Protector's Claim

by Airicka Phoenix

  “Of course!” David said at once. “That’s exactly what I told her. Men like us, it’s a nightmare trying to juggle personal and business, but I hope you’ll make time to visit us tomorrow night.”

  “I don’t think that will be possible. I have a prior engagement.”

  David sighed. “That’s quite unfortunate. Marcella will be so disappointed, especially since Gabrielle has also vanished off the face of the planet. Her mother is terribly concerned, but that’s Gabrielle, selfish to a fault.” He paused before adding, “You haven’t seen her by any chance, have you? Cordelia seems to think you left the party together and, well, that’s the last time anyone saw of her.”

  “Gabby?” Kieran clarified. “I did see her at the party and we did leave together. We had dinner reservations.”

  “Is that so?” David all but purred. “Well, that’s certainly an interesting twist in development. Should I ask what your intentions are?”

  “I’m going to marry her.”

  I sucked in a breath at the unfaltering response.

  “Marry?” The question was blurted in a rush of outrage. “To that...” he cut himself off.

  “That what?” Kieran prompted smoothly. “That had always been the plan, wasn’t it? You and my father have been pushing me for years to settle down and marry your daughter, well, she’s your daughter, isn’t she? I would think the news would delight you.”

  There was a long stretch of silence where all I could hear was the air rushing through the open doors and the patter of rain on stone outside.

  “Son,” David said at last, his temper barely controlled under the single word. “You have always been family so I feel like I can trust you with a very personal matter.” He paused as if collecting his words. “Gabrielle is a troubled girl. Her mother and I have been trying for years to hide her ... problems, but there just isn’t a doctor in the world who can fix her.”

  “Are you saying she’s crazy?” Kieran mumbled dryly.

  “No! Not at all. She’s troubled,” he said again. “Delusional. She confuses reality.” He barked a laugh. “She used to think I wasn’t her father. She had this insane notion in her head that she was the product of an affair Marcella had, which is ludicrous.”

  Heat rose up my chest and burned behind my eyes. It coiled around my bunched fists, making them tremble at my sides. Tears of fury blinded me when I stalked out from my hiding place and charged to where the two stood framed in the open doorway.

  “I am not delusional!”

  Both men snapped around, startled by my appearance, but my focus was on the loathsome monster tainting my home with his vile presence.

  “You can lie all you want, but I’ve already told Kieran everything,” I snarled. “You won’t turn him against me.”

  “Gabrielle.” David fixed me with his soulless eyes and humorless grin. “There you are. Your mother has been beside herself with worry.”

  “Get out,” I seethed, trembling from the force of my anger. “You’re not welcome here. None of you. This is my home and I won’t let you taint it with your perverse, twisted evil—”

  “Careful, Gabrielle.” Every drop of humor vanished off his face, leaving behind the demon I was used to, the one who terrorized my every breath. “I don’t think you want to upset me.”

  “No.” Kieran stepped between us, his frame wider and taller than the man darkening our doorway. “You don’t want to upset me, David.”

  David seemed to have forgotten it wasn’t just him and me this time. He blinked at Kieran as if surprised to find him blocking his path. His eyes swung from him to me, the blue chips of barely suppressed rage. They swore vengeance, and I felt it spear straight through me, stealing what remained of my courage and filling me with horror at my own stupidity.

  “You’re making a mistake, Kieran,” he said curtly. “This isn’t what you want.”

  “What I want is for you to get off my property and stay the hell away from Gabby. The next time you so much as look at her, I will destroy you. And I can. My father has a very large, very thorough file on you, did you know? It’s full of all manners of sordid, not to mention disturbing facts. Things I am sure you don’t want the members of your board, your wife, the public to know about. Just one peek at her and I will bury you. She’s mine now. You’ll want to remember that. Now, get out.”

  The color on David’s face could only be described as eggplant. The violent shade of deep crimson intensified the hatred in his eyes, the vicious twist in his mouth. It fattened the veins at his temples into throbbing worms. I had never seen him so enraged.

  But he snapped on his heels and stormed into the downpour. His hunched silhouette crossed the driveway to the parked car at the bottom. Kieran and I watched him pull away, kicking up wet gravel and sending a plume of gray smoke billowing into the air.

  “Gabby?”

  I turned wide, stunned eyes to the man standing in front of me, a glorious and beautiful shield protecting me from my demons. I couldn’t believe we’d actually done it. I couldn’t believe David had just left. Just like that. I couldn’t believe it was over.

  “It ... it’s over?”

  He gave a slow nod. “It’s over.”

  A sob burst from my chest. Then I was leaping into his arms, mine twisting around his shoulders, my legs around his hips. I was vaguely aware of him kicking the front doors closed and carting me back to the sunroom.

  “Now, where were we?”

  “I’M OBSESSED WITH YOUR clit.”

  I bowed into the finger. My thighs had parted in welcome the moment he’d stepped into the kitchen.

  He hadn’t disappointed. It was the first thing he’d done once he’d pinned me to the counter. His chest had settled along my back and his hand had gone straight beneath my skirt to my core.

  “Kieran.”

  I tried to draw in air, but my mind had become a lost abyss of passion. The bowl of mixed fruit sat forgotten in front of me as he lit me on fire.

  It had become a habit of his in the mornings to get me off with just the lazy flicks and nothing else. He liked feeling me come apart on his fingers. It was becoming a ritual as predictable as the sunrise, and I loved it.

  I reached around and palmed his cock through the soft material of his sweats. The hot bulge strained into my touch, already hard and waiting. His groan filtered into my ear as I gave him a firm squeeze before liberating him into my hand. I guided him to my opening.

  That too was a ritual.

  Mine.

  His fingers were never enough. Leaving without feeling him inside me ruined my whole day.

  He nudged aside my breakfast, bent me over the cold marble and pushed in, catapulting my senses into the flames.

  I gasped across the smooth stone. Nails clawed uselessly as he matched the strums of his fingers with the hard strokes of his erection. My hips drove back to meet each thrust, too close to care about anything, except getting off.

  “Don’t stop...”

  His response was a guttural grunt and the increased rhythm of his thrusts.

  I wasn’t sure who came first, only that we’d stopped and the room pulsed with the sounds of our breaths.

  I kept my eyes closed and let the world return gradually, a slow trickle of sights and sounds. The counter cooled the flush in my cheek and kept me from sliding to the ground.

  “Are you sure you have to leave?”

  His cock slipped from inside me, flaccid and wet, and was tucked away. I shivered at the loss, missing him already.

  He gently eased me up and turned me to face him. His large, warm hands smoothed my clothes back into place before settling on my hips.

  “I think you should come back to bed.”

  I laughed and hooked my arms around his shoulders. “I think the CEO of your company should show up to a meeting.”

  He pursed his lips. “That’s the beauty of being CEO, I don’t have to.”

  “We need to get our routine back. For example, now that I have all my stuff here
, including my clothes and books, I should probably finish school, and you need to make sure your company is still standing.”

  His hands roamed up my spine in lazy strokes, pulling me a little closer each time until our fronts aligned.

  “I like being home, doing nothing with you,” he said quietly. “But fine, on one condition.”

  I bit back my grin. “Of course, which is?”

  “Text me in between classes so I know you’re okay, and dinner out tonight.”

  I pretended to consider it. “Well, if that’s the only way I can get you to put pants on...”

  I scooted away before he could smack my bottom, and laughed when he swung and missed.

  “Says the woman who keeps taking them off,” he muttered, folding his arms over his gorgeous, naked chest.

  I only laughed harder and returned to my breakfast on the other side of the island.

  “What do you have this morning?”

  “I’m meeting Professor Weber at the library in an hour.” I poked at a chunk of cantaloupe with the prongs of my fork. “Then I have English Lit.” I popped the bit of fruit into my mouth and chewed. I swallowed before speaking again. “He sounded so amazed when I suggested meeting there instead of here.”

  “Weber?”

  I nodded. “I think he thought you were holding me hostage all this time.”

  Kieran scoffed. “That’s crazy.” His face dissolved into a sly grin. “You would be completely naked if I were.”

  I snorted a laugh and gave my head a shake. “You can’t blame him. I haven’t left this place in three weeks. I’m astounded that the school hasn’t already suspended me for missing so many days. Even with Professor Weber bringing and submitting my work every day, and the notes...” I gave my head another slow rock. “I need to get him the biggest Christmas present in the world. Maybe an island.”

  Kieran chuckled. “I talked to your Dean and he talked to your professors who I’m sure had their teacher’s aides make notes for you.”

  I stopped eating. “When did you do all that?”

  “A few weeks back, after the party. I didn’t want you worrying about that on top of everything else.”

  I stared at him in amazement. “And the Dean just agreed?”

  “I may have promised to fund the new science department.”

  “Kieran!”

  He jabbed a finger at me. “Woman, tone!”

  I exhaled heavily. “You deserve the tone this time!”

  “Why? You need to finish school and the school needs a new science department. I think everyone wins.”

  He made it sound so simple. The logic was undeniable.

  “I just don’t like...” I trailed off, not sure what I didn’t like. “Thank you.”

  From his propped position against the counter, Kieran watched me with those breathtaking eyes.

  “Do I get to see you for lunch?”

  I grinned as I combed my fingers through my hair. “Of course.” I went over to him and kissed him once. “What else am I supposed to look forward to all day?”

  He grabbed me before I could get too far and pulled me back against him.

  “How much longer?” he murmured over my mouth.

  “Seven months, one week,” I gasped. “Then I’m all yours.”

  He groaned and kissed me harder. “Fucking right. Going to spend that whole first month between your legs.”

  I half sighed, half giggled at the promise. “Can’t wait.” I pulled back. “But until then, classes.”

  He let me go, but followed me to the front doors.

  “I’ll text you,” I promised, dragging my coat on and grabbing my book bag.

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  I kissed him one last time before braving the early morning chill.

  Jeremy rolled out of the car before I left the front stoop and popped an umbrella open. He met me on the front steps and walked me down to the backseat. He pulled the door open. The motion parted the front of his coat, giving me a quick peek of the holster strapped to his ribs and the metallic glint of a Glock.

  The sight of it never failed to make my stomach queasy. Not the weapon itself, but the reason behind it; David hadn’t returned since that afternoon almost two weeks prior, but he wasn’t someone who gave up easily and I wasn’t convinced he wasn’t lurking nearby, waiting for his chance to strike. Now more than ever, when our defenses were down. But we couldn’t just stop our lives and hide behind stone and wood. Kieran had an empire to run and I only had seven months left before I got my diploma. David had already taken enough from me. Plus, I believed completely that Kieran wouldn’t let him hurt me. That confidence was the only reason I even considered going back.

  Jeremy held the door until I was comfortably seated.

  “Thank you, Jeremy.”

  With a bob of his head, he sealed me in. I caught sight of Kieran through the water tracks streaking down the glass. Still bare footed and bare chested, he dominated the doorway with his arms folded. I waved as Jeremy ducked in behind the wheel.

  He stayed there until we’d crossed the gate.

  “Where to, miss?”

  I turned my head forward. “Public library on Stanton, please.”

  I still had almost forty minutes before my meeting with Professor Weber, but I wanted to get to the library early. The extra time would give me a chance to go over my notes and organize my books before he arrived. I also wanted to grab one of the popular back tables before the other students. Without shelves nearby for people to shuffle around, it was the only truly quiet places in the entire building. And they were beneath the high, stained windows, allowing for natural light.

  I briefly wondered if I should grab us coffees. Professor Weber always had a thermos full of the stuff. I always preferred tea, but neither were allowed inside, so I pushed the idea aside.

  We pulled into one of the spots in front and Jeremy killed the engine. The rain had stopped, but he still grabbed the umbrella from the floor of the passenger’s seat before climbing out.

  “You don’t have to come in with me,” I assured him when he opened my door. “I’ll be fine inside. The place is full of people, and Professor Weber will be there with me.”

  Jeremy Myles — at a guess — must have been in his mid to late thirties with a cleanly shaven head and a lean frame. He had the air of a bodyguard, which I hadn’t thought possible until meeting him. Everything about him was no nonsense and threatening, and he made no apologies for it.

  “My instructions are clear, miss.” He shut the door behind me. “I am to accompany you wherever you go.”

  I didn’t argue. Why would I? Just because David hadn’t darkened our doorway, didn’t mean I was foolish enough to wander around without an armed escort.

  I gave Jeremy my best smile and started towards the building with my backpack in tow. We climbed the steps, slick with rain and reached the heavy, iron and glass doors. But no sooner had I pulled on one when my phone rang. I scavenged my bag for it and hit talk without checking the caller ID.

  “Hey,” I said, certain it was Kieran — no one else called me. “Miss me already?”

  There was a moment of silence before an unfamiliar, female voice filled my ears.

  “Ms. Thornton?”

  I frowned and looked down at my phone. The screen read, unknown.

  I put the phone back to my ear. “Yes? Who is this?”

  “I’m Melissa Won, Professor Weber’s assistant.”

  I tried to recall if Professor Weber had ever mentioned an assistant, but couldn’t.

  “Hi,” I said for a lack of anything better.

  “I apologise for the interruption, but Professor Weber has been momentarily delayed and was hoping you could meet him at his home instead.”

  It wasn’t such an odd request. He’d spent the better part of three weeks putting his life on hold for me, it didn’t surprise me that he would have work to deal with now that he didn’t need to make the drive to my place.

  “That’s
fine,” I assured the woman.

  “Excellent. I’ll text you the address.”

  The line went dead before I could thank her. A second later, my phone chimed with an incoming text.

  I squinted up at the man next to me. “Professor Weber wants to work from his house today. Would you be okay with a change of plans?”

  “I go where you go,” was his response.

  I showed him the address as we returned to the car.

  It wasn’t a far drive from the library, even if it was a longer distance from the school. It just meant we would have to leave earlier than planned for me to make my first class.

  The house was a simple cape cod style painted a faded gray with green shutters. It sat tucked between two other homes, both as cold and blank as Weber’s. The entire neighborhood seemed void of life, which wasn’t so surprising given the early hour.

  I stole a peek at Jeremy, but he hadn’t pulled his gun so I took that as a sign that he didn’t find anything abnormal about our surroundings.

  He led the way down the uneven path to the front door. I rang the doorbell.

  There was no sound from inside, but a voice called, “It’s open!”

  I turned the knob and stepped into the rectangular cut of foyer that opened in several directions. The left held a sitting area. The right was a closet. Straight ahead was a set of stairs going up and a hallway deeper into the house.

  “Professor?” I called.

  There was a clatter towards the back of the hall.

  Jeremy took my elbow when I started forward. The indication was clear; I didn’t go in further.

  “Back here!” came a female voice, the same one from the phone.

  I relaxed. “The assistant,” I told Jeremy, who still hadn’t relaxed, but looked less tense by a fraction.

  I started forward with Jeremy right on my heels. We passed another more formal sitting area, a cluttered desk I could just make out in passing through a crack in the door, and stopped at the open doorway to a kitchen.

  A beautiful, oriental woman stood in the other side of an island. She smiled when we came into view.

  “Gabrielle?”

  I nodded, gaze moving over the shadows pooling everywhere. “Melissa?”