Desire Protected (4 page)

Nadia slipped from his grip and
stepped around him. “It’s okay, Sir. I’ll go, and then you and Bev
can take care of business.” She kissed his cheek and gazed into his
eyes. He spotted her strong furrowed brow. He also didn’t miss the
beads of sweat along her temple. It didn’t please him to see the
clear signs of fear but, in the right amount and mixed with her
strength, it could be what she needed to survive a night like
this.

He ground his teeth as she walked out
of his reach.

“
Get down to the end of
the hall. One of the guys back there will show you where to go.”
Bev kept her gun trained on Ethan.

Once Nadia was out of his line of
sight, he backed farther into the room. “Let’s talk.” Now, he would
get the confirmation he needed. “How much?”

“
You understand she’s not
broken, yet?”

He took a deep breath. The thought had
his stomach curling. “I prefer to break my slaves myself.” He had
no problem taking the conversation down the rabbit hole if it got
him the information he needed.

“
Well then, you just
talked me into a discount.” She lowered the gun. It wasn’t her
first mistake. “It’ll still cost you though. My slaves aren’t cheap
even if I haven’t had to break them down, but she’ll be yours from
this point forward. We guarantee all our girls are free and clear.
No one will come looking for her. She’ll be yours to
Master.”

Gotcha.
“Give me a number.”

Her eyes rolled up. He couldn’t
imagine how much brain power it would take her to count. However
long, it was all the time he needed.

He took a tiny step to the left and
seized her right wrist, the one holding the gun, in his left hand.
All his strength centered on his grip. His thumb was all the
leverage he needed to twist her hand into a horrid angle. With his
right hand, he pulled back the slide as she fired the gun. The
bullet drilled into her chest. As she went down, he claimed the gun
and crouched over her.

“
That amazing woman is not
for sale. None of them are, you wretched piece of shit.” He shook
her, but she didn’t answer.

Blood seeped from her mouth and her
gaze drifted off at an odd slant.

He tore from the room with one thought
in mind, saving Nadia. A quick check of the magazine revealed the
gun had several bullets remaining. He prayed it would be
enough.

Chapter Four

The blueprints of the building he
studied today showed a large open room at the end of the hall. He
stopped at the entrance and stared at a bank of lockers. Most of
the room was blocked from his view. He inched inside and peeked
around the last locker. A man sat at a table looking at a magazine.
The fire door at the back of the room opened and a second man
entered.

“
You remembered to tie her
to the rope this time, right?” said the man at the
table.

“
Fuck you.” The second man
took a seat next to him. “You need to train Bev on how to use a gun
again. She didn’t even close the slide when she took it from
you.”

“
She must have figured it
out. The gun went off while you were outside.”

“
And you haven’t checked
on her?” The second man swatted the magazine from his
hand.

“
Hey, with any luck,
she’ll shoot herself and then we can take over the slave business.”
They both laughed.

“
True.” Their high five
was the last straw.

Ethan stepped into the room with the
gun trained on both men. “There’s a problem with your little
plan.”

“
Hold up, man.” The first
guy held up his hands. “You want a cut. We can share, right
Frank?”

“
Fuck that.” Frank
charged.

Ethan fired the gun once, hitting the
man in the chest. When he kept coming, he fired two more shots.
Finally, the man fell. He walked closer to the first
man.

“
Come on. I’ll make you a
deal.”

Ethan didn’t respond. With the gun
positioned on the man’s forehead, he fired. After confirming the
men were dead, he ran to the fire door. It opened to the parking
lot behind the building. He spotted an unmarked moving
truck.

Using the butt of the gun, he broke
the lock and raised the rear door. A half dozen sweet faces
squinted at him, including his Nadia.

“
Thank heavens, I found
you.” He climbed into the truck.

“
Ethan.” Tears streamed
down her face.

He flicked out his pocket
knife.

“
No, free the others
first.” Her strength continued to amaze him. “I told them you would
come.”

He caressed her face and kissed her
quickly. Then, he walked around each woman and cut through the
ropes binding them to a chain that ran the length of the van. He
assured each of them it was all over and more help was on the way.
Once they were all free and he had Nadia in his arms, he called
Clair. “It’s done, plus two.”

“
Thank you, Ethan. We’re
pulling in now.”

“
We’re in the back of the
building.”

“
I see you.”

He climbed out of the truck and helped
Nadia down.

Several vehicles pulled into the
parking lot, including a couple of ambulances. A number of men
rushed past them and into the building. Clair got out and walked
toward them. “Thanks again, Ethan. I knew I could count on you.”
She tilted her head “Nadia?”

“
I don’t think the two of
you have officially met.” Ethan pulled Nadia closer to his side.
“Nadia, this is Clair.”

Clair held out her hand. “It’s nice to
meet you. You’ve caught yourself a real good one here. If I were
you, I wouldn’t let him go.”

Nadia squeezed her hand. “I won’t ever
let him go.”

“
There was gunfire.” Ethan
rubbed Nadia’s hip. “You’ll have to deal with the police because
we’re leaving.”

“
Shit. Okay. We’ll come up
with something.” She waved to a man getting out of the car she’d
arrived in. “Your team has already taken care of the surveillance
cameras?”

“
That’s correct.” Ethan
nodded.

“
You saved a lot of lives
tonight.”

He also ended three. Guilt was not a
part of his job though. It only appeared when he didn’t save a life
worth saving. His gaze turned to the truck. “You’ll let me know if
these women need anything.”

“
I will.”

****

They said nothing on the way back to
her place. She knew he was pissed and rightfully so. They had built
their relationship on a few promises and she’d broken them tonight.
The quiet ended the moment they entered her bedroom.

“
Let’s have it.” His
nostrils flared. “What could possibly have gotten you so out of
sorts you thought it was okay to track me down?” His gaze had gone
cold and he crossed his arms.

“
I didn’t think it was
okay.”

“
Oh, so you thought about
this before you walked into a situation that could have gotten you
killed or worse.” The hurt etched across his features cut like a
knife.

“
No.” She swiped her palms
back and forth on her thighs. “Well, yes, I thought about it.” This
was the feeling she needed to remember if she ever got it in her
head to follow him again. Any of the horrors from the last few
hours would do but she wasn’t brave enough to relive any of them.
She’d not only risked her life tonight but she’d risked his as
well. That was something she couldn’t live with. “Wait, worse than
being killed?”

“
Yes.” He eliminated the
space between them and stroked her cheek. “There are much worse
things those freaks could have done to you than stealing you from
me. I don’t want that kind of pain to ever touch you.” He set her
back a step. “Stop distracting me. Why did you follow
me?”

She took a deep breath. “I saw you
with the blonde.” She shook her head. “With Clair this morning.
She’s who you and Aidan asked me about, remember?”

“
Where did you see us?” He
narrowed his eyes.

“
Outside of your building
this morning. I was bringing the smoothie you’d forgotten. Who is
she to you? Clearly you work with her. Is she who you’re seeing
when you say you’re working?”

“
What are you
implying?”

“
Whatever you think I am.”
She wiped at the sweat building on her forehead.

“
She’s only a colleague
and no one you need to worry about. This jealousy doesn’t look good
on you, Nadia.”

She held her ground, his words stung
but she’d see this conversation through. “What would you have done
if she’d been the one to walk in the room?”

“
That’s a ridiculous
question.” He broke eye contact.

“
I don’t see it that
way.”

He grabbed her arms and pulled her
flush to him. “Fuck, Nadia, I was in the middle of an
opp.”

“
Would you have touched
her?”

“
I work alone.”

“
Answer the question,
Ethan.” Fat tears floated in her gaze.

“
I’ve never had to use a
woman in that way and now that you’re in my life I never will.” He
pressed his palm over her heart.

“
Thank you.” She covered
his hand with hers and closed her eyes. One hard question down, now
for the second. She took a deep breath. “Do you still want to marry
me?”

“
Don’t you?”

“
That’s a cop out. Tell me
right now. I want nothing big. You know that. If you want to get
married, why don’t we run off somewhere and do it?”

“
Honey, I’d marry you
today, but have you thought it through? Don’t you want your parents
there, your sister?”

She walked over to her purse and
picked up her phone. “I’m calling my dad.” She put her hand on her
hip while she waited for him to pick up. “Hey, Daddy.”

“
Hello, sweetheart.” Her
dad sounded the same. It always brought her such relief that he was
healthy.

“
Ethan and I are thinking
about eloping. What do you think?”

“
I think eloping is a fine
idea. You never enjoyed fusses. This suits you. I’d rather hoped
Ethan would have thought of it already. If he’s there, let me talk
to him.”

She held the phone out. “My dad wants
to talk to you.”

He blew out a breath and took the
phone. “Good evening, sir… Yes, sir. Big affairs do make her
nervous… Ah, no, sir… okay, sir. I’ll talk to Nadia about it
tonight… I promise, sir… Thank you, sir.” He ended the call and
tossed it on the chair.

“
What did he
say?”

“
He was fine with it but
he had one stipulation.”

“
Oh.” She thought about
what it could be, and then it hit her. “Oh.” They hadn’t talked
about it in a while. Hell, they’d been fucking at the time they’d
discussed it. She turned around and hugged herself.

“
You still want them,
right?” He pulled her around to face him. “Because I
do.”

“
I do too.” Her heartrate
skyrocketed. “I’ll throw out my pills.”

“
Good, because I promised
your father we’d start trying.”

“
What?”

“
I didn’t tell him I’d be
spanking your ass first, but I’m certain he’d approve.” He turned
her around and pushed her down over the bed.

“
Hey, you already spanked
me tonight.” She squirmed as he yanked off her tiny skirt and her
panties along with it.

“
That spanking only served
to clear my head and allow me time to come up with a plan.” He
removed her shoes and tossed them over his shoulder. “This spanking
is your punishment.” He rubbed her ass.

Oh shit.

“
Take off your silly
little shirt and your bra too.” He rolled up his sleeves. “I want
you naked.”

She got up on her knees and pulled her
shirt over her head. After unclipping her bar, she tossed it at
him. “What about you?”

“
You’re not in a position
to make demands.” He snatched her ankle and pulled her down and
around until her legs and butt hung off the bed. “Now that’s a
beautiful ass.” He kneaded her globes.

She kept still while he warmed her.
“How many, Sir?” She prayed not many. Although, she deserved this.
And like her last punishment, they would let it go and move on
afterwards.

“
Until I say or until I
can’t stop myself from fucking you.” He swiped a finger through her
folds. “I knew it. You’re wet, already.”

She spread her legs and hoped he would
explore more but his bare hand whacked her ass. Searing heat spread
across her butt. She clutched the quilt covering her bed with both
fists.

Several more blows landed on both
cheeks, all up and down the softest parts of her bottom. “Your skin
turns the loveliest shade of red.” He dragged his fingertips over
her heated bottom.

“
Thank you, Sir.” She
spread her legs a little.