Honor, protection, and undeniable chemistry. Duty and Desire brings you heroes in uniform—bodyguards, soldiers, and law enforcers—who will do whatever it takes to protect the ones they love. Filled with action, danger, and steamy romance, these stories prove that sometimes the greatest battles are fought with the heart.

Includes:
Keeping You by Aurora Rose Reynolds
Quiet Man by Kristen Ashley
Closer by Kylie Scott
and
Vengeance by Rebecca Zanetti

Keeping You 
“You scare me.” Her gaze moves from my mouth to my eyes. “I’ve never worried about anyone
but myself until you.” She lets her forehead drop to my chin.
“Baby.”
“I know that sounds horrible, but it’s true. The idea of something—” She cuts herself off and
shakes her head. “I can’t handle that.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me.”
“You don’t know that. You have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.”
“I now have a reason to make sure I make it home,” I tell her softly. Her head flies up so her
gaze can search mine.
“You—”
“You’ve turned my life upside down in just a few short weeks,” I insert, then capture her face
in my palms. “I wasn’t expecting this. Or you.” I shake my head. “I’ve tried telling myself that I
need to keep my distance.”
“You should.”
“It’s too late.” I laugh. “Look at where you are right now, babe, and tell me that this shit
doesn’t feel right.” I give her a minute to lie to me, to tell me that she doesn’t feel like she fits in
my arms, in my home, in my life. But she doesn’t. She can’t deny it, just like I can’t.

Quiet Man
“I make you mine, officially,” he continued, “no one ever has you again, Lottie, but me.”
Chills slid over my skin at the same time my eyes got hot.
I never would have thought it, but what he said was way better than any orgasm in the history
of time.
And that answered my earlier question.
What I said was not too soon.
“Are you understanding me?” he asked.
“Yes, Mo,” I whispered.
I’d be his.
I’d be his to love (hopefully), treasure (hopefully)…
And protect.
No one else’s.
Ever again.
But he was starting now.
“Now go to sleep, sweetheart,” he said, all soft.
I loved it when he let himself call me “baby.” It didn’t happen often, in fact, not since our
Come to Jesus.
That was my first “sweetheart.”
I’d never forget it.
Not ever.
I settled back into bed, pulling the covers over me.

I didn’t watch but I did hear soft noises from the cushions as he settled back to the couch.
It took a while before I said into the dark, “I hope it’s one of the guys from tonight.”
“Me too, baby. Now please, go to sleep.”
It was the please that got me.
I closed my eyes.
And with Mo watching over me, keeping me safe, I drifted off.
And slept like a baby.

Closer
“Nice bodyguard.”
I frowned. “Why is everyone always commenting on my bodyguard?”
“Because he’s hot,” said Abigael, the hair stylist and make-up artist.
“Yeah, but we’re around hot people all the time. It’s basically kind of the point of our
industry.”
At this, the petite blonde stopped and pondered.
The man himself stood at the other end of the large room, out of the way near the coffee and
pastries table. Not that he was indulging. I’d have to steal an extra almond croissant to eat later to
make up for his lack of pastry love. Once more, his face seemed set in stone. His big body
remained still while his gaze constantly wandered the area. We hadn’t talked much on the drive
over to the studio, even though it was on the other side of town. After last night’s weirdness with
his brother, and the renewed attention of the paparazzi, and more lack of sleep, I didn’t feel like
chatting. Truth was, the man set me on edge. This entire situation set me on edge. And today, I
needed to focus on work.
So I’d guzzled caffeine while Abigael fixed the bags and dark shadows beneath my my eyes
with eye masks and various other tricks. Lucky for me, the woman was magic with a messy face.
She’d spent years living in Los Angeles fixing party people the day after, getting them ready to
face the world and the camera. Her skills were legendary.
“I think it’s all the big dick energy he’s giving off,” she finally announced.

Vengeance
“Wait. You bit my neck.”
“Yep.” His eyes glowed green through the black. “You taste like hope and sunshine.”
Oh. Well. She frowned. “My hip. You branded me?” Her voice rose on the last along with a
hysteria she was finding increasingly hard to keep at bay.
Now he blanched. “Yeah. Well, it’s like this. When a demon finds his mate, a brand appears
on his hand. Mine appeared after our first night together and most of my people believe in fate. I
never really did until I met you, and now I’m rethinking that. During a mating, the brand is
transferred to the mate. Usually we can control it, but after being blown up and drinking three
bottles of homemade bourbon, I wasn’t myself. My skull and brain took another whole day to
fix, to be honest.” He wiped blood off his cheekbone. “We have healing cells that we send to
injured areas. It’s quite handy.”
Mate? “What does mating mean?” She rubbed her hip. How was any of this real? “I’m a
demon?” How had she even said those words? But she’d seen the fangs and she now had a tattoo
on her ass.      “No. You’re a mate. Your chromosomal pairs will increase until you’re as immortal as I am.
Only beheading can kill you.” His eyelids lowered, giving him a primitive look that was right at
home on his hard face. “And mating is forever. Period.”