Read Light of Kaska for Free Online

stupid,” Stryker said quietly. “He’s already suspicious of you.”

    “I know,” she whispered without moving. “I just—” She shook her head and let out her breath in a heavy sigh. Then she straightened and moved back to his side, not meeting his eyes. “How do those bandages feel? Are they too bulky? I don’t want the cuff to cut off your circulation.”

    “They’re fine, thanks,” he said, watching as she bent over his wrist again. She touched the edge of the bandage and grasped his hand, trying to turn it. He did it for her, showing her that there was still room inside the shackle for him to move. She nodded to herself, adjusting the edge of the bandage with one hand while the other trailed a long stroke down his forearm, sending goose bumps up his flesh and down his side. He said nothing this time, just watched her slim fingers glide over his skin with a hunger that was impossible to define or deny.

    Then she straightened, seemingly unaware that she’d been petting him again. “More food?” she asked, picking up the rest of the pastry. When he nodded, she broke off another chunk and resumed feeding him. She was quiet, her eyes on her hands and a faint, thoughtful crease between her brows. The middle of the pastry didn’t have crust to hold it together, so she had to resort to mashing it together and offering it on her fingertips. He resisted temptation as long as he could, but when she offered him a small bite, one he couldn’t take without touching her, he closed his lips over her fingers with relish.

    She pulled away, slim body vibrating with tension. Pretending not to notice, he kept his gaze on her hands while he chewed and swallowed. When she didn’t break off another bite for him, he decided a distraction was in order. The woman was way too nervous for her own good.

    “Let’s see it,” he said without lifting his eyes from her hands.

    “What?” Her voice held a little shiver.

    “Your mat tat,” he answered, nodding to the bit of color he could see on the underside of her wrist.

    She pressed it to her belly as if in protection, and he noticed that the lower front of her shirt was almost transparent with moisture, showing the color of her skin beneath. His sweat, from when she had so gently mopped his face. His sweat on her skin. A shaft of animal heat drove through him and he clenched his hands into fists.

    “W-why?” she asked.

    He lifted his eyes to hers and didn’t answer, watching dark lashes flutter over amber. Her gaze skittered away and she glanced around the room as if looking for support or escape. Then her lips compressed and she slowly turned her wrist up for his inspection.

    It was beautiful work. The colors were vivid, the artwork elegant, using the curves of her flesh to dramatic effect with ocean waves of blue and green. The soft gray and lavender skin on the sea creature sparkled and looked raised, as if something was embedded in her flesh. He had the strongest urge to feel the matrilineal marking, to stroke her as she had stroked him.

    “Nice,” he said in as neutral a tone as he could manage. “What is it?”

    She hesitated, and he glanced up to see her studying the picture with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “We call them selkies after an Old Earth legend. They’re indigenous to my birth planet. They were hunted almost to extinction by the first settlers, so now they’re pretty elusive.”

    He studied the sleek lines of the graceful creature, caught in joyful motion as it leapt from the sea. “What planet?”

    “Kaska.”

    He looked up at her, startled. That was more than matrilineal—that was downright Amazonian. “You’re a long way from home, farm girl.”

    A spasm of longing and sorrow passed over her face before she lowered her arm and met his gaze with strange determination. “I stopped at the barn on the way over,” she said in a low voice, breaking off a hunk of the pastry. He nodded and took the bite from her fingers,