Read My Prize for Free Online

McAllen."
    Boralle tilted her head as a sudden flash of an old holo-vid danced into her mind. She and a girlfriend had called up a historical romance for a project they'd worked on during their educational process. It had been about a far off time in a far off place, but there had been men called Lairds and they'd worn...skirts, she thought, wrapped around themselves.
    Boralle gaped. "You're from Scotland. Old Scotland. Scotland, like on old Earth."
    Rory grinned. "Got it in one, sweetheart. They said you were incredibly intelligent. And by the looks of things they were right. They dinna tell me what a beauty you are though..."
    In spite of her rigorous training in self-control, Boralle blushed.
    Turning away to hide her confusion, she fiddled with the food synthesizer and called up a mug of javeine. The pungent smell filled the small cabin, and she saw Rory's eyes fasten on the steaming cup.
    "Oh, would that be coffee you're having there, Major Sweetling? If you could just convince yourself I mean you no harm, I'd sure like to be sharing that delight with you."
    Boralle leaned back, sipped from her mug and raised one skeptical eyebrow. "Right. Yes...of course. You announce that you are a Scottish lord from over a thousand years ago, arrive naked in my bed, and then ask for javeine. Which may or may not be this cawfee of yours. I think we need to continue our conversation a little before you start raiding the supplies, don't you?"
    Rory's face firmed into solid masculine lines. "I am who I say I am, Boralle North, whether you care to accept it or nay. Apparently, you are at the center of a small problem that is about to explode and cause great damage to this portion of the Galactic time flow. Your lack of sexual experience and your complete and utter ignorance of your own sensuality will result in a cataclysmic conflict."
    His green eyes bored into her with a ferocity that made her physically tremble.
    "I have been sent by those who tend to such things to correct this problem, and to make sure that time continues on its prescribed course. I am to bring you to the full knowledge of your body and your sexuality. Only then will this part of the galaxy have a fighting chance of surviving what lies ahead. Frallien IV and the Olympiad are the crux of this upcoming catastrophe. Now do you understand?"
    Boralle blinked.
    "If you don't believe me, then I have failed. Chaos will result, and will be followed by war and destruction of planets and places that should have remained intact for light years to come."
    His impassioned speech was bouncing around in Boralle's mind, confusing her, stunning her and yet making some kind of sense to her.
    Equally devastating was the effect his green gaze was having on her. She wanted to smooth her hair, giggle, blush and squirm. It was totally unlike anything she'd experienced before and she hadn't a clue how to handle it. Only her years of training in the art of lawyering, which rather resembled instruction on how to hold a royal flush at a poker table and not let on about it, enabled her to meet his gaze with an unwavering one of her own.
    "Boralle, somehow I have to convince you to trust me. It is of the most serious importance." Rory frowned. "I was told...they told me to tell you that...that..."
    "What?" She urged him onward, desperate for something that would justify her increasing urge to free this man from the security restraints.
    His brow cleared and he nailed her once again with his intense green stare. "I was told to tell you that Tiryus North bids you accept the truth. For the fairies."
    Boralle felt the blood drain from her head and reached out a hand to steady herself. Somehow she managed to put the mug down, before sparkly lights flashed behind her eyeballs and she took a deep breath to prevent herself from fainting dead away.
    "How did you know to say this to me?" She whispered the words through lips that felt like lumps of lead.
    "I'm telling you what I was told, lass. These words