Her Covert Protector (Rogue Protectors Book 4)

“Oh my God,” Nadia pressed an arm across her belly. “That was wild.”

As much as she hated admitting it, Garrison had been incredibly hot, swooping in so calmly and disarming Ken’s security. Her lady bits definitely noticed and … Was it hot in here? Taking a peek at the brooding man beside her, he hadn’t said more than two words at a time since they left Ken’s soiree. In fact, he only said two sentences.

When the elevator arrived.

“Get in.”

When they got to the Escalade.

“Get in.”

Terse. Angry.

She exhaled a heavy sigh. “You’re mad at me.”

He cut her a brief glance. “I wonder why that is.”

“There was no other way. He wouldn’t have let you in there. So I said your piece for you.”

Electricity zinged between them. It was as if she were tethered to him and felt his every emotion. He was displeased with her.

No. Displeased was putting it mildly. He was angry.

Furious.

“You said my piece for me.” All his statements were controlled and monotone. She was used to this from John. He rarely lost his composure. Except that one night a couple of weeks ago.

She blocked that memory before it took form. No way was that happening again.

“You were in there for ten minutes—”

“It felt longer than that,” she said. Maybe because she wasn’t that comfortable without John at her back.

“What,” he gritted. “Happened back there? Did he show you any of the Crown-Key at all?”

“Yes. It’s an upgrade all right.” And what it could do gave her the chills.

“And?”

“Without the visual he showed me, it’s hard to explain, but I understood right away what it could do. I’m not a fan of government involvement myself, but this is akin to a cyber-weapon in the wrong hands.”

John let out a string of expletives. “We’ll talk at the house. Right now, we’re making a detour.”

“What?”

“We have a tail.”

“Oh.”

“He probably knows where you live,” he said.

“I don’t think Ken is capable of murder, but, dammit, I hope he doesn’t hack into the LAPD.”

“Not in his profile to do anything malicious that could land him under fed scrutiny again. He’s got too much to lose. Not that he won’t try and make you sweat a bit.”

That didn’t give Nadia the warm fuzzies, and she worried for a moment about the security of her team’s computer network.

Garrison glowered at the rearview mirror. “Taking you back to Assassin’s Hill.”

“I need to get my laptop and log into work to make sure everything is secure.”

“You can do it at my place. Your task force gave me log in credentials a while back, remember? I’m sure you can configure one if I don’t have it.”

“Yup.” She had her phone on her person. Her authenticator app was installed on it. So why were her lungs suddenly tight? What exactly was going to happen when they arrived at Garrison’s house? The last time they were alone, they didn’t do much talking.

“Text your dad not to look for you tonight.”

“I’ll call—”

“No. Text. He’ll ask too many questions.”

“Are you afraid of my dad, John?”

A derisive chuckle rumbled in his chest, but he didn’t answer. Guess he was busy trying to lose the tail.

As he made turns at breakneck speed, Nadia’s fingernails bit into the dashboard and the side of the door. Big SUVs weren’t made to turn on a dime, but John seemed to wield this one expertly without flipping them over. They pulled into a neighborhood she didn’t recognize. It looked shady as hell, and when they approached an alley, John shot past it before bumping the gear in reverse and backed between two buildings. Vehicles sped by them, and when a black, or maybe midnight blue, sedan flashed past them, Garrison muttered, “Gotcha.”

“That the one?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe you can take me home now,” she said when their SUV pulled back onto the road.

The tether between them grew taut.

“No.”

“But—”

“We have things to talk about—you and I.”

“I’m sure this can wait for tomorrow.”

“I won’t be here tomorrow.”

“Oh, another clandestine op?” she huffed. What else is new? “What exactly do you want to know? I can’t explain it to you without graphics. I need to write down what I remember so I can let our graphics guy model one for you.”

“No need. We already know it’s capable of breaking into most networks and taking control of the system.”

“Then what?”

“Why did you wear that dress, Nadia?” John was looking straight ahead. “Was your plan to drive me crazy?”

“You told me—”

“Don’t bullshit me.”

“Excuse me? You told me to dress sexy.”

“I was expecting you to be wearing your skin-tight jeans and that low-neck top,” he gritted. “Not strut around in a barely-there dress, no bra … are you even wearing panties?”

“Yes.”

“All I saw was your bare ass which I really wanted to see in a shade of red.”

Nadia’s mouth turned dry, and she clenched her legs tighter.

“You like that don’t you, babe? I came close to finger-fucking you in the elevator.” His filthy words kept rolling off his wicked tongue, and she was pretty sure her thong was drenched. “I was feral, and you had the audacity to wiggle that ass against my dick.”

“It was crowded.”

“You were begging for a fuck, weren’t you?”

“No,” Nadia replied icily. “You were pretty clear what we did when you got back from Mexico was a one and done.”

John laughed and cast her a mocking glance. “You and I both know what’s between us isn’t a one and done.”

Nadia glanced out the window. They were close to Assassin’s Hill now. “Then you snuck out like a coward.”

“The schedule was tight.”

“Sure,” she retorted. “Whatever you say won’t negate the fact that you said it’s not going to happen again.”

The familiar rust-colored gate of John’s house trundled open. He parked under the carport, cut off the engine, and turned in his seat to face her. “I lied.”

John had known many women in his life. He’d slept with some and in his early years as a CIA operative, a few of his lovers even tried to kill him. He learned fairly quickly that the life of a spy didn’t fit with indiscriminate sex, especially when that one-night stand was sent to seduce you and slit your throat.

A thorough background check was a must. Sometimes he lost interest, but with Nadia Powell, every little thing he uncovered about her made him hunger for more.

“What?” Her eyes widened.

No. Once with her wasn’t enough. John had been delusional then because he would give anything to feel her tight pussy clench around his cock like a slippery fist once more. And his dick was already thickening beneath his jeans.

He leaned across the console and brought his face close to hers. She didn’t shrink away. Good. She was learning how to deal with him. “Are you saying your panties are not soaked right now?”

Her chin tilted up. “Why don’t you find out?”

He smirked at the challenge and gripped her knee, slowly tracing the tender skin inside her leg. Nadia parted her thighs at the same time her breathing hitched. He stroked her through her panties and could feel her dampness against his fingers.

He dropped his forehead to hers, and groaned, “You’ll be the death of me.”

Wrenching his hand away, he shoved out of the SUV and slammed the door shut. “Out.” He rounded to the front, irritated that she hadn’t budged.

“Now, Nadia. Unless you want to be fucked on the side of the vehicle.”

John vibrated with need. He tore off his prosthetic appliance and marched to the mudroom to rinse off the atrocious orange foundation and remaining glue on his nose. He also ran the water over his neck, including his hair to get rid of the cheap cologne smell.

He removed the gaudy gold chains from around his neck, took off the dress shirt, dried himself with the expensive silk, before balling and tossing it into a hamper. When he exited the mudroom, Nadia was standing at the threshold, uncertain.

He stared at her. She peered at him.

Without breaking his lock on her gaze, he stalked toward her, his hands hit her hips as he backed her toward the door. He reached past her shoulder and shoved it closed, then he slammed her against its surface and sank to his knees.

“John …I…”

He glanced up with determination. “My mouth has been dying to taste you here.” He wedged his hand between her legs and massaged the top of her pubic bone. “All fuckin’ night, babe.” He stripped away her panties, snagging it on her ridiculously high heel, and then slung her fuck-me-boot encased leg over his shoulder. He ducked under her skirt and went straight for her pussy. His tongue licked in broad strokes, savoring all her wetness before fastening on her clit.

“John! Jesus,” she cried out. Fingers dug into his hair. “Ah … ah… ah shit.”

He growled against her pussy, pressing his palm over her pelvis to keep her still. Her taste was sweet like honeysuckle, and combined with her own unique musk, it was the closest taste to heaven. And damn did she gush over his tongue while he greedily lapped every single drop. A taste that would haunt his dreams. Well, no more. He wasn’t denying himself any longer. He continued to feast and flick his tongue. His finger joined the festivities and sunk into her channel to prepare her for him. He found her sensitive spot and made her shudder. She cried out again and her legs began to shake.

Letting go of her leg, he rose to his feet and pressed his hips against her, making her feel every hard inch of him.

“See how crazy you make me,” he snarled against her mouth. She was breathing as hard as he was, her chest rising and falling in a fractured rhythm. Without waiting for her answer, he captured her lips, letting her taste what he had plundered. He palmed her tits. John loved delayed gratification, and though he couldn’t wait to sink inside her, he wanted to explore every inch of her that teased him to the breaking point.

He abandoned her mouth to travel down the side of her jaw, his tongue darting out to lick the shell of her ear. Her whole body shuddered, her breathing serrated.

“You like that, don’t you, babe?” he whispered by her ear. Garrison was intent on Nadia’s pleasure. His balls were begging to explode, but somehow, he got off on making her shudder. Making her want him because he wanted her with an intensity that should scare him. He continued his slow exploration, sometimes nipping, sometimes kissing, giving her small little bites. He found the pulse on her neck and teased it, then with his teeth, he removed one strap of her dress and deftly freed her arm from it. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and stood back.

Her liner had run, and her lips were swollen from his kisses. Her dress was lopsided with a breast exposed; a nipple ready for his taking. He wet his index finger and circled her nipple ever so lightly, his eyes watching her face carefully.

“John,” Nadia gulped. “Stop teasing.”

“You think I’m teasing?” He gave a pained chuckle. “I’m about to explode.”

“Then why don’t you just fuck me?”

“Because … I want to do this.” He bent his head and captured the taut bud between his teeth, grazing it lightly, flicking it with his tongue. Nadia arched against him and he wrapped one arm around her back while his other hand dug into the flesh of her ass cheek, fingers working into her pussy from behind as he continued to worship her tits. First the naked one, and then the other through the thin fabric of her dress. She pushed her hips against his and hooked her leg around him to bring him closer. “John … I’m coming again. Harder …”

He wasn’t sure whether she meant finger-fucking her or sucking her tits, so he did both. Hard. She was slick and ready for him. Somehow they landed on the couch and John levered up and stood. With her dress hiked up and still wearing those boots, Nadia was a wet dream all splayed on the couch

“Don’t move an inch. You’re fucking perfect.” He proceeded to unbuckle his belt and lowered his zipper. The tip of his cock already beading with precum. Fuck. Condom. Reaching behind him, he extracted one from his wallet.

He braced himself over her with his elbows. Nadia spread her thighs and cradled him. “Perfect.”

He lined his cock and plunged inside her, not quite to the hilt. Nadia’s body bowed but she arched again and tilted her pelvis forward, and this time every inch of him slid into her. Her muscles clenched around him, and he gritted his teeth.

“Jesus, if you do that again, I’ll come before I even thrust.” He dropped his forehead to hers. She squeezed again.

“Nadia,” he groaned. John withdrew and punched in. This time he didn’t give her a chance to torture his cock again. He pounded her hard into the couch and she rounded her limbs around him. But he needed more, because he wasn’t getting as deep as he wanted to with the softness of the couch. He surged up, balls deep, and shuffled to the door, throwing them against it and continued pumping.

“See what you do to me,” he snarled and drove harder into her. “You want my beast to come out and play?”

“Is that all you got?” Her hair was plastered all over her face in sweaty pieces.

She was glorious.

“You asked for it.” He pounded her relentlessly against the door. Nadia screamed and her nails scratched down his shoulders. John wasn’t a gentle lover. He fucked hard and he was elated that she met him thrust for thrust. There’d be bruising for her and scratches for him. Nadia sank her teeth into his shoulder to muffle another cry. So he’d bear bite marks too.

No. Fucking. Problem.

He was close, and with her pussy tightening around him again, John increased his pace. She felt so fucking good. The thought about taking her bare …

“Jesus.” He never went without a condom and always used his own. But just the thought of doing it skin to skin with Nadia sent his mind blind to anything else and he started coming. He continued pumping while every last drop of his cum filled the rubber.

“John …John…” Nadia called. “Condom.”

“Shit.” He pulled out before he compromised the rubber and let go of her legs, helping her stand. She was about to sink to the floor, so he swept her up in his arms and thought to lay her on the couch. Changing his mind, he headed for the staircase.

Taking the steps two at a time, he got to the second floor and went straight for his bedroom. It was the first time he’d had a woman in there. Not even Nadia during the first time they fucked.

“Are you sure you want me in here?” she cocked her head.

Apparently she remembered as well.

She added, “Coz’ I don’t want to hear any commitment-phobic regrets later.”

John wasn’t ready to analyze his actions. “Don’t overthink this. Besides, you did me a solid tonight.”

He was being an ass.

But she had his number. “Wow, is that the best insult you can come up with?”

John turned his back to her and strode to the bathroom to get rid of the condom. “Just stating facts. Don’t want this to get complicated.”

“So, what’s the rule? After this, we’re done again?”

No, he didn’t want them to be done. A foreign emotion rattled in his chest when he saw Huxley put his hand on Nadia’s back as if he was the one with the right to be by her side.

One word roared in John’s head.

Mine.

He tied up the condom and tossed it into the trash can.

He stopped short of entering the bedroom, crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, surveying the woman on his bed. “No. I don’t want to give you a definitive answer. See, babe, I’m confused myself.”

“Confused?”

“It’s a damning feeling. I’m sure you’re familiar with it.” He deadpanned.

She gave a shake of her head. “You don’t get confused.”

“Exactly,” he said. “Which is why this is confusing.”

“How confusing can it get?”

John grinned. “I think a shower will clear our heads.”

Her eyes narrowed, but he saw the gleam of anticipation. “Our heads? Do you mean yours? I’m not the one having this existential dilemma of continuing this arrangement, but we need boundaries or rules.”

John straightened from his nonchalant lean and held out his hand. “We can talk about it in the shower.”

They had wild shower sex, another round on the floor of the bedroom, until finally, they made it to the bed. Not a word was said. Nadia did a lot of moaning and crying out, while John grunted and cursed a couple of times. He was nowhere near making a decision about whether to continue this affair with Nadia. It wasn’t fair to her. He’d be going on an op again the next day and wasn’t sure when he’d be back.

Except his regret wasn’t that he’d slept with her, it was that he’d accepted this assignment in Ukraine. He wanted to see where this weird emotion he had for her was heading, but he also knew if his brain did the talking, he was better off following the lead on the Ukrainian Brotherhood. He received a text from the Admiral that was time sensitive. But he had a few hours.

Right then, he was enjoying the view of the sexy analyst wearing his shirt while she checked the security of the LAPD networks.

“How much longer are you going to be?”

She cast him an irritated glance. “You should sleep. Didn’t you say you have a plane to catch at seven?”

“That’s another three hours. I can sleep on the plane. I don’t want to waste the time we have.”

Nadia didn’t say anything. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. Minutes ticked by, and John swore he could hear the second hand on his watch. Finally, her screen blanked, and she turned to face him. “What are we doing here, John? Am I your booty call whenever you’re in LA?”

He tamped down a surge of impatience. This was the problem, wasn’t it? The women he slept with always wanted more. And the confusing part? He wanted more with Nadia, too, but he didn’t want to define what they were at the moment. He’d stashed her neatly in one of his compartments. She needed to stay there.

“You know the nature of my job,” he said in an even tone.

“You can’t promise anything.”

He nodded once. “I can’t even promise to return.”

She frowned. “Is this mission dangerous?”

And that was another mark against defining what this was. He didn’t want people to worry about him because that was just something else to feel guilty about. “Always a degree of danger, babe. But this is strictly intel gathering.”

“Is this about your asset in Ukraine? About the Argonayts’ activities?”

John’s mouth flattened into a straight line. In the purple light of dawn, he realized he’d probably told her too much already.

Nadia must have sensed his unease. She stood and walked to the window where the bright lights of Los Angeles still flickered despite being four in the morning. “I think you should stop asking me for help.”

Something constricted in his chest, but he didn’t say anything.

She turned and gestured between them. “We’ve crossed the line twice now. You’re already admitting to being confused.” Nadia smiled sadly. “You know what I think it is, John? You’re forming attachments to this place. And I’m not talking about me. Declan, Levi, and Migs. Their lives are here. Bristow, I guess, can work anywhere.” She blew out a breath. “And I deserve more. The first time we crossed that line, I was worried about you and what happened in Mexico. We can chalk that up to the intensity of what happened. But you didn’t like that, did you? Someone caring about you.”

Fuck. How had she just read his mind?

Her lips trembled, but she sucked in another breath. “That’s why you upped and left. I’m surprised you trusted me enough to lock up.” She waved her hand to indicate his house.

Nadia didn’t need to know that he had Roarke check up on this residence since his friend lived close by.

“I’m sorry for that,” John said, and he was. “That was a shitty thing to do. This time I’m personally taking you home.” He glanced at the clock. “I have plenty of time to make my flight.”

“No need.”

A corner of his mouth lifted. “You’re going to walk over to Gabby and Roarke’s and hitch a ride?”

“No. Kelso is coming to pick me up.”

“I can take you home,” he bit out.

“I’m not going home. I’m hitting the gym with Kelso.” At his hiked brow, she added, “I have a change of clothes at the station. We’re heading there first.”

“Nadia …” Frustration rose inside him.

Her phone buzzed.

Her smile was small. She walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

It felt very much like a final goodbye.

John clenched his fists to stop himself from grabbing her. He jumped out of bed. “I’ll walk you…” At her protesting look, he snapped, “And, fuck, if you say ‘no need’ again, I’m going to throw you on that bed, and Kelso can wait until I fuck this pride out of you.”

“Pride? Try self-respect,” she shot back. “How many times have you asked me to work for you? The first time, I would have done it anyway because it was for Gabby. But this whole Carillo thing? That wasn’t an LAPD op. Did you know how scared I was when you guys were left running for your lives in a hostile place crawling with the Mexican Army?”

John groaned, “Not this again.”

“I could have gotten you all killed!” She jabbed a finger at his chest. “You put that on me, John. I wasn’t ready for a military assault of that caliber. You blackmailed me. Holding my father’s cover identity over my head, and I had no choice—”

“I gave you a chance to prove yourself—”

“Can’t you get it through your thick skull that I fucked up?”

“You did the best job under those circumstances. Ask any of the guys. They were reaming my ass for losing you as our analyst.”

Nadia brushed past him to get to her clothes. She yanked his shirt over her head, folded it neatly while he admired the arch of her back and the swell of her ass. After putting on her dress from last night, and slipping on those sexy boots, she faced him again, expression stoic. “I have to go.”