Protective Order

by Rita Herron

  “Oh, God,” she choked out. “Another man is dead because of me.”

  He regretted telling her, but he’d had no choice. She had to know the lengths Robert had gone to today. That it was imperative she stay with him so he could protect her.

  “The deputy understood the dangers of the job, Ginny.”

  “That still doesn’t make it right.” Tremors rippled through her body, and he hugged her tighter.

  “I know it’s not right. He was a good man.”

  She gulped back tears. “Did he have family? Was he married? Did he have children?”

  “No, no and no,” Griff said. “He was divorced, had just moved here. I don’t think he had family either, at least not that I know of.”

  A small cry broke from her, and he rubbed slow circles along her back. “Shh, it’s all right.”

  “Nothing about this is all right.”

  “I know,” he murmured. “But he did his job and we will find Robert. I promise.”

  “How many more people have to die before he’s caught and locked away?” Ginny asked, bitterness darkening her tone.

  “Hopefully no more.” Griff pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I need to go back downstairs and wait on Jacob. I just had to make sure you were safe first.” Although he’d left the body alone. That didn’t sit well in his gut either. What if someone messed with the crime scene?

  “What about the innkeeper?” Ginny asked.

  “She’s fine. The two guests who were registered checked out when they heard a policeman was stationed outside.” He squeezed her arm. “Lock the door and stay in the room,” Griff ordered.

  Ginny shook her head. “I’ll go with you.”

  “You don’t need to see the deputy like that,” Griff said. “I promise I’ll return as soon as Jacob arrives.” A siren wailed from outside, and she pulled away from him. “All right. Go. I’ll be here when you get back.”

  He hoped to hell she was, and that she didn’t do anything stupid like try to leave without him.

  * * *

  GINNY LOCKED THE door as soon as Griff left the room. Then she walked over to the window, pushed the curtain aside and watched as Jacob climbed from his police car and hurried to the deputy’s car.

  Griff met them just as a hearse appeared and parked. It had to belong to the ME.

  God, the day kept getting worse.

  The men gathered around the deputy’s car, but Griff’s body blocked her view of the man inside. A van veered into the parking lot, and a team climbed out, wearing jackets with ERT on the back. They would work the crime scene and collect evidence.

  Her stomach knotted as they snapped pictures of the car and deputy, then began to take ones of the surrounding ground and area. She hoped they gathered conclusive evidence, although if she found Robert first, they wouldn’t need it.

  She’d take care of him herself.

  The thought made her feel sick inside, but she couldn’t live with people dying on her account.

  Tears for the deputy spilled from her eyes, and she brushed them away angrily. Griff spoke to his brother, then glanced up at the window, and their gazes locked.

  He was the kind of tough, stubborn strong man who made a hero. She could so fall in love with him if things were different.

  She might even learn to trust again.

  He left Jacob and the ME and search team and walked toward the inn.

  The phone Robert had left for her taunted her from the nightstand. Griff would want her to confide about the phone call.

  But sharing with him would only endanger him. Tonight, she’d meet Robert and take care of him then everyone else would be safe.

  The thought of dying didn’t frighten her. Her life the past three years had not really been living. She didn’t want to go to prison, but justice for her sister and all the others whose lives had been destroyed by Robert would be worth it.

  A knock sounded at the door. “Ginny?”

  She inhaled a calming breath, then turned the lock. Griff looked so handsome and sexy and worried that she wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life. Just one night with him.

  Anything could go wrong when she met Robert. He might kill her. She might kill him and go to jail.

  She didn’t want to do either without the memory of one blissful night in Griff’s arms.

  Granted, she didn’t deserve to be with him.

  But she reached for him anyway. “Griff?” Her voice broke. It was full of need and desire.

  He pulled her to him and kissed her with such longing and tenderness that she used her foot to shut the door, then tugged him toward the bed.

  * * *

  GRIFF HAD BEEN so pent up with fear and frustration that he desperately wanted to hold Ginny and feel that she was alive in his arms. Her sweet lips moving against his triggered desires that heated his blood and nearly shattered his self-control.

  No, he could control himself. If she wanted, he’d stop.

  She teased his lips with her tongue, probing, searching, asking for more. Erotic sensations shot through him, stirring hunger and passion.

  But the reminder of the dead deputy outside and how Ginny had suffered barreled through his brain at full speed, and he slowly ended the kiss and pulled away so he could look into her eyes.

  “Ginny, I can’t do this.”

  Her lips parted. Her breath panted out. “Why not? You don’t want me?”

  God, she was killing him.

  “I do,” he murmured. “But I like and respect you too much to take advantage of you after the way you’ve suffered.”

  She threaded her fingers through his hair, then rose on her tiptoes and kissed him again. “You aren’t taking advantage.”

  “But Robert—”

  “You’re nothing like him and I know it.” She traced her fingers along his jaw. “Please, Griff. I want to be with you, to replace all those bad memories with sweet, tender ones. Give me that.”

  He studied her for a moment. Felt the beating of her heart as her chest rose and fell against his. No woman had ever touched his heart the way she had.

  Or stirred his body to such deep desires.

  “Ginny, are you sure?” he whispered.

  Her lips tilted into a seductive smile, and she kissed him again. This time he didn’t hesitate. He scooped her into his arms, carried her to bed then lay down beside her.

  She curled into his arms, wrapped her leg around his thigh and pressed her body against his. Pleasure burst inside him, and he kissed her again, then plunged his tongue into her mouth, loving her the way she’d asked.

  * * *

  GINNY RAKED HER hands across Griff’s muscular back as he trailed kisses down her neck and throat. Her body tingled with erotic sensations, and she urged him closer, savoring the feel of his hard body over hers.

  He moved his hand to her breast, and she moaned in pleasure, whispering his name in a plea for more. Her breath panting out, she lifted her fingers and pulled at his T-shirt. He raised his body enough to yank it over his head and toss it to the floor.

  “I smell like smoke,” he murmured. “I should shower.”

  “I don’t care.” She cupped his face in her hands. “I want you now, just like you are.”

  The sexy smile he gave her sent tingles through her, and she pulled at his belt buckle.

  His breath rasped out. “If you want me to stop at any time, just say the word.”

  “I won’t want you to stop,” she murmured. She’d never been more sure of anything in her life.

  He helped her remove his clothing, shedding it in seconds, then he slowly undressed her, teasing her skin with gentle fingers and lips as he peeled her garments away.

  Finally, naked, he kissed her again, then lowered his head and traced his tongue over her nipple. She moaned a little sigh of pleasure, then ru
bbed her hands over his back. His thick muscles bunched and flexed as he tugged her nipple into his mouth and suckled her. He loved one breast, then gave the other the same titillating treatment, and she wrapped her legs around him and stroked his calf with her foot.

  He groaned, then moved lower and flicked his tongue down her body, teasing her with erotic kisses until he spread her legs and dipped his tongue inside her. Pure pleasure shot through her in such waves that her body began to quiver with sensations. He cupped her bottom in his hands and lifted her hips to give him better access, then drove her over the edge with his fingers and mouth until a million butterflies burst inside her, and she cried out with her orgasm.

  She whispered his name, begging him for more, and he climbed above her and looked into her eyes.

  “Ginny?”

  “Please.” She slid her hand to his hard, thick length and stroked him. Hunger and pleasure darkened his eyes, and he moaned her name. He rolled sideways and disappointment seized her. Was he was going to leave her?

  Then he grabbed a condom from the pocket of his pants, ripped open the package and rolled it on.

  She helped him, desire building again with the anticipation of having that hard length filling her. Seconds later, he stroked her inner thighs with his sex, then pushed her legs farther apart and probed her womanhood.

  One touch, one stroke, and pleasure soared to life again. He thrust into her, then pulled out, then entered her again, teasing and pleasuring her and building a rhythm that soon turned frantic with raw hunger. Over and over again, he thrust deeper and deeper each time until they were both panting, and their orgasms came together.

  Groaning, he lowered his head and kissed her again, deeply and intimately, as the waves of pleasure rocked through them.

  Both sated and breathless, he rolled to her side and pulled her into his arms, then they fell asleep wrapped around each other.

  Sometime later, Ginny woke to the sound of a small beep. Sunlight had faded and dusk was setting in, shadows filling the room. She glanced sideways and saw Griff’s handsome, protective face and his strong jaw, relaxed in sleep.

  Her heart thudded. God help her. She’d fallen in love with him.

  The beep punctuated the air again. The burner phone.

  She hated to leave the warmth and safety of Griff’s arms, but Robert was calling. She could never have a life with Griff until Robert was out of her life permanently.

  Not that she’d have one after she finished with Robert. But she had to finish...

  Slowly, she extricated herself from Griff’s arms. He must have been exhausted from the last few days of firefighting and taking care of her, because he moaned slightly but didn’t wake. She slid from bed, grabbed the burner phone and checked the text.

  Robert had sent an address, GPS coordinates.

  Come alone or Mitzi dies.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Ginny quickly dressed, stowed her gun in her jacket pocket, then snatched her purse and keys. Just as she was tiptoeing toward the door, Griff stirred from sleep.

  He would try to stop her if he woke up. Thinking on her feet, she dropped her bag then hurried over and grabbed the end of the sheet that they’d kicked from the bed. She lowered herself onto the mattress, eased his arms above his head and slipped the sheet around his wrists and tied it high on the bedpost. Just as she was finishing securing the knots, he opened his eyes.

  He looked startled for a moment, then surprised as if he thought she was playing some sex game. “What are you doing, Ginny?”

  She hated to disappoint him, but better that than have him dead.

  She tightened the knot, then dropped a kiss on his cheek. “I’m sorry, Griff. But I have to go.”

  His brows shot up in alarm. “What?”

  She glanced at his naked body and wanted nothing more than to crawl back in his arms and make love to him again. Now that he’d awakened that part of her where she could feel again, it was hard to walk away from it.

  But she couldn’t stay with Griff. Robert was waiting. And if she didn’t do as he said, he would kill Mitzi, then he’d come after Griff. She cared too much about him to let him endanger himself for her.

  “I have to leave.”

  He raked his free hand through his hair. “You’re not going anywhere. Robert could be waiting outside.”

  She squared her shoulders and stepped away from the bed. “He is waiting for me. And if I don’t come to him, he’s going to kill Mitzi.”

  Anger darkened his eyes. “Then we’ll call Jacob. He’ll track him—”

  “No.” She pulled the gun from her pocket. “He said to come alone, or he’d kill her.”

  “Ginny, please, listen to me. It’s a trap, don’t you see that?”

  “Of course, I do. I’m not a fool. At least not anymore.” She lifted the gun. “I’m going to play along then get him out of my life forever.”

  He jerked at the sheet and moved his legs to the side of the bed. “Untie me, Ginny. You can’t face him alone. It’s too dangerous.”

  “It’s more dangerous if I don’t do as he says.” Her hand shook slightly as she trained the gun on his chest. “I’m not going to let Mitzi die because I’m afraid of Robert.”

  “Please, Ginny,” Griff pleaded. “He’ll probably kill her anyway, then kill you or abduct you and do God knows what.”

  Her anger rallied, swift and fast. “This ends tonight. I have to do it for my sister and Mitzi and Joy and all the other women he hurt or will hurt in the future.”

  He jerked at the binding around his wrists, making the bed post rattle. “Please, let me go. I can hide in the car with you. He won’t even know I’m there.”

  Tears pricked her eyes. He was so brave, and strong and caring. He risked his life every day for others.

  Today was not the day he’d lose his life. At least not for her.

  “Thank you for last night,” she said in a pained whisper. Then she turned and walked out the door and hurried out to her car.

  She plugged the GPS coordinates into her phone, drove from the parking lot and headed out of town to meet the man who’d destroyed her life. She refused to allow him to destroy anyone else’s.

  * * *

  GRIFF BELLOWED GINNY’S name as the door closed behind her. He couldn’t believe she’d made love to him and now was leaving him here while she faced that monster alone.

  And what did she mean—she was going to end it? What did she have planned?

  He jerked at the sheet, but the knot was fast and tight. Furious and afraid for her life, he rolled sideways and struggled to reach the top of the bed post where she’d secured the knot. The little vixen had made certain it was secure and tied it in several places along the post.

  Perspiration trickled down his neck as he stretched his body upward on the headboard and twisted his hands so he could reach the top. He wiggled and worked the fabric, slowly easing it loose and managed to release the first knot.

  On to the second. With every moment he worked, Ginny was getting closer and closer to Bouldercrest. Why hadn’t she let him go with her?

  She had a gun, but did she know how to use it? He’d seen her fight that day the man attacked her on the street, but Bouldercrest could take her by surprise and she might not be able to fend him off, or get a shot in.

  And what if he took the gun from her and shot her with her own weapon?

  His heart pounded so hard he could hear the blood roaring in his ears. The second knot finally slipped free.

  It took him another fifteen minutes to release his wrists from the post. By then the images bombarding him made his blood pulse with fear. With sweaty palms, he snatched his phone, pressed Jacob’s number and reached for his clothes. When Jacob answered, he was dragging on his pants.

  “Jacob, listen, Ginny heard from that bastard and she’s gone after him.”

&
nbsp; Jacob heaved a breath. “Are you with her?”

  Self-disgust ate at him. He’d let his emotions cloud his judgment and had slept with her. Had she seduced him so she could tie him up and get away?

  “Griff?”

  “No. Long story, but she’s gone, and she has a gun. He told her to come alone or he’d kill Mitzi.”

  Jacob spewed a litany of curse words. “Did she say where she was supposed to meet him?”

  Griff yanked on his shirt, fumbling with the buttons. “No. She just took off.”

  “All right, I’ll call Liam and see if we can trace her phone.”

  “I’ll meet you at the station.”

  Jacob agreed, and Griff shoved his feet into his shoes, then snatched his jacket and ran for the door.

  * * *

  GINNY’S HEAD WAS spinning as she veered down the narrow, winding road leading to the area where Robert requested they meet. Giant trees and brush enveloped her into an eerie world where the tunnel through the forest felt endless and eerie.

  Robert would choose a remote location, some place he thought no one would find him.

  Or hear her if she screamed.

  She bounced over a rut in the road, making her stomach lurch, and struggled to tamp down her fear. The sweet taste of revenge roused her courage, and she plunged on, weaving around twists and turns until she reached a clearing that ended on a ridge. A small cabin sat near the edge, rustic and weathered, and the yard was overgrown with weeds encroaching on the patchy grass.

  Wind beat at the loose shutters, causing them to flap, and making the deserted place look cold and desolate. Aware Robert would be hiding out, watching her approach, she scanned the area in search of him as she braked to a stop. Her hand automatically flew to her gun, an image of her sister’s face flashing behind her eyes.

  “Today is for you, Tess.”

  Resignation and determination washed over her as she climbed from the car. She turned in a wide circle, hoping Robert would be a man and meet her face-to-face.

  Instead, the sound of a woman screaming echoed in the wind.