Under His Protection

by Doris O'Connor

  Plenty of time to figure this all out. Right now, my girl needs tending and a heavy dose of reassurance on top, it seems.

  Female tears normally turned him off, unless they were the honest kind in the middle of an intense scene. Too many women of his acquaintance, both in his personal and professional life turned those tears on and off to suit them, to manipulate the men around them.

  Not his little dove, though.

  Murmuring endearments under his breath, he released Jacqui from her restraints, doubly grateful for the quick release nature of his favorite leather cuffs, and he pulled her into a hug.

  It made Jacqui cry harder, and not knowing what else to do, he simply waited for the storm to pass. By the time it did, she had soaked them both with her tears, and when he tipped her tearstained face up to search her expression, she looked exhausted.

  “There now, it’s okay, sweetheart. What brought that on?” he asked.

  “I—I don’t know. It’s just…”

  Jacqui’s trembling words meant he had to kiss her. A whimper escaped her when he started to kiss her brows, each closing eyelid, and then followed the trails of moisture, until he’d kissed all the remnant of her tears away.

  Jacqui sighed when he finally brushed his lips over her mouth.

  “You’re too good to me.”

  Lukas frowned and pulled away, especially when she pulled her knees up to her chest, effectively hiding herself from view.

  “You’re clearly exhausted, and quite possibly experiencing sub drop, so I’m going to let that inane comment go.” He gentled his voice when her brows drew together, and he cupped her face. “I should have anticipated this. I did push you hard tonight. You need to sleep and regroup for now.”

  Jacqui shook her head and promptly spoiled the notion by yawning. She looked mortally embarrassed, and Lukas laughed.

  “Bathroom is through there, if you need to freshen up. I’m gonna get rid of this stuff—” he gestured to the tied-off condom, and discarded butt plug on the floor, “and rustle us up a snack, and some drinks.” He tapped her nose when she looked set to argue, and busied himself undoing the delicate straps on the sandals she still wore.

  “I can do—”

  “No, let me this for you, sweetheart. I don’t want you breaking your neck on the trip to the bathroom. If I thought you’d let get me away with it, I’d carry you in there and watch over you while—”

  “No, you can’t.”

  Her strangled sounding and immediate denial made him grin. It was on the tip of his tongue to tease her a little, but she looked so utterly mortified that he resisted that impulse. “I could, but I concede that it might be a bit much for you right now. You’ll come to realize that nothing you do will be ever abhorrent to your Dom. It’s my responsibility to take care of you. You’re mine, after all.”

  Her eyes widened at his statement, and in truth Lukas surprised himself by uttering such possessive words. He meant them, however, with every fiber of his being. Judging by the way she dropped her gaze, tensed, and worried her teeth with her bottom lip, she didn’t believe him. Not that he could blame her. His reputation worked against him here. He would just have to show her that he meant what he said.

  Giving her the privacy she so clearly needed, he backed away.

  “Feel free to use any of the toiletries. There’s a spare toothbrush under the sink. I won’t be long.”

  “Okay, thank you.”

  Lukas smiled at her and forced himself to leave the room. By the time he made it back in there, armed with a tray of snacks, and two water bottles, she’d disappeared into the adjacent bathroom. He frowned when he found the door locked.

  “I’ll be out in a minute. Just thought I’d grab a quick shower.”

  His frown deepened at those words, even as his cock jumped to attention at the thought of a wet and naked Jacqui in his shower.

  “Let me know if you need help scrubbing your back.”

  A thump and a screech, as though she’d dropped something, made him grin.

  “No, that’s quite okay.”

  “Spoilsport. I’ll use the other one. Last one back to the bed forfeits on the chocolate.”

  Something that sounded suspiciously like her calling him a few names came through the door, and grinning, he left her to it to use the spare shower in the guestroom.

  This time when he returned to the bedroom, it was to find Jacqui covered in a towel sitting awkwardly on the side of the bed. Without a scrap of makeup now on and her damp hair hanging around her face, she looked very young and vulnerable, and Lukas wrapped the towel he was using on his hair around his hips to hide his body’s immediate reaction to her.

  “Hmm, looks like all the chocolate is yours. Scoot up, baby, get in those covers, and let’s eat.”

  His gut churned seeing her hesitate, but eventually she complied. Still cloaked in that oversize towel she got under the covers, and eyed him warily when he joined her. Taking off his towel with one hand, he dropped it by the side of the bed, and opening one of the bottles of water, handed it to his girl.

  “Here, you need to hydrate, and then sleep, after you’ve had some of this.” Breaking off some of the dark chocolate, he waited for her to take several deep swallows of the water, before he placed a strip of the confectionary on her lips. She dutifully opened her mouth and ate it.

  Popping another strip into his own mouth, he made himself comfy, and when he patted the space next to him, she eventually scooted lower. She tensed at his grab for the knot of the towel still swaddled around her.

  “You won’t need this. The place is warm, and I want to feel you next to me, little dove. I promise I’ll behave myself. No doubt you’re too sore for any more action tonight.”

  “Thank you, Sir.” There was wealth of emotion behind those words, and this time when he yanked on the towel, she helped him to maneuver it off of her. It joined its smaller counterpart on the floor. Lukas kissed her shoulder and spooned around his girl. His cock twitched against the curve of her ass, and Jacqui gasped.

  “Ignore that, sweetheart. He’s always ready when you’re around.”

  Her shoulder shook as though she was amused, and sure enough when he lifted himself up to his elbow to see her expression, she was grinning at him.

  “And what is so amusing about that, little dove?” he asked.

  When she giggled, he, too, grinned. He so loved that giggle, and that thought brought him up short. Love? Surely not. Then again, what else could he label this intense relief at feeling her relax against him? This almost physical need to keep her close, and to make sure she was all right. Had she been any other woman, he’d be putting her into a taxi round about now, or at the very least, would be making plans to do so in the morning.

  She wasn’t just any woman, though. It was, after all, why he had kept his distance before. Her laughing reply shook him out of those unsettling, if not unwelcome thoughts.

  “You’re making it sound as though that body part has a mind of its own.”

  She screeched when he brought his hands ‘round her waist to tickle her.

  “No, I’m sorry, no tickling, please.”

  Lukas stopped and pulled her closer still, satisfied beyond belief in the trust she exhibited by letting him do so. It seemed whatever had been bothering her had passed, and he wasn’t about to analyze that now. Not when sleep was fast pulling him under, too. It had been one hell of a day, after all.

  “Behave yourself then, and as for my cock, it sure seems as though he does have a mind of his very own. Enough of that, however. Time to sleep, little dove.”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  Her half salute made him grin.

  “Minx, you’ll pay for that…”

  ****

  The distant ring of the phone roused Lukas hours later. It was still dark outside, so fuck only knew who would ring him at this godforsaken early hour and on the weekend to boot. Grunting his annoyance, he pushed away from the soft, fragrant bundle of…

  “W
hat the fuck?”

  Lukas stared from the cushion in his arms to the empty bed, where Jacqui ought to be fast asleep, and the last of his sleepiness vanished instantly. There was a line of cushions in the place his girl ought to be, clearly put there to make him believe he was still cuddled up to her in his sleep.

  He threw the cushion he was still clutching in his hand to the wall in disgust, and his landline stared to ring.

  Someone was sure fucking determined to get hold of him, and if this was a damn nuisance call then, God help them. Stalking away from the bedroom, he snatched the phone of the wall in the hallway.

  “This had better be fucking good. It’s practically the middle of the night.”

  Lance’s amused laughter came down the line, and Lukas barely resisted the urge to not punch the wall.

  “My, we are tetchy. Did she not give out last night, buddy or—”

  “Shut the fuck up, and don’t talk about my girl like that, Lance, or so help me, you’ll need a plastic surgeon once I’m done rearranging your pretty face.”

  Lance’s whistle down the line stopped Lukas from saying any more, and barely reining in his temper, he glared at his reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall. With his hair sticking up on end, and his morning wood rapidly deflating as the reality of his situation dawned on him he looked like he felt. Thoroughly pissed off. She’d walked out on him, dammit. Why did she do that? How dare she do that?

  “Keep your hair on, buddy. It’s not like you to be this territorial. Next you’ll be telling me she’s still there, all nice and cozy tucked up in your bed waiting for you.”

  Lance’s laugh grated on Lukas’s last nerve.

  “That’s none of your fucking business. Why are you calling me anyway? What’s so damn important that it can’t wait?”

  “You mean, apart from yanking your chain? I take it she is still there then? Doesn’t surprise me. She looked like a cling on. Better let her down gently, and I’ll be very happy to take her off your hands. I’m good at comforting broken hearts, after all—”

  Lukas’s growl stopped his soon to be dead-by-his-very-own-hands business partner, and he whistled again.

  “Okay, okay, only saying. Jesus, man, take a joke, will you.”

  “Not when it concerns her, I won’t.”

  There was a long pause down the phone, and this time when Lance spoke he seemed to be choosing his words carefully. “I see. Another one bites the dust? First Jake, now you?”

  His heart gave a painful lurch, and he glared back at the door leading to his very empty bedroom. “I don’t know about that. It seems the lady ran out on me.”

  “You what?”

  Lukas rolled his eyes when Lance gave a short laugh. “Laugh all you want, but she’s damn well not here.”

  “Oh, this is priceless. Never thought I see the day when you’re put out by waking up on your own. What did you do to her, apart from the obvious to make her run out on you?”

  Lukas flipped his finger at the phone. “Fucked if I know, man, but I tell you one thing, after this stunt she won’t be able to sit down for a fucking month.”

  “Hah, well, as fun as that sounds, it’ll have to wait. I’ve got a trace on Lewis. That’s why I’m calling.”

  “Fuck!”

  Lukas pinched the bridge of his nose, and his stomach fell to his boots. Talk about lousy fucking timing. Lance seemed to take his exclamation as excitement, because he laughed again.

  “Yeah, time to haul that fucker’s ass in and back behind bars where he belongs. This is your baby, so I’ve got the team on standby until you get here. Reckon you’ll want to be the one to slap the cuffs on him.”

  Lukas shook his head, and swore again. This was the culmination of months of work, and would mean a nice fat paycheck, too. Lewis Kensington was an asshole through and through. A very clever and brutal one, who’d skipped bail and given them the merry chase around for months on end. Bringing him in would have been the icing on the proverbial cake, before…

  “Hey, man, you still there?” Lance’s question demanded an answer, and Lukas sighed.

  “Yeah, I’m here, but I’m not coming.”

  “What the fuck, man? What’s got into you?”

  Lance’s astonishment only served to further ground Lukas in his decision.

  “I woke up, that’s all. You go get Lewis. You’re more than capable. I’ve somewhere more important that I need to be right now.” A weight lifted off his shoulders as he said that, and the rightness of that decision spread warmth through his chest.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I hope she’s worth it, man.”

  He smiled at his reflection. “Oh, she is. I just hope she thinks I’m worth the risk. See you later, Lance. Text me once you got the fucker.”

  “Sure thing, buddy.”

  Lukas ended the call, grinning to himself as he imagined his friend’s expression right now. He had a sub to get back in his bed where she fucking well belonged.

  ****

  The pounding on her front door made Jacqui drop the glass of water she’d just poured herself. The expensive crystal crashed into the sink and splintered into a gazillion pieces. Wasn’t that just damn perfect?

  At this rate she would be leaving this latest house sit owing them money for all the things she’d broken. They couldn’t have ordinary glass like most folks, could they? Of course not. Damn this place and the damn the whole fucking lot of them.

  Luxurious surroundings notwithstanding, she wished with all her might that she had never seen this assignment. That way she would have never met Lukas, and let her fantasies about her neighbor lull her into letting down her guard last night.

  The rational side of her knew that she would have ended up meeting him anyway. After all, he seemed to be a friend of Lauren’s Master Jake, and as her impossible friend would have no doubt dragged her to the club for her birthday anyway, the likelihood was she would have met Lukas there.

  Would she have been as willing to let him top her in the way that he had, though? No, was the answer to that. It was her stupid fantasies that had given her the illusion of knowing him, and had made her act so out of character last night. She couldn’t even blame alcohol. Neither one of them had touched a drop.

  Ignoring the renewed banging on the front door, she tried her best to pick up the shattered glass without cutting herself. The irony of that action wasn’t lost on her. It was something the crystal and her stupid, broken heart had in common.

  “Open the fucking door, Jacqui, or so help me, I’ll kick it down. I know you’re in there.”

  She slapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screeching when the last shard in her hand sliced through her finger.

  Good lord, Lukas sounded furious. What was he doing here? Frowning at the blood on her hands she tiptoed into the hallway to see the whole door wobble under the force of his pounding. What in all that was holy was his problem? Surely he ought to be grateful she had spared them both the awkward morning after routine.

  That’s what he wanted, wasn’t it? Not that he’d acted as though he wanted her to leave. No, the damn man had been a dream come true. Letting her cry on his shoulder, feeding her chocolate, and holding her all night. Every time she had jerked awake, it had been to find Lukas pulling her closer in his sleep, until the last time the urgent need to pee had woken her, and made ignoring that particular need impossible.

  She’d somehow managed to extricate herself out of his hold on her without waking him, and she’d shaken her head in wry amusement at the way Lukas had clutched the cushion to himself instead, before he’d fallen back into deep sleep.

  Having taken care of relieving herself, she’d caught sight of herself in the bathroom mirror, and her reddened ass had given her pause for thought. It didn’t hurt anymore, but seeing the marks of Lukas’s possession on her fair skin brought tears to her eyes.

  It had also brought with it the heartbreaking fact how much she craved more of that. Wishing for something didn
’t make it so, however. Lukas had repeatedly stressed the fact that she was his for one night only. Having padded back in the bedroom, she had taken her time drinking in his sleeping form. Her fingers had itched to touch him, to memorize every line of his body, but she hadn’t wanted to wake him.

  No way did she want to become another one of the long line of women he called at taxi for. Not that he would need to with her living across the hall. That mere fact would make life difficult enough for her.

  No, it was far better to be gone when he woke up. That way he would, she hoped, remember her fondly, and it would make seeing him in passing easier to deal with.

  Mind thus made up, and stoically ignoring the sound of her heart breaking as she did so, Jacqui had gathered her belongings, and quietly let herself out of his apartment. It had only been once she’d been safely behind her own door that she had sunk to the floor and allowed herself a good cry.

  Further sleep had been out of the question, so, Jacqui had set to cleaning the place from top to bottom, until Lukas had decided to bang her door down.

  “Damn it, girl. Fine, you’ve asked for this.”

  There was one last thump against the wood, and then nothing but ominous silence. Jacqui blinked away fresh tears, and pulled in a shaky breath she hadn’t even been aware of holding. Well, that had been odd, to say the least. He’d sounded so pissed off, but that had to be his ego talking. She wasn’t up all au fait with the latest how to deal with the morning after scenario, but this was good. Closure, of sorts.

  Renewed sounds behind the door made her heart beat faster, and she couldn’t believe her eyes when the lock clicked. Before she could even blink the door swung open and Lukas stood in the entrance. Dressed in nothing but low slung joggers he looked furious and utterly edible. His blond hair was mussed as though he’d run his hands through it repeatedly, the fuzz on his jaw was definitely more scruff than his usual carefully maintained stubble, but it was the expression in his azure gaze that held her spellbound.

  Fury, concern, disappointment, and some other, much deeper emotion that she daren’t quantify, but one that made breathing difficult anyhow.