Above Protection (Imperfect Heroes Book 1)

by C. J. Pinard

  “Just our jobs, ma’am.” Dockins winked at me, then looked at Duke. “You got this, Hawthorne?”

  “Yeah,” Duke practically growled.

  I bit back a smile.

  We walked slowly to his car in the parking garage of the federal building and he opened my door. “No need to guard me so closely anymore,” I teased.

  Before I could get in, he gently yanked the back of my hair, looked around the garage to ensure we were alone, then growled into my face, “I will always guard you closely. Too bad if you don’t like it.”

  His lips were inches from mine. And how did he know I liked to have my hair pulled? I tightened my grip around his bicep. “You are bossy.”

  “You like it,” he whispered into my mouth.

  I wanted to jump him right there in the parking garage. I wanted to pull open his pants and get on my knees and thank him for his chivalrous actions. But I restrained myself.

  I got in and he closed my door, then went around to the driver’s side and started up the loud car. As we drove out of the lot and onto the main street, he said, “I hope you cleared your schedule for the rest of the day.”

  I laughed. “I’m unemployed. I have nothing else to do. We going to your place?”

  “No, yours is closer, and I’m in pain over here.”

  I looked down at the bulge in his pants and my eyes widened. He gave me a sideways glance that was colored with hunger and possessiveness and I was glad my panties would be coming off soon. They were soaked.

  He slammed the door to my condo and fastened the deadbolt, then ripped my purse from my shoulder and tossed it onto the sofa. He turned and faced me, more animalistic hunger dancing in his fiery eyes. I had no doubt mine reflected back the same.

  Pushing me up against the wall, he ran his hand up my bare thigh under my beige skirt and kissed me. I gasped when his hand reached my panties, then I felt him smile. “Ready for me, I see,” he said. He then ran his tongue around the shell of my ear. My body erupted in flames as he began kissing down my neck and his fingers snaked into my panties. I still had on a pair of nude colored pumps so I wiggled my panties off and they dropped to land on top of them. I kicked free of them and giggled.

  With my trembling hands, I unbuttoned his dress slacks and ran the zipper down. Then I reached in and untucked his dress shirt and loosened his tie enough that I could pull them both off over his head. I tossed them to the floor. I ran both hands around to his backside and put my fingers into the waistband of his pants.

  “Fuck, woman, your touch, God…”

  “Shut up,” I said to him, proceeding to crush my mouth back onto his. Placing both meaty hands under my bare ass, he lifted me up and I put both legs around his waist. He carried me to my bedroom and set me down on the bed and ripped my shirt off, then my bra.

  “Damn you’re so gorgeous,” he murmured, pulling his pants off. I gazed down at the large, angry red scar on his right thigh. It extended from above his knee almost to his groin area. Of course I had to keep my gaze traveling north. I hadn’t forgotten how big he was, but it was still a shock to see it spring free. I glanced at it with hooded eyes, then back up to him.

  “You have one and only chance to tell me you don’t want this,” he murmured, staring hungrily at me.

  “Come here,” I said, up on my elbows.

  He climbed onto the bed and pushed my legs apart, sank himself between them, and pushed into me. No condom, nothing this time, and at that moment, I didn’t care one bit. He felt so good stretching me as wide and hot.

  He groaned into my ear as he stroked in and out. I closed my eyes and enjoyed it, meeting his hips thrust for thrust. The buildup was almost too fast and as the wave of ecstasy washed over me, I gripped his body with mine, I cried out. “Oh, my God. Duke, oh… my… Duke…!”

  “Yes, that’s it, baby,” he said between kisses.

  With my neck tilted back and eyes closed, I didn’t see him pull out of me, but I suddenly felt his loss. He flopped onto his back next to me and reached over and grabbed my hip, rolling me on top of him. I placed both feet flat on the bed and smiled down at him as I slowly lowered myself, impaling my wet core onto his thick cock.

  I used that leverage to ride up and down and he stared into my eyes, the storms in his now raging out of control. His breathing was hard and he closed his eyes when I went back down to my knees and stilled on top of him. I slowly leaned forward, brushing my breasts over his hard chest.

  He began to move his hips up and down and I again met his thrusts. I sat up straight and he opened his eyes, both of his large hands covering my small breasts. His thumbs ran over my rock-hard nipples and I groaned. I was going to come again, I could feel it building quickly.

  “I love you,” he breathed out, his eyes trailing from my breasts into my eyes.

  I smiled and panted out, “And I love you. But I think you know that.”

  His eyes closed and his head jerked back into the pillow. “Oh fuck…”

  I felt him stiffen right as my second orgasm hit. I screamed out as I spasmed all over him, riding out the wave. I finally collapsed on his chest, our hips still moving slowly together.

  He wrapped both arms around me and we stayed latched together, breathing heavy. Reaching around to a blanket draped over the side of the bed, he pulled it over us and I closed my eyes, sighing happily.

  Chapter 31

  Duke

  The pretty nurse is in the first thing I see when I open my eyes. She looks down at me with big brown eyes and says, “Welcome back, Sergeant.”

  I squint against the harsh light and confusion, my head feeling foggy. “Where am I?” I groan.

  “Military hospital in Germany, hun.” She is writing on a clipboard.

  The reason I’m in the hospital comes back to me quickly. “I can’t look. Do I still have my leg?”

  She sets the clipboard down and gazes sympathetically at me.

  Shit. No. Fuck. Please no…

  With a coy smile, she flips back the blanket to expose my leg. It is twice the size as the other, and the top half is wrapped in lots of bandages, but it’s still there. I breathe a sigh of relief.

  “Yes, Sarge. You still have your leg. Lucky Dr. Singh was on duty. The guy is a miraculous surgeon. You’ll have a nasty scar and probably a limp, though. He had to take a lot of muscle.”

  I close my eyes. Bye bye, Marine Corps. They’re gonna discharge me. Oh well, I can’t worry about that right now.

  “Thank you, nurse,” I murmur and fall back to sleep.

  Suddenly I’m not in the hospital anymore. I’m on the battlefield again, hiding behind an outcropping of dirty buildings surrounded by sand. My leg is killing me behind my camouflage uniform, but I keep shooting my rifle at the insurgents who are shooting back to us. “We need to get the fuck outta here,” Ellis says next to me as he keeps shooting.

  I shake my head. “No, we kill these bastards first.”

  “No, Duke, come on, we need to go.”

  Right then, Ellis drops to the ground, a bloody round hole in his forehead, his dead eyes open and staring into nothing.

  “No!” I screamed. I bolted upright in my bed and gasped hard. I realized where I was quickly and scrubbed a hand over my beard.

  Rayanne sat up and took the sheet to cover her chest. She rubbed my arm, blinking at me with worry. “Are you okay?”

  I looked into her beautiful eyes and sighed with relief that it was just a dream. I’m not back on the battlefield and Ellis isn’t dead. I need to call that kid and see how he’s doing.

  Nodding at my beautiful woman, I said, “Yes. I am now.”

  It had been two weeks since the trial. We were both glad the ordeal was behind us and we hadn’t spent one night apart, trading nights at each other’s houses. She’d found a job here in Tampa at a law firm who was happy to hire her with all her experience.

  Pushing some of her blonde hair out of her eyes, I laid her back down and covered her body with mine, my mouth gently findin
g hers. I quickly began making love to her for no other reason than I selfishly needed the comfort. Not that I’d ever admit that to her, but somehow I think she knew. She most certainly didn’t protest.

  I waited nervously for the door to open, my hand grasping Rayanne’s. I looked over to her and smiled, and she returned it. My God, she’s so gorgeous, and I can’t believe she puts up with me. I’m so far from perfect, and she’s nothing but. I’m never letting her go. I don’t deserve her, but she doesn’t seem to grasp that.

  A very pregnant Talia opened the door and smiled, brushing a red curl from her forehead. “Hi, Duke!” She widened the door to invite us into the new townhouse she and Ellis shared.

  “Talia, this is my girlfriend, Rayanne Lynch.”

  “Nice to meet you!” Rayanne said cheerfully, smiling at Talia.

  “Duke!” Ellis said, walking into the living room in a pair of dark blue tactical uniform pants and a light blue polo shirt with an official-looking seal on one side of the chest. “E. Anderson” was embroidered on the other side.

  He saw me looking at his clothing and turned a little red. “Sorry. I just got home from work. Make yourselves comfortable, I’m gonna go change.” I shook his hand and nodded.

  Talia led us to the kitchen and dining area where there were fixings for hamburgers, a salad, a fruit plate, and plenty of drinks spread out.

  “This all looks great,” Rayanne said, handing Talia a plate. We had brought our own meat to share.

  “Yes, I love to cook,” she smiled, rolling a hand over her large belly as she took the plate and unwrapped the foil. She began rubbing spices over it with her clean, bare hands.

  “When’s the baby coming?” I asked, taking a handful of barbeque potato chips and popping one into my mouth.

  “Six more weeks,” she replied, smiling.

  “Boy or girl?” Rayanne asked as she sat down.

  Ellis came out wearing shorts and a T-shirt and put his arms around Talia’s belly. “It’s a boy. We don’t have a name yet, because I know that’s going to be your next question.”

  I chuckled. “I see.”

  Ellis picked up a plate of meat, indicating for me to follow him out back to a small but spacious patio that was decorated with planted flowers and shit. A barbeque pit was built into the corner of the yard and the grill was smoking and ready to go. He began placing the meat on the grill and said, “So how are you doing, Duke. I mean, really?”

  “Great. Really and truly. I met Rayanne on a case, because I know that’s going to be your next question.”

  He raised a dark eyebrow, his light blue eyes staring at me. “Seriously? Isn’t that against the rules or something?”

  I laughed, because I was never, ever gonna live it down as long as I was with her. “Yeah, sorta. I was put on a protection detail and fell in love with the victim. The bureau kinda frowns on it.”

  His eyes widened.

  “No, they’re not gonna fire me,” I replied before he could ask.

  “That’s not what shocked me. You said you were in love.”

  I hid my smile, which is all I’ve been doing it seems since Rayanne has been in my life. “So fucking what?”

  Ellis grinned and flipped over one of the steaks, and I watched as he held the spatula with four fingers, since his pinky was missing. He smiled and shook his head. “I’m happy for you.”

  I clapped him on the back. “Thanks, man.”

  He pointed at my mouth. “Where’s the dip? I got some Styrofoam cups in the kitchen if you want one.”

  “I quit.”

  Ellis froze and pretended to bring a two-way radio up to his mouth. “Repeat, over?”

  “Yep. It sucks, but I’m dealing with it. Rayanne doesn’t like the snuff.”

  He was about to pop off a smart retort when the girls came outside carrying drinks. Rayanne had a glass of white wine in her hand, and Talia’s was water. Well, I think it was.

  “Tell me about your new job,” I said to Ellis, sitting down and pulling Rayanne into my lap.

  Ellis eyeballed the gesture but didn’t say anything about it. “Well there’s an agency called Mathis Associates downtown Tampa. They hook up veterans with jobs, counseling, and other stuff.”

  “I know the company,” I interrupted. “We’ve worked with them before. The owner, Harper, is a big veteran’s advocate. They also work with Tampa PD. She’s sent lots of vets their way for jobs.”

  Ellis laughed and closed the lid to the cooker. “I know, she asked if I wanted a job with Tampa PD. I said hell no.”

  “My brother works for them. It’s not so bad,” I said, thinking of Mason.

  He nodded. “I know, but because of my past, I should probably stay away from the streets.”

  “I get it,” I said.

  “So, she got me a job with the federal prison up in Sumter County. It’s been… interesting.”

  “Wow, that’s pretty far from here,” Rayanne said, sipping her wine.

  “Yeah, we are probably gonna have to move closer. We just want to make sure Ellis can handle being around all those criminals.” Talia snorted at her own joke, and looked at Ellis.

  He was trying not to laugh as he pointed the spatula at her. “I’m gonna spank you later for that one.”

  “Promise?” she giggled.

  Wow, and I thought we were disgusting.

  Ellis went on to tell us about his first few months there, and all the interesting prison stories he was already accumulating.

  When dinner was ready, we all sat down and dug in. We really had a good time with them. The best part of the afternoon, though, was the look on Rayanne’s face. She seemed truly at peace. A stark difference from the stressed-out, scared witness I’d met just a couple months ago. Now she looked glowing, happy, and content. I knew the feeling. She had put it there in me.

  As we ate, the doorbell chimed. Talia made to get up and I put my hand on her shoulder and told her to sit. It was probably Mason anyway.

  “Thanks, Duke,” she said, looking relieved.

  I wandered through the house and opened the front door to see my brother standing there. He was still in his dress pants and blue long-sleeved shirt with a navy tie from work.

  He saw me eyeballing him and said, “I just got off work, sorry.”

  I chuckled and opened the door wider. “That’s not the first time I’ve heard that today. Working on a Saturday again?”

  Greeting me with a fist bump, he nodded. “Yeah, had to finish paperwork on a case I’m working.”

  I saw him holding a case of beer in his hand and I relieved him of it. “Everyone’s out back.”

  He followed me to the small back patio and smiled when he saw everyone sitting down to eat.

  Ellis stood and met us at the door. He put his hand out. “Detective Oliver. Nice to see you again.”

  Mason narrowed his green eyes at Ellis and grinned. “It’s Mason. No need to be so formal.”

  Ellis nodded and pointed to his fiancée. “You remember Talia?”

  He went over and put his hand on her shoulder and she patted his hand. “Nice to see you again, under better circumstances this time.” I thought I saw her turn a little pink in her cheeks.

  “Absolutely,” Mason replied with his pretty-boy smile.

  “And finally, this is Rayanne, my girlfriend,” I said proudly, raising my chin a little but still trying to sound cool, but I knew I sounded like a big pussy.

  Rayanne stood and Mason put out his hand, but she launched herself onto him and hugged him.

  He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “Well… nice to meet you.”

  She pulled back and said, “I’m so happy to finally meet you. Duke has nothing but nice things to say about you.”

  Mason raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh really? Because I don’t have anything nice to say about him.”

  Rayanne’s eyes got big. Mason and I started laughing. Talia, Ellis, and Rayanne all froze and stared at us.

  “What?” I asked, look
ing at them all, confused.

  “You guys have the exact same laugh,” Talia said, blinking up at us, her forkful of salad paused at her lips.

  “No, we don’t,” Mason said.

  “Dude. Yeah, you do,” Ellis said. “It’s like twins. Seriously.”

  “We’re not twins.” I raised an eyebrow and used my hand to hover over my head, then his. “See? I’m like two inches taller.”

  Rayanne grabbed my hand and dragged me back over to the table. “Stop being an ass and finish eating.” She pointed at my half-eaten plate, and with her hand still latched to mine, she pulled it up to her mouth and kissed it while staring at me in eye.

  I sucked in a breath and suddenly felt like leaving this party.

  Mason grabbed a plate and filled it with food, then asked if anyone wanted a beer. Ellis and I took him up on it. He sat at the table and set our beers in front of us. He loosened his tie and then flipped it over his shoulder before tucking a napkin into his collar and taking a bite of his hugely loaded burger.

  I saw Rayanne staring at him curiously and I squeezed her hand. “You eyeballin’ my brother?” I whispered, trying to sound like I was joking but I think I may have ended the sentence with a growl.

  She slapped my left thigh with her tiny hand. Then she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “No. I do have a question, though.”

  I was afraid of what she was gonna ask, but I just replied, “Okay…”

  “Why y’all have different last names?”

  Mason wiped his mouth with another paper napkin and took a swig of his beer. “Duke’s sperm donor died in a motorcycle crash right after he was born. Mom met my dad about a year later, had me. Donald Oliver raised us both. Guess I never bothered to ask her why she didn’t change Duke’s name to Oliver.”

  “Because she never got over the dude, that’s why,” I murmured dryly.

  “What?” Mason said.

  All eyes were on us now. “She kept his picture and the newspaper article of his death in a box under her bed. I caught her looking at it and crying a few times as a kid. She even showed me a picture of him. She always said she loved our dad, but was sad that Royal had died.”