Protector: The Elect, Book 1

by Loribelle Hunt

  He pulled the SUV to an abrupt stop in front of the cabin and turned to her for a kiss. He couldn’t wait. Hell, he might not even be able to get her inside the first time, though he was dying to try out the big, comfortable mattress he kept in the loft bedroom. Her lips were soft and greedy. Her taste ambrosia. He wanted to spread her out, taste and nip every sweet curve.

  Somehow he managed to break the kiss. “Inside.”

  She whimpered and reached for him. “Too long.”

  He didn’t try to stop her. He hauled her over the wide console into his lap, somehow got them both out, and hurried to front door. She was light and perfect in his arms. He was desperate to have her but still determined to take his time. There was no way he’d make it upstairs.

  The cabin was one big open space with a mini kitchen along one side and the rest of the space given over to the living area. Unlike most homes in central Florida, there was a large stone fireplace, and he laid her down on the plush black rug lying before it.

  He stopped her when she tried to remove his shirt and let her rise so that he could take hers off. The bra was next. He nudged her back, pushing her hands above her head. “Don’t move, angel.”

  He removed her socks and shoes quickly but took his time peeling her jeans off, revealing each creamy smooth inch of skin like he was unwrapping a long-anticipated present. He shook with the effort not to fall on her like a starving man, but when he stretched out over her and took her nipple into his mouth, he suspected it was a battle he’d lose.

  He slid his hand down her side, almost hurrying now, trembling with anticipation as his fingers found her sex and spread her for his exploration. She was hot. Wet. One finger pushed inside her while he found the hard nub of her clit with his thumb. She jerked in his hold and cried out.

  Esme didn’t think she could stand it. She rolled her head back and forth, fighting the fire in her veins. The rush of arousal was so exhilarating she thought she’d expire from it. He switched to her neglected nipple as he thrust a second finger inside her, fast and deep, the way she loved. It catapulted her straight into orgasm. Hard ripples of sensation whipped through her. She was aware he moved, that he repositioned them until she was on her hands and knees, but his intent didn’t register until he pressed against her from behind.

  He leaned over her and whispered in her ear. “Ready, baby?”

  Her nod wasn’t finished before he slammed into her. He froze, gave a groan that was half growl as his hands clenched on her hips.

  “You’re so damned tight.”

  He withdrew to the head of his cock and slowly pushed back in before doing it again.

  “I thought that was good,” she said.

  She rocked back against him, trying to take him deeper, trying to hurry him up. She wanted hard and fast. She wanted out of control. He released one hand and slapped her ass. There was a hint of a sting, a rush of excitement, and her channel squeezed around him.

  “You like that, baby?”

  She could only groan as he tapped the other cheek and began to thrust inside her in long, lazy strokes. The next tap was harder. His strokes were quicker, deeper. She swore the pleasure licked over every nerve ending in her body. He pressed a trail of kisses up her spine, pausing to nibble her earlobe.

  “Touch yourself,” he ordered.

  Shock rippled through her as he mentally shared an image with her. His cock pounding into her while her fingers rubbed over her clit. She’d pleasured herself earlier for him, but seeing his memory of it was different. It felt naughty. Wanton. So deliciously risqué she didn’t feel the embarrassment she was sure would torment her later. She lifted one hand to the center of her chest and slowly moved it down.

  “No, wait. I want to watch you.”

  She groaned a protest when he withdrew from her. Damn it, she was dying here, and he was supposed to make it stop. He lay down on the rug next to her, pulled her over to straddle him, and his cock pressed inside her again. He took one of her hands, nibbled her fingertips a moment before lowering it to her pussy.

  “Show me, baby. Show me how hot you are for me.”

  She caught her breath at the rapt expression on his face. His eyes changed to a dark turbulent green when she did as he asked. Holding two fingers together, she pressed them against her clitoris and rubbed. Faster. Harder. So good, but not nearly complete. She wanted him thrusting inside her with the same fierce rhythm, but he held himself rigidly still. She moaned a wimpy complaint.

  “What, Esme? What do you need, angel?”

  “Move, damn you. Fuck me.”

  It didn’t come out the demand she’d planned, but it worked. He rolled them over and drove into her. The orgasm consumed her so fast she was stunned, quaking, clinging to his shoulders as he sought his own release, burying his cry against her neck. It was several long minutes before he moved, pulling her into his arms as she drifted from fog-filled satiation to sleep.

  Chapter Eight

  Brax was alone on the rug when he woke. He stretched, his cock hard and at attention despite the satisfaction that still hummed in his veins. Speaking of which, where was the woman that made him burn like a living flame? He didn’t like waking without her in his arms.

  She wasn’t hard to find, curled up in the corner of the sofa with a tablet computer on her lap, hot as hell wearing nothing but his shirt. He rolled to his side to watch her.

  “You shouldn’t be way over there,” he said, surprised at the huskiness in his voice.

  She looked up with a distracted smile, but her eyes widened as her gaze drifted down his body. “So soon?” she murmured.

  He chuckled. “Always for you, baby. What’s so important you’re ignoring me?”

  “Research.”

  He sat up, watching, waiting for her to continue.

  “I should have seen it. The Stirling Institution. Stine, Orly, Lingstrom. Three of the government study’s scientists.”

  It took him a minute to follow her. Sti-rl-ing. Shit. He snorted in self-disgust. He’d have seen that if he weren’t so damned distracted. He needed to get a handle on this. Get their relationship on solid ground so he could focus again. Thankfully, she seemed capable of thinking for both of them.

  “Did you find anything else?”

  “Not much.” She shook her head. “It looks perfectly legitimate. All the staff listed on the website have the proper certifications and credentials.”

  “But?” He could hear the suspicion in her voice and shared it.

  “The head of security is ex-Army and so are two of the doctors. And the Institution was started in 1955.”

  “The year the government experiment was stopped.”

  “Yes. There’s a section here that lists the founders. Stine, Orly and Lingstrom are here, of course, but I’d like to run the other names by your grandfather.”

  “Of course.” He rose to his feet, gathered their clothes, and gestured towards the stairs. “Shower first. Move that sweet ass, baby.”

  He dropped their clothes on the bed and pulled his shirt over her head, then followed her into the small bathroom. She got the water running seconds before he circled her waist from behind, leaning down to nuzzle her nape.

  “I can’t get enough of you.” He bit down on the slender tendon, sliding his hands up to cup her breasts. She moaned for him, thrust into his grip.

  “Me either,” she whispered. “It’s not normal.”

  But he felt her yearning. She wanted the growing connection between them despite her reluctance. She was coming around. It was only a matter of time and patience on his part. He kissed his way up her neck to her ear, tugged it between his teeth.

  “It is normal for us.” He turned her chin so he could kiss his way to her lips. “You know it, Esme. You accept it.”

  He didn’t give her the chance to argue. He took her mouth, sweeping his tongue inside to duel with hers. She was as hot as he, just as aroused and desperate. They’d burst into flames before he got inside her. He pushed her back to the sho
wer wall, slid his hands under her butt, and lifted her, filling her hot, tight pussy with one claiming thrust. She cried out, and he froze, afraid he’d gone too fast, that he’d hurt her, until he looked into her face. Her eyes were wide, dazed and dark with lust.

  “Don’t you dare stop,” she gasped.

  “No way, baby. Never.”

  He drove them both to the brink, fast and hard, careening into orgasm with her. Holding and petting her as she came down from a high he hoped would never dim.

  Chapter Nine

  When they returned to Brax’s house, Esme followed the sound of Zach’s excited voice to his lab. She leaned against the doorframe, biting her lip to hold back an amused laugh, and watched as he talked into a small recorder making many comments to himself instead of sticking to dry scientific fact. He turned and caught her just as she was about to slip away.

  “There you are,” he said, visibly gaining control of his excitement. “We’ve found what’s been making Kaden sick.”

  “What is it?” Damn, it was about time they got some good news.

  “It’s an infection like I thought. It attacks the kidneys and liver, and it’s almost undetectable. Have a look.”

  He pointed her to a computer, and she skimmed through the notes on the screen. If Zach’s projections were right, Kaden’s organs would have started to shut down within months. Esme took a deep breath, trying to control the fear she felt for her nephew. Zach gave her a sympathetic look.

  “Don’t worry. We caught it in time. I’ve already talked to Carter and started the new meds. He’ll be fine.”

  He would be fine, but it wasn’t thanks to her. She never would have found this disease in time. The Elect had saved Kaden, not her.

  Brax hadn’t accompanied her to the lab, but he didn’t need to be physically standing next to her. She felt his presence, his mind close to hers, and accepted the warmth and tenderness he offered without a second thought. She was getting used to the contact. Had accepted she’d never be alone again. She should be worried about how fast her life changed, but she wasn’t. It felt right.

  Brax met her in the foyer outside his office, took her hand, and lifted her knuckles to his mouth. He brushed a kiss over them, light and gentle, that for some reason made her knees weak.

  “Kaden is going to be fine, baby,” he said softly.

  She wasn’t surprised he’d listened in on her conversation with Zach and her thoughts about it. He probably hadn’t even been aware he was doing it.

  “No thanks to me.”

  “You would have figured it out.”

  She snorted. “You think?”

  “Absolutely.”

  His voice was strong and sure, and his confidence in her bolstered her own. She was afraid she’d have to try to explain why her eyes were suddenly watery, but his phone beeped an incoming message. He checked it while she took a deep breath and tried to blink back the moisture. She didn’t succeed. He caught a tear with his thumb, and his gaze searched hers.

  “Am I that disappointing?” he asked.

  She would have laughed off the question, but he sounded so serious. “No,” she said softly. “Not disappointing. Unexpected, maybe.”

  “So why the tears, then?” he asked, sounding confused.

  “Nothing bad, baby,” she said, borrowing one of his terms of endearment. “It’s hard for me to put into words.”

  “And you’re not going to try?” he asked when she didn’t go on.

  “Give me a little bit of time, Brax. I have a lot to process from the last couple of days.”

  “Okay. But I’m not giving up.”

  “I know.” She grinned and stood on her toes to press a kiss against his lips. “What was the message?”

  “We have a meeting to get to,” he said, catching her hips before she could step back. “I’d postpone it, but they’re in our suite. Of course there are plenty of other rooms in the house,” he said suggestively.

  She laughed and shook her head. “You’re awful.”

  “You like me that way,” he retorted with a confident smile. She rolled her eyes, amused in spite of herself, and unable to deny the claim.

  “Let’s get this over with.” She paused halfway up the stairs when she realized he wasn’t behind her. “What?”

  He hurried to catch up, took her hand, and lifted it to his lips. “Just realizing how damned lucky I am.”

  Damn. At the rate he was going she’d be a regular waterworks. Thankfully, he didn’t notice, and she was able to push down the lump in her throat.

  “And don’t forget it,” she managed to reply lightly, teasing.

  He squeezed her hand and brushed her mind as if he didn’t trust his voice much either. “I won’t, angel. I promise.

  They met Elias, Carter, and Gabe DeLuca in Brax’s suite. It didn’t take long to fill them in or for Elias to confirm the three founding doctors of Stirling were a part of the experiments he’d taken part in. From there, Gabe attempted to make computer magic, but Esme didn’t need to hear his muttering to know the search was frustrating. Between he and Carter, who was trying to find information on the security chief through his military and intelligence contacts, the air was thick with it.

  Her brother closed his phone with an irritated snap and turned to her, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. She knew that gesture and was damned glad she wasn’t the one pissing him off. She cocked an eyebrow and waited him out.

  “He’s retired Army all right, but that’s all I can get right now. His file is classified.”

  “Get Mason on it,” Gabe muttered from his laptop.

  “I’ve already got my contacts on it,” Carter snapped back.

  “Dad?”

  Carter’s demeanor morphed in an instant at the voice in the door. He smiled and held his hand out. “What’s up, kiddo?”

  Kaden’s shrug was curiously adult-like and not for the first time, Esme wondered what went on in the mind of that little body. Was he telepathic or empathic like she and Carter? He entered the room, but instead of going to his father he went to look over Gabe’s shoulder, a ferocious glower marring his normally good-natured expression. He pointed to the screen and looked up at Carter.

  “That’s where Mom is.”

  “I thought his mother died.” She was glad Brax used telepathy to ask. Kaden had been through enough trauma.

  “She did. ” She sighed to herself, but of course Brax knew.

  “Tell me, baby. ”

  “What’s to tell? He’s six. He hasn’t accepted it yet. ”

  She sensed Brax’s uncertainty.

  “What are his talents? Is there a possibility he knows something we don’t? ”

  She shook her head. She’d read the hospital notes herself. Jamie Wade died on the operating table.

  Carter pulled Kaden off to a corner, crouched down and spoke with him softly. Trying to remind him as gently as possible that his mother wasn’t coming back, but Kaden was as stubborn as his father. He stomped back to Gabe’s computer, pointing at it with first a glance at Carter and then her.

  “That’s where the bad doctor is, Aunt Esme. My mom is there and so is yours and you have to get them out.”

  She looked at her brother, taking in his stricken, helpless expression. She hadn’t known about Jamie until her death, but she knew Carter still loved her. He hadn’t spoken of her much, but it was in his voice when he did. Esme faced Kaden again.

  “We’ll find out, Kaden, okay? I promise.”

  “What’s your mother’s name?” Gabe asked. “When I get in this system I’ll check for it.”

  “Merrilee Durand.”

  Elias looked up from where he watched over Gabe’s shoulder as he worked.

  “Ah, yes. I see it now.”

  She arched an eyebrow when he didn’t continue. “See what?”

  “The last year of the program a young telepath came in. Mary Leigh. She went by Leigh. She must have been your grandmother.”

  “I remember Mom saying she
was named after our grandmother,” Carter said softly.

  “You have to get them out, Aunt Esme.” There was such a desperate edge to the boy’s plea that Esme was beginning to believe him.

  “We will,” she promised again.

  She hoped for his sake he was right. For the moment at least, her promise satisfied him, and a few minutes later he followed Carter, Elias, and Gabe out of the suite, leaving her alone with Brax.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked softly from a few feet away.

  “I don’t see how she could possibly be alive. She wouldn’t be in a mental hospital if she was, either. My mother…” She shrugged. “Well, she could be, but not that one. She couldn’t afford it, and Carter and I are her only living relatives.”

  “Hmm,” he murmured. “I’m not sure about that. In her case, Stirling wouldn’t care about the money. Actually, her being poor and out of contact with her family would work in their favor.”

  “Because no one would look for her,” she said softly and felt horrible because it was true. She hadn’t looked.

  “Hey,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “Don’t beat yourself up. This is all just guesswork and none of it is your fault. You were just a child when she disappeared.”

  “I should have looked when I was old enough.”

  “Why, baby? As far as you know, she abandoned you and your brother. You can’t second guess based on something you don’t know for certain.”

  She knew that, but she’d have to work on not feeling guilty. Oddly, she didn’t feel guilty at all for the shooting earlier in the day. She titled her head back.

  “Did you find out who he was? The man who tried to kill us?”

  “Nothing yet,” Brax said, his voice grim. “The scene is cleaned, though. He wasn’t carrying any ID and Aaron didn’t find a match in the fingerprint database. Mason will search from here. Aaron won’t use any more department resources than necessary so he doesn’t attract the wrong kind of attention.”