My Heart's Protector

by Jenn Sable

  “Well done, witch, it worked,” I said, and meant it. Something was magical about El. After getting my first touch of her this morning, she had implanted herself into my mind and body with an intensity that felt supernatural. I’d had so many memories with her over the years, and I always kept myself firmly in the role of protector. It almost felt taboo ever to consider becoming her lover. Yet, here I was, getting ready to share a blanket with her on a couch.

  El walked over to my side of the couch, unfolded the blanket and plopped down right beside me. I had been sitting with my arm slung over the back of the couch, and El nestled herself right up against my side. I glanced down at her, and my lips twitched.

  “Troy,” she said nervously.

  “Yeah?”

  “Look, it’s been a while since I’ve seduced a man and well...”

  I tipped my head to hers and captured her lips with mine, nibbling at her plump, full bottom lip until she made soft little needy sounds in the back of her throat. “Adorable,” I murmured, and she exhaled a little laugh.

  “Not alluring or seductive?” she whispered, her voice growing husky.

  Her lips felt so incredibly soft under mine and I brushed over them again. “And alluring and very seductive,” I whispered back.

  Her dark eyes were fathomless and filled with desire as she stared at me, and when she bit her lip, my own need effectively silenced my reservations. I shifted forward and laid El back onto the couch. With the soft glide of my hand on her thighs I guided her legs to stretch out onto the sofa.

  The couch was deep enough that I was able to lay on my side next to her. I rested my hand on the soft curve of El’s lower belly and loved how she squirmed her hips while my fingertips rested just above her pretty mound. Not wasting another second, I ravished her lips with mine, delving my tongue into her mouth and tasting her sweet sighs, tracing her skin with kisses and nipping at the nape of her neck.

  “Oh God, Troy,” she gasped as I slowly pressed open-mouthed kisses to her throat and where the curve of her neck met with her shoulder.

  She squirmed underneath my palm that rested right above the junction of her thighs, and it fed my desire to know that I was slowly driving El mad with need.

  I slid my hand over her stomach, along her arching ribcage, and palmed her soft breasts, one then the other, enjoying the hard peaks of her nipples in the center of her soft mounds. Soft moans from the back of El's throat and the way she twisted and undulated her hips let me know how excited she was under my touch.

  “Tell me what you need, El,” I breathed. Although El was gasping with pleasure, I still wanted to make sure I wasn't assuming consent. I wanted to hear her tell me what she was after.

  “You. I need you,” she panted.

  “Where?” My voice was gruff as though I needed a drink, and I did. I needed to drink from the apex of El's thighs. I needed to taste her, plunge my tongue inside of her, and feel her pulse with pleasure. I nearly shook with desire.

  El groaned in frustration, and it made my lips twitch. The same mad need I had gripped her. I was relieved that I wasn't the only one unravelling from lust.

  “Here,” she growled and slid her hand over mine. She guided it through the valley between her breasts, over the plain of her stomach, up over her sweet, soft mound, and rested my hand on her sex.

  I groaned in fascination over how hot and moist she felt through the silk of her panties and lightly scratched my fingernails over the surface of the material from her heated center up to the plump nub that pulsed under the restricting fabric. El bucked her hips off the couch, and I bit back a smile.

  “Please, Troy. I need you. I need you to touch me,” she gasped.

  “Oh, I intend to. Slowly,” I said and pressed a kiss to her cheek and then whispered in her ear.

  “I intend to touch you slowly, rub my fingers over your beautiful folds until my fingers are slick with your desire. I intend to fuck you with my fingers and then my tongue until you come so hard you shake,” I said, gently pinching her swollen clit between two fingers over her panties. El’s moan was all the encouragement I needed to slide down her body until my face was in line with her sweet little center.

  I traced my fingertips over her heated core and tapped lightly against her clit before taking one finger and pulling the moist crotch of her panties to the side. I easily slid one long finger inside her and fastened my lips around her engorged clit until all I could hear were the moans of pleasure that ripped from El’s throat. I slid a second finger inside her and made a “come here” motion with my fingers once they found her sensitive spot deep inside the walls of her soft tunnel.

  “Relax for me, honeysuckle,” I murmured when I felt her tensing-up.

  “I can’t help it,” said El, letting out a shaky laugh.

  I flicked my tongue over every inch of her, all the while I pumped inside her, spreading her, filling her with my fingers. The minute she took a deep breath and just laid back and accepted my touch, her body melted into the couch and strong waves of her release clutched at my fingers. I withdrew my fingers and rubbed them over her sensitive numb while I replaced my fingers with my tongue. El tasted just like I’d dreamt she wouldーdeliciously creamy. I relished each pulse of her release as she rode my tongue. It made my cock thicken to the point of pain. I thought I was about to burst inside my pants.

  I stayed inside El until I felt the last tremor of her pleasure and smiled when she laid on the couch as though her bones had turned to molten lava.

  “Tired?” I murmured and stood up.

  El gave me a sleepy little smile.

  “Come here,” she whispered, slowly opening her eyes and sitting up.

  “Hmm?”

  I was pleasantly surprised when she reached for the button of my fly. “No, El, l don’t want to take things all the way. Not tonight, not when we’re both leaving. I... wouldn’t feel right about it. I would want more than just tonight,” I said, being honest and uncomfortably vulnerable.

  El arched a brow. “You’re really going to deny me the chance to pleasure you? Believe it or not, giving and receiving is equally pleasurable.”

  I was speechless and stood helplessly as El released my swollen shaft from the confines of my jeans and lavished it with kisses. She took me into her mouth the same way I had her, slowly, deliberately, joyfully. She didn’t stop, even when I thought I was going to buckle at the knees from blinding pleasure. Watching her take me into her mouth and feeling her hot, wet tongue sweep over me was my undoing.

  El laid pressed against my chest, breathing evenly, as we drifted to sleep in the study. We were spent and happily in each other's arms. I’d never slept so soundly, or with so much peace in my heart. My mind was quiet, and my heart was full. El’s had tucked her head under my chin, and her soft body lay listlessly against mine. It felt so right, it was terrifying.

  Chapter 7 - Eloise

  The small taxi from the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris jostled along the cafe and fashion shop laden streets of the city while I sat lost in thought like I had been during the entire flight from Clear Creek to Dulles and then from Dulles to Paris. Not even the peaceful gardens or elegant architecture along the Seine soothed the ache in my heart or the frustration I felt toward myself for acting so foolishly when it came to Troy Witmer.

  I had had no right to look at Troy’s phone while he retrieved my bags from the back of the vehicle this morning while dropping me off at the Clear Creek airport, and I certainly didn’t have any right to read and be upset over a text notification from April Kline.

  I thought it would be cute to leave Troy with a surprise photo of me on his cell phone to find once I had boarded my flight to Paris, and instead, I found a photo sent to him of another woman. Several photos, in fact, all of April in various stages of undress with messages questioning Troy’s whereabouts last night. Apparently, April had thought she was going to see Troy at Sawyer’s in Axe Hollow and was deeply disappointed when he was a no show.

  What
ever was going on between Troy and April was none of my business. I made it perfectly clear to Troy last night that I wanted one exquisite night with him, and that was exactly what he gave me. Except we’d opened up to one another in such a personal way, and he’d touched my skin with such reverence that he’d written his name across my heart, whether he meant to or not.

  I yawned. Sleep had evaded me while on the plane, and now exhaustion was setting in. I shook my head, and wondered how best to explain to Winnie that I would visit her in the hospital the second after I napped for several hours.

  Sorry, Win. I just spent the night in Troy Witmer’s arms having the greatest night of my life. Yes, the trooper I told you about months ago but claimed that I wasn’t attracted to. Yeah, that’s the one! No, it’s not going to turn into anything. He’ll most likely be several inches deep in another woman or gone by the time I return to Frost Forest.

  The taxi driver cleared his throat, and I jumped. He announced that we’d arrived at Winnie’s apartment building, and I got the feeling that he might have said it a few times before I even realized that the taxi had stopped, judging from the fact that the doorman was already rolling a luggage cart over to the car. We could’ve been sitting at a red light for all I knew, for all I cared.

  Guilt cut into my stomach. Inside a Paris hospital lay a very dear friend who needed me to be a pillar of support, and although I was physically in Paris, mentally, I was miles away. I never imagined that I would arrive in Paris completely distracted and devastated by a one-night stand that I had instigated.

  Unbelievable. This must be what Sammie was talking about when she feared that I was too young to tackle managing the inn and starting a company with Winnie simultaneously. I haven't developed good discerning skills yet. I don't know what's good for me and what's not. I get excited about something and get swept away in the moment. Just like with Troy, just like with this tea company, just like with turning the inn into a teahouse.

  What was I thinking? No wonder Sammie wanted to hire Owen’s friend to manage the inn for us while I got my feet underneath me with the tea company. Shit. I hate disappointing people, and I really hate disappointing myself. Shit. Shit. Shit!

  I pushed open the door of the taxi.

  “Watch it!” yelled a tall, well-built man with a British accent who rushed by on the sidewalk. Our eyes connected and held for a beat. He had a long face, squared-off jaw, a firmly set mouth, and lightーblue eyes underneath black, bushy brows. He looked oddly familiar, although I was certain I’d never met him before. He was middle-aged and very well dressed.

  The man pointed an angry finger at me. “You're making a big mistake. No good will come of this. It didn't the last time, and it won't this time.” He turned and quickly disappeared down a narrow backstreet that meandered behind Winnie’s building.

  “What the hell?” I muttered, still in a sleepy state of confusion.

  “Be careful, mademoiselle,” said the taxi driver who was placing my bags on the luggage cart the doorman had rolled over to the taxi. The doorman smiled and tipped his hat at me, recognizing me as one of the Winifred Langley’s friends.

  “Who was that?” I asked, bewildered.

  “I have no idea,” said the taxi driver, shrugging.

  “That was Ms. Langley’s nephew, Devin Sharpe,” said Jean, the doorman, rolling his eyes.

  “Oh. I didn’t even realize that Winnie had a nephew,” I said, paying the driver before turning to walk into the building with the doorman.

  “He's a nephew through marriage from Winnie's late husband, William Sharpe. The only reason I know who he is, is because Winnie gave the front door staff a picture of Devin, the nephew, and made sure that we knew to get her permission before we buzzed him in,” said Jean, glancing back toward the alleyway where Devin had disappeared.

  “I can't say that I even knew Winnie had been married before, let alone that she still stayed in contact with any of his extended family members. Why do you think he's here now?” I asked.

  The doorman looked uncomfortable for a moment and squirmed a little bit. “I certainly don't want to be the perpetrator of gossip, but from what Winnie has told me Devin feels entitled to help her make some financial decisions. Devin feels as though a mutually agreed-upon family lawyer should oversee his uncle’s money that was left to Winneーthat she used to invest to help grow her tea company. Devin does not recognize Winnie's tea as her own assets.”

  “So he wants a cut of her money,” I said, bluntly.

  “It would appear so, but please, you didn't hear that from me.”

  I winked at Jean. “Of course not. But thank you for your candor. If Winnie wanted to be buzzed when Devin showed up at her apartment, then why did he just leave the apartment building?”

  The doorman shrugged. “Nigel Phillips, Ms. Langley's lawyer, is currently staying in the residence. When Devin arrived about an hour ago, Nigel allowed Devin up.”

  Interesting. “Thank you. Would you be so kind as to arrange a taxi to the hospital for me in an hour?”

  “Certainly.”

  Although I was exhausted, an eerie sense that something was not quite right crawled up my spine. I was happy to hear that Nigel was in residence so that I could question him about Devin Sharpe. If what the doorman said were true, then I needed to know exactly what ties Devon Sharpe had to Winnie's tea companies and the interest of our business.

  Once the doors of Winnie's apartment opened, I stepped inside the cavernous apartment decorated with beautiful chandeliers, wooden floors, thick crown molding, and lovely antique furniture. The place had a wonderful view of lovely peaceful gardens, balconies that had small bistro tables, and the entire second floor of a large building made up the apartment. Winnie had the most spacious apartment I'd ever seen, and she packed it with priceless art and precious and pricey furnishings and materials.

  Winnie's dinner parties were legendary, and she liked to show off her lovely view of the city. I remembered the first time I stepped inside her apartment; I had walked around, taking it all in, slack-jawed the whole time.

  Winnie had invited me to her apartment after we met in the dusty stacks of an old Parisian library. We'd both been looking for an old tea remedy in an ancient manuscript. Funny enough, it was to help with digestion. I'd had one too many croissants, and she’d had one too many baguettes.

  Originally, my future was literature while I studied in Paris. The more I read, the more I drank, and the more I drank, the more I read about tea Winnie and I were bound to meet; it was destiny. But now, I walked through her apartment, and I looked around at the big empty rooms. I walked back down the hallway and could hear Nigel on the phone. I stopped just outside the office door and listened.

  “Yes, I’ve got the paperwork already drawn and am bringing it over this afternoon. There's no sense in dragging this out any longer. Devin showed up today, and when he did, he was not thrilled. I told him the motions were in place and that, legally, he had no say in the decision. He was able to accept what I had to say after I showed him he had no legal standing to remove anyone's name from any legal document.”

  What is Nigel talking about, and who is he talking to? Winnie?

  “She should be here any moment. Once El arrives, I'll try to explain to her what's happening. What? You don't think that would be best? I mean, I think the best thing is to continue moving forward with the original plan. Okay, I understand. Yes, Tula is on board with whatever you decide is best, which is the way everyone should be. This is your money and your health. Winnie, this is your decision.”

  My ears had perked up at the sound of my name. Nigel nearly dropped the phone when I pushed through the office door. He recovered and quickly ended the phone call and promptly hung up.

  “Jesus, Eloise, you startled me,” said Nigel, pushing his little eyeglasses up from the tip of his nose back into place. He stood with a flourish, walked over, and pressed two kisses to both of my cheeks.

  I was too exhausted and emotionally wrung out
for niceties and jumped straight to the point. “Nigel, what is going on here? Who's Devin Sharpe, and were you just on the phone with Winnie?” I asked.

  Nigel eyed me, “Wow. My goodness, El. How is it that you just arrived and know so much? I’ll explain everything, but I think it would be best if we visited Winnie at hospital and did this together.”

  We canceled my original request for a car in an hour and left immediately. I carefully listened to Nigel on the way over to the hospital. Nigel confirmed everything I’d already found out about Devin Sharpe, and it left me with a growing sense of alarm.

  I was grateful once we arrived at the hospital. I was anxious to see Winnie with my own eyes and make sure she was okay. She was assigned a private hospital room, and it smelled like a garden. It was filled with bouquets from people all over the world to wish her well. Once I stepped through the door, our eyes connected, and Winnie did a little dance from her hospital bed, to which Nigel quickly encouraged her to calm down and take it easy.

  “El, thank God you're here!” said Winnie in a steady and strong voice.

  I looked her over and was relieved that she appeared all right, except for needing a little bit of color in her cheeks.

  “Thank God you’re okay, Winnie!”

  She waved her hand in the air as though she had just stubbed her toe rather than having a brush with cardiac arrest. “Oh, I'm fine. I'm just glad that this wake-up call wasn't more severe. I’m properly shook-up enough to listen to my doctors now.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean, listen to your doctors now?”

  Nigel walked into the room, breaking off the conversation. Winnie eyed the folder he had tucked under his arm. “Nigel, is that the paperwork I asked you to bring?”

  “Yes. It's right here. Everything is in order according to your wishes,” said Nigel