Jenna Kernan - Eagle Warrior

Could protecting her mean protecting the enemy?

As a former US Marine, Turquoise Guardian Ray Strong is no stranger to high-risk situations. But when he is assigned to protect Morgan Hooke—a single mother and daughter to the Apache who killed a mass gunman—Ray suspects there is more to his mission than meets the eye. Is Morgan an innocent bystander, or the keeper of her father’s secrets and blood money? Despite his better instincts, Ray feels a powerful attraction to Morgan. Motivated by love and the loss of his own parents and best friend, Ray will do anything to keep her out of the hands of unseen enemies.

Apache Protectors: Tribal Thunder

This was what it must be like, he thought, to have a woman not just to sleep with but to hold.

The awkwardness eased and they sat there quietly. When she pushed away he felt the tug of regret.

“Sorry about that,” she said.

He wasn’t sorry, but how could he say so?

“That’s okay. Happens sometimes.” It never happened, actually.

She stared up at him and, bang, there it was again—that ache in his chest and the zing of attraction that crackled like the glass glaze Mrs. Yeager used on her white pots. Ray dropped his arm from her shoulder down to her waist.

“Oh,” she said. Morgan inched away and met the resistance of his arm as he tightened his hold.

“My daughter is in the other room,” she said.

That broke his concentration. His arm fell away and Morgan rose to her feet. She backed toward the door, pausing just inside the threshold with one hand on the doorknob, as if preparing to slam it shut and flee. It was the kind of chase he’d enjoy, but only if she would, too.

Eagle Warrior

Jenna Kernan

www.millsandboon.co.uk

JENNA KERNAN has penned over two dozen novels and has received two RITA® Award nominations. Jenna is every bit as adventurous as her heroines. Her hobbies include recreational gold prospecting, scuba diving and gem hunting. Jenna grew up in the Catskills and currently lives in the Hudson Valley of New York State with her husband. Follow Jenna on Twitter, @jennakernan, on Facebook or at www.jennakernan.com.

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For Jim, always

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text Could protecting her mean protecting the enemy? As a former US Marine, Turquoise Guardian Ray Strong is no stranger to high-risk situations. But when he is assigned to protect Morgan Hooke—a single mother and daughter to the Apache who killed a mass gunman—Ray suspects there is more to his mission than meets the eye. Is Morgan an innocent bystander, or the keeper of her father’s secrets and blood money? Despite his better instincts, Ray feels a powerful attraction to Morgan. Motivated by love and the loss of his own parents and best friend, Ray will do anything to keep her out of the hands of unseen enemies. Apache Protectors: Tribal Thunder

Introduction This was what it must be like, he thought, to have a woman not just to sleep with but to hold. The awkwardness eased and they sat there quietly. When she pushed away he felt the tug of regret. “Sorry about that,” she said. He wasn’t sorry, but how could he say so? “That’s okay. Happens sometimes.” It never happened, actually. She stared up at him and, bang, there it was again—that ache in his chest and the zing of attraction that crackled like the glass glaze Mrs. Yeager used on her white pots. Ray dropped his arm from her shoulder down to her waist. “Oh,” she said. Morgan inched away and met the resistance of his arm as he tightened his hold. “My daughter is in the other room,” she said. That broke his concentration. His arm fell away and Morgan rose to her feet. She backed toward the door, pausing just inside the threshold with one hand on the doorknob, as if preparing to slam it shut and flee. It was the kind of chase he’d enjoy, but only if she would, too.

Title Page Eagle Warrior Jenna Kernan www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author JENNA KERNAN has penned over two dozen novels and has received two RITA® Award nominations. Jenna is every bit as adventurous as her heroines. Her hobbies include recreational gold prospecting, scuba diving and gem hunting. Jenna grew up in the Catskills and currently lives in the Hudson Valley of New York State with her husband. Follow Jenna on Twitter, @jennakernan, on Facebook or at www.jennakernan.com .

Dedication For Jim, always

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Extract

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Most folks wouldn’t trust Ray Strong to look after a houseplant let alone a woman and a child. But that was exactly what had happened. Ray watched the woman in question as she served a complimentary drink to one of the customers on the floor of the tribe’s casino—she dipped as she set down the glass to avoid showing too much leg in her skimpy skirt. A shame, really, because she had great legs.

Detective Jack Bear Den, one of his friends and a fellow member of the warrior sect of the Turquoise Guardians medicine society, told him that they had all gone to high school with Morgan Hooke. But honestly, even after observing her several times over the past five days, Ray didn’t remember her. That meant that she did not look like this back then.

Morgan was not beautiful, but compelling in a waifish sort of way. She had dark cautious eyes and a generous mouth. For reasons unknown, her thick shock of black hair was cut short on the sides and back and long on the top in a style favored by adolescent boys. He liked that cut on some actresses. But Morgan’s hair lacked the product to make it look sassy, so it fell thick and straight in a bowl haircut that looked practical but not sexy, unless you noticed the long curve of her neck. Which he did, and that slim column of sensitive flesh gave him all kinds of bad ideas.

Some of the servers had released their top few buttons to reveal more of their breasts. But not Morgan. She wore the uniform in as conservative a manner as possible. Judging from her tip glass, he was not the only man in the room that rewarded less clothing and more skin.

He watched her retreat to the bar for more drinks. She did look good walking away. Not that it mattered. Ray was not here to pick Morgan up. An outsider had been asking about the shooter’s daughter. The Anglo had even been at the casino last Sunday, Morgan’s day off. A coworker had furnished Morgan’s name, but not where she lived and the stranger had vanished. The woman had called their shaman, Kenshaw Little Falcon, who shared her concern, so he’d sent Ray to watch Morgan’s back and see what she knew about her father’s involvement in the crime. His shaman had been very specific. Keep her safe and find out if she knew who hired her father. Kenshaw believed that her father had not acted out of some need for justice but had been paid to shoot Ovidio Natal Sanchez. Why was obvious. But who—now that one was a puzzle.