The Billionaire's Prize: Taken & Tempted: (Book 3 Billionaire Bodyguard Series) (15 page)

The captain stopped flailing.

“Why did you take us off course?” Cade asked.

The man shook his head. “We are on course. To the Virgin Islands.”

“Bullshit.” Cade dug his knee deeper into the man’s spine.

Letting out a pitiful wail, the captain changed his answer. “A small detour.
Nothing to be alarmed about. There were rough seas ahead.”

“Things are about to get rougher in your brief future if you aren’t straight with me,” Cade snarled.

An evil smirk twisted the captain’s lips. “No,
your
brief future,
baboso.
”

Cade heard the drone of a motorboat in the distance. Sound traveling across water was deceiving, and he couldn’t tell how near the boat was or from which direction it came.

Envisioning the map Slone had used to indicate their location, Cade risked taking his eye off the captain to peer over the starboard side facing Cuba. What looked like a small spear was cutting through the waves—heading right for the yacht.

A curse ripped from Cade’s chest. “Where in the hell are you, Slone?”

“You called?” Slone’s voice rumbled behind him.

Cade glanced up at his bodyguard. “We have a bigger problem than mutiny.” He pointed at the approaching boat. “Ramos sent reinforcements to finish the job.”

Slone’s eyes widened a fraction. “Fuck.”

“Pretty much.” Cade wiped his forehead. “Happen to bring an AK forty-seven with you?”

“No, but we could use that right about now.” Slone narrowed his eyes. “Since there’s a bazooka mounted on the back of the speedboat, aimed right at us.”

Cade gulped. “You’re kidding.”

“Wish I was.”

“You can see that far?”

“Wish I couldn’t.” Slone shifted his focus to the current problem. “Get up,” he said.

Cade dislodged his knee from the captain’s back and stood. “What should we do with him?”

“Put him out with the rest of the trash.”

Slone picked up the captain by the back of his pants and shirt collar. He spun in a circle twice like a shot put athlete and launched the captain overboard. A muted splash came from the water below.

Impressed, Cade nodded. “If nothing else, Rowan, you’re efficient.”

“I’m about to be burnt toast if they release that missile before they’re in range of my Glock.” He dropped below the seats that lined the railing. “Antonio’s on our side, right?”

“He’s on the side of dollar signs, so yes.”

“Find him. Tell him to grab the fifty caliber in my black duffel—the smaller bag. Then I need you here with me for backup.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a weapons cache?”

“That’s the only long range gun I packed. Hell, just tell him to bring the whole damn bag. In case we live long enough for hand to hand combat. And put on a shirt, for God’s sake.”

Cade gaped. “You’re worried about my attire?”

“A bare chest makes you look more vulnerable.”

“Point taken. Be back in a sec.”

“If we have that long,” Slone muttered, his eyes as dark and flat as the metal of his gun.

Cade crouched on his way to the stairs then thundered down to the main deck. As he rounded the corner, he smacked into Kylie, knocking her to the ground.

“Jesus.” He scooped her up and deposited her on the bed in their room. He threw on a hooded sweatshirt and zipped it up. “You need to get dressed. Immediately.”

“Cade, what’s happening?” Though he heard the tears in her voice, he couldn’t stop to assuage her fears.

“No time to explain.” He tossed a lifejacket to her. “When you’re dressed, strap that on. And take this.” He handed his pistol to her, guessing Slone had a better arsenal in the duffel bag. “Don’t be afraid. Slone and I have this under control.”

“Have what under control?” She stood before him in a t-shirt and shorts, her cheeks striped with pink. His awareness of her vulnerability socked him in the gut and he nearly doubled over. “Why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”

“Just stay put, baby. Please.” He kissed her fiercely. “When I leave, lock the door behind me. Don’t let anyone in. And don’t come out, no matter what you hear.” He cupped her face and kissed her again. He hugged her so tightly she gasped, until he forced himself to let go and headed out to find Antonio.

On second thought, he decided against arming his new recruit and retrieved Slone’s duffel himself. An extra two minutes wouldn’t alter their fate that drastically.

When he reached the captain’s deck, he wondered if his split-second decision would cost them their lives.

“Get your ass over here,” Slone roared. “I needed you two minutes ago.” He glanced around. “Where’s the kid?”

Cade dropped the duffel and crouched beside him. “I didn’t feel like testing his loyalty by sending him on a weapons run.”

“You’re smarter than you look, chief.”

Arching an eyebrow, Cade said, “Considering the circumstances, I’ll let that one slide.”

“I don’t have time to spare your feelings. I’m busy saving our asses.” Slone stretched out his palm. “Hand me the fifty. You take the magnum.”

Guns in hand, poised and ready, Cade peered over the ledge. “Care to let me in on the plan?”

“Sure, when I have one.”

Cade gritted his teeth. “We’re staring down the barrel of a bazooka and you don’t have an endgame?”

“A pay bump goes a long way toward a plan.”

“Not funny,” Cade snapped.

Slone smirked. “A little funny.”

“Really? Gallows humor, now?”

“That’s the point of it.” Slone rolled his eyes. “I’d rather be smiling during my last seconds on earth.”

“I’d rather be breathing.”

“Yeah, I guess it’ll be tough to cash in the bonus you’re giving me if I’m dead.”

“You’re a sick man.” Despite their dire situation, Cade found his lips curving upward. “I like that about you.”

“Not so bad yourself, chief. I could die next to you if I had to.”

“How about you make a plan so you don’t,” Cade growled.

“I had a plan the second I heard about the other boat. Just giving you shit to see how you’d take it.”

Seething, Cade shook his head. “Why does everyone think I need more of that?”

“True, we’re standing in it pretty deep. Whoa, heads up.”

Cade tensed. “What?”

“They’re loading the cannon.”

“How can you tell?” Cade asked, closing one eye as he focused his gaze through the sight of his magnum.

Slone scoffed. “All those greenbacks lining your pocket, and you couldn’t afford Lasik?”

“Yes, I’ve had sight-correction surgery. But I’m not half eagle, blessed with ten/ten vision like you.”

“Right now, it ain’t a blessing. I wish I couldn’t see what’s coming our way.” Slone pivoted on his elbows as if they were a stand for a sniper rifle. “Okay, chief. Aim for the prow and fire.”

“The prow?”

“Just do it.”

Cade aimed and pulled the trigger. The nose of the speedboat lifted up on a wave at the second of impact. He bellowed a curse.
The kickback from the gun was more powerful than he’d expected, having only fired a magnum twice at the shooting range. He recovered fast and regained his muscle memory to rebalance the weapon’s power for another shot.

“No, that’s good,” Slone said, flicking two fingers toward the target. “Keep firing. Fill that hunk of metal with holes. If we’re going down, we’re sinking ‘em with us.”

In a snap instant, Cade understood the plan. He emptied his clip into the speedboat, though it kept coming at them with full fury.

“Reload. There’s more ammo in my duffel.”

With a nod, Cade swiftly refilled the cartridge and snapped it back into place. He emptied another round, ignoring the man behind the bazooka who abandoned the missile launcher to prop a machine gun on his shoulder. No way would they risk destroying the yacht now, he thought. With their boat full of holes, they needed the yacht intact, if they wanted to sail home instead of swim…effectively turning them into sitting seagulls in the water ripe for target practice.

Through the scope, he spotted the guy at the front of the boat dive overboard. The taste of triumph rolled across his tongue like good scotch.

“Oh, shit. Duck,” Slone shouted.

As his chest hit the floor, Cade heard a volley of bullets pelt the yacht. One pinged off the railing and grazed his shoulder, leaving a sharp burning sensation, and faint wetness, in its wake.

With the amount of adrenaline spiraling through him, he barely felt the impact.

“You hit?” Slone asked.

“Nah, I’m good. Merely a flesh wound.”

“Monty Python and gallows humor. You’d make a good soldier, chief.”

“Thanks. Would you take the bastard out already?”

“Plan to, since they just came within range for guaranteed accuracy.”

“Then guarantee his head blown off.”

“Yes, sir.” Slone fired a shot that nearly deafened Cade. A pause, then a second shot. Another pause. Slone raised his gun and blew across the barrel. “Smoked ‘em.”

Cade cautiously lifted his head. “No shit.”

“Yes, shit.” An expression of pride slid onto Slone’s features. “And you’ll be talking plenty of it when we get back to the ranch, when you’re in your fancy office meetings with investors, telling them how you singlehandedly fended off the invaders to protect your lady love.”

Cade snorted. “I’ll give you partial credit. Just to make it fair.”

A shiver went through him as the adrenaline began to wear off. And the gravity of the threat they’d faced sank in. Slone appeared unaffected, though the dark steel in his eyes was slowly leeching out, before returning to placid gray.

When he heard a shuffling sound, he turned and saw Kylie. Her eyes were drained of their vibrant color and her beautiful face looked starkly pale, as if she now understood the gravity, too. The neon orange lifejacket glared in contrast to her pink t-shirt and canvas shorts.

Relief knowing she was okay warred with his over-protectiveness. “Babe, I told you to wait for me down below.”

Suddenly, her face turned ashen gray. Her lips parted but no sound came out. In a flash she raised the gun she held in both hands and fired above his head.

“Jesus!” he shouted, diving out of the line of fire. “What the hell is the matter with—?”

The sickening thud of a body hitting the ground filled his ears. Shocked, he glanced beside him at a man’s prostate form, a crimson pool expanding beneath him, seeping into the cracks between the wood flooring.

Kylie thrust the gun away, as if it had turned into a hissing cobra. It skidded and rattled across the floor, her hands left trembling around air.

Slone rose to his feet, stared at the gun, then stared at the dead man, then stared at Kylie. “I’ll be damned. You’ll need to give her half the credit, chief.
Didn’t see him coming.”

Cade hadn’t either. The swimmer who dove overboard must’ve climbed the back ladder and scaled to the captain’s deck to finish them off. He might have, if Kylie hadn’t shown up when she did. With the pistol he’d given her.

Stunned, Cade looked at the guy on the floor again. When he saw the gun clenched in his hand, a chill wracked him like someone had stepped on his grave.

No, she had saved him from it.

Two tears dropped from her eyes, coasted down her white cheeks. “I didn’t mean to. Oh, God. He was just there. Aiming at you. I couldn’t…I didn’t…think, I just…”

“Saved your boyfriend’s ass,” Slone filled in the blank.

Cade was already on his feet and he gathered her in his arms. “You shouldn’t have had to do that. Or see that. I’m sorry.”

“Good thing she did,” Slone said, shaking his head at the close call.

Cade glared at him. “Give us a minute?”

“Yeah, sure.” Slone held up his hands and backed toward the steps. “Just saying.”

“Well, don’t.”

The friendly camaraderie in the bodyguard’s eyes turned to stone. “You got it, boss.”

Hearing Slone’s response, Cade admitted he liked “chief” a lot better. He’d fully intended to go have a beer, or six, with Slone. They’d definitely torn down some barriers separating them as they stood together in the line of fire.

But right now he needed to be here for Kylie, to make sure she could handle what just happened, what she’d done—taking a life to save two. He lifted her in his arms and whisked her down to their bedroom, feeling her tears soak through his sweatshirt the entire way.

Taking infinite care with his movements, he sat her on the bed, knelt before her, and unbuckled the lifejackets. He whispered soothing words. He knew all too well the shock, the unreality, the ice running through her veins. He lifted her chilled hands to his lips.

“I can’t believe what I did,” she said through bloodless lips. Her whole body was stiff and cold as if he’d chipped her out of a glacier. “I’m so sorry.”

He needed to warm her from the inside out. Pull her from her numb thoughts and bring her back to the present moment, so she could face what had happened and put it behind her. Otherwise, the remorse would eat her alive.

“You have nothing to be sorry about, sweetheart. Relax, lie back.”

While he undressed her, he told her what his father had explained to him the day Cade put a man in the hospital after a bounty hunt turned into a shootout.

“The man you shot was on a path of destruction long before you pulled the trigger. If it hadn’t been you, it would’ve been someone else. We all make choices. He chose his own end. The second he got on that speedboat he knew he’d either kill or be killed. You didn’t decide his fate, he did.”

Her teeth chattered as he swung her legs up and under the covers. “That s-s-sounds good. B-but I don’t feel any better.”

Removing his clothes, he crawled into bed with her and hugged her against him.

“I took his life, Cade. Another person is dead because of me.”

Maria.
His arms tightened around her. “That was Ramos’s doing. This is all on him. Don’t carry the burden of conscience, just because he doesn’t have one. It’s not yours to bear.”

She snuggled close against him. “I can’t help it.”

“I know, baby. You’re a kind person with a compassionate heart. I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

A tear splashed on his shoulder. She began shivering uncontrollably. He recognized the remorse and fear racking her, the endless unwinnable mind game of would’ve, could’ve, should’ve.

“Look at me.” He nudged her chin up and saw her eyes filled with liquid regret. “You saved my life. I’ll never be able to repay that gift.”

Chest aching with gratitude, and something far greater, he ran his thumb beneath her wet lashes, kissed her cheeks, grazed his lips across hers. He skimmed his palms over her arms, down her waist, drawing her legs up around his hips.

“I want to warm all the cold places inside you. I want you to forget what happened, just for a little while.” He settled between her thighs and eased inside her, inch by slow inch. “Be with me in this moment. Let go of everything.” He rocked gently with her, his chest coasting across her breasts. “Feel me inside you. Let me take away your fears.”

“Oh, Cade.” Her whisper of breath fanned his cheeks and the flame of his desire. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Please don’t let go.”

“I’ll never let you go. I promise.”

The light returned to her eyes, defeating the terror and darkness that had threatened to extinguish it. They moved and breathed as one. He’d never made love like this, with his whole heart and soul.

“I need you,” she whispered. A vulnerability she’d never revealed seeped into her expression.

It reached inside him and grabbed hold of his heart. “I need you, too.”

Passion and heat surrounded them.

The morning sun streamed in through the porthole window, cocooning them in a glow of light and warmth. But it didn’t compare to the glow in her cheeks and the blaze in her eyes as he brought her to climax. He went still above her, inside her, their lips barely touching. Her core gripped him, rippling along his shaft. Without moving, he shivered and came inside her. Holding her face in his hands, he kissed her deeply, and his moan of release echoed in her throat.

Their lips and bodies didn’t part for a long time. He didn’t want to lose the perfect peace that filled him from head to toe.

Eventually, she combed her fingers through his hair, forcing him away from her luscious mouth. Her fingertips traced his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, his lips.

“You are beautiful,” she said, smiling up at him.

“Hey, that’s supposed to be my line.”

Her smile faded. “It’s not a line, Cade.”

He lifted his hand to her ribs and tickled her. “I know, baby. I meant that I’m supposed to be the one showering you with compliments. I have a ton of them stored up that I couldn’t tell you before. Ready for the list?”

“No.” She shoved at his shoulders. “That’s embarrassing. I don’t like being the center of attention.”

“What’s embarrassing is a girl telling a guy he’s beautiful.”

She shrugged. “It’s not my fault you are.”

“That’s the point. I’m not.”

She arched an eyebrow in challenge. “Do you really want to argue the point with me?”

“Maybe not.” He huffed a laugh. “I’ll never hear the end of it.”

A giggle escaped her. “You know me too well.”