LITMIR.BIZ

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living inside.

      Keira took a deep breath and steadied her nerves. When the door opened, she gave a bright smile.

      “I hope you like your coffee black. Because I took you for a black-coffee guy.”

      She thrust a steaming coffee cup at the man in the doorway. Dale Curtis stood military straight in a starched khaki uniform, looking crisp and fresh and undeniably more handsome than a man should look at 0500 hours.

      Those scrutinizing gray eyes showed a hint of a smile. “Thanks. Come in.”

      Carrying her valise, Keira followed him to the kitchen. Tension knotted her stomach. His older friend, clearly a superior, had done some kind of odd mojo on her last night. She remembered nothing except that his smile had been kind.

      Still, she couldn’t trust that the older man wasn’t setting her up, even though he whispered into her mind that she was safe now. Right. Nothing was safe anymore. Not since the Centurions had torn her world apart.

      This arrangement troubled her. Living with him wasn’t on her agenda, but she needed to buck up his powers so he could destroy the Centurion demons. Keira suspected he hired her only to fulfill an obligation.

      The commander set down the coffee, then sat on a wood stool at the breakfast nook. His penetrating gray gaze seemed to bore into her. For too long, she’d operated alone, avoiding others, especially men. This close proximity unnerved her. Dale Curtis studied her, as if puzzling out her real identity. Her hand trembled as she fumbled in her case. Not this soon. She needed time, needed to gain his trust. But instinct warned that was something this man did not easily give.

      He glanced at his watch. “Let’s see the contract. You have thirty minutes before I leave for base.”

      Tempted to take the watch and throw it into the trash, Keira plopped the contract on the table. “In conveniently large type, unlike most legal contracts. You can actually read this.” She glanced up at the clock. “Of course, I’m sure you’ll have to be at work soon.”

      Dale slid the papers closer and began to read, his brows drawing together. Holding her breath, she tapped her fingers. But he was a fast read and finally came to the last page.

      “Sign here.”

      Keira handed him an old-fashioned quill. When he scratched his name in bold, strong letters, she took the quill and pricked her thumb. A droplet of blood spilled over his signature. She licked her thumb and gestured to the contract.

      “I’ll give you a copy. The contract states you are free to break the agreement at any time by declaring verbally to me, ‘I renounce you. I renounce our agreement.’”

      She’d seen him pour over the rambling legalese in the document, but wanted to ensure that Lt. Commander Dale Curtis knew exactly what he was getting into.

      Without telling him every single, small detail.

      But cooperation was essential. No man could be bound to her against his will.

      At his nod, she snapped open her case and withdrew a velvet box. Inside the red velvet bed was a shimmering wide silver armband. A large blue sapphire was in the center amid intricate runes studded with smaller sapphires.

      “Please slide this on me, above the elbow.”

      She held out her bare right arm.

      “This is a slave armband.”

      Suspicion flared in his eyes. Keira held her breath. So close, would he balk now? A man of reason, she realized. A man who questioned all because he left nothing to chance.

      She shrugged. “Is it? The armband provides me protection while I cleanse your house, and assures you that as long as it remains on me, I’m bonded to you as your contractor.”

      And as long as you put it on me, I’m protected from demons. They can’t touch me.

      “Then if it protects you, why don’t you wear it all the time?”

      Smart. She wasn’t accustomed to dealing with a man who had both valor and a piercing intellect.

      Keira pointed to the gleaming sapphire. “Why would I wear it when there are more human thieves who’d harm me to steal the jewels, not knowing the armband’s real value?”

      Dale’s full mouth pursed, but his eyes twinkled. “You have an answer for everything. Rehearse much?”

      But he gently slid the armband in place. Feeling the warmth of her skin, the metal settled against her arm, not uncomfortable, more reassuring than restricting. She was bound to him. Her wolf could not attack him as long as the band remained in place.

      He didn’t remove his hand. Instead, his fingers brushed against her skin. Heat curled inside her body.

      For a wild moment, she wondered what he’d be like as a lover. What would it feel like to at last surrender her innocence, give everything to a man as magnificent and powerful as him?

      And surrender your heart, give total power over you, a small voice mocked. After twenty-three years of guarding what little you have left?

      Dale stroked the skin under her arm along the band, and she bit her lip. Feelings surged, along with a delicious heat that made her toes curl. “This band bonds you to me. So it means you must do anything I tell you.”

      Keira fisted her hands to hide their trembling. “Not exactly. I’m no pushover, Lieutenant Commander.”

      With forefinger and thumb, he lightly clasped her chin. The spicy scent of his cologne swam in her nostrils. She became lost in the intense grayness of his eyes. Dale’s mouth parted as he lowered his head.

      But instead of a kiss, he nuzzled her neck, inhaling deeply. Dread filled her.

      Mages couldn’t scent the demon blood inside her. But he was a Primary, and much more powerful than an ordinary Mage.

      “What are you, Keira Solomon? Why do I crave you? Every time I draw close, I think of sex,” he whispered.

      “They have support groups for that.”

      She backed away until her backside connected with the sliding glass doors. The commander advanced, a determined look on his face.

      He would have answers, would wring them out of her.

      “I thought you said you had to go to work.” She mustered a smile and tapped his watch. “Better get going.”

      Please, let him be the kind of guy who’s never late.

      “The base can wait for once. This is more important.”

      Closer still he came, until his tall body overshadowed hers. He could overcome her with weight and sheer physical strength.

      Inside, the demon blood surged, but her claws did not emerge. Because her wolf could no longer hurt him. Good for him, not so wonderful for her if he wanted to overpower her. Could he find out who she was?

      Keira cringed and squeezed against the glass doors. He slowly stalked toward her.

      “The admiral sensed something about you. I sense something about you. Something in my blood is calling to you. You’re not who you appear to be.”

      She wriggled away as he reached for her. “Blood is for vamps. I don’t like vamps. They like to sleep in and they never appreciate my cooking when I make garlic sauce.”

      He clasped her chin in one strong hand, his grip gentle, but firm. “I will have answers, Keira. You’d better hope and pray I don’t find out anything I don’t like.”

      Tightness constricted her chest, but she gave a small laugh. “Why? You’ll feed me to the wolves?”

      A slow smile touched his mouth. “Not quite.”

      “Too bad. Because I always liked to play Little Red Riding Hood, only with a big knife and some nunchakus. I don’t fight fair.”

      “Neither

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