Awakening The Warriors Read Online Free Page A

you are bid,” said Quain.
    No hint of any raging desire for me in his cool voice, a fact that made me shuffle my feet and wrench my gaze from his hooded eyes to stare at the wall. Quain swung away and stalked off. My gaze followed him, as if magnetically linked. The sight of the deep slashes criss-crossed over his muscled back and taut bare buttocks was a horrific reminder of the pain he still must feel, and yet whatever agony he felt was buried while he concentrated on ensuring our escape.
    â€œYou will become accustomed to him,” said Jerrell, passing his hand over my head and fingering some strands of my bob-cut hair. Dipping his head he nuzzled my neck, his lips moving in a gentle caress over my skin before he turned aside and followed.
    By sheer effort of will, I stopped myself from running after them. My vision blurred. Stupid to feel as if I’d been abandoned.
    â€œI find I am envious,” murmured Relia stepping closer to me. She indicated the disappearing men with a jerk of her chin. “To have two such magnificent specimens sniffing after you, what I would not give to be in your shoes.”
    Pulling my hands from my pockets, I tucked my chin near my chest, staring at my boots while I flexed my cramped fingers. “Any time you want to trade places, give the word.”
    â€œYou do not mean that?” she said.
    â€œTrust me, I do. There’s no room for a couple of sex-starved blokes in my life at the moment. My focus is solely on getting out of here alive,” I muttered, keeping my voice low. Head high, I met her eyes, hoping the hungry bite of lust that still prowled in my veins could not be read from my expression. Or worse, the softening of my long-guarded heart.
    Relia tapped a finger against her chin and opened her mouth, but the crack of plitza fire had me brushing past and running to the end of the passageway. The others surged in my wake and I waved them back.
    â€œStay where you are,” I hissed over my shoulder. My body plastered to the wall, I inched forward. Holding my breath, I peeked round the side and my eyes widened as I took in the scene.
    In the guards’ resting station, Quain was doing some serious hand to hand fighting with two guards while I caught a brief glimpse of Jerrell as he ducked behind a desk, a plitza shot whizzing past what must have been a mere hair’s width from where he had been standing. Three guards lay unmoving on the floor. I snapped my gaze away from the one with blood and greyish-gore leaking from his smashed-in head. Four more guards ran into the room, firing a volley of shots in Quain’s direction. Bending from the waist, he flung his upper body backwards, sank into a crouch, slammed a punch upwards into a guard’s gonads. He leapt to his feet and lashed out in a wide swing with his left leg, knocking the other guard off balance. It reminded me of a Cossack dance movement. A blast seared across his chest; a trail of blood spurted from the new wound but Quain didn’t flinch. He launched himself onto the guard still teetering about in his clunky militia boots and I heard the thudding of fists pounding into flesh.
    The next instant Quain rose to his feet and advanced on the remaining soldiers, a fulon weapon in each hand. I flinched as the rapid fire of mini plasma streams screeched through the air. So much for being quiet . Through the haze fogging the small room, I saw Quain and Jerrell, guns in hands, race out the room chasing the retreating guards.
    Heart beating like it was trying to escape from my ribs, I turned to the others and said, “The Darkons have the guards on the run. I’m going to check the cells on the next level. Who’ll come with me?”
    Margaret darted to my side and slipped her hand into mind. I smiled into her earnest face. “Not you, honey, I need you to stay here.” I squeezed her fingers. “Anyone else?”
    Quick furtive glances slid from one face to the other and