Divine Savior

Divine Savior

Aaron’s Kiss Series Book Two

By

Kathi S. Barton

World Castle Publishing

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

World Castle Publishing

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright © Kathi S. Barton 2011

ISBN: 9781937085926

Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2011930723

First Edition World Castle Publishing August 1, 2011

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

Licensing Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

Cover Artist: Karen Fuller

Editor: Brieanna Robertson

Author’s Note

When I started this series of books I had no idea where Aaron and Sara were going to take me. Their book, Blood, Body and Mind introduces you to them and their coming together to form a kiss – a family of sorts.

Sara and Aaron opened the series with their story earlier this year and now it’s Colin’s turn. He has been Aaron’s friend for centuries and even now has his back. But when Colin’s mate comes along and tests his temper, Aaron helps him get through it.

The next book, A Natural Magic continues the story with Dominic and Pic, two of the most stubborn beings Aaron has ever met. Their union not only brings a whole new magic element to the family but could be the death of an old adversary.

~
CHAPTER ONE~

Shade hated stealing, but no one would hire her without an address. Well, technically, she had an address she supposed, but living in an abandoned warehouse did not hold much weight when you could not have your mail delivered to you. A post office box would not work for two reasons: one, she did not have the money to pay for it monthly and two, always the stickler; you needed a physical address so they could verify you needed a box. Stupid bureaucrats, could they not just think things through? If she had a physical address, she would not need a flippin’ box to get her mail delivered to, now would she?

Shade moved along the outer wall of the restaurant’s kitchen slowly. She knew that she could make it to the back door before anyone could catch her, but she was starving, as she had not eaten much in the past four days. She was willing to take a few chances tonight. She could never make herself eat from the dumpster, no matter how hungry she got. It was just too gross and sounded too homeless for her taste. Plus, there were the kids to think about.

She had been dropping off food for the two kids in the apartment building down from where she was staying for about two months now. At first, she had been bringing them enough to get through a couple of days on the off chance she hit a dry spell, but she soon found out their druggy mother was selling it off for a fix. Even if it meant leaving her kids without anything to eat for days on end, it did not matter to Brenda Shell as long as she was high. They couldn’t have been much more than seven and three years old at best.

The littlest one was a girl named Becca. She always seemed to be fighting a cold or something and the other one, her older brother Brent, tried his best to keep her safe. But they were both just kids and couldn’t be held to the same standards as an adult. It was sad that they had to be too.

Shade was pretty sure that the boy had been sold a couple of times to some of his mom’s boyfriends as a good laugh for the men and a fix for her. Brent had never said anything to Shade, but she could just tell by his reactions to physical contact that he had been abused.
Some people should never be permitted to breed,
she thought with disgust.

Another five feet across the kitchen and she would have some bread to go with the cheese she had gotten earlier tonight at another kitchen. Busy kitchens were the best, especially on a weekend night. This one was about as common as they came. There were dirty pots and pans on every available surface. Bus tubs full of dirty tableware and food had ended up on the floor they had been so busy tonight. The kitchen was not dirty by health code standards, she supposed, but it was nasty to think of all the greasy slime on the floor. The noises alone were enough to make a person think twice about working under such conditions. But it was the aromas that had her.

Chicken and steaks sizzling on the grill, the heavy scent of garlic and cheeses permeated the air with their combined mouthwatering temptations. The smell of tart apples and sweet cherry pies nearly fresh from the oven was wafting throughout the restaurant and beyond. The fragrance of the dessert was almost a physical presence in the room.

The wait staff usually did not notice someone dressed like Shade was. Like the cooks, they just thought she was one of the dishwashers. That was the plan and the reason she dressed in jeans and a bulky sweatshirt tonight. Well, there was also the fact that it was all she had, and as it was getting colder out, she had dressed in a few extra layers. She had not saved enough money yet to get a decent coat, not even a cheap decent coat.

Shade finally had the bread and was inching her way back to the door and freedom when one of the under-chefs noticed her. He stared at her for several hard, tense seconds, and then yelled at her to drop it. Of course, there was no way she was doing that and took off toward the door to outside. She had an advantage over the guy, well several, really. She was slight and kept in fairly good shape because she had to walk everywhere she went. He was neither slight nor in shape by any means—
probably taste testing his cooking a little too much,
she thought with a grin.

It had always amazed her that her sense of humor, normally dormant for weeks on end, would chose to show itself when she least expected it or wanted it to.
Next thing
, she thought,
I’ll be explaining to the police how I had to stop long enough to laugh at a joke in my head, and that was how they had managed to capture me.

She was out the door and running down the alley when she hit a wall. Well, it really wasn’t a wall, but a big chest that felt very wall-like, solid and firm. She bounced off of him and backwards, hitting the ground hard enough to throw her foodstuff to the ground and her onto the pavement.

“
Damn it, why the hell don’t you watch where you park that thing? A person could get seriously hurt running into you. Help me, will ya? He’ll have the whole kitchen out here in about ten seconds. Sheesh, you get a zip code with all that area you carry around?” She was scrambling now, hurrying to get up and going again.

The man was a big guy. Not fat, not at all, and he was tall, fit, and looked to her like he was very strong. He was just reaching out to help her up when she glanced behind her. The cook was coming out and bringing what looked like the entire kitchen staff with him too.
Christ, doesn’t anyone have tables to take care of or something?
she thought as she gathered her things. Just as the man leaned down to help her again, she popped up and accidently caught him in the nose. Blood burst forth, and he fell on top of her when his feet slipped out from under him. He landed fully on her, knocking the wind from her lungs.

“
Bloody hell, woman,” the man yelled at her—like it was her fault. Grinning, she accidentally—on purpose—bopped him again.

Shade started squirming to try and get out from under him, but he was just too heavy. When he tried shifting his weight off her, he just made it worse by making her completely under him rather than mostly under him. By now, the dishwashers and cooks alike had reached them. As the man was being helped up by two of the men, Shade saw an opportunity for escape and took it. She threw her body into the man’s, and both he and the rescuers went down again. This time, the man landed on top of the workers. She was off like a shot, pausing only long enough to snatch up the loaf of bread and a hunk of cheese. Then with a sassy gesture, Shade bowed to her wall-like “rescuer,” saluted the other people from the kitchen, and rounded the corner out of sight.

Shade made it back to the Brent and Becca without being caught. Then after making sure they were fed as much as they wanted, standing with them as they wolfed down slice after slice of the bread and cheese, she left for her own home. It was nearly an hour later when she walked over to her own place to eat and settle in for the night.

The encounter with the staff had scared her a bit. She would not be able to go back there for a very long time, if ever. The staff would be watching for any strangers, especially her. This had been much easier when she was a kid. People would turn away from her when they saw her snitching food, whether from pity or sympathy, she wasn’t sure, but it was getting harder all the time. Then there was the big guy, “the wall” she started calling him. There was something about him. He stirred something inside of her. He was large and wide, but that wasn’t it; it was more sensual. She felt an almost overwhelming need to curl into his arms and rest. She just knew he would keep her safe and protected. Although, where that had come from was anyone’s guess. She had neither needed nor wanted anyone for years and she wasn’t even sure she had before then.

“
The wall” was an amazingly handsome man; his blond good looks and green eyes made her think of all kinds of odd thoughts. When she had hit his nose the first time, she had felt the tiny braids he had on the side of his head bump her in the face. It was everything she could do not to comfort him for hurting him, however unintentional. The second time she had hit him was because he had made her mad, but she didn’t think she would be able to do it again. It hurt her to think of causing him pain.

Shade didn’t know anything about herself, at least not before she had regained conciseness after a head injury when she was smaller. She didn’t know what her real name was. She had made up the one she was using. She had used the shade of the building she had found herself in the first time and the beautiful doe standing incredibly close to her she had seen when she first opened her eyes. Any other personal information, birthday, age—she had just plucked that information out of the air. She really hadn’t found the information to be of much importance anyway.