Joseph (5 page)

A tall black haired woman stood, drawing his eyes her way. He did a double take. The beautiful vision walking towards him resembled the young girl he remembered, but her body was fuller, softer, her curves more sensuous. She was far more than the girl he used to know. This woman radiated a sultry sexuality and had every male’s attention. And holy shit! The outfit she was almost wearing? Hotter than the sin-stoked fires of hell.

A nasty looking motherfucker covered in tats stopped her forward progress. Joseph worked to cross the crowded club, keeping an eye on her as he sent masses of bodies careening across the crowded dance floor. She tensed and tried to shake off the man’s grip.
Fucking bastard
. The animal pulled her close to him and ground his cock against her. Rage seethed through his veins as he stepped behind the man. “That collar. Your foolish master allows you out without his protection? I’ll give you some, my little slut.”

Joseph clutched the tattooed wrist and squeezed. The man spun and tried to strike out. Joseph blocked the wide swing and with a quick jerk, he snapped the wrist in his grasp. The sickening crack of bone breaking was distinct over the thrum of bass beats. Blood drained from the man’s face. Joseph lifted him closer and spoke savagely. “I’m no fool. I protect what is mine. Never touch what you don’t own, amigo.”

He pushed the man into several dancers. A shoving match started on the crowded floor and quickly escalated into a melee. Ember’s shocked expression froze on her face. Her wide-eyed stare held until she blinked and exclaimed, “You broke his wrist!”

“He’s lucky that’s all I did.” Joseph grabbed her and half pushed, half pulled her through the crowd towards the door. The crowd swallowed them providing distance from the growing brawl on the dance floor. Finally, finding space outside the crowded bar, he stopped and pulled her into his arms.

She trembled. He should have hurt the bastard more. “Did he hurt you? Are you alright?”

Collapsing against him, she buried her face in his neck. “No, I’m…he didn’t…”

“I got you, Em. Come on, we have to go.”

She nodded but didn’t move, her shaking more noticeable as her hands clenched the front of his shirt in a death grip. Joseph put his finger under her chin and lifted her face. “Ember?”

Slowly she let go of his shirt and lifted her eyes to his. She moved her hands up his shoulders. He saw her hunger and knew his own. The woman he held lit him up six ways to Sunday. Shit, there was no time for this now. He needed to get them out of the area.

“Come on. Being here is dangerous. We need to go. Now.” He put his arm around her waist and almost carried her away from the nightclub. They hot-footed it across the street to his black BMW and he opened the door for her. He slung her bag into the back seat with his pack. His body revolted in pain against the movement when he once again folded into the confined driver’s seat. He pulled the vehicle into traffic and looked over at the woman next to him. She had turned in her seat and was giving him the once over. “We’re heading north to Wyoming. I have a safe place there.”

Ember jumped in her seat. Her muffled exclamation just before she grabbed his arm revealed just how much the incident at the nightclub had shaken her. She put her shaking hand on his arm. “Joey, I overheard the hotel clerk talk about me to the police. Someone knows I’m here.”

He glanced at her as he accelerated onto the interstate on-ramp. Joseph fought the desire to floor the accelerator and send the car flying down the road. Being stopped by authorities, who may or may not be on the Morales payroll, wasn’t in the plans tonight. “Did anyone see you with your new look?”

She shook her head and ran her hands through her hair. “No, I don’t think so and I put all the garbage in the trash bin at the front of the hotel. I didn’t leave it in the room. They won’t know I changed the color or the length of my hair. Joey? Who’s chasing me?”

Laying her head back against the headrest of the car, she reached over and caressed his hand. A thousand needles of electricity to shifted through his body. He felt the resurrection of the intense physical reaction he felt in the club. He grabbed her hand and held it not wanting her to become any more of a distraction than she already was.
Yeah right, like that had a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding
.

“From what we can gather, your man Dale put evidence on that thumb drive tying prominent, politically connected people to the Morales Drug Cartel. If what’s rumored to be on that drive is substantiated, the implications will devastate Morales’ operation. It could cost him millions of dollars and take down some pretty influential people on his payroll. Guardian Security has placed you in protective custody. The primary concern right now is the underground network of the cartel. Wherever the drugs go, Morales has minions. Wherever he has minions, he has eyes, ears, and people willing to do his bidding, a thousand eyes look for you. Needless to say, he has the money to employ professionals to take care of his problems.”

“And I’m a problem.” Again, no emotion. She merely stated a fact. Joseph approved of the strong woman she had grown into. Em cleared her throat. Joseph grabbed a bottle of water from the cup holder and handed it to her. “Was the guy in the bar part of this?”
That wanna-be Dom? Too fucking stupid.
“No, I don’t think so. The man at the bar seemed to think you were a submissive without a Dom. Stupid ass-wipe. If you’re wearing a collar, you’re already owned.”

“What? A collar? You mean my choker? That’s what caused him to be such an ass?”

“Yeah.”

“How do you know that, the collar thing?”

“Been around that block more than once.”

“Are you into that? Are you one of those Doms? Like those books that all the nurses were talking about? What was the name? Shades of something?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Not going there with you—ever
. “We need to focus on critical issues.” His clipped reply was probably harsher than it should have been. Damn. He wasn’t good at this conversation thing. But he had to admit the majority of the people he had one-on-one contact with were dead within minutes of meeting him. His knife skillfully silenced any opportunities for casual chit-chat. Yeah, not much chance of conversation with a corps.

She took a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay. Isn’t the Morales Cartel the one responsible for the mass murders along the Mexican border and the hit squads killing border patrol agents?”

He nodded, his eyes scanning the rear view mirror. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

“So it wasn’t law enforcement who called the hotel was it?” He looked down. Her hand lay in his comfortably. His thumb stroked circles over the back of her hand.
Damn, how long had he been doing that?

Her question…“Ahh…no, as far as I know, all law enforcement agencies have been given a cease and desist order in connection to you.” He looked over and shrugged. “Looks like you’re stuck with me for a while, Em.”

She closed her eyes and sighed, and Joseph watched her battle fatigue. She was crashing, no doubt the adrenalin pushes of the day waning now that she was safe. He had experienced the same exhaustion too many times to count. She wouldn’t last long. She couldn’t quite keep her eyes open.

“I think it is the other way around Joey, I’m not going to let you go. You couldn’t get rid of me now if you tried.”

Joseph chuckled. He lifted the center arm rest and patted his thigh. “Lay down. You’re exhausted.”

“Hmmm…I would love to, but before I do, is there a woman that’s going to kick my ass for using you like a pillow?”

He smirked when he looked over at her. “No. Half of the world is terrified of me. The other half is blissfully ignorant.”

Ember took off her boots and curled up on the seat putting her head on his thigh. She snuggled closer to him resting her hand on his leg near his knee.

“I’ve never been afraid of you, Joey.”

He reached down and ran his fingers gently through her silky black curls. “I know, Em. I know.”

The powerful car effortlessly put distance between them and the last place she’d been seen. Her silky smooth curls molded around his fingers. Mindlessly he ran his fingers through her hair while she slept. The dashboard lights illuminated her face. Her thick and extraordinarily long lashes rested on her high cheekbones. Darkness hid the freckles that dusted over her nose. She hated them. He didn’t. Her full luscious lips parted as she slept.
Angelina Jolie, you’ve got nothing on these lips
. He ran his thumb over the pulse steadily throbbing in her neck. It had been almost sixteen years since he’d held her. It had been a simpler time, when he’d had dreams and a shot at a future. It seemed like forever.

Few cars shared the road and the lack of an adversary allowed his mind to wander. His finger traced the collar on her throat. He knew exactly what the leather signified. That she didn’t spoke volumes about her. Hell, her body may have matured, but Em still reminded him of the sweet girl he knew so many years ago.

The miles and hours slipped away. During the night, she’d tossed and turned during the drive. Now she lay on her back with her head on his leg. He knew the second she woke. Her breathing changed. Her body tensed slightly. She relaxed then smiled without opening her eyes. Lifting her hand, she stroked his arm. “God, you feel so good, Joey.”

He chuckled and squeezed her shoulder. “We’re approaching a rest stop. Need to freshen up?” She nodded and sat up, stretching her arms and rolling her neck.

“Sorry the accommodations weren’t better.”

She laughed and slid towards him kissing his cheek. “My compliments to the management. That was the best rest I’ve had in years.”

She wormed her way next to him, scooting against his wounds. He lifted his arm and she snuggled into the crook before she put her head on his shoulder.

Okay, this closeness? This needed to stop, this snuggling thing she had going on.
The sudden lovey-dovey shit could be damn easy to get used to.
Ignore the warmth. Ignore the perfect way she fits next to you. This can never happen.
Ember deserved better than he could give her. He cleared his throat. Time to get back on course. “We’ll get some breakfast in Sioux Falls before we turn onto I-90 heading west. The safe-house is another twelve to fourteen hours away.”

“Don’t you need to get some sleep?”

“The work I do has provided me with vast experience in dealing with very little sleep. When we get to the cabin, I’ll let you stand guard while I hibernate for a day or two.”

Joseph exited the highway into a rest stop and parked. Ember pulled her satchel into the front seat and opened the zipped pouch inside. Pulling out a small silver capsule, she pushed it at him. “Here, you take that, I don’t want it. I don’t want to know what’s on it and I don’t want to be associated with it.”

He nodded and got out of the car putting the flash drive in his front pocket of his slacks. He stretched, careful not to wince. “Too late, you’re already associated with it, but I’ll take care of it until we can upload it to a secure server.”

Ember cocked her head looking out the open door as she pulled on her boots. “Okay, you’ve got all day to explain that secure server comment, but right now I’m heading to the ladies' room.”

Joseph walked with her into the building. He used the facilities and splashed his face with cold water hoping to reduce his growing temperature. Sitting outside in the early morning sunshine, he waited for her. The muscle spasms, shaking and even the fever he was nursing remained manageable. He suspected by tomorrow he would be in a world of hurt, but by then they would be at his cabin. She exited wearing faded jeans and knee high boots instead of the mini skirt. Her curves were sensational and he wanted nothing more than to peel the skin-tight denim off her body.
Ahh…just fuck me now. I’m so screwed
. A groan rumbled in his chest. At her questioning look he admitted, “You’ve grown into a beautiful woman.”

She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I was just thinking the same thing about you, Joey.”

Moving away from her before his body could betray were his mind had taken him, he responded, “I’d never live it down if my brothers heard you say I’m a beautiful woman.”

“What? No, ugh, you know what I meant. You’re a total stud muffin. You always have been. Please don’t tell me the King brothers are still maneuvering for the most macho award?”

He shook his head as he got in the car. “No, not really, but there’s a definite pecking order. Justin is a businessman. He owns six very successful restaurants. He’s the only one of us who’s never been associated with Guardian Security. We no longer fight over who is most macho because we all agree. Justin lost hands down.”

She laughed as he programmed the GPS for the nearest restaurant and pulled onto the interstate. “So you work for Guardian too?” He threw a glance her way before he nodded.

Ember slid closer to him once again forcing his arm up so she could snuggle next to him. Her body, her scent, her sexy voice—God, what a fucking distraction. She placed her hand on his thigh and squeezed slightly. “What do you do for Guardian? Your mom said you worked overseas.”

He didn’t respond. What the hell was he supposed to say? Instead, he pulled off the interstate and motioned towards a small restaurant. “Breakfast.”