Underground Guardians: Protector

by Lisa Renee Jones

  His need was her need.

  Her need was his need.

  She tugged on his shirt, trying to pull it over his head. “Take your clothes off,” he whispered near her ear.

  She nodded but didn’t move. Her legs had him tightly pulled to her body. Clearly she didn’t want to let him up. He tugged his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor.

  Immediately, her hands explored his shoulders, her mouth pressing against his chest. When her tongue flattened on one of his flat nipples, he felt it like a line of fire in his blood.

  “You have to let me up if you want me to undress,” he said, nipping at her bottom lip.

  “Kiss me first,” she whispered.

  And so he did but something changed as he did. He felt his raging need soften, turning to passion, simmering with a feeling to be savored. Seemingly in tune with him, she eased into his new mood along with him. His tongue caressed hers, slow and easy, their lips pressing together with delicious friction.

  When he pulled back to look at her, he brushed strands of blonde hair from her eyes. “I love kissing you but we both definitely have on too many clothes.”

  With obvious reluctance, Holly slipped her legs from around his body. Mason found himself smiling as a wave of tenderness swept over him. How had he gone from such dark intensity, to such different feelings? But he knew the answer. Holly had some power over him. Something about her brought out his better side.

  Sliding off the bed, he quickly started to undress. He watched Holly do the same, enjoying every glimpse of ivory skin she offered.

  He moved to the mattress, eager to get his hands on her naked body. She met him at the footboard, bared to her beautiful skin, climbing onto the end of the bed on her knees. Her mouth and hands went to his chest, touching and kissing and driving him wild. His hands settled in her hair. She never ceased to amaze him. There wasn’t a shy bone in her body when it came to making love.

  His hands moved to cup the round fullness of her breasts, not too big, but not too small. They fit in his hands perfectly, as if she were made for him. It felt like she was. How could he deny the need for her he felt? How could he ever walk away from her?

  His fingers found her nipples, rolling them and pinching them with gentle care. Her head tilted back, exposing her beautiful white throat. He bent down to touch it with his lips and then his tongue, feathering kisses across the exposed area.

  He slid his fingers into her hair, palms on her cheeks. “Holly,” he whispered because he didn’t know how to put the immense feelings of need he had into words. She was so beautiful, so amazing, so Holly.

  “Make love to me, Mason,” she responded, her eyes fixed on his, her voice laced with passion.

  He let his hands slowly slide down her face, to her neck. “Whatever you want, Holly.”

  “I want,” she whispered, her eyes shutting as his hands slid down her shoulders.

  His voice was a low murmur. “I want.”

  Her nipples, drawn tight with arousal, drew his eyes. He was well beyond hard as it was. He ached to feel her body wrapped tightly around him.

  But he also wanted to feel the rush of pleasing her. Knowing she had never really been pleased, but let herself be by him, really felt powerful and good.

  Intimate.

  Unique.

  Right.

  He trailed his index fingers around the hardened peaks, watching her face, enjoying the look of pleasure he saw in her expression. Bending at the knees, he ran his tongue around one nipple making her hands go to his head and her breathing quicken.

  Exactly what he wanted.

  To please her.

  Silently he guided her backwards, spreading her legs so he could settle between them, even as he flattened her against the mattress. “I need you, Holly.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I need you, too. It’s crazy how much.”

  They kissed then, both craving one another, both funneling those feelings of need into the kiss. With each stroke of their tongues, urgency grew between them and their bodies pressed closer together.

  Long moments later, he broke their kiss. Looking down at her, he willed her to hold his gaze, wanting to see her eyes as he slid inside her body. She sucked in a breath as he entered her but didn’t close her eyes. Once he was deep in her core, he stayed there, feeling the completeness of the moment.

  Lost in what they were together, he knew she felt it too. It was in her expression and her very being. This feeling of oneness was profound, overwhelming and completely right on some elemental level.

  Staring into each other’s eyes only served to enhance their connection, somehow seeming to kick up their passion level one more octave.

  In turn his body became all the more demanding.

  Making him want to move and feel her more fully.

  And when he did, so did she, as if she too needed what he did. Still looking deep into her eyes, he moved in and out of her, stroke by stroke, feeling the essence of their passion seep through to his nerve endings.

  “I want you on top,” he told her but didn’t give her time to respond. Rolling over, he pulled her on top of him.

  She sat there, naked and perfect, blonde hair streaming down her shoulders. “Damn, you’re beautiful,” he said hoarsely.

  “Prove it,” she said, starting to move and urging him to do so as well.

  She used his chest to prop herself up, gliding along his length with perfection in each stroke, his hands anchoring her as they held her waist.

  Moments later, they were in a frenzied whirlwind of passion, bodies moving and sliding, as moans of pleasure slipped through their mouths. And just when he thought he couldn’t last, she cried out his name and arched her back and he felt the ripples of her release.

  His body responded with conviction, delving deeper with one last stroke, before sending a shockwave of release through his body.

  Just as Holly had sent a shockwave of emotion straight to his heart.

  * * * * *

  Holly collapsed on top of him, her face buried in his neck. Long moments later, she leaned up and looked into his face, her hands sliding to the sides of his face. “You’re not a monster.”

  In a quick movement, Mason flipped her on her back, positioning himself over her, weight on his elbows. “Not when I’m with you.”

  “Not ever,” Holly told him in a voice filled with belief and determination.

  His eyes shut a long moment. “You don’t understand, Holly.”

  “Then make me,” she said firmly.

  His eyes opened, fixing her in his tormented gaze. “I have no right to expose you to the things in my world yet I find myself wanting to hold on to you, to keep you by my side.”

  Holly cupped his cheek. “I want to be by your side, Mason.”

  “You were leaving today,” he accused in a low tone, his eyes searching hers.

  “Because you weren’t honest with me,” she said with frustration etched in her tone, “not because I didn’t want to be with you.”

  “I didn’t lie to you, Holly,” he said with conviction. “When I said my brother was dead, I meant it. The man I knew is no longer.”

  “But you omitted important details.”

  Abruptly, he rolled off of her, moving to the side of the bed. He sat on the edge of the mattress, back to Holly, hunched over so his elbows rested on his knees. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t know what to say.

  * * * * *

  Holly stared at the rigid line of Mason’s back for a long moment before she struggled to the side of the bed. She made a quick trip to the bathroom to clean up before returning to the bedroom.

  They needed to talk.

  She found Mason sitting exactly as she had left him.

  She sighed. He needed her but felt guilty about it. Whatever he wasn’t telling her was killing him. Obviously, his brother was an issue. Having a brother who was Arion was clearly eating him alive.

  Holly moved, stopping in front of Mason and then droppi
ng down to her knees. His hair hung in his face, hiding his expression from her viewing. With her hands, she reached up and pushed it back, willing him to look at her with her actions.

  He kept his eyes on the floor. “Mason, please talk to me.”

  He lifted his gaze giving her a view of his stormy expression. “I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what exactly I should be saying,” he admitted roughly.

  The tension in his body radiated through his eyes. “Just tell me,” she said gently and then added a plea, “Believe in me.”

  A sharp wave of emotion flashed in his eyes. “Believing in you isn’t the issue. How would you have responded if you had known up-front about my brother? Would you have been so quick to accept my protection?”

  “You aren’t your brother. The bond I feel with you, whatever it is, I don’t understand it, but it makes me more confident than I could be in any other person. I believe in you.” She took his hand. “Now, you have to believe in me.”

  He took both her hands in his. For several seconds he seemed to battle some internal war. Finally, he said, “You won’t like what I have to say.”

  She squeezed his hands. “Believe in me, Mason.”

  He let out a long breath and then started talking. “Michael says there are Arions who want to fight David. They want to overthrow him out of power. He somehow has it in his head that I can lead these men in the battle. He thinks I am the only one with the power to defeat David.”

  She didn’t understand. “That’s good, isn’t it? That men want to fight the evil David represents?”

  “It means war, a battle to death.”

  She swallowed. With his brother. A battle to death. “I understand. I don’t want you to die.”

  He laughed. “I don’t kill easily. You’ve already seen that firsthand. Besides, David wants me to join him, to become a part of some ruling blood line. He won’t let anyone kill me until he’s certain he can’t turn me.”

  She was still processing, trying to put everything together. “He wants you to become Arion.”

  He stiffened. “Holly,” he said in a very low, tense voice. “I am Arion.”

  She blinked. He hated Arions. “I’m confused.”

  “It’s true. I didn’t know until Michael told me,” he said but shook his head almost immediately. “That’s not really true. Deep down, I think I knew. I was aware I had skills other Black Knights didn’t. I just didn’t want to face the facts.”

  “I see,” she said but she wasn’t certain she did. Mason had told her so many evil things about Arions it was hard to adjust her thinking to include Mason as one of them.

  “Do you?” he asked. “The monster you called me truly does live inside me. Whenever I feel its poison trying to take me over, somehow you bring it under control. But what if one day I can’t rein it in?”

  Holly fixed her gaze on him. “Perhaps the monster is in your mind, Mason. If you are Arion—”

  “I am,” he said firmly. “It was hard enough for me to accept my brother as Arion. Accepting myself as one has been hell. But there is no doubt. I am Arion.”

  She continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Then Arions as a race are not evil.”

  “I’m not so certain,” he replied tersely.

  “If your human brother committed a crime would that mean you were evil and so was all of humanity?” She paused to let the words sink in, not expecting an answer. “People are evil, entire races are not.”

  “There’s no way to be certain.”

  “I’m willing to chance it. If you’re to fight the Arions, I plan to be by your side when you do.” She bit her bottom lip. “That is, if you want me by your side.”

  “It’s war, Holly.”

  She frowned at him. “I understand what it is. I might not like war but I know when it’s unavoidable. One of the whole reasons I was against super soldiers was because I was afraid it would cause someone to do just what they did, get power hungry. And I was right. I knew someone would think a Super Soldier program could lead to world domination.”

  He stared at her. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Holly.”

  Her expression softened. “Good,” she whispered, “because I’m pretty darn certain I’m already there where you’re concerned.”

  He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist as he bent his head, lowering his mouth just above hers. Slowly, gently, he claimed her mouth, tenderly stroking her tongue with his.

  His mouth lingered above hers, his breath mingling with hers as one. “Be sure, Holly. Once I decide to hold onto you, I don’t know if I can ever let go.”

  “I’m sure,” she whispered against his lips. “I want this. I want us.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Mason found Michael and Sterling sitting at a table in the surveillance room absorbed deep in conversation. Having freshly showered and changed, he felt like a new man. His hair was neatly pulled back, as was his attitude.

  He and Holly had taken a shower together. He couldn’t remember ever taking a shower with a woman. Not that it would have been the same as it was with Holly anyway. Somehow, he had managed to find the ability laugh and truly relax, if only for a short while, and despite the evils facing him. Laughter had turned into making love again.

  Holly was amazing.

  She gave him hope.

  Guilt raged in his mind. Should he have told her about their mating? He wasn’t ready to tell her. Yet, in all fairness, he knew she had a right to know. Their connection would have ramifications for her. He would never want another woman. If she knew, knowing Holly as he did, she would feel obligated to stay with him. He needed her to choose to be with him on her own, because it felt right to her.

  If she saw the harsher sides of him, his battle face, and wanted no part of him, he wanted her to be free.

  He had to know she wanted him, good, bad and ugly—all that he was or could be.

  Mason entered the surveillance room and both men stopped talking, each staring at him. The wordless question was in both men’s eyes. Would he agree to lead a team against David?

  Mason answered. “I’ll do it. Let’s talk about how to get started.”

  Neither man moved or spoke immediately, as if they were afraid he would change his mind.

  “And Holly?” Sterling asked.

  Mason sat down at the table, in the empty chair between Michael and Sterling. “She offers her assistance.”

  “She knows now?” Michael asked.

  “About everything but the mating.” Mason’s lips thinned as he let his eyes slide between the two men. “And I advise you both to keep your mouths shut.”

  Michael’s brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you tell her?”

  Mason gave him a hard look. “I have my reasons.” His tone said he wasn’t willing to elaborate.

  He changed the subject, further proving his position on the matter. Mason didn’t want to talk about him and Holly. It was a private matter between the two of them. “What’s the first step in defeating David? Where do we start?”

  Michael gave Mason a look, but didn’t press for more information about Holly. “I have new intel. Roger is being moved.”

  Mason’s brow inched up. Sterling responded to the silent inquiry by unrolling the map he had in front of him and pointing to a circled section. “He’s here now. He’s being moved to Area 51.”

  Mason looked at Michael. “Area 51 has reopened?”

  Michael offered a quick nod of confirmation. “Yes, run by David. My sources say the abducted women are already being held there.”

  “Why didn’t they take Roger there to start with, I wonder?” Sterling asked.

  Michael’s response came with certainty. “Something’s changed. They intend to keep him if they are taking him to Area 51.”

  Sterling’s eyes narrowed. “So he has become useful. Why, I wonder? Is Roger able to carry out Holly’s work?”

  “Good question,” Michael said. “None of my people know. It’s not his ability
in a lab. He doesn’t have Holly’s skill. He’s a follower, not a mastermind. I’m the only one close enough to David to find out what’s really going on.”

  “When are you due back?” Mason asked.

  Michael’s voice held a certain raw tension. “Tomorrow.”

  “What aren’t you saying?” Mason asked.

  Michael hesitated. “There is much for you to learn. You represent the leadership of many. If anything were to happen to you…well, the results could be devastating.”

  Mason let out a bark of disbelieving laughter. “I’m not planning on killing myself or anything like that.”

  Michael ignored his remark. “The point is, if we are to save these women, or Roger for that matter, I need to go back to Area 51. I would prefer to train with you first. A day will come when you will face David and it’s critical you be prepared.”

  He continued, “And we have men to think about. Black Knights and Arions who want to join the Knights. We need to figure out where to set up a main facility and when and how to notify both our teams. It’s critical we pull everyone together into one force under your leadership.”

  All three of the men looked up as Holly walked into the room. Her blond hair bounced in a shiny halo around her heart shaped face. Her bright smile was as much a part of her outfit as her sleek black slacks and matching knit shirt.

  “Any progress in here?” Holly asked as she walked behind Mason and slid her hand onto his shoulder.

  Mason ignored the interest in the watching eyes. Instead, he looked up at Holly. “We were talking about where Roger and the abducted women are being held.”

  “He’s alive?” she asked urgently. “Are we certain?”

  “As I said before, he was the last I heard,” Michael said, “but that could change at any moment.”

  Holly swallowed visibly. “Can we help him?”

  “We will,” Mason told her and then looked at Michael. “The way I see it, we are better grabbing Roger during his transport.”

  “Agreed,” Michael said, as Sterling chimed in his murmur of approval. “We can get the women after I size things up from the inside. I should have the details of Roger’s movement in the next few hours.”