A Human Sacrifice (Star Squad Brides Book 1)
Page 4
Chapter Two
Medic FarSeer jerked awake. He’d had that feeling again, even in sleep, that feeling of being tugged at by someone far away. And it was always the same, a painful moment of sadness followed by a vision of the future. Usually bad.
Make that catastrophic.
He knew it was coming…and even though he’d tried a hundred times, he couldn’t stop it.
Tingles ran through his muscles and goosebumps erupted on his arms just seconds before the vision swept him under.
The female stood on the edge of a cliff, her pale blue dress swirling around her in the wind. As he moved closer, she slowly turned to face him.
He inhaled sharply. The female was like no being he’d seen before. She was tiny, both in stature and sheer size. Her skin looked strangely pale, without markings, and big blue eyes peered at him with adoration.
Eyes the color of the clearest oceans of Omiria Five.
She is different, but she is beautiful.
Against his will, he reached for her. To his shock, she came to him, rushing into his arms. The soft feeling of her body against his was like nothing he’d felt before. His manhood hardened at her touch, his senses drinking in every inch of her—from her strangely sweet scent, to the way she felt so fragile in his arms.
But I shouldn’t be able to touch her. I am a non-shifter. A Second Tier male.
She looked up at him. “I am yours.”
His heart sang, pushing aside all logic, claiming her as his own. As his mate. As his heart.
And then a shadow passed over her face. Her eyes widened, and he saw the same fear that he’d seen in the gazes of too many women before her. The Bortracks had come for her.
His female’s life was forfeit.
And he could do nothing to save her.
She reached for him, tangling one hand in the back of his long blond hair and tugging him down to face her. She rubbed her thumb along his bottom lip in a movement that was shockingly sensual.
Out of instinct, he licked the digit. She tasted sweet. So incredibly sweet.
His cock surged, straining against his pants.
A smile played at the corners of her lips.“Just think of me. Of us.”
But the Bortracks…
“You don’t understand the danger—“
Her hand left his lip, moving down to curl around his hardened cock. “If you’re always focused on the future, you’ll miss the now.”
The vision faded and FarSeer found himself alone in his room, shaking and aroused. Never before had he experienced a vision like that. But what could it mean?
Elation had filled him for a brief moment, followed by fear.
Which was swiftly turning into anger.
Why do I have a vision of this female when I’m not allowed to take a bride? Perhaps it is to open my wound anew. To not only remind me that I’ll always be alone, but to remind me of the many females I couldn’t save from the Bortracks.
Will my failures haunt me always?
Why can’t I simply forget the scars war has left upon my heart and accept my life without a mate? Most other Second Tier males have. It is simply the way things are.
He stared out at the stars through his window. Since the Rewire Contagion killed off 75 percent of the Spiritus females, mates were a rarity. If a male couldn’t shift, he couldn’t protect her. The government had stepped in as battles for the remaining females raged across the planet. The law was set. No shifting, no mate.
You’re just nervous because the new brides will arrive soon, he told himself.
Sweeping a hand through his hair, he willed the strange feeling in his chest to fade, to gain control over the arousal that made his body hum with tension. I am a medic and the head researcher on a ship headed for a new world. I have other things to focus on than my vision, like the blood samples of the new brides.
But even though logic told him to climb out of bed and get to work, he paused for a moment to rub at the spot that ached in his chest. It is good that my visions often have other meanings beyond the obvious. Because if I were allowed a bride, and she were in danger, nothing could stop me from protecting her.
He clenched his fist even as he felt the unmistakable stirring of the beast within him stretching to life. It was just a vision and nothing more.
Yet when he licked his lips, the delicate female’s flavor still lingered.