Read Online The Choosing (The Pruxnae Book 1) by Lucy Varna - Free Book Online

a series of
cleansing filters into small holding tanks tucked beneath the cargo bay. Locks
separated each of the tanks, opening only as water was pulled through them into
the pipes for use, protecting the majority of the water stored within them if
one sprang a leak. In theory, the smaller filters placed at regular intervals
along the pipes kept the water fresh and clean, no matter where it had come
from or how long it had been in the tanks.
    In reality, the
system rarely worked the way it was supposed to. When Tyelu had assessed the Yarinska ,
she’d advised replacing the entire system. He’d talked her into helping him
refit it instead, a much cheaper alternative that should’ve suited his needs
fine.
    And would have,
if he could figure out how to keep the kraden thing running.
    He selected a
wrench and set it to the bolt holding one of the filters in place. A gently
clucking tongue interrupted his work. He glanced up. Ziri was straddling the
lip of the door leading into the greenhouse, her arms crossed under her
breasts, amusement lighting her tilted, blue-gray eyes.
    He sat back on
his haunches. So, she thought him working on the pipes was funny, did she? He
eyed her small smile. A perverse need to widen it into full-blown humor punched
at him. He could tease her into laughter, watch it brighten her face as her
humor rolled out. She had a beautiful laugh, soft and husky and so genuine, nobody
hearing it could doubt its sincerity. His hands curled into fists around the
wrench. Would she laugh like that for him, after the Choosing? Would she fill
their days with the joy he craved in the hidden part of his heart where his
past ate into his present?
    She knelt beside
him and brushed her fingers over his hands. “Ryn,” she said, followed by a
spate of soft-spoken words that sounded so much like an apology, his heart
twisted in his chest. She hadn’t done anything wrong, not at all. Her smile
held a rightness he hoped to see every day.
    He loosened his
grip on the wrench. She took it from him and shooed him out of the way, then
studied the Yarinska ’s internal workings.
    “Hmm.” She faced
him and tapped a finger on the filter, raising a single eyebrow. He nodded and
settled his back against the far wall. What could it hurt to let her try? He’d
seen for himself how good she was with her hands, back when he’d been searching
for the perfect woman to capture as his future bride. Her knack for fixing
things around her home had been a bonus, as far as he was concerned, though
he’d never hoped to turn that aspect of the Yarinska over to her. Didn’t
Tyelu complain all the time that such work should be left for men, and dumb
ones at that?
    He was pretty
sure she was insulting him in particular when she tacked on that last bit. It
was rude, yes, and not exactly true. He was intelligent enough, just not where
mechanics was concerned. He’d managed to keep her out of trouble when they were
growing up, hadn’t he?
    Ziri ran her
hands lightly over the exposed section of the water system, flipping switches,
tapping pipes. She placed her free hand on the edge of the panel and set the
wrench against the bolt he’d been about to turn. Down her hand went, torqueing
the wrench, loosening the bolt. She grunted and shifted her stance, spreading
her knees farther apart as she worked the bolt off.
    Her bottom
wiggled every time she moved.
    Ryn’s gaze
dropped to the gentle curves of her hips and the full cheeks of her ass,
clearly outlined by her pants. His pants, too loose at her waist and a
little too snug around her hips. She wiggled again and the heat pooling in his
groin morphed into a raging flame of need.
    He stifled a
groan and raised one leg, placing his foot flat on the floor, knee bent, in the
futile hope of hiding his erection from Ziri’s keen-eyed gaze. The last thing
he needed was her running from him again, her face pale and tense like she
expected him to wrestle her to the floor on the spot and thrust himself