Knight Shift (Knight Ops Book 5)

by Em Petrova

  Her heart gave a wild jerk. Standing naked before him only enhanced that little three-letter word rumbling through his chest.

  He skated a warm hand down her side to settle on her hip as he pierced her in his gaze. “Fleur,” he dragged out her name like it was a sip of fine wine, “I want you so fucking bad. But I won’t make you feel you must sleep with me in exchange for my protection.”

  It took her a second to consider what he was saying.

  She ducked from under his arm and grabbed her top. Feeling self-conscious—and dammit, rejected—she pulled it over her head.

  He pushed out a heavy sigh and moved to stand at the window that overlooked the city. As she continued dressing, she threw glances at his back. Was it her imagination or were his shoulders slumped?

  When she was clothed, she said, “I don’t need your protection. I’ve done just fine without it all this time. And I really don’t need your pity fuck.”

  His eyes narrowed and in four strides he had her pressed against the wall once more, his big body crowded against hers. This time he took her hand and moved it to the bulge in the front of his pants.

  “Feel this? This is no pity fuck, Fleur. That’s me wanting you. But we have to straighten some things out before I give in to this burning carnal lust I have for you.”

  The words sent shivers up and down her spine and again, she plastered her palm to the wall to steady herself. Under her hand held against his groin, his cock was harder than any steel rod she could imagine.

  Chaz’s dark stare drilled into hers. Keeping his hold on her hand, he moved it up to his lips. The brushing of that hard mouth that had pleasured her so well sent a sense of intimacy through her that she couldn’t work out.

  She was just being stupid, surely. She was lonely—alone. And Chaz had stormed into her life and taken over everything from where she was staying to the way her nerves fired.

  She swallowed hard. “What’s next then?”

  He cocked his head. “First we’re going to eat. I heard the food being delivered. And then we’re going to talk. A lot. And if you’re willing, you’ll tell my brothers everything too because we need all the info we can get in order to help you.”

  Maybe it was time to let go of her precarious grip on controlling her situation and bring in reinforcements in the form of six huge Marines.

  Letting out a shaky breath, she nodded. “All right. But first, I need you to tell me… do you know who my father is?”

  His eyes hardened. He gave a short nod. “Get cleaned up. Your cheeks are red.” He trailed a fingertip over her cheekbone, his gaze roaming over her features. “Damn my ethics,” he said under his breath before pushing off the wall and moving to the door. “I’ll give you a minute.”

  She stood for a long minute, her legs still quaking from the encounter, and thinking about everything he’d said. Each word pointed to the fact that Chaz Knight was a man who could make things happen.

  Yeah, he made me come apart in seconds under his hot lips and tongue…

  She hurried into the bathroom and spent a minute splashing cold water on her face to cut the redness that Chaz had mentioned.

  Damn my ethics, he’d said. Right now, throbbing with need, she was damning his ethics too. Any other man would have taken her without hesitation.

  But Chaz wasn’t any other man.

  It was clear he was more than a Marine too. Since she knew little of the military, she couldn’t imagine what she was getting into with the Knight brothers. But she was about to find out.

  Checking her reflection in the mirror over the bathroom sink one more time, she detected a bit of a flush riding on her chest and throat but that couldn’t be helped. She needed to go out and talk to these people.

  When she stepped into the open room, what she found was not a jury waiting to hear her tale but a full-blown party.

  Food bags and boxes littered the long counter and someone had turned on top-forty music. Lexi bobbed around the room to the beat, holding a thick sandwich made with a baguette. Elise and Dahlia, who now seemed familiar to Fleur, almost friends she was still very shy with, were handing out slices of pizza as fast as they could to the men.

  Fleur swept the wall of muscle, trying to remember their names, but she couldn’t remember any but Ben.

  Clearly Ben was Dahlia’s husband. His gaze followed her every move and when she handed him a paper plate of pizza, he leaned in to plant a soft kiss between her brows. She curled her hand around his nape and leaned into his caress.

  Fleur turned away from the private moment and found Chaz looking at her. The hunger in his eyes was barely disguised, and that flush she’d fought out of her complexion a minute ago was back full force.

  He stepped up to her, and her stomach gave a low flutter. Okay, that wasn’t her stomach. Her ovaries were hurling themselves at Chaz.

  “There’s pizza and sandwiches. They got some salads too.”

  She was too nervous to eat in front of this group of strangers, but she knew Chaz wouldn’t take her refusal. She accepted a slice of pizza from Elise, and the woman gave her a big smile.

  Then Elise handed Chaz a plate piled with three slices of thick crust loaded with meat and a sandwich wrapped in paper. He led her to a corner of the room and pointed to one of the chairs. She sank to it, throwing a look at Bo who sat nearby, and Chaz took a seat on the floor near her. She hoped Chaz didn’t ask her any questions in front of Bo.

  Or mention what had just taken place in the bedroom.

  She still burned from his hands on her, his mouth on her. Deep inside, she could nearly feel his fingers still moving…

  Chaz groaned, rocking her from her reverie. She looked to him and realized he’d moaned as he bit into the pizza.

  Glancing down, Fleur hoped to hide the rising heat in her face, but Bo had caught it and was grinning at her.

  “I know a great hair stylist if you want her name,” Bo said.

  Chaz leveled his stare at him.

  Nonplussed, Bo shrugged and polished off a half a slice in one big bite.

  Lexi came to perch on the arm of the chair Bo was sitting in and another man dropped his plate on the counter and swung out of the room.

  Chaz looked between Lexi and Bo. “What’s going on with you two?”

  Lexi rolled her eyes. “We’re friends, idiot. Can’t I be friends with anybody now? I’m not five anymore.”

  “It better just be friends.” Chaz’s warning tone only made Bo laugh. None of these men would back down to any threat, it seemed.

  “Calm yourself, Chaz. I’ve already been told off by Sean and Elise. But you know,” he said, biting off a piece of crust and chewing, “Lexi’s right. She’s not five.”

  “See how Rocko feels about her talking to you,” Chaz muttered.

  Lexi’s eyes went rounder and she got off the arm of the chair. A second later she disappeared too and Fleur wondered at all the dynamics in this group.

  “Go find someplace else to sit,” Chaz said to Bo.

  “Nah, I’m good.” He stretched out his legs.

  Chaz sent a glare his way, but the man just remained kicked back in his chair. Chaz huffed out an annoyed sigh, which brought another grin to Bo’s face. Fleur couldn’t help but hide her own smile in a bite of pizza.

  Something about the whole crew was… heartwarming. Growing up as an only child with only her father as her family had left her wanting for this, whether she’d known it or not.

  A minute later, Lexi came into sight again, towing Rocko behind her. The man had nothing but eyes for the woman, that much was clear.

  Fleur caught Chaz looking at her again. Just then, a bit of chewy cheese strung down her chin. She clapped a hand over her face, and Chaz gave her a crooked grin and a napkin.

  “Thank you,” she said, burning from the brush of his fingertips across hers.

  The guys ate until the pizza boxes were empty and stacked by the trash can. Only a few takeout cartons of salad remained. Elise and Dahlia boxed them up
and put them in the refrigerator. The entire afternoon felt like something out of a holiday postcard, only the men were wearing all black and one brother had a smudge of black paint on his jaw, which made Fleur believe they’d all been wearing camo face paint before coming here.

  After Chaz took Fleur’s plate to throw away, he settled next to her, seated on the floor again, and cleared his throat.

  Everyone silenced.

  “It’s time, guys. Ladies, if you want to leave…” Chaz trailed off.

  “No way,” Elise spoke up. “We have just as much right to know what’s going on.” She fixed Fleur in her gaze and smiled warmly. “We care about Rose now.”

  She opened her mouth. “It’s Fleur,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth.”

  Elise’s smile turned warmer. “We understand. You think we’ve lived in the Knight family this long without secrets being kept?”

  Fleur shifted a bit closer to Chaz until his body heat calmed her. He leaned into her, his side rock-solid against her calf.

  She was feeling exhausted and emotional, and not knowing what was to come was making her jittery. The pizza weighed in the pit of her stomach.

  “Everyone, Fleur’s under our protection now. She’s hiding from something and we need to keep her hidden,” Chaz said, shocking her.

  She sucked in a breath.

  “There’s no family better suited for the job,” Dahlia said. “And I’ll do whatever I can, but right now, I need to get to my baby. It’s been too long and that damn breast pump isn’t doing the job.”

  Fleur looked closer at the woman to see her top straining against her full breasts. Ben stood and took Dahlia by the arm. He gave the room a wave. “We’re out, guys. Chaz, fill me in later.”

  He nodded.

  After they left, silence fell on the room. Lexi broke it with, “I have an idea. Let’s watch movies.”

  Seconds later, everyone was engrossed in the opening scene of an action flick, and Fleur was left feeling more like a hurricane had swept up the coast and carried her off to some foreign world she didn’t understand.

  Chaz reached up and took her hand. She looked into his eyes, and warmth washed through her at his expression.

  “We’ll take care of you, petite fleur.”

  The endearment, meaning little flower, seemed so natural coming from his lips. She relaxed a bit and squeezed his fingers. “I think I might let you.”

  Chapter Five

  Chaz sat upright in a hard chair, watching dawn’s light creeping over Fleur’s sleeping form. The urge to watch over her, to protect, burned strong. He protected a lot of people, but he’d never felt this way before.

  He followed the slope of Fleur’s throat to her delicate collarbones, thinking of what the hell they’d just done to her father’s plantation. Raided it, taken many men and women who were under his employ into custody.

  But they hadn’t found her father there. On the drive to the apartment, they’d discussed their belief that there was an underground exit. All those plantation homes had secret passageways, either for slaves or to escape during the fighting in the South in the 1800s.

  That meant the man was still at large.

  Like hell Chaz would let him get her.

  After twenty hard minutes of interrogating Darius Sutton’s man, Knight Ops had gotten the full story of his wife’s death. Apparently, Fleur’s father had been heard arguing with her the night she died, and he’d been heard asking if she’d kept her mouth shut. The fact that he’d killed his wife proved he had no love for anyone but himself. And Fleur was more of a target than ever.

  Gray-blue shadows crossed her face, beautiful in repose. God, she did things to his insides that he’d never imagined. Was this what his brothers faced when it came to their women?

  His throat closed off and he had to breathe deeply to fight back his emotions. He couldn’t say he loved this woman but it would happen very soon if he spent much more time with her. From the moment he’d set eyes on her in Nuit, he’d been drawn to her far more than anyone else in his life.

  He had to get up before he woke her and told her all this—just laid it out bare. He had to give her space, though. No way could she make decisions right now when she was in so much trouble.

  Quietly, he crossed the room on bare feet and went to the shower. He felt grubby and wished for a set of clean clothes, but that would mean going home for them, and he wasn’t about to leave Fleur. Who knew what mission would send them out again—OFFSUS was frantically hunting down Darius Sutton and once they found them, Knight Ops would be following the trail. Chaz might only have hours—hell, minutes—left with her today.

  He turned on the shower, making it colder than he liked. Anything to cut the desire racing through him. He hadn’t slaked his lust even after she’d fallen asleep, and his balls couldn’t be fuller. About to burst.

  As soon as the water hit his naked body, he couldn’t stop himself from gripping his cock. He wrapped his fingers around the thick base and held it for a second, aching for another taste of that sweet pussy he’d had the previous day.

  He gave his shaft a long, slow stroke to the tip. His every inch was overly sensitive, but the underside of the head was the spot that got him off fast in a pinch.

  Only this morning he didn’t feel like jacking and calling it quits. He wanted some fantasy to go along with the experience.

  Thinking of Fleur’s hand on him, he tightened his grasp and slid it back to the root. Blood filled his erection, making it purple against the stark white walls of the tiled shower. Light streamed through the glass door and broke into a thousand fragments through the water droplets there.

  A groan escaped him as he pumped his cock faster, harder. Squeezing then backing off. Taking himself right to the edge and then closing his eyes on the memory of sucking Fleur’s hard clit.

  His balls drew up tight and not even the cold spray could cut his lust. He’d never been so turned on, so needy, and he’d gone months without a woman.

  He fondled the head of his cock, smearing the precum there, and an image of Fleur’s sweet lips wrapped around him had his thighs shaking. He steeled them and continued the torment, reaching down to cup his balls in one hand as he stroked with the other.

  He leaned heavily against the wall and considered the bottle of soap for a minute but he was too far gone now. If he stopped, he’d erupt without even touching himself, and it was so much better like this.

  Images ran through his mind—Fleur’s round thighs so close to his face as he sank his fingers into her. The glisten of her folds.

  He grunted once. Twice.

  The rush hit him, and cum spewed from his cock. The wave hit next, and he issued a low, guttural groan as he continued to fuck his tight fist. Every jet of cum ripped another groan from him until he was too sensitive to go on and leaned back, panting.

  His hand still on his hard cock. It didn’t seem to be going down anytime soon.

  He grabbed the soap and poured some into his palm. Might as well go for round two. It was going to be a long-ass day.

  * * * * *

  Fleur sucked back a gasp of shock and arousal. She should slip back out of the bathroom and quietly close the door. Chaz hadn’t invited her in to watch his…

  Oh God.

  That display of masculine beauty had been the most exciting thing she’d ever witnessed.

  The thick length in his palm… Even with the water-spotted glass hindering her view, she knew it was magnificent.

  It also hit her that he could have woken her and taken her but hadn’t. She didn’t know how to feel about that. Either he didn’t truly want her the way she wanted him or he was telling the truth when he said he had to hold back because she was under his protection.

  She didn’t believe Chaz Knight was a liar.

  Which meant he was really so honorable that he had a warm, willing woman right there yet had chosen to take care of his needs himself. It made her want him all the more.

&nbs
p; His harsh groan hit her senses, and arousal flooded her panties. She resisted slipping her fingers into her wet folds and stroking herself to completion at the same time. She felt weird enough about being a voyeur, but she couldn’t bring herself to back away either.

  He pumped his hips and more long groans vibrated the room. Then his actions slowed and he let out a shuddering breath.

  She turned to leave as soon as he grabbed the bodywash.

  The bedroom was just filling with daylight but felt too stuffy. She went to the French doors that led to a small balcony and opened one.

  A hand came around her mouth and she bit back a shriek as she was dragged up and over the wrought-iron railing. They were three stories up and she waited for the fall, for her bones to break and all to go black. But she felt herself being propelled through the air, a man gripping her around the waist and his hand on her mouth.

  She screamed again, and he increased the pressure until she felt her jaw would snap. Wildly, she tried to take in some details. But the blur of the brick building flew by her vision and she only heard a whirring sound. When her feet touched ground, a rope fell too as somebody dropped it.

  “Let’s go.” The hard male voice was unrecognizable. She tried to turn to see her kidnapper but the man squeezed her hard around the middle, forcing the air from her. She struggled to suck in more but he wouldn’t allow it.

  Another man loomed up out of nowhere and grabbed her feet. They lifted her off the ground and ran.

  Panic set in. These people had to be sent by her father. She was tossed into a vehicle and before the door shut, she swore she heard a roar echoing across the city.

  Please, God, let that be Chaz. Let him see me.

  Someone shoved her down in a seat and bound her with rope. She opened her mouth to scream, but they stuffed a rag inside and knotted a gag behind her head.

  The sensation of suffocating hit, and she had to focus on her breathing or risk hyperventilating. When the vehicle took off, she glared at the backs of two men’s heads.

  Her uncle twisted in the passenger’s seat. “Hello, Fleur.”