For a moment, darkness nearly overwhelmed her. The scent of rotting vegetation and the stink of unwashed male bodies filled her senses. She had to swallow back the bile and fear, had to force back the overwhelming panic. Shifting memories that weren’t quite memories shadowed her mind. Whimpers of pain, betrayal.
As she stared at her father, fighting back that fear, she wondered where the knowledge of betrayal had come from. How did she know they had been betrayed? What had she seen or heard that she couldn’t remember once the drugs they had pumped into her had worn off.
“You’re certain?” She breathed in deeply, drawing in the fresh scent of vanilla that filled her home.
This was going to be an imposition, no doubt about it. Besides the fact that it was frankly terrifying. She didn’t remember much of the kidnapping, but what she did wasn’t pleasant.
“We’re very certain, Miss Stanton.” Tall, black-haired, eyes as gray as thunderclouds, one of the men stepped forward. “The Fuentes cartel is serious about this as well. They seem to think you may have seen or heard something that could threaten them. In addition, your father is determined to catch the Fuentes mole within the government, and Fuentes has to ensure that that doesn’t happen.”
“Emily, this is Commander Reno Chavez. He’s the SEAL in charge of our protection.”
“Hello, Mr. Chavez.” She gave him a trembling smile. “I hope you’re watching over Daddy well. He can be hard to keep up with.”
The man’s smile was pure sex appeal. “I’m doing my best, ma’am.” He nodded. “He’s more worried about you now.”
“Behind Reno is Lieutenant Commander Clint McIntyre, and coming out of your bedroom,” her father cast the third man a disapproving frown, “you should remember Lieutenant Kell Krieger.”
Emerald-green eyes, predatory and liquid hot, sliced into her as Emily finally gave the man her full attention. She felt the breath leave
her chest as shock slammed through her system. Those eyes. Something about them almost held her mesmerized, sent heat curling through her and had her cringing at the thought that he had been in her bedroom.
Where the red lace underwear was thrown over her bed, the panties carrying the scent of her previous arousal. Mortification flamed beneath her cheeks as she fought to cover her embarrassment.
“Mr. McIntyre. Hello, Kell.” She cleared her throat as she fought to swallow past the nerves now rioting through her body.
“Emily. I need you to do me a favor,” her father said then, drawing her attention back to him. “Kell will be staying here with you. He’ll be your personal bodyguard until this investigation I’ve begun is over. I need you to cooperate with him.”
“I always cooperate, Daddy,” she reminded him with a smile. “But I promise, this time, I’ll make an extra effort not to cause him to quit. I’d hate to run a friend off.”
Oh hell. Damn. She was in trouble. Kell, in her home? Sleeping beneath her roof? She could already feel the overwhelming heat that had begun building in intensity between her thighs. This was the wrong time for this. This wasn’t good.
Her father winced. “There’s more to this one, sweetheart. No one can know he’s your bodyguard. You just fired your bodyguard because your lover was jealous of him.”
Oh. Shit.
Her gaze swung back to her father. He was kidding. He had to be kidding.
But he wasn’t. She could see it in his eyes, feel it in the tension emanating from him.
Her eyes swung back to Krieger and she felt the world drop from beneath her. That mocking smile. She had seen it before. Just as she had seen that particular shaggy cut of hair, that hard, muscular body. No sunglasses now. No leather chaps. And he had shaved that rough, day-old growth of beard from his face. But it was him.
Sweet heaven. She had come in his face less than five hours before and now he was going to pretend to be her lover?
He had disguised who he was. He had to have been following her. It was her fantasy lover all along and she had come in his face.
This was so not good. This was the Twilight Zone. She could hear the theme music playing in the back of her mind.
“This isn’t a very good idea.” She tried to fight back her shudder of impending pleasure and doom as she turned back from her father. “Why don’t I just move back home for a while?”
That was the perfect solution. He had been wanting her back in the house ever since she moved out anyway. She could just go home. She would have to cancel some activities she had planned, put aside the research she still had to get into for the new book.
One being the live sex show she had been playing with viewing. But she was sure her agent would give her some extra time for this book. Most of it was research anyway. It wasn’t like she didn’t know what to write. She just didn’t know how to write it.
But her father was shaking his head slowly. Damn, of course it couldn’t be that easy.
“Sweetheart, these people can get to you there as easily as they can here. I’m not even staying at the house. I’m staying in an apartment close to the Capitol instead with my own security detail. This is the only answer.”
Oh no. There had to be another answer. There was never only a single way to do anything. Wasn’t that what she tried to instill in her students, the ability to try new things in different ways. Of course there was an answer to this, she just had to find it.