Several people in the room laughed, most were shocked by her language.
“Oh, get over it,” Nick added. “Don’t act like it’s the first time you’ve heard it,” he said with a snicker.
“So, you see… Terratech took Uncle Sam’s money to develop TDE-5X and then turned around and made a sales arrangement with this business representing the Chinese government. And, get this, guys, the Terratech executive scumbags weren’t even selling you anything close to the final version. It was one of the first betas that would only encrypt. You were going to pay out the ass for something that wasn’t the correct version. How would you know?” She pointed at Bob and Doyle. “You put your trust in these men, these business representatives, yet, you forgot to factor in the most important aspect. Anyone care to venture a guess?”
The room was silent and then she heard a firm voice say, “Greed.”
She looked out and saw it was her father speaking up. Rather than pointing him out, she said, “Thank you, sir. That is correct.” Gripping the microphone, she stood and paced the floor a bit. “I do believe intention to sell a National Security Council commissioned project to a foreign entity was in violation of several codes. I’m sure the gentlemen from the NSC, CIA, and Homeland Security can explain more, particularly to the gentlemen from Terratech and China who are attempting to slip out.”
Nicole glanced over at Nick. “That only leaves the question of who hired Nick to gather intel only on me, then changed their minds and put a hit on me. An order to kill!”
Nick looked to X29, but he had nothing to say. When Nick threw his hands up, X29 did the same. “I don’t know, Nick. All I do is pass on information.”
He stood and put his body almost in front of her. “Look, no one’s leaving here unless we know who wanted her dead.”
‘I did.”
Every eye in the room fell to Retired Brigadier General Hunt. Nicole’s father.
It was as if her heart had stopped beating at his admission. First, he was responsible for her mother and now this. “Daddy?” she said in a voice that reminded her of the twelve-year-old girl who’d lost her best friend to a hit and run. A hit, as it turned out. “You want me… dead?”
“No, baby,” her father said. “That’s just it. I wanted to keep an eye on you, so I hired The Company to do so. It was strictly intel, following you, keeping you out of harm’s way.”
“So you did let the Terratech and Chinese hit men know we were hiding out at Nick’s cottage?”
“No, honey, I didn’t,” her dad said firmly.
“You were the only one who knew!” Nicole shouted.
The general hung his head in shame. “I screwed up. I accidentally called the Admiral here,” he pointed to his left, “to tell him what was going on and there must have been a wiretap on my regular phone. I don’t know what I was thinking. I was concerned about you, so I wasn’t thinking.”
The idea was plausible to Nicole, but she had to wonder…
“Then, why the kill order?” Nick snapped out as if reading her thoughts. “What about the weapon I received?”
The general snickered. “Son, did you ever really take a good look at the gun the man passed off to you at JFK?”
Nicole wasn’t aware of this exchange, so she deferred to Nick.
“Yes, sir,” Nick responded.
“It was a decoy. A fake with a tranquilizer strong enough to make it appear Nicole was dead if shot with it. After that, if you’d carried out your orders, you would have been instructed as to what to do next, where to take her, and how to revive her.”
Nicole didn’t get this at all. “So, you wanted to fake-kill me?”
“Right,” her father said. “Just as I did with your mother.”
“M-M-M-Mom?” Nick’s warm hand encircled her waist as he must have sensed she needed support through this. “She’s… alive? All these years?”
Her older, bald father nodded with tears filling his eyes. “She’s in London. That’s why I wanted you to meet me there. I could get you away from this nonsense you’d fallen into, and I could finally tell you Anna was all right, safe, secure.
Nicole couldn’t stop the hot flow of tears. She glanced up at Nick. “My mother’s alive. She’s not dead!”
“But why?” Nick asked the general. “Why the lie?”
“To protect her,” he said. “To protect both of them, in fact. A man will go to any length to protect the woman he loves.”
“Yes, sir,” Nick said. “I certainly understand that. However, you owe me a cottage, rather someone does.”
The admiral spoke up. “I’m sure we can do something to make amends.”
The three dozen suited men completed their handcuffing of the Terratech execs and the Chinese men, hauling them out for booking. Confusion ensued as the reporters rushed forward to interview anyone and everyone.
Nick knew this was his cue to get the woman he loved out of there and to safety.
“Let’s go,” he said next to her ear.
Nicole’s eyes synced with her fathers and she mouthed, “I love you.”
He did the same. She was sure right then that once this nightmare blew over, they’d be together. All of them. Her, Nick and her parents. Both of them.
And, she couldn’t wait.
37
Epilogue
Three Months Later, Fiji, South Pacific
Nicole emerged from the sparkling ocean carrying her fins, mask, and snorkel and hefted the empty air tank higher as she made her way over to where Nick was sprawled out sunning himself.
“You missed an amazing dive,” she said, setting her equipment down on the cart next to their chaise loungers.
“You’re not supposed to dive alone,” he noted.
“I wouldn’t have to if you could stand up, walk to the water, and suit up.” She shook her head, tossing her hair about like a dog covering Nick with sprinkles of sea water.
“It’s called relaxing,” he said, lifting a hand over his eyes to block the sun at her back. “Or Kicking back.”
“Wait until we get on that emotional roller coaster ride that includes introducing you to my parents.”
“I can’t wait.”
Nicole reached over and tugged at the tie to his green and blue color blocked swim shorts. Not like either one of them even needed a swimsuit since they were on their own private, secluded beach with a bungalow stretching right over the water. For the moment, her life was everything she’d ever imagined it could be, except ten times better because she and Nick were together, happy, and in love. And not looking over their shoulders or dodging bullets.
“Are you serious?”
He lifted his hand over his eyes and squinted at her. “Why do find that so hard to believe?”
She lowered on top of him, pressing her chest to his.
“Yes, I do,” she said in a low purr as her right hand made its way down between their warm bodies. When her fingers easily worked into his shorts, wrapping around his thick erection. “It’s definitely hard.”
Nick lavished a hot, wet kiss on her smiling lips, dipping his tongue deep into her mouth to taste the sweetness of her he always found there.
She broke away from the kiss and pushed herself up to stand over him. She extended her arms out to him and pulled him up off the beach chair.
“I do believe it’s fuck-thirty,” she said with a giggle.
Nick lifted his chin and frowned a bit.
“What, babe?”
He winked at her with his eyes that matched the color of the water. “I prefer the term ‘make love o’clock’.”
Her heart fluttered underneath her bikini top, and she felt so much love for him.
“Whatever you want to call it. Just don’t stop,” she said, tugging him toward the pier leading out to the bungalow.
He tickled her and started chasing her as she tried to run up ahead. But, Nick caught her and swiftly picked her up in his arms, carrying her the rest of the way to their accommodations.
; Billowy white curtains lifted in the gentle breeze bringing the scent of the ocean straight into their bedroom. All around, the windows were gone. They were one with nature, the sea, and everything around them on this perfectly peaceful island paradise.
Nick plopped her down in the middle of the giant bed and crawled up toward her. She was wearing a red, flimsy excuse of a bikini that barely left anything to the imagination. However, he didn’t need one because he knew every nook and cranny of her body, intimately, up close, and personally. The thong bottoms scarcely covered her mound and separated her round and firm ass cheeks with the mere thought of a string he couldn’t even see.
Nick reached around and made short work of the tie behind her neck holding up the bikini top. Feeling it slip away, Nicole’s pussy prickled fiercely waiting for the next touch from him.
“Such gorgeous tits,” he whispered against her skin. “So tanned and full. Perfect for me.”
Nicole gasped when Nick’s cold hand boldly caressed her breast bringing her nipples instantly to attention.
“Why are your hands so cold and wet?”
An evil grin crossed his face, and he showed her the small ice cube he was holding. He pulled it across her buds, crinkling up tighter and tighter thanks to the cold sensation. She enjoyed the ripple of pleasure from his learned fingers moving over her and causing a shooting star of fire down to her cunt. She could spend the rest of her life just having this man touch her to the point of making her pussy clench, soak, and beg for attention.
Nick rolled next to her and bent a soft kiss on her lips. “You’re more beautiful than anything, Nic.” He continued to flicker at and twirl her nipple with his fingertip.
And, just like that, with simple and quiet words, she wanted him. She always wanted him almost since the very moment she’d run into him and seen those cerulean eyes smile at her. He gave her courage, confidence, a tightrope balance of danger and protection all at once. Because of that, she wanted to show him her own tribute and love. When Nicole had seen Nick’s massive cock in that bathroom, she’d wanted it in her mouth often.
She laid him back on the bed and crawled over to straddle his hips. She pressed her palm against the fly of his bathing shorts with an immediate reaction from his solid as a rock erection begging to be set free from the confines of the swimwear. She danced her fingers over him and went to work on the elastic waistband, slowly—torturously so—dragging the trunks down to free his straining cock she longed to wrap her lips and tongue around.
Nicole couldn’t hold back anymore. Nick couldn’t either. He laced his hands through her hair and steered her toward the tent pole of his, waving tall for her to attend to. First, she licked him up one side with her tongue, wetting the still-growing cock with saliva, and down the other side doing the same. Pre-cum eased out from the top of his dick, so she slurped that right up before engulfing his entire erection deep into her mouth. She slid his cock from side to side in her mouth to drive him crazy. His cock was still just as impressive as the first time she’d caught sight of it. Although now, she knew everything she needed to know to work with his more than ample size.
She took in more of him. Balls deep, with the tip of his cock reaching the back of her throat. She sucked and kissed, nipping him ever so lightly with her teeth and causing him to groan and hiss.
“Jesus, Nic.”
Removing her lips for a second, she smiled up at him and hummed.
“I can’t let you do all the work,” he said through clenched teeth. Besides, he didn’t want to come without her. Pulling from her sweet lips, he moved in, letting his finger work its way into the triangle of fabric covering her, and slid into her slick, slippery, and flinching pussy. Always ready for him as if she were made for his hands. “I love the way you get so fucking wet for me.”
She sighed out, “I’m yours, Nick.”
“Yes. And you have a way of making me lose All. Fucking. Control,” he told her.
His fingers worked at spreading the lips of her pussy farther and farther apart so he could insert a second… then a third finger inside of her, fitting snugly. It drove him wild, that sensation of the pads of his fingers as it moved inside her and found that spot that always caused her to become completely lost in the moment.
Nicole moaned at how his kisses speared through her like liquid, molten lava from the surface of the sun to sear and brand her as his forever. She was soaked in the passion, the friction, and the pleasure of his finger dance.
Nick flipped positions and spread her legs wide, almost flat on the bed. He did away with his shorts stuck around his knees and then moved over her in a powerful pose. He positioned his cock at the entrance of her pussy and release a deep breath as her slick lubrication provided a welcome to his invasion.
“Don’t make me wait anymore, Nick,” she pleaded with him in a husky voice. “Please make love to me.”
Together they rode the wave until both their bodies peaked together, a truce in their battle of furious passion, hitched breath and tightness in their chests from the overload of love that burst forth.
They’d been through the ringer together and had made it to the other end. Secure in each other. Trusting. And, yes… loving.
The orgasm ripped through her quickly in a shattering light of satisfaction like she’d never known before. As soon as she let go, Nick followed suit, emptying himself into her with a hot brand that said she was his forever.
Holding hands, Nicole turned to him and made an admission. “You know what I’ve never done?”
His eyes grazed over her face, and he smiled. “We already did that on the plane.”
“No, silly. Not that. I’ve never said ‘I love you’ so many times.”
He studied her for a moment and smiled softly. “I’ve never enjoyed hearing it until now, so we’re golden.”
“And skinny dipping. I haven’t tried that yet,” she added, to lighten the mood.
“There’s no secret club for that.”
“Not that I know of, but we could start a trend.”
With no effort or notice, Nick pulled her up off the bed into his arms again. He carried her out of their bedroom and onto the porch of their bungalow. Not even bothering to use the ladder into the water, he jumped in feet first.
Nicole squealed until her head was under water. They both swam to the surface, and when she popped up, she screamed and splashed water toward his face.
“A little more notice would have been nice, but I kinda like it.”
He reached for her and wrapped her legs around him while supporting them both. “You’re just as cute naked in the water as in my bed… our bed.”
“So are you,” she said, kissing him hard on the mouth, their tongues tangling. “You might always want to protect me, Nick. However, I will always enjoy the way you make me smile.”
His blue eyes sparkled at her, outshining the ocean itself. “I’m sure you will too, baby. I expect it,” he said and then took a nip at her neck. “And just so you know… I love you more. Every. Fucking. Day.”
“Awwww.” Nicole lowered her arm into the water and grasped his still-hard cock. “Morning, noon and night, baby.”
With that, he pulled her into the warm ocean for an underwater kiss.
What they had was everything they’d ever wanted.
Raw. Real.
Fast. Furious.
Lustful and loving.
He wasn’t letting her go. Ever.
The End.
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Author’s Notes
The story of how this book came about!
The first few thousand words of Protection was originally a prequel written and published by Kendra Wild under th
e title Badass Part 1.
Then, Kendra and Jay thought, hey, we should finish this story together. After that, Savannah Knight came into the picture, and as a team, they finished the story.
Three heads went into the making of this story, and we hope you loved it!
Protection is full-length (63,000 words) standalone with no cliffhanger and a guaranteed happy ever after ending.
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Protection Page 20