The kiss was deep. Hot. Bold and aggressive and ultimately possessive-a ravenous clash of lips and tongues that imitated the unbridled way he moved against her, inside of her. Then his hands were gripping her bottom, dragging her closer, increasing the heated friction between their bodies. Intense pleasure saturated her senses, and she clenched around his shaft as the beginnings of a climax rippled through her.
She groaned raggedly against his mouth, and unable to hold back, she let her orgasm wash over her. The release was strong and overwhelming, tearing a soft cry from her lips as she rode out the exquisite sensation.
Even as she was still convulsing from the aftermath and trying to catch her breath, Joel's body tightened beneath hers and he came, shuddering hard against her.
Chapter Ten
JOEL had always been a light sleeper, made more so by military training and the living conditions he'd endured during his time in Iraq. He'd learned to always be alert, anticipate danger, and react to the slightest sounds, even while sleeping. Especially while sleeping. Because that's when you were most vulnerable to the enemy.
So, before the first vibrating sound against his night-stand ended, Joel jolted awake, had his cell phone in hand, and was checking the caller ID. He saw private caller flash across the display, which automatically ruled out his partners at ESS, and cursed softly beneath his breath even as his stomach twisted with dread. It was never a good thing when someone got a call at three in the morning, and Joel instinctively knew that this one was going to be a hellish wake-up call.
He managed to move off the bed quickly and without disturbing Lora, who was sound asleep on the other side of the mattress, then grabbed his sweatpants from the floor and headed down the hall to the living room. The unit in his hand buzzed again, and he flipped open the cell phone and tucked it between his ear and shoulder as he pulled on his pants.
"Hello?" he said, keeping his voice low.
"Jesus Fucking Christ, Joel!" came the loud, pissed-off voice he'd been anticipating since Lora's attack. "What the hell is going on with my sister? I just got a few snapshots of her sent to my cell phone and she's got a goddamn knife pressed against her neck. Is she okay?"
Beneath the justified fury in Zach's tone, there was a trace of panic Joel couldn't ignore. "She's okay," he reassured Zach. "She's here with me at my place."
"What the hell happened?" Zach demanded heatedly. "How did these guys get her alone when you were supposed to watch over her twenty-four/seven?"
Joel pressed his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. The question prompted a fresh surge of guilt to rise to the surface, now compounded by the fact that he'd slept with Lora. Twice. He was beginning to think he was in way over his head when it came to Lora, and he wasn't quite sure what to do about that realization.
Still, he'd been responsible for her safety, and he'd failed to keep her out of harm's way, and that was something he couldn't deny to his friend. "They caught her when she went outside to throw away some trash at The Electric Blue."
"Jesus, Joel. They could have really hurt her, or worse, and I have no doubt that the next time they'll do more than just threaten her," he bit out furiously. "I trusted you to protect Lora, and if that's too much to ask, then let me know and I'll find someone else who can do the job."
Despite his own remorse, Joel felt his anger toward Zach spike. "You're the one who got her in this fucking mess in the first place, Zach," he said as he paced restlessly across the living room floor. "How about you take some responsibility for that, huh?"
"I'm doing what I can to get the money," Zach replied, backing down a fraction.
But Joel was fired up, and he wasn't about to let his friend off so easy. "If you would have been honest and up front with your sister about what you did, this never would have happened. She would have known to be careful and to watch her back. It's not easy to protect someone when they have no idea that their life is in danger."
Zach had no response, and Joel had no problem filling up the silence. "When is this going to be over, Zach?" he asked in a low, harsh tone. "How long are you going to string these guys out for the money you owe them?"
"Luck hasn't exactly been on my side lately," Zach said cynically. "I need a few more weeks."
Joel jammed his fingers through his hair in frustration, because he knew what kind of "luck" his friend was referring to. The kind of big break that compulsive gamblers prayed for as they tossed borrowed money into a poker pot. "This is bullshit, Zach. You're throwing good money after bad. When are you going to wake up and face the truth that you have a gambling problem?"
"The only problem I seem to have is finding someone to keep my sister safe," Zach replied in an attempt to deflect the focus off of him and his personal issues.
"Fuck you, Zach," Joel hissed into the phone, feeling unduly provoked.
"Yeah, well, I already am fucked," Zach said, unable to disguise the thread of fear in his voice. "But that doesn't mean my sister has to be. Can I trust you to keep her safe from here on out, or is that too much to expect?"
Joel hadn't forgotten the fact that he owed Zach his own life, that all his friend had asked in exchange was this one small favor, "I won't let her out of my sight again," he promised, and meant it. "But this situation is bigger and more dangerous than you want to admit. Call your sister and tell her the truth, man. She deserves to hear it from you."
"I… can't. I just can't. She'll never forgive me for what I've done, and I don't want her to ever find out about what I did with that damn insurance policy." Zach's voice cracked with shame and desperation. "Now that you know how serious these guys are, please do whatever it takes to keep her safe."
"Zach-" The line disconnected before Joel could say anything more. "Goddamnit," he growled beneath his breath as he snapped his cell phone shut. Irritation over the whole situation flowed hot and fast through his veins, and it was all he could do not to crush the phone in his hand to ease some of his frustration. Instead, he hung his head and released a slow, taut breath.
"Tell me the truth about what?"
The sound of Lora's soft voice drifting from behind where he stood in the living room, along with the realization that she'd woken up and had overheard a good part of his conversation with Zach, had Joel's stomach dropping out.
Shit.
Reluctantly, he turned around and found her standing a few feet away, wearing his flannel shirt once again and looking all warm and soft and sleep-tousled. In that moment, all he wanted to do was take her back to his bedroom, strip off their clothes, and make love to her again. To lose himself, mind and body and soul, in her giving body, in her sweet, drugging kisses, and forget about Zach and his lies, and Joel's own deceit.
But that wasn't going to happen. In fact, it wouldn't happen again, couldn't happen again, because Joel was forced to admit that Lora had become more than just a job or temporary assignment to him. More than just a client he could watch over dispassionately and without any kind of involvement other than whatever the job entailed.
No, somewhere along the way the entire situation had gotten emotionally complicated, and so fucking personal. And as a result he'd lost his edge and his ability to remain focused. Lost those instincts that kept his senses sharp and honed and enabled him to keep his client out of danger. It was obvious to him that his desire for Lora had become too damned distracting, to the point that he'd grown lax. Too comfortable. So caught up in the awareness and sexual tension between them that he'd let his guard drop long enough for Zach's thugs to get their hands on her.
Knowing that the next time could be deadly, he couldn't afford to make that kind of mistake again. Which meant he had to distance himself from his attraction to Lora, and keep his lust in check. Had to keep his head in the game and make her safety a priority, and he couldn't do that if he was constantly thinking about getting Lora naked again.
"You were talking to Zach, and he is obviously keeping something from me that you know about," Lora
said, bringing his thoughts back to the discussion at hand. "What's going on, Joel?"
He watched as she approached him, her gaze searching his for answers in the still dim, shadowed room. He'd prefer that she heard the full story from her brother, but Zach hadn't given Joel that option, and he was done lying, done pretending to be someone he wasn't, and done covering Zach's ass.
He switched on a nearby lamp, set his cell phone on the coffee table, and released a deep sigh before facing her again, "Zach's in trouble, Lora. Big trouble. And it involves you."
She crossed her arms over her chest, drawing his gaze to the full swells of her breasts peeking from the low V where she'd buttoned his shirt. "I think I've figured out that part already," she said wryly. "Why and how does Zach's situation involve me?"
There was no easy way to couch the ugly, disturbing truth, so he didn't even try. "Because Zach used the life insurance policy on you as collateral for a loan so he could gamble some more and get himself out of debt," he said bluntly. "Except now he's in deeper shit than before and his 'friends' are demanding payment, or they'll go straight to the source to get it themselves."
Lora's eyes widened in disbelief and her hand fluttered to her throat, her fingers pressing against the red mark still visible on her neck. "And that's me. Dead."
"Yeah, that's usually how those insurance policies work," he said grimly.
"Oh, God," she breathed. Stunned, she sat down on the sofa, then her gaze cut to his. "And all this time, you knew."
It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact. "Yeah, I knew. Zach called me a few weeks ago and told me everything. He knew those guys were going to come after you eventually, and he asked me to watch over you until he could get the money together to pay back the loan."
She swallowed hard. "How much does he owe them?"
"Over fifty grand," he said, and watched her complexion pale even more.
She was quiet for a long moment, and Joel gave her the time to process everything he'd just told her. He'd always known that she was a strong, capable woman, but her relatively low-key reaction to learning that her brother pretty much sold her life to enable his gambling habit proved it. Most people would have been frantic, hysterical, and emotionally distraught, yet here Lora sat, trying to sort out the facts. He couldn't help but admire her for that internal fortitude and her ability to remain calm in the face of such devastating news. However, he also suspected that this was the calm before the storm, that soon her composed demeanor would shift to a very justified anger.
"So," she said, a small, pained smile on her lips. "Our meeting at The Electric Blue wasn't some kind of coincidence, was it?"
He shook his head. "No, it was planned."
"Oh, wow." Lora exhaled a deep breath, feeling as though her world as she knew it had tilted on its axis. And in a big way, it had, considering nothing had been as it seemed.
But knowing the truth now explained so much. Like Joel's single-minded pursuit in order to stay close to her. His resisting the attraction between them because it went against that code of honor of his when their meeting had been based on a pretense. But there were other questions, important ones, that still remained unanswered.
She glanced back at Joel, who stood just a few feet away, his arms crossed over his wide chest and his expression as guarded as his attitude. Last night he'd been her rock, her anchor in a very stormy, turbulent sea of shock and confusion. Now, he looked like what she knew him to be… her protector, a man who'd promised her brother that he'd watch over her. And he was back to taking that job very seriously.
"Why didn't you tell me about Zach's debt and my part in it?" she asked.
A muscle in his cheek ticked, and he scrubbed a hand over the dark stubble on his jaw before answering. "Because I promised Zach that I wouldn't tell you the truth."
Judging by the reserved look in his eyes, she suspected there was more to that simple reply than he was letting on. "Why not?" she asked curiously. "Wouldn't it have just been easier if I knew what I was up against?"
"Hell, yeah," he said with a dry little laugh. "If you knew, last night with those thugs never would have happened. I'm sure of it."
"So why keep everything a secret?" she persisted.
He hesitated, his reluctance to reveal that part of his agreement with Zach nearly tangible. Then, he obviously decided that honesty at this point was the best option. No more lies between them. "There's two reasons, actually. First, Zach didn't want you to know what he'd done, because he was afraid this would be the final straw for you when it comes to him, considering this isn't the first time he's gotten himself into this kind of situation."
"As upset as I am about Zach's gambling addiction and what he did with my insurance policy, he's my brother and I love him. Nothing will ever change that, but it's so clear that he needs professional help."
"Yeah, he does," Joel agreed gruffly.
"And the second reason?" she asked, wanting to hear it all.
"I owed Zach for saving my life in Iraq." His eyes grew dark and shadowed, and uncompromising. "If that meant promising him I wouldn't tell you that your life was in danger while protecting you, it was a small favor to agree to, considering what he did for me."
Lora stared at Joel in shock. Her brother had saved his life? Good Lord, what had he endured in the military? What had Zach gone through, as well? A huge lump formed in her throat, and she spoke around it. "What happened?"
"Look, this conversation isn't about me," he said, pushing aside her too-personal question to redirect the discussion back to business. "It's about you and keeping you safe until Zach gets his shit together."
Lora knew it was a very real possibility that her brother wouldn't be able to come up with the fifty grand, or more, that he owed. Which meant not only her life was in danger, but Zach's as well. And that thought was enough to make her feel physically sick.
Knowing she had to do whatever she could for Zach, she stood up and approached Joel with her idea. "I have over twenty-five thousand sitting in a savings account that I've accumulated over the years. I've been putting it away so I could use it to open my own spa one day, but if that money means helping Zach get out of the trouble he's in, then I'm willing to use it for that."
Joel's brows rose incredulously. "Just a few hours ago you told me that you've bailed him out of similar situations before. And now you want to do it again?"
"He's in trouble, Joel, and he's my brother," she said, a little angry that he'd question her solution.
"You don't get it, do you?" He jammed his hands onto his hips and moved closer, so that he was in her face and being brutally honest and straight with her. "You're enabling him, Lora. Making it okay for him to go and do it again. He's got a huge problem, an addiction. Just a few minutes ago you said that he needs professional help, yet here you are, ready to bail him out again!"
She felt tears of frustration burn the backs of her eyes. Frustration and fear for Zach's life, she knew. "He can't get professional help if he's dead!"
The tension riding across Joel's broad shoulders eased, and his voice softened, too. But not his words. "Those people are still going to want the rest of the money, Lora."
"I'll take out a loan," she said, desperate for some kind of solution.
Joel shook his head sadly. "I'm not going to let you do that. You have to understand that Zach's behavior has become a vicious cycle, Lora. Unless you make him accountable for his actions somehow, instead of making it easy on him every single time he finds himself in a bind, then this gambling addiction of his will never end."
As much as it pained her, she knew deep down inside that Joel was right. It was hard to accept that truth, even more difficult to let her brother find his way out of this mess alone. "There has to be something I can do."
As if understanding her dilemma, he closed the distance between them and rubbed his hands down her flannel-covered arms, his caress as gentle and caring as the look in his eyes. "Right now the best thing you can do for yourself, and
for Zach, is to keep yourself out of harm's way. That said, I don't think it's a good idea for you to return to work, at the spa or the bar, until this is over."
For her, that wasn't an option. "I don't intend to cower or hide, or keep myself cooped up for who knows how long." She lifted her jaw stubbornly, refusing to back down on the issue. "I have a life, and I have a job that means a lot to me, and there's no reason for me to take a leave of absence. Now that I know what's going on, I'm not going to do anything stupid like I did last night. Besides, didn't you promise Zach you'd protect me?"
He narrowed his gaze at her, and his arms dropped back down to his sides. "Yeah, I did, but I'm not Superman, Lora. It's difficult enough being responsible for someone without them making themselves a direct target." He paced away from her, then spun back around. "You saw what those men were capable of, and while I don't plan to let you out of my sight again, there are things that I can't anticipate, or that are out of my control, that can happen."
"I'm not a coward, Joel," she said, and meant it. "Sure, those men scared the hell out of me, but I've never run or hidden from anything in my entire life, and I'm not about to start now. If they want me bad enough, they'll find a way to get me, whether it's on the street with you, or in my apartment. I'm not changing every aspect of my life just because I'm afraid."
He studied her for a long moment, then, obviously realizing that there was nothing he could do or say to change her mind, he exhaled a long, harsh breath. "Fine."
She relaxed, grateful that that particular fight was over. "Thank you. Now that we've settled that argument, I'm going back to bed to try to get some sleep." As if. But she felt so drained and exhausted, emotionally and mentally, and crawling back under the warm covers held immense appeal.
"Lora, wait," he said when she started to leave the living room. "There's something else we need to talk about."
She faced him again, and immediately knew by the reserved look in his gaze, coupled with the gruff, direct tone of his voice, that their conversation was about to take a more personal, intimate turn. She steeled herself for what he was about to say.
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