she cannot understand why.
    ‘I’ll help you,’ she whispers in Steve’s ear. ‘Tell me what to do.’
    ‘Thank you,’ Steve answers, his fragile voice barely audible. ‘I don’t know what you can do yet. Not until … ’
    ‘Until what? Tell me.’ She feels the familiar bubbling in her mind. Until I believe. ‘I understand. I want to help you though. Do you need anything from home?’
    Steve shakes his head.
    ‘We’ve got everything we need, thanks,’ Paul answers for him. His low voice growls as though speaking through clenched teeth.
    Star can feel his impatience. She feels expelled from this place, this time, these people. Hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and her skin prickles. I shouldn’t be here. I’m making a fool of myself again. Walk away. Let them have their time together.
    ‘Just turn your phone back on, okay? In case I need you, please,’ she asks. I love you. Those three words shoulder their way into her thoughts. She concentrates on each syllable. A smile flickers across Steve’s lips and she wonders if he understands.
    ‘I’m sorry, Star. You really should leave now,’ insists Paul.
    She fights back the desire to leap at Paul’s smug face and tear at his skin with her nails. Without saying a word, she walks towards the door, hoping that Steve will remember his phone.

Chapter 9
    Satori watches as Star leaves. Why can’t I speak to her, tell her the research is complex and I’d be better off with fewer distractions? Paul is always there, lavishing attention on him. An altogether more intimate quest threatens to eclipse Satori’s search for a way to stop Lilith. Star’s departure feels like a final goodbye. Why can’t I just tell her how much I love her – need her? If she asks me, I’ll promise to give it all up, marry her and never look back.
    He turns, planning to look for his jacket and turn on his phone but Paul catches him around his waist before he takes four steps towards the cloakroom. The older man’s strong arms hold him firmly but tenderly as his breath gets closer and closer to Satori’s throat. He hears Paul’s shallow breathing in his ear.
    ‘You’re better off without her,’ Paul whispers. ‘She’ll only try to stop you.’
    Satori doesn’t answer. The man’s sandpaper skin brushes his neck. He closes his eyes and lets his body sway forwards and backwards. The movement disorientates him. He wonders whether he will lose his balance completely and fall to the floor. Will he fall forwards or backwards or will Paul catch him? His head feels unbearably heavy and his arms hang like lead weights from his shoulders. Even opening his eyes requires too great an effort. Instead, he allows himself to be guided back upstairs.
    In the bedroom Paul loosens his silk belt and lets his robe fall open. Satori looks at the man’s body. His chest is wiry and hairless. Its two nipples are so pale they are hardly visible except for the rings hanging from each of them. Memories of Star’s beautiful breasts, small and high with dark pink nipples, which used to point upwards when he teased them, fill his head, and he licks his lips. Then, as his thoughts return to the present, he realises Paul has taken this to signal approval. The man’s silk boxer shorts are already tented with excitement.
    Hovering by Paul’s bedroom door Satori feels the rapid beating of his own heart. Adrenaline makes his stomach churn. Fight or flight? On the other hand he likes Paul, and he finds the older man’s company stimulating. He doesn’t want to lose the friendship. Paul moves closer. Like a geisha, he inches towards Satori. Fight, flight or fuck? Any homoerotic fantasies would always be with a man his own age: a beautiful,