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MILLS & BOON
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Kendra Morton has trained and worked side-by-side with Thor Kensington for years, hunting the demons who come to earth from the parallel world of Torlin. Despite his dark allure, she knows him to be a cold and unbending leader. So why does her heart still race with desire every time he’s near?
Half-demon Thor has always wanted to be Kendra’s lover, even though she’s off limits. If takes an attempt on her life by a traitorous saboteur to make him act on their hidden passion. But now that he has the woman of his dreams, can he protect her from the unknown assassin…and from his own inner demon?
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter One
Kendra Morton pulled the trigger twice in quick succession on the demon-blaster she held. The first shot was a direct hit to the beast nearest her, but round number two, unfortunately, only wounded the second hellhound. The angry creature from the parallel world of Torlin was determined to destroy as much of downtown Houston as it could.
It was like this every full moon. The rips in the fabric of space and time would open, allowing access to the living, breathing demons from Torlin. Torlin demon-hunters assigned to this universe, along with those humans willing to risk their own lives, fought off the evil spirits that made their way through. The majority of the demons who crossed over tonight would return to their world before sunrise or die. The few who didn’t die or return would be hunted down before the next full moon and terminated. Then the process would start over, a never-ending cycle.
Kendra raised her hand and aimed at the demon charging her. She didn’t hesitate to fire. Her heart skipped a beat when the weapon misfired. She pulled the trigger again and still nothing.
Dropping the gun, she pulled the silver dagger she kept in her boot and crouched low. The creature was coming at her fast, running on its hind legs with wings spread wide and eyes of deep crimson. She’d get only one chance to send it straight to hell or she’d be pushing up daisies by sunrise. The monster roared as it spread its forearms and dived for her. For the briefest moment, the demon revealed its vulnerable spot and Kendra took advantage, shoving the dagger deep into its wicked heart.
There was a soft popping sound as the hellhound erupted into a cloud of black ash that rained down on her like dirty snow. Holding her breath, Kendra stood and brushed the powder from her clothing and hair. It was said that inhaling too much of the dust was like taking a wild LSD trip that you never returned from. She retrieved a medical mask from her coat pocket and slipped it on. The cover would stop her from inhaling any more powder while she waited for a cleanup van and crew. From another pocket, she pulled a small GPS transmitter and activated the emergency frequency.
After only a few minutes, she heard the familiar low rumble of a motorcycle and frowned. Being ashed was bad enough, but having to deal with her overbearing, but very sexy, boss was enough to make a girl want a very strong drink or a cold shower.
The bike rounded the corner and came to a stop a good ten yards away. Enough distance so the motorcycle wouldn’t become contaminated. She watched as all six foot three inches of solid maleness swung his leather-clad leg over the bike and stood. She swallowed and tried to slow her runaway heart as he took off his helmet and placed it on the seat before he stalked toward her.
Thor Kensington’s black hair and onyx eyes were common to his race from Torlin. He was one of the few from that realm to make an alternate world his home and was a man of overpowering presence. He was a natural born leader, a take-charge man that others didn’t dare question. He’d trained her and the other elite humans to fight the monsters that traveled from his world to this one. It was during the training course that she’d learned exactly how cold and unbending he could be. Thor had nearly worked them to death, and he gave new meaning to the term drill sergeant. Despite this, her heart still sped up every time he was near.
“Morton, are you okay?” Thor’s deep baritone voice echoed across the empty alley.
She watched him approach and steeled her nerves. He only called them by their surnames, but a small, deeply buried part of her longed to hear him use her first name. “I got dusted, but I’m good. You need to stay back.”
Thor stopped in front of her, his gaze narrowing as he looked her up and down. “I’m immune to the effects of ash, but you aren’t, and it’s all over you. Take off your clothes.”
She blinked a couple of times, not sure she’d heard correctly. “You want me to do what?”
“Take off your clothes. And quickly.” The look in his eyes was hard and unyielding.
“No.” She crossed her arms over her chest and met Thor’s glare.
Thor leaned down, getting closer to her face. “The cleanup wagon is held up at another site and will be a while. The poison can travel through your clothing, to your skin and straight into your system. So either you take that contaminated clothing off, or I’ll strip you myself.”
He was correct and she had no doubt he’d do it. “Fine. But I’m not walking around naked.”
“You can wear this.” He shrugged out of his black trench coat and held it out to her.
“Okay, but turn around. You can hand me the coat over your shoulder when I ask. I don’t want you watching.”
He studied her for a moment before he turned his back to her. She paused. For a brief moment she thought she had seen a glint of worry in his eyes and that was very un-Thor-like. She shook her head and started undressing, setting her mind on the task at hand.
She removed her long duster, kicked off her shoes and pulled down her jeans before tugging the shirt she wore over her head. She used the shirt to wipe herself down, before dropping it to the ground along with the rest of her clothing. She considered removing her bra and panties, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. Looking up to ask for the coat, she found dark eyes staring down at her. Her breath caught in her lungs as her body heated under his intense gaze.
“Turn around. I’ll help you slip the coat on.” His voice was rougher and deeper than normal.
Her eyes dropped to his lips and not for the first time she wondered what it would be like to kiss Thor Kensington. Would he stay cool and in control? Or would he let go and enjoy the ride?
She turned her back to him and let him slip the coat up her arms. The backs of his fingers skimmed across her skin causing her breath to catch as the coat settled about her shoulders. His scent and residual body heat wrapped about her like a lover’s caress.
Kendra mentally shook herself. These feelings were crazy. Thor never ever gave her any reason to believe he thought of her as anything more than a team member, a soldier to rid the world of demons. Maybe she’d inhaled more ash than she thought and it was wreaking havoc on her emotions.
Thor let his fingers brush the soft skin of Kendra’s neck as he moved her long blond hair out from under the coat. He needed the physical contact to convince himself she was fine. When her alarm had sounded on his radio, pure fear had raced through him. Only now, after touching her, did his wrecked nerves begin to calm. His job here was to handpick and train those who were going to keep the demons at bay. This wasn’t his first off-world assignment and he wasn’t a wet-behind-the-ears rookie, but every time he was this close to Kendra, he felt like one.
Dropping his hands, he stepped back and turned the fear he’d felt into anger, something he knew how to deal with. “What the hell happened here?”
Kendra faced him, tilted her chin up and arched an eyebrow at him. It was her way of letting him know she didn’t like his tone. “My blaster malfunctioned.”
Good. He could handle this angry proud woman much better than the one who looked as if she wanted him to hold her. “This is the third time in two weeks you’ve had equipment failure.”
Kendra rose up on her toes, pulled the mask from her face and waved her arms as she spoke. “No kidding. Now why don’t you tell me something useful? Or do you believe the rumors about me sabotaging my own equipment? Well, let me set the record straight, I don’t have a death wish.”
Thor’s temper spiked but he held on to it as he snatched the mask from her hand and snapped it back over her head and face. “I know you don’t, because if you did, you wouldn’t be on my team. Why didn’t you follow procedure and pull one of your other weapons? The silver daggers are our last resort.”
She stepped back away from him and wrapped the coat tighter about her body. “I thought about it, but I knew if my secondary weapon failed there wouldn’t be time for anything else. I didn’t have a choice, Kensington.”
“I’m not sure I agree.” He turned and retrieved her duster from the ground. The coats were made from a high-tech material from his world that made them lightweight in addition to helping repel demon magic, but they didn’t protect from everything and they were useless against demon ash. The inside of each coat was customized to carry the preferred weapons of each hunter. He pulled Kendra’s secondary weapon and pointed it at the concrete wall, released the safety and pulled the trigger.
Nothing.
He fired again.
Nothing.
His stomach rolled and he felt ill. He dropped the gun back into its pocket, and then turned to Kendra. Even in the milky moonlight, he could see her pale face. Above the mask her large blue-green eyes filled with terror. He started toward her, but at that moment the decontamination unit rounded the corner. “Don’t say a word about this to anyone. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.”
Her voice was soft and carried a note of uncertainty. He clenched his fist to keep from going to her and pulling her into his arms. He forced his voice to be hard when he spoke. “After they’re finished with you, have Midnight drive you home. You’re done for the night.”
The converted motor home stopped as close to them as it could. She looked at him with sad eyes before she turned away and started walking to the unit. He watched her disappear into the motor coach and wondered what the hell he was going to do about Kendra Morton.
Kendra ate popcorn and watched as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced across the TV screen. She loved old sappy movies and their happy-ever-after endings. After all, wasn’t that what everyone was looking for in this imperfect world? She sighed as Fred took Ginger into his arms and for a brief moment, the pair on the screen turned into her and Thor. It was a wonderful little fantasy to take her away from the horrifying night she’d just had.
The shrill ringing of the doorbell ended her musings. She glanced over at the clock and wondered who would be visiting at five in the morning. She stopped the movie and then put down the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table. She stood and cautiously walked to the door. With a quick look through the peephole, she spotted Thor on the other side. She ran nervous fingers through her hair and adjusted the pajama bottoms and old college sweatshirt she wore. Wishing there was time to change, but knowing there wasn’t, she opened the door.
Thor stood there wearing a black turtleneck, tan trousers and black loafers. She was so used to seeing him in his hunting gear, which consisted of leather pants, T-shirt, boots and duster, all in black, that she felt she was now looking at someone she didn’t know. Butterflies started to dance in her belly. “Hello.”
“Sorry to bother you, but I figured you would still be up, and I wanted to see how you were doing.” His eyes moved over her slowly before returning to her face.
The look he gave her felt more like a sensual caress than a health checkup. He might be here on the pretense of business, but she was sure his eyes had lingered on her unbound breasts. “I’m good. You could have found that out with a phone call.”
“True, but I couldn’t discuss this with you.” He held out his arm.
It wasn’t until then that she noticed the coat draped over his arm. Disappointment replaced the butterflies when she realized he was truly there on business. She had to stop filling her mind with pointless dreams. “Come on in. I can put on some coffee if you want.”
“I’d rather have a strong drink if you don’t mind.”
She closed and locked the door behind him. “I’ve got ten-year-old scotch, some bourbon, or beer.”
“Bourbon on the rocks.”
“Not a problem. Have a seat, and I’ll be right back.”
Kendra walked as calmly as she could to the kitchen and, once she was out of sight, turned to stare in the direction of Thor. She’d known the man for over five years and worked directly with him for the past eighteen months. In that time, he’d never come by her house, not even for business. If he needed to talk he’d call. Heavens, they’d never even been to a work-related function together. It was a joke among their coworkers that you got either Kendra or Thor, as they never showed up anywhere together. She had the strangest feeling that tonight would change their lives forever. She quickly fixed his drink and returned to the living room.
He was seated at one end of her sofa with his feet propped on the ottoman in front of him. The drapes were open behind him, allowing her to see the nighttime sky. Soft music and candlelight were the only elements needed to make the scene romantic, she thought as she crossed the room. She quashed that idea as she handed him the drink and reminded herself this was business. “You look worn-out.”
“I haven’t slept a lot recently.” He put the glass to his lips and swallowed.
She seated herself in the oversize chair across from him and tucked her feet beneath her. “So, what prompted this visit? You could have returned the coat to me at our team meeting later tonight.”
His eyes were as black as the night sky behind him. “I could have, but I didn’t want your guns going through the normal distribution process. The odds don’t seem to be in favor of you receiving working equipment. I’m hoping to change that.”
She arched an eyebrow. “After tonight, I’m certain the malfunctions aren’t an accident.”
He reached over and pulled the demon-blaster from her coat. “No, there was no accident. Midnight and I inspected your weapons piece by piece and found where three of them had been sabotaged. Your primary weapon had been set to allow only two shots. Whoever did this was smart. They knew it would give you a sense of security.”
She glanced at the weapon then back at Thor’s face. His expression sent a shiver down her spine, making her very glad she wasn’t the one he was angry with. “That’s the exact number of rounds I got off before it misfired. Had my backup weapon been impaired?”
Thor returned the gun to its pocket in her coat. “The firing mechanism on your backup had been disabled. You wouldn’t have gotten off a single shot.”
Kendra swallowed hard at the thought. “Good thing I pulled my blade.”
“It’s a damn good thing.” Thor’s voice was rough.
Dread settled in the pit of her stomach; he wasn’t telling her everything. “Was anything else messed with?”
Thor took another drink, draining the glass before he answered. “The timer on all of your Particle Grenades had been reset to zero.”
“If I’d used them I’d have been incinerated instantly.” She sat perfectly still absorbing this new bit of information. She wrapped her arms about her midsection. Her close call with death had been a lot closer then she’d realized. “Who wants to kill me, Thor?”
“Hell if I know, and it’s all I can seem to think about.”
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