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
