Read Starkissed for Free Online

or this saàloh was an exception.
    He believed she was exceptional in many ways.
    He walked the perimeter of the cell, looking for anything that could be used to his advantage. Burning pain shot up his right thigh, as if a knife drove into it with each step.
    His leg had bent under him at an unnatural angle when thrown from the forcefield. No bones were broken, but ligaments were stretched or torn. His left arm had almost ceased throbbing from where he’d charged the barrier. The left side of his head and both hands stung from electrical burns, but the raw flesh had already scabbed over. The Zi had the ability to regenerate skin growth at a rapid rate. Unfortunately, this ability didn’t extend to ligaments, muscle, or internal organs.
    The attack was “dumb”, to use the saàloh ’s word, but he'd had to try. Another tenet of the Warrior: Always attempt the impossible. He had done his duty this time and had gained nothing but aches and pains and burns…and the contempt of the saàloh.
    Sometimes the impossible was improbable.
    He surveyed the room—Liquidator, waste receptacle, comm panel. His hands were deadlier weapons than circuitry components! The bunks. He crossed the room in three painful strides and pulled the top one down. Wire mesh, surrounded by a soft aluminum frame, supported a thin mat.
    If he broke off a piece of the frame, could he short-circuit the forcefield with it? He thought not… Always attempt the impossible. With a hiss of exasperation to duty and responsibility, he grabbed one of the shorter tubular ends and braced himself against the bunk with his left arm. He pulled with all his strength. The metal screeched as the wire mesh broke free. Waves of pain shot through his hand, and his left arm began to throb anew. He wanted to scream with the metal. Instead, he released the tube, now jutting out at an angle.
    www.samhainpublishing.com
    Starkissed
    27
    He collapsed to a sitting position, his back against the wall. He held his hand, palm up, in his lap and positioned his left arm so that the throbbing was minimal. He breathed heavily, waiting for the pain to subside.
    “What are you doing?” the saàloh called to him.
    He inhaled deeply. “The imposssible.”
    “Did it work?”
    “No.”
    “I thought not.”
    Shame washed over him. As the Warrior he was bound to protect those in his care.
    At the moment, the saàloh was under his protection, even if she was human, and he failed again and again to save her as well as himself. He had been able to save his people many times over. Why couldn’t he save one small saàloh ?
    “Have you hurt yourself again?”
    “Not again.” He looked down at the torn scabs on his hand. In a few hours he would be able to try again. Perhaps by the time his skin regenerated, the rest of him would be well enough to make the attempt.
    “Commander?”
    “Yesss…” he said, trying to keep the discouragement from his voice.
    “I’m going to try to sleep now.” He heard her lower the bunk. “I suggest you do the same. Get some rest. We don’t know what Steve will do next. We may have only a few hours. Lights zero.”
    He listened as she sat on the bunk, the metal creaking. Then she stretched out, her clothing brushing the mattress cover as she found a position so she could rest. He imagined her lying as she had on the bed in her cabin, her pink lips moist and slightly parted, her round eyes changing from blue to green.
    He thrust himself up in one motion. The sudden movement set his leg on fire, and the throbs doubled in his shoulder. He welcomed the pain as it overcame another, more inappropriate bodily reaction. By the sands, why did the human saàloh do this to him?
    Breathing heavily, he let down the lower bunk. Careful of sore muscles, he stretched out, his feet dangling over the end. In the name of the rock, sleep sounded like a luxury he needed to help his body heal.
    “Lightsss zero,” he murmured and closed his eyes.

    ”””

    When Leith settled