Her Covert Protector (Rogue Protectors Book 4)

by Victoria Paige

  “Fucking hell,” John muttered.

  “Checking it out,” Bristow said. Nadia saw the Wasp fly past her. It was barely visible since it camouflaged its appearance with the mirrors making up its body.

  “Okay, I’m going to—” Nadia broke off when her eyes caught movement and she came face to face with a young woman.

  “Holy shit.” It was Sally Davis.

  “Didn’t mean to scare you,” the woman said, then nodded at the bathroom door. “Are you heading in?”

  “Oh, sorry.” Nadia recovered and opened the door letting Sally go ahead.

  “Where did you come from?” she asked the newcomer.

  “I work in the back offices,” Sally said, before disappearing into one of the cubicles. Nadia’s disguise must be holding up because there was no trace of recognition in the other woman’s eyes. Nadia decided to take care of business as well.

  “Powell’s talking to someone. Cough if it’s one of our targets.” Bristow said.

  She cleared her throat.

  “Is that an affirmative?”

  She wanted to snap but realized that wasn’t what Bristow told her to do. She coughed.

  “Nadia has Sally. And fuck, the man talking to John is Evan Wagner. Things are happening, people.”

  “Who has eyes on Nadia?” Kelso demanded. “John can take care of himself.”

  “Roger that. Swinging Wasp back,” Bristow said.

  There was a flush from the other cubicle, so Nadia finished up as well.

  Stepping out, they both washed their hands. Sally had her eyes downcast, not looking at her.

  “So, what do you do, exactly?” Nadia asked.

  Frowning, Sally glanced up. “Why are you interested? You’re the first ever to ask me.”

  “Just making conversation. You look …” Nadia grasped for words. “Like you need to talk to someone.”

  Everyone groaned on comms.

  “What? Like I’m pathetic?” the other girl’s chocolate eyes flashed.

  “No… I didn’t mean …”

  But, at that point, Sally tore out of the ladies’ room. Nadia hurried after her.

  “I didn’t mean—” Nadia repeated, but she was suddenly caught in a steel trap.

  Rancid breath exploded under her nose as a man in a dark suit jacket and a cream turtleneck pinned her against the wall.

  “Where are you going, moya dorogaya,?” The Russian endearment that sounded sexy coming from John’s lips was downright creepy coming from this man sporting Elvis sideburns and glazed eyes.

  A jumble of voices erupted in comms.

  Nadia jerked her head to the side, spying Sally who backed away, a torn look on her face. Another man came into view behind her, and she registered a possible build for Cain Morris, but the sloppy kiss that landed on her neck and the fingers sliding under her skirt had her on the defensive.

  “Powell’s in trouble,” Bristow alerted everyone.

  “How much?” the man slurred.

  “Not for sale, asshole.” Nadia managed to slip her arm between them and used the heel of her hand to keep the man’s face away, trying to get into a position to knee him in the groin.

  “Let me—”

  The man’s weight disappeared in a blur of motion.

  John was there, and he had the man up against the wall by his neck. “You dare touch what’s mine, mudak?”

  Nadia’s assailant wasn’t a big man, maybe five-ten, and John had fifty pounds of muscle over him.

  “I’ll pay!” the man choked.

  “What’s going on here?” a voice said beside them.

  Nadia barely hid her gasp. It was Evan Wagner in the flesh. The image on file didn’t do him justice. He used to be a popular action hero back in the day. Interesting because he wasn’t very tall but obviously kept in shape. He was in his fifties but appeared to be in his late thirties with his boyish looks.

  “My girl and I are leaving.” John was speaking with a Russian accent.

  “Come on, man, let’s have some drinks and talk about this,” the Primeflix executive said. “My associate just got a bit too eager.”

  John let the man go, grabbed Nadia’s hand, tugging her along, and invaded Wagner’s space. Two burly black-clad men flanked the executive.

  “There’s a misunderstanding of what I’m offering. It’s certainly not prostitution. Miss Petrova is here to find a suitable husband.”

  “Ahh, yes… and many clientele here are willing to offer marriage, but they want to be certain of … the merchandise.”

  Nadia glanced at John. He’d used the same term when describing her, but someone else using it had him looking ready to explode.

  “I do not want him.” She edged closer to John and his arm wrapped around her.

  “Konechno, malyshka,” John murmured and gave a kiss on her forehead.

  Wagner eyed them with interest. “It seems you’re attached to this one.” He glanced over his shoulder and signaled to someone. A woman with straight, glossy, blond hair stepped up beside Wagner. The girl couldn’t be more than twenty despite the heavy makeup on her face.

  “I have young Belina here. She’s Romanian.” Wagner swiped his tongue on his lower lip. “Maybe you would consider an exchange for the night? We have private rooms in the next building.” His eyes raked Nadia from head to toe.

  “Holy shit,” Henderson groaned. “I wanna see.”

  “Get your ass out of there, Garrison,” Gabby ordered. “This op is over.”

  John gripped her fingers convulsively, causing her to whimper in distress, and although he loosened his hold, his rapidly fraying temper crushed against her.

  “Not tonight. Maybe we’ll return.” John tucked her to his side and brushed past Wagner.

  “It’s a one-time offer, Mr. Stratford. This level is very selective.”

  “You can stick that offer up your ass,” he muttered for only Nadia to hear. “We’re outta here and never coming back.”

  23

  “I’m reviewing video footage from all exits. Several vehicles exited the garage of both buildings when you were talking to Wagner,” Bristow said.

  They all congregated in the comm van. Nadia was still wired from going undercover with John and she was still bouncing with excitement. This was so different from when they went to Huxley’s shindig. He was undercover, she was playing herself, and they had no surveillance at all.

  “Can you confirm that who you saw with Sally was Cain Morris?” the ginger-haired SEAL asked her.

  “I can’t. He had the same build but sported a buzz cut and a beard. The Morris we know had a crew cut and was clean shaven. If that was him, he’s changed his appearance.”

  “We can assume it was him. Should we get a warrant to search the premises?” Kelso asked.

  “On what grounds?” This from Gabby. “Whatever evidence we have so far has been obtained illegally. And we can never use the IP address as a reason because that would alert them that we have a way of tracking them. That would open a whole can of worms I don’t think the CIA wants exposed.”

  “You bet your ass,” John seethed. “I want to nail those fuckers to the ground as much as anyone else, but that would jeopardize not only this op, but many others that use this back door to the Onion Router.”

  Nadia frowned. He was still strangely seething. She understood his fury when he rescued her from Wagner’s handsy associate, but they escaped unscathed. It was all part of going undercover, right?

  “Mail-order brides are not illegal, and neither is the kinky shit they’re doing down there,” Kelso said. “The prostitution argument can be a gray area. We need more evidence.”

  “It may be possible Morris saw through Nadia’s disguise,” John said. “It’s one thing to blend into the crowd, another when isolated in a hallway like that. The light was dim, but men like Morris work on hunches and take precautions. My gut says he’s in one of those vehicles that exited the building. Can you isolate the license plate?”

  “Working o
n rendering,” Bristow said.

  “My take? He’d be prepared for that as well,” Kelso said. “He’d probably ditch the vehicle or switch license plates.”

  “Okay, let’s back up a little,” Nadia spoke up. “We’re concentrating on Morris too much but Wagner is right there. No way does he not know what Morris and Sally are doing.”

  “Excellent idea,” Gabby said. “But I might have to recuse myself from investigating him simply because he was one of the executives who refused to expand the budget of Hodgetown in the recent Revenant Films deal.”

  “Really? But Hodgetown is so big right now,” Nadia said.

  “Right? It doesn’t make sense,” Bristow added.

  Gabby sighed. “Something about the direction of the company. He said production costs are too high because of the special effects and those expenses are being passed to Primeflix. Wagner said he wanted more human-interest drama-type series, but no one is giving it to him.”

  “He’s such a hypocrite. He made his name in action movies,” Nadia grumbled.

  The team agreed to wrap up, take Sunday to regroup, and would pursue the Evan Wagner angle on Monday.

  It was around three in the morning when they arrived at the apartment. John was still strangely quiet on the way home, which was unusual for him. He was the only one who hadn’t told her she did a great job. All kinds of thoughts raced through her head. Did she fail his standard of undercover work? They were nowhere near closing in on the Key, but they did uncover a different angle.

  After he let them into the apartment, he went straight into the kitchen and grabbed two glasses, filled one with water and handed it to her. “You need to hydrate.”

  His jaw was still hard, and a muscle jumped in his cheek.

  She took the glass, noting she was indeed, thirsty. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to investigate the other room.”

  “It’s fine.” A terse response.

  “I’ll look more into Wagner tomorrow.”

  His eyes flashed with something like anger. “I’m with Woodward. Take tomorrow off.”

  Nadia, meanwhile, had had it. She took another sip of water because this might be a long tirade. She lowered the glass on the counter. “Look, I’m new at this undercover crap, okay? I’m not expecting to get it right the first time and get a pat on the head—”

  John’s face morphed into unmoored rage, and she took a step back. His glass slammed on the counter, and it was a wonder it didn’t shatter. He grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her forward. “You think that’s what I’m pissed about?”

  “Well … yes—”

  “I’m pissed because I failed you!”

  “What?”

  “That stupid fucker touched you.”

  “John, you can’t control everything.” He was withdrawn because of that? “And I have self-defense training. I would have kicked him in the nuts if you hadn’t intervened. It’s part of the job, right?”

  “When it comes to you, it’s not,” he spat. “You’re pregnant with my child.” He let her go and turned around, raking his fingers through his hair. “What the hell were we thinking?”

  That pissed her off and she gave his back a shove. He turned to face her.

  They glared at each other.

  “Oh, because I’m pregnant? I can’t do this kind of work anymore? Fuck you, John!”

  He lowered his head and snarled, “You can’t do this kind of work.”

  She reared back. It was like he’d slapped her.

  John let her go and gave her space, his hands resting on his hips, looking down and everywhere except at her.

  “What are you saying?” she pushed through gritted teeth. “Now that I’ve tried to give it my best shot, it’s not good enough?”

  “Haven’t you been listening? I was the one who fucked up.” He stalked away from her so fast, he was already yanking her apartment door open before she registered that he was leaving.

  “What the hell, John?” she snapped, hurrying toward him. “You take one step out that door and you negate every promise you’ve made regarding making this work.”

  He paused and glowered at her. “Our professional work shouldn’t interfere with our personal lives.”

  “Why? When I’m right smack in the center of both. Given our line of work, scenarios like these are bound to come up again, so why not hash it out now?”

  “Nadia …” He shut the door, scrubbed a hand over his face, and said, “This can’t happen again.”

  Confused, all she could say was “What?”

  His face darkened. “Tell me, Nadia, would you have gone with Wagner to his special rooms?”

  “No.”

  “Because if you were truly an agency operative, you would have gone all the way.”

  Nadia swallowed as bile settled in her gut. “If I wasn’t with you, would you have gone with that woman?”

  “It burns, doesn’t it?” he taunted, backing her against the console table and caging her in. “The few seconds I imagined Wagner’s hands on you, I wanted to tear him apart right then and there.”

  “Well, would you?”

  A dangerous gleam entered his eyes. “What do you think?”

  She tried to shove away from him, but he kept her in place. “Fuck you! I don’t have time for these games.”

  “And you’re pissing me off,” he said under his breath. “If you believe after what I said about making our relationship work that I’d turn around and sleep with another woman—”

  “But your job—”

  “I’ll adapt,” he told her. “For one thing, I haven’t used sex as a weapon in years. And second? Remember I said I wouldn’t put myself in situations that would make me less effective?”

  “Yes.” Her eyes dropped, and she stared at the base of his throat.

  John tipped her chin up with his finger. “I didn’t consider a scenario where you were in the thick of it. Tonight was my fuck up, but you were a pro.”

  Okay, that made her feel better, but why was John still looking at her as if she’d committed a federal crime. “So … I did well?”

  “You did better than well.” His mouth came close to hers, a scant hair’s breadth away, but it was as if he was still taunting her, teasing her. “You played your role so well in making me crave you, made me want to fuck you in front of them to show them who you truly belong to.”

  Her heart pounded, and the area between her thighs pulsed with wet heat. Her high from the op turned into a baser need, and John’s hand slipped under her skirt, his fingers making their way to her damp panties, stroking the slit between her legs. With their faces close together, their gazes still locked, his knuckle rubbed against her sensitive core.

  Nadia closed her eyes. She was on the verge of coming. “That …oh my God, John.”

  “Tell me yes, babe,” he murmured.

  Her eyes shot open in confusion, then she remembered his promise not to fuck her unless she asked him.

  “Fuck me,” she breathed.

  His eyes flared, and before she knew it, she was boosted up the console. John worked his fingers between them, and she heard the clinking of his belt, the lowering of his zipper. Nadia looked down at the swollen head of his cock that seemed as angry as he was. She glanced up and the unbridled lust in his eyes stole her words. His next move stole her breath.

  Not even bothering to remove her thong, his finger nudged it aside and he dropped her on his cock. Nadia gasped, the fullness impaling her. With his hands under her ass, he lifted her and then let her weight take care of the downward motion.

  He did this quick-like. She was bouncing on his cock.

  “Look at me,” he ordered.

  She did.

  His lips curled back in a feral snarl. “This is it, Nadia.” A sheen of sweat appeared on his brow as he continued moving her up and down his cock. “Mine. You’re completely mine. This body,” he panted. “This body was meant to climb only mine. This pussy,” he growled. “Will only know my cock from now on.”
>
  Her teeth clattered. It wasn’t easy to form words when she was riding his dick at the pace he set. Just the thought of how he was owning her body sent her into a mindless orgasm.

  “Got me?” he snarled.

  “Yes!” she screamed. “Yes!”

  Nadia’s inner muscles clenched as another pulse shook her whole body, and she could hardly feel her lower limbs. “Don’t stop!”

  John moved them against the wall as he continued to drive into her. She was coming down from her high when his head reared back, and then he buried his face in the crook of her shoulder and muffled his roar.

  His hot seed poured inside her.

  He branded her, marked her as his.

  And yet somehow in that moment, Nadia felt that John had surrendered to her too.

  They ended up on the floor, and she was cradled on his lap. Her head resting securely on his chest.

  Both of them were breathing heavily.

  He kissed the top of her head. “Sorry, I didn’t even make sure you were ready.”

  Nadia glanced up. “Can I be honest?”

  The corner of his mouth turned up, giving her the go-ahead.

  “I’ve been ready since we did that sexy dance at the club.”

  He closed his eyes as a rumbling sound made its way up his throat. “That was torture. Your pussy riding my thigh like that?” His eyes flashed open “You were so wet, I bet you left a mark on my pants.”

  Nadia laughed. “I probably did.”

  “Fuck, you know what I wanted to do right then and there?”

  She squeezed her legs together. Goodness, couldn’t she get enough from this sexy man. “What?”

  “Bury my face between your pretty thighs and eat your pussy.”

  John couldn’t seem to get enough of being inside Nadia, and he couldn’t get enough of her taste either. After working themselves up into a frenzy exchanging dirty talk, he hauled her into the bathroom. He gave them both a quick shower to wash off the makeup and the filth of the night club. Afterward, he toweled her dry.

  With their flesh still damp, he laid her on the bed.

  She barely had time to prop herself up on her elbows when he followed her down. Shoving her thighs apart, he buried his face between them the way he’d been hungering to do all night.