ACRO 06 - Taken by Fire

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HIS MISSION WAS TO DESTROY HER. BUT DESIRE GOT IN THE WAY. A product of genetic manipulation, Melanie Milan shares a body with her malevolent sister, Phoebe. A sleek, blond predator with a heart of pure darkness, Phoebe puts their body through the wicked underbelly of sex for thrills—when she’s not igniting her pyrokinetic skills for an evil organization bent on taking over the world. Melanie rarely gets out to play—much less fall in love. But that changes when rival ACRO agent Stryker Wills shows up, with a mission to terminate the woman who torched his partner. An operative with rare abilities, Stryker soon realizes that the woman he’s about to kill isn’t the murderous fire starter he’s been hunting. But he does want her. Melanie, with the power to ice anything in her path, is heating things up in ways that are setting fire to his blood. As long as Melanie stays in control, she is his best ally to bring down her sister and stop hellish havoc from being unleashed. Walking a tightrope of longing and hate, Stryker and Melanie begin to understand that true power lies in sweet surrender to each other, to the flames between them, to the erotic adventure that’s joined their hearts and abilities to become their salvation—and perhaps the world’s. From the Trade Paperback edition. Review “Sydney Croft writes the kind of books I love to read!”—Lara Adrian, New York Times bestselling author of Taken by Midnight Praise for Sydney Croft’s ACRO series “[A] sizzling hot series that has never failed to keep my undivided attention . . . nothing short of brilliant.”—Fresh Fiction “Croft redefines sizzle and spark with weather-driven passion.”— Romantic Times From the Trade Paperback edition. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. CHAPTER One Rome wasn't a place where Stryker Wills was comfortable.Sure, the women were gorgeous, the food amazing, and fucking and eating weretwo of his favorite pleasures in life. But man, there was a lot of history herehe could potentially destroy. The cathedrals and the Colosseum, not to mentionthe Vatican, had all survived hundreds, or even thousands, of years and hecould take them out in one fell swoop with a flash of temper. Knowing that made him more wary than usual. He'd beentense all morning, despite the beautiful women who'd been propositioning him ashe ate at an outdoor café-he didn't like mixing business with pleasure. Andthis trip was business, pure and simple, as he tried to get a bead on the fire-and-icewoman, a split-personalitied agent who'd killed his friend and nearly takenStryker out-twice-eight months earlier in the Amazon jungle. Stryker had been out for blood ever since-his easygoingpersonality fading into the background as his hunger to avenge his fellowmurdered ACRO agent grew with each passing day. Now the woman responsible for the murder was close. Hishands fisted and he realized that he was no longer the same man who'd left ACROfor this assignment all those months ago. Itor operative Phoebe Milan had killed his supervisor andfriend, Akbar Shatar, setting him on fire while Stryker watched, helpless to doanything. And when Stryker returned to ACRO after Phoebe escaped, he'd gottenhis new instructions from Devlin O'Malley, head of the ACRO agency. Kill her, Dev told him. No further discussion needed. It was an instruction ACRO agents heard often. As anoperative with rare abilities, he'd actually lived on ACRO's massive compoundsince birth, as his parents were also both longtime agents with the Agency forCovert Rare Operatives. His parents had assumed he'd have abilities, but man, hadthey been surprised at both the type and the extent. Mating a telekinetic withan excedosapien with superstrength hadn't seemed like a crazy idea at the time-andmost agents tended to marry other agents anyway. But the first time two-year-oldStryker's temper tantrum ripped a fault through the middle of his house,everyone at ACRO had taken quite an interest in him. So yeah, he'd grown up within the