Fallen Star by Morgan Hawke Read Free Book Online Page A

bandages.” He peeled back the derma-strips with gentle fingers.
    She looked up at him in alarm and felt her heart beat in her mouth for no good reason at all. “What for?”
    “I want to make sure you didn’t do any permanent damage.”
    “My arms work just fine, thank you.” She suddenly focused on his handsome face and then his full mouth. A kiss would only be a small stretch away ... She licked her lips. Her heart thumped harder. What am I thinking? She jerked away and almost fell against the smooth wall. Her knees didn’t want to work properly.
    He raised a brow at her. “Having problems standing?”
    “No ...” She was having problems being in the same room with him. She had to keep away from him; he ... he smelled too good. What was wrong with her today? She’d been doing weird things, thinking weird things, and now she was feeling weird things.
    “Good. Turn around, put your hands on the wall, and keep them there.”
    Fallon turned and set both palms on the wall. “Now what?”
    “Hold still.” His fingertips slid down her back. “I want to see if you took any other damage I didn’t see.”
    She arched away from his light touch, but he persisted. It didn’t feel bad; in fact, it felt kind of ... nice. The hair rose all down her spine. Why was he being so ... caring? Why couldn’t he just stay a big loud-mouthed bastard? She could handle being yelled at. This ... gentleness was scrambling everything in her head. Bloody Fate, she had almost kissed him!
    “Chaos, you’re filthy.”
    The breath exploded from Fallon’s lungs. “If you hadn’t chased me --”
    “You stole my glider!”
    “There was no reason to go after me once you got it back!”
    He snarled, the primitive and completely inhuman sound of an angry predator. “We’ve been over all this! You lost, remember? That’s why you are currently up against the wall.”
    Fallon couldn’t stop her instinctive flinch. “Fine.” She scowled at the gleaming black wall. “So now what are you going to do?”
    “Do? The same thing anyone does with a dirty stray -- give it a bath.” She could hear the insufferable grin in his voice.
    “A dirty stray? ” Fallon turned to glare at him over her shoulder. “What do you think I am, some kind of pet?”
    Sobehk barked out a laugh. “Yes, actually.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the oval door to the water stall. “Go on and get in.” He reached for the fastenings to his pants.
    She fled.
     

Chapter Five
     
    The Vortex -- Skeldhi brigantine class transport
    Jump Space
     
    Fallon stepped into the water stall and looked around with interest. Well now, this is rich territory ...
    The stall was completely enclosed in sheets of semi-transparent, silvery-smoked material that looked like glass, with one whole wall that was mirrored. Lights and small-handled spray heads were mounted on each of the five walls; a dark, smoked-chrome rail went all the way around the interior.
    Fallon grimaced at her reflection. The brute was right; she was absolutely filthy. Her shoulder-length black hair was dull and matted with Fate only knew what, and her pale skin was barely visible though all the dirt. Her face had oily black smears across her forehead and one cheek, making her eyes look huge and really blue-green. She frowned at her face. Her eyes seemed bigger, somehow, and she didn’t remember having that much blue or green in them.
    Warmth trickled down between her thighs and her ass. It was cum, from when he’d fucked her. She turned her back on the mirror in complete disgust. She had no idea how he had even touched her.
    Sobehk stepped into the shower with his back turned, utterly and magnificently nude, giving her a mouthwatering view of his entire backside from shoulder to heel. His long, frost-white hair fell in loose waves past his bone-pale shoulders to brush against his slender hips in an extravagant mane of white silk. He dropped a small collection of nubby white cloths on the