Battling Rapture Read Free Page A

Tribe, she’d asked?
    When he returned home, he would practice saying no to Camryn
each day until it was easy.
    At least Bronwyn looked the part of a badass. They’d all
donned black leather and the girl had emulated Camryn’s style by wearing thin
leather pants under a bisected skirt. Extreme eyeliner and black lipstick,
combined with the fact that as an Ordanian she was taller than most men in the
casino, eased his mind on how tough she looked. Besides, Bronwyn had come into
the world with icy disdain in her eyes and a cold sneer on her lips.
    He kept her close to his back and Tor stationed himself
behind her. Anyone would have to be a damn fool to come against four armed
Ordanian men and one mean and armed Ordanian woman.
    He scanned his surroundings again, blocking the maelstrom of
emotions which swirled around the room. He wondered if the patrons would
control their feelings if they knew empaths walked among them.
    “This place is a dump,” Bronwyn said.
    For once, he was happy to see the contempt on her face.
Without Camryn to make her smile, the girl had no other expression.
    They needed to find Isor Ja. Each man and Bronwyn had his
image on their communication pads from an old warrant. Sweaty, unwashed bodies
and tryzu smoke created an aroma which curled his lip and caused his
eyes to water.
    “How are we going to find him in this crowd?” Gunter asked.
    “We have to guard the little one here,” Rhine said.
    “I’m almost as tall as you. How is that little?” she asked.
    “I mean age, Bronwyn.”
    “I’ll cover the door,” Gunter said quietly. “Contact me on
the com link if you find him.”
    Rhine was proud of his new communications links. They had to
be special ordered because Ordanian hearing was so advanced that a regular link
sounded as if someone was screaming in their ears. Rhine nodded and they set
off to the right side of the room. They wound slowly through the tables. Anyone
in their way moved. Those who glanced at them looked away quickly. Being bigger
and scarier was satisfying in the extreme.
    A familiar scent assailed his nose at the same moment
Bronwyn gasped. He hurriedly searched the room. It smelled as if they had
bottled Camryn’s scent, cut the layer of sweetness with an extra dose of spice
and then sprayed the rear of the room with it.
    “There,” Bronwyn whispered.
    She quickly pointed to a table behind a haze of tryzu smoke and surrounded by several species he knew to be hypersensitive. The scent
of the Earth woman would be too much for them to resist.
    He barreled through the aliens. As he neared, he got his
first clear look at a woman who had to be Niki Sawyer. Now we’ll have two of
them to defend.
    She was exquisite. She looked like Camryn, yet she…didn’t.
She had the same Rhinonian colbruna -colored skin and long, curly brown
and black hair. Their features were almost identical at first glance. Niki’s
face was symmetrical, her eyes large and brilliant, her lashes long and her
lips full.
    But her brown eyes were also hard and her mouth was
implacable instead of just stubborn. She stared at the back of Isor Ja’s head
as if the force of her gaze would be enough to shatter his skull. She radiated
a controlled anger which was almost frightening coming from such a beautiful
woman. He glanced down. Isor Ja had her hands chained behind her. She wore a
sheer sheath in a shimmering rainbow print and ankle shackles. The bastard
hadn’t even given her shoes for her feet.
    They reached the table just as a player folded and stood. A
yellow and brown amphibious male from Ol attempted to take his place. Rhine
pulled him away by the neck, careful to keep the man’s shirt between his hand
and the mucous covering the Ol’s body.
    “Hey, I was—” The man looked up at Rhine. “I’ll find another
table.”
    Rhine sat down. “What’s the game? What are the stakes?”
    “Ordanian,” Isor Ja said. He glanced behind Rhine at the
others and shuddered. “Ordanian nobles, no