Her Fallen Protector

by Nichole Severn

  The chilled Atlantic breeze coasted over the flat beach, sending shivers down her back, and he strengthened his grip around her waist. His body heat tunneled through her thin clothing. A slow samba wafted through the bar as more couples took to the dance floor. Instead of the choreographed dance she expected, he swayed her back and forth, as if following some other music only he could hear.

  Uneasiness slithered down her arms as he lifted her wrists behind his neck. Very intimate. Almost like lovers. The strong muscle spanning his chest pressed into her, heated her. Too close. Too familiar. She pulled away several inches, shivered when his fingertips traced a line down her side to her lower back. When was the last time someone had affected her on this level? Easy answer: she couldn’t remember.

  Green eyes searched her face as though he wanted to burn himself into her memories. She couldn’t take it. Couldn’t take another dead end. She laid her head against his chest to escape the tightness clutching her ribcage; the echo of his heartbeat syncing with hers. Without a shred of evidence, she wanted to trust that the man in her arms could help her and as she settled into his grasp, a new feeling blossomed for the first time in months: hope.

  A dangerous thing.

  “All right. You have me here. Perfect beach. Lots of whiskey. The offer to help me find what I’m looking for. Now tell me why you’re really here.”

  “What do you mean?” His lips grazed her ear, softer than she imagined, and raised goose bumps up and down her arms. The sound of his inhale against her hair threatened her logic, almost like he’d known her exact trigger spots.

  “I mean, you know me, don’t you?” She pressed her hands against his chest. She needed distance. She needed to see his expression when he lied. Again. Ten years. Ten years and he hadn’t found her, hadn’t explained. Hadn’t ended her insanity. “From before my accident. Your being here isn’t a coincidence.”

  The smile tilting his mouth disappeared and her heart skipped a beat. He wouldn’t lie to her this time. His expression said so. Not after all these years. Not after everything she’d been through.

  “No, Vdarra. It’s not.” His fingertips dug into her waist, grounded her, prevented her from making a break for it. Did he really think she’d turn her back on the answers she’d crossed the world for? “I’ve been searching for you ever since you left me that day in December ten years ago.”

  Her mouth went dry. Finally. She’d made a breakthrough. “Why did you wait so long?”

  “Because they’re looking for you, too.”

  Chapter Two

  “Who are they? Where are they? Tell me everything.” She couldn’t control the high-pitched excitement. This all had to be a prank. In a single day, she’d not only found Jacob but now there were others looking for her. She’d finally hit the jackpot. She’d have answers.

  “You don’t want to know. Trust me.”

  What? She couldn’t stop the laugh breaking past her lips. Seconds passed. A minute.

  “Wait, you’ve got to be kidding me. That’s all you’re going to say? That I don’t want to know? I spent the last decade thinking nobody out there cared enough about me to come forward and now I find out there are others? You obviously didn’t know me very well. There’s no way in hell I’m just going to let this go.”

  His grip clamped down on her hips. They’d stopped dancing, frozen in the middle of the patio as smiling couples swayed around them. “Vdarra, you can’t go anywhere near them. You don’t want to get mixed up with these people. They’ll—”

  “They’ll what? Tell me who I am? Or is that what you’re afraid of?” It made perfect sense, explained why he hadn’t come forward sooner. They’d known each other, all right. And he’d tried hiding it from her. Why? Guilt? “How about you tell me why it took you ten years to find me. Or why I went missing in the first place. You offered to help me. Can you tell me anything?”

  His grip softened. “No. It’s too dangerous. If they found you—”

  “So you won’t help me.” Her jaw ached with the pressure from grinding her teeth. The familiarity between them seemed like a distant memory as she stepped out of his grasp and collected her bag from the the chair she’d vacated. Going back to square one—again—had already taken too much from her. “This might seem like a piece of fiction to you, but this is my life and I need answers. If you won’t help me, then I’ll find someone who can.”

  “Vdarra, wait. I can’t explain—”

  “Thanks for the drink.” Five. Six. Seven steps across the patio, and the further she retreated, the harder her gut clenched. She had to keep going despite every cell in her body screaming for her to turn back. He might’ve been her only lead, but he couldn’t help her. Wouldn’t.

  “You’re my wife.”

  Her upper body swayed forward as she stopped cold. Married? Her? A hint of cinnamon floated on the wind and she turned to confirm he’d followed. His scent, so comforting, dove deep into her lungs. Years of sprinkling the spice over hot drinks and onto toast hadn’t satisfied her addiction. But something said he could. If she let him. “Are you telling the truth?”

  “Yes.”

  That could be proven easily enough. There had to be a record of their marriage. Paperwork. Bank accounts. Insurance files. She hadn’t come up with anything under the name Vdarra Jansen in the past, but maybe that hadn’t been her name as her father claimed. Why he’d lie to her, she had no idea. Didn’t matter. What mattered was the man standing in front of her. The man with answers.

  The moonlight illuminated a slip of white paper peeking out from behind his fingers. He offered it to her. Not a piece of paper. A photo. Hope escalated as she took it from him, smoothed the black and white surface. The edges had been torn, sections of the photo creased with white lines. Old—at least ten years—but the couple frozen inside hadn’t changed.

  “I thought you might need proof,” he said.

  “Where did you get this?” Her head spun. Actual evidence she’d had a life before being pulled onto her father’s boat, that she’d been someone. With him.

  “That was taken a year before you…vanished. At our favorite spot on this little island in Greece. We’d been together for a while, but that beach is where we met.” The distance in his voice said he had no trouble picturing it, the color of the water, maybe even their first words to each other. What she wouldn’t give to remember. Anything.

  She couldn’t rip her attention from the photo, even as she handed it back. “You couldn’t come forward because these other people are looking for me?”

  “They’ve been watching me for a long time. Waiting for me to find you.” He focused on her—only her—and the world around them faded. His attention pressed on her like a physical weight, something she normally rebelled against, but his stare held her. Comforting, promising. What he promised, she couldn’t even imagine. A combination of curiosity and need intensified the ache she’d lived with since setting foot on this beach the very first time.

  Reality crept back in. “What do they want?”

  “It’s too soon to tell. You’re a very prized commodity.” Just like that, the strain between them drained. He laughed, and just like that, her heart flipped upside down. Wow. Never had that happen before. At least not that she could remember.

  “I highly doubt that.” The slow samba ended and couples walked off the dance floor, hand in hand. So much romance in the air. She could practically feel it. Or was that his unwavering attention on her again? Her deep inhale did nothing to tame the energy singing under her skin. Rio had been the nightmarish epicenter of her lost memories for so long she’d forgotten just how beautiful the city could be. Especially under the darkening night sky.

  Her attention sank back into the present as he slipped the photo, so gently, into his wallet, and replaced it in his jeans. Again she fought to remember him as a part of her past, to put him where she needed him most, but nothing came. Barely breathing, she studied him, his face. What if the reason she hadn’t remembered was because nothin
g else seemed familiar? Her apartment, her job, the clothes she wore, even her father. None of it had made an impact.

  Jacob did.

  Even with so much distance between them, she couldn’t shake the lingering effects of his skin on hers. They’d been married. Were still married, according to him. Taking on that role could help jog her memory. Had to. Because nothing else had worked. Desperation carved her decision into stone. It couldn’t hurt to try.

  “Let’s start over. I’m Vdarra.” She reached for him. Wrapping her fingers around his massive hand, she discovered callouses in his palm and across his knuckles. Rough with an edge of softness. Just like him. Inexplicably, her heart rate dropped with the contact. She found she could actually breathe again. It’d been a long time since she’d been able to relax so easily, but somehow he soothed the anxiety racing across her neck and back. If his hand in hers could make her feel this way, maybe if they were more intimate it would bring back her memories, help her figure out who she was. Who she was meant to be.

  “Jacob.” That heart-flipping laugh set her nerves on fire. Who knew? Maybe Rio would have a different meaning from now on.

  …

  They’d spent almost the entire night at the bar, talking, dancing, constantly touching, until she’d invited him back to her hotel room.

  Now, he couldn’t get enough of the taste of her, couldn’t stop kissing her. Her sultry perfume resurrected memories of the past, to a time when they’d broken the rules and hadn’t given a damn about the consequences. The body beneath him grew familiar and he sank further into her.

  His hands ventured around her slim back to pull her closer. Every curve of her body had been seared into his heart. Yet she’d changed. The skin he caressed beneath her sundress wasn’t as smooth as before, the muscles underneath losing some strength. She’d become soft, fragile, no longer the warrior he’d known, but he couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t.

  Need surged through him, so much so he never wanted to let her go. He had her. Finally. His erection hardened further, made him almost desperate to mold her flesh to his once again. He ached, but would wait until she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  Danger, death, ten years apart. None of it mattered as she dug her fingernails into his shoulders. He lay her down on the bed. So beautiful. So his. His tongue tangled with hers. He needed more. Needed her to be his again. He hiked her calf around his waist, edging himself even closer as selfish need overcame every thought.

  He would have her.

  He would love her.

  He would be whole again.

  Breaking their kiss, he dragged himself back. He took in her swollen lips and glazed eyes. She’d stared at him like that countless times, but he’d never imagined they’d separate. She’d once given herself freely to him, repeatedly.

  “Everything okay?” She tilted her head to one side, confusion warping her perfect features.

  Years had kept them apart. Ten years of being unable to find her, of living with a hole in his chest and an ache in his heart. He could have her for himself again. She would be his forever if she allowed. Her father never had to know. “Are you sure about this?”

  The choice would be hers.

  A small laugh escaped her throat and the tension drained from his shoulders. He’d missed that sound. Missed her. Had she felt the same ache he’d lived with since her disappearance?

  “I think we’ve moved past that.”

  His heart, mind, and soul urged him to make them one. He wanted nothing more than to feel their connection again, no matter how selfish or dangerous it would be. He’d protect her until his death, even if she couldn’t remember their past. Her father’s followers would never find her and they could move on with their lives.

  “Do you have—” The single light bulb above defined the flush over her neck and cheeks. “We need a condom.”

  He should’ve thought of that. “I don’t have one.”

  Her hips shifted deliciously as she squirmed out from under him. She fumbled for her bag on the floor and dislodged the leather bound journal in the process. The book remained closed. Its smooth, perfect leather might’ve held the first clues of finding answers to her past. No lettering or title appeared anywhere on it, the pages resembling bleached parchment instead of plain paper. He’d have to wait until she fell asleep to read through it. Maybe he’d recognize a clue she hadn’t discovered yet. Anything to keep her close.

  “I think I do.”

  Heat roared through him. The thought of another man touching her made his blood boil nearly out of control. He swallowed—hard—and couldn’t get his heart rate back into rhythm. “Were you expecting to need one?”

  “No, not really, but you never know. What happens in Rio doesn’t always stay in Rio.” Repositioning herself underneath him, she waved the small packet in confirmation. The overhead light reflected off the foil package, but her expression consumed his attention.

  His shoulders relaxed as he studied her. How the hell had he kept his distance this long?

  “I’ve waited for this moment a long time.” Doubt had taken hold once again. Intelligent eyes, flecked with tiny bits of amber, shown with warmth, a vast difference between the love of his life and the woman pressed against him. The woman he’d known had been buried, and he would do anything to get her back. He could be happy again.

  She pushed him upright. Moving to her knees, she mirrored him on the bed. The foil packet remained in her hand as she moved her fingers expertly beneath his shirt, revving his heart into his throat. “Me, too. I’d always imagined someone out there knew who I was. I even dreamed it’d be someone like you. A person who could make me forget about the insanity, if just for a couple hours. And here you are. Now take off your shirt.”

  Eager to claim her as his own, he did so. He’d follow every order she gave tonight and every night afterward, so long as it didn’t tear them apart again. The possibilities of what he’d do for her were endless.

  “Kiss me.”

  Her breath tickled his jawline as she leaned into him. Their lips melded and she led his hands beneath her dress. He skimmed up her smooth skin, heightening his arousal beyond anything he remembered during their previous time together. Her bra hampered his access to her breasts and, excited to feel their fullness again, he unfastened the front clasp in a rush. “I want to touch you.”

  She raised her arms over her head, beckoned him to continue.

  His knuckles brushed along her ribcage as he lifted the thin dress over her head. The contact sent shivers down his arms. He’d never imagined anything more beautiful than the half-naked woman offering herself to him. He leaned into her, groaning when her breasts pressed fully against him. Creamy, pale skin warmed his fingers. He held her there, hands cupped around her, keeping her close for what seemed like hours as she thawed him from the outside in. The years of doubt surrounding his heart melted. He kissed her again, ravishing her mouth with his.

  He had to slow down or he’d combust in her arms. Wearing only her open brassiere and a matching pair of black lace panties, she resembled the goddess she’d once been: sensual, exciting. Powerful.

  His erection strained painfully against the seam of his pants. He hadn’t been with another woman since she’d left him. He’d remained celibate, saving himself for her return. Now he couldn’t wait another moment to be inside her. “I’ve never seen a more perfect body.”

  She smiled, biting down on her bottom lip as she stretched onto her back. “I bet you say that to all the ladies.”

  He clenched his jaw. “You’re the only woman for me—ever—and you always will be.”

  “You—” Her eyes grew wide, her tongue swiping across her lip as she planted her elbows into the mattress and lifted her upper body. “You haven’t been with anyone else since I disappeared? Ten years is a long time.”

  She had no idea. “Like I said, the only woman for me. There wasn’t a single moment I gave up searching for you.”

  “Never?”

  “Nev
er.” Unfastening the button of his jeans, he dropped them onto the floor. His arousal sprang free. Her sharp inhale and wide-eyed gaze fueled the fire burning beneath his skin. He couldn’t wait any longer. Bending over her, he kissed her, just above the sweet spot between her legs. Her scent enticed him to draw closer, and his tongue slipped into her slick heat.

  She gasped.

  The past melded into the present as her head relaxed back against the bed. Her chest rose and fell in rapid movement. She’d taken her eyes off him. Trusted him completely. He exhaled roughly in exultation.

  They’d lost so much time.

  He ran a single hand up the smooth expanse of her stomach and toyed with her right breast. Her nipple peaked under his touch. He fingered the bud between his first and middle finger, stroking it lovingly as she arched against him. His nose worked against the small bundle of nerves above her opening, circling in rhythm to his tongue’s actions. The frenzy vibrating down into his mouth drove him wilder. Still not good enough.

  Her breath quickened on a moan, the muscles in her legs tensing around him. She clutched the sheets tightly with one hand, the other pressed against his hand on her breast. Digging the tips of her fingers into him, she tightened his hold on her. “Oh, God. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

  Her throaty plea urged him to explore her entrance deeper and he lapped at the sweetness she offered. Jacob reveled in her sensuality as she writhed around him. Never in a millennium had he thought she’d give herself to him again, not like this. Not like before.

  “Please, please.” Her breathing quickened. She released her grip on his hand and ran her palm down her pelvis.

  He used both hands to clamp her thighs on top of his shoulders and increased the rhythm of his tongue.

  “Yes.” She moaned from somewhere deep in her chest, like a caged animal waiting for release. “Like that.”