The Hit-Man: The Protectors Book 2 Read online

  I pulled myself back when the anger threatened to choke me. That dreaded feeling of helplessness was almost too much for me to stave off this time, but surprisingly it was the memory of bright brown eyes that brought me all the way back. “What is this shit now?”

  With my mind clear of the past, I found myself drawn to the balcony that had a direct view of the pool for another look at her. “Sal! What kind of name is that for a beauty like her?” I had to rethink everything about this assignment now that she had been unveiled.

  The more time went on, or more like the more I saw of her as I spied on her from my vantage point above her, I knew she was going to see the morning light. The girl had some kind of strange affect on me, something that I wasn’t too keen on examining too closely at this time. I still didn’t know what the deal was with her and this Carlos person; still wasn’t sure what had caused her life to be put in danger, but I knew I couldn’t shoot her in cold blood.

  This shit was going to cause all kinds of problems. I’ve never crawfished on a job before, but something inside me was very averse to harming her. I wasn’t too worried about Carlos, I can always return his money, but first I had to get her side of the story to see where I needed to go next.

  My body still had that strange reaction to hers even from this distance, but now I was more accepting of it. Her weird actions made more sense now, like the way she kept tugging at her chest. She probably had herself bound tight to hide her offerings, and that couldn’t be comfortable in this heat.

  The same server from before tried her game again, and my beauty pretended not to notice. Only this time I kept my eye on her and saw the way she rolled hers after the blonde had marched away in frustration. I lowered my head and grinned at her and myself. How could I ever have believed her to be a boy? Everything about her was naturally feminine, that shit wasn’t learned it was inbred in her. I was way more relaxed and accepting of the pull she seemed to have for me as I turned to walk back inside.

  Chapter 6

  DRAKE

  I spent the rest of the day pretty much the same as the one before, only this time I went back out to the pool with my laptop, looking busy. I didn’t see her. Her, I refused to call her Sal even in my mind; by the end of the night I would know what to call her, for now I’ll call her beauty.

  I didn’t dwell on the sharp feeling of disappointment that hit me at her absence; instead I put it away for a later time. I didn’t stay out there too long I had to prepare for the night to come. The hotel, though not the busiest on the Island, was nothing to sneeze at.

  There were bound to be people moving around at all hours until dawn, and I wasn’t too jazzed about hanging around here much longer than necessary. The fact that Carlos knew where she was didn’t sit too well with me either.

  It didn’t escape me that I hadn’t thought of her guilt since finding out that she was a female. I was no longer interested in what she may or may not have done. It would be a sin to off something that fucking perfect, unless she was into offing small kids or some shit. But if all she was guilty of was robbing some drug dealer I could live with that shit.

  I’m not big on premonitions and all that other hoo-doo bullshit, but that jolt she’d given me wasn’t for nothing. I wasn’t about to bitch out about it, but neither was I going to ignore it completely. Anyone who’s had to learn to live by their wits, knows that that’s a fucked move any way you look at it. For all I know it could mean she was a part of me, the long missing part; and wouldn’t that be some shit?

  My mind now turned to protecting her. Obviously her efforts to hide had been in vain, since he’d led me right to her, which told me she was still innocent of some things. First things first, getting her out of the line of fire and to safety. I had no idea if he had other eyes on her and what their orders were.

  I was getting ahead of myself here and was pretty sure my dick was running the show. I wasn’t about to fuck with the shit that was going on inside my chest cavity. A heart was for pumping blood to the rest of the body and keeping shit real. I wasn’t interested in one fuck else that it had to say, so it could jump at the thought and sight of her all it wanted, I wasn’t falling for that fuckery. First time I came up against a female and this is what happens: sad, tripped up by a pair of amazing brown eyes.

  ***

  Later that night, I watched from my vantage point from the night before, as the same beauty traipsed back and forth in front of the shades. How the hell was she able to hide all that during the day? Her body’s outline, even through the filter of the curtains, was magnificent, bountiful. I’d never had a Hispanic sister before, wasn’t acquainted with their rumored fiery passion. A man like me needed a woman to submit, I wasn’t into the new age crap of equal rights and bull fuckery. In my world, a man had his place and so did a woman. Why women didn’t want their men to care for them the way they were meant to is beyond me, but I know mine will toe the line or else.

  That’s why I only messed with jump-offs at this point in my life. I had no heart in me for the settling down scene, wasn’t willing to trust anyone that close again, but something told me all that was about to change. My eyes wandered back to that curtain and I looked around to make sure no one else was taking in the view. I was pretty sure that I was the only one that suspected her secret anyway, but still. I selfishly didn’t want anyone else seeing her.

  I wasn’t there too long tonight because I’d already decided on my plan of action. So as soon as I deemed it safe enough, I made my way over to the hedge that ran below the windows of the little boutique hotel. Thank fuck the place was one of those old plantation type homes that had been renovated and turned into a business, and was only three stories high. The drawback was that the place was all wood and noisy as shit.

  From her movements I knew she was headed to the bath, so it would be easy to get in through the balcony doors without being detected. A last quick look around assured me that I was clear to do my thing. I’d dressed the part to make it easier to blend in, as I kept to the shadows. There was no one in the room beneath or on either side of her as I tested the strength of the railing before starting my climb.

  It was way too easy to get into her room. Although she’d locked the doors, I made quick work of picking the locks. I slipped my shoes off before making my way across the carpeted floor to take up my position outside the bathroom door. I could hear her moving around in there, humming under her breath. Without eyeballing her, I could feel that same innocence I’d picked up on as I listened to her, and my heart did that tripping shit again. If she turns out to be who I think she is, there’s going to be hell to pay.

  I took a glance through the crack of the door and caught my first real glimpse of her; and almost bit my tongue in half. I was barely quick enough to hold back the expletive that threatened to escape me. My heart was going crazy in my chest, and if I’d had any doubts the first few times it had tried to forewarn me, there was no denying it now. There was a hell of a lot more going on here than met the eye. Not even when I was a green fool who believed himself to be in love did I feel even an ounce of this shit.

  Her body was without a doubt the best I’d ever seen, but it was more than that. I wasn’t one to be easily swayed by a hot ass, and a rack to rival the best of them, and my heart sure as shit never did this type of gymnastics in the past. So I was pretty sure there was something stronger at play here.

  I felt like a pervert standing there, watching her as she sang beneath her breath and ran a washcloth up her leg, but I couldn’t turn away. No fucking way am I killing that, not with a bullet anyway! I let my eyes travel up and down the length of her, taking it all in. There was only one thought going through my head then, how had she been thrown into my path so easily? What power was at work here? Because I was convinced that the girl I was looking at was going to play a major role in whatever future I had coming, and I hadn’t even known she existed until a few short hours ago.

  It was almost painful how vulnerable she was in that moment, an
d I had trouble reining in the foreign feeling of protection and some other strong emotion that welled up inside me. My mind was full of what-ifs. What if he’d chosen someone else to come after her? What if I hadn’t been perceptive enough to pick up on her mannerisms and question what the hell I was looking at?

  She could very well be dead right now and I would never have known her. I didn’t examine the dark feelings that that thought conjured in me too closely. In the last day or so she’s made me feel things that I’d thought long dead; things that I did not trust and had no intentions on giving into. There was a war going on inside me, and like someone looking in through a glass door, I saw myself battling what I already knew was to come.

  It was pretty much a given that I was going to put her under me sooner than later, but I wanted to convince myself that that was about it. After I’d had my fill, I’d think of a way to send her on her way and keep her safe. Even as I thought it, my heart revolted and my mind balked. This shit wasn’t fair; a man shouldn’t be sideswiped like this when he least expected it. I wasn’t ready for the promise of her; there was still a lot of shit to be done. Getting involved now, especially with someone like her, so young and with baggage of her own, will only trip me up. Why did this shit have to happen to me now, when I was so close, when I needed all my energies directed at that one goal?

  When her bath was over I closed my eyes to spare myself the agony. I had no doubt what the sight of her wet nakedness would do to me, but knew now was not the time for my dick to come out and play. There’ll be time enough for that later. I was doing pretty good there, until my imagination got away from me. My eyes flew open when the visions in my head became too much.

  She was still humming as she dried her skin, and I bit into my lip as I ran my eyes up and down the length of her back, to her delectable ass, down her shapely thighs, to her dainty little feet. Even bent over as she was I could tell that she was a tiny little thing, no bigger than five two or three, with a slight frame. When she stood and I caught sight of all of her in the mirror, my dick saluted.

  Fuck me! She was stunning; there was no other word for it. I actually shook my head to clear it, to be sure that the sight before me was real. In my haze I pushed the door all the way open. I was across the room before the scream could escape her lungs.

  ***

  “Not a peep or I'll put one in you, suck it up sweetheart.” She did that gasping for air thing, while trying to breathe and swallow shit that sounded like a dying walrus. I kept my gun and my eyes trained on her to see if I was gonna have to cap her for self preservation after all. No sense in getting caught, but damn it would be all kinds of a fucking shame to put a hole in her.

  Her eyes were wide with fear as I reached for the robe that hung on the back of the door. “Put your arms through here.” I needed to cover her up before she did any more damage to my libido. Who the fuck’s idea was it to put all that goodness into one small package anyway? And why was she my cross to bear?

  She was shaking like a leaf as she wrestled her arms into the sleeves. I belted it and herded her out of the room, keeping my gun trained on her and my eyes above her head. “Sit.” I led her to the edge of the bed and sat her down. I had to wait for my body to calm the fuck down and my dick to go back into his place before I could form a cognizant thought. Seriously, this shit was not cool.

  With all my inner musings I still couldn’t resist letting my eyes roam all over her again. There was fear mixed with something else behind the cover of those amazing eyelashes of hers. I think I just got my first glimpse of her Latin temper, though she was scared out of her mind.

  “I want you to listen to me without interruption. If you make a sound I will shoot you without a second thought. Now, what the fuck did you do to get a hit put out on you? And before you think about lying, I’ve been watching you for the past two days so I know that you’re running.”

  She eyed the gun and me as she fought for her next breath. “Would you calm the fuck down? If I was going to kill you you would be dead already, now answer my question.” She took a deep breath and clutched at the lapels of her robe. That shit only brought my attention to the wet spots on her chest and now I was the one swallowing hard.

  “ I don’t…I’m not sure…what do you mean?” She was playing for time, slick; but I wasn’t in the damn mood. My dick was not cooperating and her scent along with the look of her as she sat there looking all vulnerable and sweet from her bath, was not helping shit.

  “Didn’t I say not to lie to me? Now start again.” I should probably have put the gun away but I’m not that fucking stupid. I had no idea who she was beyond an amazing face and a kick ass body. One of the most notorious drug runners in the country was after her for some reason or the other, which meant she’d rolled with the big boys at some point in her life. Until I knew what that was about, which I would as soon as she opened her mouth and talked, I wasn’t about to let my guard down.

  “I didn’t do anything I promise.” She wrung her hands together and looked around as if seeking an escape. “I don’t have all night with this shit sweetheart, now tell me what I want to know or I’m gonna change my mind and end this shit right here and now.” Lying fuck you’re a world away from offing her and you know it.

  She actually tried to make a run for it. I couldn’t decide if she was brave or extremely dumb when her foot came up and tried to connect with my nuts. I knocked her back and fell on top of her with my piece pressed against her temple. “That’s gonna cost you.”

  I wasn’t sure if her eyes widened farther because of the feel of steel against her skin or my hardening cock pressing into the heat between her thighs. “Fuck!” I eased up a little but still kept her pinned beneath me. What was it about her eyes that drew me in every time?

  I didn’t move off of her right away, because the feel of her went through me like sweet wine through a drunkard. A search of her eyes up close and personal revealed a myriad of colors in differing shades of brown, but it was the look in them that seared me to the quick.

  “You're going to kill me, you're going to kill me.” She started that panicking shit again where her breathing was in jeopardy.

  “Do you want me to kill you?”

  “Um-um.” She shook her head from side to side.

  “Then shut the fuck up.”

  She took a deep breath and exhaled like I'd let the air out of her. Fucking pain in the ass.

  “I’m going to move off of you.” I pressed my dick into the juncture of her thighs one last time because I couldn’t help myself. “You try that shit again I’m gonna have to prove to you that I mean business and I really don’t want to have to kill you before I get to the bottom of this shit. Now, we’re going to try this again. Why is Carlos out for your blood?” She studied me as if measuring her words, which only raised my suspicion. When I sighed in frustration and leaned into her again she gulped and opened her mouth.

  “He’s my stepdad.” I wasn’t expecting that one; my research didn’t go towards family. “Is that so?” I studied her to test the truth of her words; she wasn’t lying. That shit only confused the hell out of me even more instead of clearing shit up.

  “Why is your stepdad trying to kill you?” I forgot and rested my weight back on her softness again. I lost my train of thought when her tongue came out and licked her lips. Before I could restrain myself I found my head lowering and my tongue following the same path hers had taken. I sunk into her, pulling her body up into mine as my mouth devoured hers.

  I was gone in my head. I knew it even as I cautioned myself to pull back. I hated and yet delighted in the strange hold she had on me as my tongue sought entrance into her mouth, and my cock grew and leaked in my drawers. There was a rod of electricity coursing through my system, from me to her. I could feel the answering pull in her and wasn’t sure if that was good or not.

  She was reticent at first, until I teased her tongue out of her mouth to play with mine. Something slithered off of me and fell away. I have no ot
her explanation for what I felt, other than a weight being lifted from my shoulders and rolling off of me. I knew down to my soul what she was doing to me, but I was powerless to stop it.

  I groaned into her mouth too overcome by emotion to put my usual self control in play. She was like sweet ambrosia, her taste unlike anything I’d ever known. And the way she heated up beneath me told me all I needed to know about what it would be like between us. I was this close to fucking her; it would be so easy. All I had to do was lift the hem of the robe that was now clinging to her wet curves and slip into all that heat between her thighs.

  Fuck Drake pull back. I took a few more nibbles from her lips and tried to rein myself in, but she followed me with her lips, sucking me back in. When she lifted one knee and cupped me between her thighs I knew I was in trouble. I ground my now iron hard cock into her harder and moved against her, seeking her clit through her clothes and mine.

  She moaned into my mouth and my body shook. My mind went blank and my ears rang. How the fuck…? I pulled away from her while I still could. Regretting it the second my warm lips cooled from the loss of hers. Her eyes sought mine out, hers glazed and full of some new light that told me more than words could say. I was done and I knew it, but now was not the time.

  “You’d better start talking fast babygirl before this shit gets out of hand.” I rested my forehead against hers as we both tried to calm our rough breathing. I wasn’t even aware that my hand was running up and down her body trying to calm her, even as I sought to calm myself. Life as I knew it, had just taken a swift turn in a whole new direction. One that I had no map for, and didn’t know what the fuck.

  Chapter 7