The Sacrifice Read Online Free

away from the intensity of the man ’ s baby blues. Her body
tingled from her nose to her toes, and a delicious flutter pooled low in her
stomach.
    Leather
creaked as his arm reached toward her. He glanced down at his extended hand,
and then jerked it back and wiped dried blood down the sides of his pants. His jacket
sleeve had a gaping hole as if it ’ d been sliced by a bloody knife.
    He
removed the jacket and threw it over one shoulder. Weapons hung from every
extremity. Muscles bulged beneath the tight holsters strapped around his chest,
hips and both arms. “Sorry about that,” he said. “You probably don ’ t
want to shake my hand right now. I ’ ve been out capturing
the enemy. I ’ m Cy.”
    The sound of his voice affected her
like an aphrodisiac, and the fluttering jumped into overdrive. Her temper
flared at her betraying body. This guy killed for a living. The two things she
hated most in this world—violence and death.
    Riana
blinked. “Oh…I didn ’ t
realize capturing and killing had the same definition these days.”
    A
smile lifted the corners of his full, sensuous lips. “Would you rather I let
the feeder live, and possibly capture you? Trust me, I don ’ t
kill just anyone, and this guy had it coming.”
    Her
mother had drilled into her the threat feeders posed, but there had to be a
better way than killing them. She could never take another person ’ s
life.
    Heat
radiated from Riana ’ s face. She ignored his question and looked away
from those intense eyes. Eyes that drew her to him, lingered on her skin like a
soft caress.
    Sivadians
couldn ’ t read each other ’ s minds, but with the
six girls in their group glaring at her with their mouths gaping, she didn ’ t
need to. Why had he singled her out? Elle, who looked like the perfect vision
of a beauty queen, stood beside her. The other girls stared at him like he was
the best thing since hot-cakes, too.
    As
Mr. Hot-Cakes and Kyra walked away, Riana chanced another glance and was
rewarded with a perfect view of the finest backside she ’ d
ever seen. Long, muscular legs rippled beneath tight, leather pants. A long
streak of blood glistened across his pant-leg, as if he ’ d
wiped a blade clean. He ’ s a Protector. What on Earth is wrong with me?
    “Man,
your mother was right about one thing,” Elle said as they watched the couple
converse in hushed tones. “They ’ re definitely lookers. And he checked you out like
a starving dog does a bone. I think he wants to make you his next chew toy.
From the look on our instructor ’ s face, she didn ’ t like that he couldn ’ t
take his eyes off you. Maybe, he belongs to her.”
    Riana
shook her head. “Well, she has nothing to worry about from me. He ’ s
pretty to look at, but that ’ s as far as it goes.”
    “ Ah ha, I ’ ve known you since we
were five, and I ’ ve never seen you so flustered around a man. I
wonder what your mom would say if she knew you were seriously ogling a
Protector.”
    Riana glared at Elle. “Luckily, no one
is going to tell her, right?”
    Kyra and Hot-Cakes finished talking,
and he looked her way once more before turning and walking toward one of the
lodges.
    The
same irritated look was still plastered across Kyra ’ s
face as she rejoined them. “We ’ re cutting the tour short. So I ’ ll
only point out the buildings you need to know for now. This compound is
approximately three hundred acres and sits on nine thousand acres of
Sivadian-owned land. The twenty-foot rock fence surrounding this area contains
treated steel, which prevents transportation. Anyone coming or going must use
the security gates and then transport from the courtyard. I ’ m
not bragging, but you ladies are inside one of the most secure places on Earth.
DNA scanners are not only at the gate, they ’ re inside the doors
and windows of every building. This prevents transportation from one building
to another. If you ’ re inside those gates, we know where you