Flame of Cytherea: Cytherean Chronicles book 1 Read Online Free Page B

friends who
she was grateful too.   Without them she
couldn’t have stayed in business.  
    Ironically their own attitudes that cooking and cleaning
were woman’s work made them back off at that point.   They may have been able to replace the
servers easy enough, but without her hunting the food, the cost of buying it or
hiring a good hunter would severely cut into profits.
    She had thought Justin attractive, and could tell he
returned it.   But it was the way he
treated her as an equal that had piqued her interest and prompted her to get to
know him more.   She was also surprised by
the way he actually listened and gave weight to her words.   He was a strange mixture of competent,
hardworking, strong… but also completely clueless about the world, as if he was
a baby just born to life.
    The more she had spoken with him and the obvious respect and
attraction he had shown her was what led to knocking on his door tonight.   She blushed again remembering how awkward she
had felt, what she had told him was the truth, but she left out the part of it
being the man that usually went to the woman showing interest and initiating
sex.
    She wasn’t too worried about it though, it wasn’t the first
time she had gone against the grain after all, and he didn’t seem turned off by
a strong woman.   In fact, it seemed to
her the opposite was true.   Plus, he had
no idea how things worked here, which she found almost unbelievable, how would
he have known she was open to it, or even that it was an option if she hadn’t
taken the lead?   That led her to wonder
how far away he came from, and why did he?
    She really should get up and go back to her room, sleeping
the night was supposed to be only after growing closer, and actually was a sign
of commitment.   She sighed softly and
gave up on that idea.   She felt warm,
comfortable, and safe.   She was lulled to
sleep by the steady beat of his heart…
    ------
    Nora ran so fast she was practically flying.   Her feet were barely touching the ground
every twenty feet or so.   The tears in
her eyes were not from the wind, the wind obeyed her and did not bother her
eyes, in fact, it was the wind that buoyed her and pushed her along at such a
fast pace.   No, her tears were for her
sisters in arms.
    She hadn’t had an easy life once she turned thirteen and
became a woman.   The power she had gained
set her apart, had made her strong, but in turn caused problems.   In a world where women were supposed to be
meek she had dared to try and soar.   It
had only gotten worse as several of the boys her age tried to set her straight,
and wound up beaten and broken instead.
    She could have faked it, acted in a correct manner just to
get along, but it was not in her nature.   Like her power, her personality was wild and free, and at times
unpredictable.   The wind would not be
tamed…
    She had been independent but miserable for three years, but
at sixteen she had come to the attention of the kingdom’s elite women
warriors.   At first she resisted their
attempts at recruitment, but they had been persistent, and understanding.   For each of them were like her, had magical
talents that made them strong, stronger than most men.
    They simply did not fit in, not with anyone, except for
themselves.   The king was wise enough to
recognize the problem of women with too much power and no place to call their
own.   There had been incidents.   To try and fix things, he created their
military unit.   While they were really no
more accepted, they at least had a place to belong, and for the most part, were
left alone.
    When she finally consented to join, she had not had occasion
to regret it in the last two years.   The
group of nine women had been a law unto themselves; she had found acceptance of
who she was, and a place to call home.   Simply put, they had become her family.   But now… she was once again alone… and it was her fault.
    Two months ago, she had heard a young brazen