Xavier: (Indestructible) (4 page)

“Are you in pain?”

“No. I’m fine. Can we stop this? You need to take me back to my
car.”

He expertly parked his car in the hospital’s parking lot
outside the emergency section. Without uttering a word, he cut the engine and
came to collect her by opening the passenger side door. He picked her up and
carried her out of the vehicle and started walking toward the hospital
building. She didn’t protest. She couldn’t protest because again awareness
seared through her like hot lava. By the time she was coherent enough to speak,
he had lowered her to her feet and they were standing in front of the emergency
room receptionist.

The receptionist gasped when she raised her head and saw him
standing there.

Cassandra smiled, knowing how devastating he must look to the
poor woman. With his velvet chocolate skin and the smoothness of his hair lying
close to his scalp adding to his exotic looks, it was obvious he was from a
mixed parentage. And seeing that neat goatee, no woman was going to resist him.
Sure, he has numerous scars, but I see them as adding character to an otherwise
too beautiful face. Yes, he’s big, but I love his massive, hard body and
uncompromising masculinity.

“M-may I h-help you?” the woman stammered.

“Yes,” her knight said simply. He pulled her in front of him. “Cassandra
needs a doctor.”

“Hey, h…how do you know my name?” It was her turn to stammer.

Both the receptionist and her knight ignored her. The
receptionist waved a nurse over to them, who immediately took them into a small
interview room.

“Look, I can’t keep calling you
hey
. Since you seem to know
who I am, would you kindly tell me your name?” Cassandra muttered as the nurse
got comfortable in front of her computer.

“I need an ID, insurance card, and a credit card,” the nurse said,
interrupting Cassandra’s disgruntled speech.

Her knight opened his palm in front of her. “ID?”

Cassandra thought for a moment to be defiant but quickly
thought better of it when she thought of him rummaging through her gym bag. There
were numerous intimate items in the bag no potential love interest should see. She
dug out her ID and silently passed it to him. She then had to sit through a set
of embarrassing questions the nurse asked. What is your date of birth, what is
your weight, when was your last period, are you on birth control?
Lord, open
this floor right now and suck me into the abyss!

Her knight gave the nurse a black credit card and
his
ID.

Now the damn nurse knows his name and I don’t. How is that
fair?

Cassandra couldn’t believe how fast she was processed through
and immediately saw a doctor on the sight of that black credit card. Two hours
later, they were back in the car parking lot, where Cameron sat in her car
waiting. It was already dark out, as it was well past eight o’clock in the
night.

Cassandra was tired, hungry, and irritable. She stopped beside
the Honda, folded her arms, and looked up at him as he stood in front of her.
“I’m not going to thank you for that.”

“Do as the doctor instructed and take a day off from training
tomorrow,” he said.

“What is your name?”

“You are very young,” he answered instead.

“What does that mean? I’m an adult.”

He reached behind her and opened the passenger side door. After
he helped her into her seat, he ran the rough pad of a finger down her cheek.
“Be good and rest. You don’t want to jeopardize your last year at UNC.” He
looked at Cameron. “Drive carefully and take care of her.” He turned and walked
away.

Cassandra stared after him in disbelief and frustration.
So
he had me investigated?

Xavier breathed a sigh of relief when it was ten minutes
after five a.m. and Cassandra hadn’t come out for her usual morning run. But he
wasn’t so happy at four p.m. when she drove to the basketball court. He pulled
his SUV right alongside her Honda Civic. They were parked across the street
from the still vacant court; not even her coach had arrived yet. As she climbed
out of the car, he blocked her from moving farther.

“Not happening, go home,” he said softly.

She placed her hand at her waist and glared at him. “Since I
have no clue
who
I’m talking to, anything you have to say is
irrelevant.” She moved to get around him.

He easily caged her into the open doorway of the car. “You are
not playing today.” He barely moved his lips as her scent reached him. The
silky softness of her brown skin gleamed, and the sudden need to touch her
shocked him. He tightened his fist to prevent himself from reaching for her.

Cassandra closed the remaining space between them and pressed
her open palms on his chest. “I won’t play if you tell me your name.”

Xavier could feel his frame tremble from that innocent touch. Without
any forethought, he closed the remaining space between them. Whatever pull she
had over him, he gave up trying to fight it.
If she can’t see what an ugly
mudderfucker I am, then who the hell am I to tell her?
He wanted to feel
her, touch her, and have her feel and touch him. Her stomach cradled his
growing erection, and she felt like heaven against him.
Does she know how
close I am to just taking her and pounding into her? How long will she stay in
my arms before pulling away from me? Woman as beautiful as her would never even
get this close to me. They always turn away in fear or revulsion. I’m too hard,
too intense, too black, and too fucking ugly. Why is she not running from me?

Cassandra sucked in her breath audibly as his cock pulsed
against her. She looked down at where their bodies touch, but she didn’t move
as he expected.

Xavier looked down as well, and he pulsed harder. Her nipples
were clearly beading behind her sports bra and T-shirt, their outline visible
and blatant. He closed his eyes, determined to not let her see the madness he
was feeling.
The feel and scent of her is fucking sending me up in smoke!
It’s as if my senses are drugged on her.

“I won’t tell anyone who you are,” she said softly.

Xavier blinked and opened his eyes. He had lost their train of
conversation and was now confused by her promise. “Why not?” he asked.

“You’re undercover, right? Perhaps hoping to catch my brothers
in the act?”

“What? No,” he denied, almost feeling the need to smile at her
enthusiasm for having her brothers caught. He knew from his investigation about
her that her brothers were small-time drug dealers. Their dealings had the
attention of the agency, but the higher-ups were waiting for more substantial
fish. So far the brothers had led them to no one substantive. But Xavier wasn’t
on their case. He usually dealt with more violent and bigger drug operations.

“Look, I don’t care if you’re after them. I just need to know
your name. It’s kinda difficult having a wet dream about someone whose name you
don’t know.” She shivered against him and started moving her fingers in a
circular motion on his chest.

Her confession stunned him, and he stared down at her silently.
He couldn’t believe she found him attractive. Her obvious interest only made
him pulse harder into her soft belly.

“So are you going to tell me, or am I going to be playing ball
today?”

God, that tiny light caress and her lush curves are making
me so fucking hard. This girl is going to get me arrested if she doesn’t stop
touching me.

“No?” Cassandra angled her head in enquiry. He obviously didn’t
answer fast enough because the next thing he knew she’d ducked back into her
car, scrambled out the other side of the car, and sprinted toward the
basketball court.

Xavier intercepted her before she crossed the street to the
court and blocked her attempts to get around him. “You are too young, too
beautiful,” he told her with a calm he fought hard to portray, willing her to
understand.

“I don’t get it. What the hell does my age or my looks have to
do with anything?”

“Look at me,” he murmured.

“Yeah, I see you. Are you fishing for a compliment?

“I can’t fuck you. You’re too young, too beautiful.”

She closed the distance between them and placed her palm on his
chest again. “I’m twenty-one years old, old enough to know what I want. I think
you’re just gorgeous.”

He grunted, unable to argue the point that she had only
recently turned twenty-one and certainly not willing to argue about his looks.
He knew what he looked like, despite her words to the contrary. Just her touch,
the feel of her skin against his, and her scent had him helplessly sinking his
fingers into the supple flesh of her round ass and pulling her closer.
What
the fuck am I going to do with this beautiful kid?
A kaleidoscope of images
flashed into his mind, his lips wrapped around her ripe nipples, his tongue on
her tasting her nectar...
Who the fuck am I kidding? I’m already lost over
her. No fucking way will I be able to resist her! What the hell am I going to
do when she realizes I’m a monster? How would she react if she sees me still
standing even after a mortal wound?
Bending his head in agony, he placed
his forehead against hers; he was paralyzed with both lust and despair.
I
shouldn’t be touching her like this if I hope to keep my sanity.

Cassandra pressed her lips against his ear. “Before you start
thinking of fucking me, can you at least introduce yourself first? Maybe ask me
on a date first? I may be a bit old-fashioned, but I think that all happens
before we start fucking, no? Besides, you would have to make love to me first.
I will need you to be gentle. I kinda noticed that you’re a big”—she laughed
huskily—“a really
big
guy.”

The thought of being in her tight snatch almost brought him to
his knees.
I’m so fucked!
He tightened his fingers on her lush flesh as
his dick tried to drill a hole in his jeans. “Don’t say things like that,” he
muttered.
This reaction to her isn’t normal. It’s visceral, impossible for
me to control.

She kissed his ear, his neck. “I can’t help it. Why is that?”
She kissed the middle of his chest. “I don’t know your name, but I still want
you. I’ve never wanted like this before, never felt desire like this.”

“Jesus,” he hissed.
Can’t she feel how I’m pulsing like hell
to get into her?

“Tell me your name,” she whispered, peppering his face with
soft kisses.

Her tender caresses were playing havoc with his concentration. “It’s
Xavier. Call me X,” he murmured.

“Xavier,” she said breathlessly and gently ran her fingers over
his closely cut hair.

His breath hitched. He loved the sound of his name on her lips
just a little too much.
That’s my name, but she has no idea what I am.
Her
touch obliterated him. He couldn’t resist her any longer. Bending his head, he angled
his lips over hers. It started out as a simple meeting of the lips, and he was
jolted by her softness. Parting her lips with his tongue, he delved deeper, and
his big frame trembled at the first taste of her.
Oh God, she’s so sweet.
He
couldn’t help kissing her as if wanting to devour her. Holding her, tasting her,
was pure nirvana. It was the first time in his life he’d ever felt as though he
might pass out from the maelstrom of sensations consuming him.

She eagerly kissed him back, passionately twirling her tongue
around his.

He was oblivious to everything around them, deepening the kiss
and clutching her tighter against him. She strained against him as though she
couldn’t get close enough.
Oh God!
The universe shrunk to just her;
nothing else existed.

“Get a room!” a pissed-off voice yelled from a passing vehicle.

Xavier raised his head and put her away from him. He swayed
unsteadily on his feet for a brief moment. He closed his eyes and tried
modulating his breathing to regain his equilibrium. When he looked back at her,
she seemed to be having the same problem and was staring back at him in
bewilderment.
Yeah, that’s how I fucking feel, completely obliterated by your
barely-legal ass.

He grabbed her hand suddenly and escorted her back to her car.
“Go home.”

“Am I going to see you tomorrow, Xavier?” Cassandra climbed
into her car.

“What do you think?”

“Can you at least run with me instead of behind me?” She looked
at him with a teasing glint in her eyes, daring him to deny he had been running
behind her on her morning runs.

He grunted and walked away without answering her query. He
followed her home and ensured she was safely inside the house before leaving
for his apartment.

Xavier knew he was being followed as soon as he climbed out of
his SUV after parking it in the lot of an apartment complex about a mile from
his temporary home on Paradise Island. He had deliberately parked his car to
throw off the idiots following him. There were two men in a darkly tinted Dodge
Durango, who climbed out of their vehicle when he exited his car.

Moving swiftly through the car-park, Xavier entered the
unlocked picket-fence-type gate into a central courtyard for the complex. He
weaved in and out between the buildings, noting that the men continued to
follow in his wake. Xavier moved swiftly as a chorus of dogs barking filled the
air. In seconds, he was able to work his way behind his pursuers. Striking with
lethal force, Xavier brought down both men with a series of strikes and kicks,
utilizing the martial arts training he’d perfected while in the US Special
Forces. In seconds, both men were rendered unconscious with a variety of broken
bones and bruised, bloodied faces. Xavier didn’t escape the minor scrimmage
without any injuries however. He’d been struck directly in his chest with a
bullet from a third assailant he hadn’t seen coming. Grimacing slightly when
the man had discharged his weapon, Xavier was pissed when he snapped the man’s
neck.
I hate being shot. I won’t die, but that shit hurts like a bitch! At
least this bastard won’t be waking up again.

His blood quickly saturated the front of his T-shirt. Xavier
was irritated by the inconvenience of the ruined shirt but quickly searched all
three men for IDs or any information that could help identify who the Chinese
men were. More than likely they were only mules and were insignificant in
uncovering why their boss was so intent on Cassandra.

The dark-skinned African man lurked in the shadows, watching
his prey intently. He noted his skill and was not at all intimated by it. He
had the element of surprise on his side. By the time Xavier saw him coming, it
would be too late.
Soon, very soon, I will do what others have failed to do
and eliminate this unworthy half-breed.

Half an hour later, Xavier stood in the bathroom of his
temporary home and calmly dug the bullet out of his chest.
It’s time I call
the only man on earth I trust with my life.