Page 20 of Mitch

“What if I put you in danger?”

Mitch smothered the chuckle at her words, knowing she could have no idea his life was in danger every time he took a job protecting the Royal family, chasing down terrorists in Iran, or removing rebel dictators from power. It was all a risk and yet holding her, he recognised this would be a bigger risk for him and not because he could get hurt, but because she and Maggie could. “Don’t worry about me. Just let me do this for you, Autumn. Please.”

Her body relaxed just a fraction, and he knew she was relenting.

“Fine, but I want to be there when you ask your boss. I don’t want you getting fired for me.”

Mitch let his grin show as he pulled back. Looking into her beautiful upturned face, he wrapped a hand lightly around her braids and pulled, tipping her head back. He saw the heat burn through her eyes, as her breathing changed, the pulse in her neck pounding wildly. He wanted her so badly it hurt.

He’d taken more cold showers in the last three weeks than he’d had his entire adult life. This woman had him feeling like a teenager again, his cock pulsed with the desire to feel her heat gripping him as she rode him, her head thrown back like the queen she was.

“Love that you want to protect me, honey. Makes me so fucking hard that my woman wants to stand beside me. Have a mind to lay you back in this seat and taste every inch of your body, to show my gratitude, but much as it kills me to say it, we can’t.”

Her tongue moved to wet her lips as her chest heaved, her breathing accelerating to match her pulse. “Mitch.” Her voice was a plea, one he’d move heaven and earth to grant but not now.

“Wish I could give you what your eyes are begging me for, honey, but when I make you mine, I want to know it’s in a bed, where I can take my time.”

“Okay.”

He loved how her eyes were almost black, her voice raspy with desire. Mitch bent and took her mouth, kissing her with the promise of so much more, his tongue tasting her sweetness. Pulling back, he grinned as she swayed towards him loving that she reacted as she did, with total abandon.

“Let’s go see my boss.”

He clipped her seat belt back on before doing the same with his own. He kept her hand in his as he turned the car around, before laying it on his thigh, his hand on top of hers as he drove towards Eidolon. It was time for the truth to come out and for him to get rid of the threat hanging over her pretty head for good.

Autumn shot him a shy smile, and he lifted her hand to his lips, brushing a kiss over her delicate skin.

“It will be okay, Autumn, I promise. I won’t let anyone hurt you or Maggie.”

“I thought this would all be over by now.”

“How so?”

“The man who is after me should be in prison. The CPS convinced me that if I testified, they had a watertight case against him. Then my life would be my own again while he served life in prison.”

He glanced at her as he slowed for the traffic lights wondering what had gone wrong within the Crown Prosecution Service. “What happened?”

Autumn sighed deeply. “He got off on a technicality. Someone had signed the gun used to kill my husband out of evidence without authorisation, and the case fell apart.”

“Wow, no wonder you don’t trust the police to keep you safe.”

Autumn pursed her lips. “Until you, I didn’t trust anyone, thought I never would again. Something about this town makes me want to see a way out for us.” She glanced back at a sleeping Maggie, and he followed her eyes in the rearview mirror. The peace on her innocent face making him ache for the position she and her mother found themselves in.

“The men I work with are good people, and so are their girlfriends,” Mitch reassured her, but she said nothing, seemingly lost in her head. Not wanting to push, he just held her hand on his thigh as he drove.

Arriving at Eidolon, he pulled up at the gate and greeted Frank with a wave, who let them through. The man was old school, a former General and his friend Zack Cunningham’s father-in-law. Retirement hadn’t suited Frank, so Jack had offered him this job part-time and he took it very seriously, which was good because the threat level against them was increasing.

Mitch glanced at Autumn, her wide eyes were on the building, and he could feel her trepidation. “Ready?”

She controlled a sigh blowing air through pursed lips. “As I’ll ever be.”

Mitch nodded as he helped her unstrap the car seat, a still sleeping Maggie inside. With Maggie in one hand, he took hold of Autumn’s in the other and led her inside. Stopping at the retina scanner, he let the machine do its thing before pushing through the door.

He glanced at the front area where Madison should be and saw it was empty. Following the sounds of men’s voices, he moved down the hallway towards the conference room. Jack and Alex glanced up from where they were looking through aerial photographs as he walked in, both their brows raising slightly as they looked behind him where Autumn was hanging back.

“I need your help,” he stated, and Alex stood as Jack surveyed Mitch without any sign of what he was thinking on his face.

Alex walked to Autumn and reached his hand out. “Alex Martinez. Pleased to meet you. You must be Autumn, right?”