Sex, Vows & Babies: Save Me (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Tia Louise

  Our communications and tech genius is also the most organized person I know. She came with me to Moscaretti and Steele, and she has saved my life more times than I can count, walking me through dangerous situations as a tiny piece in my ear.

  “Barracuda was hooked last night,” I say, leaning back in my own black leather chair, coffee mug in hand.

  “And you were almost chum.”

  Snorting into my coffee, I shake my head. “I didn’t have time to attach my security cable.”

  “You’re lucky Mace was there.”

  “What do you need to file the report?” I’m clicking and opening files while Ella is a small window in the top right corner.

  “Make, model, number of rounds fired, number of suspects hit.” She’s mirroring my behavior on the other side of the continent.

  Mason moved us to the remote cliffs of northern California, but my home is in sassy south Florida. My family’s Latino heritage is a big part of the reason I successfully infiltrated Araña’s compound. Women are underestimated when it comes to strength and military prowess—even more so if they’re Latina.

  “I’ll go through everything and send you an exact count by tomorrow morning.”

  “I’ll take it from there,” she says through a sigh, and I notice a line of worry piercing her forehead.

  “What’s on your mind, El?”

  “Your accent comes out when you call me that,” she laughs, but it’s a diversion.

  I use it to my advantage. “Spill, chica.”

  She leans forward and puts her mug down, and I watch as she picks up a tablet and straightens her glasses. This is serious.

  “We got a query last week… something from a Sr. Mantanilla in Panama.”

  “Mantanilla?” My brow lines, and I start searching my own database. “Must be new. I don’t have anything on him.”

  “That’s what worries me. I can’t find anything on this guy.”

  Leaning back in my chair again, I steeple my fingers in front of my lips. “What does he want?”

  “He says he’s an oil baron. He claims his daughter Lajuana is missing, or lost. She’s young… Fourteen. She was on a spring break trip with friends in Aruba, and now they can’t find her.”

  “And?” I’m looking at the slides she’s sending me.

  Lajuana is a young girl with glossy, dark brown hair and a vibrant, white smile. She’s sitting on a beach with another girl, also with glossy brown hair and a matching smile. They could be twins.

  “No report has been filed, no missing persons…”

  Ella continues, but I’m distracted by the girl’s eyes. In the depths of her dark irises is the faintest note of an emotion I recognize. It reminds me of my grandmother in the one photograph I have of her as a child, shortly after her family emigrated to Miami from El Salvador.

  Lajuana has the same glossy dark brown hair, the same cautious expression, despite her brilliant smile. I think of the woman I only knew as abuela, but my mother’s pictures had allowed me to see her as a beautiful young girl.

  A deep voice breaks my reflections. “What did they say when you questioned them?”

  Mace is with us, and he’s looking through the files Ella forwarded to me.

  “They wanted to keep it off the record—no press, no police,” Ella says.

  He lifts me out of the chair easily, shifting our positions so he’s sitting against the leather and I’m on his lap. I only make a small noise of protest before a muscled arm wraps around my waist, surrounding me with love and his intoxicating scent of fresh citrus and clean linen.

  “So I heard you defied the laws of physics last night,” Ella teases him.

  “I’ll defy any laws to keep Jessa safe.” He doesn’t even look up as he makes the casual declaration. I fall in love with him a little more, as if that were even possible.

  He reads over my shoulder, and his warm breath tickles the tiny hairs on my skin. I confess, I love melting into the strength of my husband. I’d been the lead cadet in my recruiting class, the best shot, the fastest runner. I’m strong and smart and a match for any agent the CIA turns out—male or female. Yet, Mason “Mace” Moscaretti has the power to relax my grip. He’s the one person I trust with my life. With my everything.

  Turning my head so I can plant a fleeting kiss on his scruffy cheek, I watch his eyes moving over the screen, and I can see his brilliant mind working as he swipes through the documents, reading quickly. Mace exploded into my life in a blaze of firebombs, a staccato of gunfire, and the crumbling of a job for which I’d risked my life.

  As Mace’s troops blasted firebombs, tear gas, and rained bullets all around us, Araña grabbed my upper arm in a vice grip and dragged me with him to the hidden bunker deep in the bowels of the enormous home. I didn’t even know the panic room existed, and I’d been investigating that mansion for months.

  “Mentiroso,” he’d hissed. Liar.

  I didn’t speak or even try to argue. I didn’t know if he might pull out a gun and finish me himself. I didn’t know how hurt or humiliated he was. I’d been sure I was about to find out when the door blasted and shuddered under the force of a battering ram.

  It was over. They were coming in.

  The door blasted open and dust filled the air. The filmy white sundress I’d been wearing was torn and hanging off one shoulder. Men in black body armor stormed in and surrounded us, immediately taking Araña into custody, destroying my mission to kill him, removing any security I would ever have as long as he lived.

  Then it happened.

  I blinked rapidly through the smoke and settling dust into the deepest set of blue eyes I’d ever seen. He stood at more than six foot tall… Six two? Six four? Slowly, he lowered his gun as our eyes held each other’s. Dark brown hair curled around his ears and at the base of his neck, and a light scruff covered his square jaw. I knew at once he was special forces.

  His nostrils flared, and he reminded me of a bull seeing red. He looked at me in a way that flooded my veins with fire. I didn’t know who this deliciously sexy commander was, but I knew I had to get away from him fast. My body’s response to him was too primal.

  I jerked the side of my dress over my shoulder and broke our gaze, looking forward with purpose and striding out of the rubble. An M16 was in his hand, and he lowered it.

  Mace Moscaretti didn’t try to stop me in that moment.

  He waited six hours, until we were alone in the bar, back at my hotel, before he seduced me with his words, his proposal, and ultimately his velvet kisses.

  “I don’t like it.” His voice is a deep vibration that coupled with my memories registers all the way to my core.

  “It’s why I delayed bringing it to you,” Ella says. “I wanted to see if I could find anything legitimate… or if I should send a team to find out who is behind this.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Still,” I touch Mace’s hand. “It doesn’t necessarily mean anything that there’s no missing persons report. These cartels, these little dictators are so power hungry. They keep everything close to the vest. Any sign of vulnerability can be a direct threat to their power.”

  Mace leans back in the chair, placing his large palm between my shoulders, under the thick curtain of my hair. “So you agree it could be a cartel?”

  “I don’t know.” Chewing my lip, I look over the request again. “He’s definitely not an oil baron or we would have heard of him. I don’t know who else it could be to have a daughter worth kidnapping.”

  “If it even is a kidnapping,” Ella’s tone is pure skepticism.

  “Tell them no.” His mind is made up, and I know I have to choose my words carefully.

  “I agree. It’s too risky.” Ella says.

  “Hang on…” Shifting on his lap, I place one hand on Mace’s shoulder, touching his jaw with the other. “She’s someone’s daughter. Even if these guys are ultimately arrested, shouldn’t we at least save her?”

  I can’t stop seeing her eyes. The pair of haunted
black eyes, Muscadine eyes.

  He catches my wrist and pulls my palm to his lips for a kiss. “We can let someone else save her.” With that he holds my waist, lifting me again so he can stand. “Tell them we’ll pass, El.”

  “Mason!” I grab the mouse and move it over the screen. “Ella, give us a second.”

  She nods, and I cut the sound. Mace stands and faces me. The black tee he’s wearing stretches nicely over his toned pecs, and for a moment, I allow my eyes to travel across his broad shoulders to his corded neck, up to his darkened eyes.

  “If you don’t stop looking at me like that, we’ll have to cut the video.” A sexy grin curls his lip. “Or Ella’s getting an eyeful.”

  “You’re insatiable,” I tease, tracing my nails over the ridges of his biceps.

  He catches me by the waist and pulls me closer. “Why is this job so important to you?” Lips touch my temple. Hot breath ghosts over my eyes, making them close.

  “I don’t know.” My hands rise to his shoulders. “Something about her… I can’t help feeling like there’s more to it. We have to get her back.”

  Quiet fills the room. I’m waiting to see if he’ll relent. He’s never told me no before. We’ve never disagreed before. At the same time, we’ve just agreed we want to start our family now.

  “It will be my last job,” I say, leaning back.

  The muscle in his jaw moves, but I see it in his eyes. A slight nod, and he reaches past me to click the sound on.

  “Book us on the next flight to Panama City.”

  I step forward, hugging my body close to my husband’s. I have no idea what I’ve convinced him to do.

  6

  Mason

  The heavy wood and glass double doors of our suite are open when we enter the room. The Red Frog beach resort is perched on the edge of the Caribbean, overlooking turquoise waters with a dense jungle to the northwest. It would be a beautiful place to visit for a second honeymoon, or for a two week vacation in which we focus on nothing but starting our family, me planting my seed repeatedly in the womb of my sexy wife.

  Jessa pauses at the door to slip off her brown leather sandals, then she walks barefoot across the polished marble floor out to the balcony. The ocean breeze lifts her wavy dark hair in a rippling curtain, exposing the spaghetti straps of her cherry red sundress, reminding me she’s braless… now shoeless… I can’t help wondering the status of her panties.

  Briny air laced with the faintest scent of gardenia swirls around us. It’s a lush, tropical fragrance different from the crisp breezes of our North Pacific home on the cliffs. This perfume is heavy, seductive.

  Not wasting a moment, I drop the suitcases where I’m standing and cross the short foyer to where my wife lingers, overlooking the vibrant green tops of trees, the powder-white sand and the breakers lapping at the shoreline below. It’s a perfect evening, and I stop behind her, spanning her narrow waist with my hands before sliding them down the front of her dress and dipping my fingers between her thighs.

  “Mace…” she sighs, dropping her head against my shoulder. “We have to meet Mantanilla in less than an hour.”

  Her nipples are stiff points through the thin silk of her dress, and my erection strains to be set free. I know she can feel it against her lower back, and I don’t try to hide my desire for her. I press my mouth against her skin, feeling her rapid pulse just beneath the surface.

  “We have more than enough time for what I plan to do to you.” My tongue touches her skin, and I taste a hint of salt. “Are you wet for me?”

  “Mm…” she sighs. “So wet.”

  My fingers curl as I gather her skirt higher in my fists. Tracing my thumbs up her inner thighs, I feel her shiver as I draw closer to her center. Only a thin scrap of satin covers the front of her bare pussy. I make quick work of tearing it away, letting it fall like tissue before my fingers begin their work.

  “Oh, god!” She gasps, gripping my forearms as I circle her rigid clit.

  I dip two long digits in her hot, slick passage. “Oh yes, my Jessa. You are so fucking wet.” My mouth is right at her ear, my voice a low rumble.

  Her knees start to wobble, but I won’t have her finishing just yet. I immediately take my hands away.

  “Mace,” she whines, but I’m slowing her down.

  “Turn around,” I order, stepping back so I can see her body.

  She obeys, and I allow my eyes to sweep over her. She’s breathing hard, and her skin is flushed. Her sweet juices cover my hand, and I reach out, placing a long finger on her bottom lip. Her green eyes darken, and she sucks the digit between her pillow lips. My cock weeps in response.

  I trace my finger down her chin, following the length of her neck until I reach the strap of her dress. “What do you want me to do to you, Jessa?”

  She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and her small nostrils flare with desire. “I want you to bend me over and take me deep and hard.”

  Jesus… this woman. My fist closes over the strap of her dress, and I rip it down her arm. Buttons pop and scatter across the marble floor and her round breast spills out. I watch as she reaches up and tugs the other side down, pushing the entire garment lower, over her hips and to the floor.

  Her hardened nipples and dark areolas rise and fall rapidly with her pants. She’s standing naked in front of me, flushed and vibrating with desire, and heaven knows I’m ready to grant her request. Reaching behind my neck, I grasp the top of my thin sweater and pull it off in one move. She makes a little noise, and I see her hand is between her thighs. She massages her clit with one hand while she tweaks and pulls her hardened nipple with the other.

  “Jessa,” I groan, quickly unfastening my pants and shoving them to the floor.

  My cock is thick and rigid and pointing right at her when I straighten, and I hear her whimper as she watches me, the hand between her legs moves faster over her clit. I grab her wrist and jerk it behind her back, dragging her to me.

  “No,” I rasp, my teeth clenched. “That orgasm is mine.” I grab her other wrist and put it in the same hand. Then I grip her full breast, kneading it and pulling it to my mouth. Pulling the stiff peak between my teeth, I gently bite before giving her another firm suck, then moving to the other side to repeat the process.

  She moans and writhes beneath my mouth and hands. Her ass is propped on the back of the sofa, and she arches, straining into my mouth. I take a moment to capture her lips, plunging my tongue deep inside to find hers, sweeping it around, devouring her mouth, nipping the side of her jaw as I turn her around and push her forward over the top of the overstuffed leather.

  Her clenched thighs press her pussy into a vertical little mouth, and I lean down to French kiss that part of her as well. I’m rewarded with a loud, muffled moan from the other side of the cushions.

  “You’re drenched, baby,” I say, running my tongue up and down the pink folds. My beard scuffs the curve of her thigh, and I feel her writhing before I gently bite the soft, pale flesh of her rear. “Are you ready for me?”

  “Yes… yes!”

  I dip my thumb in her juices, swirling it around before replacing it with my dick. The dark pucker of her ass faces me, and I put my thumb over that tight little hole, pushing it inside roughly as I drive my cock all the way, balls deep, into her wet heat.

  “Mace!” She yells so loud, I’m sure the neighbors hear, and I feel her clenching all around me, tight as a glove.

  Her thighs tremble and she comes as I grant her request, pumping her hard and deep as she’s bent over the couch. My balls tingle and tighten as my own orgasm snakes up my legs.

  Incoherent words fall from her lips, and she whimpers when I remove my thumb from her ass. I have to. The orgasm building in my pelvis forces me to grip her hipbones through my final thrusts as it breaks. My dick throbs, and I groan loudly as I fill her, every pulse another shot of pleasure to my brain. Her pussy clenches in response, drawing my last drop, blanking my mind with ecstasy.

  “Oh, Jess
a.” My voice is ragged. This woman triggers the most intense orgasms I’ve ever experienced.

  She slowly rises from the couch, arching her back and wrapping her cool hands around my heated neck. Her fingers thread in the back of my hair, and our bodies are slick against each other’s. My hands cover her flat stomach, rising higher to brace her against me. My cock is happily buried deep between her thighs, and I feel her soft laugh. It makes me smile.

  “Why are we here again?” she teases, and I love the satisfaction in her voice.

  “It’s not too late to pass this job to someone else.” I kiss the side of her neck, running my hands all over her beautiful body. “We can spend the week working on our family instead.”

  “It only takes one lucky shot,” she says, turning slowly in my arms.

  “I don’t mind hedging my bets, shooting as many as possible.”

  “Your aim is pretty perfect, but I know you love to shoot.”

  “I love to shoot with you.”

  Our eyes meet, and a swell of love burns in my chest. I cup her jaw, sliding my thumb over the top of her cheek before claiming her mouth once more. My tongue sweeps over the seam of her lips before plunging inside to curl with hers.

  This woman is mine. Her body is mine. It will grow my baby. The realization burns stronger in my mind with each passing hour, filling me with overwhelming pride and an urgent sense of protectiveness.

  “I love you, Jessa.”

  She reaches up to slide her palm over mine. “I love you, Mason.” With a squeeze, she draws my hand to her lips, kissing my knuckles before going inside our luxury suite. “We have to shower or we’ll be late to meet Mantanilla. Where did we decide?”

  “We have reservations at the Restaurante Travesia. Ella texted me that she’s already hacked into their security system and is monitoring every camera.”

  “She’s our girl wonder,” Jessa calls over the noise of the shower. I retrieve our suitcases from where I left them in the doorway. When I return to the bedroom, she’s moving quickly, a towel wrapped around her.

  Ghosting a kiss across her lips, I make quick work of showering and getting dressed. We’re out in the tropical night climbing into our car in less than twenty minutes.