Read To Honor: Vampire Assassin League #22 for Free Online Page B

smacked them away. Scythe-things with long chains attached to them rattled and fell. Sharp blades thumped into the floor, lifting more wooden shrapnel. His attackers weren’t stationary, either. They were robotic things, hanging from the ceiling, moving about as they launched weapons at him. Christine stood rooted. Completely rapt. She’d seen lots of ninja movies. Admired the choreographed stunt-work. She’d never seen anything like this. Takeshi was perfection in motion. And he didn’t miss. Everything tossed at him failed to reach its target.
    And then a burst of stars came right at her. Christine didn’t even have time to gasp. But Takeshi was there, materializing in front of her. Shielding her as he deflected the projectiles, making thudding sounds as they hit wood. All of them.
    “Do not move, watashi no ai. ”
    My love? Had she heard his whisper right?
    “They are motion activated.”
    He whistled and everything stopped. Christine’s breath came back with a rush that choked. Burned. Frightened. It wasn’t just at her near-escape, or what he’d called her. It was the view. He had a broad, muscled back. It was interspersed all over with scars. A lot of scars. From a lot of wounds.
    Takeshi swiveled. Christine’s eyes widened farther. He had another array of scars on this side...and the most incredible body she’d ever seen. Or envisioned. Pecs flexed as he lifted an arm, defining a bicep and shoulder that went beyond sigh-worthiness. He pushed the blindfold to his forehead, defining his face...and those eyes. He had such hypnotic, tantalizing eyes. They darkened as he locked gazes with her, sending silent messages that every cell in her body heard. Shivers flew over her body, raising goosebumps that sensitized her skin even more against the silk. It defied reality. Transcended commonsense. And it demanded a reaction.
    “Are you all right?” he asked.
    Something was wrong. She couldn’t quite place it. Something her vision recorded and her mind registered, despite impossibility. Improbability. Something about his lips...
    She nodded.
    “You are certain?”
    He tipped his head toward her slightly, shadowing his features. She nodded again. She was losing her mind. Reason was escaping. Reality shifting. She’d never felt like this. Ever. She wasn’t led by sexuality. She’d been practically immune. She hadn’t even experimented until college. But something beyond the physical realm was at work here. Something massive. Uncontainable. It infused her body with more than sexual interest. More than lust. It controlled her movements. She watched her own hands shake as she reached for him.

CHAPTER SIX
    Her hands stopped just shy of his belly, sending a red-hot flash arcing through him. Was this another sensation? Disappointment maybe?
    Takeshi glanced down at her hands before looking back at her. That dragged him into a locked gaze with her hypnotic dragon green eyes again. He was breathing heavily. His heart was pounding. His canines had elongated enough to stab into his lower lip. None of it had been caused by physical exertion. That hadn’t affected him. Practice never did.
    He knew the reason. He was near his mate. His meito. The one. And only. She was actually here. Standing before him. Right there! He hadn’t dared even dream of finding his mate. It was near impossible. Fate too fickle. The passage of time too vast.
    And yet...here she was.
    The realization of it went past elation. Further than euphoria. It was almost beyond containment. He was afraid the combination of emotions might show somewhere on his face for her to read. And spook her. So he waited, trying for fudoshin as he trembled in place, matching her breath-for-breath and heartbeat-to-heartbeat. The air grew heavy. Damp. Almost heated. Moisture erupted along his skin, raising goosebumps. It coated him, alternately heating and then chilling.
    “Takeshi?”
    He didn’t actually hear his name. He watched her mouth move and assigned the