Marked for Danger Read Online Free PDF Page A

him twitch without feeling any mercy.
    Rina had dispatched the other one without too much trouble. Her hand gripped his arm, and he yanked the shockstick away. The man was still breathing. Unfortunately.
    She started to slip away, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him.
    "Let me go, you fool,” she whispered fiercely. “My team—"
    "Your team disappeared as soon as those Teran Five spooks stood up. You saw them. Wake up, Rina. You're mine now.” The streak of possessiveness shocked him a bit. After all, she was a deadly assassin, probably wanted on a dozen or more planets. Not exactly the kind of girl he could take home to mother. If he had a mother. He glanced down at the two men on the ground.
    Sounds echoed in the alleyway, and Xandros strained to hear. No. No one was after them yet. He hustled her through the alley and down two more, putting distance between them and the incapacitated men.
    Silently, she struggled against his hold, but he was implacable. They reached a dark side street beside a busy factory, the muted sound of loud machinery vibrating from inside the building. Another reason to dislike this planet. The industrial businesses ran twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fouling the air and poisoning its workers. The noise covered any sounds of his struggle with Rina, though, so he was thankful. He should have cuffed her, demanded information from her. But when he turned to face her, he was struck by the soft curves of her face, the hot blast of her breath, and the scent of her arousal.
    He really couldn't help it when he slammed her against the wall of the factory and took possession of her sweet, deadly lips.
    Stars, she couldn't do this. Her team, regardless of what Xandros believed, would find and kill him. She had to get him away from this planet, from her. But his mouth felt so good, and the bruises he'd leave on her upper arms were badges of honor she wanted to bear.
    Lost for a moment, she let herself indulge, deepening the kiss, softening against him. Hadn't she always been this way for him?
    In that dark alley, when he tore his lips from hers, she sensed a battle within him. Hell, she remembered that battle. She'd seen it before. When she was sixteen...
    "How do you know whether I'm a virgin or not?” Carina raised her eyebrows at the handsome man on her porch. He'd caught her sneaking back into her sister's house, and he had threatened to blow her quiet entrance.
    Being typically male though, he'd been easy to distract from his goal with a few flutters of Carina's lashes. But when she slipped closer to him, he had the nerve to say he didn't mess with virgins. The bastard.
    "Honey, it's written all over you,” he said. He had long, dark hair that splayed over his shoulders, and his blue eyes were clear, focused. Carina had thought her brother-in-law, Leo, was big, but Xandros was bigger. And meaner. “You're playing with dynamite, little girl. I think you need a lesson."
    She sidled closer, inhaling his male scent, reveling in the tension in his muscles. “I'd love to learn whatever you want to teach me."
    No one had affected her the way he did. His swagger, his grin, his huge hands combined to charm her and overwhelm her. Desire was a new thing, an experience she didn't want to pass up.
    His gaze fired with lust. For a moment, she thought she had him in the palm of her hand. But then, he gripped her arm and yanked her toward the picnic bench on the porch. In the darkness, he dropped her over his knees and walloped her ass. Fire of a different kind scorched her skin. Tears squeezed from her eyes, ruining her makeup. She stayed quiet, so only the sound of his hand striking her flesh cracked the silence.
    After two whacks, a throb worked its way over her butt, and a burning need began to scream between her legs. She shifted, trying to find relief. On the tenth strike, she came, an embarrassing wetness she hoped and prayed he couldn't feel or smell.
    He shoved her back on her