Adele, Claire - Guardian of Her Heart (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Claire Adele

  “She told me about the men coming to their home and beating up her husband over some money. She said her husband had previously invited the same men to their house for parties and dinners on occasion. Her story reminded me of my parents and my life with them.”

  “How so?” Melissa gazed at him patiently.

  He found it hard to put into words. He had to start somewhere. “My parents fought with each other. They put a good face on things for friends and guests at parties. But I saw them fighting more often than I thought was normal. More intensely than most couples, I’ve always suspected. They didn’t have disagreements like people have at times. They had ugly, loud battles.”

  He paused and took another deep breath. This was so damn hard to talk about with Melissa. Would she run from him after she knew? If she did, he’d never be able to tell her about the family curse. There was only one way to find out.

  “My mother kept to her bedroom with the curtains closed against the sunlight. My father was a rich man, as you probably know.”

  She nodded, and he continued. “He knew how to make money. It was a game he loved more than anything or anyone. He wasn’t around home much. Even so, I discovered he was also physically abusive to my mother.” He stopped and searched Melissa’s face for her reaction. Was she horrified?

  He hadn’t even told her the worst about his parents yet. He should have been there to protect his mother when she needed help. Would he be able to protect Melissa?

  Melissa took his hand in hers and squeezed. The tremors in his grip touched her. Hot tears threatened to fill her eyes. She glanced down and blinked frantically to clear her vision. Tears wouldn’t help Mike. “I understand that some people can’t find a way to get along. Some couples aren’t willing to form a middle ground. There are partners who won’t give even a little to make the other one happy. But your life doesn’t have to be that way.”

  She wanted desperately to help Mike with his ghosts, but there was only so much she could do to help if he wouldn’t tell her everything. She sensed there was more to his story.

  He cleared his throat. “What drives you to run the crisis center week after week with angry parents always around and giving you a hard time as well?”

  Maybe it would help him if she told him about her friend’s sad life at home.

  “My best friend in school was beaten by her father and also emotionally battered by parental fighting. I often asked her to spend the night at my home so she could avoid her parents’ fights. Especially on weekends, the battles were constant.”

  She paused when Mike groaned. “How did things turn out for her?”

  “She ran away from home in high school. I haven’t heard from her except once when she called to tell me she was staying with relatives in another state. I’ve really missed her.” She smiled with regret.

  “That must have been the pits to lose touch with your friend.”

  “I wish I could have helped her more. I didn’t want that to happen to other children, so now, I do all I can to provide shelter and a safe place for them.”

  Melissa rubbed her fingers over Mike’s bruised hand. “I wish I could help you come to terms with your parents’ actions.”

  “You have no idea.” She couldn’t know, having grown up in a loving home. “You never knew what a sorry situation I lived in.”

  “Oh, I’ve heard about some pretty bad situations.” She gave him a wry smile.

  He should tell her more about what his parents were like and how they battled.

  “I always felt helpless that I couldn’t make things better at home between my parents. Some nights turned to horror when my parents fought. As I grew older, the fighting became worse.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Melissa whispered.

  “One night, when my mother started screaming, I opened her bedroom door and found her fighting my father in her bed.”

  “Oh, Mike! How horrible.”

  “She acted as if she were in a dazed stupor. My father slapped her. When I tried to stop him, furious, he left the rumpled bed. Mom rolled away and tried to cover herself with the sheet. Her cheeks were wet with tears.” Mike’s voice came as a soft rasp.

  Melissa gazed at him and shook her head, frowning in sympathy.

  “My father told me to get out. I refused to leave until he left. The following morning, he made a business trip on the first flight out of town. I went to school as usual. When I came home, my mom was once again in a drunken daze.” He couldn’t hide his frustration.

  “Mike, your experience isn’t uncommon. I’ve had children relate similar things to me. It wasn’t your responsibility to keep your parents from fighting. They should have sought professional help for their marriage problems on their own.”

  When she put her palm on the side of his face, he looked at her bleakly and continued. “My father insisted on having big parties, and Mom did her best to be his hostess. One of the questionable men became friends with her. That concerned me at the time, but she wouldn’t listen to my objections. I’m sure now that the man was a drug dealer and had turned Mom on to hard drugs.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “At a swimming party hosted by my parents, complete with mariachis, I met the drug dealer’s children, who were also invited. Their son was my age and attended the same high school as we did. He offered me drugs, which I refused.”

  Relief swamped Melissa. “Thank goodness you didn’t buy into it.”

  “Living with a mother who was either drunk or high day and night, I had no desire to become like her—live the life she lived, a slave to drugs. I couldn’t convince her to stop, and I couldn’t convince her to get help. I failed her. I wasn’t there to prevent her death.”

  “Look at me, Mike.” He turned and met her gaze. “I know you’re not responsible. Your parents should have found help for their problems. They knew that help was available. It was their choice not to seek it and not your fault.” She stroked his arm. “Can you tell me what happened?”

  He looked across the room. “While I was at college, away from town and my parents, my father called one day to tell me my mom had died. By the time I got there, arrangements had been made at the funeral home. I suspected her body had been worn out from alcohol and drugs. She was probably out of it when she fell from the balcony to the rocks below. It killed her. Could I have saved her? That question still haunts me. I fear that I’ll fail to help someone else in danger.”

  “There was nothing you could have done to prevent your mother’s death. I know that. She needed a physician’s care.”

  “Yes, she did, but still, maybe if I’d been there, I could have done something.”

  Melissa shook her head. “In my experience with the crisis center, I don’t think you could have stopped her.”

  He took a deep breath. “My father died the following year in a car accident caused by a blinding dust storm.”

  “How awful,” Melissa said.

  “My father’s lawyer explained to me that I was sole beneficiary of my father’s business dealings. I knew from my classes at college about how the business should be handled. I hired a business manager and set about forming my own business as a private investigator.”

  When she considered the loving home she’d come from, compared to the heartbreak Mike suffered growing up and losing his parents, the difference in their social positions monetarily didn’t mean anything.

  Mike could very well become abusive because of his upbringing with an abusive father. She would never let herself be trapped in that kind of situation. She wrapped her arms around Mike’s shoulders and kissed him on the cheek.

  He turned to her. “Make love with me,” he rasped, and devoured her lips, ravaging her mouth. His arms pulled her close in a bear hug.

  She welcomed him. She loved him. Probably always had. Would he break her heart? Would she be forced to leave him?

  “I want you in bed, right now.” He rose from the couch and scooped her into his arms.

  She de
lved her fingers through his hair, kissed his jaw and neck as he carried her.

  Mike had to get control of his inner beast before he took her without care. He lowered her to the foot of the bed. “I want your clothes off.” He reached to help her lift her shirt off. She wore nothing underneath. Her beautiful breasts tempted him. He licked first one nipple and then the other. Lust raged through him. He suckled each turgid, rosy tit. With reluctance he straightened and lifted her to her feet. “Let’s get these off.”

  She reached for her waistband as he unzipped her jeans and pushed them down her long, beautiful legs. He shook with need. “Hold on to my shoulders.”

  After removing her jeans from her ankles and feet, he removed his own clothing, tossing each piece on the floor as she walked to the side of the bed.

  “Come here.” He pointed to a spot right in front of him. “I want you right here.”

  She looked at him with raised eyebrows. “There’s not much room there.”

  “There’s plenty of room for what I have in mind.”

  She returned to the foot of the bed, her eyes wide.

  “Sit.”

  She sat on the edge.

  “Scoot back a bit.” He grabbed the pillows and put them behind her for her head. “Now, ease back.” She did as he said, and the sight of her rose-colored nipples surrounded by pale globes was beautiful.

  “Now what?” She sounded breathless and a little unsure.

  He dropped to his knees in front of her. “I want your legs resting on my shoulders.” When she didn’t protest, he lifted her legs, one at a time, and draped them over his shoulders. “ Perfect.”

  As he lowered his head and tasted her, she gasped. He licked and nibbled. Parted her swollen folds and sucked her clit.

  “Mike!” Her fingers delved through his hair and clutched.

  He nuzzled and kissed her flesh and delved his tongue into her opening. Stroked her slick, sensitive pussy as he speared in and out of her, mimicking the motions of his cock.

  She bucked against him. “Oh. Mike!”

  He dipped one finger inside her and spread her moisture through her folds. She writhed beneath his touch. Slipping his finger inside her again, he stroked along her slit and lower.

  She grasped his hair. “Mike!”

  He chuckled. “Like that?”

  “I need you inside me.” She reached for him.

  He gave her one more long lick from her wet opening through the pink, swollen folds to her clit. He lifted her legs from his shoulders and placed her feet on the edge of the bed. Need ravaged him as he gazed at her wet pussy. “You’re beautiful, babe.”

  He positioned the head of his stiff cock at her opening and pushed inside.

  “Oh,” she moaned.

  He thrust slowly until she took all of him, his aroused balls snug against her. He groaned with the pleasure.

  “Please,” she whispered.

  He looked down at her. She gripped the bed clothing in her fists. Her hips tilted up, moving against him, taunting him. He pulled out most of the way and slid back inside. In and out, again and again. At the sound of her sharp whimper, he reached between them and rubbed her clit.

  She gave a keening cry and arched her back. “Mike!” she cried. She convulsed around him.

  Her contractions and the tension in his body triggered his climax. “Yes,” he shouted, his cock pumping over and over.

  Finally, his body quieted. He heard her soft panting breaths beneath his own. “Sweet lord, Melissa. That was amazing. I’ve never experienced such mind-blowing sex, ever.”

  She reclined limp and lethargic, smiling at him. “That was wonderful. You have my permission to do that anytime you want.” She grinned at him.

  His body slowly relaxed. He looked down and gently pulled out of her opening. His cock was wet and relaxed.

  Wet and—bare.

  Shit. He’d forgotten to use a condom. “God, Melissa. I’m sorry.”

  “What?” She rose up as he unfolded her legs from the edge of the bed.

  “I forgot to use a condom. I can’t believe I did that. How could I be so careless? I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Really. I’m on the pill, and I’m sure it’s fine.”

  He wasn’t convinced. He’d heard of women getting pregnant even though they were on the pill. What if she got pregnant?

  Melissa was his woman. He’d take care of her and protect her. If she was pregnant, he’d love the child as much as she would and protect them both, now and in the future.

  Chapter Six

  Over the next few days, Mike continued to help out at the crisis center while he kept an eye on Melissa.

  He’d become a private eye because that made him feel worthwhile. He had already started accomplishing his goal of protecting others. But he hadn’t been there for his mom. He didn’t want to fail anyone else who needed him. Fear that he wouldn’t do enough to protect Melissa, the woman he loved, haunted him like a dark specter.

  He was almost finished picking out clean bedding from the supply room in back for a recently arrived mother and child when he heard raised voices. He tossed the bedding on a table and raced down the hallway.

  When he reached the front office, he discovered Melissa’s assistant making her way to a chair. She rubbed the side of her face. He didn’t see Melissa. His heart slammed in his chest. “What happened? Are you all right? Where’s Melissa?”

  Fear filled Angie’s eyes when she glanced at him. “Hurry! Outside!” She pointed to the front entry.

  He raced through the entry and down the front sidewalk. Tito Gonzalez had Melissa halfway to a dark sedan even though she fought him like a wildcat.

  Mike caught up to them and grabbed the gang leader by the back of the neck. “Let her go,” he shouted.

  His grip convinced the scum. Tito released his hold on Melissa.

  She stumbled away and ran back inside the center. Good girl.

  Mike wanted to crush the criminal’s throat. Too bad he could only hold him for the police.

  The dirt-bag struggled against his hold. “You’re nothing but a puny little rich boy.”

  “Shut your mouth before I do it for you,” Mike growled.

  Tito continued to struggle. “Your mother prostituted her body for drugs!”

  “Damn you! Shut the fuck up!” Pain stabbed Mike’s heart.

  “Your crackhead dad didn’t buy ’em for her. How do you think she got her fix?”

  Fury threatened Mike’s control. “You’re responsible for her death.” He slammed the drug dealer against the cement walk.

  “Fuck you! She killed herself when your dad kept her from gettin’ drugs. I know. The drugs were delivered to the house by one of my gang.”

  Mike reeled from the shock of the criminal’s words. “You have no proof.”

  Suddenly, Tito pulled a knife. “When my man made his last visit to your home to deliver her drugs, she was already dead. Not even the fire department rescue squad could revive her.”

  “Damn you to hell!” Mike grabbed Tito’s wrist and slammed it against the cement. The knife clattered from Tito’s hand. Tito screamed and grabbed his wrist. It was probably broken.

  Mike wanted to beat him to a pulp. The compulsion to change raced through him like an electrical charge. His body burned with the fury of the beast as he shifted.

  “Mike!” Melissa yelled from the Haven’s doorway.

  The car’s motor roared.

  He looked up as a wolf form jumped from the car and sprang at him.

  Mike scrambled from Tito and met the dark-furred werewolf, bared fangs closing in a choke hold on the animal’s neck.

  There was nothing he could do now. Melissa would know. The vision of him changing would horrify her forever. He’d have to let Tito go this time.

  The werewolf morphed to his human form. Mike released him. The bleeding thug dragged Tito to his feet and hurried into the car, hauling the gang leader along. They slammed the door and sped down the street as Mike return
ed to his human form.

  Although shaken from what he’d been told about his parents, Mike noted the license plate number on the front of the vehicle. He’d get Tito next time.

  Mike turned toward the Haven’s front entry. Melissa no longer stood there. He raced inside the center. Was she all right? How much had she seen?

  He found her waiting inside the entry. “How badly did he hurt you?” Panting, he fought for air, desperate for her to be all right.

  “I’m fine. Just a little bruise on my arm. I was afraid they’d kill you. I still don’t believe what I saw. Your body changed as you held Tito down. Unless I’ve completely lost it and I‘m seeing things, you took on the shape of a wolf.”

  “You haven’t lost it.” What he’d dreaded had to be faced now. “I should have told you before. I’m sorry I didn’t. I never meant for you to see that I’m a shape shifter, a wolf, just like my father. It doesn’t happen often, but tonight I couldn’t prevent it.”

  She stared at him, her beautiful eyes wide and revealing her shock.

  He released the breath he held and shook his head. “I’m going after them and bringing them in.”

  She started to reach for his arm, but didn’t touch him. “I plan to follow them on my own to their apartment building and meet the police there. The police will provide protection. Women and children are probably being held there. I need to help them.”

  “Melissa, please don’t. Go home. I’m taking Tito and his gang down now.”

  “No. I don’t want you hurt, or worse. The police should handle this. Then they can rescue the innocent victims at last.”

  Mike paused at her words. Maybe she wouldn’t hate him. He also didn’t want to make things worse for anyone held captive by Tito.

  “All right. I’ll call the police.” First, he needed to send a heads up to Derek. When his cousin answered, Mike said, “I need you to follow the gang leader and his two cronies.”

  “We’re on it,” Derek said and hung up.

  Mike called the police and continued to stand watch at the Haven until they arrived.

  Melissa met the two men at the front door and brought them inside the office.