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A Hero's Bargain
A Hero's Bargain
A Hero's Bargain
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A Hero's Bargain

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When a poker game turns ugly, erstwhile gambler Ryder Vaughan runs for his life. After crash landing his ship on an unknown world it looks like his life will be a short one - until the lovely healer, Saba Duer, finds him and saves him. Smitten, Saba has no qualms allowing Ryder to seduce her.

In Ryder, Saba sees the coming of a hero to save her people. The deadly errol that has terrorized the Ramalho Clan for so many years has been spotted on a course that will bring it to the village. Ryder has a weapon that could destroy the creature. She strikes a bargain with him to secure his help. Ryder's not yet well and whole, but there is no choice. Saba has to let him go and face the truth – she's sent him on a mission to die.

           

But Ryder has a plan - and dying isn't a part of it.

* * *

His eyebrows shot up. His eyes darkened.

"Pay me, will you? With what? A ship so I can get back to my life? Tell me you have one. Lie to me, Saba."

Ryder had every right to be bitter over his circumstances. She understood, but his acerbic tone shocked her. She hadn't considered anger. Anger could make him dangerous in ways nothing else would. Nonetheless, her mind was made up. It was her decision, be it folly or not.

"No. The coin I would pay you with is my body."

His mouth dropped open. "Excuse me?"

"I will come to your bed when you are well enough."

He sat up, swinging his legs off the pallet and onto the floor. She jumped away from him, startled. Just as quickly her concern for her patient moved her back to his side.

"Do not! You should be still."

Quick as lightning he grabbed her and pulled her to him. His chest was like a rock.

"Let me go!"

"I don't think so, angel." His arms tightened around her. His lips thinned into an angry line.

"So you'd come to my bed, would you? For what? What do you think I could do with you in my current condition, hmm? Pat you on the ass and tell you to sleep well?" His lips curled, snarling.

"Offer something better, Saba. Offer me my manhood back. Then come to my bed!" He released her so abruptly, she almost fell. She plopped down on the stool. He grimaced, his face tightening with pain.

"You will heal but it will take time," she said, far more calmly than she felt.

He hissed, pressing his hands to his stomach. Alarmed, she jumped up. Quick as a snake, he had her again, one hand fisting in her hair, trapping her.

"Heal me, then."

His mouth came down on hers with bruising force. She pushed against him but he was too strong. His tongue swept over her lips and suddenly, escaping him wasn't important. Need, hot and sweet, throbbed with each beat of her racing heart.

His kiss gentled, coaxing her now with a soft plea to answer him. Her arms slid around his neck. Her lips opened. There was a low rumble in his chest as his arms tightened around her. Awareness of her surroundings faded. All she knew was his lips moving on hers and his warm hand slowly caressing her back. She was caught in the spell he wove, floating in some dark place where her body spoke to her of aching loneliness and whispered its hope of fulfillment.

Softly, ever so softly, the kiss ended. His lips left hers, lingering a hairsbreadth away. His hands slid to her hips, grasping them with strong fingers and pulling her to him. She looked into his eyes, gone black with desire.

"You'll come to my bed first. Then I'll talk to Tyree about my weapons

LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 12, 2016
ISBN9781519945341
A Hero's Bargain

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    Book preview

    A Hero's Bargain - Rayne Forrest

    A Hero’s Bargain

    by

    Rayne Forrest

    A Hero’s Bargain

    This book is a work of fiction. While references to actual places or evens may occur,

    the names, characters, incidents and locations are from the author’s imagination

    and any resemblance to anyone, living or dead, is coincidental.

    A Hero’s Bargain – Copyright © 2020 Rayne Forrest

    Cover by KC Kendricks 2020

    All Rights Reserved

    ––––––––

    Reproduction of this digital e-book for file-sharing or selling, regardless of whether any type of currency is exchanged, other than what the author grants, is strictly prohibited by law.

    Piracy is a crime.

    Published in the United States of America

    What they said about A Hero’s Bargain

    5 Angels from FAR

    A Hero’s Bargain is a delightful read, full of such visualization, the reader feels completely drawn into the scenery. Saba is a character that stands out wonderfully in the book. Ryder and Saba emit so much passion that Tyree’s annoyance over the events can be felt through the pages. I really enjoyed this book. The main characters and the secondary ones are in-depth and lend much to the storyline. At times, everyone was so believable, even down to the crashing of the fireball. Rayne Forrest creates a superb tale that is brilliantly fashioned in every way. With an element of suspense, romance, and emotions that run wild, she captivates her audience with this riveting tale. This reader found it to be edge-of-the-seat entertainment.

    ––––––––

    4.5 Kisses from Two Lips Review

    Rayne Forrest has created an intriguing new world to immerse yourself in.  Her creativity and compassion are limitless.  She also brings truth and a strong dose of realism to her stories without a lot of quixotic buffering.  Her characters are also well developed.  Ryder has a big heart and beautiful soul that is matched equally by Saba’s.  Secondary characters, such as Tyree, are a wonderful compliment to this story and help to balance out this tale of survival, compassion, and community.  Hero is an amazing story that I highly recommend reading.  Rayne Forrest continues to delight this reader and I avidly look forward to her upcoming releases.

    ––––––––

    Four Cups for A HERO’S BARGAIN  from Coffee Time Romance

    This book is a great read! The world building is realistic and genuine, allowing the reader to feel they are truly there. The characters’ personalities, including the secondary ones, are well developed and easy to relate to. I enjoyed the emotional tension between Saba and Ryder as they got to know each other, and the extra stress of Tyree’s displeasure as they did so. This book would be a fantastic addition to anyone’s personal library!

    Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance

    Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books

    Excerpt

    Saba couldn’t lose her nerve now. It was their only hope. She dried the mug and set it up on the shelf then turned back to Ryder. "We need your weapons, and your help. If you agree to use your weapons to destroy the errol, we’ll pay you."

    His eyebrows shot up. His eyes darkened.

    Pay me, will you? With what? A ship so I can get back to my life? Tell me you have one. Lie to me, Saba.

    Ryder had every right to be bitter over his circumstances. She understood, but his acerbic tone shocked her. She hadn’t considered anger. Anger could make him dangerous in ways nothing else would. Nonetheless, her mind was made up. It was her decision, be it folly or not.

    No. The coin I would pay you with is my body.

    His mouth dropped open. Excuse me?

    I will come to your bed when you are well enough.

    He sat up, swinging his legs off the pallet and onto the floor. She jumped away from him, startled. Just as quickly her concern for her patient moved her back to his side.

    Do not! You should be still.

    Quick as lightning he grabbed her and pulled her to him. His chest was like a rock.

    Let me go!

    I don’t think so, angel. His arms tightened around her. His lips thinned into an angry line.

    So you’d come to my bed, would you? For what? What do you think I could do with you in my current condition, hmm? Pat you on the ass and tell you to sleep well? His lips curled, snarling.

    Offer something better, Saba. Offer me my manhood back. Then come to my bed! He released her so abruptly, she almost fell. She plopped down on the stool. He grimaced, his face tightening with pain.

    You will heal but it will take time, she said, far more calmly than she felt.

    He hissed, pressing his hands to his stomach. Alarmed, she jumped up. Quick as a snake, he had her again, one hand fisting in her hair, trapping her.

    Heal me, then.

    His mouth came down on hers with bruising force. She pushed against him but he was too strong. His tongue swept over her lips and suddenly, escaping him wasn’t important. Deep in her belly her womb contracted. Need, hot and sweet, throbbed with each beat of her racing heart.

    His kiss gentled, coaxing her now with a soft plea to answer him. Her arms slid around his neck. Her lips opened. There was a low rumble in his chest as his arms tightened around her. Awareness of her surroundings faded. All she knew was his lips moving on hers and his warm hand slowly caressing her back. She was caught in the spell he wove, floating in some dark place where her body spoke to her of aching loneliness and whispered its hope of fulfillment.

    Softly, ever so softly, the kiss ended. His lips left hers, lingering a hairsbreadth away. His hands slid to her hips, grasping them with strong fingers and pulling her to him. The hard ridge of his manhood greeted her. She looked into his eyes, gone black with desire.

    You’ll come to my bed first. Then I’ll talk to Tyree about my weapons.

    Table of Contents

    Chapter 1

    Chapter 2

    Chapter 3

    Chapter 4

    Chapter 5

    Chapter 6

    Chapter 7

    Chapter 8

    Chapter 9

    Chapter 10

    Chapter 11

    Chapter 12

    Chapter 13

    Chapter 14

    Chapter 15

    Chapter 16

    Chapter 17

    Chapter 18

    Chapter 19

    Chapter 20

    Chapter 21

    Chapter 22

    Chapter 23

    Epilogue

    Chapter 1

    Jackpot. He’d hit the jackpot. The cards were falling in his direction. Ryder Vaughan pushed the entire pile of credits in front of him to the center of the table.

    That’s a fool’s move, made by a fool.

    Ryder smiled at the ugly, unshaven mug sneering at him from across the poker table. How can one man be so fucking ugly, anyway?

    Then I’m a fool. You’re a thief. That might make us even.

    Cankered lips pulled back in what would have been a smile had the man had any real teeth left in his head. Those blackened snags didn’t count as teeth any longer in Ryder’s book.

    Ugly flipped a gold coin onto the pile of credits. A real gold coin. The premonition that skittered up Ryder’s back was far uglier than his card mates. Something was amiss.

    Call.

    Ryder leaned back in his chair, casually dropping his right hand into his lap. His fingers closed around his stunner. Thank the ancient gods for grace. The stunner was as illegal a weapon as one could find these days.

    Left-handed, Ryder flipped up his cards. Four aces, pal.

    Instead of looking disappointed, Ugly smirked and flipped up an ace of diamonds. You’re cheating, Vaughan, or whatever your name really is. Around here, that’s punishable by death.

    Ryder didn’t move, didn’t even swallow. He’d been set up. How could he have been so blind as to not see it coming?

    Arrogance. That’s what it was.

    He’d been so sure he was smarter than everyone else at this table that he’d not paid enough attention. There was no point arguing. It was bolt or die.

    It was probably die while trying to bolt, that was the truth of it, but wasn’t ready to die. He activated the stunner. The low whine of the weapon charging to a lethal level sent Ugly and his playmates into action. They dived for cover.

    Ryder Vaughan, traveler, trader, and erstwhile gambler, dived for the door. But not before he snatched up a handful of the credits, including that gold coin, and shoved the loot into his pants pocket. That split second might be costly but there was no way that coin was getting away from him.

    Not until they pry it from my dead fingers.

    He rolled through the door as weapons fire zinged past him, head level, and close enough to turn his bowels a little rebellious. He scrabbled on hands and knees into the darkest shadows, then he lurched to his feet and ran full bore toward the crafter bays.

    He’d seen a Galaxy Runner docked when he’d landed yesterday. His own little Star Springer was in the tender loving care of the maintenance bots, its situation grim for any sort of lasting repair. Faithe was just too old and tired to come back this time and he knew it.

    It was a shame because Ryder loved that little ship. She’d been a trusted servant for a decade. Orange slime hit the building in front of him. He darted to the left, between two residential complexes.

    Those motherfuckers were shooting pepper gel at him! If it hit him, it would burn scar him for the rest of his life.

    If he didn’t pay attention, that would be the rest of his short life.

    Ryder pulled off his jacket and slipped out of his vest, tossing it up onto a second floor balcony. It fell back at his feet. He threw it again. This time it caught and hung there. Hopefully, Ugly and his three henchmen would think he’d climbed up the escape ladder, hopped onto the balcony, and gotten inside the building, but he couldn’t wait to find out if that ploy would work.

    He sprinted through the shadows, down a set of steps and around the corner into the crafter bay. Damn, damn, damn! The Galaxy Runner was gone. He really wasn’t into stealing, but he was into living, and a ship that fast would have helped him live longer.

    Faithe sat in her bay. There were no bots working on her. The maintenance tag flashed a green light. The question was then, was she fixed or was she just as fixed as they could get her, considering her age and condition? He didn’t have time to ponder on it for long because he had to steal his own ship and get the fuck out of here before he lost his rapidly vanishing head start.

    Ugly probably had the local constables in his pocket. That gold coin spoke volumes and none of it was reassuring. He punched in the override code on Faithe’s security lock and slipped through the barely opened hatch, rapidly securing it behind himself.

    There was no time to run the proper safety checks. Ryder threw himself into the comfortably worn pilot’s seat and started pushing console buttons. The ship responded, board after board lighting to life. The com beacon started flashing. The crafter bay security squad had noticed. He had to lift off now, before they could throw grappling lines over him. He took a deep breath and eased the throttle open. Faithe groaned and lifted. He stomped on the foot controls and she shot forward, clearing the bays.

    Sound echoed around him. Now the bastards were shooting old-fashioned metal pellets at him. Not good. So not good.

    Those metal pellets might not penetrate the hull, by they could weaken it enough for a breach when he passed through the edge of the atmosphere. He had to risk activating the shields. It was harder than he’d imagined it would be.

    Ryder paused, mesmerized by the sight of his own shaking hands. Oh yeah, right. He was almost away with his life and now, now his nerves were going to remind him to be afraid.

    He’d remember to be afraid after he was clear, after Faithe held together long enough to get into space and hit a fast cruising speed. He’d take time to be afraid after he knew he was going to live more than a few more seconds.

    It was an effort but he forced his shaking hands to program the autopilot. The bridge glowed yellow, then orange, then blue as the ship cleared the atmosphere. He set the navigation console and pushed the auto control. The lights dimmed down, conserving fuel and batteries.

    Ryder laid his palm over an apparently blank panel in the console. It blinked in a series of blue lights as a module rose out of the console. He flipped the switch and willingly committed an act of treason as Faithe disappeared off every type of radar and tracking device known. A wave of dizziness swept over him.

    He didn’t care. It was okay now. He was alive.

    Sort of.

    Thirty minutes later he’d literally puked his guts out and he wasn’t sure if being alive was all it was cracked up to be.

    His legs too shaky and weak to hold him, Ryder made it to his small infirmary by alternately staggering and crawling. Opening the diagnostic lab was an exercise of will, one he failed, as his knees buckled and sent him to the deck. He didn’t need the lab results to know—Ugly had managed to slip something into his drink and poison him. Now he needed to figure out what family of poison was in his system to take the right antidote. Ryder hauled himself back up onto a chair.

    Black spots danced in front of his eyes as he opened the test kit. Jabbing his left index finger, he obtained enough of a blood sample to coat a test strip. It turned purple. Snake venom. They’d slipped him snake venom?

    No fucking way.

    He slithered to the floor, lying there, resting, and just remembering to breathe. Something was definitely in his system. He lifted his hands, turning and examining them. Shite. There was a small nick on the outside of his right palm. Anything could have gotten in through that cut. Maybe Ugly and his cronies were too stupid for poison, after all.

    He’d been crawling along on the ground. Maybe some reptile had nicked him. Maybe it was some bacterium that just mimicked snake venom and he was about to go down for the last time.

    Think, think. He had to think and it was just simply beyond him. He was sinking fast. His fingers fumbled the med kit. How much antidote? No way to know and no time. He couldn’t seem to suck any air into his lungs. Paralysis?

    He filled the cylinder half full and jabbed the needle into his thigh and pressed the plunger. Blessed blackness wrapped her arms around him, cradling him on the cold deck.

    * * * *

    Cold. He was so cold his bones ached. The deck was wet beneath his cheek. A spasm seized him, drawing his fingers into claws of agony. His muscles contracted and pulled tight, eaten by piercing fire. His heart fluttered in his chest, then pounded, each beat more painful than the last. His stomach cramped. Wet heat flooded his crotch, only to turn miserably cold on his balls.

    Yep. He was dead.

    He hoped.

    * * * *

    Collision alarms were going off. His first thought was that Ugly had caught up to him to finish the job. The ship bucked wildly. His legs wouldn’t move. Hell, he couldn’t even feel them. With agonizing slowness, he crawled to the bridge, dragging his unfeeling limbs. Darkness rolled over him again. He fought it back. He was alive.

    A strange red-violet glow infused the corridor. The temperature rose sharply. Shite. He was entering atmosphere. What atmosphere? Where the hell could he be?

    Ryder pulled himself up into a sitting position. His stomach heaved dryly. Thank all the gods there was nothing left in there to come up. His throat was raw with acid burn. He couldn’t reach the console to silence the alarms, nor could he see out the view port.

    The red-violet glow abruptly changed as Faithe flew into a twilight sky. Stars shone on a darkening canopy. It was an impending collision all right. With the ground. Maybe, just maybe the apparent shallow trajectory would save him.

    Save him from what? He couldn’t feel his legs. He’d lie on the ground on this unknown, probably hostile planet, and just die.

    He really hated the idea of death and it was way too close for comfort. He must have really pissed off some god. Well, he wasn’t ready to admit to defeat quite yet.

    Besides, there was no way he was going to die without having a bath first. He was a stinking mess. No man should die in such a state unless he’d been stupid enough to drink himself to

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