Under His Protection

by Isabella Laase

  In the end, she couldn’t control her climax. Waves of pleasure flowed across her heated sex, ignited by an unseen force. The two men continued to move through her spasms, each thrust building on her frenzy to a place without reason until they came. Cruz first, his seed released, staining her thighs. Matt shortly after, adding more wetness across her ass until the two mingled together. Both of them completing her in the singular, most fulfilling erotic experience of her life and opening a door from which she’d never be able to retreat.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Groggy sleep kept her eyes closed and her thoughts at the perfect restful balance between sound slumber and fully awake. She fought to keep her nude frame wrapped around his warmth, but the need to pee finally won. Slipping along the soft sheets, she reluctantly wiggled toward the edge of the bed when a second solid body blocked her way, waking her the rest of the way. Cruz slept between her and the floor, and looking back to the spot she’d abandoned, it had been Matt who she’d curled up to in the middle of the night.

  “Damn,” she thought to herself. “Now what?” She abandoned them quickly, gathering her sweats and sweatshirt before running to the bathroom and locking the door. Last night had been amazing, and she’d embraced every frightening moment, moving past her old world to define new boundaries, and focusing her senses on her body’s deepest needs, but the reality of facing her boyfriend and his brother in the daylight hadn’t crossed her mind when she was in the middle of a never-ending climax.

  Still locked in the bathroom, she hid while the brothers began moving around in the kitchen, and a good twenty minutes of mortified self-reflection passed before Matt pounded on the door. “You’re in the only bathroom, Victoria. Get out of there before I have to piss off the deck like Alec is doing.”

  They were the kind of guys who’d knock the door down if she didn’t open it, so she pulled herself together, yanking the sweatshirt as far down over her pants as it would go before leaving the room. He walked past her with a frown, and she braced herself for the expected swat on her ass, but he grumbled, “I used to share a bathroom with five brothers and sisters. It’s not an area of patience for me.”

  Cruz was already settled on the deck with a steaming cup of coffee, a second cup and the thick cotton blanket from their bed waiting by his feet. The early morning rays of sunrise contrasted with the dew from the leftover nighttime chill, and Victoria took the blanket and the cup before snuggling on his lap in a desperate need to be close to him. He kissed her carefully on her forehead, working to avoid spilling her coffee.

  “Are you okay this morning?” he asked gently, as Matt joined them on the deck with his own cup and a box of donuts. He held the box out for both of them, but appeared to claim the remainder for himself.

  “I’m fine,” she dismissed. “It was a great evening.”

  “Taking on two men, and one of them a relative stranger, isn’t what most people are into, but you did great. What else were you thinking last night?” asked Cruz.

  She pulled the blanket over her head with a groan, but Matt yanked it off. “You can’t hide from this,” he said seriously. “You need to at least talk to Alec. If you can’t be honest with me here, I’ll step into the house.”

  “I... I...” she stuttered. “I did like it. It was like forbidden permission, and if that isn’t the weirdest oxymoron ever, I can’t imagine.”

  “As long as I’m the ox, and he’s the moron,” said Cruz, pointing to his little brother, “I’m okay with that.”

  She had to giggle, relaxing a little with the return of their familiar bantering. “And it was what I’d wanted for, like, most of last night, long before we started. I was all frustrated, waiting for you, and that’s why I was being such a brat. I’m sorry I didn’t just come out and talk to you about it.”

  Matt and Cruz both chuckled. “Talking to me is always the best plan,” said Cruz, “but you don’t really think that you were hiding your arousal, do you? Cause I kinda had it figured out when I came home, and Matt told me that you’d taken off your shirt in the bathroom.”

  “That was pretty much a dead giveaway for me, too,” added Matt, “but I was a little suspicious when you let me hold you when you were getting your hair done.”

  “I didn’t even know that first day,” she protested. “It wasn’t until I got bored after breakfast yesterday, that I started to feel like that. And the shirt had nothing to do with it.” But even as she spoke, she began to question her ulterior motives for the bold move.

  “I knew that you and I’d get to something that kinky eventually,” said Cruz, “and your bratty shit has been begging for discipline ever since we got here. With all the drama these last few days, I didn’t want to push you too hard, but when you got all whiney and rude even though you knew I wasn’t going to put up with it, I figured you were about ready.”

  “I guess I’m a lot tougher than I thought,” she said softly. “But what happens now?”

  “Nothing, really,” dismissed Cruz. “I’m proud that you had enough trust in me and in our relationship to have that experience, but Matt was a just a fun night. We aren’t some permanent threesome.”

  “You make me sound so cheap,” said Matt in a high, falsetto voice. Changing his tone, he added, “He’s right, honey. You belong to Alec, and I hope that last night wasn’t so strange to you that we can’t keep being friends.”

  Before anybody could comment, Cruz’s phone rang from the kitchen table, and he carefully set her aside to move into the cabin and answer it. Looking at the caller ID, he turned to Matt. “It’s Christian.”

  “That can’t be good,” said Matt, joining him with Victoria close behind. “All they’ve done is email updates. Neither one of them would risk a phone call unless something was wrong.”

  “What’s up?” asked Cruz, placing the phone on the counter. “I’ve got you on the speaker phone with Victoria and Matt.”

  “We’ve a problem,” replied another Cruz brother in lieu of a greeting. “Casey’s here on the speaker phone, too. Gossip magazines are reporting that Victoria is in New York with Alec. They’ve identified him by name, occupation, and home town. They’re saying that you’ve run away together and that her father is upset enough to refuse to speak about it. Mom and Dad have already gotten calls from a few reporters, and one of them even showed up on their doorstep yesterday. That damned little dog of Mom’s bit the guy’s ankle when they wouldn’t leave the front yard, but they’ll be back.”

  “That’s fucking impossible,” roared Cruz incredulously. “I didn’t tell anybody where she was, not even you two. Even the phone call to Matt was cryptic.”

  A second voice came over the phone. “Well, if you’re actually in New York, then somebody figured it out, so don’t get hung up on the whys right now and start planning the next steps. Get out of the city because a lot of people are up there looking for her. I don’t understand why you took her there in the first place. Just getting her into a hotel room would have been a real risk.”

  There was a pregnant pause while Cruz and Matt exchanged uneasy glances. “The city?” asked Matt carefully. “We’re in New York State, not the city.”

  “Well, that makes your little girl safe,” said Christian, “but that doesn’t help Mom and Dad, and it’s only a matter of time before reporters start hounding the girls. They all know to keep their mouths shut, but I don’t like the idea of any of them dealing with this.”

  “Send Mom and Dad to Uncle Robert’s condo in St Augustine for a few days,” directed Matt. “It’ll be harder for the press to identify the girls, but they’re tough enough to handle themselves if somebody does make the connection, and they can buy some time by denying any relationship to Alec. Then see what else you can find out about—”

  “Wait,” interrupted Cruz. “We’re missing something. My name could have come from any government employee who realized I never went back to work, but New York City...” He turned a cold glare toward Victoria. “That’s the same mistake you made w
hen we came here. Is it a coincidence, or is there something you need to tell us? Did you call somebody?”

  “I... uh... no,” she mumbled, staring at the floor, her guilty stomach grinding into knots. Amanda would never have said anything. Not in a million years.

  “Fuck, Victoria,” he said, visibly trying to calm himself. “Don’t start lying to me. Who the hell did you talk to?”

  The tears came before the necessary bravery to confess, but Matt tapped her chin and spoke softly. “If you’ve made a mistake, honey, now’s the time to tell us. We need to know everything or we’re putting together the wrong puzzle pieces.”

  She swallowed hard, but still couldn’t meet Cruz’s glower. “I... when you went into the gas station to pay and you left me the phone. I called Amanda. I didn’t tell her anything. Anything much... but I told her that I was safe and with you.”

  “Did you tell her that you were heading to New York City?” prodded Matt gently.

  “I... yes...” she whispered. “But Amanda’s my friend. My best friend. I trust her with my life, and she’d never do anything to betray me. Somebody must have tapped her phone.”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Cruz roared, slamming his palm against the kitchen counter as she visibly paled. She’d seen him angry, but the depth of his temper was almost frightening. “How the fuck am I supposed to trust you? I had one simple damned rule, and you couldn’t even do that? And now we have no way to contain any of this.”

  “Settle down, old man,” said Matt smoothly, pulling Victoria into his arms. “This isn’t such a bad thing. We’ve got our first real suspect. This friend of hers, did she have enough access to plant the tracking device?”

  “She did,” admitted Cruz, his temper still apparent. “She lives in DC and went to college with Victoria. I’ve questioned that little bitch’s motives for weeks, but this is all just a bunch of hearsay. We’ve got nothing solid on her.”

  Matt calmly continued. “Then let’s get this Amanda person up here so we can ask some questions. Who has she talked to? What does she know?”

  “No,” snapped Cruz. “Bringing her up here makes Victoria a sitting duck, and I’m not taking that chance. There has to be another way.”

  One of the twins spoke up on the forgotten speaker phone. “I agree with Matt. Casey and I can stop in DC and pick her up, but I’m not doing any jail time for kidnapping, so Victoria needs to tell her to come with us. If we don’t reveal the final destination until we have to and carefully monitor her after we pick her up, then we should keep most threats away.”

  “But it’s still a threat,” said Cruz angrily. “Right now, only two people know where she is and making Amanda Grant number three is a risk.”

  “First, Casey, you can do one better,” said Matt. “Tell her that you’re taking her to New York City. That should throw people off the scent, and she shouldn’t know the difference for a few hours. And Alec, it is a risk, but we don’t have much choice. Victoria can’t stay up here forever. Something has to break, and this might be our only chance to stay ahead of whatever this is.”

  Cruz stopped pacing for a moment, running his hands through his hair before resting them behind his head in defeat. “Fine,” he said, taking the phone from the counter. “We’ll set it up on our end and call you with the details.” Disconnecting the call, he turned to Matt. “She can call Amanda from the burner phone. Listen to the call and if she remotely gives away anything other than the script, lock her in the closet or something until I get back.”

  “Keep calm, bro,” said Matt, still holding onto a trembling Victoria. “It was an honest mistake. You’re both going to be fine.”

  “Mistakes by definition occur when an action is misguided. Her decision was intentionally made when she was instructed to take no action, which makes it an act of defiance. Those two words don’t belong in the same sentence.”

  “Cruz,” she whimpered. “Please don’t be mad at me. I’m sorry. I didn’t think...”

  “You’re right, Victoria. You didn’t think. And you obviously didn’t have enough faith in me to follow my very simple instructions. I don’t even know what to say to you.” He walked to the door of the cabin and grabbed his running shoes from the doormat. “But right now, I’m going to put a whole bunch of miles between us until my heart starts to pound out of my chest. Stay with Matt. Make your call. And just...” He stopped to stare out the window. “I can’t think of another set of instructions that I can trust that you’ll follow, Victoria. Make the damned call, and I’ll be back.”

  * * *

  It took over two hours of grueling hills before he felt human enough to face her, and he made his way back to the cabin with a pounding chest and sharp pains running from his thighs to his calves. It had been a wet fall; the muddy effects coated his legs with a layer of grime and road cinders. Before entering the cabin, Cruz kicked off his expensive shoes and swore softly with the full reality that they’d never be the same again.

  Victoria was nowhere in sight, and he was selfishly relieved that his raw emotions didn’t have to deal with any drama. Matt looked up from his book long enough to nod toward the loft. “She locked herself in the bathroom again before she went up there, and she was asleep the last time I checked. A lot of crying, though, Alec.”

  “I know,” he said, grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “I’ll get there. I just need a little time.”

  “Well, don’t take too much time, because I can’t keep giving up the only bathroom around here. I’m not made for living in the woods.”

  Cruz had to smile. He was still too agitated to sit, so he leaned against the wall to regroup. “Sorry, bro. I mean, I’m really sorry. All of this was a hell of a lot more than you’d planned for the few days of leave you get a year.”

  “Don’t apologize,” said Matt. “The little shit means a lot to me too, and I’m grateful for the chance to help.” He waited a few seconds, not totally making eye contact. “She asked me to spank her over all of this, Alec.” Cruz raised a questioning eyebrow before he continued. “No, I didn’t. It isn’t my forgiveness that she needs, it’s yours.”

  “Some things don’t get fixed by a spanking,” said Cruz. “There’s fun and games and then, there’s life and death. I need to trust her as much as she needs to trust me.”

  “You’re right. It’s not all fun and games once you get out of a scene, but you’ve got to recognize that she has a mind of her own. She’s never going to be the kind of woman who does everything you say, and you’re going to have to accept that.”

  “I know that, too,” said Cruz. “It’s actually what I love the most about her. But in this case, the instructions were made to save her life. I wasn’t trying to tell her what to wear or what job to take. I have nightmares that I can’t keep her safe. Over and over, she’s out of my reach, and I can’t control what’s happening.”

  “Welcome to the real world,” said Matt. “You should have learned that lesson when you were in preschool. Your job isn’t to control the world, your job is to learn to live in the world with some control.”

  “I want to fix this, Matt. I really do. I’m just not totally sure where to start. I can’t tolerate dishonesty at any level. It’s not the foundation that builds solid relationships. If she’d made the call and told me about it, it would have been easier to bear than keeping it a secret for days.”

  Matt gave a little grin. “Then you aren’t going to like this one. I lied. She’s not asleep.” He raised his voice. “And probably heard every word you said, didn’t you, Victoria?”

  There was a little silence before she replied from the loft, “Uh-huh. I’m sorry, Cruz. Please don’t stay mad at me.” Her sadness was so apparent that Cruz cringed, and he moved toward the steps.

  “Get up there and have some makeup sex after you’ve talked this one to death,” said Matt with a sigh. “And if you still feel the need to deliver a little punishment, there’s a nice willow tree in the side yard. But try to keep it
down, would you? I need my beauty sleep.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  She and Cruz had discussed their personal relationship for hours, but the conversation had continuously returned to the investigation, blurring any pathways for moving forward. She’d fallen asleep by Cruz’s side, but the night had lasted forever and she woke every hour or so, staring at the ceiling, and trying to make sense of the illogical. She understood the unsettling suspicions that had brought Amanda to the top of the suspect’s list, but she needed an answer that supported her friendship, otherwise the last ten years of her life, years that were already defined by personal loss, would be nothing more than a lie.

  Less than twenty-four hours after she’d confessed to her deception, Victoria hung back while Amanda Grant and the two youngest Cruz brothers climbed out of a black SUV at Aldi’s cabin. Closer to Cruz in height, the identical twins outweighed him by a good twenty pounds, making her smirk a little with the realization that her strong, handsome man was actually the smallest in his family. She would have loved to tease him, but the gravity of the situation had destroyed even the Cruz brothers’ sense of humor.

  Dressed in designer jeans, a black cashmere sweater, and high-heeled leather boots that looked ridiculously out of place at the rustic cabin site, Amanda approached her with a gush. After an awkward hug, Victoria stood to the side and stared at the ground, but Amanda tensed. “Are you okay, Victoria?” she asked, interrupting the introductions. “You look upset.”

  “I’m fine,” she said, quietly taking her friend’s hand and following her into the cabin. “It’s just been a lot lately, and I’m not really sure what to think anymore.”

  Amanda and Victoria settled on the couch while Matt and Cruz took the matching armchairs, and the twins casually leaned against a wall. Amanda’s hostility toward Cruz was so apparent that Victoria cringed. “It’s no wonder you’re upset,” snapped Amanda, squeezing Victoria’s hand even harder, “but they aren’t giving you all of the information. How can they drag you up here with no phone and no way to communicate with the people you love and expect you to understand anything that’s going on?”