A Civilized Mating Read Online Free Page A

outpost four would be the magic spot.
    To her surprise, she’d started to enjoy herself after leaving the resort. The vegetation on Ussed was a mix of equatorial and tropical forest. And the land had a robust comingling of life and color. Greens, blues, browns, vibrant reds and oranges made up most of the hues she’d seen since starting her trek. The similarities to Earth didn’t surprise her. After all, she’d made a study of the planet for years, and its attraction for humans had been clear since the resort first opened.
    Ussed had all the life, lushness, and wonder of an Earthen atmosphere minus pollutants and technological interference. Only on Welcome could electronics and phreidonics—space travel-related technology—be used. Teleporting, space-jumping, and vid calling didn’t work past the East-West border. Welcome had had to erect a technological barrier to employ their wonders in the first place.
    But to a low-level security guard from Earth, to a person who did better with physical than psychic skills, using her body to overcome nature’s obstacles and miles and miles of walking was pure pleasure. She felt stronger with every step, enjoying the fresh air and binary sunshine. Lavender clouds obscured part of one sun, leaving her sweating but not overheating. It helped that she’d foregone longer capris for shorts and a cropped tank top. Her hiking boots were ideal for the terrain, and even her pack felt nonexistent. It was as if she were meant to be here.
    That odd thought struck her for a moment before a noise up ahead distracted her.
    She heard moaning and rustling coming from behind a set of thick trees. Carefully creeping forward and making no noise, she came upon what appeared to be a small, cleverly camouflaged hut. A male’s hoarse shout followed by a woman’s low moan told her exactly what she’d stumbled onto, and she felt her cheeks heat. She started to step back and away when she heard Lisa’s voice.
    “Maht, more.”
    Shocked, Skye had to know. She moved closer and peered through a slight gap in the brush masking a window. One peek to confirm Lisa’s identity and she’d move away, because watching her friend get it on had that ick factor she could do without.
    But what she saw froze her to the spot.
    Maht heaved and flexed, his buttocks just—superb. His entire body glistened with a faint sheen of gold as he made love to Lisa. Skye caught a glimpse of Lisa’s face, contorted in blissful agony, before Maht shifted and covered her entirely. Only Lisa’s dainty ankles wrapped around his back could be seen.
    Jesus. No wonder her friend had fallen for the barbarian. The man was a powerhouse. All that sexy groaning, the sheer beauty in his frame, his clear expertise when it came to sex. Though Skye had been off men for some time, she couldn’t stop watching this particular man work. No matter what Mandy said, Skye would bet all she owned that the eastern barbarians possessed some kind of sexual draw, because even Skye felt tingly all over.
    That sexual distraction would be her friend’s doom for sure, because Skye wasn’t at all sure she should interrupt the intense lovemaking in that hut. At any other time she would have chalked up their physical connection as mere fucking, but she sensed something else at play between Maht and Lisa. Some indefinable connection that spoke to more than bodies melding.
    “Ah, and what is this? An intruder in our woods?”
    The deep voice shouldn’t have caught her by surprise. That it had increased her need to distance herself from the male sexuality fogging up the hut. A heightened sense of preservation jacked her psychic skills. Time to put her useless-in-the-fashion-world talent to work.
    She turned slowly, giving herself time to regain her focus and balance. To her bemusement, the action behind her grew louder. Maht either hadn’t heard the intruders or didn’t care.
    She heard Lisa cry out and cringed when the giants facing her grinned.
    Definitely