Charlotte Boyett-Compo- WIND VERSE- Pleasure's Foehn Read Online Free PDF Page A

family tree where the bark was less rough than the bite. 17
    Charlotte Boyett-Compo
    Possessing an Amhantarean temper was a curse at times and not always an easy thing to get under control once the tether had been slipped.
    “I don’t know who you are,” Davan said, her eyes narrowed. “But I know what you are. As long as I am the medical officer onboard this ship, you will show me the respect I am due and I’ll attempt to treat you like a lady. How’s that, sweetie?”
    Amethyst blinked, obviously unaccustomed to being spoken to in such a manner. She drew herself up to her full six feet, her nose in the air. “You don’t know who I am, do you?” she grated.
    “Don’t mess with her, Doc,” Cinnabar said. “She’s the cap’n’s woman and—”
    “I don’t give a Saurian rat’s prick what she is to your captain. While I am in charge of the medical unit, she will respect my position on this ship.”
    “You won’t be here long enough to have a position, bitch,” Amethyst snapped and turned on her heel.
    “Don’t you go waking him up, Amethyst!” Cinnabar called out. “He’ll be in a helluva foul mood if you do!”
    Watching the shapely woman stomping away, Davan missed the departure of Ja’Klyn’s shuttlecraft and looked at the empty docking bay with longing.
    “This isn’t going to be good,” Cinnabar stated. “She may be my sister but that woman can be meaner than a space junkie hopped up on aureolin. You just made a bad enemy, Doc.”
    “Just keep her out of my way,” Davan growled, tossing her head. “I don’t go looking for trouble but when it comes my way, I won’t back away from it.”
    Cinnabar rolled her eyes. “Another berserker, eh?” she remarked. “Just what the hell we need.”
    “You were taking me to my quarters,” Davan reminded the woman.
    “Yes, Your Ladyship, that I was,” Cinnabar said with a grunt. 18
    Pleasure’s Foehn
    Chapter Two

    Cair Ghrian came wide awake with a start as something sharp and painful raked down his chest. He sat up, batting aside the hand of the virago who had—once more and without provocation—physically attacked him. He looked down at the five bloody scratches welling with blood.
    “What the hell’s the matter with you now?” he shouted and wished he hadn’t for the hangover that had him firmly in its tight squeeze threatened to crush his head.
    “I want that slut off this ship!”
    The shrill voice that answered him was enough to send the captain of the Foehn reeling. He slapped his hands over his ears and groaned loud enough to wake the dead.
    “Do you hear me, Cair? I want that bitch off my ship!” Amethyst yelled, reaching out to punch Ghrian’s shoulder.
    Struggling not to lash out at the termagant intent on provoking him, the man known at the Aneas Fleet Academy as the most lethal man to ever win his wings, scowled at the woman who shared his bed on occasion. “Don’t do that again,” he warned.
    “Then get her off this ship!”
    “Who?” Ghrian pressed. “Who the hell are you talking about?”
    “That slutty female doctor who took Rabishu’s place. Don’t you ever listen to me?”
    “Female doctor?” Ghrian repeated. “They sent me a female doctor?”
    “I want her out of here. Today!”
    Spinning on her heel, Amethyst stormed from the captain’s quarters, leaving in her wake the destruction of a very mad Zephyrus Sector woman.
    “The gods damn it!” Ghrian swore, throwing the covers from his legs. His head spun for a moment and he groaned again, feeling hot sweat and the acrid taste of bile assaulting him. He barely made it to the bathing chamber before he relieved himself of what little dinner he had eaten the night before. Straining to rid his system of the poisons from the potent Ghaothian brandy, he was bent over the toilet when the VidCom clicked on.
    “Captain?”
    Ignoring the hail, Ghrian slid down the wall beside the toilet and with head in hands braced his elbows on his knees and commenced to