Under His Protection (13 page)

Because she was pretty sure that they were headed to something physical tonight. Something fun and relaxing that would completely take her mind off the craziness surrounding her life right now. And not just with anyone, but with sexy, adorable Ivan who made her let her guard down even if she knew it likely was stupid.

Chapter 11

Ivan stared out one of the big glass windows of his living room at the city below but he wasn’t seeing much. Everything blurred together in a kaleidoscope of colors. It was after midnight and he knew he should just go to sleep.

Mina and Blue had stopped by unexpectedly to check on Julieta, interrupting the flirtatious conversation he’d been enjoying with her. After they’d left Julieta had looked exhausted so she’d left to take a shower in the guest bathroom and now he was certain she was in bed.

Alone, unfortunately.

He scrubbed a hand over his face but froze when he saw her reflection in the glass. He immediately turned.

Wearing a short-sleeved blue and purple polka dot pajama set and her damp hair falling loose around her shoulders, she looked…terrified.

Shit.
“What is it?” he demanded, crossing the distance from the windows to where she stood by the hallway.

Wordlessly she held out her phone, her fingers trembling. When he looked at the screen he expected another vile text. Instead there was a picture of a skimpy, black thong covered in what he was certain was semen. The message attached to it said,
There’s nowhere you can hide from me.

He let out a savage curse and started to squeeze the phone in his hand. He was tempted to smash it to pieces so she’d never have to see that picture again, but that would accomplish nothing. When he opened his arms, she immediately fell into them, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face against his chest. She wasn’t crying, but her body trembled.

“We’re going to stop this guy, I swear.” He kissed the top of her head as he gently rubbed her back. His stomach was tight, the tension building inside him that things had turned ugly so quickly.

She didn’t respond, just squeezed him tighter before she stepped back to look at him. She didn’t drop her hands from holding onto him. “It’s so…disgusting. It finally set in that a total freakshow was in my house, touching my stuff, and now it’s like, I don’t know, I just feel violated. I know it’s just a material thing but it was mine and he…” She let out a shudder, her fingers digging into his sides. “Should we send this to Detective Duarte?”

Ivan’s jaw tightened and he struggled to find his voice. He wanted to beat the shit out of this guy. Hell, he wanted to do a lot worse, but he cut off the dark thought. “Yeah, I’ll take care of it right now. I’ll let him and Lizzy know. I don’t want to leave you alone, but would you mind waiting here for a few minutes?”

“Of course not. I’m fine, that picture just freaked me out.” Her voice cracked, but she seemed to gather herself together.

“I’m going to forward this to my email, then send it to them. I don’t know, but maybe Lizzy can pull something from the picture.” He doubted it, but anything was possible. “Do you want me to make you tea or coffee or something?” He didn’t even know if he had tea, but he was sure he could dig something up.

Julieta shook her head. “I’m okay, but thanks. For everything, not just this.”

He just grunted, not wanting her thanks. After she settled on one of the couches and turned the TV on low, he hurried from the room, texting Lizzy from his phone.
You awake?

Lizzy:
Yeah, Maddox is starting to teethe so both Porter and I are up. We just got him down though. Everything okay?

Ivan:
No, that bastard just sent her a picture. I’m sending everything to your email. Can you pinpoint where all the phones have been dumped on a map?

Lizzy:
I’ll be up for a while so send whenever. And yes. I’ll let you know what I find.

Ivan:
Thanks and apologize to Porter for taking up so much of your time.

Lizzy.
No prob. And don’t worry about that.

In his home office, Ivan saved the picture in a folder in his email account and forwarded the message and picture to Lizzy and Duarte. He didn’t think he’d need it for anything, but he wanted to keep it as backup evidence.

Ivan hated feeling helpless. The foreign sensation pumping through him made him feel just that. In the Army he’d always had a clear target. Now that he protected Mina, the targets weren’t always clear, but his objective was. Protect her from danger. Period.

It should be just as simple as that with Julieta. But nothing was simple where she was concerned. Someone wasn’t after her for monetary gain; a psycho had her in his crosshairs and they had no fucking leads. It was like he was driving blind.

As another thought entered his mind, he texted Lizzy again.
If you ping the location of the last phone used, can you find the closest neighborhoods to where it was dumped?

Unless of course they got lucky and she pinged it to an actual residential location, not a Dumpster. He wasn’t banking on that though. The guy had been too careful so far.

Lizzy:
Yep

He loved her succinct answer. Smiling, he turned his computer off and headed back to the living room where he found Julieta curled up on his couch with one of the hand-stitched blankets he’d bought in Afghanistan wrapped around her shoulders. He liked seeing her in his place, using his things, even if the circumstances sucked.

Thoughts of her stalker and the threat surrounding her faded into the background as their eyes met. Here under his roof, she was safe with him. And he was going to make sure she stayed that way.

“You doing okay?” he asked, sitting on the arm of the loveseat closest to the couch. He wanted to sit next to her and pull her into his arms, but he couldn’t get a read on her.

“Yeah.” She stood and let the blanket slide onto the couch behind her. Picking up the remote control she clicked off the TV. Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned to face him. Only a couple feet separated them. The silence in the room was deafening as she met his gaze again and he hated the fear in her eyes. “Did Lizzy have anything good to say?”

“Not yet. I just emailed Duarte but hopefully we’ll hear from him tomorrow.” Because unfortunately Julieta’s case wasn’t a top priority. Though after the picture she’d just received it might move up.

“Tomorrow I’m telling my family everything and I’ll probably skip out on work too. I don’t want to be even more of an imposition, but—”

“I would have been surprised if you’d wanted to go to work.” He’d been prepared to convince her otherwise anyway. “And you’re not an imposition so just forget that, okay?” It scraped against his senses that she could even think that.

Nodding, she blinked quickly and looked down. He realized she was fighting tears and his gut twisted. He pushed off the arm and going against all his self-preservation instincts, pulled her into his arms again. Her grip around him was tight, as if she was afraid he’d let go. No way in hell.

She fit so damn perfectly too, as if this was exactly where she was supposed to be. The more time he spent with her, the harder he fell. Especially seeing her so upset like this. She was so strong and independent and even though she was holding up well, this was still clearly hard on her and he just wanted to take care of her.

Holding her tight, he rubbed his hand along her spine, the material of her top soft against his palm. He wished there were no barriers between them and they were skin to skin but it was probably for the best they weren’t. She was too vulnerable right now and he didn’t want to take advantage.

When she slid her hands under the back hem of his shirt and moved her fingers underneath, his entire body pulled taut. “Julieta?” he rasped out.

“Take off your shirt.” Her words were whispered but he’d heard her correctly.

He leaned back to look at her and she finally met his gaze, her nervousness clear. Yeah, she was way too vulnerable right now. That didn’t mean he couldn’t give her pleasure, help her take the edge off. He might be relationship-challenged, but he had no doubt he could do that for her. “I have a better idea,” he murmured, reaching between their bodies.

Her pajama top was short sleeved and button-down with a little logo on a small pocket over one of her breasts. He slid the top button free, watching her expression as he did.

Her breath hitched but she didn’t make a move to stop him. It was dim in the living room, but with the lights from the city below and a nearly full moon hanging in the sky behind them, he had no problem seeing her cheeks flush.

When he slid the second button free, she shifted a little under his scrutiny, as if she was trying to ease an ache. Oh, he’d be easing it for her very soon. By the time he reached the bottom button the anticipation building inside him was too much. The flash of her bronzed skin wasn’t enough. His erection pushed insistently against his pants, the hunger to see her bare making his body taut with anticipation.

Before he could slide the top off, she did it for him, letting her shoulders and arms dip back as the top slipped soundlessly to the ground.

His gaze landed on her pale brown nipples and the sharpest sense of hunger slammed into him. She might be petite but the woman was curvy with full, lush breasts. Without pause he grabbed onto her hips and pulled her close. The need to possess her was damn near overwhelming.

Wordlessly he lifted her up so that she had to wrap her legs around his waist. Just like in the parking lot, he hadn’t had to ask. She was as into him as he was into her. At least physically. He planned to show her that he wanted a hell of a lot more than just sex.

Keeping his gaze pinned to hers, he walked them to the glass window that overlooked his patio and pressed her up against it. “The windows are tinted, no one can see in,” he growled, needing her to know that he’d never let anyone see her naked. Would never let anyone see what was his. He knew she was feeling vulnerable now and wanted to make sure she was comfortable with this.

She shivered, her back arching, brushing her hard nipples against his chest. Her breathing had turned erratic as she brought her hands to his shoulders, her fingers digging into his skin.

Normally he liked a little dirty talk, but he couldn’t even find his voice right now. He wanted to tell her all sorts of things. Instead, he shifted slightly and dipped his head, feeling obsessed with the need to taste her everywhere.

He probably should have kissed her first or teased her but he captured her right nipple with his mouth, sucking on it hard.

She let out a surprised groan and arched into him again, this time practically pushing her breast into his mouth.

He laughed lightly against her and she moaned again, her fingers digging even harder into his shoulders. God, those sounds she let out were nearly enough to make him come right then. He flicked his tongue against the hard tip, amazed by how reactive she was.

With every flick and tease she writhed against him, her head falling back against the glass as he held her in place. His cock pulsed between his legs, heavy and insistent, but right now wasn’t about him. He kissed a slow path to her other breast, just as eager to tease her other nipple.

For so long sex had always been strictly about release. He always made sure his partners came first, usually more than once, before he did, but sex was just that, sex. He’d never had anything deeper with his partners because he hadn’t wanted to. Getting involved with anyone past fucking hadn’t been worth any risk.

When he’d first met Julieta yeah, it had been purely physical. He’d have to be dead not to notice how sexually vibrant she was. But the longer he’d been around her, the more he’d realized she was a woman worth risking anything for. He wanted to be in her life, to be the first person she turned to whenever she had a problem or just wanted to talk.

Now that he finally had her under his roof, even with less than stellar circumstances, he wasn’t letting her go.

Loosening his grip on her hips, he lifted his head back and stared down at her for a long moment. Her full breasts rose and fell, both wet from the teasing of his tongue and mouth. Her light brown nipples were rock hard. It was difficult to tear his gaze away from them as he slowly let her down to the floor.

“Are you stopping?” Her voice was a strangled whisper.

He looked up at her as he went down on his knees. Stopping? No way in hell. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion for all of a second until he grasped the edges of her cotton shorts. As he slid them down her legs, she bit her bottom lip and his entire body reacted. He wondered if she understood exactly how hot it got him when she bit her lip like that.

Soon, he wanted those lips wrapped around his hard length. But not yet. Now… If he hadn’t already been on his knees, he might have fallen to them as his gaze landed on the juncture between her beautiful thighs.

A soft triangle of hair covered her mound and just like that, his mouth watered. “Spread your legs,” he demanded, his voice harsh and unsteady. She stepped out of the shorts, leaving them where they were and did just that.

Julieta had never felt so exposed in her life. Or maybe she’d just never wanted anyone as much as she wanted Ivan. Her body trembled with pent up hunger, aching for him to fill her. Seeing him on his knees in front of her was too much.