For Her Protection: 1 (Personal Protection) (6 page)

“Have a nice time, Lia.”

Lia wiggled her fingers at Charlize and shut the door.
Charlize glanced out the window. The view outside promised she’d smell summer
in the air. No clouds, just dizzying, dry sun. Not that she’d have a chance to
enjoy the beautiful day. The sun would be setting by the time she left the
office. She should’ve gone with Lia, accepted her invitation.
Wouldn’t
kill
me to get out of here for a while
.
Not to mention making a few
friends
might improve my life
…
get back to how things used to be
.

“You could go you know. I’m not gonna cramp your style. I’ll
sit on my own, all inconspicuous like.”

He winked and her insides warmed.

Was he for real? A man as possessive as Connor who wasn’t
compelled to keep a woman squirreled away to himself? Who didn’t demand every
moment of a woman’s attention in order to maintain his ego? She looked at him.
Really looked at him. The stubborn jut of his jaw, the stubble coating it, the
arch of his brows. Even relaxed and playful he was still a thousand times more
masculine then her ex.

And Simon had reacted like a tantrum-throwing toddler
anytime her universe wasn’t rotating exclusively around him. In the end she’d
only been able to have phone conversations with other people when he was
working.

No, Connor would be worse.

He just didn’t care because they weren’t in a relationship.
If they were, she’d no doubt be expected to quit her job and devote herself to
sucking his cock.

“I don’t think having lunch with the secretaries would make
the guys take me any more seriously.”

“What?”

The look Connor gave her made her want to reach over and
slap it right off.

“Don’t look at me like that. You have no idea what it’s like
to be thought of as less-capable because you have a vagina.”

Connor shut his laptop and skewered her with his gaze. “No,
Charlize, your capability is diminished by your own vaginal hang-up. If you
stopped being obsessed with everyone else’s impressions of you and just got on
with it, everyone else would too.” His words hung in the air followed by a
deadly silence.

Charlize’s blood pounded in her ears and she clutched the
arms of her chair to keep herself seated. “Get out of my office right now.”

“Charlize—” He dared shoot her a warning look.

“Get out now, Connor, or I swear to god I’m sacking you.”

He inched out of his chair, his posture leaving no doubt he
was doing only as he chose. “I was about to make a phone call anyway. I’ll be
right outside—for now. You should eat something. It’s been seven hours since
you ate.”

Now he was timing her meals?

“Get out.” The pitch of her voice rose.

Connor gave her one last look before strolling out of her
office.

Connor stepped outside and sat behind the empty reception
desk. Some time to cool off wouldn’t do her any harm. Maybe he’d pushed her too
hard but she needed to hear some hard truths. Not to mention he’d about reached
his limit when it came to playing it cool under the constant heat of her saucy
little glances.

This game of hers was murder on his cock. As if he’d been
transported back in time to when he was the horniest and most frustrated
sixteen-year-old boy on the planet. But then something about Charlize gave him
that feeling. That obsessive, crazy, youthful yearning. The magic people
normally lost as they got older and reality intruded, turning fantasy to dust.

He should just cave in and fuck her—get it out of his
system. It’d been too long since he’d been with a woman, at least with one he
could remember. Connor pulled his phone out of his pocket and selected a number
from his address book.

“Hey, buddy.” Mark’s familiar voice came over the line.

“Hey,” Connor replied, “I haven’t heard from you, what’s
going on?”

The phone remained silent for a few seconds. “It’s
complicated.”

“Complicated, my ass. Give it to me, Mark.”

“He’s cleared out his accounts and taken off.”

Connor rubbed his chin. “Shit. Well where are you looking?
Have you tried—?”

“Connor, you’re not on this case. You’re just gonna have to
trust I’m doing my job.”

He didn’t want to piss off Mark—he was one of the good guys.
He’d always done his best. “All right. So how much cash does he have, how long’s
he gonna be able to run for and how well can he hide?”

Mark whistled. “You’re not gonna like it—he had some serious
cash. More than he should have…”

“What?” Connor growled.

“I’m gonna look into this guy—look at everything. Just trust
me. When I have something I’ll let you know.”

Connor stared at Charlize’s closed office door. “Okay,
thanks, partner.”

He hung up and unhooked the small radio clipped to his belt.
Jason, his number one security guard, on duty downstairs, answered immediately.

“Yes, boss?”

“I need you to cover upstairs. I’m going to check out a few
things.”

“I’m on my way,” Jason answered.

Connor clipped his radio back onto his belt. Something told
him his she-cat was in more trouble than she realized. If she was, he was going
to find out—even if he had to tear this joint apart.

* * * * *

Connor strolled back into Charlize’s office about the same
time most staff members were heading home. He shut the door behind him and
leaned against it. She continued with her phone conversation, as useless as it
was.

“Well I’ve been trying to get him all day. There are
sections missing from these audits.”

Charlize’s lips compressed as she listened to the voice at
the other end. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers. Somehow Frank managed
to dodge her all day. She’d wasted an entire day sifting through the incomplete
paperwork she’d taken from Gregory’s office.

Her skin prickled.
Gregory
. Memories of the darkened
parking lot flashed through her mind and the knotting in her stomach twisted
into a sickening cramp. “Tell Frank I expect to see him in my office at 9:00
a.m. Monday morning, no excuses.” She slammed the phone down then picked it up
and slammed it again for good measure.

“That good, huh?”

Charlize glanced up at Connor and shook her head. She couldn’t
deal with him right now. Not unless he planned to do something about the sexual
frustration he’d seen fit to add to her long list of aggravations.

He placed a paper bag on the table. “Come eat.”

She stared down at the papers covering her desk. Her head
pounded. If she ate something, the food would probably come right back up. “I’m
busy.”

“Have you been sitting there since I left?”

“I’m fine.”

“Have you eaten anything at all since breakfast?”

Charlize rubbed her temples and glanced at him. “I’m a big,
busy girl, Connor. I’ll decide when I need to eat.”

“I said come eat.”

She pushed back from her desk, energy surging through her
sapped body. “I don’t care.” Her skin heated, her heart picked up speed. She
knew she was about to unravel, lose her shit, but she couldn’t care. “I’m sick
of you telling me what to do. I’m sick of you hovering over me. Get out.”

Connor gave her his caveman glare. “I’m not going anywhere,
kitten. Your well-being is my responsibility so you may as well do as you’re
told.”

“Do as I’m told?” she spat then picked up a mug from her
desk and hurled it at him.

Connor ducked and the mug flew over his head and bounced on
the carpet. He rose, rolling up slowly, his gaze taking on the predatory gleam
from the first time she’d seen him. Shit. She’d gone too far again. He stalked
toward her. Charlize backed away from her desk.

“You’re out of control, Charlize,” he growled, his head
lowered, his strides long and smooth.

Her heart spurted frantic energy through her system. He
reached her but she didn’t give him a chance to do whatever he planned to do.
She slammed her palms against his chest and pushed then darted around him for
the door.

She didn’t make it a step. He seized her around the middle
and took her down. She hit the ground on her back. Connor shifted over her,
scooping her wrists in one clean movement and pressing them above her head. The
back of her hands sank into the carpet.

He panted above her, gazing into her face. She twisted
against him but her movements only made her breasts brush against the solid
wall of his chest. Damn him. Maybe, just maybe if he hadn’t done what he had to
her that morning, she might’ve had a chance to resist him.

Charlize stilled and looked at him. A muscle pulled under
the skin of his temple. She ran her gaze over his face, the deep blue of his
eyes, the strong bridge of his nose, his wide lips.

Lips that drove her crazy with all the arrogant, bossy shit
they said. Lips that made her want to run her tongue over them, see if maybe
there was a shred of softness in this hard man. She groaned and raised her
head, planting her mouth on his.

His stillness dissolved. His mouth opened, capturing her
tongue and sucking deeply before pushing his own between her lips. Her body
hummed, the neediness tormenting her all day racked her. He moved, his knees
nudging hers apart. He settled between her thighs and she wrapped her legs
around his hips, arching when his hardness ground against her.

He pressed her hands deeper into the carpet and sank his
tongue farther into her mouth, leaving no crevice untasted.

She opened to him—melting—arching—desperate. She squeezed
him closer with her legs, needing that hard cock against her.

Then, in one sudden movement, the heat and hardness against
her were gone. Connor had leaped off her as if her panties were on fire.
Charlize scrambled to her feet, tugging her skirt down, then leaned against her
desk for support. Her head swam, words escaped her. She wasn’t sure what just
happened. He still looked at her as if he were about to eat her alive. His gaze
stalked her, stripping her, penetrating through her skin.

He cornered her against her desk, his eyes darker than she’d
ever seen them.

“Let’s get something clear—if losing your shit at me is code
for fuck-me-now, just say so. Then the next time you hit me I’ll have my cock
buried in you before you can finish the request.” He placed his arms on either
side of her waist, resting his palms on the desk, his face hovering an inch
from hers. “Otherwise I don’t play cat and mouse and I sure as shit don’t fuck
women who pretend they don’t want it.”

Heat crept up her neck. “You don’t play games? Well what the
hell was this morning?”

Connor’s eyes slitted but she continued.

“You tormented me then withheld because I wouldn’t say what
you wanted. What just happened was entirely your fault. You drove me half out
of my mind earlier today.”

Connor’s gaze swept over her face, over her heaving chest,
down to her waist. “So this tantrum was you being pissy because I didn’t let
you come?” He glanced back at her face. “Is that it? You want me to finish what
I started?” He leaned into her, letting her feel him again.

Her body betrayed her by straining toward him.

“Same rules apply, kitten. You know what you need to say.”

Damn it. That again. She remembered, still didn’t want to
but—what would it cost her? A moment of pride? Then maybe she’d be able to
think straight again.

She shut her eyes and the words breathed out of her. “Please,
Connor, make me come.”

Eyes shut, she couldn’t see how her words affected him. His
cock leaped between them, air hissed from his lips. Had he been bluffing?

“Panties off, I want you bare-assed and bent over.”

Only the strangled sound of his voice kept her from fainting
on the spot at his words. She swallowed and opened her eyes. Mistake—Connor’s
gaze fixed on her. She couldn’t help meeting it, couldn’t look away, couldn’t
do anything except fall prey to his regard, to the power he had over her. That
gaze told her one thing.

Connor didn’t bluff.

Well neither did she. Maybe he thought she did but she
wouldn’t back down—not this time. She slid her hand up the sides of her thighs
and under her skirt, glad she hadn’t bothered with hose today. She gripped the
sides of her panties and tugged them down. They caught where their bodies
pressed together. Connor’s nostrils flared. She tore the thin fabric down,
letting it fall to her ankles then kicking it aside.

He stepped back. “Turn around.”

Charlize turned, faced the rear office wall, locking her
gaze on the sleek, abstract print hanging there. She waited, expecting him to
grab her, touch her, do something. His footsteps moved across the room and the
lock on her office door clicked. Then he was there—behind her. His heat
radiated against her legs. She stood, back straight, hands fidgeting at her
sides.

“Palms on the desk.”

Her heart raced, her insides tightened but she bent forward,
placing her hands on the cool glass. He pressed on the small of her back,
lowering her until her body rested completely on the desk. She suddenly felt
far too vulnerable, far too exposed, bent and waiting, nothing under her skirt
but her slickening skin. Her breath shook and she closed her eyes.

“You sure you’re ready for this, kitten? I won’t ask again.”

The glass cooled her burning cheek and she breathed deeply. “Yes.”

She expected him to rip up her skirt, undo his fly and take
her hard. Instead his fingers brushed the backs of her knees then he caressed
her slowly, inching up her thighs. He drew up her skirt as if he were unveiling
a gift. Air kissed her backside and she bit her lip, not wanting the moan of
anticipation to escape.

“Holy shit, baby.” He groaned and cupped her ass, squeezing
it with both hands. “This ass, you have no idea what I’ve dreamed of doing to
this ass.”

Her body shook at his words, her nipples could have cracked
the desk. Wicked thoughts entered her mind. Things she’d never dared consider,
things that had never entered her mind—kinky things—entered her fantasies. He
ran a hand between her legs and stroked her.

She groaned, pushed off the desk, wanting him to touch her
properly.

“Down,” he commanded, slapping her pussy hard, “you’re not
in charge here. You don’t move until I tell you, you don’t come until I say you
can.”

She choked back a sob, her skin stinging from the slap yet
excited by it. She forced her body flat. His fingers moved between her lips,
probing, then slid up to circle her clit. She gasped at the sensation pulsing
through her core and turned to rest her forehead against the glass.

“So wet for me.”

He circled her bundle of nerves until the muscles in the
backs of her thighs felt as if they would snap. Her hips ached to move, to buck
but she didn’t dare.

“I bet you could come in a few strokes.”

He suddenly pressed down, giving her a few hard swipes over
her engorged nub. Her nerves shot with pleasure and inched toward explosion.
Her chest rose from the table with the air she gulped. Then his fingers were
gone, once more kneading her ass, spreading her cheeks apart.

She knew he looked at her, looked at her where he shouldn’t.
Need outweighed, outplayed and out-mastered inhibition.

“But you’re not going to come so easy, are you? You’re going
to wait ’til I say, aren’t you?”

He pushed two fingers into her entrance—hard. He rocked
inside her, rocked right over a place she didn’t know she had. She brought her
knuckles to her mouth, a silent scream parting her lips.

Her mind dissolved, floated into white space. Then his
fingers were gone again and his hand came down on the soft flesh of her bottom
with a snap. Her chest shook.

“Won’t you?” he demanded.

“Yes, yes I will,” she swore.

His fingers returned, driving into her, seeking out the
hidden places inside her and commanding them. Muscles in her abdomen, her back,
her chest, her skin curled, contracted, guttural moans wrung their way out of
her. He pounded her with two long fingers, like no fingering she’d ever had.
This wasn’t that—this wasn’t foreplay—this was a fuck.

He withdrew from her and she butted her forehead against the
desk, her hands curling against her cheeks.

“You ready to come now, kitten?”

“Yes please. Please, Connor, just yes.”

She wasn’t sure she’d made sense but he caressed her again,
gently around her clit, too gently to tip her over the edge. Sweat coated her
skin, she wanted to cry, wanted to come.

He pushed back into her and she sank her teeth into the skin
of her hand hard enough to sting. His fingers rocked in her pussy and his thumb
slipped up behind, pressed against her puckered rear entrance. Her whole body
jerked and she pushed up off her elbows.

“Down,” he growled, “do you want me to stop?”

His fingers moved against the spongy center of pleasure
inside her and his thumb gently pulsed against her ass. Sensation ravaged her,
she could barely form words. Sweat ran from her cheek down to her lips.

“Don’t stop, please don’t stop.”

He picked up speed and she gave a low moan.

“I want you to give it all up, Charlize. Say this pussy is
mine. Tell me this pussy is mine.”

“It’s yours, Connor. My pussy is yours,” she cried.

He made a growling sound and hammered her with his fingers.
His other hand moved between her legs from the front and stroked her clit. The
world shrank, imploded. Her vision blurred and she spasmed. Her body shook, her
forehead rattled against the desk. Strangled noises that somehow sounded
distant crawled out of her.

She sagged, the world swirled. His fingers slowed, became a
soothing caress inside and out as her breathing regulated. His hands left her.
She lay against the desk, her eyes closed. He’d fuck her now, while she was
spent. She didn’t know how she’d take it but still she couldn’t wait.

He gently smoothed her skirt down over her behind. She
blinked. How was he going to cock her with her skirt down? He hovered over her
and stroked his knuckles over her damp cheek before scooping her from the desk.
She didn’t have the energy to move, just let him guide her into his arms.

His lips touched hers like a whisper, brushing lightly over
them. Her eyes opened. He wore an expression she couldn’t understand, something
too soft for the hardness of his face. His lips moved again and he kissed her
softly, sweetly. His tongue ventured into her mouth, only a gentle caress of
warmth. She melted into him, brushing her fingers over the stubble of his jaw.

He pulled away and guided her face into his neck. She
breathed his scent, let it fill her to her center, wanting to take in everything
she could of him.

“See, baby, if you trust me, I’ll give you what you need.
Just give in to me and I’ll take care of you.”

His words washed over her, made her still-pulsing body grow
a little warmer but she was too limp to react. She let him hold her until she
could draw a full breath again.

* * * * *

Connor held open the door to the rear exit and Charlize
stepped through. The lights glowed dim yellow and silence stretched through the
lot. She backed up, bumping into the body behind her. She swallowed, her mouth
going dry. They’d parked the car too far away, too close to where it had been
the night before. It’d looked so much more innocent in the morning light.

Connor wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her against
his side. “It’s okay, baby. I got your back.”

His hand moved against her stomach and she leaned into him,
let him lead her to the car. She didn’t look around, didn’t listen to the
sounds of the night. Instead she focused on the sound of Connor’s footsteps
next to her. He opened the door for her and held her fingers as she maneuvered
inside then shut the door after her.

Charlize gazed across the lot, tapping the tip of her
thumbnail against her teeth. The change between them was palpable. A weight
rested in her chest, so heavy it was a wonder she could sit upright. She wanted
to cry—like sob curled up in a ball cry—and she couldn’t understand why.

Connor started the engine. Vibrations rocked through the
car. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the sensation of being in something
so sturdy, inhaling the mild gasoline smell that wafted from the massive
engine. Connor’s car suited him. Powerful, hot and a little dirty.

He pulled onto the street and rested his hand on her knee. “Everything
all right?”

She opened her eyes and turned her head. He looked at her as
if he was her goddamn concerned boyfriend. The weight in her chest got a little
heavier, making it hard to speak.

Connor—her boyfriend. She didn’t even know if that was on
the table, yet the idea caused the sweetest and most painful ache. “I need to
stop somewhere on the way home.”

“Sure.”

She gave him the directions and stared out the window at the
city rushing by. She’d been so incredibly stupid and naïve to think the
betrayal she’d suffered in her last relationship had made her impenetrable.
That she’d somehow be able to separate the intimacy of the body and the heart.

Her emotions were already opening up to him, softening to
him. And they hadn’t even had sex yet.

He stroked his fingers over the skin on the inside of her knee.
She tried not to focus on his touch, tried not to want his caresses to inch up
higher, to want him intimately again. She had no idea what he wanted from her.
There’d be no letting Connor inside her—without letting him
inside
her.
She’d only had one lover, Simon, and as much as she’d hoped to evolve to the
point she could take pleasure where and when she needed it without getting
emotionally involved, apparently she was still nothing more than the wide-eyed
romantic she’d been years before.

Wide-eyed romantics got their hearts crushed to pieces.

She glanced at Connor. Already she wanted to crawl across
the seat and plant her lips all over his skin. She couldn’t continue with him
without ending up wanting more.

Disastrous
…

He squeezed her knee. “I hope you’re not worrying about that
fucker still being out there?”

Charlize shrugged. Yeah she didn’t like it, wanted Gregory
caught but that twerp could never get past Connor. No way… She was safe with
him.

“I know the cops on the case, they’ll get him, don’t you
worry. I won’t be letting you out of my sight, baby.”

Charlize closed her eyes and rested her head on the window.
And therein lay the disaster. She couldn’t go back to that. Go back to a
relationship where a man kept tabs on her, where she was expected to fit into
someone else’s box. The kind of man Connor was—hell, she’d need to be barefoot,
baking cookies for him between blowjobs to keep him happy.

She wouldn’t give up her ambitions for a man, she wouldn’t
give up herself, wouldn’t give up one more freaking thing…

Yet somehow during the last hour she’d gone from “kitten” to
“baby”. His baby—she had no idea what that meant to him. The car pulled up on
the curb next to a row of luxurious, connected townhouses.

“Is this it?”

Charlize glanced at the familiar buildings. “Yeah.” She
undid her seatbelt and curled her fingers around the door handle. “Look,
Connor, I need you to wait here for a while. I won’t be long, maybe half an
hour.”

Connor leaned across her, holding the door closed. “You
better say you’re joking right now. Did you not hear what I said?”

She ignored the warning in his tone. He needed to see he
wouldn’t be calling all the shots. “It’s a secure building. No one can get in.
You can keep watch out here.”

“Like hell I will.” He leaned back, his expression
hardening.

She could totally see him in his cop days. He would have
been the “bad” cop.

“It’s called privacy. I believe I’m entitled to have some.”

His mouth curled sardonically. “Sorry, baby, not while I’m
around. You’re not keeping anything from me.”

“What if you won’t like what you see?” Charlize met his
gaze.

Connor moved his hand to her knee. “If you’re saying you’re
going to see another man, tell me right now.” In the dark of the car his blue
eyes looked black.

What would he do if she was? He looked as if he’d kill the
other guy but what brought on his stern expression? Possessiveness or did he
really care about her?

She wouldn’t mess with him just to find out.

“No, Connor. It’s not like that. It’s my father’s apartment.”
She swallowed and leaned back into her seat. “He doesn’t know what happened. I
can’t let him know and I can’t explain you.”

Connor didn’t move but the hand on her knee softened. “Then
tell him I’m your man. That will do.”

Her man.

It sounded far too good and if she did say those words, she
might just believe they were true.

“I’d rather not explain you at all.”

“Not an option.”

Charlize tugged on the door handle. “Fine but you don’t say
anything about anything—especially about work.”

He gave her quick wink. “I’m a vault.”