Her Loyal Seal (7 page)

“I’m handsome, am I?” His eyes twinkled. She noticed the lines bracketing his mouth, and the days of dark blond scruff on his face. None of it diminished from the fact he was mouth-watering.

“Yep, you’re handsome, in ‘bad boy’ sort of way. Not in a way that would appeal to a lady like
me
.” Lydia couldn’t maintain a straight face as she gave Clint a hard time. It felt good to be teasing and laughing. The last four months had been too stressful and depressing.

“I guess you’re beautiful in the ‘look but don’t touch’ sort of way. Not the type that would appeal to a down to earth type of guy like
me
.” Clint’s eyes warmed, and he picked up the hand that wasn’t tethered to the IV and brushed his lips to her palm. She shuddered at the intimate sensation.

“Okay, let’s get real a minute. You can’t keep dropping in for visits each time I get a sniffle. I know you feel a sense of responsibility-”

Clint’s palm covered her mouth before she even saw him move.

“Stop!” His palm was warm, the pressure didn’t hurt, even though the look in his eyes was wild. He took one, then a second, and then a third calming breath.

“Lydia Rose, don’t you fucking
dare
say I’m here because of some kind of misplaced sense of responsibility. You’re too fucking smart for that. You might
try
to relegate it that way, but you
know
it’s not. Are we clear? Are we?” Looking at those glittering eyes that were now steely gray, she had no other choice but to nod.

He lifted his hand.

“Say it. Tell me what this is.” His voice sounded like shards of rock being dragged over ice.

“I don’t know exactly what it is. I’ve run this over and over in my head. I think it is the beginning of something that has the potential of being rare and special.” Dammit, the tears were coming back. But again the hand was quicker than the eye, and he was holding hers, giving her comfort.

“Okay then. We’re on the same page.”

“When did you learn my middle name?”

“You mean you don’t know mine?” His thumb traced patterns on her palm and had her stomach turning backflips.

“Clinton Anthony Archer. I like it.”

“Why didn’t they name you Rosa? I thought that would have been more Hispanic.”

“Mama had an American friend named Rose. She thought it was nice.”

“It is nice. Do you know what else is nice? Kissing.”

The man was certifiable.

“Hey bed head, morning breath, hospital gown, and door not locked. How about you put off the whole kissing thing until next spring?” Clint was out of his chair and leaning over the bedrail looking into her eyes.

“I’ve dreamed about kissing you for damn near four months. You have the most delectable lips.” He wasn’t looking in her eyes anymore, he was focused on her mouth and he looked hungry. He wasn’t kidding.
Oh God, she wanted this so badly, but she wanted to look beautiful for him.

“You take my breath away.”

“I will if you kiss me.”

His thumb grazed her bottom lip, parting them. “You’re not going to stop me, Lydia.”

Ever so slowly, he bent forward. She trembled, but he caught her, his right hand easing behind her neck, slipping into her hair and angling her head just right so their lips could meet in a soft sigh of hello.

He massaged her scalp as he brushed back and forth until she was following his lead, anxious to find out where the magic would lead. He didn’t rush a thing, letting her get used to the heat and texture, and then she flowered open, needing more. He didn’t rush the invitation, instead he gently parted her further, the hand that had been holding her chin splayed along her jaw and she rubbed against the strength of him.

He surrounded her in caring, tears pricked the back of her eyes. Her breasts swelled. She pushed against his chest and demanded more. His tongue swept inside, and soon he was thrusting in the rhythm she desired, wanted, needed. She heard a sound and realized it was her.

Clint soothed her, tracing her cheek with his calloused fingertips, caressing her hair down her back.

“Shhhh, I have you.” His forehead rested against hers, and she could finally open her eyes. Passion turned his to emerald green. Now she knew her favorite color.

****

It’d been two weeks, and she was still mooning over one damn kiss.
Seriously girlfriend, you need your head examined.

“So what’s the good word Dr. Woods? Do I get to leave?” It wasn’t like she had anything great to look forward to when she left. According to the US Marshalls they were still looking at least another six weeks at the safe house.

“I need a promise from you Lydia, you need to actually to follow my directive when you leave this time. You ignored the symptoms and allowed yourself to come down with another case of pneumonia. You didn’t need to. It didn’t need to get to this point. You’re a smart woman? You never told me why.”

“Is this under doctor and patient privilege?” Lydia was sitting up in the bed, and gave the doctor a steady look.

“If that’s the only way you’ll tell me and assure me you’ll take care of yourself, then yes.”

“Papa is hanging on by a thread. He feels so much guilt about what happened to Beth and me, whenever he is reminded of it, he….he.” Lydia couldn’t say it. It was a sin.

“Lydia, talk to me.” The doctor’s eyes were so compassionate. She was a good woman, someone Lydia had come to admire and trust.

“He took a bunch of pills. Mama found him before it was too late. She got him to throw up. We didn’t tell the Marshalls. We took care of it. If he thought I was getting sick again, it would have been too much for him.”

“Jesus. You know he needs help,” she breathed out.

“I know. But if the Marshalls find out, they might put him in some kind of institution until the trial. Mama hasn’t left his side. We keep telling him that he would be leaving all of us when we needed him the most.” Lydia clutched the handrail at the side of her bed, wincing when she tugged against the IV in her hand.

“Lydia, you can’t be living like that. So once again you hid the fact you were getting ill to your detriment.”

Lydia looked down, unable to face the recrimination in the doctor’s eyes.

“In some ways, staying at the hospital has been a Godsend.”

“Fine, I’ll have you stay longer.”

“It’s too much to ask of my mother. I need to go back. I can see the toll it has taken on her. I need to get back to her.”

“Stress isn’t good for you. You need rest.”

“Doctor, you told me that my recovery has been remarkable.”

“That’s because you’ve had so much rest. Some of the visitors you’ve had didn’t hurt either.” Dr. Wood’s eyes sparkled. Lydia laughed and the two women were definitely on the same page.

“Clint is back in California. He won’t be back.”

“Oh, I think you’re reading that wrong. He’ll be back.”

“He’s taken all the time off he can,” Lydia assured her doctor. “It doesn’t matter anyway, there’s not a future for us. I asked him to leave for good.”

The door opened, and Beth walked in with a man Lydia didn’t recognize.

“Where’s Ed?” Lydia asked, referring to Edward Lasson, the US Marshall who was guarding Lydia while she had been in the hospital.

“His wife is sick. This is Nelson Barber,” Beth grinned. “Ed called and told me he was okay, also he has all of the correct identification.”

“Oh, I hope Ed’s wife is okay.” Lydia heard about Carmella and really liked everything she had heard about her. Beth bit her lip.

“What?”

“Ed didn’t sound like himself. He sounded really upset. I think she’s really sick.”

“He has plenty of vacation to take care of his wife,” Nelson said easily. “I just wanted to let you know that I would be guarding your door for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.” He let himself out of the room.

“Lydia, I’ll check on you tomorrow, but I think I should be able to release you the day after that.”

Lydia smiled.

“That’s really good news. I’ve missed her,” Beth said. Lydia looked at her sister, and realized her mother wasn’t the only one who had been feeling the strain. She held out her hand to Beth.

“I’ll let you two visit. Remember, this time if you feel any of your symptoms coming back, you
have
to tell us immediately.”

“I promise.”

“I’ll be dragging her into your office. This won’t happen again.” Beth gave Lydia a dark look. Her little sister looked fierce.

“I promise
both
of you. I won’t backslide again.” Beth wrapped her in a tight hug. For the first time Lydia realized how much she scared her. Dammit, she should never have let it get this far, it was like she was squeezed between a rock and a hard place.

She heard the door close behind the doctor, and then she pushed Beth back so she could look into her face.

“Okay, I want to hear everything. Tell me what’s been going on.”

“It’s been fine.”

“Sit your butt in that chair and tell me everything. If you leave anything out, I’ll know, and you will be in big trouble.”

Beth sat down and Lydia listened.

****

Lydia slammed down her e-reader. She’d thought it would be a breeze to comprehend the textbook in English. She was wrong. Dammit, getting her Master’s degree in the United States would take her twice as long. She was fluent in English, she was a 4.0 student at the University in Mexico, but the course work was just different enough that her degree was slipping away.

Then she had to figure out what she would do with it when she obtained it. Hell, she didn’t even know where she would be, or who she would be. She heard horror stories about the Witness Protection Program where they wouldn’t let you work in the field you had studied for. She hated this.

“Damn you, Papa!”

She clapped her hand over her mouth. Had she really said that? She thought about what Beth said. Her little sister was so worried about her parents, that she was making herself ill when she should really be trying to heal.
She wouldn’t have to heal if her father hadn’t started working for the cartel.

All the time Lydia had been studying to fight the corruption in her country her father had been helping them to launder money. Fine, she’d been killing herself to graduate early and getting a double major, but how could she have been so blind? She wasn’t sure what made her sicker, her father’s actions or her own stupidity. He might have eventually done the right thing and went to the authorities, but that he had even done it for a day, ruined every ideal she had ever held about her father.

Everything Beth had told her sounded like Papa was finally convinced to testify. That meant Witness Protection. Lydia thought about Clint. Then her heart melted. Actually melted. The idea of not seeing Clint Anthony Archer again was not to be born.

She traced the back of her e-reader. What was the point of even studying? She took a deep breath and then another. Her lungs were doing much better. She was feeling so much stronger. She eyed the closet holding the clothes Beth brought for her to wear home. Wouldn’t it be great to just walk out of here? Just leave?

Maybe then she could have the life
she
wanted. Nope, the government would never allow it. Clint would never stop serving his country. Her head was in the clouds. There had to be a way. Life would never be this unfair!

“Sell it somewhere else, Hidalgo.”
Great, now she was talking to herself.

She more than anyone on Earth knew life wasn’t fair and she had the scars to prove it. She picked up her e-reader. Dammit. But she was going to figure a way out of this mess.

She looked over at the nightstand and considered getting out her computer. Maybe she could do a little more hacking, a little more probing into the life of one Alfonso Guzman. Her father might be reconsidering testifying, but there was no way in hell she was going to let those bastards win. But she knew her brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders and she couldn’t afford to be caught. There were too many firewalls that she needed to breach. She’d need to stick with studying right now. Tomorrow would be a better day for hacking.

She settled in to read more about the
Trends in Computer Networks and Security
, if nothing else it would help her get the rest that the doctor was always saying she needed.

Chapter Five

She barely heard him as Nelson came to her bedside. But she saw the syringe he was pocketing. Every sense in her body went on high alert.

Oh God!

She looked at her IV and realized she probably had only a few moments. If she screamed he might kill her outright. She needed him to leave the room. Lydia turned her hand and pinched the tube so it stopped the flow of liquid. She watched him leave through her lashes. Maybe she was wrong, but she knew she wasn’t.

Reaching for the call button for the nurse, she found it cut. Dammit, this was real! Yanking the IV out of the back of her hand, Lydia screamed at the top of her lungs.

****

This time Clint wasn’t alone when he arrived in Dallas. He was surrounded by his team.

“You have point on this mission, Clint. You know the situation,” Mason whispered to him.

Clint looked over at Mason and gave him a tight smile. They had commandeered one of the conference rooms at the hospital. Peter Grogan, the man who ran the Dallas office of the US Marshall Service, was in the room with them. He had a file in front of him.

“I’m not happy about this. This is something that we should take care of, you should not be involved.” Grogan was sitting at the head of the table, it was clear that he was used to being in charge.

Mason didn’t say anything, he just stared at the man. It was a good tactic, he shifted in his seat and finally continued to talk.

“I haven’t been given a choice. Lieutenant, you and your team have now been given total control of the Hidalgos’ safety. ” He sighed.