Guardian

by Loribelle Hunt

  She ground her teeth together, gripping her phone so hard she heard the plastic crack.

  “Zach,” she said, forcing a calm into her tone she sure as hell didn’t feel. “I’m hanging up now.”

  “No, Mallory—”

  Whatever he would have said was cut off as she flipped the phone closed.

  Zach paced the foyer and silently fumed. She’d actually hung up on him, after refusing to get out of the investigation into Stirling. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted to scream in frustration, but the urge was riding him hard now. She had no regard for her safety at all and refused to hear his concerns. Damn it, when she returned she was going to listen. She may not heed, but she’d at least hear how much the worry tore him up.

  “She’s become one hell of a woman, hasn’t she?”

  Zach spun around to face Brad White, Mallory’s oldest brother. He leaned one shoulder against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “No thanks to you,” Brad continued.

  “Do you know what she’s doing?” It went against the grain to recruit her family’s help, but if that’s what it took to protect her, he would.

  “I know.”

  “Good. Make her see reason. She’s going to make herself a target.”

  Brad laughed. “She’s a single, adult woman who is very capable and is making her own decisions. I’m proud of her. Why would I try to stop her?”

  Zach wanted to hurt him. “One, she isn’t single,” he ground out. “Two, she’s human.” He held up his hand when Brad might have protested. “Her DNA is human. She has an incredible ability that a small percentage of humans share, which is probably a gift from her Elect father. But even if she was Elect, she’s female, she’s my wife and I won’t allow her to put herself into a vulnerable position.”

  “No, she’s single. You gave her up. You didn’t fight for her and she made her own life. Leave her alone, Zach. Or accept who she is now.”

  “And watch her put herself at risk?” Brad was certifiable. “Are you insane? What do your father and brothers say about that?”

  “My parents are on a well-deserved tropical vacation. I’m not interrupting them for this and my brothers will follow my lead. Mallory can handle herself.”

  Before he could launch a counterargument with her brother, the front door opened and Mallory walked in. As usual, just the sight of her made his cock hard, but today a racing heart was thrown into the mix. He forced himself to stay still instead of rushing to her. Took his time looking her over. She was whole and uninjured. Safe. For now.

  “You hung up on me,” he bit out between clenched teeth.

  She shrugged one shoulder. “You were yelling at me. I don’t respond well to that.”

  “I wasn’t yelling. I was trying to have a conversation.”

  This time she rolled her eyes and while her defiance irritated him, he couldn’t deny he was also amused. Intrigued. He’d always feared hurting the girl he’d begun pursuing six years ago. But it appeared this woman could hold her own.

  “You were trying to order me around,” she said, zero inflection in her voice, though her eyes blazed with anger she couldn’t hide.

  “She really doesn’t like that,” her brother said helpfully. “Believe me. We’ve all given up.”

  If that was true, why had she let Zach blackmail her into staying with her? Maybe she wasn’t as immune to him as she wanted him to believe.

  “Is that right, baby?” he drawled. “You brothers have no influence over you anymore?”

  She tilted her head to one side and narrowed her eyes. “What are you getting at? I live my own life and make my own decisions.”

  “Yes.” He smiled. She might not want her family involved, but she’d deal with them on her terms if that became necessary. But she’d let Zach think it would matter. He’d threatened to contact her father and brothers if she didn’t comply with his safety measures, and she’d seemed to agree reluctantly. He suspected now that while she might not want to face them down, she would have, and they probably would have given her whatever she wanted. If she really didn’t want to deal with him, she would have dared him to drag her brothers into it. However, she’d allowed him to use that threat, to put her into a position where she had to deal with him. And she’d made that decision all on her own. She wasn’t in as big a hurry to get rid of him as she pretended. “I suppose you do.”

  She looked suspicious now, but she didn’t question him. “Are we meeting in Brax’s office?” she asked.

  He glanced at his watch. “In half an hour. There’s food in the kitchen if you want to eat first.”

  She nodded and left. Brad caught his elbow before he could follow.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing, Zach. If you hurt her again, we will kill you.”

  “I won’t let her go a second time.”

  “I don’t expect you to,” he said somberly. “I said if you hurt her. Don’t let your need for your mate’s submission crush her.”

  He stood in the foyer several long seconds after Brad left, struggling against his instincts. The primitive part of him wanted to find her and hide her away, but the reasoned modern side knew that was impossible. Her brother was right. It would suffocate her. She’d be miserable and grow to hate him. He couldn’t live with that.

  When he felt like he was back in control of his worry and frustration, he followed her into the kitchen. She was sitting on a stool at the high center island talking with Esme, Brax, Mason, Gabe, Carter and her brother. The bowl of stew in front of her appeared untouched, but she’d already finished half a beer. He took the empty stool to her left and nudged her elbow with his.

  “What?” she asked softly, her expression guarded.

  “Eat, baby.”

  The others appeared to have already finished.

  “What about you?” she asked.

  “Already ate.”

  He reached for her beer and took a long drink. She scowled, but she lifted the spoon. The small talk he’d interrupted resumed, but he paid it no attention. He finished her drink while she ate and got them two new ones as she pushed the bowl away.

  “So?” Brax asked. “How did it go?”

  “Weird. I recognized a couple famous patients, but that level of security is overkill to protect a couple of rock stars or actors, ya know? Everyone expects some of them to be messed up. It’s not news or shocking or whatever. You already know about the no phone or jewelry rules.” She pointedly did not look at Zach when she made that statement. “That rule includes patients, doctors, even security.”

  “They use radios to communicate?” Carter asked.

  “Yeah, but they aren’t like the ones we use at work. I couldn’t get a close enough look at one to see what they are. If there’s a code, the doctors are paged over the loud speakers.” She sounded disappointed she couldn’t tell them more.

  “That’s good,” Mason encouraged. “What about building access?”

  “If you make it past the gate, you can get in the building, but you can’t get off the first floor. Everything is controlled by keycards and they’re programmed individually. You swipe the card in the elevator, then enter your floor number. The computers work the same way.”

  She paused for a drink. “I can’t get into the records room. That’s limited access. Strange, but not too far out there. But this is really weird. The seventh floor is off limits to everyone but a select few. I couldn’t find any patients in the computer listed on that floor.”

  “Well, isn’t that interesting,” Carter said, exchanging a look with Mason.

  Brax shook his head. “Interesting, but it doesn’t really tell us anything.” He looked at Mallory. “Are you sure there’s no way you can get into that records room?”

  Zach stiffened. “Don’t ask her to do that, Brax. It’s dangerous enough her being in the building.”

  “I’d have to steal a keycard,” she said reluctantly, and Zach exhaled a sigh of relief.

  “Maybe we
can get around that,” Gabe said. Zach wanted to strangle him. “You have yours with you?”

  She reached into her pocket and handed it to him. “What are you thinking?”

  “Well, first I’ll clone this one. Then we’ll see if there’s a way to change the permissions on it.”

  “You think that’ll work?”

  He snorted. “No, but it’s worth a try.” He stood and led the way to the security office. “What I really need is to get a camera in there.”

  “I don’t see how,” Mallory said. “No jewelry. There’s no buttons on scrubs.”

  “There has to be a way,” Gabe mused under his breath.

  Zach hoped he could find one. If she was going to be in there, he wanted to know if she was in danger. A camera or mic was the only way, since she couldn’t take a phone in.

  “Figure it out,” he ordered. He was so tense he was surprised he didn’t snap. He was even more surprised when Mallory reached over and squeezed his hand.

  “It’ll be fine,” she whispered. “Chill out.”

  Yeah, right. Like that was happening. She only resisted a second when he tugged her close enough to wrap his arm around her shoulders. A few seconds more and she relaxed into him. Gabe ignored them and slipped the card into what looked like a small box. Lights on the front lit up and he turned to the computer, typing in commands.

  “This will take twenty to thirty minutes. You want to wait or pick it up in the morning?”

  She hesitated, biting her bottom lip. Zach answered for her. “She’ll get it in the morning. Leave it on my desk.”

  Gabe nodded and Zach pulled Mallory into the hall. “I can wait, Zach. It’s not a big deal.”

  Maybe, but the one instinct he wasn’t fighting right now was to take care of her. And she was exhausted. He felt it through their bond, which grew stronger every day, could see it on her face. “You need to rest, baby. We’re going home. Tomorrow is soon enough to dive back into this insanity.”

  She heaved a sigh and allowed him to pull her out the front door, but they didn’t move towards her car. Instead he tugged her to one of the paths that led off behind Brax’s house.

  “Where are we going? Zach, I really just want to take a shower and sleep. A midnight stroll is not on the list.”

  He laughed. “It’s a long way from midnight. And it’s a surprise.” She was such a sucker for surprises. Damn him for knowing her so well.

  There were many wide, well-worn paths from Brax’s house. Inside the compound, golf carts were the main mode of transport and most of the trails accommodated them. When they turned off a much narrower and newer trail, she knew where he was taking her and dug in her heels until he was forced to stop.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea,” she said.

  “It’s finished, Mallory.” He lifted his hands and cupped her face. “The house is finished and it’s beautiful and it is exactly what you wanted. But it’s lonely as hell. Please just come look at it.”

  She could hear the ache in his voice and it seared her to her core. She couldn’t speak; she could only nod. And they continued the last several yards until the trees broke to reveal the clearing they’d chosen for their dream house. It was almost impossible to hide her pleasure. It was a two-story antebellum reproduction, but built with modern energy concerns in mind, if he’d stuck to the plan. It would have a huge kitchen open to a dining room and living room on the first floor. A large library for both of them. And four bedrooms upstairs, for the family they’d planned. She couldn’t believe he’d finished it. It had only been in the beginning stages when she lost the baby. And she wasn’t sure she could handle going inside.

  “This is such a bad idea,” she whispered.

  “Why?” he asked, turning to her. “Forget my job and your job, forget all the Elect security concerns. This house is about me and you and what we wanted together. This house is just about us, and maybe we both need to remember that.”

  “You forgot about us long before you finished this house,” she said so softly she couldn’t believe he heard. He took her hand, laced their fingers together and held on hard.

  “I never will again, I swear.”

  He was going to kill her, piece by piece, if this wasn’t real. If he wasn’t really going to try. She looked up at the house—the perfect, beautiful house she’d wanted to fill with perfect, beautiful children—and knew it was all a myth. She could walk away. He’d let her. Or she could move forward. It might be messy and sometimes ugly, and if she was very, very determined, maybe a little bit awesome.

  She took the step. She had no real clue why, just that it seemed stupid to not see for herself, but when she stepped inside the house, she froze. All they’d agreed on three years ago was the floor plan. The house wasn’t just finished on the outside, though. She walked in and saw the floors she’d wanted. The paint colors and fixtures she’d wanted. But she’d never had a chance to discuss any of that with Zach. When he came in behind her and shut the door, she turned to him.

  “How?”

  His shrug was almost sheepish. “You left a notebook with your ideas. I did what I thought you wanted.”

  “And you never asked?” She cocked an eyebrow. She was in shock. The place was perfect.

  “I wanted to give you a gift,” he said. “I never thought when I was doing it we’d be apart this long.”

  She was so not taking him back for a house. Even if it was perfect. “You’re insane.”

  “Not insane,” he said, shaking his head. “In love, yes.”

  His declaration froze her in place. He’d always told her he wanted her. He needed her. But love? She knew he loved her as much as he was capable, but he almost never said it.

  “Who are you and what have you done with Zach Littman?” she quipped.

  He actually laughed with her. She wasn’t sure if she should soak it in or call for help. Then he stepped closer, set his hands on hips and backed her up to a wall.

  “I surprised you,” he said, staring down at her.

  She nodded. She couldn’t deny it. He leaned down and kissed her just under her right ear, then moved to whisper to her.

  “I love you, Mallory White Littman. I have since I was a boy.”

  She shuddered. Could he really mean that? He’d never said that before, never hinted. Love was not a word in his vocabulary. There was a time she’d thought she was okay with that. Now that he was throwing it around she wasn’t so sure. Her insecurity was obviously showing through. His lips pressed against hers softly.

  “I will make sure you know, baby, every day,” he whispered. He leaned his forehead against hers and she could hear him grind his teeth. “I need you to know,” he said. “I won’t let you go easily, but if you leave, it won’t change anything for me. We’re a good match, Mallory.”

  She pulled away. “I can’t do this right now.”

  She was so conflicted. Thankfully, he let her walk away and wander around the bottom floor a bit. The walls were the exact color she wanted, the floors the perfect reclaimed pine. Finally, she let him bully her upstairs to the master bathroom into the shower, which she knew she’d love in the morning when her brain cells were working, and then to bed. But the exhaustion was emotional, not physical, and she stared at the ceiling, wishing for sleep but unable to find it. She heard the shower turn off and the sheets rustled as he slipped into bed behind her. He pulled her close, his chest to her back, one arm slipped under her neck and the other wrapped around her stomach.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

  “Nothing,” she answered. Everything, she thought. It felt too good to lay in his arms. In this house. Would be too easy to welcome him back into her life. And would hurt like hell when things eventually went south. But she didn’t want to think about any of that now. She just wanted to feel the bliss he could bring her.

  She turned around and lifted her face. “Just kiss me.”

  His eyes searched hers for a moment. “With pleasure,” he murmured.

&nb
sp; His lips brushed hers before tracking across her face. Cheeks, nose, her closed eyelids. Gentle, teasing contact from such a hard man. She felt the tenderness rising in him, but she didn’t think she could handle it. She stroked her palms down his chest, felt his muscles spasm when she reached his abdomen and kept going. She hesitated at his pelvis, her hand hovering over his erection.

  “Touch me, baby,” he whispered a second before nipping her earlobe and she let the last bit of her reluctance slip away.

  She wrapped her hand around the base of his cock and slowly stroked up. When her thumb brushed over the slit on the head, already wet with pre-come, he exhaled with a hiss. “Yes,” he whispered. “You know what I like.”

  She knew what he wanted and she wanted it more. She loved the control. Loved the taste and feel of him in her mouth almost as much he enjoyed it. She felt the desire in his mind and slid down his body to kneel between his legs. He sat up and leaned against the headboard. His anticipation amplified hers and she stretched out, flat on her belly, propped on her elbows. She blew a breath over the head of his cock, then gave it a long, slow lick. Zach’s hands twisted in her hair, but he didn’t pressure her for more, didn’t try to force her to take him into her mouth. He let her go at her own pace, let her pleasure him as he had done to her.

  She trailed her tongue down the pulsing vein on the underside of his shaft. Back up to circle the head before taking it between her lips, sucking as she let him slide further in until her hand, still wrapped around the base, blocked further access. She was fine with that and he didn’t complain. She set an easy rhythm. Stroke, suck. She cupped his balls, judging how close he was to coming by the way they tightened. Just when she knew he was ready, he stopped her. His hands slipped under her arms and easily pulled her up to straddle him. His cock prodded her entrance insistently.

  She didn’t hurry. She wanted to drag this out, wanted to savor every moment as she took him inside her. His hands gripped her ass and, staring into her eyes, he slowly entered her. Gasping, she let her head fall back as, inch by inch, he filled her. God, he felt good. When she didn’t move, he rolled them over, still buried to the hilt inside her. He thrust, gentle, shallow, and took her nipple in his mouth. He sucked her just as gently as she’d sucked him. There was none of the hurried, desperate frenzy of the previous night but a greater focused intensity.