Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Cowboy D-Force (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Brotherhood Protectors Book 4) (5 page)

Duke stood at the bottom of the staircase, dressed in tailored black trousers, a crisp white shirt and black cowboy boots. He’d slicked back his damp dark hair from his forehead and looked like he could model as the Marlboro man. Still rugged and handsome, even in semi-formal attire.

“Beautiful,” he said, and offered her his arm and led her into the dining room.

Heat rushed up into her cheeks over the compliment. Yeah, he was the bodyguard and he was paid to keep Lena happy, but it still felt good to be noticed and appreciated.

The table had been set for two people, with a candle arrangement providing intimate lighting. Obviously, the chef had assumed Miss Love was entertaining a male guest and probably had plans to seduce the poor schmuck.

Empty wine glasses were set in front of the plates along with napkins and flatware.

Duke pulled out her chair. “Shall we take our seats?”

Angel slipped onto the chair. “What I’ve had of the chef’s meals have been beyond exquisite.”

“I’m sure you insist on the best,” he said.

Having seen Lena rip a cook a new one for serving a less than stellar hamburger of all things, Angel knew the truth of Duke’s statement. “I work hard and make a lot of money. I deserved to spend it the way I like.”

“Yes, you do.” Duke agreed, taking the seat across from hers.

The maid served the meal one course after another, and was there to collect their empty plates and replace them with the next set without missing a beat.

The meal was a delicious perk of playing Lena Love. The woman really did demand the best from her staff, and they delivered.

Angel ate every last morsel, including the dessert of tiramisu.

Duke shook his head. “How do you stay so thin if you eat that much?” He held up his hands. “Not that I’m judging. It’s just that most women eat like birds to keep from gaining so much as an ounce.”

“I work it off,” Angel said. Granted Lena did pick at her food, but she also worked to keep her body beautiful when she wasn’t sucking down the alcohol and drugs.

Duke sat back, holding his cup of coffee in his hand. “You know my background. What about you? Did you always know you wanted to be an actress?”

Angel nodded. She knew Lena’s story, having studied her autobiography to know more about the woman she worked for. “I started out in commercials until my agent set me up for an audition for a movie. Sh—I was eight years old.” She shrugged. “The movie hit big and launched my career. I never looked back.”

That was about all she knew about Lena’s life, other than what she’d witnessed and what the tabloids reported. After a long day of pretending to be the actress, Angel wanted nothing more than to go to Lena’s bedroom and be herself behind closed doors.

“I’m tired,” Angel said. “It’s been a long day. What do you say we call it a night?

Duke nodded. “I have to admit, I’m pretty tired myself. After driving for the past two days, I could use some real sleep.” He rose and held her chair, while she stood and moved away from the table.

Again, he offered his arm.

She took it, knowing that being so close to him was not conducive to sleep. The electric stimulus made her want to strip the clothes off his body and hers and have wild monkey sex in the middle of the living room.

Her best course of action would be to get to her room as soon as possible and take another shower. Cold. And go straight to bed.

With a plan in mind, she climbed the stairs and hurried forward, ready to leave Duke behind.

Only he didn’t go to his room as she’d expected. “I need to check your room once more before we call it a night.”

“Is that necessary?” she asked. “You checked the door and window locks in every room of the house not long ago. Do you think someone could slip in that easily?”

“Locks can be picked,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “Okay. Do your thing. The sooner you’re done, the sooner I’ll get to sleep.”

He made a quick pass through the master suite, checking beneath the bed, the closet and the bathroom where the mirror had been scrubbed clean. “All clear,” he reported.

When Duke finally left the room, Angel let out an exasperated sigh and stripped out of the dress. Standing in nothing but a pair of lace panties, she didn’t want to get dressed for bed after all. Being near the big D-Force man, she’d learned she was not unaffected by him.

With the big guy out of the room, the walls seemed farther apart, the cavernous room bigger than her entire first apartment.

Her pulse still hammered against her veins, and she couldn’t stay still for long. She needed to get out and run for a couple miles to burn off the calories. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be an option.

Angel paced the length of the room and back several times. Nothing seemed to calm her nerves. A glance at the clock indicated it was getting late. What she really wanted to do was go for a swim.

Surely the shooter wouldn’t be out this late at night looking for another opportunity to ruin her day.

She replaced her gorgeous dress with a blue and white LA Dodgers jersey, and then waited another fifteen minutes. The house was quiet, and she didn’t hear any movement from the room down the hallway. Angel eased open the door and peered out into the hallway.

A wash of relief warred with disappointment. Duke wasn’t in the hallway or on the stairs as she descended to the bottom floor. Knowing she was taking a huge risk, Angel couldn’t resist. She needed some space and fresh air to clear her head. Careful not to make a noise, she pushed open the French doors leading out to the pool deck. The lights had been turned off and nothing but the moon lit her way to the water’s edge.

Angel stood in the shadows beneath the awning and scanned the vicinity for movement.

Satisfied she was alone, she stripped out of the jersey and walked into the pool in nothing but her panties. Soon she was cleaving through the water, from one end of the pool to the other. The more she pushed herself, the better she felt. By the time she slowed to tread water in the deep end, she was truly tired and ready to go to sleep.

A splash startled her and made her lose her rhythm. She sank beneath the surface and came up spluttering. “What the hell, Duke?” She turned toward the intruder as he surfaced. “Brandt?”

He swam toward her, a smile stretching across his face. “I waited for a long time, but you never sent for me, so I decided to come looking for you.”

Angel tried to cover her naked breasts and tread water at the same time, failing miserably with both. “Uh. Brandt, I didn’t send for you for a reason. I don’t need your services, or whatever you call it.”

His brows furrowed, but he didn’t slow his advance on her person, moving through the water in an easy breaststroke, his lips curving into a sexy grin. “Playing hard to get? You know that turns me on.”

“Seriously, Brandt,” she said in her sternest voice. “I’m not in the mood. Don’t come any closer.

His grin broadened. “Your mouth is saying no, but your eyes and your body are saying yes.”

“Dude, you need an interpreter. My eyes and body are most certainly not saying yes.” She gave up covering her breasts and used both arms to swim backward, away from the advancing foreman.

“We usually make love the first night you’re back. When you didn’t call for me, I thought it was because you were too tired from your trip.” He kicked his feet, following her to the deep end. “Why else would you be out here swimming in the nude, if you didn’t want to get it on?” He captured her in his arms.

Angel reacted by bringing her knee up sharply, hitting him in the groin.

Brandt swore and curled his body into a ball, but he didn’t let go of Angel’s arm. “Why’d you go and do that?”

“I told you not to come closer. Now, let go of my arm before I hit you again.”

“I don’t understand.”

Another splash made them both turn toward the latest occupant to the pool.

A dark form shot beneath the surface like a missile from a submarine, a blur of motion, headed straight for Angel and Brandt.

Brandt jerked downward, his head disappearing into the water. With his hand still on Angel’s arm, he pulled her under with him.

Angel pried at his fingers, but he managed to get his other hand on her arm and clung to her, in effect, pushing her deeper into the pool.

Her lungs burning, Angel fought, kicked and slammed her hands on his grip, praying he would let go soon, or she’d drown.

D
uke had been
in the shower when Lena sneaked out of her room. If he hadn’t performed one last check before calling it a night, he wouldn’t have known until too late. He’d gone into her room with the intention of securing any unlatched windows and asking if she needed anything. When he’d found the bed empty and her missing, his pulse had quickened, and he’d run from the room.

Damn, the woman didn’t know what was good for her. She couldn’t just go traipsing around her huge house in the middle of the night. Whoever had left the message on her mirror had managed to get inside her security system. If he’d done it once, he could do it again.

Duke had been halfway down the stairs when he’d spotted her through the huge picture windows, swimming laps in the pool. As she’d turned to backstroke in the opposite direction, the moonlight had glinted off her naked breasts.

Duke had been captivated by the perfection of her body, the slim, sleek lines and tight muscles of her arms and legs cleaving through the water. He’d stood transfixed longer than he should have.

Then another figure had dived into the pool and swam toward Lena.

Duke had flown down the steps and across the living area to the back door.

The man had made it across the pool before Duke reached the edge.

Lena was struggling.

A red flush of rage washed over Duke as he launched himself into the water. Within seconds, he had the perpetrator by the ankle, pulling him under.

Unfortunately, he still had his hands on Lena, dragging her down with him.

Duke climbed up the man’s body and hooked his arm around the guy’s neck, squeezing hard enough to choke him.

Eventually, he released his hold on Lena. She pushed off the bottom and shot to the surface.

Duke swam backward, toward the shallow end where he set the attacker on his own feet and shoved him toward the side. “Get out. And get the hell off the property.”

The man who turned to face him was Brandt Lucas.

“Are you insane? You nearly killed me.” Brandt coughed, slogging his way through the shallow end to the steps leading out. “I wasn’t attacking her. I was trying to make love to her.”

Duke shot a glance toward Lena where she clung to the side of the pool, breathing hard. “Is that true?”

“Oh, he was trying, but I wasn’t buying.”

When Brandt stood on the deck, he pushed the wet hair off his forehead and sneered at Lena. “You are one crazy bitch. You promised me you’d get me into the movies. I’ve wasted my time working as your foreman when I could have been working in LA as a model.”

Lena shrugged. “Guess you’ll have to jumpstart your own career instead of flying on my coattails. Don’t let the gate hit you in the backside as you leave.”

Brandt grabbed his jeans, jammed his legs into them and dragged them up over his hips. “Should have listened to my agent,” he muttered. “Nothing to do out here but listen to the cows bellowing.” Finally, he left the poolside, heading toward the barn and the hired hands’ quarters.

Duke raked a hand through his damp hair. “Need a hand getting out of the water?”

She shook her head. “No. No thank you.” She had one arm covering her breasts, the other holding onto the side of the pool. “You can go back to bed. I was just finishing up. I’ll head inside in just a minute.”

His lips quirked. He knew she was naked, and after she’d nearly been mauled by her former foreman, he wasn’t letting her off easy. She’d been careless. “I’ll wait to make sure you get back to your room safely.”

“No need. I can get there on my own.”

“Miss Love, you know I can’t leave you out here alone,” he said, deepening his tone. “Whenever you want to take a swim, you need to let me know. I’ll come with you.”

“I didn’t want to make a big deal of it. I was careful and looked for anyone lurking around, before I got into the water.”

Duke’s jaw tightened. “But you need someone to watch your back when you can’t possibly pay attention. You put yourself at risk.” He held out his hand. “Come on inside. You shouldn’t be out in the open anyway. The shooter might be watching as we speak.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

Duke walked toward her, the water getting deeper around him. When he couldn’t touch the bottom anymore, he swam, moving slowly, giving her the option to get out on her own, or deal with him.

“Don’t come any closer,” she said.

“I’m getting you out of the water.”

“Damn it, Duke! I’m naked. I’m not getting out until you get out first and turn your back.”

He chuckled. “I know you’re naked. I was watching you from inside the house.” Stopping in front of her, he held out his hand. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do. Just come inside where you don’t present a target to your stalker.” He didn’t look down at her breasts, though it took all of his control to resist. Instead, he captured her gaze with his and waited.

She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, meeting his glance unwaveringly. A moment or two passed. Then she placed her hand in his.

He drew her against his body, treading water with one arm.

Her breasts pressed against his bare chest.

Duke swallowed hard on the groan rising up his throat and said, “Ready?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice a breathy whisper. Her thighs bumped into his beneath the water, sending heat blasting through his system straight to his groin.

He swam with her to the shallower water until he could put his feet on the bottom. For some reason, he couldn’t force himself to move further.

The moon cast a pale blue glow over her head and shoulders. With her hair lying flat against her scalp, every feature on her face was exposed, from the high cheekbones, to her full, luscious lips.

Perhaps it was the magic of the moonlight that made him bend to touch his mouth to hers. He had to do it, just like he had to breathe.

She met his lips with a soft sigh, leaning into him, her arms wrapping around his neck, her mouth opening to him.

He plunged in, his tongue sliding along hers in an intimate caress. She tasted of tiramisu and coffee. Two of his favorite flavors.

When he had to come up for air, he pressed his temple to hers. “Come on, we need to get inside.”

Before she could protest, he swept her naked body into his arms and carried her up the steps, trailing water across the concrete and tile decking.

She reached for the door handle, turned it and let them in the back door.

Duke kicked it shut behind them and let her twist the deadbolt to lock the door.

“You can put me down now.”

He shook his head. “Not until I know you’re in your room for the night.”

She raised her brows. “Have it your way. I’m not that light, and you have a damaged leg. Good luck getting up those stairs.”

“No offense, Miss Love, but shut up.”

He crossed the smooth, custom oak floors and mounted the stairs, carrying her all the way. He started out fast, but by the time they reached the top of the staircase, Duke was breathing hard, and his leg ached like a motherfucker.

With her arms crossed over her chest and an expression that said,
I told you so,
Lena stared at him. “Uncle?”

He gritted his teeth, dragged in a deep breath and then strode down the hall. At her bedroom, he kicked open the door, entered the huge room and dumped her ass on the king-sized bed.

“Hey! That wasn’t very nice.” She righted herself and pulled the comforter over her nakedness. “You, Mr. Morrison, are no gentleman.”

“And you, Miss Love, are no lady. Didn’t your mother teach you to wear a swimsuit when you go swimming out in the open?”

“It’s my place. I can walk around stark naked wherever the hell I please. Besides, a polite gentleman would have looked away.”

“Since we’ve already established that I’m no gentleman, it’s a moot point.” He strode to the windows, checked the locks, double-checked the bathroom and ducked to glance under her bed.

A slim, bare foot shot out hitting him in the shoulder, knocking him backward.

He grabbed the ankle attached to the foot as he went down, dragging her off the bed. They landed in a tangled heap on the sheepskin rug.

Lena tried to scramble out of reach.

Duke wasn’t having any of it. “Prepare to reap what you sew.” He flipped her onto her back on the rug, straddled her hips and pinned her wrists high above her head. Then he stared down at her flushed face.

“I don’t think pinning your client to the floor is in your job description.” She wiggled beneath him, igniting his desire for this mess of a woman.

“I’m guarding your body.” His gaze slipped lower. “And since you seem to enjoy strutting around in your birthday suit, I assume you have no problem with your bodyguard seeing you nude.” His glance slipped to the breasts he’d seen last night, flashed fully in his face. Only this time, there was something different. On her left breast, just below the nipple was a tattoo of a heart surrounded by two doves in flight.

He froze, studying the tattoo.

“Hey, you can quit staring now,” she said, her cheeks turning redder by the minute. She arched her back in an attempt to dislodge him.

Still holding her wrists with one of his hands, he pointed at the mark. “This tattoo, when did you get it?”

She stopped struggling. “When I was eighteen. The year my parents died.”

For a moment, her words hung in the air, as if they didn’t quite belong anywhere. Then it all came crashing down around Duke.

He glared down at her. “Who the hell are you?”

Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. “Wh-what do you mean? I’m Lena Love. Who else would I be?” Her gaze slipped to the corner of the room.

“The woman in the bar who flashed me last night was Lena Love. She didn’t have a tattoo on her breasts. You, however, do.”

She set her jaw in a tight line. “Get off of me.”

Duke shook his head. “Not until you tell me what the hell is going on.”

A
ngel could tell
by the dark look in Duke’s eyes he wasn’t going to buy any more of her bullshit.

“I’m Lena Love, and I’m ordering you to let go of me.”

He shook his head. “Nope. Try again.”

She fought to free her wrists, finally giving up. “Fine. Let me up, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

For a long moment, he continued to hold her wrists above her head. Then he abruptly released them and rose to his feet.

Angel covered her breasts with her hands, glad she at least still wore panties. Though, even with everything covered, she felt completely exposed to his all-seeing gaze.

He reached a hand down to her.

She ignored it, rolled to her side and pushed to a standing position. With her back to him, she crossed to a dresser, pulled out a leopard print nightgown, threw it down in disgust and found a plain gray T-shirt. Pulling it over her head, she turned to confront her bodyguard.

“Come with me.” She led the way into the bathroom with its bright white walls, brushed chrome fixtures and muted lighting

Once she closed the door behind him, she turned on the water in the shower. “Just in case anyone is listening in or recording our conversation,” she explained, even though he hadn’t asked. Nervous now, she tugged at the hem of the T-shirt, noticing too late that her nipples poked into the fabric making little tents.

“Start talking,” Duke ordered.

“I will. I will. Keep your britches on.” She turned away and pushed her wet hair out of her face. “Last night when Lena was at the bar, she consumed too much alcohol and did things she would never do sober.” At least Angel hoped she wouldn’t flash someone when she wasn’t high or drunk. The truth was that Lena was a loose cannon, on a one-way trip to cratering her career if she didn’t get sober. “We found her in the ladies’ room passed out on the floor. Someone had written a message on her face in indelible ink.”

“What was the message?”

“
Bitch. I’m going to make you pay
.”

Duke shook his head. “Did you ever consider that information might be important to a bodyguard?”

“I suppose it would have been nice to know.”

“So, who are you?”

“I’m Lena’s stunt woman and body double.”

Duke snapped his fingers impatiently. “Do you have your own name?”

“Angel Carson.”

“Background.”

“Prior military, currently a stunt woman.”

“Branch and specialty?”

“Army Ranger.”

“Seriously?” He stared at her, as if seeing her for the first time. “Not many women have made it through Ranger training.”

“I know. I was in the second class that allowed female trainees.”

“Why did you get out of the Army?”

“Not because I wanted to.” She glanced away. “TBI – Traumatic Brain Injury.” She touched a finger to her head. “My team got caught in an explosion. I survived, but the impact scrambled my brain enough the Medical Review Board processed me out.”

“And you thought being a stunt woman would improve your brain injury?”

Angel shrugged. “What else was I fit for? I trained to go into dangerous situations, to shoot and be shot at.”

“How did they know you had a TBI?”

She snorted. “I was in a coma for a week. When I came to, I had temporary amnesia and situational amnesia of the attack.”

“That’s normal. The brain protects you from reliving the trauma.”

“Not completely. I had terrible nightmares, but couldn’t remember them when I woke. At first my sense of taste and smell were off. I had dizzy spells and really bad headaches. Those symptoms faded as time passed.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.”

“I was sorry I lost my team, my career and everything I knew.” She shrugged. Three years had passed since then.

“How did you land a job as a stunt woman?”

She gave a short smile. “It’s one of those Hollywood stories you always hear about. A scout spotted me at an oil change place. The rest, you could say, is history.”

“Where is the real Lena Love?”

“Phillip was supposed to get her checked into a rehab facility to dry her out and clean up her face. Meanwhile, I’m the bait for her attacker.” She drew in a deep breath, glad to get all of that off her chest. “I never was a good liar. I’m glad you know. But you can’t tell anyone. In order for Lena to get the privacy she needs, I have to put on a convincing act as the real Hollywood diva.” She gave him a crooked smile. “So, was I convincing?”