Briannas Prophecy by Tianna Xander Read Free Book Online

until the dense fog totally surrounded her.
    He shook his head, and his mouth twisted wryly. Just his luck! The first female he’d been remotely attracted to for the last five years ran away from him. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever met, though, with that huge hairy growth on the side of her nose. Yet, there was something about her that attracted him.
    Inhaling deeply, he breathed in her sweet scent again and smiled. She smelled very nice, too, which was more than he could say for the women on some of the worlds he’d visited recently. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his new jeans and sauntered toward the place he would call home for the next few weeks.
      He’d no sooner stepped into the house before he heard a shriek overhead. He started toward the stairs at a run, looking up just in time to watch Minra, his engineer, fly down. Her nut-brown hair was in disarray as wisps of cobwebs framed a face nearly as white as the blouse she wore. He reached out to steady her as she appeared ready to topple over any second.
    “There is a furry beast up there!” she shrieked and pointed at the stairs with a shudder. “I’m not going up there again, not until it’s gone. I don’t know what it is, but when it looked at me and opened its mouth, I saw razor sharp teeth.” Still trembling, she pulled free, wrapped her arms around her middle and rubbed her biceps. She did a nervous little dance and her whole body shook. “Get Cholo down here to take care of it.” She blushed, lowering thick, dark lashes. “Or Rodel.”
    A sound caused them both to look up. Minra squeaked with fear and moved to put herself behind Niklas. She grasped his waist and looked around him to the carpeted stairs.
    He grinned, tempted to remind her who he was. The thought made him wonder what kind of reaction he’d get. He’d grown very fond of the crew over the last year of travel. Sequestered aboard the ship together for so long, they had become a family of sorts. “No need for them, Minra. I can handle this creature.”
    He didn’t bother to tell her he knew exactly what it was. She would have known had she spent more time using the subliminal discs, which was a situation he would address at another time. Niklas approached the stairs quietly. He didn’t want to startle the little creature. Sitting down, he ignored Minra’s sharply drawn breath, held out his hand and crooned softly to the shiny black animal.
    It crept cautiously toward him as it sniffed the air. When the animal was in his lap, he began scratching it behind its ears and under its chin. Soon it began to emit a strange humming sound, similar to the vibration made by the hoverpods on Terrna . This must be what the subliminal disks had referred to as purring. Niklas stood and walked toward Minra.
    She backed up a step, held her hand out in front of her as if to ward him off. She shook her head, obviously still afraid of the little creature.
    “It will not harm you. The domesticated ones do not attack unless provoked,” he said softly, still petting the cat. He rubbed a particularly good spot under its chin. The animal tilted its head back and closed its eyes. “Feel how soft his fur is,” he whispered. “I have never felt anything like this before.” His big hand gently stroked the silky fur. The cat let out a pathetic little mewling sound and tilted its head to the side in ecstasy.
    Tentatively, Minra reached out and touched the silky soft coat of the cat and her eyes grew wide with undisguised amazement.
    “If you take him in your arms and hold him gently, he will not hurt you. Carry him into the…” Niklas paused, tried to remember the word. “Take him to the kitchen and give him some of the milk we picked up this morning. I think they are supposed to like that.”
    Gingerly, Minra took the cat from him, cradled it in her arms and left.
    He turned in a slow circle, studying the empty room. On this world, this area would be considered spacious. It was