Dangerous Protector (Federal Paranormal Unit) (13 page)

“Who are you?”
she screamed, her body contorted, struggling to move. “Get out of my house!”

No matter how hard she tried, she could
n’t stop the invisible binds holding her trapped to the wall.

Brock rushed forward to Cyn.
His heart almost stopped at how swollen and bruised the side of her face was. He felt her for other injuries. She winced at the long gash and knot on the side of her head.

He cut her loose from the
metal bar Clara had tied her to.

“Galvez? What are you doing here?”
she asked glancing at the foot of the stairs.

Galvez marched forward and released Roxy from the binds holding her hostage.

“I had a feeling you might need my help,” Galvez muttered, cutting the rope from Roxy’s legs.

“Thank you
.” She bit her lip, brow furrowed in worry. “She needs a hospital. Clara had her down here all this time, days.” She glanced at an unconscious Roxy. “I don’t know if she’s fed her at all, but it’s clear she hit her.”

Cyn threw her arms around his neck, holding him tight. The
ache in his chest loosened, though he had a hard time stopping the shaking in his hands.

“
You need a hospital too, love.”

“I’m okay
.” She sighed into his neck. “I have you.”

Cyn glanced at Roxy’s pale
bruised body lying on the hospital bed. She had been given heavy painkillers to help with the broken leg her mother had given her.

The door pushed open. Galvez walked in. Brock had left the room to speak to Ramirez.

“How is she?” he asked.

She turned to face him. They’d never been close. When he told her he was her father, she’d refused to acknowledge him as such. She’d spent her entire life believing he hadn’t wanted her. Only to find out as an adult he just hadn’t known she existed. It could mess with a person’s self-esteem to think that for years she hadn’
t been wanted by her parents. So she refused to allow him into her life. Until he offered her the job that would bring her to James.

“She’ll be okay. They were able to reset her leg and don’t think she’ll have a visible limp.” She winced remembering the doctor telling her they’d have to break Roxy’s leg again before they could try to fix it. “She was dehydrated, but they think in a few days she’ll be fine.”

“I’m sorry about Clara,” he said, as he shoved his hands into his pockets and rolled his shoulders.

“It’s okay. I didn’t realize she was my sister. I thought our resemblance was mostly due to being related.”

He shook his head. “No, she’s older than you by around six years.”

“
I knew I saw photos of my mother at Clara’s house that caught my attention.”

“Yeah, that was your mother when she
was expecting Clara and with Clara as a baby,” Galvez said.

She gasped, things finally falling into place.
“That’s what struck me as strange. I couldn’t figure why the photo was different. When I went through my baby album, mom had long hair in her pregnancy photo and in my baby pictures. In the one of her pregnant with Clara, she had really short hair and looked like a little girl.” She sighed. “Thanks for filling me in on everything.”

It was hard. Much harder than she’d thought it would be to acknowledge the disease eating her family’s mental health. It was the reason she wouldn’t, couldn’t stay with James.

“I should have told you before. I just wanted to see you succeed without this hovering over you.”

“You should give Brock his job
as lead.” She met Galvez’s dark gaze. “He deserves to be in charge. We both know that. Besides, I don’t think I can work with him anymore.”

Galvez lifted a dark bushy brow. “Why? You’ve been at the job for all of a week and you’re ready to quit?” He glanced at Roxy then at Cyn. “I didn’t take you for a quitter.”

Fuck. “I’m not a quitter, but he and I…” She sighed, not wanting to but having to admit things to Galvez of all people. “We have a history and I’m not sure I can lead this group, work beside him and keep it professional.”

“Cynthia, this team is different than others,” he
explained. “They’re all special, remember?”

She nodded, her own wor
ds being repeated to her. “I know that.”

“That means there are certain rules we don’t enforce with the paranormal unit. Like fraternizing.” His lips curved in the first smile she’d ever seen on his face.

“Fraternizing?”

“Yes. Buchanan and Villa are married and will continue to work together on this team. If you’re concerned about having a relationship with Brock, don’
t be. Wheeler has specifically stated this group is different than all others. We don’t have enough paranormal units that we can make rules and force anyone out of the team. As such you aren’t bound by the same limitations the rest in the department are.”

Nice to know but that wasn’t her problem. She shook her head. “I have that in my blood,” she said
. She knew he understood. “That same illness that runs through the family. The same one my mother had.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” he said sternly. “You can get a blood test to be sure.”

She’d thought about it. But the truth was she’d been afraid of finding out if her worst nightmares might actually come true. She turned to glance at Roxy’s pale bruised features. She and Cyn had a resemblance, but Roxy’s hair was much lighter than Cyn’s.

“What’s going to happen with her?”

Guilt squeezed at her gut. This was her niece. She should do something to try to help her.

“She’s going for medical evaluations to see if she’s got the same problem as her mother. She’s then going to be sent for physical and mental rehabilitation.”

She bit her lip. “And then?”

“Her
late father’s mother would like to get custody of her.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “They’re nice people, Cynthia. I’ve had them checked out. They lost touch with Clara and Roxy when Clara stopped taking her meds almost two years ago and refused to have anything to do with them.”

“Her father’s not around?” She blinked back tears for the girl. Her mother was going to be locked in a mental institution for a while, possibly forever.

“No, he died in a car crash two years ago. But she knows her father’s family. She called them from time to time to speak to her grandmother. She’ll be okay with them.”

Cyn nodded. Still, she wanted to be a part of Roxy’s life. It was not her niece’s fault their genes were screwed up.

Then there was James. God. It hurt to think of how much she loved him and what she’d do for him. One of those things would be to leave. She knew he’d want forever. He’d want a family. When his parents died working for the government, he’d been left all alone. He’d always told her he wanted children. And she couldn’t give him that.

Her heart clenched.
She loved him too much to put him at the risk of being with her and the possibility she might end up sick. Or worse, for them to have children with the same illness. She could handle a lot of things, but putting the man she loved in the position to deal with a sick family was not one of them.

“Give James his job back, Martin
.” She called him by his first name for the first time ever. “I’m going to request a transfer.”

Galvez shook his head, rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I’ll give you a few days to think it over before I bring it up to Wheeler. He was very excited to have you lead the team. Your record with extractions is impeccable.”

“Thanks, but sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself to ensure the happiness of the people you love.”

The lights in her house flickered. She’d just walked in the door when she noticed the dimness. Just what she needed, a power failure. She should call Tonya and let her know she was okay. After her friend tried to warn her about seeing Cynthia in danger, she’d been very concerned for her. She tried to reassure her constantly, but Tonya was such a lovely friend that she still called to make sure Cyn was okay.

She flicked
the lights on and off, but they continued to stay dim.

“Great.” She’d been saved from having to spend time with the team for the past few days.
Out of town meetings with superiors and possible cases had her taken away from them. She’d ignored all of James’s calls. It hurt to do it, but she needed to start distancing from him. To help him cope when she finally transferred from the team.

She kicked her heels off and shoved her luggage next to the sofa, the wheels squeaking with the push. Exhaustion pulled at her muscles. She’d been traveling for two days
straight, and she needed a hot bath. She shoved down the suit pants as she walked, almost tripped on her own feet and headed for her bedroom. With a few wiggles, she kicked the pants away and tugged the silky blouse above her head. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed a pair of cuffs locked on to the wooden bars on her headboard.

Her breathing increased in speed. She padded next to the bed. There was nothing different than the last time she’d been in her room. Only the cuffs attached to her headboard.

“What the hell is this?”

A gust of wind pushed her forward.
Instinctively, she grabbed on the headboard so as not to fall on her face on the mattress. Metal clinked. Her vision swooped down. The cuff was securely attached to her wrist.

Another burst of wind and she landed on her back on the bed
, one arm pulled above her head.

“This isn’t funny, James!”
she growled. “Get out here already!”

He stepped out of a darkened corner of her room. The bastard had been standing there that whole time.

“Let me out of these you jerk!”

She probably could have said that nicely, but she was tired, hungry and needed a damn shower. She wasn’t feeling very nice at that particular moment.

Instead of loosening the cuff, her loose hand pressed against the bars, as if it had a mind of its own and the second set of cuffs locked her wrist into a secure hold.

“James!”
she screeched his name, no longer with any trace of patience. Frustration had become a constant inside her since she wasn’t near him. She missed him, damn it.

“No,” he said softly. He took slow steps toward her, stopping at the foot of the bed to roam his gaze up her almost naked body.

Embers sparked inside her, spreading down to her pussy with the intensity of a forest fire.

“What
.” She swallowed past the knot in her throat. “What are you doing here?”

She watched him remove his shirt, his muscles contracting with every move.

“I came to take back what’s mine.”

Uh-oh. “And what’s that?”

“You,” he said, his eyes glowing a bright gold. “You’re mine. Don’t bother denying it because you have the mark to prove it.”

“James, we aren’t going to get back together,” she mumbled, her eyes glued to the hand undoing his jeans. If life really loved
her, he’d take those pants off asap.

“I wasn’t aware we’d broken things off again.”

The zipper hissed on its descent. She licked her lips and stared as the denim slid down his legs to reveal his fully erect cock.

“Well
.” She blinked. It didn’t do any good. She couldn’t will her eyes away from his erection. In fact, her only thoughts centered on tasting him.

“If that’s how you want to begin, I’ll be more than happy to bring my body to you.”

Hell yes!

He grinned. “You’re projecting. I find your enthusiasm over my being naked incredibly refreshing.” He wrapped a hand around his stiff length and jerked. Her throat went sandpaper dry. “Not to mention it’s fucking hot to know you want to suck my cock until I come down your throat.”

Yeah, among other things.

“James, you…”
She took a breath and squeezed her legs tight. Her pussy leaked her need for him, and she knew he smelled how hot she was for him. “I…we can’t.”

He crawled up the bed by her feet.
He curled his hand around her ankles and spread her legs apart. He inhaled.

“Ah, yes,
there’s that sweetness that drives me crazy.”

“James, I quit the team,” she blurted out.

His finger trailed up her legs to her thighs. She couldn’t stop the muscles under his palms from trembling.

“You can do whatever you want, love. I’m not going anywhere.” He tugged down her panties,
carefully removing the damp bit of lace to then return to her wet folds. He scooted down, until he was laying between her legs and glanced up. “What you need to understand is that no matter what job you have, or what team you lead, I’m not going anywhere. You’re mine. And you’re staying mine.”

“James…”
She took short puffs of air, watching him place tiny kisses in her inner thigh. “I can’t be with you. Can’t give you what you want.”

He rubbed his cheek on her thigh. “And what is it I want?”

“More than I can give,” she mumbled, breathless.

“Right now, all I want is the taste of you coming on my face,” he said with a steadfast determination she had come to know as solely his.

Oxygen froze in her chest as his lips slowly brushed her inner thigh to reach the center of her pleasure. With a single-minded swipe, he licked her from ass to front. Groans tore up her throat without a hiss of warning. “James!”