Warriors Gone Wild Anthology

www.triskelionpublishing.com

Available in print October 2006

When Dark Lord Shar called in a favor owed by security specialist Brady Hayes, Brady had no idea that the favor would have to do with looking after Shar's half-sister or that she would look like a sexy Gidget.

Guarding The Hellion by Linda Wisdom

"Hello, baby,” Brady murmured, watching a shapely redhead stretched out by the swimming pool.

He tried to ignore the nasty tingle on his butt, but he wasn’t having much success.

It was bad enough Shar insisted on marking him, but did he have to mark him there? Brady's argument that Raven would recognize the mark on his wrist for what it was met with a "That can easily be taken care of", and next he knew the mark was burned into his ass. Shar's argument that it was purely for Brady's protection was bullshit, but no way you could argue with a Dark Lord and survive being torn limb from limb after losing said argument. Plus since there were no photographs of Raven, he was assured the mark would help him find her. He was also promised the mark would be removed once his assignment was over.

He had to admit if he was supposed to protect a woman there was no better place to do it than at this exclusive resort set on a remote Pacific island. After a little judicious bribery alerted him to his charge’s presence on the beach he sauntered out to the thatch-covered beach side bar that bisected the pool and beach, and settled on a stool. From there, he had a good view of both areas along with an even better view of the bikini-clad beauties lying out by the pool and stretched out on chaise lounges arranged along the white sandy beach. A few interested looks sent his way indicated they wouldn't mind getting to know him better. Too bad he was on the clock.

Brady thought of how he’d recognize the woman. According to Shar, the mark Shar branded him with would alert him.

"Who do we have here?" He viewed the beach area through his dark glasses. So far, every brunette he gazed at didn’t create even a tingle from the mark. Convinced he found the mysterious Raven, he studied a dark-haired woman with pale skin that looked as if a dose of sun would set her on fire. Nada. He wondered if the mark wasn’t doing its job. "So what the hell is the Dark Lord’s baby sister doing out here in the sun and sand?” he muttered. “You’d think she’d prefer some dark ugly dungeon.” He grinned at a shapely redhead in an emerald green thong bikini.“Still, who am I to complain?”

As his gaze again swept the length of the beach, he noticed a feminine figure making her way out of the water. He moved on since he was convinced she wasn’t the one. The intense tingle on his ass soon grew into an all out burn. He swung back to the woman he'd first dismissed until the tingling burn warned him he was looking in the right direction. The longer he looked at the woman, the stronger the burning sensation.

"No way," he muttered, staring at the woman walking up to the registration desk. "Holy shit! I’m expected to babysit Malibu Hellion Barbie!"

His mental computer noted that the object of his scrutiny was probably around five-foot-ten, with long legs it was all too easy to imagine wrapped around his hips. The lean body of a disciplined swimmer and the tan of someone who didn’t believe there was such a thing as skin cancer. Did Dark Lords’ sisters have to worry about skin cancer? To further confuse him was a wealth of sunny blonde hair tied up in a perky ponytail worthy of Gidget. The body that inspired more than a few fantasies rolling around in his head wore a turquoise and white bikini and he could see the glint of a blue stone nestled in her navel. She didn’t look to be more than her mid-twenties, but for all he knew she could be thousands of years old. But what surprised him the most was the surfboard she carried up the sand.

Brady picked up his Jack Daniels on the rocks and downed it like medicine. Considering the way his heart stopped when he saw her, he felt he needed something to jolt it back to working again. She was not at all what he expected.

Why did he feel as if Shar was enjoying some insane joke at his expense?