Guarding Forever Read Online Free Page B

order to the driver who merely raised a brow at the address.
    Ohra sank back into the plush cushions. “It isn’t the best area of town, but it is cheap, and it means I can continue my education beyond what the monitor fee gained me.”
    “There is no reason to explain. I was raised in a poor area, and it shaped me into what I consider to be good and proper. I try to judge people by their actions and not their income bracket.” He patted her hand.
    “How have you judged me?”
    The words hung between them, and he reached out to touch her jaw with two fingers, turning her head so that her gaze me this. “I do not have the right to judge you. I see you. Every inch of your soul glows brighter than the stars above us.”
    His eyes said that he was speaking the truth. When he leaned in to kiss her, she returned the kiss with an enthusiasm and skill she didn’t know she had.
    He pulled her into his lap and slid a hand into her hair, kissing her wildly while they drove into her neighbourhood.
    The driver cleared his throat. “Excuse me, but we are here.”
    Ohra jerked back and fought her skirts as she tried to get out of the car.
    General Thanloss held her and whispered, “Calm down. We did nothing more than kiss.”
    She blinked frantically and bit her lip. “I really think I should go now.”
    He sighed and opened his door, walking around to open the door on the sidewalk side of the vehicle. He extended his hand, and she used it to help her get out and untangle the twist she had made of her skirts. “Thank you.”
    “My pleasure. I will see you to your door.”
    She shook her head. “That is not necessary. I am on the top floor and there is no lift. You have had a long night as well. At least I get to pass out when I finish my climb.”
    He scowled and looked around, seeing the shabby nature of their location. “Why are you here?”
    “It is inexpensive and the transit takes me to my classes with only an hour’s transfer time.” She tried to move past him, but he shifted to block her.
    “May I call on you again?”
    Ohra looked up at his sincere features. “Why would you want to?”
    While he stood shocked, she slipped around him and scuttled through the doors of her apartment and up the stairs.
     
    * * * *
     
    Forin watched her run from him, her pale blue skirts fluttering as she moved. The way she had moved when she didn’t want to speak to him anymore confirmed it. She was his monitor.
    He returned to the car and said, “Home, Niric.”
    “Yes, General.”
    Their insistence on referring to him by his rank even though he had no army or air force to follow him never failed to amuse.
    Ohra Ianic was his monitor. He could remember the feel of a woman in his arms; her kiss was sweet and had the same curiosity that his instincts remembered. Instinct had driven him and several of the other Edinar to seek out their monitors.
    Whether the Horalthians knew it or not, they had managed to match most of the Edinar with members of their species that were mentally compatible, and in many cases, they were physically compatible as well. Those were the monitors that the ball had been meant for, to bring them out where they could be seen and recognized again.
    Niric drove him back toward the observatory and the house that had been constructed on the bright side of the mountain.
    When they arrived, Forin nodded to his driver and headed inside. He had research to do. Ohra didn’t seem the type to come running just because he crooked his finger. He needed to learn what he could about her life.
     
    Two hours later, he rubbed his face and forehead. It was amazing that Ohra had made it to adulthood with her mind intact.
    Born and abandoned, she had been raised in a series of public homes, which had noted her health and very little else. She had gone through so many hands as a child; it was no wonder that she had no interest in affection. She didn’t know what it was.
    Her studies were indeed progressing rapidly. She had