Guardian Ranger

by Cynthia Eden

  More thunder rumbled, and when she climbed out of the truck, lightning flashed across the sky. The drops of rain beat against her skin, growing harder with every step she took.

  Jasper had his gun out. He paused on the old, slightly sagging porch, and glanced at her. The droplets of rain clung to his skin. “Stay behind me when we go inside.”

  Because he thought the watcher might be there? Or because he thought her brother could be inside?

  Trust him.

  Veronica nodded. Then Jasper pushed open the door and rushed inside the darkness.

  Chapter Seven

  The cabin was deserted. Jasper checked every closet, checked under the bed and even did a scan of the outside perimeter.

  Their watcher wasn’t there. Neither was Cale.

  But there was no dust inside the place. The bed was made, and some canned goods were even stocked in the small kitchen. Someone could have been there, and that someone could have covered his tracks pretty well.

  The generator hadn’t been turned on, but that would have been a dead giveaway to someone else’s presence in the cabin. Since he wasn’t trying to hide his presence, Jasper flipped on that generator. The lights flashed, and he saw Veronica rubbing her arms.

  He picked up a blanket from the back of the old couch. “Here.” His voice was gruff. He’d been too abrupt with her in the truck. But her questions had been like a knife, cutting into old wounds.

  No one wants you, not even your own mother.

  The other kids at his school hadn’t wasted much time in making his life hell.

  Then when he’d grown older, he’d discovered there were other kinds of hells, especially on the battlefield.

  Her fingers curled around the blanket. “Th-thank you.”

  He ran a hand through his damp hair. The cabin seemed to shake around them with the force of the rattling thunder. “We aren’t getting back to the main house tonight.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to try and drive through this.”

  He didn’t want to push her right into one of her nightmares. He reached for his phone, called the sheriff. “It’s Jasper.” The sheriff immediately started asking questions, all about Veronica. Back off, man. Yeah, it was pretty obvious the guy was sweet on Veronica.

  Jasper glanced over at her.

  So am I. A complication he sure hadn’t counted on when he’d signed up for the mission.

  “We’re staying at the cabin on the north end of the property. No, no,” Jasper said, when the sheriff tried to interrupt, “we aren’t coming back tonight. We’ll check in tomorrow, once the storm has blown past us.” He ended the call over the sheriff’s objections.

  Jasper stared at Veronica a moment, then asked, “Is he always like that?”

  She looked over her shoulder at him. Her wet hair was a dark mass around her neck. “Like what?”

  “He doesn’t want you out of his sight.”

  I understand how that feels.

  Veronica shrugged. “He’s protective of everyone in Whiskey Ridge.”

  What? Of all two hundred folks scattered around?

  Jasper began to stalk toward her. His fingers were itching to touch the softness of her skin. No, he just wanted to touch her. “It’s different,” he said. “I can see it in his eyes.” And it made him...jealous. He knew the bitter taste—he’d felt it before. Too often.

  Jealous of the kids with real homes, real families.

  “He wants you,” Jasper said flatly.

  Her lashes lifted and she met his gaze.

  “The question is...” Don’t touch her, not yet. The rain pounded down outside, tapping hard against the old tin roof. “Do you want him?” If she did, he’d back off. Because he wasn’t going to—

  “Are you really that blind?” she asked him with a shake of her head and a faint smile. “Can’t you tell that you’re the one I want?”

  She was the one he was desperate to have.

  They were alone. Sheltered from the storm. No interruptions. No danger.

  Just...

  Them.

  His fingers rose, traced the soft curve of her cheek. Slid down, down, and then he was cupping her chin, tilting her head back. He tasted the lingering raindrops on her lips.

  Just the touch of her lips against his sent a powerful wave of desire pulsing through his body. The kiss started gentle. She deserved gentle. She was delicate and warm and everything he wanted.

  But it was hard to stay gentle when he wanted her so badly that his hands were starting to shake. His arousal pressed against the front of his jeans. Heavy, hard, aching—for her.

  “Don’t be a tease this time,” she whispered. “If you want me, it’s just about me. Not about owing anyone anything. Just me. Just you.” The blanket fell from her shoulders. Veronica’s arms rose and wrapped around him. She pulled him closer, and closer was exactly where he wanted to be.

  Just me. Just you.

  The kiss became deeper. Hotter. He forgot about the chill from the rain, because the woman was burning him up. Her soft fingers pushed up his shirt.

  Jasper was only too eager to toss that shirt across the room. Then his hands went to her shirt.

  Go easy. Go easy. The mantra was repeating in his head.

  “You don’t have to,” she whispered.

  He frowned at her. What was she saying?

  “I like you anyway—you don’t have to be easy for me.”

  The mantra hadn’t just been in his head, and the woman was about to shred his control.

  He lifted her shirt, carefully, then tossed it to the floor. She wore a black bra, one that wasn’t covered in lace, but was just as incredibly sexy as it pushed up her beautiful breasts.

  He stared at her a moment, savoring the view, and then he had to touch that tempting flesh.

  Her bra hit the floor.

  His fingers curled around her breasts. Veronica gasped and arched toward him. Her nails bit into his arms. He liked that bite.

  A lot.

  He lifted her into the air, carrying her easily.

  “Jasper?”

  Five steps, and he had her at the bed. He lowered her onto the covers. The mattress squeaked beneath them. The rain kept falling. The thunder echoed across the sky.

  He pressed a kiss to her breast. Stroked her with his hands and he loved the way that she arched into his touch. Her breasts were so sensitive, and they tasted so damn sweet.

  While he kissed her flesh, his hand slid down between their bodies. Her shoes were gone, kicked away, and he wanted her jeans gone, too. He’d fantasized about having her naked beneath him, and that fantasy was about to become all too real.

  As long as his control would last.

  He wanted to devour her. Jasper couldn’t ever remember wanting a woman so badly. His heart raced, a drumbeat that shook his chest and echoed in his ears.

  His fingers pulled down her zipper, yanked open the snap. Then his fingers were pushing inside that opening, and caressing her through the thin silk of her panties. His eyes locked on her face, on the pleasure that whispered over her beautiful features. Her eyes had gone even brighter with that pleasure.

  She was warm and soft beneath the silk. He couldn’t tell where the silk ended and she began.

  “Jasper, I need you.”

  He was desperate for her.

  She lifted her hips, shoved down her jeans. He pulled away from her, only long enough to ditch the rest of his own clothes and grab the protection that he’d—optimistically—put in his wallet earlier.

  In seconds, he was back, pushing his body between her legs, letting his hands and mouth caress her flesh and loving the soft moans that spilled from her mouth. He wanted her ready for him, wanted to make this as good for her as he possibly could.

  It has to be good. She has to want me.

  He positioned his aroused flesh at the entrance of her body. His fingers twined with hers, and he pushed her hands back against the bed. Then, slowly—will keep my control, will keep—he began t
o push into her.

  And realized, very, very quickly, just what she’d meant when she’d told him that she didn’t have a line of partners as he did.

  Because she hadn’t been with any other partners.

  Jasper froze, even as every instinct he possessed demanded that he take her. That he thrust forward and claim the pleasure that waited. “Veronica?”

  Her legs wrapped around his hips and she pushed toward him. “Why are you stopping?”

  “Because I don’t want to hurt you.” He growled the stark truth.

  Her bright gaze held his. There was so much trust in her stare. “You won’t. I want you.”

  He thrust into her. She gasped, and he was worried it was from pain, but then she was smiling at him, a smile that made his chest ache, and she met his thrusts, holding him tight, moving in perfect rhythm with him. Faster and faster.

  The tension built within him, but no way was he going to find release without ensuring Veronica’s pleasure. He shifted positions slightly, making sure that the angle of his thrusts would press his flesh against the most sensitive part of Veronica’s body.

  Again and again, he drove into her.

  He kissed her, tasting her need and desire. His fingers were still locked with hers.

  Her sex clenched around him. Her body tensed. Then she was pressing up harder, driving for the release that was so close for them both.

  His control began to crack.

  The thrusts were deeper, wilder.

  The ripples of her release squeezed around his flesh. Nothing had ever felt so good. Nothing—

  Then his own pleasure hit him, swamping out every other thought and sending him crashing into a climax so intense that the world fell away for an instant.

  There was only Veronica.

  Soft flesh.

  Sweet taste.

  Only him holding her, still thrusting into her.

  His mouth lifted from hers. Their eyes held. He looked into her gaze, and realized he was looking at the one thing he’d always wanted.

  And the one thing that fate just might try to take away from him.

  Want her. Need her.

  No matter what happened in the coming days, he’d fight like hell to keep her with him.

  * * *

  THE STORM KEPT him away. He knew that Jasper had gone out searching for him. Knew that Jasper and Veronica were holed up in the cabin.

  He could try to get to them now, but he’d have to battle the rain and the wind and the lightning that had already hit two trees. The storm would mute the sounds of his approach, but he wouldn’t be able to fire on them in this weather. He’d have to go in, fight hand to hand against them both.

  He didn’t want to tangle with Jasper, not with bare hands. But using bullets? That was a whole different story.

  His fingers curled over the gun that he kept with him. He’d found his own shelter. He would stay there, until the storm was gone. Then he’d use his weapon. He’d find Jasper and Veronica.

  You won’t mess this up for me. I worked too hard.

  He knew exactly where they were—his advantage. He could pick off Jasper, take out the man with just a squeeze of his trigger finger.

  One down, one to go.

  So easy. All he had to do was wait.

  The storm wouldn’t last forever. It never did.

  Just. Wait.

  Good thing he was a patient man, and one hell of a fine shot.

  * * *

  “WHY?” JASPER’S RUMBLING voice pulled Veronica from the light sleep that she’d slipped into for just a few moments.

  She blinked, turned and found Jasper staring down at her. She smiled up at him, still feeling too good to let any inhibitions cloud her moment.

  “You waited twenty-eight years to take a lover,” Jasper pressed. “Why the hell did you choose me?”

  “How did you know I was twenty-eight?”

  He growled. “Your brother must have told me your birthday.”

  Her smile stretched a bit. He sure sounded stressed. But as for the waiting part... That was easy. “Because I’ve got good taste?”

  He blinked at her. “You what?”

  She laughed then, unable to help herself. “I wanted you, Jasper. There’s no big mystery there. I wanted you. I chose you.” As simple as that. Or, actually, maybe it was more complicated, but she didn’t want to examine her feelings too deeply just now. Couldn’t they just talk about desire?

  Men and women wanted each other every day. They made love every day. Why were she and Jasper so different from everyone else?

  We aren’t.

  Just a man. And a woman.

  Her fingers slid over his chest. Over the scars that crisscrossed his flesh. So much pain. So many battles. When she thought of all he’d endured, it made her heart ache.

  His muscles were rock-hard beneath her touch. His flesh was so hot that her fingers almost felt singed. And, of course, she was drawn to the fire.

  She rose and pressed a kiss to the slanting scar on his shoulder. He stiffened. She pressed another kiss to the jagged scar too close to his heart. One to the long scar that sliced across his stomach. With every kiss, he seemed to become even more tense.

  “Why do you risk your life so much?” she asked quietly as she feathered another kiss over a scar that whispered of his pain. What are you trying to prove? But she wouldn’t ask that question. She’d already asked him enough questions that hurt.

  His fingers curled around her arms. “Don’t.”

  Was he telling her to stop kissing him? Or stop trying to know the man he was, beneath the scars and that sexy grin?

  “You deserved better,” he gritted.

  She shook her head and said what she knew to be true. “There isn’t anyone better than you.”

  In a flash, she found herself on her back, crushed into the soft covers, with a very fierce Jasper over her. “You break through my control.”

  Her heart raced as she held his gaze. “You don’t need control with me.”

  “Yes.” Ragged. “I need it more with you than with anyone else.”

  The words didn’t frighten her, but they did turn her on.

  “Can you take me again?” he asked, desire darkening his eyes.

  “Try to stop me,” she whispered. Yes, she’d been a virgin, but she wasn’t about to pretend shyness with him. When she’d been growing up, most guys hadn’t looked at her twice. She truly had been the stuttering girl in the corner, the girl with no confidence and old clothes. Then when she’d gotten older, she just hadn’t been interested in playing games with lovers who didn’t care about her.

  She hadn’t been interested, until Jasper. He was different. He cared. She trusted him.

  He is different.

  Maybe he was just the guy she’d always been looking for. Someone to hold her in a storm. To laugh with her in the sunlight. To even love her?

  He took care of the protection—he must have been a Boy Scout—then he was pushing into her with a long, slow surge of his hips. Her body quickened beneath him, her heart racing, breasts tightening, sex aching. Pleasure still pulsed through her, and every move of his hips had her already sensitive body yearning more for him.

  It wasn’t a slow rise to release this time. His thrusts came harder. Wilder. Deeper.

  She felt him along every inch of her flesh, as if he were trying to imprint himself on her body.

  The bed shook beneath them. He drove into her, pushing with a leashed ferocity. She met that ferocity, took everything that he had and demanded more.

  Because she wasn’t going to settle for less than taking everything that he had to give.

  When the climax hit, it seemed to explode over them both at the same time. She held tightly to him, curling her arms around him, and he held just as tightly to her. She could feel the frantic race of his heart—or was that hers? Then she realized it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered in that moment....

  Just pleasure.

  Just him.

  * * *<
br />
  GUNNER ORTEZ SWORE when the lightning hit the tree beside him, coming far too close for his peace of mind.

  “Hurry inside!” Sydney yelled from the entrance of the small shack they’d stumbled across moments before.

  The ground was soaked, gutted, and their SUV had gotten stuck in the sludge. With the sky opening up above them and the deluge battering down upon them, they’d been lucky to find this dry spot.

  He brushed by her, heading inside the small area.

  The wind howled behind him, and he turned, shoving the door closed.

  Sydney’s footsteps shuffled softly by him in the dark. Then he heard the scratch of a match. Light flared, too brief, too small, but then Sydney was lifting a lantern and the light grew stronger.

  There were blankets on the floor of the shack. A few more lanterns.

  “Looks like we aren’t the only ones who found this place,” Sydney murmured as her gaze swept around the room, lingering in the corners—in the dark shadows.

  He tensed and automatically reached for his weapon, but the other visitor—whoever it had been—was gone.

  For now.

  “We’ll stay alert,” Gunner said with a nod, “just in case he comes back.” Because while Gunner knew he was one of the best trackers working for Uncle Sam, even he wasn’t much good in a storm like this. All footprints and broken branches that would normally mark a person’s passage would be gone, thanks to the rain and the wind.

  The storm would provide the perfect cover for Cale Lane.

  But you won’t catch me unaware.

  Because Gunner had one motto...never let down your guard.

  Sydney walked closer to him.

  Why couldn’t he seem to apply his motto to her?

  Her hair was wet—they’d both gotten soaked before finding this place—and she shivered. Immediately, he grabbed for one of the blankets and wrapped it around her shoulders.

  Her fingers brushed against his. “Thank you.”

  He jumped back, moving faster than if she’d shot him. And he’d been shot plenty of times.

  Sydney frowned. “Gunner?”

  He cleared his throat. “The storm isn’t going to be letting up anytime soon.” Which meant he and Sydney might have to bunk down for the night.