Master of Fire

Table of Contents

 

 

“A wonderful science fiction romantic suspense.”

—
Genre Go Round Reviews

“The character chemistry is gorgeous; the sex is searing hot; the world fascinating and a joy to explore. All in all, a great book!”—
Errant Dreams Reviews

 

 

“What an awesome, scintillating, and sexy book!
Jane’s Warlord
is intriguing, extremely sensuous, and just plain adventurous. A star is born.”

—
Romantic Times
(Top Pick)

“Chills, thrills, and a super hero and heroine will have readers racing through this sexy tale. Take note, time-travel fans, the future belongs to Knight!”

—
USA Today
bestselling author Emma Holly

“[Angela Knight’s] world is believable and her plotting fast-paced. Knight’s fictional world seems to have a promising future.”

—
Booklist

“Solid writing . . . sexy love scenes, and likable characters. I look forward to [Knight’s] next book.”—
All About Romance

“Amusing . . . Exciting . . . Anyone who enjoys strong women kicking butt . . . will enjoy this.”

“A fantastic story of a love that never died.”

—
A Romance Review

“Exhilarating . . . Delightful.”

—
The Best Reviews

 

 

“Her novels are spicy, extremely sexy, and truly fabulous . . . Complex and intriguing . . . Loads of possibilities for future sensual adventures.”

—
Romantic Times

“A terrific paranormal romantic suspense thriller that never slows down until the final confrontation between good and evil. The action-packed story line moves at a fast clip.”

—
Midwest Book Review

 

 

“Nicely written, quickly paced, and definitely on the erotic side.”

—
Library Journal

“The sex scenes were explosive and should have come with a warning for the reader to have a fire extinguisher handy during reading.”

—
Euro-Reviews

“Delicious . . . Wonderfully crafted . . . Angela Knight brings such life to her characters and to the world she’s created for them that readers can’t help but believe in magic.”

—
Romance Reviews Today

“If you like alpha heroes, wild rides, and pages that sizzle in your hand, you’re going to love [Angela Knight]!”

—
New York Times
bestselling author J. R. Ward

“From the first page Ms. Knight has me hook, line, and sinker . . . Titillating and action-packed.”

—
A Romance Review

“Exceptionally written, refreshing.”

—
Fallen Angel Reviews

“Will have readers . . . aroused.”

—
A Romance Review

“Fresh . . . Hot sex. You are sure to enjoy.”

—
The Best Reviews

“Erotic . . . The love scenes are steamy and sensuous—some of the best I’ve read.”

—
SFRA Review

“Ms. Knight has combined the erotic with the romantic and made a classic tale.”

—
Just Erotic Romance Reviews
(Gold Star Rating)

“[A hero] to make any woman hot with desire.”

—
In the Library Reviews

MASTER OF THE NIGHT
MASTER OF THE MOON
MASTER OF WOLVES
MASTER OF SWORDS
MASTER OF DRAGONS
MASTER OF FIRE

 

 

JANE’S WARLORD
WARRIOR
GUARDIAN

 

CAPTIVE DREAMS

 

MERCENARIES

 

 

 

HOT BLOODED
(with Christine Feehan, Maggie Shayne, and Emma Holly)

 

BITE
(with Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, MaryJanice Davidson,
and Vickie Taylor)

 

KICK ASS
(with Maggie Shayne, MaryJanice Davidson, and Jacey Ford)

 

OVER THE MOON
(with MaryJanice Davidson, Virginia Kantra, and Sunny)

 

BEYOND THE DARK
(with Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, and Diane Whiteside)

 

SHIFTER
(with Lora Leigh, Alyssa Day, and Virginia Kantra)

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 

MASTER OF FIRE

 

A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

 

PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / March 2010

Copyright © 2010 by Angela Knight.

 

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form
without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in
violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-18591-9

 

BERKLEY
^®
SENSATION
Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
BERKLEY
^®
SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to dedicate this book to the men and women of the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office. In particular, I want to thank Lieutenant Ashley Harris, forensic chemist, arson investigator, bomb tech, and all-around cool human being. He let me follow him around for a week, watching him do his job, including the bomb squad parts. Ashley is positively brilliant, and we are lucky he only uses his powers for good, since he’s the one who helped me come up with the evil stuff the bomber does in this book. He did design sketches, patiently answered all my questions, and told me how my hero could get out of the messes I put him in. Much of Logan’s technical dialogue originally came out of Ashley’s mouth.

By the way, he actually owns the toy monkey described in Chapter Eight.

I also want to mention my cop buddies in the Lunch Bunch, especially my friend Robert Rosenberg, evidence tech and skin diver. I want to thank my personal pit crew, who helped me cope with some serious back issues that nagged me while I was trying to write this book. Personal trainer Bethany Morton-Rhye, masseuse Christine Cox, and acupuncture specialist Shawn Jacobs kept my pain to manageable levels.

More thanks are owed to my beta readers, Diane Whiteside, Kate Douglas, Linda Kusiolek, Margaret Riley, and my wonderful Bookdragon, Virginia Ettel. Diane and Virginia also moderate my Yahoo Group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/angelaknight/
. And they do a wonderful job of herding cats, too.

Most of all, I want to thank the two people who inspire all my heroes and heroines. My sister, Angela Patterson, is one of the strongest, kindest people I have ever met. Whenever I wonder what a heroine would do, I just think of Angela.

Then there’s my husband of twenty-five years, Mike Woodcock. Mike’s endless patience and romantic heart form the sweet and sexy core of every hero I write. Love you, babe.

 

 

 

The truck bounced
down the snaking gravel driveway that led to the dead man’s house. It was a huge armored box of a vehicle, gleaming black, with “Greendale County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Disposal Team” painted on the side in white lettering.

Terrence John Anderson watched through his binoculars as the truck rolled up to the old white farmhouse. He lay hidden in a leafy clump of bushes at the edge of the woods, camouflage paint smearing his face, ice gray eyes narrow and watchful amid the writhing patterns of green and black. A sniper rifle lay beside him, but it was just for insurance.

He had something more dramatic in mind than a bullet.

The truck rolled to a stop, and a woman climbed out of the passenger side. He focused the binocs on her. Tall, dressed in wide-legged navy pants that swirled around her long legs. A flowing pale blue blouse draped over lush breasts and nipped in around her narrow waist, cinched by a wide navy belt. Her blond hair was pulled into a twist on the back of her head, but the severe hairstyle only emphasized her sensual beauty. She scanned the area, her expression watchful and wary. He wondered how she’d look after the bomb got done with that pretty face. Almost a shame, really.

On the other hand, there was nothing quite like the feeling he got from watching someone die.