Guardian's Joy #3 Read Online Free Page A

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the movement of his body, that this was an accomplished athlete.
She hadn’t outrun him, hadn’t evaded his pursuit. He’d been toying
with her, running her up one alley and down the next. He wasn’t
even breathing heavily. She rubbed her thumb across the tips of her
fingers to bring forth the fire, but it was useless. For six
months, she’d been fully in control, yet now, when she needed it
most, the power abandoned her.
    He paused in a pool of moonlight half way
down the alley and JJ had time to study the face of the man who
might kill her. His sharp, almost too thin features had sharpened
even more with his anger. His fangs flared, piercing his gums and
forcing his lips back into a snarl. His muscles hardened, seemed to
grow, thighs bulging in definition against the narrow cut of his
jeans. His eyes blazed with a golden fire.
    He stalked toward her, his body language
daring her to flee. She couldn’t, though everything in her screamed
at her to run. This creature, this vampire, was something feral. If
she ran, she would trigger the primal instinct to chase and maybe
the other, more deadly instinct; the need to kill one’s prey.
    All this flew through her mind in an instant
as she watched him close the distance between them, his eyes locked
on her face. She shifted her weight to the balls of her feet and
moved her hands up and out, ready to defend. There were nights in
her past when she’d prayed for death. Now that death was here, her
anger rose against it and the anger overrode her fear. She might go
down, but she would go down fighting.
    Nardo saw the shift from fear to fury, saw
her ready herself for battle and had to admire her courage. Not
many humans could face down a Guardian transformed by rage. She was
awesome in her anger. He’d never killed a woman before, never
dreamed he’d have to, but he was a Guardian and it was his job to
do what must be done. He flashed to white light and was on her
before she had time to react.
    His hands grabbed her biceps as he pushed her
to the wall. Through the silky softness of her sleeves, he felt her
muscles bunch beneath his fingers, still ready to fight and he
tightened his grip. He should have snapped her neck and ended it
there, but he brought his body close to hers and set his pelvis
against the tops of her hips never taking his eyes from that
arresting face.
    Nardo was surprised by the strength of her
slender body as she strained against him. She’d looked so delicate
when she stood alone watching the dancers. Her skin was smooth and
unblemished, a dark, dusky rose though whether it was from nature
or from anger, he couldn’t tell. And she was more angry than
afraid. Her body vibrated with it and the vibration set his own
body thrumming in response. Her eyes were defiant as she boldly
returned his stare. Lightly lined and mascaraed, they were pools of
liquid smoke, a dark and glistening grey that looked almost black.
Her face was long and narrow, her nose long and straight. Her wide
sensual mouth, now tightened and shaped with anger, beckoned to be
softened with a kiss. She was beautiful in a way that sucked the
air from his lungs and all thought from his head.
    He snarled, a reminder to himself that she
was the killer of a Paenitentia child, and shifted his stance.
    JJ was pressed into the wall, her shoulders
grinding into the brick. He’d moved so fast she didn’t have time to
strike or dodge. She struggled against his hold, but it was
useless. When he pulled back slightly from his full body press, she
raised her knee, aiming for his groin, but the maneuver seldom
worked and this time was no exception. He shifted his body so that
his right knee hit the bricks between her legs and his thigh and
hip pressed into her abdomen effectively repinning her lower body.
Her hands were still free and she should have been able to call on
her power to zap him with enough energy to stop his heart. She
could feel the blue fire crackling at her fingertips, but