Daughters of Lyra: Heart of a Mercenary Read Online Free PDF

quarters each night thinking of her?

    She was
beautiful.

    She reacted to
him.

    But she was a
slave.

    She was meat to be sold at
market, not a living thing. When he had started in this line of
work, he had promised himself that he would only ever see the
captives as that. He had spent years ridding himself of any glimmer
of feeling concerning the women that passed through his hands. Why
now? Why her? Why was she making him feel this way?

    “ She getting to
you, Doc?” Sasue’s deep voice sent a shiver of disgust down Kosen’s
spine.

    Kosen pushed away from the
wall and stared blankly at Sasue, taking in the twisted grin on his
ugly face and his patchy matted long black hair, sections of it
bald from the scars on his scalp. Sasue’s bulky frame blocked the
corridor. He pressed his hand against the door and stroked it as
though he was touching the female on the other side.

    “ She got
spirit. I can help you with her, if you get what I mean.” Sasue
grinned to reveal long sharp teeth. “Let me in, Doc.”

    Sasue’s enormous hand
flattened against the door.

    “ No,” Kosen
said and went to walk away but Sasue grabbed his arm. Kosen looked
down at Sasue’s hand where it was wrapped around his slender
forearm, his fingers thick enough that he could probably snap the
bone if he wished. Kosen sighed and prised Sasue’s hand off him,
unafraid of the brutal Minervan. “I mean no, Sasue. No one touches
the captive. She’s too valuable.”

    He walked away.

    Sasue started banging on
the door, shouting lewd things at the female on the other side.
Kosen’s temperature rose to boiling point as he listened to the
vile diatribe. It was a struggle to stop himself from going back
and forcing Sasue to leave. When Sasue went into intimate detail
about the things he was going to do to the female once he had
broken the door down, she shrieked.

    Kosen’s restraint
snapped.

    He ran back up the
corridor, his hand going to the knife attached to the rear of his
belt. Sasue turned to look at him with a wide grin, as though he
was coming back to open the door. Kosen sprung at Sasue, grabbing
the collar of the large male’s flight suit, and brought his feet
up. He pressed them into Sasue’s chest and slammed him into the
metal grate floor of the corridor. His knife was against Sasue’s
throat before he could react.

    Sasue’s grin
faded.

    “ Leave,” Kosen
snarled, breathing deep to catch his breath.

    Sasue glared at him. Kosen
pressed the knife into his throat until it nicked his pale flesh
and a bead of black blood lined the blade.

    “ Leave,” Kosen
repeated and stood, stepping off Sasue.

    Sasue picked himself up,
rubbed his throat and then licked the blood off his palm. For a
moment, Kosen thought that he would retaliate but then he turned
and walked away. Kosen exhaled sharply.

    What was happening to
him?

    He had never stopped Sasue
from uttering such disgusting vulgar words through the door at
captives before. He had never cared until now.

    Kosen went back to the
door and checked that he was alone before punching in the code. The
door opened and the light slowly came on, illuminating the female.
She was beautiful. More beautiful than his sisters had been. Some
sick pervert would pay dearly for one as pretty as she
was.

    The door closed behind him
and he locked it from the inside.

    She was breathing fast,
her eyes wide with panic. She probably thought that he was Sasue.
He stepped out of the shadows, showing her that it was only him.
Her eyes widened further and she wriggled as she shook her head.
Following her gaze, he realised that she was staring at the knife
in his hand. Slowly, so he didn’t frighten her, he slid it back
into his belt.

    “ I won’t hurt
you,” he said and sat down on the crate. Nostra would punish him
for attacking Sasue. Their captain didn’t tolerate fighting amongst
the crew.

    “ That
shouting,” she said, her face so pale that her hair looked dark.
The silver strands were