Read Online Tethered by Pippa Jay - Free Book Online Page A

gut. With hardly a whisper, she Misted out and went through him. Golden heat filled her for a second before she pulled free. Zander pushed to his feet and spun to meet her, but she cranked up her molecular density and punched him hard in the chest. He collapsed, gasping and coughing. In one fluid movement she sat astride him at full density, and the air whumphed out of his lungs. She pinioned his arms with her hands, her face hovering mere centimeters above his.
    As her breathing slowed to normal, a huge grin split her face. She’d made a vow to herself to jump him, and she’d done it. Perhaps it was childish, but it warmed her heart.
    “Your...reputation...is well deserved,” he gasped.
    “You’re not so bad yourself,” she complimented him. He’d fought well, but perhaps not quite with the determination—and certainly not the desperation—of most opponents she’d faced. “For a human.”
    “Thank you. Perhaps we could try this again tomorrow?”
    Tyree laughed. As much as he could irritate the hell out of her, he was equally amusing. “If you want to spend most of your morning on the floor...”
    He gazed up at her with that easy smile, making no effort to struggle. Most humans, without the influence of her pheromones and the distraction of her naked body writhing above theirs, would not have been so trusting. So compliant. She found herself staring at his mouth. What would it be like to kiss him, without the use of her talents? Would it be as satisfying? As sensual? The warmth of him, the firmness of his body beneath hers, sent heat spiraling through her abdomen.
    “Perhaps you could let me up now?” His words jerked her from such musings. What the hell was she thinking?
    She scooted to her feet and he rose. As he gathered his outer robe and donned it, she turned her back on him, fixing her attention on the Manikin. Trying not to remember the feel of him underneath her. She didn’t need that. Not from him.
    “End combat training,” she commanded. At least she could make that do her bidding.
    The Manikin walked back to its original position, and the elasticated tendrils of the holding cradle reached for it as it curled up again. She waited until it was safely stowed away before returning to Zander. Together they walked back down the corridor.
    “Have you ever taken on more than one Manikin?” Zander asked.
    “What makes you think that?”
    “I saw the way you fight. The Manikins are set for human combat but, as you’re so keen to remind me, Inc-Su are not human.”
    And doesn’t that just bug you. Tyree smirked. “You’re right. One of my Incu kin and I took on three.”
    “And?”
    “He got a broken jaw and a cracked skull. I broke both my arms.”
    Zander made a sound of disapproval. “That shouldn’t have happened. Manikins are programed to avoid injuries to humans.”
    “But, as you pointed out, Inc-Su aren’t human, and our Manikins are altered accordingly.”
    He frowned. “That’s illegal.”
    “Under Terran law, perhaps. Not in Refuge.”
    “Refuge seems a very different world compared to most in the Territories.” He didn’t sound happy about the fact. “I wonder why you want to go back.”
    “Because it’s my home. Because I belong there.” She stopped and faced him. “And because I have no choice. And even if I did have a choice, I’d still go back.”
    His eyes held hers for a moment, a flicker of anger in their depths. “You sound like a slave. And yet your council called you rebellious.”
    Fury lit her veins. “No, Mirsee was a slave, allowing herself to be bonded to a frigging human. I’d rather be Dissipated.”
    She whirled and stalked away from him. How dare he? What the hell did he know? What did any human know?
    Idiot. He has no idea what it’s like to be Su...
    ***
    Tyree sat and fidgeted as Visaya played with her hair until the woman threw her hands up in exasperation.
    “My lady, you must keep still.”
    Tyree leaped to her feet, scattering hairpins