Eternally. Maureen Child

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      Even the thought of the word choked him. There was no salvation for those like him. The most he could hope for was another battle to follow the last. To move on through the years, untouched by time, able to adjust the memories of those whose lives he brushed up against so that he remained unremembered.

      This he knew. This he expected.

      She was a surprise.

      Her green eyes fixed on him, he could sense her thoughts, the wild clashing of instinct and desire. She trembled and the strength of her need was as powerful as the fear darting through her.

      Before he could think better of it, he attempted something he suspected—hoped—had no chance of success.

      You are safe from me, woman.

      She jolted away from the counter and shot him a look that was both intrigued and horrified. “How did you do that? Talk to me in my head? How could I hear you? What’s going on?”

      Kieran plowed one hand through his hair, scraping his short, neat nails across his scalp, hoping the minor irritation would distract him from the mess this was quickly becoming. She shouldn’t have been able to hear him. Shouldn’t have reacted at all. The fact that she had, shook him to the core. “I’m telepathic.”

      “Ah…” She nodded jerkily and inched closer to the swinging door leading into the party, still barreling along at top volume. She slid one hand across the tiles as if to steady her movements. “Well, that explains everything. A telepathic swordsman. Fabulous. Lucky me.”

      “Stop.”

      She did. As if he’d fired a bullet at her feet.

      Going to her, he grabbed her upper arms and pulled her tightly to him. Her breath left her in a rush as her breasts slammed against his chest.

      “I’ll scream,” she warned.

      “No, you won’t.”

      “Why wouldn’t I?”

      “Because you know I won’t hurt you.”

      She took a couple of short breaths and squirmed against him in a way that made him wish for more time. Her hips collided with his need, thick and hard and every twist of movement was glorious torture.

      “I don’t even know you, why would I trust you?”

      “There’s no reason you should. But you do.” His mind reached for hers and in that tumultuous well of sensation and emotion, he soothed her with gentle whispers.

      “Stop doing that,” she demanded, but quit trying to escape his iron grip. “It’s creepy having someone else sneaking through my brain.”

      “I am no happier about it than you.”

      Questions boiled in his mind and were just as quickly smothered. He had no time for legends. No time to explore the new territory in front of him. Julie Carpenter had no place in his life nor he in hers. She was an accident. A twist of fate, a distraction thrown in front of him to keep him from his prey.

      Damned if it wasn’t working.

      Through the fabric of her shirt, her skin felt soft, pliant. He wanted to drown in the taste of her, take her scent deep inside him. He wanted to lick every inch of her body and when he was finished, he would begin again. He wanted to fill his hands with the weight of her breasts, suckle at her rigid nipples until she was writhing beneath him, begging for the orgasm only he could provide. And when her body trembled on the very brink, he would join his body to hers, filling her with heat, until, together, they were swallowed by the flames.

      Still he let her go, pushing her from him, as if needing the distance between them. He hadn’t expected her to hear him telepathically. Only a true Mate could do that. Only a woman destined to be at a Guardian’s side could be touched by his thoughts. It had been a test he’d thought she would fail. Hoped she would fail.

      But she hadn’t and now Kieran was a man with even more to consider. He took another step back. The cold, solid length of the sword he carried slapped against his side, reminding him all too well of his true purpose here.

      Gleefully, eagerly, it wandered the old house.

      The music swelled within it, dancing through its veins, pounding in its head. Hunger roared within, demanding release.

      So many choices.

      It moved through the crowd, unnoticed in the throng, its fingers trailing across lush bodies, its hot breath dusting sweat dampened skin, its hands longing for a blade.

      Soon, it thought.

      Soon the blood would run, thick and dark.

      Soon, the hunt would begin again.

      Behind them, the kitchen door slammed open, allowing in a blast of music and the shouted conversations and laughter of the party.

      Julie looked past the broad-shouldered man in front of her to the blond woman grinning at her from the doorway.

      “Julie! You’re with a guy! Yay you!” Instantly she slapped one hand across her mouth and winced. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

      “Oh, yeah,” Julie said, her chin hitting her chest. Trust Alicia to come into the room at exactly the wrong moment. Or was it the right moment? Julie wasn’t sure anymore.

      “Sorry about that,” the other woman said with an embarrassed shrug. “Too much wine, I think.”

      “It’s okay.” Giving her roommate a wry smile, she realized that she should actually be relieved that the smiling blonde had barged in.

      So why wasn’t she? Good question, she thought and searched for the answer.

      A few months ago, she’d tried every trick she knew to get an interview with L.A.’s own mystery gazillionaire. She hadn’t been able to worm her way through his guard dogs—lawyers. Now here he was—big as life, a hell of a kisser, and hey, possibly nuts—in her very own kitchen. She didn’t even know what to think of him. Gorgeous, sure. Lust worthy, without a doubt. But what kind of man carries a sword and tiptoes through other people’s minds?

      By all rights, she should be terrified just being alone with him. Yet, the only thing she was really worried about here was her virtue—which, let’s face it had disappeared a long time ago.

      Besides, if Kieran MacIntyre had wanted to kill her, he could have done it when his tongue was down her throat. She shivered at the memory and squelched the desire to do it again. For heaven’s sake, what the hell was going on?

      “So,” Alicia prompted, nodding her head at Kieran as she spoke to Julie, “who’s your friend?”

      “He’s not my friend,” Julie countered, glancing from her roommate to Kieran and back again. Only a moment ago, she’d been worried about being alone with him. Now she nearly resented Alicia’s presence. “I just met him,” she said, avoiding for some reason, giving her friend Kieran’s name.

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