In Sky Woman, the first book of my Seeder Saga, Miri Reynolds finds herself kidnapped and taken to another planet, where she initially meets up with a shady man whose motives are less than friendly. Miri’s fair hair and blue eyes make her a valuable commodity in this land.

In this chapter, Miri tries to escape his clutches and finds herself running headlong into Lunan – who ends up being her ticket out of there.

Lunan was done being patient.

He had been in the small port town of K’tuan, finishing up his business, when he had discovered his taifa was missing. He’d left it tied up outside the market where he’d stopped to buy a few provisions for the return trip and some houseless scum had ridden off on it.

Fortunately, that particular houseless scum had more than a few enemies, and was sold out almost immediately by his former associates once Lunan began making inquiries. The man’s name was Vutai, and he was a thief, a purveyor of stolen goods, and an unlawful pleasure broker, as well. Lunan could practically find him by following his stench.

The compound Vutai maintained had stables and small outbuildings full of stolen animals and contraband, and a hovel with a few seedy rooms for customers with a taste for perversions that weren’t allowed in a reputable pleasure house. Lunan made short work of finding this piece of filth and discussing the matter of his taifa, which he’d found tied up outside in the yard.

And now after hiding from him like a coward, the man was curled up in a ball on the ground and sniveling like a child, claiming over and over again that it was all a misunderstanding and that he had mistaken Lunan’s mount for his own. Lunan had half a mind to crack his skull just to shut him up. He wasn’t going to kill him, though. He just wanted his property back and he wanted to be out of here. He had a ship to get to.

He turned away to go and collect his taifa, but stopped short at the sight of a woman, obviously very ill and also obviously abused by the look of her. She was incredibly dirty, and her hair was so matted with filth that it didn’t even look like hair anymore. She staggered across the yard. Her face was downcast, but from her body language, she seemed to be desperate to escape. She tried to speed up, but she was far too weak. Lunan’s lightning fast reflexes got him to her side just as her legs gave out.

He turned her over in his arms, and once he saw the extent of her bruises and felt the fever coming off her skin, he was ready to go ahead and crack Vutai’s skull after all. She seemed young. God knows how long the deviant had held her here, or what he’d put her through. He began to straighten up, holding her in his arms, when she lifted her eyes to his.

They were as blue as the sky. A small frown knit her brow as she took in Lunan’s astonished look, and then her blue eyes closed as consciousness fled.

Sky Woman is FREE on Kindle tomorrow, and every Friday in June! Grab a copy and get ready for humor, heat and one hell of a plot hook!