Guarding Lauren: Brotherhood Protectors World (Texas Guardians Book 1)

by Barb Han

  “You think I like this? You think I want any of this?” Frustration had her blinking back tears and her voice quivering as a look of repulsion crossed her face. If pressed, Jaden would have to admit he didn’t like being the one who put it there.

  “They’re going to kill my brother now, and it’s because of you,” she said.

  “Just how do you figure that?”

  “They told me to bring money to buy him back. That’s what I was doing. Until you came along and messed it up.” She folded her arms across her chest.

  “Unless being kidnapped and probably killed was part of your plan, then you should be glad I ruined it, sweetheart,” he said. “Besides, we’ll find them.”

  “How? How on earth will we do that out here?” Lauren’s eyes were intent on the man in front of her.

  He glanced at the bag.

  “They get the money?” His voice was dark, edgy and commanding. No question he was used to being the one in control.

  “No.”

  “Then they’ll find us. Besides, your brother’s still alive.” His confidence was a little shocking under the circumstances and she was caught off guard by how much of a pull it was.

  “How could you possibly know that?”

  A slow smile spread across lips far too full for a face of sharp planes and hard angles. “This is not my first rodeo.”

  “Why would you help him? Me? Is that why you were hired?”

  “I catch bad guys for governments and private agencies. It’s what I do,” he said.

  This was his job. He was a professional. That she knew. What she couldn’t figure out was if he would help her or hurt her. She wasn’t sure if she should fight him or thank him.

  Best she could figure was he’d just saved her life. It was the first time in years someone had come to her rescue and taken care of her. And it felt nice to know someone had her back—a dark knight with sex appeal in buckets. She couldn’t deny the flicker of attraction she’d felt the second she set eyes on him. But, he was the one with the gun.

  “Thank you for helping me earlier,” she finally said.

  “We’re safe,” he said. “For now.”

  “What’s going to happen to my brother?” She hated the quiver in her voice.

  A thump threw her forward. Panic gripped her as the engine ku-clunked before dying.

  “What was that?” she asked.

  His hands went to work on the controls. “A bad sign.”

  The engine whirred but didn’t catch. He picked up the binoculars and scanned the area. “We can’t stay here. You know how to swim?”

  “Yes.”

  “In the ocean?” he asked.

  “There a difference?” she shot back.

  “In the water, your clothes will turn to lead weights in a matter of minutes. I have no idea how long we’ll be swimming. But I’m certain of two things. Stay here and you’ll die. Wear those and you’ll drown.”

  His shirt was off and crumpled on the floor. His muscled chest glistened from the light rain as he dug around in the scuba gear. He examined a wetsuit. “This should be the right size for you.”

  He tossed the material toward her.

  She shot him a look. “You expect me to put this on right here?”

  “You see a dressing room?”

  “Fine. Then turn around,” she said stiffly, before turning to face opposite him.

  “Nothing I haven’t seen before, sweetheart.”

  Feeling more vulnerable than she wanted to admit, she slipped off her pale green tank top. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck pricked as she slid her skirt down past her hips and turned just in time to catch Jaden boldly staring at her.

  Breath stalled in her throat. She stepped out of her skirt. Her heart thudded against her ribcage.

  “I told you not to look.” She covered herself with the wetsuit.

  He grinned a devastating little grin, saying nothing.

  “Besides, how do I know you’re not working for one of those jerks?”

  He stepped closer, using his large frame to crowd her against the side of the boat. “You really think I’m the kind of man who does other people’s dirty work?”

  She jolted at the nearness of his voice. He was so close now she could smell the woodsy scent of his aftershave. For the first time she was keenly aware of just how tall he was. He had to be at least six-feet-three, maybe more. Standing this close to her, he nearly dwarfed her frame at five-feet-four.

  “No.” She didn’t think that. If Jaden Dean had dirty work to do, he did it for himself. “I don’t know what kind of man you really are.”

  “You don’t need to.” He didn’t lack confidence and maybe that was part of the draw to him.

  “If you’re trying to scare me,” she said, “it won’t work.”

  “I supposed you’re not trembling, either.”

  Frustration shot through her, because damn it, he was right. Refusing to give an inch, she shot back, “I’m cold.”

  “Try again.”

  Chapter 5

  With shaky fingers she zipped her wetsuit. Thank God he’d turned back to the pile of equipment, no doubt searching for anything useful. She needed a second to pull it together and calm her rattled self.

  “I never could figure this thing out.” She hated how uneven her voice sounded as she pointed to her buoyancy control vest.

  “Tighten it here.” He moved closer, his tone dropping an octave. His finger brushed across her stomach, causing heat to swirl low in her belly. “Should be snug across here but not too tight under the arms.”

  Lauren slipped on her weight belt, followed by her tank, ignoring the sensations igniting her nervous system from his slightest touch. He was dark and dangerous, and he’d just saved her life. Her body was simply reacting to that. “I don’t know anything about you aside from your name.”

  “No. You don’t.” he tanked up without breaking rhythm; his gruff tone suggested they were done talking. “If you want to stay alive, you’d better follow me.”

  She clutched her overnight bag.

  “You can’t swim with that.”

  Panic widened her eyes. “This is everything I have. There’s no more. I told you. If I don’t bring this my brother’s dead. I have to—”

  “You give them that and it’s game over, you die.” As if to punctuate his sentence, Jaden picked up his gun and fired off a round into the water, emptying the chamber, and then tossed the clip overboard before securing his gun back inside his wetsuit.

  “What did you just do?” she asked.

  “Bullets on a Glock and water don’t mix,” was all he said. Then came, “and I’m serious about losing the bag.”

  Lauren flinched as she set it down, cleared her throat, and positioned herself on the edge of the boat, preparing for the backward spiral into the water. The sound of an engine roared in the distance. Panic gripped her. The men were getting closer.

  If they got the money, would they kill Max?

  “Hold on.” She grabbed the fire extinguisher, tied it onto her piece of luggage, and tossed it overboard. “This might buy Max a little more time if they find the boat.”

  Standing there, watching her life savings sink into the water, her heart seized.

  Jaden nodded approvingly, and that same heart stuttered. She shouldn’t care what this man thought.

  She reclaimed her seat and noticed that the vessel was taking on water. Normally, the water in the Caribbean was like glass, providing a clear view to the sand below, but the storm-churned seas had her diving in blind.

  She leaned back, splashed into the water and then righted herself in order to swim.

  When they’d gone a great distance, thumbs up, Jaden gave the signal to ascend.

  Waves broke over her head. Rain came down in buckets, dropping visibility down to a few feet. All she could see was water.

  “What’s going on?” She had to shout to be heard over the howling wind, terror vibrating her tone.

  Jaden raked his
fingers through his hair. “We’ll figure something out.”

  Rolling, dark clouds swelled overhead and panic caused her heart to thump wildly.

  “Inflate your BC.” His voice was controlled, providing a small measure of comfort while Lauren was freaking out.

  “Right.” Good idea. Her buoyancy control device would make her float, keeping her on top of the water without her wasting valuable energy. Lauren located the knob and squeezed the inflator button a couple of bursts. She pushed her legs forward, flattened her back, and allowed herself a moment to get her bearings.

  “I probably shouldn’t even care. I mean, I know what he is.” She didn’t respect her brother. How could she? But he hadn’t always been like this.

  “He was my hero when we were kids. He saved me from a lot of bad things.” He’d done so much for her. Why couldn’t she save him back?

  Jaden’s expression changed as he studied her. He seemed to pick up on the implication she made. His pupils dilated as though angry and his lips thinned. “He saved you from things or people?”

  “People. It’s the real reason I came here.” Compared to young Max, Superman was just a silly-looking guy in a cape.

  A moment of silence sat between them.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll get to him. I promise.” Jaden’s hand went up, his expression set with more determination than ever. “The direction of the wind should help blow us ashore—”

  “Which way is that?”

  Jaden pointed, seemed sure of himself, but how he could tell was anybody’s guess.

  A sinking feeling swelled inside Lauren’s stomach.

  At least her wetsuit provided some measure of insulation against the elements. But without the sun, even seventy-degree water caused a chill to goose bump both of her arms in her short-sleeved wetsuit.

  Jaden set his jaw. “We can swim at right angles to the wind to bring us closer to shore.”

  “How far is that?” Lauren wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to that question. The chilly wind was already causing a reaction in her body. Her nerves were shot. Adrenaline wore thin.

  “Hard to tell.”

  Maybe he didn’t want to say.

  “I need you to trust me. We’ll be okay.”

  Trust?

  Lauren couldn’t remember the last time she’d believed in someone else.

  Random thoughts came into Jaden’s head as he swam. Not of dying though, despite the circumstances. The water wasn’t too cold. The real struggle was to keep morale up. Keep Lauren moving forward. Once they got to safety, they’d retrieve her brother and Jaden would send them both home. Case closed.

  When she’d told him her brother had saved her from bad people—and by people he instantly knew she meant men—rage flared inside him at the thought that someone might have hurt her. His protective instincts jumped to high alert and he wanted her to know he would never hurt her.

  It was a promise he knew he couldn’t keep. Similar to the beers he and Bryce had committed to having back there on the beach.

  Jaden’s line of work didn’t allow for keeping promises. Ask Smith’s wife. Or Helena.

  Guilt knifed his chest.

  This was an assignment. It was his job to watch over Lauren and find out if she was involved with her brother. She was an asset. He shouldn’t let her get inside his head.

  Checking his watch, he realized they’d been swimming well over an hour.

  Her spirits were sagging, and keeping them up until they reached safety would be the bigger challenge. Not to mention the fact that the longer they stayed in the ocean, the closer that hurricane would get. They needed to get out before conditions worsened. Jaden could see Lauren was trying to put up a brave front. It stirred a place deep inside him.

  Not that it nattered now, she was getting weak. He needed to maintain focus.

  As Jaden pulled a torch and scanned the surface, he located ridges jutting out of the water. “Over there. Rocks.” He pointed. A break would give Lauren time to regroup. They couldn’t stay long.

  Up close, the island looked more like headstones flagging a watery grave.

  But then, there were worse things to be afraid of than death.

  Lauren’s voice broke through as she pointed directly at him. She must’ve found a rock, or the base of the incline. Panic etched lines in her face, the whites of her eyes the only things glowing in the ever-darkening sky.

  “A wave!” she shouted.

  Jaden forced himself to face forward as water tugged at him from behind, meaning one thing—a huge swell pulled him backward.

  Jaden scrambled on top of the surf, looked up in time to see he was being pulled away from Lauren. The rain was coming down hard, and he struggled to focus his eyes. If anything happened to him, Lauren would be alone. Defenseless. On a freaking rock. Anger balled up and lodged in his chest.

  Rain pounded on the water, causing salt to splash up and burn his eyes. He was getting close as he strained to get a good look. There she stood. Dripping with water in the haze of rain between them, he could see her silhouette.

  Her gasp echoed through driving rain. Jaden glanced up as a huge swell sucked him back.

  Completely consumed by the swell, an explosion of energy burst through Jaden’s chest, vibrating to the ends of his body.

  Then darkness.

  Pain rifled through Jaden’s legs and up his spine until his entire body ached to the point of constant, dull throbbing. He shifted on the rock. Rain pelted his cheeks as the wind howled. He squinted. A fog thicker than the storm clouds overhead clouded his mind. He couldn’t focus.

  What had happened?

  A memory cut through his mind’s haze in the way a fin slices waves. A stab of pain. His knee. Pain aside, all his body parts seemed to be in order. He remembered slamming into a rock.

  He squinted an eye open through the burn.

  Lifting his head brought blinding pain to his neck as both hands went to his face, and he used the butts of them to hammer his forehead. A salty, dry coating covered his tongue.

  He recalled the wave. It probably had slammed his leg into a rock.

  And Lauren. Where was Lauren? He had to find her.

  Damn it. He’d known it was a risky move using the radio back on the boat. The cartel had most likely pinpointed their location because of the transmission and that move had cost them their boat.

  He needed to get a message to Gunner to let his boss know that he was safe. The boat they’d used earlier was most likely at the bottom of the sea by now.

  A wild thought struck. Could someone inside the agency have given away his position? The same mole that had cost Tim and Smith their lives? Considering every possibility was habit even though he feared he was becoming too cynical. This job was beginning to weigh on him.

  Stretching out his foot and groaning from pain, he heard a hammering sound bite through the howling wind. What was that? A plane. No. A chopper. Sounded like a chopper.

  He popped to his feet, but his bad knee gave and landed him hard on his backside. His people would be scouting the seas for him by now.

  “Here! Down here!” he shouted, the words bouncing off the thick clouds above and back down to him.

  Ignoring the pain, he shouted again as he patted himself down looking for another flare. He’d had two but found nothing.

  The roar of the engine faded.

  By now, the chopper was too far. A flare wouldn’t help. He railed against the urge to spew out another round of swear words. Besides, what good would it do? He’d still be hurt. Stranded.

  Damn.

  His best chance to get to safety had disappeared into the clouds.

  Thunder clapped in the sky.

  What the hell happened to Lauren? The thought of her lying somewhere bleeding racked his insides.

  A quick scan of the area provided no reassurances, no sign of her.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Jaden caught something move by a nearby boulder.

  He scrambled to his feet but couldn�
�t make out what was bobbing up and down in the water.

  Chapter 6

  “Thank goodness you’re alive,” Lauren said, looking relieved as she rounded the corner, rushing to get closer to Jaden.

  He couldn’t admit to himself just how happy seeing her made him and it was more than just for work reasons. Her intelligence, determination and devotion to her family had hit him in a place he thought long dead. Her beauty only added to the equation. “Seems that way.”

  “I was so worried when I couldn’t wake you,” she admitted. The concern in her eyes—concern for him—was another thing he shouldn’t allow to bring light into that dark place inside his soul.

  Taking a step forward, his foot slipped on loose rocks. He caught the top of a big boulder to steady himself. His dry mouth reminded him dehydration was swallowing him, all the water around a constant reminder of an insatiable thirst. Nothing fit to drink. His stomach was tight, queasy. He could only imagine how torn up he must look, especially if his insides were any kind of gauge.

  “Sit down,” she urged.

  “How’d you get me here?” He opened his mouth and tried to catch raindrops on his tongue to ease the dryness, still unable to admit to himself how much his heart danced from the sight of her.

  “I managed,” she said.

  “Are you crazy, coming after me like that?” She must’ve dragged him out of the water and fifteen feet away from the edge.

  “What choice did I have? You saved my life, remember? It was the least I could do for you. Besides, you’re bleeding.” More of that concern came through but he looked away before it could seed.

  Leaning back, he summed up his injuries as nothing more than a few scratches. “Not bad.”

  “You won’t be walking for a while.”

  “This? No. I’m fine. A few scrapes.” He brought his hand to his forehead, wincing in pain as the movement dulled his aching body. If he were honest, the sight of her calmed more than his physical aches and pains. But that was ridiculous. They’d barely met.

  Still, for half a second he wondered if she felt the emotion tethering them together with an invisible electric line as much as he did. The charges of electricity that came with it? He needed to get the conversation on the right track. “Did anything stand out with Max’s phone call? Do you recall any noise in the background?”