Her Eternal Warrior

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 stayed 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, then 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?”

“As Anubis said, he fixed me. He took my fear away. If he hadn’t, I don’t know if I would have been able to get past it.” She met his gaze. “Then I would have missed out on the best thing that has ever happened to me—you. I love you as much as I did before I found out what you were.”

Tor crushed her in his embrace and kissed her as if there was no tomorrow. She returned it, pouring all the love she had for him into it. He pulled away once he had her pussy wet and aching for him to fill it. His cock was hard, pressed against her stomach.

“I need you again,” Tor said huskily. “And I promise you I’ll do everything in my power to keep you happy. I’ll always love you. You do make me complete.”

“And I want you. Make love to me.”

He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. He took his time taking her clothes off, kissing every inch of skin he bared. By the time he’d finished and stood as naked as she, Kenna was almost desperate for him, but she stopped him when he would have lifted her onto the bed.

With gentle lips, she kissed where each of the wounds he’d received on that battlefield had been. Last, she explored his chest, especially where Anubis had placed his mark on Tor. Without it and all it stood for, Kenna would never have met the man who now owned her heart.

“Let me love you,” she said as she took a step back.

In answer, Tor claimed her lips in a searing kiss before he climbed onto the bed, then lay on his back in the center of it. Kenna followed him and straddled his thighs. She lovingly ran her hands along his chest and down to his six-pack abs. Once she reached his cock, she wrapped her hand around it and pumped. Tor lifted his hips off the bed, pressing himself tighter into her hold.

Kenna bent her head and licked off the bead of pre-cum that appeared on the very tip of Tor’s cock. She moaned at the salty taste of him. Looking and seeing him watching her, she opened her mouth and took him inside. She sucked on him, taking him almost to the back of her throat. His shaft grew harder and he groaned, his gaze intently following her movements. In and out she took him, increasing the suction as he rocked against her.

“I love how you suck,” Tor said on a moan. “You’ll make me come, but I want to be inside you when I do that.”

And she wanted him deep inside her. Kenna released his cock, then shifted up his body until her pussy hovered over his erection. She lowered herself onto him. He easily slipped inside her wet pussy. He stretched and filled her. She panted as she took all of him, sheathing him to the base.

Placing her hands on his chest, Kenna rode Tor’s cock. She squeezed her inner muscles around him as he slid in and out of her. She took him so deep she couldn’t tell where she ended and he began. They fit each other perfectly. And Tor was all hers for eternity. Her eternal warrior. Her mate.

Tor lifted his head and sucked a nipple into his mouth. With each pull on the taut bud, Kenna’s body coiled tighter. She increased the pace she set, taking him harder and faster, moaning his name.

Her movements became jerky just as she fell over the edge. Her climax tore through her, intense and seeming to go on forever. Once it was over, Tor took hold of her hips and lifted her on and off him, arching up as he surged into her. His face was set in a mask of male need as he strained for his own release. When he came, he growled and thrust so hard into her, he lifted her knees off the bed.

Out of breath, feeling delicious aftershocks, Kenna collapsed onto Tor’s chest. His heart thundered under her ear. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

Once she could breathe normally again, Kenna lifted her head and kissed Tor’s chin. “It’s a good thing we have an eternity together, because I don’t think I’ll ever get my fill of you.”

He chuckled and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I won’t complain about that, considering I feel the same way when it comes to you.” Tor sobered. “Are you really sure you’re okay with all this?”

She nodded. “I know you didn’t have any control. That you tried to fight the demon but lost. Anubis showed me.”

“What else did he show you?”

“Your life from the day you gave him your vow to the present. I now feel as if I’ve known you forever. And probably better than if I’d learned about you in the regular way.”

Tor ran the backs of his fingers along her cheek. “Then I guess I’d better thank Anubis the next time I talk to him.”

“So are you really going to try to take on the demon tonight?”

“Yes. The more time that goes by the more of a threat he’ll become. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you.”

“Just promise me you’ll be careful. I don’t want to see you hurt, even though you are immortal and heal really fast.”

He smiled. “I’ll do my best. Don’t worry, tonight I’ll send the demon back to the underworld to face Anubis. And I promise I’ll be careful.” Tor rolled and took Kenna to her back with him on top of her. “Enough talk about the demon. It’s my turn to love my mate.”

Feeling Tor’s cock harden inside her pussy, Kenna gave herself over to him and the pleasure she knew he’d give her.