Tor (Women of Earth Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

shoals. Dark shapes emerged from the churning foam of the surface.
    The change was abrupt and frightening. Fingers gripping the handhold she found at the nose of the pod, Wynne tugged harder, now fighting both wind and water. A tentacle whipped up, long slit of mouth gaping, and then down with a wet slap against the lid of the capsule. An arm, not a monster's but a man's, wrapped around her waist and pulled with her and then another arm came from her other side and yanked her hands away from the pod.
    "Let go! Run!"
    She didn't have a chance to follow the order shouted in her ear. It was no sooner given than she was lifted off her feet, twisted, and turned in the air to land in an awkward and uncomfortable position over his shoulder. Each time his feet pounded into the sand, his shoulder pounded into her stomach. He didn't release her until he'd carried her up the beach and into the trees beyond where she was flipped and spun again. This time she landed in a much more comfortable position across his arms.
    "Cover your face," he shouted.
    It began to rain. Bee stings of fire struck her exposed hands. Wynne didn't need to be told twice. She buried her face in his chest.
    The somewhat gallant rescue ended when she was dumped inside the second pod and landed painfully on her knees. Her head came up in time to see her own pod now covered in the squid-like creatures being sucked beneath the rapidly rising tide, and then she was rolled to the side by the weight of his body diving in beside her. He forced the lid down over them, but as soon as he relaxed his grip, it started to rise.
    "Oxygen supply insufficient for current capacity overload," the neutral voice of the pod informed them.
    His back and neck muscles strained as he fought against the automatic power of the lid.
    "Hit the override," he ordered.
    "We won't have enough oxygen," Wynne argued even as she curled her body over his and stretched her arms along his legs to the console.
    "We won't need oxygen if those blood suckers get us first," he gritted out. "Hit the damn override."
    "Where is it?"
    "On the left." His voice was so strained she could barely understand the words. "Blue one."
    There were three blue ones. Wynne poked them all. One lit up and there was a soft hiss as the lid was released. The computer acknowledged the manual override, but repeated its warning.
    "We're good," he said and then he turned onto his back, shifting Wynne's body as he did so.
    That left her sprawled along his front with her face pressed into a pair of muscular thighs. She tried to push up and shift back from the console, but with the lid closed, there was little room above her to maneuver. She heard him snicker. It was the same kind of snicker her brother and his cadet friends used when they told dirty jokes to each other.
    Legs splayed to either side of his head, her latest position had left his face dangerously close to a place no stranger's nose should be. She felt the hem of her skirt rise as his hands slid up her thighs. He laughed when her attempts to swat at him had little effect.
    "There are worse ways to go, I suppose," he said as if she'd made a suggestion. "Awkward, but if you insist, I'm sure we can make it work."
    "Stop it," she demanded. "You're not funny."
    "Who said I was joking," he said, but he laughed again.
    Wynne struggled to turn and was rewarded when her elbow caught him between the legs and he grunted with pain.
    "Who's laughing now," she said, not the least bit sorry.
    There was more grunting and groaning on both their parts until, with his help, she'd turned herself around and they were face to face. He grinned and winked.
    "This is much better. I'd rather work my way from top to bottom anyway, wouldn't you? The journey can be as interesting as the destination. It's good to get to know each other a bit before our better parts get acquainted. Don't you think?"
    Wynne stared at him. "What I think is that Ahnyis is right."
    "Ahnyis?"
    "A Katarin healer and my friend.