Protector

by Diana Palmer

  “He’s dead?” Minette exclaimed.

  “Oh, yes, quite dead, along with the boss who was going to torture you for him. I assure you, we have dealt a savage blow to that drug organization. Which leaves only mine in command of the entire territory,” he added with a smug laugh.

  “But, I thought the Fuentes gang controlled it,” Minette replied.

  “Niña,” he said softly, “the Fuentes brothers were my first cousins. There is one brother left. We are family.” He chuckled.

  She caught her breath. “Well!”

  “You do understand that if you do anything illegal here, I’ll have to arrest you,” Hayes told him. “I’ll do it sadly. But I’ll do it.”

  “I know that. No worries, I have no intention of breaking the law on American soil. I have my daughter’s welfare and reputation to consider!”

  “Thanks,” Minette said softly. “And thanks for sending that absolutely certifiable lunatic to save us.”

  “As I understand it, you saved yourself, and the sheriff.”

  “I helped,” she said modestly.

  “Pepito has told me everything. Including about the jeweled, what you call it, toilet-roll holder? I have hardly stopped laughing since. My daughter, the Amazon warrior!”

  She laughed self-consciously. “I guess we never know what we can do until we’re put to the test,” she agreed.

  “I am most proud of you,” he added. “Your mother, God rest her blessed soul, would be very proud, also.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Sheriff, your injuries were not complicated by the kidnapping?”

  “No, I’m doing very well,” Hayes replied. He looked at Minette lovingly. “By the way, I’m marrying your daughter.”

  “Yes, so I have heard,” he chuckled. “This does please me. In return, I will make sure that none of my people break the law in your jurisdiction. You have my word.”

  “I’ll be grateful,” Hayes told him with a wry twist to his lips.

  “And for the time being, it would be as well if no one knew our relationship for certain, niña. I will always have enemies,” he added quietly. “It is a by-product of the desperate times in which we live, and the trade in which I involve myself.”

  “We’ll be vigilant,” Hayes promised him.

  “That is all I ask.”

  * * *

  “Are you sure you want to marry me?” Minette asked later, when they were alone in Hayes’s bedroom after the children and Sarah had gone to bed. “I mean, I run a newspaper—and what a scoop I’m going to have on the front page next week!—but my father is a notorious drug lord.”

  “My brother was a notorious drug user,” Hayes reminded her. “We both have things to live with, or live down, whichever it is.” He pulled her close. “The important thing is that we have each other.”

  She smiled slowly. “Yes.”

  He bent to her mouth. “Have I ever told you,” he whispered into her lips, “that I love you quite madly?”

  Her heart jumped. “No.”

  He smiled. “Well, I do.”

  She linked her arms around his neck. “I love you, too,” she said, a little shyly.

  His smile grew wider. “I had a feeling,” he mused. “Move over here....”

  He eased her down on the other side of him. He was wearing pajama bottoms and nothing else. She was in slacks and a T-shirt. But a few minutes later, those articles of clothing were on the floor.

  “This is not...a good idea...” she panted, even as she opened her legs so that he could slide between them.

  “We’re getting married as soon as...we get a license,” he groaned, sliding his good hand under her hips to lift her up. “We’ve publicly announced...our intentions...oh, God!” he groaned so harshly that she thought he was dying.

  About the same time she heard the groan, she felt the hardness of him go right inside her, with an enthusiasm that almost dampened the sudden, sharp pain that made her grind her teeth together.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered brokenly, even as he kept moving. “I can’t...help it!”

  “I know.” She didn’t have to be told that it had been years for him. He was so hungry that he could barely contain it. She felt his mouth covering hers, his hand going between them quickly to touch her in ways that shocked at first, and then delighted her.

  “Try to relax,” he whispered. “I’ll make it as good for you...as I can.”

  “It’s all right.” She moved with him, lifting to the sudden urgency of his body, feeling his hand tease away the pain and replace it with a tension that grew and grew and grew until it exploded in a hail of white heat that enveloped her, consumed her.

  She heard the quick, sharp movements of their bodies against the crisp sheets, saw the ceiling come and go over Hayes’s shoulder as he drove blindly for satisfaction. She thought there wouldn’t be time, that she wouldn’t catch up to him before he found his own satisfaction. But her body followed his, arched up to receive it, ground itself against his hips until she felt the heat suddenly burst inside her, just as he groaned hoarsely and shivered, again and again, arching down into her with all the power of his hot body.

  She clung to him, her lips on his chest, on his throat, as the furious heat washed over them and left them breathless and damp with sweat.

  “Too quick,” he whispered apologetically. “I’m sorry....”

  “No. I felt it,” she whispered back, flushing. “I really felt it.”

  He lifted his head, still breathing heavily, and looked into her melting dark eyes. “I hurt you.”

  “Collateral damage,” she breathed. “Not unexpected after such a barrage.”

  “Shock and awe.” He grinned.

  “Yes.”

  The smile faded. He held her eyes while he moved, slowly, rotating his hips. She gasped. He did it again, watching for signs of discomfort.

  Fascinated with this new adventure, she looked down. He saw her curiosity and lifted his hips, let her watch, as he eased down again, penetrating her very gently.

  “So that’s what it looks like,” she whispered huskily.

  He smiled. “And how it feels.”

  She looked up into his face, saw his eyes go to her breasts, their tips hard as stone, her body rippling as he moved on it.

  “I never dreamed it would be so, so intimate,” she swallowed.

  “I never dreamed it would be so perfect, the first time,” he whispered back. “The only thing I didn’t like was having to hurt you.”

  “It only hurt a little.” She felt more confident now. She lifted her own hips and moved them and watched his face contort. “And you can make it up to me. Right now. Like...this...”

  He shuddered as she moved under him.

  “Don’t fight it,” she whispered huskily. “Don’t hold back. Don’t hold anything back...go inside me, as hard as you can, as deep as you can...!”

  The words burned him, whipped his passion into white-hot urgency. He pushed down into her and caught her close, riveting her to him while he drove into her, his eyes wild with passion, his face rigid with tension.

  “Watch me,” he whispered. “Watch. Watch!”

  She couldn’t have dragged her eyes away to save her life. He shivered and shivered again, and then arched up and cried out as the pleasure brought him almost to unconsciousness.

  All the while, she was riding the crest of that heat, feeling it swell inside her, feeling the raging torrent sweeping her closer and closer and closer to the edge of some unimaginable delight, some incredible joy...

  It came suddenly, like being dropped from a great height. She gasped and then fell through layers and layers of feeling, until at last she arched up and sobbed endlessly, clinging to him, lifting to him, grinding against him as she tried hopelessly to cling to that silvery pleasure for as long as possible. But it was fleeting and quick and gone.

  She wept.

  He cradled her against him, smoothing his hand up and down her spine, still joined to her as intimately
as he could be.

  “It doesn’t last,” she sobbed.

  “No. But the memory of that will last us until we’re old and gray, I think,” he whispered breathlessly. “Not even in my wildest dreams was I ever that sated.”

  “I never had wild dreams,” she whispered. “I didn’t know what it was like, what it could feel like.” She kissed his chest. “I guess we can’t miss something we’ve never had.”

  He kissed her forehead tenderly. “No.” He tilted her face up to his eyes. “And now you belong to me. Completely.”

  “And you belong to me.”

  He eased away.

  “No,” she protested weakly.

  “The kids will come in to see me first thing in the morning. I really think they don’t need to find us like this,” he said, tongue-in-cheek.

  She looked at him boldly, her eyes lingering on his body. “You’re beautiful.”

  He laughed. “So are you, honey.”

  She sighed. “We jumped the gun.”

  “We blew up the gun,” he mused.

  She hit him gently. “Oh, Hayes, your shoulder!” she exclaimed.

  “It will survive,” he promised her. “It’s a little sore, but it was worth it. A few days’ setback, maybe. Nothing more deadly. Honest.”

  “Okay.”

  He got up slowly. “Come on. We’ll have a nice bath and go to bed.”

  “A bath? Together?”

  “Saves water and soap,” he said.

  She laughed. “Okay!”

  They showered, touching and kissing, and then they dressed. Hayes kissed her good-night and she went back to her room to sleep. She finally managed a few hours before the kids came bouncing into her room and jumped onto the bed.

  “Minette, we’re hungry!” they exclaimed.

  She laughed with pure delight. “I’ll come cook breakfast right now!”

  “I want oatmeal,” Julie said.

  “I want eggs!” Shane said.

  “You can have both. Get out and let me dress, though.”

  “Yes, Minette.” Julie led the way.

  Minette dressed, feeling a new and strange soreness that, she assumed, was from her nocturnal exercise. She cooked breakfast, exchanging soft glances with Hayes.

  “I suppose you should all know that Minette and I are getting a marriage license today,” Hayes told the others.

  “We’re getting married to you?” Julie exclaimed. “Oh, Hayes, that is so wonderful!”

  She jumped out of her chair and ran to hug him. So did Shane.

  “You can live with us and we can watch movies together. And we’ll protect you so nobody ever shoots you again!” Julie promised.

  “That’s right,” Shane said solemnly. “And we can watch wrestling together!”

  Hayes hugged them, trying to hide the brightness of his eyes until he had it under control. “I’ll buy more movies,” he promised.

  Sarah got up and hugged him, too. “You know how I feel,” she laughed. “No need to tell you how proud I am to add you to the family.”

  “Thanks, Sarah.”

  “Now all we have to do is line up a minister,” Hayes told Minette.

  * * *

  And they did. The wedding was a social event. Everybody showed up, even people who weren’t actually invited. The happy couple said their vows at the altar, kissed and were pelted with rice and confetti all the way out of the church and into the beautiful sunlight.

  Minette’s photographer captured images of her in her couture white wedding gown with its delicate pastel embroidery echoed in the fingertip veil and the bouquet she carried. She tossed it, and watched with dismay as it was caught by a foreign-looking tall man with a mustache who grinned at her. Her father!

  She looked at Hayes aghast. He shrugged and grinned.

  She ran and hugged her father. “Thanks for the wedding present,” she said. “But you shouldn’t have!”

  “Jaguars are the safest cars on the market. This one is a special order, it has armor,” he added with a sly grin. “So I am certain you will be safe when driving it. I like your family, niña,” he added gently. “They are precious, the children.”

  “Yes. Very precious.” She reached up and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad you came.”

  He shrugged. “My daughter was getting married. But I must go now.” He indicated a few men in suits on the sidelines.

  “Where did they come from?” she exclaimed.

  “They are either from government agencies, or they are aliens in disguise,” he said gleefully. “Who knows.” He lifted his hand and waved at the men in suits. Amazingly they grinned and waved back. He shrugged. “Hey. Without me, they wouldn’t have jobs, yes?”

  “Yes.” She had to concede that. “Stay out of trouble,” she told him firmly.

  “Of course!” He winked at her, put on his sunglasses, motioned to his bodyguard and exited the fellowship hall. The men in suits followed dutifully behind.

  “Is this a wedding or a bust?” she asked Hayes.

  “Actually,” a deep voice said from behind her, “it’s a bit of both.”

  Cash Grier grinned at her. His beautiful redheaded wife, Tippy, was on his arm, wearing a green creation that made her look like a cover girl. Which, of course, she was.

  “I couldn’t miss the wedding. I just hate taking her out in public.” He indicated his wife with a sigh. “Before the day is over, I’ll have to arrest my own officers for lewd behavior. Stop that drooling!” he snarled at one of his patrolmen by the door.

  The young officer snapped to attention, looked flustered and left.

  “See?” Cash sighed, exasperated.

  “I’ll wear a bag next time,” Tippy promised, and went on tiptoe to kiss his rugged cheek.

  He hugged her close. “Never. I love showing you off too much,” he chuckled. “Even with the complications.” He glared at another officer who was openly staring at Tippy. The man cleared his throat and went back to the punch table.

  “He won’t have those with me,” Minette laughed, pressing close to Hayes. “I’m just ordinary, I am.”

  “Huh!” Tippy scoffed. “Holding off a drug dealer with an AK-47 and you’re just ordinary?”

  “Yeah? Well, you stopped an assassin with a cast-iron skillet,” Minette shot back.

  “Stuff of legends,” Cash said smugly.

  “Both of them,” Hayes agreed, pulling Minette close.

  “I totally agree. Toast!”

  He picked up a glass of punch and called for attention. “To the sheriff and his lady. Many happy years, many children, much joy!”

  “Hear, hear!”

  They all drank.

  * * *

  “What was that part about many, many children?” Minette asked sleepily with pure joy in her voice and in her eyes as they lay in a satisfied tangle in a bed in Panama City, Florida.

  “I’m working on it,” he mused. “Leave me alone. I’m tired.”

  “Tired! Pshaw!” she scoffed.

  “Pshaw?” He sat up in bed.

  She shrugged. “Crackers and milk?”

  He laughed and lay back down, pulling her close. “We could have gone overseas, you know,” he murmured.

  “The places you want to go wouldn’t work. Carson seems to be wanted in at least two of them.”

  He glared. “Why did we have to bring him along on our honeymoon?”

  “Well, it’s not as if he’s in here with us,” she pointed out. “The last I saw him, he was glaring at a pretty young blonde who was flirting with him on the beach. He took a margarita to bed with him.”

  “Some help he’ll be if we’re surrounded by drug lords after revenge,” he murmured.

  “He had two of his friends with him. My father sent them along.” She shook her head. “It’s going to be a very strange marriage, Hayes.”

  He kissed her nose. “A very happy marriage.”

  She closed her eyes with a sigh and pressed close. “Merry Christmas.”

  “That�
�s next week,” he pointed out. “We’ll be home then.”

  “I’m celebrating early. Merry Christmas.”

  He pulled her closer. “Merry Christmas, honey.”

  She curled up in his arms and went to sleep.

  * * *

  The next morning, they had breakfast and walked along the beach, watching the tide roll in and out on tiny white foaming waves.

  She danced in and out of them, because it was too cold to go wading.

  “We have to come here in warm weather and bring the kids,” he said, smiling. “They’ll love playing in the sand.”

  “You really don’t mind that I’ve got a ready-made family, do you?”

  He shook his head. “They’re my kids. I love them.”

  “They love you, too. So do I,” she added softly.

  He bent and kissed her. “I love you, too, honey. Forever.”

  “Forever.”

  She looked out over the Gulf of Mexico, her eyes bright with love and happiness, looking forward to a future she’d never expected. Her hand tangled in Hayes’s and she moved close to him.

  “Life is an unexpected journey,” she said philosophically.

  “With unexpected rewards.” He kissed the top of her head. “And that’s enough philosophy for one day. Race you to the coffee!”

  “You’re on!” She gasped and pointed behind him. “Is that a pelican?”

  While he was diverted, she burst into a run and made the door just seconds ahead of him. She was still laughing when he reached her.

  Chapter 16

  Just before Christmas, four men met in the back room of a restaurant in Jacobsville, Texas. They were all wearing suits, except for the sheriff. All of them had sidearms.

  The oldest of the four was taciturn as he looked from one face to the other. “We have a lead on the computer tech who was killed,” Garon Grier said quietly.

  “Someone connected to the late, great El Ladrón, I’ll bet,” Hayes Carson replied.

  “Actually, no,” Rodrigo Ramirez said.

  “Someone connected to a low-level but vindictive politician, in congress,” Jon Blackhawk interjected. “And rumored to be thinking of running for an even higher federal office in a year or two.”