Kicking Ashe Read Online Free PDF Page B

discussion. “And other things. Depends on how creepy they are.”
    Despite the defiant angle of her chin, strain cut grooves into the edges of her mouth and eyes.
    “I’m just an alien. Not human. Not worthy of rights or real protection.” She paused, then said it again, “My hero.”
    Her words hit him like a fist to the jaw. She was human. She deserved his protection and not just because Cadir and Eamon looked at him like he had grown a second head. And not because of that other thing, that he didn’t like feeling or admitting. That he knew her. Which left him with a very large problem. “You are trouble.”
    Wry edged her slight smile. Her shrug, the graceful lift of her almost bare shoulders made his thoughts stutter like his pulse.
    “The Commander will figure it out, Lady,” Eamon stated, yanking Shan back to the moment. Both he and Cadir relaxed into grins, the matter resolved as far as they were concerned.
    Lady. Just calling her that gave her status. Was it a response to his claim or the lady’s manner? They were young in seasons, but canny warriors, veterans of many space clashes with the Zelk. Did they sense his unease about the mission? Had it made them trigger-eager? It was unlike Cadir to shoot against orders. How had they missed the female in the silver humanoid form? The sight had…disconcerted them all and what had followed had not helped restore balance. Custom did not give unmatched men much familiarity with females. He’d heard stories of places where a man might go to gain this familiarity, but it was dangerous. Penalties for misuse of a female were severe, though he suspected some of his strata knew the way around such prohibitions. Power tended to corrupt. And if a female, an alien without legal rights or protections came into Authority possession? Vivisection might not be the worst that could happen to her.
    As they pursued their course again, Eamon and Cadir moved as close to her as tradition allowed. They weren’t just trigger-eager. They were also women eager as their time of partnering approached.
    No question she was a woman that could scramble young brains. Silver outlined every line and curve, except where it didn’t. Eamon and Cadir seemed unable to look past where it didn’t, though when the path forced them to fall back, they did not appear cast down. Not a surprise, since they had never seen a female so displayed, not even when they were young. When the time came for their partner claiming they’d be brought into contact with a suitable woman screened by family, and from their strata. This one was not suitable by any standard, in any way for them or their world, which was why he’d stopped them touching her, stopped them stepping into her scent circle and taking responsibility for her, or worse partner claiming her. Had he found her scent repellant he’d still have acted to protect them. He’d known she was trouble before he knew how much trouble.
    Until this day, he believed trouble made life interesting. Duty, well, it was a pain in his ass, though his duty for this deployment was to his family as well as Command. The reason for the communications blackout was less clear and fed his unease that some move against his family was behind the disappearance of the Zalistria . The blackout did give him time if he could figure out what to do with it. Had she not been so obviously alien, her status as a female might have helped. Hard to comprehend there had been a time when females were plentiful, when male births were prized over female.
    Ashe trailed a finger across a bundle of leaves, her head angled his direction. “So, what’s Keltinar like?”
    What kind of question was that? Incomprehension must have shown on his face.
    “What would I see if I walked down a street in one of your cities—”
    “You could not!” Cadir sounded shocked.
    “It is not safe!” Eamon echoed that shock.
    Her brows arched, though her gaze was laced with humor. “Are the streets of your