For His Protection (14 page)

“Hands up,” she said.

Ty raised his arms toward the headboard. Brooke cuffed his
wrists and followed him onto the bed. His naked length monopolized his huge
mattress. Making it look more like a double than a king. His cock sprang up
toward the ceiling and she stared at it shamelessly. She took a breath then
swung her leg over him and straddled his waist. His erection bumped her
backside. Her pussy clenched, as if it knew how close it was to the thing it
wanted. She smoothed her hands over his chest then reached behind her and undid
her bra, pulling it off. The body between her thighs tensed and hardened.

He watched her breasts like a starving person. She ran her
hands over her chest, smiled when his nostrils flared. Then she did something
she’d wanted to do ever since she’d seen him shirtless. Leaned forward and
rested on him. Skin-to-skin. Her breasts against his chest. His hairs teasing
her nipples, his heartbeat a rhythmic thud against her chest. She inhaled his
scent, so clean yet musky that it needed a word of its own to describe it.

Her abdomen ached with the need to flex, to push her pelvis
against him.

She dragged herself over him, let her breasts rub against
his chest then lifted herself up. Without a word he strained upward, captured
her nipple between his lips before she could raise herself completely. Brooke
squeaked. Pleasure coiled from her breast to her pussy. His tongue flicked her
nipple and he suckled. Not like she’d done to him.

This was meticulous torture.

Moisture soaked the thin veil of her panties but she
couldn’t pull away. She gripped his hair as he sucked. He let go and his
bristled cheek scraped along her chest to her other breast. She leaned into his
mouth and cried out when he captured it.

Her hips rotated involuntarily. He swirled her nipple with
his tongue.

Brooke moaned then pulled free. She panted above him. “That
was bad, Ty. I didn’t say you could do that.”

“I’ll take my punishment then.” Ty grinned.

Brooke shook her head gently and slid off him. “I wonder if
you’ll still be joking when I’m done.” Her gaze traveled down to the raging
erection springing from his pelvis. She leaned closer. A bead of moisture
glistened on its smooth head. Her mouth watered. She dipped down until her lips
hovered above its swaying tip. His scent filled her. Even muskier and more
possessing here. Her own sex pulsed in response. She closed her mouth over the
head. His silken crown glided so easily over her tongue. She sucked and tasted
him. Warm and heady and slightly salty.

He groaned and the headboard rattled. He filled her mouth,
stretched her jaw wide, and she opened farther, letting him in deeper. He hit
her gag reflex and she pulled back with a gasp. Ty’s cock was a meaty mouthful.
That should scare the shit out of her but all it did was trigger some deep,
instinctive urge to fuck, to put that beautiful thing to the use for which it
was intended. She sucked him again, ran her tongue along the ridges of his cock
until he jerked and strained and until her needs swam up to consume her.

She pulled off her panties and straddled him. His cock
rested against her folds.

She froze.

“Brooke,” Ty called.

Her gaze snapped to his and need flared back up. “I want
you, Ty,” she whispered and moved her hips.

His cock nudged her clit.

“Fuck, I want you too,” he groaned.

She slid her sex against him, that tight, twisty, tricky
tension building in her. Brooke reached forward and plucked a condom from the
packet, tore it open and rolled it over him. She held him in her fist and
raised herself up, positioned herself over his tip. Her thighs shook. She bit
her lip and sank over him, every muscle squeezed tight and bearing down against
intrusion. He parted her slickness, opened her in a way she never expected.

She gasped.

Fullness.

Fullness that snapped sensation through stretching fibers
and into every nerve, vessel and hollow in her abdomen. Fullness she couldn’t
contain, that burst through her restraint. She moved, let his cock slide out a
little then sank back down. The pleasure was like falling. Took her breath and
made her hold on for dear life. A rush, exhilarating and consuming. Dangerous
and safe all at once. She pressed her palms against his chest and rode him.

Everything in her focused down. On the friction of every shattering
movement. On the sensation of being filled to capacity and still wanting more.

Her orgasm rose in a blistering wave. She clung to him, her
nails digging into his abs and she came. White blurred her vision, her ears
rang and her knees clamped against his sides.

She swore loud enough to hear over the ringing.

Her head stopped spinning and she leaned into her locked
elbows.

Ty laughed. A low, deep chuckle.

“Fuck me, you’re stunning,” he said then arched his hips,
sending a burst of pleasure into her that reminded her no matter how hard she’d
come, they weren’t done, were only just starting.

His knees rose behind her. “Lean back.”

Brooke did so, her back resting against his thighs. The
angle of the cock inside her changed. She gasped. He pushed against deeper
nerves, made new sensations crawl over her and wake her senses. His gaze homed
in on her pussy and he pushed up again, watching his cock slide into her.

“Open your legs wider,” he whispered, looking up at her from
under his lashes.

Heat licked at her, pushing her back toward shaky, frenzied
need.

She let her knees fall open and rocked gently. He arched
with her then his movements took over and he bucked into her. Thrust into her
from below.

“Let me see that, pussy, Brooke.”

She moaned and her back arched against his legs, exposing
her filled sex to him. His movements became explosive, slamming into her. Her
pussy contracted, another orgasm rushing over her. She screamed and held on. Ty
drove up hard, his muscles stiffening, his harsh groan filling the room.

Brooke collapsed onto him. Her cheek rested on his sweat-slick
chest. His heartbeat raced under her ear. She leaned up and undid his cuffs,
not letting him slip out of her just yet.

His arms circled her and he squeezed her tightly. “So what
did you think?”

“I think I could do that again,” she whispered then tilted
her head to look at him.

Ty kissed her, long and deep and soft all at the same time.
Her breasts brushed against him. His cock still inside her twitched.

She smiled against his lips.

It seemed she would indeed be doing that again.

Ty inhaled the scent of the woman nestled against his side.
A alluring mixture of sweat, apple shampoo and sex. He held his palm steady on
her waist. Fought the urge to roll her over and take her for the fourth time
today—possibly from behind. It’d only been fifteen minutes since the last time
but he’d go again. Hell, this woman was a better stimulant than any drug.

Maybe because she took stamina to a new level, riding him
like some kind of rodeo goddess, multiple times.

He suppressed a groan as his cock hardened. His fingers
moved against her skin. She breathed deeply and evenly. He smiled. She’d
definitely earned her rest. The way she’d held him down and used him, taken
everything she wanted while driving him to the brink of insanity. It’d taken
every ounce of control he possessed not to take over, roll over and fuck her
back the way
he
wanted.

One day though.

One day she wouldn’t need to be on top to feel safe. One day
she’d let that guard down, let him in for real. He’d wait. He’d waited five years
already. And it looked as if his patience was being rewarded beyond his dreams.

But his tough Brooke was delicate. Had to be handled with
care and he had plenty of that.

Enough for both of them.

Brooke twitched then bolted upright. She blinked then stared
down at him in the soft light, her eyes huge.

“You okay?” he asked, sitting up next to her.

She cleared her throat and nodded. “Yeah, just time to go
back to my own room I think.” She dragged the sheet off her lap and slid her
legs off the edge of the bed.

His skin cooled, more from the sudden drain of emotion then
the chill air.

He reached out and wrapped his fingers around her wrist.
“Stay.”

Brooke turned and her features softened. She crawled back
onto the bed and planted her lips on his. He leaned into her kiss, hand
traveling up the smooth back of her arm.

She pulled away. “I can’t.”

He frowned and stared at her. Her forehead creased, her
bruised lips pinched. He sighed then folded his arms behind his head. “Fine,
but don’t forget to leave the cash on the table on your way out.”

Brooke snorted and slapped his chest, her eyes flashing.
“Actually I do have something for you.” She rolled out of bed and jogged out of
the room.

Her footsteps thumped across the floor and the door across
the hall creaked. She ran back in, pulling a T-shirt over her head and holding
an envelope.

She sat on the edge of the bed and handed him the envelope.

Ty took the corner and pulled. Brooke held tighter for a moment
then smiled and let go. He stuck his finger in the side and tore it open then
slipped out a folded card. He patted the card against his palm and looked at
her. Her cheeks were pink and she tugged at her shirt.

He opened it slowly and read. “The honor of your presence is
requested to celebrate the wedding of Connor and Charlize—”

“It’s my plus one. Apparently I get a plus one or
something.”

He looked up from the card. “So you want me to be your
date?”

“Yeah well, I don’t know any other men who can dance,” she
said and studied the hem of her shirt.

“So you just want to use me for my skills on the dance
floor?”

She dropped the shirt and looked at him. “You don’t want to
dance with me?”

He grabbed her shirt in the middle and tugged her forward.
“Oh, I want to dance with you. But I want to hear you ask me to be your date.”

Her pale hair fell over her face and she hovered over him.
“Will you be my date, Ty?”

“With pleasure,” he whispered and captured her soft lips. He
cupped the back of her neck and stroked her tongue with his.

She moaned softly.

Ty pulled back. “Sleep with me. In my bed.”

Brooke rested her forehead against his. “No.”

“I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

She shook her head against him.

He released her neck and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, Brooke.”

“Goodnight, Ty,” she whispered and slipped from his bed,
pausing to switch off his light.

Then she left him alone in the dark.

* * * * *

Brooke glanced up from her clipboard at the man stroking his
finger over the back of her knee. “You’re turning me into a terrible bodyguard,
you know.”

They sprawled in the back of the limo, her legs draped
across his lap.

Ty grinned. “I don’t know, you’ve been very thorough. Plus I
hear distraction keeps a person on their toes.” With that he pulled off her
pump and captured her toes in his hand.

“This is important, Ty,” she said and attempted to swing her
legs off his lap.

He caught her knee and held her there. “Nothing is as
important as this.”

“If anyone intends to make good on their threats, this
meeting will be the time. There’s going to be a lot of angry people very pissed
at you for destroying their community center.”

Ty stroked his thumb against the arch of her foot, at once
relaxing muscles while causing others to strain.

“What about you, Brooke? Are you still ‘very pissed’ at me?”

Brooke sighed, a weight settling on her chest. “I guess I’m
disappointed.” She set down her clipboard. “The center was a sanctuary for me
when I needed it.” Her throat tightened. “Not that I participated much when it
came to talking. But sitting there in support group, hearing other women say
the things I was feeling… Just made me realize I wasn’t completely alone.”

“You felt alone?”

“I felt like the only person in the world at that time.” She
cleared her throat and picked up the clipboard again.

“What about your grandparents? You went home to them for a
while, right?”

Brooke ran her finger over the wooden edge of the clipboard,
remembering the year she’d returned to the farm she’d grown up on. “It helped
in a way. Working the farm, keeping busy, doing enough baking to put Martha
Stewart to shame… But not being home…that didn’t help; that made it worse.”

His palm warmed her knee. “How come?”

Her throat constricted and she blew out a long breath. “I
guess because they pretended nothing had happened. But it had. They just didn’t
know how to handle it. And that knowledge sat there between us. So big we
couldn’t see our way around it.”

The limo jolted to a stop. Brooke pulled back her shoulders,
swung her legs down and pulled on her shoe. Her fingers slipped. How had she
gotten onto that topic? She’d never been able to get herself to think or talk
about that when she’d consciously tried…

Voices boomed outside the limo. She jumped.
Shit
. She
was supposed to be on duty.

“It’s going to be fine.”

A touch landed on the small of her back.

She glanced at the man next to her and straightened, then
brushed her fingers against his jaw. “Of course it is. Brooke’s looking after
you.”

His brow creased but he did her the favor of pretending
that’s what he’d meant and let her lead him from the car.

* * * * *

A crowd gathered around the community center. Hand-painted
signs waved while jeers and shouts filled the air. Brooke briefed the security
team, sending the two largest guards ahead of Ty, covering his rear herself.
They made their way to the platform where Ty would give his press conference.
The shouts grew louder as Ty passed through. Brooke scanned the crowd over the
blur of moving signs, waving hands, shaking fists. She pressed herself closer
to Ty, leaving little of him exposed. They reached the stairs to the platform
and a different kind of movement caught her eye.

She reacted, shoving Ty forward and taking the force of a
flying object to the chest. Brooke fell to the dirt. Damp seeped over her skin.
She looked up, panting. Men from Crowe Security surrounded Ty while two other
guards subdued a figure in the crowd.

Brooke glanced down, her head spinning at the sight of red
liquid covering her from neck to waist.
Shit.
A lot of mother-fucking
blood. She patted her hands over her chest, searching for injury.
Nothing
.
Just a tender spot on her sternum. She rose to her feet. A scrap of rubber balloon
lay on the ground. She let out a long, shaking breath.

Ty broke free of the security detail and grabbed her arm.
“Brooke, where are you hurt?” His gaze scanned her in a frenzy.

She laid her palm on his biceps. “I’m fine. It’s just dye or
something.”

He looked at her, his jaw so tight it was a miracle he
didn’t break a tooth. The hand on her arm shook.

“I’m fine. Really. Just go do what you have to do.”

His grip tightened as if he had no intention of letting her
go. He guided her to the other security guards.

“Make sure she’s really all right,” he said and took to the
stage.

Brooke ignored questions from her fellow team member,
watching Ty pull at his tie and rest his hands on the podium.

The noise hushed the moment he leaned toward the microphone.

“I had a speech planned…but I think it’s time to cut to the
chase.” Ty eyed the crowd as if he spoke to each person privately,
individually. “Black Trident Enterprises does not operate only to derive profit
for shareholders. Our mission is to enrich the communities we are part of.”

The noise from the crowd rose back up.

Ty continued speaking. “Sometimes it‘s easy to forget this
mission when we are looking at bottom lines and logistics.” His gaze moved from
the crowd and settled on Brooke. “Sometimes we need someone to remind us of our
mission, our purpose.”

Brooke’s insides warmed as if she’d consumed a bucket of hot
soup, everything inside her going hot and liquid.

“We will tear down this building because it’s not fit for
inhabitants—”

Outraged shouts momentarily drowned out the sound of Ty’s
voice.

“
However
, the building to take its place, Blue
Trident, will contain a state-of-the-art community center, which will occupy
the entire ground floor.”

The crowd hushed as instantly as if someone had pulled the
plug on a speaker.

“This new community center will be fitted with every modern
amenity, designed in conjunction with management of the existing center and
will be Black Trident Enterprise’s donation to the local community.”

Ty continued his speech but Brooke’s ears buzzed out the
sound. She just watched him, a slow grin spreading her lips.

How had she ever stood a chance at resisting this man? He
was freaking magnificent. First chance she got she’d show him just what he did
to her.

* * * * *

Ty marched off the platform, took Brooke’s hand and led her
to the waiting car.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Brooke said as she ducked inside
through the open door.

He slid into the limo next to her.

“I don’t even know how to thank you, Ty.”

He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his face with both
hands.

“You okay?”

He dropped his hands and took a deep breath, staring
straight ahead. “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but you’re fired.”

“What?”

He turned to Brooke, finally letting himself look at her
again. Red dye soaked her shirt and stained the skin on her chest and neck. A spattering
of crimson speckled over her jaw. His chest and shoulders stiffened.
Never
a-fucking-gain.
She’d been one step away from getting seriously hurt—for
him. His heart nearly exploded when he’d seen her crouched there, covered in
red liquid. Then she’d stood up and all he wanted to do was grab her—grab her
and squeeze the breath out of her until he could breathe again himself.

“I said you’re fired.”

Her eyes narrowed, going from a wide, luminous hurt to a
squinting outrage. “Just because one idiot threw a water balloon? Honestly, I
stopped it, didn’t I? Do you really think—?”

“Shut up, Brooke.”

Her lips clamped together. The car lurched forward and he
grabbed her by the back of the neck and covered her mouth with his. He kissed
her as he’d wanted to when she’d scared the crap out of him—deep and demanding,
angry and loving. With his tongue and teeth devouring her hot little mouth.

Brooke kissed him back, for a moment giving in. For a moment
going soft and sweet and gentle in his arms. Then she was on him, straddling
him in the back of the limo. Hands buried in his hair, meeting the strength of
his kiss stroke for stroke. Damp from her shirt soaked into his, dragging wet
fabric over his skin. He gripped her waist, pulling her deeper into his lap.

She tugged his hair and broke free, sucking in a loud
breath. Her gaze ran over him then rested on his mouth. “What’s this shit about
fired, Ty?”

“It means I don’t want you to be my bodyguard anymore.”

She leaned back. “You want someone else?”

“No, after today I don’t really think I need anyone.”

Her gaze lowered. “I guess the risk
is
diminished.”
She slid off his lap.

His wet shirt went from damp heat to a soggy chill without
her warmth against him.

“Well we had to go back to real life sometime,” she said.

It happened before his eyes, her slow retreat. Her features
evening out into something forced and distant. Inch by inch she slipped away.

“
I’ll go home tonight.”

“Look at me.”

She blinked and turned her head slowly toward his. Her
cheeks flushed.

“This isn’t me breaking up with you. If you want to pretend
that this was just a job, you can go ahead and
try
.” He leaned closer,
watching color blot out the soft freckles on her cheeks. “It’s up to you now.
I’m not holding you any longer.” The car pulled up in front of his apartment
building. Her rapid breaths puffed against his lips. “You want me, there’s no
more job to tie you to me so you’ll have to take me for yourself.”

He leaned back and opened the door. “So come home with me
now and make this real, Brooke.” He stepped out of the car then ducked his head
back in. “Or leave, pretend this never happened.
If you can
. I’ll have
your stuff sent to you.”