Tempest guardian securit.., p.24
Tempest (Guardian Security Shadow World Book 5), page 24
Pilar shook her head in disbelief. "Very small." A realization zinged through her. Her life had really begun the moment she walked into the cell and met Luke. A series of events using that meeting as an impetus culminated in the life she was always supposed to have... with her Guardian.
Pilar hadn't taken a breath since her sister and brother-in-law had left the hotel room fifteen minutes ago. He answered her when she paused long enough for him to get a word in edgewise, but his participation wasn't necessary. His lady was floating on a cloud, and he wasn't going to do a thing to make her happiness dissipate. This is what he'd wanted for her. Safety and happiness. Tempest tuned back into the one-sided conversation she was having with herself.
"She's going to send me a picture of her, I mean our, mother and father. She looks so much like me. Did you notice her arm? She said while she was working for MI6, she was shot so she doesn't have too much strength, but I mean, she was shot! And MI6! James Bond stuff right there."
Suddenly she twisted around, a slight wince at her sudden movement flashed across her face. "You must think I'm the most boring thing in the world."
What? "Excuse me? I think I missed part of the conversation somewhere. Why in the world would I think that?" He rose from the chair where he'd been watching her bounce from the couch, to the windows, back to the couch and up again, and sat down with her on the couch.
She waved an arm toward the door. "You work with those types of people. I mean Guardian, MI6. You left alone and came back with a team of men." She glanced down at her tightly clasped hands. "How in the world can I keep your attention?"
He slid closer to her and tipped her chin up so he could see those beautiful blue eyes. "You've had my attention every minute of every day since the moment you walked into my cell. What we have, this connection, it is more than a momentary thrill for me. My job has its excitement, and yes, dangers, but I don't need or want such things at home. I want a partner who is vital and alive, who leads her own life but makes room for me. You keep my attention by being the woman you are."
He searched her eyes and noticed the bruising the makeup she wore didn't quite conceal. As if drawn to a magnet he lowered his lips to hers. Her softness yielded to his sensuous assault, and he carefully moved her into his arms as he explored her mouth, jaw, and chin, in a trail of small kisses.
"Please. I want you." She extended her arm and brushed his hair from his eyes.
"You've got me." He picked her up from the couch, stepped into the bedroom, and carefully laid her down on the bed. He toed off his boots, shucked his jeans and boxers and whipped his shirt over his head. Her eyes traveled down his nude body and back up. She smiled and crooked a finger at him. He smiled in return as he crawled up her body.
"You have too many clothes on, my lady." He pushed up the silk tee and waited as she lifted her arms above her head to slide the material off her arms. Her yoga pants followed the shirt’s path to the floor.
The exposed skin was too tempting to resist. He trailed his fingertips down her neck, across her collarbone, and down to the lace covering her breasts. The comparison of the darkness of his tan skin to the silk of her sun kissed skin forced a sad smile. "You are so perfect. Young, beautiful, and far too good for the likes of me."
Her hand covered his, and she brought it up to her mouth and kissed his palm. "We are perfect for each other. We both knew it, even when there was nothing between us but hope."
"You were the reason I survived." He lowered over her, careful not to place too much weight on her.
“And you are the reason I survived.” She trailed her fingers across his lips. "We survived because of each other. You saved my life when you opened my eyes to the woman Regina truly was." She tugged him down to her, and he willingly complied.
This woman was the center of his universe. Everything rotated around her. Everything, from the air he drew into his lungs, to the hopeful way he looked at his future and the peace he’d made with his past.
He entered her and felt her wrap around him. She sighed and hugged her arms around his neck. He slowly seated himself inside her and let her body adjust to him.
She pushed his hair away from his face again and stared up at him. "I love you."
Her words drew the air from his lungs. "I don't deserve your love, but I'll try to be worthy of it. I swear I'll be a man you can be proud of."
"You already are." She pulled him down for another kiss.
He lost himself in her warmth. She loved him. An assassin, a blunt object used to strike fear into the vermin of the world was loved. It was new and brilliant, this connection and exhilaration. The intensity of emotion added to the spiraling heights her body spun him toward. The warm grasp of her heat consuming him and the way her breath hitched before she sighed were aphrodisiacs of epic proportions. Her legs wrapped around the back of his legs. She whispered words of love, of need and of desire. He closed his eyes, pushing back memories of other whispered words in a dark room three years ago. He lowered onto one elbow and strained when she scraped her nails across his back and shouted his name. He watched in abject wonder as she crashed into her orgasm and prayed he could be the man she deserved seconds before he followed her over the peak and fell headfirst into a powerful release.
He rolled, pulling her with him. He fanned her long curly hair from her neck. "I love you, too. I think I've loved you since the day you left my cell."
She shifted, looked up at him, and smiled. "Then marry me."
He jumped, planting his elbow on the bed. "What?"
"Ouch! You're on my hair." She grabbed at her hair, and he scrambled to move but succeeded only in tugging on her hair again.
"Stop!" He froze instantaneously. "Ok, let's do this the right way. Lift up into a sitting position."
He contracted his abs and did a crunch, then rolled into a sit up. Her hair stuck to the sweat on his arm. She swiped her hair back and flopped the mass of curls away from her face. "Man, did I scare you or what?"
"Huh?" He watched her pull the sheets to her chest and sit up.
"I asked you to marry me, and you damn near bolted from the bed." She chuckled humorlessly. "Guess I timed that wrong."
"No, no, you didn't." He twisted onto his hands and knees and crawled in front of her. "I never thought... why would… I’m not…" He stumbled into silence.
She shook her head. "Okay, how about we come to an agreement. Lawyers are good at this type of thing. I propose, when it comes to us being a couple, I do the thinking. You'll get it wrong nine times out of ten. So, marry me. Be my husband."
He blinked at her and tried to decipher what part of the puzzle he’d missed. "You realize who I am and what I do, right? You do remember what your mother told you, what I disclosed to you?"
"Yes, you are Luke Wagner, a member of Guardian. Period. As in, end of story. I'm Pilar Grantham, attorney at law. Period. As in, end of story. So, whatcha say? Make me an honest woman. Marry me." She arched an eyebrow in a dare.
A smile spread across his face. "Name the place and time. I'll be there."
She narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head. "Not a binding agreement. Is that a yes?"
"Yes ma'am, I'll marry you." He placed his lips on hers and pushed her back into the bed. The time and place would be after tonight. Tonight, his little lawyer had business to conduct.
Epilogue
Smoke watched the water from the deck of his ship. The boat was lonely without Sage. Sage's mother had contracted cancer; his mean bastard of a father had dementia, and none of his siblings gave a flying fuck, so Sage had taken a leave of absence from Guardian. He listened to the creak of the ship as it rocked against the waves of the inner harbor. He'd worked alone before, he could do it again.
He cocked the hammer of his .45 magnum and chuckled as the soft padding of someone's foot faltered. "Show yourself or die. Don't really care which at this point."
The stowaway came forward from the shadows of the main cabin. "You’re pretty good for an old man."
"I heard you come aboard. The ship talks if you listen to her. Why are you here?"
"Anubis figured you'd get lonely. Fury agreed."
He released the hammer of his weapon slowly and rode it to a rest. "So, they sent you to what... babysit me?"
"Nah, I don't care much for kids, but I've completed my training at the Rose. Our profiles say we could mesh. You like people; I don't."
She moved with a grace and poise most people tried to acquire but only very few had naturally. Long strong legs encased in tight denim shorts crossed as she sat down in the chair next to him. He sent a side eye glance at the woman he'd met once or twice at the Rose. For the life of him he couldn't remember her name. "I have a partner."
"True, but his parents have long term conditions, and he has requested a leave of absence without a return date."
"Where is your partner?"
"He... he died."
Smoke twisted in his chair. She now had his complete attention. "How?"
"Believe it or not in a vehicular accident. He went home to visit his parents and was hit head on by a drunk driver going the wrong way up an interstate off ramp. He lingered in a coma for two weeks."
"Fuck. I'm sorry to hear that. You were teamed up with..."
"Carter Paulson."
Smoke nodded. The guy was affable.
"So, you don't have a teammate and neither do I. I'm willing to take care of you in your old age if you're willing to show me some of your tricks." She leaned in toward him. "I like to make things go boom, too."
Smoke turned his head and stared at her dark brown eyes. "What's your name?"
"Charley."
"Just Charley?"
"Yup. Like Ashanti, Enya, Ke$ha..."
"Who?" He’d never heard of those women.
She snorted a very unladylike laugh and slapped her tanned leg. "Right... um... Cher, Madonna, Sting? Any of those people ring a bell, Gramps?"
"Watch it or I'm going to yell at you for walking on my lawn."
She leaned forward and extended her arms, turning to look at the water. "Hey, Gramps, I hate to tell you this, but you don't have a lawn."
"It’s a figure of speech. Call me Gramps again and I'll show you exactly why they sent you to work with me." He arched an eyebrow and glared at the laughing woman.
"Okay, okay. Truce." She extended a hand.
He took it in his and told himself he did not feel a zing of excitement race through him. He did not. Did not happen. Nope, it wasn't there. He cleared his throat. "All right Charley, I'm assuming you have orders for us."
A big bright smile spread across the young woman's face. "I do, and I'm one hell of a first mate. I have my captain's license, and I can tear apart a diesel engine and put it back together again."
"Handy. What is your specialty?"
She shrugged. "I do a lot of things well."
He narrowed his eyes. "What do you do best?"
She stood up and took a deep breath. "If you ask my parents? Get into trouble."
Smoke chuckled and stood also. The young woman was tall, at least five-feet-ten-inches in the flat tennis shoes she wore. Her brown hair was hoisted into a ponytail which fell to her waist. Yeah, this one looked like she was still in high school. Calling him Gramps. Talking about her parents. Damn. He was getting fucking old.
"Please don't tell me you have daddy issues, too."
"Oh hell, yeah. What woman doesn't?"
He cocked his head. He could stand being around this one. She was sassy, irreverent and feisty. Besides, he needed a diversion from his self-inflicted misery.
"Well then, Charley, we might make one hell of a team. Trouble is my middle name."
"Mine's not, but I usually end up stirring up a truckload of the stuff."
"Only a truckload? Woman, I have things to teach you. Let's get this show on the road." He tossed his soda can into the garbage and headed to the bridge. "Cast off and stand-by."
"Aye, aye!" The woman raced to the lines. He was impressed with the way she worked. Smooth fluid motions. She knew what she was doing with the coil and was sturdy and sure-footed. Hell, now he was thinking of her in horse terms. Damn, he was seriously damaged and missing Sage. The two of them would have had one hell of a laugh about it. He needed to call Anubis and Fury and determine why the fuck they'd stuck him with an operative who was so damn young. Hell, she didn't even look legal. He shook his head. Maybe that was her specific skill, infiltrating high schools or taking down assholes who had a fetish for teenage girls. Hell, it might actually be a usable skill, still...
He chuckled to himself. Whatever. He'd run her through her paces before he'd allow Fury to give them an assignment. He needed to know what and who they'd dropped into his lap.
Thank you for reading Tempest’s story. If you’d like to preorder Smoke’s story, here is the link.
Smoke, Guardian Security Shadow World - Book Six
Also by Kris Michaels
Hope City
HOPE CITY DUET - Brock and Sean
HOPE CITY - Brody- Book 3
Hope City - Ryker - Book 5
Kings of the Guardian Series
Jacob: Kings of the Guardian Book 1
Joseph: Kings of the Guardian Book 2
Adam: Kings of the Guardian Book 3
Jason: Kings of the Guardian Book 4
Jared: Kings of the Guardian Book 5
Jasmine: Kings of the Guardian Book 6
Chief: The Kings of Guardian Book 7
Jewell: Kings of the Guardian Book 8
Jade: Kings of the Guardian Book 9
Justin: Kings of the Guardian Book 10
Christmas with the Kings The Kings of Guardian
Drake: Kings of the Guardian Book 11
Dixon: Kings of the Guardian Book 12
Passages: The Kings of Guardian Book 13
A Backwater Blessing: A Kings of Guardian and Heart's Desire Crossover Novella
Montana Guardian: A Kings of Guardian Novella
Guardian Defenders Series
Gabriel
Maliki
Guardian Security Shadow World
Anubis (Guardian Shadow World Book 1)
Asp (Guardian Shadow World Book 2)
Lycos (Guardian Shadow World Book 3)
Thanatos (Guardian Shadow World Book 4)
Tempest (Guardian Shadow World Book 5)
Smoke (Guardian Shadow World Book 6)
Everlight Series
An Evidence of Magic (Everlight Book 1)
An Incident of Magic (Everlight Book 2)
STAND ALONE NOVELS
SEAL Forever - Silver SEALs
A Heart's Desire - Stand Alone
Hot SEAL, Single Malt (SEALs in Paradise)
Hot SEAL, Savannah Nights (SEALs in Paradise)
About the Author
USA Today and Amazon Bestselling Author, Kris Michaels is the alter ego of a happily married wife and mother. She writes romance, usually with characters from military and law enforcement backgrounds.
Kris Michaels, Tempest (Guardian Security Shadow World Book 5)
