Secret Guardian Page 8

  “Have you got my speech finalized yet?”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll print it out for you right now and bring it in to you.”

  He stood and walked down the hall to the copy room, loathing and hatred in his heart. His boss deserved everything that was coming to him. If they didn’t find the girl, then he’d have to come up with another plan. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t good at thinking on his feet, it’s just that he knew the right buttons to push and he’d picked the best possible method to obtain his and his boss’s goals.

  Chapter Eight

  Ann sat uncomfortably in the large wooden crate. The open slats allowed for the cold air to flow through from the cargo hold of the airplane. Ethan sat across from her like he was comfortable.

  “How long do we have to sit in this box?” she yelled over the loud noises of the engines.

  “The whole trip to Lima. Come over here.” He motioned to the side he was sitting on and smiled.

  She couldn’t refuse him. That smile did something to her insides. He put his arm around her and she snuggled into his chest. He was so warm she immediately realized how cold she was and started shivering.

  “Aren’t we going to suffocate or something? I know in regular airplanes they have to keep pumping air into the cabins.”

  He chuckled at her.

  “That’s why we’re on this small cargo plane instead of a bigger one. It won’t reach that high of an altitude. The downside of it is it will take us twice as long to get where we are going.”

  He started rubbing his hand over her hair and she realized how wonderfully normal it felt, how right she felt in his arms. Looking up at him, she realized he’d been watching her, and when she looked at him, he pulled her up and kissed her lightly. His mouth caused sparks all the way down to her toes.

  There wasn’t a lot of room in the crate they were in, only enough that they’d laid out a sleeping bag to sit on. His legs could stretch across without being bent and she could have easily curled up and fallen asleep comfortably. But when the kiss deepened, she rose above him, straddling him as he took her hips in his hands.

  She’d been burning for him since the waterfall. It was hard to explain, but she’d actually felt hollow since that encounter. She’d never experienced anything quite like the feeling of Ethan inside her. In every relationship in the past, she’d always been the one in control. She’d prided herself on that. She’d never really needed or wanted someone as badly as she wanted him right now. Even with the circumstances being what they were, she wanted him. Taking her time, she inched her hands down his chest and slowly removed his shirt. When his hands hit the top of the box, they both chuckled.

  “Ann, what are we doing?” he asked when his shirt hit the ground.

  She smiled. “I would think that was rather obvious.”

  He smiled in return, “You know what I mean,” he said as she trailed kisses down his neck.

  “We have hours and hours we’re going to be stuck in this box. We’re just going to enjoy ourselves and take our minds off the fact that it’s cold and uncomfortable in here.”

  When he smiled and started to pull her shirt off, she knew he was on board with her plan. They worked out a system for removing each other’s clothes and soon they were skin to skin as she straddled his hips again.

  His hands were running over her back as he pulled her closer to kiss every inch of her face and neck. When she tried to trail kisses down his chest, her feet hit the other side of the box and she had to bend herself so she could continue her downward path, exploring and enjoying every inch of his tan muscular body.

  “Ann, you’re killing me,” he moaned when she flicked her tongue over his flat nipple. Then she had him moaning when she lightly ran her fingernails over his skin and trailed kisses after them. His hands balled into fists, and she could tell he was trying not to take over. She wanted control now and she was going to drive him mad.

  Her fingers traveled down the light trail of hair that went to his sex and she enjoyed seeing him flinch when she ran a finger over him. Next, she ran her mouth down the same path and his hands fisted in her hair when her tongue touched him.

  She was good at this. She’d prided herself on the fact that she’d always enjoyed giving pleasure as much as she enjoyed getting it. But when she moved to take him completely in her mouth, he pulled her up and growled at her.

  “You little vixen.” He smiled as he pulled her down, so she was under him. As he hovered over her he said, “I know what you’re doing.” He chuckled. “Not this time, Princess.” Then he was kissing the same path on her and she forgot her plan of controlling the situation. And for the first time, she enjoyed the feeling of losing herself in the moment.

  He ran his hands and his mouth down her heated skin, leaving a trail that tingled. She felt like putty under his hands as they molded her curves, and when he ran a finger gently over her, she arched up, seeking more contact.

  He chuckled and she realized what he was doing. He’d taken complete control of her and she hadn’t minded. The smirk on his face told her that he knew it, but the heat in his eyes told her he wasn’t unaffected.

  He was moving slow, running his hands over her, circling when she wanted him to touch her again.

  She tried to move and get him to speed things up, but he just smiled down at her and said, “We have all the time in the world. I just want to enjoy you, Princess.”

  She groaned, not knowing how much more she could stand of his torture.

  “Ethan, you’re killing me.”

  Finally, he touched her where she wanted and she almost came undone in his hands. How had it come to this? She’d wanted to show him pleasure. But now as she felt herself building up, she watched his eyes and realized she was. The look on his face told her everything.

  Reaching up, she grabbed his hair and pulled him back down to her mouth. When he was an inch away he paused, and she could have sworn she saw more than just desire cross his eyes.

  As they kissed she realized this position was not going to work. He was on his hands and knees and there just wasn’t enough room in the crate to continue with her lying down. Rolling over herself, she took his shoulders and pushed him down until he was lying with his feet flat on the bottom and his knees slightly bent. Then she straddled him again, bending down so her head wouldn’t hit the top of the box.

  “This isn’t as easy as I’d hoped.” She smiled down at him. He pulled her hips towards him and she leaned down to kiss him deeply as she slid slowly onto him. She watched as he threw his head back and closed his eyes. His mouth was slightly open, and she watched as the muscles on his neck and arms flexed. She smiled and ran her hands over them.

  His hands went to her hips and dug into her soft flesh as he moved her. She enjoyed the feel of him and couldn’t hold back much longer. When he reached for her and ran his fingers over her lightly, she felt the explosion rip from her, deep inside.

  “Again,” he growled as he continued to pump faster and harder, building her up again. His hand went to her nipple, tugging lightly. Then he leaned up and used his mouth on her heated skin, building her faster and faster. He braced his legs wide on the ground and bucked under her as she rode him, her knees tucked close to his hips, her hands on his chest, enjoying the play of muscles. Just when she thought she couldn’t take it any longer, she heard him growl her name, and she threw her head back and joined him.

  Ethan lay there feeling Ann’s breath on his chest and knew she was fast asleep. He listened to the loud sounds of the cargo plane and wondered what the hell he was doing. The number one rule in this business was, and had always been, don’t get involved with a client.

  So far, he’d followed that rule. There had been plenty of times he’d wanted to cross that line, but none like this. None like her. He’d felt the shock the first time he’d seen her. He’d known he should call the job off before they’d left for Brazil. He’d even tried to keep her pissed at him by always flaunting women around. It had worked for a while.
He could tell she was totally turned off by him, and at one point, he was pretty sure she had called her boss to try and get him fired.

  But it wasn’t up to Anthony if he stayed or went. Senator Rhodes was the one calling all the shots, and if he knew that he was sleeping with his daughter… Hell, he wasn’t just sleeping with her. He couldn’t fool himself for much longer. She was everything he’d ever dreamed of: smart, intelligent, sexy. And the fact that she could chest kick a man without breaking a sweat turned him on even more.

  He felt her shiver from the cold air and pulled the sleeping bag over her. She mumbled something and snuggled deeper into his chest. He smelled rain and mud in her hair and realized it, too, was turning him on. Yup, he was a goner. He had some thinking to do. It was a good thing they’d be stuck in the crate for a few more hours.

  His mind kept jumping back and forth. She was just a job, she was more than just a job. This was the first time in his adult life that he couldn’t make up his mind. It was almost as if he could feel the little angel and devil characters on his shoulders. One telling him to go for it, the other saying to step back and be good.

  He’d never struggled with anything like this before. He’d never had a serious relationship before. Sure, he’d dated. He wasn’t one to deny himself the pleasure of a beautiful woman. But it had been months since he’d thought about being with anyone. He supposed it was because he was just busy.

  No, he couldn’t fool himself. After seeing what his sister, Roberta, had with her husband, Ric, he had wanted something more than just a fling. He’d wanted what they had. What his parents and grandparents had.

  Ann snuggled closer to him and he knew without a doubt what he wanted. He was still struggling with how to make her see that he was what she wanted, too.

  A few hours later, when he felt the plane slowing and making its descent, he shook Ann awake.

  “Come on, Princess, we’re landing.” He shook her again. She tried to snuggle back into him, so he removed the sleeping bag so they were fully exposed. When she felt the cold air hit her, she sat up and tried to pull the bag back. “I guess you don’t mind customs seeing you naked.”

  That got her moving. She dressed quickly and he laughed as she struggled to put her clothes back on in the confined space. It was too close of quarters, so he had to wait until she was fully dressed to slip on his own clothes.

  “Are we really going to have to go through customs? How are we going to explain—?”

  “Hang on with all the questions until I get my pants on.” She tried to help him slip his legs into his pants, but she only ended up making it worse. By the time both his legs were in his pants, they were both laughing very hard and he had sweat rolling down his back.

  Three hours later, they were still in the box and he could tell she was starting to worry. They’d been moved several times, once by a large forklift, the other by two men who were speaking Spanish. They made sure to hold still while the two men pushed the crate into the back of a large truck. They’d been driving along for almost a half hour when the truck finally came to a stop and the back was opened.

  “Señor Knight, Señorita Rhodes, are you still breathing in there?”

  Ethan laughed. “Raul, get your skinny butt up here and let us out of this damn box.”

  “What do you mean they aren’t in Rio anymore?”

  He wanted to throw the phone across the room, but it might cause too many heads to turn. After all, it was a black tie affair. He was standing off in a dark hallway, trying to keep his voice down.

  “Where the hell are they?”

  “Well, as far as we can tell they are still in South America.”

  “Can you narrow it down any further?” He was losing his patience.

  “Not at the moment. Is there anything you can find out on your end that might help us?”

  He looked around and thought about it. “I’ll get back to you.” Then hung up the phone and went to join the crowd again.

  Chapter Nine

  Ann wondered how many people Ethan knew and how he knew so many in the places they were going. She knew the kind of jobs he’d done. Most, she had assumed, were like the one he’d done for her father.

  After being released from the box, she’d been shocked to discover they were in paradise. Everything was so green, it almost hurt her eyes. When she’d stood up, Ethan had taken her arm to steady her since her legs were asleep.

  “Walk a little, you’ll get the feeling back in your legs.” He hadn’t even looked fazed by spending almost twelve hours in that crate. She, on the other hand, could use a long, hot shower and a change of clothes.

  When she started walking to stretch her legs, she ended up near the rim of a large cliff overlooking the ocean. She could just make out the city far off in the distance. She’d never been to Peru before, and since Lima was a new experience, she was amazed at the fact that the city appeared to sit right on the edge of the cliff. It was almost as if it were going to spill out into the water from the cliff’s edge. The greenness of it all almost overwhelmed her. It was still early morning and she could see the mist and fog clinging to the tops of tall buildings.

  Ethan walked up beside her, smiling. “We have the place to ourselves for two days, then we head out. Raul has assured me everything is in order to leave on Tuesday.” He waved as the truck started driving away with his friend in the cab. “What do you say to a hot shower and some new clothes? Or would you rather eat breakfast first?”

  She couldn’t help it, the thought of being clean and eating some real food made her jump into his arms as she squealed like a school girl.

  He spun her around a few times and then set her back on her feet, smiling down at her. “Come on then, let’s go get cleaned up and eat.”

  He walked her towards a large glass house which sat near the edge of the cliff. The blue metal roof mixed with the tall walls made the place shine. She couldn’t get over the fact that she could see right through to the back of the place. There was a large sunken living area with tan couches and bright red throw pillows. The large tile-top dining room table had chairs of the same tan and a large wooden bowl set on it.

  She saw a large, frosted glass wall and thought that the bedroom and bathroom would be behind it for privacy. Through the back of the house she could see a large wooden deck and a blue tiled swimming pool with a huge fountain in the middle. Palm trees lined the back of the pool area and surrounded the house. The house took up most of the cliff, but there was a large chunk that housed a four-car garage that had an apartment above it. Looking around, she didn’t see any other homes nearby. She stood there and admired the architecture of the place.

  “Do you like it?” Ethan asked as he stood beside her.

  She didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded her head. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

  “I’m glad. I had the same reaction when I bought it seven years ago.”

  She was shocked. She turned and looked at him. He owned this place? Why did he have a house in Lima? So many other questions ran through her head.

  “Shut it down for a while, Princess. Let’s go get some grub and clean up, then I’ll explain everything.”

  When she’d walked into the large bedroom, which was indeed behind the wall of frosted glass, she haw a small silver bikini. So after hitting the shower quickly, she rushed out to the large stone tiled pool. There she floated in the cool, blue water until Ethan came out in a pair of swim trunks and joined her. He was carrying an ice blue fruity drink and a beer. Her drink even had a slice of pineapple on the rim of the crystal glass and had a cherry floating in it.

  “I could get used to this,” she said as she floated on her back with her dark hair pooling around her face. She stopped to take a drink and moaned with delight when the sweet and tangy drink hit her mouth.

  “Where did you learn to make this?” She held up her drink.

  He chuckled. “I had to go undercover as a bartender in Cancun for a few months. You wouldn�
��t believe the tips you get there. Actually, that’s how I bought this place,” he said, smiling.

  “Yeah, right.” She chuckled at his joke. “Why Lima?” They were wading side by side as she held her drink close, taking a few more sips and enjoying the icy drink.

  “It seemed right. I’ve been to South America so often, buying a house here was just the natural thing to do. It was between here and Rio and I have better connections here. Besides, Raul is a very close friend who looks after the place. He actually stays in the guest house above the garage year round. I saved his mother and sister once, so in his mind, he’ll never work off the debt he thinks he owes me. Of course I pay him very, very well, which keeps his family happy and healthy.”

  She smiled at him, “Do you own any other property?”

  He nodded, and she could tell he was trying to avoid answering.