Read Heroic Abduction for Free Online Page A

right.”
    She whirled and presented him with a beaming smile and shining eyes. Such joy infused her features it captivated him. He leaned in closer. Her breath caught. He—
    “You are actually going to eat that? It looks like a bloody disc covered in white slime,” Zista observed, ruining the moment.
    Betty recoiled and spun away. She grabbed the warm dish. “Don’t knock it until you try it. Compared to what you’re eating, I think it looks delicious, but does it taste good?”
    I’ll bet she would have tasted delicious, was all Dyre could think. Funny how his research into humans didn’t mention anything about their seriously strong sexual pheromones. How else to explain his reaction whenever she got near?
    Seating himself at the table with a meal of his own, he tried to ignore her groans of pleasure.
    “This is soooo good,” she enthused.
    I’ve got something that tastes better.
    “Dyre, you were wonderful for doing this,” she praised.
    I bet you she’d praise me even more if I pleasured her.
    “Do you have any other surprises like this?”
    Yes. A big one.
    Such un-hero-ly thoughts. Dyre rose from his seat, hands covering a certain area of his body, and spun before she could note her effect on him. He headed for the exit. “I’m needed on the bridge.”
    Neither female caught his lie, but Dyre chastised himself anyhow. Heroes didn’t lie. But heroes did need to resist temptation.
    Running to the bridge did nothing to ease his lust. He could still all too clearly picture the pink tip of her tongue as she licked her lips, lips he wanted to embrace just as he’d seen the other humans do in the mating videos he’d watched. He really should have skipped those, but he’d found himself curious about their sexual habits. And now, he wanted to try them.
    From his research, it appeared that humans and Kulin were anatomically compatible enough to indulge in coitus, which he should have known given he’d heard rumors that some distant older cousins of his had chosen some barbarians as their mates.
    But I’ve already ascertained she can’t be my mate.
    With a sound of discontent, he flung himself in his control chair and drummed his fingers on his armrest. An incoming signal beeped. He ignored it. It returned a moment later, even more insistent, demanding he answer. He sighed before he tapped his console to receive it. The view screen before him replaced the speeding galactic vista with the mauve countenance of a female. A frowning one. Some things never changed.
    “Hello, Mother.”
    “How is my disappointing son?” she began, not wasting time with pleasantries. She considered common courtesy a sign of weakness. “Have you given up this foolishness of becoming a hero? Have you finally corrected your ways, ditched your absurd plan, and resorted to murdering and pillaging yet?”
    Same old argument. “No and no.”
    “You are a disappointment to me and your father, Dyre. The laughing stock of the family. I am a pariah among my friends.”
    “So you keep reminding me.”
    “Someone needs to try and put you back on the wrong path. Do you think I enjoy these conversations?”
    “No, and yet you keep calling.” Daily.
    “A mother can hope that the son she turned away has seen the light—and extinguished it.”
    “I thought the whole purpose of banishment was so you wouldn’t have to face my good deeds?”
    “Are you getting snippy with your mother?” She beamed on the view screen, her razor-sharp teeth peeking past her black lips. “I knew there was hope for you yet.”
    Another sigh blew past his lips. “I’m a hero mother. A good one. Why, in just the last day, I conquered a beast terrorizing a village and rescued a female.”
    Gagging noises emerged from the speakers. “Oh, why must you torture me? All I ever wanted was a son like everyone else. A son who would do me proud, killing his rivals and achieving the title of greatest assassin ever.”
    “My path lies—”
    “Hey, Dyre, who are