Mine To Protect (Mine #6) (4 page)

Zoe’s eyes widened.

“
I warned her,”
Russell muttered.

“Because I have read your file,” Lauren continued doggedly, “and I know all about the risks you have taken. You keep running from us, when all we want to do is keep you safe. But how are we supposed to adequately do our jobs when you fight us every step of the way?” Lauren nodded toward Zoe. “You should be grateful for our assistance. You should be—”

Zoe held up her hand. “I love it when people tell me what I should be. Truly, one of my favorite things in life.” She was not liking Fresh Meat. Zoe turned to face Victor. “I thought we had an agreement.” A very recent agreement. “What happened to that deal? Are you seriously turning me over to blondie there?”

His gaze was guarded. She hated that. Why was he always hiding his emotions from her?

“That’s your usual MO,” Zoe threw at him, growing angrier with every second that passed. “Stop me from fleeing—like I want—stop me from getting on with my life. Bring me back to some safe house. Hand me off to another agent. Then vanish…”

“And your MO is to start the cycle all over,” Victor responded. “To lull the new agent into a false sense of security. To act like you’re following the rules. Then as soon as the agent’s attention shifts away, you run.”

Her shoulders lifted, then fell. “A girl has to do what a girl has to do.” She wasn’t apologizing. She’d told him
exactly
why she’d been at the bus station. Michelle. Michelle was
still
missing.

Even before the FBI had pulled Zoe into their web, she and Michelle had been using a secret way of staying in contact with one another. They’d set up calls—once a month. Check-in calls. She’d snuck away from her FBI guards a few times to make those calls. And at first, everything had been fine…

Then Michelle stopped answering.
When Michelle hadn’t responded for two months, Zoe had become desperate. She’d started reaching out to old contacts. Only…
the word from my contacts in Vegas is that no one knows where Michelle went. She vanished…

I have to find her.

“There isn’t any more running,” Victor said, his voice gruff. Then he looked over her shoulder, focusing on the two watching agents. “Zoe and I have a new deal. For the foreseeable future, I’ll be the agent on Zoe’s guard duty.”

“
You
?” Lauren sounded as if she were choking. “But sir—”

Zoe turned back to look at her, frowning. “But what? You don’t think he can watch me? That’s just insulting to the man.”

“Zoe…” Victor whispered.

“Well, it is.” She lifted her chin. “Victor is on guard duty with me. You heard him. He’ll be my twenty-four, seven companion. So just rest easy on that one, okay?”

Lauren’s gaze jerked to Victor’s face.

“I want you and Russell finding the driver of that truck. I know he’s still in the area,” Victor said grimly. “You need to find him and bring the guy in ASAP because he’s not going to stop. He will just keep hunting Zoe until he can claim the bounty on her.”

“Him and plenty of others,” Russell said.

Russell, that is not helpful.

“Sorry, Zoe,” Russell added.
Such a nice guy.
“But you know it’s true. The bounty on your head doubled in the last week.”

It had—doubled? She took a quick step back and her shoulders hit Victor’s chest. His arm came up—instantly—and curled around her.

“Thought you’d already told her.” Russell’s lips curled down. “Hell.”

No, Victor hadn’t told her that the price was
double.
“That’s two million dollars.” Breathing was hard. “Two million dollars for my life?”

“Two million dollars to end your life,” Lauren corrected.

Her knees were shaking.

“It’s not going to happen,” Victor whispered in her ear. “I will keep you safe.”

Her head turned toward him. She stared up at him. Their pose was intimate, she knew it, and she didn’t care what the other agents thought. “That bullet missed me by inches tonight.”

A muscle jerked in his locked jaw.

“How long do I get to keep cheating death?” Sooner or later, she’d be paying…
for the crimes my father committed.

“Zoe…”

“How does it end?” Because she saw only one way to stop the hitmen on her trail…
one of them takes me out.

“I
will
keep you safe. I did a fucking poor job tonight, but I will lay down my life for you.”

Her heart nearly shot out of her chest. “Is that what you think I want? You dying for me?”

“It’s—”

“It’s not. I don’t want you dying. I don’t want Russell dying or even Fresh Meat over there dying. I want you all safe. I don’t want this danger put on anyone else. I want it all—I just want it to stop. I want my life to be normal.”

Only her life had never been normal.

His arm was still around her. Their bodies were touching. His mouth was close. If she stood on her tip-toes, she’d be kissing him. He was tall, muscled. So sexy to her. And those lips of his…

I want to kiss him. I want him to need me. I want to go wild with Victor and forget everything else.

Only that wasn’t happening, either. “I think I’ll go to bed.” Maybe things would look like less of a nightmare in the morning.

Maybe.

Probably not.

His arm slid away from her.

“Good night, Russell,” Zoe murmured. “Good night…um, Agent McDaniel.” She quickly made her way to the bed. She heard the floor squeak behind her, and then hinges creak as the door opened.

Their footsteps padded to the door. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Victor, standing in the doorway. The other two agents had already gone out. “I’ll just be right outside,” he told her. His gaze was still guarded.

One day, I’ll get past his guard.

She nodded and he shut the door.

***

Victor stood just outside of the motel room.

Russell gave a low whistle. “You sure this is the path you want to take?”

“I’m sure this is the next step.” He’d worked with Russell on plenty of other cases. The guy was a good agent. Sure, Zoe had given him the slip, but she’d managed to sneak away while under the watch of other well-trained agents, too.

The woman was good at escaping.
I’ll have to ask her…did she stay in that boarding school until she hit eighteen? Or did she escape from there, too?

“You’re getting involved very…closely with her,” Russell added, his voice low, concerned.

The new agent just watched them, her body tense.

“That’s the point, isn’t it?” Victor gave him a tired smile. Russell knew the score on this case—the real agenda. Hell, it was why the guy had been so affable with Zoe.

Get her trust. Get her to reveal everything that she knows.

Zoe’s case was a very, very unusual beast.

Luther Bates thought he’d blackmailed Victor into watching out for Zoe, keeping her alive, but the truth was…

The FBI planned to use Zoe in order to take down Luther and his empire completely. Luther Bates still had plenty of power, even though he was behind bars. His minions were only too happy to keep carrying out their boss’s dirty work. And with that massive team of lawyers that Luther had on call…
the bastard is actually working to get out of prison.

The FBI couldn’t,
wouldn’t,
let that happen.

Word had recently reached them that one lawyer in particular was meeting far too frequently with Victor. The crime boss thought he had a way to get out of prison. To get back on the streets.

“Be careful,” Russell warned him. “Sometimes, you can lose your soul in this job. You don’t want that to happen.”

Victor laughed. “Don’t worry about that. I lost my soul years ago.” When he’d nearly beat a man to death in a fight that
shouldn’t
have happened.

Another life.

Another time.

He looked down at his hands.
Still fucking me.
“Use that truck to track down the shooter. Maybe the guy left fingerprints, DNA, something in there…”

“We already have our crime scene techs on the job,” Lauren said quickly.

Yeah, he’d figured they’d be busy. “Report to me as soon as you have any news.”

Lauren shifted her stance. “If you give me the chance, I can prove myself.” Determination flowed in her voice. “I can guard her. Zoe won’t be hurt on my watch.”

Victor focused on Lauren. “Lauren McDaniel.” He said her name thoughtfully. “Do you know that I handpicked you to join the team handling Zoe’s case?”

“Ah, no, no, I didn’t know that.”

“You don’t have to prove yourself. Not to me or anyone else. You have the badge. You’re in the Bureau. I know you can do the job.”

“Then why—”

“Plans have changed,” he said before she could ask why he was taking over guard duty—because he knew that had been her question. “I plan to stay personally involved in this case for the foreseeable future. Too much attention is focused on Zoe right now. Until the sharks stop circling in…” Sharks, hitmen—same damn thing. “I’ll be at her side.”

“Good luck,” Russell told him.

Oh, he’d need more than luck.

Because his boss at the Bureau—the fucking assistant director—had told Victor he had to come back with results. Actionable intel from Zoe that they could
use
against her father.

And the assistant director had also told him that if he didn’t get what they needed, Victor was supposed to play hardball with Zoe. Supposed to tell her that the FBI would walk away—and leave her ass on her own.

The assistant director is a cold bastard.

One thing Victor knew…he wasn’t walking out on Zoe. Not this time—not ever again.

***

Zoe’s ear pressed to the glass—a dirty glass she’d found in the bathroom. The glass was pressed to the motel room door, the better for her to eavesdrop on the agents. It had been an old trick, one she’d used when she was a child and she’d wanted to overhear just what her mom and dad were talking about.

On one of those rare visits that Luther made to their apartment…

Her breath barely slipped past her lips as she listened to the murmur of voices outside of the motel room. Victor, Russell, Lauren.

What did Victor mean about losing his soul? The guy had plenty of soul. Sure, he was a bit icy at times but…

Her hold tightened on the glass.
What secrets are you keeping, Victor?

He dismissed the agents. She heard him tell them goodnight.

Crap. She jumped away from the door. Zoe rushed toward the bed, pausing just long enough to hide the glass under the faded bed skirt. Then she hopped on the bed. The mattress gave that long groan again.

She closed her eyes. Tried to make her body look relaxed. Did her breathing sound even? She hoped her cheeks weren’t flushed.

Zoe rolled, turning away from the door and curling her body in a bit. The door creaked open behind her and she heard the heavy tread of Victor’s footsteps.

Would he buy that she’d drifted off to sleep? Would he just leave her alone until morning?

His footsteps came closer and—

He walked to the other side of the bed. Clothing rustled. Zoe wanted to crack open one eye and look at him, but that would totally blow her fake sleeping routine to hell.

More rustling. A
lot
of rustling. Just how much was the guy taking off?

Then the bed dipped.
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
There was a perfectly good floor for the man to use. He could
not
be crawling into bed with her.

Her eyes flew open.

And she found him lying right beside her. His gaze was on her face, and Victor was smiling. “Nice try, baby, but I saw the glass peeking out from your side of the bed. Next time, cover it up better.” His smile stretched. “Eavesdrop much?”

“Only every chance I get.” He was in bed. With her.

His hand reached toward her. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Zoe Peters…” he murmured. “Just what am I supposed to do with you?”

Everything that we both want.
The words were there, rising within her, and it took all of Zoe’s strength not to say them out loud.

Zoe’s hair was still wet. Wet and sleek and she smelled sweet—her scent was wrapping around Victor, teasing him. Seducing him.

No, it was her gaze that seduced. Green eyes that were sensual, tempting.

Their bodies were just inches apart. He wanted to close that space. To put his mouth on hers. To taste her like he wanted—no restraint. No holding back.

Just greed. Lust.

The desire that he was tired of fighting.

Every time he saw Zoe, his need for her grew. It was wrong, he knew that. He should keep his hands off her but—

His fingers trailed over her cheek. Slowly, carefully, his hand moved down. His index finger slid over her plump lower lip. Her lips were parted, just a bit and…his breath left him in a fast whoosh.

She just licked my finger.
He’d felt the quick, wet lick of her tongue on his finger. His dick immediately hardened for her. Hardened even more…because he’d been aroused for her before he even climbed into the bed.

“Are we going to keep pretending?” Zoe asked him. When she spoke, her lips moved against his finger and he felt the light caress of her tongue again.

“Pretending?” He wanted her mouth beneath his. Wanted to feel that sexy pink tongue of hers on so many other parts of his body.

Her hand rose and pressed to his chest. He’d ditched his shoes, socks, coat and shirt—and he was wearing just his jeans. So when her hand reached out, her fingers pressed directly to his skin.

“You’re warm,” Zoe murmured.

Her touch seemed to burn straight to his core.

“I know you want me.”

The woman was dead-on with that statement. Wanted her. Was insane for her. Wanted to strip her and fuck her all night long.

“I also know you’ve been staying hands off. Probably because you’re the agent in charge. Mr. Law-Abiding. You don’t break rules.” Her hand slid lightly over his chest. “You don’t cross lines.”

There were plenty of lines he wanted to cross with her. So many that the woman would need a safe word.

“So I’m not going to pretend that I can’t tell you want me.” Her hand dipped a little lower.
Sweet hell.
“And I won’t pretend that I don’t want you, too.”

His racing heartbeat thundered in his ears.

“The truth is…I’ve wanted you for a while, Victor.”

She was shattering his control with every low, husky word.

“I’ve thought about you. Dreamed about you. Been pissed as all hell with you but…I want you. I always do.”

Her fingers were on one of his scars. Those freaking scars littered his body. Marks from gunshots. Knife wounds. His time on the streets. He’d always carry those reminders.

Zoe didn’t seem repulsed by his scars. Her fingers were so warm and soft against him.

“So I’m telling you how I feel. Exactly how I feel…and now it’s your turn.”

His turn?

“Do we keep playing by the rules, Victor? Or do we cross some lines?”

“Zoe…” Just saying her name was hard. Desire beat in his blood and his voice came out as a rough growl. “Be very careful…”

“Why? I’ve tried being careful. It still got me on hit lists. My time is slipping away—”

The hell it was.

“Inches. I was inches away from death tonight. Seems like a real damn shame. To want you this way and to never get to feel—”

He kissed her. He lunged toward her, closed that distance between them, and took her mouth. There was no finesse from him. No careful seduction. He just took because the last thread of his self-control had been shredded by her words.

I’ve wanted her for too long. To want her, and not to have her…

He was changing the rules. Crossing the line. And he didn’t care. All that mattered to Victor right then—Zoe.

Tasting her. Claiming her. Taking her.

Forgetting the fear, banishing that shit. Focusing on the passion. The lust that blazed white-hot.

He rolled her onto her back. He was so glad he’d slipped the clerk an extra fifty to make sure they were in a room with damn clean bedding. Though he wished their first time together was somewhere else.

A fancy hotel. A beach. Some snow-covered inn.

Some place romantic, though he wasn’t normally the romantic sort. He just—Victor wanted it for her.

She caught his lower lip and bit it lightly.

Fucking yes.

Her hands slid over him. Pushed down to the top of his jeans. She was fumbling with the button and the zipper, and—

“Baby, not yet.” His breath sawed out of his lungs. “You put your hands on my cock, and I’ll be lost.”

She smiled up at him. “I think I want you lost.”

“You’re going first.” And he was going to enjoy exploring every single inch of her. Victor kissed Zoe again, a deep, hot kiss. She arched up toward him, and he felt the press of her breasts against his chest.

Every single inch of her.

He kissed his way down her neck. Zoe gasped and her nails sank into his sides. He would have smiled at her reaction, but he was too turned on for smiling.

He caught her shirt in his hands, pulled back just a little, and yanked the thing up and over her head. The shirt hit the floor and he stared down at her.

Zoe wore a plain white bra—and it had to be the sexiest thing he’d seen in his life. Her breasts pushed out, spilling against those cups. He bent forward and kissed one breast even as he slid his fingers under the edge of her bra and found her nipple. Tight. Hard.

“Victor!”

He loved it when she said his name. And when there was so much desire in her voice…
hell, yes.
But he still had to warn her… “The walls here are thin, baby.”

Her eyes widened and she immediately pressed her lips together.

“One day soon, I want you to yell for me. As long as you can.”

He unhooked her bra. Perfect breasts. Pink nipples, round and full…and when he licked her, when he sucked her, her hips rocked up against him.

She tastes so good. Like she was made for me. Only me.

His mouth eased down her body. He kissed the curve of her stomach and loved the way she lifted up against him.

“Do something fun,” Zoe suddenly whispered when his mouth hovered over her jeans. “Use your teeth to undo the button…”

He looked up. Her eyes were gleaming as she stared at him, and a faint smile curved her lips.

I’m about to fuck Zoe Peters.

And she was making him feel…good. Happy. Making him feel like smiling back at her. His cock was so swollen that the thing hurt. He wanted to plunge balls deep into her and drive them both into oblivion but…

He smiled back at her. And he did something fun, just as she’d ordered. He used his teeth to undo the button of her jeans. Then the zipper slid down with a hiss.

“Guess what else I can use my mouth to do…” He pushed her jeans out of the way. Her panties went down with them. Then he was spreading her legs wide. Positioning her so that he could have full access.

And using his mouth in the very best of ways.

“
Victor!”

So maybe she didn’t care about the thin walls. Neither did he. Right then, all he cared about was her. One lick, and he was addicted to her taste. His mouth pressed to her, his fingers pressed
in
her, and he explored all of her most sensual secrets.

Her hips twisted against him, pushing up harder against his mouth. He could feel the gathering tension in her. Zoe was close to a release—so close, already.

His thumb stroked her clit and she jerked beneath him, coming on a sharp cry of pleasure.

Hell, yes.

He rose back over her. Barely took time to ditch his jeans and grab the condom from his wallet—thank fuck it was still there. He rolled on the condom then put his cock right at the entrance to her body.

But he didn’t thrust into her. Not yet.

Her breath was still heaving in and out. Her lashes had lowered but when he paused, those long lashes lifted and her gaze locked on his.

“Ready to cross some lines?” Victor asked her.

She gave a quick nod.

His hands caught hers. Their fingers threaded together, then he pushed her hands back against the pillow.

He thrust into her. Balls-freaking-deep. A groan tore from him because she felt like heaven. Hot. Tight. Perfect.

I crossed the line, and I will never go back.

He withdrew, then thrust into her again. He was too rough, too hard, and the bed was squeaking beneath him. Her legs wrapped around his hips, squeezing him and pulling him so close. She was whispering his name, urging him on, and all he wanted—

He wanted to feel her come with his cock buried deep inside of her.

He angled his hips. Made sure that his length slid over her clit when he drove into her. The pace was frantic, the urge to reach that wild blast of release consuming him.

“Victor!”
Not a scream. Her whisper. A cry of satisfaction and he saw the pleasure wash across her face. Her green eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. Her delicate inner muscles clamped along his length, squeezing him as the orgasm rocked through her.

And then he was exploding. His release hit him with the force of a freaking truck. He emptied into her, pleasure shaking his whole body. The climax went on and on, and he kept thrusting, never wanting that moment to end.

Even as the pleasure lashed him, Victor knew he’d made a serious mistake. The worst of his life, probably.

He’d wanted Zoe. He’d needed her. But he hadn’t realized…

He hadn’t just fucked her. It had been…more.

He’d had sex with other women. Good sex.

This was different. Zoe was different.

She was making everything different for him.

Her lips curled—that slow smile—and that sweet smile of hers that was meant just for him.

It wasn’t just fucking.
Not with her.

And he was screwed.

But in that moment, Victor couldn’t care. He leaned toward her. Kissed her lips. Softly. Lightly. With care.

Emotions were choking him, but his body was more replete than it had ever been. He eased from her. Kissed her once more. Then he padded to the bathroom. While he ditched the condom, he didn’t look in the mirror. He didn’t want to look at himself, not right then. He turned off all the lights and went back to Zoe.

When he climbed onto the bed, she immediately turned toward him. Taking her into his arms seemed like the most natural thing in the whole world. She put her head on his chest, right over his heart, and his arms closed around her.

He shouldn’t have been able to sleep that way. Not so easily. Not to just close his eyes and drift off. He never let down his guard. And cuddling after sex wasn’t his usual MO but…

His eyes drifted closed and his hands stayed curled around Zoe as Victor fell asleep.

***

It was the creak of the door that woke Victor, hours later. The little motel room was still dark—no light at all sliding through the thin blinds. His eyes opened when he heard that creak and Victor lunged up in bed.

A bed that only he occupied.

Zoe!

Was she seriously trying to give him the slip? After what they’d done together? Had she just been trying to lure him into some false sense of security with the mind-melting sex so that she could escape from him the second his guard dropped? And it sure as hell had dropped.

He leapt from the bed, naked, and rushed toward the motel room door.

Before he could reach it, Zoe opened the
bathroom
door—it gave a long creak—and when she stepped out, Victor grabbed her arms as he tried to stop from running her down.

“Victor!”

Yeah, they both almost hit the floor with that collision, but he did some fast and frantic footwork, and he managed to keep them upright—barely.

She gave a quick, nervous laugh. “Do you have some sort of issue you need to tell me about? Not sleep walking but like…sleep tackling?”

He didn’t laugh. “I thought you’d left.”

“Um, no.”

His hold tightened on her arms. “I don’t want you to leave me.” The way she’d ditched the other agents.

Her hair slid over his fingers as she tilted back her head. “I’m not planning to leave you. We have a deal, remember?”

At her soft words, guilt twisted within him.

“Besides, I don’t make a habit of leaving a lover without a word in the middle of the night.”

Lover.

“And I sure hope,” Zoe added a bit darkly, “that you don’t, either.”

He wished he could see her expression. But she was just a shadow to him and he knew he appeared the same way to her. “Is that what we are now? Lovers?”

“I would think so.” She paused. “Lovers and partners.”

His hands slowly slid away from her shoulders. From all of that wonderful, smooth skin. “I shouldn’t have crossed that line.” He backed up. Turned away from her. Tried to figure out how he was supposed to fix things with her. The heat of the moment was one thing, but the aftermath—
sanity comes back.

“Do
not
act like it was all your decision.” Anger beat in her voice. “I wanted you. You wanted me. It was a very mutual thing, I promise you. Screw the lines. Life is short—sometimes, brutally so—we should all take what happiness and pleasure we can.”

The problem was that he wanted to take everything from Zoe.

Take and take…

And then he was supposed to just walk away?

His hands clenched as he stood there in the dark. “Do you trust me, Zoe?”

She didn’t answer.

Not yet. She doesn’t trust me yet. She gave me her body, gave me her desire, but I’ve still got a long way to go with Zoe.

“Show me that I
can
trust you,” Zoe said. He heard her footsteps shuffle closer. “Keep up your end of the deal. Help me to find Michelle. Help me to make sure that she’s alive. Get her safe and secure. Then I’ll trust you plenty.”

He turned back toward her. His eyes had adjusted more to the darkness, but he still couldn’t see her expression. “So people have to prove themselves to you?”

“After my life…and the number of users who’ve swept into it? Yes, yes, I need proof. The days of trusting blindly are long gone for me.”