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“Jodi…” Vorn came out of the spare room, still bare-chested, both hands held up in a gesture of truce.
Jodi was irritated to see that he did, indeed, have a nice amount of chest hair on his muscular pecs, just as she had speculated. He also had elaborate blue tattoos running up both bulging biceps.
“What do you want?” she demanded. “What part of ‘get out’ do you not understand?”
“Listen,” he said in a low, careful voice. “I want you to know, that was just a mistake. I didn’t mean to go snooping in your private stuff—I was just looking for a place to hang my shirt and store my carry-all cube. And then I smelled your scent and, well…” He shrugged, his broad, bare shoulders rolling with the movement. “I got curious.”
“You can save your lying explanations,” Jodi snapped, glaring at him. “I told you to get out and I meant it. So get out of my house right now.”
He frowned, his heavy brows drawing down over those golden eyes.
“Now look, sweetheart,” he growled. “I can’t do that. I was assigned here to keep you safe. What if the damned Varians come back tonight and I’m not here to protect you?”
“I can take care of myself!” Jodi spat—a rather reckless claim since she’d had exactly one self-defense lesson several years ago. She and Melli had taken it together, after the incident at Melli’s Junior prom. Jodi had been hoping that it would make her little sister feel empowered but it was good to feel safer herself too.
At the time, she had promised herself she would come back for more lessons—maybe even take a whole course or start learning Jujitsu or something like that. But then life had gotten in the way and she had never quite gotten around to it. Still, she wasn’t about to let the big asshole standing half-naked in her living room know that!
“I’m fine on my own,” she told Vorn, lifting her chin to stare him in the eyes. “You go ahead and go.”
“Fine on your own, huh?” He raised one eyebrow skeptically. “As I recall, you didn’t look so fine the last time I saw you being attacked by Varians.”
“I sprained my ankle!” Jodi exclaimed. “But I’m fine now and I can take care of myself. I’ve taken lessons in self-defense, you know,” she said, exaggerating just a bit. “I’m well prepared to take on any opponent—even one that’s bigger than me.”
“Is that right?” Vorn said flatly. “So you’re suddenly an expert at hand-to-hand combat and I should just leave you to your own devices and go back and tell Commander Sylvan he shouldn’t have bothered to assign a Protector to you in the first place.”
“Yes. Exactly,” Jodi snapped. “So get your things and get out.”
To her surprise, he nodded.
“Fine, I will.”
“You will?” Jodi looked at him uncertainly.
“Absolutely.” Vorn nodded. “Providing one thing.” He held up one finger to illustrate.
“What?” Jodi gave him a suspicious look.
“You say you’re so good at self defense that you can take down an opponent bigger and stronger than you, right?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows.
“Well…yes.” Jodi lifted her chin. “Yes, that’s true,” she said firmly.
“Okay, sweetheart. Then take me down once—just once—and I’ll leave,” Vorn told her.
“I beg your pardon?” Jodi frowned.
“You heard me. Show me your skills—take me down to the ground just one time and I’ll believe you’re able to defend yourself. At that point, I’ll feel comfortable leaving you alone and I’ll go back to the Mother Ship and never bother you again.”
“Um…” Jodi stared at him. Bare-chested as he was with his thick, black and gold hair spread over his broad shoulders and his golden eyes blazing, he looked like a wild beast, ready to spring. And he was so big—how could she possibly take him down?
Vorn lifted one sardonic eyebrow again.
“What’s the matter? Are you afraid, sweetheart? Maybe you exaggerated your skills just a little?”
His taunting words caused her anger to flare back to life. Suddenly, Jodi saw red.
“I am not your sweetheart, you big fucker,” she snarled at him. “And I will take you down and send you back to the Mother Ship with your tail between your legs!”
His golden eyes widened in apparent surprise.
“Nice language, sweetheart,” he growled, his grin a white slice in his dark face. “Come at me then.”
He spread his arms wide, as though offering himself.
The taunting gesture and words were like a red flag to a bull. Jodi had worked all her life to control her temper but under her outer veneer of the civilized academic, she was a primal creature who did not like to be fucked with.
With a scream of pure rage, she rushed at the big Kindred, intending to hit him hard in his midsection and crumple him to the ground, like a football player making a tackle.
