Now or Forever Read Online Free Page A

life. In her lower belly. Maybe lower. She had to narrow her eyes to hide it.
    “How about we discuss that issue... uh, later?”
    “What’s wrong with now?”
    “How about you do one thing I ask?”
    “What if I don’t want to?”
    “Look. Lady. You got me. You can outmaneuver me. Out-dexterity me. You got me hands down on strength and ability. Agility. Speed. Stamina. About the only thing I can do better than you is bleed to death. You say I’m your mate? Fine. We’ll argue for points later, after the assignment is finished and we check in with the boss. That puts us in a dead-lock here. And I can’t change it. Only you can. So, how’s about taking a timeout on the mate thing? You’re making me look bad to the kid over there. And I don’t need much assistance with that at the moment.”
    “You need help?”
    The other guy asked it. He chuckled through the words. He was pretty loud, too. Tassanee watched the skin of Len’s lower jaw darken as he flushed. Ah. This was a man ego thing. She didn’t have much experience in real males. It was mystifying. She not only made him powerless, but she did it in front of another. She shouldn’t do that to her mate. She took one last lingering look and opened her arms. He didn’t move. Only his head swiveled, giving her a nice view of neck. And jaw. And everything on her went up another degree in heat.
    “What happened to quiet and covert, Stan? We’re surrounded by Hunters.”
    “Thought you’d never ask.”
    “And the answer is...?”
    “Oh. They carried walkie-talkies. Message came through about action over at Krol Ko. Dust cloud coming from temple doors. Possible cave-in. That’s where I was heading.”
    “Seriously? Why? You planning to stand in for the missing Hunters?”
    “I thought it might involve you and your new friend... Miss uh... her. The vampire chick.”
    “Her name’s Tassanee. And it did involve us. She hit the light switch with a little too much punch. It’s a vampire thing. They can’t seem to figure out how much power they’re packing.”
    Len stepped out of her embrace. A second later her arms fell. She instantly felt weird. Odd. Bereft.
    “And... found it. Looks like we have a .38 slug in this tree. You got a pen-knife?”
    “You lose yours?” Len asked.
    “It’s in the Flying Hunter’s neck. I figured he could keep it. It’ll give the forensics team something to do. If they even have forensics teams here.”
    “I’m really starting to like you, Stan. You should talk like me more often.”
    Len shuffled through a jacket pocket with one hand, while the other was pulling at the material of his crotch. He found a metallic looking thing in his jacket and tossed it. His partner caught it and turned back to his work.
    “Don’t worry. I won’t let it go to my head. So... tell me. Did you ask your new friend how she knows English, yet?”
    Len looked back at her and raised his brows.
    “I taught myself,” she answered.
    “Right. Let me guess. You had a set of encyclopedias down there. Damn. And I was worried about collateral damage topside. Having them stumble on an underground library at Angkor Wat – in English – is really going to spark some publicity.”
    “I have a laptop,” she replied.
    He tipped his head to one side next and tried to look stern. She almost smiled.
    “Okay. I’ll just wait to ask the how, but first I need to know why, if you actually have a laptop, did you leave it back there?”
    She lifted her burlap sack, and saw his eyes flick to the distinct flat bulge in the bottom before returning.
    “Okay. Now answer the why. And then the how. Why do you have a laptop and how the hell do you power it?”
    “I had power. Didn’t you notice the lighting?”
    He was giving her an indecipherable look. It sent worse than sparks. Even her nipples tightened in reaction.
    “That’s the how. And it’s out of order. But, let’s just say no, I didn’t notice, and move on.”
    “A man was drilling holes for