Her Covert Protector (Rogue Protectors Book 4)

He was going to be a father.

Fuck.

John was excited, and a little bit terrified, but he’d been prepared for this possibility for weeks. He could even say he had hoped for it.

Nadia turned in his arms, chin tilted up, eyes huge. “I’m really pregnant.”

“Hey, now,” he said in amusement. “Are you claiming all the hard work?”

Her expression grew pensive. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

John cupped her face so she couldn’t look away. “Listen up. I’ll admit to the same panic you had when I found the torn condom. But clinging to the hope that you might be pregnant gave me a semblance of self-preservation in that dungeon.”

“What do you mean?”

“My objective was surviving and getting back to you,” he said. “You heard about the time I nearly got beheaded by Al-Qaeda?”

“Gabby told me about it.” Nadia shuddered. “That really happened that way?”

John nodded. “I was reckless at times in wanting to push my enemy’s buttons. Call it an instinct, that drive to fulfill a mission at all costs.” And no consequence to his own life. “But fear sometimes is good.” He stared at her intensely. “My biggest fear is leaving you alone and pregnant.”

“That’s just it. Will being with me and our baby make you less effective in your job?”

John thought back to all his friends that had recently married. Kade, Roarke, and Walker. His thoughts also strayed to Antonio Andrade—the billionaire who fell for Charly—the CDC’s spunky virologist. Complete opposites, but somehow they fell in love. “I think the solution is not putting myself in a situation that makes me ineffective.” John had a feeling a different kind of ruthlessness would surface.

“And you’re okay with that?”

He grinned briefly. “I think it’s time I slowed down. Put down roots.”

Nadia still looked doubtful.

“I know you still need convincing, but I’d rather show you than tell you.”

The corners of her lips tilted up. “A man of action.”

He grinned roguishly. “That’s right.”

“Let’s see what kind of man-of-action you’ll turn out to be.”

“Hit me with what you’ve got.”

“You’ll be at every doctor’s appointment and birthing class.”

He stilled, and with difficulty, swallowed the knot in his throat. “Okay.”

“And if I have any middle-of-the-night cravings, you’re going to satisfy them.”

“I heard pregnancy makes women horny.”

Nadia rolled her eyes.

John chuckled. “Did you realize …”

“That I rolled my eyes … that seems to be the urge with you recently. I finally gave in.”

There was a knock on the kitchen door followed by, “Nadia…”

She exhaled a resigned breath. “That’s Dad.”

“What do you want to tell him?”

“I sort of want to keep this to ourselves for tonight.”

“I agree. Although I think Dugal and Clyde were more concerned about the pileup this morning.”

“Yes. So, let’s just show our faces?”

John agreed and ushered her to the kitchen. Nadia leaned against him, and he figured she was still dealing with the shock of finding out she was going to be a mother.

He yanked open the door and they both stared at their nighttime visitors.

Stephen and Clyde in front.

Dugal and Arthur behind them.

“Are you both okay from this morning’s pileup?” Stephen asked. “I know you sent me that text, but that’s what’s all over the evening news and the images are horrible.”

“We’re fine,” Nadia said.

“I thought I saw your Subaru,” Dugal said.

“Yep, that was mine,” she answered. “I was just glad John was with me. Otherwise, I would have been t-boned from the side.”

“You would have seen it,” John said grimly.

“Well, we just wanted to make sure you were both okay,” Stephen said, turning to walk away. Clyde was still staring at Nadia expectantly.

John cleared his throat in an obvious way and awarded Nadia’s nosy neighbor a look.

“Oh, yeah,” the short man said. “We’ll leave you both to rest.”

“Thanks,” John said firmly and without waiting for all of them to turn away, he shut the door.

“Wow,” Nadia said as they headed into the kitchen. “You’re quite the warden.”

“You bet your ass I am. Anyone giving you a hard time, you send them to me.” John leaned a hip against the counter as she opened the fridge and ducked in to rummage through its contents. Guess he’d have to get used to his woman always being hungry.

His woman.

He liked the sound of that.

“I hope that doesn’t include my bosses at work.” Nadia straightened from the fridge with a bowl in her hand.

“You know me better than that,” he said, even when he knew it could become a lie. This overwhelming urge to protect her, to be the buffer against anything that could upset her or harm her, surprised him. John was including himself in that assessment.

He erased the distance between them and took the bowl from her hand, setting it on the counter.

“Hey, rule one,” Nadia warned. “Don’t get between a pregnant woman and her food.”

“So you’re playing the pregnancy card now?”

“Every opportunity I get.”

“Fair enough,” he said. “But this is new territory for both of us. There’s going to be a learning curve. I may irritate the fuck out of you. In return, you’ll give me more gray hair, but what we won’t do is blame this pregnancy when the going gets tough between us.” At the question in her eyes, he continued, “I’m finding myself protective as hell over you. If anybody complains to you about it, that’s not your problem, it’s mine. Send them to me.”

She looked at him doubtfully. “Not sure about that. You might get me fired.”

“Luckily, you report to Kelso and Gabby. They’re used to me.”

“Still, I don’t need you to fight my battles,” she argued. “Don’t get me wrong, I feel all warm and dainty when you say these things, but the woman who worked so hard to get the LAPD to give her one of the most advanced forensic labs in the county is itching to kick you in the balls.”

He choked on a laugh. “Noted. You wouldn’t be the woman I—” he caught himself at what he nearly said. “I’m obsessing about.”

Her mouth quirked. She caught that. Nadia picked up the bowl John had snatched away from her and popped it in the microwave.

“What are you eating?”

“I have a craving for day-old, greasy, shrimp fried rice.”

“You’re very specific.”

“I’m pregnant, so be warned,” she sassed, then she announced that she needed to take a shower and flounced off. Doors opened and closed. There were two rooms but only that one bathroom in the hallway. The water turned on, and he tried very hard to ignore the stirring in his jeans. How long had it been since he’d been inside her?

Over two weeks, but he had a taste of her this morning, and he was dying for more. She was as fucking sweet as he remembered. He was all kinds of stupid for promising not to fuck her until she made the first move, yet there was still a part of him that wanted to give her that choice. Because as John was finding out, he didn’t want to give Nadia many choices when it came to him. In fact, they were sleeping together tonight in one bed, with him wrapped around her.

Dammit. He was some fucking possessive son of a bitch.

Did he care? No.

The microwave dinged with Nadia’s food and he walked over to check on it. It was warm enough so he left it in the appliance.

He grabbed a bottle of water for himself and sat at the counter, thinking he needed a shower as well. There was the one and only bathroom in the hallway. He knew Nadia was attached to her dad and the people in this apartment complex, but soon, they may need more room. John needed to plan ahead because that was the man he was. He fished out his phone which was always in secure browsing mode and started to search.

He’d been down the rabbit hole of Westwood real estate when Nadia emerged. She was in sleep shorts and was wearing a shirt, but all John could see was the shadow of her nipples. Her shampoo and soap mingled and he had the oddest desire to dirty her up. Wipe out her clean smell with the scent of sweat, musk, and sex.

Fuck.

“You want to relax in the living room while eating this?”

She declined. “I’ll end up watching television and I really want to sleep in my bed this time.” Opening the microwave, she picked up her bowl and started chowing down. John returned his attention to his phone, but this time went to a site he bookmarked.

“You should head to bed,” she said. “You’ve had less sleep than I have.”

He glanced up. “I’ll wait. Because we’re sleeping together.”

She swallowed the bite in her mouth and sighed. “A part of me wants to say no and not rush into this, but then another part of me says I’m being ridiculous because, hey, I’m already knocked up. It’s not like you can get me pregnant again.”

John shrugged. “Or you could say it’s a matter of principle, and that you haven’t had your pound of flesh yet for the times I’ve been such an asshole to you.”

Nadia put her spoon down, rested her elbows on the counter, and leaned forward, her gorgeous eyes narrowed at him. “Is this one of your techniques of getting someone to agree with you?”

He chuckled. “It’s hardly a technique.”

“No. It’s called reverse psychology.”

“Is it working?”

“I never thought I’d use these words to describe you, but you can be a charming scoundrel when you want to be.”

“Only with you, babe.”

Nadia was in big trouble.

Every layer she peeled away from John, she was falling deeper and deeper under his spell. His bossiness was catnip. Add in his protectiveness and that roguish charm of his … who the hell was he hiding beneath that badass CIA persona he’d been showing everyone?

She took a sip of water before spooning more fried rice into her mouth. John had returned his attention to his phone, so she took that opportunity to reflect on the past forty-eight hours.

“I like the kind of man I am with you.”

A simple, heartfelt statement that she felt right in her soul. Like John, Nadia had worn many identities not only in her foray into cosplay, but also the many different times she dyed her hair. But with John, she’d uncovered a passionate woman hiding inside her. All her life she loved living in the land of make believe, but in real life? She liked to play it safe. She liked numbers, science, and computer code because it was something that had order and logic. They were quantifiable. She understood now why she was pissed at John when he threw her headlong into the Mexican op. He was pushing her outside her comfort zone. She had a feeling he did that on purpose. He was perceptive. That asshole. But he was her asshole. She thought possessively.

He glanced up from whatever he was scrolling. “We need to make an appointment for your prenatal.”

Nadia stopped chewing. “Ah … I think that’s best when I’m four weeks?” She wasn’t sure. Nadia hadn’t even opened one website about pregnancy.

“Yes, but the first ultrasound can be done at six weeks,” he told her. “We also need to start you on prenatal vitamins, ASAP.”

“Okay, I guess you’re on top of it,” she laughed.

His eyes crinkled at the corners. “So, in about two weeks then.” He put down his phone. “I’ll try not to make decisions for you, but I know an agency physician I trust.”

“John?” She watched him carefully. “Are you paranoid because you have enemies who could get to me?”

He blew out a breath. “I’m trying not to think that way, but Bristow and I have been made, and we’re not sure how Dmitry Vovk will react to his brother’s murder.”

“That’s on the CTTF. I’ve read Kelso’s report. Kelso dropped Maxim, and the ballistics that belonged to your team were attributed to a Latino gang that had a beef with the Ukrainians. Followed them, and ambushed them when Maxim attacked Kelso.”

“I still want to take precautions,” John said. “DNI is concerned with what happened with the Automatic Traffic Control System. If that happened to air traffic control, it could be catastrophic.”

Nadia had been helping Cal Traffic safeguard their systems all day that she didn’t have the luxury of thinking of any other threats. But John once told her the difference between the CIA and the FBI. The FBI was reactive, while the CIA identified future threats, especially those coming from outside the homeland.

She finished her fried rice, and the carbs didn’t take long to make her sleepy. The caffeine in her system lost its effect as her brain wanted to shut down. Nadia hadn’t slept well in the past few days.

“You ready for bed?” he glanced up from his phone again, alert to her every movement.

“You need to stop doing that,” she groused.

His blue eyes widened in surprise or pretend-surprise. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Declan said you have the ability to think one step ahead, and it’s great when it comes to ensuring the safety of the country. But doing it with me? It’s freaky.”

His grin turned apologetic. Not really. Nadia was beginning to discern his tells. He was fiddling on his phone because he couldn’t wait to carry her off to bed. She could blame it on her hormones, too, because after satisfying the hunger in her stomach, another type of hunger took over.

“I’ll try not to act too freaky. I just want to anticipate … your needs.” His gaze turned meaningful.

Oh, boy. He was determined to turn up the heat. Could she at least hold him off for another day? Show some self-control around this man. Geez, Powell. Nadia hopped off the bar stool, anxious to get away before she ended up jumping him. “The bathroom is all yours. Sorry if I got all my feminine crap all over it. You’re probably not used to sharing.”

He caught her arm before she could flee to her room, and she glanced at him questioningly.

“One more thing, babe,” he said. “You be you. I’ll adapt. Got it?”

She melted a little.

Nadia woke up to a wall of warmth at her back and a rod of hardness tucked between her ass cheeks. She dared not move. She didn’t remember falling asleep last night. She thought she’d be too nervous about sharing a bed with John for the first time, but she was more exhausted than she realized. After all, yesterday was a lot to pack in.

John had his arm flung over her torso.

They were spooning.

And she was hot … and not in a good way.

And as much as the idea of spooning with him tickled her heart, the idea of perspiration trickling down her back did not, so she attempted to extricate herself, lifting his arm ever so slowly. But when she tried to scoot away, he tightened his hold and pulled her back to him. He burrowed his nose even deeper into her hair and she felt his chest contract as if inhaling her.

She huffed. He was awake. He was a spy, and probably slept with one eye open.

“I’m hot,” she said.

“Yes, you are,” he rumbled behind her, but there was laughter in his tone.

“Did you sleep at all?”

“Some. Sleeping with a hard-on is proving quite difficult.”

“Are you hoping I’ll put you out of your misery?”

“Not at all. No pressure. Go back to sleep. You have another two hours before your alarm goes off.”

Was that another attempt at reverse psychology? He let her go and the mattress shifted beneath his weight. Coolness touched her back and she was suddenly missing his warmth. She also switched her position, turning to face him where she could see the outline of his profile.

“I can feel you staring at me.” His voice was rough. “Go to sleep, Nadia. You need it.”

She closed her eyes and must have drifted off to sleep soon afterwards, because next she blinked, it was morning, and John was gone from her side.