Woman Bewitched Read Online Free

appeared, seemingly out of thin air.
    “What the devil?” Kyl closed his eyes and shook his head before risking another look. The woman was still there, looking about her as though she had no idea in which direction to run.
    Surprise! That strange, young-sounding female singsong voice said into his mind. What think you of that?
    What he thought was that he was truly going mad. Where before there had been nothing more than an empty walkway, there was now a beautiful woman who looked as lost as Kyl’s mind.
    Her dark gold hair all but glowed in the light of the two suns. Her too-thin frame looked sickly, but for some unknown reason he failed to deduce, she was the most fetching woman on whom he had ever set his gaze.
    Kyl turned to face the others. Gesturing to a servant near the door, he barked, “There is a female in the courtyard. Bring her to us.” The man turned to go and Kyl felt the need to add, “Do not frighten or harm her. She appears…ill.”
    The steward gave a short nod and slipped through the door.
    Kyl turned back to the windows, unable to stop himself from keeping watch over the waif of a woman until his man reached her side. As he stood sentry from above, the woman faltered and then fell to the ground in a heap.
    Without thinking, Kyl bolted from the room, using his defender’s speed. He knew he was nothing more than a blur when he passed the servant he’d sent for the woman. He believed the servant’s name was Durdor, but was unsure. It was of no consequence. He didn’t know why, but all that mattered to him now was reaching the woman before the cold flagstones chilled her already too-pale flesh.
    Kyl reached the woman seconds later. Kneeling, he gathered her into his arms and lifted her slight weight, holding her close.
    Thick, golden lashes formed golden crescents against her cheeks. Her breath even, she seemed to have no difficulty drawing in air. However, the light blue ring around her mouth gave him pause. He’d seen that before in people whose body temperature had reached dangerous lows. Full, red lips, cracked with dehydration, had that same blue tinge beneath them. They formed a slight moue even in her unconscious state.
    Pulling her tighter against his chest, Kyl willed his warmth, his strength, into her as he carried her toward the consul, her head resting limply against his shoulder.
    Some unnamed feeling came over him. Call it instinct, perhaps. Whatever it was within him wanted to know who had starved her and to whom he would teach some manners. On this world, one didn’t treat women with such blatant disrespect. If he could have his way, no one would treat this woman with anything but the upmost deference for the rest of her days.

Chapter Five
     
     
    Marti woke in a man’s arms. After five years of captivity, she had managed to train herself to awaken without moving and hyper-aware of her surroundings. She had learned that trick quickly and well.
    The men on Katkari liked spirited women who would fight them or play strange sexual games with them—as the guard she’d bribed had wanted. Marti had learned that early on from a seasoned slave. If she wanted to preserve her sanity, as well as what peace of mind she could, she would stay as still and limp as a doll made of damp rags.
    The men, so intent on the spirit of their ride couldn’t perform when they thought a woman willing or asleep from too much wine or drugs. The practice had served her well the last five years. With luck, it would serve her yet again on this world.
    Schooling her features to remain passive, she stayed still as the dead while he carried her into one of the structures that surrounded the square garden where the Gatekeeper had dumped her just moments ago.
    The cool air inside told her this was a more civilized world than the one she’d just escaped. But how much more sophisticated were they? That was the important question.
    Another question was, where was she? Eyes still closed, Marti strained to hear a