The Bodyguard’s Baby

by Debra Webb

  Nick hoped the grunt he uttered was sufficient response.

  When Laura slid his hand down to her breast he knew it was. He squeezed. Her head lolled back and her eyes closed in sweet ecstasy. Nick watched as Laura guided his hand to all the places she wanted him to touch. Her other breast, then lower to her flat stomach, then lower still.

  Nick groaned when she parted her thighs and opened for him. He slipped his middle finger inside her hot, moist body. A shudder wracked him as an instant climax threatened. Nick clenched his jaw and grabbed back control. Laura was the only woman who ever made him want to come with nothing more than a touch. Nick gripped the edge of the tub with his free hand as he moved that small part of himself rhythmically inside her. Her moans of pleasure urged him on. Her lips parted slightly as her breathing became labored. Nick used the pad of his thumb to massage her tiny nub of desire until it swelled beneath his touch. She reared back, thrusting her firm white breasts upward, as if begging for his attention. Determined to watch, Nick resisted the urge to taste her. Water and bubbles slipped over her smooth breasts. Her dusky nipples tightened and budded right before his eyes. Nick licked his lips. His arousal throbbed insistently, and he jerked with restraint.

  Laura’s fingers splayed on the sides of the tub, providing leverage as she arched against his hand. Nick growled with need when he felt the first tremors of her release. He moved more quickly, propelling her toward that peek. Laura cried out as her inner muscles tightened around Nick’s finger. His own need for release roared inside him. Nick leaned forward and covered Laura’s mouth with his own. She took him hungrily, sucking his tongue into her mouth. Nick groaned. His arms plunged into the water and around her. He pulled her to him savagely, his body needing to feel hers against him.

  “I need to be inside you,” he breathed against her lips.

  “Now, Nick,” she murmured greedily. “Hurry.”

  Holding her firmly against him, Nick lifted Laura from the tub. Water sloshed over the side. Wet heat and suds from her damp skin soaked into his shirtfront. Laura’s legs wrapped instinctively around his waist. Nick stumbled toward the door, his mouth still plundering hers. Hot and sweet. She tasted so good. He had to get her to the bed. He couldn’t hold out much longer. Nick backed into a wall, cursed—the word lost in the kiss—and groped for the door with one hand.

  “No,” Laura protested between kisses. “Here,” she demanded.

  Nick pivoted and pressed her back against the wall. His hips ground into her softness. Nick groaned deep in his throat. Squeezing Laura’s thigh with one hand, he wrenched his jeans open.

  Laura arched against him, her fingers dug into his shoulders. “Hurry, Nick,” she moaned. “Hurry.” Her breath came in fierce little spurts. She needed him as much as he needed her. The thought sent another jolt of desire raging through him, almost snapping his control.

  Laura screamed at the first nudge of his arousal. Nick grunted, intent on plunging deep inside her. Breathtaking, gut-wrenching sensations washed over him when he finally pushed fully into Laura’s hot, tight body. He sagged against her for the space of one beat as the powerful tide of pleasure almost took him over the edge. His heart pounded hard in time with Laura’s. He gulped a much-needed breath.

  Her arms tightened around his neck and she pulled him closer. “Nick,” she murmured as her eyes closed in an expression of pleasure-pain. “Oh, Nick.”

  Capturing her sweet lips with his own, Nick began the slow, shallow thrusting that would bring Laura to the brink of release once more. He clenched his jaw and resisted the urge to swiftly drive into his own release. Her thighs tightened on his waist, urging him into a faster rhythm. The air raged in and out of Nick’s lungs as he pushed ever closer to climax. The case and all its ugliness faded into insignificance, leaving only Laura behind. Her taste, her scent filled him, mind and body. The final, tense seconds before climax brought complete clarity to Nick’s tortured soul.

  And he knew in that crystal clear moment that his life would never be the same. He loved her. He had always loved her. She was part of him. She completed him.

  The rocking explosion that followed left him weak-kneed and feeling totally helpless in her arms. Nick’s gaze moved to hers, she smiled, and something near his heart shifted.

  NICK’S NAKED FLESH felt hot against hers. Laura snuggled closer, then smiled. She wanted to feel all of him. To hold him closer still.

  For as long as it lasted.

  Laura’s smile melted. She swallowed back the fear that crowded into her throat. The bandage on his forehead served as a reminder of just how close she had come to losing him tonight. Laura couldn’t protect Nick anymore than she had protected Robby. Hurt twisted inside her.

  And, dear God, what would Nick do when he discovered the truth? There would be no denying Robby’s parentage when they found him. He looked so much like Nick. And Nick had promised her that they would definitely find her baby.

  Blinking back the uncertainty, Laura redirected her focus to Nick’s long, lean body pressed so intimately to hers. He had said they would talk. But he seemed content for the moment to simply lie next to her without words or questions of any sort. The cool sheets draped their heated skin. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table, 9:00 p.m. What was Robby doing now? she wondered. Her heart squeezed painfully. Was he sleeping soundly in a bed somewhere safe? If someone intended to pay a great deal of money for him, surely they were treating him well. Laura shivered at the thought of someone else cuddling and loving her sweet baby. The idea that he might call someone else mommy tore at her heart. She had to find him.

  “You cold?” Nick asked, the words rumbling from his chest.

  “I’m fine,” Laura said quickly. She immediately regretted the shortness of her response.

  Nick shifted onto one elbow and peered down at her. He frowned. The white bandage stark against his dark coloring. “We’ll find him, Laura,” he assured her. “Don’t doubt that.”

  She essayed a faint smile. “I know.” Nick was the kindest, most honorable man she knew. He deserved so much more than she had to give him.

  Nick’s frown deepened and he fell silent for a few moments. Laura’s heart skipped into an erratic staccato. She recognized the precise instant that realization dawned. The air evacuated her lungs.

  “You told the receptionist at the clinic that Robby was born on August sixth,” he said slowly, thoughtfully.

  Laura licked her lips. Ice rushed through her veins. “That’s right.”

  Three seconds later the mental calculations were complete. Nick’s gaze landed fully onto hers. “Forester. You used the name Forester.”

  Laura nodded. Speech wasn’t an option.

  Suspicion crept into his wary green eyes. “Robert?”

  “Robert,” she managed to agree.

  “Robert what?” His tone held no inflection, his eyes were openly accusing now.

  Laura drew in a deep breath. She met that accusing gaze. “Robert Nicholas Forester.”

  There was no way to describe the expression that claimed Nick’s features then. Something between rage and wonder battled for control, but, in the end, the rage proved victorious.

  Nick sat up, putting distance between them. “He’s my son.”

  Laura knew it wasn’t a question. She also knew with complete certainty that Nick would never forgive her for keeping his son from him.

  “Yes,” she said finally. Had it not been for the fierceness of his piercing gaze, uttering that solitary word would almost have been a relief. But there was no way to garner any good feelings from what she saw in Nick’s eyes.

  Nick shot out of bed. His back turned to her, he pulled on his jeans. Laura sat up. She hugged the sheet to her chest and willed the emotions threatening to consume her to retreat.

  He shifted back to face her, then raked those long, tanned fingers through his uncharacteristically mussed hair. A muscle flexed rhythmically in his tense jaw. “Why didn’t you tell me?” His hands fisted at his sides
. “Why didn’t you come to me as soon as you knew you were pregnant?”

  “You were one of them,” she said quietly, defeatedly.

  Slowly, but surely every nuance of emotion disappeared from Nick’s eyes and expression. That cold, hard, unfeeling mask slipped firmly into place like the slamming of a door. His broad, muscled chest heaved with the rage no doubt building inside him.

  “I was never one of them,” he said coldly.

  Tears stung her eyes, but Laura refused to cry. “You worked for James Ed. I couldn’t be sure that I could trust you.” She met his gaze with hope in hers. “When you first found me this time you didn’t believe anything I told you. Then, later, I was going to tell you but so much happened.”

  “Believing you and trusting you are two entirely different things,” he snapped. “Don’t mistake the two.”

  Laura struggled to her feet, dragging the tangled sheet with her. They were back to the trust issue. “I couldn’t tell you,” she told him with as much force as she could summon. “I was afraid for my life, Nick! Don’t you get it? James Ed was trying to kill me.”

  “What did that have to do with trusting me?” he demanded, his tone low and lethal.

  Laura shook her head at his inability to see the obvious. “James Ed hired you. Your loyalty was to him.”

  “We made love, Laura,” he ground out. “That didn’t spell anything out for you?”

  “I was afraid,” she said wearily.

  “You kept my son from me all this time and all you’ve got to say is that you were afraid?” Contempt edged his voice.

  “I had to protect my child,” Laura argued. The starch seeped out of her spine and standing proved difficult.

  “Well you did a hell of a job, didn’t you?”

  The tears would not be contained then. The humiliating liquid emotion slipped down her cheeks. “I did the best I could considering the circumstances.”

  Nick stepped closer, his body rigid with fury. “But that wasn’t good enough, was it? And it never once occurred to you to call on me for help?”

  Anger surged, steeling her resolve. “Forget all that. The important thing now is finding him,” Laura countered, her tone as lethal as his.

  “I will find him,” Nick promised. “And when I do, I’ll make sure nothing like this ever happens to him again.”

  Stunned, Laura could only stare into those cold, emotionless eyes. This was her worst nightmare come true. Not only had she lost her son, but if she did find him he would still be lost even then. Nick’s cell phone splintered the ensuing silence. His gaze still riveted to hers, he snatched the phone from the bedside table and snapped his greeting.

  Blocking out all other thought, Nick listened carefully as Ian relayed his latest findings.

  “The albino is a Rodney Canton, a dirty P.I. with a most impressive rap sheet. Kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, and worse.”

  Nick shifted his weight from his throbbing right knee. “Is there any connection between him and the Proctors?”

  “No, not directly. But he worked with a Brock Redmond who owned and operated a P.I. office in Natchez for years. Funny thing is,” Ian continued, “this Redmond fellow disappeared suddenly about two years ago. No one has seen him since.”

  Nick frowned. “Do you have a physical description?”

  “Oh yes. He fits perfectly the description Laura provided of the man who shot you.”

  Anticipation nudged at Nick. “Any connection to James Ed?”

  Ian laughed. “A long and productive connection. James Ed hired Redmond on several occasions to provide the low-down on potential staff members.”

  “Do you have anything that will stand up in a court of law to back that up?”

  “I’m looking at the man’s files.”

  Nick shook his head. “I’m not sure I want to know how you managed that.”

  “It would seem that Redmond stiffed his secretary out of two months pay when he disappeared.” Amusement colored Ian’s tone. “So she confiscated his files. She has been most helpful.”

  “Nothing else on Sandra?”

  “The jury is still out on the first lady,” Ian told him. “But the evidence against James Ed is undeniable. If Redmond is the man who shot you, and he appears to be, then James Ed is in this up to his politically incorrect neck.”

  “Good work, Ian. I’ll touch base with you tomorrow.”

  Ian hesitated. “You sound a little strange, Nick. Is there anything you’re not telling me?”

  “I’ll fill you in tomorrow.” Nick flipped the phone closed before Ian could say anything else.

  Nick had a son.

  And James Ed Proctor was about to discover that Nick was more than just a man of his word. He was a man of action. Only Nick wasn’t sure James Ed was going to like the action Nick had in mind. He intended to find his son if he had to wring the child’s location one syllable at a time out of James Ed’s scrawny neck. Nick would not stop until he found his son.

  Nick shot Laura a withering look. “Get dressed. We’re going to Jackson.

  A NARROW SLIT of moonlight sliced through the darkness of the room from the gap between the heavily lined drapes. Propelled by her dreams, Elsa tossed restlessly beneath the thick covers. A cold sweat dampened her skin, making her nightgown stick to her in all the uncomfortable places.

  It was wrong, it was wrong, her mind chanted.

  Elsa sat up with a start. She blinked, then pushed her disheveled hair from her sweat-dampened face. She looked at the clock. Almost midnight. It seemed so much later. Elsa blew out a breath of weariness. The dreams. Oh, the dreams were so disturbing. She shook herself. But they were only dreams.

  Soon it would be a new day.

  The day.

  Today the little boy’s new family would come to take him away to their home. Elsa passed a hand over her face and tried to reconcile herself to that fact. She shook her head. It wasn’t right. Deep inside, past all the indifference and looking the other way, she knew it wasn’t right.

  She swallowed. She had to do something.

  Yes. A sense of calmness settled over her.

  She had to do something.

  Chapter Twelve

  Uneasiness crawled up Nick’s spine the moment he parked behind the Governor’s home. The second floor of the house stood in darkness, a few lights glowed downstairs. Nick found it particularly odd that security had not already approached the car. He knew from experience how difficult it was to outmaneuver those guys.

  “What are we waiting for?”

  Nick shifted his attention to the woman seated next to him. It was the first time she had spoken since they left Bay Break. Renewed anger flooded Nick when he met her hesitant gaze. She had lied to him. Kept his son from him. Nick’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. No matter what her reasons, and no matter what that more foolish part of him wanted to feel, Nick wasn’t sure he could ever forgive her for that.

  “Something isn’t right,” Nick told her, emotion making his voice harsh in the hushed darkness that shrouded them.

  “I don’t care,” Laura said with a shake of her head. “I have to find Robby.”

  Nick snagged her left arm. “You’ll do exactly as I say, Laura,” he ground out. “I’m going in and you’re staying right here.”

  “No way,” she argued. “I’m going in, too. You can’t stop me.” The warning in her voice was that of a desperate mother’s.

  He blew out an impatient breath. “All right, but stay right behind me. No wandering off on your own.”

  Laura nodded her understanding.

  Nick emerged from the car. He scanned the dark yard as he repositioned the Beretta beneath his jacket at the small of his back. Every instinct warned Nick that trouble awaited them inside. Finding his son and keeping Laura safe, no matter what she had done, were top priority. Laura climbed out behind him. They walked straight up to the back of the house without encountering anyone.

  Where the hell was security? Nick wondered
grimly. James Ed was too cautious a man to be caught with his pants down like this. Nick reached out and grasped Laura’s arm as they stepped up to the verandah. No sense risking her making any sudden moves. Laura stalled at the French door leading to the rear entry hall.

  “Promise me you won’t let him talk his way out of this, Nick,” she urged. “No matter what James Ed says, you have to believe me. He tried to kill me and he took away my son.”

  Nick met her fearful gaze in the darkness. “No one is talking their way out of anything,” he said pointedly. Including you, he didn’t add. Nick set his jaw hard and reached for the doorbell. He paused. Maybe he didn’t want to announce their arrival.

  He turned back to Laura. “Stay right behind me,” he ordered tersely. When she nodded he reached for the brass handle on one French door and opened it. An eerie silence greeted them as they entered the dimly lit hall. Nick felt Laura move closer. He scanned the long, empty corridor with mounting tension. Something was definitely wrong. Very wrong.

  The long hall extended the width of the house from back-door to front, with two ninety-degree turns in between. Nick paused and surveyed each room they passed. No Governor. No First Lady. No staff or security.

  Every nerve ending had gone on full-scale alert by the time they reached the parlor. To Nick’s relief, James Ed sat on the sofa, his head bowed over what appeared to be a photo album. Other photo albums were scattered on the sofa table. Wearing a robe and pajamas, James Ed appeared deeply involved in the pictures.

  “Governor,” Nick said, announcing their presence.

  James Ed looked up, then quickly removed his glasses. “Nick?” He frowned. Something that resembled regret stole across his features when his gaze landed on his sister. “Laura?” James Ed pushed to his feet. “You’re here.”

  Ignoring his comment, Nick crossed the room. Laura remained near the door. “There are a few questions I need to ask you,” Nick told him quietly.

  James Ed’s gaze lingered on Laura. “You look as if you’re feeling much better, Laura,” he remarked with a sad smile.