The Valkyrie's Guardian Read Free Page B

wanted to murder — eyed Cassie shamelessly. Primitive, crude thoughts wafted from his head, appraisal and basic lust. She’d stared him down with bloodthirsty malice, and it turned him on. Gross.
    She could tell Jack had about five seconds of good humor left. Four … three …
    Both boats rocked as Jack leaned over and grabbed Barney by the collar, then the deputy with the roaming eyeballs. Barney went into overdrive, blinking and wincing in tandem. She decided Jack’s method of persuasion was as effective as the mindwipe if less subtle. For the second time that morning, Jack’s opponents could only wet their pants in response. Absurd, the dark spots on the front of their geeky khaki shorts. She didn’t get it. Jack was fearsome, sure, but was he really that frightening?
    Jack shook the men loose and they stumbled back on the deck. Jack turned to face her, his eyes a hyper shade of neon green that practically shot sparks, and at once, she gotit. He’d never made that face at her, but seeing the leftovers made her spine tingle and hair stand on end. His nostrils flared, veins in his forehead bulged, and his eyebrows lowered in an expression that contorted his handsome features into a warlike mask. With the muscles in his neck and shoulders bunched, he exuded menace, volatile like a charging bull. It was a death wish to mess with him.
    Jack started the engine and sped away before the rangers recovered themselves, and Cassie burned with curiosity. Something important had just happened, but he still shielded his thoughts from her. All she could read from him was a blank wall with a stark red CLASSIFIED stamped across. Damned military training again.
    She hated being in the dark. Cassie rose and walked back to sit in the seat across from the captain’s chair. She studied Jack, trying to figure him out. She could feel it — something was off, something beyond the hassle of being stopped by the rangers, and the weird incident with the boaters couldn’t be a coincidence.
    Keeping one hand on the wheel, Jack leaned into the aisle, grasped the side of her neck with one tense, heated hand, and kissed her hard on the mouth. Then once more, gently, teasing her with a wicked but tender roll of his lips. Ever so lightly he traced across her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue, and a dozen alarms went off all over her body. His kaleidoscope hazel eyes flashed with that iridescent glow-in-the-dark energy she’d noticed earlier when his anger flared. Without a word he leaned back and continued driving, watching the channel for traffic.
    The shock wore off, but her heart still kicked in a frenzied rhythm. She could swear there was a magnetic heat wave in the forty-four inches of space between their seats. Jack seemed oblivious to the flash of heat, but it consumed her, burning hottest at the top of her head, her fingertips, and a few places she didn’t dare scrutinize. Cassie couldn’t resist the urge to press a finger to her lips — on fire! — and her pulse throbbed there. For a weak moment, she wondered if she would pass out, over one brief kiss. She’d never live it down.
    A few minutes later she dared to ask, Care to explain that one, Jack?
    No.
    She stared at the stubborn line of his jaw, the tingling massaged sensation still fresh on her skin from the scrape of his whiskers. She would never look at his morning scruff again without conjuring the memory.
    He took his phone from the glove box and punched a key, speed dial two for Kyros Vassalos, Jack’s boss. Cassie had grown up at Network-One, Kyros’ most elite academy for extra-sentient children; being Kyros’ ninth-great-granddaughter had qualified her when her talent fell short. He would be none too pleased she and Jack hadn’t managed to stay out of trouble for the three days he’d planned to spend with his wife, Lyssa, for their anniversary.
    Jack’s conversation was brief and laced with