Pairing with the Protector: A Kindred Tales Novel (Brides of the Kindred) Read online

  Pairing with the Protector

  A Kindred tales novel

  Evangeline Anderson

  .

  * * * * *

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Evangeline Anderson

  Brides of the Kindred

  Copyright © 2019 by Evangeline Anderson

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com or Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  *Cover content is for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted on the cover is a model*

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  *Author's Note:

  1. I don't usually write holiday novels but this crazy idea came to me and it seemed like a good one for Halloween.

  Hugs and Happy Reading to you all,

  Evangeline

  Also by Evangeline Anderson

  Brides of the Kindred series (Sci-fi /Action-Adventure /Romance)

  Claimed (Also available in Audio)

  Hunted (Also available in Audio)

  Sought (Also Available in Audio)

  Found (Also Available in Audio )

  Revealed (Also Available in Audio)

  Pursued (Also Available in Audio)

  Exiled (Also Available in Audio)

  Shadowed (Also Available in Audio)

  Chained (Also Available in Audio)

  Divided (Also Available in Audio)

  Devoured (Also Available in Audio)

  Enhanced (Also Available in Audio)

  Cursed (Also Available in Audio)

  Enslaved (Coming soon to Audio)

  Targeted

  Forgotten

  Switched

  Uncharted

  Unbound

  Surrendered

  Vanished

  Imprisoned

  Twisted

  Deceived

  Kindred Tales series (side stories in the Brides of the Kindred which are outside the main story arc. These can be read as STAND ALONE novels.)

  Mastering the Mistress (Also available in Audio)

  Bonding with the Beast (Also available in Audio)

  Seeing with the Heart (Also available in Audio)

  Freeing the Prisoner (Also available in Audio)

  Healing the Broken (a Kindred Christmas novel) (Also available in Audio)

  Taming the Giant (Also available in Audio)

  Bridging the Distance (Also available in Audio)

  Loving a Stranger (Also available in Audio)

  Finding the Jewel (Also available in Audio)

  Bonded by Accident (Coming soon to Audio)

  Releasing the Dragon

  Sharing a Mate

  Instructing the Novice

  Awakened by the Giant

  Hitting the Target

  Handling the Hybrid

  Trapped in Time

  Time to Heal

  Pairing with the Protector

  Born to Darkness series (Paranormal/Action-Adventure/Romance)

  Crimson Debt (Also available in Audio)

  Scarlet Heat (Also available in Audio)

  Ruby Shadows (Also available in Audio)

  Cardinal Sins (Coming Soon)

  Dessert (short novella following Scarlet Heat) (Also in Audio)

  Alien Mate Index series (Sci-fi /Action-Adventure /Romance)

  Abducted (Also available in Print and Audio)

  Protected (Also available in Print and Audio)

  Descended (Also available in Print and Audio)

  Severed (Also available in Print and Audio )

  The Cougarville Series

  (Paranormal/Action-Adventure/Romance/)

  (Older woman/Younger Man)

  Buck Naked (Also available in Audio)

  Cougar Bait (Also available in Audio)

  Stone Cold Fox (Also available in Audio)

  Big Bad Wolf (coming soon)

  The Institute series (Daddy-Dom/Age Play Romance)

  The Institute: Daddy Issues(Also available in Audio)

  The Institute: Mishka's Spanking

  The CyBRG Files with Mina Carter

  (Sci-fi /Action-Adventure /Romance)

  Unit 77: Broken

  Unit 78: Bred

  The Swann Sisters Chronicles

  (Contemporary Fairy/Funny/ Fantasy/Romance)

  Wishful Thinking (Also available in Audio)

  Be Careful What You Wish For (Also available in Audio)

  Compendiums and Box Sets

  Brides of the Kindred Volume One

  Contains Claimed, Hunted, Sought and Found

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Two

  Contains Revealed, Pursued, and Exiled

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Three

  Contains Shadowed, Chained, and Divided

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Four

  Contains Devoured, Enhanced, and Cursed

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Five

  Contains Enslaved, Targeted, and Forgotten

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Six

  Contains Switched, Uncharted, and Unbound

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Seven

  Contains Surrendered, Vanished, and Imprisoned

  Kindred Tales Volume One

  Contains Mastering the Mistress, Bonding with the Beast, Seeing with the Heart

  Kindred Tales Volume Two

  Contains Freeing the Prisoner, Healing the Broken, Taming the Giant

  Kindred Tales Volume Three

  Contains Bridging the Distance, Loving a Stranger, Finding the Jewel

  Kindred Tales Volume Four

  Contains Bonded by Accident, Releasing the Dragon, and Sharing a Mate

  Alien Mate Index Volume One

  Contains Abducted, Protected, Descended, and Severed

  Born to Darkness Box Set

  Contains Crimson Debt, Scarlet Heat, and Ruby Shadows

  *One Hot Halloween

  Contains Red and the Wolf, Gypsy Moon, and Taming the Beast

  *Have Yourself a Sexy Little Christmas

  Contains Kidnapped for Christmas, Cougar Christmas, and Seasons's Spankings

  *Bound and Determined

  Contains The Punishment of Nicolett and His Ward

  Stand Alone Novels

  (Sci-fi OR Paranormal Action-Adventure/Romance)

  Purity (Now available in Audio)

  Stress Relief

  The Last Man on Earth

  Anyone U Want

  Shadow Dreams

  Hunger Moon Rising

  Cougar Christmas

  Planet X (Also available in Audio)

  Deal with the Devil (Also available in Audio)

  The Sacrifice (Also available in Audio)

  Blood Kiss

  Take Two

  The Pleasure Palace

  The Last Man on Earth

  Blind Date with a Vampire

  Eyes Like a Wolf (Foster Brother romance)

  *Defiled

  *Ceremony of Three

  *Str8te Boys (M/M romance)

  * Forever Broken (M/M romance)

  * Red and the Wolf

  *Gypsy Moon

  *The Last Bite (M/M romance)

/>   *The Assignment (M/M romance)

  *Sex with Strangers

  *A Spanking for Valentine

  *The Covenant

  *Tandem Unit

  * denotes books that are only available at Evangeline's Aliens and Alphas Bookstore

  Naughty Tales (Short Reads to get you Hot and Bothered)

  *Sin Eater

  Confessions of a Lingerie Model

  When Mr. Black Comes Home

  Speeding Ticket

  *Putting on a Show

  YA Novels

  The Academy(Now available in Audio)

  Click HERE to join my audiobook newsletter.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Give a Hot Kindred Warrior to a Friend!

  Also by Evangeline Anderson

  About the Author

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  Chapter One

  Dr. Whitney Washington hummed under her breath as she followed the make-up tutorial on her cell phone. Well, it wasn’t really a cell phone per se—the Kindred Mother Ship didn’t have a cell tower. But its new communications grid did allow for hand-held devices that made watching vids and talking with people on Earth possible.

  It was a recent change and long overdue, as far as Whitney was concerned. She couldn’t count how many times she’d scared her poor mom to death contacting her with a Think-me—the thin metal circlet which allowed the user to project their thoughts directly into the receiver’s head. This way was much better. Plus she could watch the how-to Halloween cat make-up tutorial she was currently following.

  Experimentally, she drew a thin gold line from the corner of her mouth outward. Then another and another—cat whiskers! The girl in the tutorial was using a black eyeliner to do the same thing, but the gold showed up much better on Whitney’s chocolate-brown skin.

  As she drew, adding a little cat nose and some flourishes around her eyes, she sang under her breath.

  “You give good love to me, baaaaby! So good, take this heart of mine, into your hand. You give good love…”

  Her mom had been a big fan of Whitney Houston back in the day—hence Whitney’s name and the fact that her whole childhood had been lived to a constant soundtrack of 80s music. When she was a teenager she’d rebelled, refusing to listen to her mom’s favorite tunes but after growing up and getting a PhD in Xeno-zoology she’d admitted to herself—if not to her mom—that they were her favorite songs as well.

  It didn’t hurt that she had a voice her mom swore sounded just like the fabled singer’s either. She’d been in church choir all her life and had even gotten a scholarship to college for her vocal talent.

  It had about broken her mama’s heart when Whitney had decided she would rather study alien animals than debut on Broadway but what could you do? She’s always loved learning new things and she’d always adored animals—when the University of South Florida, which was renowned for its research—had opened its new Xeno-zoology program, Whitney had been the first to sign up.

  And that was how she’d ended up on the Mother Ship, in partnership with the Kindred in a brand-new program that sent Earth scientists out to find alien creatures for their Bio-Genetic Engineering Initiative.

  The Kindred were famous for taking living creatures and engineering them to be useful in everyday life. The tharps of Tranq Prime were a good example—they were living blankets which could form themselves into clothing and which bonded with their human host. But once they had simply been symbiotic creatures who fed off body heat. Then the Kindred had modified them to be more intelligent and much more useful—not to mention breeding many colorful varieties. Now they were almost all anyone on Traq Prime wore and they had spread to other parts of the Kindred territory as well. In fact, one of Whitney’s friends, Sophie, had one.

  The idea of the BGEI program (or the BeeGee as Whitney privately referred to it) was to find more creatures like the ones the tharps had been developed from and bring them back to the Mother Ship. There Kindred scientists could manipulate their DNA to reinforce positive traits while also eradicating negative ones.

  Some people complained that this kind of genetic engineering was “playing God” but Whitney didn’t see it that way. The Kindred never took sentient species who were part of a community or civilization. And they were never cruel to the creatures they captured—all testing was done very humanely and without damaging the organism.

  Plus, as long as I’m part of the BeeGee, I get to study all the wild, crazy alien animals I want, Whitney thought to herself, touching up her “whiskers” some more with the gold eyeliner pencil. That probably didn’t sound very scientific or academic but she couldn’t help herself—she had a bubbly personality and a burning curiosity that couldn’t be contained. She was about to go on a mission to a whole new world and she was going to be back in time for the Halloween party her friend Kat was throwing which was supposed to be amazing.

  Whitney grinned at her cat face in the viewer hung discretely in the corner of her lab. She had her dream job, great friends, a home on the Mother Ship, and a party to look forward to. What more could a girl ask for?

  How about a man to go to the party with? whispered a little voice in her head. Whitney frowned. Well, Kat had offered to introduce her to some eligible Twin Kindred at the party who were friends of her mates, Deep and Lock but Whitney wasn’t sure she wanted that. One man seemed like enough to handle at a time to her.

  Of course, Sophie had also offered to set her up with a Blood Kindred friend of her mate, Sylvan, who was the head of the Kindred High Council. That sounded intriguing too but Whitney wasn’t sure about the fangs. Sophie had assured her the bite of a Blood Kindred was incredibly pleasurable but somehow it just didn’t seem appealing.

  What does sound appealing then—a Beast Kindred maybe? whispered that same little voice in her head. Maybe one Beast Kindred in particular…hmmm?

  Whitney tried to push the little voice away. There was no use thinking of him that way. It was more than obvious the Beast Kindred in question wasn’t interested in the slightest so why should she bother? Swishing her long black braids over one shoulder, she gave herself a sidelong glance in the viewer. She didn’t need to worry about a man she couldn’t have—she had it going on. She was plus-sized but a lot of Kindred guys seemed to like that. She had a pretty face and a successful career. When she was good and ready she’d find the right guy—she was sure of it.

  And in the meantime, she intended to have some fun!

  Alone in her lab, Whitney lifted up her voice and belted for all she was worth.

  “Never stopping, I was always searching for that perfect love.

  The kind the girls like me dream of.

  Now you’re here like you’ve been before and you know just what I need.

  It took some time for me
to see that

  You give good love to me, babeee!

  So good—”

  “Is there such a thing as bad love?” a gruff voice asked from behind her.

  Whitney spun around, her hand going to her heart, which was suddenly beating a mile a minute under her conservative white lab coat.

  “Oh my God, Rafe—I didn’t hear you come in!” she exclaimed. “Don’t sneak up on a girl like that!”

  “I wasn’t sneaking. You were just singing too loudly to hear my entrance.”

  The tall Beast Kindred crossed his arms over his broad chest and frowned at her. He was almost seven feet and extremely muscular, like all Kindred, with wild black hair and the golden eyes of his kind. But there was something about him—a reserve Whitney couldn’t seem to break through even though she’d been trying for the last six months, which was how long they’d been working together.

  Rafe was her pilot slash bodyguard—his actual title was her “Protector.” Basically he was the one who accompanied her to the alien worlds she visited looking for new species and kept her safe while she studied them. They always went in a group with other scientists but he was assigned exclusively to her. Everywhere she went, Whitney could be certain that his dark, glowering face would be looking over her shoulder, watching for danger at all times.

  Despite his dour expression and serious personality, Whitney kind of liked her Beast Kindred bodyguard. In fact, when Rafe had first been assigned to her, she’d even had fantasies of him picking her up and carrying her away from danger, much like her namesake in the movie, The Bodyguard, which she had seen more times than she could count due to her mom’s Whitney Houston obsession. Sure, she was plus-sized but these Kindred guys were strong and what girl wouldn’t dream of being swept off her feet by a tall, dark handsome warrior?

  But over time, it became clear that nothing like that was going to happen. Rafe was too stern to ever crack a smile, even when she teased him, and most of the worlds they had visited in their six months working together had been interesting but uneventful. How could he possibly pick her up and carry her out of danger when the most threatening thing they’d faced so far were some pretty aggressive birds that looked like a cross between a duck and a peacock?