Determine Read Free

“I am just hoping that Liskey is the kind to visit her friend during school holidays. I am sure that I would enjoy the company.” Warp shook his head as the kiss between the normally staid Starburn and the alien took on an urgency. The Guardians’ captain was gripping the woman’s waist with one hand and holding her head with the other. She wasn’t getting away any time soon.
    The reporter who had masqueraded as a server was on the other side of the diner door.
    Warp winced. “Damn. Well that cinched it. That picture is going to be on the newsreels within minutes. I thought him holding her hand was going to cause enough of a fuss. This is going to be very annoying for her.”
    The Guardians chose their companions discreetly. Not only did they not want to make them targets for harm, but also the reporters and newsreels were highly invasive on some worlds, and once the identity of a companion was known, their privacy went out the window.
    It was only a matter of time before Hydra was a target, but Warp was sure that Starburn had decided on the charming alien. Being a half-breed himself, Starburn was not hung up on Nyal bloodlines. She may have been born on an Alliance world, but Hydra was going to meet her destiny in the Nyal Imperium.

Chapter Three
    I n the hired skimmer, Hydra could not stop touching her lips. They still burned and tingled from Starburn’s kiss. Breaker had peeled him away from her, muttering about him doing enough damage.
    “I thought he wasn’t going to release you.” Liskey was still blinking in shock. Breaker had landed a quick kiss on her as well.
    “I didn’t think he was either. I was just hanging there.” She shivered. He had literally lifted her against him and held her where he wanted her. It wasn’t unexpected in Nyal males, but Hydra had never been on the receiving end of that kind of attention before. Shock was a polite term for what she was feeling, raging hormones was another.
    “Well, you can brag of a moment that no other women on Deyfell 4 can. You were kissed in a public venue by one of the Guardians.”
    “So were you.”
    “Yes, but Breaker didn’t explore the sharpness of my teeth with her tongue.”
    Hydrangea blushed. “Well, I think we should put this behind us. They are leaving in two weeks, and after that, this will all be a memory.” Liskey leaned against her for comfort, so Hydra stroked her hair.
    The skimmer passed a huge view screen and the breath left Hydra’s lungs. “Holy hell.” Starburn had a woman in his arms and that woman was being held flat against him while he ravished her mouth. The woman’s face wasn’t clear, but the clothing and hair were unmistakable.
    Even Hydra’s students commented on the natural silver frosting that coated her hair. Anyone with eyes was going to figure it out in a matter of a few moments.
    Liskey sat up and stared at the image as the kiss went on and on. “Wow. It looks even more intimate at ten times normal size.”
    “Oh lord.” She couldn’t look away. The words beneath in Nyal script said, Is Starburn making time with a mystery woman, or has he found the one?
    Nausea rippled through her. “This is going to get me ejected, isn’t it?”
    Liskey gave her a helpless look. “Maybe they won’t see it?”
    There was a stringent regulation for behaviour of visiting instructors. Hydra was getting the feeling that this was going to qualify as inappropriate behaviour.
     
    “Why didn’t you tell us that you were seeing one of the Guardians?” Her department coordinator was delighted with the image on the screen.
    Hydra rubbed her neck and shrugged. “I am not really seeing him. I met him twice, and we had just agreed that with the Guardians moving on and my contract being up before they return, it would not work out. It was a farewell kiss if you must know.”
    Srevil Quarthur shook his head. “That does not look like farewell. That looks more like, this will continue as soon as we have privacy .” Hydra’s