Creed of Pleasure; the Space Miner's Concubine (The LodeStar Series) by Cathryn Cade Read Free Book Online Page B

 
    He forced himself to let go of the railing, and sank down on the mat kept laid out on the balcony floor. Kneeling, he placed his hands on his knees, palms down, and concentrated.  
    Slowly, under protest, but at last bowing to his training, his emotions folded in on themselves and receded deep within him, replaced by calm. His arousal faded. Only then did he let his mind open.
    His memories carried him back, to another kneeling mat, at the monastery at Zhen-Lau.
    Before him, cross-legged on a dais, sat the Zhen master, Zhou-way, ‘he who takes the wind’. Though the old monk’s face was seamed with decades, his body was taut and lean.
    At Creed’s side was a pack, with his weapons, mealpacs and one change of clothing.
    ‘You leave us now, young Creed. Go, take what we have taught, as you make your way in the world. But know, your demons will follow you.’
    Creed bowed to show respect. ‘I can fight them off, master, with the weapons you’ve given me.’  
    He’d learned self-discipline, not only of the body but of the mind, a self-possession that his older brother Joran called eerie. Creed called it good. Never again would he be at the mercy of lust, rage, or fear and those who tried to wreak it.
    Master Zhou shook his head, his gaze keen. ‘No, you mistake my meaning. They are your demons, Creed. They have no choice but to follow you, until you are ready to release their chains and set them free.’
    Now Creed rose from his mat, pushing to his feet in a graceful movement. His skin prickled as if a ghostly hand brushed across his shoulders.  
    In crafting his new life, including this frontier fortress, had he truly kept his demons at bay, or were they trapped inside with him?  
     
    * * *
     
    Creed woke quickly as was his habit, instantly alert. Morning now, the pure golden light edging in his windows. One that he normally didn’t take time to enjoy. When his eyes opened in the morning, he was out of bed and into action. A workout, a showerdry, then breakfast and coffee before he was off to the mine.
    Unlike his actions every other morning, however, this time Creed folded one arm under his head and looked out at the pale sky, washed with lavender and gold.  
    As if he hadn’t slept, his meditation memories leapt back into his mind.  
    He’d forgotten Master Zhou’s words, until they soared from the mists of memory silently as a gyre hawk. Was the old man right? Was his self-imposed aloneness now simply loneliness, and thus useless? Had he dragged his demons along, instead of them pursuing him?
    And most importantly, was it possible that it was time to release them? And could he?
    Well, if he did, he’d quarking well do it in his own time. Irritation surged as he recalled Logan’s high-handedness in arranging to send him this woman. His older brother saw himself as a benevolent guardian. This latest action was so jacked, so far out of line, it took Stark well into despot territory.
    Serve him right if Creed sent his beautiful whore right back to him, this morning.  
    Throwing back the coverlet, Creed sprang out of bed.  
    Without pausing for his usual stretches and isometric strengthening, followed by a fight workout with the padded droid, he stepped into his showerdry and hit the hot spray.
     
    * * *
     
    Taara woke with a start when something screeched outside her window. She lifted her head from the soft pillow and stared around her, her heart pounding. Where was she?
    Then memory flooded back, of the torturous journey and her arrival, complete with the humiliation of vomiting on the very man she was supposed to entice. She flopped back on the pillow with a muffled whimper. Oh, goddess, Creed Forth had been so disgusted with her he’d linked Stark right away.  
    Hurt clenched her insides as she recalled his deep voice, harsh with disgust. ‘You sent me a whore?’
    With an effort, she stuffed the raw memory away and looked around. She was in a big bedroom, decorated in plain, masculine brown