HerEternalWarrior (6 page)

Once she could breathe again without sounding as if she’d
just run a marathon, Kenna got out of bed and went to the bathroom. She
splashed cool water on her face. She rarely had nightmares. And of course it
would figure when she did it would be an exceptionally bad one. She just hoped
she’d be able to go back to sleep.

Kenna headed to the bedroom and climbed into bed. She closed
her eyes and once again the creature Tor had become rose in her mind.
It’s
not real, it’s not real.
She could tell herself that, but the fear was
still there. Not about to let the nightmare win, she rolled over to her side
and pulled the extra pillow to her chest, holding it tight. She would not stay
awake. She needed to rest. She wasn’t going to ruin tomorrow by being tired
from lack of sleep.

It took a few hours, but Kenna finally was able to push the
memory of her bad dream aside to find the sleep she needed. As she drifted off,
she thought of Tor and how good it felt to be held in his arms.

* * * * *

Kenna awoke in the morning, grateful her nightmare hadn’t
returned. She stretched and sat up. The small sliver of sunlight that shone
through the crack in her drapes told her the day was already a bright one. She
threw back the covers and got out of bed.

After a stop in the bathroom, she headed for the kitchen. It
was a little after ten. She decided to make herself some breakfast, then get
dressed and ready for the day. Standing at the open fridge, Kenna saw she had
all the ingredients to make a veggie omelet. She took out everything she needed
and shut the door with her hip.

As she worked, she thought of Tor’s huge kitchen and his
chef-quality stove. She might not cook as well as he did, but she wasn’t awful
by any means. Maybe he’d let her make their dinner tonight and she could try
out his fancy things.

She ran through menu ideas as she chopped some of the
vegetables. Her mind really not on the work at hand, Kenna ended up cutting
herself. She sucked in a sharp breath and lifted her finger closer to her face
to see what kind of damage she’d done. She blinked, not sure if her eyes were
playing tricks on her or not. Had the cut just instantly healed? She ran water
over her finger in the sink. Her skin bore no slice mark.

Kenna dried her hand, giving the digit she knew for a fact
she’d cut with the knife a closer inspection. Yup, it looked exactly the same.
She knew that wasn’t possible. She
had
cut herself. She’d felt the sting
of it. Maybe she was losing her mind and only thought she had hurt herself.

Deciding she’d better not go there, Kenna went back to
preparing her breakfast. She’d almost convinced herself the knife incident
really hadn’t happened when she touched the hot frying pan with the side of her
hand. Her first instinct was to hold it under cold water in the sink, but as
she turned toward it the pain ebbed away to nothing. Almost afraid to look, she
flipped her hand. No burn mark.

She let out a small whimper. Kenna had never healed
this
fast. Before she completely wigged out, she forced herself to continue on with
what she was doing. Once her omelet was cooked, she slipped it onto a plate and
sat at the table to eat. With each mouthful, her thoughts became more chaotic,
grasping at ludicrous possibilities as to why she’d healed in a matter of
seconds.

By the time she’d finished her breakfast, Kenna had worked
herself up into quite a state. She also entertained the notion of cutting
herself to see if she’d still heal at a rapid rate.

Calling herself stupid for even thinking of doing it, Kenna
got up from the table and grabbed her sharpest knife out of the block sitting
on top of the counter. She sat back down, her hands shaking. Should she?
Shouldn’t she? What if she cut herself and she didn’t heal and it was bad
enough that she’d need stitches? How the hell would she explain why she’d done
it without the doctor wanting her to go see a shrink?

Then her thoughts strayed to what she would do if she did
heal. It wasn’t fricking normal. Not by a long shot. And it was something new
for her. Before today, she had to wait like everyone else in the world to have
a cut disappear. She couldn’t think of anything she’d recently done that would
be so off the wall as to change her in such a way. The only thing new in her
life was Tor and he sure as shit hadn’t made her like this.

If she kept this up too much longer they would have to take
her away in a straitjacket and lock her up in the nuthouse. Before she could
talk herself out of it, Kenna ran the knife she held across her left palm. It
hurt more than when she’d accidently done it since she made sure she went deep
enough to make herself bleed more than a little.

She did, but only for a few seconds. The wound healed, not even
leaving a scar. The blood that had been spilled absorbed back into her skin. No
trace of it remained. Kenna laughed, on the verge of being hysterical, then
cried. Then cried and laughed at the same time. She barely managed to pull
herself together before she totally lost it.

Kenna dropped the knife on the table as if it were a
poisonous snake. She took deep, even breaths. She looked at the clock on the
stove. There was a little less than an hour before she had to leave to go to
Tor’s place. She could not show up at his door looking like an absolute mess.
For one thing, she didn’t know if she’d be able to tell him why she was so
upset. It was bad enough she thought she was crazy, but it would be even worse
if he did too. And she sure as hell didn’t want whatever this was to push him
away from her.

She stood and went to the sink to do the washing up as she
would any other Saturday morning. That finished, she left the kitchen to head
for her bedroom. Dressing helped her get more on an even keel. Kenna would not
think about anything that would be considered off in woo-woo land. She’d be
herself, not give Tor any reason to think something was wrong.

By the time Kenna had collected the bag she’d packed and
headed out of her apartment, she’d collected herself to the point no one would
be able to know she’d somehow acquired a freaky ability. At least in her mind
she pulled it off.

Chapter Six

Tor resisted the urge to open the front door and look
outside to see if Kenna had arrived. Instead he went to the living room and
turned on the TV. He’d missed her, had even found himself reaching for her
while in bed, wanting to have her in his arms.

Since he’d already made them mates, he planned to tell her
everything once she’d had a chance to settle in, and after they’d made love
once, maybe twice. The sooner he got it over with the better it would be for
both of them. As Anubis had said the night before, sooner or later Kenna was
going to notice something was different about her. She needed to understand why
before that happened. He could see it freaking her out if she happened to hurt
herself and then healed in seconds.

Tor also didn’t want to risk the demon that had him in his
sights finding out what Kenna was to him while she was on her own. Without
being under Tor’s protection, the demon could hurt her. And if the creature
ever found out Tor’s and Kenna’s life forces were joined, the demon would try
to take Kenna out, knowing full well Tor would die right along with her.

Having not spent the night and into the early hours of the
morning hunting, Tor’d had the chance to go to the grocery store earlier and
stock up on what he hoped Kenna would like to eat. Now being immortal, she
would be able to eat as much as she wanted, food that was good or bad for her,
and not have to worry about gaining a pound. She’d always stay the same. She’d
also be able to drink alcohol and never get drunk.

Ten minutes later, Tor heard the sound of a car pulling up
his long driveway. He smiled as he hurried out of the living room and walked
through the foyer to the front door. He opened it and stepped out in time to
see Kenna park in front of the garage. He smiled as he headed in her direction.
She didn’t see him at first, but once she did, she gave him a small wave before
taking an athletic bag out of the backseat.

Once he closed the distance between them, Tor cupped her
face and kissed her as he’d ached to do since he’d dropped her off at her place
the night before. He then put his arm around her shoulders and guided her
toward the door.

“I missed you,” he said as they walked.

She smiled as she angled her head to look at him, her arm
snaking around his waist. “I missed you too.”

Inside the house, he shut the door behind them. Tor took her
bag and placed it on the bottom step of one of the staircases to bring up to
his bedroom later. He turned back to her.

“Would you like something to drink or eat?”

Kenna shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Thanks.”

Tor looked down and saw she wrung her hands. Gazing at her
more closely, he saw her expression was a little on the pinched side, almost as
if she appeared anxious about something. He hoped he wasn’t the cause of it.

“Are you okay, Kenna?” he asked.

“Of course I am.” She wrung her hands harder and spoke
faster. “Why wouldn’t I be? Everything is perfect. I have nothing to worry
about.”

“Well, for one thing, you’re babbling.”

“I’m not babbling. I’m just—” Kenna took a deep breath, then
said more slowly, “I’m fine.”

“All right.” He still wasn’t convinced that she was.
Something bothered her. “What would you—” Kenna cut off his words by throwing
herself into his arms and covering his mouth with her own. He wrapped his arms
around her waist and returned her kiss.

Against his lips, she said huskily, “Take me upstairs and
make love to me. I need you inside me.”

He groaned as he lifted her off her feet and turned toward
the stairs. He’d planned to wait a bit before they got to lovemaking, but he
was on board with getting to the good stuff sooner rather than later.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he practically ran to the
upper level. All the while he kissed Kenna passionately. She put her legs
around his waist and her pussy rubbed against his cock with each step he took.
By the time he’d reached the top he was fully erect, aching to sink inside her.

The short trek down the hallway to his bedroom ramped him up
even more. Only with Kenna, with his mate, did he feel desperate, wanting to
sink his cock into her moist heat. As if he wouldn’t survive another minute if
he didn’t. And she seemed to need him just as badly. She clung to his
shoulders, kissing him so hard their teeth knocked together. Tor had a feeling
it would always be like this between them.

Setting her on her feet inside his room, Tor pulled away
from Kenna’s mouth and lifted her shirt up and over her head. His gaze dropped
to her breasts and he sucked in a sharp breath at what he saw. Her bra was dark
pink and so sheer it left nothing to the imagination. Her nipples were taut,
just begging for him to suck on them.

That would have to wait. First, he wanted to see if she wore
a matching pair of panties. Tor dropped his hands to the top of Kenna’s jeans
and undid them. He yanked them down her legs to pool at her ankles. She stepped
out and kicked them away with a flick of her foot. Yup, her panties matched the
bra. His cock twitched at the sight of her pussy encased in the sheer,
shimmering material.

“You’re beautiful,” he said in a low, raspy voice. “I’m
going to take my time stripping you out of that sexy bra and panties.”

“You mean thong.”

Kenna turned and Tor groaned. She was indeed wearing a thong
instead of panties. She went to face him once more, but he stopped her by
placing his hands on her hips. He nudged her hair away from the side of her
neck and nuzzled her there with his lips as he ran a hand along the skimpy
waistband of her thong. Tor followed it down the crack of her ass before he
skimmed his fingers over the twin globes of flesh not covered by the sheer
material.

Tor caressed up her sides, reaching around Kenna’s front and
cupped her breasts. He tugged the nipples as he ground his cock against her
ass. Kenna lifted her hands to cover his and rocked back into him. The smell of
her arousal perfumed the air, making him want to taste the wetness that had to
be soaking into her thong.

He turned her in his arms. Tor yanked off his shirt, then
pulled Kenna against him. He claimed her lips in a heated kiss, unhooking her
bra at the same time. She sucked on his tongue, pushing the straps down her
arms, and let it drop to the floor.

Kenna’s taut nipples brushed against Tor’s chest. He
released her mouth and licked and kissed his way down to the tight buds. He
flicked one with the tip of his tongue, then swirled it around the nipple
before he sucked it inside his mouth. Kenna’s nails dug into his biceps as she
held on to him and let out a throaty moan. He shifted to the other one and
suckled on it, her moans increasing in volume.

Leaving her breasts, Tor continued his downward travel. He
kissed along her ribs and stomach, ending up on his knees. He slipped a finger
under the front of Kenna’s thong and dipped it between her legs. The digit came
away wet. Meeting and holding her gaze with his own, he slowly brought his
finger to his mouth and licked it clean. Kenna’s eyes dilated and her breathing
grew more rapid.

Tor’s arousal beat at him. He dragged his gaze from Kenna’s
and hooked the waistband of her thong with his fingers and pulled it down her
legs and off. He used a hand to push her thighs farther apart, then went in for
the taste he craved.

He licked her pussy, gathering all the wetness there before
he swallowed it down. Wanting more, he stiffened his tongue and speared it into
Kenna. The grip she had on his shoulders increased as her legs shook with
slight tremors. She moaned long and loud.

He pleasured her until he could no longer ignore his need to
be inside her. Tor smoothly came to his feet and undid his jeans. He shucked
them off, then wrapped his hand around his erection and pumped his fist up and
down his full length. Kenna’s gaze followed his movements.

“Turn around, bend over and put your hands on the bed,” Tor
said huskily.

Kenna didn’t hesitate. She did exactly what he’d told her to
do. He shifted to stand behind her and took hold of her hips. He positioned her
and rubbed his cock against her wet pussy until he was liberally coated with
her juices. She was more than ready for him to take her.

He lined up the head of his shaft with her slick opening and
pushed inside. Rocking against her, he worked himself deeper until she’d taken
all of him. He groaned, loving the way her inner walls closed around him,
holding him tight. She fit him like a glove. There was no better sensation than
being inside his mate.

Tor took Kenna in long, hard strokes, sinking balls-deep
each time. She pushed back to meet him, squeezing her inner muscles tightly
around his cock. His shaft grew even harder. He pistoned his hips, feeling an
orgasm build.

Pulling out of her, Tor urged Kenna all the way onto the
bed, then turned her so she was on her back. He covered her body with his, sinking
his cock back inside her pussy. He lifted his upper body on his hands as he
continued to thrust into her. He set a fast pace, angling his hips so his shaft
rubbed the spot she needed him to send her into climax.

In and out he pumped. His balls rose closer to his body as
the point of no return edged nearer. Kenna let out a whimpered moan, her hands
clutching his biceps as her pussy rhythmically squeezed his cock as she came.
It was all he needed to follow her into release. He growled, filling her with his
cum as his shaft pulsed deep inside her.

Once she’d wrung everything out of him, Tor collapsed on top
of Kenna. She put her arms around his back and held him close.

He lifted himself onto his bent arms and kissed her
tenderly. “I love you,” he said, panting to catch his breath.

“What?” she asked softly.

Tor latched his gaze on to hers. “I love you.” He did. He
could never see himself with another woman. She was it for him, and always
would be. It had taken him thousands of years to find her. He wouldn’t let his
woman go.

Kenna brought his mouth down to hers and kissed him
passionately. She pulled away and smiled. “I love you too. And just so you
know, I’m not the type of woman to instantly fall in love with a man just
because he slept with me.” She reached up and caressed his cheek. “I thought I
was falling for you too hard and too fast. I guess I didn’t need to worry.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “I mean it with all my heart.
So when do you want to start moving your stuff here?”

“You want to live together?”

“Of course. I don’t plan on ever letting you go. You’re
mine, as I’m yours. What’s the point in waiting?”

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.”