Taming a Healer: 3 (Galactic Lust)

Kathleen
Lash

Galactic Lust, Book Three

Governance Hunter Gabriel Ryker is
dying. His partner, Nolan, is obliged to stay with him until his illness
transforms him into a mindless killer. That’s when Nolan will end Gabriel’s
life—thus is the fate of all hunters. As Gabriel prepares to face death, a plea
for help from the planet Natura is received from the only woman he’s ever cared
about.

Sadie’s planet is infested with
vile creatures that are growing in numbers daily. When beckoning the Governance
for assistance, she never expects a lone pair of hunters to answer her call.
Gabriel, Nolan and Sadie take refuge in the only safe place—a cave.

Stuck together until help arrives,
old misunderstandings are dealt with and discarded. The only thing left between
them is the searing flames of desire from a decade ago. Sadie learns the
boundaries of a hunter. They remain paired for life in all circumstances,
especially sexual situations. In order to have Gabriel, she must accept Nolan
too.

A
Romantica®
Sci-Fi erotic romance
from Ellora’s Cave

Gabriel Ryker ran across the pitch-black compound toward the
handler’s quarters. The entire military company of forty-six men, as well as
the two handlers, scoured the surrounding thick woodlands for the missing
healer. He’d covered the training fields and searched the perimeter of the
gated compound. Muted lights radiating from the basement of a structure drew
his attention. Sadie Meadows was young and perhaps a bit irrational at times,
but she’d never hide in a basement while everyone combed the woods looking for
her in the dead of night.

The blame for her disappearance rested solely on his
shoulders. He’d learned earlier that day that a young woman’s emotions could be
volatile. He should’ve rejected her advances in a different manner. He’d been
trained not to be taken by surprise. Sadie constantly slipped past his learned
and instinctive barriers.

He silently climbed the stairs two at a time before turning
the doorknob. The inside of the handler’s quarters remained off-limits to
hunters. However, desperate situations called for desperate measures. Stepping
just beyond the entrance, he remained motionless until his eyes adjusted to the
near blackness. A faint noise drifted from the basement and its source sounded
feminine. Only two females resided within the compound. He knew Sadie’s matron
searched with the others. That left Sadie.

The muffled rumble of his superior, Handler Markum’s voice
rose through the floorboards. “You undisciplined little nuisance! Someone
should’ve taught you long ago that my men aren’t here for your amusement!”

Gabriel found the door leading to the basement and opened
it. He crept soundlessly down the stairs. Handler Markum stood over Sadie and
violently kicked her. Gabriel pulled two twelve-inch, slasher combat blades
from the sheaths at his waist. The handler spun around.

“G-Gabriel! Put those knives away!”

Handlers deserved the utmost respect. Hunters deferred to
their authority in all circumstances. Until now. Rather than make Markum suffer
as he would’ve anyone else deserving death, Gabriel sliced the carotid arteries
in the handler’s throat before slashing the arteries in his thighs and upper
arms.

With the engagement and extermination of the enemy complete,
Gabriel dropped the knives, which clanged on the stone floor. He stared at the
trembling woman-child huddled in the corner of the room. Even his most vicious
nightmares couldn’t compare to the battered and bloodied creature huddled into
a ball.

He slowly walked toward her. Squatting down, he placed a
hand on her chilled arm. A strangled sound emerged from her throat. Had she
finally screamed herself hoarse? He inched his hands beneath her, gathered her
into his arms and stood. He tried to concentrate and assess the damage. She’d
been missing for several hours. From the extent of her injuries, he ventured
most of that time had been spent as Markum’s victim.

Tiny, soft sobs emerged with each hitch of her breath.
Beneath the red and swollen areas of her face, her bronzed skin turned ashen.
She grew limp and one of her arms drooped to hang lifelessly while her swollen
lids blinked.

He struggled to settle on a course of action. He’d been on
many hunts and encountered some of the most depraved forms of beings. He’d
helped and handled many victims in worse shape than the healer. Still, in his
mind, she’d been hurt more grievously than the others because of her gentle,
caring nature.

His partner’s voice penetrated the fog. “Gabriel?” Nolan
Kincaid asked, suddenly standing beside him. How did Nolan know where to find
him?

Gabriel didn’t move. He kept scanning the cuts, bruises and
blood covering his treasured healer. He’d been as beaten and bloody at times.
He’d also been conditioned to dismiss the pain so he could effectively continue
to fight. Sadie hadn’t been taught those lessons. She’d been an amazing ball of
energy and light, communicating everything she experienced with vivid
expressions and an outpouring of emotion.

While she remained somewhat conscious, she didn’t even wince
when he repositioned her. He recalled when she’d cut her finger several months
prior. She’d wailed as if she’d lopped it off. Why wasn’t she crying now?

Footsteps pounded down the stairs. Had Nolan summoned them
with the com unit? He couldn’t recall. He remained facing the corner he’d
lifted Sadie from. She stirred and softly moaned. His arms shook as he drew her
closer to his chest to provide warmth. She could use the heat from his body.
She’d grown cold. So cold.

He inhaled deeply, craving the reassuring scent belonging
uniquely to her. She no longer smelled of flowers and daylight. The stench of
fear, blood and sweat rose from her skin.

“Gabriel,” Handler Rush said. The tremor in his voice
relayed the older man’s unease. It probably stemmed from viewing his young
apprentice, Handler Markum, sliced to bits at the base of the stairs.

There could only be one outcome when a hunter betrayed a
handler. Before drawing the knives, Gabriel fully understood the consequences.
He’d been warned. The law remained the law. Handler Markum himself recited the
speech many times.
Vengeance and such emotions belong to men who can feel
and assess situations in a normal way. Because a hunter does not have the
capacity for higher emotions, a hunter must NEVER act in accordance with
fleeting inclinations. It will result in immediate execution
.

Lessons meant nothing to him as he held the listless and
cold healer. No being in the universe possessed the authority to hurt or scare
Sadie. No one.

Handler Rush cleared his throat. “The girl needs medical
attention. Hand her over.”

Gabriel believed the handler to be an honorable man. He
should comply. Handler Rush however, hadn’t heeded the warnings from the
hunters regarding Markum. They’d all sensed the potential of Markum’s violent
streak. Some had tasted his fury firsthand. Sadie’s young, battered body lay in
his arms, testament to the disregarded advice.

“Gabriel, comply!”

The strum of firearms echoed in the room before the whoosh
from dozens of knives being pulled from sheathes. There’d never been a direct
altercation between hunters and handlers, but members of his company bound
ultimate loyalty to one of their own. They’d guarantee he wouldn’t be forced to
give his small, shattered healer away before he was ready.

When she choked, warm blood droplets spattered his face. “Sadie,
wake up for me.”

She moaned and tried turning away. He cuddled her closer. He
needed to right the wrong committed and make her whole somehow. “Concentrate,
healer. Focus your powers inward. Heal yourself. Do it now.”

“I…” she whispered before coughing up more blood.

She should save her strength for healing, not speaking. He’d
been about to remind her when she finished what she’d started to say. “Wish to
die.”

A massive pain shot clear through his chest. He couldn’t
understand where it’d come from. Perhaps Handler Rush had shot him in the back.
It wouldn’t surprise him. He’d killed a handler.

His chin fell forward and he glanced down. He hadn’t been
shot, but the pain grew as Sadie shivered. He wanted to offer her comfort. He
didn’t know how.

He’d caused this. He’d told Markum about what’d happened
between him and Sadie earlier in the day. In doing so, he’d caused harm to the
most treasured being in his life.

“Sheath those knives, gentlemen,” Handler Rush said.

The room remained silent. The hunters wouldn’t stand down
until Gabriel told them to. The safety of the company depended on his actions.
It made no sense to risk the lives of his men so he could continue to hold
Sadie. It wasn’t rational. But he silently stood, unable to move, unwilling to
let anyone else touch her.

“Gabriel, please!” Matron Meadows cried. He wasn’t surprised
to hear her voice. Of course she’d follow the men to where her daughter had
been found. Cold snaked down his spine. It was an unspoken rule. Keep Sadie
safe. He’d failed.

The uncommon veil of stupor lifted as he turned slowly with
Sadie held tightly against his chest. He scanned the many eyes staring at him.
The guards stood ready to fire, expressions of fear and disbelief etched into
their expressions.

Matron Meadows placed a hand over her mouth, hunched over
and groaned loudly when she viewed Sadie. Handler Rush supported her around the
waist. In a controlled manner, he said, “The matron’s upset because her child’s
been hurt.”

“I understand,” Gabriel replied in a calm, low voice,
contrary to the urgency building steadily inside his guts.

“You’ve been instructed and warned never to come between a
matron and her young. Bring the girl here.” The tremor in the older man’s voice
grew more pronounced.

Gabriel stared at his superior. The correct course of action
would be to follow the order. His mind told him to comply, but he couldn’t
move. Instinct told him to keep Sadie safe. No further harm would come to her
within his arms.

“You’ll be shot if you don’t obey.” Handler Rush hadn’t made
a threat. He’d merely stated what would occur next.

Gabriel turned away, not willing to risk further injury to
the young healer. He also knelt down so when he received the blast, she
wouldn’t fall very far. He’d rather die than give Sadie away. He needed to
somehow undo what’d been done to her. He alone had to find a way to make things
right.

It’d been his fault.

The sobs of Matron Meadows drew closer. The shuffle of feet
told him the hunters cleared a path for the woman to gain access to her
daughter. He knew in his gut they wouldn’t allow anyone else close.

She knelt in front of him and cried harder. “Oh, Gabriel,”
she said, placing a shaking hand on Sadie’s arm, “what did he do to my precious
daughter?”

Gabriel swallowed. “Heal her, matron. Quickly.”

After wiping tears and sniffling, she said, “Please, let us
take her to the infirmary. I’ll care for her there.”

A great number of years studying the signs of emotions in
others allowed him to discern what she felt. Her body language and expression
spoke of worry, desperation and grief.

“Yes, Matron Meadows. Of course.” The only person he’d
listen to at the moment was the woman. She’d know what her daughter needed.

She glanced beyond him and two medics neared, carrying a
stretcher. They placed it down and carefully took Sadie from his arms. She
opened her eyelids. Her head lolled to the side and she stared at him. Although
she inhaled and exhaled, the brilliance and life behind her turquoise irises
was gone. The dance of laughter, kindness and everything else that made her
special―stolen. The lifeless gaze conveyed she’d become similar to him and the
hunters. Cold, emotionless—the walking dead.

They took her away and Gabriel couldn’t rise. Weakness and
confusion consumed him. Something rumbled within his chest as his heart
pounded. Blood rushed, his hands fisted, his mouth opened and a guttural roar
erupted to echo off the barren walls.

Sadie had been the only person in his life to surprise and
delight him. The other hunters found her just as fascinating. She’d never be
the same.
Never!

And it’s my fault!

One lone ember burned brightly inside of him. Just one. It
stemmed from the bright-eyed, clever, whimsical creature who had graced his
life. The last shred of warmth within him died at that moment. The color in his
vision turned to black and white. He’d savaged and ruined the only gentleness
he’d known.

In his youth he’d been removed from his home planet. He’d
been taken to learn the ways of being a soldier in the Serenity Governance. The
years taught him victory, defeat, devastation and humility. Nothing had
prepared him for dealing with the cruelty inflicted on Sadie.

Without Sadie’s brilliance, he wouldn’t question or
calculate commands, as he had in the past. He’d allow handlers to dictate his
actions. It was no wonder his kind were kept away from the general population.
The Governance had allowed Sadie and her matron to live within the compound.

His chin fell forward. He’d been born with hindered
emotions. He needn’t worry about that any longer because they’d dried up to
nonexistence. If they didn’t hang or shoot him for killing Markum, he’d
probably become a most accomplished assassin for those he served.

And look what happened.

Several thick darts pierced his back. He barely flinched.

He’d killed without a directive from his handler, disobeyed
an express order to turn Sadie over, and he’d bellowed as if he gone crazy. He
wondered why they hadn’t used the guns.