Read Online Talson Temptations 2: Talson's Test by Marie Harte - Free Book Online Page A

had to wonder if this deep bond was due to her Selection as well.
    Selection, the time in a female’s life when she chose a mate or conceived a child.
    Thoughts of a child made his cock swell, and Z’s vision blurred at the beauty of their coming together. Hell, he hadn’t cried in thirty years. What the fuck was wrong with him?
    He shook off the excess emotion and sought refuge in sleep. But the dreams that came were more intense than they’d ever been.
    The emergency beacons flared. Several crew lay unmoving, bloodied and injured. Enemy vessels neared, the probability of survival lowering with each second that passed.
    “Dammit, Adri, it’s too much. Pull back!” he yelled but received no answer in return.
    To his horror, she lay behind him. Blood fell from her nose, eyes and ears. Her entire body was covered in flames, and behind her Val stood with a phaser in hand, his gaze silver bright and locked on something behind Z. Then pain, a fissure of energy growing from his chest. He thought he heard her cry out, but then darkness consumed him…
    He woke choking on a scream, Adri leaning over him in concern.
    “Are you okay?”
    He felt smothered and scrambled out from under her. “Be right back.” Racing to the lavatory, he shoved his head under the sink, easing from the heat burning his brain. But he couldn’t cool off. To his shock, his arms burst into flames, then his chest and legs. As he stared into the mirror, pinpoints of red grew in his silver eyes, overtaking his sight until he saw nothing but a raging inferno.
    “Into the water with you. Come on.” Gentle hands pulled him into the shower and eased cold water over his body. The water and her hands cooled him down, and Z
    blinked to find Adri wet and naked and standing with him.
    “Am I still dreaming?” He glanced around him, seeing, smelling and hearing the humanity in the distance. Not Werfal 7 then. Not home.
    “You’re with me and your brother in New Hattan, remember?” Adri rubbed some scented soap into his skin, her touch soothing his tension.
    “Oh, that’s good.”
    “Bend down. You’re too tall.” She stood on tiptoe to reach his neck, and he bent down, liking the fact he loomed over her. The woman needed to be dominated, caged, brought to heel. But only under him.
    The earlier delight he’d felt watching his brother take her vanished under extreme jealousy.
    “Um, Zaret? Are you okay?”
    Zaret. He liked her using his full name. “Where’s my brother?” She shrugged and rubbed his neck, then massaged the soap over his shoulders and down his biceps. “In the other room, I guess. I don’t know.”
    “Good.” He gave her a quick, hard kiss. “I don’t want you near him again.” She blinked. “Um, why?”
    “I—because I—shit. I don’t know.” Disoriented, he leaned back against the shower wall. “I’m sorry. This is so much, so fast. I mean, we don’t even know each other, and we’re mated. And you’re going to be hurt, and I don’t know how to stop it.” She stared, wide-eyed. “Say that again?”
    He swore. He knew better than to blurt out the future. Sometimes he did more harm than good. “I’m supposed to be the one taking care of you.” Tenderness swept through him. These bursts of emotions were making it hard for him to focus on any particular one. “Let me wash you.”
    “Okay, I guess.” She leaned back and soaked under the spray of water. “You were hot before because of me. I’m sorry.”
    He lathered her up, moving over her shoulders to her breasts and down. But he wanted his touch to be sensual, comforting, not sexual. He wanted to show he cared for her. How strange to suddenly feel for this woman. Yet he did.
    “How was that your fault?” he asked, recalling what she’d just said.
    “You somehow tapped into my fire. The ‘San Fal control fire. That’s our skill set.
    Our psychei is geared toward heat. But I’ve never heard of another Otra clan being able to harness such power.” She