Wicked Attraction (The Protector) Read online

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE “Come on, beautiful, let’s go. It’s showtime.” Nina Bronson didn’t so much as blink at Ewan Donahue’s murmured compliment, even though she had every right to consider it presumptuous. She merely offered him her hand so he could help her get out of the transpo. She didn’t need his assistance, really, not even wearing these extravagantly high heels and the tight crimson dress that showed off curves in places she’d forgotten existed until she’d shimmied into the sleek fabric. She allowed him to take her hand not because she needed him, and not because she wanted him to touch her. It was all for show. An elaborate charade, with her participation guaranteed by a sum of credits so bountiful it meant she’d never need to work again for the rest of her life. As one of the world’s thirteen remaining “super soldiers,” Nina was forbidden from using her enhancements for any work but private hire. So here she was, once again in the employ of one of the world’s most eligible bachelor bill

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO Ewan had often enjoyed these galas. Excellent food and outstanding drink, the company of people he could convince to fund his projects . . . at the very least, the scenery was generally enjoyable. He’d usually gone home with someone who was as disinterested in seeing him the next morning as he was them. Women like Ginger Tanaka, who’d finally given up her pursuit when he made it clear that tonight he only had eyes for one woman. Nina. “I was wrong,” he said to her now, leaning close so that nobody else at the table would be able to hear him. Not that he cared if they did. He’d have shouted his feelings from every rooftop, if it would have made a difference. “About the dress.” Nina had been sipping from a glass of red wine and looked at him now with the liquid teasing her lips. She put the glass down and ran her tongue along the crimson droplets, a perfect match to her dress. Her brow furrowed. “It doesn’t look good?” Ewan shook his head. She frowned, glancing at herself. “N

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE Nina hadn’t said a single word to Ewan on the way home. She’d never imagined herself the sort of woman who’d use cold silence as a weapon, but the truth was she couldn’t find anything to say to him that wouldn’t come out scathing. Angry. Bitter. Disgusted. Wounded. She wasn’t going to show him any of that, not a single hint of it, because underlying the entire tangled pile of hateful emotions was the knowledge that she’d been a fool. Clearly, her recently recovered ability to experience intense emotions meant she’d been feeling too hard, too much, too fiercely, and it had led her astray. She’d been on the verge of letting herself give in to the risky, unexpected, and loathsome hope that she could trust him again. That something was still possible between them, if only they could figure out how to make it work. She’d been wrong about him. Again. “Hey,” he said now as she went on ahead of him into the house. “Nina. Wait.” “It’s late,” she replied. “Nina.” This time, the war

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR Ewan had never been one to sleep late, but this morning he’d woken even earlier than normal. Actually, he hadn’t really slept at all. The sex last night had been phenomenal, but it had left him wishing he’d done exactly what he’d told Nina he wasn’t doing . . . resisting. It had taken him less than an hour to finalize the dissolution of the contract. All it needed was the signatures from him, Nina, and ProtectCorps, and she would be free to walk out of his life. This time, Ewan thought, it would truly be forever. He saved the updated document without sending it. In the kitchen, he cracked eggs and toasted bread as the coffee brewed, knowing the scent of breakfast would lure her down. She came in through the back door, not from the hallway, surprising him. She smiled at his expression and glanced at her clothes. Instead of her usual uniform of black leggings and shirt along with a harness of equipment, she wore a pair of butt-hugging shorts and a matching tank top. He’d see

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE About a month ago, Ewan’s former partner and co-inventor of the enhancement tech, Wanda Crosson, had been arrested for the repeated attempts she’d made on his life. Wanda had been one of the few who knew about Ewan’s family cabin in the mountains, where Nina and Ewan had gone to hide out until the threats died down. Wanda had shown up there with her own guard-for-hire, another enhanced soldier who was the only one who could take on Nina and expect to get out of it alive. He hadn’t. Wanda had been only one part of several groups, including the League of Humanity, that had been threatening Ewan. Some for his involvement in the original enhancement tech, others for his efforts at pushing the laws making the tech illegal for anything beyond use in private service, as well as those forbidding any upgrades. Since Wanda’s arrest, any threats of real importance had ceased. The sudden abandonment of what had been years of ongoing threats only proved Nina’s theory that the focus on

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX Ewan hadn’t planned for anything beyond the trip to the lab today, but he also didn’t want to go right home after. His estate at Woodhaven had been vast, outfitted with every entertainment option he could think of, from the media room to the large gardens. In contrast, the modest home he’d moved into, while updated with every possible convenience tech, still sometimes felt too small. He’d thought it would be cozy with Nina staying there, but he realized now he’d been trying too hard to recreate those idyllic weeks at the cabin. Nothing would ever bring those times back. It would never be the same as it had been when they’d been falling in love, even if she took him to bed a thousand times. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye without turning his face in her direction. Nina had made it clear that the sex had been solely physical. A thing that had happened, meaning nothing. Her exact words. He still hadn’t told her that he had the terminated contract signed and waitin

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN One of the benefits of using the transpo service instead of private cars was that transpos could bypass regular traffic by using both normal roads and the raised rail lanes. It wasn’t a perfect system, though. Now, for example, a sudden electrical storm had disrupted the rail service and stalled the transpo lanes. Ewan tapped at the control screen but sat back with a frustrated sigh. “Backups all along the rails. We can’t even get off to take the highway until things start moving.” The transpo control beeped and said in its gender-neutral voice, “All routes will be returned to normal passage as soon as possible.” “Stupid,” Ewan said. “The whole point of this system is so you don’t get stuck in traffic.” Nina laughed at his frown. “You should know as well as anyone that no matter how advanced the tech is, you can’t rely solely on it.” “I wanted to get home,” he told her with a raise of his eyebrows that made her laugh. She made a show of looking around the passenger compar

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT “Work harder.” The bro in the navy scrubs is not a doctor. His name is Marco, and he’s not a drill sergeant, either, although he’s actually more demanding than any one of those that Nina’s ever had. “Push.” She’s pushing, all right. Harder, faster, stronger. Every time she thinks she’s going to have to quit, another surge of energy bursts through her, and she keeps going. Nina stopped taking pride in this a few days ago, when it really sank in that none of this was because of anything special about her. It’s all the tech. Everything hurts, but it’s not the pain that drives her. There will always be pain of some kind or another. Nina is convinced of that. She pushes herself because once she proves to them that she can do everything they want her to do, be all that they’re expecting her to be, maybe then they’ll release her from the hospital. She’ll be able to go home. See her family. Get back to the life she left behind. There are huge parts of that life missing from her m

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE The dream