Favored by Felix by Shelley Munro Read Free Book Online Page B

needed. I’m a competent farmer, have a good nose for
wine, and I appear to have a talent for all things mechanical, which has kept
me very busy at the resort.”
    Casey gave a hard swallow, curious despite
her misery. “Do you resent your brother?”
    “Sometimes. Saber makes everything look
easy. He heads the family, sorts out our problems. He won this resort in a card
game, saved us from wandering. Gave us a place to set down roots. Fuck, I sound
as if I’m jealous of my brother.”
    “It’s hard when you have older brothers who
are good at everything.” This time the words came easier.
    “Yeah.” Felix laughed. “They cast a long
shadow. Eat your pie and drink your wine. Promise me you’ll try to eat more
food. I don’t want your beautiful breasts to fade away. I’m going to do one
last perimeter check and sort out the other hut. The shuttle is coming back for
us early in the morning.”
    Casey stared at Felix, forced her lips into
something she hoped resembled a smile. It must have worked because he skimmed
his fingers over her cheek and stood, leaving the hut without a backward
glance.
    Those tears burned her eyes again, the knot
in her throat grew to unbearable proportions and she struggled to breathe.
Despite that, a laugh squeezed free—bitter and savagely amused.
    In two days, the general expected her to
report to the military hospital, where he’d booked her in for nanotechnology.
    By the end of the week, she wouldn’t have
breasts at all—because she’d be a man, with all the working equipment of one.
    The perfect Seonaid solider.

Chapter Four
     
    Casey managed to eat a little, but her
throat hurt and her head thumped along in time with her heartbeat. Too many
messy emotions rattling her brains and heaping on top of the fatigue from long
nights of tortuous thoughts.
    Felix came inside and shut the door,
bolting it for the evening. The glimpse she got of the compound told her night
had fallen in the rapid way of this planet. One moment it was light and the
next, the sky became inky black.
    “Do you have any sexual fantasies?”
    His blunt question came out of nowhere,
especially since she was expecting some type of praise for eating, as he’d
directed. She blinked.
    “I put capture on my form,” she said. “Do
you have any headache tablets in your med-box?”
    Instant concern leaped onto his face. “You’re
not feeling well?”
    “My throat is sore and my head is aching.”
    “I’ll get you something. Get into bed. You
look as if you could do with some sleep too. Maybe we’ll postpone the sex until
tomorrow morning.”
    A protest escaped her before her sluggish
brain overrode the verbal tell, and he sent her a rakish grin. Pretty when
he smiles full-out. At least she’d have this weekend to remember. No, wait.
Hadn’t she heard the nanos would shuffle her personality and memories, take
away any female traits or thoughts? Once she entered the clinic, she wouldn’t
remember Felix and how he’d made her feel.
    Alive.
    Beautiful.
    Feminine.
    And above all, desirable.
    “Here, take these for your head.” Felix
handed her two tablets. “And one of these for your throat.” He handed her a
solid lump the size of a fingernail. “Let it dissolve in your mouth and it
should soothe your throat.”
    “What is it?”
    “Nothing sinister. My mother makes a lot of
our medical supplies. They contain natural ingredients. Once we get back to the
resort, Ma can take a look at your throat and make you something else to soothe
it.”
    Casey tried to imagine her own mother
carrying out such a domestic task and failed. Her mother went shopping, had
lunch with the other military wives—the ones with husbands of rank—and organized
perfect parties and balls. Her mother kept busy with her social life.
    After cleaning up the food and other things
they’d used, he stripped and slid into the sleep-bed beside her. He reached for
her and pulled her into his arms, pressing her face against his chest. At