Page 13 of Her Noble Protector

Raiden had left for his crappy motel that night and showered, then picked up some supplies on his way back to Lisa’s house. He’d talked to Max and knew the team was out on a short mission. He felt like shit that he was missing it, but Max told him to cool his jets. Then Raiden called Nic, wanting to know how Cami was going to be handling her first time without him after the kidnapping. He wasn’t surprised to find out that he’d insisted she stay with one of their teammate’s wives. Carys Lyons was a doctor who had also gone through something traumatic, and was a perfect person to ensure that Cami could cope.

“Cami’s less than thrilled about it,” Nic had said on the phone. “Said she didn’t need a babysitter, and that if I thought she was that young, maybe we shouldn’t be having sex.”

Raiden had laughed at that. Camilla Ross sure could be a spitfire.

After his shower and calls, he’d hauled his ass back to Lisa’s house as fast as he could and now had her patio set up to his satisfaction. The backpack cooler was a hell of a lot better than anything he’d ever had overseas. He had a lounge chair, a sleeping bag, food in the cooler, and more than enough time on his hands to wait out one scared woman. He just hated that he had to do that.

Dammit.

He looked up when he heard a thud inside what he was sure was the living room. It was farther away than where she had been before.

“Lisa?” He called out.

Nothing.

“Lisa?” He was louder.

“Lisa!” He shouted.

Still nothing.

He banged on the sliding glass door.

He didn’t let up. What in the hell was that thud, and why wasn’t she answering? Was it time to break in? He really didn’t want to. She needed coaxing. Raiden knew deep in his gut that had to be his approach, and anything else would betray her trust. He desperately needed her trust. And he knew, deep in his gut, she needed someone that she could trust.

“Raiden?” he heard her whisper softly. He rested the flat of his hand against the sun-warmed glass.

“I’m here, honey. Did you fall? Did you hurt yourself?”

“I’m a’right.”

She didn’t sound all right. She sounded punch drunk.

“Lisa, come back near me. Lay down on the couch where we can talk.”

“Can’t, need to put on clothes.”

He sucked in a deep breath. She was wandering around her house naked?

“Go get dressed and come back to me, yeah?”

“’Kay.”

He didn’t go back to her bedroom window; it felt like he would be invading her privacy. His fingers fanned through the pages of the book. He was halfway done. Tonight, when Lisa was asleep he’d probably finish it. He hadn’t been kidding her, it was damn good. Seeing the type of books she liked told him something about her, something good, substantial.

Raiden sat down on the edge of the chair with his elbows on his knees and waited. It was quite a bit of time before he heard any noise.

“You settled?” he asked.

“Kind of,” she answered. “So you’re here for round two? How many days are you planning on staying?”

She sounded curious. Curiosity was good.

“As many as I need to.”

Her sigh was audible. Raiden decided not to say anything, just wait her out.

“I still don’t get why. Why?”