Her Loyal Seal (17 page)

“Lydia, will you keep your hands where I told you?”

“Yes,” she breathed out softly.

He sat down beside her and splayed his hand out on her stomach. She looked down and loved seeing how they looked together. Masculine to feminine. His hand made her feel so safe, but then he stroked through her curls, and parted her intimate flesh, his fingers met with a warm wet welcome.

“Baby, you couldn’t be any more perfect.” He delved further and sank inside her. “Spread your legs for me.”

Lydia shuddered at the carnal request. She wanted to do what he asked. She wanted to give him exactly what seemed to so desperately need, but years of conditioning made it so difficult.

“Lydia, I love your body, and the idea of you showing it to me, pleases me.”

As if he uttered a magic phrase, Lydia parted her legs. Dots hovered around the edges of her vision as she forgot to breathe.

“You mean everything to me. Pleasuring you…loving you…keeping you safe…will be my life’s work.”

Clint loved her gently at first, his hand, fingers and tongue a symphony on her flesh guiding her ever upwards. As she soared, he demanded more from her, his strokes turning even more powerful, her body’s responses were not her own. She didn’t even know pleasure could be so brutal or she could embrace such need, such a frenzy of passion.

“Again,” he demanded.

“I can’t,” she said as her hands finally moved to touch his head.

His green eyes glittered upwards. “Do you want me to stop? Really?”

“No! I need you inside me. Please, I need us together this time.” Then she saw the real Clint. Ah God, he was feeling guilty. Just for an instant, she saw the emotion flash across his face. That was why he was denying himself. Not on her watch!

“Please, you promised to give me what I needed. You promised, Clint.” He hesitated.

“Lydia, I–”

“We love each other. The only way this will ever work is if we are both here for each other. Please love, please, I’m begging you. Let me be here for you too.” She watched as he struggled. He bent his head to her tummy.

“I can’t lose you, Lydia.”

“You denying us, will tear us apart.” She ran her fingers through his hair, and then tugged so he was forced to look at her. “You know this. You know you saved me. I know I’m always going to be able to depend on you.”

“But it was so close.” His breathing was ragged.

She pulled out the big guns.

“Not only do I trust you with my life, I trust you with our children’s lives. We are all going to be safe with you watching over us Clint Anthony Archer.”

He went wild. He pulled her hands away from his head and pressed them back against the headboard.

“Now keep them there.”

His lips bit kisses all over her body. She writhed against him, she couldn’t get close enough. Vaguely she noted him finally putting on protection, happy they were finally going to make love, but sad there needed to be a barrier between them. Still the man hesitated.

“Clint, don’t make me beg.”

“Never.” He slid against her entrance and she jerked upwards. He held her down. “We agreed my way tonight.” He waited for her nod.

Lydia reveled in his gentle advancements, she had no recourse but to try to tempt him with her body, and hold him tight so he would stay.

“You’re killing me.” Clint’s expression was grim, as he tried to continue to go slow, but Lydia was as determined he go fast. She was desperate for the feel of her man. She closed her eyes, concentrating on their joined bodies, and moisture pulsed in welcome.

“Fuck!” Clint lunged and Lydia cried with rapture. But even then Clint gave her a quick look of concern, and flipped them over so she was on top. Soon they were twisting and twining their bodies merged, both trying to please the other. Finally thought was no longer possible, only feeling was left, and they skyrocketed to another dimension, safe in one another’s arms.

****

Lydia was still trying to figure out if it felt totally wrong, or totally right to be sitting up naked in bed next to Clint with her laptop and headset talking to one of her shadiest friends.

She would have preferred to be making love yet again, but Clint refused. He insisted she needed to rest. The damn man was right, she was physically exhausted, but she felt fantastic. She’d tried to sleep, but her eyes refused to close. She finally wheedled enough so she could see what she had missed on-line for the last two days. That’s when she’d seen the messages from Melvin.

Clint had his computer in his lap, supposedly he was going to work as well, but once again he seemed to be ogling her breasts. She’d asked him if he was going to always do that. He said in sixty years it was possible he might stop, but he doubted it. She did her best to block out Clint so she could focus on what Melvin was saying.

“No, I told you, I can’t video skype tonight, Melvin. You’ll just have to cope with audio.”

“But seeing your beautiful face is one of the things that gets me through the day, my gorgeous kitten.” Lydia rolled her eyes at Clint.

“If your information is good, we’ll video skype next week.” Clint gave her a steely look and shook his head. Yeah, she didn’t think it would work anymore. Melvin was pretty sleazy, but he always had the best information. So what if she smiled and wore tight sweaters to help get that info?

“Okay my kitten, here is what you needed to know. Guzman’s son Berto is trying to win Daddy’s love, and the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”

“Sure, I know about Berto, but he’s never really been on my radar. Why are you mentioning him?”

“Because Daddy told him if he got rid of your dad and the rest of you he would get to take over some new venture. They are calling it Operation Omega. I guess daddy has an end game in mind.” Lydia felt gooseflesh begin to form, but then Clint put his arm around her and it helped make her feel better.

“Why isn’t Guzman taking care of it himself? Why is he relegating this to Berto?”

“Word on the street is he wants to continue to run the drug side of the business, but he wants his son to spearhead this new venture.”

“So is Berto behind the hits?”

“He has friends that are basically psychos. But Berto was behind it all right.”

“What proof do you have?”

“Berto’s friends are novices on the dark web. They have been doing a lot of recruiting out there, and also buying and selling illegal weapons. They’ve been stupid enough to have mentioned their friend BG. They went further to explain about a hit they were doing in Florida and in Illinois for BG. What do you think? Sounds like evidence to me.” Melvin sounded like he was doing the pee-pee dance he was so excited.

“Do you have this backed up?”

“It’s being sent to your secure drop account as we speak, Kitten. I’ve been waiting for you to connect with me before I sent it over to you. I wanted to make sure you were safe and it would be you who would pick it up.”

The man was pragmatic. He wouldn’t want anyone to be able to trace back the information to him if her accounts were being monitored by the Guzman’s.

“Is there anything else I need to be aware of?”

“You need to talk to Sylvia. I track guns and drugs. She’s the one who tracks dirty money. You might have to have your new friend video skype with her to get the information you’re going to need.” Lydia frowned, Sylvia was like Melvin from a female perspective she
really
liked her men. At least that’s the part she played.

Sylvia Hessman was a player at the same level as Melvin, only she had a high profile RL, real life, presence. Lydia knew Sylvia Hessman was just a character the woman played. Kind of like an avatar. She’d tried to run a deep background check on her, but hadn’t been able to find out who Sylvia really was. Bottom line, she was someone who knew where all the financial bodies were buried, and she occasionally came out and played.

Sylvia would eat Clint up with a spoon. Then she realized what Melvin just said.

“Hey! How do you know about my new friend?”

“There’s a picture on the web of you two leaving the hospital in Dallas. I figure he’s probably still there with you and that’s why I don’t get to do the video skype thing.” Lydia was already logged into her secure drop account.

“Send me the picture. Has he been identified?”

“Negative. He was wearing a ball cap that covered his features. He acted like a pro. Built like one too. Sylvia’s going to be chomping at the bit to bring him over to the dark side.”

“He’s mine. She can’t have him.” Melvin let out a loud laugh. Clint grinned and hugged her closer.

“Lydia, I’m just telling you what will be the best bait to use for the information you want to get.” Her computer pinged and she pulled up a bunch of JPEG images. She was clearly visible. She looked like a stiff wind would blow her away, which just made Clint look all the more powerful. But Melvin was right, the ball cap covered his face. She covered her mic.

“Did you know we were under surveillance?”

“It’s best to assume we are. That’s why when we changed vehicles you had the scarf over your head and sunglasses on.” She uncovered the microphone.

“Melvin, where is Sylvia hanging out these days?”

“You can reach her at her normal hangouts on the dark net. If push comes to shove, you can always message her dummy account on Facebook.”

“No, I mean where is she in real life?” Lydia’s question was met by the sound of keys tapping.

“Are you sure about this, Lydia? Sylvia is as scary in her way as that fucker Berto. She has real blood on her hands.”

“I’m sure.”

“That guy who’s with you. Is he on the up and up? Will he be able to protect you? I’m assuming he’s right there with you.”

“Yeah, he’s with me. So are some of his friends. They’re the good guys, and they can be pretty damn scary too. I can’t tell you anything more. I don’t want you messed up in this, Melvin.”

“I intend to be, and not just because I got to see your cleavage every other week. I know all about you Lydia Hidalgo. I have always thought you were crazy to want to join the Federal Ministerial Police. In my opinion, you’re too good for them. But I always admired the fact you wanted to do good. So there is no way I am not going to help you when you most need it.”

“All I need from you is Sylvia’s whereabouts.”

“I’ll give you everything I have on her. But I’ll continue to ferret out other information as it comes to light and feed it to your secure drop account.”

“Melvin, how good is your security?” Lydia kicked herself for never having asked this before.

“Kitten, ain’t no one ever going to find your Uncle Melvin.”

“Ooooohh. That’s just nasty. Please never refer to yourself as my uncle again, okay?”

“See, now you’re not worried about me anymore. Check your account tomorrow, you’ll have everything you need about our dear cousin Sylvia then.”

“Enough with the family references, you’re creeping me out.”

“Ciao, Kitten.” The line went dead.

They put their computers on the nightstands beside the bed. “I still don’t know what we’re going to do about Sylvia.”

“Let’s not borrow trouble. We’ll see what your friend Melvin sends us. It could be that he can’t find anything on her, so it’s a moot point.”

“I haven’t told you much about Melvin, but he’s seriously good. He’ll find out about Sylvia. When he does, we’ll need to be ready. But just so you know, as much as you disliked the idea of me flirting with Melvin, same goes. I don’t want you letting Sylvia sinking her claws into you.” Instead of arguing, Clint just gave her a very satisfied smile.

“You’re jealous.”

“Nope, I just don’t share well with others.” Clint fluffed up the pillows and positioned them so that they were cuddled facing one another.

“I applaud the sentiment. Please remember I feel the same way. If you have any other contacts you video skype with, plan to stop. Also, quit with the sexy voice when you’re talking to poor Melvin.” She opened her mouth to protest, but Clint raised his eyebrow.

“Okay, no more sexy voice.”

“I didn’t say stop it entirely, just with your contacts.” She laughed. “Now scooch closer, I need to feel you against me. I can’t get to sleep without you in my arms.” She nestled closer, loving the smell of him, and the feel of his hand on her ribcage.

“Maybe…”

“No more maybes tonight. You plumb wore me out Lydia.”

She giggled. Not even the thought of Sylvia and the Guzman’s could ruin perfection of sleeping in Clint’s arms.

****

Clint hated the fact Sylvia insisted on meeting Lydia face-to-face. Clint insisted on meeting her far-the-fuck-away from Orlando, so they were now in Houston. In fact were at the bar in the St. Regis Hotel in Downtown Houston, and he couldn’t imagine anything bad going down here.

However there was an upside, he got to see Drake hating life as he was dressed in a charcoal gray Armani suit with a silk maroon shirt. He never saw Drake this uncomfortable, and it was providing him and Darius unending joy. It had been Lydia’s idea to make Sylvia lose focus. What the hell, a beautiful woman often worked to make him lose focus, at least they had before Lydia came into his life. Darius was waiting upstairs in yet another magnificent suite Finn arranged. They had a microphone set up so he could hear everything said at the table.

A tiny blonde woman glided into the wood paneled bar on the tallest high heels imaginable. She was wearing a black pinstripe suit that hugged every curve. Her hair was slicked back in some kind of complicated elegant braid.

“Lydia Hidalgo, it’s so nice to meet you.” Sylvia Grant sat down in one of the wingback chairs and crossed her legs. Clint could see the tops of her stockings, he glanced over at Drake. He easily read his friend. Drake was both salivating and offended. Damn, friend was a piece of work.

Sylvia raised her hand and a waiter literally ran over to take her order. She stroked her hand down the waiter’s arm and then turned to Drake.

“And can I have him bring you anything, handsome?”

“I’m capable of ordering my own beverages, thank you.” Drake gave her a cold look. Well now he was outraged.