Page 39 of Too Guarded to Love (Project VIPER #3)

O livia trembled under the warm water streaming from the showerhead. Joe’s sister had insisted she use the shower in her office to clean up and regroup before Harlee’s long surgery.

After the short ride to the hospital, she’d been whisked away by Dr. Morgan.

As the orthopedic surgeon on call brought her up to speed on Harlee’s condition, Olivia forced herself to focus on a surgical plan.

Now the clinical side of her brain relaxed as every other part of it screamed for answers she hadn’t had time to get on the ride over here.

Closing her eyes, she rested her head against the wall. Her temples throbbed, but there was one thing she didn’t question.

Her soul-deep need to see Nic. To feel his strong arms wrap around her and settle her nerves. To hear him demanding she stop questioning herself. To believe the truth in his kiss.

In his breath.

In the way he called her sirena when she drove him to madness.

As if fate knew what she needed, the shower curtain whooshed open.

Nic stood there in his uniform—minus the jacket— in all his super-soldier glory.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she grabbed him like he was a decadent dark roast, and she hadn’t consumed caffeine in days.

He nipped at her lower lip as he sighed into her mouth. “Miss me?”

“Yes.”

He pulled back and held her at arm’s length. “Are you okay?”

“No.” She grazed her finger along his steel knuckles as water sprayed onto her shoulders.

Goose bumps peppered her skin from the chilly air and the heat in his gaze.

“I don’t know if I can do this surgery. I mean, I can.

Harlee’s injuries aren’t nearly as bad as when I met her.

This fall has actually simplified the surgery I’d planned to do in Atlanta, but… ”

She held out her hand. It shook like the helicopter’s blades. “Am I stupid to think I can do this right now?”

He caught her chin in his steel hand and joined her in the shower. Water soaked his clothes as he pressed her against the wall. “You aren’t stupid. You’re loyal and badass.”

“I know.” Despite his encouraging words, doubt still prevailed. “But you won’t be in the operating room with me to save the day if something goes wrong.”

She ran her hand through her wet hair. “Christ, Nic, the two of you just looked at the second batch of bad guys and they fell to the ground.” She slapped the wall behind her. “Fell. To. The. Ground.”

“They did, and I enjoyed every minute of making those fuckers pay for scaring you.” He reached around her waist and slapped her on the ass.

She yelped. “What was that for?”

“For not listening. I told you to stay all the way down in the helicopter, but I saw you peeking through the window. That wasn’t all the way down, baby.”

“Thank God I didn’t listen because I would have missed the show.” Heart racing, she somehow knew if he shared what she was about to ask, there was no going back to the peaceful life she’d led in Atlanta. “What did I see back there, Nic?”

He sighed, as if giving in to something he knew was inevitable. “The tech running through us lets us fire a Taser-laser hybrid called a V-Strike with just our thoughts. We think about where we want to hit our target, and at what intensity, and the V-Strike finds its mark.”

Her mouth dropped open. “That’s…” She slipped her fingers to his wrist. “I have so many words, yet none of them seem sufficient. I’m sure once the surgery is over, I’ll have a hundred things to say and a thousand questions to ask, but right now I wish I had a superpower like that. Not to strike, but to repair.”

“You don’t need my superpower . ” He traced the curve of her breast. “You have all you need in here.”

Her heart beat a wild rhythm under his hand as her nipples hardened. “Normally I don’t, but tonight I need some of yours.” Dropping her hand between their bodies, she cupped his cock. “Can you laser some into me, soldier?”

Like the snake tattooed on his body, he struck so fast she didn’t have time to breathe as his lips crashed onto hers. Pressing her hands to his chest, she shoved him back. “Naked. Now.”

He pulled his clothes and shoes off and tossed them out of the shower.

Spinning her to face the wall, he dipped his head into the crook of her neck. “I have dreams about you like this, all wet and dripping like you gave up your life in the ocean because you knew you’d find me.”

God, she had known. Somehow, some way, with or without Gran’s soulmate sense guiding her, she’d known she’d find the man she didn’t want to live without .

Fear stole her breath. If his God-given leg had been hit earlier and the bullet had pierced his femoral artery…

“You could have died today.”

“I’m a super soldier, baby. When I go to work and fight the bad guys, you can bet I’ll be the one left standing.

And when I’m away, I’ll dream about how you taste.

” Snaking his hand around her belly, he cupped her center.

“I’ll dream about how it feels to be balls deep inside this pussy.

And when I come back, I’ll do all the things I fantasized about when we were apart. ”

Biting her lip, she fought to stay in this moment. To forget about life beyond this steamy cocoon.

He spun her to face him. Gripping under her thighs, he held her above his cock. “Wrap your legs around me and hold on tight.”

She whimpered as she slid her legs around his lean, hard waist.

“Tell me you’re going to kick this surgery’s ass.”

She squirmed in his hold. He held her above him, so close to his silken heat, blazing fire into her core. “Nic, I…please.”

“Tell me.”

Panting, she forced her tongue to work. “I’m going to kick this surgery’s ass.”

“Tell me you’re the best doctor in the whole damn world.”

“I’m the best.” So was he, and she wanted so much more, not just now, but forever.

He lowered her enough for his swollen head to graze her clit. “You’re strong, and beautiful, and so goddamn reckless I should tie you to my bed and never let you leave.”

His words sank deep into her soul as she met his gaze. What she felt in her heart—the desire, the uncertainty, the feeling she didn’t dare name— stormed in his eyes. “I’m all those things, and I don’t want to leave.”

“Good, because I don’t want you to leave either.” He slammed her down onto his cock.

She screamed loud enough to break the mirror.

As just the right amount of pain and an overload of pleasure ripped through her, her mind cleared of everything except their unbreakable connection, which she could no longer deny.

And as they toweled off and got dressed, he let her in on another VIPER superpower he’d asked Scarlett to engineer just for them.

Nic pushed off the wall from his position across from the operating room as the door opened.

A nurse poked her head out. “Dr. Darren asked me to let you know that things are going well. She thinks she can complete the surgery in about an hour.”

The corner of Nic’s lips tilted up into a smirk. He schooled them into a charming grin for the twenty-something woman with the big, brown eyes. “Thank you for the update.”

Joe strode down the hall as the door to the operating room closed. “That nurse sounds like she’d like to play a little doctor with you.”

“You think?” She’d been coming out at regular intervals since the surgery started, with unnecessary updates.

Thanks to the earpiece he’d given Olivia, they’d been communicating every thirty minutes or so for the past four hours.

He’d have to buy Scarlett flowers for arranging the dedicated mind comms connection.

Joe chuckled. “Would you happen to know anything about a shot fired near the airstrip I secured for you? ”

Nic shrugged as he hooked his fingers on the waistband of the tactical pants Linc had brought him from the helicopter. What went down tonight wasn’t a local PD matter. He did owe Joe an explanation about something, though. “I do have intel about Stella’s murder.”

All humor drained from Joe’s face.

Without stopping for a breath, Nic explained his connection to Rachel and Natalie and how Stella had wound up a consequence of his actions. “I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner that Stella’s death is my fault.”

Tears swam in Joe’s eyes as his lips smashed into a hard line. Nic braced himself for Joe to tell him to get the hell out of his town and never come back.

Instead, Joe clapped a hand on his shoulder and shook him.

“First, I had my suspicions about someone avenging Rachel’s death.

I couldn’t face them yet, so I let you take it on by yourself.

I’m sorry about that. Second, if you ever fucking say again that Stella’s death is on you, I’ll punch your pretty face. ”

A weight lifted off Nic’s shoulders as Joe pulled him in for a hug. As Joe clapped him on the back and said, “I love you, man,” tears welled in Nic’s eyes.

Was this what unconditional love felt like?

“Am I interrupting something?”

Nic stepped away from Joe and wiped his eyes with the cuff of his T-shirt. “Fuck you, cowboy. Why aren’t you at headquarters?”

Kane pulled his hat off his head. “Everyone is safe and sound, and we wanted in on the action. Linc and Chris are monitoring the entrances.” He held out his hand to Joe. “Sorry you had to hang out with this guy until I got here.”

Nic laughed. Leave it to Kane to lighten a heavy situation. And to remind him that his brothers always had his back.

Unconditionally, just like he knew Olivia did.

As Joe said goodbye with a promise to be on-site if they needed anything, a mind comms from headquarters beeped in Nic’s brain.

“Status?” Ryan asked.

“Secure. Any intel from the shooter?” The guy who’d fled the airfield hadn’t stood a chance against the speed in Linc’s steel legs.

Edgar joined the conversation along with the team. “The shooter and his colleagues were sent by the Diablos with strict instructions to engage but not kill.”

“You mean they sent a team just to pick a fight?” Why waste resources if there wasn’t a tangible end goal?

A door down the hall opened. Two guys in scrubs, who looked young enough to be teenagers, walked out. The conversation in Nic’s head dimmed as one of them mentioned playing laser tag later.

Laser tag and teenagers. Like Hudson and Gage, when they demonstrated the wearables at the White House.

Nic paced the length of the corridor as an idea took shape.

“Maybe the Diablos weren’t sent to pick a fight. Maybe they were sent to observe how we engage in battle. Richardson’s been trying to gain intel about our capabilities. Maybe tonight was set up to be a demonstration.”

“Interesting idea, but Richardson knows how the V-Strikes work. He was hit with one during Scarlett’s rescue.”

“Maybe they thought we’d be wearing the wearables. Did the shooter give any indication about tonight’s motive for attacking?”

“No. That appears to be above his pay grade. We do know that he was given instructions about where to shoot you, but not told why. And they were all ordered not to hurt the woman.”

Relief stopped Nic in his tracks as red-hot rage thundered between his ears. Olivia had been safe the whole time, but the experience would stay with her forever. “If tonight was a demonstration of sorts, who was the audience? Verbally reporting back seems like a waste of time.”

Linc seconded the observation. “I didn’t see any cameras on the Diablo’s bodies, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t wearing them. Ryan, can you get a closer look at the surveillance from the airfield?”

“We’re on it.”

Nic paced in front of the operating room door. “ What else did the shooter say?”

“They were instructed to shoot to kill if they spotted Natalie Durham on-site.”

It didn’t surprise him that she had a role in tonight’s mayhem. “Anything come of the money trail you were following on Jonathan Garrity?”

“Yes.” Ryan’s voice carried over the sound of fingers on a keyboard. “I just got a report. The transaction was well hidden, but he received a large sum last year. We’re looking into it further.”

As the mind comms ended, Nic’s phone chimed with a text.

Joe: Meet me in the stairwell at the north side of the building. I have something to tell you that I didn’t want to share in front of your teammate.

Nic’s pulse kicked up. Was Joe angry with him? He’d seemed okay a few minutes ago, but maybe the news about Stella’s death had sunk in and he blamed?—

He pulled out his tin of mints and popped three in his mouth. “Joe asked me to meet him. I’ll be right back.”

“Go. I got this.”

As Nic strode down the hall, he checked in with Olivia. “How’s the most amazing doctor in the world? ”

“Good. We’re almost there.”

Her voice soothed his overactive mind as he hurried through the hospital. “I’m going to meet with Joe for a few minutes, but your brother is right outside, and Chris and Linc are monitoring the entrances.”

“There is no escaping the VIPER-verse is there?”

He smiled as he opened the door to the stairwell. Olivia was part of his world. He prayed she’d never want to go back to the ocean she’d come from.

As he ended the connection, a sea witch of the most lethal kind appeared like a nightmare.