Read Aurora Rising for Free Online

time to get a good look, she realized he wasn’t much older than her. Muscles rippled over his bare chest as he folded his arms across it, studying her with the same intensity she studied him.
    Again her breath caught. He was handsome. His dark hair was cut short. His intense eyes were such a light brown they almost looked like molten gold, even washed out in the emergency lights. She shook her head to clear away the odd thoughts. Still, her eyes drifted down the tawny skin of his chest. The muscles were well developed from exercise and work, with a good dose of heredity thrown in. He’d pulled on pants and athletic shoes before he’d come to help.
    A cool breeze brushed her heated skin, and she became aware she was standing there in just her nightwear that hardly covered her body. “Oh.” She wrapped her arms around herself, realizing the room was also filled with other people, most dressed in security or rescue gear though there were several others who had obviously been pulled from their beds.
    A smile broke over the man’s chiseled features and his eyebrows cocked up. He started to make a comment as Rori shifted, putting weight on her injured foot. There was no stopping her outcry and whatever he was going to say died on his lips as his attention dropped down the length of her legs to where the blood seeped on the ground.
    “You’re hurt.”
    Before she could react, he swept her off the ground into his arms. Heat from his skin was blessedly warm to her, but she didn’t get time to enjoy it as he was already striding across the ruined room into the hall where more people lingered.
    “Quade, we need a medic.” He walked up to a man with a medical insignia on his sleeve. The medic motioned to stretchers waiting along the wall. Gently she was lowered to it. The minute she was down, the medic lifted her foot to look at it then motioned to someone else, and she was being whisked away, barely able to catch a last glimpse of the man.
    ***
    The minute Keyen released her he wanted the woman back in his arms. He watched the med-techs take her away and wished he could go after her, but he was needed. Forcing himself, he turned and reentered the apartment.
    He stopped and studied the damage. The outer wall of the two apartments had been sheared away. Luckily, the blast hadn’t gone deeper. Then again, studying the area, it hadn’t been designed to. It was a controlled blast from a well-placed explosive device. What he couldn’t understand is why.
    He looked around at what was left of Tad’s small bedroom and into the bedroom on the other side. Except for the missing outside wall and part of the wall between the bedrooms, the room was almost entirely intact. According to the information he’d pulled up, the residence was supposed to be empty. Keyen eyed the blankets on the bed that looked to be messed up by someone sleeping in it, not the explosion.
    One of the visiting dignitaries, the thought crossed his mind, but he didn’t have time to continue with it as the security chief called him out of his contemplation.
    “Keyen, can you give us a hand here?”
    Keyen eyed the bed a second longer before he turned to Macey, the building specialist. “What do you need?” He moved to the men standing close to the opening.
    “See that chunk of loose material. We were wondering if you could steady it while we bring the lift closer, then free it so we don’t have to worry about it breaking off and falling.
    Keyen nodded. “Ready?”
    “Yeah, March is standing by.” Macey motioned to the large hover lift.
    “Okay.” Keyen stepped a little closer to the edge and concentrated on the slab of concrete which hung precariously by a single cable that ran through it. At a meter wide and several long, Keyen knew it easily weighed ten times his weight but it didn’t matter to his mind. Keeping the movements gradual, Keyen raised the piece with his mind as though it was attached to a crane. Getting it level, he held it in position