Kenna stared up at him, then laughed. Tor scowled. It was a bit of a blow to his ego after he’d professed his undying love for her. He’d wanted to tell her exactly how he felt before he revealed what she was to him. And when she’d said she loved him as well, he hoped she’d want everything he wanted—them being together, always.
She stopped laughing, and said, “I’m not laughing at you. Really. I’m laughing at myself, because I’m going to do something so totally out of character for me. I didn’t think I had it in me, either.” She paused, her face becoming serious. “Yes, Tor, I’ll move in with you. How does tomorrow sound?”
In way of an answer, Tor kissed her, thrusting his tongue between her lips. His cock hardened inside her once again. He pumped in little thrusts until he was fully engorged. Kenna lifted her hips, matching the pace he set.
This time their lovemaking didn’t last very long. All too soon they both were coming, moaning into each other’s mouths as they came. Once it was over, Tor rolled to his back, taking Kenna with him. She sprawled on top of him like a contented kitten as he ran his hand up and down her back.
Now that they knew how they felt about each other, and he’d gotten Kenna’s agreement to move in with him, Tor had to take the next step and tell her about him being a warrior of Anubis. And that she was his mate. If his luck held, she’d be able to take everything he told her and accept him and what he’d done to her to make her truly his.
* * *
Tor and she must have fallen asleep for a short while after the last time they’d made love, because Kenna woke up still lying on top of him with her head pillowed on his chest. It rose and fell with his even breaths. She looked at his face and saw his eyes were closed. God, Tor was handsome. And from the conversation they’d had, he was hers.
If someone had come up to her last week and told her she’d fall in love with a rich, tall, dark and very muscular man and move into his fancy mansion with him all in a matter of days, Kenna would have thought that person nuts. But here she was, head over heels for the very first time in her life. Nick would have a heyday with it.
Now that her thoughts were no longer distracted, centered on the pleasure Tor gave her, Kenna found herself thinking about her new ability to heal in an instant. She had no idea if it was a temporary thing, or whether she’d have it for the rest of her life. And it wasn’t as if it was something she could go to the doctor and get checked out for. The idea of getting experimented on wasn’t what she’d ever want to experience.
The only person she could think of telling was Tor, mostly because she’d be living with him and there was a very high chance of him noticing she didn’t heal like everyone else. It would be hard to live under the same roof and keep that a secret.
Kenna felt eyes watching her and looked up to see Tor had awakened. She inched up his body and gave him a quick kiss. “How about we get dressed and go downstairs to find something to eat? I’m a bit hungry. Then I want to talk to you about something.”
His brows furrowed. “All right. Nothing too serious, I hope.”
“It’s hard to say. It depends on how you react to it.” She rolled off Tor and slid from the bed. “I’m going to use the bathroom.”
She walked into the en suite and closed the door behind her. Kenna used the toilet, then washed her hands. She caught her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Was she making a mistake telling Tor? She hoped not.
Back out in the main room, Kenna saw Tor standing at the end of the bed with his back toward her. He was just pulling his jeans on over his hips. She sighed to herself. The man had a great ass. He also was someone who didn’t like underwear. He hadn’t worn any on the days she’d been with him. Not that she complained about it. It was a turn on to think she just had to open his pants and his cock would be there with nothing else keeping her from it.
Kenna closed the distance between them and placed a kiss on Tor’s wide back. He turned his head to look over his shoulder at her. “What would you like to eat?”
She walked around to his side and picked up some of her clothes. Tor turned so he faced her. “I don’t know,” she said. “Nothing big. Since you cooked for me yesterday, I hoped you’d let me cook for you in your fancy kitchen.”
“It’s your kitchen now as well. You agreeing to live with me makes it so.”
She smiled. “I guess it does. Then while we’re down there I should see what you have in the fridge and pantry to make sure all the ingredients I’ll need to make us dinner are there.”
“Well, I did some shopping earlier today and stocked up. What are you thinking of making?”
Kenna finished getting dressed. “I haven’t quite decided. I’ll wait until I see what you have.”
“Since you’re going to be the chef for tonight, why don’t you go downstairs and look around in the fridge? I’m just going to use the bathroom and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
“All right.”
She left the bedroom as Tor headed for the en suite. Kenna had just reached the foyer when the doorbell rang. She looked up the stairs, but knew Tor wouldn’t be able to get down here that fast. Since she was already halfway there, Kenna decided she’d answer the door.
Pulling it open, she found a large man who looked as if he’d seen better days standing on the other side. “Hi,” she said, giving him a leery look.
He grabbed her by the throat and pushed her farther into the foyer as he kicked the door shut. “Hi back. He said you were a pretty thing. I’m going to enjoy this.”
Kenna screamed as the man roughly pushed her against the wall and groped her. She tried to fight back, but he was stronger than she. The sound of a loud growl had her looking toward the stairs. What she saw had her heart leaping up into her throat, and a rush of memories she hadn’t remembered slamming back into her head.
Chapter Seven
Tor felt the pull of evil at the same time he heard Kenna’s scream coming from the lower level. Having finished in the bathroom, he ran out of the bedroom to the top of the stairs. Seeing a strange man holding Kenna by the throat, tugging at her clothes, sent Tor into a rage. How dare the evildoer touch his mate?
The stench of evil filled Tor’s nose as he rushed down the stairs. For the first time he looked forward to the pain of a shift as the change took him over. By the time he reached the foyer he was in his half-human and half-jackal form. He set his sights on his prey and rushed him, pulling him away from Kenna. The man ended up slamming into the front door headfirst.
Tor grabbed the evildoer again. This time the mortal decided to fight. He swung a punch at Tor, which Tor easily deflected. Tor pushed his prey back against the door harder than was necessary before he brutally tore into the man’s mind. He saw all the mortal’s evil deeds. One memory in particular had Tor growling in outrage. It was one of the demon who hunted him having a conversation with the evildoer. It was the demon who had sent the man to Tor’s house to attack Kenna. The creature hadn’t revealed himself, but kept to the shadows so Tor had no idea what he looked like, but he recognized the voice.
Somehow the demon had to be watching Tor to have learned about Kenna and where Tor lived to be able to send the evildoer here. It was time he and the demon had a face-to-face. Tor wouldn’t let the creature use his mate against him.
With a snarl, Tor growled, “Guilty. Time to pay for all your evil deeds.”
Tor willed his gold dagger into his hand and shoved it into the man’s stomach. The evildoer bellowed in pain before he slowly lost solidity until he completely disappeared.
The sound of a whimper had Tor turning around as he willed the dagger away. Kenna stood with her back pressed against the wall, her face set in a mask of horror and fear. She looked at him the same way she had before he’d wiped her memory of him.
He sucked in a sharp breath at the pain that tore through his body as he shifted back to his human form. He went to take a step toward Kenna, but she held up her hands as if to ward him off, tears spilling down her cheeks. Tor sta
yed where he was.
“It’s all right,” he said in a quiet and even tone. “You’re safe, Kenna.”
She wildly shook her head. “No. I remember everything. I remember what happened in the parking lot at the Luxor, why I feel uneasy there. It was you.”
“I would never do anything to hurt you. I saved you that night from an evildoer.”
“Yes, but you did something to make me forget. I’ve had a nightmare about you in that…that other form. Using your gold dagger, making another man disappear after you cut him with it. It scared the crap out of me. I thought it was a figment of my imagination, but now I know it was real. I’ve been sleeping with a murderer.”
This time Tor closed the distance between him and Kenna. He didn’t touch her. “No, I’m not. They’re alive when I start them on their journey to the underworld. It’s my job to send mortals who are full of evil to Anubis to be judged. The god decides what their fate will be.”
Kenna took a step to the side so he wasn’t directly in front of her. “You talk about Anubis as if he’s truly alive. A freaking ancient Egyptian god.”
“Because he is. I’m one of his warriors. The first one. When I lay dying on a battlefield in Egypt, having fought for my pharaoh, Djoser, in a military expedition to Sinai Peninsula, Anubis answered my call when I pleaded to one of my gods to save me. In return for restoring my life and giving me immortality, I took a vow to serve as a warrior of Anubis for all eternity.”
She rapidly shook her head. “That can’t be. If your pharaoh was Djoser that would mean you’ve been alive since the twenty-seventh-century BC. I did a project in school on the step pyramid he had built in Saqqara for his tomb. I remember it. You’d have to be thousands of years old. It’s not possible.”
“I am, and it is. I watched the Pyramid of Djoser being built, as I watched the pyramids at Giza. I stayed in the land of my birth for thousands of years before I came to the New World. I eventually ended up here in Las Vegas.”
Kenna laughed, the sound borderline hysterical, as her tears continued to flow. “And here I thought I was some kind of freak. But now that I think about it, you had to be the cause of it. I want you to take it back.”
Tor furrowed his brow. “I don’t understand.”
“My ability to heal in seconds,” she yelled. “I didn’t have it until I met you. You had to have done something to change me. Whatever you did, reverse it.”
He sighed, knowing what he had to say next Kenna would not want to hear. “I can’t. And it’s more than just your ability to heal rapidly.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re my mate, Kenna. When I bit you yesterday, I claimed you as mine. You are as immortal as I am. Our life forces are now joined. It can’t be undone.”
“What the hell are you saying?” Kenna breathed so fast Tor was afraid she would hyperventilate. “Mate? You actually did this to me without giving me a choice? Did I even have any say in it?”
Tor ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “I was to give you the choice. I didn’t want to bite you before you knew what I truly was. Somehow a demon who has escaped the underworld managed to work a spell that allowed him to take control of me. I knew you were my mate the first time we were intimate, because my eyeteeth dropped and I had the urge to bite you. I fought it, but when the demon took over, I couldn’t stop myself. Anubis wanted me to ease you into my world before I claimed you. The demon took that option away from me.”
“A demon? Ease me into your world? From what I’ve seen of it so far, I don’t want to be in it. Right now all I want to do is get as far away from you as I can get.”
She sidestepped a few more paces in the direction of the door. Tor stopped her. “You can’t leave. You have to stay with me. Only I can protect you from the creature who has set his sights on me. The demon is the one who sent the evildoer to my home to attack you. He must know you’re my mate. If he gets the chance again, he will try to use you against me.”
Kenna fisted her hands at her sides. “I can’t stay here with you. Do you have any idea how afraid I am of you at this moment?”
Unable to not touch her any longer, feeling as if he was losing her by the second, Tor cupped her face in his hands. “Look at me, Kenna. Really look at me. Have I ever done anything to hurt you?”
“No.”
“And I never will. I love you. I’ve been alone for centuries. You’re my mate, someone I’ll always cherish and protect. I don’t want to go back to my old life. I know this is all so very hard for you to understand and accept. I might shift into something you’re afraid of, but the man is still inside there. It’s still my heart that beats in that chest. I’m still the same person. I just look different. And believe me, I didn’t want you to find out what I was this way.”
Kenna’s bottom lip trembled. “I don’t know if I can accept all of this. And now you’re telling me there’s no going back. I would have wanted the choice.”
Tor pulled her close. She pushed at his chest, but after a few seconds Kenna relaxed against him, her tears wetting his skin. He let her cry herself out before he leaned back and lifted her chin so she looked up at him. Her eyes were red and puffy.
“Stay with me, Kenna. Please. I realize you’re going to need time, and I’m willing to give you that. We have an eternity, after all. You said you loved me once. I can make you feel that way again.”
“And if I can’t?”
“I’m not giving up on you. We’ll make this work.” He kissed her forehead, and when Kenna didn’t pull away, he took that as a good sign. “I need to go talk to Anubis. I’d like you to come with me. It might help if you hear his voice.”
She stepped out of his embrace and wrapped her arms around her middle. “What exactly would I have to do? I don’t have to cut myself, do I?”
Tor could still hear the fear in Kenna’s voice, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it’d been a few minutes ago. He smiled to reassure her. “No, you don’t have to cut yourself. We just have to go upstairs to the small temple I have set up in one of the spare bedrooms. You should be able to hear Anubis since a bond has formed between us.”
“All right, I guess. I don’t know how much more freakiness I can take without wanting to huddle in a corner and rock.”
“It’ll be fine. You’ll just hear Anubis in your head.”
Tor held his hand out to Kenna, but she gave a short shake of her head. He dropped it at his side. He wasn’t going to push her. He turned and walked toward the stairs. Kenna fell into step beside him. He took her to the bedroom set up as a temple.
Inside, he headed for the altar where he’d already made his offering of food and beer that morning. Tor glanced at Kenna to find her looking around the room, taking it all in.
“Anubis, I have to talk to you,” he called to the god of the underworld.
Yes, Tor?
Kenna let out a quiet gasp and took a half step closer so her arm brushed up against his. She obviously heard Anubis as clearly as Tor did.
“The demon who hunts me has made another move. He found out about Kenna being my mate and sent an evildoer to my home to attack her. I need a way to draw him out. I don’t want to risk him harming Kenna.”
I saw it in the evildoer’s memories when he arrived. Challenge the demon, tonight.
“How should I do that?”
Call to the demon, he’ll hear you.
“I tried that once. He ignored me.”
Play upon the demon’s pride. He won’t be able to ignore the insult. Just be prepared for him not to fight fair.
“All right. I have Kenna here with me, is there anything you can do to protect her from the demon?”
I know she’s there. I can also feel her fear. There’s no need to be afraid, Kenna. Tor needs you in his life to make it complete. He loves you just as much as you love him, though you can’t see past your fear to believe that you still do. I’ll fix that. Anubis fell silent, and Kenna stiffened beside Tor. It only lasted a matter of seconds, the
n the god spoke again. As for your request to protect Kenna from the demon, I can use a spell that will shield her against an attack from demon-kind, but it won’t extend to others with evil intent. As you know, my abilities aren’t as powerful as some of the other gods.
“It’ll be enough,” Tor said. “I just want her protected from the demon.”
It’s done. Anubis’ presence faded away.
Tor turned to Kenna, expecting to see her fear still visible on her face. What he wasn’t prepared for was for her to throw herself into his arms and cling to him. He closed his eyes and tucked her head under his chin and returned her embrace. He felt as if he could finally take a deep breath since Kenna had seen him in his half-human and half-jackal form.
Kenna clung tightly to Tor. Her fear of him was gone, taken away by Anubis. Without it threatening to take her over, she was able to think clearly again. The god had also shown her how Tor had lived his life all these millennia, starting with the day he’d taken his vow to become one of Anubis’ warriors. That had been particularly hard to see. Tor had been so close to death. Seeing him bloody, barely clinging to life, had been gut-wrenching.
And Tor had been alone for so very long. Living among mortals, keeping his distance since their lifespans were short compared to his. Not once had he tried to form any attachments. That is until he’d stumbled across her. She’d seen the night in the Luxor parking lot through his eyes. Had seen how taken he’d been with her, and how he hadn’t wanted to wipe her memory, but had known he hadn’t any choice. And also how Tor hadn’t been able to stay away from her in the end.
The love she felt for him was as strong as ever now that her fear no longer clouded it. She loved this ancient immortal warrior with all her heart. Walking away from him wasn’t an option. Kenna also wanted the brief flash of her future with Tor that Anubis had given her.
She pulled back in Tor’s arms and stared at him. “I can accept all of this now.”
“You can?”
Her Eternal Warrior wh-2 Page 7
