Whispers in the Dawn by Aurora Rose Lynn Read Free Book Online Page A

examination. He knew a bullet wound when he saw one, but he had seen nothing on her. Yet she had specifically told him she had been hit.
    He sighed and clasped his hands together before he unclasped them again and ran his fingers along the hard wood of the chair’s arm. What exactly had happened? Was her passing out a ruse to get into his quarters? No matter how innocent she’d appeared, he’d sensed a strength about her that hadn’t registered during his first impression of her.
    He pressed his lips together, then sighed. She was getting to him in a bad way, with her beauty and his lack of sex for months and months. He unbuckled his belt and unzipped his trousers. Good heavens, he wanted her…but if he couldn't have her in this moment, there were ways to take care of matters. He lay down against the seat and pulled his hardening cock from his pants. The tip was moist with pre-cum. Gently at first, he began to pump the shaft, starting at the root. Up and down with rhythmic movements. Then harder and harder. His breathing almost stopped, and he forced himself to gasp for air, but his hand didn’t stop. Faster and faster.
    How his thoughts whirled around in his head. From Odessa’s beauty to her bared thighs to her inviting glances. She was shy, yet not so shy that she couldn’t make love to him. He was sure of that. The notion turned him on. The seconds passed as his muscles tightened with yearning. When his orgasm came, his ideas shattered and he settled down, spent, his mind eased of its torture. Wondering about her had turned him inside out. He refastened his clothes, raked his fingers through his hair…and now it was time for business. Wasn’t it?
    His indecisiveness ended as he rose and slapped the ‘speak’ button on the screen on the dining table. He refused to lift the towel and allow prying eyes into his quarters. He hated to seek information this way, but how else would he find out if anyone knew what Odessa was doing on the space station?
    “Ralph,” he said, without showing emotion. “Find out if Roland Baylon’s ship has been located yet and what his destination is.”
    “Yes, sir,” the man replied with a hint of rebellion.
    Harley nodded and shut off the speaker. If the Murrach were listening in, he wouldn’t think anything was amiss if Harley was searching for the woman. Minor things went wrong all the time on Romaydia. Harley hazarded a guess that the end result was still the same, in Pardua’s opinion. As long as the miscreant was caught, there would be no harm, no foul. Harley had been given several bonuses in the last year and had personally been congratulated but the end of the mission was still in the future.
    He wanted Odessa to tell him where Baylon was, and not only bring down Baylon, but Pardua as well. All the pieces of the complicated puzzle weren’t yet in place. Pardua wasn’t a man who made many missteps. When he did, his underlings paid the price with their lives. Those were the men who usually spilled the goods on their Lord. However, dead men didn’t volunteer information.
    Perplexed and agitated, Harley ran his hands over the sides of his head. He was alone here on the station, the only good guy among thousands and thousands who routinely trafficked drugs or stolen merchandise or pimped. He felt dirty and cheapened in his quest for revenge. Isolation wasn’t a bad part of his life, since he didn’t want to associate with non-criminals—that type of action alone would raise Pardua’s suspicions and Harley might be dead within the hour.
    The minutes ticked by. Harley paced back and forth across the confines of his room. Twenty steps one way, twenty back. He counted them before he got bored, fell to his hands and knees and began exercising with a vengeance. One hundred push-ups. Two hundred. The exertion often relieved the stress of waiting. Sometimes it didn’t.
    The speaker rang. Harley was at the table before it could ring again. Uncovering the screen, he barked,