Desire Protected

Published by Evernight Publishing ® at
Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2016 S.J.
Maylee

ISBN: 978-1-77233-814-0

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Stephanie Balistreri

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or
distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this
book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without
written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied
in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names,
characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual
events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To Ethan and Nadia, I can’t thank you both
enough for the thrilling ride. You’re two of the bravest characters
I’ve had the opportunity to write. The adventure and love you’ve
inspired are threads I’ll continue to pull. Thank you for taking me
on this journey.

DESIRE
PROTECTED

Assassins and Sweethearts,
2

S.J. Maylee

Copyright © 2016

Chapter One

Nadia swept through her kitchen. She
long ago stopped feeling guilty about all the money Ethan had
poured into it. The room was simply a dream. Too bad the reason
behind her new kitchen was a nightmare. A man had almost died where
she was standing. Shivering all over, she scurried over the spot to
the fridge to grab the yogurt and milk.

The only thing better was Ethan’s
kitchen at his place. If they ever actually got married, it would
be hers as well. Until then, this kitchen would do just fine. She
skimmed her fingers over the sparkle in the light granite and
admired the deep sink on her way to the island. After tossing a
banana and a cup of blueberries in her blender along with the
yogurt and milk, she set it all to whirl.

“
Good morning, beautiful.”
Ethan strolled in, wrapped his arms around her from behind and
kissed her cheek.

She stopped the blender. “Good
morning, sweetheart. You’re looking fine today.” Maybe she should
ask him about their wedding plans, their nonexistent plans. She
wanted nothing elaborate but she wanted to plan it with
him.

“
You’re looking good
enough to eat.” He swept her hair from her shoulder and sucked on
her neck.

The warm moist heat of his mouth and
his firm hand rubbing her ass had her forgetting entirely what she
was doing. “It’s good I don’t work for you anymore.”

“
We’d never get anything
done.” He let her go and turned to the shelf behind them, probably
to fetch a coffee mug.

She rubbed her forehead and focused on
the blender in front of her. “What was I doing? Oh right,
smoothies.” She pulled her to-go cups from the shelves. “I made
enough for you this morning.”

“
No more stealing from
you. Well then,” he smacked her ass, “I will have to find something
else to steal.”

She turned and wrapped her arms around
him. “You’ve got my attention.”

“
I could push my morning
meetings back.” He lifted the edge of her skirt.

“
I shouldn’t.” She leaned
into him. “Today is Sam’s first full day and he’s meeting me at my
office.” She moaned as she kissed his chin. Sam was her first
security hire since stepping into her new job as Human Resources
Manager for Aidan Clery. He was an assassin just like Ethan but the
boys had it all worked out. Their business didn’t touch Nadia. The
office where she and the general staff worked was separate from his
security office. Her staff knew the bare minimum about his clients.
It was a don’t ask, don’t tell situation, making it the perfect
arrangement.

“
Can’t Aidan handle it?”
He reached between her legs and stroked her panties. “It’s been too
long since we went AWOL.” He sucked on her earlobe.

“
I know. That reminds me.”
She tugged on his chin. “You promised to take me
dancing.”

“
Yes.” He nipped her
bottom lip. “Same club where I found you playing hooky?”

“
Oh yeah.” All thoughts
regarding her responsibilities flew out the window. He’d lit a fuse
within her. Now, she’d probably think of nothing but him all
day.

His phone buzzed signaling a new text
message, taking them out of the moment. After a quick check of his
phone, he stepped back. “I need to deal with this.” He kissed her
sweetly, and then walked out of the kitchen. He put his phone to
his ear and said, “You want me to do what?”

She tried not to think about what
Ethan did for a living. His work was important and so damn
dangerous. It helped to think about the people he saved from
horrendous situations. His last client had lived through countless
death threats and repeated beatings from her husband. Luckily, they
no longer had to worry about that in the future. The abuser was
long gone from this world, he may not have died in her kitchen but
he did shortly after, and the client was alive and
healing.

Nadia poured the smoothie into the
cups and set about cleaning up her mess.

“
I have to go.” Ethan
shuffled into the kitchen. His gaze bounced from one place to
another. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him so unnerved. “I’ll
call you later.”

“
Okay.” She knew better
than to push him for information. Questions about their wedding
would have to wait too. There was always a reason to put it off.
She put her full concentration into wiping the counter.

He caressed her cheek. “How about I
take you out to dinner tonight?”

“
That sounds nice.” She
rubbed his hand and let him go.

The door slammed behind him and she
took a deep breath. She promised herself she wouldn’t think about
what he did during the day. The fear would trap her.

She walked out of the kitchen and
turned back for her smoothie. Ethan had left his, too. If she left
right now, she might catch him before he entered his building.
After slipping into her heels and tucking the smoothies inside her
bag, she took off.

Her driver, one perk Ethan insisted on
providing, was waiting for her at the curb. She slipped inside and
asked him to follow Ethan to his office.

“
I’m hoping to catch him
before he goes inside.” She looked ahead and couldn’t find Ethan’s
car anywhere.

“
That shouldn’t be a
problem. Traffic will ease after the next couple blocks and he’s
not far ahead of us.”

“
Thanks.” Her gaze stayed
on the cars in front of them. Something about the way Ethan left
had her uncomfortable. Maybe once she saw him again, she’d be able
to relax.

The traffic did clear up and in no
time her driver pulled to the curb before Ethan’s building. She got
out and spotted Ethan a couple cars ahead. He was standing on the
sidewalk with the same uncomfortable expression blanketing his
expression. Maybe she should get back in the car and give him the
space she’d promised.

A familiar blonde got out of a cab.
Ethan stepped forward and grabbed her arm. He’d pulled the woman
way too close. “What the fuck.” Nadia focused on the woman, trying
to remember where she’d seen her before. Then it came to her. Ethan
and Aidan had once shown her a picture of this woman. She was
prettier in person, a slim, petite little thing, with beautiful
blonde hair.

Her thoughts froze as she blinked over
and over. The pair was sharing some sort of confidence. Nadia
clenched her fists and an ache spread along her jaw.

Finally, Ethan let the woman go but
they continued to stand close. What was it with this woman and what
did she want from Ethan? That was the exact question she’d promised
not to ask. Squeezing her eyes closed, she leaned on her
car.

Ethan pushed the woman forward and
opened the door of his car for her. As the woman climbed in, Ethan
looked about. Nadia whipped around. The last thing she needed was
for him to catch her watching. She slipped off the curb and sank
back into her car.

“
Are you all right?” her
driver asked.

“
I shouldn’t have come
here,” she whispered, then covered her mouth.

“
Everything
okay?”

She closed her eyes and took a second.
If she didn’t play this right, it would all get back to Ethan. “I’m
fine. Just forgot he had a meeting this morning.” She sat up. “You
can take me to my office, now.”

****

Ethan pushed Clair into his car and
climbed in after her. “I told you never to come to my
building.”

“
There’s no time to waste
on this, Ethan.” She pulled out her phone.

“
I got that from your text
and your phone call. Geesh, woman.” He pushed his hand over his
hair. “What if someone saw you?”

She held up her phone and showed him
an off-center picture of several woman huddled together in what
appeared to be a closet. “If you don’t take this trafficker out
tonight, we’ll lose these girls.”

“
How confident are you of
this intel?” He took her phone and focused on the blurred
faces.

“
It’s been verified from
two different sources. Look.” She pushed his arm holding her phone
down. “Once the women are out of the country, we’ll lose our
chance. We’re nowhere near ready to take down the house where they
sell the girls, but I’m not losing another group of
them.”

“
You’re certain this woman
isn’t just running the strip club? Everything I have says she’s a
manager of the club. What if the trafficker is one of the bouncers?
Women are rarely in charge in these organizations.”

“
That’s why this woman has
been so damn successful. The girls trust her. She’s selling them
financial freedom but what they don’t know is they’ll never need
money again because they’ll never again be free.” She looked out
the window. “I don’t have to tell you about the monsters out there
buying girls at these auctions.”