STORY EXCERPT

Holden sat with Nadine’s hand in his. He wanted her on his lap, but it was too soon for that. From the moment he had been shown her picture in the briefing he had known she was going to be someone special. He had seen the way the other members of his team looked at her. She could be the one. The one they had been looking for. The one woman who would be theirs. Theirs to share, theirs to love, theirs for life.

While he was carrying her, he couldn’t help but notice how small and soft she was. She felt perfect in his arms. When she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, he would have stopped right there and kissed her had he not been running for both their lives.

Ever since his friends on the black team had found a woman to share, they had been longing for someone. At first, they had thought they had found her, but that didn’t work out. Holden had gotten hurt while lost in the jungle on an assignment and the woman they had been seeing bailed, saying she couldn’t handle it if Holden wasn’t the same.

Holden had carried a lot of guilt about that until, Julie, the fiancée of the other group had talked to him. Julie had sat down with him one day and told him, “Holden, you aren’t responsible for anyone’s actions other than your own. If this woman wasn’t strong enough to be there for you when you needed her, was she really the one you wanted to spend your life with? Was she the woman that would help support your squad when you needed it? I think it was a good thing the bitch left before you got any more involved. When the woman for you comes along, you’ll know it.”

Holden had spent a lot of time thinking about what Julie said and now holding and watching Nadine, he knew she was right. Nadine was the one for him. He could tell and the way the others in his squad were watching them, they knew it too.

It wasn’t long before they landed and Holden carried Nadine to the door where he handed her to Garrett. He jumped into the van that was waiting to take them to the safe house where they would debrief and stay until they received further instructions.

Garrett enjoyed the feel of Nadine in his arms and reluctantly handed her to Cameron so he could get in the vehicle.

Nadine didn’t remember much of the ride to the house other than she was in a large van with several men. All the men were very attentive to her. She wasn’t sure she understood what was going on, but went with the flow, for now, not knowing what else to do.

“Ms. Wilder, before I introduce the team of men that rescued you and will be responsible for your safety until the threat against you is extinguished, do you need anything? I’m not sure you remember, but I’m the team leader, Garrett Mills,” he said and took Nadine’s hand to lead her to a large conference table with several chairs around it.

Garrett, like the rest of the men, was tall, well over six feet. He had pitch-black hair cropped close to his head and the bluest eyes Nadine had ever seen. He helped her into a seat and turned to introduce the rest of the men.

Someone set another large bottle of water in front of her, and a huge plate of sandwiches was set in the middle of the table. The plate was pushed close to Nadine, and she grabbed the first sandwich off of the top of the pile. She wasn’t sure how long it had been since she had eaten, but she was suddenly starving.

“The man sitting to your right is Holden Hayes,” Garrett continued.

“Hi, darling, pleased to meet ya,” Holden said with a hint of a Southern accent. “Anything ya’ll need you make sure to tell us, honey.”

“On your left is our team medic, Cameron Weatherly.”

“Call me Cam, ma’am. I’d like to check you over when we are done here. Does anything hurt now, or do you need anything?” Cameron was the second tallest of the group at six feet five inches. He had dirty-blond hair and greenish-blue eyes. As he was talking, he reached out and took her hand.

He pointed to the next man, “This hulk here is Jackson Grandby. He’s chief cook and bottle washer.” Jackson was the tallest and biggest man of them all.

Jackson nodded and grumbled, “You forgot to mention sharpshooter. How ya doing, pretty lady?” He reached across the table for her hand.

Garrett rolled his eyes and looked at the last man sitting at the table. “And last but not least we have Titan Hopinks, our resident geek.”

“Good afternoon, honey. You need any information I’ll find it for you.” He reached for her hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles.

 After Garrett introduced everyone he started explaining what was going on.

“Ms. Wilder, may we call you Nadine?” At her nod he continued. “Nadine, the man that took you goes by the name Ricardo Fields. No one knows for sure what his real name is. His story is that several years ago his younger sister was killed in a car accident by a man with the name of Max Hawthorn. Nadine Wilder is supposed to be the niece of this man, Hawthorn. However, in all our research we cannot find any connection between the two names. Fields has been going around all over the country kidnapping women with the name Nadine. He keeps them until he can verify that they are not related to Hawthorne, then he kills them. A couple of women have managed to escape, and we’ve rescued a few others.”

“You mean he would have killed me?” Nadine asked, shocked. She had sat quietly and listened to Garrett as he explained.

“Yes, he will. He won’t quit until he finds the woman he is looking for or until everyone with a name like yours is dead,” Garrett said as he walked up behind Nadine and put his hand on her shoulder.

She turned and looked up into his sea-blue eyes and asked, “All because of my name?”

Holden answered her. He had gotten out of his seat and was now standing behind her. “As far as I know that is the reason he’s been telling the survivors. We think there may be another reason. We just haven’t been able to figure it out yet. With the death of his sister Fields lost his mind. Hawthorne was also killed in the accident according to the information we were given. The only family he has left is his niece. We’ve been hired to not only protect her but anyone else that Fields might target.”

ADULT EXCERPT

When Nadine woke, Titan and Jackson were laying in the bed with her. The first few buttons on the bodice of her dress had come undone, and Jackson was cupping one breast with his hand. It was a nice feeling. Nadine wondered what it meant, though. Was it just a reflex in his sleep or did these men want more with her? They had all been very affectionate. It was more than just them doing their job. But, they all seemed to like her. What was up with that?

She was lying there quietly, trying to absorb everything that had happened and that was going on when she thought she felt the hand move. Just a little squeeze, nothing much, but more than movement in his sleep, wasn’t it? She continued lying there trying to keep her breathing even when she felt it again. This time, she definitely felt something. It was more than a reflex. His thumb was brushing her nipple. Very lightly, small movements, but he was purposefully touching her.

She turned her head slightly to the side and saw him staring down at her. She started to say something but closed her mouth before the words could come out, not wanting to spoil the moment. She turned her head the other way and looked right into Jackson’s cobalt-blue eyes. Both men were awake and watching her. What should she do?

“Hello, sweetness. It was nice sleeping with you. Wasn’t it, Titan?” Jackson asked with a smile.

“I think I need a hello kiss.” Titan rolled closer to her, pushing her into Jackson and placed his lips against hers. While Titan was kissing her, she could feel the length of Jackson’s erection pressed between her buttocks and his hand tightened on her breast.

Titan reached down and pushed her skirt up over her hip, leaving her bare except for a small pair of panties. With her bodice open over breasts that left a large expanse of skin for him to taste, lick, and kiss.

Jackson moved to the side, and rolled her onto her back, giving Titan more room. While Titan was tasting her skin, Jackson resumed kissing her. Titan moved up to her breasts, kissing and licking her pert little nipples. “Have you ever seen anything like this, Jackson? They are the prettiest shade of pink, nice and rosy. The perfect size for my hands and mouth.” He cupped one breast in his hand, grazing the nipple with his thumb and taking as much as he could of the other in his mouth. He moved over her, straddling her hips and rubbing his erection against her panty-covered mound. Her skirt had been pushed up to her waist, leaving her hips bare except for her bikini panties.

Jackson continued taking her mouth in drugging kisses, occasionally stopping to lick and kiss her neck and shoulders, moving her dress out of the way as needed.

Nadine was amazed at the emotions she was feeling. She hadn’t dated much in the past. She was friendly with a lot of men, but they seemed to treat her like a little sister and she very seldom got asked out. She would go to movies and dinners, but they never seemed to want more, and she had finally stopped worrying about it, figuring she’d find the person she was meant to be with when the time was right. She spent most evenings at home alone watching television or reading her romance books. She lived vicariously through them. That was the extent of her love life.

She wasn’t a virgin. Experimenting in college had taken care of that, but it wasn’t anything spectacular. The phrase, “Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am,” came to mind for both of her ventures into sex. She could tell it would be nothing like this with these men. She wasn’t sure what was happening. She felt connected with all of them, but only Jackson and Titan were here now. Did that mean that the others weren’t interested, or was there some other reason they weren’t present?

Titan was lifting her hips and pulling her panties down, and Nadine stopped thinking. With both men kissing and tasting her body her mind was filled with the emotions and sensations she was feeling.

Jackson pulled her dress over her head, leaving her bare to their eyes. “You’re so beautiful. Perfect,” he whispered against her skin as he placed little kisses all over her.

Jackson licked and nibbled his way to her breast, taking first one hard nipple into his mouth, then the other, using his mouth on one and pinching and pulling the other with his fingers. He crouched over her, and she could feel the hardness of his shaft rubbing against her stomach through his jeans as he lay on her.

Titan slid off the bed and removed his clothes quickly before climbing back into bed with her. “If you’re not ready for this tell us now. I won’t be able to stop if we continue,” he said, pulling a couple condoms from his pocket and handing one to Jackson.

Titan rolled the condom on and moved between her legs. Jackson slid off the other side of the bed and stripped before returning to her. He fisted his cock and moved his hand up and down. “See this? This is what you do to me. To all of us. I want you so bad, Nadine.”

Nadine reached for Jackson and slid her hand up and down his dick, watching his face for approval. He nodded and covered her hand with his, moaning as she tightened her grip.