Sons of Lyra: Runaway Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page A

felt
calm.

    He imagined that they were
drifting out into space now, effortless and weightless.

    A shudder rocked the ship
and the sound of the engines increased. Another lurch and he
noticed the rise in speed. The whole ship seemed to jolt up and
down, lunging all over the place.

    “ I said it
could be rough,” Terea said, her face buried against his
arm.

    They must be reaching full
speed as Terea had mentioned. He hoped it didn’t stay like this for
the whole journey. He’d definitely be sick if it did.

    Her hand left his,
stealing all the warmth away. She looked at him.

    “ It won’t be
long now. It will settle soon and then we can move around again.”
There was a look in her eyes that he didn’t like. Not quite
mischief but something close. It gave him the impression that if he
let her leave the room, he’d never see her again.

    He couldn’t let that
happen. He needed her to get him passage from Dliaer to wherever
his next destination would be. He hadn’t paid attention to what
she’d said to the woman at the port on Lyra Prime and he didn’t
want to look like an idiot or wind up in the cargo class area of
the ship.

    Besides, he was beginning
to grow used to her company. He would even go as far as saying he
liked having her around.

    The ship levelled out and
he heard the click of her safety harness. She stood and stretched,
reaching her arms out above her head. She looked paler than she had
been before takeoff. He probably looked the same. He unclipped the
straps holding him in and stood on wobbly legs. He could still feel
the ship vibrating if he concentrated hard enough. Either that or
he was imagining it.

    Terea went to the door. He
was about to tell her not to leave when she pressed a button on the
panel next to it and the shutters across the window opened,
revealing the darkness of space.

    He stared out of the
window, watching Lyra Prime disappearing into the distance. The sun
peeked over the disc of it. It was breathtaking. He sensed Terea
come to stand next to him but didn’t look at her. He couldn’t take
his eyes off the scene outside. He could see cloud formations
hundreds of miles wide and the crystal blue oceans that lapped
golden and green continents. It looked nothing like it had done in
the books. It was so much more beautiful.

    When it drifted into the
distance, becoming too small to be interesting, he looked around to
see what else space had to offer. Another planet blurred past and
then another. Lyra Five. Its oceans were darker than Lyra Prime’s
and the land was swathed with deep green. It was
stunning.

    The next planet passed,
this one surrounded by space stations and crowded with ships coming
in and out of them. It was Lyra Six. A pleasure planet. His parents
had arranged for some of the planet’s foremost women to attend to
him once for his twenty-first birthday. It had been a night he’d
never forget.

    His attention drifted
across to Terea. Something told him that he’d never forget a night
spent with her. It wasn’t something he’d been looking for on this
trip, but then he’d never expected to find himself with such a
beautiful woman. She was watching him and not the world outside. He
wondered what she was thinking.

    Terea reached out with her
mind, touching his lightly enough that he wouldn’t notice the
intrusion. His mind felt red and warm, full of wicked thoughts that
she knew were about her. His eyes told her that. Whatever he was
thinking, it was dirty.

    Other than his desire, his
feelings ran along lines of fascination and contentment, even
excitement. She’d already figured out that this was his first time
off-planet. For someone who had looked so worldly at first, he was
fast beginning to appear sheltered.

    She glanced at the door
and then back at him. The lust in his eyes had been replaced by
intrigue. When she’d gone to the door to open the shutters across
the panoramic window, she’d sensed his tension and anxiety. He’d
been relieved when