Sky smiled, suddenly happier and lighter than she'd been in… well, in a very long time. She spun on her heel and headed down the small hallway. A soft illumination filtered through the hall into Kadey's room. Kadey had kicked off her blankets. Sky crept in and pulled them up over her daughter. She dropped her head for a moment and whispered a prayer of thanks. Sky leaned over and brushed a kiss on Kadey's forehead before she backed out of the room. She almost closed the door but left it open enough that Kadey could see the hallway nightlight.
The old hardwood floor in the hall creaked and moaned when she and Kadey walked down it, but Kaeden's step hadn't made a sound. Sky had no idea how Kaeden walked so softly.
Sky paused at her bedroom door. Kaeden lay on her bed wearing only black briefs. She let her eyes feast on his body. Wide shoulders, thick arms, a muscled chest and tight cut abs. A dark happy trail ran from the hair on his chest to below his waistband. His cock pushed the material of his briefs out in an obvious statement of arousal. His thick muscled legs flexed as he lifted one knee. "Is she sleeping?"
His words broke Sky's trance-like observation of his body. She smiled and pushed her door closed. "She is."
Kaeden extended his hand and Sky took it. She gave a small laugh. "Is it strange that I'm nervous?"
Kaeden rose to his knees. Even with him kneeling on the bed, he was taller than she was. He pulled her to his chest and took control of her mouth. This time she met his tongue and let herself explore the man she once knew so well. She luxuriated in the feel of his hands against her. He broke the kiss and slid her t-shirt over her head.
Immediate embarrassment flooded her. The old bra she wore was ugly and utilitarian at best-a cheap knock-off brand that had long outlived its purpose. Kaeden dropped the straps from her shoulders and kissed her collarbone as he deftly unhooked the fasteners, dropping the material to the floor. He leaned back on his heels and raked his gaze over her. "My God, you are so beautiful."
Sky lowered her eyes. She wasn't. She was average on her best day. Kaeden reached out and tipped up her chin with his fingers. She met his gaze-barely. His eyes softened as if he understood her reticence. He lowered into another all-encompassing kiss. Sky pushed into his body. He controlled the descent onto the bed and rolled her under him. She arched into every touch. His lips traced the most sensitive spots as he mapped her body, first by touch, then by kisses. Her jeans and panties disappeared, as did his briefs. Their combined need built into a heat that would not be denied, a flashpoint turning the smoldering embers that had lain banked for two years into a blazing inferno. Kaeden moved away and reached toward the nightstand where he'd left his wallet. Sky heard the crinkle of the package and put her hand on his arm. "I'm sterile. When Kadey was born, there were complications, and the doctors had to take everything. I had a complete hysterectomy. Then I was tested for everything under the sun when they assumed I could donate blood to Kadey. I haven't been with anyone since."
"You didn't say anything when we met in Davis." He held himself over her, his eyes searching her face.
"Yeah, well, not sure how I could tell you without telling you about Kadey." Kaeden would never have known about their daughter…
Kaeden dropped lower and kissed her before he spoke, "Our time together cost you so much."
Sky heard the emotion in his voice even though he dropped his gaze and denied her a view into his soul.
"No, our time together gave me everything. Kadey is my world." Sky reached up and wound her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck.
Kaeden moved slightly and centered himself between her legs. She loved the feel of his weight against her. His big frame dwarfed her. She could feel the heat of his cockhead at her core. She arched her hips to encourage him to move. He held his body over hers, and their eyes locked as his girth split and entered her. Sky's eyes rolled back in her head, or at least she thought they did. The heat and size of his cock as he slowly entered her was just as good, no… better… than her memories.
He stopped once he'd thrust as deep as he could, their bodies merged as close together as humanly possible. He wrapped his arms under her shoulders and cradled her into his chest. "I'm not going to last. You feel too good." He lowered into a slow kiss, his tongue mimicking the movements of his cock. Sky wrapped her arms and legs around him, absorbing the blissful feeling that permeated every cell in her body. He leaned to one side and slid his arm down from her shoulder to her waist, and then to her thigh. He gripped it gently and lifted her leg. The change in position sent a shower of sparks cascading through her like an arc of light in an abyss that had been dark for far too long.
"Yes. There!" Sky's eyes popped open, and her hushed whisper was instinctual and unstoppable.
"Yeah, you like that, babe?"
Kaeden's hips moved again as he thrust and Sky gasped. "Yes! Oh, God, please don't stop."
"Not stopping," Kaeden repeated the move and Sky bit his shoulder instead of screaming. That cascade of sparks morphed into a consuming explosion of white-hot heat. She bucked against him, her limbs tightened and her core clenched against the intensity of her orgasm.
She held on as he lost control and slammed into her, chasing his own release. He arched and with his mouth opened in a silent shout reached his climax. The taut muscles of his neck, shoulders, and chest were flush from his effort. Sky wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down on top of her. She couldn't let him see the emotions that were running through her. She wouldn't let him know how much being with him again meant to her. She'd promised him it was just sex. Only it had never been 'just sex' with Kaeden. It was so much more. It always had been… at least for her.
He hefted his weight off her and rolled to his side pulling her against his heated skin. She allowed herself a moment to snuggle into his strength, to pretend that tonight would last forever. Besides, the only person she was hurting was herself. Right?
Chapter Six
Kadey yawned widely and cuddled into his shoulder. Her eyes drooped and closed but didn't stay shut. "One more story?"
Anubis pulled the sweet, just bathed scent of his little girl into his lungs and locked its memory into the vault of things he wanted to remember forever. He sat on her twin bed with his legs stretched out over the pink satin comforter as he read a second bedtime story to her. They'd had a quiet day, which Anubis assumed was the norm. Kadey tired easily, and her short bursts of energy were followed by naps. Sky had been on the phone off and on all day working with the hospital to schedule the surgery. The credit card he'd provided for her to use for medical expenses not covered by her insurance had paved the arduous, twisting road that Sky had to traverse through the hospital's accounting department.
Anubis pulled Kadey into a hug and kissed her hair. "Only one more." He heard the house telephone ring and glanced out the window at the darkness. It was too late for the hospital's office workers to be calling. Kadey yawned again and pointed to another Dr. Seuss book stacked beside the bed. "That one, Daddy."
He never wanted to forget the feeling that went through him every time Kadey called him 'Daddy'-another remembrance to be locked away in his memory vault. "You got it." He removed her book out of the middle of the pile as Sky appeared at the door.
"There is a Mr. Ben Gall on the phone for you?" Sky walked in and held out her hand for the book. "He said it was important. I'll get her settled."
Anubis handed off the book and leaned down, giving Kadey a kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight, squirt."
"Goodnight, Daddy."
He watched as Sky slid into his space and opened the book. She started quoting the words without looking at the page. Instead, her eyes traveled to him. Worry and fear were easy to read in her expression. Anubis winked at her and gave her a smile, hoping to relieve some of her concerns.
He checked his cell phone to make sure the house was secure before he picked up the phone.
"Go ahead."
"We have a problem." Bengal's voice grated across the connection. "Standby for Alpha."
Anubis listened to the distant clicks before Jacob King's voice came across the line. "Alpha."
"The phone is unsecure, sir. We have one minute left before triangulation is possible."
"Copy all. Asset Six Four Nine, the medical office you went to this morning was destroyed. Arson. The employees in the facility when you were processed are dead. Intel tells us one was tortured."
"They did not have my identity." Anubis ran scenarios through his head, but more questions than answers appeared.
"They have the patient's information." Bengal's woman came over the line. "Someone accessed the hospital's medical system from the clinic's IP address five minutes before the fire alarms went off. They know. On the receiving end, the clinic used the patient's name to flag the file on the blood workup for her doctor. Anyone with a browser and half a brain can figure out your blood types are a match. Her identity was compromised, that means you're all in jeopardy." Jewell's fast explanation turned Anubis's blood into ice. He glanced up when he heard Sky walk down the hall.
"When was she compromised?"
"Forty-seven minutes ago." Bengal's voice announced.
"Orders?" Anubis snapped the question.
Alpha responded, "Safeguard your family. Get clear of there and then access the Gateway at Fairfield."
"Affirmative." Fuck. Forty-seven minutes. The fuckers could be outside now.
"A familiar will make contact." Alpha's comment registered a second before Anubis heard Alpha click off. He dropped the landline into its cradle. He snapped his head to meet Sky's worried look. "Is she asleep?"
"Yeah, within seconds of you walking out here. She was exhausted. Why?"
"You need to get a bag for you and for Kadey. We need to leave. Now."
"What? Why? What's wrong?" Sky moved only when he grabbed her arm and pulled her into her bedroom.
"The people who drew my blood yesterday were murdered, and the clinic was torched. They don't have my information, but whoever killed them have accessed the file with Kadey's name on it. They are either on their way here, or they are outside as we speak. Now, move!"
"She needs the operation. We can't leave! Why would someone murder those people? Who would do that? Why would they do that?" Sky's face turned an ashy white, and she grabbed his arm.
Anubis palmed her cheek in his hand. "Listen to me, Sky. Kadey will have the best care my agency can provide her, but first, we have to get out of here. You have three minutes." Anubis pulled her in and kissed her hard before he turned off the lights in the front room. To her credit, Sky flew down the hallway as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He pulled back the blinds enough to see outside the house. There were no new cars on the street, but that didn't mean a damn thing. He checked his phone again. The security measures he'd placed around the house hadn't been compromised.
Anubis headed down the hall and watched as Sky grabbed several changes of clothes for herself. She threw her clothes in a large duffle bag along with a quick swipe of her and Kadey's toiletries off the bathroom vanity. Sky stopped at a cabinet and pulled out a large sheath of papers. Glancing over at Kaden she whispered, "A copy of her medical records."
She slowed down after shoving the documents into the bottom of the duffle. Sky walked into Kadey's room quietly and carefully opened Kadey's dresser drawers, pulling out clothes for the little girl. Once done, she stuffed a stack of books from Kadey's nightstand into the bag and grabbed the teddy bear she'd been holding last night and a ragged looking cat he'd seen Kadey hug when she was tired. She headed out of the room into the hall where she grabbed Kadey's jacket and hers. Sky turned in a complete circle and scanned the area. Finally, she looked up at him, "I'm ready." She dropped the bag at the foot of Kadey's bed.
"Where is your phone?"
Sky patted her back pocket and pulled out the pay as you go phone. Anubis dropped it to the floor and put the heel of his boot through the device.
Kaeden's phone vibrated in his hand. "Fuck. Sky, listen to me. Stay in here and do not open that door unless you hear my voice. Take this. When someone answers, tell them six-four-nine has made contact and then hang up." Kaeden's urgent whisper fell around her, heavy and uncomfortable.
"What? Why?" Fear climbed her spine like a fat spider-one slow hairy leg at a time.
"Repeat it for me, Sky."
"Six-four-nine has made contact."
"And then you hang up."
Sky swallowed heavily and nodded her understanding.
In a practiced fashion that made her think he'd done it many times, Kaeden unhooked his belt buckle and pulled a long multi-strand wire from the wrong side of the belt. The ends were plastic coated. He wrapped the coil around his hand, tucking the ends, so they stayed in place. After buckling his belt back in place, he reached down into his boot and pulled out a wicked looking knife.
"Kaeden? What's going on?" Sky shivered and glanced back at Kadey.
He entered a number into the phone and handed it to her. "Stay here. Don't come out."
Sky opened her mouth to object but snapped her mouth shut before she uttered a sound. He left the room and silently shut the door.
"Operator Two-Five-Two." What was it with the numbers?
"Six-four-nine has made contact." Sky hung up as directed and leaned against the thick wood of the door. She pressed her ear to the crack where the wood met the doorjamb ,hoping to hear what was going on. She heard a muffled scuffle that lasted for far too long, and then nothing for what seemed like an eternity. Sky turned around and slid down the door.
A loud thud resounded and then the sound of glass crashing to the floor. She looked over her shoulder, but Kadey slept soundly. Sky pressed closer to the door. She heard the low rumble of male voices, then nothing.
The indicators for the front door changed from green to red. They hadn't made it inside by the time he eased down the hall. He avoided the middle floorboard that squeaked and stepped over another that popped and rubbed. He glanced at his phone again and pocketed it. If they were coming in any other venue than the front door, he'd deal with it later.
He stood behind the door, watched, and listened as someone manipulated the lock. A final twist freed the mechanism, but Anubis knew from experience the front door stuck. He moved just as someone shouldered the heavy oak door. The first person through the door stumbled, and Anubis flew into action. He grabbed the man by the neck and pulled him forward, sending him to the floor. He slammed his fist into the second man's throat, pulled him forward into the first man and kicked the door shut. The second man lunged at Anubis's legs, but a sharp kick to the nose dropped him into a heap. The first man raised a gun. The coiled garrote snaked from his hand, and Anubis whipped the wire, wrapping it around the barrel of the weapon. He pulled back, bringing the gun and man toward him. His knee and the man's head met. Anubis wrapped the garrote around the second man's throat. "Who sent you?" He hissed the words out and tightened the wire. The man clawed at his throat, gasping for air. Anubis felt rather than saw the first man move. A flash of silver was his only indication. He spun and yanked his human body armor directly in front of the knife that flew his direction. The knife buried itself to the hilt in the man's chest. Anubis dropped, bringing the dead man with him. He raised his knife and flung it back at the man who didn't have the intelligence to take cover. At such close quarters, there was no way he could miss. The motherfucker died before his head hit the floor.
Fucking bastard, now he had no answers. Anubis pushed the heavy son of a bitch off him and started to stand. A rush of heavy footsteps dropped him down again. The new attacker flew over him. Anubis grabbed his foot and yanked him back, pulling him off balance. Diving onto the man's back, Anubis grappled, using the newest assailant's momentum against him. The man stumbled forward, pus
hing the couch with him. Anubis used that moment to whip his garrote around the man's neck and power him to his knees. "I don't need to fucking kill you, you son of a bitch, but I really, really want to. Who the fuck sent you?"
Sky looked at the phone she held in her hand. She could call 911. Whoever was out there with Kaeden was trespassing… or breaking and entering. The cops should be able to arrest them. "Sky, it's me."
She jumped up and unlocked the door. She gasped at the blood splashed across his shirt. "Are you hurt?" She reached out to him, but he grabbed her arm and spun her around.
Kaeden gestured toward the bed. "I need you to carry her, so my hands are free." Sky glanced at the stuffed bag at the foot of the bed. He wrapped the fluffy pink comforter around Kadey and lifted her out of the bed before he handed her to Sky. He picked up the duffle, shouldered the bag and pulled a handgun from a concealed holster on his calf. Sky blanched at the sight of the weapon and hugged Kadey closer to her.
"What exactly do you do for that agency?" She hissed as she followed him out of the bedroom and down the hall.
Anubis cast her a quick look. He had to give her credit, she must be scared, but the woman was not falling apart. He led her to the back door and motioned for her to still. The bodies were behind the couch. Three stupid men. The third had a bit more intelligence than his contemporaries did and Kaeden needed information. The accent and the fact his garrote was around the man's throat made it hard for Anubis to understand his words, but obvious answers emerged. The intruders weren't local hired muscle. Muscle squealed like a pig at the butcher's begging for mercy. This man knew he was going to die and he still took pleasure in telling Anubis what was supposed to happen to Sky before they took the little girl.The girl is bait. The heavy accent and strained voice from the garrote that wrapped tightly around his throat still echoed in his mind. The bastard had no remorse. Neither did Anubis. He'd listened to the crunch of cartilage snapping and the whistling gurgle of a windpipe severing with immense satisfaction. The fucker.
Anubis (Guardian Security Shadow World Book 1) Page 7