Master Unchained (Stealth Guardians Book 2) (9 page)

“No comment,” she ground out, already regretting having given the two reporters the information. “Collette, can you please make sure I’m left alone this morning? Thanks.”

“Oh, Tessa, I almost forgot, your father—”

“Miss Wallace!” Meredith interrupted, but Tessa was already entering her office and shutting the door behind her. She pressed her forehead against the closed door.

Through it she heard Collette’s insistent demands that the two reporters leave or she would indeed call security and have them removed. A few moments later, she heard the opening and closing of the door, then silence.

Finally, she exhaled.

“Tessa!”

She shrieked and spun around. She clasped her chest and gasped for air when she saw her father rising from the wooden bench in the window niche. “Dad!” she choked out, trying to get her breath back.

“I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, approaching her.

Dressed in a business suit and dress shirt, he looked the part of the distinguished businessman he still was, even in his late sixties, though he could have retired years ago. His hair was gray at the temples, but still dark blond everywhere else. His blue eyes were vibrant and his skin tanned as a result of the many hours he spent on the golf course on the weekends. He’d been a strikingly handsome man when he was younger, but even now he was still attractive, could still turn many a head.

Tessa walked into his arms, accepting the hug he offered. And today she really needed it. “It’s good to see you, Dad. What are you doing here so early? Shouldn’t you be at the office?”

He released her from his embrace, and only now did she notice the deep crease in his forehead. “I would be, if it weren’t for this.” He reached for the newspaper that lay on Tessa’s desk and pointed to the headline.

“Mystery man saves councilwoman from certain death,” he read and shook his head, exhaling sharply. “Jesus, Tessa! This is how I have to find out about it? Via the newspaper?”

“Dad, please, as you can see, I’m fine.”

“You should have called me last night.” He pinned her with his eyes. As a child, that same gaze had always intimidated her and made her confess all her sins. “Your mother and I nearly had heart attacks this morning.”

“Mother doesn’t have a heart condition,” Tessa deflected.

“That doesn’t mean that she wasn’t worried about you.”

Tessa shrugged.

“Well, if you don’t care how your mother feels, how about me then? Do you care so little about me that you won’t grant me the courtesy of telling me that you’re okay?”

“Of course not, Dad. I didn’t mean that,” she said quickly, realizing that she’d hurt him. And that hadn’t been her intention. “It’s just… I was in a state of shock last night. Everything happened so fast, and had Hamish not been there, I don’t know what would have happened. It never occurred to me—”

“It’s alright, honey,” he said softly. Then he pointed to the headline again. “So this mystery man’s name is Hamish? Who is he? I’d like to thank him for saving my daughter from this terrible accident.”

Damn it! This was exactly what she’d wanted to avoid. She hated lying to her father, but if he found out that Hamish was her bodyguard, one question would lead to another, and he wouldn’t stop grilling her until he found out that she’d received a death threat. Maybe the lesser evil was to tell him what Hamish and she had discussed.

“We’re dating,” she said as casually as possible. “Nothing serious.”

“You have a boyfriend, and you didn’t tell me?” He stared at her as if this was some monumental news. “Why did you keep him a secret?”

“We’ve really only just started dating. And it’s not serious, honestly.”

“I want to meet him.”

Tessa’s shoulders stiffened. “I really don’t think that’s appropriate at this stage. You know how guys get when you want to introduce them to your parents. I don’t really wanna spook him.”

“I thought you just said it wasn’t serious.”

“Yes, so even less of a reason to do the meet-the-parents thing.”

“But he saved your life. The guy deserves a medal.”

Her father was like a dog with a bone. He wouldn’t let go of it.

“I’ll tell him you’re grateful next time I see him, okay?”

“Don’t brush me off like that, Tessa. I’m serious about this. I want to thank the man who saved my daughter.”

“But he’s a really busy guy.”

“What does he do that keeps him so busy?” her father shot back.

“Uh, he writes manuals.”

“Manuals?”

“Yeah, you know, instruction manuals for heavy machinery.”

Her father lifted one bushy eyebrow. “Sounds, uh, interesting. Well, in any case, even he needs to eat occasionally. Bring him to our house tonight. I’ll throw some steaks on the BBQ.”

“Dad…”

“No discussion. Tonight, seven o’clock.” He turned toward the door. “Your mother will be happy to see you both.”

She doubted that, but didn’t bother voicing her opinion. Once her father made up his mind about something, there was no swaying him.

“Fine, but I’m not helping with the vegetables!” she called after him as he stalked outside and closed the door behind him, leaving her to stew over the prospect of having to spend an evening playing nice with her mother.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, on top of it she had to pretend to be dating Hamish. Well, wasn’t her day starting out just great?

13

Hamish stepped into the shower. He’d slept a few hours upon returning to the compound, after dropping Tessa off at City Hall and making sure Enya was there to take over. He should be sufficiently rested after sleeping, but unfortunately, his well-deserved rest had eluded him. Instead, visions of Tessa had plagued his dreams. At first, they’d replayed the incident at the center, but then they’d morphed into something entirely different: a repeat and extension of what had happened at her apartment afterward.

And speaking of extensions… He looked down at his groin where his cock was still standing to attention. He’d woken up like that, which wasn’t unusual, but the fact that it hadn’t deflated yet was. It appeared that his raging hard-on wasn’t going to go away by itself today. Not when he couldn’t get Tessa out of his mind. Or her tempting body. Ah, hell, he’d known from the start that this assignment was doomed. He should have refused immediately when Cinead asked him to protect Tessa openly, and insisted on guarding her invisibly from the shadows. At least then, he would never have been tempted to kiss her. Well, maybe still tempted, but at least he would have never had an occasion to act upon it.

Now the damage was done.

And to avoid further harm, he’d have to take care of himself here and now. But the moment he took his hard cock into his right hand and began to tug, he knew that this wouldn’t be a routine jerk-off-session where he fantasized about some random non-existent woman with a hot body. No, that fantasy wasn’t what popped into his head. Instead, he was met with lavender eyes that looked at him, watched him.

Her hand took over for his, gripping his erection firmly. Up and down she slid on him, her palm moist and warm. He reached for her then and pushed her robe off her shoulders, letting it fall onto the wet shower floor. Her negligee was getting soaked by the water raining down from the showerhead, turning it transparent. Her nipples turned hard and pressed through the fabric in invitation. He reached for one, rolled it between thumb and forefinger and felt her squeeze his cock harder in response.

“Just like that,” he murmured and massaged her breast, before he slid his hand down her torso to the juncture of her thighs.

He gathered the fabric with his hand and lifted it up so he could slide his hand between her legs and touch her there. She was wet there, too, not from the shower, but from her own juices. Ready for his touch, his caresses, ready for him. He played with her, diddled her clit to make her even hotter for him, stroked and pinched and caressed her warm folds. Probed at the entrance to her core.

He heard her moans echo against the tile walls and responded to them by sliding his finger into her. Deep and hard. Just the way he wanted to take her. Right here against the wall of his shower, lifted up and supported by his strong arms alone. She lost her hold on his cock, but he didn’t mind, because he was ready. Ready to plunge into her. Warmth and wetness welcomed him. Her interior muscles squeezed him to perfection. He began to pound into her, harder and faster, needing more with every second.

“Harder!” he yelled. “Fuck, Tessa!”

She didn’t stop him, didn’t complain about the rough treatment. Only took what he had to give her. Panting, he felt the pressure in his balls increase, until he could hold back no more. Semen exploded from the tip of his cock and shot not into Tessa, but into nothing. His vision cleared and he found himself with one hand on his cock, the other braced against the tile wall, his semen running down the smooth surface in long, thick streaks.

He dropped his forehead against the wall. Fuck, he’d never had a fantasy that felt so real. And so hot. So hot in fact, that his cock hadn’t had enough of it yet. So he kept pumping until finally, after a long while, it deflated and returned to its resting state.

Fuck, if this was what he’d have to do every day just so he wouldn’t make another pass at Tessa, then he was grateful that the walls in the compound were made of stone so his fellow Stealth Guardians wouldn’t have to bear witness to him slaking his most primal need.

He finished his shower and got dressed quickly, then left his suite of rooms and walked down the corridor leading away from the residential part of the compound. There were no keys or locked doors anywhere in the compound, except to the prison cell on the lowest level—since every Stealth Guardian had the ability to walk through walls and doors—nevertheless they strongly respected each other’s privacy. Nobody walked into the rooms of a fellow guardian without being expressively invited to enter.

The building consisted of five levels, three above ground and two below. Its walls were as thick as those of an old castle. Ancient runes, representing the history of the Stealth Guardians, decorated the walls and floors, and charms to ward off evil hung over each door and window.

Many compounds like this existed all over the world. Each of them was protected by
virta
, the collective power of the Stealth Guardians. It, together with an ancient hypnotizing spell, rendered the building invisible to humans and demons alike.

Inside, no humans were allowed. Well, that rule had been broken before, most notably by Aiden’s then-charge Leila. He’d brought her to the compound against everybody’s better judgment. And she was still at the compound—now as Aiden’s wife and mate. And with the blessing of the Council of Nine.

Within the walls of the compound, Stealth Guardians could recharge their energy after each mission. Below, in the vast underground vaults, weapons were stored, weapons that could kill even an immortal Stealth Guardian. Those weapons were guarded diligently, because while no human weapon such as a gun or a knife could permanently injure a Stealth Guardian, the old weapons that had been forged during the Dark Days had the power to kill them. Just like they had the power to kill a demon.

Also in the bowels of the compound, on the lowest level, was the portal that allowed them to travel from one compound to another. Until a few months ago, it had been believed that all portals were located in compounds, however, Hamish had found other portals, which the Council of Nine had named the lost portals. More were being discovered every day, and a special team had started to map them so those portals could be protected from discovery.

The compound also possessed a lead cell from which not even a Stealth Guardian could escape, because lead temporarily stripped them of their powers. However, a prolonged stay in a lead cell could extinguish a Stealth Guardian’s powers altogether and thus render him human.

Hamish reached the door to the command center and entered. As expected, Pearce sat at one of the consoles equipped with three screens. Aiden stood behind him, looking over Pearce’s shoulder.

Both turned when they heard him.

“Morning, Hamish,” Pearce said cheerfully. He was their resident tech guy, the go-to guy for anything to do with computers, though he was just as talented with a dagger as with a keyboard.

“Hey, you’re finally up,” Aiden greeted him. His oldest friend didn’t look too dissimilar from himself: dark brown hair and brown eyes with a small scar over one eyebrow.

“Yeah, can’t sleep all day. Got work to do, right?” Hamish pointed to the screens. “Have you reviewed the footage from last night yet?”

“Most of what’s been uploaded so far, but every hour I find something new,” Pearce confessed. “These days everybody with a smartphone thinks he’s an investigative journalist.”

Hamish stepped closer. “Which in this case might work to our advantage. Did you find any footage that shows the ceiling?”

Pearce shook his head. “Nope. And we probably won’t. Most of the footage being uploaded is of you pushing Tessa out of the way. Nobody’s going to upload a failed attempt at videoing the hottest current event to social media.”

Aiden jerked his thumb at Pearce. “Pearce’s got a point. You’re only gonna see those shots that capture the action, featuring you as the hero. Sorry, buddy.”

“I guess it was too good to be true.” Nevertheless, he wanted to have a look at it himself. “Mind if I take a look? Maybe I’ll see something you guys didn’t. After all, I met a few of the people on stage, so maybe I’ll come across something that doesn’t make sense.”

Pearce pushed back his chair and stood up. “Knock yourself out. I’m starving anyway. And I hear Leila is cooking today.”

“Again?” Hamish asked and stared at his friend Aiden. “You did tell your wife that just because she lives at the compound, doesn’t mean she has to play mother hen and feed us all. We did survive without anybody cooking for us for quite a few decades.”

Aiden smirked. “Yeah, but you do have to admit that she’s turned into a rather good cook. And what else is she gonna do all day? She doesn’t have her research anymore.”