Earth Warden Read Free

not skinny. His gaze travelled up the seductive line of her spine and latched onto the thin sliver of skin that showed between her T-shirt and her trousers. Then he saw, it and the world stopped.
    Half hidden under the fabric was a small tattoo. An unmistakable tattoo. Not the sort of tattoo one could wander into any tattoo parlor and pick. It was the sort of tattoo one had to be born into a certain sort of family to have. Less a form of body art, it was more a permanent, magical protection. The sort of tattoo a Warden, the wizards of the paranormal world, wore. Which meant his sassy little waitress was just the sort of woman Hawk was looking for. On more than one level.
    He studied her movements over the rim of his mug. Warden blood explained the color of her eyes. Although they looked, walked and talked human, Wardens were born with the ability to manipulate the witching, the magical layer in everything. Calling a Warden human was like calling a lion a house-cat. Same basic description, but he wouldn’t like to tease one with a ball of string.
    She scrubbed the tables until they were clean enough to eat from. Hawk was about to make a comment about avoiding him when she straightened, squared her shoulders as though preparing herself to run the gauntlet and walk down the aisle past him. She could wimp out and go the long way around, and he could tell she was considering it when she glanced that way.
    Come on, sweet stuff, that’s too obvious. You’re made of stronger stuff than that .
    Hawk held his breath as she made her mind up, only releasing it as she started up the aisle toward him. He put his empty mug down as she drew level, taking a chance that the waitress in her wouldn’t be able to resist. Sure enough, she checked and reached out to snag the empty cup.
    “Can I get you anything else, sir?” Her voice was controlled and perfectly polite, toeing the line after her slip earlier.
    “Nothing on the menu, no.”
    Hawk moved his leg and blocked the aisle to stop her escaping wherever it was waitresses escaped to.
    “But I’ve got a few other needs...” He dropped the timbre of his voice to husky, his manner flirtatious.
    Hawk was Warrior-born. The flip-side of the coin to the Wardens, his sole purpose in life was to fight the things that went bump in the night. Some, like Hawk, lived long enough to get good at it. Not that anyone would realize it from his pathetic performance tonight, but fighting and killing demons was what Hawk was all about. What spare time he had he spent training, healing, or finding opportunities to sire the next generation of warriors.
    And he considered all essential to his wellbeing, especially the last one.
    Anger flared in her eyes at his words. “You’ve got some freaking balls.”
    Hawk was glad he’d drained the mug, otherwise he was fairly sure he’d be wearing the contents by now.
    “Yup, two of them.” His grin was unrepentant. “Care to view them?”
    He didn’t think she was the type, but it was hard to tell with Warden-women. Some of them could be kinky bitches at times, more than happy to take a tumble with a rough and ready warrior. It was all that repression from their overprotective families. Give them a little freedom and they were wild. Probably why they weren’t let out often.
    Which posed the question as to why a Warden-woman was waiting tables—it wasn’t as if any Warden families needed the money—but Hawk shoved the question to the back of his mind. He was having far more fun watching her try to frame a response to his question through her anger.
    “No!” she managed after several moments of opening and closing her mouth in a bizarre but amusing impression of a goldfish. “I’m not that kind of girl. If you want that then head over to the other side of town. Looking the way you do, the girls on South Street’ll fall over themselves to offer you a good time.”
    Hawk’s grin widened. “So you think I’m good looking then.”
    She gave him a sharp