Page 27 of Guarding Grace (Hawk Security #2)

Terry

I woke the next morning to hair tickling my chin and the faint lemony scent of Grace. As I blinked away sleep, I was careful not to move my hand, which cupped her warm breast. Normally, I liked to sleep cold, but this morning I found the experience of her warmth against me supremely comfortable.

I’d doubted Duke when he’d told me that having Serena in his bed every morning provided a mood lift that had been new to him. Now I got it. There was a serenity to the start of the day with my woman in my arms, breathing slowly and steadily.

Grace shifted.

I stayed still.

She brought a hand up to cover mine and pressed me into her breast. Her ass shifted back against my morning wood. “Good morning,” she mumbled groggily.

“Morning, Kitten.” I pulled her closer.

Then she jerked. “What time is it?”

A cat bounded off the foot of the bed and scurried out.

Not letting go of her, I breathed in her scent. “Time for more sex.”

She wiggled her ass against me. “I can tell. But really, what time is it?”

I released my hold on her. “The clock is on your side. ”

She raised up. “Shit.” Twisting, she faced me, planting a quick kiss on my lips. “Rambo, we have to get up. I have to get into work and prepare.”

“I thought I was Sir Galahad?”

“After the way I’ve seen you dispatch bad guys, I think Rambo is closer.” She grasped my aching cock and gave me a tug.

“That’s it, baby. Sir Galahad’s sword.”

“You do know that in mythology, Galahad was celibate.”

I laughed as I pulled her down and rolled on top of her. “I’m certainly not planning on that.”

She pushed on my shoulders. “That’s good to know, but I seriously need to get up.”

“I’m already up. Can’t you tell?”

“What you are is incorrigible.” She pulled me in for a kiss. “I have to shower.”

When she slipped out of bed and stood, I was rewarded with an excellent view of my woman naked.

God, she was gorgeous. Her boobs taunted me, just begging me to pull her back into bed.

She turned for the bathroom, giving me a glimpse of an intriguing dragon tattoo on her lower back I’d never known about.

After taking a few minutes to get my cock under control, I used the bathroom. Of course I slowed down at the shower glass to take in my woman. Pulling myself away was a struggle I almost lost.

“You can join me if you promise to behave yourself,” she called out just as I reached the door.

I turned back to look, but it was too much for me when she soaped her tits. “I can’t make that promise.” Instead, I left. I deserved some kind of medal for not joining her under the water and making her late to work.

As I listened to the shower run from the bedroom, Grace so consumed my thoughts that I almost fell over getting a pair of underwear on.

Screw it. Pants were optional since this was my fucking house.

I went to the kitchen, needing to get out of earshot or I’d totally cave and have her again against the marble of the shower.

Her two cats were lounging on the sectional, Bonnie on the back and Clyde on the cushions.

While the coffee machine did its thing, I surveyed the kitchen to find an appropriate place for a quickie. I was getting hard again, just hoping Grace would agree.

Then I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

Shit. How had an intruder gotten past my lock?

Double shit. My weapon was in the bedroom, and I couldn’t reach it without going by the stairwell .

Silently, I grabbed a knife from the block.

A woman’s voice came around the corner. “Hey, big brother. Time to wake up.” Fuck me. It was my sister, Deb.

“I’m awake.” With my hard-on obvious, I swapped the knife for a dish towel to hide behind just as she rounded the corner. At least the sound of the shower had stopped.

She shrugged and strolled to the fridge. “We said we were going to get together, and I knew it would be next month if I waited for you to have a break in your schedule.” She pulled open the fridge with a yawn.

I moved behind the island. “What are you doing up?” She hadn’t ever been much of an early riser. “You could have called to warn me you were coming over so I could at least get dressed.”

“Jet lag,” she explained. “My sleep schedule is all screwed up. And I wasn’t giving you a chance to sneak off and avoid me. No way.” She glanced my way. “We used to take baths together, so it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“When you were like four,” I reminded her.

She closed the refrigerator. “How come you don’t have any breakfast fruit? You know cantaloupe, blueberries, grapefruit?”

“Because it’s my fridge, and I don’t eat fruit at breakfast.”

She yawned again. “So, where’s this hot-shit medal you got?”

“It’s at work,” I lied. “You look bushed, so why don’t you go home and rest? I promise I’ll bring it by tonight.”

“I might as well, since you don’t have anything good for breakfast.” She picked up her purse. “But you better promise me.”

“Of course.”

“Is the coffee ready?” Grace called from the bedroom.

A smile bloomed on Deb’s face. “You sly devil, you,” she whispered.

“I’ll bring it in a minute,” I answered, hoping to hell that Grace stayed in the bedroom. I waved my hand for Deb to shoo.

She didn’t budge. “Serena did say a girl named Janice would be hard for you to resist.” She held her hands out in front of her chest, suggesting that Janice had big tits, which was spot on.

I rolled my eyes. “Can you give me a little privacy, please?”

My luck ran out when Grace turned the corner.

She startled at the sight of Deb, and the towel she had wrapped around her almost came loose. An instant blush formed.

“You guys?” Deb screeched. “You finally got out of your own way?” She rushed to Grace and gave her a hug. “I’ve been waiting for this.”

Grace fixed her towel when my sister released her. “He’s my bodyguard,” she said meekly .

“And she’s also now my girlfriend,” I said proudly. I intended to claim her publicly, and Deb was a good place to start.

“I knew it,” Deb squealed. “I knew it.”

Grace’s eyes bored into me. “Terry.” It was not an I’m-glad-you-told-her tone.

“What, Kitten? You’re mine. Get used to it.”

Deb watched with fascination as Grace huffed out a loud breath. “We could have discussed this first.”

I waved at my sister. “What were you going to tell her? That we didn’t just?—”

“Not another word,” Deb said, raising a hand.

“Time out for a second. I don’t ever want to hear details, but I’m happier than a pig in shit for the two of you.

Grace, you’ve got the best man I know in your corner now, and you, big brother…

” She pointed at me. “,,,have the classiest, most driven, ass-kicking woman I know to put you in your place when you deserve it. Which we both know is almost all the time.”

I grinned, liking her description of the situation.

Grace smiled as well.

Deb shot her a questioning look and raised hand. “Hold on a second. Why do you need a bodyguard?”

“Elliot,” I said. “So, she’s staying here until the situation is resolved.”

Deb sighed. “That kid needs to grow up. But why are you in trouble?” she asked Grace.

Grace hitched up her towel again. “I have to get to work, but the short version is that Elliot got in trouble with the wrong people, and they think I know where to find him.”

Deb cocked her head.

“Or,” Grace admitted, “they think taking me will give them leverage over him.”

“Which is stupid,” I commented. “Because Elliot doesn’t care about anybody but himself.”

“Duh,” Deb concurred.

Grace backed away without contradicting me this time. “I really do have to get ready for work.”

My quickie was now off the table. Table ? That was the answer. The breakfast table would do just fine when the opportunity for a quickie arose—or better yet, the table on the terrace. Yeah, that would be something.

Just then, a phone rang in my backpack, and both women looked at me. I pulled out the pair of phones we’d taken from the Russo pair. I’d just been waiting for someone to call one of them .

The one with the pink cover rang again. The name on the screen read Victor —no surprise there.

I motioned for Grace. “He’s expecting a woman to answer. When I accept the call, just answer it with a yes , nothing more.”

She nodded.

I pressed a finger to my lips, telling my sister to stay out of this, then I accepted the call on speaker.

“Yes?” Grace said as I held the phone out.

“Where are you?” Victor’s angry voice came across the line. “You said you had the girl, and then you don’t show. We don’t have any time to mess around, Maria.”

“Victor, so nice to hear your voice again.”

There was a pause. “Who the fuck is this?”

“Maria and the other idiot you sent are busy right now, and they won’t be coming back anytime soon.” Anger made me grip the phone tighter.

“I want the weasel Elliot,” Victor snarled. “Give him to me now, or things are getting very bad for everybody.”

“Coming for Grace was a very big mistake, dickhead. Don’t make it worse,” I growled.

He laughed. “You must be Terry. Last name Goodwin. I looked you up—a fucking LAPD pussy. You give me back my cousin Maria right the fuck now or else.”

“Not happening.”

“Mr. Policeman, do you have a death wish? You have no idea what my father will do when he hears you have Maria.”

Hiding behind his father’s name told me exactly what kind of wimpy prick I was dealing with. “I don’t give a flying fuck who your father is, asshole. Grace is off-limits, you hear me?”

“I only hear a dead man talking.”

Grace paced in a tiny circle.

“Fuck you!” Deb burst into the conversation. “Don’t you dare insult my brother.”

I mouthed, “ Be quiet, ” and pointed an angry finger at my firecracker of a sister, then added a warning glare.

Victor laughed. “Ah, Mr. Policeman, you have a woman to hide behind.”

“Screw you, Victor. She’s not a part of this either.”

“She’s got sass. I like that in a woman. I think we should have dinner.”