The Protector (24 page)

“Sweetheart,” he interrupted because he couldn’t bear to listen to her denigrating herself. “Don’t do this. I understand. Hey, how many times have I told you about my maman and my sisters? Believe me, I take it to heart when I see so many women and children suffering during my tours. You’re not a failure, okay? You are strong and brave, and you are doing something to help. Good things always come to one who works hard.”

There was a silence as Vivi absorbed his words. She snug
gled closer, inserting one leg between his thighs. He smiled sleepily in the dark. Strong and brave
and
sexy as hell.

“Is that what your maman taught you?” Her voice was muffled against his chest, her lips teasing his nipple.

“Something like that.” Right now, his maman should stay away from his mind. His thoughts were starting to get a little too disrespectful.

“I can’t imagine a family, especially one with so many sisters. But they have made you special, do you know that?”

He didn’t want to think about his sisters right now, either. Not when a woman’s tongue was licking his chest. But if she thought he was special because of his sisters, he should talk more about them, he guessed.

“They…tried their best to make me special,” he acknowledged, hissing slightly as sharp little teeth nibbled. “Gave me a sense of humor about women, anyway.”

“Really? I never had that. I wish I had a bunch of sisters to joke around with.” Her sigh was a breath of hot air against his sensitive skin. She moved even closer. “My mother didn’t have a sense of humor at all. Jazz, you’re so lucky to have so many sisters.”

Right now he felt like the luckiest bastard in the whole world, not because he had a bunch of sisters who would rag his ass for talking about them while a woman’s hand was traveling down his body. The topic of conversation was at odds with what was going on in his head, but Vivi needed comfort and reassurance, and he wanted to help her forget. He tried to ignore his body’s growing response to her exploration.

“Do you have a brother?”

Jazz didn’t want to talk about his damn brother. He wanted the hand to go lower, actually. “No.”

“You’re lying. I read your file, you know. What, don’t you think I remember you told me your brother’s name is Zippy? Zippy and Zola…tell me why your mother gave you guys those names.” She wiggled her leg that was between his thighs. “Pins and needles.”

Jazz hadn’t realized how tightly he had clenched his thighs together. He forced himself to relax, allowing her to shift her leg. There was no way to hide his arousal poking into her stomach, of course.

“So, tell me about your brother. Is he like you?”

Zippy was nothing like him right now. And if he had a dick bursting with need against a woman’s body, Jazz didn’t want to know, hear, or think about it, thank you very much. He let out a frustrated sigh. All this talk about his family was wilting his desire in spades.

“I like it that you’re telling me so much about your family. It makes me feel better for some reason.” Vivi sighed again, stretching her body as she relaxed against him. “Is your brother a gentleman like you? Polite and kind to women and children?”

His erection wasn’t acting like a gentleman at all as it happily nudged the soft skin it was touching. Her stretching and moving around wasn’t helping either, but he didn’t want her to stop. She was unconsciously drawing circles with slow, sexy strokes of her finger and definitely moving in the right direction. Lower. Yeah. His dick nodded with eager agreement.

“Zippy’s name came from an accident.”

“What do you mean?” She yawned, stretching again.

Jazz really didn’t want to think about Zippy’s accident. Or talk about it. It wasn’t conducive to keeping a happy penis hard and ready. “Let’s just say that it was a traumatic childhood experience and he never wears zipped pants again.”

“Oh my God. A man’s nightmare! It hurts just to imagine the pain!” Vivi chuckled softly and yawned again. “You know what?”

“What?” He prayed that she wasn’t falling asleep, even though he had wanted her to earlier. If he could just stop her from bringing up his mother and brother while he was contemplating sexier images, everything would be perfect.

“I suddenly remember my mother had a saying similar to
yours. You know, the one about good things coming to one who works hard?”

“What’s that?” Okay, better to talk about her mother than his mother. Less sacrilegious. It was just not right to talk about his mother when all he wanted to was put his…

His breath came out in a hiss as a hand encircled his arousal tightly. “She told me, ‘Good things come to one who is hard.’”

It took several seconds before he realized he had been had. It took that long because his hard dick was too busy enjoying something good. The little minx had done all that on purpose. Sisters and mothers. Gentlemanly behavior. His brother’s dick, for God’s sake.

Jazz growled and pushed Vivi onto her back. Her hand remained busy as her laughter filled the night air.

“Come on,” she urged, between chuckles. “You still haven’t explained about Zola. Tell me more about your family.”

He sighed happily as he settled between her parted legs. “Spanking,” he threatened. “We do that a lot.”

“This is very unprofessional, you know,” Vivi commented
as she looked around. She sat up as soon as the first streak of dawn broke the sky. Jazz stirred, then he, too, sat up, using a tree trunk as a back rest. Vivi leaned back, enjoying his body heat too much to move away. “If Dilaver and his men had found us last night…”

She gestured at the clothing scattered around. “Really unprofessional,” she repeated.

“I still have my boots on. We could run,” Jazz offered lazily.

Vivi chuckled. “Well, I don’t have my shoes on,” she pointed out.

“I’d have carried you, no problem.”

She had a feeling Jazz could do that and more. After all, the man had determinedly hung on to the back of a trailer for hours, intent on saving her. He kissed the side of her neck, distracting her.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“Our next course of action.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“You’re such a liar,” she said, smiling, as she reluctantly got on her feet. Jazz remained where he was, watching her as
she retrieved articles of clothing. “Well? Are you going to sit there all day?”

“Just enjoying the view,” he replied. In the morning light, she could see the streaks of dirt and camouflage on his face. He smiled, revealing startling white teeth. “Bend over again.”

She shook her head. “You know that isn’t going to get us out of here quickly.”

“I thought we were on our next course of action.” He stretched his legs out lazily.

“The next
course
is not going to be me again,” Vivi stressed, ignoring the way her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Jazz naked. He was totally at ease with his…She looked up and caught the amusement in his eyes. She frowned with mock anger.

“Tell him that,” he suggested as he touched his erection.

“Lieutenant Zola Zeringue.” Hands on hips, she drew satisfaction at his wince. “Are you paying attention to the fact that we’re still in danger?”

“I’m giving you my fullest attention,
chouchou.
” The man was totally shameless as he opened his legs wider. “Come here and let me show you.”

“I suggest someone take a cold morning bath in the river pronto,” she suggested.

Jazz heaved an exaggerated sigh before getting up. Sunlight emerged in the dawn sky. His masculine beauty took Vivi’s breath away, from the broad shoulders to the well-defined abdominal muscles to the powerful flanks of his legs. There wasn’t an extra ounce of fat on the man. And standing in the wilderness, he looked…absolutely gorgeous.

She had to turn away. She had never acted so irresponsibly before and although she didn’t regret it, she mustn’t let her feelings take the place of more important things. They had to get back to HQ so the rest of the mission could continue smoothly.

She heard him moving about. “How long will it take you to get ready, sweetheart?”

“Not as long as you. I had on less clothing,” she pointed out, hooking the bra with her forefinger and pulling it off a small bush.

“Here’s my shirt. Don’t think you can fit my shoes, but I have another pair of socks.”

Frowning, Vivi turned, just in time to see his cute butt disappear back into his camies. The man didn’t wear underwear. Another thing that was going to keep her distracted. “You don’t have any underwear but you have an extra pair of socks,” she said in disbelief. “Extra ammo, small weapons, and
socks
?”

He turned. “
You
had ether in some pellet on your necklace!” He picked up the heavy belt and proceeded to check the pouches.

She shrugged. “I’m GEM. And ether is a weapon.”

He looked at her briefly. “I’m a SEAL. Everything is a weapon.” He threw her a tight ball, which she caught. It was encased in Saran Wrap. “Trust me,
chouchou
, when you’ve been in situations in which you’re wet for a long time, you learn to have certain things available whenever possible.”

Vivi peeled off the wrap. It was a wadded pair of socks. “I’m off to the restroom,” she said, pointing to the river.

“I’ll keep watch, but stick close to the bushes. We don’t know whether Dilaver is still looking for us.”

“He isn’t stupid. He won’t wander too far away when he’s not sure of his territory.”

Jazz nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but he can still follow the river.”

“Point taken. I’ll be careful.”

She knew he would be watching as she made her way out of the screened clearing. She took a minute or two to survey the area. There were clumps of trees and shrubs near the bank of the river, similar to the one they had used as protection. She quickly mapped out a path.

He was in love.

Jazz kept watch as Vivi made her way to the river. The
morning light was good enough to cast a bluish and greenish tint to the surroundings. She was good at blending in with the shadows, he noted.

There was so much still unsaid between them, but she was right. Better wait till they were in a safer place. She was a fine-looking woman, totally unaware of the sexy image she was projecting. Walking half-naked here in the wilds, she looked like some wood sprite. He had thought her hair was darker yesterday; he had been right. She must have dyed it. And when she was standing just now, he had noticed she seemed a bit shorter without her boots.

There was still so much he didn’t know about the woman. Yet she had opened up to him last night and had shown him the passion and warmth that he had always known were there. He watched her disappear into a clump of trees. Good girl. She might be in charge of paperwork at the liaison office, interrogating military personnel in custody as well as working to help young girls find homes, but Vivi Verreau was certainly a lot more than some paper pusher. Yesterday she had displayed some of those skills—a mesh of spook antics like disguises and acting and some really good fight moves.

When they got back, he would ask her more about her past. He had a suspicion that she had purposely distracted him last night from asking questions. She had told her story in a way that didn’t reveal much about her own feelings, what she had gone through when she was alone and heading for the border. What had she left out?

Vivi reappeared from the other side of the shrub, retracing her steps to him. When she reached him, he saw that her hair was wet.

“Cold water. You’re going to love it,” she said with a grin. “Your turn.”

“Okay.” He handed her his shirt. “Put this on. There are some scratches on your back. Did I do that?”

She shook her head. “No.”

He recalled her being dragged on the ground the night be
fore. “I’m going to kill him someday,” he promised in a low voice.

“I’m okay,” she said. “It was just part of the job. Now give me some weapon so I can watch your back, too. I’m sorry, but I haven’t killed anyone with a pair of socks lately.”

Her humor blunted the edge of his temper. He knew she did that on purpose, too. “Be back in a minute,
chouchou.
Next time, I’ll take you swimming frog-style.”

When he returned, Vivi already had put on the large black shirt. Her hair had been pulled back and braided. Except for her face and feet, she was protected from the elements.

Jazz pointed to the river. “We’re heading downstream. It’s going to be quite a hike back, so whenever you need to stop, let me know. At the rate the truck was going, it will take us a good twelve hours.”

Vivi shook her head. “I never walk into danger unprepared, Jazz. I have a locator unit on me. Once activated, my superior can pinpoint our exact location.”

He cocked his head. “And when were you going to activate it?”

“Not now. We’re too close to where Dilaver is, and if activated, I’m afraid T. would send in a chopper. Dilaver and his men would be able to see that.”

“True. Who’s T.?”

“She’s my chief.”

Another woman. “Do you all work in teams like we do?” Jazz asked.

Vivi shook her head. “Not the same way. We infiltrate, so it’s best to do that alone.”

“Where is this locator now?” He hadn’t seen anything on her other than her underwear. Where would she hide something like that?

She grinned. “It’s in my bra lining. It’s a really tiny piece of wire, actually.”

His interest perked up instantly. “Show it to me.”

She smacked at his fingers reaching out for the buttons on her shirt. “Uh-uh. As if I don’t know what that hand will be
up to, soldier. We’ll hike downstream till we’re sure we aren’t being followed. Then maybe I’ll let you play with my…bra.”

“Fair enough.” Jazz gave the clearing one last look-over. He would always remember this as a special place. He reached behind him and pulled out a small knife.

“What are you doing?” She came closer as she watched him.

“Getting a souvenir.”

He smiled down tenderly at her. She smiled back.

“Where have you been? Didn’t you get my messages?”

As soon as Stefan walked into the back room of the Cha Cha Club, he could tell Alissa wasn’t very happy with him. First, he had been asked to meet her at one of the businesses in town, and not at her private training place. Second, she hadn’t come up to him and demanded a kiss, as was her habit of greeting. There was an anxious urgency in her voice that didn’t go with the low-cut top she was wearing that nearly exposed her entire cleavage.

She walked hurriedly toward the back, her familiar sexy sway missing, and opened a door that had a “Private” plaque hung outside. He followed, noting the very businesslike atmosphere of the office, with its computers, electronic equipment, and file cabinets, a direct contrast to the sensual trappings of the outside rooms, in which flesh and sex were the decor.

“I came as soon as I could.”

“That’s not what I want to hear.” Her gaze was direct, hard.

“What is it, Lis? I’m a busy man.” He sat down in one of the plush office chairs, laced his fingers on his lap, and cocked his brow expectantly.

Alissa leaned back against the gleaming cherry oak desk. Dressed in a red micro-mini that barely covered her thighs, with sharp stiletto heels, she looked ludicrous against the background of books and files.

“You’re so damn arrogant, Stefan. If you want to work for
Yeekohkoh
, you have to bend a little. You’re no longer an independent once you join us.”

Stefan allowed a small smile. “I don’t think that’s an option. I have no desire to be less independent. And,” he settled back comfortably, “I didn’t say I wanted to work for
Yeekoh
.”

“We agreed to take the shipment of pills off your hands.” Alissa crossed her arms. “That’s a favor we did for you.”

“Exactly. But I don’t work for you, Alissa my sweet, or any of the Triad brothers. I can work with you, if you like. This is a give-and-take business, and for your brother’s favor, I owe him one.”

Her beautifully plucked eyebrows shot up. “You,” she said slowly, “are very, very brave. If my brother heard your words, you might not be walking out of here alive.”

Stefan shrugged. “It’s a way of life. I’m a middleman, and a middleman must always be independent.” He purposefully glanced at the clock on the wall. “If this is about business, your time is almost up.”

Alissa slowly pushed off the desk. She approached him with that practiced sexy sway she used whenever she wanted to seduce him. She stopped a couple of feet away, standing close enough that he could see that she wasn’t wearing anything under the thin material of her outfit. She placed her hands on her hips, a pose calculated to bring attention to her ample bosom.

“And if it’s not about business?”

Her perfume wafted toward him. She moved her hands lower on her hips, her pose growing more suggestive.

Stefan’s smile widened. “This is a place of business, so whatever it is you or
Yeekoh
want must be very important. You’ll just have to convince me that you’re worth it, like every woman here.”

He insulted her on purpose, of course. There was a perverse streak in her that liked it when he did that. He knew she wouldn’t take it from anyone else, but he had carefully cultivated this relationship between them in such a way. He excited her because he treated her differently. He crossed his legs, relaxing even more. Now was the time to test whether
he had succeeded in pleasing her. He beckoned with one hand.

“What can I do for you, Alissa? And what will you give me in return?”

“But I already did you a favor.” Her voice grew softer. “Many favors.”

“But this one is different. You ordered me here, to this office. At your place of work.”

“This is urgent business.” She took a step closer.

“Something I can take care of for you.”

“Easily.”

Stefan pulled out his cell phone. “In that case, don’t you think I deserve a reward?”

Alissa laughed. “Your street reputation stands.” She fingered the front buttons of her tight blouse. “You drive a hard bargain. I…like it.”

“Being in this office brings out the businessman in me. While the men outside guard the place, we might as well conduct business properly.”

Alissa threw back her head and laughed again. “Fine, my love. We’ll do it your way. I always like doing things your way.”

Stefan nodded and gestured with his hand again. “Pour us some business drinks. Then…let’s hear your proposal.”

She sauntered off to a cabinet nearby. Soft music suddenly came on. She returned with two filled wineglasses. She deliberately leaned forward as she put them on the table next to him. Then she returned to stand in front of him again. She raised an eyebrow, indicating that she was ready. He nodded.

She started unbuttoning her top slowly, in a teasing, practiced manner. “Our first problem is a missing business acquaintance named Dilaver. I’m sure you have heard of him. If you agree to find out what happened to him,” she said as she peeled off the soft material, “you get this.”

“Agreed,” Stefan said lazily. Alissa knew of only one way to persuade a man and it never seemed to occur to her that he already got what she was offering.

Moving forward and swaying her hips suggestively, she rolled the micro-mini down her hips. “Our second problem is finding the gang who attacked Dilaver. We heard they took a trailer of weapons that should have been ours. If you find out who these people are, you get this.”