Waiting For You (The Guardians: Book 3)

by D. M. Mortier

  She hissed as ripples of ecstasy blazed through her.

  He kissed her stomach, her hips, and then parted her thighs, draping them over his shoulders as he licked her wet center from entrance to her clit. He licked her with his broad tongue and tormented her over and over again, sometimes driving his tongue into her and other times curling his tongue around her sensitive bud and sucking it into his mouth.

  She cried out her release in a hoarse scream, unable to hold back the stunning orgasm.

  He spread her thighs wider and placed the broad tip of his cock at her sleek entrance. Plunging his thick cock into her tight opening, he growled with satisfaction as her walls closed around the granite length, squeezing him like a vise. He stroked in and out of her heat with torturous repetition, making her whimper in mindless pleasure. Sean pulled her leg higher over his shoulder, and the muscles of his stomach, his back, and ass tightened and rippled as he powered into her in raw dominance.

  With each thrust of his hips, his cock seemed to expand further and scrape against her engorged clit, each stroke slow and deep. She felt every hard inch of him from tip to base, his massive length stretching her sheath and wringing loud cries from her lips. Desire tightened in her stomach like boiling lava on the edge of eruption. He pulled the hard tip of her breast into his mouth.

  She lost the tenuous hold on reality she had had and splintered into a blistering ecstasy. Her pussy clamped down hard on his shaft, forcing him to growl as his seed flooded her core.

  He shifted to his side, buried his head in the warm cavity of her neck. The avalanche of emotions that was wrung out them from their lovemaking had obviously zapped all energy from him. Malika was amused as Sean was soon blissfully sleeping.

  She held him close for a brief moment, savoring the feel of him in her arms without fear of him knowing that she was doing it. She kissed him gently on his lips one last time before slipping from under him and disappearing into the night.

  Sean contacted her the next day by email.

  Sean: Hi, Duchess. I tried calling your flat in Moscow and didn’t get a response. Where are you? Give me a call when you get back. Let me know how you’re doing and how that employer is treating you. Who is your employer anyway?

  Malika stared at his message for hours, reading and re-reading it, wondering if he had figured out what she had done and was just pulling her chain. It took her another day before she answered him.

  Malika: Hi, Sean, my employer is treating me great. We’re traveling all over the world so I have no idea when I’ll be in Moscow next. I trust all is well with you. How are the other SEALs?

  They exchanged emails over the following months. Each time she told him nothing about her job or where she was. Any attempt on his part to see her she made excuses about having to travel and being busy at work. It helped that he was busy juggling his media empire and his numerous missions with his SEAL mates. Malika was uncertain how she would react to him in the light of day. She monitored his businesses electronically and also his whereabouts on each mission.

  For another year, she messaged him and had a few FaceTime calls with him. Whenever he was hurt or she felt he needed her, she crept into his flat to ensure that he was okay but didn’t dare climb into his bed again. She had been fortunate that after their last few encounters she hadn’t fallen pregnant. There was no way she was going to press her luck.

  Sean: Hey, Duchess, I’ll be in Moscow this month. Can you meet me for dinner?

  Malika: Sorry, Sean, I’m not there this month, perhaps another time.

  The following month, Sean insisted on meeting her in Melbourne for her birthday. Malika knew she couldn’t get out of it so she enlisted Malcolm’s help in securing a date to go along with her. Needless to say that didn’t go so well.

  Immediately upon arriving at the upscale restaurant, she and her date, Anthony, were taken to a table where Sean sat waiting. Malika was shocked to see the romantic setting of the table and was seriously regretting surprising him with a date. The table was set for two in a secluded corner of the restaurant with a crystal bowl of at least two dozen short-stem roses, an ice bucket of champagne on a side table, and a gift wrapped in teal and white paper sat waiting for her.

  Yeah, bringing a date was probably not such a great idea. On the other hand, how the hell was I supposed to survive this night without revealing how I feel about him?

  Malika was grateful that Anthony was one of those tall dark brothers who was as physically imposing as Sean. Anthony’s skin was a shade darker than Malika’s, and he was no slouch in the looks department. He was a beautiful man. Malcolm really had outdone himself in the hook-up department!

  “Happy birthday, sweetheart.” Sean grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him for a hug and dropped a brief kiss on her lips.

  Malika blinked in surprise. What the hell was that? “Hi.” Was that my voice sounding so breathless?

  “Who is this?” Sean asked, giving Anthony a hard stare. He didn’t bother releasing her from his hold.

  “Em…” Malika had to clear her throat before she could get any words out. Her heart was beating so fast she thought she might faint. “This is Tony, my em…my boyfriend.”

  “Is that right?”

  Malika cleared her throat again to answer, but Sean glared down at her.

  “I’m not asking you. I’m asking him.”

  “Ah, sir, it’s nice to finally meet you, sir.” Anthony bravely stretched his hand out.

  From the grimace on Anthony’s face after Sean gripped his hand, their handshake was not without pain. Malika again felt sorry for Anthony and knew she would have to make this up to him afterward. Granted, she’d never introduced a boy to Sean before, but she thought he was acting a bit over the top.

  “I gather that he will be joining us tonight?”

  The disappointment in his tone made her feel ten inches tall. “I’m sorry. I probably should’ve told you that I was bringing a date.”

  Sean held her troubled gaze for a few tense seconds before turning to the waiting maître d’. “Would you get us a bigger table please?”

  From the pitying look the man gave Sean, Malika knew what he must have been thinking. She wanted desperately to deny it. Given the rocky start of the night, Malika wasn’t surprised that, only an hour later, Anthony was looking for a way to gracefully leave. Sean had been brutal in his interrogation. It was too obvious that poor Anthony knew nothing about her and she had known only the basics about him.

  “Well, I can see that this relationship is getting off to a brilliant start,” Sean smirked.

  “Let’s just say we engage in more enjoyable things to occupy our time than playing twenty questions with each other,” Anthony said drolly.

  From the thunderous look on Sean’s face and his body tensing as if getting ready to pounce, Malika didn’t blame Anthony one bit for immediately pushing back his chair as if to take flight.

  “I can think of a hundred fucking ways to kill you right now, so think very carefully about the answer to this question,” Sean gritted out.

  “Sean…” Malika whispered, trying to defuse the situation.

  “Shut the fuck up,” Sean growled. He kept his hard stare on Anthony. “By your words, I gather you were trying to get back at me. I get it. But what Duchess here hasn’t told you, along with a whole myriad of other things, is that I’m a dangerous mudderfucker when pissed. So you don’t want to fuck with me.”

  Anthony swallowed audibly.

  “Have you…” It was Sean’s turn to swallow painfully. He cleared his throat and pressed on. “Have you slept with her?”

  Anthony shook his head vigorously. “No, sir,” he squeaked out.

  Sean nodded and gave him an encouraging smile. “Good, real good, Anthony. Have you touched her, kissed her?”

  “Sean! That’s none of your damn business!” It was her turn to get pissed. How dare he ask about her private life like this?

  Sean turned a now amused look at her and a raised eye
brow. “But everything about you is my business, sweetheart.”

  “Don’t call me that. I’m not your damn sweetheart!” Malika stood. “Let’s go, Anthony. I think I’ve had all the celebration I’m going to take.”

  “Now now, baby, Anthony here can go any time he wants. You, on the other hand, need to finish your meal, have a piece of birthday cake, open my present, and I’ll take you home.”

  “No,” she said softly. Quivering with indignation, Malika leaned toward him and held his gaze. “I love you, Sean, but you can be such an ass sometimes. Thank you for the meal and the present, I’m sure it’s lovely, but I’m out of here.”

  Sean stood also.

  Malika immediately backed up.

  He sighed and rammed his fingers through his hair. “This is not how I saw us celebrating your birthday, Duchess.”

  She immediately softened at his gentle tone and wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him to soothe his hurt. And then she saw the devilish glint in his eyes and knew that he was well aware of her weakness. I’m not falling for his bullshit tonight. “It has been fun, but I have a plane to catch in the morning and need to get back,” she said instead.

  “At least let me take you home,” Sean pressed.

  “No, Tony brought me here, and he’ll take me back.”

  Sean smiled, but it didn’t come close to making it to his eyes. “Just remember, Tony. I can kill you quickly, or I can kill you real fucking slowly. You brought her here untouched. Keep it that way. Don’t make me come looking for you.” He threw a few hundred-dollar bills on the table and left.

  Malika watched him walk out of the restaurant, puzzled by how easily he’d given in.

  “Are you sure that guy thinks you’re his sister?”

  “Yes,” Malika answered absently. “His big-brother routine tonight was a bit much for even him, though.”

  Hours later that night in her hotel room, Malika woke to complete darkness in her room. Not even the nightlight she’d left on in the room was lit. She wondered briefly if the power was out. All of her senses were on full alert. Being in the profession she was in, she took nothing for granted and wondered if one of her missions had spilled into her personal life.

  She smelled him before he sat on her bed. That was the only thing that prevented her from screaming her head off.

  “What are you doing here?” she whispered.

  “I hated leaving things between us like that.” He stretched out on her bed with only inches between them.

  “You were outrageous,” Malika choked out. The awareness coursing through her had a stranglehold on her vocal cords. The intimacy of their situation and his nearness were playing havoc with her senses.

  He grunted.

  “Sean?”

  “Shh, go sleep. I just needed to make sure you weren’t doing anything stupid.”

  “How did you find me anyway?”

  “Did you think I would leave you with that joker?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Playing big brother again?”

  “Something like that.”

  He didn’t touch her in any way, but she was pulsing hard in anticipation of his touch. Her body was already well attuned to his touch, his scent. When he did nothing else, she sighed in resignation. “How have you been?” If she couldn’t make love to him, at least they could catch up with each other in person instead of having the usual electronic barrier between them.

  “Anthony, eh?”

  She punched him in the shoulder, and he laughed softly.

  “Where did you find him anyway? He’s not too bright.”

  “Let’s talk about some of those dumbos you date.” Laughing, she reminded him of some of his less than brilliant dating past.

  They talked long into the night. He had breakfast with her the next morning and took her to the airport to catch her mid-day flight.

  ***

  Malika was surprised when she was suddenly summoned again to Melbourne. However, this time, it was by Sean’s parents. She had been avoiding going back to their house for years, determined to not create a possibility of her coming face to face with Sean. She initially didn’t want to go. There was no reason she needed to have any conversation with them. Despite the strained relationship with her mother and her brother, Malcolm, she was concerned that this meeting might have something to do with them. And then she thought, what if this is about Sean? It wasn’t a likely scenario since she and Sean spoke to each other on a weekly basis, but it was plausible. She flew home to Melbourne with a lot of trepidation.

  “I don’t know what is between you and my son,” Sean’s father, Harold, started as soon as they sat down in an upscale restaurant for lunch.

  Malika didn’t bother opening the menu. She had a feeling that she wouldn’t be staying long if Harold’s tone was anything to go by. “Ah, perhaps just plain old friendship,” Malika offered with a slightly raised left eyebrow. What the hell was going on? Had they found out her secret?

  Harold didn’t comment on her flippant statement. “My son is a very rich man, a very important man, and he must protect his mother’s and my legacy. He will be a duke for fuck’s sake. What is he thinking calling you his duchess? Why can’t he just keep you as his damn mistress and be done with it?”

  “First of all, Sean calls me Duchess, not his duchess. And I am no man’s mistress, sir,” Malika said quietly, but the older man didn’t seem to be listening to her.

  “You are lying,” Sophia hissed. “Every woman I introduce to him he makes some insane comment about how they won’t meet your standards. What is he talking about?”

  “I hate to state the obvious, but perhaps you should ask Sean?”

  “We have thought to offer you money to go away. Your kind is always willing to take money.” Sophia glared at her. “But I’m afraid our son will try to find you.”

  Malika wanted to scream at the woman, “What kind are you talking about?” Instead, she waited quietly for his parents to get all of the ugliness out of the way.

  “The only way to dissuade our son is if you are dead,” his mother said coldly.

  Malika stared at the older woman in shock, unable to believe that they were talking about her death so openly, as if they were simply ordering a new fur coat. “I see your dilemma, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. Can’t see how I can help you though. Are you hoping that I will kill myself, or are you going to have me killed?” Malika smirked. She wanted to outright laugh. These people are damn funny as hell.

  “This is a serious matter, young lady,” Harold said furiously. “And you need to know that we take our responsibility to protect our children and our legacy with utmost importance. Sean won’t seriously look for a wife as long as you’re around. You have given us no choice. We have to announce your death to the world by tomorrow.”

  “I see.” Malika gathered her handbag and started to get up from the table. “Well, good luck with that.”

  “Don’t you dare leave!” Harold whispered fiercely. “We haven’t yet told you what we will do to your family.”

  Malika glared at the older man, knowing that she wasn’t going to like what he said next. She reluctantly returned to her seat. “I don’t scare easily, Mr. Anderson. And I don’t understand why you’re all trippin’ over my friendship with your son. Sean has never shown any romantic interest in me. He calls me his little sister for Christ’s sake! We’ve only seen each other electronically in recent years. Why you think there is more is beyond me.”

  “We see the way you look at him,” Sophia muttered. “And we also see how our son looks at you. He may be calling you his sister, but he’s not thinking of you as a sister. He spends more time with you than he does with his real baby sister.”

  “That’s because Rebecca is a brat. You don’t even like to spend time with her either.”

  “We’re not interested in your opinion about us,” Sophia hissed. “We want you out of our son’s life before he acts upon his true feelings. And if you don’t go, we will ensure your mother
and brother are locked up for stealing from us!”

  “Now I know you’re lying. My mother is one of the most honest people I know.”

  “Your mother is a whore!” Sophia screeched loudly.

  The noise level in the restaurant immediately lowered, and the gazes of other patrons were glued to their table.

  Malika stood again, and this time, she was foaming with anger. “How dare you speak about my mother like this? She does nothing but take care of you and your ungrateful children!”

  “I dare because she has been fucking my husband for the past ten years!”

  Malika gasped, and her gaze flew to meet Harold’s. Harold looked at his wife with stunned silence, the color drained from his face.

  “Did you think I didn’t know what you were doing with that whore? Did you think I wouldn’t notice the pieces of jewelry and nice clothes you buy for her? You hired three extra housekeepers so that your whore would have little to nothing to do!” Sophia glared at her husband. “I don’t care who you fuck, but I will not let my son make this black woman my daughter-in-law. Harold, you will make her get out of Sean’s life, or I swear to God, your whore will be under some prison warden for the rest of her life!”

  “Sophia, there’s no need to offer such threats. Mavis and I have been very considerate of your feelings and your health.”

  “Don’t be condescending to me, you bastard! I find the sexual act revolting. If you want to engage in that with such a woman, that’s on you. You want to play down in the gutter, do so, but I’ll be damned if my son will do the same thing! I won’t have that ghetto rat for a daughter-in-law!”

  Malika stared at the couple in shocked silence. The revelation of her mother’s secret life, and Sophia’s obvious venom, knocked the breath from her body.

  “Malika, despite what my wife just said, your brother has stolen over one million in jewelry from our vault and we have proof, enough to send him to prison for the rest of his life. Now I can let him keep the funds and let him continue to live his life in New York with his gay lover unchallenged, or I can turn him in. We have a copy of the tape catching him in the act, and we have people in the Melbourne police and in New York who have been given copies of the tape. They are only waiting on us to press charges. So, what is it going to be?”