Her Cowboy Protector (20 page)

She didn't get a chance to answer. Niall claimed her mouth and Cruz melted into him. His demanding kiss left her aching with need. Suddenly dinner was forgotten. Cruz was hungry but not for food. She wanted Niall. Right now.

Cruz dropped a knee to the couch and straddled Niall's thighs. He threaded his fingers through her hair and gave a gentle tug that tipped up her chin. His mouth descended on the exposed curve of her throat. She gasped at the wild sensation of his teeth grazing her tender skin. He sucked hard and swirled his tongue over the love bite.

Eyes closed, Cruz reveled in the sexiness of that moment. She loved that Niall wasn't handling her with kid gloves anymore. He treated her like a woman with desires and needs. His rough hands slipped under her shirt and caressed her bare skin. She got goose bumps and smiled as sheer giddiness filtered through her.
This
was living.

Niall expertly unhooked her bra and freed her breasts. He shoved up her shirt and dropped his mouth to her chest. She hissed with delight as he laved one nipple and then the next. As he kneaded her full flesh, his tongue darted between her lips. Her mind reeled as lust took hold.

"Niall," she whispered desperately. "I can't wait."

That seemed to be the magic phrase. Niall ripped her shirt overhead, and she shrugged out of her bra. She squealed with laughter as Niall tossed her onto the couch. Legs in the air, she unfastened her jeans and let Niall jerk them off her body. Her panties were tossed over his shoulder. She watched as he peeled out of his shirt and toed off his shoes. He lost his balance and fell forward on top of her. Cruz giggled as he cursed and chuckled against her face.

She slid her hands between their bodies and undid his fly. Getting those jeans all the way off was the least of her priorities. She wanted Niall inside her, wanted to feel him stretching and filling her. He didn't seem to mind the inconvenience of being half-clothed. With the ease of a seasoned lover, Niall moved between her thighs and plunged deep with one measured thrust.

Crying out, Cruz gripped his shoulders and held on for the ride. There was nothing gentle or slow about this coupling. It was frantic and frenzied and so fantastic. Niall was a wild man. The lust burning in his eyes left her breathless. He made her feel so sexy and desirable. In her heavily pregnant state, that wasn't exactly an easy feat. Yet one low growl and punishing kiss swept away any doubts that Niall found her anything but hot.

Niall's fingers found her clit. He strummed the tiny nub until she bucked under him and shouted his name. Bliss exploded in her lower belly and rocked her like an earthquake. She clung to Niall as he chased his own orgasm. His lips were against her ear as he groaned her name. Her fingernails scratched his back as he spilled his seed and left her panting and shaky.

When Niall finally moved some time later, she was sad to feel his heat and weight disappear. He didn't go far, though, and after tugging his jeans and boxers back into place, he dragged her onto him, cradling her head against his chest. If the nightmare she'd survived had taught her anything, it was to enjoy the simple things in life. Afterglow with Niall was definitely one of those things.

He drew lazy shapes on her back as the forgotten television played in the background. "Cruz?"

"Yeah?" She wondered what romantic thing he would say next.

"You mind putting some pants on? I'm hungry enough to eat the ass end of a horse."

Cruz snorted and decided to be amused rather than offended. Niall had made some huge strides in their short time together. Whispering sweet-nothings was going to take some time.

Smiling, she patted his stomach and sat up. "Sure, Niall. I'll put on some pants. You can order."

He cast a knowing glance her way. "I said the wrong thing, right?"

She touched her nose and winked. "See? You're making progress."

"I did warn you that I wasn't boyfriend material, remember? I told you I don't date. I'm out of practice."

"Uh-huh," she said and shimmied back into her jeans sans undies. She snatched up her shirt and tugged it down over her head. "Maybe you should Google it or something."

He unleashed that sexy grin that made her toes curl. "I've got something you can Google right here."

"Behave!" She tossed one of the throw pillows that had been tossed to the floor to make room for their tryst right in his face. Shaking her head, Cruz headed back to the desk and picked up the folder containing the room service menu. She brought the menu to Niall and dropped it on his lap. "I want a cheeseburger, a salad without cucumbers, onion rings and iced tea."

Niall's eyebrows lifted. "Been studying the menu?"

She shrugged. "Oh and the turtle cheesecake."

"Anything else, your majesty?"

Cruz narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. She made a quick segue into the restroom to tidy up and came out just as Niall finished placing their order. He'd put on his shirt and looked decent enough, but the smile on his face and his relaxed demeanor told another story. Maybe sex really was the best stress reliever.

"You know," Niall said as he fixed the couch and restacked his maps, "I've been thinking about that boyfriend of Daniela's."

"Yeah?" She rifled through her purse for some lip balm. "What about him?"

"Why did he go to all that trouble and take all that risk to gather that information? I mean, this guy had to have a massive hard-on for drugs or dirty politicians."

Cruz smirked at Niall's rough terminology. "I guess."

"Think about it, Cruz. What would make you take that kind of risk?"

She considered his question. What would spur her to do something so dangerous? She touched her belly. "My son." Her thoughts shifted to Carlos. "My brother."

Niall's gaze jumped to hers. "Wait. Didn't you say his mother told you she'd lost another son?"

Cruz's applied the lip balm and rubbed her lips together. An idea slowly formed. "She did."

She returned to the desk and picked up the hotel pen and notepaper. She sank into the squishy faux leather chair and got ready to do a little snooping. She maximized the browser window and typed in the names of John Stafford's parents plus the date used as the website address. Niall came to stand behind her. His hands rested on her shoulders as she worked. From anyone else, the touch would have been annoying but from Niall it was soothing.

It took a few minutes of clicking and refining her search to find the obituary.

"Thomas Robert Stafford," Niall read over her shoulder.

"He was young," she remarked as she did the math between the date of birth and death. "Sixteen years."

"An accident?"

She scanned the obituary. "It doesn't say. Let's see what else we can find."

Cruz performed another search and found exactly what she needed in newspaper archives. She bit back her annoyance at having to register to access them. Her gaze hastily skimmed the article. "Cocaine overdose at a party."

Niall pointed to a paragraph near the bottom of the screen. "Looks like it was an allergic reaction that actually killed him."

"Probably something the dealers used to cut the product," Cruz reasoned. "I've heard all kind of horror stories about the chemicals they use."

"Some friends," Niall grumbled as his finger moved lower. "They just dumped that kid on the side of the road. A 911 call, some Narcan and an Epi-Pen probably would have saved his life."

"No wonder John was willing to risk his life to expose the drug cartels and the bribery with state officials." She clicked over to the spreadsheet where she'd been keeping track of the deciphered code. Her gaze jumped from the screen to her note pad as she exchanged letters for numbers in Thomas's name. "Let's see if this works."

Cruz entered the website address and plugged in the newly coded name in the password section of the login. To her utter relief, it worked. She was whisked away to a dashboard that looked similar to the math blog she'd started years ago. Curious, she clicked on a button that took her to a bunch of unpublished posts. They'd been saved as drafts and were just waiting for someone to send them live.

Someone like her.

"Look." Niall touched the screen. His fingertip rested next to a post with her name on it.

Fingers trembling, she hovered over the highlighted post title and double-clicked. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she read the letter from John. It opened with an apology and laid out the reasons why Daniela had chosen her. Apparently, her CV had been impressive enough that they'd figured she'd have an easy time breaking the encryption and sending the information on to the proper authorities. They had been panicked and short on time.

"They just picked me because of some stuff on my bio and because Daniela and I shared a room. I guess they never imagined I was more connected."

"One of them must have broken during interrogation—"

"Torture." She glanced over her shoulder. "He tortured them, Niall. I don't blame them for giving me up. I might have done the same thing."

"Highly doubt it," Niall replied, his fingers squeezing her shoulders. "I think you'd probably spit in his face and tell him to go to hell."

"Not if he had my son," Cruz admitted. Her hand curved protectively around her bump. "I can't say what I would or wouldn't do for Felix. Everything I thought was non-negotiable suddenly is."

Niall's hand swept up the side of her neck. He stroked her cheek. "What are we going to do with this information now?"

"Give it to Carlos. He'll know what to do with it. I want it out of my hands."

"But?"

"Boy, you don't miss a beat, do you?"

"Not with you." He cupped her cheek and kissed the top of her head. "You're thinking of something."

"I can't trust the Feds, can I? I mean, hello, they set me up!" She shook her head. "No, I'll give them a few weeks to do something about the information on this flash drive." She touched the small black device. "If they do that usual government bullshit, I'm publishing this website."

"You sure you want to do that? If they're able to trace this site back to you, you won't just have El Alacrán after you then, Cruz."

"People died for this information, Niall. I can't let it be buried. Besides—I'm tired of running, Niall. I want my life back. All of it. I'm done being pushed around."

Niall didn't say anything. She steeled herself for his list of well thought out reasons for doing exactly the opposite of what she wanted but they never came. Instead Niall bent down and kissed her cheek. "We'll do whatever you want."

Cruz twisted in the chair and gaped at him. "Are you serious?"

"What?" He grinned. "You think I'm always unreasonable?"

"Yes." She grew suspicious. "Why aren't you fighting me on this?"

"Would it change your mind?"

"No."

This time he touched his nose and pointed at her. "I'm picking my battles."

"I see."

He lowered his mouth to hers in a gentle, teasing kiss. "You have to win sometime."

Cruz laughed against his lips. "You throwing me a bone, then?"

Niall grinned mischievously and started to speak but Cruz clapped her hand over his mouth. Laughing, she implored, "No, really, don't say it. I know what you're thinking."

He chuckled and kissed her more deeply. The strangest sensation of calm invaded Cruz. She had the final piece of the puzzle. Now she had the upper-hand. Things were going to be okay. She actually believed it this time. With Niall at her side, there was nothing she couldn't brave.

* * *

The shrill ring of the burner cell interrupted Niall's deep sleep. Blindly, he slapped the bedside table. Only one person had that number. He sat up and scrubbed the sleep from his eyes with a quick rub of his hand. "Hello?"

Carlos laughed on the end of the line. "Caught you sleeping, huh?"

Niall peered at the alarm clock as he switched on the lamp. He put his forearm over his eyes, shielding them from the brightness of the bulb until they adjusted. "It's barely five. Most normal people are asleep right now."

"Since when have you and I been considered normal?"

"Fair enough."

"How's my sister?"

Niall glanced down to his right. Guilt gnawed at him. God, he was sleeping with his best friend's baby sister! This had trouble written all over it. Lust soon overrode his guilt. The covers had slipped down to reveal the smooth caramel expanse of Cruz's back. He let his gaze travel even lower before silently chiding himself for being a straight-up pervert. He hastily tugged the sheet up over her bared backside. "She's fine. Sleeping."

"And the baby?"

"As far as I can tell, everything is fine." Niall yawned loudly. "You all right? Any news?"

"I'm fine. You're not going to like what I have to say."

Niall groaned. "And what's that?"

"They want you in Midland later today."

"They?"

"DEA. FBI. You know how it is. Questions and statements and all that."

Niall made a face. "Great."

"I know, güero."

"This is bad, Carlos. How the hell am I supposed to keep Cruz safe if I'm parading her around federal offices?"

"I don't like it any more than you do. They're threatening to put a BOLO on your truck if you don't come in, Niall. They're not screwing around."

Niall fought the urge to punch something. Dragging Cruz into Midland was so dangerous. He couldn’t count the ways things could go pear-shaped. There were too many variables. He didn't like it.

"You have some paper handy? I have some information for you. I've also got a lead on a lawyer for Cruz. He's pricey but he'll get her what she deserves. I want him to sue the shit out of the agency for putting her life at risk."

"Yeah. Hang on." Niall dug around in the top drawer of the bedside table until he found the pad of paper and pen provided. It took a few swipes of the pen to get the ink flowing. "All right."

Carlos gave him the address and contact info for the agent running the show. He drew a line and wrote down the lawyer's name and phone number. He read back the numbers twice to be sure he'd written them down properly.

"Don't let them talk her into a federal safe house, Niall."