Protector of Novah (Valor Knights Book 1)

by Rhonda Lee Carver

He caught a whiff of her strong perfume, making his throat itch. What the hell was it? Poison?

  “Here. Your tie is a bit crooked.” She straightened it, brushing against him in the innocent enough act. Her breasts brushed his chest and he felt a tug behind his fly, but the sensation was squelched when an image of Novah flashed through his mind. He became as limp as an overcooked noodle. To his credit, most red-blooded men would feel something below the belt with a seductive woman like ShyAnne Langley pressing her breasts against his body. Hell, he’d already gotten a glimpse of her tits and they were pretty nice. Probably fake, but still, nice. But he had no interest. As beautiful, and sexy, as she was, he liked his women unhitched. She didn’t stop at his tie though. She went on to adjust his collar too.

  “You smell good,” she whispered.

  “Thanks.”

  If things weren’t awkward before they were off the hook now.

  When her lips brushed his neck, he took a step back, breaking the contact.

  “You’re not shy, are you, Egan?” The tip of her tongue slipped out to smooth over bright red lips.

  “No, ma’am. I better get going.” Her laughter followed him to the door. He left the library and didn’t slow his pace until he came to the security wing where the team was already dispersing.

  “Did I mis something?” he asked as he approached Banner.

  “Took you long enough, bro,” Banner said with a chuckle. “We always touch base in the evening. Just a quick debrief. Mrs. Langley arrived unexpected.”

  “Yeah, I met her.” Egan rubbed the bridge of his nose.

  “You did?” Banner’s expression changed some. Curiosity maybe?

  “We had a brief meeting in the library. She seems…interesting.”

  Banner laughed and folded his brawny arms over his chest. “Watch yourself. She likes new blood.”

  “I’m not interested.”

  “That even makes her more fascinated with you.” Banner dropped his arms and adjusted his tie.

  “So she and Langley both have side hobbies?”

  “That’s a good word for it.” Something changed in his expression. He glanced around the empty room. “Man, trust me. She’s not one you want to get up and personal with.”

  “Really, buddy. You don’t have to warn me.” Egan exhaled. “I steer clear of messy and ShyAnne Langley emits trouble like that stinky perfume she wears.”

  Banner nodded. “See you in the morning, my friend.”

  Banner left for the security housing and Egan headed outside, finding a quiet spot where he could speak to his daughter. Every night that she wasn’t with him they talked before she went to bed. He’d pressed the button and the phone rang, but he hung up. A silhouette crossed the grass and entered the garden. Egan blinked several times to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. He could hear the familiar clanking of ShyAnne’s bracelets, even catching a whiff of her perfume. The moonlight reflected off her shiny dress.

  From his hidden spot he watched her stumble through a row of sunflowers then pansies. When she tripped, she cursed and stopped to remover her heels. She swiveled to look through the darkness as if she felt she was being watched, but Egan sat in a safe place in the shadows. With a sigh, she continued her path.

  Egan didn’t like sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, but being that he was here to observe things, he wondered where she was heading…or rather who she was meeting. She didn’t seem like the type to take a late evening stroll through the back yard.

  Quietly, he left the cornerstone and shoved his phone back into his jacket pocket. Following at a safe distance, he watched her slip through the shadows. Then he realized she was staying hidden from the cameras. She ascended the steps to the pool where no cameras were installed.

  His phone vibrated, echoing through the quiet. Shit!

  He hurried to silence the sound, but not before ShyAnne stopped and jetted a glance through the dark. “Hello? Is someone there?”

  Egan had slipped behind the hedges.

  “I’m here,” came a male’s lowered voice.

  “I thought I heard something,” ShyAnne said.

  Egan heard her giggle then and the loud clank of her heels as she must have dropped them onto the concrete. Egan scooted a few inches to look around the tree. It didn’t take a genius to figure out it wasn’t her slender husband. This guy had a large frame, someone like Banner who was built as big as a house. When the couple dipped in behind the bushes, heading in the direction of the security quarters, Egan turned around and retraced his steps. Could she be having an affair with Banner? Would he put everything at risk to shag ShyAnne Langley? Egan sure hoped he wouldn’t. No tumble was worth the shit show it could cause.

  Shrugging off the event, he grabbed his phone and checked the screen. He had a missed call from Finley.

  ~~~~~

  Peter Langley stared at the stack of pictures on his desk then brought his chin up, meeting the exasperated gaze of Stark.

  “Sir?”

  “What, Stark? Why do you have pictures of my wife fucking someone?”

  “She’s destroying your chances of winning the election, sir.” He tapped his shoe on the floor.

  Peter neatly gathered the pictures and placed them in the top drawer of his desk. “I’m not exactly innocent.”

  “But at least you keep your transgressions hidden. She’s blatantly flaunting her affairs, not caring who sees, or thinking of the possibility that if anyone got ahold of this they would use it as leverage. Just as that pathetic excuse of head of security did to you. I hope he gets hit by a truck before he gets to spend a dime of that bribe money he swindled out of you.”

  Peter didn’t like being reminded that Drake had betrayed him. He hadn’t had a choice but to pay him a half million in cash to shut him up. What Stark didn’t know, Drake didn’t give a damn that Shy was sleeping with every Tom, Dick and Harry. He suddenly grew a conscious when he learned that Peter had made a deal with the Renegades. In exchange for them helping him get elected by calling in a few favors, he’d see that some of their indiscretions would be ignored. Peter didn’t see this as a crime but instead a good business deal. Problem was now the bastards thought they owned him and he wasn’t even voted into office yet. No one, not even a bunch of fucktards that loved slicing people into bits would own him. “Shy’s looking for a rise.”

  “Yeah, she’s getting a rise alright,” Stark huffed and shifted dramatically.

  “What would you like me to do?”

  “For starters, speak to her, unless you’d like to be a political laughingstock. We can’t afford this.”

  “We can’t afford this. Last I checked I was the one running for office,” he grit out and sat back in his chair. He hadn’t slept in days and he needed a few good hours.

  Stark paced the floor then stopped in front of Peter’s desk, leaning over the mahogany. “Let me get this straight, sir. You’re going to allow her to fuck your entire security team?”

  “I don’t think she screws them all at once. She’s just slowly making her rounds through the duty roster.”

  “Again, you’re going to allow her to be a whore?”

  He chuckled. “Allow her? Really? It’s not like her side pursuits are a surprise.”

  “This has to be stopped before it’s too late.”

  Rolling his finger around the rim of his glass, Peter was tired and not wanting to talk about the blatant indiscretions of his whore wife. Once upon a time he cared whose dick she had inside her, but these days he had bigger issues. He had power groups breathing down his neck. People blaming him for the attempted kidnapping of his opponent. Everyone wanted a piece of him. Add in the pressure of figuring out what to do with his pregnant mistress, and he was burning the candle at both ends. Something had to give and soon.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  NOVAH UNDRESSED AND stepped out onto the private balcony of her room. She sipped her wine and enjoyed how the cooler breeze caressed her bare breasts. Her mind drifted back to the earlier a
ltercation between her and Egan. She had every right to be angry with him. How dare he think he could tell her what to do! How dare he think that she’d sleep with the boss.

  The soft knock came on the door, jarring her from her disgruntled thoughts.

  She placed her glass on the nightstand and shrugged on her robe as she made her way to open the door. Her breath caught. Egan stood on the other side, his back to her. “Egan?” When he turned, she saw the solid set of his wide jaw. “What are you doing here? It’s one A.M. and the whole world is sleeping.”

  “Everyone except for us.”

  “You have a point.”

  “Can I come in?”

  With a healthy dose of hesitation, she finally said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “It’s about Fin. She’s sick.”

  Shoving the door wide, her heart sank as she took a step back. “Why didn’t you say that?”

  “I just did.”

  “What’s wrong with her? My phone didn’t go off.” She hurried across the room to sweep up her cell from the nightstand. She knew her mom wouldn’t call. “I didn’t get a message or call.” She looked back at Egan as he closed the door behind him.

  “She’s okay, but why didn’t you tell me?” He narrowed his gaze. “Fin said she spoke to you earlier.”

  “Oh, maybe because you found it your life’s duty to torment me about my boss.”

  He loosened his tie and the tension in his jaw slacked. “Sorry if I’m fucking up your romantic weekend.”

  “Good. Okay then.” She strolled across the plush carpet and opened the door wide. “See you tomorrow, or better yet, never.”

  “Yeah, I guess that was a low blow. I shouldn’t have gone there.”

  “But you’ve gotten so good at them. Bye.”

  “Are you in a hurry for me to leave?”

  “You could say that.” The longer he stayed the more she’d lose track of why she needed him to go.

  “Do I make you that nervous?” His slick smile sparked the nerve endings in her nipples to life.

  “Nervous? No.” She leaned against the door, hoping he couldn’t see the effect he had on her breasts through the material of the thin, satin robe. Suddenly, she felt completely naked standing in front of him.

  He crossed the space but in the opposite direction of the door. She watched him study the room. “Wow. You get the Hilton and I get a room that’s rented by the hour. I think Langley likes you better.” His smile eased the tension in his words some. He picked up her wine glass and took a long chug. He was more of a whiskey drinker than wine.

  Sighing, she shut the door and joined him near the French doors. “Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

  “My shift is over.”

  “Shouldn’t you be sleeping then?”

  “I tried, but some things just don’t work out.” He handed her the glass and she took a sip. “The bed is too lumpy. I bet you don’t have that problem.”

  “Egan…”

  “Novah…”

  “We agreed we would keep the fact that you and I know each other a secret. You coming to my room in the middle of the night is a risk.” A risk for more than simply outing them as exes.

  “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. Care if I have more of that?” He picked up the open Merlot bottle from the glass table.

  “Sure. I can see if there’s another glass—”

  He took her glass and poured more wine, then drank half of it. The familiarity in that simple act took her back to when they first met and would sit in the back of his truck staring up at the stars, talking about the future until morning. She wanted to move on, she really did, but how could she when he still affected her in such a powerful way? She couldn’t deny that they had a strong connection, still. “Thanks. This is the expensive stuff. In Langley’s defense, he certainly knows how to treat his guests.”

  “I’m not a guest, Egan. I’m here to work.”

  His laughter bounced off the walls. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Rough day?” She took the glass and poured more wine then stepped out onto the balcony, needing the cool air to put out the fire in her body.

  “This certainly isn’t what I’m used to,” he said when he joined her. With the entire balcony available he chose to stand next to her, leaning over the top rail and staring into the darkness like a man who had the world on his shoulders. “You know, quiet and peaceful during a job. No smoke. No sound of gunfire.”

  “You miss it, don’t you?”

  He met her gaze, holding it in a soft, warm cradle of blue depths. “There are a lot of things I miss.” The huskiness in his voice jetted straight to her inner thighs.

  Refusing to walk into that trap, she chose to turn the conversation into a different direction. “Finley likes having you home. She gets so excited before your visits, especially when you took her to the zoo.” She held out the glass and he accepted it.

  “I like being close to her. I wasn’t complaining about the quiet. It’s different, especially at night. Hearing explosions and gunfire became the norm. Here, in the States, it’s about getting into a groove. Reminding myself that it’s okay to sleep without the fear of being shot.” He swiped his palm down his tired face. “I’m one of the lucky ones, that is if you can call it luck. I survived.”

  “Still having trouble sleeping?”

  “Yeah.” He stared into the sky.

  A part of her wanted to comfort him, like she would when they were married. “That’s why you’re here with me. You always did like to talk when you couldn’t sleep.”

  “That wasn’t the only thing I liked to do when I couldn’t get any shut eye. Best therapy ever,” he teased.

  Feeling the flush crawl up her neck into her cheeks, she turned away from his warm, searching gaze. “We both know that can’t happen.”

  “I get it, but for theory’s sake, why not? Is there someone else that might be pissed if we did?” He shifted so that his hip leaned against the wrought iron rail.

  Staring into the distance, she gave her head a small shake. “No, I’m not going there.”

  “Why? You opened the can of worms when you mentioned you had a date. How’d it go? Was he Mr. Right?”

  Now she regretted bringing up that fact considering the blind date turned out to be a complete disaster. “We’re not doing this, Egan.”

  “We used to talk about sex all the time.”

  “So it went from date talk to sex. You certainly do move fast.”

  “I’ve been told that a few times before.” His grin reached right into the center of her bones and tickled her marrow.

  “We’re divorced. We’re not allowed to cross those boundaries any longer.”

  “Can’t you give up all the rules?”

  “We’re two different people. I like stability.”

  “So, is there someone else?” he pursued the conversation. “That is if I can believe there’s nothing between you and Langley. I’m still not quite sure there.”

  Snapping her gaze on him, she moaned in irritation. “Let’s not rehash this again. There’s no one. What about you? Now that you’re home is there someone benefiting from that huge step?”

  “Outside of Fin? Nope.” He gave a slight shrug. “That’s the last headache I need.” He took a long drink then handed the glass back. His eyes seemed to invisibly caress her cheeks, her neck and the dip into the robe. “You look great by the way. The single life looks good on you. I guess losing two hundred pounds of a Special Ops soldier and his shit helped.” He wagged his brow.

  If only he knew she hadn’t gotten rid of him completely.

  Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she shrugged. “You look more like the man I first met.” Without a thought, she smoothed her hand down the arm of his jacket. Feeling the heat that emitted from him, she jerked her hand back.

  “Remember how we’d do this? Sit outside, drinking beer, talking about our dreams. Now you have wine tastes and I’m, well…just that same ol’ country
boy. Damn, that life seems like forever ago.”

  “For a man who doesn’t like wine you sure are doing a good job at putting it away,” she pointed out.

  “A man’s got to do what he’s got to do in dire circumstances.”

  “Anyway, a lot has happened since we were that couple.” She leaned back, propping her elbows on the rail.

  He slipped off his jacket and laid it over the wicker chair. “Finley asked for a pony for her birthday.”

  “You didn’t tell her you would get one, did you? The back yard barely fits a swing set, let alone a pony.”

  He laughed. “Yes. I told her she could have one.”

  She groaned. “Egan, you’re lying…you better be. Where would I put it?”

  “Relax, sweetheart. I just bought some acreage with a small cabin. It’s not anything fancy, but it has an amazing view and great potential. Fin doesn’t know yet but when this job is over, I’m going to take her up in the mountain and show her. Hopefully, I’ll have her a pony by then, maybe even a couple of horses too. Every little girl deserves a pony, right?”

  “I-I don’t know what to say. You bought a place? You’re not living in that tiny trailer behind your family’s bar any longer?”

  “Why do you act so surprised? Is it that unbelievable that I’d want to put down some roots? I couldn’t stay in that trailer all my life. Fin needed room to run and play where she wasn’t being kept up by the late-night crowd that frequented the bar.”

  Feeling a tightness in her throat, she looked at him over the rim of the glass as she sipped thoughtfully. She wanted to ask why he hadn’t felt that way in their marriage, but she would be resurrecting an old argument long since dead and buried. Swallowing the sip of wine like it had turned to sand, she simply said, “Finley will love that.” Pushing off the rail, she didn’t get far because he wrapped his wide fingers around her wrist and held her steady in his gentle grasp. Bringing her chin up, she blinked at his brooding expression, causing goosebumps to scatter over the surface of her skin. “Egan?”

  “What happened to us?” the words came out on a ragged exhale of breath.

  “Don’t. Please don’t go there. I can’t do this again.”