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  Pairing with the Protector

  A Kindred Tales Novel

  Evangeline Anderson

  www.evangelineanderson.com

  Pairing with the Protector, 1st Edition,

  A Kindred Tales Novel

  Copyright © 2019 by Evangeline Anderson

  All rights reserved.

  Cover Art Design © 2019 by Reese Dante

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writers’ imagination or have been used factiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  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 a retailer of your choice or evangelineanderson.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.

  Contents

  Pairing with the Protector

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Leave a Review

  Tandem Unit

  Chapter 1

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  Also by Evangeline Anderson

  About the Author

  Pairing with the Protector

  A woman on a dangerous mission to a new world

  A warrior sworn to protect her who fears to risk his heart

  Can Whitney and Rafe escape from the giant beings who have captured them?

  And will Whitney end up...Pairing With her Protector?

  Dr. Whitney Washington is a Xeno-zoologist living on the Kindred Mother Ship and she has a big problem—she has a crush on her bodyguard. Unfortunately, the big Beast Kindred who comes with her to dangerous planets to protect her clearly doesn't return her interest...or does he?

  Rafe is a warrior with a past—a bad one. He has been hurt before when dealing with females and he doesn't intend to repeat the experience. But it's hard to ignore Whitney's beauty and bubbly personality. Still, he's determined to try until an unexpected turn in their latest trip to a new planet for research changes everything.

  Forced to land on an unknown world, Whitney and Rafe find themselves among a group of feral humanoids who seem to be about as smart as house cats. Soon they are mistaken for pets by the huge aliens who live on the planet and taken into captivity as a "mating pair." But what will happen when Rafe and Whitney actually have to mate in order to escape?

  You'll have to read, Pairing with the Protector to find out...

  Author’s Note

  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

  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 sentie
nt 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?

  Pea-ducks, Whitney had dubbed the strange creatures. They had webbed feet and long, drooping rainbow feathers. They also laid extremely large eggs with double the rate of protein of chicken eggs so she had collected several breeding pairs and brought them back to the Mother Ship for study. But aside from getting pecked a couple of times with their broad, flat bills, she was never in any life-threatening danger.

  Not that Rafe would get sentimental over saving my life, she thought ruefully, staring up at the big Beast Kindred. He’d probably just sling me over his shoulder and then plunk me down when we got to safety and think nothing of it. She sighed mentally. A true romantic, Rafe was definitely not and there was no use wishing he was.

  “What were you singing, anyway? More music by the Earth musician you are named for?” he surprised her by asking.

  “Well, yes, actually.” Whitney gave him a sidelong look. She sometimes played Whitney music in the lab when she was alone and sang along to it. Once or twice Rafe had come in unexpectedly and caught her at it. But she hadn’t thought it had made an impression on him.

  “You have…a lovely voice,” he surprised her by saying. “I have often thought so but the songs you sing are very strange.”

  “You better hope my Mama never hears you say that,” Whitney remarked. “She’d never forgive you. Besides, what’s strange about it?”

  He frowned. “All the songs you sing seem to do with love and longing in some way.”

  “Yeah? So?” Whitney took a step closer to him, hands on her hips. “And what are the songs on your planet about? On Rageron?” Which was the Beast Kindred home world.

  He shrugged. “War…conquest. Pulverizing your enemies. Some are songs of lament for fallen warriors and the dead.”

  “Wow, that’s real hot stuff,” Whitney said flatly. “Thanks but no thanks. Everybody knows all the best songs are about love.” Throwing back her head she sang, “And I will always love you! Oh, I will always love you!”

  Rafe’s golden eyes widened but that was all the reaction she got out of him. Which was par for the course, Whitney thought. If there was a more impassive, stoic warrior in the entire Kindred fleet she would eat her lab coat. Sighing, she gave up.

  “Why are you here, anyway? Did you come so I could help you pick out a costume for Kat’s Halloween party?” she asked.

  His frown deepened. “I was invited to the party but I do not intend to go. I do not intend to dress up as someone or something I am not.” He pointed at her face. “Is that the cause of your strange facial markings?”

  “This is cat make-up. I’m a cat! Mmmrrrow.” Whitney winked at him, as she purred. Flirting with her stoic bodyguard had become a kind of habit even though she knew that Rafe had no interest in her. It was kind of fun to see how far she could go before she got a reaction out of him and his dour stoicism made the perfect contrast to her bubbly good humor.

  He snorted—which was the closest he ever came to laughing.

  “A cat. Isn’t that one of those foolish feline creatures from Earth—the ones who cannot be bothered to come when you call?”

  “If you want a creature to come when you call, better get a dog,” Whitney advised. “
Hey, I’ve got enough make-up here to do your face too,” she went on. “Why don’t you let me try? Although…” She frowned and cocked her head to one side as she regarded him. “You look more like a wolf than a cat to me. With those scary gold eyes and that wild, black hair. Yup—definitely a wolf.”

  Rafe shook his head. “I won’t be going to the party so it is not necessary for you to make me up as a cat, a dog, or a wolf or any other Earth creature. I don’t participate in foolish festivals like your holiday of Weeny-howls.”

  “It’s Halloween and honestly, Rafe, why do you always have such a stick up your butt?” Whitney demanded.

  He frowned. “Why would I lodge a branch in my posterior? I don’t understand.”

  “It’s an Earth term which means you’re too stern and unyielding, Brother,” a new voice behind them said.

  Looking up, Whitney saw that Commander Sylvan had come into her lab and was staring at her and Rafe in apparent amusement.

  “Hello, Commander Sylvan.” She nodded her head respectfully. His wife, Sophie, was one of her good friends aboard the Mother Ship but she still believed in giving him his due and he was the Head of the High Council as well as a talented physician and surgeon.