In His Protection, page 1
Also available from Sandra Owens
and Carina Press
Operation K-9 Brothers
Keeping Guard
Mountain Rescue
Coming Soon
Her Delta Force Protector
Also available from Sandra Owens
Blue Ridge Valley Series
Just Jenny
All Autumn
Still Savannah
Caitlyn’s Christmas Wish
Dark Falls Series
Dark Terror
Dark Memories
Aces & Eights Series
Jack of Hearts
King of Clubs
Ace of Spades
Queen of Diamonds
K2 Team Series
Crazy for Her
Someone Like Her
Falling for Her
Lost in Her
Only Her
The Duke’s Obsession
The Training of a Marquess
The Letter
In His Protection
Sandra Owens
This book is dedicated to Brianna.
You were loved so hard, sweet butterfly girl,
and you will forever be missed so hard.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Excerpt from Her Delta Force Protector by Sandra Owens
Chapter One
“Damn, you shot the sheriff.”
Tristan Church glared at his brother while considering putting his ass on the ground. For one, stating the obvious while Tristan tried to convince himself that he was having a nightmare. That he had not, in fact, shot the sheriff. For another, he seriously wanted to wipe that smirk off his brother’s face.
But he’d have to take Kade down some other time. At the moment, he had to accept that he wasn’t in the middle of a nightmare, that he actually had shot the sheriff. He was never going to hear the end of it. Even his dog was giving him the side-eye. Fuzz cozied up to the sheriff as if too embarrassed by his person to be seen with him. Traitor.
“The hell, Chief. You shot me,” Sheriff Skylar Morgan yelled, glaring at him as red paint dripped down her arm. “You can’t tell the difference between me and the bad guy? You have your eyes checked lately?”
He narrowed said eyes. “I had the bank robber in my sights, Sheriff. You jumped in front of him.” Skye was the bane of his existence. She was their county sheriff, and he was the city police chief. They bashed heads over everything, mostly because she was more stubborn than Old Man Earl’s goat. He wanted her out of his life, and he wanted to lock his lips on hers and kiss that sass right out of her mouth. He wasn’t sure which he wanted more, but he was sure about one thing. He’d go to his grave before admitting he liked her sass.
“If a hostage jumps in front of the bad guy, you gonna shoot him, too?” She poked a finger into his chest, leaving a red fingerprint on his T-shirt.
She had him there, and that chafed. He leaned down, putting his face inches from hers. “No, I only like shooting sheriffs.”
And as hard as he’d tried to forget he knew her intimately, knew her soft sighs and the feel of her fingernails scraping down his back, he hadn’t been able to. A year later, he still had erotic dreams of her. Not as many as he used to, but they still happened. He shook his head to rid it of images of a naked Skye under him.
“Let’s try this again,” Kade said, then smirked at Tristan with entirely too much amusement in his eyes. “Try not to shoot the sheriff this time, brother.”
“When did you say your leave was up? Tomorrow, right?” His brother was Delta Force, stationed at Fort Bragg. He was also downright annoying.
“You trying to get rid of me?” Kade slapped him on the back. “If I didn’t know you loved me, my feelings would be hurt.”
“Since when do you have feelings?” he muttered, turning his back on Kade’s laughter so his brother wouldn’t see his grin.
Kade gave a sharp whistle. “All right, people, let’s give this drill another go.”
“Don’t shoot me this time,” Skye said as she passed him.
Tristan wondered if the only way to shut her up was to kiss her.
“I’d never shoot you, even accidently, beautiful Skylar.” Kade winked at her, then monkeyed his way up the ladder to his tower.
Tristan lost his grin. Kade was the only person in the world besides him and Skye who knew about that night. His brother also knew how to annoy him, and since that was one of Kade’s favorite things to do, he flirted with Skye whenever Tristan was around.
The law enforcement officers—some Skye’s people and some his—took their places. A few years ago, Tristan had talked Kade into conducting training drills with his officers. After the drill was over, they’d have target practice. Five months ago, Skye had showed up with her deputies and crashed the party. Tristan still didn’t know how she’d learned of the drills.
Since Marsville’s squirrely mayor considered himself an expert with a weapon, and since Luther would love playing cops and robbers, and since he was as likely to shoot himself in the foot, or God help them, one of them, the drills and especially target practice were top secret. Every one of Tristan’s officers had been sworn to secrecy, and the location was out in the boondocks on two acres he had bought for next to nothing.
No one was supposed to know about this place outside of his police force and his brothers, but Tristan had a sneaking suspicion Kade was the one who’d tipped Skye off. It would be just like him to do that, then sit back and enjoy the hell out of the fireworks that exploded anytime Tristan and Skye were within spitting distance of each other. His brother denied it, of course, but Kade loved stirring shit up.
From his lookout tower, enabling him to see everything going on below, Kade blew his whistle, signaling the drill was starting. Tristan kept eyes on Skye as they moved through the obstacle course he, Kade, and their baby brother, Parker, had built to simulate a few of Marsville’s downtown buildings.
Parker, being an artist, had insisted on accuracy, thus all the storefronts looked just like the real ones, the only difference being there weren’t any roofs. That had been Kade’s idea, so he could see what was going on inside the businesses from his “boss tower” when they drilled.
Tristan let Skye take the lead. He inwardly snorted. Let her his ass. She’d taken the lead, no let her about it, but he was enjoying the view. Skylar Morgan was easy on the eyes from her front and her back. She was tall, but still a head shorter than him, a body he could drool over if he allowed himself—and he had once—light brown hair that she kept in a tight bun low on her neck when in uniform, and blue eyes that had a hint of violet in them. Funny, though, how those eyes turned icy blue when they landed on him. But stored in his memory bank was how dark they’d turned when he was buried deep inside her and she’d screamed his name.
He could almost hate her for that night because she’d slipped right inside his mind and stolen any interest he might have had for any other woman after her. He wasn’t a manwhore, but he wasn’t a monk either. Or, he hadn’t been before Skye. He wasn’t liking his new monk status so much.
If he’d known who she was the night he’d met “first names only” Skye at Beam Me Up, Marsville’s honky-tonk bar, he would have steered clear of her. Hell, if he’d known how miserable she’d make him, he’d have run far, far away.
Who was he kidding? He’d have done exactly what he had...followed her to her motel room. A man in a trance. Over the past year, he’d decided that Skylar Morgan was a witch and had slipped enchantment powder in his drink when he wasn’t paying attention to what her sneaky hand was doing. He wanted her to unchant him.
The only reason he’d been at Beam Me Up that night was because the Watters brothers had been causing more trouble than usual. He’d stopped in to see if they were at the bar, and if so, put a stop to their shenanigans before things got out of hand, as often happened with those boys. They hadn’t been there, but the beautiful woman sitting at the bar had drawn his attention, and since he knew every living soul in Marsville but had never seen her before, he thought she was just passing through. Why not join her, see if she was interested in a little playtime, and then she’d be gone the next day.
After a bit of small talk and a lot of chemistry sizzling in the air between them, “first names only” Skye let him know she was interested. Only one problem, she was back a month later. The new sheriff in town. And when Luther introduced her to the existing chief of police, Tristan got his first glimpse of how icy blue her eyes could turn. He tried not to take it personally when she acted like they’d never met, but he had.
Then there was her name. She preferred Skylar, and that was what everyone called her. But she’d told him that night her name was Skye, so she’d forever be Skye to him. Added fun...fire flamed to life, melting some of that ice in her eyes, every time he called her Skye, and he knew why. His calling her Skye was a reminder of the night they’d spent together, and try as she might to hide it, he saw desire in those flames. He just didn’t know what to do about it.
“Much better, people,” Kade called from his tower. “Except for you, Chief. You daydreaming over there?”
Tristan blinked, then scowled at Skye when she snorted. When he was satisfied she’d seen his scowl, he turned it on his asswipe brother. “No, I am not. I was observing.”
“Uh-huh,” Kade said, the laughter in his voice downright annoying. “That’s enough training for today, people. You did good. Trade your paintball guns for real ones and let’s annihilate some targets.”
When they’d built their fake town, they’d included a changing room with lockers for their weapons. Because Tristan had one female officer and hoped to have more eventually, they’d added a wall between the two dressing rooms, giving any women training with them privacy. Skye and Vee, his officer, disappeared behind the wall. Tristan tried not to imagine Skye peeling off her paint-splattered T-shirt. He failed.
“She’s really gotten under your skin, brother,” Kade said, coming up next to him.
Tristan didn’t have to ask who she was. “You’re seeing things that aren’t there.”
“Right, keep on lying to yourself.”
He glared at his brother, then stomped away. If he wanted to lie to himself, that was his business. He was halfway to his car when he realized Fuzz wasn’t following. His dog was in love with Skye and would jump ship to the sheriff’s department given half a chance. Tristan gave a sharp whistle, and a minute later, the German shepherd trotted his way.
“I know she’s pretty, but you need to remember who feeds you, bud.” Not that he blamed Fuzz for his fascination with the sheriff. At all.
Chapter Two
Skye drove her cruiser up Marsville’s Main Street. Horace County, of which she was the sheriff, was only three hundred and fifty-three square miles in the North Carolina foothills. Not the smallest county in the country, but certainly not the biggest. The county government was located in Marsville, and she had a meeting with the city mayor in an hour. She was early because there was no better way to start her day than breakfast at Katie’s Corner Kitchen.
Spying a parking spot one door down from the restaurant, she aimed for it. An ancient turquoise Cadillac cut her off, stealing her space. Skye banged her hand on the steering wheel. “One day, Miss Mabel, I’m going to write your scrawny butt another ticket.” She’d tried that once after clocking the old bat going fifteen miles over the speed limit. Miss Mabel had laughed, handed the ticket back to her, and told her to give it to Luther, Luther being Marsville’s mayor and Mabel Mackel’s nephew.
Skye found a spot on the other side of the street. Her mouth already watering, she headed for the restaurant. The Kitchen, as it was referred to by locals, had the best ham, egg, and cheese omelet in the world. And the buttermilk biscuits, so melt-in-your-mouth good. She couldn’t eat here every morning or she’d have to order larger uniforms, but she tried to start her week off with breakfast at Katie’s on Monday mornings. And yes, there really was a Katie.
“Good morning, Sheriff,” Katie said as Skye slipped onto a bar stool at the counter. “The usual?”
“Morning, Katie. Always the usual.”
Katie stepped to the back counter, picked up a coffeepot and a plate of steaming hot biscuits. She set the plate down in front of Skye and filled her coffee cup. “One usual coming right up.”
“Thanks,” Skye said around a mouthful of buttery biscuit. She liked sitting at the counter since it gave her a chance to talk to people, and she glanced to her left. “Morning, Earl.”
He grunted, which was about all the greeting she’d get out of him. It was all he gave anyone, so she didn’t take it personally. “You keeping Billy out of trouble?” Billy being his goat, and that Earl had named his goat Billy amused her.
The goat was a terror, though. At the moment, he’d be waiting in Earl’s fifty-something-year-old pickup, eating more of the seats. There wasn’t much left except for metal now, so maybe Billy was starting on the dash. Didn’t seem to bother Earl that his goat was eating him out of a truck from the inside out. The old man loved that creature.
“Billy ain’t no trouble, Sheriff.”
She begged to differ but wisely kept her opinion to herself. Nothing could get Earl fired up more than dissing his goat.
The bell over the door chimed, and she glanced over to see who was entering. The coffee she was swallowing went down the wrong way, causing a coughing fit.
“You okay, Skylar?” Parker Church said, walking straight to her and patting her on the back. That was just like Parker. He was the sweet, quiet brother. He was also the one who’d tipped her off about Tristan’s drills. Tristan would never suspect Parker, and she’d never tattle. He was sure it had been Kade, which was the kind of thing Kade would have done if he’d thought of it.
Kade stepped next to him, devilment in his eyes. “Need mouth to mouth, Sheriff?”
She rolled her eyes. Kade was the brother always up for shenanigans. Standing behind his brothers, Tristan glared at Kade, then slid his gaze over her. She willed herself not to react. How did he do that? Make her goose bumpy with a mere skim of his eyes? However he did it, he needed to stop. She’d never responded to a man the way she did him, and it was downright annoying.
“I’m okay, Parker, and no, Kade, I don’t need mouth to mouth.” She dipped her chin in Tristan’s general direction. “Chief.”
He bumped Kade, forcing his brother to step away. “Morning, Sheriff.” He flicked the corner of her mouth with his finger. “Had a biscuit crumb there.”
“Uh...thanks.” He’d only done that because he knew it would irritate her, and it did, but no way she’d let him see that. He softly chuckled as if he could read her mind. And did he have to smell so good? Like the forest on a crisp autumn day. All woodsy and fresh.
Seeing one Church brother at a time was enough to turn a woman’s head, but seeing the three together? Every woman, single and not single, young and old, inside the Kitchen was sighing into her coffee. But really, only one of those brothers did it for her, and had she said how annoying that was?
All three were tall, an inch or two over six feet, and had similar features: eyes the color of dark chocolate, strong jaws, and full pillowy lips. The biggest difference between them was their hair. Parker had long, brown hair that he kept pulled back in a ponytail that matched his artsy self. Kade’s was almost black and scraggly, and he sported a beard. He’d never said exactly what his role in the military was, but she suspected he was Special Forces. Then there was Tristan. His short hair was caramel colored with blond highlights in the sunshine. Women paid a lot of money to get that color and those highlights. It wasn’t fair.
The brothers moved to a booth, and Skye poured half the ice water down her throat that Katie pushed her way with a chuckle. It was useless to deny she was hot and bothered, because what woman in the room wasn’t, but at least Katie thought it was just from seeing the Church brothers en masse.
